Warning: Well. Looks like this is going to end up a FOUR parter instead of a three parter... and I'll be releasing more early. When me and Yuki RP... we bloody RP. FEAR OUR MAD SKILLS. HAHAHAHAHAHA! Anyway, yes. Couplings begin to emerge but I ain't stopping there. Don't worry. ^^ ... Well. Not too much. *glances at the title* ... o.o;;;
As an added bonus, I'm going to try and fix the formatting of my future chapters! You see, all of my fics have indents. ... but when I upload, they mysteriously disappear. ... SO! I'm going to try and fix it! HUZZAH! ... yes! Anyway! XD Does this look any better?
Part Two: Icy You!
(I know it's a bad joke. BAD ME, BAD! ... I wonder if anyone actually got it. o.o I had soda so I'm sorta... soda stoned. This could be one of those jokes that even I won't get when I get un-soda stoned.)
The sounds of chatter filled the studio as Professor Membrane wandered around, dodging scientific equipment and staff members as he packed his briefcase with everything and anything he could find. Little children screamed after him, whom he ignored with his usual airhead mannerism, until a scrawny staff member wearing a matching thick white lab coat approached him.
"Sir!"
"Ah, Simmons! Is everything ready for my departure?" Professor Membrane inquired as he tried to shove a nuclear reactor in his briefcase.
"About that, sir," Simmons began. "The President called...,"
"No no no! He'll have to wait!" Professor Membrane laughed, merrily. He proceeded to pose dynamically, the equipment sparking behind him in an eerie display of science. "It's Christmas break! I must make... HOLIDAY CHEER,"
Simmons stared, bewildered, then glanced at his clipboard.
"But what about...?"
"Baaah!" Professor Membrane dismissed the notion with a wave of his gloved hand. "I can find a cure for whatever it is after Christmas break! I've allready met my 'cured diseases' quota. Besides!" the professor grinned, before striking yet another pose. "I must... GO HOME TO MY CHILDREN FOR CHRISTMAS!"
"Uhhh... yessir...," Simmons blinked, then tensed and tilted his head. His hand darted to his earpiece as a scowl crossed his face. "SIR!"
"Hoh?" Professor Membrane blinked.
"The snow... it's blocked up the roads... we're trapped in!" Simmons' eyes widened in horror. Professor Membrane blinked, then laughed lightly and put his hands on his hips.
"Don't be silly. I will simply use my handy snowblower-," he began.
"... um... you lent it to the orphans in Alaska," Simmons interrupted, quietly. Professor Membrane blinked.
"... my nuclear snowmobile?" he inquired.
"... Arctic exploration team," Simmons coughed.
"... ... super charged flamethrower?"
"... I spilled coffee on it, remember? It exploded in a blaze,"
Professor Membrane stared at Simmons, blankly, before he burst out with laughter.
"I do believe we're stranded!" he cackled. Simmons gave the professor a freaked look, who seemed oblivious to it as he grabbed the phone and began to dial with an unnecessary flourish. Professor Membrane hummed, merrily, as the phone rang.
Gaz rested, stretched out on the floor, as she drew. Crayons surrounded her, covering the floor, as well as many pictures and blank pieces of papers. She arched an eyebrow, slightly, when the phone began to rang. She continued to draw as the answering machine picked up.
"AH! Gaz! Dib! If you can hear this... I am afraid that our Christmas rendezvous must be postponed! I am, unfortunately, detained by the sn-,"
Gaz dashed up to get the phone but was too late. The connection cut just as she picked up the phone.
"Hello? Dad?" she asked. Her only reply was the sound of silence, save for static. Gaz scowled, then reset the phone and tried to dial the lab. Her scowl deepened when her attempts failed. She hung up the phone, then plastic cracking on the frame, and glared murderously at it.
"... Damn dad's work," she hissed, quietly and harshly. She walked over to her drawnings and grabbed a black crayon. She stared at the crayon, then her drawing, and harshly scribbled over it.
---------------
Dib sighed, wearily, as he walked up the shoveled sidewalk to his house. He stomped his feet on the mat outside the door, shaking off the snow that clung to his body, and slipped inside.
"I'm home!" he called.
Silence.
Dib blinked and walked to towards the kitchen. He peered inside, curiously.
"Dad?" he called. "Gaz?"
Silence.
Dib walked towards the basement and peered down, only to find it empty as well.
"... Hellooo? Anybody home?" he called, once more. When no one replied, he turned and walked back to the living room. He wandered past the sofa, then yowled as he tripped.
Gaz refused to acknowledge Dib, even though he tripped on her, as she scribbled on the paper with her black crayon. Dib rubbed his sore nose and muttered before standing to his feet and looking at his sister, oddly.
