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Tango can’t sleep.
He tries, he really does. He lays there against Jimmy, trying his best to match his heartbeat as he breathed. The warmth his partner gave was soothing, relaxing, needed. They fit like two puzzle together underneath the little blanket they found that managed to somehow cover them both if they curled together just right. But every time Tango felt himself begin to drift off into the unknown, he would hear the groans and shuffling of the undead. Occasionally he’d hear one scrape their nails against the boards on their windows, the sound echoing across the room. Tango tried to ignore them as best he could, as killing one typically meant attracting them all to where you are. But his body couldn’t help but keep one arm out ready to grab the machete they had at a moments notice. Not like any sane person would think to check a closet of a high school classroom for two people sharing the mattress, blanket and pillows stashed away in there, let alone a mindless one. But there were too many scenarios where that did happen, too many situations where peaceful slumber was interrupted. There had been some close calls where they had nearly lost each other to the hoards. Tango would not risk that again. Maybe himself. But certainly he wouldn’t let them get to Jimmy.
He didn’t even realize how lost he was until he felt Jimmy’s fingers intertwine with his in his outstretched hand. He didn’t fight it as his parter slowly turned him over until he was staring at those sparkling blue eyes. Not a word was said as Jimmy cupped his cheek and kissed him on the forehead, but Tango knew what it meant. He could practically hear the words come out of Jimmy’s mouth from the countless times before where they’d had this conversation.
“Rest. I’ve got you.”
Tango smiled a little as the two remained locked on each other. Tango knew he couldn’t relax yet. Not because of the zombies, but because he knows the second he does Jimmy will go be reckless and try to take out all the zombies out there on his own just for Tango. His grip was firm on Jimmy as he broke eye contact to look over Tango, seemingly to the machete. Tango used his free hand to bring Jimmy down back to reality from his well minded but impulsive ideas. Jimmy smiled as he began to nestle himself under Tango’s chin. His feet poked out of the nearly too small blanket but neither of them cared. Tango had Jimmy safe in his arms and Jimmy had Tango focusing on something that wasn’t the outside hoards of enemies ready to make them their next meal.
It stayed like that for a while. A dance so familiar between them. The long embrace together relaxing as they began to drift off before the sounds of reality brought them out of it. Tango reaching for the machete to go into defense mode but Jimmy stopping him. Jimmy trying to bypass Tango to defeat all the hoard himself but the latter stopping him. Embrace each other once more and pretend that the world wasn’t over; that they weren’t just procrastinating their demise to flesh eating parasites that wore the faces of other people. Repeat.
The cycle ended a few hours later. When the first light of the morning began to creep in through the cracks in the door. Tango sighed as he pulled away, the grogginess a familiar feeling now. He grabbed the machete before Jimmy could, though that wasn’t very hard as Jimmy wasn’t a morning person. He still held a death grip on the blanket, as if he was in denial that it was time to get up and move.
“Wakey Wakey, beautiful.” Tango cooed, chuckling to himself with the groan he received in response. “Don’t give me that. It’s your own fault you kept wanting to rush out to get yourself killed in the middle of the night. Don’t blame the sleeplessness on me.”
“I was only doing it to get you to go to sleep for more than ten minutes, so yes I do.” Jimmy shot back as he rolled over on the mattress.
“Well, it was stop you from doing the stupid.” Tango sassed back as he began taking down the boards from the doorway so they could leave eventually. “I learned after the first time you took on a hundred bajillion zombies on your own when I fell asleep to not do that.”
“It was more like 30.”
“That’s Still 30 Too Many!!” He paused to look Jimmy in his sleepy little eyes. “I need you, Jimmy. You are … everything. Everything to me. I don’t want to lose you to some reckless hero play.”
“And you won’t.” Jimmy assured him as he reached up to touch Tango’s face. “I’ll be careful, I promise.”
“I’d feel a lot better if when you take on a hoard of zombies that I’m watching your back.”
“As long as you don’t go on a revenge hungry slaughter spree the second one even simply grazes my armor.”
“Hey that was one time!”
Jimmy gives him a judgmental look.
“Several times! But that one time they bit your armor doesn’t count okay?” A hand burst through the fragile plywood door at that moment, causing Tango to scream and quickly slice it off with the machete. “DONT INTERRUPT WE WERE HAVING A MOMENT!!”
Jimmy laughed as he finally got up and placed a kiss on Tango’s cheek. “That’s going to bring more of them, you know? All the yelling?”
“Still worth it.” Tango smiled as he handed Jimmy the axe they had found from staying at a fire station. “He was blocking a touching sweet sentimental moment.”
“Like we don’t get enough of those.”
“We don’t! Every time I present myself suddenly it’s …” Tango does his best to imitate the noises of the zombies and their movements in such a small space, but simply ends up running into some of the clutter because he wasn’t paying attention and making even more untranscriptable noises. “You get the point.”
“Yes I do. Would killing a bunch of zombies help your boo boo feel better?” Jimmy joked, and Tango made an over exaggerated pouty face.
“Nooooo … but kissing it will.” Jimmy rolled his eyes and delicately kiss Tango’s wound, which was quickly followed by Tango stealing a kiss of his own.
“I feel much better. Now, we getting out of the closet today or what?”
“Personally I came out of the closet several years ago but that’s a personal decision.” Jimmy cracked a small smile at the bad joke. Tango looked at him with a deadpanned looked before picking Jimmy up by the waist and playfully shaking him around.
“Why. Are. You. So. Adorable?!” He said amongst Jimmy’s giggles before putting him down. “Okay but can we get out of here? I’m staring to feel a little cramped.” Tango finally opened the door, the creak of the hinges
“Yes, we can.” Jimmy said. “And I’d like to put an Uno reverse on the adorable question.” Tango finally opened the door, the creak of the hinges making heads turn around them. That or probably their smell. He smiled as he took the machete in his hand and rushed into the heat of everything to go take care of the threats around them as they slowly waddled and limped in his direction.
“Sorry! Can’t hear you over all the saving of our butts I’m doing!!”
Jimmy rolled his eyes before taking a moment to watch Tango slice his way through the squishy bodies of the undead. The way his face contorted with every emotion and the unbridled but manic laughter that escaped his mouth. The blood that found itself speckled in his hair and the guts that began to pile at his feet that didn’t seem to slow down his energy. The way he seemed to know exactly where to hit and how he seemed to practically dance among the crowd. Everything Tango did just made Jimmy fall more in love with him by the second. It’s why he’d do anything for him. Even rush into a hoard of a hundred bajillion zombies to make sure Tango was alive after it all.
After that brief moment, Jimmy’s grip and resolve tighten as he joined Tango. Just as he was Tango’s everything, Tango was his universe. And some mindless flesh eating corpses weren’t going to take them from each other. Not on his watch.