Yummy peach tea to all of my reviewers...thank you!!! ;)
Chapter 3
"He's planning something." Ritz stated plainly, sitting down beside her currently recovering friend. Dementia snorted, turning one blue and one green eye to the smallest yet oldest of the clones. She took in the shaken up, far-away look in the large gray eyes, untidy hair, and small, purposely folded hands. It hadn't been very long since the gentle clone had come to recognize the monstrosity she was so deeply devoted to. To discover that the happiness he exhibited was merely his sadistic enjoyment of seeing the torturous "tests" administered to her tiny form. To realize that her too- young looking body was derived for his sickening fetish for near-children anatomy.
She wrapped very young-adult arms around her knees, resting a fragile chin on top, eyes downcast.
"When is the creep not?" Eith was looking down at her sadly, protectively. If only she was as emotionally fierce as Dementia. That tiny frown would have been a grim line as she let the infamous Dr. Jade know the meaning of pain. True pain. The kind that makes you scrunch your eyes shut, palms clasped ferociously even as the red liquid trickles from between the fingers, lips swollen from teeth clenching against vocal submission as your flesh is slowly eroded by the acidic liquid dripping from the hated syringe...
"I will rid this planet of his existence." Dementia stated, bare legs dangling from the cot, feet tapping the icy floor aggressively. She kicked her nearby shoe into the far wall, smiling at the tremendous clang it made. She stood up slowly, rotating her neck, extending her arms until they responded with the desired dexterity. "Soon."
"What have you seen so far?" Eith placed a strong arm around Ritz's slim shoulders, pulling her to lean on him gently. She smiled faintly, a ghost of true happiness.
"Another clone."
"That doesn't surprise me." Dementia recovered her shoe, strapping it to her foot. "Boy or girl?"
"It better be a boy." Eith muttered. Two girls were enough maintenance...
"Neither."
Both clones turned to eye Ritz incredulously. "What? How is that even possible?"
Ritz shook her head. "I don't know. But I saw it today, and neither of the reproductive organs were present. And there was something else...different. Its eyes. They weren't...human. There were no whites. Just the color. No pupils, either. Just deep blue-green and glossy. Like those aliens from that old movie "Independence Day"..."
"Why would they create anything that couldn't wholly pass as a normal human being? And why the lack of genitalia? It doesn't make sense..." Eith rubbed his chin in thought.
"It does." Ritz raised her gaze to meet their questioning stares. She opened her mouth to describe exactly what she knew to be the desperate reasoning, but stopped at the sound of the door opening.
Dr. Jade strode in, fixing each of his creations with a brutal smirk. He grabbed Ritz by the arm and pulled her off the bed. "If you'll excuse us, we have a little business to attend to..." he said snidely to the other two. He jerked her roughly, heading into the sickly-white hallway. Dementia looked like she was about to test how far, exactly, a stiletto heel would penetrate the back of his skull, and Eith stepped forward, knuckles cracking beneath leather gloves. But they halted at the quick glance from Ritz. Not now, her eyes said. There will be a time. But you must know the rest. Because the time will be soon....
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"It's hot!"
Gaz eyed him weirdly. "Yeah. Were you expecting it to be ice-cold?"
"Not freezing. Just...vaguely cold. Like that lake."
"This is supposed to be like a bath, Zim."
"Bath?"
Gaz frowned. Why did she even bother? So much for romantic tendencies...."Bath. Humans bathe in water. To cleanse themselves."
"Oh. Is that what this is for?"
"No." She tried ignoring his questioning gaze for a while. Maybe he'd forget about talking and actually take pleasure in the moment...
"Purpose!" he demanded.
"Relaxation!" She sunk beneath the water's bubbling surface, enjoying the slight sting of hot water hitting her face. She came back up to meet his unrelenting ruby-orbed stare. Sighing, she pointed into the bedroom's conjoined bathroom. "The tub in the bathroom is for bathing. Since it is too small to really relax in and enjoy the warm water, people soak in Jacuzzis."
He finally nodded, beginning to understand. He didn't find water 'relaxing', but it was quite obvious that the humans did.
Gaz looked at him, pondering the "blessing" of packing paste for him. He wasn't being much of a Jacuzzi companion at the moment. She had been expecting something a little...different. Oh well, no point in wasting the perfectly good frothy water. She raised one leg out of the water, pretending to examine it intently. When she felt his eyes on her, moving closer to inquire about her leg, she brought it down swift and hard.
Zim sputtered, spitting out the soapy water that filled his mouth, rubbing it off his face. He glared at her once his vision returned to normal. She grinned slyly, ducking into the water until only her eyes and the top of her head were visible.
"What was THAT for?!"
She shrugged, closing her eyes and slipping beneath the water again. Holding her nose, she slid until she was lying flat on her back, looking up at the ceiling. She smiled at the distorted world above the water, eyes focused on the wobb;y ceiling fan until her eyes began to sting. She closed them, thinking about what to eat in the morning. There was still a slice of that party pizza left...
Her arm was suddenly jerked upward, pulled away from her face. She gagged painfully as water seeped up her nose. Her eyes began to water as she met the air, hand over her face. "It burns..."
Zim released her arm at that, scooting beside her. "What? What's wrong?" He tried to pull her hands from her nose. "Gaz?"
She gave him an intense glare, but brought her hands away from her face, sniffing. "You got water up my nose!"
"So?"
Gaz looked suddenly murderous.
"I mean...uh..." he faltered under her death-glare. "I thought you humans were water-proofed!"
"Not where it's not supposed to go!" She rubbed her nose, eyeing him debatably. "I should dunk you..."
"What?! You did it to me first! I'll..."
She was moving toward him, grinning. He shrieked, standing up hastily to get out of the water. The inside of the Jacuzzi was slick, however, and he slipped, crashing down on Gaz. They both came up a few moments later, hacking, and clutching their foreheads.
Gaz groaned. "Ow. Bonehead!"
"What?! It was your...your...ROCK-like head that injured my superior one!"
"WHAT did you just say?!"
"Eh! Your very PRETTY rock-like head..." he grinned sheepishly, expecting her to punch him off her at any moment. He closed his eyes in anticipation.
Nothing happened. He opened his eyes to see her staring at him very strangely, thoughtfully. Finally she spoke. "If I'm so pretty, why aren't you enjoying this?"
"What?"
"You don't like it in the least. You know, most guys love cuddling with a girl in a Jacuzzi." She looked at him almost sadly. "Why don't you?"
"...uh...Zim is having fun." He looked at her face. She raised an eyebrow. He lifted his arms. "Yes, so much fun! Like a normal human dirt-boy."
Gaz grinned at his inarticulate, yet meant-to-be comforting speech. She sat up. "Tell you what. You let ME sit on YOUR lap, and I might start to believe you." Grinning, he scooted off her lap, and hoisted her effortlessly onto his.
"Starting to believe me yet?"
"Hmmm. I think I still need to know what you think of this bathing suit..." She did a few mock-sexy poses, batting sodden eyelashes. He laughed.
"I think its not really your color. You might have to remove it to save face..."
It was Gaz's turn to laugh. "And I think that my brother would murder me if I did while still in the water...but, I think we can still do this..." She linked her arms around his neck and pressed her flower-petal lips to his.