[Author's Note: words encased by the "~" symbol indicate thoughts or
emphasis.since ff.net won't display italics.]
Chapter 1: Cloud
A slow monotonous humdrum beat against the bus windows, little rivulets sliding down dirty, cracked glass as a young, raven-haired boy pressed his pale cheek against the cold surface. He stared dully through this somewhat translucent pane, brown eyes half-closed, caught between a mixture or boredom and drowsiness.
Dib remembered a time when he used to relish in the sound of rain, lulling him to sleep when the night seemed endless, and his body would turn and toss eternally, a sleep-inducing litany to his ears. When sad thoughts or frightening ones would glower down on him, the rain would be there at times, a soft pattering that could drown out his worries. Now all the boy could think about was how much he hated the rain; the clouds, thick with heavy droplets, would block the night sky, prohibiting his star-gazing, keeping him from viewing the night sky and all its glorious bounty.
Not only that, but ~God~ was it fucking depressing..he found it almost unbearable at times: the incessant drone and never-ending murmur beating against the windows and doors. At times it made him feel like something was missing from his life. The rain made him feel hollow. He had his mission: to defeat Zim. But even with that, even with the pride he derived from thwarting all of the Irkin's schemes, he still didn't feel like he was accomplishing anything.was he even going anywhere?
~Maybe it's just the rain..~ he thought dolefully, propping his hand beneath his drooping chin, ~Maybe it's just me..~
"You're being graciously quiet.." a stern, adamant voice stirred his attention away from his miserable distraction, and to the young girl who sat at his side, angled hair nearly covering already closed eyes. In her hands was her faithful companion, her handheld Game Slave, the words "pause" flashing in rhythm across the screen.
"I guess..it's just one of those days.." Dib said, the words a little reserved; he hadn't spoke all day, and it came as a surprise that the first person to hear his voice would be his little sister, surly and disreputable as she usually was. Forcing a smile, the boy turned back to the gray scene that lay beyond the bus windows. "I wish it would stop raining.even ~if~ it could cause that jerk Zim immense amounts of gratuitous pain to have just one tiny drop fall on his bare, foul, Irken skin.."
His sentence ended with a maniacal grin, the corners of his mouth turning skyward as he bathed in delight at the mere thought of his rival, the Invader Zim, writhing in pain. Nothing else could cause his heart to flutter so rapidly with glee.
"I never asked you to start.." Gaz growled vehemently, the eyebrows on her face twitching a little as she escaped back into her video game world. Her face was enveloped in the dim backlight; Dib decided it was for the best that he didn't interrupt her, lest his arm be decorated with another bruise.
~At least she has a retreat..~ he sighed to himself, ~Where can I go..what can I do.~
Grimy tires finally rolled up beside the skool Dib attended, and he had been so lost within his thoughts, he didn't realize they had arrived until Gaz smacked him with her book-bag, giving a harsh jeer before standing up from her seat. Rubbing his sensitive, if not disproportionate, head, Dib followed his sister.
He looked at the March sky, and didn't care how drenched his face was becoming, or how sopping wet his trench coat was. His hot breath fogged his lenses.
~I hate the rain.~
Dib's last class for the day was more ridiculously tedious then ever, as Ms. Bitters decided that her students should be introduced to the fascinating subject that is cyanide and all its valuable, worldly uses.
~Zim'll get a kick out of this..~ groaning under his breath, Dib paid special attention that he went unnoticed by his wrathful teacher, as he sat slumped in his front row chair, his scythe-like hair starting to cascade over his eyes, soaked and being held down with rainwater. He hadn't even bothered to wipe his glasses. He wanted to go home.
"..and before you little maggots make your daily escape back to your stinking homes, I have an unimportant, waste-of-my-time announcement for you all.." the teacher's biting voice ground into Dib's ears, like a screwdriver being scraped along the chalkboard. He sat upright, books packed, eager to leave and invent new methods for which to eradicate Zim with.
