When Zim woke it was dark outside, the moon lit up to look like an evil grin. He slowly lifted his head, trying to fight back his impending yawn. After he realized he was only hurting himself he opened his mouth and pulled the corners of his lips past his pointed teeth. As it passed he pushed himself upright, being careful not to wake the girl beneath him.
Once he was on his feet and he checked to make sure that Aneera was still sleeping, he made his way to the lift, letting it carry him to the lower levels where his experimental labs were. On his way down he made a mental note that they only had three hours before school, which he could already feel was going to be hell.
The small platform slowed to a stop, letting him out on the experimental wing of the base. Zim didn't particularly need to finish up anything important, but keeping his mind busy, and away from the female, was something he was sure he needed. And there were plenty of simple things he could muse over since he didn't feel quite "on top of the world" at the moment.
He purpousfully took his time, walking half as quickly as he normally would and making sure his step was heel then toe. He even stopped every so often to peer into the different rooms, trying to remember what exactly was going on with the different experiments. Most of them were petty and he usually forgot their purpose, but others, that were large and complex, simply didn't seem fiesable to him anymore and he had lost interest.
Once he came to the end of the hall his eye caught the glint from a room to his left, which appeared to be something chrome, but he couldn't make out what it was since the glass was textured and cracked. He decided that since his interest had been piqued he may as well roll with it.
He opened the door and took in the sight, the corners of his mouth tugging into a smirk. Of all the unfinished projects, this was his favorite, one that he told himself would eventually be completed. He walked over to it, running his finger around the rim.
It was small and seemingly useless to anyone who happened to glance at it, easily fitting into the plam of one's hand. It was fully metalic, perfectly reflecting the enitre room on its surface.
Zim smiled down at the small device, still not sure as to what he wanted it to do. He'd had it for so long it seemed like it was meant to be useless and trivial by then.
He sat down quietly and began to play around with it, keeping his mind busy until it was time to leave. The next time he looked at the clock he sighed, annoyed that he had let himself lose track of time. He put away his things and set the small object back on the table, watching it as he left the room.
Once he was back at the house level his eyes involuntarily flew to the girl, who was still sound asleep. He had half a mind to let her sleep and just leave her a note saying that she could stay home if she wanted, but he thought the other kids would find it suspicious, so he didn't. Instead he quietly walked over to the couch and looked down, resisting the urge to stand and stare. He lifted a hand and poked the side of her face, repeating this until her eyes fluttered open.
"It's time to get up, we have school." Once that was said Zim took a seat at the other end of the couch while she left to get ready. She wasn't gone long enough for Zim's mind to wonder too far, but giving him plenty of time for him to ponder over his "feelings" towards her.
The fact that she even gave him attention seemed astounding to him, let alone the fact that it was positive attention. He knew he respected her, she was the Tallests' personal guard, but he also knew there was something else he felt. And he was aware of what love was, but because he'd never experienced it he didn't know what it felt like. He told himself that might be a possibility, small, but still a possibility, though he hoped he was wrong.
The front door opened and Zim pulled his thoughts back in order, seeing Aneera standing in front of it while motioning for him to get a move on. She watched him slide off the couch and walk through the door, continuing down the street with or without her.
Aneera swiftly caught up and matched his pace, watching her feet as they walked. Once the silence grew uncomfortable she looked up at him, noting his scowl. "Do you feel better?"
Zim glanced in her direction, knowing what she was referring to, and glared back at the ground. "Don't talk about it."
After that the walk to school was silent, neither feeling compelled to say any more. As the school building continued to get closer Aneera could feel herslef slowing down, not wanting to face Torque again. She could see him sitting on the steps, his posse laughing and praising him for the day before.
Zim could hear them too, and it was sickening what they were saying about her. He turned to look at her and watched her face carefully as it twisted into pain and hatred. He hooked his pinky around hers and pulled her forward to keep her pace up, heading straight for the large child.
They crossed the front yard and silently came to the steps, never making eye contact with any in the group. However, they only got to the third step before Torque was in their way, looming over them with his creeps at his sides.
