Breaking the Disease
Epic Six
Written by Cartman's Girl and Invader Poe

~*~

Chapter Four

Cten was now fixing the lamp, so it was somewhere at least safer this time. She frowned as it was now atop the TV.

"Oh well." she shrugged slightly. Zib knocked on the door for the third time that day, but  it was as he let himself in, peering into the kitchen. Ivy looked around with a "This place, again?" disgruntled look, and Vist bristled as soon as the door opened, running up and shielding himelf with his Mother. Cten blinked down at Vist, then looked up at the arriving group.

"Well, welcome back again." she smiled, placing her hand over Vist's head in an attempt to calm him down. He buried his head into her side, looking at his half-sister and her family with one eye.

"Heh, thanks." Zib said as he sat Ivy down on the floor, where she could, theoretically, do the least amount of damage, "What was his general demeanour when you talked to him, Cten?"

"Demeanour? Well... he first talked afterwards and he seemed upset at what happened, though he couldn't remember what happened either." Cten picked Vist up since he started to make a slight whiney sound as Ivy had been set down. Radge was then placed down besides her, but he scooted close to Enid and hugged her boot as he glanced around.

"..afterwards?" Zib tilted his head, looking somewhat confused. Vist wrapped his arms around Cten's neck, and Ivy turned to Radge, and made 'spooky fingers' at him, giggling insanely. Radge squeaked and moved around Enid's foot so he was shielding himself from her.

"Yeah, afterwards uhmm… we got back to being mates again." she flushed slightly, covering Vist's antennae as she said it. Zib stared at Cten blankly, then launched into a Zim-like rant,

"Cten! For all we know the disease could be an STD! Nevermind it's suppose to exist mainly in saliva!" Vist blinked when he was suddenly somewhat deafened, and Ivy also found amusement from her father throwing his hands in the air.

"Then if I've got it, I've got it." Cten said simply, hand still over Vist's antennae. "I love him and I'm not about to stop doing so, and besides you can go tell him off about it if you want." Zib sighed and shook his head, thankfully not being nearly as stubborn as his mother.

"Fine, fine… All indications would point to that he had the disease to begin with since you two first met…" He ran his hand through his hair, "Still, just… please be more careful, okay? We still don't know what we're up against."

"Fine, I'll be more careful." Cten let go of Vist's antennae, holding him in both arms now.

"So... who sould go in and see him, if we can?" Enid who had kept quiet while this conversation had been making it's merry way along, finally spoke up.

"Maybe he should see you first, En. I think you two have some… patching up to do." Zib said gently, though in a way he wanted Enid to maybe talk her father out of killing him before he saw him again.

"Okay." Enid glanced down at Radge who was still clutching to her foot, and she quickly picked him up and handed him to Zib. "I won't be long." with that she turned and walked from the room, down the stairs to the holding room. Zib took his son and tried to comfort him before he got all waily over his Mom leaving. Poe had decided to put back on what was left of his pants, but at least he was clean now, leaned back against the wall, his arms folded behind his head, eyes closed, possibly snoozing. Enid looked into the room, taking her wig and contacts out and leaving them at the door. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, before walking into the room slowly. Poe's ragged antennae raised when he heard her enter, and he blinked his eyes open, probably expecting Cten, looking surprised. He stared at Enid through the glass, slowly getting to his feet,

"..En.. Enid?" He seemed as uncertain as her, folding his antennae back - not quite understanding what he'd done to her, but knowing it was probably something he should feel guilty about.

"...hi Daddy." she said quietly, the scratched the side of her head quickly. Blinking a few time she looked at him since she'd been looking at the ground. "So, are you.. any better?"

"I… I think so." He leaned his hands on the glass and stared at her with a soft expression, "You seem… a lot more grown up… since I last saw you."

"Yes well…" she shrugged and sat down on the ground, bringing her knees up so she could rest her arms on them. "Now that I live away from home and.. and yeah I guess..." Enid glanced up at him, "You look… uh, better since I last saw you." He smiled, but he looked slightly sad that she seemed so distant. He sighed, lowering his head and closing his eyes.

