The rest of that day was as peaceful as it could possibly be, Skoodge and Noah got along pretty well, Kairi went upstairs to talk with Aneera and Tak stayed downstairs with Zim, though never talking to him.
She knew what she had done would make him upset, but she just couldn't be too far away from him if she knew he was within a ten light-year radius. Being that as it may she did well to keep her mouth shut around him, one teeny tiny word could set him off. So Tak just sat about two feet away from him and didn't say anything unless directly addressed, which didn't happen much.
Zim, to say the very least, was not happy with Tak at the moment so he made no move to interact wih her at all. He knew very well that the two did not get along and he was willing to take that risk to save the planet, he just wish there was some way around all of the fighting that was sure to take place.
Both of their thoughts were cut short by the sound of a door upstairs opening and closing, either someone had entered or someone had exited. Zim was the only one to look up, Kairi was now walking down the stairs and making her way towards him, her expression was a little off.
Kairi quickly approached him and said, "She wants you." Then Kairi made room as he stood up and watched him walk away, that's when Tak looked up. Kairi noted the mischievous look on her face and said "Don't eventhink about it." and walked off to find SKoodge who was in the labs. She hadn't seen him since the little fight that had happened earlier and Noah wasn't anywhere to be seen either.
Zim had swiftly ran up the stair case, hardly ever touching the steps at all, and stopped momentarily in front of Aneera's door. He was hesitant about opening her door, he hadn't talked to her about what had been said and she may still be a little touchy, but maybe that's why she wanted him there, just so she didn't feel so awful. He reached his hand out and quietly opened the door, peering inside as it swung open.
She was laying on her side with one arm under the pillow, though she wasn't crying she still seemed to be upset. Her cheeks were stained with shiny streaks of liquid and her eyes were glossy from the moisture. Zim could even make out the large damp areas on her pillow, indicating where she had cried.
Zim slowly made his way over to her, trying not to make any sudden movements. As he approached she didn't turn her head or say anything to acknowledge his presence, but only continued to stare at the wall she was turned to. Once Zim reached her bedside he sat down next to her and laid a hand on her shoulder.
This was when Aneera turned her head and gazed at him, her eyes seeming to sparkle from the lamp next to her. She couldn't bare to say anything unless she wanted to make a fool of herself and start screaming unholy curses at the other female, something Zim had never seen her do before. Though her eyes were filled with hurt and sorrow there was a faint, barely noticeable trace of hatred buried deep within her stare.
Zim sighed and broke the silence, obviously she wasn't going to. "Kairi told me some of the things Tak said, but I'm sure there's more. You don't have to tell me but if there was something that really bothered I'm here to listen." He stopped there, not wanting to put too much pressure on her when she was already feeling horrible.
Tak had only said two things that bothered her more than anything, when she had gone into the fact that Noah was afraid of her, she didn't need reminding. But the other thing that bothered her was when she was listing off all of the things she could do to hurt someone, mentally noting that Noah was within hearing range.
Aneera was hoping that if she told Zim what had been said he might do something horrible to Tak, that was sure to break her spirit. So, with a quiet voice she spoke. "When I made the first threat she began to act sarcastic and asked what I was going to do to her." She paused, not knowing if she could bare to go on, already a lump was forming within her throat.
"Oh, and what did she say then?" Zim waited for Aneera to compose her thoughts, he was aware that talking about it was painful so he just sat where he was a quietly waited.
Aneera knew she would begin crying... againif she said what Tak had suggested... eating her... She shook the thought away and just did her best to blurt it out and be done with it. "She asked if I was going to eat her!" Well at least she said it, but she didn't like it.
Zim had to pause for a moment, he just couldn't quite grasp why in the world Tak would say something like that, unless... "Was Noah there when she said it?"
Of course her face was buried in the pillow, so she just replied with a nod and left it at that. Maybe Zim would be mad enough to go and yell at Tak, meaning that he would leave the room, she needed a moment... alone.
As expected Zim had gone from confused to extremely ticked off in a very short period of time, it wasn't two seconds later that he got off the bed and the sound of her door opening and closing echoed through the house again, only this time it was a little louder. Aneera couldn't help but sit up to see if he had left, sighing when she confirmed the room to be empty.
Zim quickly but quietly ran down the stairs and across the room so he could stand in front of Tak and glare at her. She happened to notice him as he approached but made a mental note of the upset expression.
When Zim had finally gotten right in front of her she looked up and smiled, probably acting as if she had no idea of what was going on. Though, after about five seconds she was fed up with the silence and finally said, "Well? What do you want?"
