Lonely
"You should both be killed. KILLED, I SAY!" Zim screeched, the second they were back on Earth.
Dib and Flo exchanged a glance.
"Why?" Dib asked, and Zim shot him a glare.
"You two filthies have HUMILIATED the all powerful Zim in front of all the planet leaders! You nearly killed me," he shot at Flo, pointing angrily, "And YOU… Well, I just don't like you. You… Tallest-Raper, you!" he shouted at Dib, who laughed.
"Raper? I'm no rapist, Zim, HE came onto ME!"
"Psh," Zim grunted, and he stared coldly at Flo instead, who was trembling.
"I didn't mean to give you so much alcohol, Zim! I didn't plan on you nearly dying! I didn't know you'd already nearly drunk yourself into an early grave, did I?"
"It is no fault of Zim's what you did. It isn't customary for the fiancé to poison her future husband." Zim retorted calmly.
"I'm not actually going to bind with you! I was lying to stop you from telling everyone about Dib and Tallest Purple!" Flo shouted.
Zim's face fell, and Flo felt that annoying pang of guilt again. Should she have told Zim that, only a few hours after he had nearly died? But it went away as quickly as it had come when Zim grinned evilly.
"Well, no matter. Either way, you shall bind with me. And bear my smeet. It's just a shame that you'll be doing it against your will. I… whoa…" Zim trailed off, and whirled on the spot, falling to the floor. A servant rushed forwards and propped him up.
"What is it?" Dib asked, uncaringly, and Zim's eyes flickered for a second.
"Head rush," he muttered, before adding pointedly to Flo, "From the alcohol."
Zim went off to his room shakily, and Flo turned to Dib.
"I really didn't mean to," she said quietly.
"I know," he replied, "But how did he drink so much? Surely you can tell when you've had too much to drink before it goes over the limit?"
Flo shrugged, and out of the shadows stepped Zim's advisor.
"The Emperor drinks a lot. He spends most of his days alone, and he says it passes the time and makes him feel less lonely. If I may, slapping him, punching him and rejecting him is probably not the way to make him improve, my mistress. Indeed, you can only expect this brutish behaviour to continue and, undoubtedly, worsen."
"Jeez, did Zim forget to remove the probe from your ass? If I may? My mistress? Brutish? Why're you talking to me like that? Are you taking the…?"
"Forgive me, my Empress, if I appear too formal, but the Emperor and his spouse are to be addressed with the utmost respect. Anything less would be an insult to their supremity."
"Empress? Not yet… Jhonen," she said, reading his name tag, "Don't I know you from somewhere?"
"Probably not, Mistress Flo. I am the Emperor's personal advisor. And I'm advising you to try not to do anything to him so he doesn't do anything back to you… drunkenly. Do you understand?"
He stepped back into the shadows and promptly disappeared. Dib tapped his chin thoughtfully.
"Zim has a drinking problem, eh? We could use that to our advant…"
"What, like we just did? When we nearly killed him? No, Dib! Where have you been for the past three hours?" Flo interrupted, and then she stopped herself.
"I'm sorry about you being banished and junk," she said, "You must miss Purple. But at least you'll see your sister and your dad again, right? They must have missed you."
Dib sighed. Flo was trying to comfort him, but her soothing tone just irritated him as he thought of his family. They probably hadn't noticed he had been gone for the past two years. They probably hadn't even noticed Zim was the Emperor. Gaz was caught up in her Gameslave and… Wait. Gaz had been brainwashed. Who knew what had happened to his dad? But a sudden feeling of joy passed through him. He would see his family again, but also, they would have to admit he was right! That he wasn't crazy! He looked up, smiling, and Flo beamed back.
"That's the spirit! Look, I'm tired, I'm off to bed. I'll find Greta and get her to find you a room." She said, squeezing his arm as she had done so many times before.
They set off down the corridors, reunited at last, banished for Dib, away from Irk for Flo. But together at least.
---
"Hey, you! YOU! YEAH, I'M TALKIN' TO YOU, SHORTSTUFF! FETCH ME A COMMUNICATOR!!! Jeez, what do I have to do to get a little service around here?"
