Disclaimer: I own nothing.
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I never thought I'd die alone
I laughed the hardest, whod've known
I traced the cord back to the wall
No wonder it was never plugged in at all
I took my time
I hurried up
The choice was mine
I didn't think enough
I'm too depressed
To go on
You'll be sorry when I'm gone....
"Dib stink!"
"Wha?" Dib asked groggily, eyes opening as he bolted into conciousness. He rubbed at his head, looking down at the crumpled piece of paper that had flown through the air, eventually making contact with his temple. Reaching for it, he opened it, crisp lined paper crakling in complaint.
He sniffed quietly, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose, before looking down at it. Blinking, he sighed, an almost inaudible sound, and read it's unexperienced alien penmanship:
"Deer DIB STINK,
YOU SUK
- ZIM"
He stared at the note intently for a few moments. Well, not like he expected any better from Zim. Maybe better spelling, but like his mother had once said, 'It's the thought that counts'.
A few children in the class snickered, watching Dib's obviously unhappy face as he read the note over again. 'You suk.'
"I suck..." he said quietly to himself, reaching up to scratch at an itch behind his ear, not noticing his tall, tenebrous teacher turn to look for the source of the snickering.
"Dib, is there something you'd like to share with us?"
He looked up, amber colored eyes dull before realizing he was face to face with his teacher. "Um... no, actually- okay, you can have it I guess." he said, frowning as Ms. Bitters snatched the note away from him.
The antique artifact from the days of Noah read the note swiftly, before turning to look at Zim. "Good job, Zim. You get an A." she said curtly, walking back to the desk and stamping a large, red, dripping "A" on the note, and returning it to Zim who smirked and stuck his tongue out a Dib.
Dib sighed.
The children laughed.
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Lunchtime.
"Ah, lunch. Blissful time of the day." Dib thought sarcastically to himself, sitting at his usual lonesome table near his sister who was diligently working on the 5th Level's Boss.
He glanced up at her, then down at his food tray. "Peas. Juice. Potatoes." he said blankly to himself, listing the items on the tray before making a face of disgust and pushing them away.
"Trash." he concluded simply to himself, scratching at his arms through his trenchcoat.
'So itchy,' he thought. 'So itchy and scratchy and wet... better clean the bandages...'
The young human boy stood up, giving his sister one last unnoticed glance before turning and marching down between the tables, superconciously aware of his own movements and the children's eyes on his back as he went. He shivered, walking faster, wanting to get out of there quickly; they all heard how Zim had gotten an A just by writing an insulting note to him. Ergo, it made sense that if Zim could do it, so could they. Quite a nice boost to their already pathetically failing grades.
Dib sighed as the door closed behind him, and all at once it seemed as if he was in another world. Their noise was gone. He could ignore them now, just as they ignored him. He could pretend they didn't exist, pretend his arms where bleeding because he'd been in a heroic battle, and he was going home after all this, where his mom and dad would be waiting, congratulating him, hugging him, giving him pudding.
Okay. Now, that was just stupid.
He shook his head, giving his scythe-like hair a rather violent tug. "Stop daydreaming, Dib. It's stupid, you're being stupid, Stupid." he said to himself, looking down the hall, then starting down it, towards the bathroom.
Stupid.
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Zim raised a non-existant brow, watching as his arch-nemesis walked past.
"Hm." he said to himself, looking after the Dib-Stink. "How odd." he mused, rubbing his chin with a gloved claw and shaking his head in quiet frustration.
Lately, something had seemed to be wrong with the human. He wasn't eating, he wasn't speaking up in class as much. He fell asleep often during class. His choleric temper towards Zim had vanished, replaced by a dull empty stare, or a melancholy glance whenever the alien taunted him. At first it'd been a welcome releif from the feisty, angry little child; Zim felt more powerful, knowing that those sad looks where caused by him. Then it'd just gotten annoying and boring. The alien spent his days watching Dib sigh and sleep. He threw stuff at him, trying to prod him into anger, into normality. He'd even gone as far as to spray himself with water from the water fountain, and screaming in pain, as Dib passed in the hallway, trying to get one laugh from him, one excuse to start another argument.
But there'd been nothing.
How frustrating.
Zim growled to himself, angrily, as he poked at the human food with his spork. One of the peas rolled off the table, bouncing away and hitting one of the humans on the forehead, leaving a dark purply mark and an unconcious child before bouncing out the doors.
'Irken intuition is always right.'
So went the old saying.
