Vax looked perplexed as she watched his behavior and trotted after a muttering Zim and a silent Dib. Both boys looked upset, but she couldn't tell why. Vax frowned and brushed a lock of the waist length wig out of her eyes. She didn't understand who the people around her were, or why they were acting the way they were. Finally, she had to ask. "Master Zim?" she asked softly.
"Yes, smeet?" Zim muttered back.
"Why are there humans in units?" she asked. "Is there a reason that they feel the need to travel in groups?"
Dib blinked at her as Zim sighed heavily. "What do you mean?" Dib asked.
Vax pointed to a family that was walking down the hall. "Them," she said simply. She gazed around a bit and then pointed to a couple. "And them," she said. Then she pointed to a group of girls, "And them as well. They are all together, but I do not understand why."
Dib bit his lower lip as Zim continued to stomp sulkily through the store, hating each and every moment he had to spend among the filthy human population. Dib raised an eyebrow and guessed that Zim wasn't going to explain anything to her, so he decided to indulge the smeet. "Well, those people," he said pointing to another family, "are a family."
"Family?" Vax asked.
Dib nodded. "It's… well… it's how humans live. When humans are born they aren't born with the ability to take care of themselves like you are. So the adults, who are their parents, take care of them and raise them until they are grown. Make sense?"
Vax nodded. "So, in order to survive, older humans take care of the younger ones?"
"Kinda," Dib sighed. "There's more to it then that, but you have the basic idea."
"And them?" Vax asked, pointing to another couple.
"They're probably on a date," Dib said simply.
"Date?" Vax asked.
"Well yeah, they're in love. Or they want to be. Maybe they just like each other, I don't know," Dib snapped hotly. "They're dating. Or friends or something."
"What is that? Love, like?" Vax asked.
"Love? Emotions?" Dib replied. "It's when…"
Zim's antennae twitched irritably and Dib noted this. "Oh," he said softly. "Uhh… Irkens don't…"
"No," Zim said in a dangerous voice that warned Dib to drop the subject. The older boy did but Vax had not yet learned how to pick up on subtext.
"What are emotions?" Vax asked.
Dib looked at Zim who was currently seething. Dib sighed and shrugged. "I'll… explain later," he said slowly. "Right now may not be the best time."
Zim snorted. "What, concerned for your worst enemy, filth?"
"I don't want you to have a tantrum in the middle of the mall and blow it up," Dib hissed. "Because we both know you would."
Zim shrugged. "Yes… well…" he tried to think of a retort but none came to mind. "Whatever."
Finally they came to a store that had large bubble letters proclaiming 'Kid's Clothing Store' proudly. Dib cocked his head to one side as Zim led Vax into the store. "You'd think they could come up with a better name," he said under his breath.
Zim stopped short and gazed around. Vax stopped next to him, waiting patiently and Dib walked up to stand next to them. "Why is it all light and… stuff?" Zim asked. "It's disturbing. Much like your overly large head."
Dib ignored the crack at his person and stuck out his tongue at all the passé color. "It is kinda boring," he admitted. "But we just need to find something for her to wear."
"I don't have any filthy earth monies," Zim told Dib.
"I'm the son of the most intelligent man in the world, I get a pretty nice allowance. How else do you think I buy all my weapons?" Dib asked Zim irritably.
Zim shrugged and looked around. "Well, filthy beast of brain meats, I have no idea what to get, got any suggestions?"
"You're asking me?" Dib asked Zim dubiously. "I'm a 16 year old boy in high school. How am I supped to know what to get a little ALIEN kid to wear?"
"Then why did you drag me HERE!" Zim yelled back. "I don't know anymore about this then you do!"
"Because she needs something!" Dib snapped back, finally starting to reach his breaking point.
"Well I…" Zim started but was interrupted by a creepy looking saleswoman with a plastered smile on her face.
"Hello!" she said brightly while still smiling. "How may I help you today?"
Zim and Dib exchanged glances while Vax merely stared at the scary woman with a vaguely interested expression. "Clothes for her…" Dib finally answered, pointing at Vax.
The woman knelt down and pushed her smiling fact into Vax's own. "Well hello there! Aren't we a cute little girl! Let's find something for you, shall we?" she gushed.
Zim and Dib both looked quite disturbed by the woman as Vax stared back. As the woman wandered away into the many racks of clothing, Vax edged closer to Zim. "I…" she frowned, not sure how to put it. "My heart rate speeds up and I felt slightly clammy when she did that," Vax said slowly. "I am not sure how to explain it but I don't wish to feel like that again."
"It's called having a sense of personal space," Dib replied dryly. "And unfortunately, sometimes you have to put up with having it violated."
The woman wandered back carrying a small pale purple peasant skirt and a shirt with three layers of black on the bottom, dark purple in the middle and lilac on the top. The shirt was layered at the neck, sleeves and bottom and was frilled at the ends to make it stick out. She was also carrying a pair of dark purple sneakers. "Here we go," she said cheerfully and handed them to Zim. "Why don't you get your little sister dressed to see how they fit."
