Oh man, now Howard's waterworks are going off. This stuff's contagious between Living! R has no idea what to do. Tears glisten on Howard's lashes, R focusing in on them because they're another sign of how alive he is and it's still somehow surprising. Unlike the girl, Howard doesn’t let the tears fall off the bat, instead blinking a few times before his face suddenly smoothes out so fast that R gets a serious case of whiplash.

“I don’t…” R forces the words out as usual. He’s doing a better job doing that than working out this guy’s weird reasoning. “…feel ins…insulted.”

Really, he doesn’t. Eating people isn’t something he’s ever been proud of. The rotting and thinking about littering body parts all over the place part isn’t a walk in the park either. He can see why the Living girl was grossed out – he’d be too. But it’s who R is now, the only thing he remembers. You gotta live with being dead.

R shrugs. Without Julie here to keep an eye on that, R plans to keep shrugging for all he’s worth. Besides, what can you say to what just went down? A shrug is the best answer he can think of. The zombie stares right at Howard, unblinking, eyes wide. Before Howard was more than happy to look him in the face, something R liked because for a second it made him feel human. Now the other Tribute looks off to the side like it’s awkward, which it kinda is, and R somehow feels like he needs to say more here if they’re going to be friends. R clears his throat, the sound coming out as the rasp of a dying man choking on his blood.

The zombie tries to offer Howard a smile. “Think I’ll live,” he slurs. The smile is twitchy and sagging at the corners where some of his muscles are slowly decomposing, but it’s still a smile. “You?”

Risking a guess, he’d say Howard wasn’t doing okay. R isn’t sure how to cheer him up, but he’ll try.