'Cause I'm dying here
You were lying it was you and I forever
But now you make me shiver in the light
And I'm dying here,
And I'm crying over the you that I remember
But now you make me shiver
You're so...
~Cold-The Veronicas~
The next day...
"Remember kids, if you draw the pictures yourself, you'll get one extra point for each illustration. And no tracing, I can tell, y'know!" I rolled my eyes as Zim and I walked out of the classroom to head to our next class. The invader had been making a habit of skipping his final period in order to come with me to the lunch room. He proclaimed that it was only so we could get more work done, but we didn't actually do work when we were in the lunch room. Instead, we would just prod at one another, asking questions about likes and dislikes, the cultural differences between our worlds, maybe a personal question thrown in there. But nothing really productive, though still important, in order to better know the other.
"Okay, so explain it to me again how time and days and shit work on your planet." I asked, furrowing my brow in concentration. Zim chuckled and scratched at his wig.
"Alright, but if you don't remember after I tell you, I won't be telling you again third time. Years on Irk are called Rae. There are 1,460 days in 1 Rae and it takes around 4 Earth years for the planet to orbit completely around our sun. We don't use months as a form of time on Irk so next would be a full rotation of the planet; what you humans call a day. We call them Sol, and it takes approximately 48 Earth hours for Irk to turn completely on its axis. An hour in Irken units is roughly twice as long as the ones here." He explained patiently. I nodded in understanding but another question popped up in my head.
"So how old are you?" I inquired, raising a brow at the alien. He smirked at me from across the table and rested his chin on his hand.
"There are two very different answers to that question. On Irk, I'd be somewhere around 30 years old, and that would translate to about 120 years on this planet." He admitted, grinning when he saw my eyes widen in surprise.
"Oh no, you're like an old man!" I teased, earning a scoff from Zim.
"Far from it. I have a long way to go before I should be considered old. And what about you? You're barely even 4 1/2 by Irk standards, which only further supports the fact that I'm your superior." He quipped back, crossing his arms. I sneered, shaking my head.
"Whatever you say, grandpa," I mumbled, looking over his shoulder at the lunchroom entrance. "Um, I think you've got a visitor." I said, pointing at the poorly disguised robot toddling towards us. The invader turned around to see who I was talking about just in time to have his head tackled by the green and black 'dog'. He didn't protest or even make a sound of surprise at this and sighed in resignation, turning back to me. He didn't bother trying to remove the SIR unit, simply moving him so that he was cuddling the side of his head instead of his face.
"He's going through...an affectionate phase right now." Zim attempted to dismiss the ambush.
"Right. Well, why don't we get these extra points out of the way? We can buy the poster board on the way back to the base and finish the project there." I suggested, pulling out paper, pens, and coloring tools. After about 15 minutes of concentration, I looked back up at my partner. I watched, amused as Gir struggled to cling to his master, using Zim's mouth and eyelid to keep him anchored. With a reluctant sigh, I forced a fake smile and addressed the robot.
"Gir, would you like to come sit on my lap?" I asked, my voice cracking from trying to make it sound sweet. The SIR unit nodded, making a loud, high-pitched sound of joy, causing both myself and his master to wince. I hesitantly outstretched my arms and the small bot instantly flung himself into them, squealing with elation. I placed him in my lap and wrapped an arm around him to make sure he stayed put. "If you behave, I'll carry you back to the base." I bribed with a small smile. Gir giggled that deranged little giggle of his, something I assumed was his promise to be good. I looked up to met Zim's gaze, receiving a silent thank you from the invader. I nodded in acknowledgment before going back to my drawing. When I looked up for the second time, I saw that Zim had made significant progress, and it honestly looked pretty damn good. "Wow, that's actually really good work." The invader smiled proudly in an 'I know, I'm awesome' sort of way that made me regret praising him in the first place.
"Yes, when Zim was a scientist back on Vort, it was a useful skill to have." He agreed, continuing to draw. My brow furrowed a bit in disbelief.
"Really? I never thought were interested in science." I commented, focusing now on coloring in my drawing.
"It's understandable, after all, invader's blood marches through my veins. And I hated science, that's why I trained to be re-encode as an invader." The Irken explained coolly and I chuckled at his reply.
"Not enough explosions, huh?" I joked with a smirk. Zim smiled crookedly.
"No, there were plenty-Zim wasn't the best at mixing chemicals and nearly lost his hearing to a particularly nasty explosion. Zim is still partially deaf because of it." He confessed. My eyes widened a bit in shock before I relaxed and laughed a little.
