On the Massive…
Purple glared hard at the planet around which the flagship of the Irken Armada was orbiting in the moment, wishing that scowling at it would have been enough to make that stupid ball of soil explode. Well, perhaps not really explode, but burn a little bit, so that it could feel how much he despised it. And so that Red, who was currently planet-side, could be aware of how much he disliked him in that moment too. Even if the jerk most likely knew already. His companion had left him on the ship, to take care of some boring useless bureaucracy, while he had teleported down to have some fun supervising the production and kicking some asses just for sport in the meanwhile. It was so unfair. Purple was ready to bet that his co-ruler had rigged the coin they had used to choose who would have taken care of which task. It wouldn't have been the first time.
The Tallest scoffed. If Red thought that he would have really worked on those delivery orders and requests, he was very, very wrong. He had dumped them all in his companion's private chamber as soon as the other had left the Massive, without even going through them. His co-ruler would have had a lot to keep himself occupied, once he would have got back. Purple might have decided to help out, in exchange for Red's whole ration of night snacks. Maybe.
Shaking his head, he turned his back to the window and wandered towards the centre of the room, once again ignoring the package that had been delivered to him a few minutes before. He hadn't even checked where it had come from, because he was utterly persuaded that it could be nothing but more work. It was all he had been handed over since they had reached that stellar system. He refused to accept more, even if he wasn't getting any done.
His antennae lowered slightly. On the other hand, though, he had to admit that he was bored. Usually, he and Red entertained each other and they hardly separated for more than a couple of hours. That time, instead, it had already been four. It might have sounded stupid, because Irken soldiers and Invaders often spent weeks and months, and more rarely a few years, stranded on foreign planets all on their own. They were trained to consider that kind of conditions normal and Purple himself, before becoming Tallest, had been assigned some missions during which he had spent a long amount of time alone.
That, however, had happened several rotations before, not much after he had met his future co-ruler for the very first time. In fact, almost since the start of their training to become members of the Irken Elite, they had quickly become physically inseparable. And the taller they grew, matching each other inch by inch, the more they had got accustomed to the idea that they would have always stood side by side. Becoming Tallest together, a fact that was almost unheard of, had just confirmed that suspicion. So, no matter how much of a jerk Red could be at times, Purple never felt completely at ease when his companion wasn't with him. Of course, he had never voiced those thoughts to the other, or to anyone else for the matter, because he knew that all he would have got out of it would have been more mocking. Still, it was true and he couldn't wait for the other leader to get back.
"My Tallest?" A voice coming from the main computer console echoed in the room, interrupting his sulking. "May I disturb you?"
Purple was tempted to tell the Irken on the screen that he could not, but in the end he decided that a distraction could be good for him. He needed to pass his time somehow while he waited for Red, after all. "What is it?" He inquired in a slightly irritated voice.
The smaller alien winced at his tone and curled his shoulders up a bit, as if he was trying to make himself even tinier. "Uh, there's an incoming transmission for you, sir," he answered with a hint of hesitation. He knew very well that his leader wouldn't have been pleased about what he was about to add next. "It's…It's from Earth, my Tallest."
"Earth?" The alien leader repeated in a groan. Zim. A wave of repulsion and annoyance washed over him, chasing away the hint of amusement he had felt at the sight of the Navigator shivering in fear of his wrath. No way that he would have dealt with the Defective on his own. Having to bear him while Red was present was hard enough, even if it could be fun too, and he refused to go through that torture on his own. "Tell him I'm busy. Or something like that. Or just pretend that the transmission has been cut off. Find whatever excuse you want, but do not put him through."
"But…But, my Tallest," the shorter Irken stuttered again, his voice becoming slightly more high-pitched. He hated his job in that moment and he hated the Invader on the other side of the line even more. "He said that it's…quite urgent."
Purple narrowed an eye at those words, his expression turning thoughtful for a moment. Urgent? What was that supposed to me? Was Zim in troubles? Or had he somehow managed to complete his task? He almost laughed out aloud at the latter thought. It couldn't be possible. The moron had never achieved anything if not the wrong things in his existence. However, could there be the smallest chance that the Defective had brought on that insignificant faraway planet, by accident, the same destruction he had rained over Irk during Operation Impending Doom I? That didn't sound completely absurd. He had better check, just to be sure. He could have always cut the communication short, if it had turned out to be nothing of interest.