"The last thing I remember… telling you is that… you'd always be my little girl… and now… I hear I'm a grandfather."

"Yeah you are." Enid smiled slightly, "Ivy… she reminds me a lot about you… but it's the you who used to be around when Zim was causing problems." she then looked up at him, her antennae lowering instinctivly since she knew he could hurt her if he could. "But, but they're both good…"

"I wish I could see them." He smiled again, then frowned when she lowered her antennae, "Enid.. please don't… I'm not… I'm not angry with you… I'm glad you're happy." He tilted his head slightly, "…you are happy… right?" Enid nodded slowly in responce,

"I'm happy… I've got a wonderful mate who cares about me, I've now got two children… but I miss you." she turned her head away, "I admit I'm afraid Daddy… what you did… I know it wasn't really you, and it was just the disease in your mind but… you scared me." she shuts here yes tightly, then brings her fists up to the side of her head. "You just scared me." If he looked guilty before, he looked awful now, and he slumped, his antennae drooping.

"I'm so sorry, En.." he spoke quietly, almost hard to hear, "To be honest… I scared myself too…"

"I'd say more but I don't want you to feel any worse." Enid then crawled up to the glass and sat down besides it, leaning on it now. "But still... I'd be scared too... I am, cause... cause Zib said I might have it." A look of horror filled his face,

"I didn't… I didn't bite you, did I?!"

"Oh no, no you didn't do that." she looked at him, shaking her head quickly. "No… he says it might be genetic, that's all."

"Oh." He relaxed, his antennae drooping limply again. "I… should have figured…" He said sadly, "I never thought anything was wrong with me… well, like a disease… I just thought I was different… It was just another weird part of me, like my eyes or antennae… I'm sorry, Enid." He repeated, then went on in an even quieter tone, "To tell the truth… I wasn't… all that much older than you are when I got together with Cten… I didn't know any better." He was silent for a while, then added, "I'm glad he's taking care of you…"

"...you're not still mad with him, are you?" she gazed at him from the corner of her eye, still leaning against the glass. Poe shook his head slowly.

"En, the whole reason I was against you being with him… Well, you know his parents… I was just afraid that… when the enevitable happened, he'd be just as bad a parent and mate… or worse, abandon you." He looked down at her, "I'm glad I was wrong."

"You know... I think because of how his parnets were, is the reason why he's like the way he is." she smiled slightly, "Ironic yes... but he doesn't want to be like his Mom or Dib at all.." Enid then looked at him. "Daddy?"

"I guess that makes sense.." He blinked down at her, tilting his head, "What is it?"

"When do you think, that you'll be better again?" He glanced at the ground, closing his eyes partly,

"…I'm… not really sure. I feel… I feel a lot better… I think I might've finally got it back under control.. But…" he looked backwards into his cell, "I can understand… that I might still be a threat… and need to be contained."

"Oh. Mom said she was in there with you today." Enid smirked, folding her arms. "I'm just happy that you can talk again.."

"Um… yeah, she was." A hint of a blush crept into his cheeks, which was probably a good sign, meaning he was regaining his sense of civilization. "I am too… It's still… kind of hard though. You never appreciate… how easy talking is, until… you have to make… a concentrated effort to do it."

"Do you want a rest for the rest of today? Zib would have come in and did his usual interogation..." she glanced back at the doors, "But I think you deserve a rest."

"I'm alright.. but I guess that can wait. So.." He looked down at her, "Has he become some sort of doctor?"

"Scientist assistant really." she smiled slightly, "Working at Professor Membrane's labs. Ironic isn't it?" Enid smiled slightly. "He's doing pretty good…"

"Hm.. I guess he really doesn't want to be like his parents." He chuckled softly, "I guess I underestimated him.. I guess it comes from, well.. not being on the best terms with his mother. Hm.. I have a feeling Zim's been knocked down a few pegs by what happened on Irk though…"

"Well maybe things'll fix up for him sooner or later." Enid shrugged slightly. And how, um, right and wrong they were! Over at the base of Zim, his Computer suddenly sparked to live.

