Melody in VII Words
***Sometimes, in some ways, people are at their happiest when bound…***
Creeek. Creeeeek. Creeeee-k.
The key seemed so dreadfully loud compared to the gentle melody that the music box tinkered out.
"Do….do you think I'm a cruel person…?"
The question was posed thoughtfully, contemplatively, as the tiny key with the glittering green stone in its hilt was returned home, twirling loosely from around a pale neck. The question went unanswered for a few, long minutes.
"Cruel? That is an…unusual question…." White-less eyes turned to the dilapidated boy on the floor who, with nothing better to do, had mindlessly taken to humming the simple tune quietly . Lovely thinking music, really…
"I've…I've killed people…" was stuttered after the humming fell away. "May-maybe not with my own two hands but, but just as good as when you really think about it…"
The statement was met with a zippered grin.
"Then do not think about it, Dib-human."
Amber eyes shot up and glared at the green, angular face. But it was an uncertain anger. Unstable rage. The black-haired youth was getting tired of going through the same machine-like motions. The same tepid conversation set on wash, rinse, and repeat.
Dib couldn't help but flinch as the first sharp sounds of boots hitting the floor echoed about cramped attic space and met his ears. Old habits and all that nonsense. The cringe and fight-or-flight BS that followed it was kicking in months to late for it to be useful. But he had brought this on himself. Hell, even welcomed it (embraced it? longed for it?) with open arms.
"Such a complicated thing," the beast purred, resting clawed hands on boney shoulders. They were gentle, kneading the muscles knowingly. So kind and tender that it hurt.
"Just….stop, Zim," Dib muttered. "If you don't mean it, just stop. You already have the world. I should know, I practically hand-delivered it to you! My father, my sister…my…" he paused. Did he have anything else? The music box's tune took a melancholy dive to match his mood with almost comic timing. He squeezed it gently as though it would provide some sort of corporal comfort. Aside from the lazy hands on his shoulders he felt nothing. "What more could I give you? Everything I have…is dead. I might as well be--"
The clawed fingertips that had been tracing nonsensical patterns along his jugular had suddenly, painfully, clapped over his mouth. Pinpricks of blood welled up in the dents that the hard points made in the thinly pulled flesh of his cheek.
"Before you start mooing of your pathetic life, meat-child, remember that it was you who came to Zim. That it was you who asked to join me. You have forsaken any pity from me, Dib-thing, because it was you who chose this path. This is your destiny now."
The words beat sense into Dib's skull like so many nails. Zim was right. He didn't deny that anymore. He had begged for this. But that still didn't deter from the main hurdle here. With one hand he gently pried the alien's gloved talons from his face while the other was used to gently set the music box on the floor.
"You're right. I admitted all that long ago. But it doesn't answer my question, Zim. What more could you possibly want from me?" Dib looked up from the ground. Though it was no lie Zim had grown in the past couple years, Dib had as well, and it was no surprise that he didn't have to strain his neck to look directly into those pupil-less eyes. On any other occasion, it would have been laughable. …Well, to the human at least.
"Just one more bomb and you'll rule the world. One more forged paper. One more fake call… And you'll be the great invader you always knew you were. All you're missing is the documentation," he quipped with a humorless grin. "Next thing you know, there'll be prettier bodies to keep you warm. One's without scars and nice skin and smoother hair. You'll have access to better battle planners with more skill and experience. Better technology. And they'll all look up to you. No more awkwardness, no more fights…Heh, you'll probably like that the best. Nobody would disobey you anymore…." Dib closed his eyes at that, a satirical smirk quirking the corner of his lips up.
He leaned back to rest his head against the flat plain of Zim's stomach, turning just enough so he could curl his hand around a stickish leg, just a few fingers length from a sensitive little spot on the back of Zim's knee. He could still recall the night of the first summer they spent together. Not as enemies, but as…'friends'…he supposed. The first of many nights that had been 'too hot and humid for clothes' and usually ended in burning Dib up in more ways than planned. He'd found that little spot that night. His fingers itched to touch it. Touch everything. That need made the next words slip out all the easier.