"Well looky here, she's back already? I thought I did better than that." Torque mocked a sad face, earaning approving snickers and laughs from the others.
Zim narrowed his eyes and glared in front of him. "Move it pudgey."
Torque's face reddened and he grabbed the front of Zim's shirt. "You really want to pick a fight with me again, shorty!" He jabbed a finger at Zim and glared evily.
"Doesn't really matter, you're face will still look just as ugly." He leaned his head forward and bit his finger, feeling the bigger teen drop him to the ground. He tured to the girl and told her to back up since she couldn't get inside.
"Oh you're one to talk. You're green!" He started to walk forward, backing Zim and Aneera down the steps and onto the grass. "Besides, I'll be ready for you this time."
Zim scoffed and waved him off. "It's too bad you don't know what I can really do, otherwise you'd run now to try and save that pathetic little thing you call a life." He pulled off his gloves and handed them to girl behind him, once again telling her to keep her distance.
"Aww, how cute, he's gonna protect his litte girlfr-!" Torque stopped mid-sentence from the sneer Zim gave him, instantly smirking. "Oh come now, you don't have to hide your feelings, especially when you make it so obvious."
The goons in the background laughed and snorted as they put their hands on their hips. One leaned over to peer around Torque, smiling mockingly at the litte Invader. "You know after you get over the freaky green skin he's kinda cute-!"
Zim threw himself at the lanky child, screaming about how he wasn't to be labled as 'cute'. Once he gave the kid a good scratch across the face, nearly blinding him in his right eye, he shoved him to the ground and stood up, shaking the human germs from his hands.
Torque looked back behind him and surveyed the damage done to his follower. "Not bad..." He looked back at Zim and smirked, folding his arms over his chest. "Still mad about the choking?"
"You're lucky I didn't kill you." Zim yanked down his sleeves and looked away from the human, huffing with irritation. When he was done he took his gloves back and slipped them on, heading towards the front of the building with Aneera at his heels.
"Hey!" Torque turned on his heel and started after them, frustrated. "You can't just walk away from me! We aren't done!" He stopped short when the girl spun around and galred, her eyes no longer the inviting magenta red color. Her black eyes stared coldly at him, her wings and tail flicked out for a brief moment while she hissed at him, curling her lips back to reveal her sharp teeth.
Torque took a step back and returned a fearful stare, looking around to see if anyone else saw. "DEMON!" He shrieked, turning around to run back home.
Aneera quickly returned to her "nomral" state of being and smiled happily, taking her place by Zim's side. "I think I just solved your problem."
"Pffft, you didn't even do anything."
She smiled wider. "Exactly, I didn't have to." With that she skipped up the stairs and pulled open the door, looking back expectantly. "Are you coming or what?"
Zim looked unamused as he stomped up the stairs and passed her. "You don't have to rub it in you know." As he entered the hall he brushed himslef off and surveyed the area.
The lower classmen congregated like masses in halls and around some doorways, waiting axiously for their teacher. They worried Zim the most, mostly because they were younger and more irritating than the "Hi Skool" students he knew. Those kids mostly kept to themselves within smaller groups, and not to mention their cliques, which Zim never could understand, it all seemed pointless anyways.
After ignoring the many cold stares and confused glances he led the female down the hall, swiftly weaving around the clumps of humans. Just as they reached Ms. Bitters' door the bell rung through the halls, creating a stampede of all sorts of children. Zim backed up against the wall and sneaked inside with Aneera, both taking their respective seats in silence.
Once the rest of the students had filed in Ms. Bitters made her appearence, seeming darker than usual and in much more of a bad mood. As she sat behind her desk the cries for help squeaked out of the old wooden chair, grating on both ears and antennae alike.
"Students, today will be-"
"I'M NOT TECHNICALLY LATE THIS TIME!" Dib practically fell face first into the room as he screamed his statement, looking hopefully up at Ms. Bitters. Once he realized that she wasn't going to say anything Dib quietly made his way to his seat, looking around the room. After he had asessed who was absent he found Zim and the girl... who was already out of the hospital?