"Fine, put him through," he ordered, waving a hand towards the technician, who was very glad to follow the command and disappear from his sight.
The Irken leader crossed his arms on his chest and blinked at the now black screen until it lit up again, showing him the image of an openly smirking Zim. His first impulse was to roll his eyes, but something in the Invader's expression prevented him from doing so and, instead, pushed him to study the other more carefully. There was a slightly crazy light in his magenta orbs and his posture was at the same time relaxed and proud, the dim lights of his lab enhancing the hint of mischief that twisted his features. Purple felt a spark of worry. Uh-oh. The little pest was up to something and he didn't really want to know what it was.
"Hello, my Tallest!" The shorter Irken greeted, cheerfully, his smirk turning into a more pleasant grin for a second, before going back to the disquieting expression he had been wearing when the transmission had been put through. He then seemed to realise that something was amiss because he blinked and glanced around as much as the screen allowed him.
The Tallest took a moment to grasp what Zim had to be looking for. The idiot had noticed that his co-ruler was nowhere in sight. "It's just me, Zim. Red isn't on the Massive at the moment," he informed him, not because he cared to, but because all the twisting the Invader had started to do in front of him, as if he was trying to look at the whole room even if it wasn't possible, was a bit disturbing.
"Oh," Zim let out, stopping mid-gesture, and moved his face backwards. He looked disappointed for a long moment, but then he forced his grin back, even if it had lost a bit of the dark enthusiasm it had been conveying. "It's a shame, but it's fine. It will do anyway."
Now Purple was truly starting to get concerned. That was the second time that the smaller Irken called while being in some sort of altered state, or at least that was his guess about what was going on. That considered, the fear that it could have led to harm for the Empire, and for the personas of its leaders, was a reasonable feeling to experience.
"What is it, Zim? Why are you calling us?" He demanded, wanting to have a clearer grasp of the situation and quickly. He didn't have the same patience that Red showed towards the Invader's shenanigans and weird attitude. If the tiny pest didn't want him to close the transmission in his ugly face, he had better start talking now. "And why did you say that it was urgent?"
The smirk on Zim's face turned into a sheepish grin. "Oh, I said that because I wanted to be sure that you would answer, my Tallest," he admitted, rubbing the back of his head, but then he quickly went on, not giving the other the time to react. "But anyway! It was worth it. You see, since I haven't called you in over two months and Earth is still an…ongoing project, I decided to send you a gift. To show you how much I appreciate the trust you're putting in Zim." For less than a second his face contorted, almost as if he had been wincing, in pain or disgust, but the look was so quick to come and go that it might as well have never been there. The moment after, in fact, he was once again busy trying to look around the room. "Did you receive my package?"
The Irken leader squinted at the Invader for a moment, confused by the abrupt and brief shift in his features, but then he dismissed it with a shrug, focusing on the only thing in the other's words that had captured his interest. The gift. He didn't know if he should interpret the word for what it seemed to mean or if he should be expecting a threat.
"Two months? Has it been that long? I hadn't realised," he commented dismissively as he turned around to grab the package he had been delivered earlier. In truth, he had noticed that the smaller alien hadn't called in for a while and he had almost come to hope that he had disintegrated himself. Or that he had caught some nasty illness that was keeping him too busy to call. Or that he had been captured by the humans. Or that he had irreparably destroyed his communication systems. So, that something had happened to make him unable to call them ever again. Vain hopes, unfortunately, because getting rid of the Defective wasn't that easy. "Gift you said? Wait a moment."
While he was lost in his thought and with his back to the screen, the expression on Zim's face shifted once again. His eyes grew darker, his smirk turned into a grimace. He had almost choked on his words when he had spoken about the "trust" that his leaders supposedly had in him. An ugly, filthy lie they thought he still believed. And there Purple was, treating him like an idiot once again. He was so disappointed that Red wasn't there and that the Tallest was in his private chamber. That way his prank wouldn't have been anywhere near as effective as he had hoped. Leave it to his bad luck to catch the Tallest in the only moment when they weren't together.
