Zombie's are too much like wolves for Liv's liking. She's not sure if she's ready for such a commitment, but at least she's not behaving like a wild animal.
X
Their story starts in the woods, under a tree laced with a little something else. A dead body to be specific. Not that Liv was making fun of it or anything- she really wasn't. Ravi was just being his usual joking self and just- oh God. Best not to think about it.
The first meeting was nothing spectacular, but at the same time it was indescribably perfect. A quick glance across battered brush and trampled twigs. His cerulean orbs stood out from the green surroundings not only because of their breathtaking kind of beauty, but because they were depths that held too much. Liv was spooked but intrigued. There was something different about the way he stared at her. Ever since she'd become a zombie, some looked at her with confusion- how was she so pale? Despite their constant lack of sun, Olivia was still far more alabaster than anyone else. Anyone living, at least.
Except this man, this admittedly stunning man was staring at her like she was perhaps a long lost friend, although Liv was sure she had never seen him before.
That wasn't it though. When their gaze met something stirred in Liv, and for a moment she panicked because this was quite alike to the feeling she got when she entered 'full-on-zombie-mode'. The feeling peeked though, and it continued to swirl through her blood in a distracting dance.
He was special.
If only she knew how special.
X
Liv's gut hadn't truly settled throughout the day. It's odd buzzing was thrumming at the back of her mind at all times. No matter how distracted she became, or how intensely she focused on the case there was still that annoying change to her blood. Perhaps she hadn't eaten enough. She scoffed, there was no way she was eating anymore of her friends brain. Besides, she knew what zombie-hunger felt like. It was all-consuming and downright terrifying. This was just… warm. Kind of like waking up in a bundle of blankets on a winter's morning. It was- dare she say- nice. Demanding, but nice.
The feeling was practically alive. It hungered for something, but Liv had no idea what.
Maybe it has to do with that man, Liv considered. He had seemed to be the trigger of her feelings. Liv walked into the interrogation room somewhat uneasy. Her stomach was practically doing cartwheels, and Liv was very concerned she might throw up. Her nose twitched at a smell. It was something deep and delicious. Liv frowned and sniffed again, trying to get a lock on the scent. Her sniffing brought her inside the interrogation room, where she was immediately stunned by a mix of spice and lavender. Liv couldn't help but be reminded of hot sauce.
The feeling in her veins intensified tenfold, and she clutched her bag as though to hold herself back. "You," Lowell breathed. The door shut behind her, the sound jarring when it closed too quickly.
"Sorry I'm late," Liv apologised. His eyes. His fucking eyes were so intense and each breath she took stoked the fire burning in her blood. She felt her skin tingle and it was almost like gravity was pulling her closer to the man.
To Lowell Tracy.
And fuck if he wasn't staring at her and watching her every move.
"This is Olivia Moore. She's the M.E on Holly's case."
Clive's words floated over Liv's head. She was too busy trying to figure out what the hell was going on with her body right now. It was too warm, and she wished she wasn't wearing her coat.
"'Liv Moore.' huh? So…" Liv felt shivers run through her spine as he spoke. His voice made her knees wobble, his accent only adding to his unusual charm. What on earth was he doing to her? "Do you?"
She sucked in a sharp breath and ignored him. Liv had to focus, she'd deal with what was wrong when the case was solved. "Are we ready?"
"Mr. Tracy, tell me about this Max Rager skydiving group."
Throughout the interrogation Liv kept looking over Lowell's face. His tousled chocolate hair and outrageously perfect features. Lips Liv found herself wanting to kiss, arms she wanted wrapped around her. God, she had to calm down before she jumped the guy.
She just wished he'd stop glancing at her.
"What happened up in that plane?" Liv interrupted both the conversation and her thoughts. "Why did you jump last? And why couldn't they find you when you landed?"
His stare lasted too long. Too long. Liv get yourself together.
Clive took reign of the conversation again. Lowell's answers were considered and careful. Despite his suspicious demeanor, Liv knew she trusted him. Instantly she knew she would trust him with her life. Well, her undead life…
Which was weird. She'd never really trusted anyone, let alone a murder suspect.
Liv channeled her inner bad-cop. She had to distance herself, if that was possible. It wasn't like this was her first case. She had options. She could act, right?
Clive left the room, and she quickly slid into the seat to take his place. "Why were you miserable at Carson's party the night before the jump? Were you and Holly sleeping together?"
He leaned back and considered Liv's words. Liv felt her heart- for the first time in a long time. It was beating hard in her chest, no faster but noticeable either way. Suddenly Lowell leaned forward, a smirk growing on his face. "Let's talk about you."
Liv felt her toes curl when she noticed how close he was. She kept her game face on though, and rolled her eyes. "Ah! How about this-"
"Answer my question," Liv cut him off.
"I'll answer a question if you answer a question." Was he teasing her? He was teasing her.
"Whatever." Liv relented as she wound her fingers together to keep herself from reaching out and smoothing her thumb over his cheek. "Fine."
