Disclaimer: The song is called, 'They're Playing Our Song' by Trinere :D
Thanks Cherry Cola!
Chapter 8: Shall We Dance?
While Zim had busied GIR delivering dust bunnies to all the neighbors, she led Dib down into her lab. The human seemed tense and nervous, although Zim saw no reason for it. Hadn't she reassured the boy already that the machine was perfectly safe and wouldn't fry his brain meats?
Maybe it had something to do with the fact that the Dance Downloader resembled a primitive human execution device called an 'electric chair'?...
"Pay attention, Dib!" Zim said, tearing her partner's gaze from the device, "You're going to do this for me next, and you need to know how to do it properly! First off, you push this button here! You need to hold it down until the screen flashes, and then you'll flip these switches in sequence like so..."
As Zim guided the human through the steps, the boy remained absolutely silent, merely nodding his head whenever Zim paused to ask him if he'd understood everything so far.
"Okay," Zim said when she finished, "Now, show me what I just showed you."
Zim stepped aside as Dib stepped up to the controls, flawlessly repeating word for word and motion for motion everything Zim had said and done.
Satisfied, and a bit impressed, she nodded and pointed towards the chair.
"Have a seat, earth monkey!"
Dib hesitated for a moment, but walked purposefully towards his fate and sat down, (albeit a bit stiffly) wincing only slightly as the flashy metal circlet was lowered onto his head.
"This might sting a bit..." Zim warned.
Dib bit his lip and nodded, cueing Zim to flip the final switch.
The sensation that someone, who had scuffed their shoes on a carpet, had touched a finger to his forehead was all Dib was aware of; and when nothing else happened, he wondered if either the machine was broken, or his own nervous system had overloaded to the point of going numb.
"Done!" cried Zim, "You can't test it yet, of course, as I've also installed a security feature to make sure you can't activate the program without my password!" Zim would be required to place the same restrictions on herself for the programs to be compatible, but she didn't see a need for Dib to know that.
The circlet was lifted and Dib rose awkwardly, as if still expecting more pain to hit him from somewhere. (And it almost did when...)
Zim walked up behind him and shoved him towards the controls, taking the seat for herself.
Dib watched Zim out of the corner of his eye as he worked. He looked away quickly once he noticed she was watching him back.
"There's two security features to work this," Zim explained afterwards, "The first works on a 'challenge and password' basis. You state the challenge. I give the password!"
"What's the challenge?"
"That's up to you. The other is like a 'key to lock' thing. Each other's specific DNA is encoded into the palms of our hands, so it still won't work if you happen to accidentally give out the password. Just ask me something, I'll respond, and when our hands connect and recognize themselves, the code will be set and the program activated!"
"In that case," Dib forced out a smile and held out his hand, "Shall we dance?"
Zim smiled back, and took it, "Let's!"
A slight jolt ran up Zim's arm at the contact, her mind filling with rhythm and confidence; something clicking in her brain when it reached that point and setting her body on autopilot. Then, as if they'd been practicing for years, the pair proceeded to waltz around and around the room, dancing to a beat only they could hear.
(They're playing our song! Don't you hear the music?
They're playing our song! Don't you hear the music?
They're playing our song! Don't you hear the music?
They're playing our song! Don't you hear the music-music-music...)
Dib's cocky smirk filled her vision. He felt it too. It was amazing how incredibly sexy he looked just then. Zim felt herself smirk back, and picked up the pace.
(From the moment you entered, my eyes have been on you!
You're making me weak simply by the way you move!
I want to be with you, out here on the floor!
Sure seems to me like we've danced somewhere before!)
Dib kept up with her effortlessly, his body's movements automatically adjusting to his partner's. He grinned at her challenge, tightened his hold on her waist and began to spin them with dizzying speed.
(Is this a simple case of deja-vu?
Am I mistaken or have I danced with you?
Won't you correct me, if you know I'm wrong,
but if you think I'm right, then let's dance to our song!)
Zim knew she couldn't keep up with him then. Instead, she leapt onto his hips, wrapping her legs around his back to keep them out of the way.
Dib spun faster.
