brb suicide

by Kitteh and Neo

A bass ackwards universe in which Dib is just your typical emo kid in middle skool, his father isn't the renowned Professor and Zim is actually smart and oh so fabulous. ZADR AU

10. Chapter 10

brb suicide

By Kitteh and NeoFox

Rating PG

Warnings It's gay ya'know. It's gay.

Disclaimer Smeets will eat our souls if we dare claim Invader Zim. So yeah, Jhonen can keep his smeets of DOOM! We just want to borrow Zim and Dib for a fic, so calm yourselves.

Summary ZADR. AU. A back asswards universe in which Dib is just your regular tom-emo in middle skool, his father isn't the renowned Professor and Zim is actually smart and oh so fabulous.

Beta moon-glaive

Chapter 10

Eyes were glued on the boys as they walked hand in hand from a crowd worthy scene. Although no one followed them, the word on what had happened did, and it was the hottest news since what happened in the cafeteria. Zim seemed completely, blissfully, ignorant of his surroundings as they wandered down the hall.

"Zzzi- I like personal displays of affection," Zim commented off-handedly in a very happy, dazed voice; a goofy grin was plastered across his face. He stumbled alongside Dib in a poor attempt to follow. So instead, he clung to the Dib's arm, hugging it to his chest while using it as a pillow at the same time. "It makes Zim very happy." As he slipped out his tongue, he noted the cool breeze on his stomach . Glancing down he noticed his shirt had ridden up some how and in one motion he tugged it down. He didn't bother with the skirt. "Zim's mouth is very hot," he went on in the same floaty voice. So he opened his mouth, letting his tongue loll out so he could fan inside.

Dib didn't seem quite as happy as Zim did. His eyes kept roaming over each student that would dare to peek or just outright stare at the two of them. It had his whole body completely tensing up. When Zim clasped onto his arm, he was startled for a moment. He dropped his eyes back down to the shorter boy ready to yell at him, but stopped himself. He saw no real reason to get frustrated with Zim, but wished he could have. Instead, he let his gaze move back to his feet and kept walking until he finally got them both to some sort of freedom. He moved his free hand out of his pocket to open the door that led outside and stepped out, dragging Zim with him. Once the doors were closed he finally let go of Zim's hand and a small groan escaped him. "I can't believe everyone saw that."

"I dooo." Zim said in a sing-song voice. He let go of Dib's arm and slunk to the top step of the stairwell. "I," he hopped down to the next, speaking each word with each step. "had. fun." He spun on the ball of his foot and clicked his heels together to face Dib, hands behind his back in military fashion. "I rather liked it. And I know you did too." Zim glanced down and finally pulled his skirt higher up as proof. He narrowed his eyes and smirked Dib's way.

Dib watched the other with narrowed eyes, but when Zim pulled his skirt up, he blushed lightly. He continued to keep his eyes on the green teen for a few more moments before he finally walked down the steps to stop one step above Zim. He leaned forward and placed his hands on Zim's hips while allowing his face to come close to the other's once more. "You really are annoying." He gave a small smirk of his own. "Stop making everything so complicated."

Zim raised his arms to loosely drape them over Dib's shoulders. "But you like the complications." He pushed himself on tiptoes, but the step Dib was on still made the other too tall. That didn't stop Zim from stretching, making a pleasant sound and giving an excuse to lean forward against Dib. "And if Zim stopped, you'd be bored." A claw toyed with the pierced lock of hair atop Dib's head, giving it a lazy poke so the loop would dance. "And bored is so boring, don't you agree?"

Dib glanced up at his hair before letting his eyes fall back down on Zim. He didn't answer right away; instead, he moved one hand up to push aside Zim's own hair away from his face so he could look into both of the boy's eyes. He made sure to hold the strands aside, knowing that if he let go, it would simply fall back into place like it always did. "I agree." With those simple words he moved down to press a quick, small kiss on Zim's lips, letting the boy's hair fall back down as he did.

Zim's smirk spread into a grinning smile. "Good. See?" He continued to poke at the hair piercing, looking at it for a moment. "You can be quite the charmer when you try." He lowered his hand to rest at the back of Dib's neck. "I quite liked the floaty, disembodied hearts. Though I think the little kissy-doodle was Zim's favorite." He found himself toying with the rings at Dib's ear; it was becoming habit forming.

Dib allowed his eyes to close as Zim played with his piercings. He only gave a small noise in response to the other's words; he was much too content for the moment with Zim's actions. His hand had moved back down to the boy's hip. Both were lightly stroking the green skin under the shirt as something to do in return. "Hmm..." He finally opened his eyes after a few moments and turned them back on the shorter boy. His words almost whispered, "I think I'm starting to like the date idea most of all." His thumb drew circles up and down the other's skin before he finally went on, "How do you still feel about trying it out?"

Zim suddenly bounced. Reminded of the exciting idea, his comfortable lethargy was instantly gone. "Yes! Let's do it! Let's do it right now!" He pulled Dib the rest of the way down the stairs without giving the other time to have any say in the matter.

Zim's sudden excitement startled Dib and almost caused him to trip down the stairs as he was tugged along. "Alright, hold on! Don't pull me! You don't even know where the place is." Despite the annoyance in his voice, it was clear Dib was in too much of a good mood to really be so angry. Such a thing surprised even himself when he thought about it, but he didn't dwell on it too long. Without even waiting for Zim to respond, he squeezed the other boy's hand just so he could yank him closer before wrapping his arms around the slim body from behind, and stopping the other where he stood. "I'm taking you out, not the other way around."