"You will be having another addition to your lousy, miserable class today, and I don't expect you to act any differently to her then you do to any of your other lousy, miserable classmates..and please, don't try to amuse me by doing otherwise," the arachnid-resembling teacher spoke with a twinge of a hiss, motioning nonchalantly towards the classroom door. "Get in here!"
Many of the students were too preoccupied to notice the new classmate entering into the gloomy room, and even though Dib didn't particularly care either, he couldn't resist the urge to see if it wasn't one of Zim's friends..or worse.. What would he do ~if ~another Irken decided to make an unscheduled sojourn to the Earth's surface? Could he ever handle too of the festering aliens at once? Sure, Zim wasn't the most adept Invader, but who could fathom what two of his kind could do.it made a shudder crawl underneath his pallid skin. Risking a glance at said alien, he noticed with a sort of reserved curiosity how unobtrusive Zim was acting; he wasn't even glaring at Dib like usual, not spouting absurd, wordy threats against the "worm-babies".
"Her name is..Nel." the teacher sneered revoltingly at the plain, ho-hum name, probably wondering just how many people in one classroom had 3-letter names. As the diminutive figure slowly came out from behind the towering lecturer, Dib strained to get a look at her face; she was looking at the floor. Nel, at first glance, was just about the most pitiful-looking thing Dib had ever seen. All of his previous alarm had vanished as quickly as it had been formed, as he looked at the new classmate, trembling like the teacher was about to step on her. The first thing Dib noticed was that she was incredibly thin, almost emaciated, not that it alarmed him..not many of the students were exactly beefy themselves, what with the slop they served in the cafeteria. Why this caught his attention at the forefront, even Dib couldn't discern..he just found it so exaggerated..almost comical. It didn't help that she was dressed in the most ridiculously cheerful looking dress or periwinkle blue, a sad attempt to balance out her timid stature and coy appearance. When she finally did look up, Dib finally got a look at the perfect, mouse- ish face to match an equally mouse-ish physique, as Nel's newly revealed, dark brown eyes sheepishly eyed those around her, a pair of wiry glasses sliding down her thin nose. Thin eyebrows were pulled tightly towards one another, dilated pupils darting back and forth rapidly like an animal being preyed upon.
~Ha! Heaven help the Irken's if this is what they call an Invader!~ Dib guffawed inwardly, feeling a bit foolish for ever thinking that the new student could ever pose a threat to Earth's safety. It was almost too much to subside. Dib had been so absentminded in his self-indulgent wit that he failed to notice how the girl had sat herself directly beside him, arms crossed in front of her.
"Um..excuse me.."
He didn't hear her voice; he didn't even understand why he was being so hard on the poor girl..she didn't even know his name.
"Excuse me.."
Once again her words went unnoticed, just as her presence was. She unfolded her arms, and, like a caretaker trying to feed a hungry lion, reached out to touch Dib's shoulder. Long, slender fingers, tense with the weight of paranoia, finally made contact with the black fabric of the boy's inattentive figure.
"What th-?!" he jerked in his chair, head snapping to his left, where the girl sat, petrified by the sudden start, hand recoiled and balled into a tiny fist. "Don't do that! What are you trying to do, give me a heart attack?!"
"I-I'm so-sorry!" lips trembling, Nel suddenly jumped to her feet and darted out of the room, just as the dismissal bell blared loudly, a chorus of relief and laughter breaking out, much to Ms. Bitters annoyance; her teeth were grinding so severely, Dib was surprised he couldn't hear it.
For a while, Dim just sat and stared aimlessly, wondering just how long the girl had been trying to attract his interest. His mouth was agape, somewhat worried that he had done something to hurt the girl's feelings, but he shook his head vigorously; he couldn't think like that..he had more important things to discern and ponder, like what Zim's next move would be..Zim..
It finally dawned on Dib that he was due a confrontation with the green- skinned alien. Head turning left and right, the bespectacled young boy could find no sign of his arch-nemesis; his seat was vacant, just like all those around him. Rubbing her hands together, Ms. Bitters had finally had enough of Dib's stalling.
