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"He doesn't even remember being smart." Slo-Mo could just barely hear Cleo say behind him as he lumbered away from the school.
Oh, he remembered. Not like Cleo would've believed him anyways, after all he was the one who sought her help because he thought he was too stupid.
Did he still think he was too stupid? ... Well, he didn't want to really think about that right now. He at least knew that being back to normal felt better than being an arrogant jerk and certainly felt much better than hurting Ghoulia's feelings unintentionally.
Hearing footsteps behind him and turning his head to notice Ghoulia running up to him, he couldn't help but smile upon seeing her. She was particularly glad that Slo-Mo was back to his old self, and gave him an equally wide grin as she took his outstretched hand.
The two shuffled towards the gates together in silence before Ghoulia piped up. "I like you much better thiz way, you know."
"... Yeahhhh... Ahnno..." He responds, looking down at her with that lopsided smile she found so adorable.
A bit more silence cushioned Slo-Mo's words before he spoke again. "Thhhank you." He murmured.
"Of courze..." Ghoulia trailed off, not quite expecting that reply. Slo-Mo was usually pretty predictable for her, but not in a boring way. It was moreso fascinating for her, like she was observing some sort of specimen and taking note of its behaviors. She liked doing that with Slo-Mo more often than not since she already found predictability in general comforting, but felt particularly cozy around him.
She had expected him to say something along the lines of 'I like me better this way, too' or 'who wouldn't' or even 'yeah that guy was a huge dick, I don't blame you', but 'thank you'? It puzzled her. Why would he show gratitude towards her for something he said he already knew? It felt contradictory and redundant to a small degree, and as she walked alongside him with his massive hand cradling her petite one, she pondered potential explanations for why he may have responded the way he did.
Her most likely reasoning was that maybe he was simply being polite. He always paid great attention to manners to the point where it was habit for him to apologize to inanimate objects he bumps into, as well as thank someone for every little thing they may do or give him.
Of course there was always the option for Ghoulia to simply ask him what he meant by that, but she feared that doing so may make this nice moment between them awkward. She also concluded that he likely wouldn't explain it anyways, either being unable to properly articulate what he meant and getting frustrated, or he just wouldn't want to talk about it and be stubborn. So in either scenario she felt it would be pointless for her to ask him.
Although... If she was wrong about his response, she could very well be incorrect with this prediction too.
She figured she'd mull it over for a bit longer as the two passed the gates and turned the corner towards town. Slo-Mo gently squeezes her hand to get her to look at him.
"Uhhhh... you wan' get uhhh bite t' eat?" He asks her, his canines large and gleaming as he spoke.
He typically asked her this whenever he was hungry, but not out of selfishness or gluttony. Rather, he was usually concerned about whether or not Ghoulia had eaten something within the past eight hours, as she had a tendency to neglect her Hunger and he figured that making sure she was fed whenever he was hungry was a good way to stay on top of it.
Ghoulia shrugs. "If you want. I'm not particularly hungry."
He squints at her with a suspicious look. "I don' b'lieve youhhh." He says, scooping her up by the torso and holding her head. "Open ya mouth, lemme sssee ya teeth." He gently grabs her cheeks, making her giggle and try to pry away, but when she smiled Slo-Mo could see that her canines were just as long, if not longer than his. "Gall-ee, they're bigger than mine!" He gently lowers her to the ground. "Why'd'ya lllie t' me about these thhhings?" He asks, shaking his head with a small smile.
Ghoulia shrugs. "I don't mean to! I'm just not hungry." She watches him pout his lip in doubt and concern. "Either way, I zuppoze we could ztop at Deadman'z Die-ner..." She mutters, crossing her arms in faux unhappiness.
Slo-Mo smiled wide and dug into Ghoulia's arms to grab her hand again, the smaller zombie powerless against his ham hands. "Uhhhhhhh, betta get movin' thhhhen 'f we wwwwanna get there 'fore dark." He takes one massive step, gently tugging on Ghoulia's hand to get her to follow.