His mind raced for a moment. Perhaps he should have dragged the conversation on as long as possible, to at least make sure that the other ruler would have been on his way back by the time the one in front of him had started to feel the effects of his "gift". He also toyed with the idea of staying himself long enough to see the first signs, but he quickly discarded it. As much as he wanted to witness the humiliation, the thought of watching Purple doing what he had done to himself after ingesting GIR's waffles was a bit disturbing. His best bet was to hope that Red would have got back soon.
When the Irken leader turned around again, package in hands, Zim's features had gone back to show the wide smirk the latter had been sporting when he had looked away and the he shorter Irken's eyes even lit up in recognition, at the sight the container. There was no trace of the anger and the bitterness that had coloured his magenta orbs for a few seconds. If something, there was a deeper hint of satisfaction in his expression. He had asked the Computer to calculate how long the sweets would have taken to get to the Massive, so that he could time the call for when they would have been there and make sure that his Tallest ate them, instead of throwing them away.
"Is this from you?" Purple questioned, sounding sceptical. Even if he was oblivious to what was going on in the Invader's mind, he still moved his gaze between the screen and the object in his hands, looking as if he was expecting one of the two things to explode any moment now.
"Yes, my Tallest," Zim answered, with the most innocent, creepiest tone he managed, tilting his head on one side, his voice sounding eager and excited. "Aren't you going to open it? Uh? Zim swears that you'll love it."
The Irken leader eyed him warily once again, purple eyes lingering on the now sweet grin that had opened on the Invader's face. "Zim, you're really creepy, you know that?" He pointed out, but finally started to open the package. He still felt suspicious, but he had the feeling that the tiny pest would have kept bothering him if he hadn't at least taken a look at the "gift". And he wanted those wide, disturbingly greedy orbs off him. He just hoped that this "present" didn't turn out to be something lethal. How he wished that Red was there. He would have left the task to find out to him.
"That I am. Thank you, my Tallest," the shorter alien replied smoothly, raising his chin a bit. He now knew that the word was used as an insult, but he still decided to take it as a compliment. After all, he had worked hard on his expressions as a smeet, to make them as creepy as possible.
Purple chose to ignore him and, instead, he put all his focus on opening the package. He was extra careful not to do it too quickly and to keep it as far as possible from his face when he finally lifted the lid. However, nothing came out of it in a rush. No weird creature, no alive substance, no poisonous gas. Nothing moved either. So, after a moment, he cracked open one of the eyes he had closed, waiting for the worst, and dared to peer inside. The biggest container was filled with smaller paper bags, each of them looking perfectly safe and innocent. He studied them hesitantly for a moment, but in the end he persuaded himself to pull one out and open it.
"Donuts?" He stated, blinking almost in confusion. That was the last thing he had expected to see. Zim had sent them snacks. And they smelt good too. He narrowed his eyes. Where was the catch? A suspicion crawled in his mind, making him raise his gaze towards the smaller Irken once again. "They're made with Earth things, aren't they? Are you sure they're edible?"
The Invader looked almost offended at the insinuation. "Of course they are. I tested them on myself before sending them," he claimed with force, frowning and crossing his arms over his chest. It was the truth, after all. Then his eyelids fell slightly down, covering half of his magenta orbs, while his mouth remained a flat line. "I would never dare to do something that could put you in any kind of danger. You are Zim's Tallest."
The last sentence, together with the new level of creepiness in the other's expression, sent a small shiver down the Irken leader's spine, but he forced himself to ignore it. Zim was out of his faulty head, it was undeniable, but he was extremely devoted to him and Red. So much that it hurt him, and even them, at times. That wasn't an assurance that he would have never accidentally poisoned them, but if he said that he had tested the sweets on himself, Purple believed him. And the Invader looked fine and healthy, so they had to be safe to eat. No guarantee for the taste, though.
"They've better be good, Zim," he simply said, squinting at him for one more moment. Then he pulled out the first donut, tearing a big mouthful away from in, and instantly became too interested in how nice the flavour was to notice the greedy satisfaction that had filled the shorter Irken's expression in the same moment when his teeth had sunk into the snack.