The tiny servant ran off in tears. Red had become extremely bad-tempered since Purple had left, insulting anyone unfortunate enough to be in his sightline and shouting instead of speaking, and if anyone was stupid enough to mention the name Purple, he would sulk for hours and have something destroyed, such as a nearby asteroid. Once, an especially dim-witted servant had continued to talk about the ex-leader, ignoring all of the warning signs, and Red had ordered an entire planet and all of its inhabitants to be thrown into a nearby sun. Nobody dared speak back, nobody dared oppose him, and everyone prayed for the day when Purple would be forgiven of whatever he had done, and accepted back onto the Massive, so that everything could go back to normal.
Red lay back on his reclining chair and clicked his fingers, ordering a Blondd to feed him cherries. He was so bored. He'd actually appreciate the massage that one Blondd was giving him, and the sweetness of the cherries if Purple were next to him, but that was out of the question. He spat the cherry pip into the coffee cup of a passing slave, glaring at him as though daring him to protest. But he didn't. The slaves never protested. The slaves did what they were told to, when they were told to, just like Dib had done Purple when he was told to. He gripped the edge of the chair, and Platinum stopped the massage and raised a small protest.
"Please, my Tallest, you're tensing up. Just relax and enjoy the massage."
He turned to face her, staring her out.
"You dare tell me what to do? You don't get paid for giving instructions; you get paid for following them. So shut up and massage me, dammit!"
"Of course, my Tallest," she replied humbly, and carried on without another word.
The tiny servant returned, carrying a portable communicator over his head. Red started at him until he cleared his throat and spoke, thinking that Red didn't know what he was doing there.
"Your communicator, my Tallest."
"I can see that, midget. I was just wondering what you're doing standing in my light five minutes after you completed your errand. GO AWAY!!!"
The servant bowed and backed out of the room rapidly, hoping that his transfer to the engine rooms would clear, so that he wouldn't have to see the Tallest at all. Unfortunately, so many others had also applied to be sent away from Red that he could be waiting for a while to come.
Red tapped in a number into the communicator and waited. Minutes later, Purple's face swam onto the screen. His heart skipped, and for a second, he pretended that Purple was back on the Massive with him, and this terrible loneliness, despite being surrounded by hundreds of servants, could finally end. Now he knew how that jerk Dib had felt when Flo, his only friend in a thousand Irkens had been sent away. But the second ended, and his softened expression grew cold and uncaring.
"Purple. I just wanted to see if life as a commoner back on Irk has destroyed you yet. But it hasn't. Proof that there isn't a God."
"Hello, My Tallest. Life's just fine, actually, and I'm having fun. It's great, you know, having to… feed myself and clean up and… do work," Purple said, sniffing as he spoke, "It's great. It's exciting too. Like, yesterday, I fell asleep on the sidewalk 'cause I can't afford an apartment, and someone took my shoes! I had to run twelve blocks after him to get them back, and when I got back… all my stuff had been stolen!" he gabbled, and burst out into a fit of laughter that sounded as though it was masking sobs.
Red grinned at him spitefully.
"Good. I'm glad to hear you're having a good time. It's great here. And I'm not lonely. Definitely not lonely."
"What're you doing?"
"At the moment I'm having a massage. From Platinum."
"But she was my masseuse! You always had Strawberry 'cause strawberries are red!"
"But Platinum gives better massages, Purple. And that was the real reason I let you have her. 'Cause I loved you and wanted you to have a more relaxing massage. But then you stabbed me in the back, so all that went down the drain, and here I am, relaxed and eating cherries, and there you are, living in a doorway with your shoes and nothing else! Funny old world isn't it?"
"I know what happened, Red. But, to be honest, you don't look like you're having a great time. I mean I'm not having the best time; I'm gonna have to sell my communicator for food soon, but you have it made and you look… miserable."
"I'M HAVING A GOOD TIME! I DON'T MISS YOU AT ALL! I DON'T NEED YOU! I DON'T NEED ANYONE!"
"I didn't say…"
"GOODBYE!"
Red drew a laser gun from under his armour and shot the communicator. He had taken to carrying the gun around recently, because Purple had given him it for his Birthing Anniversary, but he had never shot anything with it before. He stared at the white-hot metal barrel for a while, and then rounded angrily on the servants, who drew back in alarm. He put down the gun.
"YOU! Cover me in chocolate. YOU! Lick it off!" he said, pointing at Strawberry and Platinum respectively, "I'll show him who can have a good time!"
