Hello there!
As promised I was a bit quicker with this chapter (even if not as quick as I would have wanted), considering the huge cliffhanger I left you with last time! Also, starting from next chapter, I'll be moving the author's notes at the end of the chapter, so I can comment it without risking to spoil you anything. I'll keep the top notes just for eventual warnings!
The start of chapter 11 is pretty much a coda to number 10, while the rest of the chapter brings the story a bit forward. I'm introducing a background but recurrent OC in this chapter (the counsellor that's mentioned in the summary). She's not super developed as a character, since she's mostly a supporting, background one, but I took inspiration from my real life experiences with therapy to writer her and this part of the arc. I hope you'll enjoy it, in this chapter and in the future ones.
I'll end this with a small warning. This chapter contains reference to a quite brutal murder, even if I didn't go into the details. I'm letting you know just to be safe!
Now, I want to thank all my readers as per usual. Knowing that there's someone interested in what I'm writing helps me a bit, even when I'm feeling very demotivated, as it's happening in this period. So, thank you for showing a bit of interest. If you have any opinion or suggestion you'd like to make, I'm all ears!
My special thanks go, as always, to my reviewers. I honestly would have stopped posting after the first few chapters, if it hadn't been for your comments, so...You keep me going and I hope I won't disappoint you guys!
Also, the last chapter got more feedback (on the different sites I'm posting this fic) and damn, that was pretty much amazing. It gave me a bit of confidence back, after the radio silence (or almost) on chapter 9. So, thanks, really. I'm used not to get much feedback (if I get any), so when I get a bit more it's just...Well, it brightens my day. It makes me thing that my writing is worth a little bit instead of being just trash no one wants to read xD Sorry, I'm whining here ^^" Still what I meant to say is that I'm touched by your interest!
Moreover, I wanted to make a special mention, even if the interested person won't see this till later on. I wanted to offer my personal thanks to RissyNicole, for all the support she's giving me and for the little cooperation we have started. You should go and check out her story. She's a really talented writer!
CawAreYouDoin: Thanks a lot for the review! I'm glad you're enjoying the story and it's good to know that I made a decent job with keeping the characters IC, for most of the time at least. It's not always easy, especially in certain situations *sigh* But I try hard.
About Zim's denial. I did think too that he would drag it longer, and that's why I made Red explicitly comment on the fact that Zim wouldn't accept the truth. To trigger a quicker reaction, because it would have more or less anticipated Zim's thoughts on the matter. It's a bit tricky, I know, but well...I thought it could have worked 0.0
Zim is indeed in a very bad place right now, but also that...emptiness he feels sort of makes him much more lucid than he usually is, at least in my idea. So, given more time, he might actually manage to do a lot of damage. Assuming that he wants to xD
I really hope you'll enjoy what comes next as you have enjoyed these chapters!
guestrev: I hope that "strange chapter" isn't meant in a negative way! ^^" if it is, uh, well, I'm open to constructive critiques of all sorts. Aside from that, yeah, I noticed that tendency from Zim's part too. Somehow, he manages to be more focused and efficient when he's not carrying out his real mission. The muffin episode is actually what inspired me to write this part (I loved that episode btw)! Thanks for the review and for sticking with me! ^^
Questions and comments of every sort (as long as we respect each other) are welcome and encourage. Feedback is gold for inspiration!
Enjoy!
"Computer, terminate simulation."
At the command, the reality around them started to crumble, fading away in a few electrical buzzes. The loud, destroyed planet was replaced by the dim, quiet insides of Zim's lab and Dib found himself seated in a metal chair, some sort of device wrapped around his head, instead of being strapped to an operating table.
The Irken stepped away from the human, turning his back to him in favour of approaching one of the consoles, leaving his rival to slowly make sense of what had happened. Nothing had been real. Not the destruction of Earth, not the death Dib had witnessed. Only the emotions he had felt while trapped in that fake reality had been true, like the tears that wetted his face. The same emotions that were still making him shake. He couldn't help the irrational fear that it might all be a joke in the joke, that the Invader might be trying to lull him back into a false sense of security, making him believe that the apocalyptic ending he had been forced to witness had been just a simulation, while instead what he was seeing now was the simulation. Damn, his head hurt even more just thinking about the many possibilities.
He was distracted by the chaos in his head when a pair of metal arms descended on him, removing the device from around his forehead and freeing his arms. He glanced at them suspiciously, almost expecting them to reach out and grab him again, but nothing of the sort happened and so he started to feel a bit more confident about the authenticity of the situation. He kept his eyes on the ceiling for one more moment, just to be sure, and then moved them on his nemesis.