Zim squirmed some at the restraint, very eager, but he stayed. "Aw. I could guess." He leaned back to look at Dib with a guilty grin. "Or I suppose I could let you take Zim. Since the Dibness knows the area better. Is it far? Walking distance? Or do you fly? Can you even operate any land vehicle?" Zim blinked curiously at Dib.

Dib shook his head a bit before he looked back down at Zim's face. "It's not too far. Just a few blocks down. Some of the students go to the place after skool lets out." He continued to keep his eyes on Zim's own for a few more seconds until he finally leaned down and pressed another quick kiss on the boy's forehead. He let go of the other's waist and walked ahead down the sidewalk. "And no, I can't fly any sort of vehicle. Sometimes you ask the weirdest questions."

Zim touched his forehead before quickly following after Dib. "I'm foreign." He placed a hand on his own chest rather proudly. "I'm suppose to ask weirdest and unusual-est questions. It's in my job description." He snatched up Dib's hand, linking fingers before he swung their hands idly as he continued walking, completely all things cheery.

Dib glanced down at their hands for a moment, but made no real protest against the action, only looking up at Zim instead. "You seem way too happy about all of this." He moved his eyes ahead once more, but squeezed Zim's hand. "I didn't expect you to be okay with doing all of this outside of skool. The flirting, the kissing, hanging all over me." Most of that was hypocritical, but he went on anyway. "Sure a few people may see us outside of skool, but it's highly doubtful."

"I think I should have fun outside of skool as well as inside." Zim tilted his head one way causing his hair to cover most of his face. He wagged a no-no finger. "All work and no fun makes Zim bored..and.. on a bun? Something like that. But that isn't the point right now. The point is we are now on a magical adventure." Zim made magical and sparkle noises as he wiggled the fingers on his free hand about. He then looked to Dib. "What do people here talk about on dates anyway? Will anything special happen?"

Dib looked a bit lost for a moment. "Well, um..." He moved his own free hand up to scratch through his hair causing his piercing to jingle. "I think that usually people just talk about things they have in common, or just talk about anything in general. Like getting to know each other." He glanced at Zim for only a second before he averted his eyes once more. "Sometimes people kiss, but that's usually only when the date ends." He gave a small shrug and let his hand fall back down, finding the polish on his nails very interesting in that moment. "My sister watches really mushy, romantic movies sometimes, and I get stuck watching them if I don't feel like staying in my room, and some kind of stuff like that happens. I don't know."

"Mushy eh?" Zim made a thoughtful sound as he tapped his teeth. He then flared the hand out. "What do we have in common? Uhh.. we're human. Ha-ha! Yea." Zim laughed into his hand before clearing his throat. "Gets me every time. Let's see. We umm... oh! We both have black hair." He pointed from his own hair to Dib's. "Uwww. Fancy. We also both have feet, legs, arms, hands. We both breath air, eat food and like to walk." Zim nodded sagely. "We have so much in common!"

Dib rolled his eyes at Zim's words. "No, stupid." The insult was becoming like a nickname for the other. "I mean like interests or things you enjoy. I like to listen to music. Write poetry, as you found out." At that he narrowed his eyes on the shorter boy before going on. "I didn't always like to draw. It was just something I took up in skool and slowly got into." He moved his free hand back up so he could try to count everything on his fingers. "Let's see. I like reading horror novels, but the movies, not so much." He blinked his eyes and looked down at his hand realizing that he only had one finger left. "And I like being able to have my personal space." He nodded his head and turned his attention back to Zim. "Your turn."

Zim stared blankly at the other. He looked the other way and then at his gloved hand. Three fingers and a thumb, at least that was one less he had to name. "Uhhh.. I like.. um. I like.." He looked down at himself. "I like clothes. Fashion! Yeaa. I like that." He looked Dib up and down. "I enjoy your li'l bits of metal in your body. I want one. Oh, yes, yes, I do." He grinned. Though, then he really thought it over. What did he truly like to do? Zim rubbed his chin, narrowing one eye. "I enjoy challenges. Figuring out how to do something no one else can. The faster the results the better. But.. I like to enjoy it, so..sometimes Zim procrastinates a little too much. Hmm. That's three. One more!" He wiggled his thumb in gesture. "I like snacks." Zim looked back to Dib. "Wait. Does that mean we have nothing in common?" Zim pouted.

Dib moved his hand up so he could touch a finger to his eyebrow piercing. Thoughts of their little make out session in the hall and Zim's tongue sucking at the piercing in his own tongue caused a small blush to form on his face. "Um, well, not really." He let his hand fall back down. He looked the other over for a second before a small grin came over his face. "You want one too, huh?" He raised their linked hands up just so he could kiss between their knuckles before continuing on. "You should get one. That way we would have something in common. Too bad you don't want to go to a place around the city. I would take you after we got something to eat. It would be an interesting experience."

Zim was too busy staring at the action Dib made on their hands to make any real answer save for an 'mmhm'. His eyes sifted partially shut and he almost stumbled as he became mesmerized. Quickly he blinked, going a little indignant. "I could do it FAR more cleanly on my own. I wouldn't want to subject any part of my body to those--those monkeys with pointy-things." Zim pointed at his face. "What should Zim get decorated with metal?"

Dib stopped walking, causing Zim to stop with him. He turned to face the shorter boy completely and let his eyes travel over the other's face for a few moments. His free hand moved up so fingers could lightly move over a green cheek. As soon as his hand fell back down, he spoke. "I think you should get your tongue pierced. That's the one part of you I enjoy far too much and can only imagine how much more I would if you did it." Oh, yeah, he was definitely going insane.

