All I Want For X-Mas
CHAPTER 1 Part 1
It was the night before Christmas and all through the Membrane household not a creature was stirring…well unless you count a skinny, pale, large headed boy at about the age of 8 as a creature.
Dib's glasses, which were much to large for his face began slipping down as the boy peered around the corner and into the living room where their scrawny tree stood, with its bare branches. Well, bare except for a few tiny bulbs in the shapes of various mythical creatures; bigfoot, moth men, werewolves, monsters of the unusual sorts and of course UFOs.
Dib loved UFOs. Well, he loved the paranormal in general. But, to be as specific as possible, Dib loved Aliens. He adored what they stood for. Life outside of this tiny, crude planet. How they had so many possibilities. So much amazing technology. And of course those funny limbs and eyes.
The little(well not so little anymore) boy skidded out from behind his cover, now that he was satisfied that there was no tall and imposing father or scary, pig loving sister to distract him from his very important work. The trench coat that he'd thrown on over his pajamas swirled in that dramatic way, as Dib scuttled to the wall behind the tree and flicked the switch. Instantly the room lit up, as the individual bulbs on their tree glistened.
Satisfied, the boy slid in front of the tree and stared up at it with two too big auburn eyes. He shoved a skinny hand into his coat pocket and pulled out an envelope, unfolding and uncrinkleing as best as he could. On the white parchment was the address; The North Pole. Santa's Work Shop.
The boy scoffed and dropped it to the ground where he sat with his legs crossed in front of his tree, alone on Christmas Eve. For the last nearly 8 years Dib had sent letters nearly year round to this address, only to have them returned. Unlike a lot of people, Dib hadn't given up. He'd tried different variations on it. The results were always the same.
Most kids his age had already stopped believing in the jolly ol' fat man. Found out through some incident. Or their parents told them that Santa had never existed. Dib was neither of these types of kids. He was unusual in many ways.
His father had never made it a secret that Santa didn't exist. He'd told Dib point blank from the time he was a small child that Santa was not real. The boy could still remember the hatred reserved for Father Christmas. Membrane had always had something against this holiday. It was why Dib almost always celebrated alone.
So, no. Dib never had anyone try to make him believe in Santa's existence. He just had. But, now that was beginning to dissolve as sure as sugar did in warm tea. Sighing, the young boy, looked at the small, hanging UFO strung up on one of the rickety branches. His brow furrowed.
Maybe the lazy sod didn't read his letters. Maybe…like that God fellow, he answered to prayers. He was a Father and an angel apparently. After a few more seconds of debate inside his mind, which he spent mostly biting the inside of his cheek and looking pretty conflicted, Dib nodded to himself and sat up on his knees, fingers intertwined.
At least he thought this was how you did it. Dib had never done this before. Never prayed. Never been religious. When your father was a scientist…
"Hello Santa." Without meaning to Dib made an awkward wave at nothing. "Um. Look, you never answered any of my letters. Ever. I don't know if you're just really busy…or if you're a jerk. But, I'm giving this a shot in case you care." The thought occurred to him to sweeten his tone a bit. Maybe, suck up to the ol' man. Clearing his throat of a nonexistent obstruction, Dib began.
"This year for Christmas, I want something really special. Which if you've been reading my stuff, you would know. It's not a bike. Which I've gotten four years in a row. And…I know that you mainly probably deal with the poorer kids considering that I've never really received anything from you before." Every present he'd ever gotten had been from his Father, who was a very rich and famous scientist. "But, um…I'm thinking…hoping that this year you'll make an exception. I know its short notice…"
Dib rolled his eyes. It wasn't short notice at all. The letters had been sent weeks ago. "I don't want anything really fancy. No basketballs, or balls in general really….I truly don't play any sports. Or any sort of toy either." The boy shook his head to emphasize his point, his odd shaped hair swinging with the movement.
"I want," golden eyes flew once more to the glistening, metal UFO hanging a bit above his head. "an alien." The boy paused for dramatic effect, being all about the dramatics and hoping that there would be some sign by now that his weird prayer was being heard.
Disappointment was buried under hope and Dib kept going.
"Yanno'. A little green guy…around, I don't know, three feet high. With all the eyes and who can fly….not a foreign person from outside the county." He added just in case Santa was stupid or a smart aleck. "He can sleep in my bath tub. I'll pad it with blankets so it'll be nice and comfy. And, and during the spring, when it's warmer I'll take him for walks…and when it's WAY too hot outside, and sticky we'll watch X-Files with the lights off, and eat popcorn and drink soda."
