Serenade
Disclaimer: I do not own anything in this Invader Zim story except my one little OC. The cartoon belongs to Jhonen Vasquez and all songs mentioned in this story belong to their rightful owners.
A/N: This also happens to be my very first Invader Zim story. Please please please go easy on me if you happen to review, I'll probably fail at keeping Zim in character through this whole thing, so please bear with me. All excuses and stuff aside, let's go on to the story!
Chapter 1: The Low Man's Lyric
It was rubbish. All of it! Never in all his misery filled days on this disease ridden filthy rock has he ever heard such ridiculous awful garbage statements! He hated hearing every minute of this. Zim came home to his base immediately hearing awful gibberish that literally made his antennae sting every second he kept hearing the grating noise. GIR was playing a song on the computer that was unknown to the Irken, but by the Almighty Tallest, he wanted to rip his antennae off every second the music kept playing.
And to top it all off, GIR was singing along with the horrible gibberish. Whenever GIR sang at all, with or without a song playing, it was off-key, annoying, and just plain awful. Zim was getting sick of this borderline insanity, and went to do something about, first, going with the easy way.
"GIR! Turn this awful noise off!" He screamed. The little robot kept dancing and singing along with the tune. "GIR!" Zim screamed again. Still no response other than dancing and singing from the defective S.I.R. unit. Zim growled, almost sounding like an angry pit bull, ready to tear GIR apart or throw the pillow at the little robot.
Throwing the pillow didn't sound like a bad idea, actually, considering the circumstance he was in, but Zim instead used it to cover his head up, which already had his black wig from his human disguise, muffling the noise not even slightly. This was drawing too much attention! He had enough of this awful antenna blasting torture.
"GIR! I WILL PERSONALLY TAKE SICKENING GLEE IN TEARING YOU APART IF YOU DO NOT SHUT THIS PLANET SHATTERING NOISE OFF!" Zim screamed at the top of his lungs; or at least, what counted as lungs to an Irken anyway. GIR finally heard his suffering master and shut the music off, much to Zim's relief.
"You's homes alweady, Mastaah? I's didn't heaw. Computaah ands I was playing with Rihanna." GIR said innocently. Zim took the pillow off his head, then discarded his black wig and blue contact lenses.
"First water, then noise. Why must Earth have these seemingly deadly weapons used against ZIM?! WHY?!" Zim asked, mostly to nobody in particular, since GIR wasn't listening anymore. To the Irken's chagrin, the supposed Skool assignment he had was, ironically, researching old music from another generation. And if THIS was what humans listened to in the old generations, he actually almost felt bad for them! Almost.
"Aww, don't be alls sad, Mastaah. Maybe Rihanna can make you feels bettah!" GIR said sweetly, about to play the previous song he was playing by Rihanna, which was "Work". Zim's magenta eyes widened in horror and he screamed, "NO! NOT THAT ATROCITY AGAIN!" GIR's glowing cyan eyes drooped sadly. "Oh, okay... then how about Taylor then?" He asked, smile resuming. Taylor Swift's song, "Trouble" began playing.
"I think-I think when it's all over,
It just comes back in flashes, you know?
It's like a kaleidoscope of memories.
It just all comes back. But he never does.
I think part of me knew the second I saw him that this would happen."
After a few more verses, the chorus came on, and Zim put the pillow over his antennae again. "GIR, this isn't helping Zim. This is giving me a headache. Turn this Taylor mess off! What are you doing playing with noise like that anyway?" He asked angrily.
"It's 'moosic', Mastaah! 'Moosics' good. I's likes the pretty pop staahses like Taylor Swift and Rihanna, and Katy Perry! They all goods! They's my friends!" GIR replied, giggling like a madman on a sugar high before running away to an unknown location, much to Zim's relief.
He laid down on the couch on his back hard, but lurched upwards in pain. He realized his stupid self laid down on top of his PAK. Zim rubbed his temples, trying to clear this monstrous headache. Why did that stupid little robot blast that noise like that? He realized why GIR was trying to say through the child-like babble. "Music" was what it was. The very thing that made the Irken so angered.