"Dib, unless you have a sudden urge to feel a piece of chalk exploring your nostrils, I suggest you leave like all your other disgusting classmates.." voice low and menacing, Dib didn't give the request (~If you could call it that~, he thought sarcastically) another moment to live itself out. Haphazardly snatching up his things, he fled the room of academic torture, zipping down the stairs, 5 steps at a time.
The appallingly cold air was the first thing to greet Dib as he left the dank, foreboding building, a tornado of foliage encircling him as he stepped onto the sidewalk. Although the rain had finally ended, it had left the ground carpeted with dead leaves; Dib silently cursed as his black boots almost slipped on one.
A shadow cascaded darkly along the pavement, looming towards Dib's feet as he made his way home, and even though the silhouette revealed no distinguishing features, he already had an accurate guess as to whom the shadowy profile belonged to.
"Zim, what do you want?" he muttered, eyes closing to a slit, a hand tightening around the handle of his book-bag.
"Oh, nothing really," Zim said all too calmly, his smug voice prodding Dib's uneasy temperament, as he stood along the sidewalk no more than 10 feet away. "I was just wondering about your opinion.."
"My opinion?" Dib responded sharply, not chancing a step forward, "Zim, what are you playing at?"
"It's really none of your worm-baby business, you simple, fetid creature. But tell me: what do you think about the Nel-human; she was most interesting don't you think?"
"Zim, stop talking in stupid riddles and start making sense, not that you ~ever~ did.." Dib eyed the Irken cautiously as an acrid taste started to form on the tip of his tongue.
"You are avoiding my question, Dib! Answer me!" Zim's voice was rising with paralleled impatience, but Dib refused to play along with this ridiculous excuse for an epic confrontation. "Well?!"
"You're being an idiot, Zim, and therefore, I'm not answering your already idiotic question," Dib rejoined, as he started to move around Zim's austere form, making sure to brush his shoulder roughly.
"How dare you ignore my interrogation, insolent human! Did you not tremble in fear in her presence?!" still holding to his spot in the middle of the sidewalk, Zim looked in disbelief as his adversary casually rounded about him, "Look! Even now my eyebrows are doing that..that..twitchy..twitch...eyebrow thingy!!"
"Listen to me Zim." Dib halted suddenly, pivoting slowly on his left foot to face the furious Invader, "First off, that girl couldn't scare a 3-year- old who wets himself every time the lights go out at night; so no, Zim, my eyebrows aren't doing the twitchy twitch thingy. Secondly, ~you~ don't even have eyebrows to begin with! Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get home so that I can continue saving the Earth from your evil mind with no eyebrows."
If Zim had uttered any other senseless banter afterwards, Dib was trying his best to pay no heed to it, his mind filled with plans..and wonderment.
~Why is he so concerned about Nel..she's just a little girl..~ he thought to himself, hands clenching each strap of his backpack as he trudged through the dreary streets. ~Maybe I was too hard on her..she doesn't even know my name..~
Turning around the next corner, Dib was soon standing in front of his home; it looked vacant, as always, and Dib doubted there would ever be a day in which his own father would be there to greet him. The mailbox was empty, and he seriously questioned if Gaz had taken the time to bring it in, not while completely absorbed in her Game Slave like she always was. Trudging up the front stairs, he placed a single, fair hand on the doorknob. But before twisting it, opening the door between two lives of solitude, one locked in his room, and the other outside, where the pointing fingers and disbelieving minds awaited. He had always been the world's punching bag, the one to always take the hits and jabs for mankind's sake, no matter how invaluable his services were to it. Sometimes he couldn't even reason why he stuck his neck out so far.
And it was then that Dib knew why he felt so sorry..sorry for how he had acted to Nel: she was so much like him..Casting a glance to the still gray sky, Dib wondered what he must have done to her feelings, but knew he couldn't do anything about it..wouldn't bring himself to the conclusion that he ~didn't~ know what to do about it.
