Invading Spirit The hell is he doing? I have stopped in the middle of a downpour to stare at him. He's lying on the ground, allowing the rain to drip onto him from the leaves above. He's under a tree as if to get away from the water, but he's lying in the one spot where the water drips on his cheek. He cringes every time. I wonder if maybe he's having a seizure or he's too weak to move and I start walking across the street without any real intention in mind. As I get closer, I can see him a bit clearer, and I realize his skin is green. It doesn't just have a greenish tinge, it's actually green. He's a bit small too, I mean he's at least five foot eight if not taller, but... skinny. Like a pole. His hair is black, spiky and messy. His eyes are closed, his lips thinned in pain, and I suddenly realize his cheek has a groove cut into it that the raindrops are dropping into. Then I see another drop hit him, and it sizzles, and smokes. I'm running before I even think to move. I grab his upper arm and yank him up so that I can drag him over to the tree trunk and set him down. He was light, lighter than a boy should have been. He makes a small helpless noise when I back away and his eyes flutter open. They were bright blue, but... there was a pink shine underneath the whites. His arms lash out to grab onto me and pull me into his body. I fall into him of course, no one ever said I was coordinated and his face buries itself in my hair. He makes a keening noise, something that isn't human, but is definitely sorrowful. All of a sudden I feel really warm, and I realize it's because he's letting out a hell of a lot more body heat than he should be. "Hey, you have a fever, how long have you been in the rain? Why is the water burning you?" He holds me tighter and inhales deeply, his body shaking. "Nhh...haa..." He's trying to say SOMETHING I know, but I just can't make it out when he begins to mumble. It doesn't even sound like English. I push myself up and away far enough to be face to face with him, but it's hard because he's like REALLY strong. Even as sick as he seems. His cheeks are pulled taut over high cheekbones, his nose just a small bump that seems to be more of a ridge between his eyes than an actual nose. He's panting, his chest rising and falling with the heaving breaths. His thin lips are chapped, his body is skinny- emaciated even. And yet he's still somehow eerily beautiful. "Hey, come on. Say something." He mumbles in that weird language again, it's guttural and harsh and I grimace a little at the tone. I have a feeling he's calling me a name or something. "Come on, speak English." He blinks as if he has no idea what I'm talking about and then smacks himself in the forehead. "I did not realize that I was not speaking English." He sighs and tilts his head back against the trunk of the tree. "If you don't mind, I'll just be dying now." I blink at him. Is he serious? "Uh... you're dying?" "No. I'm wasting. It's different from death... but it is the human equivalent." Human. Like he wasn't one. "Why do you say... human, like that?" He sighs. "Because I'm not one." I start to shake, just a little. "...what... are you... then?" "Irken." I suddenly blink in complete ignorance. "Eh-what's that?" He rolls his eyes. "Alien." My whole body feels like it's been drenched in cold water, and I realize that it has. I'm covered in rain. "Okay..." I just need a moment to process this, preferably not with him holding me this close. "Uh... can you let go... of me?" He lifts an eyebrow/ridge. "I'm rather comfortable this way." Damn it, he's one of those. "Dude, I get that. But I am going to freak out soon if you don't let me go." He makes a noise reminiscent of a snort and then loosens his grip. But when I back up, I only get so far as his knees. His fingertips are gripping the ends of my shirt. He isn't looking at me, he's looking up again. I don't even think he knows he's doing it. "Why do you want to die?" Because honestly it... confuses me, why anyone would WANT to die. "Does it really matter?" He's blinking blearily up at the leaves and I watch as his body seems to cave in on itself and he slumps forward into my body. "No. It doesn't." I pull him into a standing position, he's taller than me, but much smaller. So it's easy to hold him up on my shoulder. "I don't care if you ARE an alien, suicide is wrong, of any kind. I'm taking you home, where do you live?" He sighs and his breath hits my collarbone. "The house with the bearded gnomes." Then he collapses on me and seems to be unconscious. Which is how I find myself carrying an alien half way across town, asking for directions to a house that has bearded gnomes. Apparently everyone