Mutual
From here he could see their shadows, intertwined at the hands. Dib shook his head, thinking that this was just about the weirdest fucking thing he'd ever done before…and he had done a lot of weird shit in his too short life.

Zim followed Dib, but not without protest. He puffed out his chest and straightened his back as Dib led them out of the room. "Who do you think you are, grabbing at Zim like this?" He pointed at the hand that was gripped firmly around Zim's tiny wrist. "Just because you stuck your slimy tongue in my mouth does NOT mean you are at liberty to command ZIIIM!" He protested loudly as they marched through the lobby.

He didn't want Dib to think that now he could boss him around. Still…it was better than being ignored.

Dib's eye twitched. Again. Damn this alien was loud. "Shut your mouth, Zim." He ground out, grip tightening on the alien's wrist. The 'or else…' wasn't said out loud but it was there. People who were waiting in the lobby, looked up from what they were doing with all kinds of expressions that ranged from offended to interested to approving.

The teenager glared at all of them, throwing open the front door and practically shoving the irken outside, the sun hitting them both with unpleasant warmth. "I may not be at liberty to command you but, I didn't see you complaining about my supposedly slimy tounge, Zim."

Zim grimaced at the sun as he was shoved outside, although he welcomed the fresh air. He hadn't realized how stuffy it was in that room until he was finally outside. He spun around and pointed a claw at the human, his face flushing in a mixture of embarrassment and anger, his lilac contacts locked onto Dib's eyes.

"I could say the same about you, and yet you are acting as if I was the one who made you get all…touchy…feely." He motioned to his person, patting his stomach and chest as if to remind Dib that he had touched him there. "And I HAVE a right to complain! I didn't infect YOU with these….HICKEEES."

The human rolled his eyes, shoving his hands in his pockets and began walking in the direction of his house just as he had did every Thursday before this and would hopefully do for the last time. The Irken's rantings were surprisingly not surprising.

Zim followed along behind him, arms flailing in anger, being really annoying and each word that came out of his big mouth just increased the anger that Dib was slowly storing up in his chest.

It wasn't that he was nessacrily pissed at Zim. Or rather JUST at Zim. He was angry at himself for being so stupid as to have ever believed that stupid bitch, for giving into these primitive urges towards his enemy no less…what had he been thinking? The answer to that was, 'Not at all'. Or rather with his dick, hormones and rabid teenage fantasies.

"Shut up, Zim." He warned, biting down on the inside of his cheek.

Zim puffed up, his eyes wide with fury; where did this human get the nerve? Zim demanded more respect than that! After all, he was his greatest nemesis!

"Now you-! You…!" Zim couldn't even get the words out. He didn't understand why he had suddenly reverted back to his old self, when just moments before he had looked at Zim with such…longing.

Finally, Zim stopped. He watched Dib walk a little bit before shutting his eyes and shouting after him, "Just what exactly do you WANT, Dib?" Zim felt something within him churn in anxiety. He didn't know what exactly he was asking, or how Dib responded, but Zim was just sick of this roller-coaster he was on.

Something in Zim's voice had him stopping and turning around. The breeze blew his dark hair away from his face, allowing him to see the alien who had stopped about ten feet back, and was now looking at the ground. Which was wrong. Zim had too much pride for that. He never backed down and would never not stare back at Dib, never giving in. First, the near crying and the magnetized PAK now this…? What was going on?

The paranormal investigator stared off at the horizon for a minute, running a hand through his messy hair. Cars drove by and life went on as always. Mind made up, Dib stalked over to where the irken was standing and grabbed his wrist, lightly but, knew he wouldn't let the alien escape if he tried.

"I want to get off this filthy street and get home." His hand slid down to grab at Zim's fingers, intertwining them. "I want to know why we just kissed, when we're enemies." His other arms wrapped around Zim's back, pulling them together. "I want to go back to normal. But, I also want to possess you again. And again. And again."

Dib grimaced, at the wig and the stupid contacts hating them with a fiery intensity that wasn't all that new to him. He leaned closer until their lips nearly brushed and he could look into the alien's eyes, trying to see past the hated periwinkle color.

Zim wanted to push the human away and curse at him for getting so close to Zim after trying to boss him around before. But he found himself surrendering to the comforting warmth that came with being so close to him. Zim looked up into those golden orbs as Dib held him close, whispering to him. It didn't even matter to Zim that Dib was somewhat threatening him, he just watched those lips move as Dib talked, remembering the warm sensation of them pressed to his own.