"So that's why you yell all the time" I commented teasingly. The Irken frowned.
"Zim does not yell all the time!" He shouted, only serving to prove my point. I rolled my eyes.
"Tell you what, if you'll let me use your tech, I can probably fix your hearing for you." Zim's antennae perked in curiosity under his poor disguise.
"Really? You would do that for Zim?" He asked, completely abandoning his work. I shrugged casually.
"Sure. I mean, I'm not very clear on Irken biology, especially when it comes to those little pipe cleaners," Zim flattened his antennae against he head defensively "but it would most likely be a simple, noninvasive procedure. It depends on what part of your hearing is messed up. I would have to custom make and test the hearing aid myself, but it shouldn't be too complex." I told him in a dismissive tone. A grin split across his face and he reached over the table, gripping my shoulders excitedly.
"YOU WILL RESTORE ZIM'S HEARING TO ITS FORMER GLORY?!" I winced at the volume of his voice, and before I could reply, Gir of course had to join in as well.
"YOOOOOOOOZZZZZZ GON FIX MASTERS FUZZY THINGIES!?" The robot screeched even louder than his master, and I immediately flung the fucker into the nearest wall.
"SHUT UP, BOTH OF YOU! Yes, I'll try. Just stop yelling, you're gonna give me a headache." I snarled. Once things had finally become quiet and I had calmed down, I spoke up again.
"So, if you use your antennae to hear, how are you able to use headphones?" I asked, pointing my pencil accusingly at the invader.
"Our antennae are very sensitive and can pick up things at much lower frequencies and volumes than humans can. And if that wasn't enough, all invader's are given implants in their skulls for hearing as well. This is so we can blend in better with inhabitants on an enemy planet, since most other races hear like you." He replied simply and I nodded back in understanding. When the last bell rang to dismiss the school, Zim and I gathered our things and headed on the familiar route to his base, only deviating from the set course to pick up a trifold and some glue to attach the drawings with. When we were almost two-thirds of the way to Zim's, I saw something that nearly made me lose my footing. Oliver was walking down the street, holding hands with a familiar head of magenta hair. It knocked the air out of my lungs, and for a moment, I was paralyzed with shock. But I was instantly flooded with overwhelming feelings that had never bothered me before this moment.
"Wassss wrong with scary lady?" Gir asked me. I didn't answer, trying to calm my racing heart and mind. I closed my eyes in an effort to focus when I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked back at zim, who wore a slightly confused and almost worried look on his face.
"Is something wrong?" He inquired carefully, not sure if he would provoke me by asking. I let out a long breath and set Gir down, but I didn't feel any better.
"Nope, everything's just...peachy." I hissed, continuing down the sidewalk at a brisk pace. I set my jaw and clenched my fists repeatedly to try and control my anger. When Zim caught up to me, he spoke again.
"What does your filthy Earth fruit have to do with your mood?" He asked, confused by the expression I had used. I sighed in aggravation, not bothering to slow down for the alien.
"It's just an expression. It's supposed to mean everything is fine." I explained shortly, surprised I hadn't snapped at him yet.
"The Gaz-partner does not seem fine..." He remarked, still prodding me for a reply.
"I was being sarcastic, Zim! I'm not okay, I'm fucking pissed, alright!?" I shouted, blowing up right in his face. 'Welp,' I thought, 'there's the snap'. He took a step back, caught off guard by my rage. I sighed, knowing I shouldn't have been such a dick when it wasn't even his fault in the first place. "Look, I'm sorry, I shouldn't be taking this out on you. It's just...annoying and inconvenient to feel certain things sometimes." I said vaguely. The invader's brow furrowed, not understanding what I meant. I couldn't blame him though, I didn't give him a very clear answer.
"Certain things? What is it, parasites?" He questioned, poking my stomach curiously. For reasons I couldn't pinpoint, this defused most of my anger for the moment. I smiled weakly and turned away, heading back in the direction of Zim's base.
"No, Zim, not parasites. Emotions. It's something of a mix between anger, jealousy...and sadness." I said the last part quietly. The word was familiar but felt very foreign to me when I thought about it. If I ever felt sad, I would push the feeling down and ignore it, something as stupid as sadness wasn't worth my time. And when I realized seeing Oliver with some other girl made me sad, I covered the feeling with anger. Once we were back at the base, Zim spoke up again.
"Why does the Gaz-partner feel sadness?" He asked, tilting his head to the side. I sighed heavily and plopped down onto the kushy couch, closing my eyes once more.