here knew who he was, but couldn't apparently see that he was an alien. They thought he had a skin condition. God people are stupid. Though to be fair, I hadn't suspected alien. But I had known he wasn't normal when I first saw his skin. I find the house in between two others... it fits snugly between them, with little bearded gnomes and other such lawn decorations. He obviously had no idea how to make a human house look. I drag him up to the front door and knock. The door opens and I blink at the empty space in front of me. "Master!" I jolt and look down to see a little puppy plush toy talking. "A human found Master!" He started jumping around and bounced into the back of the house. Geez. I set him down on the sofa and wondered what the hell I was supposed to do. "God, I can't even put a wet washcloth on his head, because water burns him." "Rain burns!" The plush is jumping around again, "Water good! Rain bad!" He was blinking at me now, pointing at the kitchen. I think for a moment that maybe listening to a crazy talking muppet is a bad idea, but I grab a bowl of water and a washcloth and try it anyway. Surprisingly his skin doesn't sizzle or smoke. He makes a small mewling noise when I swipe his throat and the back of his neck. I turn to the small crazy muppet dog and ask, "How long has he been... not home?" He blinks. "Master hasn't been home for a long time!" I frown and think of a way to make him be specific. "Two weeks." I jolt and look down at him. He's got his eyes open in slits, and he's muttering at me, but he's conscious and talking. "Two... weeks... You haven't been eating or drinking either, have you?" "Can't drink or eat without purifying. Don't want a long and painful death." "Do you have a bath here? A shower?" He hums in affirmation and I pull him up, wrapping my arms around him. I pull him with me toward the back of the house where I can see a bedroom. There's another door leading to a bathroom and I slump him against the wall. His hair is slightly skewed. It's a wig? I reach up and gently pry it away. He stares at nothing as I blink at him. He has two antennae. They're black and curved back severely on his head. Then I remember his eyes. "Can you... are you wearing contacts?" He reaches up and suddenly slides off an entire eye covering. Then the other. I'm stiff and watching in suppressed horror. His. Eyes. Are. Pink. No whites, no pupils... just pure pink. Magenta really. They flutter shut and I jolt back to myself. I needed to cool him off. So I turn on the shower, cold water, and start stripping him. "What... Human..." He started to mumble again and when I got his clothes off him, I could see that it was worse than what I thought. He was too skinny. His bones jutted out everywhere. I ran my fingers over his ribs gently with a frown. He shivered a little and shrank away from me. I push him into the shower and when I let go of him he falls to his knees. I jump in without thinking and hold him up, letting the water run over him. I rub circles into his back and he sighs into my throat. It's quite a feat for him to snuggle under my chin, but he's doing it flawlessly. I'm comfortable, even if I'm shivering, so I just smooth my fingers over his skin and try to ease his discomfort. The first time I consider the fact that he's naked and holding onto me, is when he starts to purr. I freeze when he does it the first time, but when he stops, I start to feel experimental. Which is never good. I drift over the same spot as before and notice something that I'd missed in my surprise at his purring. There are metal sockets in his back. When my finger drifts too close, he starts to shudder and purr brokenly. It's almost like a coo, from a dove or something... "Tell me if I hurt you, or anything..." I swirl my finger around the small socket and his body starts to convulse. He's still purring though, and he's not telling me to stop. His arms lock around my waist. "What... are you doing?" He's moving his body, my fingers following after the small metallic circles, caressing the flesh just outside the rings. "Um... I dunno." I laugh tensely. "I guess, it seems like it feels good and I... uh..." I press harder to end the conversation and his voice stutters harshly out of his throat. "Um... did you just curse?" It sounded like it. "Yes." He sounds somewhat peeved, in a relaxed kind of way. "What language is that?" He undulates when I smooth my finger up his spine. "Irken..." He breathes in a sort of hushed sigh. "That's your... species? Right? Um... do all Irkens, have these sockets?" He shivers. "Yes..." "You don't touch these usually though?" He mutters something that sounds like a no. "Why not? If it feels so