Warning: Much Fluff Ahead... Perhaps you might even term it "lemony scented..." but nothing major, I promise... ^-^ *does a little angel face to hide her little devil horns* teehee...
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RRRRRRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINNNNNNNGGGGGGGGGGG!!

Dib jerked awake, hastily wiping the drool off his desk. The skool day was finally over, the long lesson on doom ended. But now Dib had a new fear: what of Torque? His whole body still ached from the morning's thrashing. He hung back while the rest of them stampeded out the doors, until only he and Zim were left. Zim too had learned to wait rather than risk being trampled. "Dib? Something wrong?" he asked as they went out the now empty door.

"Nothing... it's nothing," Dib replied, pulling at his trenchcoat sleeve nervously. There was a rather large bruise from that morning lurking just under his left wrist. Sensing something was amiss there, Zim grabbed his hand and pulled the sleeve back. His eyes narrowed as he saw the large purple blotch running halfway to Dib's elbow.

"Bathroom. Now," Zim commanded, pulling him along. Dib protested weakly. Out of the corner of his eye he thought he saw Gaz, but if it was her, she didn't do anything to stop them. Zim hauled him into the boy's bathroom and let him go, folding his arms and glaring at him. "Trenchcoat off," he said shortly.

"No, I'm fine, really," Dib said, moving towards the door. Zim stepped in between.

"Take the trenchcoat off, or I'll take it off for you," he said softly, but his voice held an edge of steel. Dib sighed in defeat, and slid the large black coat off, folding it roughly a couple times before setting it on the sink counter. He looked at the ground, ashamed of the bruises and scars running up and down his arms. "Damn," Zim said softly. "Now the shirt, you're worse than I thought."

"What?!" Dib yelped, aghast. "No way Zim, nuh uh... I'm FINE, this happens every so often, nothing major." Zim merely narrowed his eyes and stepped towards him. Dib backed away, his pupils contracting in fear. He felt something hard brush on his back, and looked behind him to see he was cornered. He looked back to see Zim about an inch from his face.

"Shirt. NOW," Zim hissed. Dib whimpered slightly, then hesitantly started pulling it off, sucking in breath sharply each time it rubbed against a sore point. He handed it over to Zim's outstretched hand, and stood there shivering slightly. Zim folded it up and put it on top of the trenchcoat. He checked the door to make sure it was locked, and beckoned for Dib to come. Dib left the corner and stood before Zim, bowing his head in defeat. He twitched a little as a pair of slender green hands began pressing on his chest. He flinched whenever they touched on a bruise, but the smooth coolness of his fingers? claws? it didn't matter anymore - slid over his skin, pressing gently but firmly every so often. Dib let out a pained yelp as they pressed on a particularly large bruise. The hands instantly became gentler, soothing the hurt with their silken touch. They traveled around to his back, the thumbs pushing in what almost seemed to be a massage, working from just above his pants line up to his shoulder. Dib shivered a little from the strange but good sensation of touch, the kind of touch he'd never felt from anyone. The hands disappeared, and he looked up to see Zim pulling his gloves back on.

"It's cold in here, don't you think?" he said weakly, thinking up a semi-plausible excuse for his shivering. Zim nodded, and Dib was surprised to see there was a pinkish hue around his cheeks. /Then again,/ he thought, /I've probably gone completely red./ Zim handed over his shirt and trenchcoat, and Dib put them on, half thankful and half sorry it had ended. "Well?" he asked, turning to Zim once the folds of his coat once again covered the marks on his arm.

"Well, aside from a LOT of bruises and cuts, I think you have a couple cracked ribs. Nothing broken, but I'm sure you must be feeling incredibly sore," Zim said, smiling wryly at him. "I've half a mind to drag you to my house so we can run more analysis tests, but I won't if you don't want to. If Gir hasn't destroyed them yet, there might even be an available healing chamber that could fix your ribs." Dib thought on it for a minute, weighing the consequences. If he went, he would not only get to end his pain early, he would be close to Zim...