Zim watched eagerly as Purple wolfed down the half of contents of the paper bag, hardly keeping himself from raising his hands and shouting "Victory for Zim!". Sweet, sweet revenge. And how appropriated those words were, considering the situation. It had been so easy. He had to admit that the Computer's idea had been truly brilliant, even more than he had initially thought. He should have had it himself, but at the time he had been too busy being scandalised by the side effects of the cinnamon spice.
"Are my sweets suitable to your liking, my Tallest?" He asked innocently, hands behind his back, once his leader had slowed down his eating. He leant forward expectantly, as he had done many times before, waiting for a praise that would have never come. Now, though, his eyes were greedily scanning the other not for a sign of appreciation, but for any sort of initial symptom. He had made sure to be abundant with his "secret ingredient" and he had made plenty of donuts for both Tallest, even if most likely Red would have ended up not even tasting them, if he came back and found Purple completely gone. A real pity. Even if the thought made him want to laugh madly anyway.
The Irken leader pondered his words for a moment before answering. "Not bad, for non-Irken food. You might have done something good for once," he conceded, but his tone was so condescending that even the half-compliment he had granted sounded insulting. He then waved his free hand, dismissively. "If this is all, you can go. Goodbye, Zim."
Zim's face contracted for a moment at those words, but he forced himself to keep grinning. "Of course I did. I am ZIM!" He claimed with a confidence he wasn't feeling. Then he made himself bow, despite the reluctance he was feeling. "Goodbye, my Tallest. Enjoy your snacks."
The emphasis on the first word of the Invader's last sentence made Purple look at him once again, and very attentively. Odd. Everything around him seemed sharper now. And that was when he truly noticed. "Zim, wait a moment," he found himself calling out, before he could stop the words.
"Yes, my Tallest?" The shorter Irken answered, sounding hesitant for the first time since the call had started. A hint of nervousness blossomed in his chest. Had he said or done something he shouldn't have? Had he given himself away?
The Tallest blinked, trying to clear his head. He felt a bit weird. Why had he stopped the moron? Oh, yeah, now he remembered. "Are you…Zim, have you grown taller?" He questioned, sounding disturbed. The "again" went unsaid. He and Red had noticed a couple of years ago that the Defective had gained an inch or so, but now either his eyes were playing tricks on him or the Invader had grown at least four inches taller compared to how he had been when he had last called them. He honestly hoped that it was the first thing. The second was something they could not have.
It was Zim's turn to blink, in confusion. The question had caught him completely off guard. Him? Taller? It sounded like a bad joke and he opened his mouth to say so, but then, suddenly, he was reminded of how a lot of things had seemed shorter all of a sudden. His chair in Ms Xander's office and his desk in class. His locker. The consoles in his lab. His clothes, although he had blamed GIR's inability to wash them for that one. Skoodge had asked him if he had got taller too, the first time he had contacted him, over a month before. And the Dib didn't tower over him as much as he used to. His eyes widened. How had he been so stupid?! Things hadn't got smaller. He had grown up.
"I…Uh," he stuttered, shocked by the revelation. He looked down at himself for a moment. "I think so, my Tallest." He frowned. "I knew there was something weird going on."
Purple gaped at him. How had Zim missed such a development? No Irken would have neglected to notice an increase in their height, no matter how Defective they might be. The Invader was really dumber than he had thought. "Well, congratulations," he commented, spitting out the words as if they were something disgusting that had accidentally ended up in his mouth. "Goodbye." And he hit the button to end the transmission before the other could answer. "Weirdo."
Shaking his head, he dragged himself to the couch, taking the package of donuts with him. He didn't know if he should laugh at Zim's stupidity or be worried about his sudden growth sprout. He pulled out another snack. Perhaps he could do both. Once Red had come back from his trip, though, because now he wanted to enjoy his newly acquired sweets. He let his head fall on the edge of the seatback, rubbing a distracted claw on his forehead. When had the room got warmer?
Zim's base, Earth…
Zim couldn't even bring himself to be mad for having had the call closed in his face before he could react. He was still too astonished by his epiphany and he didn't care about the fact that Purple was now probably laughing at his show of idiocy. Assuming that he would have been still able to think clearly with all the cinnamon he would have been soon consuming. The thought made the victorious smirk he had been carrying around all day blossom back on his face. He had two reasons to be celebrating now.
