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It was cold. Zombie decided he hated the winter. Being hot sucked, but being cold…. Sucked way more!!! He shivered under the layers and layers. He wished Shiro was there. He hated how Shiro wasn't there. He understood just fine that Shiro couldn't be with him all the time, and that Shiro had to work to get them food, and that he couldn't come along because he'd probably be discovered and then he and Shiro both would be filled with lead instead. He got that just fine.
But man. He missed Shiro. He wanted to hang out with him. He wanted to see his face and get really close to him and talk to him. Shiro was warm, and he liked him. He'd never been so frigid in his whole undead life. To be fair, he hadn't experienced winter yet, but still.
He tried hugging the cloth over his body more. It didn't particularly help, but he didn't stop, anyways. It was hard to contain his body heat when he barely had any to begin with. It was like what Shiro had said—his circulation was poor on account of being a zombie, and thus it was much easier to be super cold. Conserving body heat within blankets didn't do as much if there wasn't as much body heat to conserve in the first place.
Zombie rolled around, teeth chattering. I want Shiro back already. Seriously, what's even the point of me being here if I just stay locked in here all the damn time? He knew, logically, Shiro didn't want him to stay concealed forever. He knew that. He knew Shiro wanted him, and himself, safe. He knew, and he honestly didn't really care at this point.
He was cold and bored and pissed the hell off. What did Shiro expect? Keeping him locked up like a caged animal only made him more desperate and crazy. Was he ever going to leave? Ugh. If he really thought about it, Zombie knew how illogical and stupid he was being. But currently, he was content to stew in his own bitterness. It wasn't like he had anything better to do than stay curled in a ball and get more and more resentful.
Just as Zombie let out another dramatic sigh, he heard the cardboard entrance being moved, and Shiro's voice accompanying it.
"Hey," Shiro whispered, and with that single word, Zombie was at attention. No matter how mad he was at him, he was pretty crazy about Shiro. He peeked out from under the blankets.
"Shiro!" It was a little earlier than usual. Zombie was a little happy about that. It was probably obvious in his voice. At least Shiro wouldn't realize how bitter he was. Zombie saw Shiro's soft smile.
"I got a lot of stuff in today, so I came back a bit early," Shiro said as he crawled in. He settled next to Zombie, grabbing a blanket. "Also, it's… Really cold today."
"I got a little worried about you..." Shiro muttered under his breath. "I don't know how badly you'll react to the cold." He continued in his regular voice. He glanced at Zombie's nest. "…From what it looks like so far, it's not great." Shiro grimaced.
"…I'm really cold." Zombie replied, teeth clattering as if to prove his point. Shiro crossed his arms. "…I guess we need more blankets, then." He sighed. "It hasn't even snowed yet…. We'll need to go on the hunt for winter gear."
At that statement, Shiro chuckled to himself.
"What's so funny?" Zombie pouted. Shiro waved him off. "Nothing. Just imagining you in winter stuff… " He laughed to himself some more. "Like, a beanie, one of those puffy coats…" Shiro snorted.
"…It can't be that funny."
"It's not. But I'd like to see it."
"You're mean."
"It's a funny image."
"You just said it's not funny."
"It's not that funny."
Zombie pouted. "I see how it is." He tried to not let any of his genuine resentment seep through. They were joking around. There was no need to ruin it with his stupid feelings. "You just want me to freeze to death, and so you're laughing at me keeping myself warm…"
"Well, I don't think I'd be going through all this effort if I wanted you to die, hm?"
Zombie shook his head. "Nope. I'm right."
"I certainly do not want you to freeze to death. How would I even dispose of a frozen zombie..?"
"Then prove it." Zombie regretted it as soon as the words left his mouth. Maybe it was because of his brewing anger that it came out. Maybe he was just gay. Regardless, Shiro raised an eyebrow.
"…And how would I do that?" Shiro questioned. Zombie figured he might as well as commit to it. He could play it off as a joke if it went wrong. Probably. Maybe…. Worth a shot, right?
"Warm me up, right now." Zombie responded. He flushed when he said it. He was glad he was hidden under the covers to hide the red hue his face had taken on. He didn't notice the slight heat that radiated off of Shiro's own face. He regretted his own words.
"…" Shiro didn't say anything, but he slowly scooted underneath the blankets with Zombie. Zombie's face went bright red.
"Wh-wha-??!" Zombie spluttered, and Shiro avoided eye contact. "…You told me to warm you up. The easiest way to do that immediately is with my own body heat. Obviously." Zombie felt his brain melting. He couldn't come up with a proper comeback. Maybe he was turning into a "real" zombie.
"I- I, um…"
"…If it's making you uncomfortable, I can l-"
Zombie interrupted him without even thinking about it.
"No! I- I mean, uh…. I'm not uncomfortable." He refused to look at Shiro's face. Mostly because if he did, Shiro would see how red Zombie really was. "It's… I appreciate it. Thanks. You're… Totally proving it."
"…You're welcome."
Zombie almost exploded when Shiro wrapped his arms around him. "Is this… Fine?" Zombie's mind had pretty much entirely forgotten any bitterness or resentment he had been holding. It all was pushed out by his mind repeating SHIRO SHIRO SHIRO over and over again.
"Y-yeah." Zombie was trying his very best to be nonchalant. He wasn't sure how well it was working. Regardless, he wrapped his arms around Shiro in turn. The two of them cuddled. Shiro, seemingly without really thinking about it, nuzzled into Zombie's chest.
Zombie essentially exploded once again. He couldn't help it. It was definitely warming him up, at least. He put his clawed hand in Shiro's hair. For a moment, he just rested it there. It really wasn't that soft, probably on account of the fact that they were in the apocalypse and things like conditioner weren't really top priority.
Regardless, it was nice. Zombie liked threading his fingers through the strands of Shiro's hair, and Shiro didn't seem to mind. In fact, he seemed to be leaning into it, which only endeared Zombie to him further.
After a little while, they'd settled into complete silence. And after a little while longer, Zombie felt Shiro's breaths steady as he fell asleep, curled up with Zombie. Zombie only gripped him tighter. He never wanted to let Shiro go. He never wanted to let Shiro be with anybody else, or really to let anybody else even see Shiro.
…He knew that was ridiculous and stupid. Still, he let himself indulge in the fantasy for a little while. For just this moment, Zombie was probably more happy than he'd ever been in his entire life, and he only wanted to have more moments like this with Shiro, even if it was the apocalypse and both of them were constantly at risk at being discovered and subsequently dying.
Zombie loved Shiro, totally and completely. He just wanted him totally and completely to himself. And for this brief period of time, he could pretend like he did.