"Oliver is-well, he was supposed to be my love-pig. But as we were walking back there, I saw him with another girl." I explained, rubbing my temples in an effort to ward off an oncoming headache. Zim's eyes widened in understanding and he grimaced.
"I see...then I suppose that means his doom is upon him, yes?" The Irk assumed, sitting on the other side of the couch with a smirk. I grinned at the thought of what I would do to that pathetic ass wipe tomorrow.
"Oh yeah, he's totally screwed." I laughed, deciding to get to work on the trifold instead of facing the emotions mucking up my mind.
Zim's POV
After the incedent with the Oliver-human, Gaz seemed out of it, like she wasn't able to focus. And it was all because of those stupid emotions! This could be a problem. If her emotions continue to get the better of her, then she won't be much use to me.
"Computer, collect any and all information you can about human emotions." I ordered immediately after the human girl left. There was a small pause before a screen descended from the ceiling, stopping in front of me, hundreds of links and Web pages with information popping up on after another.
"Didn't you already try to do an experiment with human emotions?" The AI piped up, in his usual uninterested and condescending tone. I narrowed my eyes slightly in irritation but continued to look through the articles and reports regarding human emotion.
"Yes, but it failed, because Tak was Irken, not human. And this isn't an experiment." I clarified, absently swiping from page to page.
"What is this for then?" Computer pressed, finally managing to sound somewhat curious.
"With the Earth-girl in the predicament she is currently facing, I think it would be a wise idea to read up on human behavior and emotions. I may be able to control her better that way." I replied, earning something that sounded similar to a snort from the disembodied voice.
"*Snort* You know you can't control a beast like her. She'd rip you apart if you even tried." He teased, amusement in his tone. I rolled my eyes in response.
"You know what I mean. I'll be able to fix her issue better if I know what's going on in her weird, human brain. It would certainly keep things running smoothly with the mission." I retorted, trying to find something actually useful. While browsing the links, I found a words that seemed familiar; sadness. But the page didn't really elaborate on what the emotion was or how to cure it.
"I think this is what the Gaz-partner said she was feeling. Computer, pull up more information on the emotion of sadness." I commanded, crossing my arms impatiently as I waited. I was greeted with the definition of the word and a few online journals that talked about experiences that caused the feeling of sadness. After about an hour of reading with little luck, I was about ready.
"Well, this may tell me what the problem is, but how do I fix it?" I growled to myself, plopping down onto the couch in frustration.
"From my understanding, human emotions don't work like that. You can't just fix their feelings, but you can comfort the person." The AI chimed in. My brow furrowed slightly at the statement.
"Comfort? What's that?" I asked, thoroughly confused. I'd heard the word before, but I'd never had to use it in conversation or understood what it was.
"It can be many things, but to give a general idea, it usually involves physical contact and reassurance." Computer clarified, making me frown a bit in distaste.
"That sounds horrible. Is that really the only way to fix this?" I asked, hoping there might me some other solution to the Earth-child's problem.
"Comfort, not fix. And basically, yes. For something involving lost love and ruined bonds, physical and verbal reassurance are key to recovery." I sighed in aggravation but resigned to the idea of comforting the Gaz-human.
"I see...computer, bring up examples of comforting and the type of physical contact humans use for this issue." I said, reclining back into the couch. While there were a few articles that detailed what comforting was and how to do it, more often than these were pictures. Pictures of humans looking much like Gaz had earlier, and another human with them, touching them or holding them close. Their arms were wrapped around one another, heads resting on the other's shoulder. I scrunched up my face in disgust and groaned to myself.
"Ugh, why do I have to be so...close to her? She'll probably kill me halfway through! Getting so close to the enemy goes against my invader training!" I muttered to myself, no longer sure that this was worth my time or effort.
But she wasn't really the enemy anymore, was she? She was my partner now, and it's my job to make sure we are successful in our mission. If that means having to force myself into a uncomfortable situation for the time being, so be it.
A/N: GUYS I THOUGHT OF AN IDEA. LIKE I THOUGHT, "OH, I KNOW A SIMPLE WAY FOR ZIM AND GAZ TO WEAKEN THE PLANET. THEY'LL JUST KILL ALL THE BEES." THEN TO MY FUCKING HORROR, I REALIZED THAT'S BASICALLY THE PLOT OF BEE MOVIE. SOMEONE STOP ME BEFORE I DO SOMETHING AWFUL TO RUIN THIS STORY.