good?" "Irkens... no longer... take comfort... from touch..." His lips touch my neck and his purr vibrates against my skin. "They no longer take comfort?... or they just no longer touch?" He shudders and undulates again, his hips bumping mine. "... I am... defective..." He makes a noise... I don't know what to call it, but I guess it's his equivalent to a moan. It's masculine, but... trills in the back of his throat. "What's your name?" He pants softly into my throat, "Zim." "Do you want me to stop, Zim?" He seems to freeze for a moment, maybe a second. "No." He shakes his head, nuzzling into my neck. I'm still rubbing circles around his back sockets when his antennae start to twitch. Curiously, I blow on one. He nearly collapses to his knees. His head is thrown back, his arms wrapped around my shoulders now. He's only about a head taller than me, so I can reach his neck with my lips easily. I'm guessing the cold water is keeping me from getting too aroused, but watching him is somewhat addictive. I plant a kiss on his neck, his body still moving with my fingertips. I move my head to rest on his chest, my forehead on his collarbone. My fingertips press into his back harder than before and he shouts in Irken, I'm shocked, and my fingernails scratch just slightly. He makes a strangled gurgling sound and when I look up, his tongue is flicking out of his gaping mouth, almost like he can't control it. His teeth are pointed and he seems to slam his mouth shut, biting his lip and tongue, blood running over his neck. "Zim!" I remove my hands from his back and reach up to try and get him to open his mouth. He barely opens his lips and I see his tongue is already healing. His lip is piecing together too. "Zim heals faster than humans." Is it weird that I find him speaking in the third person... sexy? "Well Zim needs to not hurt himself in the first place." I sigh and lean into his body, funny enough he seems solid enough to hold himself up now. "You distracted me." I blink and look up. He's looking like he's questioning me, but I didn't hear a question. "Um... yes?" "You gave me pleasure, to keep me from feeling discomfort." His antennae are still slightly twitching. "...yes?" I'm raising an eyebrow at him. "As far as I can remember, humans don't like aliens." I blink. "Well, I guess-" "As far as I can remember, humans cause aliens pain if they show weakness." I open my mouth, about to be indignant. "As far as I can remember, it is the same with Irkens." I blink as his tongue slips out to flick over his lips. "You must be a defective too." I'm dumbfounded, but can't bring myself to care when he leans down, cups my face in his hands, and kisses me. It's not an expert kiss, or even an amateur kiss, he's just pressing his lips to mine. No movement or anything. He pulls back and my eyes catch a flicker of movement over his throat. A black ring wraps itself around his neck. I blink. "Zim... why is your skin tattooing itself?" "It's my MAERK." It sounds like he's saying mark, but with an inflection. "What's a... maerk?" I try to mimic the inflection. "It is a symbol of my devotion." I frown and my brows pull together in confusion. "What is your name, human female?" I blink and my face smoothes out. "Nik. Spelled N-I-K. Nik Dart." I'm a little touchy about how people spell my name. He purrs in the back of his throat and then seems to clear it. I almost laugh. "There are only three letters...?" His voice is deeper than before. Huskier. "Um... yes?" "All invaders have three letters to their name." He mutters and lifts a hand to rub his thin throat. The sleek column is soft, from what I can remember, and my fingers itch to stroke it. To see if he's sensitive in other places. But that would be inappropriate. Before I was helping, now I'd just be molesting him. His fingertips trace the black ring and he sighs before stepping out of the shower. And if you think I stared at his ass for more than five seconds... well fuck you. He wrapped a towel around his head and started to rub the moisture off his body, the towel rolling down his arms and then chest, legs and then feet. And I do NOT stare when he bends over thank you very much. "Do you normally bathe with your clothes on, Nik-love?" I look down at my clothes and realize I'm shivering, my teeth chattering and my body almost convulsing. "N-n-no." My brain is about to shut down I think because it's hard to comprehend anything he says to me as he walks over to me. He puts a hand on my cheek. "Your body temperature is too low. I will warm you." Aaaaaand that's the point where I stop being conscious. When I wake up, I'm warm and dry, and I snuggle into the blankets wrapped around me. The blankets feel