~One of those days..~
Chapter 1: Cloud
A slow monotonous humdrum beat against the bus windows, little rivulets sliding down dirty, cracked glass as a young, raven-haired boy pressed his pale cheek against the cold surface. He stared dully through this somewhat translucent pane, brown eyes half-closed, caught between a mixture or boredom and drowsiness.
Dib remembered a time when he used to relish in the sound of rain, lulling him to sleep when the night seemed endless, and his body would turn and toss eternally, a sleep-inducing litany to his ears. When sad thoughts or frightening ones would glower down on him, the rain would be there at times, a soft pattering that could drown out his worries. Now all the boy could think about was how much he hated the rain; the clouds, thick with heavy droplets, would block the night sky, prohibiting his star-gazing, keeping him from viewing the night sky and all its glorious bounty.
Not only that, but ~God~ was it fucking depressing..he found it almost unbearable at times: the incessant drone and never-ending murmur beating against the windows and doors. At times it made him feel like something was missing from his life. The rain made him feel hollow. He had his mission: to defeat Zim. But even with that, even with the pride he derived from thwarting all of the Irkin's schemes, he still didn't feel like he was accomplishing anything.was he even going anywhere?
~Maybe it's just the rain..~ he thought dolefully, propping his hand beneath his drooping chin, ~Maybe it's just me..~
"You're being graciously quiet.." a stern, adamant voice stirred his attention away from his miserable distraction, and to the young girl who sat at his side, angled hair nearly covering already closed eyes. In her hands was her faithful companion, her handheld Game Slave, the words "pause" flashing in rhythm across the screen.
"I guess..it's just one of those days.." Dib said, the words a little reserved; he hadn't spoke all day, and it came as a surprise that the first person to hear his voice would be his little sister, surly and disreputable as she usually was. Forcing a smile, the boy turned back to the gray scene that lay beyond the bus windows. "I wish it would stop raining.even ~if~ it could cause that jerk Zim immense amounts of gratuitous pain to have just one tiny drop fall on his bare, foul, Irken skin.."
His sentence ended with a maniacal grin, the corners of his mouth turning skyward as he bathed in delight at the mere thought of his rival, the Invader Zim, writhing in pain. Nothing else could cause his heart to flutter so rapidly with glee.
"I never asked you to start.." Gaz growled vehemently, the eyebrows on her face twitching a little as she escaped back into her video game world. Her face was enveloped in the dim backlight; Dib decided it was for the best that he didn't interrupt her, lest his arm be decorated with another bruise.
~At least she has a retreat..~ he sighed to himself, ~Where can I go..what can I do.~
Grimy tires finally rolled up beside the skool Dib attended, and he had been so lost within his thoughts, he didn't realize they had arrived until Gaz smacked him with her book-bag, giving a harsh jeer before standing up from her seat. Rubbing his sensitive, if not disproportionate, head, Dib followed his sister.
He looked at the March sky, and didn't care how drenched his face was becoming, or how sopping wet his trench coat was. His hot breath fogged his lenses.
~I hate the rain.~
Dib's last class for the day was more ridiculously tedious then ever, as Ms. Bitters decided that her students should be introduced to the fascinating subject that is cyanide and all its valuable, worldly uses.
~Zim'll get a kick out of this..~ groaning under his breath, Dib paid special attention that he went unnoticed by his wrathful teacher, as he sat slumped in his front row chair, his scythe-like hair starting to cascade over his eyes, soaked and being held down with rainwater. He hadn't even bothered to wipe his glasses. He wanted to go home.
"..and before you little maggots make your daily escape back to your stinking homes, I have an unimportant, waste-of-my-time announcement for you all.." the teacher's biting voice ground into Dib's ears, like a screwdriver being scraped along the chalkboard. He sat upright, books packed, eager to leave and invent new methods for which to eradicate Zim with.