"Zim!" He called, the anger he hadn't been able to feel because of the shock finally surfacing.
Now that he had calmed down and felt less confused about what had happened, he couldn't help feeling incredulous and absolutely enraged. What the alien had put him through had been pure psychological torture and he would surely have nightmares about it for at least a week. He had been traumatised, almost broken, pushed into the deepest abyss of desperation. However, what was disturbing him the most was that, if it hadn't been all been a simulation, by now Earth would have been lost. The Invader's plan had been ingenious, cunning and deadly effective. The thought that the Irken might come up with something similar and actually put it in action scared the hell out of him. So, while he was mad because he had been played and humiliated for nothing but his nemesis's amusement, he was also glad that none of it had been real.
Zim ignored the teen's voice addressing him and kept working on his console, saving the data and the recordings of the simulation into the central system of his base. He had really built a working prototype of the devices with which he had pretended to have destroyed the Earth. He had even sent out probes with the aim of installing the machines, but he had attached to them mere, not functional replicas of the real devices. He had wanted to see if someone would have been able to detect them. No one had, not even his rival, since the latter had been too busy chasing around the ghost of himself he had sent to distract him, and his machines had worked undisturbed and perfectly on time. He could have destroyed the planet, if he had wanted to. The fact was that he hadn't. Not this time, not when he didn't have an Empire to hand a broken Earth to anymore.
The thought of doing it anyway, to show his Tallest that, Defective or not, he could still be a successful Invader had tempted him, for a moment. Perhaps if he had brought them a victory, his leaders might have reconsidered their opinion of him and allowed him to be still part of their people. However, in the end, he had discarded the thought. One planet was nothing compared to all the crimes they accused him of committing. Maybe, if he had given them the Earth, they would have spared his life and sent him back to work as a Service Drone, instead of terminating him, but he wouldn't have got the appreciation and the praises he longed for. He would have still been hated and misunderstood. It wasn't worth it.
So, instead, he had chosen to show his ability and superiority to the only person in the universe who seemed to take him seriously. During the simulation, he had lied, telling the human things that were true for himself. His rival still had his world, his people, the aim of his life. His existence hadn't turned out to be a lie. Zim's had and he had lost everything but the hateful human he had fought for so long. Aside from GIR and his more or less faulty tech, Dib was all he had left.
"Zim? What the hell was that all about?" Said teenager tried again, seeing that his previous attempt of questioning hadn't even been acknowledged. He stood up from the metal chair and marched towards the console, determined to at least make the alien look at him. "Is this your twisted idea of a joke? Because that wasn't fun at all." But perhaps, he reconsidered in the same moment when he was speaking those words, it had been fun for the Irken. He shook his head, discarding that thought. He couldn't have cared less if the other had enjoyed having a laugh at his expenses. It wasn't news, but this one time he had been particularly cruel. "I really thought that you had…" He swallowed, unable to finish the sentence. "Why? Why hadn't you? It could have…actually worked."
"Of course it would have worked, Dib-worm," Zim shot back, sounding slightly annoyed, but when he finally turned to face the human there was no trace of irritation in his blank expression. He had to admit that he had experienced a perverse pleasure in witnessing his nemesis falling apart. The still distraught look on the other's face lit up a spark of that very same feeling too. However, it was all being swallowed by the void in his chest before he could have a chance to really enjoy it. "Zim's plans are always amazing." He spoke the sentence mostly out of habit, but the words sounded dull and meaningless compared to how pridefully he once used to pronounce them. He waved a hand and turned away from his rival once again. "You lost, the battle is over. Go home, Earth monkey. Leave me alone."
"But…" Dib tried to protest, incredulous. It couldn't end like that, as it happened after the Irken had saved him from Louis the week before. This time he wouldn't leave without an explanation, without a closure that could help him making sense of the episode.
"Computer, get rid of the Dib-intruder," the Invader ordered, cutting him off before he could even start voicing his opposition. He wouldn't let the human bug him, question his actions, demand answers he himself didn't really have. The less he thought about his current situation and what he was doing, the better and the easier it would be. "And update the security system to the highest level once he's gone."
"Yes, master! It'll be my pleasure!" The Computer chirped almost happily as its mechanical arms shot out again, trying to snatch the human away. It was in a quite good mood that day, since for once the Irken had used its technology at the best of its capability, instead of wasting its potential as per usual. It had been afraid of having been demoted to the function of a punching bag after Zim had finally learnt the truth about his condition. Instead, aside from the messy destruction that had fallen upon the laboratory immediately after the news, the facts had proved it wrong.
