Dlbn: Hey there, everyone! Welcome to another update of Keefvine! GASP! An update on a Monday? I haven't done this in a couple weeks! (Faints)
Nbld: While she's unconscious (Pokes Dlbn with a stick) I'll do the Review corner! Thank you to Captor of the Crazies, Illisandria Carthain, suckishLEMONADE, Servant of Time, VixenOfTheWolves, YaoiGirly, Itachi-Uchiha13, poke2death, and lady luck the thief for reviewing! Irken cameras for all. They're high-high def!
Captor of the Crazies: My cousin tried changing his grade once with white out and a pen. Too bad the paper wasn't white and the original writing wasn't blue (Face-palm). Alone time is good for the two lover boys. They'll have more smexy times along the way. Maybe the spy bug will be around more for that. XD. Yes, Gaz and her jokes amuse me.
Illisandria Carthain: Good spelling isn't something I do either. Thank god for spell check, no? Lol. 'Or they're just bored'. Haha. Sounds like my week. XD
suckishLEMONADE: Thanks! ^^ More drama is on the way in the next few chapters.
Servant of Time: Hehe maybe. This wouldn't be the sequel to Iz Moth without Zim's family being involved in one way or another. That won't be until later, though. More towards the end.
VixenOfTheWolves: Curioser and curioser, right? Lol.
YaoiGirly: Zim shall live because he is ZIM! And because he and Dib have yet to have full blown smexy times in this sequel yet. OMG, I can SEE Professor's reaction now. Lmao.
Itachi-Uchiha13: I had a feeling it was you. Just didn't want to embarrass myself in case I was wrong. Writer's Block just needs to be sent to a nightmare world from which there is no awaking. My mobile home doesn't rock. It's old, so I think it might be cemented to the ground lol. I suck at chess, too. But it's still fun to play. Zim's "hey you" speech was partially influenced by Family Guy. Stewie's "mom, mom, mom…" rant. I use it on my parents sometimes, because they tend to not listen well. I'm glad I'm on vacation. I like my old school, but I need the break. XD
Poke2death: Next chapter coming up!
Lady luck the thief: Yes, Krill is a type of shrimp. I so wasn't creative when I made that be his name. I think I just hit random letters. 3 days to read Iz Moth? I can't even do that! Kudos to you! "Are you on yaoi" sounds like something my friends would say to me, actually. XD Don't worry. Rambling is fine by me! I ramble sometimes, too. If you couldn't tell from the before the "Review Corner" parts. Lol.
Dlbn: Ugh, what'd I miss?
Nbld: Review corner. (Cracks Dlbn over the head with a baseball bat)
Disclaimer: I do not own Invader Zim or anything related to it. Anything you recognize outside of Iz Moth and Keefvine belongs to Jhonen Vasquez. Krill, Keyvine, and The Mask belong to me. Anything else? No, that's not mine. I make NO money off of this work of fiction.
000
Having been lucky to avoid detention, Zim and Dib met by Zim's locker. The Irken had an easier time putting his books away then his human boyfriend had the day before.
"I'm not so sure I believe Keyvine." Dib told Zim.
"No?" Zim wondered, putting his last book away. "Why not?"
"Well…I mean…" Dib sighed. "Look, I'm not saying he's lying. But there's something…not quite right about him."
"Like?"
"He looked afraid of the rain."
"I'm afraid of the rain." Zim sneered.
"Yeah." Dib kissed his temple. "But you have a good reason. Allergies. But Keyvine is human. He shouldn't have to fear rain."
"I guess." Zim said. "You noticed his uneasiness too, huh?"
"You noticed?" Dib asked.
Zim nodded. "It was a bit hard not to." He said. "He seems nervous about the space things, too."
"Yeah." Dib said. "I wonder if he knows something. I mean, he came around the same time they did."
Zim nodded. "Don't mention it to him, though or Keef for that matter."
"I won't." Dib shook his head. "But anything more suspicious, and I'm saying something."
"Okay, okay." Zim cut his hand across his throat as he spotted Keyvine coming down the hall.
"Hey, guys!" Keyvine greeted with a smile. "There's a van outside with some brunet guy, and he's looking for you."
"Van?" Dib asked.
"It says 'Membrane Industries' on the side of it. If that helps you."
"Oh, that's Simmons." Dib explained. "He's my dad assistant."
"Oh, cool." Keyvine said. "I assume he's bringing you guys to the labs?"
"Since we're living there now, yeah." Zim nodded.
"Cool." Keyvine said. "I drove past that place on the way to town. Pretty cool."
"Maybe we can show you around sometime." Dib said. "But we shouldn't keep Simmons waiting. I'll hear it from dad later."
"We'll ask the Professor if we can give you a tour." Zim offered with a smile.
"Okay, thanks." Keyvine smiled.
"You busy?" Dib asked. "You can just come now."
"Oh. Sure." Keyvine smiled. "Thanks. But are you sure your dad will approve?"