Thinking about that ridiculous Skool assignment the Ms. Bitters human gave Zim and what the Dib-stink said about aliens not having any music just made his headache worse. Zim groaned, a scowl forming on his face. It seemed this ringing and pounding in his antennae wouldn't stop.
"Computer, what can Zim do to make this headache subside?" He asked to the computer. A few beeping noises were heard before the answer came up. "Just stay on that position on the couch and go to sleep. Most humans usually do that, and it helps." Came the somewhat snarky and sarcastic reply. Zim quirked one of his eyes up in confusion. Sleep? Most Irkens didn't sleep. Well, they did if they needed to recharge their PAKs, but last Zim checked, he could stay awake for three more days.
But if his computer said that's what he needed to do, he was going to do that. A lot of times, if the Computer said something, be it sarcastic or be it actually beneficial, which was rare, and this was one of those times; Zim would almost always follow what it would say, even though sometimes the strangely sarcastic machine's statements were total garbage.
He curled up into a fetal position, eyes now narrowing in attempt to close his eyes. They eventually creaked closed as Zim fell into an uneasy slumber.
(0.0) (0.0) (^u^) (^u^) (0u0) (0u0)
Blah blah blah doom doom doom. That was basically all Zim picked up in his antennae as Ms. Bitters droned on about how the human society is doomed to collapse. Oy vey, this was old news. He drowned out the same old statements, staring blankly at his wooden desk, rolling a writing stick, or "pencil" as the humans called it, around in dull amusement.
At least the same old lesson has everyone in a state of boredom, including the Dib-human, so he too was just staring blankly, pretending to be listening. But, a knock at the door roused everyone out of their zombie like states.
"Come in!" Ms. Bitters hissed at the door. A female human entered the room. She looked like an adult-unit, considering she had a strange air of authority despite never setting foot in this classroom. She wore a black trenchcoat, a red, white, and blue scarf, gray mittens, and black high heeled boots that boosted the woman's height by two inches. As for the woman's physical appearance, she had dark brown hair that appeared to be turning gray on the sides and dark brown eyes that seemed to glow with a warn, hopeful aura. Freckles seemed to dot everywhere on the woman's cheekbones, there were even some on her face that formed a vertical straight line. Age lines didn't show profusely like they did on the aged Ms. Bitters. Despite the graying hairs on the woman's head, she still looked very youthful. Zim mentally berated himself later for thinking this was one of the more intelligent and, dare he say it, not hideous humans.
"Don't pay me any mind, children, I'm just here to observe." The woman spoke. She had a strange, airy southern accent, one Zim had never heard of. "Right. Well, as I was saying..." The "teaching" fell on deaf ears as the children stared off again, only they were now staring at their guest in the classroom. She too seemed to be uninterested in what Ms. Bitters was teaching, and actually intended to voice her opinion on the matter.
"I see the kids are getting bored with your teaching. Pray tell, why don't you give them a fun assignment?" The strange woman asked.
"And actually let them have FUN?! You speak insanity, Miss." The woman rolled her eyes. "It isn't insane not to have fun sometimes. God knows there's still some hope of enrichment in these minds. Everything spiraled downhill, and I'll be damned to Hell if I know I failed at my first job at being a teacher. Now allow me to explain this assignement I had in mind, with your approval of course, madame."
The strange woman stood up, spun on her heels and grabbed the bag she had brought with her, and took out a binder with a sticker of a video game character on it. She pulled out some sheets of paper and set the binder down on the floor. She held one sheet in her hand.
"This assignment I had in mind was a music research assignment. You will have to research a particular band and/or singer in particular. It could be the bands Shinedown or Green Day, or the singer Taylor Swift for example. You will have to find some songs by these artists; pick one you like the most, because you'll have to sing at least one verse from it," Then the woman turned towards Ms. Bitters, and with a smirk on her face said, "Does that sound fine, madame?"
"Does it come with a rubric?" Was all that the elderly teacher asked. The woman nodded. "Of course. I have rubrics for elementary, middle, and high school levels, why?"
"I'd like the high school rubric. That way they won't have too much fun."
