The rest of the crowd disappeared later that night, seeing as their help was no longer needed. Zink and Tiz were the first two to leave, probably because they shared a ship, then Kairi left about two minutes after that because she was tired of Gir. Skoodge scurried silently out of the house when Tex started telling stories about his earlier days. So that left Purple, Tex and Zeira.
"Where's mah TAQUITTOS!?" Gir had been sitting on his head for the last half hour and had just laid eyes upon the stove, his stove, Master didn't use it.
"What'd he say?" Zeira asked, watching him skitter into the kitchen like a little mouse, except he had his arms in the air and he was screaming. Zeira shook her head, she would never understand it, he was just so far fetched she didn't see how he could function.
"Well I'll tell you what, that little critter sure is a live wire." Tex leaned over to look past Zeira just in time to see Gir smack face first into the stove, leaving a big dent the front, followed by a pained squeal from Gir.
"Huh, try living with him and putting up with it every minute of every day." Zim leaned back and rested his head in his hands, unfortunately Minimoose was using the holographic simulations room for hibernating so Gir had no one to play with. Noah was still asleep but he probably wouldn't play with him either, Gir had completely obliterated his first impression on that level.
Purple then appeared from the labs below looking like the research rat he was. Hie eyes were heavy and antennae drooped, mouth slightly hung open and he was swaying from side to side like he just lost a bet and had to chug down ten large glasses of Egg Nogg. All in all he looked tired and awful.
"Uh Purple? You doin' okay? You need some help?" Aneera started to stand up but Purple raised a hand and smiled. With some effort he was able to get from where he was standing to one end of the couch where he stood and smiled woozily. Aneera started to laugh and the heads turned one by one, each one giggling more loudly than the last.
"My Tallest? You look... aweful." Zeira had her hand up to her mouth to keep her from cracking up too much but the smile on her face was evident and plain to see.
"Thank you Zeira, that's very kind of you." Purple said sarcastically, heading up the stairs slowly.
"Where are you going?" Zim opened one eye and smiled, maybe the rest of them were leaving too, if he was lucky.
"Weare leaving, come on Tex, Zeira, we gotta go." Purple didn't spare them another word and continued up the stairs and into the lift, having the two mentioned Irkens quickly follow after saying their goodbye's. Once as the rest of the the visitors were gone Zim breathed out a sigh of relief.
"Finally." he said happily, sinking farther into the couch while closing his eyes. Aneera shook her head and smiled, he really was one for privacy and didn't like large hoards of people in his living space.
It wasn't two seconds later that a loud, surprising yell came from upstairs. Both heads turned to listen but it stopped, then all was silent.
"What was that?" Aneera whispered.
"It sounded like Noah." Zim slowly stood up and began to walk towards the stairs.
"But, Noah has a high squeaky voice, he's only a child, he doesn't sound like that." Aneera didn't believe it was her son, he was little, really little. She began to stand up but stayed put as Zim walked up the stairs and made his way over to the door. He looked at her before he opened the door, then lightly pushed it open.
"Noah?" He peered in and saw that he wasn't in the bed asleep like he orginaly thought. Zim stepped inside and peeked around the corner where his window was and saw Noah standing in front of the mirror with his mouth hung open. "Noah? What-?" He stopped, there was something different about him, he didn't quite look the same.
Noah had grown a full twelve inches taller in the span of about five hours, that was pretty amazing. He was now a total of two feet four inches.
"What happened to me!?" Noah began to yank on his antennae, he just didn't understand why. Was this supposed to happen? Or was he cursed? "What's wrong with me!?"
"Nothing, you're perfectly fine." Zim laughed and walked over to him, kneeling down for better conversation.
"What do you mean 'fine'?" Noah scowled and looked up slightly, there was nothing fine about what had happened to him, he changed quite a bit in a very short amount of time.
"You grew, that's normal, it's supposed to happen." Zim smiled some more, tyring to lighten Noah's mood.
"Well yeah, but this much in five hours!?" Noah sat on the floor and pouted, he just didn't get it, surely it was unnatural to grow so much in a such a short time period. Maybe it was a growth spurt... an extreme growth spurt?
Aneera came into the room with a smile, making the two boys on the floor look up, one smiling and one not really caring. "So, that's what all this fuss is about? You grew!" She walked over and sat on Noah's opposite side so he was in the middle.
"Yeah, but a lot." Noah then closed his eyes and fell on his back with his arms outstretched, heaving out a big sigh in frustration.
"Oh come on, that's probably as much as you'll grow for right now. It'll be a while before you grow again." Zim could clearly remember the amount of years between the only two growth spurts he ever had, it was about seven hundred years. "Yeah, it's gonna be a while."
"'Oh, it'll be a while before you grow again.' Really!?" Noah glared at Zim with his arms folded while his dad lounged on the couch in his LIES!!! Overnight Noah had grown to an astounding height of four foot one!That's a total of fourty-nine inches! FOURTY-NINE!
"Okay, so you had a reallyextreme growth spurt, so what?" Zim didn't know what the big deal was, growing tall was considered a wonderful thing on Irk, what was his problem?
"Why though? I mean, I know this doesn't happen to everybody!" Noah climbed on the couch and crawled into Zim's lap, which, he was too big for now.