Zim scowled at her for about two more seconds before he told her why he was so upset. "You asked if she was going to eatyou!?" Zim then folded his arms to show that he did not approve.
Tak's smiled faded and she sighed, hadn't this conversation been over a while ago? "And?" Well at least she admitted to it. Zim still refused to say anything so Tak continued for him. "Okay okay! I admit it! I knew the little monster was there! Big whoop!"
"Do you have any idea what you've done?" Zim had to raise his voice a little bit, obviously she didn't seem to care, so if he yelled at her maybe she'd listen.
Tak only stared blankly up at him while he continued to scowl at her, sure she knew that Noah was afraid of his own mother but she didn't have to admit that. After all, it took very careful observation to figure that one out, noticing how Aneera stayed well away from him.
Zim sighed and decided to drop it, it wasn't getting him anywhere anyways. "Where is he?"
Tak automatically pointed to the floor and then ignored him from that point on, that conversation was over. She quietly watched as Zim disappeared into his labs, still looking very much upset. Once he was gone Tak sighed in relief, then returned to watching TV.
Zim decended slowly down into the labs at about two feet per second, he eventually had the computer work on the lift so it wasn't quite so slow. He waited for about twenty-five seconds before the lift stopped and he could step out.
"Hey Skoodge," Zim said casually, eyeing the shorter Irken as he turned around and smiled with a greeting in return. "Have you seen Noah anywhere, I need to talk to him."
"Sure, he's down the hall." Skoodge pointed towards a hallway at the other end of the room, then turned back to the computer he was looking at a moment ago. Zim muttered a "Thanks" in return and headed down the hall towards what he called the 'holo-room'.
The holographic simulation area, a.k.a. holo-room, was probably Zim's favorite room in his entire base. This was because the holo-room was built to turn the entire room into a giant holograph of about anything you can think of. Though the programing for this particular room took forever to hand make and install it was well worth it. Another thing Zim found was pretty sweet was that you could download or create personalities into the main hard drive to make holographic people.
Zim came to a stop in front of the large double doors and put his hand to the key pad, which quickly granted him access. The doors slid apart with a low hiss of escaping air, but Zim didn't really expect what he saw.
The room had been turned into what looked like a hill with a giant oak sitting in the middle, covering the whole hill with shade. In the distance were mountain ranges, a giant lake, miles and miles of plains and the sky was as blue as the ocean with not a cloud in sight. Noah was sitting under the tree and watching as the wild horses ran across the giant fields of greens.
Zim slowly walked over and sat down next to him, making Noah jump a little as he thought he was alone. "Oh, hi Daddy." Noah looked up and smiled at Zim who, in turn, smiled back.
"What's with all this?" Zim gestured out at that mountains and the lake. He didn't realize that Noah "meditated".
"Well, I thought it was pretty. It made me feel better." Noah had now turned his attention back to the horses that had now settled into one place to graze on the grass.
"Okay... Well I'm glad you feel better. Listen, I need you to do something for me." Zim picked up the small child and stood up with him in his arms. He then walked back the way he'd came, through the double doors, down the hall, across the room and up the lift to get to the main floor.
Noah didn't ask what Zim wanted with him or what he was needed to do, partially because he really didn't want to know. Zim didn't usually ask these kinds of things of him so it was a bit odd that all of a sudden he would need something from him. For a brief moment he thought it might have something to do with earlier's fight but was hoping that that matter had been somewhat solved already.
The lift stopped and Zim made no hesitation to ignore the silent female and walk up the stairs two at a time. At first Noah thought they would be going down to the other end of that hall, unfortunately Zim stopped at the top stair and opened Aneera's door instead, Noah suddenly didn't want to be there.
Zim slowly stepped in and closed the door behind him, making Noah grow even more tense and afraid. This was not the kind of thing he had in mind and he really didn't like where this was going.
Aneera hadn't moved since Zim had left, she was still laying on her side with both hands under her pillow while half way curled into a ball. But now she had her eyes closed, not that she was sleeping. Though, when the door opened she creaked one eye open after a second or two to see what was happening.
Zim walked over to her bedside as he did before and with every step he could feel the grip Noah had on his arm tighten. He just ignored his son's discomfort and sat down on the edge of the bed next to Aneera.
She smiled at the two but made no movement at all, Noah really didn't want to be so close and the fact that his antennae were folded back as far as they would go showed every bit of it. So she remaind still and waited.
"You look better." Zim commented with a smile, hoping that it would lift her mood. She did smile back some, but not quite as big or meaningful as Zim's had been.