"God, you're worse than Mrs. Rich! Now," She trailed off, facing the kids. "Since your teacher is being a "B" word, I'm going to pass these out." And so she did. Dib raised his hand. "Yes, Dib?." Ms. Bitters begrudgingly asked. "Just out of curiosity, how can Zim be able to do this assignment? He's an alien. Aliens don't have music."
"THAT IS WHAT YOU THINK, EARTH PIG!" Zim screamed. "Oh really? Then what's your favorite song?" Dib asked with a smirk. "Zim has none, Dib. I don't listen to music. I have never listen to such." Of course, that was a baldfaced lie. Zim heard a few pop songs before, all because of GIR, and he dreaded listening to every sappy word. It gave him antennae tinnitus. The woman approached Zim and knelt down on one knee on the unkept floor.
"Personally, I would just listen to the rock bands I mentioned, Metallica is a prime example. I like you, kid. You seem different than these generic lumbering zombies. My kids would probably like you, but then again, my daughter is 17, so. Never mind that. Just remember that little tidbit." She whispered, smiling afterwards. Zim raised an eye, not exactly understanding the strange woman. Though, that smile... it had a soft, comforting aura. And her eyes shone with compassion- a quality Zim wasn't exactly familiar with. Yet he found himself smiling back.
"Well, I believe I will be taking my leave. I will be back in five more days, so I might as well tell you all my name. You may call me Mrs. Cummings and leave it at that. Well, auf wierdesehen!" And Mrs. Cummings left. A scowl grew on Ms. Bitters' face.
"Don't listen to what that woman said! This assignment isn't going to be fun. You are expected to have a report ready to present by the time she comes back in five days, understood?! This will be the majority of your grade; 75%. Understood?!"
The kids all nodded autonomously. "Good. For the slackers, they will have homework for the winter break to pull up their already failing grades. Start reading your books." And they did so. Dib leant over his desk and saw Zim staring at the book in a state of boredom. The bell rang for recess. Most of the children dashed out, eager to run around and play in the cold snow. Sometimes the Skool made the children come anyway. Snow was common up where they were, but it doesn't close skools because the budgets are very poor. They HAD to have the students up there... unless the snow got really bad.
Not eager to get a frozen water ball thrown at his face, Zim remained inside. He was familiar with the snow; his old failed plan to control the humans on Earth by going to the North Pole masquerading as Santa Claus was proof of that. Dib stared the Irken down, a smirk growing on his face.
"Good luck with your report, Space Boy!" He said with obvious sarcasm. Zim looked up with a bored expression. "The Almighty Zim does not need luck, Earth human. I can learn your musics. I can and I WILL have the superior report for the Bitters human... And the Mrs. Cummings. Hmm..." A small smile found its way on Zim's face when he mentioned the strange human woman. Those kind brown eyes never left his memory. The strange expression made Dib weirded out, so he left Zim well enough alone, much to the alien's relief and to his own distaste.
Though now, it seemed everything began drifting away. The scene of the Skool began to fade in a strange black haze. It swallowed everything in it. Oddly, Zim welcomed the haze, and he too began to fade, as it all were just a dream.
(0.0) (0.0) (^u^) (^u^) (0u0) (0u0)
Zim's magenta eyes creaked open to see the sight of his base. The image being perceived was quite hazy, though that may just be the drowsy state he was still in from waking up. He sat up on the couch and wiped his eyes. GIR was nowhere in sight, much to Zim's relief.
Though... how long was he out for? It was unusually quiet in the base right at the moment. Maybe he could find a clock. Luckily, there was a digital clock on a little end table next to the couch. How long had that been there? Nonetheless, Zim looked at the time. It was 6:56 pm.
6:56... How strange. He had came home from the Skool at 3:45 and had to fight GIR's musical torture for about five minutes. So that meant that he had been asleep for three hours and six minutes! The drowsy state had passed, luckily, and the headache wasn't pounding his head like a hammer anymore, so there was that. The Computer's advice actually helped.
GIR came back into the room, holding his pig squeaky toy, talking to it in a strange babble that Zim had heard from GIR before. GIR called it "Grunt Latin". Basically, it was just GIR talking in a matter of grunts, growls, and dolphin like clicks. Zim secretly found it funny, because it was a bit of a good attempt to become a little more complex.