Those orange eyes were too big, too filled with hope and yearning as they stared at the Christmas tree, trying to will his wish into existence. "I promise Santa, I'll take good care of him. We'll be best friends."
Satisfied with his prayer, Dib stuck his tongue out, considering how to end it. "I would be grateful if you could get him here as soon as possible…I don't have money to pay shipping though…" Dib decided that, that didn't matter and shrugged before ending with, "amen."
His business finished, the eight year old pushed to his feet and scampered off, glancing back at the tree only once before crawling off to bed to await the next morning. All night he tossed and turned with visions of a friend, a green kid with a happy smile who could him the universe. Who would understand him and believe in him.
-****-****-
Nothing came the next morning. There was no alien. Just a science kit from his father.
Dib was eight years old when he gave up on hoping and wishing for things. Dib was nine years old when he decided that the only to get what you wanted was to go out and get it yourself. And Dib was on the peak between ten and eleven when an Alien Invader walked into his 5th grade classroom and changed his life forever.
Christmas would never be the same.
SEVEN YEARS LATER Three Days Till X-Mas:
Snow fell. It was expected and accepted by seemingly everyone. In fact most of the time it was even anticipated. A break from the usually sweltering heat. Kids ran around, tongues stuck out to try to catch the flakes. Their hands grew cold as they built snow men. Cheeks pinkened. Giggles rang out in the blanket of silence caused by the white flood.
And Zim screamed.
He hated the snow. Perhaps even more than rain because it was cold. Colder than anything he'd ever encountered. It was a sly thing, seemingly harmless until it melted into deadly water. So, yeah, the maniac screamed and ran down the side walk, clutching the stolen trench coat above his head as he did so.
"Zim! You moron!" Dib yelled, his own boots sinking into the three inch drifts. Perhaps, if they had been in any other town the people would've wondered what had happened, been alarmed. However, the folks didn't so much as blink as the two boys ran by, casting snow in every direction.
Dib panted as he finally caught up to the panicking alien and swerved so he cut into Zim's path. He snatched the coat away from greedy claws and glared. "Come on, Zim. It's fine. You're wearing your own jacket, not to mention gloves, two hats and a scarf." He shoved his arms back into his only shield, shivering with the blessed heat. Zim pouted.
Dib recognized the lip as it protruded, the predictable the heat sparking in the hidden magenta eyes. He rolled his own hazel eyes and reached over, twirling their fingers together. His five digits fit perfectly with the alien's three. "Put that away. "His other hand poked Zim's bottom lip. "Come on. We'll go to my place. It's dry there."
The irken didn't pull away from the intertwined digits, but he looked insulted with the lip poking.
Zim gritted his teeth and sniffed indignantly. "Fine, fine." Relieved that the alien was obeying, they began walking, and then paused suddenly, nearly jerking the human's arm out of its socket. "Will there be hot chocolate?" Zim asked, as if it was of dire importance. Dib hid a smirk, putting on a serious face.
"Naturally. With the milk of course." Zim nodded decisively, satisfied now that he knew there would be a warm, delicious treat waiting for them.
"Good."
Together they walked down the side walk, avoiding people, a companionable silence between them as their hands remained entwined and inconspicuous. They turned up Dib's house pathway, ignoring the electric fences as they activated from the movement, melting the snow that had gathered around them. The house was the only one on the block that wasn't decked out with lights and tinsel. This didn't bother the teenager. In fact he preferred it this way.
Shoving open the door, Zim let go of the human's bare hand and walked forward into the warm household, trying not to show how relieved he was to be in doors, even if it was in his enemies' base. As always, the revolting sibling unit was on the couch, head bent, fingers flying over the latest gaming device and disregarding them resolutely.
"Shut the door," She growled, not even pausing. Dib rolled his eyes and obeyed.
"Like I was going to leave it open." He whispered, and walked towards the kitchen to prepare the promised drink. Zim tried not to act too eager as he hurriedly shed his extra layers and marched after the big headed boy.
Dib began pulling out the necessities; the hot chocolate packages, two huge mugs, and the milk. Zim couldn't drink the kind with water in it. He looked over as the alien walked into the kitchen and began to fuss with the little rack that held the spices, picking up one occasionally to study it closely.
His lips curled into a smile and he shook his head as he poured the packets into the mugs. His mind wandered during the task. When had he begun to think of Zim as anything more than an enemy? The answer was uncertain. Perhaps it had been a year ago, maybe a few months. Dib really had no idea. All he knew was that for a while now they'd been doing things like holding hands and talking normally, well as normally as they could.
