Spirals
They've had this argument before.
"You're so fucking loud about this!"
Nothing ever changes. Neither of them can bring anything new to the table.
"Other people are louder than me."
Gaz yells, Tak hisses. The lines between them blur and dissolve and switch, between the threats and the glares…
"It isn't the same and you know it."
She's gotten older since they first met, since their first, brief encounter. Her brother says she's matured, when he isn't out chasing aliens or breaking out of asylums. He says she was a brat.
"Why isn't it, Gaz?"
Not surprising that she was, with the amount of human contact she was given. But everyone changes, and who was she to make an exception? A good look at the world could do wonders, particularly for a girl who lived in a videogame world, slaying vampire piggies.
"You know why! We have to be careful!"
Tak helped with that too. After three absent years, the alien suddenly appeared in the hallway, as if she had never tried to destroy the planet at all. This time she showed up in Gaz's class, for unclear reasons, dressed in blue from hair to boots and growling at anyone who dared approach her.
"I don't think that's it at all. I think you're scared."
It was hard not to like her after that. Almost a year went by before they spoke more than a sentence to each other, but they both, in their subtle way, observed and learned. Then suddenly, they were friends. It probably happened the day Tak sat down and popped open her lunch box at the wrong table, earning waves of utter confusion from Dib, and satisfaction from Gaz.
"I'm not fucking scared, Tak."
It was a relationship that revolved around snarky comments and simple, silent companionship. Tak introduced her to martial arts, and she introduced Tak to videogames. They debated philosophy on occasion and had various fights about trivial things. Gaz adored her, not that she'd ever admit it. She thought for a little while that Dib and Tak...
"Fine! You're embarrassed."
…But no, that had been a silly suspicion—and Tak had told her so between bouts of laughter and sickness when she brought it up, finally. After that episode, the invader had been… different. She brought Gaz lunches and games, made offhanded complements about Gaz's wardrobe. It was almost as if she'd been courting the human…. But then, they were from two different species, and females to top it off.
"You know what? I AM embarrassed!"
The, of course, came the verbal hints, little flashes of suggestive sarcasm and the occasional innuendo. Nothing obtrusive, but once the idea took root, everything seemed like evidence. And Tak's natural form was so… attractive, she supposed. Sleek, whipcord thin and verging on elegance. The invader would have been stupid not to notice the attention sooner or later.
"You can't let these earthlings intimidate you!"
They'd been in that state of limbo for months before Tak, predictably, made the first move. The alien wasn't blunt, exactly, but she cut to the chase admirably. Sitting on a bench in the park, Tak had professed her love out of the blue, as if commenting on the weather or the ugly frolicking children nearby. Gaz blinked.
"That's not it! This is about what I want. What I always wanted!"
And things had gone on the same after that, for maybe a month. The human thought it over constantly, weighing pros and cons, suddenly paying attention to makeup and hair… until it hit her that yes, she loved Tak too. It was only surprising how long it took her to get it.
"And what's that?"
They kept it private at first, just enjoying the knowledge that they were in love with someone worthwhile. Gaz tried to ask Tak how it was possible, what with Tak being Irken and all, but she never got a straight answer. Maybe it was a problem for her people too.
"All I ever wanted was to be NORMAL!"
All unanswered questions aside, they went public a few months ago, and that was where the trouble started, where the long-standing argument was born. The alien was fascinated by earthly affections—goodbye kisses, declarations of love, holding hands.
"Of all the things you could be, why waste your time on Normal?"
And Gaz would push her away when it happened, the first spark of many to fly. They would fight, then they would leave, and Gaz could never quite explain the problem, until now. Now, Tak is looking at her with an expression of sudden comprehension.
"You don't understand what it was like for me, growing up here!"
And it's like the last piece of a puzzle, the one you've been trying to put together for weeks and weeks, angry but too stubborn to quit. They both see it now: the start of the whole problem. Tak understands.
"I don't. But have you ever thought about what this is like for me? It isn't easy."
But just because she understands doesn't mean she'll give in. No, it means she'll work harder. Because she cares, because this is hurting Gaz, and it needs to be removed.
"…"
Gaz can't reply to that, and it makes her feel incredibly guilty. Why was she so sure she was the only one suffering around here?
"But I love you. And I'll do whatever's fucking necessary to make sure I can keep loving you. Forever."
And that, Gaz realizes, is exactly why she hates Tak. She's brave, she's stubborn, she's so frank…
"You're so stupid."
And obviously, why Gaz loves her, too.
End