But he didn't think he would even enjoy this if Purple wasn't there to be dipped in chocolate with him…
---
GIR was running through the palace at top speed. It was a lot more fun than running through the base had been, because there was a lot more space to run in, and a lot more things to knock over. He hurtled through the corridor and flew into Flo's room. Straight through the closed door, shattering it as he hit it. Flo leapt up from the couch, and then relaxed.
"Oh, it's only you, GIR."
"I don't have a nose!"
"Nope. Neither do I." Flo grinned, and the robot plodded over to her excitedly.
"Come with me, Mistress! I wanna show you something!!!" he squealed, tugging at the hem of the black sequined dress that she still hadn't changed out of from the party.
Flo followed curiously, but she knew that whatever it was, it would be some pointless distraction that meant little to anyone but GIR himself. Like Derek the Pebble; GIR's special friend, or the large orange leaf that he sometimes wore as a hat. As she walked down the corridor, she watched as people were already repairing her shattered door. Evidently the palace was well prepared for GIR's antics.
GIR lead her to Zim's side of the palace, the most luxurious side. The sound of Flo's clomping boots was quickly deadened by the considerably thicker crimson carpet, and yet another large portrait of Zim adorned the walls. GIR showed her a door that had a large notice on it, saying 'DO NOT ENTER ON PAIN OF DEATH'.
"Pretty door! My Master told me I couldn't go in. But you're here now, Mistress!"
"Erm… GIR? I don't think I count as…" Flo began nervously, but GIR had opened the door and pulled her in before she could continue. It was pitch black, the only source of light coming from GIR's glowing eyes. Flo fumbled around for the switch, found it and flicked it. As light flooded the room, Flo gasped, and GIR squealed.
"OOOOOOOOOOHHH!!!"
---
Zim sat up in his bed. The head rush had gone by now, but he had heard something. GIR, squealing in the next room. But he had specifically forbidden GIR to enter there. There was a sign and everything! He leapt up and threw on a robe, hurrying out of his bedroom. The door to the forbidden room lay ajar, and he could hear GIR running around inside. Great. He had been about to go in when someone cleared their throat behind him, making him jump a foot in the air. He turned to see Dib standing there, bold as brass, still wearing his uniform from the Massive. Black, black, black, with the purple symbol on it. No wonder he hadn't noticed him, he blended into the shadows with his dark clothes.
Dib grinned at him.
"Nervous, Emperor?"
"That's EMPER… oh. Well done, Dib-Slave. You remembered. And the almighty greatness that is Emperor Zim is never nervous. NEVER!"
"Hmm. So, I was wondering where my sister was. Because I wanted to see her before I go to bed."
Zim raised his eyebrows.
"Incest, Dibling? That's a whole new low, even for you."
"EW! NO, Zim, that's disgusting! I can't sleep 'cause I'm worried about her, you pervert!"
"One, It's EMPEROR. Two, you, Dib-Worm, are the pervert for doing what you did to my leaders. Three, what're you doing here? This is my part of the palace!"
"Where is she?" Dib continued, ignoring Zim's questions. Zim sighed.
"The Dib-Sister is fine. You can see her tomorrow. As is the Dib-Father. They are living in the palace grounds. Now GO!"
Dib sighed and turned to leave, but he kept right on turning when he heard Zim swearing under his breath. Zim walked silently into a room, just as GIR skipped out, and nothing more was heard for ten minutes. Curiosity got the better of him, and Dib walked to the door. He gasped at what he saw.
---
Flo couldn't believe her eyes. The lights that flickered on were pink, and the entire room was filled with… stuff… from the past. She walked through it in awe. Photos adorned the walls, a portrait of her above a fireplace, as well as a calendar with her Birthing Anniversary and the day that she had accepted his proposal marked on, the dates ringed with tiny hearts. The calendar was from several Earth decades ago, though, as the year on it was the year Zim started his Invader training. The small music box that she had given him as a goodbye present lay on a table, and she opened it gently, jumping as the song that she had refused to listen to for all these years began to play.
If I could fall into the sky
Do you think time would pass me by?
'Cause you know I'd walk a thousand miles
If I could just see you
Tonight.
She slammed it shut.
There was a cabinet full of presents and a large filing cabinet that Flo discovered was full of letters. It was all stuff from when she and Zim had been mates. She picked up one letter and opened it, her eyes welling up as she remembered writing it.