"As I was saying, today will be-" She hissed evily as her head snapped towards Dib's raised hand. "WHAT!"
Dib shrunk a little and lowerd his offened appendage. "Um, I just noticed that um... the new girl is back already," He sat back up and directed the question portion towards her. "What exactly happened yesterday?"
Aneera spun around and glowered at him, digging her claws into the back of her seat. Once she had had her fill of glaring she turned back around and sat rigidly in place.
Ms. Bitters looked unamused. "She was rushed to the hospital and is now back at skool."
"But isn't it strange that with an injury as serious as hers she'd get out of the hospital so early? No human could heal that fast!" Dib threw his arms up and looked like an idiot.
The girl once again spun in her seat, hissing slightly at the fact that he didn't know how to drop a subject. "Is this really any of your business? I was the victim of a physical assault, then was rushed to the hospital, then I went home and now I'm here, end of story!" As Dib opened his mouth to protest she cut him of. "NO!" Dib instantly closed his mouth and remained quiet for the rest of the class.
Having had enough of the outbursts, Ms. Bitters decided that if she was interrupted one last time she'd send the hopeless little worm to the underground classrooms. "Today will be your chance to bring up your horrible 'F's. Today we'll have a pop quiz on life."
Hushed whispers and aggitated groans fell from the students' lips, all wondering when they had gone over that in class. Oh right, they didn't.
Ms. Bitters then stood up and glared at the kids. "I'll only ask one question. If you get it wrong you fail!" She then straightened herself and looked over the class. "What is the answer to everything?"
"42."
Every eye in the room darted towards whoever could come up with such a quick answer. Eventually everyone was staring at Aneera as she sat smugly in her seat.
Ms. Bitters leaned over her desk and snarled. "You weren't supposed to know the answer! You're supposed to be dumb like the rest of them!"
The evil teacher then hissed at her and sat back down. "The rest of the class FAILS for the rest of the year!" She smiled on the inside as the rest of the kids, save for Zim and Dib, groaned and banged their heads against their desks in failure.
Zim looked over towards Aneera and scowled, whispering to her. "How did you know the answer?"
She only smiled back and replied, "TV."
The mob of children that flooded into the hall stampeded into the cafeteria, screaming and pushing over anything that got into their way, including teachers. As they diminished and the straglers brought up the rear, Zim stepped out of the classroom and followed suit.
"Hey," Aneera skidded around the door and met up with the other. "Have any idea what's for lunch?"
Zim snickered, knowing it couldn't be something good. "Not food."
Aneera paused and thought to herself. "Well what do they normally serve? They have to have something."
"Yeah, but you never know what it is. One time I did a chemical scan and it turned out to be melted rubber and oil mixed with vanilla." He shuddered, remembering how well that went.
"Then I guess it's a good thing I just lost my apetite." She held a hand over her stomach and grimaced, knowing she'd eat like a pig later.
They walked in silence, keeping a slow pace so that the cafateria madness would be minimal when they got there. The screams and laughs could be heard from across the school, echoing through the halls and into the rooms.
As they pushed the doors open to the large mess hall Dib called to them from a few yards back.
"Hey!" he called, running to catch up. "I've got a few questions."
Zim rolled his eyes and continued deeper into the cafeteria, where he sat at his table on the far end of the room. Aneera quietly took her seat next him and watched Dib as he approached.
"Shouldn't you still be in the hospital?" he questioned, slamming his hands on the table in front of the two. "Or do you have some sort of excellerated healing process that I should know about!" Dib leaned in closer and stared continuously.
With a wave of the hand Zim shooed him to go away, saying, "You won't get anything out of either of us, and we having nothing that you'll ever need to know about."
"So please stop being a creeper." Aneera added, laying her head on the table to hid him from her view.
Dib scowled and turned to walk away, knowing he'd have to find his sister eventually. "Fine, I'll just find out on my own." He strutted away confidently, having one of those moments that gave the rest of the student body reason to label him as 'gay'.
The rest of the day flew by just as quickly as it did smoothly, causing no more problems for either of the Irkens, and when school let out they didn't recieve anymore than a passing glare from Dib as they walked home.