Zim's brows rose. It still amazed him how Dib made no motion to ask about his missing ears and nose, considering they were talking about piercings. But that's what he liked about Dib; the boy knew how to not kiss and tell.

A slow toothed grin spread over Zim's face. "You like ma tongue, huh?" He slipped his thin tongue out and licked his ridged teeth. "And only after two kisses." He chuckled low in his throat. Not that there were many places on his body to pierce. "I can think of one other place to pierce on Zim." His gaze sifted half shut as he sent a rather suggestive look to Dib. He started walking again, giving a tug to their linked hands to pull Dib along. "But I'm not telling." He ran his claws through his wig with a teasing laugh.

Another blush threatened to overcome Dib's face even as he was pulled along. Zim's words weren't really helping him keep his thoughts from going in any sort of clean direction. "Pervert." The word was muttered under his breath and could have also been directed at himself, but Zim didn't need to know that.

After awhile they finally made it to a small cafe just near the city. Dib had to tighten his grip on Zim's hand to get the other boy to stop. The outside had small stands for people to sit and enjoy what little peace they could, but at the moment, the tables looked pretty vacant. Dib tightened his hold on the other's hand and led Zim inside the cafe's doors, holding them both open for the shorter teen before he walked in himself.

Zim's eyes darted around at every little thing in the cafe. It was nothing he really had ever seen before, it was very-- quaint. Then he decided he had to poke everything, the counter, the glass in front of the display of assorted baked goods, the other tables there and the napkin holders, the one person eating a sandwich, Dib. He blinked when he found himself at Dib, but ended up giving a grin in the end. "It smells..." he inhaled, "sweet. And like food. Swood. Fweet?" He blinked. "Moofies?"

Dib couldn't help but be amused at what he saw. Zim's curiosity was funny, and not aggravating like it usually was. As soon as he had the other's attention once more, he turned Zim around by wrapping his arms around the smaller boy, and walked him over to the counter that was up front. "Of course it smells like food. I told you they serve food here." He raised a hand away from the other's waist so he could point up to the menu that was above the counter. "See, no moofies, but plenty of other things. You can also try coffee as well."

Zim looked up at the menu but stared blankly at it. It was completely alien to him. What the heck was a grilled cheese sandwich? Cheese made of grills? This race was just strange.
"I want coffee." Zim nodded slowly before looking at Dib. "Is it sweet? I like sweet things." He looked back to the menu before looking back at Dib, then back to the menu and back at Dib. "You choose for me. Surprise Zim!" He leaned against Dib's front, slipping his arms around the other's waist. "But I want a cookie too. Oh! And a muffin. Zim wants a muffin." He stood up on tiptoes to sweetly lick the tip of Dib's chin, asking just as sweetly, "Can Zim have a muffin?"

The sudden lick surprised Dib, but only for a second. "Hmm, sure, you can have a muffin and a cookie." He let his eyes travel back up to the menu and scanned over it trying to figure out something for the both of them. Without really thinking his arms squeezed lightly around Zim's waist. "As for coffee, well, it's sweet when you add just the right stuff to it. It's not that great without anything in it." He made a small face at a few of the things his eyes ended up scanning over.

Zim quietly cackled to himself. "I will breed the cookie and muffin to create the ultimate treat. I will rule the planet with my army of super-tasty moofies! Mmmm moofies." He glanced around. "I wanna sit there." Zim pointed outside to a table near some ferns. There was no one outside, so it seemed like the better place to sit. "I'm going to go sit. Come back when you've picked stuff." He stood on his tiptoes again to steal a kiss before he pulled away. "No running away, okay?" Zim got about two steps before he came back for another kiss. Finally he pulled away to go outside to sit. He wanted to go poke the fern.

The first kiss didn't surprise Dib as much as the second. It caused him to reach up and actually make sure it had happened. After only a few seconds, though, he quickly turned back around to the menu to figure things out once again. "I'm a moron."

It took awhile before the cafe doors finally opened and Dib came out with a large tray. He searched the tables until he finally found the one the other boy was near. Making his way over, he then set the tray down. He took one of the cups off and set it on Zim's side of the table, along with his desired muffin and cookie. He also passed over a thick sandwich that had bacon, lettuce, and tomato on it as well, as a few other things. "There, try that." With those words, Dib sat down on his side of the table and started poking at his soup even though his eyes were on Zim.

Of course Zim was far more interested in what Dib had than what he was given. "What is that?" He pointed at the soup. "It looks evil, and diabolical. Is it sentient? Because I have never seen a puddle of goo that doesn't want to destroy something.. or.. consume something with its gooey flesh." Zim then noticed his muffin and cookie. "Yay!" He ripped the top of the muffin off and replaced it with the cookie. "Moofies!" He then placed the muffin top on the cookie. "There! Now my cookie has a severed muffin hat."

"It's clam chowder. You watch too many movies, I'm guessing." Dib watched Zim's actions with a raised brow. "Didn't your parents ever teach you not to play with your food?" The question was teasing and he couldn't help the small grin that tried to pull at his lips before he took in a spoonful of his soup.