"Wait, Zim, dammit!" Dib tried to protest, managing to escape the machine's first attempts to capture him, narrowly avoiding the metal arms that shot towards him from every direction, but in the end he was subdued, outnumbered. One of those cold, tight pliers managed to catch his ankle, tripping him and sending him face down on the floor. The mechanical limb was immediately followed by another one, which caught him by the arm, effectively lifting him, but not before he had collided with the cold ground with a dull thud sound.
"Don't, you alien scum, I want…" He yelled again, struggling against the iron grips that held him, but once again he couldn't finish his sentence because he was thrown into a tight conduct, barely large enough for him to fit into it, and then literally sucked upwards at a mad speed.
Before he could realise it, he was landing on the driveway that led to the entrance of the alien's house, rolling past the disquieting garden gnomes and outside the small gate, till he found himself on his back on the pavement. A passer-by shot him a weird look and moved past him, making sure to keep a safe distance and muttering something that sounded like "crazy kid" under her breath.
Dib groaned, in both pain and annoyance, bringing a hand up to his face to make sure that his glasses were still there and that they weren't too damaged, before pushing himself up in a seated position. His ribcage hurt and so did his head, since he had banged them both over and over along the conduct first and on the cement later. Damn alien. Firstly he traumatised him for reasons that weren't completely clear to him and then he abused him physically while kicking him out of his base. He shouldn't be surprised, considering how mean Zim could be.
Shaking his head, he managed to stumble back on his feet, rubbing the side of his skull slightly, in the attempt of easing the ache. He shot a glance at the garden in front of him. All the gnomes were looking in his direction, laser eyes ready to target him in the case he had tried to go back inside. The Invader's security had always been tight, even if he had managed to infiltrate the base several times before. However, he had the feeling that it wouldn't be so easy now that his rival had upgraded his defensive systems. Perhaps, for the moment, he had better retreat and come back once he had regrouped. And maybe taken care of his brand-new bruises.
"This doesn't end here, Zim!" He growled, raising his fist in the direction of the house just in case his nemesis was watching, and then stuffed his scraped hands in his pockets, starting to make his way home and musing over the intense events of the day. He was still having a hard time sorting out how he felt about the whole simulation ordeal, so for the moment he allowed the relief to take over the confusion and the still troubled feelings that burdened his chest, easing the irrational anxiety he was still experiencing. Hopefully, after this mess, he would be given some time to clear his head about everything that had happened in the last three weeks.
He raised his eyes towards the darkening sky. The night was falling quickly and the air was getting chill once again. The events had got more and more absurd with every passing day and he didn't want to believe that the madness he had been dealing with would last indefinitely. It had to come to an end, at some point, even if this was Zim he was dealing with. Not even the Invader could go on endlessly like that, or at least he hoped so for the sake of his own mental sanity. Things would have to go back to their weird kind of normal, sooner or later.
His mind went back to the cruel, bloody images of the simulation. Unless that was the beginning of the spiral that would lead them to their real, final battle.
╔ IZ ╗
It turned out that, while things went quiet for a few days, they were still very far from going back to normal. Zim's attitude went back to the same quiet and gloomy one he had showed in the previous days and he kept evading Dib whenever they weren't forced to share a classroom. He avoided the cafeteria like the plague, never stayed behind once the lessons were over, hid in the air ducts during breaks. He did everything he could to avoid attracting attention and, once his skoolmates had got used to his new behaviour, they found it easy to forget that he was even there, now that his voice no longer disturbed their lessons.
Dib, on his part, tried to reach out for the Irken, at times with anger and hatred, others with more peaceful intentions, but none of his approaches seemed to work. The Invader kept shutting him out, refusing to even acknowledge him, let alone talk to him. The teen didn't know what to think. While, on one side, he felt constantly on the edge, waiting for the alien to pull out another plan like the one that had led to his worst, even if simulated, defeat, on the other he couldn't help starting to seriously worry about his rival. Zim wasn't himself and that, whatever the reason behind his change of attitude was, couldn't be a good thing.
Then something else happened, signing a new turn in the course of the events, right when things had slowly started to find a new, shaky balance. Dib and Gaz had walked their way to Hi Skool that morning, since the first had woken up late, causing them to miss the bus. The older teen had stayed up till very late, trying to hack into the Irken's newly strengthen security system without much success for the third night in a row and he had fallen asleep on his keyboard, so exhausted that he hadn't heard the alarm going off. His wake-up call had been a punch on the head from his sister and a hand that had grabbed him and dragged him into the bathroom to shower.
