“If given the chance, without legal repercussions of any sort, would you try human meat?”

From your lap, which had been a topic of interest since you began to notice a string fraying at your thigh, you look up and meet the alarmingly innocent eyes of IV. He even has a soft smile on his lips, his head tilted back against the wall as if he hadn’t just asked your stand on cannibalism and if you’d indulge in such nonsense. Your face is pinched in confusion, but IV just continues on.

“I heard that if you consume the spine of another human, you could get kuru. That uh—zombie virus. Like the one that affects deer.”

He tells you, speaking so casually, giving you not a second to digest his macabre facts. You should have known not to leave IV with the permission to think for himself, especially not after midnight. Shit gets weird without fail.

IV’s lips stretch into a closed mouthed smile, but he leans forward in an urging manner to hear your thoughts on his grim questions. When closer to you, you take a moment to pay more attention to his eyes, and shockingly, the scleras are white as bone. So, he isn’t high, just himself.

“You didn’t answer me, would you try human meat?”

He asks, his head tilted to the side. You shake your head no, and he nods, satisfied with that although it seems he disagrees with your opinion. IV drums his fingers along his knees, listening to the odd bug hum its nightly tune from outside the window as you two sit in the living room, both on your own respective sides of the couch. That is until IV climbs on top of you, his weight a suffocating warmth you happily wrap your arms around, even if he’s all strange in the early hours of the day.

“I think I’d try your tongue first. Soft, chewy.”

He whispers into your neck.

So it’s you he’s been imaging when speaking about such things. Great. You can feel IV grin against your neck before he nibbles, causing no pain whatsoever. He’s only teasing after all.

“I’d devour you, all of you though, in the end.”