He mused and pondered to himself. 'Hm... always right, always right... always... well that makes sense... an Irken Invader is always right! And I, being the greatest Invader EVER, INVADER ZIM, must be correct on this hunch! Yes, there is something wrong with the Dib! BECAUSE I BELEIVE IT IS SO!' "MUA HA HA HA HAH AH A HAAA HAA HAAA! MUA HA HA HA HA, AH, HA HAAAA-!! Um. Heh heh." he chuckled sheepishly, looking around and realising that he'd been laughing out loud.
"Hi..." he said, waving a three fingered claw at the children, who where staring at him, some rather scared. "Uh... I AM NORMAAAAAL!!" he yelled, shaking a fist at them before leaping off the table and running out the doors, searching for the Dib human to see what was wrong.
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The water ran red as it filtered through the bandages. Dib winced, water splashing onto his cheek, cold and biting. How very obnoxious.
The bathroom sink was dirty. Obviously someone had vomited in it earlier in the week, but Dib was sure he'd gotten all the green stuff out. Not exactly germ-free, but it'd have to do; he didn't even want to imagine what would happen if anyone found out about his... unhealthy habit.
Yes, he knew it was unhealthy and stupid. But he himself was stupid and unhealthy, so it fit. It fit perfectly. And it was a good stress reliever. And it wasn't like he'd kill himself. Tempting idea, but he had Zim to fight. And he'd do so, as long as he could.
He sighed, setting the bandages aside. He'd gotten them as clean as he could; still, he was going to have to get new ones from Membrane's lab as soon as he got home.
He shook his head, looking down at the next thing he'd have to do, which was washing his arm. There where a few problems with this:
First of all, washing it was pretty much necessary; the edges of the cuts where beginnign to turn a worrying tint of purple, which showed up darkly against his pale skin.
Second of all, if he did wash it, it'd scrub away the scabbing that had already formed on it, opening the wound again.
Third of all, it was a hard thing to do, keeping the smell of blood unnoticed.
"Crap." he muttered to himself, setting his arm under the running water, gently beginning to rub at it with his hand. The blood kept running red.
--
Zim paused in the hallway, glaring around angry and frustraded. He hissed several Irken swear words under his breath, turning to kick at the nearby wall with his boot.
"GAH. Where. COULD. IT. POSSIBLY. BE?" he asked angrily to himself, dotting each word with another kick. He released a shuddering, angry sigh, turning to stare down the hallway. "Where are you, DibWorm? Where are you...?"
He looked around again, sighing and noting the empty hallways. "Utter human filth." he said idly to himself, reaching up to pull off his wig for a brief moment.
One brief moment was all it took; his antennae perked up, sensing sound and movement nearby. Zim looked up, blinking in surprise; the sound seemed to originate in the old boy's bathroom.
"I thought that human lavatorie was closed." he said to himself, cocking his head as he looked down the hallway towards the bathroom. He watched it for a moment, before setting his wig back onto his head, and striding down the hall, hesitating for a moment at the door, then making up his mind, pushing it open and walking inside.
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Dib turned off the faucet, sighing and looking down at his arm. The cuts had indeed begun to bleed; they where pink and red, and his skin was white. He felt like a candy cane.
Suddenly, a sound reached his ears, and he froze, breath catching in his chest. Slowly looking up, his mind went into a panick as he saw Zim standing in the entrance of the bathroom, one hand holding the door open, eyes wide and round in confusion.
"...Dib-St-?"
"Stay back!!" Dib yelled, backing away, reaching blindly for his trenchcoat which was hanging on one of the sinks. He grabbed it, cloth comforting in his grasp, and held it in front of him like a shield. "Go away Zim! You saw nothing!"
"Nothing or... something?" he asked, walking inside, letting the door shut behind him. "What are you doing here, in an unused human restroom?" he questioned, eyes narrowing in suspicion.
"I'm not doing anything, Zim! Please, go away!" Dib whined, eyes beginning to fill with tears; he was only 11, he didn't need this!
Zim paused, tapping a finger against his chin before swiftly reaching forward, swiping the trenchcoat away from the human. His eyes widened, looking down at the blood on the coat, then moving to the human's arms. "What...?"
"Don't tell anyone!" Dib crowed, beginning to hyperventilate unhappily. "I know we hate each other but... geeze... Zim, please, just forget everything you've seen, leave, forget it!" he yelled, waving an arm at him, blood jumping from his cuts to land on Zim's uniform, blending with the blood red of his shirt.
Zim shook his head, looking to the bandages on the sink. "What did this to you?" he asked, curious. The look of curiosity was soon replaced by outrage. Who dared try and destroy Zim's archnemesis before he did?
