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“Rosco, where are you? Dinner’s ready,” Zander called out for the goofball zombie boy, but received no response. Confused, he searched around the house to try and locate him. He checked his room, the game room, and even the kitchen, but no zombie was to be found. After checking all of his usual hang out places, Zander eventually spotted the usually rowdy and energetic zombie sleeping soundly on their living room couch. Zander sighed as he looked at his resting state.
He gets tired so easily, he thought to himself as he placed his hand on Rosco’s head, ruffling the pink mess of hair atop it. Unfortunately for Rosco, being a zombie meant that his body didn’t work as well as normal, living people. It took a lot more energy for him to actually function, which resulted in him being tired a lot. When he wasn’t streaming, he was either snoring his afterlife away or eating anything he could find in the fridge. None of the boys blamed him for it, though. They all had their little quirks and they still managed to live together with no problems, none that couldn’t be quickly solved anyway. Zander still felt bad for him though, it surely must’ve been difficult to feel so groggy and low on energy all of the time.
Falling asleep on the couch again? That can’t be good for your back, Rosco. He contemplated whether or not he should wake the zombie from his slumber, or just pick him up and carry him to his bed. On one hand, he might be grumpy from being woken up, but on the other, he might be upset from being carried without permission.
Zander was drawn away from his thoughts by the sound of Rosco rustling against the couch cushions. Rosco groaned and curled into himself a bit while still fast asleep. His face scrunched up a little and he was muttering something under his breath, but it was too quiet to make out any words. His body started to jerk slightly and his movements seemed desperate, as if he were trying to get away from something in his sleep.
Must be having another nightmare, poor thing. Zander sat down next to Rosco on the couch and began to gently shake him awake. Rosco stubbornly clung onto his sleep.
“Rosco, wake up,” he spoke in a gentle voice, still nudging the sleeping zombie, “You’re having another nightmare, darling.”
After a few moments of the zombie fighting it, Rosco finally woke up, yawning as he stretched out his body. He rubbed his eyes, still tired and trying to regain his vision.
“Zanny?” he yawned, blinking a few times, “What’s up?”
Zander put on a reassuring smile as he ran his fingers through Rosco’s hair, “You seemed a little restless in your sleep. Were you having a bad dream?”
Rosco sighed as he sat up on the couch and looked at Zanny, his eyes still half-closed, "Yeah, I was having a pretty bad dream."
“Care to talk about it?”
“It was … It was about you guys, Rosco closed his eyes and let out a deep breath, “Something bad happened and I couldn’t do anything to save you. I was so … useless, I couldn’t —”
“Hey now, hey, it’s okay,” Zanny took Rosco’s hands in his own and gave them a gentle squeeze, “You just had a nightmare, it’s alright. Nobody’s hurt, okay?”
“I know, it’s just … What if something really does happen? What if something happens to you guys and I can’t do anything about it?” Rosco began to frown and look down at his lap, “I’m not strong, I don’t have any powers, I’m just … here.”
“You don’t need to have powers to protect us, and you’re strong in your own way, Rosco,” Zander looked at him with sincerity in his eyes, “You’re smart, witty, and you can come up with plans on the fly.”
“What good is a plan if I can’t execute it?”
“You don’t need to do it alone. We’re all here for eachother, we can protect each other,” Zanny gently grabbed Rosco’s chin and tilted his head up slightly, to look him in the eye, “You’re not useless, Rosco. We need you just as much as you need us, okay? We all need each other.”
Rosco’s eyes furrowed and his lip started to slightly quiver. He threw himself into Zanders chest. Zanny frowned a bit at the sight of the zombie’s distress and wrapped his arms around him.
“I’m scared, Zanny,” he sobbed, “I don’t want to lose you guys.”
“You won’t, we’re right here for you, always.”
Zander allowed him to sob into his chest for a while, soothingly rubbing his back until he was able to calm down. Rosco pulled away with a sniffle.
“Thanks … Sorry for bothering you with that. I guess I just had to get that out of my system.”
Zander ruffled his hair again, “There’s nothing to apologize for, darling.”
“Yeah, well I probably seem super lame right now …”
“Of course not!” Zanny encouraged, “You were able to let yourself open up and express your emotions. That makes you super cool.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Rosco looked away bashfully, “I don’t know where I’d be without you guys.”
“Well luckily, you don’t have to worry about that,” Zanny grinned at him softly, “We won’t be going anywhere, so you better stay put as well.”
“Yeah, I know, I know. I’m not going anywhere either,” Rosco glanced back over to him and put on a faint smile as well.
Their moment was interrupted by the sound of Rosco’s stomach loudly gurgling. He looked down at it and then back up at Zander with a slight blush tinting his cheeks.
“I …”
“Looks like someone’s hungry,” Zanny chuckled, “Dinner’s already been prepared, let’s go eat.”
He stood up off of the couch and offered his hand out to Rosco. He begrudgingly took it after a moment of hesitation, then they both walked to the kitchen to enjoy their meal.