"He won't know what hit him until it's too late!" He exclaimed loudly, his voice booming in the silence of his lab, followed by the eerie echo of an evil laughter. Next to him, GIR was rolling on the floor, laughing in turn, happy to see his master so energetic and full of enthusiasm as he hadn't been in a long while.
The Invader felt exhilarated as he had never been before. Not only he had managed to get a small payback on the representative of the planet that had ridiculed him all his life, but he had been blessed with more height. He might be a Defective, but apparently that wasn't preventing him from getting the power he deserved. And the face that Purple had made when he had realised that he had grown. He would have never forgotten it, especially once he would have been given the chance to rub the fact in his and Red's face, after his official banishment.
For once the thought of his exile didn't dampen his mood and he kept smirking widely, not caring if his face hurt for the stretch. Nothing could have destroyed his high spirits that night. No matter what kind of defeat or bad news he might have received. No matter how hurt he could have got. For the first time since he had found out the truth, he felt completely like himself again. The void in his chest was still there of course, because no number of gained inches could have filled it, not even if he had, absurdly, become Tallest himself, but he could pretend that it wasn't there, to the point of not acknowledging it, at least for the moment. It was a liberating feeling. It made him feel lighter.
"Computer!" He called, clapping his hands. "I want the whole base refitted to Zim's new mighty height! I'm taller now! I have to live up to what that implies!" He then turned towards his robot. "As for us, GIR, let's go and see this ozone hole of doom!"
The SIR Unit let out a cheering screech and jumped on the alien, who, for once, caught him and held him in his arm, instead of dumping him on the floor as he usually did. GIR was much smaller too now, compared to him. His grin widened even more as he carried his overexcited sidekick out of the lab, taking the elevator to the roof and ignoring the blows and the kicks that the robot, in his happy agitation, was throwing at his skull. He was ready to face everything.
Down in the laboratory, the Computer was left to sigh, wishing, this time, that it had hands and a face, so that it could have facepalmed. It had been wondering why the Irken hadn't boasted yet about his newly achieved height and now it knew that it was simply because its master hadn't even realised that he had grown taller. How embarrassing. Not that the Invader cared. He was too elated by the discovery.
The machine scoffed. It had been ready to tell Zim why he had undergone this grow sprout, but the other had rushed off before it could even start, to go making new surveys of the Earthen atmosphere. The explanation would have had to wait. Better this way, perhaps. The alien would have been able to appreciate the irony of it once he would have been calmer, considering that he had to thank for his gained inches, on one hand, the planet he despised so much and, on the other, the same revelation that had devastated his life.
╔ IZ ╗
On the Massive…
Red made his way through the crowd of cheering Irkens who had come to welcome him back on board. He rolled his eyes, but offered them his best showman grin, before ordering them to go back to their posts if they didn't want to be shot with the cannons during the next Organic Sweep. The sweet tone he had used left his audience confused for a moment, but eventually the threat sunk in and they all scurried away, stumbling on their feet and colliding into each other in the hurry, expressions of pure terror blossoming on their faces.
He snickered to himself, dumping the disks with the information he had collected in the waiting arms of the Irken who had accompanied him planet-side, and then headed off to look for Purple. He was almost sure that he would have found his co-ruler sulking in their shared chambers. The other had looked incredibly unhappy when he had realised that he had lost the coin flip, not that it could have ended in any other way since the coin was rigged, and Red knew that he would have had to deal with him moping for some time now. And most likely with all the work his companion hadn't done while he was away.
The thought made him roll his eyes again, in exasperation, but he was used to having most of the responsibilities of the Empire on his shoulders. Purple wasn't exactly much of a leader when it came to anything that wasn't snacking, destroying planets and having fun at others' expenses. That had never been news to him, though. He had been aware what he would have been forced to deal with when they both had been proclaimed Tallest. They had known each other since when they had been just out of smeethood. However, it still annoyed him because he knew that his companion was as capable as he was. Purple just chose not to care of the most boring parts of their duties whenever it wasn't strictly necessary, meaning whenever he could dump all the work on him.