"But, mostly I want you to stop screaming about us making out because I might have to punch you." He whispered before pulling away and beginning to walk down the street again, keeping their hands intertwined but, tugging harshly.

"Now, come on. I'm hungry."

Zim almost tripped when Dib pulled him forward, jerking him out of his daze. He looked curiously at their hands, his two fingers nestled between Dib's, and his thumb gripping his palm. He had seen humans holding hands before, but never between two enemies.

"Fine," He huffed. "But don't think I'm going to let you boss me around! Or forgive you for even trying, Dib-stink!"

The human's lips curled up at the ends, a jagged smile that he tried to suppress. "I'll remember that." They walked for a while, down the street that he'd travelled way too many times for his own liking. The sun was going slowly down and Dib still hadn't had anything to eat.

From here he could see their shadows, intertwined at the hands. Dib shook his head, thinking that this was just about the weirdest fucking thing he'd ever done before…and he had done a lot of weird shit in his too short life.

Up ahead there was a burger joint and Dib began tugging the alien in that direction, not really caring if he wanted to go or not.

Zim was silent for the majority of their walk, not really knowing what to say. He had a million questions rushing through his mind all at once, and he didn't know where to begin. Were they still enemies? Did this mean that Dib was on his side? How was he going to react when Zim completed his mission?

His mission! In all this Dib nonsense, Zim had failed to come up with a new plan. He mentally chastised himself for getting so caught up with the human.

He snapped out of his thought process when he felt the Dib-thing tug him in a new direction. His face contorted in disgust when he saw the burger place they were headed for. "Dib, don't make me go in there! It's revolting!"

The door to the joint jingled once they entered. The place was nearly empty, the juke box playing oldie music. He dragged the irken over to a bright red booth. The seats were sticky and salt covered the table but, Dib didn't care because the smell of meat and French fries was enough to have him salivating. "You're revolting. Now sit down before I squish you."

He didn't really know how he planned to do that. But, he was sure it would be terrifying and…stuff. Dib grabbed the menu and nibbled his bottom lip in contemplation. It all looked so yummy.

"YOU'RE revolting." Zim muttered under his breath.

Zim sat rigidly in his seat, keeping his hands close to his sides, being careful not to touch anything. The scent alone was enough to make him feel sick, and he pressed his wig down closer to his scalp to try to keep the air from seeping through to his antennae.

He looked around uncomfortably, the expression of disgust never leaving his face. "Just hurry up and eat so we can leave." Zim wondered what exactly was keeping him here. He didn't HAVE to follow Dib, and he didn't need to wait for him.

But…he sort of wanted to hold his hand again.

The human rolled his eyes in response just as a plump young woman came over here, chewing on a piece of gum. "What can I get for ya, darlings?" Dib suddenly felt as if they'd been thrown back into the 70's or lived in the country. He smiled a bit back at the woman.

"I'll get the burger special and a Poop Cola…" His eyes glanced up at Zim through his glasses. "Do you want anything?" He asked, handing the menu to the woman. "Like a milk shake or something? There's chocolate ones that we could clichély share."

Zim looked up quickly when he realized that Dib was addressing him. He had been silently insulting the cow-beast that had walked up to their table, but was now staring at Dib with a blank look on his face.

What had he just asked him? He honestly had no idea.

"I honestly doubt this establishment serves anything I'd like, Dib-stink." Zim stated coolly, a sort of 'Matter-of-fact' expression played out on his face.

Dib gave the woman an apologetic glance. "Yeah, get us the chocolate milk shake please."

The woman nodded and began walking away. "Sure thing, Sugar." The teenager sighed, and leaned on the table, watching the alien watching him. He raised an eyebrow, suddenly feeling very mischievous. Mentally, Dib began a staring contest wondering which of them would crack first.

He licked his lips and curled his hands on the table. "You tied up my therapist." He said casually, not daring to blink. "And stalked me." The woman came back with Dib's soda and the milk shake before walking away again. His hands curled around his cup, taking a long sip from the straw, feeling the caffeine rush through his body.

Zim narrowed his eyes and tilted his head slightly. He watched Dib, noting how his amber eyes were dead set on him, unblinking and unwavering. 'What's he up to?'He wondered.

"What's your point?" Zim asked simply, not bothering to look down at the icy beverage the cow-beast placed in front of him, although he was curious.