Zim made a face as he watched Dib actually put the soup in his mouth for consumption. "Bahh." He shook his head as he raised the top of the muffin to sniff, despite having no nose. "My parents? No. I don't have parents." He realized the information came streaming from his mouth. His eyes snapped wide and he shoved the muffin top in his mouth to keep anymore great words from coming out. Then he realized what he'd done, but on chewing, he realized the Earth muffin wasn't so bad. In fact... "Iz good!" he commented in awe with a mouth full of muffin. Promptly swallowing, he chomped on the cookie and was even more elated as he chewed. "This is really good too!"

Dib blinked his eyes at the information he had gotten out of the other boy. He moved his spoon out of his mouth and let it drop back into his bowl. "No parents?" For some reason he couldn't seem to get over that simple fact and pressed further. "If you don't have any parents then who do you live with? Who moved here with you?" He stirred his soup around, refusing to take another bite until Zim answered.

"I-live-on-my-on." Zim quickly spoke as he bit a rather large portion of his cookie to chew on for a good while. Though it was meant to procrastinate he couldn't help the happy little noises as he chewed; it really was that good. He needed more of these Earth cookies, and muffins, to send off to his Tallest. Tallest Miyuki would definitely love some foreign snacks; it was an Irken weakness.

Dib's eyes widened at that. "You're fifteen and you're living by yourself?" He realized he had let go of his spoon somewhere amidst his shock and quickly picked it back up. His eyes dropped down to his bowl and narrowed a bit. "Lucky. I wish I had such freedom. No parents, not even a sibling, that sounds like paradise." He stirred his soup a bit more before finally moving the spoon to his mouth once more. After he had swallowed the small bit, he spoke up again. "Strange, though. I thought you had to live with someone until a certain age." He shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever."

"The.. uh.. government is.. on fire. Um. I'd rather not go into it." Zim turned the cookie this way and that as he watched it. "Personal." He shoved the rest into his mouth, chewing diligently as he unwrapped the bottom part of the muffin so it too could be consumed. When his mouth was empty he spoke again, "I can't complain. I get a lot of work done unhindered. It's nice and quiet so I can think. Nice neighborhood. But it is a bit dull living on my lonesome. I guess that's why I go to skool." Zim laughed at that. "Well, the one class Zim went to was quite interesting. I wonder if all the rest will be as entertaining." With a grin he bit into the muffin.

Dib raised his eyes once more to look at Zim, and kept them there for a few moments until he spoke. "You did make things much more bearable this time around." He let go of his spoon so he could take a quick sip of his coffee, mostly just wanting a reason to hide his face after such a comment, and the one he was about to make. "I could deal with class if things turn out like that all the time."

Zim cackled and nodded, though, he paused as he watched Dib drink his coffee. He pointed to the cup. "What does it taste like?" He looked over to his own cup and pulled it nearer to sniff it. "Kinda smells like.. dirt."

Dib tried not to laugh at that because it was hard to disagree. He carefully set his cup down instead and gave a small smile as he tried to control himself. "Well, mine tastes like vanilla. I just got them to add normal sugar and milk to yours because I wasn't sure what you would like." He pointed a finger at Zim's cup. "If you like it you can always come back and try other things." With that he went back to his meal, but kept his gaze on the other teen.

Zim continued to sniff his cup and made a slight face at it, as if it could do it back. He picked it up tentatively and took a small sip. Immediately his eyes snapped open and he put the cup down. He clapped his hands over his mouth and made an odd squeaking noise.

The reaction caused Dib to sit up straight and drop his spoon once again. "Zim?" He moved his eyes to the cup then back at the other. "Was it still too hot?" Without even waiting for the Zim to answer he reached his hand out to place it around the cup. It didn't feel nearly as hot as it had when he first took it off the tray. That fact caused him to let out a thoughtful sound and turn concerned eyes back on the other as he pulled his hand back. "You okay?"

Zim slowly dropped his hands from his mouth. "H-h.. Spicy!" He sucked in several gulps of air and fanned his mouth. "Hot. Hot. Hot. Hot." He waved both hands and let out a long exerted exhale, finally letting them drop. His shoulders sagged and he blinked watery eyes. "It tastes like hot sweet dirt." Zim smacked his lips, letting his head loll from the experience.

Dib watched Zim for a few more minutes with narrowed eyes. After a while he slowly leaned forward across the table, being careful of their food and such. He used one hand to prop himself up and the other to grab Zim's chin straightening the other's head and opening his mouth. Once he had accomplished that he blew the tiniest bit of air into Zim's mouth before he closed it and planted a small kiss on his lips. He let go of the other's chin and sat back in his chair, leaning his head on his hand. "You alright now?"

Zim open and closed his mouth and in the end, of all things, turn his gaze shyly away with a small grin and a nod. He bit his lip and licked it. With a blink he licked his lips again. "Mm. I think your coffee tastes like better dirt than mine." He glanced at Dib, though keeping under the veil of dark hair. "Can Zim try yours?" He nervously chewed on the pointed end of his gloved finger.

Dib glanced down at his own cup before he shrugged his shoulders. "Sure." The hand he had been leaning on was used to pass the cup over setting it down in front of the other. In turn he grabbed Zim's cup and took a sip from it, making a small disgusted face after. "It's so gross without any flavor." He set the cup back down and started stirring his soup once more before raised his eyes back to Zim.

Zim pouted a scowl Dib's way. "You gave me gross coffee." He stuck his tongue at the other before he picked up the cup. He gave it a sniff. "Uw. Smells nice. Smells like.. vanilla-y dirt." This time Zim blew on the coffee before he took a sip. Blowing on it made no difference, the coffee temperature itself was cool but the taste made his mouth heat up. It was a lot like Dib's mouth when Zim really thought about it. At least this tasted sweeter. Zim swallowed with a noise and smacked his mouth a few times. One eye suddenly snapped open, and the other followed. A rather demented grin crept across Zim's face and he tugged the mug possessively to his chest. "This is Zim's now."