As they walked side by side once again, Ghoulia got to thinking again. Perhaps asking him after he had eaten will yield a better response, and perhaps his initial response was because he was hungry and not fully in his right mind.
As cars passed by them, Ghoulia turned to Slo-Mo to observe him. Half to see if that potion had any lasting effects, half just because she liked looking at him. His jaw still hung open a little as it always did, and he still dragged his right foot across the ground like usual. His posture was still poor, hunched at the shoulders with his knees going inwards, and she could still hear his breath rattle through every long inhale and exhale he took.
Looking at his face, she was extra glad he was back to normal as she found him much more handsome just the way he was. It was truly a strange reaction that his face had changed so drastically after he had taken the potion, as if it targeted all the features Ghoulia liked the most and changed them to something more 'conventionally attractive'. It even eliminated his lazy eye, an affliction developed as a result of his death.
But she still couldn't help but wonder why he had thanked her for liking him more this way. Didn't everybody? Surely even his enemies would prefer this Slo-Mo and not Chud Slo-Mo. Surely he preferred himself this way, right?
That last thought planted a seed of doubt in Ghoulia's mind. He wasn't the greatest about opening up to Ghoulia emotionally, but she at least knew he had self-esteem issues. But surely they weren't that bad to completely reject every aspect of his personality... Although... If that were the case why would he even take the potion in the first place?
Maybe that was the question Ghoulia had to ruminate over as they walked.
She thought she had made it obvious to him that she loved him as is, made it exceedingly obvious. Though she had to admit he was always horrible at picking up hints, or even straight-up pieces of evidence. Maybe that weakness of his was why? Though again, if she had made it so obvious then he still wouldn't've done this for her.
Gore forbid that she wasn't as obvious as she thought she was and she had somehow said something he could've misinterpreted as 'I wish you weren't the way you are'. Perhaps she had made a joke that fell short? Said something insensitive unknowingly? Ghoulia was bad at reading people, even Slo-Mo's predictable self.
The two had found their way to the diner a couple of hours before sunset, and shared a booth together. As Slo-Mo took his time to examine the menu, scratching his head with his brows furrowed, Ghoulia sat sipping her water with her head propped up on her elbows. She already knew what she was getting, she had thought about it ahead of time. She knew that Slo-Mo had done the same, as she saw him use his phone to look at the menu preemptively, but it always took him longer to make a decision. And Ghoulia was always willing to give him that time, after all they were both zombies, they weren't going anywhere. But maybe she hadn't been as patient with him as she thought?
Ghoulia noticed him glance at her over his menu and his expression change from focused to... Something else, his brows were lower and less tightly knit and his upper eyelids relaxed. She couldn't see his mouth behind the menu. She glanced back at him, and he quickly (well, as quick as he could) hid his face back behind it. That was odd. Did he forget she was there? Certainly not.
Ghoulia lifted herself off the table and leaned to try and get another look at his face. His eyes and eyebrows retained the same position, but now she could see his mouth was distinctly frowned and a tinge of purple blush was spread across his cheeks. Now for most monsters, blushing would mean flattery, embarrassment, flustered. Slo-Mo, however, blushed very easily. Almost all of his emotions were accompanied by some sort of purplish tint on his cheeks, so him blushing didn't tell her anything. The frown though, coupled with the eyebrows suggested he was upset.
She furrows her brows a little. "Iz... Iz zomething wrong, Sloman?" She asks, centering her body.
He peeked over the menu. "Uhhhhh... Uhhhhhh... Ummmm... Uhhhhh..." He didn't look at her, rather focusing his gaze on the napkin holder.
She sat with her hands folded, her expression hard to read as she waited for him to finish his sentence.
"Nuttin'." He mumbled, pulling his face back behind the menu but not before Ghoulia noticed his blush deepening. Hmm...
Ghoulia didn't get the chance to press further, as the waitress had come by to take their orders. Ghoulia went first, as usual, ordering the braised brain soup and a lemonade. Slo-Mo dragged a hand down the side of his face with a concerned look as his eyes fell down the menu again.
