❝THAT HEART OF YOURS WILL NEVER CHANGE.❞
In which Freja Barrett, an enthusiast for all things supernatural, makes the life-altering decision of reconnecting with an old friend in the midst of her mission to prove the existence of zombies.
[iZOMBiE...
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UNSURE WHAT TO expect, Freja peeked from behind the corner of the stairwell leading down to the morgue before actually stepping in, a nervous sweep of her tongue accompanying the frown on her dry lips as she eyed the bleak walls and sterile floors. The unpleasant smell was a given, but she was positively surprised by the lack of dead corpses simply lying around, the decaying humans replaced with expensive-looking equipment scattered across the countertops. The heavy silence wasn't surprising either, in fact, Freja would have been alarmed by noise and movement, yet she couldn't help but fidget uncomfortably at the top of the stairs. Only moments ago, she had been happily gushing about the idea of visiting the morgue to Matilda, but once they had returned to the precinct, all that was left of her impulsive courage was, ironically, the rotten shell.
"Hey!" Liv's voice startled Freja out of her trance, her entire body jolting as her hand leaped to her chest and her jaw opened for a list of mild-mannered swear words to seep out. "Come on in", the medical examiner continued with half a smile, "it's a little creepy, but you'll get used to it. Or not. I'm actually not sure which option is better."
Stifling a laugh, Freja bounced the stairs down with intrigued eyes roaming the surroundings — death was evidently in the air but the vomit-inducing smells had been covered with several brands of cleaning supplies, introducing an unnatural layer of freshness into the air. Freja supposed, from the casual look on Liv's face, that working in the morgue meant growing numb to the little things that felt off, but she was yet to succumb to the skin-crawling images of bloody insides and severed limbs stored in the metal drawers making up the entirety of one wall.
"Like I said, no judgment from me, but this is... definitely an interesting choice, career-wise", Freja muttered, half to herself but she made sure to shoot Liv a smile, nonetheless. "I guess someone's gotta do it, though, so, respect", she added, even if she was a little iffy about taking a seat by the dining table of sorts, and the idea of ever eating lunch there.
With an agreeing nod, Liv grabbed a chair on the other side of the table and shrugged. "Yeah. I always wanted to help people and even though it's now for people past saving, I can still play a part in bringing peace to the deceased's family", Liv described with hesitance, as if she was trying to figure out a way to put it into words for herself, too. Freja appreciated the sentiment though, as it was a lot more thoughtful than her own decision to walk away from a potential career in psychology — with her, it was just about following her heart and keeping things interesting. Though she supposed that much like Liv, she had remained the same person with the same values when everything else had changed.
"So, how's, uh... Peyton?" Freja stumbled over her own words as she tried to recall the name of Liv's own Matilda — funnily enough, the first thing that popped into her mind at the memory of Peyton Charles was the time she had accidentally walked in on her and Matilda at one of those movie-like frat parties. She wasn't sure if Liv had ever heard about it, but excluding a few heartfelt speeches to support Matilda, she had always kept her mouth shut about the matter. "Oh, and what about Major? Is that still a thing?"