Dib's day had started very badly and everything pushed him to think that it wouldn't get any better, considering that the expression on the girl's face echoed the words about his impending doom she had shouted him as he washed up. However, his gut instinct hadn't prepared him for the scene that waited ahead of them when they finally reached the building, slightly late for the start of the lessons. There was a thick crowd of students and passers-by standing just inside the main gate, with a bunch of police officers trying to keep them out of the way as a stretcher, carrying a black body bag, was being escorted to the coroner's van parked in a corner.
The Membrane siblings stopped right before the Skool wire fencing, following the progressing of the gurney. Gaz's eyes were open for once, a hint of curiosity replacing her eternal frown, while Dib's face was a mix of horror and concern.
"Looks like that we have a murderer to thank for not being late," the girl commented, casually, after a thick moment of silence, resuming her strolling towards the gate. She was a little disturbed, but she also thought that there were very few people among the student body who really deserved to live, so she didn't really care much about whoever had got themselves killed. She was sure that it wasn't any of the aforementioned individuals, since they were all too smart to get killed for any Skool-related reason.
The older teen shot her a look, but didn't comment, just rolling his eyes as he hurried after her, a morbid interest pushing him to want to make his way through the crowd and find out what had exactly happened. So, when Gaz headed straight for the building, he stopped where everyone else was standing, trying to sneak in to have a look, but without much success. The people who had got themselves a spot with just the slightest hint of a sight wouldn't let it go and the ones who, like him, were trying to gain the chance to have a look were incredibly competitive.
In the end, he resigned himself to the fact that he wouldn't get the opportunity to see the scene in first person, so he approached the first familiar face he spotted among the mass, who happened to be one of his former classmates at Skool.
"Zita?" He called, stretching his arm past another boy to be able to touch her shoulder and get her attention. "Hey, Zita!"
The lavender-haired girl turned around to look at him, a mild annoyed look on her face, which only deepened as she realised who had been trying to talk to her. However, she still moved backwards, out of the crowd, to go to stand next to him. Her spot was immediately taken by the boy behind her, which made her scowl for a moment, but she shrugged immediately after. She had seen enough.
"It's you," she stated, with the same tone she would have used to address something really sticky and disgusting that had got stuck under her shoe. "Let me guess, you want to know what the hell happened here."
"If you don't mind too much," Dib grumbled under his breath, even if he could already tell that she minded all right.
She rolled her eyes, but then shrugged again. "Someone from Hi Skool got murdered. And with that I mean that they've been torn into pieces. They found the torso there." She pointed the spot the crowd was stretched around. "An arm in one of the trash bins in the back yard, the other nailed to a tree across the yard. One leg was in the trash near the bus station and the other…I didn't really get where it was. The head, instead, was hanged upside down above the front entrance. They had got it off already when most of us arrived here, but there's a kid who swears that it was Louis's head." She narrowed her eyes, almost warily. "Wasn't he the guy who used to beat you up?"
The teen blinked at the question, surprised by the news, but then he caught up with what she was most likely trying to imply. He made a face. "Yeah, it was. But I didn't kill him, if that's what you're asking. I didn't like the guy, but that's not a good reason to tear him apart," he protested bringing his hands up, as to defend himself. The last thing he needed was for the rumour of him being responsible being spread around. "Zita, what the hell. I know we aren't exactly friends, but you've known me for years!"
The girl eyed him for a moment, but then the distrust melted away from her eyes. "Yeah, you're too much of a wimp to be capable of something like that," she claimed, her expression going back to her usual intolerant one. "Anyway, I guess we'll know if it's him soon enough. They always send the counsellors to the classes whenever something happens to one of the students. Just in case someone needs to "talk about it", or something like that."
Dib scowled when she stated that he was too weak and cowardly to be able to kill someone, but he avoided to correct her. She would have called him freak if he had started to tell her about how horrible his battles with Zim got at times and, besides, if that was an explanation good enough for him not to be a suspect, then he would roll with it. "Yeah, something like that," he agreed with a brief nod. "Thanks, Zita."
She scoffed and walked away, leaving him glancing at the crowd for a few more moments. Now that he knew what had happened, the curiosity that had made him want to try and gain a spot among it had died down and so, in the end, he just turned on his heels, intending to head inside the building. However, he stopped as his eyes caught a green spot on the roof. Zim was standing there, gloved hands wrapped around the metal railing, fake violet contact lenses fixed on the scene. The alien was wearing the hint of a frown, but there was a calculating look in his irises.