"Voot Cruiser entering Earth's Atmosphere, speed is incredibly high. Possibly Voot Cruiser is out of control." Gir raised his eyes to the ceiling of the base, sucking on a lolly pop.

"Oooo, BANG!" Zim hadn't been doing much but mulling around his base lately, ignoring Gir for the most part, only snapping at him every so often. It almost seemed like he was in a… mood? He had been sitting at his computer and muttering to himself when he nearly jumped out of his seat the alert..

"What?! What could this be?" he wondered, and the computer started to repeat itself, causing him to growl and wave his hands at the monitor, "I know, I know! Where's this out-of-control Cruiser headed for?"

"It appears to be headed for... the park." the large monitor showed the image of a map of the city, and a dot which represented the Voot Cruiser. Indeed it was going in all directions, then finally crashed, sliding for a while before coming to a halt. "...and it's landed." Zim winced, having a good idea of what the crash was like.

"Fine, fine.. I suppose being the only Irken around who has maintained a sense of duty and not gotten entangled in familial soppiness I must investigate!" He adjusted the pink collar of his Invader shirt - of course, the Reject shirt had been the first thing he discarded, and had argued long and feircly with the computer to grant him a replica of an Invader's uniform, as well as a disguise, same as before. He slid his wig into place, popping in his contacts and started to march off, before calling offhandedly, "Gir, I may need your assistance. Follow me!"

"Awww, but the Scary Monkey Show's on!" Gir whined, but soon found himself yanked from the floor, stuffed into his puppy costume and being dragged by Zim by his doggy leash. Soon the two arrived at the park, and started searching for the signs of the fallen Voot Cruiser. Wasn't really hard. It seemed to have first landed on the play area, then skidded along through past a hot dog stand, then coming to a halt at the beginning of the woods, half hidden by trees. Zim stopped to examine the still-smoking trail of slag and dirt dug into the ground by the crashing cruiser, making important, thoughtful "Hmmm!" sounds. He did this as he followed the trail to the cruiser itself, and when he saw it, he took a deep breath, steeling himself for seeing a bloody goopy mess, and marched forward to see if the pilot was  still, er, intact. Gir paused to pick up some hot dogs and started munching on them, then chewed on a ketchup bottle. The Voot Cruiser was in very bad disrepair, smoke still bellowing from the engine, one of the blastered had exploded upon impact, the other while in mid-flight - hence the bad flying. The sheild was half open, showing off the lights from inside.  He covered his eyes with one hand, waving at the smoke with the other, and lifted up the shield, peering inside,

"Er, greetings.. to any living occupants, I mean." The figure within the Cruiser was alive, just not... really concious. Sprawled out on it's back, white boots in the air the dark red clad shirt covering the Irken smoking slightly. The occupant's head against the ground, antenane bent in a not so pleasent looking direction, white gloved fingers twitching now and again. Gir hops up besides Zim, and looks on into the Cruiser.

"Oooo... sparkly whites!"

"Eh, answer me!" He reached over and prodded the Irken in the head with his boot a few times, before deciding to run a diagnostic on them, unfolding one of the arms of his pod, a red scan line running over the unconscious Irken's form. "Unconscious? Bah!" He reached in, grabbing the pilot by the shoulders and dragging the Irken out onto the forest floor with much grring and huffing, seeing as he wasn't that strong and most Irkens were bigger than him to boot. But, this one seemed to be around his height at least, and aparantly female. This could be told by the sharp edged curl at the end of both antennae, and black eyelashes. Gir, wanting to be of help picked up her feet, grinning at his Master. He finally set her down on her back, seeing her eyelashes and antennae in a not-so smoke filled environment for the first time, blinking down at her.

"Hmm, she's kinda - eh!" He slapped himself in the cheek and scowled, "None of that, I am a professional! Gir, collect the Voot Cruiser scrap for safe disposal." He picked up the pilot again, managing to sling her over his shoulder with great difficulty and stumbling, figuring any use of his pod legs would just be too suspicious - not that carting around an alien wasn't, but it was less suspiscious than looking like one yourself.