"Okay... usually I have to go home and lie very still in my bed for the rest of the day, so getting fixed up at your place sounds good to me," Dib said, trying to make his voice sound light. That was a good part of why he wanted to go with him, but just being near Zim was so much more... He knew now, from his dream, that Zim was everything for him. Not just as a childhood obsession to reveal him to the world and vindicate himself, but something much deeper.

"Okay. You want some help there?" Zim offered. Dib shook his head stubbornly.

"No, I can walk," he said, walking towards the door to prove it. He tripped on a tile that was partially cracked and sticking up. A pair of slender arms caught him as he fell, and helped him right himself. He looked at Zim, who flushed slightly.

"Don't need more bruises, now do you?" he said, looking away. Dib smiled and put a hand on his ex-enemy's shoulder.

"Thanks. I can walk by myself, just stick close in case I fall again," he said. Zim nodded, meeting his gaze for a moment before turning away again. He fumbled with the lock for a minute, and they left the bathroom. They exited using the skool's back exit, which was closer to Zim's house anyway. They walked in silence, and Dib had no more accidents on the way there.

Zim went ahead of him and opened the door, holding it open. Dib smiled gratefully. Stepping across the threshold of his door, though, his foot caught. He fell forward, his hands instinctively flying out to break his fall. They closed around Zim's torso, and he was astonished to feel how very thin he was. He looked up from his chest, and struggled not to laugh. Zim was stiff as a statue, staring at him, and his face had gone noticeably pink. Shaking his head slightly, Zim helped Dib up to his feet once more. "Really Dib, this is getting repetitive," he said, laughing as he shut the door. "OW!" he yelped as a large metal object collided with his waist.

"Master! You home! And you brought Dib-human!" Gir said happily as he was pried off. He turned to Dib and grinned his goofy little grin. "Somebody needs a hug!" he announced, advancing towards him.

"No Gir, Dib's hurt. You can't hug him yet," Zim said, picking the robot up. Gir's eyes flashed red as he saluted, then went back to blue.

"Can I hug him later?" he asked wistfully. "I wanna turn all pink like you!" Zim blinked, then flushed again. "Yeah, like that!" Gir said excitedly.

"That wasn't a hug, Dib fell and I happened to be in his way," he said defensively. "Now, answer me this: did you mess with anything in the lab today?" Gir thought for a minute (it looked like hard work) then shook his head no. "Good. Come on Dib, let's get you to the medical level," Zim said, leading him over to the couch. It folded up to reveal an elevator. They stepped on. "Computer, take us to the medical level," Zim barked. It started moving, and Dib looked down impressed.

"Is your whole house a computer?" he asked interestedly. Zim nodded. They descended, and he put a hand out to grab Zim's arm before he fell as it came to a jerking stop.

"I really need to get that fixed," Zim said, glaring at the elevator in annoyance, as if blaming it for making him blush again. He led Dib over to what looked like a containment chamber. "Step inside, it'll only take a minute to get you tested. I promise, it doesn't hurt," he said reassuringly. Dib nodded, and stepped in. Zim shut the clear door, and went to his computer console. He typed quickly, strange looking letters on the keys. Dib looked up to see a large metal ring coming down around the glass-like chamber. Green light shined from a slit all the way around the inside, and slowly went down to his toes then back up.

"Processing... PROCESSING!" the computer said, and lots of the little symbol letters flashed across the screen in rapid succession. Zim watched them intently, Dib guessed it was his own language. He sighed, and tapped a few more buttons, then came over to the chamber and opened the door.