(They're playing our song! How could it be wrong for you to dance with me?)
Zim peeled her arms from his shoulders and bent her body over backwards, the human released her hips and snatched Zim's wrists so that as they continued to spin, it appeared as if she was sticking straight out of his abdomen.
(They're playing our song! Don't you hear the music?
They're playing our song! Don't you hear the music?
They're playing our song! Don't you hear the music?
They're playing our song! Don't you hear the music-music-music...)
Zim felt the boy squeeze her wrists. She lifted her head and looked at him. He gave her a wink as her only warning and then sprang back, as if jumping off a trampoline.
It became a pattern of twirl, jump and twirl in mid-air, land and twirl and jump again! On the 10th bounce, Zim felt a curious tickling sensation starting at the back of her throat.
(They're playing it!)
Maybe she was going to throw up?
(The music!)
She tried to focus on something stationary. On Dib. On the sparkle in his eyes. On the smile that seemed to make up 1/2 his face. (A smile that was even more disporportional than his head!)
(Playing it!)
The tickling became stronger. She couldn't hold it back.
Zim opened her mouth...
(The music!)
And found it was a laugh!
(So far, you've danced with every girl but me!
The way you're moving makes my heart skip a beat!
Why don't you hold me and turn me around;
lift me up in your arms, boy, and never let me down!)
Dib laughed along with her, their voices mingling in tangled harmonies, and those harmonies found places in her own mind that she'd never looked into, that as an invader, she'd always been able to ignore.
She laughed again.
(They're playing our song! How could it be wrong for you to dance with me?)
Dib pulled her back up and slid his hands up under Zim's armpits. He lifted the light alien up, her legs unlatching from his waist and flying out behind her, eventually touching the ground as the boy began slowing the spin until they came to a stop.
(They're playing our song! Don't you hear the music?
They're playing our song! Don't you hear the music?
They're playing our song! Don't you hear the music?
They're playing our song! Don't you hear the music!)
As a single mind they snatched each others hands and hips, proceeding to tango from one end of the room to the other and back, their interlocked hands only separating to switch directions.
(They're playing our song! How could it be wrong for you to dance with me?)
Nearing the end of the song, Dib gathered Zim to him, her back against his front, and one arm wound across her waist.
(They're playing our song! How could it be wrong for you to dance with me?)
He twirled her to the left with one arm and caught her in the other, Zim's own having fallen around his neck as they dipped together with her weight.
(They're playing our song! How could it be wrong for you to dance with meeeeeeeee!)
Dib felt another slight jolt as the music and confidence that had filled him earlier seemed to drain out.
He blinked at Zim.
Zim blinked back.
Maybe it was his equilibrium catching up with him, but Dib suddenly felt dizzy. He teetered and felt himself falling forward. He had just enough control of himself left to pull Zim into him as he spun one last time, landing on his back instead of on her.
He shut his eyes tight and bit back a curse as his head met the floor with a painful thump. When he opened them again, they found Zim still lying atop him, propped up on her elbows and smiling suggestively. He blushed and looked away, "Um..."
Again with his defiance! Zim thought irritatedly, the good mood the dancing had given her forgotten. The Dib from this morning would be thrilled to be in this position! Had the blonde haired-demon said something to make him doubt the benefits of being partners with Zim after all?
Perhaps she should remind him then...
Dib's eyes bugged out and refocused on the invader as he felt her claw tracing slowly up his neck.
"Zim, what-"
The tracing claw stopped on his lips for a moment, and then its friends brushed his cheek, cupping the flushed skin.
Still the infuriating human resisted her! His eyes had shifted to the side and he was trying to get up again!
Zim's own eyes narrowed as she shoved him back down and forced the human to stop ignoring her!
(Page break)
The moment their lips made contact, Dib's mind had gone into overdrive.
What the...! What is she doing? What am I doing letting her do it? Why was she's so shy when I instigated everything, and now so aggressive when I'm not? And why is it the more I try to ignore my emotions, the stronger they seem to get? Why couldn't have Zim continued to pretend to be a guy and date someone else? This would be so much easier if I could have the right head in control more often...
