Little something for my brother.
Irkens don't stray. They are taught this immediately upon hatching. To always walk down the straight path and to never stray from it. And to do so would be equivalent to commuting a crime. To listen to the tallest and to obey there every command. To be dedicated to the job you were assigned and to do everything precisely and perfectly. To stay on your toes and to never rest. That's what the Irkens are always taught and that's how they are expected to live.
But Zim was the exception. He destroyed a good portion of his own planet. He went his own way, wanting desperately to impress his tallest. He had grown too excited and went on a rampage of his own planet. And when he was scolded, he talked back. He insisted he was right. He insisted he knew what he was doing. He insisted that the tallest were wrong for being upset with him. Zim was different.
Irken's are expected to be smart. They must know all there is to be known and not be deceived by any little thing. They must be cunning and witty, able to fool any unsuspecting weaker Irken. They have to be able to understand everything, and not ask questions. Irkens are expected to always have answers at the ready.
But Zim was the exception. He was fooled by his tallest to go to a foreign planet that not even they knew a thing about. He was tricked into accepting a faulty SIR unit. He was led to believe that he had a very important role and that he was respected by his tallest, the people he admired so dearly. And even on this foreign planet, he was deceived over and over again by his master's who were tired of him and wanted nothing more to do with him. Zim was different.
Irkens are taught to be strong. They have to be able to attack and to defend themselves. Whether it be with weapons, their pak, or even their own fists, they need to be able to defeat their opponents with ease. A weak Irken was a useless Irken. One without purpose or meaning. The runt of the litter. The unwanted one. Those that were sentenced to kitchen duty and often killed off by the strongest ones. It was survival of the fittest, so every Irken worked to become stronger.
But Zim was the exception. He was constantly being pushed around by the students at the school he attended. He was teased, picked on, hit, and ridiculed. He was the one students that no one wanted to be. The one with no friends. The one who seemed to be everyone's punching bag. The one even the teacher seemed to despise. And yet he seemed to hold his head high. While he wasn't physically strong, he was strong in his own way. He didn't care what these stupid children did or say. It didn't matter to him. He didn't have to be physically strong. Zim was different.
Irkens are taught not to care. They had to have hearts of stone. They had to keep their eyes on the prize always. Sympathy would get them nowhere and empathy would only slow them down. If they slipped up and showed any sign of softness, then they would be run over by the other races. Any weak link would immediately be crushed and ruin everything. If they suddenly starting thinking of anything other then the invasion, like of other Irken or of petty things, then everything would fall apart.
But Zim was the exception. He did care. Upon coming to earth, he met the big-headed human. The one he despised. The Dib-worm. The only one who could recognize what he was. The only one who actually tried to defeat him. And the only one..that Zim found himself caring about. He hated him but he couldn't get his mind off of the vile human boy. He couldn't stop thinking about him. He hardly remembered the names of the other students in that classroom. Dib was different.
Irkens are ordered never to love. To love is to deter. Love served no purpose on Irk. There was no need for reproduction. Irkens were made, not born, so there was no need for mating. Therefore, there was no need for love. Irkens didn't feel any attraction towards one another, and if they did, they were taught to fight it back and never acknowledge it. If you had time to fall in love, you have time to work.
But Zim was the exception. He fell in love with the Dib. Hopelessly, incurably, pathetically in love. He tried to deny it but found himself unable to. So a few years of denial and a hastily scrawled Valentine's day card, he was finally able to say that Dib was his. That Dib belonged to him and no one else. He had fallen in love, despite all of the warnings not to. Zim was different.
Irkens are told never to mate. That mating is pointless and distracting. That an Irken could become addicted to how it felt and always lust for more. To mate on Irk, was a sin to the Irken race. It was unclean. It was disgusting. It was time wasting. And it was terrible. If you were discovered to be making love to someone else, you would become an outcast, and you would be thought of as filthy. Irkens never mated.
But Zim was the exception. He loved Dib and eventually mated with him. At first, it was only once. And then twice. And then over and over again until he wanted it almost every other night. He couldn't get enough of it and regret not feeling it sooner. He loved every moment of it. The sounds of Dib's moans, the taste of his skin, the feeling of his dark hair between his fingers. He loved this sensation and never wanted it to end. But the best part, was once it had ended before Dib would fall asleep, he would curl against Zim's chest as he tried to catch his breath, kiss him, and whisper a breathless, "I love you." Zim was different.
Irken's are taught not to smile. It opens you up and pours out your weakness. It makes you stand out in the crowd and deceives others. But not in a good way. You express emotions, and you are made fun of. Irken's must be expressionless. Irken's must be serious. When Irken's do smile, it's expected to be towards the tallest, because of the tallest, with the tallest. But personal pleasure must be contained and must be sealed away.
But Zim was the exception. Whenever he was with Dib, he couldn't help but smile. His emotions just flowed out of him like a waterfall and he couldn't stop himself. When Dib smiled, when he laughed, when he said, "I love you." And especially...when he started carrying their first child. Zim had never smiled as much as he did that day. He had a new creature on its way to love just as much as he loved the Dib-Stink. And the two of them would raise it together and teach it that it can be whoever it wants. It doesn't have to confirm, and it doesn't have to settle. Unlike how Zim was taught. Zim was different.
Irken's are taught not to feel guilty. They have to be confident about everything. They need to do everything with pride and not regret a single thing. If Irkens regretted destroying planets and regretted taking over alien races, then where would Irk be? Where would the Irken race be? What would become of there planet if every Irken suddenly began to feel guilty for their actions? They always made every decision with confidence and never once did they look back.
But Zim was the exception. He seemed to question every decision and found himself regretting some things. He felt a bit sorry when Dib would complain of back pain. He felt a bit sorry when Dib would complain of nausea. Dib made sure that Zim felt sorry once labor began. But once the baby had been born, the only thing that Zim felt sorry about, was that they didn't have one sooner. Zim was changing.
Irkens are instructed not to cry. It only proved that they were weak. It only proved that they were not strong. Crying Irkens were ridiculed by all and never taken seriously. Their crying was ignored and shunned. They were turned away from, given the worst jobs, and never ever respected.
Zim...was the exception. Even after he left Irk. Even after he realized the betrayal of his tallest. Even when his baby was born. Zim didn't cry. He smiled, he laughed, he screamed, he expressed emotions that he had never expressed before. All because of Dib. But Dib didn't bring out this new emotion..until he was gone. He experienced happiness when he went walking with Dib and the baby. He felt annoyance when he heard the screeching tires. He experienced shock when he saw the car speed around the corner. And he experienced horror for the very first time in his life when he saw his Dib, the one he had loved for years, and his baby who was even more innocent to the ways of the world then he was, hit the pavement. And it was only after that, only after his sweet child and his precious Dib were declared dead, that he did the worst thing an Irken could do.
He cried. Zim was different.