"Come on, looks like I was mostly right. One cracked rib and a number of bruised ones. I swear, for such a big head you must have an awfully tough one too. How you didn't get a concussion is beyond me," Zim said, tsking in dismay. "Come on, let's get you in the healing gel." He led an unprotesting Dib off to another section of the medical area. Dib looked around interestedly, everything was so amazing in here. It was almost nuts what Zim had managed to put together out of such 'inferior' materials. Zim tapped a few buttons on a keypad by a door, and it slid open to reveal what looked an awful lot like a shower stall with a little shelf. "Step inside, strip, and put your clothes on the shelf. Then you press the red button, then the blue to activate the gel. When you're done, press the same button to turn it off, and then the purple button to rinse. Then you press the yellow button, and I'll deliver towels and your clothes via the shelf, okay?"

Dib nodded mutely, trying to remember it all. "Why are you doing this for me anyway?" he asked suddenly; the question had been burning in his mind. "Why do you even care?"

"Well, how are you supposed to help me extract my revenge on the Tallests if you're all messed up?" Zim asked practically, though he knew that his reasons went deeper than that. He was afraid of rejection, though, afraid of being laughed at and cast out like he had so many times before. "Now I don't want you out of the shower until nothing hurts when you push. Okay?"

"Okay," Dib replied, nodding. He stepped inside, and the door slid shut, leaving him alone in the white walled chamber. He took off his clothes as commanded, and put them on the shelf. /Which button, which button?/ he thought, thinking. /Ah yes./ He pressed the red button, and the shelf rotated until the walls were completely smooth, the shelf having been transferred to the other side. He pushed the blue button, and a dark green liquid began to ooze from the ceiling in long columns. Curious, he put a hand out to touch one as it came down. It pooled in his hand, then slid down his arm. He almost gasped at how cool it was, how it eased away the hurt. Almost like Zim... Dib smiled slightly, recalling the smooth silken feel of Zim's hands on his chest. He sighed sadly then, he would never be able to confess to Zim how he felt... He was terrified of finding rejection there, of being pushed away by the one thing he needed most. Sure Zim blushed whenever they made contact, but supposing that was just an alien way of showing annoyance? He stood quietly in the shower, reflecting on his sad thoughts, wishing the olive strands of gel enveloping him were Zim's comforting arms.

*****

Once the little light blinked on that indicated the healing gel was coming out, Zim gathered up Dib's clothes from the shelf and deposited them in the clothes washer. He waited around for a bit, then went to go see what Gir was up to.

"Hi master!" Gir yelled as soon as he appeared. "I'm makin biscuits!"

"Sounds like fun, how do you do it?" Zim asked, figuring he might as well do something to kill some time.

"We follow da directions on da box, then add what we want!" Gir said, handing him a box of mix stuff. Zim looked at the instructions, then at the bowl Gir was stirring vigorously.

"Wow, that looks pretty close to what it should be!" Zim said, smiling at the cute little robot. Gir gave him a grin, and kept stirring. "What kind of biscuits did you have in mind?"

"I like sprinkles! The little round kind is soo good! And cinnamon! Cinnamon biscuits are goood... I can cook when I wanna!" Gir said, snagging the little container of round sprinkle balls. He shook it over the biscuit mix, and stirred it all up. Zim offered the cinnamon, and Gir gave him a teaspoon. "Just one now, or it'll burn and taste funny," Gir cautioned. Zim nodded solemnly, trying to keep a straight face, and put in a teaspoon of cinnamon. He had his doubts about this whole biscuit thing, but he figured it was worth a try. Gir pulled out a small piece of dough, and stuck in on a pan.

"Whatcha doin now?" Zim asked, watching him repeat this curiously.

"Gotta put it on da paaan, so it'll bake and make bicuiits! We're makin biscuits! We're makin biscuiiiits..." Gir said excitedly. Zim smiled at him, and started helping, laying his gloves off to one side so they didn't get all biscuity. When all the dough was in little mounds on the pan, Gir stuck it in the oven and turned it on. "Now we just gotta wait!" Gir said cheerfully, giving Zim the victory sign with his hand. At least, that's what he thought it was; Gir only had two digits anyway. A beep sounded from his glove, and he put them on after washing his hands with cleansing gel.