"You will be having another addition to your lousy, miserable class today, and I don't expect you to act any differently to her then you do to any of your other lousy, miserable classmates..and please, don't try to amuse me by doing otherwise," the arachnid-resembling teacher spoke with a twinge of a hiss, motioning nonchalantly towards the classroom door. "Get in here!"
Many of the students were too preoccupied to notice the new classmate entering into the gloomy room, and even though Dib didn't particularly care either, he couldn't resist the urge to see if it wasn't one of Zim's friends..or worse.. What would he do ~if ~another Irken decided to make an unscheduled sojourn to the Earth's surface? Could he ever handle too of the festering aliens at once? Sure, Zim wasn't the most adept Invader, but who could fathom what two of his kind could do.it made a shudder crawl underneath his pallid skin. Risking a glance at said alien, he noticed with a sort of reserved curiosity how unobtrusive Zim was acting; he wasn't even glaring at Dib like usual, not spouting absurd, wordy threats against the "worm-babies".
"Her name is..Nel." the teacher sneered revoltingly at the plain, ho-hum name, probably wondering just how many people in one classroom had 3-letter names. As the diminutive figure slowly came out from behind the towering lecturer, Dib strained to get a look at her face; she was looking at the floor. Nel, at first glance, was just about the most pitiful-looking thing Dib had ever seen. All of his previous alarm had vanished as quickly as it had been formed, as he looked at the new classmate, trembling like the teacher was about to step on her. The first thing Dib noticed was that she was incredibly thin, almost emaciated, not that it alarmed him..not many of the students were exactly beefy themselves, what with the slop they served in the cafeteria. Why this caught his attention at the forefront, even Dib couldn't discern..he just found it so exaggerated..almost comical. It didn't help that she was dressed in the most ridiculously cheerful looking dress or periwinkle blue, a sad attempt to balance out her timid stature and coy appearance. When she finally did look up, Dib finally got a look at the perfect, mouse- ish face to match an equally mouse-ish physique, as Nel's newly revealed, dark brown eyes sheepishly eyed those around her, a pair of wiry glasses sliding down her thin nose. Thin eyebrows were pulled tightly towards one another, dilated pupils darting back and forth rapidly like an animal being preyed upon.
~Ha! Heaven help the Irken's if this is what they call an Invader!~ Dib guffawed inwardly, feeling a bit foolish for ever thinking that the new student could ever pose a threat to Earth's safety. It was almost too much to subside. Dib had been so absentminded in his self-indulgent wit that he failed to notice how the girl had sat herself directly beside him, arms crossed in front of her.
"Um..excuse me.."
He didn't hear her voice; he didn't even understand why he was being so hard on the poor girl..she didn't even know his name.
"Excuse me.."
Once again her words went unnoticed, just as her presence was. She unfolded her arms, and, like a caretaker trying to feed a hungry lion, reached out to touch Dib's shoulder. Long, slender fingers, tense with the weight of paranoia, finally made contact with the black fabric of the boy's inattentive figure.
"What th-?!" he jerked in his chair, head snapping to his left, where the girl sat, petrified by the sudden start, hand recoiled and balled into a tiny fist. "Don't do that! What are you trying to do, give me a heart attack?!"
"I-I'm so-sorry!" lips trembling, Nel suddenly jumped to her feet and darted out of the room, just as the dismissal bell blared loudly, a chorus of relief and laughter breaking out, much to Ms. Bitters annoyance; her teeth were grinding so severely, Dib was surprised he couldn't hear it.
For a while, Dim just sat and stared aimlessly, wondering just how long the girl had been trying to attract his interest. His mouth was agape, somewhat worried that he had done something to hurt the girl's feelings, but he shook his head vigorously; he couldn't think like that..he had more important things to discern and ponder, like what Zim's next move would be..Zim..
It finally dawned on Dib that he was due a confrontation with the green- skinned alien. Head turning left and right, the bespectacled young boy could find no sign of his arch-nemesis; his seat was vacant, just like all those around him. Rubbing her hands together, Ms. Bitters had finally had enough of Dib's stalling.