"Gaz? Why didn't you say something?" he asked. Gaz paused, then slowly sat up and put the crayon away.
"... Dad isn't coming home,"
"Whuh?" Dib stared.
"He called before the phone went out. He's probably got another project he's working on. Work always comes before family you know," she continued, her voice very harsh, bitter, and sarcastic.
"...But... BUT... He promised! He PROMISED! He promised nothing would keep him from being home on Christmas!" Dib cried out.
"Check the answering machine if you don't believe me," Gaz retorted, curtly, as she got to her feet. Dib stood still for a moment, totally stunned, before going over to the answering machine. He pressed the playback button and listened to the recording. In a fit of denial, he played back the message over and over as if he felt it would change if he rewound it enough. He was so stunned that he did not notice Gaz as she walked over to the door, put on her coat, and slipped out in to the cold.
Gaz ignored the snow as she tromped out into the blizzard, feeling fit to kill. However, as it was Christmas Eve, her anger eventually gave way to a profound sadness and depression.
Resting on the floor, abandoned and forgotten, was a picture of Dib, Gaz, and their father in a Christmas setting, harshly scribbled out with black crayon.
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Zim hissed as he barely dodged a snowflake, his hands quivering as the cardboard box slowly began to drip from the continued assault of snow. The cardboard was soggy and chilly, freezing Zim's claws, while Zim's cheeks were a rather unnatural tint of blue. The streets were buried deep under mounds of snow as the night cast an uncomfortable shadow over everything, the wind howling viciously.
"This... this weather... I must return home!" Zim muttered. He yelped and dodged a blast of snow. He huffed, wearily, and glanced around. "Must... ... so cold...," Zim whimpered. He arched his back and let out an irritated snarl. "I'm an invader...! I won't be defeated by... COLD RAIN!" he announced, though he seemed to lose his conviction when another blast of snow hit him. Zim quickened his pace and tromped through the snow, which thankfully only came up to his knees. His thick boots protected his skin from the acidic snow, though his wounded leg felt incredibly numb. His teeth chattered vigorously as small shivers began to wrack his body.
Zim looked around.
"Where... where am I? I don't recognize... so cold...," Zim whispered, his breath appearing like puffs of chilled smoke. He took a hesitant step, then yowled as he slipped and tumbled in to a snowbank. He screamed and scrambled out, then dived in to a frosty phonebooth. He shivered in the corner, huddled and chattering. "So... very... cold...," he repeated.
Zim glanced around and scowled as the snow continued to fall. He clenched a shivering fist and waved it at the outside world.
"I won't be defeated... not here... the Tallest put their faith... ... !" he hissed, then broke off shivering. After the shiver settled down, he sighed wearily. " ... I'll just wait until... it stops...,"
Zim rested his head against his knees and continued to shiver, wincing visibly as the blood stain on his leg slowly grew larger and frigid.
Zim sighed once more, then tensed and blinked.
Through the wind and the glass of the booth, there was the sound of singing, soft and sad. Zim tilted his head and listened, a curious expression on his chilled face. The voice was quite familiar, somehow.
Zim fumbled up and wiped at the glass booth window, hissing at the cold against his burnt hands, then peered out in to the dismal night. He saw nothing but snow and white; there was no sight of another living creature. However, someone must be out there somewhere.
Zim blinked, then slowly inched out in to the snow, shivering against the cold, and trudged towards the sound.
"... who...?" he wondered. As Zim walked closer, he soon found himself able to make out words.
"... I have no friends...,"
Zim faltered and blinked.
"To wish me greetings... once again...,"
"... ...?" Zim inched closer, curiousity temporarily overcoming the freezing cold..
"Choirs will be singing, Silent Night...,"
Zim came to a stop and stared as he saw purple and black against the snow, taking the form of someone standing in the middle of the park in the seemingly far distance.
"Oh, Christmas Carols, by candlelight...,"
Zim blinked, then took a few steps toward the person. Snow slipped by him, barely missing his exposed head as he forgot to grab the cardboard box in the phonebooth.
"I... recognize...," he hissed.
"Please... come home for Christmas...,"
"... it's... Gaz?" Zim stared. He rubbed his eyes and stared.
The song slowly grew shaky, stained with an edge of despair. The blurry figure, Gaz, let out a stifled sob as her hands went to her face.
"... It can't be... can it?" Zim whispered, inching even closer to see as his sight seems to diminish to a hazy blur.
"... Please... please come home for Christmas...," Gaz whispered, her voice soft and sounding more like a plea than a song. Zim came to an abrupt stop and stared at Gaz, who was unaware of his presence.
