This is my first ZaDr fanfic and also my first ever typed fan fiction ever! So I hope you guys think it reads as good as it sounded in my head. I had thought about this story for a while and after reading all the ZaDr I could find on the internet (numbers of new ZaDr fan fiction seems to be dwindling and I've hit several dead fics on my search for great ZaDr which saddens my inner fan girl greatly) I decided that maybe some people would appreciate my pathetic attempt at Zim X Dib love! So I hope you all enjoy, any help in any form would be greatly appreciated but if I anger you with anything, please try not to be too mean when you're reviewing (I have no beta so I'm relying on spell checker and my own two eyes to catch mistakes).
Now, on with the story!
Chapter One
A heavy silence filled the study, stagnant air adding an unpleasantly odd aroma to the old room. A bony, dirty-jade figure sat alone and unmoving against a flaking wall to face the large filth-clouded window on the left side of the room. Sunlight lazily crawled through grime to fall on sealed lime eyelids.
At first glance, one would have been forgiven for thinking the space was devoid of all life, just a long forgotten place in an otherwise vibrant household, now designated to housing a disused alien puppet. It would be an easy mistake to make...
Our two onlookers, however, knew better.
"How long has it been this time?"
"Three weeks, I believe. What should we do?"
"What can we do? If Mimi, Nar or even that pathetic excuse of a SIR unit can't get a flinch from him then how the Blorch are we supposed to get him up and working!?"
Skoodge winced at the sudden mention of Blorch, conquered or free, ten rotations or one hundred rotations; he doubted he would ever get over his nightmarish memories of that Irk forsaken planet.
"We don't need him to work yet, he's already developed and packaged four rotations worth of weaponry for the humans. Besides, we have plenty of supplies to last us the next ten rotations even if we gorge for half of them! I just want to see him move again..."
"Perhaps we could pour Dihydrogen Oxide on one of his fingers? Surely pain would snap him out of it, at least for a little while?"
Both irkens grimaced, visibly shuddering at the thought of sizzling flesh, burning through skin to the bone beneath. 'Water' had actually brought the three unlikely friends (A term Skoodge used cautiously out of fear of being beaten) together but that was a story for another time.
"No, I don't think I want to do that. We want to wake him up so he can live his life, not so we can just stick him in the treatment room..."
"I just want to see him running around once more, whether that's in immense pain or…"
"Well, I want him healthy and moving. Got any other ideas that don't end up with someone needing bandaged?"
"Nope, we'll just have to wait until he snaps out of it on his own... like usual. He'll need to eat sometime."
"I... I don't think I can do this, Tak. I can't take it! He used to be so full of energy! So unstoppable! So... so... Zim! You just couldn't discourage him, it was impossible, even the Tallests failed! He never let himself get down no matter what anyone told him, no matter what anyone else did. Now look at him! Wasting away like some old canine on the street! And what of us? Just sitting and watching, waiting until something clicks and he returns to his zombie self, all acting like nothing's happened!"
Tak stopped, gaze flicking between a desperate Skoodge and a lifeless Zim, unable to respond. She'd never admit it but she really hated seeing Zim so immobile. They weren't part of the same pod (similar to an Earthian family unit), and they certainly weren't companions but there was something so wrong about seeing your old mortal enemy so weak and defenseless when you had nothing to do with it. Not that Tak would purposely try to break Zim (or Skoodge, for that matter) while their truce was in place. It had benefited her more when first formed, keeping her fed, housed and protected when her voot self-destructed and she was left in a vulnerable place.
She hadn't a clue why Zim of all irkens had proposed the idea; even Skoodge had been shocked beyond words but Zim just made up some slaughtering rat peoples ass excuse that he needed another minion and that she'd have to do, the truce to 'protect' him from mutiny or some shit.
She had felt just the slightest bit grateful for it, a miniscule amount really, but it was enough to stop her from ending Zim once and for all.
And now all she could do was sit and watch; feeling just as infuriatingly useless as Skoodge did. Tak could count how many moments she had felt powerless on one clawed hand and she intended to keep it that way. She despised the feeling as it festered in her memories and fueled her hatred for anything that could force her into those types of situations once more; it had become her life mission to suffer as few moments of helplessness as irkenly possible. And yet, here she was, there they were; an impassable obstacle in their way of what was supposed to be a better way of life.
What was that saying again? The one filthy worm creatures used when their desperate pursuit of some form of happiness in menial existence hit a sudden stop?
Oh yes, 'Life's a bitch.'
That fits quite nicely.