Halfway between trying to swallow a spoonful of soup, Dib gave a pout at the other's words. He dropped his spoon back down and waited until he could actually talk to speak. "Hey, that's not fair." His words slowly died as he watched Zim hold the cup so tightly. He narrowed his eyes behind his glasses and quickly looked back down at the coffee he had stolen from Zim. He wasn't very interested in drinking that, but he didn't have much money to be wasting on another cup for himself. The place wasn't the cheapest. With a defeated sigh, he glanced back at Zim with slumped shoulders. "Fine, have it."

Zim jabbed a finger at his old cup. "You can have that. I'm having this. Mine. Zim is drinking this. This is Zim's. I like this. I want another. I want five! No- thirty! No! Wait-" Zim leaned forward. "What's the highest number in the English language? That's how many I want!" He leaned back and took a much longer sip than he took, ending it with a sharp gasp. His grin only grew wider as he closed his eyes sated. "It's like.." He opened one eye to glance at Dib. "What's the best thing ever in the English language?"

A blush came to Dib's face at such a question and he quickly looked back down. "I don't think I want to answer that." He stayed silent for a few moments before he chanced a glance back up at Zim. "I don't think you need too many of those. You're usually hyper enough as is." He shook his head. "I shouldn't have let you try it."

Zim hissed as he clutched the mug protectively to his chest. "You no taking my sweet dirt soup from me. You-- you drink your funny white soup." He pointed to Dib's clam chowder before clutching the cup again. He glanced at Dib before he took another swig of coffee. "Ahhh." His tongue lolled out. "So good. Next time I want a bucket full." Zim glanced to Dib. "Do they serve it in a bucket? Or does Zim have to bring his own?"

"A bucket?" Dib blinked his eyes at such a question and then quickly shook his head. "N-No, there's no such thing as buckets full of coffee, Zim." He pointed his spoon at the other teen. "And you certainly can't bring your own." He let his spoon fall back into the bowl. "If you like it so much just come back and get some more." He averted his eyes and looked around as if someone was listening in on their conversation at that moment. "I-If you want, and when I get more money, I can bring you back here. I'll buy you some more then." He quickly scooped up some soup and put the spoon in his mouth right after he spoke.

Zim's crazed, caffeinated front seemed to fall for a moment as he blinked at the other curiously. "Another date?" He took another sip from the cup.

Dib's free hand moved out to run along the cup he had taken from Zim. His teeth bit at the spoon every few seconds and a few times his piercing clacked against it, metal on metal. "Sure, another date." He finally raised his eyes to look at Zim. The spoon having moved away from his mouth just enough so he could answer.

Zim closed his mouth. He sat back enough in the chair so he could bring up his legs, resting the heels of his boots on the edge of the seat. On his knees he rested the mug but he glanced away from Dib; though for other reasons than the other boy thought. "W-when? Do you think?" Zim's eyes darted back; his nerves felt so on edge all of a sudden for some reason.

Dib continued to trace the edge of the cup for a bit before he let his hand fall back down. "Whenever you're free." He gave a small shrug and turned his eyes back down to what was left of his soup. "You don't really tell me much about yourself, so, I'm not sure when you're busy. I don't do much, so I'm pretty much good for any time." His fingers tapped on the table for a few seconds before he spoke up once more. "I don't mind taking you out again whenever you want."

Zim let out a small laugh. "As exciting as Zim is, I'm always free. Nowhere to go, and nowhere to be." A more absolute lie couldn't come from his mouth. "What you see is what you get." Correction: that was. He drabbled his claws on the mug's sides and took another sip, still fidgeting after.

Dib looked back up after Zim's words and gave the smallest of smiles. "Well, that's good to know." He almost tensed up after what came out of his mouth, but instead averted his eyes. "We could go out during the weekend. It's nice going out after skool since no one else is around, but we've also already seen each other. No real point." He took in another small spoonful of his soup before he went on, "I could actually pick you up like a normal date does at your house." His hand moved up off the table to fidget with his ear. "At least I think that's how it goes. I'm pretty sure it does."

Zim crossed one lithe leg over the other but still managed to keep both boots draped off the edge of the chair; he was thin enough to get away with it. He gave a slight shrug. "I wouldn't know." He ran this thumb on the lip of the mug. "I've never dated before." Immediately he bit his loose tongue; the coffee was getting the better of his conscious judgment. "Not.. -not formerly, anyway. I mean properly. I mean.. No. Er- yes.." He gave up and just downed more coffee.

Dib quickly looked back up at such a stuttered answer. The last few things Zim said caused him to narrow his eyes in a small bit of anger; he really didn't know why. "Hmm..." He looked back down after such a small sound, but suddenly he didn't have much of an appetite. "So, you've liked someone before?" He didn't know why he asked. It shouldn't have mattered to him.

Zim stared at Dib for a moment before looking into his cup. When did the moment become so somber? Or maybe that was just him who felt that horrid feeling tugging at the back of him. "Y-yea. S-someone sss, actually." He looked back up at Dib and cracked a bit of a smirk. "But you'll never guess who wants to bear your love spawn, Dibness. She even likes your feel bad poetry too. Very 'romantic' she called it. Said she'd steal you up if I didn't want you."

