#look i gave you guys a prompt for comments

A/N: This is more of an interlude than a Proper Chapter to transition from leaving Christmas dinner to starting the resolution.

Neither Zed nor Addison slept well that night.  Zed was curled up on the far too small couch, legs dangling over the armrest, Puppy snuggled against his chest. Addison, though quite possibly the most comfortable she had ever been, was too distracted by worrying about the fallout from the night’s events.  Eventually, she got up and entered the living room.  Zed noticed her immediately, sitting upright and holding out the blanket for her to join him.  She snuggled in close, a tangle of limbs practically lying on top of each other, and this was how Zevon found them in the morning.

Zevon considered himself to be a pretty fly dad when it came to parenting his kids.  They had as much freedom as they wanted, with self-imposed curfews so long as they followed the law.  That said, his son was only fifteen and if he was going to be doing things with his girlfriend, Zevon would prefer if they weren’t in the living room when Zoey was around.  Or if he himself was home, for that matter.  Once Addison was gone, there was going to be a Serious Talk in the Necrodopolis home.  However, the subtle approach would do for now.  After all, it had been a while since he’d made bloodied eggs and that would definitely attract Zed’s attention. He was proven right, as Zed wandered into the kitchen, Addison still asleep on the couch.

“Morning, son,” he stirred the liquidized eggs around the saucepan.

“Za,” Zed muttered, grabbing the carton of apple-grape juice from the fridge and taking a long pull.

“How was your evening with the Wells family?”  Zevon asked casually, knowing that it had not gone as they had anticipated.  His son made a face, coming over to smell the nearly finished eggs.  Zevon internally rolled his eyes and told him to go and wake his girlfriend.

Zed ducked out of the kitchen back to the living room, where Addison was stirring.  “Morning, gorgeous,” he whispered, sitting beside her.  He watched as she blinked blearily, taking in her surroundings, and he felt his heart actually beating when her eyes settled on him and she smiled.

“Zed.”  Addison yawned, sitting upright and rotating so she was facing forward on the couch. Zed snaked his arm around her waist, leaning down to kiss her. Addison kissed him back, softly, lingering.  As tempting as it was to kiss her again, deeper, to feel the precise shape of her lips against his or the way her nervous system filled her brain with chemicals… They both started as the refrigerator door clanged shut, Zed’s little sister having come downstairs for breakfast.

“All right kids, breakfast is up,” Zevon announced, a little louder than strictly necessary.  The couple broke apart and Addison mumbled something about being decently dressed in front of his family.  She kissed Zed once more before heading into his room to grab her bra and socks.  After a short internal debate, she quickly used Zed’s toothbrush and washed her face before rejoining him in the living room.  Taking his proffered hand, they entered the kitchen together.

Breakfast was bloodied eggs with toast.  Addison, always continuing to surprise him, had an entire helping of eggs and thanked Zevon for breakfast.  Zed said nothing, merely gathering the dirty dishes and rinsing them in the sink.  His dad had perfected bloodied eggs to a science, only making them for special occasions.

“What are your plans for the day?”

When is Addison going to go home was Zevon’s real question.  Why hadn’t she been at home last night?

“Probably just hanging out.  We’re going to meet up with Bonzo and Eliza later,” Zed said vaguely, exchanging a Look with Addison.  Zevon pretended to watch disinterestedly as she joined his son at the sink, grabbing the drying towel.  Something was up between the two of them, and it would come out eventually.  It was clear to Zevon that something had happened during Addison’s family dinner, and he could only assume that it had  involved his son’s presence.  Humans still didn’t really like zombies, but Zed was still just as ready to put himself out there as he had been at the start of the year.  Zevon had even overheard his son and Eliza discussing pros and cons of running in the school’s class election.

“You kids be careful,” Zevon said finally, wishing there was some way to persuade them to confide in him.  He’d experienced a lot of zombiephobia in his lifetime, and while it had never been as personal as what he suspected had happened last night, he knew that just offering his son someone to talk to could help make a difference. Addison, too.  He pulled Zed down for a hug, putting everything he felt for his son into the embrace.

“We will, Dad.”  There was a slight hesitation in his son’s voice.

“Zed, you know that I would do anything for you.  Anything in the world.”

“Uh, yeah.  I know, Pops,” Zed was clearly starting to suspect that he was up to something.  He pulled the plug on the dishwater, playfully splashing some towards his girlfriend.  She squealed and Zevon watched as they headed out, hoping that they could resolve whatever it was that they were having issues with and knowing that whatever happened, that they would always have each other’s backs.

Notes: Soooo…. Zevon’s in his 30s/40s, right?  He might say that something’s pretty fly.  I kid you not, most definitely.  No? That’s tough.  Slang’s tough, kids.  I used grammar.yourdictionary.com/slang to do some research.

Bloodied eggs were inspired by Ly’s food post @unusual-ly

https://unusual-ly.tumblr.com/post/618857622547873792/hey-anyone-got-some-non-brain-zombie-food

Scrambled eggs with… well, I don’t actually know.  Some sort of blood-flavoured/imitation sauce.  It’d be like adding Worcestershire sauce to the eggs (which is amazing, BTW), only blood-based.  Ideas?

As for my juice selection, I figure zombies are probably banned from any citrus (not based on any rationale, just that it happened to be lime soda that made them into zombies) and mixed juices tend to be cheaper than pure flavours.  (If you check the ingredients list on a juice, there are usually a few types listed).

Also, while doing research into what to make for breakfast here, I came across blodplättar, which are Scandinavian blood pancakes, usually made with pigs’ or cows’ blood instead of eggs.

And after this little interlude, all that will be left will be for Addison to go home and to deal with the ‘fallout’ over what happened during the dinner. Will her extended family still be around? Will her grandfather? How will they react when she comes back?