"Uhhhh... I'll get... I thhhhink I'll have theee, uhhhhhh... The..." He stuttered for a minute or two, blush deepening further as he could see waitress grow increasingly agitated. "Jus' th' Big-Brainer burger." He eventually muttered. "An' a croak-a-cola." He passes his menu over with an avoidant expression and returns Ghoulia's menu as well.
Her brows knit tighter as she watched him slump onto the table with an arm propping himself up. He fidgeted with the straw in his water with that unfocused, glazed over look, the one where his eyes would drift to opposite sides of his face and make him look particularly wall-eyed. He was never super comfortable ordering food, but this time he seemed particularly down about it. 'He must be upset about something,' Ghoulia thought as she tilted her head to the side.
She reached out and placed her dainty hand on Slo-Mo's thick arm, catching his attention. "You inzizt that nothing'z wrong? You zeem upzet."
He straightens his posture a little. "Wellll..." He starts, his good eye looking upwards as if trying to gaze into his brain to find the words. Eventually he just sighs and rests his head in his hand, defeated. "I'unno. S'nuttin'. Don' 'ven matterrrrr none."
Ghoulia squints at him in doubt. "I don't believe you." She says, blunt. She stays silent as Slo-Mo's eyes widen a little and his expression sours just a bit, the zomboy sitting up and leaning against the back of the booth with his good eye avoiding her gaze. "If zomething iz bothering you I would like to know." She continues. "Doez it have zomething to do with the potion?" She figured maybe his answer to that would provide some insight into his earlier reply.
He looks back at her with a softened facial expression before shifting in his seat uncomfortably, like he was too big for the space he was in. He drums his big fingers on the table. "... Mebbe." He mumbles.
She reaches out again and places her hand on his. "You know I never wanted you to be any different, right? I never wanted you to change yourzelf for me. If I've zaid or done zomething to contradict that I'm dearly zorry." She croons as Slo-Mo turns his hand over to hold Ghoulia's, stroking his thumb over the back of her hand.
He continues to caress Ghoulia's hand, and she could practically see the gears turning in his head on how he wanted to respond. "Ahnno!" He finally groans. "Ahnno that ain' whhhhat you wanted. An'... An' you-..." He scoffs to himself, almost a bitter chuckle, trailing off as his fingers curl around Ghoulia's hand. "Y'ain't nev'r ssssaid nun' or done nun' t'... T' make me feel bad. At leasssst nev'r on purp'se. An' I ain't mad at you for thhhhat... 'S'real hard t' get me mad atchu." He rumbles, his tone low and vaguely melancholy. He looks at Ghoulia with a bit of a sad smile before it quickly dropped from his face.
"Iss jus'... Iss jus' thhhat..." He swallows hard, and his bottom lip thickens and quivers as a viscous black liquid gathers in the corner of his bad eye. He takes a deep, rattling breath and wraps both hands around Ghoulia's before putting it to his head. "I'm hungry. Pleeeease, c'n we talk 'bout thhhhis laterhhh?" He looks up at her over his eyebrows, still with her hand to his head.
Those droopy, clouded, greenish-blue eyes never failed to make Ghoulia's heart beat just a little. She nods quietly, extending her other hand to gently tilt his head up so he could fully look at her. "Your head will be more clear once you're fed." She murmurs, caressing his jawline with her thumb and getting a tiny smile from him as he leaned into it. "But you have to promize me we'll actually talk, okay?"
He nods, his heavy head bobbing her arm up and down. "I prrromise." He lets go of her hand to graze over the other one on his face before sitting back up.
She gives him a little smile and he returns it, managing to get his bad eye to focus on her for just a little bit.
Once they had gotten their food it wasn't long before Slo-Mo demolished his meal, now trailing the rest of his fries through the leftover sauce on his plate, and popping them into his mouth while he waited for Ghoulia to finish her stew.
He did have to admit he now felt like he had a better handle of what he might say during their later discussion. Was he still nervous? Of course he was. Words were already hard for him, and feelings were always harder.