When the two reached the door Aneera pushed it open and stepped in, noting how quiet it was. After Zim closed the door she turned to lookat him and quirked a brow. "Isn't Gir usually up here in the living room?"
Zim nodded and stepped around her, quickly growing suspicious of the little robot. "Gir?" he called, trying to see if he could coax the S.I.R. out of 'hiding'. When he didn't get an answer he was about to interrogate the computer when he felt a hand grab his arm as it spun him around.
"Good, then we have a moment to talk." Aneera let go of him and crossed her arms. "Now tell me what happened last night, and tell me the truth."
"Why should I?" Zim scoffed, turning to leave for his labs. "I acted like a coward anyways," he mumbled, hoping that she woudn't hear.
Aneera scowled and yanked him back around. "How is that being a coward?"
Zim narrowed his eyes and glared right back at her. "Because I showed my feelings!"
"So? That's natural! You're supposed to do that!" she said, her voice rising as she grew more and more irritated with his reasoning.
"No I'm not!" Zim took a step forward and attempted to star her down, failing almost instantly. "We're Irkens, we have no feelings! And even if we did we aren't supposed to show them! It's cowardly!"
"No," Aneera began, her temper still rising. "Bottling up your emotions is cowardly! Showing no feeling at all is cowardly!" Suddenly she softened her eyes and looked at him hopefully. "But showing how you feel is bravery, and who cares what others think?"
Zim stood very still, trying to understand all of what she had told him. Her reasonings for things were so backwards from what he knew, yet, he liked them better.
She took a small step forward and asked him again, but gently. "Now tell me what happened, why were you so upset?"
It took a minute for he could gather up his answer and present it calmly. "I felt bad for the way I had acted... But I didn't know I felt that bad." He looked down and hid his face from Aneera, feeling the blood slowly pour into his cheecks.
"Does it have something to do with why you've been acting so weird?" Aneera leaned forward slightly, hoping to coax an answer from him, but he remained silent and rigid. "Zim?"
With a sudden burst of effort his explanation poured from his lips so quickly Aneera had a hard time getting it all. "I know I've been acting weird, and I don't know why but I think it started when you got here, but I don't know for sure. And I can't concentrate on anything for more than five minutes, I feel restless constatnly, my head hurts a lot and I pace around for hours in the labs without getting any work done. I've had a ten minute memory for the past three days, my squeedilyspooch feel sick and I get nervous and every time I look at you I want..." He stopped, not knowing if he could bring himself to say it. "I want to..."
Aneera, who was still shocked by the magnitude of his strange behavior, continued to look at him and listen, hoping he'd spit out whatever he still had left to say.
However, Zim had decided that words wouldn't be able to explain how he felt and he was already tired from talking, so, on a whilm, he acted on it instead. As quickly as he could he pulled the girl tightly against him just as he had the night before, planting a very haphazard and rough kiss on her lips. For a good ten seconds neither of them moved, Aneera too entirely overwhelmed and Zim not quite ready to end the moment, but when he finally did pull away he did very fast, his hands automatically covering his mouth as though he knew he had either done something wrong or upset her.
Zim pivoted and took off down the hall, disappearing around the corner just as the lift door opened. He slamed himself against the back wall of the lift, panting furously as he slid to the floor. His fingers ran through his hair as his eyes widened, a feeling of unease settled in his queedilyspooch. "What have I done?" he whispered to himself, clenching his jaw shut.
As the lift decended lower into the labs his feeling of embarrassment began to slip away, which was then replaced with his usual anger and irritation. "Stupid female... with her stupid hormones... making Zim feel... feelings." When the doors opened he pushed himself from the floor and marched out of the lift, heading down the hall with longer strides and is head kept low. As he rounded the corner he stopped and growled, pulling his fist back and smashing it into the closest wall, letting out a loud cry.
He never particularly had the best ways to control his anger, and he certainly had no idea how to let it out without hurting someone. Picking a fight with a fellow academy student was his usual outlet for his anger, which almost always put him in the dean's office. But he currently had no one to punch in the face, and her certainly didn't feel like walking all the way to Dib's house just to ruff the boy up a little.