"My point is that you're obsessed with me." Dib's lips curled into a smile around his soda. He reached out and grabbed the milk shake, taking a long drag from that as well. He passed it over to Zim, waggling his eyebrows. "It's yummy. You should try it."

"Oh, and that's different from how you've spied on me over these earth years?" Zim teased while he took the cup. He looked down and stirred the shake with the straw before tentatively wrapping his lips around the straw. He took a tiny sip, his face appearing to be ready for any sort of pain that might ensue. His face lit up, however, when the chocolate beverage hit his tongue. It wasn't bad! But he couldn't let Dib know that he had been right about something…
He cleared his throat and set the drink down on the table. "Well….it isn't TERRIBLY disgusting." He shrugged.

Before Dib said anymore to the obviously confused and suspicious alien, the waitress dropped off his meal and walked away. Dib felt his heart give out just looking at it. It was dripping with grease, cheese and soon it would be slathered in ketchup. He grabbed the bottle and covered the burger in the stuff before taking a huge bite and practically groaning from how good it tasted.

"Dude, you have no idea what you're missing with not eating earth food."

Zim grimaced when he saw what was on Dib's plate, and couldn't even look at Dib while he ate it. "It isn't like THAT." Zim said, pointing at Dib's plate. "Ooooh….I can't even LOOK at you while you eat that…GARBAGE. Uuuhgg….you better not put your mouth on mine after this." He warned.

The human had many, many years under his belt of stalking said Irken and as a result knew most of Zim's emotions by reading his face. Dib felt a smug sense of superiority at having correctly predicted the alien's liking of the drink. But, he hid it as well as he could.

Dib took another bite, before shoving a few fries in as well. Then he took a big gulp of his soda, raising an eyebrow. Part of him wanted to kiss Zim right there just to annoying the alien but, decided against it considering he had sharp claws and Dib didn't want to make a scene.

"Who's to say that will ever happen again?" He said casually, watching out of the corner of his eye for the irken's reaction. "The whole kissing…thing." He grabbed the milk shake and took a sip before handing it back to Zim.

Zim looked at Dib out of the corner of his eye, a curious expression on his face.

"'Kissing' is what it's called then?" He angled his head back in thought. Zim thought about kissing Dib again; he had liked it the first time, with the exception of the resulting 'hick-eees'. He had thought that Dib enjoyed it, and assumed he'd want to do it again.

Then again, he didn't know much about kissing, and what was considered normal about it. Maybe it was something they only did once? Had they used up their kissing-quota, of sorts?
"Can we not do 'kissing' again?" Zim asked, finally looking back at Dib.

The last of his burger went down the hatch and Dib wiped his hands off on a napkin, before taking another long drag of his soda. His left hand drew imaginary patterns on the table.

"Do you…want…to do 'kissing' again?" He asked, feeling off kilter suddenly. Only Zim ever made him feel like this. Crazed, afraid, angry, passionate, and obsessive all at one time.

Dib's sudden change in demeanor sent Zim for a loop. He watched as he fiddled around with his fingers on the table, something within him causing his blood to rush up to his cheeks. He felt flustered all of a sudden; an all too familiar feeling these days.

He cleared his throat and looked out the window, pretending to be thoughtful about something. "I wouldn't mind it, I guess." He tried not to see too enthusiastic as heated memories of their lips and bodies mashing together rushed across his mind. He cursed himself as his PAK began its low hum and heated up against his back.

Dib brushed his hands against his jeans, glancing out the window and back at Zim who was all flushed again. It triggered the same reaction in himself like a domino, heat rising to his cheeks. The teenager bit down on his bottom lip as the waitress came by and dropped off the check. The blood was rushing too quickly through his veins.

"Really?" He said probably much too quickly. "I mean…okay." He licked his lips and paid the fee, shoving himself out of his booth. "Um. Let's go then." He gestured towards the do—what was that noise? The teen's brows furrowed in confusion. Above the jukebox's old music and the sizzling from the kitchen. There was a hum. It didn't sound like the air conditioner or a car hum…but, it was familiar. He shook it off, holding the door open for Zim.

Zim looked up at him as Dib stood up, eyeing him curiously. The human's face was flush, and it was easy to see his obvious excitement. So maybe the feeling was mutual after all.

A . N . :

Sorry for the late submit! D: I was so busy yesterday. But, it's up now!

As usual, Lil-Banshee plays Zim and I play Dib. We don't own IZ.