Dib's eyes widened as an epiphany hit him. He should have realised it as soon as he had heard that someone had been killed. His mind brought up the memories of the day Louis had beaten the Irken up, of the dangerous, dead look in his rival's eyes. The alien had promised the bully that he would have paid if he hadn't done as he had ordered. The idiot had chosen not only to ignore the command, but also to strike Zim. He wouldn't be surprised if it had turned out that the guy had been tortured and experimented on before being killed. What puzzled him was why Zim had let the body being found. He could have just made the poor bastard disappear and no one would have ever suspected anything. Instead he had left him, or rather his pieces, spread all over Hi Skool ground, pointing a spotlight over the place and, consequentially, over himself. It wasn't very like his nemesis's modus operandi, but after all lately very few things the other did were really…Zim-like.
In that moment the Invader's eyes met his, realising that he was being watched. The human didn't bother to look away and fake ignorance and instead stared as the Irken hurried to turn around and flee from his spot. He stayed where he was for a minute, just in case his rival decided to come back, but, when the other didn't make another appearance, he sighed and finally headed inside. He had to admit that the alien's demeanour had been making him feel disheartened and he was starting to wonder if his constant bugging would ever get him anywhere. However, what had happened that morning had renewed his determination to make the Invader talk to him again, or at least fight him. He would make another attempt that day, even if he had previously decided to avoid it for once and focus on trying to make Gaz less mad at him instead. He just hoped that it wouldn't be the umpteenth dead end.
╔ IZ ╗
Just as Zita had predicted, a counsellor showed up in Dib's and Zim's shared class during the second morning period. She was the latest hired and it was evident from the encouraging, friendly way in which she kept smiling at the obviously uninterested class. She introduced herself as Ms Acelynn Xander, explaining with as much tact and as little details as possible what had happened to Louis and offering her services if needed.
The teen, as all the rest of his classmates, pretended to listen just not to get scolded by the teacher later and to make sure the woman would be gone as soon as possible. His attention perked up a bit only when she confirmed that the victim was indeed his bully and then he went back to not listening once she started to blather about mourning and fears. His amber eyes wandered to his nemesis's desk, watching the Invader as the latter stared in the void between himself and the head of the girl sat in front of him, with that disturbing, empty look that had become the norm for him.
"Zim?" Ms Xander's voice made them both start as it echoed in the mostly silent class. "Can I talk to you for a moment? Outside?"
Dib watched as the Irken's eyes went huge with surprise and a hint of nervousness. That request was clearly the last thing the other was expecting and he knew how the alien felt because he himself was just as taken aback. For a moment, the insane hope that the woman had seen past the alien's disguise blossomed inside him and he turned to look at her, but the sympathetic expression that still lingered in her features immediately made him discard the idea. No one would be looking so helpful after having suddenly realised that there was a being from outer space sitting in the middle of a bunch of teenagers. He frowned, wondering what she might want with his nemesis, as his gaze followed said alien, who was making his way towards where she was holding the door open for him.
Zim had stiffened when the idiotic woman, with her even more idiotic smile, had called his name. He didn't even have any idea of whom she was, since he hadn't been paying her attention in the slightest. He was more or less aware that she was somehow involved with the body parts he had left spread around the Hi Skool ground, but he didn't really know what her function was. So, for a few, tense moments, he feared that she had somehow figured out that he was the culprit. Which was laughable, because there was no way he had left any trace behind. Both he and the Computer had made sure of it, once he had been done with the human. Every clue of his involvement had been deleted by his superior Irken technology. However, as he made his way to the door, he felt as exposed as he would have been if he had walked across the class looking like he had by the end of the experiments he had carried out on his target. Lab coat covered in blood, gloves and boots slippery with disgusting human body fluids, without disguise.
"It won't take long," the woman assured him as he moved past her and the threshold of the classroom, shutting the door after her. She then stared down at him for a moment, as if she had been evaluating him.
The Invader felt his nervousness growing. Her scrutiny reminded him of one of his instructors at the training area underneath Irk's surface. The Irken had been tall, even if not as much as the Tallest of course, and he had this purple, penetrating eyes that seemed to be able to see through everything and to stare right into his recruits' PAK coding. He fought the instinct to squirm and waited for her to say something else, but, when she didn't, he gathered his courage and decided to break the silence first. "Am I a suspect?" He questioned warily, gloved claws twitching slightly by his sides.