"Yes Master!" Gir's eyes flashed red, and he picked up the Voot Cruiser in his hands, before his eyes faded to blue. "Are we having a tea party, Mad Hatter??" he grinned at Zim from under the Voot Cruiser, before his jets started up and he hovered in mid air. Amazing how no one was around to witness such an event, but still. Try to explain anything in this world and you'll end up with a Throbulator sized head-ache.

A while later, back at Zim's base; the Voot Cruiser is in the repair bay, and Gir, still in puppy disguise is lapping water out from the toilet in the kitchen. Zim had tossed her on the couch, nearly collapsing himself and rubbing his pained shoulder.

"Remind me to bring a hover-stretcher next time.." he muttered, before forcing himself to straigthen out, "Computer! Give me the medical ki--" before he knew it, the red box was being spat at him from the ceiling, and he had to catch it lest it crash into him. He glared down at it, before turning around and examining the female in the better light, taking out a bottle of Irken alchohol and a cloth and washing off the various small cuts and bruises she had. The female seemed to react to this, turning her head away. She hissed quietly, since it would hurt a bit, and all. Her antennae twitched, and then her eyes snap open revealing the tinted pinkish/red hue they had. After a moment of blank staring at the ceiling, she turned her head to Zim, narrowing an eye at him,

"What, do you think you're doing?" she asked in a tone which didn't sound at all grateful.

"I happen to be saving your life!" Zim snapped, bristling, "Not to mention killing any germs you brought into my base." He still had the alchohol, which probably stank and stung.

"Well stop it!" she sat up, glaring at him. "I don't need your help at all, why should I need help from anyone? I was perfectly fine. Not my fault the cursed Voot Cruise was in need of such repair I had to land on this miserable rock." she turned her head away, then stared at the monkey image for a while, then waved a hand at Zim shutting her eyes. "And put that away, it stinks."

"Fine? You were unconscious!" He huffed and replaced the bottle of alchohol and cloth, dusting his hands off. "If it were not for Zim you probably would've been discovered by humans and woke up with your squeedly spooch in a jar!"

"If they dared have laid their filthy hands on me they would have been taught a valuable lesson!" she then stood on his couch, pointing her finger dramatically to the sky. "That NEVER to mess with Vishta!" then she folded her arms, and said simply. "So there."

"Humans can't learn lessons, they're stupid monkey people!" Zim then glanced at his shoulder, making a face and brushing it off, "I don't think you were capable of much more than drooling at the time, anyway."

"Well feel honoured you came so close to me." she spat, hopping off the couch and landing besides him, "Some Irkens would have paid a leg and an antennae to at least touch my skin."

"I assure you it was not by choice!" Vishta then glanced around at the base, raising an eye ridge.

"Some set up you got, Zim." He then glanced up at the ceiling,

"Yes, yes, this is my base, a base just like - any proper Invader would have!" Zim said quickly, coughing and glancing back and forth.

"An Invader, huh?" she glanced at him, looking him over. "Kind of short to be an Invader, aren't you?"

"I am merely vertically impaired!" He responded indignantly, scowling, and turning away, folding his arms tightly, and maybe the faintest hint of discolouration creeping into his cheeks, what with the pretty female Irken eying him and whatnot.

"They must have made an exception then." Vishta glanced at the large television screen, "They usually allow the taller stance of Irkens to be Invaders now a days... you must be talented in the field you were assigned then."

"Huh? Oh, yes, of course! Zim is of many, many talents!" He broke out into a grin, then added with a puffed out chest, "And I must use these talents to conquer this ball of filth!"

"Hmm neat whatever." she persed her lips together, "Still, judging by the state of this place it seems you've been here for quite some time." Vishta walked up to the television and ran her white glove over it.