He gulped down the last of his fries and was starting to reach the bottom of his drink. He did find it strange that she always took so much longer to eat than he did, but it never mattered to him. If she could wait for him to order, he could wait for her to eat. It was only fair.
He watched her methodically eat her stew, rotating between a bite of potato, a bite of carrot, a bite of brain, and a slurp of broth. He did also find it funny that she was so precise with her consumption while he just threw whatever was in front of him down his gullet, or at least he usually did. This time the comparison just seemed to deepen the pit in his chest.
About four rotations later, Ghoulia had finished her stew and looked up at Slo-Mo with a silly little smile that he couldn't help but grin at. "Do you want to get dezzert?" She asks.
Slo-Mo looks out the window towards the horizon, just barely turning gold from the sunset. "Uhhhhh, I got a betta iiidea." He turns back to her. "Hhhhowsabout we get ice scream 'nnnn watch th' sunset?" He suggests with a small smile.
The zombie girl returns the smile. "Zoundz good to me."
The two paid for their meals and made their way towards the ice scream shop by the hill, Slo-Mo getting a triple-scoop cone while Ghoulia opted for a milkshake with a strawberry brain swirl.
Without having to ask him, Slo-Mo scooped Ghoulia up in one arm to carry her up the hill, licking his ice scream the whole way up.
He sat her down at the top, and got himself settled on the ground with a grunt. Ghoulia scooted underneath his arm and sipped on her milkshake. She giggled at the sight of ice scream all over his chin and him trying to lick it up with his green tongue. She pulled a napkin or two out of her pocket and wiped his face clean, which after thanking her he immediately proceeded to get ice scream all over his face again.
Slo-Mo finished his cone by the time the sun was about halfway past the mountains, and Ghoulia directed him where he still had ice scream on his face to clean up.
Once he had crumpled up the napkin and stuffed it in his pocket, Ghoulia figured that now would be the time to ask what's been up with him. "Zo, like you promized, do you want to tell me what'z upzetting you?" She looks up at him and sips from her shake.
Slo-Mo just sighed. "I don' wanna, but... I s'pose I prrromised." He mumbles. Ghoulia watches his tongue polish his teeth through the tears in his cheeks as he thought. "I s'pose it's... Uhhhhh lotta things... Hhhhelp me out here, gimme sum'n sp'cific t' talk 'bout."
Ghoulia obliges, picking the question she was most curious about. "Why did you take that potion?" She murmurs.
Slo-Mo drags a hand down his face. He had hoped she wouldn't ask that so soon. "Wwwwell..." He starts, rubbing the exposed bones on his neck. "Well I s'pose I oughta... Prrreface this by sayin' that you... It wasn' ssssum'n you did. Uhhhhh, I ment'n'd that back at the die-ner, I think."
Ghoulia nods to confirm.
"Well at least it ain'... It wasn' *entirely* 'cuz-a sum'n you did. Like-... Gah, how'duh I wan' put this?" He massages his forehead with a hand. "Ahnno you llllike me betta like thhhis. I... You rrreally lemme know that. Ahnno that what I did ain' really whhhatchu wanted, but..." He sighs again. "I'unno. I jus' jumped t' 'clusions, I s'pose." He fibbed, hoping to just end the conversation there.
Ghoulia raises an eyebrow at him. "That makez no zenze. If you knew I didn't want that, what lead you to do it anywayz?"
Slo-Mo shakes his head a little and lets her question hang in the air for a minute. "Ev'rrrrythin' else, I guess. 'V'rythin' 'cept for whhhhat I 'ready knew." He hikes up his knees and slides Ghoulia over so that she was in between his thighs. He rests his head on hers while he stays quiet, searching for words. He clicks his tongue, apparently not finding any and lifting his head away.
Ghoulia furrows her brows at Slo-Mo's train of thought. "That'z zilly. It'z illogical to follow any evidence other than what you know iz concrete." She stirs her shake with her straw, unaware of her bluntness.
