Just a short drabble based on my story Blue Lips; go read it ;p
Beneath the chilly February sky besotted couples danced upon the smooth tar paving; girls with their eyes filled with sparkling secrets and the handsome stature of the man whose affections had won their hearts. Fingers entwined together, became one entity as they skipped towards the destination in sight.
Idiots, the lot of them. Beside the window frame Gaz Membrane looked on, past the stupid couples blind to the world and onto her equally blind brother. His heart is full too; filled to the brim with the alien who has always encapsulated his life. Wrapping paper painted the kitchen floor as Zim's sharp claws lacerated the coverings to shreds. His heart may be sick, but the selfish Irken creature is thrilled– no matter how slight – by the prospect of a gift.
"I, um . . . i-if you d-don't like them I still have the receipt . . ." Dib stammered out; his unease rolled Gaz's eyes thick with disdain. Such a stupid boy he is, and as Zim watched on, his eyes wide and unblinking, she had to smoother a yell as Dib became more and more flustered.
"Ah! Don'tlookatmelikethatyou'remakingmenervousjustsayifyoudon'tlikethemIcanegetthemchangedit'snoproblemIstillhavetherecie-"
And a deep crimson hue burned across the flesh of Dib's face, rippling beneath the skin where Zim's threadbare lips skimmed upon the surface of the cheek. The timid colouring remained in place long after Zim lowered himself from his toes to the flat of his feet, and Dib remember how to breathe.
"Z-Zim likes them . . . Th-thank you, Dib-thing . . ." The Irken muttered, his eyes upon the ground where torn pride prevents him from looking to his partner. Nonetheless a wide grin still invaded Dib's face; he bent down to press a moist kiss to Zim's cheek.
The Irken went rigid for a moment, and then relaxed.
"I'm glad you like them." Dib pulled back, his expression still decorated with that stupid goofy grin that set Gaz's teeth on edge. "Shall we go to the ice-cream parlour now, or later? You choose."
An answer did not come immediately; Zim dropped to the floor, to unzip the magnificent spikey Goth boots and don his new ones from Dib. "N-now. Zim change first . . ." he muttered, as the red pride sunk deeper into Dib's cheeks, touched.
At last Gaz could stand her silence no longer, and slid herself from the shadows of which she hid, to bare herself beneath the light. "I can't believe to spent like, two hundred bucks on a pair of boots you ain't gonna wear."
To which Dib shot her a furious look for revealing the cost, only to melt almost instantly into sweet delight. "Sometimes, sister dear, you gotta go that extra mile." He grinned, and stuck his tongue out cheekily.
Gaz's expression remained a marble statue. "Dib, your gay is showing," she said very bluntly, and only when Dib's muscles relaxed did she allow her own to do the same, and lace her tone in sudden admiration. "Nice right hook, by the way. When's your detention again?"
"Tomorrow. I gotta write 'I must not hit other students' like, a hundred times or so." Dib shrugged his shoulders in a very nonchalant manner, winked down at Zim.
"Oh yeah? Was it worth it?" Gaz leant against the door frame.
"Definitely. I'd go through another twenty detentions if it meant I could chip another of ginger slut-nut's teeth. Oh, hey sweetie, you all done?" And Dib broke off from his sister's gaze as Zim picked himself up from the cold tiled floor, his new flame-patterned Goth boots shone in beautiful form against the deep pink clarity of his belt and collar. "D'they feel alright?"
Zim nodded once; a single long and slender finger reached forth, to poke at a few drops of red splattered upon Dib's t-shirt. "The Dib s-still h-has K-Keef-hyooman's blood on his shirt . . ."
A dark chuckle seeped from Gaz's jaw then, as Dib looked down to the red, and cursed. "Crap. Give me a minute to change, 'kay?" He leaned in to press a quick, fleeting kiss between Zim's eyes. As his lips touched the silk-soft green skin, Gaz cringed, her flesh crawling with thousands of cockroaches to melt the skin from bone. How could Dib find Zim attractive? With his untamed claws and thin skin hanging from frail bones like the drooping peel of an old dead fruit! A rotting entity was Zim, certainly not fit for her brother's heart.
As Dib fled the kitchen to change, Gaz's eyes fell upon the gorgeous spiked boots. "Can I borrow them for the evening?" Her tone was not questioning; Zim nodded without hesitation. Burning amber eyes remained upon Zim as Gaz gathered the boots to her side; silence rained heavy among the air they stood, bringing the discomfort upon Gaz in greater bites. She wriggled her shoulders uncomfortably, her lip curling deep with unease.
"So . . . You're going to an ice-cream parlor, huh? That the new one opposite the mall?"
Zim nodded, once, incapable of shaking the awkward tension from saturating the air. He could not look to Gaz; her burning eyes fat with malice. In the corner of nostalgia she could see the tiny arrogant creature who once ruled that skin; the beast who marched the sidewalks and skool hallways as though he owned the place. She did not know this frail creature before her eyes; did not know how to tend him – or trust him. The fire in her eyes blazed hotter, to burn the Irken where he stood. Through gnashing teeth rippled in affect her anger, her monstrous temper and warning.
"God knows why my brother fancies you, Irken. Dib's an idiot, yeah, no question, but he's still my brother." Her gaze narrowed, her tone dropped several chilly degrees. "You dare to screw him over, and I'll bring you down."
She watched her words strike home like arrows, drive into Zim's chest and make him bleed. A cold, fearful shudder passed through his anorexic frame, his masked alien eyes unable to meet with Gaz's as he backed up to paces, spoke back in trembling waves.
"Z-Zim wouldn't sc-screw anyone over . . . N-no one d-deserves that . . ." One hand trailed to the lower end of his back and lingered there, waiting.
" . . . Glad to hear to it," said Gaz smoothly, and drew backwards, her expression mellowing to hear unsteady footsteps clomp the stair case, and see her brother bound into the room again, cheerful as an innocent child unaware of the cold attack still lingering amidst his companions.
He smiled for Gaz, and even wider for Zim. "Heya! Ready to go?" He beamed, oblivious to the tension, his heart pulsating thrill beneath his rib cage and casually-smart checked shirt he now sported.
"Y-yeah . . ." Zim slowly brought his hand away from his back, to twine his fingers with Dib's, seeking comfort, protection, and warmth. The human give all he had in return; his free hand reached up to adjust the shaggy wig atop Zim's head, and gently tugged his heart's beloved towards the front door.
"'Kay Gaz, we're off. Try not to burn the house down!" His tongue emerged again, very cheekily, met by the sly smirk and raising of Gaz's middle finger.
As their eyes met, very briefly, there stood the knowledge that, for a time at least, they were friends again.
"See ya!" And the door closed, leaving Gaz trapped within barren home devoid of all life but her own. She sighed, and crossed back into the living room, to the couch where rested her cell phone, the screen illuminated to bare to sight the arrival of a text message. After but a moment's hesitation she scooped up the phone in her immaculately manicured fingers, and felt, for a rare moment, salmon pink tint her cheeks beneath her cold make-up.
Hey babe, we still on 4 2nite?
Inch by inch Gaz lifted her head to the clock –16:47pm - back to the window where the besotted couples remained to paint the scene. Among them she spotted Dib; his expression singing praises to Zim, to the one who had always filled his heart.
She looked to the boots Zim had allowed her to use, but one component of her outfit.
Suddenly filled with excitement Gaz returned to her phone and sent a reply.
You bet. C u soon x