"I assure you this base is new! And immaculate!" Well, that was true, but he thought she was inferring a state of uncleanliness. "My… uh, my mission here has just started--" At this time, several blocks away, Zib was holding an infuriated Ivy and was newly decorated with several kinds of food, his daughter apparently being just as finicky as her 'grandma', and started to dial his Mom for advice as any new parent is wont to do. Zim yelped when the communicator suddenly jumped from his pak when Vishta had her back turned, panicking, he didn't even see who it was, simply ripping the end of the communicator off and stuffing it into his mouth to conceal it, the wounded leg recoiling and re-folding. Zib stared at the screen blankly, which was now giving him a view of Zim's molars, then looked down at Ivy,

"…and here I thought you got that from Poe." Vishta's antennae quirked at the yelping from Zim, and turned around to face him, giving him a long blank stare seeing his face now full of, something metal and not so nutricius looking.

"Uhhrmmm.... what are you doing?"

"Doing? What makes you think I'm doing anything?" He said muffedly, spitting out a few electronic components as he spoke, his eyes starting to tear up as his teeth gnashed against the metal, and with a pained look he managed to swallow the communicator. She stared at the pieces of metal on the floor, then looked up at him, antennae quirked.

"You're not a trash eater, are you?"

"What?! No!!" He said in almost a panickey tone, glancing around for witnesses, "That's um.. that's an Earth delicacy! Try it!" He grinned nervously, picking up and holding out a piece of Irken metal from the floor, probably not even realizing that by doing so he was proving he'd become, er, desensitized to eating not-so-lovely things.

"I don't think so." she said simply, moving his hand away from her with the tip of her finger. "I think I'll... just eat nothing right now, thanks. Yes."

"Your loss," he said, deciding to keep up the act by eating the metal himself, then looking like he was going to be ill. "There will be.. many things about Earth.. I suppose I have to teach you," he said woozily, then shook it off.

"You? Teach me? Hah!" Vishta closed her eyes. "I'm sure I'll be perfectly fine in adjusting myself to Earthling lifestyle, Zim, if any, you might have to learn a few things from me, seeing you're so new here."

"I--" He realized he had no argument in mind, so he settled for grunting and jutting out his lower teeth. "Fine! But if you slip up and reveal your alienness, you'd better not expect any more help from me!"

"I think you'd be the one needing help from me! You call that a disguise? Any idiot within a mile would notice that you looked freakishly deformed!" she pointed her finger at him, since he hadn't noticed that he was still in his disguise all this time, and Gir walked into the room, still in his dog uniform. Vishta stared at Gir for a while, then rolled her eyes. "You really are new at this."

"Eh?" He looked up at his wig, and glared at the finger, "This is a FINE disguise! It's served me well so far, the only one who can see through it is Dib and I don't really think he cares anymore." He pulled off his wig and shook it out, since it had a leaf or two stuck in it, and did the same with his contacts. She glanced at the twigs which fell, a bug flying off a twig and flew around the room for a while before being chomped on by Gir.

"Well if I were say, a human and I came across an alien life form I wouldn't give up after such a short stint of watching." Vishta said, crossing her arms.

"He has.. a very short attention span. Yes! Why, he's too incompetant to even try to infiltrate my base.." Meanwhile, Zib was still desperate for advice, he'd left Radge and Ivy in the care of Cten, since he was still over at her base. He'd wandered over to Zim's place and started to simply walk on in out of habit, but remembered he didn't live here anymore and rang the doorbell. Zim froze, his face twisting into a look of panic, and he darted out the door before Vishta could investigate, locking it behind him and not seeming to care he didn't have his disguise. She could still hear the muffled argument, though,

"What do you want?! Go away!"

"I need to know what to feed--"

"Feed them wall plaster for all I care! I'm in the middle of conducting important business!" The voices started to become distant, inferring Zim was pushing Zib away from the door, and Zim finally returned, shutting the door behind him and muttering under his breath, straightening out his collar. Vishta stares blankly at Zim for a while, then blinked.

"You do realise you went into broad day light without your so-called disguise, right?" she glanced past him, as if she could see through the door. "Who was that, anyway?" Zim stared back at her…

"That was.. um.. that was the MAILMAN!" His eyes started darting back and forth again as he scrunched up against the door, "Don't worry, he… has no eyeballs!"