Dib's body, however, had no such qualms, and at some point during his ramblings, had already begun to respond to Zim's touch and was kissing her back! (Oh the woes of being a horny teenage male!)
His roving hands were currently sliding across the expanse of Zim's backside to the familiar contours of her waist and neck, eagerly pressing the smooth, green body closer.
She devoured his lips with greed, her long, exotic tongue demanding entrance which he gladly granted.
After probing around his mouth for a while, Zim turned away from the kiss and tilted her head, inviting the human to taste from the other appetizers on his plate.
With a mischievous, vampiric grin, Dib dived for the sweet scented flesh on her neck, suckling and nibbling on it hungrily.
Zim moaned appreciatively, the sound driving the poor boy wild!
He might have even forgotten himself entirely, had not the alien invader attempted to unzip the front of his jeans...
Suddenly remembering the hidden eyes watching them, Dib gasped and shot his arm down, clasping Zim's wrist, preventing the hand attached to it from venturing further.
Keeping his eyes averted, Dib slowly pushed them to a sitting position and then pushed up again to stand. He helped Zim to her feet, holding her hand gently but firmly in the space between them.
"I...s-sorry...Zim-"
"My fault, Dib-human." she said, causing the boy's head to snap up in surprise. Zim was apologizing? Oo;
"I thought it was what you wanted." Her head was drooped, as if she was speaking to the floor, "That it was the reason behind your odd behavior. You keep saying nothing's wrong when it's obvious something is, and I have to keep guessing at it!" Her hands clenched into fists, "I don't know what else to do..."
Dib gaped, flabbergasted. Was that a tear rolling down Zim's eye! Holy cow, Zim was crying! And it was his fault!
The boy stepped forward again, instinctively holding the alien's head to his shoulder and stroking her hair.
"Don't cry, Zim! Aw, geez! I'm sorry!" Zim stopped crying almost immediately and, not having much practice in the art of comforting, Dib didn't think it odd, "I didn't know I was affecting you like this! It's not your fault, really! I just..." he searched his heart for an honest answer, only mildly surprised when he found it, "...don't know what I'm doing."
(Page break)
Zim smiled into Dib's shoulder. So she was correct and it was the 'Shy-Damsel-in- Distress-Zim' that got the human going! She tucked that bit of knowledge away for future reference.
She tilted her head and looked with half lidded eyes into the boy's troubled ones, "It's okay, Dib." she smiled shyly at him, "We'll just save that for another time, yes?"
Feeling his cheeks grow hot, the boy managed a shaky smile, "Er...I g-guess so. Maybe...?"
Kissing him again, Zim slid her hand down Dib's arm and entwined it with his own, feeling amused when his other hand moved quickly to cover his zipper.
She turned her head, brushing her lips across his cheek and close to his ear.
"I have something I want to show you." Zim breathed huskily, "Will you come with me to see it?"
Hand still over his crotch, but now for a different reason, Dib wanted to say 'no-thanks-gotta-go' and race home to take a really cold shower; but he caught a pair of eyes in the shadows, with yellow pig tails floating near either end, staring at him.
The tails dipped forward a bit and then straightened again. A nod.
Get Zim away from the dance machine echoed Shirley's voice in his mind. We need half an hour
So much easier if he could have the right head in control more often...
Swallowing thickly, his stomach twisting with that increasingly familiar pain, Dib squeaked out his consent.
(Page break)
End Chapter 8!
(Sigh) And Chapter 6 had so many more reviews than usual! Oo; Does this mean the reviewers don't like where this is going, or are just being lazy? Meh! I said I'd finish this fic, and I WILL, DARN IT! Anyways, thanks Brittany/ChemicalIrony for proof-reading, and Kyla Minamoto, thejennamonster,Coco Tapioca, chickens, and The One What Squeaks for the reviews! And I sincerely apologize for those of you who can't stand song fics, but I really wanted to do one for this chapter! This song might not be the best to go with it, but it sounded good when I was listening to it on my boombox...AND I PLAN ON MAKING ANOTHER SONG-CHAPTER ON THE NIGHT OF THE DANCE TOO:D