They hadn't kissed. They barely touched aside from the hand thing and that was because Zim had gloves on. Dib put the mugs, filled with milk, into the microwave. The buttons beeped as he put in the time indicated on the packets. He turned and leaned on the oven to stare at Zim who was preoccupied investigating his normal kitchen, peering into cookie jars cautiously. So suspicious…
Was it bad that he'd begun to think things like dates and what it would be like to kiss Zim, to be allowed to kiss Zim? He was an alien after all. But…he hadn't really thought about turning Zim in or strapping him to an autopsy table in a while. And the irken hadn't spoken of taking over the world since his Tallest's call about a year and a half ago.
They did normal couple things…kind of, like drinking hot chocolate together, holding hands, spending time together—his musings were cut off, thankfully as the microwave beeped obnoxiously. With careful hands he removed the steaming mugs and turned around to put them down on the table. Zim was already in a chair, staring at his mug with single minded determination, eyes so serious. He could practically hear the alien's thoughts of dominating the cup, of drinking it into oblivion.
Dib bit on his bottom lip to stop the laughter. "Hey, space- monster. Want whipped cream?" Zim's eyes narrowed as he contemplated before nodding.
"Hurry though, Monkey-brain." Dib grabbed the whipped cream and quickly covered both their cups in the delicious treat. Before he was done, Zim had snatched the mug and was devouring the drink.
"Zim! Be careful it's—" Too late. The irken hissed and held the cup away, tongue sticking out, as he glared at the drink. "Hot."
"Vat is deh deaming of dis Dib?" Zim asked suspiciously, probably thinking he'd poisoned it or something. The human rolled his eyes and blew on his own drink.
"You need to wait until it's cooled down, moron. Haven't we talked about this before?" He reached over and blew on the irken's cup until the steam dissipated a bit. "There." He said, trying not to look at the ridged tongue for fear of blushing because of his thoughts involving it earlier.
Zim drunk deeply now, his whole focus on the mug. For a while they sat and enjoyed the silence until Zim's chocolate was gone and Dib had sipped the last of his. Together they went up to his room bickering, to do what they normally did; argue, yell and play a round of cards, perhaps talk and eventually end up with one of them being physically hurt.
-**-**-
A little group of carolers shuffled down the empty street, chattering in high pitched voices about their Christmas traditions. They were all dressed in warm, red clothes with plenty of fake fur and droopy Santa hats.
"Hey guys." One caroler said, sniffling a bit from the cold. "No one's around and I'm bored. We should pick a random song to sing and let the whole neighborhood hear it!" There was a chorus of 'yeahs' and 'woots'. It was so fun and Christmassy who would ever want to argue? So together they turned to a certain song and began to sing to the whole white drenched neighborhood.
"You better watch out
You better not cry
Better not pout
I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town…"
None of the morons aka jolly carolers heard the sound of snow crunching. Of branches shaking with ominous power. The sound of lightly jingling bells echoed softly in the white embrace of winter.
And no one in the surrounding houses heard the singing change to screaming. Mainly because there wasn't much of a difference in pitch.
-**-**-
In one of the said houses, Dib scowled and pressed the buttons to activate the super sound proof shield. He scoffed and turned back to the irken who was messing around with an old invention of his. "Don't they ever listen? It's been four years. Freaking cut it out already!"
There was a resolute sounding click, followed by a satisfied hum from the alien. "Dib-Stink your theory is, as always, incorrect. You seem to be under the impression that any of the hyu-mans ever listen to you." Magenta eyes flickered to the frustrated man-child, before returning to his new toy. "And we both know that never happens."
Dib's shoulders sagged as he shuffled to his bed and flopped down on it face first. Zim rolled his eyes at the mellow dramatic behavior but, sat down next to the human. The springs popped and he smirked, liking the sound as always.
There was a series of muffled noises that came from the teen and the irken frowned, finally giving up on the old invention, throwing it across the room where it made a horrible crash. "Stop whining." He demanded, arms crossed as he glared down at Dib's overly large head. In response said boy flipped him off before rolling over onto his back to stare at Zim.
"I wasn't whining."
"Yes you were."
"Nu-uh."
"Yep. Whining like a new born smeet." Pause. "Or Gir before dinner." Dib was caught between being offended and giggling. So instead he just sighed and sat up, the bed springs straining with the weight of two boys.
"But, even if they didn't listen to me…you would think that they would gain some sort of common sense from the past years." Zim gave the boy a dry look before he rolled his eyes and scooted closer. For the warmth, he told himself resolutely.
"Don't be foolish, Dib-Brain. Hyu-mans are morons now and they'll always be morons. Pay them no notice." The alien demanded, satisfied now that their legs were touching. The boy's warmth spread so quickly that he shivered. He wished he could bottle the heat and keep it to himself. It was no fair that Dib got all of it.