"Then how'd he get to be a mail man if he's got no eyeballs?" either Zim was a terrible liar, or she actually believed him. Who could tell?

"He is.. very skilled at the distribution of mail-stuffs despite his impairment!" He sought for another excuse, "He wanted.. um.. advice.. on how to feed his pet alligators!"

"Alligators? Uhhh… okay…" Vishta shrugged it off, putting her hands behind her back. "So! I guess I'll be taking my leave now so I can look about this city for myself."

"I'll give you a tour!" He offered suddenly, whether out of wanting to assist the female or keep her away from the other bases, who knew. He held up his palm to his face, "I know this place like the back of my hand! Er…" He quickly turned his claws around so he was actually facing the back of his hand.

"Right, fine." she then glanced down at herself, then at Zim. "You don't happen to have anyway I can see what humans look like, do you? I need a disguise to keep them from being suspicious of my appearance, as beautiful as I may be humans are obviously aren't prepared for my vast array of beauty."

"OoooOOooo." Gir said in awe. He snorted mysteriously at the female's vanity, even if he did agree with her.

"Computer, show Vishta a normal example of a human Earth-stink!" A monitor dropped down from the ceiling, displaying a diagnostic image of… oh, I dunno, Jhonen Vasquez? He did say normal, though…

"Ew, they're ugly and stinky." she snorted somehow, then looked at him. "Does your Voot Cruiser have the disguise applicator? I'll need to make use of it."

"Yes, follow me to the attic. I mean.. the Cruiser hanger." He'd gotten a bit too use to Earth terminology, it seemed, and marched into the elevator. Once in the attic-dash-Cruiser-hanger, Zim barked out an order to the ship, "We need another human disguise! Do your… disguisey… stuff." The Voot Cruiser flashed, and the pods then doubled open to rest the Cruiser, then the disguise applicator got ready and the chooser flashed on. Vishta quirked an eye as she flipped through disguises, landing on one which looked more realistic like Tak's had been.

"Perfect." she smirked, and after some hollaring and screeching from her part, she stepped out from the applicator. Long light green hair tied back in a pony tail hung down her back, two lots ear rings pierced the ears, tiny set of glasses on her nose. As for her clothes, just a light yellow shirt with a brown sleeveless jacket, and a black skirt with white boots. She flipped the green hair, which I might add had a red bow at the top of it. "So! What do you think?"

"You-, er- It looks nice-- I mean, for being a horrible disgusting human thingee." He coughed, drumming his fingers together, then placed his wig back onto his head. "So, shall we?"

"We shall." she replied, grinning. "Let's see what make these clumps of bone and skin tick." After putting his contacts in, he almost held his arm out for her, until he realized what he was doing and stuffed his hands in his pockets, whistling loudly and marching back into the elevator. They soon started out of the base, Zim eying the obvious path - down the populated end of the street since he was at the end of a culdesac - but that's where the other bases were. He glanced around the back of his house,

"Well, uh, follow me!" he set off purposefully for the tall fence behind his house, quickly carving/burning a square-shaped hole in the back of the fence with his pod legs to make it look like that was the proper exit.

"Okay then." she held her head high, the wind causing the green hair to blow slightly. Vishta walked through the hole before Zim, as they say 'ladies first', if you can count Vishta as a lady that is. She stepped out onto the street behind Zim's base, which looked like any other normal street. Trash cans, street signs, people walking and so on. She raised an eyebrow at a few of the people, then glanced at Zim as he clmibed out after her. "They're more ugly and stinky close up."

"Try putting up with a classroom full of them for yea- I mean, weeks at a time!" He looked around first, "Speaking of which, maybe I should show you the Skool, where I've been learning about human Earth behaviour." He figured that was safe, since none of his, er, companions and relations attended it anymore.

"Might as well, I should fit in with the surrounding humans as to not make them notice me around, yet not in this 'Skool'." she fixed the small round 'John Lennon-esque' glasses on her nose.