He looked over to the wall where his fist had landed, snorting hotly as he knew he'd have to buff out the dent later. He continued forward, shoving his hands into his pockets, hoping to leave the rest of his walls smooth and clean. As he passed by his weapons storage facility he stopped, lifting his head to quickly scan the interrior. He took a step into the room and looked closer, his eyes landing on the perfect outlet.
Aneera had sat on the couch quietly for three hours, glancing up at the clock nearly every fifteen minutes. For a while she couldn't quite figure out if she was dreaming or not, it took four smacks to the face and beating from Gir's frying pan to convince her that you couldn't feel pain like that when you were sleep.
Gir had sat around in the kitchen with a bowl of jello, entertainging Minimoose with various "tricks" for eating said jello. Most of it ended up on the walls and in the toaster, a small piece or two even made it into the living room. After the bowl was emptied and Gir had successfully figured out how to make another batch, he took a seat next to the girl while he waited. "Hi Pretty Lady!"
The girl winced and smiled, patting the little robot on the head. "Hir, Gir." she replied, her frown then returning.
"Why is you all sad?" Gir tilted his head to the side and looked up at her, leaning forward so her could see her face.
At first she didn't say anything back. "I'm not... sad really... just thinking."
"Thinkin' 'bout what?"
She sighed sat up, leaning back so she could slouch and scowl. "Why Zim's acting like an idiot." She looked over to Gir and smiled. "I think he's bipolar."
Gir's hands shot to his mouth and he squealed. "BIPOLAR! What does it mean!"
Aneera laughed at him, knwoing that the robot had no idea what she was referring to. "If someone is bipolar it means that their mood is constantly changing for no reason. Like how eralier he was acting seriously nervous and then he was angry. Sometimes I wonder how you put up with him."
With a total serious expression Gir brought a hand to his chin while he pondered the statement. Then his eyes lit up and a grin spread across his face. "Because Master is nice! He lets me help out with all his plans and he even lets me drive his spaceship...!"
"Tch, I wish he was that nice to me." Aneera glared and crossed her arms, trying to blow a nonexistant strand of hiar out of her face, a habit she had fallen into when she was living the human lifestyle.
"He is nice to you!"
"Really? When did that happen?"
"He made kissy faces at you today! That was nice!" He leaned over and poked Aneera on the face.
She swiped his hand away and glared at him. "That's not being nice! That's him being confused and pointlessly reaching out for attention."
"Well you wanted him to talk about his feelings..."
"Yeah, but that wasn't talking! That was-!" she made awkward hand motions in the air to try and describe his actions.
Gir sat and watched her try to make sense. "He likes you." he said, not understanding her odd hand movements.
Aneera stopped and put her hands down, slowing turning to look at the robot again. "Define 'like'."
"People don't make kissy faces unless they like each other." Gir pointed out matter-of-factly.
She opened her mouth to make another excuse, but closed it again, knowing that lying to herself wasn't going to help anything. "He doesn't act like it very often."
"Maybe he doesn't know how. Or maybe he doesn't know if you likes him back too."
Aneera raised a brow and stared at Gir long and hard. "How much TV do you watch! And why do you watch soaps?"
Gir's hands flew back to his mouth, his eyes lighting back up. "Because I has to know why Jason lefted Mary for dumb old Susie! 'Cause Susie is married and her man doesn't even knows about Jason and Mary hates Susie but they useded to be bestest friends! WHY AREN'T THEY FRIENDS ANYMORE!"
"Um... anyways..." she said, trying to steer him away from fangirling about his soap.
"You should go talk to him! YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO LOVE EACH OTHER!" He screamed, flailing his arms about wildly.
Her face dropped as she slowly grew more and more irriated. "We don't have to."
Gir stared at her blankly. "But you do."
Aneera huffed and looked away again. "You don't know that."
"You didn't pull away." Gir stated, effectively proving his point.
"What do you mean...?" Aneera asked, not liking where he was going with this.
Gir sat up straighter and crossed his arms. "When Master was makin' kissy faces at you's today. If you don'ts like him then why didn't you's pull away?"