Dear Zim,
Sorry I can't be with you on your special day, but I've just been accepted for a job on the Massive, in Wardrobe, and as you know, working with fashion is my dream. I feel bad for missing your induction to Invader Training Camp, though. I can't believe you're going! Still, I can't wait to see you again and I'm really excited for you!
Things will change whilst we're apart; I know that things will be different for you at the camp, and I'll be making friends and acquaintances on the ship, but know that I'll be thinking of you every day we're apart and waiting for you to return. I want to bind with you more than ever, and having a smeet of our own doesn't matter as long as we're together.
I hear the exercise regime is really tough on the camp, so you'll probably come back all muscular and fit! One of my friends actually came back taller because he'd bulked up so much! But don't go changing too much, honey, or I won't recognise you when you get back!
Loving as always,
Flo xxx
'But he did change. And I didn't recognise him when he got back,' she murmured, and she picked up another, a brightly coloured electronic card.
Dear Zim,
Happy Birthing Anniversary!
I hope that spending your 22nd in Training Camp isn't too bad. Your last letter was a little weird... why did you keep writing your name in capitals? Is it an invader thing?
I've put your present in, and a picture on the back so you don't get too lonely (x).
Loving as always,
Flo xxx
Flo turned the card over and found the small, looped video of herself on the back, wincing as she did so. She was wearing very little, and was moving into a very suggestive pose.
'Why did I style my antennas like that…' she cringed, placing the electronic card back in its file.
She turned to the cabinet on the wall and found the present she had sent him; a pair of customised Invader boots that she had saved for months to buy. Never once had he worn them, and she had presumed that, in his coldness as an invader he had thrown them out. But there they were, pristine and clean, shining as though they had been recently polished. She looked through the photos on the wall, all of them showing her and Zim in different places. One of them showed her sliding her hands over Zim's eyes, her mouth over one of his antennas. It had been taken at a party, and she and Zim's friends had all laughed at the look of surprise on Zim's face.
Suddenly, the music box started to play again and a pair of black gloved hands came down over her eyes.
"Guess who," Zim whispered, and she shuddered as his breath tickled her antennas. She whipped round on the spot, and Zim put his hands together, locking her in between his arms in an awkward embrace. Any closer and they'd be kissing. There was a gasp at the door and they leapt apart.
---
Dib looked around the room nervously. Zim had created some kind of… obsessive shrine to Flo. He looked around and saw Zim and Flo in the corner, Zim holding Flo close, her face millimetres from his own. They sprang apart, and Flo backed away a couple of steps.
"What is all this, Zim? Is this some kind of joke?"
"Yeah, Zim? What the hell is this?" Dib added, for good measure.
Zim laughed nervously and scratched the back of his neck.
"Well… This is awkward…"
Dib raised one eyebrow, and Zim glared at him, his eyes twinkling under the pink lighting.
"Say nothing, Dib-Stink, and you may be spared from all this," he growled, before turning to Flo and adding, "This is all my stuff from before I was an Invader. To remind me. Nothing more."
"Zim, this is all our stuff from before you were an Invader. I thought you'd thrown it all away."
"Eh… I was meaning to get round to doing that, but the damned waste-disposal vehicle left before I could throw them away."
"Zim, you've had this stuff for years," Flo said quietly, touching his arm. He shrank away.
"Don't you get lonely, Flo?" he asked her venomously, "All these years, and the Zim has had no one. Nobody but GIR to be with on this pathetic lump of rock. All these years, you could have contacted, but no, it was ZIM that had to call the Massive in the hope that the Tallest would force me upon you. But you didn't care even then, did you? Poor Zim, poor, insane Zim, calling yet again. Well, Zim needs NO-ONE! I'm an Emperor, Flo, an Emperor, all I need is an heir and then life will be complete!"
"So you've been lonely," Dib summed up tactlessly, and Zim cracked his knuckles threateningly.
"Lonely? Once. But I had my room of memories," Zim jabbered, sounding extremely disturbed, "And now I'm a ruler. I don't need this room any longer. I just can't get rid of it…"
The music box ground to a halt.
Please review. That's basically all I have to say for now… Apart from that I don't own Zim etc, etc, but I do own Flo and the Blondds (not that the latter are particularly important) and all that jazz. TTFN!