"Very well!" He set off again, pointing out various sights along the way, mostly the disgusting resteraunts, and telling in detail how very disgusting they were. Then they were there, in the skool yard, apparently one of the periods starting. One of the teachers, who'd been by the doors for some mysterious reason, looked at Zim in confusion.

"Zim, what are you doing here? You graduated years ag-"

"I think that's enough of looking at the Skool!" Zim said loudly and suddenly, taking Vishta by the wrist and dragging her away.

"Hey what?! Let me go!" after a while she yanked her wrist from his grasp. "Don't tell me you were afraid of that lumpy human, were you?" Vishta made a slight glare in his general direction, "They're only humans."

"But that one.. that one's especially smelly. Oh, the smell!" He waved his hands for dramatic effect, not noticing the oncoming scary Chi.. ah screw spelling. Dog.

"I'm sure. I can reasure you, Zim. That I fear nothing! I've seen some things that would make your squeedly spooch explode in a firey ball of... fire!" she made a squishy fist for dramatic effect, unaware of the arriving Scary Chihuahua Dog. "Believe you me, I am not afraid of-" with this she happened to turn around, and see the dog staring at her blankly. Split second after seeing, she screamed and leapt up into Zim's arms, kicking a leg in the dog's direction. "GET IT AWAY!!" Zim yelped when he noticed the dog as well, freezing, square, purply pupils trained on it as it padded past them, but was soon gone. He then glanced over to her, staring at her blankly before quirking one of his eyelids, a smirk or maybe a grin starting to twist the corner of his mouth. Vishta's eyes were tightly shut now, arms still around Zim's neck and trembling pathetically.

"Is it gone yet?" she asked quietly.

"Yeah it - I MEAN, uh, no! I think it's threatening to attack! I'll carry you too, uh… another place. That's safer!" He grinned stupidly, something that looked dangerously close to one of Zib's silly infatuated grins, and started off towards the park. She squeaked as he told her of the 'attack' and just held tighter to him, yes she had seen terrifying things but nothing compared to the spookiness that was the  Scary Chihuahua Dog. Which was now sniffing a fire hydrant. Zim took his time on the way to the park, not that it didn't take a while for him to get there anyway what with his short legs and all, and glanced around once he was in the central yard of the park.

"We're.. uh.. almost there!"

"Is it following us?" she whispered, the two now getting odd looks from passer bys.

"No, I scared it off with my incredible might!" He grinned proudly, then scowled, realizing he could've bought more time if he'd said yes. His arms were starting to get tired though, so he sat down on a park bench.

"Oh." Vishta then opened an eye, showing off the aqua-coloured eyes she now had. "Hey, where are we now?" she glanced around the park area, not really noting she was still being held by Zim. That, or she didn't mind.

"The.. uh.. outer boundaries of the park." He answered, turning away from the big sign several hundred yards away that said "Welcome to the Park!"

"I see." she then blinked, realising the situation the two were in. Her eyes widened, and she quickly scooted off him onto the bench. "Uhrm… I guess thank you for protecting me from that.. thing. I owe you." He frowned and dropped his arms, then shook his head, waving it off dismissively,

"Yes, that thing is fierce and terrible, but it was nothing for a warrior such as I! Think nothing of it."

"Still." Vishta watched as two song birds perched on a tree across from them, singing beautifully and to put it, 'cuddled'. She poked her tongue out at the display of mushy affection so looked elsewhere. "So! What time of year is it now, anyway?"

"I believe it is Spring, the second seasonal rotation on the Earth yearly calander, generally associated with flowery stuff, sunshiney weather, new beginnings, fertility, reproduc…" He suddenly wasn't able to say the word with a straight face anymore, "…you get the idea."

"Humans and Earth's inhabitants only reproduce at spring? No wonder their numbers are so low." she noted how empty the park was, minus a few couples here and there. Vishta sneered, then turned to Zim. "And are they always so fond of showing affection or is that due to the rotation of the planet?"

