(iZombie)

[ClosetSneezer]

This could be set any time in Season 1, so some small spoilers. Light on sneezing for now.

If you haven't seen the show, here's a brief description of the two characters in this fic.

Liv: Zombie. Very pale skin, white hair. Works in a morgue (as a way to obtain brains to eat) with Ravi.

Ravi: Trying to find a cure for "Zombie-ism". Presumably of Indian descent. He has black hair and facial hair. British accent.

Note: Zombies can infect others by scratching them. They also develop certain personality traits of the person whose brain they've eaten. That lasts until they eat a new brain.

Liv woke up to her phone ringing from her nightstand. She groaned and tried to bury her face in her pillow, but the phone continued to ring. It had stopped, though, by the time she actually sat up and retrieved the device. She checked her voicemail and found two delightfully British messages from Ravi.

“Liv, hey, it’s Ravi. You’re not at work… but, uh, I guess you know that already. Anyway, give me a call back if you’re stuck in traffic or something. Bye.”

“Liv! If you’re in trouble, don’t worry! I’m on my way over!”

Liv looked at her clock. It was nearly noon. She was definitely late for work. She never overslept and wondered for a moment if she was hungover. No, she hadn’t had anything to drink the night before. Her thoughts paused. Something was off. Her breathing increased involuntarily and her eyes narrowed. She drew one deep breath in and - *heh-ekchuu*. She sneezed uncovered in the general direction of the floor. She sniffed and realized her nose was a dam about to burst, so she went on a hurried quest for tissues. She made her way to the living room where she spotted the box of Kleenex she kept on the coffee table. She had just blown her nose and thrown the tissue in the trash can when there was a pounding on her door. Liv walked over and as soon as she opened the door Ravi jumped inside wielding a giant flashlight. His eyes jumped around the apartment before finally landing on Liv. He took in her disheveled appearance before speaking.

“Yooou’re sick… ah, okay. That does seem more likely than you needing a rescue now that I think about it.” Ravi said, lowering his flashlight.

“What were you going to do with that thing anyway?” Liv asked.

“Well, you see, I was going to shine the light in their eyes and disorient them before hitting them upside the head with it.” Ravi explained, closing the door behind him.

Liv just nodded. She was walking back to the living room with Ravi when the room began shifting. Up was down and down was sideways and she felt herself start to fall.

“Oh, no you don’t-” Ravi put his arm around her waist and held her as close to upright as he could while leading her to the couch. He set a black bag on the floor and rummaged around in it.

“You brought your doctor bag?” Liv asked.

“I thought you were in trouble so I just threw whatever I thought I might need in here. I’m glad I brought it though. You need doctoring.” He retrieved a notepad and pen. “Symptoms. Any sneezing?”

“Yes.”

“Coughing?”

“No.”

“Headache?”

“Yes.”

“Interesting. Very interesting. You may very well have the first zombie cold. I wonder how-”

“Ravi.” Liv interrupted his musings. Her brain felt like it was about to explode and the edges of her vision were going black. “I don’t …”

Then everything went black.

Ravi was tapping her shoulder and shouting her name.

“Yeah. Yeah, what happened?” she rubbed at her forehead. Everything hurt.

“You fainted. Fifty-five seconds. You had me worried. If it were anyone else, I’d probably take them to the hospital.”

“Sorry. I’ll try not to do that anymore.” Liv said and looked up at Ravi. His expression changed from concerned to alarmed.

“Liv, easy. It’s fine. It’s alright.” His words were measured and unnaturally calm.

“What’s wrong? You’re the one who’s freaking out here.”

“You’re still you. But your eyes have changed. You’ve got Full-On Zombie Mode eyes.” Ravi was much calmer now and began writing on his notepad.

“I feel the same. I mean I feel awful, but not that feral monster-y way Full-On Zombie Mode usually makes me feel. It’s more like Zombie Stand-By Mode. This has never happened to me. I don’t know why I… I…” Liv cupped both hands over her nose. *hetchoo…ehchoo*

“Bless you, darling.” Ravi said, and Liv shot him a look. Then his eyes widened. “That’s it! Zombie Stand-By must be a reaction to you being ill. You’re weak, so your zombie instincts are saying to be on the alert.”

“You should be careful then. I don’t know how this works and I’d hate to scratch you if you trigger Full-On Zombie Mode. Also, could you toss me that blanket, please?”

Ravi handed Liv the extra blanket folded on the arm of the couch and gave her a sympathetic look. “I should take your temperature later.”

*More to come. This just happened to be where I stopped last night and I wanted to post right away. Plot suggestions are welcome.*

[Rook]

OMG YAAAAASSSSS