Dib shook his head, still having trouble breathing. "I-I'm not telling!" he cried unhappily, shutting his eyes.
His panicked breathing continued, the only sound in the room for several long moments. He shook his head once more, before warily opening one eye, and feeling every muscle in his body freeze in sheer fear.
Zim was standing very near him, head bent down, peering at his cuts with a cold, almost clinical interest. "Dib-Worm, are these self-inflicted?" he asked interested, looking up at him.
Dib bit his lip, backing away, squeaking as his back hit the slimy wall. He didn't answer.
Zim shook his head, the look on his face being one of disbelief. "Why did you do that?" he demanded. "I'M the only one that can cause harm to you! Not you! So... uh... stop it." he commanded simply, an annoying look of superiority coming to his Irken face as he crossed his arms.
Dib didn't answer. He was trying his best to ignore this; he wanted his trenchcoat back. He wanted to go home and sleep. He wanted this to never have happened; he wished that knife hadn't been on the kitchen table that night. He remained silent.
Zim stared at him for a few more moments, sighing when he saw that he wouldn't talk. He scratched at his wig before glaring up at him, and without warning taking out his spider-leg attachments, pinning Dib against the wall with them, covering Dib's mouth with one of them as well. Which was good, seeing as the human would probably be screaming and swearing quite loudly at this point.
"Don't struggle, Dib-Stink." Zim commanded, reaching into his pack and drawing out a small metal container. Dib, who was doing just that, screwed his eyes shut tightly in fear. No, no, everything was all wrong...
Zim shifted one of the spider leg attachments, releasing Dib's injured arm and approaching the human, darting about several times to avoid being kicked. He opened the container, taking out an elastic glob of transparent material in a baggy, making a small opening in it, and squeezing some of it out on Dib's skin.
Of course, this only served to frighten the human more. Zim grunted angrily, becoming rather annoyed and tightening his hold on it. "Don't. MOVE." he commanded forcefully, squeezing out more of the stuff onto Dib's cuts, then swiftly spreading the gelatinous substance over them. He reached out, gripping Dib's hand with one claw, holding it still.
Dib squeaked unhappily; that hurt! And it felt odd, too... he grit his teeth, feeling the substance move around his cuts, becoming harder, ( or was it softer? ), and more solid. Zim seemed to be counting under his breath in a foreign language- Irken, no doubt- watching the stuff do it's work.
A minute had passed. So slowly, so terrifying for the ever paranoid Dib. But finally, he felt himself being lowered onto the ground, and the spider leg attachments releasing him and retreating into Zim's PAK. He shivered, looking down at his arm, fearing the worst.
Dib's eyes widened at the sight he was met with. On his arm, where previously there had been cuts and a possible infection, there was... nothing.
Smooth skin, pale skin. No cuts, no purple. He looked up at Zim, frowning. "What is this stuff!?" he demanded, still paranoid.
Zim scoffed angrily. "Like I'd tell you, pathetic worm beast! It is advanced Irken Healing Technology. Don't bother analyzing it; it has mutated into an exact copy of your DNA, your skin. Yes, you still have those cuts, but the blood and infection is being kept under control by this temporary skin. In a week or so, it'll peel off." he said, shrugging.
Dib stared down at his arm, as if in awe. "You're... you're not going to hurt me?" he asked simply, looking up at Zim.
"No. Not now." he responded, staring at him blankly.
Dib looked down at his arm, breathing coming under control again. He didn't speak, running his fingers over the smooth skin. Both enemies stood in silence for a long moment.
Dib frowned, before looking up at him. "Um... thanks, I guess." he said, shrugging.
"Don't insult me, Dib-Beast." Zim snapped, turning towards the door. "I didn't do it because I like you or anything." he added, scowling.
Dib blinked, reaching for his trenchcoat. "Okay then." he said, pulling it on, looking up as the sound of the bell ringing cut through the air.
Zim walked towards the door wordlessly, opening it and stepping outside. He paused before letting the door close behind him, and glanced into the bathroom at Dib, who was staring at the bandages on the sink.
"Dib." he called out to him. The human child looked away from the bandages, staring at Zim. "What?"
"Be careful." the alien commanded. "I happen to know for a fact that there are people on this worm ridden piece of dirt who are rather fond of you." he said curtly, before turning away arrogantly, strutting off to class.
"Um... okay." Dib said out loud to himself, looking around once more before scuttling out of the bathroom, leaving behind nothing but a blood stained sink, and some moist old bandages.
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I like to write. It makes me not sad. Please, review...