"I was miserable because Carson's parties blow, and no, I was not sleeping with Holly. She was just my favorite person to hand with at Max Rager events. She was… Genuine… And smart." Screw the way his voice dropped at those last few ways, and the way Lowell stared into Liv's eyes like he knew every intricate detail about her already. Liv risked a short breath, and the heavenly smell was so stunning- Holy shit, was the smell coming from Lowell? "Unlike the rest of those guys."
Liv felt as if her whole world was crashing in around her, and all that mattered at the moment was how this daredevil of a man was looking at her. For the first time in a long time her chest felt light and she could've sworn she was almost… charmed.
Which really freaked her out because, hello, Major.
Except Major had never made her feel like this.
"No it's my turn," Lowell's sudden change of tone snapped Liv to attention. "Do you have a boyfriend?" Lowell asked through his lashes.
Liv felt her eyes bug out and she quickly went to ask Lowell what the frick he was smoking when the door opened. Lowell turned almost instantly losing his lovey dove eyes. He brought his hand up to brush against his chin and Liv worried her ovaries were going to explode.
When it was revealed about the lost cameras footage, Liv suddenly felt like a lovestruck idiot. Of course he was the killer, everything about the case lead straight to him. Then Lowell caught her gaze again and looked completely shocked, like he didn't know, and Liv tilted her head ever so slight. Doubt. There was doubt in her gut again.
Lowell wasn't the killer, Liv knew it. She knew it like she knew the alphabet. It was instinctual, and she suddenly felt a protective wave surge through her bones. Clive was tense by her side though, and Liv realized that for now she had to trust the detective's decisions. At least until her zombieness calmed the heck down.
X
The whole conversation with Major had been a blast. First it was the normal butterfly jitters one gets when they see their ex, but the weird zombie-mood she'd been in still hadn't dissipated. When she got near Major it was like somebody had tasered her. She was frozen in place, feeling phantom pain lace through her body. Wrong! Her mind screamed at her. It had taken everything to get herself in check, to actually start moving again.
When she saw Major, she no longer felt the ache in herself. It was there, yes, but mostly it was replaced by the wrong, wrong, wrong sounding like a gong in the back of her mind. Thankfully the strange encounter didn't last for long, although her mood didn't improve much. It was hard to be reminded of how she'd treated Holly, but Liv was glad how she'd managed to live her life.
Her sleuthing skills weren't amazing, but somehow her messy searching revealed the prescription pads. Liv was mighty glad for the new lead in the case.
She stood straight suddenly, nose itching at a familiar smell and consequently the feeling in her gut came back full force. Liv had just enough time to think, oh fuck, when an amused voice broke through her panic.
"Well, well, well."
Liv quickly put away the notepad and slid the door shut. "I uh.. I was..." When she turned around, she was unsurprisingly greeted by the curious Lowell. The sight of him sparked something white hot under the surface of her skin. "Bathroom?"
Goodness, if he wasn't even more gorgeous that night. "Yeah it's down there somewhere, have another look." Liv pursed her lips, embarrassed. Lowell only smirked though, and nodded to the corridor. "Join me for a drink."
Liv searched for a reason to disagree. It wasn't like she wanted to spend anymore time with a possible killer that made her feel like her ovaries were going to explode. It was just her luck no apparent excuse came.
So she followed him, making sure to leave enough space so his intoxicating scent wouldn't enrapture her again. It was so incredibly frustrating. She'd hardly been affected like this for so long, and now this stupid musician had to come along and endanger everything she'd worked so hard to keep safe. Relationships were a no go, especially ones with suspects.
"I heard that Holly was drugged before the jump." Liv looked up suddenly, not noticing her gaze had lowered to the ground. Lowell was standing so close to her that she could feel his body heat. He had her cornered against the wall by the bar, light switch digging into her back, and Liv felt her jaw drop. "I also heard that you were friends in college."
His breath washes over Liv, and her eyes flutter shut for a moment against her own accord. She squeezed her thighs tighter and locked her knees. To give her strength, she clenched her fists at her side. Remember, you have zombie strength and really heels. "You know, I feel someone should inform the Mu Thetas, that streaking and sleeping around is model behavior according to every American college movie ever."
Did Lowell not realize how close they were? Liv double checked her ass wouldn't land on the floor before dropping into the chair, just to give herself some space. His smell was all over her now, mesmerizing lavender and spice heady on her dress. "So how'd you vote? Yay or nay?"
After admitting her sorry story to Lowell, Liv wasn't really expecting him to be so caring or genuine. She only told him because it had been on her mind. Her guilt for what had happened with Holly in college, and then her recent death… Lowell looked at her with honest eyes and said, "Couldn't have been easy for you, doing an autopsy on her. I'm sorry you had to see her like that."
Liv swallowed. "Me too."