"She's not my sister!" Zim snapped angrily.
The woman's eyes widened and her mouth formed an 'o' shape. "I'm sorry, I assumed but I didn't think you would like to have it pointed out."
"Eh?" Zim asked.
Dib realized what she was hinting at and laughed nervously. He pushed Zim into the changing booth with Vax before the woman could say anything else. "It's okay, don't worry about it," he said really fast and slammed the door.
"Do you know who the mother is?" the woman asked.
Dib bit his lower lip to keep from laughing. "Uhh… no…" he said slowly.
The woman sighed and tutted. "Pity. Things like that happen every day. What a wonderful father to help take care of the child though."
Dib finally couldn't take it anymore. "Um, do you have a bathroom?" he asked.
The woman pointed to the left and Dib followed. He ran into a stall and locked it, then burst out laughing. "Oh my god…" he said softly. "Oh my god, oh my god…" he continued to laugh for a long while as he imagined Zim being a dad. Zim of all people… a father. Oh boy, that was a riot.
Meanwhile, Zim was inside the changing booth, trying to figure out how to dress Vax. He pulled Dib's shirt off her and got the shirt on just fine. However, because he had never been exposed to a skirt before he wasn't sure how it went on. Sure, there was the dress as a part of one of his costumes, but that went over the head and settled around the shoulders. Did the skirt go over the head or up from the feet or what? Finally he pulled it up from the ground around her hips and fumbled with the clasp. He gave a tiny sigh of relief as he heard it click. "You better appreciate this, smeet," he muttered as he helped Vax put on the sneakers.
"Yes, Master Zim," Vax said softly.
Finally, Zim led Vax out of the changing booth to see Dib holding in laughter and the woman looking at him with some kind of pity and admiration in her eyes. The completely befuddled Zim led Vax over as Dib paid for the clothing. Dib decided that it was totally worth it as he handed over the card.
As they left the store, Dib looked over the two Irkens. "Well, at least she has clothing now," he said finally.
"Why were you laughing, Dib stink?" Zim asked.
"You don't want to know," Dib said amusedly. "Just… trust me."
"I trust no one, human FILTH!" Zim declared.
"Jeez Zim, it's just an expression," Dib shot back, hotly.
Vax looked around the store as the two boys continued to bicker. She looked at the family units with particular interest. The children were not able to take care of themselves as Dib explained and so they needed the older and wiser adults to help them. Such an inefficient way of survival, and yet it held a mystery for her. They seemed so… happy. She didn't understand what happy meant, but the word was what was supplied for her when she tried to think of something.
The children were laughing, or giggling as they walked down the hallways with their parents. Some clung tightly to hands while others only grasped the parent's shirts. She had no idea what this behavior meant.
"By the way smeet," Zim said suddenly. "You need to blend in with these humans, understand? I've come too far to abort my mission, and so I will continue to take over this disgusting planet of… bad…stuff. Anyways, you need to OBEY me and not be noticed, understand?"
"Yes, Master Zim," Vax said quietly.
"That is so disturbing," Dib said softly.
"You know why," Zim replied dryly. "So why keep on bringing it up?"
"Because it is?" Dib asked. "Ever think about that space boy?"
Once again they continued to bicker over Vax's head. She looked around and saw that the common factor in the mall was the grasping of hands. Couples did it as they walked, parents and children did it and even some who were of the same sex did it. Taking note of this, she reached up and grabbed Zim's hand.
"Smeet?" Zim growled warningly.
"It is a common action in this society," Vax explained. "About 79 percent of the humans here are engaging in such an action. If we want to blend in then perhaps this is a good course of action."
Zim sighed but did not pull his hand away. He didn't want to discourage the idea of logical thinking. He needed a helper who thought that way. "All right, smeet," he said softly as they walked out of the mall.
Dib looked relatively amused as they walked back to their neighborhood. When he split off to go to his own home, the first thing he did was boot up his computer. He wanted to know what happened to make Zim so upset. Maybe if he found out, he would learn how to defeat the alien menace once and for all.
Heh, Vax... ahh... she is so damn hard to write. My GOD, to all you writers out there, if you EVER create a character with no personality, be ready to fight with your thesaurus to find words that aren't emotion driven. Ugh.
Anyways, hope you liked this chapter! This is about as fluffy as Invader Zim can get. We'll have quite a few chapters like this as she slowly discovers her personality. Here she gets a nice taste of 'fear' and 'disturbed' heh, because we've all been exposed to that salesperson that just won't go away. (And yes, I have horror stories about that one)
Hugs to all my reviewers! I'm glad people like this story. It makes me happy that I can write an irken out and not get yelled at for making a mary sue. (And no, she won't become one. Mary Sues are boring. I want Vax to blow stuff up by the time I'm done with her XD) Can't wait to see you next time!