He had to walk past the guards set in front of the main entrance to their lodgings and then past another additional door before finding his co-ruler. The sight was more or less the one he had been expecting. The other was sprawled on the couch, empty paper bags spread all around him, munching on a donut. There was no sign of the documents Purple should have been going through, but Red was ready to bet that he would have found them in his own private room, untouched. The only weird thing in the picture was that his companion hadn't jumped on his feet to greet him, as he did every time they separated. He seemed not to have noticed his presence at all and kept staring at the void in front of him, brows furrowed in apparent concentration.
Red stared at him in silence, to see if he was acknowledged, but he had to give up after one whole minute and no reaction. "Uh, Purple? I'm back," he called, biting back a deep sigh.
Purple started at the sound of his companion's voice. He had almost forgotten that the other was supposed to come back. He had forgotten almost everything, if he had to be honest, aside from the warmth, the tingling sensation on his skin and the donuts he had been ingesting, in the last…How long had it been? Hours? Days? He turned his head and squinted in the direction of the main console. Half an hour? Impossible. More time had to have passed. He had closed the transmission with Zim ages before.
"Purple?" The other Tallest tried again, since no real answer had followed his previous attempt to catch his companion's attention. He was starting to get a bit worried. Was his co-ruler that upset about having been left on the ship? "Come on, you can't be mad about…"
"Oh, Red! You're back. Finally, you've been gone forever!" The purple-eyed Irken leader exclaimed in that moment, realising that he had never replied to the greeting. He had meant to, but he had got distracted by the time. He then shifted in his spot, uncomfortable. "Isn't this room hot?"
Red raised a brow slightly. "The temperature is the usual," he stated flatly, a bit puzzled by the odd attitude he was witnessing. "Are you alright?"
The other Tallest made a face. How could his companion not feel the heat, when he was almost sweating by now? At first, he hadn't really noticed it himself, but then the air had started to grow warmer and warmer and now it reminded him of those desert planets they used to be sent to for the survival training sessions.
"Yeah, it's just…warm." He waved a hand and patted the spot next to him on the couch, before fishing another donut. "So, did you have fun down there while I was here, bored to death? I was about to start considering blowing up the planet at some point."
"I'm glad you didn't, since I was there. Thanks for the thought," the red-eyed leader commented, sarcastically, but took a seat next to his companion anyway, pushing aside some of the paper bags. "And you wouldn't have been bored to death, if you had done what you were supposed to do." He received just a shrug at his words, so he went on. He would have rubbed in the other's face all the cool weapons he had seen and especially tested, as a payback for all the reports his co-ruler had left for him. "Anyway. I had an interesting time, instead…"
Purple listened more or less to the first three sentences that Red spoke after that, his attention being quickly stolen away. At first his mind locked on the still growing heat in his body and he kept shifting slightly, pushing away the empty bags, fingers clenching and unclenching to fight the tingling of his skin. However his focus moved elsewhere soon enough and this time it landed on the Irken sat next to him. The other's image, just as the everything else around him, looked sharper and fuzzier at the same time, which made it hard for him to focus on the full picture and drew his attention to the details.
He blinked slowly. He had never noticed how expressive his co-ruler's gesturing was when he spoke. The other made these wide movements with his hands, drawing weird shapes in the air, and he found himself being fascinated by them for a moment. He had no idea of what Red was saying, but he could tell that he was describing something big and complicated and that he was enthusiastic about it. His voice betrayed that too. Purple's antennae perked up slightly. It was a really nice voice. Especially the way it sounded when his companion was as self-absorbed in his own speeches as he was now. Even if Red missed a few terms at times, basic words, his voice still made up for it. At least in part. But the best thing, for what he could see now, were his eyes. Oh Irk, those eyes. There were plenty of Irkens with red or magenta eyes, but Red's were of a shade all of their own. They were darker than most, more intense, like certain rare rocks, which stood out against the normal landscape on the surface of their home world.
He shook his head slightly, trying to clear his mind, but he found that he couldn't stop staring, frozen in his spot, snacks forgotten too. Why was he noticing those things just now? And how was it that he had never realised how much he liked them? He had to be as dumb as Zim to have missed those little but wonderful details. Or maybe the heat was starting to melt his brain.
"Purple? Purple! Are you listening to me?" Red's voice cut though his dazed thoughts, sounding like the other had been trying to get his attention for a while. When he blinked at him, he saw him frowning with something close to concern. "Are you sure you're alright?"