Something still gnawed at Zim though. That wasn't just a dream he had, those events happened today! The statement Dib told him bothered him only a little, but his behavior, the small thought he had about Mrs. Cummings unnerved him. But what she said to him gave Zim a strange mix of emotions his PAK usually suppresses other than anger, and that was one emotion he felt bad for feeling towards the kind middle aged woman. She was nicer than the other filthy humans he met.
"GAH! IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE!" He screamed abruptly, rousing GIR out of his piggy trance. "What makes no sense, Mastaah?" GIR asked sweetly. "NOTHING! NOTHING MAKES SENSE ON THIS BACKWARDS PLANET! DON'T LOOK AT ZIM! Just... go away with your pig, GIR."
GIR was confused (though when is that little bot NOT confused?) he was used to outbursts from Zim, but this was weird, even from him. Did I do something wrong? GIR thought sadly in his mind. "You okays, Mastaah?" He asked. "No, GIR," Zim said with a sigh. "Don't destroy the base while I'm gone," He said, grabbing his black wig, blue contacts, and a red scarf from the closet with the roboparents. "I'm going on a walk."
And the Irken went outside in 28 degree cold with nothing but his normal uniform and a scarf. A light powder snow fell on the ground. While when it melted, it didn't burn Zim as bad as it did with just plain water, but it still did burn. Luckily, he had the paste refilled and glazed all over his skin. He walked around the sidewalks, onto the frost covered grasses, looking around at the desolate city that surrounded him. It was kind of awesome how it was so loud by day and so dead silent at night, especially this night. That meant maybe Zim won't be bothered by another human tonight.
He looked down at the powder snow, and then up at the full moon. The fresh snow glistened in the moonlight. When Zim had access to go to other planets, he seldom saw those that had stable seasonal changes like these. It was the beginning of winter and he hadn't even turned into an icicle yet! Those were things that would usually happen if one was ill equipped for the unstable temperatures- they're like that on a lot of planets in his home galaxy.
Zim didn't even realize he had walked all the way to the park because of how preoccupied in his thoughts he has been. Not like that he cared at the moment anyway; the cold hadn't got to him and the city actually looked beautiful for once. It was nice. He sat down on a bench, unaware that it had another occupant, until he began to hear some noise.
He glanced over his shoulder and saw a female human. She had white skin that looked pale and glistened in the moonlight like the snow. She had brown hair like the Mrs. Cummings woman. But that was all Zim could see regarding the humans appearance other than she was wearing a black trenchcoat dress and a black knit cap. She had an old smartphone in her right hand playing music on it. She hummed along to the beginning of the song and it actually sounded... good. It was slow and had a soothing rhythm. The girl began to sing.
"My eyes seek reality
My fingers seek my veins
There's a dog at your back step
He must come in from the rain
I fall cause I let go
The net below has rot away
So my eyes seek reality
And my fingers seek my veins,"
She had a gorgeous voice! It matched the pitch of the male singing the actual song in the music box. Zim leaned in closer to get a better listen of her voice.
"The trash fire is warm
But nowhere safe from the storm
And I can't bare to see
What I've let me be
So wicked and worn
So as I write to you
Of what is done and to do
Maybe you'll understand
And won't cry for this man
'Cause low man is due
Please forgive me,"
Zim was now entranced by the girl's voice. The mournful tones she sang along with the song match the tune perfectly. The wind began to blow a fresh wave of powdery snow as he began to hum softly along with the tune.
"My eyes seek reality
My fingers feel for faith
Touch clean with a dirty hand
I touched the clean to the waste
The trash fire is warm
But nowhere safe from the storm
And I can't bare to see
What I've let me be
So wicked and worn
So as I write to you
Of what is done and to do
Maybe you'll understand
And won't cry for this man
'Cause low man is due
Please forgive me
Please forgive me
Please forgive me,"
A mini solo came on. Zim's humming grew louder to the point that the girl noticed him sitting next to her, listening to her song. But she smiled without a care, happy to see someone enjoy the song. When the song came back on, Zim actually started to sing along with the girl, attempting to match her mournful tone, with a grandiose stroke of luck.