It was nice, she had to admit. It wasn't like she didn't talk to anyone anymore, but she'd always been so nervous that she'd say something wrong. Sure, she had Ravi, but he wasn't always the best person to talk to. Of course Liv was still considering almost every world with Lowell, but the strangely warm and comforting feeling settled in her was making it dangerously easy to talk to him. Maybe his charm was working too well on her.
They discuss the case for a bit, and Liv wonders whether Lowell feels the same way. He's telling her things and explaining secrets that she doubts he'd tell anyone else. Then he admitted, brownie points, who'd ever want brownie points with a morition? "You think telling me all this will make you look less guilty?"
"I think telling you all this gets me a better shot at a date."
Liv staggered and turned before Lowell could see her reaction, see how badly she wanted a relationship, with him of all people. "Why did Ren think you were to blame? They all said that you'd been acting weird, that you'd changed."
"Well, I have changed. Quite dramatically, as a matter of fact." He sticked peppers on their glasses, and Liv wondered what on earth kind of bartending this was. Maybe she suddenly had a thing for bartenders now though, because she couldn't help but think he was sexy as hell when he plunked in those straws and licked excess drink from his fingertips. "Had to completely reassess my life. You know what it's like."
He handed her a glass, and Liv took a sip. She felt his gaze on her as she swallowed, and looked up with a surprised expression. "This is hot," she worded oh-so sophisticatedly.
"Perks of dating a zombie." Lowell's admission was quickly followed by a clink of glass.
"Cheers."
X
Finding out about Lowell's… condition, was like opening a case of belgium chocolates- it was good. More than good in fact. Liv's fluttering feeling in her stomach had exploded and sent tingles all through her body. His smell had suddenly heightened ten fold and somehow managed to smell even better. She'd barely made it out of that situation with her panties still on.
Luckily Lowell did not press for anything at that moment, simply explained the truth behind what happened on the plane. Liv had to admit she was somewhat relieved that her faith in him was well placed. She truly doubted now that he could be behind Holly's death.
Liv was pretty much walking on sunshine.
It had only been made better when Lowell visited her at the morgue.
"Uh, I think you've got company."
Liv could barely contain her excitement to see Lowell there. It seemed to often he was leaning against a doorframe, but it didn't matter because he was friggin smiling at her. He knocked on the wood when she glanced at him, and she flicked her gaze back to Ravi. "It's him," she whispered.
"Ooh," Ravi drawled teasingly.
"Shut up or I'll eat you." Liv didn't bother to check if Ravi was gone or not. Lowell smelled so damn lovely even from all the way by the slabs, and she wanted nothing more than to melt into his arms. "Hey!'
"Hey," Lowell returned her greeting through a laugh. He had an almost dopey smile on his face, and Liv had to hide her own smile- which was probably just as dopey. She looked at her hands as she pulled her gloves off. "Wow." Lowell gestured at the autopsy going on behind her.
"Nothing like a guy seeing you with a handful of spleen." Liv joked and started walking forward. She felt like a schoolgirl, and the buzzing warmth spreading through her wasn't much help.
Lowell laughed a little and stepped down to her level, pulling out a gift from behind his back. Liv was surprised, she hadn't expected him to really follow through on the whole dating thing so thoroughly. Should have I gotten him a gift? She worried. "Uh, I hope you don't mind, I wanted to bring you something."
Liv carefully slid the box open, and almost melted into a puddle of sappiness when the bottle of extra hot hot-sauce was revealed. She felt extremely lucky that her now-zombie-boyfriend was such a kind and amusing… chap (hehe). "Made with the world's hottest chili pepper, the Jolokia. The salesman promised me that it would burn my face off, uh, make me cry, and turn my organs into jelly. So that's something to look forward to."
She felt her whole face crinkle from her grin as she carefully placed the gift down. "Thank you."
"So here's the speech. The zombie thing is a bitch. Your world shrivels down to a dot. You know this, and all you think about is how to get your next meal, and keeping your secret. And no one can really know you now. Kissing, touching, sex, love, yelling at someone for stealing the blankets. Out of the question. Forever.
But then one day I see this... Beautiful woman. She's the only thing in color. Odd 'cause she's so pale. And then suddenly there's hope again."
Liv felt like her cheeks were the color of flushed tomatoes, even though she no longer had color in her skin anymore. Jesus, how was she going to handle all of his charm? "That's all I'm saying. Who knows if we'll even like each other. But I like everything I've seen so far, and, um... What have we got to lose?"
His words hit home, and Liv couldn't help but agree. What did they have to lose?
They were already dead.
Well, undead.
X
So there you go. I'll be posting more soon, let me know if there's any specific fluffy moments you want and I'll add them in.
First chap is pretty canon next chap will start with their dates 3
My livwell blog on tumblr is at welivwell, come say hi and enjoy the world of livwell
(Also as a side note I will mention I'm going to be spelling it 'Lowell Tracy' as it's what Wikipedia and IMDB lists it as. Hopefully they don't change their mind.)