"Because-"
"You loves Master!" the robot screeched, almost in a way that dared her to prove him wrong. "Don'ts lie."
The girl groaned and rolled over into a pillow. "Well it's not like he cares! One minute he thinks he likes me, the next minute we're punching each other's faces! Last time I checked that's not what love is."
"Well," Gir started. "maybe you and Master should talks about it. 'Cause whenever people that loves each other fight they always makes up."
Aneera peeked at him from her pillow. "I doubt he wants to talk about anything. I tried that already and when we do, the next time I say anything about it he gets all defensive and gives me the cold shoulder."
"Talk about it."
"Why?"
"Talk about it."
"It won't help!"
"TALK ABOUT IT."
"But-"
"I SAIDS TO TALKS ABOUT IT!" Gir's left eye twitched violently as he stared at her. "You don'ts know until you's try."
Aneera sat up and looked at him skeptically. "Since when have you been so pushy?"
Gir jabbed his finger at the hall where the lift was, his eyes flashing red. "Now."
"Okay okay! I'm going." Aneera stood up and looked over her shoulder as she walked into the lift, hoping the robot wouldn't go insane and start making another intellectual speech.
Once the door was closed and she was lowered into the base, Aneera shuffled her feet and began rocking back and forth anxiously. She really didn't feel like confronting him directly, but it had been made obvious that he didn't get sublte notions.
The lift seemed to go much faster than usual, and Aneera was only dreading the minute she found him. It took less than a minute before the doors opened and she forced herself to step out, instantly feeling sick as a rush of anger hit her sences. She reached up and covered the tips of her antennae, hoping to stop the nausia before the red walls got painted the opposite color.
"This is rediculous... he's not going to tell me anything." she said, knowing it was only to talk herself out of it.
After listening to the sounds of her boots clack against the floor for five minutes, which nearly drove her to insanity, she was almost greatful when a loud, angry snarl burst down the hall. By now Aneera had gotten used to the churning in her stomach, so she picked up the pace to a normal walking speed.
The double doors at the end of the hall were matted, so she couldn't see through, but one had been carelessly left ajar, which let the full extent of the yells of distress bounce around the hallways.
Aneera quietly backed against the door that was closed and listened. "Figures he'd rant to himself." she whispered, slowly peering around to look inside.
The walls were made of large metal plates, which formed a dome shaped room. The floor was open and had sets of rings around the middle. A table was set up towards the back, which was littered with shiny pieces of metal, and small purple moose was hanging around a scoreboard.
"Whhaaaattt...?" Aneera drawled, not understanding anything that was going on. Zim then appeared in her line of vision and hurled something towards the center of the room, screaming something in a language she didn't understand.
Minimoose squeaked and added another point, obviously trying to keep a possitive atmosphere.
Unaware that he was being watched, Zim continued to pace around and talk to himself, often emphasizing certain words by yelling them and absent mindedly throwing another shiny thing in some random direction.
"I can't even BELIEVE... of all the STUPID and REDICULOUS... couldn't mind her own business..." He went on, periodically throwing and cursing, but paying no attention to the purple moose that was trying desperately to lift his spirits.
Aneera inched closer, and watched carefully. "Are those..." she shut her mouth and fell to the floor, covering her head as one went flying in her direction. When she was sure it went unnoticed she looked up, yanking it out of the wall. "Ninja stars... of course." She stood up and marched into the room, ready to give him a piece of her mind. "Hey! Watch where you throw these things why don't cha!"
Zim turned around and glared, ready to throw another on one at her if she didn't watch her mouth. "Then why don't you stay out of my way for once!" He threw another at what Aneera could see to be a floating dart board.
"I'm not trying to be in your way! Do you honestly think I asked to be here?" She slammed the star back onto the table to get Zim's attention. "I don't like this anymore than you do!"
"Then why are you constantly on my case about something! I haven't had a moment of peace since you got here!" Zim had set down the rest of the stars and began to furiously walk in her direction.
Aneera crossed her arms and scowled while she leaned against the table. "Don't try to blame all of this on me and act like you hate me."