Purple scoffed, or at least tried to, because the noise that left his lips sounded more like a groan. "I told you, Red. I'm good. Just…hot," he answered, rubbing his free hand against his temple. In that moment he remembered that he was still holding an unfinished donut and took another bite. "And I was listening. More or less. But, Red, you know what?"
The other Tallest stared at him for one more moment. Something was definitely off. He picked up one of the empty paper bags. Where had his co-ruler got those snacks? The emblem of the Empire wasn't anywhere in sight and that was odd, because everything produced in Irken territory was marked with it. "What?" He asked distractedly, studying the bag.
Purple hesitated for a moment. There was a part of him that was insisting that he should shut up, because he shouldn't speak the words what he was about to say, ever, but he couldn't bring himself to listen to common sense. It was like an itch he needed to scratch, just like the impulse he had to reach out for his antennae. That was another instinct that was becoming hard to control.
"Have I ever told you that I like your eyes? Like really, really like them?" He blurted out, lifting his claws towards his companion's face and leaning forward. "I'd really like to tear them out and have a closer look, but they look best where they are now, so I don't want to do it."
Red gaped at the words he was offered, but recovered quickly, jerking back, to put his eyes out of arm's reach. He was pretty sure that the other leader wouldn't have tried to take them out for real, but it was becoming clear that the purple-eyed alien wasn't himself in that moment. It wasn't a risk that he wanted to take.
"What are you even saying!" He exclaimed incredulous and then waved the empty bag he was holding in his co-ruler's face, slapping the other's hand away too in the process. He was starting to get an idea of what was going and he didn't like it. "Stop this creepy talking and answer me. Where did you get these?"
Purple gulped down the last bit of his donut and then, reluctantly, dropped his eyes from his companion's and moved them on what he was being showed. "The snacks you mean? Oh, Zim sent them," he answered, blindly reaching for another full bag. "He called while you were away. Said he had made a present for us and it turned out that he baked us these." He handed out the donut he had managed to fish. "He used Earth stuff, but he tested it on himself first, so it's not lethal. And they are really good. You should try one."
"ZIM?!" Red echoed, appalled. His suspicions were correct. The sweets were the cause of his co-ruler's stranger behaviour. Who knew what that Defective menace could have slipped in the food, more or less accidentally. "Why on Irk are you eating something he sent? Have you forgotten what happened to Spork and Miyuki?!" He grabbed the other's gauntlet to prevent him from biting down on the snack he was holding. "He poisoned you. Pur…"
"I don't feel poisoned, Red," the other Tallest cut him off. "I just feel very warm." He didn't feel sick. At all. The heat was uncomfortable, but the tingling was nice, even if it left him feeling unsatisfied. It was a bit better now, though, with his companion's arm brushing his fingers. "But it's a very nice warm." He shook his arm out of the other's claws and grabbed them with his own. "And did you just call me Pur? I like it. You should do it more often."
"I didn't…" Red started, but then decided to let it slip. His co-ruler was far too gone to understand that he hadn't called him with a nickname, but that he had just been cut off half-way while spelling his name. Better stick to the important facts. "Fine, you're not poisoned. But you're drugged."
Purple seemed to consider the idea for a moment. It was hard to think when your head felt like it was filled with thick treacle. "Yeah, I guess you're right. It's all nice and my skin is tingly, but perhaps it's a bit too hot." He frowned, letting go of his companion's fingers. "And my antennae feel really weird…"
That was maybe the thing that disturbed him the most. He had been trying to ignore them since he had started to experience the warmth, but the feeling was getting unbearable. In a sudden surge of irritation and another emotion he couldn't define, he reached out to wrap his claws around the offending appendages. "It's so annoying and…"
The rest of his words got stuck on his throat as soon as his fingers closed around their targets, sending a strong, intense shiver down along the whole length of his spine and causing a low, deep sound to escape his mouth instead. His head fell forward a bit, as to instinctively make the antennae more accessible for him to touch, and he shuddered. His face was burning now.
"That…That felt good," he stuttered, torn between incredulity, pleasure and awkwardness.