Dib's hand had clenched tightly at Zim's answer, but otherwise he tried to keep any sort of emotion off his face. The only thing that startled Dib out of his sudden mood was Zim's words. It had him tilting his head just barely as a confused expression came over his face. "You're right, I never will guess. Who?"

Zim grinned. "Zita." And he downed the rest of his coffee at that.

Dib's eyes snapped open. That wasn't really an answer he was expecting. Zita was someone he had known for a few years from different classes, but had never actually been close to. He was always sure she hated him just as much as he hated her. "Z-Zita?" He felt he needed to echo the name to make sure it was true. His eyes moved back down to the table and for a few moments all he could do was stare. After a bit he pushed his bowl away with a disgusted expression on his face and shook his head. "She must be inhaling something she shouldn't be to say all of that."

Zim uncrossed and clunked his boots back on the ground and plunked the cup with much energy onto the table. He cleared his throat and tried to do his best Zita impression; it wasn't all that good "'I'll take him if you don't want him, Zim!' 'Just because I think he's weird doesn't mean I can't try to like him. Especially if he's so willing to draw pictures of whoever he likes, or even write about them.'" Zim chuckled as he rubbed his hands together before continuing, "'It's really romantic, if you think about it.'" He shrugged out his hands. "And she likes tall males too. So do I, but I never liked those who were taller than myself. And Zim is pretty tall where he comes from." Zim nodded, very proud of that fact.

Dib glanced back at the other teen out the corner of his eyes at the last few things he said. He didn't keep his attention on Zim long though, and soon his eyes were moving out to look at the street. "I guess when this is all over she'll have a chance at me then, won't she?" He scratched at the side of his head and gave a small snort. "I doubt she would still be interested though. It's not like she really is anyway." He let his eyes fall to the cement that was under his feet. "Try and like me, that's so stupid."

".. I like you." Zim poked at the sandwich Dib had given him; the Earthian vegetation didn't look particularly appetizing.

Dib sat up straight at what Zim said, which caused his chair to make a loud, grating noise against the cement. For awhile all he could do was stare at the other boy until he learned how to blink again, and finally his voice came back. "What?"

The sudden movement startled Zim and he blinked to stare at Dib, a little confused, as he thought he spoke loud and clear. "Huh?"

Dib shook his head at the response he got and his eyes landed back on Zim's face. "You like me?" One of his hands moved onto the table so he could tap his fingers, suddenly feeling very fidgety. "Why?"

Zim straightened a moment, but went back to poking the sandwich. He took off the top bread to peer at the underneath. "Why not?" he simply countered. He then poked at the bacon there.

Dib looked back down to the cement at that question, his fingers still tapping. "Because all of this is just going to end at some point. That just means I'll go back to not caring and you'll go off and do whatever it is you want to do." His fingers finally stopped as he went on. "Some of the kids are talking to you. You seem to be a little popular. You might not need me anymore sooner than you think." He moved his arms so he could rest his elbows on the table and moved one hand up to lift his glasses off his face while the other rubbed between his eyes, wishing that would make his frustration go away. "It doesn't matter."

Dib was right, but for all the wrong reasons. But the human was right: it didn't matter. And it didn't. Not really. Zim dropped the top bread to his sandwich back down and dusted his hands off. He raised his brows and pouted expectantly. It wasn't a look he should have been giving Dib right now. "You don't like Zim?"

It should have been simple for Dib to say no to the other boy, and to just say that he hated Zim much like he had on the street that one day. As he continued to stare at Zim, he set his glasses back in place, and realized that things didn't seem to want to be that simple for him anymore. "Yeah, I do." After he spoke, he quickly picked the cup up so he could take a sip and almost spat it back out. Not only was the coffee disgusting, it was cold from sitting so long. He endured it though if only for some way to hide his face.

Whether Dib saw it or not, Zim seemed pleased with the answer he got, and he showed no worry or malice in his expression. He pushed the sandwich Dib's way, since the boy seemed so eager to consume the contents in the table; or to hide in them. "You want my sammich? You look like you want it. You have that 'I want Zim's sammich' look in your eye."

Dib placed the cup back down with a small gagging noise, and looked towards the sandwich offered to him. He only gave a small glance Zim's way before he reached a hand out to pick it apart much like the other had. When he got to the bacon, he immediately took the strips and chewed on them. Only after his mouth wasn't full did he speak up, "So what does it mean if we like each other? Does that mean what was pretend suddenly isn't?" He tried to make the question sound innocent enough, but it just wasn't working.

Zim drummed his fingers on the table; it was hard to keep still and focused. In the end he stared blankly at Dib; he didn't follow. "Huh?"

"All of the things we've been doing," Dib started to speak while he pulled his hand away from the sandwich, not really in the mood for much else on it. "The kissing, and the other small intimate things." He raised his eyes to look at Zim. "If we like each other, does that mean instead of pretending for all the kids at skool, and even out here, we just really...want to do those things?" His last few words slowly trailed off, and he looked back down at the table. He didn't know how his question could sound innocent that time.

Zim straightened in his seat and for the moment his drumming stopped. His line of sight tried to fall on whatever it was Dib was looking at on the table, but he couldn't stop and stare at just one thing; his nerves wouldn't let him. "The Dib..-wants to be Zim's real boyfriend?" He finally raised his gaze to Dib.

Dib narrowed his eyes and tried to flick a crumb that was sitting on the table. He missed, which only caused him to let out a small noise before he answered. "I didn't say that..."