"Well, mebbe th' evidence didn' sssseem so c'ncrete at th' time." Slo-Mo says, exasperated. He would've snapped that sentence at her, but he was both too tired to and felt like he'd hurt her enough for the day. "I'unno. Sum'n in m' brain jussss' told me you... Thatchu w' lyin' 'bout lovin' me for me." He admits, raking his nails against his spine.
Ghoulia looks back up at him with a softened expression. "Now why would I do that? What would lead you to that concluzion?" She asks, genuine.
"Now ahnno you wouldn', it's stupid, ahnno!" He gently brushes some of Ghoulia's hair behind her ear as a lump in his throat formed. "Whhhhat lead me to b'lieve that was... Wwwell..." He swallowed hard. "Hhhow could some'n as uhh-mazing as you llllove some'n like me?"
Ghoulia's jaw hangs open a little in shock. How could she not love someone like him? Or him for that matter? "Sloman-" She starts before Slo-Mo gently closes her jaw to signify for her to listen.
"Youhhhh... You d'serve sssso much more th'n me. You're jus'... Ssso beau'iful, so wond'rful, so so smart..." He chuckles to himself as he cradles her head, but his expression soon falls again. "'N I'm none-a those thhhings. You're sssso outta my league you can't 'ven call itta home run 'nymore. You're an ev'rythin' bagel, 'n I'm a nothin' burger." He slowly pulls his hand away from her.
"You're th' person who's gunna prrrrove t' th' world that zzzzombies aren' useless. You're gunna do sssso many amazing things, and I love you so much for thhhat... Meanwhile, me? Whaddam I s'posed t' do, rrrrrot in m' room playin' Donkey Kong for th' rest-a 'ternity?" He leans back on his hands and gazes back at the sunset. "You're th' one who's brrrreakin' th' mold. 'N I'm th' guy 'v'rybody points at t' jussst'fy their prej'dice."
Ghoulia sets her shake aside and drags herself closer to him, placing a hand on his chest. "Sl- Sloman, your unlife doez not have any lezz value than mine! The juxtapozition of your traitz and mine doez not mean that you're not worthy of me, you zupplement my ztrengthz and make up for my weaknezzez in wayz you may not yet realize!"
"F'that was true th'n whhhy does 'v'ryone 'gree w'me?" He pulls her hands away from him, bottom lip quivering. "'V'rybody loves you 'cuz you're- you're jus' so uhh-mazing!" He repeats. "'V'rybody hhhhates me 'cuz all I do is gettin th' way 'cuz I'm too slow! 'Cuzzzz I can't keep up w' nobody 'cuz I'm too slow! 'V'rybody hhhhates me 'cuz' I'm jus' too goddamn slow!" He raises his voice, it breaking at the peak with a whimper. He looks up to choke back sludgy tears, then turns his head away from Ghoulia. "Sssso s'not too far-fetched thhhat you'd 'lso hhhate me for bein' too slow."
Ghoulia stands speechless with her arms propped up on Slo-Mo's thighs. She looks down and her eyes jerk around as if looking at invisible equations on how to respond to him or comfort him or anything, but she was just frozen in place.
Slo-Mo sniffs and pulls his sleeve across his face to wick away black tears before looking back at Ghoulia. "I jus' thhhought... 'F I could jus'-... keep up w'ya, f'I jus' wasn't ssso painfully slow, thhhen... Then mebbe I coulda fin'ly been good 'nuff for ya." He croaks, sobs now shaking his body.
He covers his face with a massive hand. "I jus' wannnted t' be good 'nuff... Give ya whhhhatchu d'serve... I never mmmmeant t' hurt you!" He wipes away tears with both hands. "'Ven as a genius I can't do nuttin' right! Hhhhow c'd I be sssso stupid?" He whimpers, crying into his palms.
Uncharacteristically without thinking, Ghoulia grips Slo-Mo's collar and yanks him down to her level. "Sloman Mortavitch if you don't lizten to me right now I zwear... Are you liztening?"