"I'd rather die than be tossed aside again…"
Zim had been uncharacteristically quiet during the whole endeavor. A steady frown had formed and slowly deepened over the course of it only to twist up pleasantly when the boy touched him. That tapered hand at the back of his knee practically had him purring; just a little bit higher, then…. He could feel it twitching and trying to comply. It was Dib's last words, however, that brought him out of it. The clawed fingers that had been restlessly flitting by his thighs were now clenched into fists and trembling.
"How easily you forget, child, that you belong to Zim."
It was the first time Dib had heard the alien speak to him like that. So calculated, composed, and genuinely angry. And Zim had never called him 'child'. Not without tacking 'dirt' or some other insult to it, anyway.... He often forgot how much older Zim was compared to himself.
"Zim takes you into his base. Pieces up the fragments your…family," the word was spat out like some bad tasting thing,"…left you in." Dib's chin was caught in a sharp grip and twisted up from the floor he'd been staring at in his growing shame. "You were thrown to the curbside but Zim found you and taped you up like new again. I REMADE you, Dib-urchin. Zim made you better, taught you to be smarter, worked you to be stronger…" Zim paused a moment and looked away, one eyelid lowered in thought. He flicked his unused hand to the side casually, a darker shade of green staining his cheeks. "And…maybe a few other things your puny human mind may or may not have been ready to comprehend…" He coughed into his fist.
"This," Zim gestured to Dib's body, "belongs to Zim. Only Zim." The alien seemed to calm with those words. Dib didn't speak. Didn't fight it when his face was pressed into a soft, yielding abdomen.
"After all that work, Zim won't get rid of you that carelessly."
That seemed to be the last thing Dib needed, and he broke, all but throwing himself at the Irken. Zim staggered at the sudden weight, but remained upright thanks to the iron-grip his body was held in.
"I don't want you to go! I'd join up with the humans against you if it meant keeping you here! Whenever I think about you leaving I get so scared it makes me sick and--damnit…!" Dib's voice broke off, his body quaking even though he had no tears left to cry. The force was physically swaying Zim, his tiny body nothing compared to the taller one he was engrossed in. He regarded the boy with a half-lidded, unreadable expression.
"I…I hate it…" Dib whined pathetically. "I hate how much you've made me need you…How much the thought of living without you hurts worse than my own family disowning me…" His firm grip slackened, one hand lowering to, once again, curl around a knee while the other went to wipe at dry, reddened eyes. It made him look six, opposed to sixteen, though he was in all senses still a child compared to Zim. Practically infantile.
Slowly, as to avoid startling Dib, Zim let his legs give way beneath him and pulled the distraught teen into his chest. Dib didn't make any move to acknowledge him. Zim stroked his hands up thin arms, a knobby back, dusty hair. Felt everything that made Dib, Dib. That loud admittance had opened up new possibilities for them, and he listed off each one quietly in Dib's ear.
"First, fledgling, we conquer this planet. Enslave the human race. Then we leave for space and set course for The Massive. Take our time…maybe overpower a few small planets on the way… Then offer them and this whole Milky Way galaxy to the Tallest. Have them observe Zim's new height. Your master will gain status and the recognition he deserves. After that, pet, we only have to dream of the possibilities." Dib listened silently, save for the light sound his labored breathing made. Physically and emotionally he was exhausted. "What if something goes wrong…? What if they don't want you back…?" he muttered breathlessly.
Zim, who had been regarding the tired boy with slight concern, let a dark grin split his face. "So far, Zim has killed two Tallest by accident. It shouldn't be too difficult to do it again on purpose…" Dib's reply was incoherent and sleepy, the quiet tone of Zim's voice and constant, inhuman warmth making him drowsy. The Irkens smile grew less malevolent, and he drew the lethargic human in closer, cooing and purring and lazily muttering a few things in his native tongue. Things that would probably shock Dib if he could understand them. But it appeared to Zim that the boy actually seemed to get the gist of it, laughing when the human, in his last show of coherency, leaned up and kissed the underside of his jaw with a final whisper.
"When we get to space, you're teaching me Irken."
The song from the music box stopped playing.
End.