The female human blinked at the question, looking confused for a moment, and then did something he would have never anticipated. She started to laugh, shaking her head, a lock of blond hair falling on her face. "Zim, I'm not a cop, I'm a counsellor. A psychologist. You know what that is, don't you?" She chuckled, clearly thinking that his had been some sort of joke. "Besides, I doubt that anyone in this Skool would be capable of such a terrible murder, don't you agree?" She smiled warmly. "I'm sorry if I made you nervous by asking you to come out here with me."
The Irken crossed his arms on his chest, feeling mocked. He didn't like that woman, he decided, and he wanted to be rid of her as soon as possible. "Of course, I know what that is," he stated making a face, even if it wasn't exactly the truth. He was familiar with the term, but he had never really looked it up properly. He would have to now. However, the fact that she seemed to think of him as just another, innocent human smeet was reassuring. His cover-up was safe. "Whatever. What do you want with Zim, counsellor drone?"
"Call me Ms Xander, Zim. Or even Acelynn, if you prefer," she corrected him kindly, looking slightly amused by the denomination he had used. Then her expression turned more serious. "I exploited this occasion to talk to you, since I already had the intention to do it. You see, one of your teachers has come to my office to report the fact that recently one of his students had been looking a bit…under the weather." She made a pause and searched his face again, only to find a puzzled expression. "He was talking about you, Zim," she clarified with a small sigh. "And he told me that you looked…depressed, for lack of a better word. And I had the same impression when I saw you in class."
The Invader, who had felt confused for a moment when she had stated that she had meant to speak with him even before they met, instantly got defensive once again as she explained what the problem was in her eyes. "Zim is fine," he claimed loudly, taking a small step back, his voice filled with hostility. Irkens didn't get…depressed and they didn't fall under any weather. He was a soldier, a being raised to dominate and conquer. His newly discovered status as an exiled Defective didn't change his past, hadn't wiped away his training. He didn't need any assistance or whatever the weird female was trying to offer him.
Ms Xander let out another soft sigh, but she kept looking at him patiently. "Of course you are," she nodded, compliantly. "But…Why don't you come to my office during lunch break? So we can talk a bit and make sure that it's really true that you're okay?"
The alien narrowed his eyes. "You want to talk to me?" He inquired, suspiciously, pushing himself to stand a little straighter, to gain an inch. "Just talk?"
She nodded. "Yes, Zim, just talk," she reassured him, her smile coming back. "Do you think we can have that happening?"
Zim remained quiet for a moment, considering it. The woman looked very determined to make this conversation happen and he didn't want her to start nosing around his business. He couldn't afford to be discovered, especially now that he had no planet to flee back to, especially not by an adult human. Unlike Dib, people might actually believe her if she had told them that he was an alien and that would have led to him being locked up in a lab, experimented on and dissected. That was something he still didn't want to happen. It was a risk he wouldn't take. So, the best choice was to allow her to have her talk and then make sure she wouldn't bother him ever again.
"I will come to you," he answered in the end, with a small nod, even if some of the reluctance he was feeling was audible in his voice.
The unwillingness, though, seemed not to bother the female human because her smile widened slightly, unsettling him for a moment. The emotion in it, the kindness, was something he wasn't used to. Such a feeling had never been addressed to him. Unless one counted GIR's disastrous attempts to show affection.
"Good. I'll see you during the lunch break then," she nodded, looking satisfied. "By the way, since you'll be skipping lunch, what would you like to eat? I wouldn't want to send you back in class on an empty stomach!"
The Irken stared at her warily once again, wondering if she was clumsily trying to poison him. His mind raced. He wouldn't have been able to just throw away the food as he usually did, while locked in a room with her, so he needed to ask her for something he knew that he could eat without getting sick or having obvious alien allergic reactions. GIR's face popped in his head again, the robot's mouth spelling something with a demented grin. "Waffles," he answered almost reflexively. A safe choice, especially since he was sure that humans didn't put soap in them.
Ms Xander looked slightly perplexed by his choice, but she didn't protest. "I'll have a bunch of those waiting for you then," she simply said, looking ready to take her leave. "I'll see you later, Zim. Have a nice morning."
Zim watched her walking away with a small frown on his face and waited until she had disappeared around the corner, before pulling out his PAK communicator, briefly checking to make sure that the corridor was empty.
"Computer," he called through the device. "I need to know everything about what a "psychologist" is and does, and I need to know before foodening time. It's of vital importance."