"Well, no, they, uh, do stuff at all times of the year - this season is just especially so." He glanced over at her, "And yes, they're full of mush! And affection."

"Yuck." Vishta glanced at some little kid who was drooling while staring blankly at the two. The little kid laughed and pointed at them, before running off laughing s'more. "…their young are even more ugly then their adult selves." she noted, then an idea crossed her mind. "…to fit in, we don't have to act mushy do we?" He stared ahead blankly, a grin of pure, well, almost evilness crossing his face,

"Well, I'm not sure, it really is standard human procedure, I'd hate anyone to get suspicious of us…"

"Fine... to fit in and not to arouse any suspicion I'll act mushy. But only in the presence of humans, understand that." she pointed at him, "None of it when we're by ourselves, no touchy then. Got it, Zim boy?"

"That's… uh, that's fine with me!" He started to inch closer to her, "I personally am totally against unprofessional procedure between members of the Irken military but I don't want to end up with my organs in jars of formaldrahyde, soooo…" He glanced upwards innocently and set his arm around her shoulders. Vishta sighed irritably, but leant against him and glanced at another two children who were walking past, staring at the two.

"We're NORMAL!" she said, as if the two spoke another language. The children exchanged glances, then hurried along. "Meat pigs." she hissed.

"Yes, gaze upon our mundanity!" He announced to any nearby humans, a few of them giving them more odd looks, and pulled her close, "Just like any pair of male and female humans of varying bloodlines!"

"Yes! Highly enjoying the other's company! Take a picture, it'd last longer." Vishta announced as well, closing her eyes dignantly. "I am in great much love with my love pig, Zim! You are all jealous, no?" she opened an eye, glaring at a child.

"As am I with my swine of passion, Vishta!" He rested the side of his head against her's, aww! "In fact, I think we'll have a spawn or two after our… uh… business in the park is completed!" That definately made people give the bench a wide berth.

"Indeed! We shall make… uh, the spawn thingiees where you dirt worms can not stare in shock at our beauty together!" she declared, giving in and actually partly half-heatily snuggling Zim as she placed her arm around his lower waist, and putting one of her white boots down between his black ones. Zim was about to say something else when he broke out into another goofy grin, closing his eyes, which were upturned happily in one of his "^_^" faces. She glanced at him, and mirrored the look, until breaking it cause it hurt her face. Then she noted some couple in the distance give each other pecks on the cheek. She narrowed an eye and stroked her chin.

"Hmmm-Mmmm..." she made the important observing sound. Either Zim's acting skills were really good, or he was being, well, genuine. He had to resist the urge to giggle like a skoolgirl, not pausing to wonder about his behaviour. Vishti smirked, then turned to Zim, her free hand grabbing his head and pulled him and kissed him on the cheek as dainty-like as she could, which was difficult since she wasn't exactly er, dainty. He snapped out of it when he was yanked downward and smooched, glancing down at her. Unfortunately for her, Zim had seen enough mush from Gir's love of soap operas and didn't need reference from humans; he turned his head, and kissed her full on the lips. A few people shook their heads at them and went about their business. Vishti's eyes flashed open in shock, since she didn't expect him to infiltrate her lips with his own. She reared her head back and slapped him across the face quickly, then folded her arms.

"Only so far at a time mister." she smirked, with what, a hint of a smile?

"Hey!" He rubbed his cheek and scowled at nothing in particular, "I was just… you know! It's called kissing! And it's normal!"

"Really?" she quirked an eyebrow in confusion.

"Yes!" He glanced around, "They just happen to have a few acts of affection that are similar to Irken ones…"

"Oh. Uh, sorry for um, slapping you then." she glanced at some human who was laughing at the slap Zim had gotten. "Should I, urhm, make it up or something?

"Yes, you should," He said with a pout that was almost, dare we say, cute.

"Fine." she grabbed him by the shoulders and dipped him in her arms and smooched him fully on the mouth, holding the back of his head now and the small of his back.

"Mgnf?!?" He blinked up at her in shock, but relaxed pretty soon and wrapped his arms around her back.

[To be continued]