It had been an unusually tame week in Seattle, leaving the SPD morgue about as lifeless as the few corpses kept cold there. Strolling in, you set your coat down on a nearby chair before quietly creeping up behind a man you'd gotten to know well enough with to startle.
"Got you!" you declare triumphantly as Ravi Chakrabarti jumps at your touch on his shoulder.
"Another busy day going out of your way to harass hard-working medical professionals, I take it?" he asks you, feigned irritation in the undertones of his East London accent.
"Yup!" you reply cheerily, "One down, one to go."
"I believe your second victim is rummaging around the supply closet somewhere," Ravi said, a mischievous grin on his face as he watched you quietly turn the corner.
It was your turn to be startled as the supply closet door swung open, revealing the exceptionally pale, blonde woman you had been seeing for about a week now. Olivia Moore had saved you from a close encounter with a zombie and the two of you had gotten close in the process - as close as a human and a zombie can get without becoming two zombies, anyway. The way she was looking at you today was different: the hunger that you usually saw deep in her eyes as she scanned your body - that definitely-too-sexual-for-work longing glance - seemed to instead have been replaced with the genuinely ravenous stare of an apex predator.
"Babe, you look like you haven't slept!" you exclaim, surprised to see dark circles around her eyes. Then, upon seeing her shoulder, you began to panic, "Is that a bullet wound? Wait, when's the last time you've... eaten?" your voice gets softer as she walks past you. Despite not having been together long, the two of you had already had your share of arguments about the realities of her investigative work. You had honestly expected more of a fight.
"Rough night helping Clive. I'm handling it," Liv grunts, setting out the medical supplies she had taken from the supply closet and missing the questioning look you gave Ravi, whose eyes seemed to plead you to change the subject.
"It's just... the detective work you do is so dangerous," you continue, ignoring the doctor's animated grimace, "I know you want to help people, but you're already a medical examiner, right? So do you really need to keep putting yourself at risk doing this detective thing?" You look over at Ravi to back you up, but he stands up suddenly.
"I'll just go update Clive on our progress, then. Be right back," and with that he ducks out, looking for all the world like he couldn't exit the morgue fast enough.
"Babe, I worry about something happening to you all the time-" you start before Liv interrupts you.
"You don't have to worry about me dying," she said bluntly, "I'm already dead."
Liv keeps her eyes on the supplies as she keeps talking, "Just a shambling zombie dealing with a slow week at the morgue. If I've learned anything working here, it's that the people of Seattle don't usually stop murdering each other for very long."
"Liv, I care about you. How am I supposed to not worry when you're putting yourself in danger all the time?" you put your hand on her shoulder, wishing she would turn around and look at you - only to regret it. Her head whips around, eyes turning red before letting out a growl and putting her hand around your throat.
"Shut. Up." she spat, pinning you down onto one of the empty exam tables. Knowing her nails were one small movement away from taking your humanity, you kept yourself as still as possible and your breath as shallow as you could manage under her grip.
"Say another word and I won't have to wait for a murder to get my next meal," she snarled, inches away from your face. Your own heartbeat pounded loudly in your ears and you had a moment when you were sure you were about to pass out - then, Liv's eyes shifted just as quickly back to their usual muted shades and she let go of you. Gasping to get enough air again, you clutch your chest before feeling your neck for scratches. Thankfully, you seem unscathed. Looking up, you notice Liv is smiling now and decide not to say anything that might change that.