Red bolted backwards as soon as the weird sound left his co-ruler's lips, shocked and scandalised. What on Irk was…that? He didn't even have a word to define it, but he knew that it had made him incredibly uncomfortable, together with the sight of Purple stroking his antennae. There was something terribly wrong in the whole situation and he didn't want to be there a minute longer, not while the other was under the effect of that mysterious alien drug. And yet, for some reason, the sight of the purplish tint on the other Tallest's cheeks made him feel a bit warmer too, in a pleasant, confusing way. The hue fitted just so well the colour of those half-lidded orbs locked on him. He hoped that, whatever the other had ingested, wasn't contagious or he was doomed.
"I…I…I'll come back later. When you are…not drugged anymore," he managed to stutter out, jumping on his feet and grabbing the package with the remaining donuts. He mentally cursed. His companion had eaten half of its contents already. He would have been in that state for quite some time. He was going to murder Zim. Painfully. "And these go out of an airlock!"
The purple-eyed Irken let out an unhappy sound as he saw himself deprived of his stash of donuts. "Aw, but Red! They are my snacks! And I like them!" He protested, trying to reach out for both his co-ruler and the sweets, but found that he couldn't really get up and the other was already several steps away. "Come on, don't take them away. And don't leave!"
"There's something that really messes with your PAK in here, Purple," Red shot back firmly, moving backwards again till he reached the door. "Stay here, do…do whatever you need to do about the…annoying tingling and I'll check on you later. I mean it. Stay here." And without waiting for answer he obviously fled the room, locking the door behind his back.
Purple let out a disgruntled groan and crossed his arms on his chest, a gloomy expression on his face. That had been a really mean move. His companion had just got back and now he had gone off again, with his snacks, just because Zim had put something odd in them. It was unfair. The anger, however, didn't last long, because his hands soon wandered back up to stroke his antennae and he felt his body slumping back against the couch, as a warm contentment filled him. The sensation was still weird, but he couldn't bring himself to care because he had experienced very few things that made him feel so good. Despite the oddness, it was incredibly relaxing. Almost better than most of the snacks he had tried in his life. Almost.
"Whatever. I'll just ask Zim to send more donuts. Without the drug thing. Even if I also want to find a way to get back at that pest for…whatever this is," he told himself quietly. A sigh escaped his lips then, carrying a hint of melancholic longing. "It's odd. I'm really wishing that Red had stayed. It would have all been better if he had…"
So, chapter 21, aka "The Prank".
This took longer than I expected (because stuff came up and I apologise for the delay!) and it came out way sillier than I had intended for it to be 0.0 I know that a lot of people had expectations for this chapter and I honestly hope that I haven't disappointed anyone! D: Because that would be terrible. I guess that I was trying to make this fun, before anything else, but purposeful humour isn't my forte ^^"
There are still a lot of things I want to happen before Zim's official banishment, so I had his bad luck do some damage control (there will be consequences, of course, but not disastrous one. Well, that's not exactly true, but you'll see? ^^"). And I also figured out that there would have been no way that the Tallest would have eaten snacks that had popped out of nowhere. Not to mention that Zim, in his rush of getting his prank done, wouldn't have thought it through too much. Besides, I can of love writing Zim and Purple's interaction. For how I see it, they just can't stand each other and *that* was Purple's ruin. He dismissed Zim and his odd behaviours too quickly.
Also, for whoever has been wondering why Zim hadn't acknowledge his gained height yet...Here's the answer!
You guys will let me know what you think about it! I'm very eager (and VERY nervous) to hear your opinions! For the next one, I plan to switch genre and go for an action chapter, which surely will come out much better (or so I hope).
Enough of my crap. Thanks to all the people who are still reading this story! I'm going to repeat myself, but I'm as surprised as I am grateful for the interest and the feedback I'm getting for this! It really keeps me writing. And I really want to do it, since we have officially reached, with this chapter, the half of the first arc ^^" Honestly, when I started to plan this story out, I had no idea that it would have got so long, but having people showing interest really inspired me in writing more and adding more stuff and so...I guess this became much bigger than I planned for it to be. And I owe it too you all too. So, thank you by heart to all the readers, but, as always, the most special thanks go to my reviewers. Reading your thoughts always inspires me. To do more and to do better too, as much as it's possible. This story wouldn't be the same without your input!
Questions and comments of every sort (as long as we respect each other) are welcome and encouraged. Feedback is gold for inspiration!