3. So Unimportant!

O ctavius smiled and snuggled closer to his zombie bun, as another episode of Mallard Mysteries ended. Looking up, he couldn’t help but sigh happily as he stared at the man he loved.

With an oval face and aquiline nose, the man had very pale skin, a square, hairless jaw and plush lips. Though the hairless part was more a zombie thing than a shaving thing, as the only hair on the man’s entire body was the brown hair on his head. Which Turney had recently trimmed, though it was currently messy from him having slept on it.

Ahh, his bun bun was so cute!

“So…” Octavius started slowly.

“So?” Turney asked, eyes now on him.

“I was thinking…that we should…”

“Should…?”

“Go on vacation!” he announced grandly.

“Vacation?” Turney frowned, before suddenly letting out a jaw-cracking yawn.

“Yes! A week-long getaway vacation, starting on Monday, with you, me, Scarlett, Min-ji, and Theo!”

“Monday?” the man gasped. “Octavius, that’s three days from now. A bit short notice, don’t you think? Can one even plan a vacation in that short a time? Also, what about Cormac and Henry?”

“Well, they can’t go, as they have a case,” he stated, hoping Turney wouldn’t ask anymore questions.

The zombie’s gaze narrowed. “You mean, we have a case, but you are pushing it off on to them ? Why not wait until this case is done and then go?”

“That won’t work. Waiting would make the purpose of going moot.”

Also…the case was not one they could do. It would require Cormac’s specific special skills. Well, it would involve a lot of computer stuff, and typing, based on what the semi friend-ish client had told him, and he certainly wasn’t doing any of that—because…boring.

Turney frowned in confusion…possibly… “What do you mean?”

Octavius supposed he should have known that he wouldn’t be able to avoid answering his questions. He sighed, and explained the main reason why they couldn’t delay. “Godric.”

“Ah…”

‘Ah’ really was all that could be said at this point. The deadline for Godric to return was rapidly approaching. And if the zombie didn’t return to himself by next Friday…the likelihood of him ever regaining consciousness would drop to one percent. While they could still wait beyond that point, the fact was…come Friday, it will be exactly three months from when they started the regeneration. A week was all that was left of his dwindling hope of ever getting his friend back…

“Scarlett…” Turney said softly. “Probably won’t agree to go…”

“She…will agree. I’m almost certain, I can convince her… Because staying here would be…” Octavius' heart clenched in pain.

He didn’t want to think about it. Frankly, he tried to actively not think about it. If he had to think about Godric at all…he just focused on the happy memories.

Octavius swallowed hard. “It’s better to be distracted, than sit here counting the hours.”

“You…you don’t think he will come back, do you?”

He met the male’s gaze, and found the zombie’s hazel-green eyes were sad. “I… We started the process as quickly as we could… But…the circumstances had already made it a long shot. At this point…” He trailed off, stopping to push back the tears he felt forming.

He didn’t want to cry right now. He’d cry for Godric when the time came…but now…he just couldn’t.

Turney pulled him closer, and Octavius closed his eyes briefly as the zombie pressed a kiss to his forehead and wrapped his arms around him. He clung to him, taking a deep breath in and out when Turney rested his head on his shoulder. Octavius used the man’s familiar cool cookie dough scent to calm himself.

“I’m sorry for your friend, Octavius,” the zombie said, before sighing and adding, “But Scarlett…is still going to be hard to move on this issue…”

Turney wasn’t wrong. Scarlett would likely be difficult to convince. Yet…it wasn’t like it was a battle he hadn’t faced before. He’d gotten the woman to reluctantly agree to numerous past plans—some very questionable plans, at that. Frankly, for one of his plans, this was rather tame.

Octavius pursed his lips as he thought over the options. “We will get her there, one way or another, even if our method ends up being unsavory.”

Turney lifted his head up with a snort. “Don’t tell me you are thinking of kidnapping her? Really, Octavius? Though, I suppose, it can’t go as badly as the first time you kidnapped someone… No…scratch that. It could go worse, as it is Scarlett, and she’s a ridiculously strong zombie.”

Octavius cocked his head to the side with a frown. When did he tell Turney about his past kidnappings? Though…his boyfriend wasn’t wrong… Kidnapping was the backup plan…

The zombie stared at him, his brow slowly pinching. Turney looked oddly confused, which, honestly, made Octavius feel even more confused by the whole thing.

Face scrunched now, the zombie huffed, “Why do you look so confused?!”

“Why…do… you look so confused?” Octavius asked slowly, before blurting, “When did I ever kidnap anyone?!”

Well, kidnapped and told you about it , he thought.

Turney oddly let out a laugh of disbelief. “Wow, that male witch was lucky you remembered him at all, and managed to free him before he died.”

He blinked. Witch? Male witch… What male witch…?

A vague image of a witch popping from a barrel flashed to the forefront of his mind. He gasped. “Ah! Right…him. Well, I mean, how can you expect me to remember something and someone so unimportant?!”

Octavius wrinkled his nose. To be honest, the male’s face was a bit of a blur, even with him trying to think about him. But how could he be faulted for that?! It wasn’t as if the witch was a nice person worth remembering!

“One would think kidnapping someone and stuffing them in a barrel would be memorable,” Turney said slowly.

A fair assessment, if he had been the one to do it, however… “I didn’t do the actual stuffing, I only freed him! So really, it wasn’t even just me who forgot!”

The zombie stared blankly, before sighing and saying, “Right… That’s comforting.”

“It is, because I am not at fault!” he hummed happily. “Now, on to the next episode!”

“Octavius, it’s 9am. We—” Turney yawned. “—should sleep.”

“No!” he cried. “No sleep! Ducktective, Ducktective, Ducktective!”

His boyfriend sighed and sleepily mumbled, “One more episode, then bed.”

“Two—No! Three!”

“One,” the zombie said firmly.

“Two?” Octavius asked, as cutely as he possibly could. He grabbed onto the man’s arm and shook him. “Just two little episodes?” He fluttered his lashes, letting out a cute whine as he begged.

The zombie groaned. “I spoil you.”

“YAY!” He giggled and started the next episode.

And if…two little episodes just happened to become five…so be it—hehe!