"... It is," he grunted. He stood perfectly still, staring at Gaz. Gaz stopped singing all together and proceeded to sob, quietly, in to her mittened hands. Zim stood a moment longer, staring, then turned about and started heading away. He glanced over his shoulder, weakly, and rubbed his arms to try and warm them.
"... Silly... leaking human," he whispered, though his voice lacked both enthusiasm and conviction. He continued to walk, his breathing labored, as he fought his urge to curl up right where he was. "Must... get home... poor GIR...," he sighed.
Unbeknownst to Zim, GIR was at the base baking Christmas brownies, wearing what looked suspiciously like a kinky bouncy elf girl outfit and lipstick.
Zim walked, aimlessly, then stopped and let out a choked gasp. He glanced at his leg and winced, noting that the snow about him was stained with blood. Zim sighed and straightened himself up, then glanced up ahead. He jumped, then stared in disbelief as a form appeared in sight, black against the icy snow.
"... what now...?" Zim muttered, then coughed miserably and shook.
Dib trudged through the snow, miserable and with red tinted cheeks, as he looked around for Gaz. He glanced about, then jerked when he spotted a figure against the snow that he could not identify. Dib darted towards the figure, hopeful.
"Gaz?!" he cried.
"... The... DIB... human?" a voice whispered, weakly. Dib skidded to a halt as the figure materialized in to a very cold and dazed Irken.
"ZIM!" Dib gasped, his tone more surprised and weary than accusing or aggressive. Zim stared at Dib, a violent shiver running up his body.
"... You...," he choked, his throat slowly numbing along with the rest of his body. Dib eyed Zim, then crossed his arms and sighed heavily.
"I'm not in the mood to deal with whatever it is you're up to, Zim," he grunted, sounding tired and depressed yet trying to hide it. Zim stared, blankly, at Dib before letting out a pained whimper as some snow settled on him. Zim shook off the snow but ultimately collapsed to his knees.
"... ... So... very... cold...," he panted. Dib stared at Zim, his expression a collage of conflicting emotions. Zim shivered uncontrollably and glanced up at Dib, his expression weary and almost resigned. "... I think... I'll... take a brief... ... INVADER... nap...," Zim muttered.
Dib stared, dully, at Zim. Zim was wounded and hurt, surrounded by snow that no doubt burned just as badly as its warmer counterpart. All Dib had to do was leave Zim in the snow; the alien would die a painful death and humanity would be safe.
Yet, something kept Dib from leaving the alien right where he was. A tiny voice whispered that Zim was his responsibility. Zim was his discovery and, more importantly, his sole focus in life.
Zim was the one constant in his life. Zim was the one stable component of his life that he couldn't seem to find anywhere else; not in his moody sister and especially not in his promise-breaking father.
And besides, Zim looked downright adorable. Especially when he was so defenseless and exposed without his shields of ego.
Dib tensed at the thought then shook his head. He stared down at Zim, who looked so helpless, and let out a weary sigh.
"I know I'll hate myself in the morning for this...," Dib grunted, though he had a feeling he didn't mean it as much as he wished he did. He grabbed Zim's claw and yanked the Irken to his feet. He shivered at how deathly cold the Irken's skin was to the touch. Zim looked at Dib, weakly, then cracked a small, forced grin.
"... Teh... silly human...," he whispered. He let out a tiny giggle before his eyes rolled in to the back of his head and he collapsed, unconscious, in to the snow. Dib yelped and yanked Zim up, pulling him close and wrapping his coat partially around the Irken. He shook his head, muttering.
"I guess even ALIENS bent on world conquest deserve mercy on Christmas...," he grunted, half carrying and half dragging Zim back towards his house. He glanced down at Zim, noting how troubled the Irken's breathing seemed to be and how cold he felt. Dib bit his lower lip and held Zim as closely as possible, trying to warm up the Irken as well as ignore a tiny voice whispering against such a rescue. When Zim didn't appear to be getting any better, Dib growled and took off his coat, totally wrapping Zim up with it. He picked up Zim and carried him, almost running towards his house as he ignored the onset of cold he exposed himself to.
Zim stirred, slowly, and opened an eye to look up at Dib. He opened his mouth to speak but Dib shook his head.
"Save it, Zim," Dib growled. "You're frostbitten and need to save your strength,"
"... why...?" Zim whispered, his voice so low Dib almost missed it. Dib wondered such a question himself but quickly brushed it aside.
"That's what humans do on Christmas," he replied. Zim stared blankly at Dib, uncomprehending, before passing out once more.