Noah still didn't like this situation at all and the fact that he was being forced to sit only inches away from a monster scared him almost to the point where he wanted to scream. But he was afraid that if he made any loud noises that she would hurt him for some reason. He was silently told a couple of seconds later to say something but he only shivered and remained quiet.
Zim's antennae suddenly twitched and a loud crash came from down stairs, he really didn't want to deal with this right now. He set Noah down on the bed and quickly left the room in a huff, leaving the two by themselves.
Noah instantly jumped off the bed and ran to the door, but couldn't quite reach the doorknob yet and unfortunately he had no PAK to assist him so he was trapped in there. He grew very horrified and was about to yell for help but a quiet voice called his name from behind. He turned to see Aneera looking at him with a very small smile, he was not comfortable at all.
"Noah," she said, now sitting up so she could see him better. He backed up against the door and his breathing became irreglar. "I'm so sorry, I never meant to hurt you." Noah didn't believe it, the words were coming from a, a, a giant lizard! Surely she couldn't possibly be telling the truth.
Noah glared at her, he wasn't giving in so easily to her tricks, he was smarter than that. Though it seemed that his stare didn't get through to her, she was good. Noah shifted his weight from one foot to the other, showing he didn't like this situation one bit.
Aneera was about to say something more but the door opened, almost knocking Noah to the floor, and Zim walked back in. Noah quickly recomposed himself and started glaring again. Zim looked down and swiftly picked him up while already walking back towards his wife, she adverted her gaze so that she wasn't looking at Noah.
Zim looked down and saw how he was glaring at Aneera and flicked him in the back of the head with his free hand. He honestly didn't get what his problem was, she hadn't made a single move to hurt him in any way.
Noah flinched and looked down, putting a hand back where he'd been flicked. Obviously his father didn't understand, she was waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike! How could he be so blind!?
"What happened?" Aneera asked in a hushed voice, not paying any attention to Noah now. Zim sat down and sighed, then turned his head towards the door.
"Gir dropped another plate again, no big." He smiled to himself and began to stare off into space.
Noah kept stealing quick glances over at Aneera while she wasn't looking, each one more hate-filled than the last. He thought that she was a lier, he thought that she was deceiving them both, acting like a hurt dog. It sickened him, though he couldn't tell Zim, he wouldn't believe him anyways. But what if he was wrong? No, he couldn't be, she must be up to something, something... horrible.
Zim looked down and lightly tugged on his antennae to get his attention for a moment. Once the smeet looked back up he knew he'd been caught stealing hatred glances. Zim was scowling at him, what to do now?
"Uhhhh, yes?" Noah smiled innocently and laced his fingers together, but he knew it wouldn't work.
Zim didn't say anything else, he just picked him up and set him on Aneera's belly, he grew mortified. But Zim didn't move his hands, he held him there so he couldn't get away. Noah freaked and almost screamed, he was... touching her!
He began to squirm and writh in Zim's hands, couldn't he see that he was being tortured? What if she made her move right then? He would be finished! Done! His eyes got bigger every time he looked over at the girl, which was every couple of seconds. Though after about a minute or so he had calmed down enough so that he wasn't shaking anymore, but he was still scared.
"I don't get it, what are you so afraid of?" Zim shook his head in astonishment, he just didn't understand.
Noah didn't answer him, he was too frightened to do anything but breath heavily and clench his father's wrists in a desperate attempt to get away from her.
Aneera hadn't moved an inch, there was no telling what Noah would do if she made any movements at all, he may very well scream until he lost his voice. So she just stayed as still as she could, hoping with every ounce she had that this little trick would work, if it didn't Noah may never want to be near her again.
Another minute went by and Noah was able to regulate his breathing again, though he was still very tense and stiff. So far so good, he was still alive and somewhat well.
After the third had passed the small Irken had unclenched his hands around Zim's wrists, but didn't move them, just in case. He had also closed his eyes to try and not think about where he was or what was going on. He didn't know how much longer he would be able to keep this up, it was driving him crazy.
Zim sighed and picked him back up, but instead of standing he laid down next to Aneera and set Noah between them, then forced him to lay down. He told her to wrap one arm around him so that he couldn't get away and then to stroke his antennae to calm him down some. Once she did Noah was trapped and opened his mouth to scream, but all that came out was a yawn and then he was still.
Noah had fallen asleep in his mother's arms.
Aneera: Aaaawwwwwww! How cute!
Zim: Wow, he loves you again.
Aneera: I never said that.
Zim: Oh, well, okay.
Aneera: Are you feeling okay?
Zim: Why do you care!?
Aneera: Don't you?
Zim: ......... Uhhhhh............