"So low the sky is all I see
All I want from you is forgive me
So you bring this poor dog in from the rain
Though he just wants right back out again
And I cry, to the alley way
Confess all to the rain
But I lie, lie straight to the mirror
The one I've broken, to match my face
The trash fire is warm
But nowhere safe from the storm
And I can't bare to see
What I've let me be
So wicked and worn
So as I write to you (yeah)
Of what is done and to do (yeah)
Maybe you'll understand
And won't cry for this man
'Cause low man is due
Please forgive me
Please forgive me,"
The next little mini solo came. One would gaze at awe at the two if someone were there. It was remarkable, even to Zim. He grew to like the song more and more as the verses kept coming, and really didn't mind singing. He seemed to be doing a good job staying in sync with the girl; and this was remarkable to behold. He has never even heard this form of music before, and wished that to have been done sooner.
"So low the sky is all I see
All I want from you is forgive me
So you bring this poor dog in from the rain
Though he just wants right back out again
My eyes seek reality
My fingers seek my veins."
The actual lyrics to the song ended, but the girl kept humming along with the singer in the music box. Zim did too. The box had the lowest pitch, the girl, a middle pitch, and Zim had the highest pitch. It was like a three part harmony, until the song ended, then the girl set the phone in her pocket and looked at Zim, who now couldn't do anything but stare. He was now as scared stiff as a little smeet! And here was the reason why: she was a youthful, spitting image of Mrs. Cummings! The brown eyes in the youth though burned with a stronger aura. A smile grew on her face.
"You sing really good, kid." She said. The girl didn't have the airy southern accent of the woman he assumed was her mother unit, but they sounded very similar. His green face reddened slightly when he stuttered on the right words to say. This was embarrassing, Zim never stuttered like that!
"Y-You sing good too. It is very pretty." He said shyly. The girl smiled. "Thank you. But, I have to ask, what's a kid like you doing outside in the cold with nothing but a scarf?" She asked. Zim shuffled around uncomfortably. He hadn't really thought about the cold much and therefore didn't really feel chilled.
"I couldn't find anything else," Zim half-lied. "But I just wanted to come out for a walk and think. I never figured I would say this, but the city is actually pretty nice when there aren't so many humans. And the powder snow is a nice touch to the barren." The girl smiled and averted her brown eyed gaze to the stars.
"Yeah, I can relate to that. There's so many idiots here. I feel bad for you. This city actually has some of the dumbest people on Earth. It's freaking pathetic." A brief silence fell between the two. The girl shifted her gaze back towards Zim.
"I kinda like you, kid. Maybe we'll cross paths again. My name's Katrina. What about you? What's yours?" The girl, Katrina, asked.
"Zim. I am called Zim."
He saw Katrina place a hand on her chin. "I think I'll remember that. Well, bye, Zim. It was a pleasure meeting you." Katrina said as she departed. Her figure seemed to fade farther off with every little step. Zim couldn't help but smile. That was very nice. Something caught his eye in the snow. It was a scrap of paper with the words "Low Man's Lyric by Metallica" jotted down on the paper. Zim stared at it for a few moments before storing it in his PAK. He walked back to his base, where silence still reigned inside, with the exception of GIR's quiet childish giggles as he watched an old cartoon.
Zim took out the scrap of paper from his PAK. This was the only memento he had from that pleasurable time with Katrina.
Pleasurable... Maybe he could get used to this. While unnerving to him now, another side of him giggled at the thought. That side reigned true right then and it was when Zim learned how to smile for a human.
(0.0) (0.0) (^u^) (^u^) (0u0) (0u0) (0.0) (0.0) (^u^) (^u^) (0u0) (0u0) (0.0) (0.0) (^u^) (^u^) (0u0) (0u0)
A/N: Well, this was the first chapter. I doubt the next ones be nearly as long as this one, but again, bear with me please. Zim was OOC at the end of this, I just knew he was. Tell me what you think in a review, if you don't mind. I wanna know if I'm doing something right.