"Well, I don't know why. But why are you so upset?" Though Zim was in slight pain from Noah's weight he decided that he'd live long enough to be caring for a minute.
"Because what if this keeps up? What happens when I get really tall? I become Tallest, that's what! I don't want to be a Tallest! And right now I working in that direction!" Well that certainly was a mouthful for such a little, well, not so little anymore smeet. Noah had to take deep breaths for a minute to calm down enough to relax.
Zim waited to make perfectly sure he was done with his speech before continuing with his "therapy" session. "So, how does that make you feel?" Zim began fighting back the laughter that was about to roar out of him, he had to bite his tongue to keep himself even sort of composed.
Noah pursed his lips and scowled, how would it make him feel? Way too responsible! He was still considered a smeet and would be for about a few more Earth months. He was in no condition to be a Tallest! "What do you mean how does it make me feel?"
"What is goin' on in here?" Aneera walked into the living roon with her hands on her hips, eyes widening when they landed upon Noah and his new height. "What happened to you?" She asked, walking towards them to sit down.
That's when Zim let out the raging laughter that was built up inside of him, laughter that made him gasp for air and hold his mid-section because he was in so much pain. His eyes soon began to water from so much pressure being forced out of his wind pipe, that's when the wheezing set it and he had a very hard time breathing.
"On second thought, what's wrong with you?" Aneera leaned away from Zim for a moment as he wrapped his arms around Noah to hold himself steady while his chest heaved and his eyes bulged. A smile was still present on his face as he recovered from his laughing fit
"Nothing, I'm okay." Zim whispered, still unable to talk. With a look of amusement crossing his face Aneera decided to sit down and shut up, hoping that she wouldn't start anything else bazaar.
"Really, you look aweful." Noah just couldn't help himself.
"I feel fine." Zim replied, looking up at Noah with bright red eyes.
"I do too but I know I don't look fine." Zim opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out, he didn't know what to say to that, it was halfway true, but he really was fine.
"Well, what's on today's agenda? I'm sure there must be something, the little display you've just put on almost guarantees an eventful day." Aneera had to laugh internally, there was no way she was gonna do out loud, not after what Zim had just gone through, it might start up something else.
"Um, I'm not really sure. What do you want to do?" Zim let go of Noah and literally dropped him on the floor, with intent or not wasn't really all that clear, he probably wasn't even paying attention.
It was strange because Zim didn't really think about much anymore, he just did. To Aneera he seemed to be getting more distant with each passing day, she could see it when she looked at him, his eyes were usually somewhere far off. He was stressed a lot too so she told herself he was just over worked but it couldn't hide the fact there was something going on. Zim was changing right before her eyes and she was a little scared, the person she loved most was slowly slipping away from her it seemed.
She knew she'd never openly admit this to anyone, especially to Zim, but it seemed that soon he'd be gone and she wouldn't have him anymore. They never really spent time with each other much now, it pained her in a few ways, knowing that every day they were growing apart instead of closer like she thought they should. She knew they didn't live in a fairy tale but all she ever wanted was a happily ever after, just like any other sensible person right? Unfortunately there were people trying to get in the way of that and she might not get her wish, she may not get the one thing she ever wanted from life.
But she couldn't think of such things now, they were together right now and there was nothing that could change that, she was going to enjoy it while she still could.
All she could bring herself to do was smile as she climbed into his lap, motioning for Noah to join them. He did, not eagerly because he knew where this was going to lead, but obeyed. Once they were sitting together Aneera wrapped one arm around Noah and the other around Zim, keeping them close was what mattered most to her, so that's what she did.
Zim looked up and tilted his head to one side, trying to understand the reason behind her sudden need of attention. She didn't answer, instead she got comfortable and closed her eyes, telling him that there was no need for conversation.
Noah sat quietly, wondering the same thing, she wasn't usually like this. To him, something seemed a bit off, one tiny piece of the puzzle didn't quite fit right. He knew she couldn't possibly be sick or anything like that, he didn't think Irkens could even get sick, so what was wrong? Or was there anything wrong at all? Did she just need the feeling of being close to someone else who cares?
Neither questioned as to why she was acting as such but they did wonder, however, she looked happy enough, if only they knew what was really happening, if only.
Because inside she was so different from what anyone had ever seen, it was something no one else could understand. Her feelings, her thoughts, her unique emotions, it was all incomprehensible to others but herself.
No, right now she hurt on the inside, she just hurt so much at the moment, and it was because she was happy that she hurt. She didn't really know why but it didn't make her want it to stop, like she didn't mind being in pain. Internally she felt that she was always crying and that it was a continuous thing, it only slowed but never stopped.
She was in pain but for others and not herself, she was hurting for others that she cared about. She knew that when this war started that they'd be thrust right in the middle of it. What pained was accepting the fact that she may not live through it, she might not make it out alive.
She couldn't imagine them living without her, or vise verse. Her being gone just didn't compute, it couldn't happen.
And yet, to her it seemed almost certain.
She knew she was going to die, she just hoped she was wrong and held on to the faith that she still had.
Aneera: Wow, updating at last, I'm almost better! Almost not sick!
Zim: GAH! Get back! Filthy!
Aneera: Drama Queen!
Zim: Don't you mean King?
Aneera: No, you're wearing a dress.
Zim: It's a uniform.