The human opened his mouth to bark a response, or more likely to agree but then he noticed Zim's shiver and how close they were. Instead, a smile grew on his face. "Cold? Is the superior irken elite cold?"
Zim scowled and crossed his arms. "Of course not! How horribly ignorant of you, Dib-Monkey. I was merely eh," He looked around for inspiration. "stealing your brain cells through contac—ACHHT!" He screeched as Dib's arms wrapped around him, pulling him into the human's disgusting, dreadfully warm embrace.
"Let me go, you pathetic worm!" He squirmed, cursing Dib and his warmth and all his relations!
"No." The boy responded simply, a smug smirk on his face. "I don't want to."
"Do I look like I care what you want or not want to uh care about! Release Zim!"
Instead, Dib nuzzled the top of the alien's head, feeling that odd fluttering in his chest. It had come and gone these last several months. The irken was so tiny and fragile. Or at least it felt that way. Dib knew that the moron could hurt him severely with little to no thought.
Zim squirmed and fought for a good half an hour before growing tired and slumping into the heat. It wasn't so bad. He did like how warm it was. It was just the indignation of being held here so helplessly.
In the next ten minutes he managed to convince himself that it had been his plan all along. He kept his hands at his sides, unsure of what to do with them, but let his head fall against the boy's chest with no qualm. The steady thrumming of his inferior organ was soothing in the oddest way.
The teen's smile had faded to a dumbstruck sort of look. They'd touched before, sure. Obviously held hands and occasionally brushed together when walking. The punches and slapping and scratching had become second nature. This though…Dib shook his head gently, it just added onto his thoughts earlier. Were they really enemies anymore? Not at all.
Hadn't been for a long while. And Dib could see how their talking and laughing and constant together-ness could be considered friendly but, this…and his desire to do more…were they a couple?
The questions built up in him. Dib's left eye twitched with the force of them. And so, as he often did, he spoke without any sort of shield or thought of stopping himself. "Zim, are we a couple?" As soon as he asked, the overwhelming desire to throw himself over a cliff was overwhelming but it was out in the open so he tensed and waited for the alien's answer.
Zim was in, was could only be called, a trance. It was warm. Warmer than he could ever remember being. The steady sound of Dib's heart rang in his antenna and it was a soothing white noise to his thoughts about world conquest and sugary snacks. He didn't even mind the fact that the human's germs were getting all over him. He knew for a fact that the boy had showered not too long ago. The smell of mint shampoo assured him of that.
Then the words sunk like bricks into his little bubble of tranquil peace, popping it violently. Magenta eyes shot open as he thrust himself away so quickly he almost fell off the bed and would've if Dib hadn't held him fast.
"W-what? A couple? As in mushy gushy lovey-dovey filled with goo and vile twisties of rainbows an-and bombs of lurve?" Dib blinked, his ears ringing and a blistering flush working its wicked way up his cheeks. "No! Wha-at would lead you to believe this, Dib-uh smelly?" Zim quaked in his boots, having finally disentangled himself from the child.
It was a good thing too because in that second Dib would've let Zim go, falling to the hazardous floor. His expression darkened, usually bright amber eyes, a dull brown.
"No reason. None at all." His voice seemed rather dead too. The human stood up and walked away from the bed to sit in his computer chair. "Actually, Zim, I have to get a lot of work done before tomorrow."
Silence. The teen turned in his chair to see the alien's questioning look. "So you should go."
It finally hit Zim and Dib could see the purple eyes widen with comprehension.
"Oh." He cleared his throat and lifted his chin, the prideful wall throwing itself up to block out any uncertainty. "Of course. I have um, important tasks to get to as well."
Turning away the irken marched out of the room and down the stairs. He didn't look back as he opened the front door and didn't look back as he kicked up the snow on the walk way. He didn't even think of glancing back as he reached the halfway mark and it wasn't until he was in sight of his own house that he turned and stared back down the empty street. Shivers racked his body, part confusion, part pure cold. He'd left his coat and scarf and hat. Hell, he'd left his entire disguise.
Zim jeered and turned away from his own footsteps in the fresh snow to open his door and hurry inside. The house was blessedly heated; it should've made him feel better. It didn't. His spooch was clenched, his mind buzzing with too many questions. So, yeah his body wasn't shivering anymore. He still felt cold.
END OF CHAPTER 1 PART 1 INTERMISSION
A.N.:
I hope you enjoy. The next one will be up at 6:00.
Merry Jingly!
I don't own IZ.