Zim let out a frustrated noise, more because he was jittery with no real aim. "Then what are you saying? Because Zim has only been speaking English for about three days now, and isn't as fluent in the language like you. So be to the point." He blinked, he didn't mean to be so forward and callous. Zim shook his head and rubbed his arms. ".. I'm not used to this coffee thing either. I feel like a squirrel whose eaten forty bags of sugar in one sitting. I-. Mm.. sorry."

Dib glanced back up at the apology before a small frown came to his own face. He watched Zim for a few more seconds until finally he leaned over the table. Instead of propping himself up, he used both hands to grab at Zim's so he could pull them onto the table causing the other boy to lean forward. He touched their forehead's together and gave a shaky sigh before he spoke up, "I-if that was what I said, if I wanted you to really be my boyfriend, what would you say?"

Zim went a little rigid at first but he tried his best to relax. He smiled some, though it was rather sadly, at their hands. He tapped the table with a pinky and his smile grew wider and all the more sad. "I-...I... uh." There were too many answers to such a small question that had so much importance to one, but meant nothing to another. That's what made it so sad. Whether to live a happy lie in ignorance until the end or to end it now, rip it fast and painless like a band aid.
Zim swallowed slightly. "I d-dunno." He gave a small, giddy laugh. "I'd have to wait to tell you that. Cuz Dib hasn't asked me yet." He glanced a little nervously at the other.

The way Zim spoke only caused Dib to become even more nervous. He let go of one of the boy's hands so he could raise one of his own and push back Zim's stubborn hair for the moment. The entire time he never pulled away from the other. "Will you be my real boyfriend?" His other hand squeezed the one he still held tightly. "No more pretending."

"So.. that means.. all the times the Dib said it didn't matter, it did." Zim leaned his head some into the hand that held his hair back. A wry smile started on his face. "And all the times the Dib said he didn't care, he did. And all the times the Dib said 'don't touch me', and he didn't want to hug, cuddle, snuggle, grope, lick, fondle, poke, hang out, carry, hold hands with Zim- he did." Zim leaned forward more. He had the Dib hooked and reeled in. How sad, that someday this would have to end, maybe tomorrow- at most a week. His Tallest wouldn't stand for longer. "I'm guessing," Zim pressed his head more against Dib's hand as he went on, "he liked it. A lot. To be asking."

Dib's fingers had slowly started to stroke Zim's cheek as the other boy leaned closer and closer into his hand. Each word caused him to tense up bit by bit, and the nervous feeling in his stomach to just get worse. "Well, not at first." He didn't know why he whispered the words, but he knew he didn't feel like speaking very loud at that moment. "At first everything I said I really meant, but it's weird how you're the only one that could get under my skin so much." He gave only the smallest smirk at that. "Everyone else I would just ignore, or act as if they didn't exist at all. I couldn't do that with you; you just wouldn't let me." He moved his eyes over Zim's face for a few seconds before he went on. "So, yeah, I guess I do want it all. Every bit of it."

Zim blinked slowly, his grin slow and lazy because of the fingers at his cheek. "In such a short time." He slunk forward more so he could brush the briefest of kisses against Dib's lips. "I told you I liked a challenge. The circumstances were in Zim's favor, I guess. Luck? Maybe." Zim's lips turned up just a little more. "I hope so." He pressed his lips again to Dib's.

Dib couldn't help grinning against the kiss. As much as he tried to keep it innocent and quick, he couldn't help pushing his tongue out a bit to trace the other's lips. Even going so far as to let his piercing press down a bit just to tease before he completely pulled away. His hand that had been holding Zim's hair back finally fell down to the table causing the hair to fall back to it's usual place as well. Dib didn't mind much as he kept his eyes on what he could see of the other's face. "I guess that means yes?" He pressed another quick kiss to Zim's lips after he spoke, pulling back enough after so the other could answer.

Zim couldn't help but raise a hand to touch his own lips for a second. He then moved his hand to Dib's brow piercing, to toy with it a bit. "Y-yea. I guess it does. Yes." He chuckled rather shyly. What could it hurt? "Though Zita will be pretty disappointed." He couldn't help adding with a teasing grin.

Dib closed his eye at the touch, but didn't pull away. Instead he leaned into it. With Zim's few words, all of the worry he suddenly had slowly went away with a small breath of air. The last bit only had him letting out a tiny laugh that he really couldn't keep in. "I'm sure she'll get over it. She was doing fine without me before; she can survive without me even longer."

Zim glanced at the brow piercing he toyed with. "I guess that would make this a real date." He smirked some and followed his first impulse and leaned forward so he could flick his tongue at the piercing. After he looked back at Dib with a grin.

The one eye Dib had closed quickly snapped open after a small shudder had went through his body. As much as he tried to hold it in, he couldn't stop the small noise that escaped him even as he kept his eyes on Zim's own. "Y-Yeah." His voice was much too shaky and he quickly tried to steady it. "Yeah, it is." A small smile came to his lips. "Which means when I pick you up for our next date, that one will be real as well. We'll actually be going out because we both want to see each other." He ran his nails over Zim's hand for a second before he went on. "I like that idea, don't you?"

Zim pursed his lips and blinked a few times. "That means we're.." he twirled a finger trying to find the word "dating." He straightened a moment and tapped a claw on Dib's lips a moment. "Excuse Zim for one moment." Zim leaned back and stood away from the table. He walked away a few good steps from the other table and started bouncing around making happy, squealing noises. He threw his arms up in the air and jumped around shouting out his elation, like the caffeine-endorsed crazy that he was.