"I DO HATE YOU!"
"You're lying," Aneera glared harder. "I can smell it."
Zim huffed and stood up straight, putting his hands on his hips. "Then tell me how I feel!"
"You already know, you're just too stubborn to admit it."
"Admit what!"
Aneera jabbed a finger into his shoulder and hissed. "Tell me what happened earlier."
With one quick movement Zim grabbed her hand and pulled her to eye-level. "No." He then shoved her away and stormed past her, nearly making it to the door.
"Coward."
He spun around and sneered at her, balling his hands into fists. "Don't you dare-!"
"Then don't act like one!" She walked up to him and stoped a half inch from his face, then slammed the door shut behind him. "Now tell me what happened, and don't even think about lying to me because you aren't leaving until I get the truth."
Zim looked at her long and hard, narrowing his eyes. "I don't know."
"Yes you do."
"NO I DON'T!" He relaxed slightly when she backed up. "I couldn't tell you even if I wanted to! I don't know what's going on, I don't know why I've been acting like this, I don't know why it happened!" He fell against the door and slouched, hanging his head so she couldn't see him. "I'm not human, and I don't know the difference between emotions because I've never felt any of them."
Aneera dropped her shoulders and smiled to herself, happy that she finally was able to get him to talk. "Now why was that so hard?" she said softly while she approached him.
He didn't look up when he answered. "Because I didn't know what to do... I don't know how I'm supposed to... deal with it... I don't even really know what it is!"
"I thought it was lo-"
"Don't... say it..." He looked off to the side as his cheecks turned hot.
With a smile, Aneera stepped forward and gently pulled him up into a hug. She was careful at first, knowing he'd instinctively want to pull away, but when he relaxed she pulled him closer and buried her head into his shoulder.
After a moment, Zim was able to summon enough will and hug her back, wrapping one arm around her back and the other around her shoulders. "I'm... sorry I've been so difficult... I've never been able to trust anyone like this... especially not anyone that would actually understand."
Aneera smiled wider against his uniform, then lifted her head so she could speak. "I know that when you're around others you can't say anything... but you don't have to pretend for me."
Zim's face grew warmer and he held her tighter. "Thank you." He waited another moment until he could feel her pull away, then brought his hands up to her face and kept her still. The two looked at each other for a moment, Aneera brough her hands up to hold his wrists and closed her eyes so she wouldn't make him feel uncomfortable.
It was then that he got the idea of repeating what he'd done earlier, only better and less painful. Once he made up his mind about how he was going to do it (almost glad that he'd been stuck watching Gir's soaps about a month ago because the cable got shut off) and heasitantly leaned forward, but stopped just as their lips brushed against each other.
For a moment Aneera thought he was doing it on purpose, but when she opened her eyes she saw that he'd gotten nervous and froze. If he wasn't so bipolar about everything she would have finished it herself, but she was afraid that he'd go into another tangent about how 'wrong' it was.
Zim suddenly pulled away and let go of her face. "I... I didn't-"
"You don't have to, I understand." she replied, sliding her hands into his. Before she was able to say more she was pulled into another genlte embrace.
"NYA!"
Aneera spun around and held her hands up defensively. "WHY IS THERE A MOOSE!"
"Nya..." Minimoose squeaked offendedly and pouted.
Aneera lowered her hands and stared at it. "And why is it purple and adorable?"
Zim grabbed Minimoose by an antler and dragged him out of the room. "He's supposed to keeping Gir busy."
"Your robot watches soap operas! I hope you know that." Aneera declaired, jogging after them to keep up. "And he yelled at me to come down here to talk to you."
"Wouldn't be the first time." Zim snickered and continued down the hall.
With a horridly confused squeak, the girl ran after him. "The first time for what! WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT!"
Author: I made a ref in here to a movie that's made of pure awesome. Cookies to anyone who gets it!
Zim: IT'S-!
Aneera: *smacks in face with paddle* No.
Author: No ideas, no theories, no nothing.
Aneera: Don't make it obvious!
Author: You hit him with a paddle.