Slo-Mo, wide eyed, mouth agape, and face streaked with black, nods, bewildered by Ghoulia's sudden change of action.
"You are zmart. You outclazz me by far in any chezz game. You help me zpot errorz in my work that I've looked over dozenz of timez. You're brilliant in Clawculuz and Tri-gore-nometry. You come up with zome of the wittiezt jokez I've ever heard. That iz intelligence and I cannot be convinced otherwize. And even if you lacked it, I would not care." Ghoulia begins, still clinging to Slo-Mo's collar and watching the tears on his face slowly roll down to his jaw.
"It iz true that your brain needz more time to think, and that iz okay. I do not care if it takez you one zecond or one hundred, you alwayz get there in the end and I cannot zimply dezcribe how important of a trait that iz. What matterz to me iz not brainz. It'z you. Plain and zimple. I don't want or need a geniuz, I want you. All I need in a manzter iz you. Everything about you. I don't care what all I get zo long az I get you." She pulls him closer, fighting back a smile as she witnessed a purple tint emerge on his cheeks beneath the black stripes.
"And perhapz my reazoning for loving you is illogical. Zo be it. I hate to admit that maybe science cannot explain love, but maybe that'z alzo what makes it zpecial. Maybe what makez our connection feel zo deep iz the myztery of why. I can name liztz and liztz of reazonz why I love you and itemize it down to the atom and there will ztill be one core reazon I juzt cannot explain. And I'm zure you can do the zame for me." Her tone softens, as does her grip. She listens to Slo-Mo's breath rattle and waver in his chest as his tears slowed down.
"And while that may be the caze... Perhapz it would be beneficial to create a lizt anywayz." She says with a small grin, a smile tugging on Slo-Mo's cheeks. "You volunteer for almost all of my experimentz, you carry me when I'm too weak to ztand, zpeak on my behalf when I'm too tired to, get into fightz to defend my honor, remind me to eat, indulge in my unrealiztic Deadfazt fantaziez..." That one got a chuckle out of him. "And more. Many, many more. In my opinion, ztatiztically that makez you more than good enough for me. Wouldn't you concur?" She murmurs, moving her hands from his collar to his jawline.
He smiles, a content rattle snaking through his breath as he relaxes into her touch. He chuckles to himself a bit and sits for a minute to absorb what she said before he looks into her eyes. "Whhhho am I t' doubt whhhether th' ssssmartest ghoul in th' world is right 'bout me 'r not?" He rumbles, his voice sweet and thick like syrup. "Thhhank you..." He closes his eyes and fully rests his head in her tiny hands.
Ghoulia smiles and plays with his dark navy hair. "You zaid that earlier... What do you have to thank me for?" She asks, eager to finally receive an explanation.
Slo-Mo gives her a lazy shrug. "I'unno. For makin' me ffffeel betterrrr... For likin' me this way, mess 'n all... For bein' just a lil' foolish t' 'gnore science. Jus'..." He trails off, blush deepening and unable to fight off a flustered grin. "For bein' here. W'me." He pulls her in close, and rests his head on hers once again. He stays silent for a moment or two before continuing. "Uhhhh, it gets hhhard, y'know. It gets... Rrreal hard, some days. Y'know, t' wake up. Get movin'. Look at m'self... Y'know?"
Ghoulia nods, snuggling into his embrace.
"But I'm jus' glad you're here. Makes thhhose hard days jus' a lil' lessuva battle. Makes 'v'rythin' hurt a jus' lil' less. And I s'pose I got that to thhhhank you for too." He murmurs, Ghoulia savoring the feeling of his voice vibrating his ribcage. He turns his head just a little to kiss the top of her head before nuzzling it. "I love you, Lee." He purrs.
Ghoulia relaxes with a content smile. Finally she'd gotten her answers. Finally she could help him. Finally he was cuddling with her like normal. "I love you too, Sloman. Never change..." She trails, closing her eyes and listening to his heart beat slowly in his chest as the sun went down.