"Dib, unless you have a sudden urge to feel a piece of chalk exploring your nostrils, I suggest you leave like all your other disgusting classmates.." voice low and menacing, Dib didn't give the request (~If you could call it that~, he thought sarcastically) another moment to live itself out. Haphazardly snatching up his things, he fled the room of academic torture, zipping down the stairs, 5 steps at a time.
The appallingly cold air was the first thing to greet Dib as he left the dank, foreboding building, a tornado of foliage encircling him as he stepped onto the sidewalk. Although the rain had finally ended, it had left the ground carpeted with dead leaves; Dib silently cursed as his black boots almost slipped on one.
A shadow cascaded darkly along the pavement, looming towards Dib's feet as he made his way home, and even though the silhouette revealed no distinguishing features, he already had an accurate guess as to whom the shadowy profile belonged to.
"Zim, what do you want?" he muttered, eyes closing to a slit, a hand tightening around the handle of his book-bag.
"Oh, nothing really," Zim said all too calmly, his smug voice prodding Dib's uneasy temperament, as he stood along the sidewalk no more than 10 feet away. "I was just wondering about your opinion.."
"My opinion?" Dib responded sharply, not chancing a step forward, "Zim, what are you playing at?"
"It's really none of your worm-baby business, you simple, fetid creature. But tell me: what do you think about the Nel-human; she was most interesting don't you think?"
"Zim, stop talking in stupid riddles and start making sense, not that you ~ever~ did.." Dib eyed the Irken cautiously as an acrid taste started to form on the tip of his tongue.
"You are avoiding my question, Dib! Answer me!" Zim's voice was rising with paralleled impatience, but Dib refused to play along with this ridiculous excuse for an epic confrontation. "Well?!"
"You're being an idiot, Zim, and therefore, I'm not answering your already idiotic question," Dib rejoined, as he started to move around Zim's austere form, making sure to brush his shoulder roughly.
"How dare you ignore my interrogation, insolent human! Did you not tremble in fear in her presence?!" still holding to his spot in the middle of the sidewalk, Zim looked in disbelief as his adversary casually rounded about him, "Look! Even now my eyebrows are doing that..that..twitchy..twitch...eyebrow thingy!!"
"Listen to me Zim." Dib halted suddenly, pivoting slowly on his left foot to face the furious Invader, "First off, that girl couldn't scare a 3-year- old who wets himself every time the lights go out at night; so no, Zim, my eyebrows aren't doing the twitchy twitch thingy. Secondly, ~you~ don't even have eyebrows to begin with! Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get home so that I can continue saving the Earth from your evil mind with no eyebrows."
If Zim had uttered any other senseless banter afterwards, Dib was trying his best to pay no heed to it, his mind filled with plans..and wonderment.
~Why is he so concerned about Nel..she's just a little girl..~ he thought to himself, hands clenching each strap of his backpack as he trudged through the dreary streets. ~Maybe I was too hard on her..she doesn't even know my name..~
Turning around the next corner, Dib was soon standing in front of his home; it looked vacant, as always, and Dib doubted there would ever be a day in which his own father would be there to greet him. The mailbox was empty, and he seriously questioned if Gaz had taken the time to bring it in, not while completely absorbed in her Game Slave like she always was. Trudging up the front stairs, he placed a single, fair hand on the doorknob. But before twisting it, opening the door between two lives of solitude, one locked in his room, and the other outside, where the pointing fingers and disbelieving minds awaited. He had always been the world's punching bag, the one to always take the hits and jabs for mankind's sake, no matter how invaluable his services were to it. Sometimes he couldn't even reason why he stuck his neck out so far.
And it was then that Dib knew why he felt so sorry..sorry for how he had acted to Nel: she was so much like him..Casting a glance to the still gray sky, Dib wondered what he must have done to her feelings, but knew he couldn't do anything about it..wouldn't bring himself to the conclusion that he ~didn't~ know what to do about it.
~One of those days..~