different than mine and that, more than anything, wakes me all the way up. I sit up, and find that I'm actually naked underneath the blankets. I jump when the door creaks open and wrap the blanket around my shoulders. The little dog plush is back. "Master! SHE'S AWAAAAAAAKE~~!" I cringe, his voice is grating on my ear drums. "Go down to the base GIR." I hear his voice from the other room. "YES SIR!" The voice becomes lower in a kind of grunt. Then he's running away and I'm staring at the door. The sound of light footsteps starts from not that far away from the door, then comes closer... and closer. He steps into the doorway, his body clothed in tight black, with a pink jacket and lighter pink puffed sleeves. His belt is silver with three pink dots surrounded by a circle on the buckle. And he's wearing black gloves. They don't hide the pointy-ness of his fingers, but they do hide the greenness. He's got the contacts and wig back on. "Are you warm, Nik-love?" "Yes, I-" What? "What did you call me?" He walks into the room and then crawls onto the bed, coming toward me. "I called you by your name." "No. You called me by my name and something else." I was still bleary and fuzzy but I KNEW it couldn't have been what I thought I heard. "Nik-love..." He was in my face now, and something unnerved me. I couldn't see his eyes. His real eyes. It made me sleepily annoyed and for the moment I forgot that I was supposed to be asking. "Zim... why are you wearing the contacts again?" He tilts his head and his gloved hand lifts to bury in my hair. "It is my human disguise." "But we're in your house." He stares into my eyes with his fake ones. "Yes." "So why not just... leave them off?" He blinks. "I don't wish to unnerve you, Nik-love." He thought I was unnerved by his real eyes? "I like your eyes Zim." His fake eyes seem to flicker over my face. Almost as if they ARE real. He reaches up to remove them, and then I'm looking at his bright magenta orbs. His hair is still a spiky mess from before and I try to keep from smiling at him, my brows drawing together and my lips twitching. "Zim... your hair..." He blinks and gets up to walk into the bathroom, looking in the mirror. "Ah, yes." He runs his fingers through it and combs down a few spots, then suddenly it isn't messy, but sexily mussed. He walks back in and sits on the bed next to me, stroking my hair and rubbing it between his fingers. "Zim?" He hums and his eyes seem to look at me, I don't know how I know since he doesn't have pupils... "You look good with hair." His wig wiggles and I blink at it, reaching up to pull it off. He startles and I see his antenna twitching. "They're twitching." They suddenly flatten against his head and he seems to be pouting at me. "Are not." "Is that how you show embarrassment?" They twitch slightly upward and he smoothes them back on his head again. Wow, that's control. "It's cute, really... why am I naked?" I suddenly remember and flush dark red. "Your clothing was soaked in cold water." He seemed to think that was a sufficient explanation so I let it go for the moment. "Um... how long was I asleep?" "Two hours?" He seems to be looking up in thought, his fingers tapping against his knees. He looked better than before and I almost think I imagined how skinny he was. "You look... better." He trains his eyes on me and smoothes a hand over his chest and stomach. "I have something for malnourishment." "So... you don't want to die anymore, right?" I lock eyes with him, and his hand reaches out to caress my cheek. "No. I do not." "Okay, good. Um... do you have some clothes I can borrow?" He jumps to his feet off the bed and opens a closet. He pulls out a dress which makes me double-take. "I was not certain what my gender would be equivalent to on your planet, so I had many disguises made." He handed it to me and I glance at him when he just stands there. Oh, right. His people don't touch each other, and he's not built like humans in some ways. He probably wouldn't even care if I got naked and danced around in front of him. "Zim, I'm... Kind of weak..." I'm embarrassed, but he just nods, like it's to be expected and holds out his hands to help me up. The blanket falls off and I almost tumble into him. His arms are wrapped securely around me. "Easy, Nik-love. I will keep you upright." His voice is soothing, low, sexy. I shake my head. "Zim, just... Please, hurry and put the dress on me, please." He takes it from my grasp and slips it over my head, zipping it up and holding me securely against him again. "Um... I'm okay now, really." He releases me, stepping back, watching me, his eyes scanning my legs, apparently for any wobbling. It's... Intense, and endearing.