"Gotta go, okay? I'll be back in a few minutes and we'll try those biscuits," Zim said. Gir nodded, and sat in front of the oven to watch the biscuits bake. Zim went back to the medical bay, and pulled Dib's clothes out of the washer, all fresh and clean. The washer dried clothes too, so he didn't have to hassle with putting them in a whole separate drying machine. He snorted; humans were so simple sometimes. Imagine having two separate objects to wash and dry clothes! It was ridiculous! A little yellow light flashed from the wrist of his glove, and he snagged some towels on the way to the healing gel stall. He placed the clean clothes and towels on the shelf, and pressed the red button to make the shelf revolve around. A few minutes later Dib came out of the stall, rubbing at his hair irritatedly with a towel.

"Stupid hair, why won't you ever function?" he growled, then gave up. The result was a rather silly looking hairdo, and Zim had to fight hard not to laugh. His scythe had little pieces sticking out, and the familiar triangular shape to his hair was more rounded and sticking up in odd places.

"Come on, we made biscuits.. Or what I THINK are biscuits anyway," Zim amended, grinning at Dib.

"We? As in you and Gir? Are they actually safe for consumption?" Dib asked jokingly, grinning back. Zim nodded.

"Nobody's died yet, but then again, nobody's tried em," Zim said solemnly, then started laughing. Dib cracked up too, and before they knew it they were both out of breath and gasping for air, leaning on each other for support. "Come on, earth monkey, let's go try those biscuits," Zim said, looping an arm around Dib's shoulder companionably.

"Sure alien scum, but you have to try them too," Dib agreed, putting his arm around Zim's shoulders. The two headed upstairs, laughing all the way for no particular reason at all.

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*does a lil song and dance routine* it's individual note time, yeah yeah yeah, individdie noootes! Let's do the separate people's notes! Lalalalalalalaa... Um... *cough* whatever... riight... ^_^ I love you all for replying! Notes to ya! YAY FOR NOTES! *cough* kay... moving on...
ArmAndLeg: ^__^ Yes, choco-dew is good... choco-dew is very good... it's probably better with not-month-expired chocolate ice cream though... o0; that's the only kind of icecream we had in our freezer at the time, so i figured might as well.. i'm not dead yet so it was safe! ^_^ now we have choco chip cooki dough, gonna hafta try that... mmm...
Rylyn: I liked the dream too, and chapter five was pretty awesome... but I think my personal favorite NOW is this one! meeheeheehee.. i think i'll just skip five and call this six, as the dream was all split up into two parts.. meh... and jocks are definitely evil... foo... and you can ALWAYS ask for more! Teehee!
Goddess: ^-^ *Gir voice* I like you... teehee... remember people, no matter how silly your reviews sound or how short they are, I STILL WANT EM! ^_^ I WUV REVIEWS!!
Diartemis: Muahahaha... Doncha love it when Gaz goes and beats peoples up? Muahahahaha... Gaz is so awesome! YEE!
PRHG: Teehee... they do make lovely nightlights, but I stopped using them after my cat went all weird from the radiation... kinda dangerous if ya don't put em in somethin radioactive-resistant but clear... heh... and the Tallests aren't skeered of the dark, they have each other! ^-^ did I mention i was also a P/R yaoi fan? I dunno that I'd ever be able to write a good fic about em though... meh, we'll see, I didn't think I could write decent ZAGR either... then again, I don't know as 'Hunter' qualifies as decent... o0;; oh well!
Stopping the shameless plugging now, I have news that will shock and amaze you! Or maybe just shock you... I HAVE A PICCHA OF ZIM AND GIR OLDER UP! *people have heart attacks and die* yes yes, after much procrastination, I present... THE LINK!!!
http://www.side7.com/cgi-bin/S7SDB/DisplayImg.pl?INO=120699
Innit favulous? No not really you say? Well FOO ON YOU THEN! For those of you who liked it... YAY! ^-^ i wuv yu... anyway, peace out and write on, mah bruthas an sistas!! o0; don't ask, i don't know... teehee...
~*~Celelorien~*~