Dib sat back in his chair just so he could watch the sudden display. It was way too amusing and even if someone were to walk by on the street or come out of the cafe, he wouldn't have cared. After a few moments passed by he found that it probably wasn't a good idea to let Zim continue hopping around. He was getting dangerously close to the ferns. So, with much regret, Dib got up from the table and walked over to the hyper teen only to wrap his arms around his waist from behind trying to hold the other body still. "I don't think caffeine is good for you." He said the words in a teasing voice while he nuzzled Zim's cheek.

"Awww. But I like it." Zim wiggled and squirmed against Dib, as he still felt the new onslaught of new energy. "I want another cup. Can Zim have another cup? He neeeds another cup. Give him another. He'll never shut up unless you do." He rolled his eyes and waved a limp-wristed hand. "You know that Zim. He's such a squash. Or was it yam." Zim tapped his lips looking over to Dib. "What's a yam? Is that short for anything? Yamama-bama..-ma. And does it taste good with coffee?" He whined. "Please more." Zim then tried to tilt his body and crane his head so he could try and nab a kiss to help his cause.

Dib ducked the kiss only to stick his tongue out at the shorter boy. "No, yams do not taste good with coffee." He turned Zim around in his arms and planted a quick kiss on the other's forehead just to aggravate him. "I'll get you one more cup and that's it. Just one, but we're not staying. It's just to go." He ran his hands up the sides of Zim's shirt as he kept speaking. "I can't buy much else after that anyway."

Zim leaned heavily against Dib's front with a huff. "Can it be in a bucket then? A coffee bucket-to-go! I could really go for a bucket of coffee right now." He sagely nodded, though it was easy to tell he was complacent with whatever Dib would buy him. Then it dawned on him. "If it's to go, where are we going?"

"A small museum that's much farther down." Dib rested his chin on top of Zim's head which caused his attention to turn on what was inside the cafe window. "It's a nice place and has a lot of interesting stuff. Plus, I'm sure not all of the books you've read are the most informative, right? The place I'm going to take you to will help out much more. It has things about the city as well as other places." He moved his head back a bit so he would be able to look down at Zim and gave the other a curious stare. "That is, if you still need help. If not, I could find somewhere else to take you."

Zim met Dib's gaze. "Huh? Oh! Zim's essay." He gave a short laugh and then let his tongue loll out of his mouth. "Pfffft. That isn't due for, like, everness." He waved a hand. "Besides, why mix work with pleasure?" Well that was the most hypocritical statement he could have made; added to the growing pile of today's. "Let's do something new and adventurous. Something amazing! Something newventurazing!" He splayed a hand out. "And you do know this planet better than I." He poked Dib's belly, but then found new interest in that belly button ring there; Zim was easy to please.

"Something amazing and that I can afford." Dib let a small grin cross his lips at that last part. His eyes dropped down to Zim's hands and for some reason still found it odd how the other boy loved to fiddle with the one piercing so much. "Well, as much as I hate to say it, there's a carnival that's been going on near the other end of the city. I think it only has a few days left." He lifted one of his hands away from Zim's side so he could count his fingers under his breath. After a few moments he returned his eyes to the other's face and let his hand drop back down. "After I get you another cup of coffee I should be able to get us both some tickets. Maybe even a few snacks." He gave a small smile. "You could ride some of the rides if you've never had a chance to so something like it before."

Zim's eyes snapped wide to stare up at Dib. "Zim likes snacks. Zim likes rides. And Zim likes coffee. It's win, win, win! And Zim likes to win!" He clung to Dib's shirt and wiggled excitedly since he couldn't bounce or move around. "Let's do it! Let's do it, do it, do it, do it, do it!" He bounced on his toes in Dib's arms. He threw his own arms around the other's middle and clung tightly. "Because it is your fated destiny to take Zim."

Dib tried to keep steady since Zim was moving around so much in his arms, but soon gave up and let go considering Zim had such a tight hold on him anyway. "Alright, I'll take you." He let his hands raise up and placed them both on either side of the other's face, trying to calm Zim down a bit so he could continue speaking. "First, let's go get your coffee. After that we can leave here and head towards the carnival. It shouldn't be too packed. It's not that late."

"That's because everyone is eating lunch from that disgusting trough called a cafeteria. Skool. Bleh. How vile." Zim slipped away from Dib, clicking heels together he pointed to the cafe. "So hurry and get so we can go, go, go, go." He bounced on his toes again, feeling like he should be running several blocks to a bridge to jump off, flap his arms and fly away; nyrrrrrrooow.

"Okay, I'm going." Dib moved forward and leaned down so he could press a kiss to Zim's lips. Satisfied with that, he finally moved back to the table only to pick up everything that was left behind and set it back on the tray. After he made sure he had it balanced, Dib walked back towards the cafe doors, but not without stealing another kiss from Zim. After that, he finally made his way back inside.

Zim rocked from heel to toe and back again unable to keep still, especially after the last kiss. He watched Dib bring the tray in and buy the coffee. And that's when Zim's eyes settled on IT; the other coffee Dib had bought him. Sweet sweet sweet dirt. Zim's eyes flicked to Dib; he was busy buying the new coffee. Down his gaze flicked to the coffee on the table. On impulse he stepped over to the table and grabbed the cup. It was stone cold, but all the same he chugged it down, thudding the cup down with a hard exhale. His eye snapped open. "Hot! Hot! Hot! Boiling in my mouth!" He fanned his mouth and gasped for air, spattering and raspberrying. He ran around flailing and screaming obscenities, almost knocking over the nearby ferns.