"It wouldn't be a full tour, because I'm not allowed in a lot of areas, so he'll just treat it like us having a friend over."
"Okay then." Keyvine smiled. "Thanks."
"For what?" Keef asked, laying his arms around Keyvine's waist.
The taller male flushed, but he didn't push Keef off of him.
"Keyvine's gonna come and see the labs." Dib said.
"Oh, really? I didn't think people were allowed in there."
"We're living there, remember?" Zim asked. "Dib says his dad would just treat it like a friend coming over."
"Oh, cool." Keef grinned. "Wish I could go, too…"
"You can." Dib nodded. "But no one else, okay?"
Keef and Keyvine nodded.
"Our lips are sealed." Keyvine informed.
"By each other's." Zim muttered.
"Huh?"
"Nothing."
Keyvine was flushing. He'd obviously heard Zim…though the Prince had said it low enough that humans shouldn't have been able to hear.
"Let's go before Simmons gets mad." Dib said. "Come on."
The four males left together.
000
Zim had thought that he was surprised at the Labs, but Keyvine looked absolutely enthralled. Experiments that had made Zim shudder just peaked his interest. He'd make a good scientist, if he ever wanted to be one, that is. Maybe Membrane would want to meet him. If he wasn't busy working on the UFO problem. Or whatever he called it, since the term "UFO" seemed to annoy him.
"This place is amazing." Keyvine said, practically drooling at an experiment as the boys passed by it.
"Thanks." Dib said. "I'm sure my dad would appreciate that."
"Wherever he is." Keef said.
"He's probably concerned with the space objects." Dib said.
"Space objects?"
"Small asteroids, more likely."
"Actually, Dib, meteors are smaller." Keyvine said, before Zim had the chance to correct him. "It might be meteors."
"You know a lot about space, Keyvine?" Keef asked, looking at the boy with an unmistakable sparkle in his eyes.
"A bit, I guess." Keyvine smiled. "I use my telescope a lot."
"I love space." Zim said, not realizing what he'd said until Dib was elbowing him in the side gently.
"Ever think of getting into astronomy then, Zim?" Keyvine wondered.
"Never thought about it." Zim shrugged. "I'm a tech boy, I can't help it." He laughed. "What about you?"
"Yeah, I've considered it." Keyvine offered. "But I'll probably join the military."
"Oh, really?" Keef asked, eyes wide. "How do you know that's what you want to do already? I still have no clue what I'm gonna do."
"It's kind of in the family." Keyvine shrugged. "I guess it's just what I wanna do. I mean, there's no reason I can't do astronomy on the side, right?"
Dib nodded. "Right." He agreed. "As for me, I'm probably going to take over this place." Dib said. "I'd rather do something with the paranormal, but dad won't allow that."
"I guess I can see why." Keyvine laughed, though it seemed a bit forced. "Hey, where's the bathroom? I know that's random, but I kind of need to go."
"I'll show you." Zim offered. "We'll be back."
He led Keyvine down a hall. "Do you think I could talk to you?" Zim asked.
"Sure. What's up?" Keyvine responded.
"Well…you seem nervous a lot. Is something bothering you?"
"What are you talking about?"
"When we first brought up the space debris at school, you got real pale when we said it was near Mars. And then you were as afraid of the rain as I am. So what's up?"
"Oh…just a bit nervous about my date with Keef. That's all."
"Ah." Zim nodded. "That's understandable."
Keyvine nodded. "Yeah. Were you nervous when you first went out with Dib?"
"A bit." Zim shrugged. "But the nerves went away pretty quick." Remembering their escapades as Iz and Moth a few months earlier, Zim couldn't help but laugh.
"What's so funny?" Keyvine chuckled back.
"Well…we both started hanging out at this club called The Mask, where you wear a mask and a voice changer to hide your true identity. And you have a code name, too. I was Iz and he was Moth, unknown to us, we started dating as Iz and Moth." Zim explained. "But we were also dating as Zim and Dib. And when Iz and Moth decided to meet each other's real world boyfriends, we were all annoyed when neither showed up. Stupid us. I almost fainted when I found out it was him. He was surprised too. How had we not noticed?"
"Love is blind, I suppose." Keyvine said with a sigh. "Maybe I can sue that to my advantage…"
"Huh?" Zim asked. "Are you planning something?"
"No." Keyvine blushed. "I mean, there's just some things I want to keep secret, you know?"
"Yeah." Zim nodded. "I know exactly what you mean." Like the certain things he didn't tell Gaz, or his school friends.
"It's nothing bad, it's just…secret."
"No, I get it. I do." Zim nodded. He stopped and pushed open the bathroom door. "Here you go."
"Thanks." Keyvine put a hand on Zim's shoulder as he passed.
Zim smiled. "I'm going to get a drink from the vending machine. I'll be right back." He said.
"Okay."
000
When Zim went back to where the bathroom was, Keyvine wasn't waiting outside. Zim looked around and spotted the human down by a viewing window. Zim crept up behind him, not trying to be secretive but doing so anyway. Keyvine had something in his hand that looked like a camera. He only wanted a tour for the pictures? Zim looked in the window and saw an experiment that sort of creeped him out. It was some kind of cybernetic cat with bright red eyes. It looked more like an oversized rat then anything, but it had cat ears.
"What are you doing?" Zim asked.
Keyvine jumped. "Oh, nothing." Keyvine said. "Just uh…looking."
"Give me the camera." Zim held out his hand.
Keyvine handed it over. "There's nothing on it from here." Keyvine said. "I got bored, so I was watching an old video on it."
Zim went into the archives and found a recording of the cybernetic cat. "Then what is this?"
"Oops." Keyvine flushed.
Zim looked the camera over. "I've seen something like this before. But not form around here. This is military grade."
"Dad's in the military. Remember?" Keyvine said quickly. "It's in the family."
"Uh huh." Zim frowned. This was Irken technology. How had Keyvine…? "Armada?"
"What?" Keyvine frowned this time, but Zim could tell that he was surprised.
"This is Armada technology." Zim scowled.
"Ar…mada?"
"You think I'm stupid?" Zim asked in Irken.
"You…you speak…"
"Irken?" Zim asked. "That's right."
Keyvine paused. "So…who are…"
"You know my name."
Keyvine sighed. "Yeah, I figured it was you." He scratched the back of his neck. "Can I have my camera back?"
"No." Zim shook his head. "I can't let the Membrane's secrets get out." Zim deleted the video. "I don't care who you are, or why you're here, but come on. We're trusting you."
"You should know how much we rely on deception." Keyvine backed Zim up towards a wall. "You're deceiving everyone, yourself." Keyvine smirked.
"Yea, I guess." Zim shrugged. He pushed Keyvine back a bit, but the other boy held his ground and merely stumbled. "I had you fooled at least."
"Only a little."
"Sure." Zim laughed, not noticing that Keyvine had him pinned to the wall. When he looked up, he let a scowl cross his features. "You do know I live here with my boyfriend and his family, right? And that they could catch you at any minute?"
Keyvine swiped his camera back from Zim. "This was all I needed, my Prince." He let 'Prince' curl on his tongue as he backed off.
Zim frowned. "Shit." He muttered. "You're not going to tell my mother you found me, are you?"
"Your mother doesn't even know I'm here. Long story." Keyvine shrugged. "She's mad at me for…seducing you…before I left. Her words, not mine."
"Seducing…" Zim paused. "…Krill?"
Keyvine cocked a smirk. "Hello, Zim."
Zim's jaw fell open a bit. "Great." He said. "Just great." He arched off of the wall and paced back and forth in front of, he now knew, who used to be his friend…maybe more? What in the world were they before Krill had left abruptly?
"Not happy to see me?" Keyvine laughed. "I thought you would be."
"Well, I mean, it's nice to see you and all, but…hey wait."
"Yes?"
"You do know Keef is only a few years older then me, right?"
"Well, yeah."
"Do you have a thing for teenagers, or something?"
"Hey, love knows no age…or species."
Zim chuckled. "Yeah, me and Dib are examples of that…" He paused. "Look, just don't let my mother know you found me, okay?"
"I'm here on my own terms." Keyvine answered.
"Own terms?"
"I screwed up on…you know what? It's not your business. Sorry." Keyvine inched around Zim, back towards the way they had come. "Let's go find the others, hm?"
Zim sidled up next to him. "I swear, Krill, if you tell my mother, I'll tell Keef."
Keyvine paused. "Tell him what?"
"You being an adult, you not being human…"
"Tell him that last one, and I'll let it slip to Dib."
"Dib knows." Zim rolled his eyes.
Keyvine cocked an eyebrow. "You wouldn't last a day as an Invader, if you're telling people this stuff."
"Only Dib knows." Zim started off and Keyvine joined him quickly.
"So let's make a deal, okay? I tell your mom, you tell Keef whatever you want. But if you tell Keef I'm not human before I do, then I get to tell the GLASS club that you're not human either. Deal?"
Zim glared. "I guess." He said. "But we're not going to have that problem, right? I mean, we were friends…for a brief time."
"Yeah." Keyvine smiled. "I didn't forget about you on my last mission, you know. I called to talk to you, but your mother told me she didn't want me talking to you and that you'd disappeared anyway."
"She knows how old you really are." Zim whispered, noting that they were near their boyfriends.
"Yeah." Keyvine shrugged. "I guess."
"What, did you get lost?" Keef asked, laughing.
"Yeah, a bit." Zim responded, making the others laugh.
"I'm not surprised. The lab is big." Dib said.
"I got sidetracked by one of your dad's experiments. Sorry." Keyvine apologized.
"It's okay." Dib said. "Let's go. We'll show you more of the lab."
The four of them walked away together, Zim and Keyvine putting Dib and Keef between them.
