A/N: Alright. You guys rock. =3 Thank you for not sending in Gaz hate mail like the people over on DA did when I posted this chapter. _ For that, here be Chapter 24 of ZADR Orange on time this week! 8D I was going to hold it off since I have a TON of studying to do for a midterm tomorrow, but I guess I can just print out my studying material and go over it at school later today. Besides, I have tomorrow morning to study too. So hopefully it will all work out in the long run. =3 Anyways, much love to those of you who faved or added the story to your story alert lists. =3 And, as always, feedback be much appreciated! 8D So we hope you all enjoy. =3
Warnings: Extreme OOCness
Rating: M for later chapters
Disclaimer: We do not own Invader Zim, nor any of the characters from it. We do not make any money from the writing of this story.
Zim: Notgonnadie
Dib/Gaz: Me
Beta: Notgonnadie
Sitting across the room from Zim, her arms crossed, Gaz narrowed her eyes on him at the request but otherwise didn't argue this time only because Dib was finally stitched back up. So standing up from her spot, she went ahead and headed back up to the house level of the base, returning a few minutes later with the fast food looking bag in hand. Pulling out a long, chocolate doughnut, she then handed it over to Zim. "There...Happy now?" she asked.
Taking the tasty treat from her, Zim nodded his head thankfully. "Thank you, Gaz." he said before taking a large bite out of the doughnut, nomming the rest of it away quickly.
"Yeah, yeah...Whatever...Now how much longer will he be unconscious?" Gaz questioned.
"Not much longer...He has to heal..." Zim responded back in a quiet voice.
"Will it hurt at all when he finally does wake up?" Gaz then buzzed in again.
Zim nodded a little. "He'll probably be sore..." he responded back again in a still quiet voice.
Gaz then nodded back herself. "I guess that's better than being dead...I hope you're not planning on trying to get into his pants anytime soon while he's recovering from this little "procedure." she said, sending him a pointed look.
Sitting down next to Dib, Zim merely reached out a hand to stroke through his hair. "I'm not THAT desperate." he said before glaring at Gaz.
"But you admit that you're desperate." Gaz smirked.
Eyes growing wide, Zim then glared at her even more. "Why don't you go play in your room or something? Leave me alone." he said.
"If you want to be alone so much, why don't you? I already told you I wasn't leaving until Dib finally wakes up." Gaz said back.
Zim sent her an icy glare. "Well, I'm not leaving Dib." he said yet again.
Gaz merely crossed her arms across her chest. "Then I guess you're stuck with me now, aren't you?" she asked, turning away from him.
Narrowing his eyes on her even more, Zim pouted before scooting his chair closer to Dib and curling up half on the table. "Fine." he declared though not happily.
"Mmm..." Dib sounded out before shifting in his spot on the table, shivering a bit at how cold it was in the room, especially considering his shirt had been taken off for Zim to perform the procedure on him.
Having already fallen asleep next to Dib, Zim slept peacefully as no errors had occurred during the surgery and all that was left to do was wait for Dib to rest and the sleep to wear off, which was already starting to happen.
Shifting again in his spot, Dib pressed up close to the only source of heat that seemed to be near him at the moment, that source being Zim. Still shivering as he was beginning to come out of his deep sleep and enter into a lighter one, Dib groggly let out a small whine, now more sensitive to noise and movement. "Zim..." he said in a quiet voice.
His antennae picking up the light sound, Zim instantly snapped his eyes wide open. "Dib?" he exclaimed, standing up to stroke the side of Dib's face lightly. "Dib?" he then asked in a quieter voice.
Antennas twitching slightly, Dib merely continued to sleep, searching with a hand for the warmth that had just left him before shivering again. "Mmmmm..." he sounded out again.
Smiling at this, Zim crawled back onto the table and curled himself around Dib. "Sleep well, Dib." he said before letting his eyes slip partially closed.
Finding Zim's chest and curling up against it, Dib's antennae merely curled back on his head and rested comfortably against his scalp, hidden away for the most part in his hair now.
Smiling even more, finding this to be adorable, Zim hugged Dib even closer though not tighter seeing as he was probably still sore.
Clinging to his front, Dib's fingers then twitched against Zim's uniform top a bit.
Zim stroked Dib's new three-fingered hand.
Becoming completely still now, Dib continued to sleep for about another 45 minutes before finally showing the first signs of waking back up. Yawning tiredly in his sleep, he slowly peeked one of his eyes slightly open for the first time since Zim had put him to sleep.
Bringing his hand up to stroke Dib's hair now, Zim gently rubbed past his new antennas. "How are you feeling, Diblet?" he asked.
Shifting his half lidded gaze up to look at Zim for a few moments, Dib then looked away tiredly, his new antennae shivering before drooping down by the sides of his head as he curled in on himself a bit and responded back in a weak voice. "Nauseous..." his voice came out in a whisper.
Zim smiled softly at him. "As expected..." he whispered back, kissing Dib's cheek gently.
His very insides feeling as though they had been ripped out, Dib closed his eyes and groaned. Opening them slightly again after a moment to have a look around, he was then surprised to find that he could see perfectly now despite not having his glasses on. "It's really cold down here..." he stated in a still weak and quiet voice.
Zim couldn't help but blush at that. "Yeah...I had to keep it like that so you wouldn't overheat...If you want...I could carry you to the bedroom though..." he offered in his own soft voice.
Cringing slightly at the thought of being moved, Dib nonetheless nodded his head in agreement. Then, allowing the Irken to slowly help him sit up, Dib stopped himself about midway up, squeezing his eyes shut tightly and whimpering in pain. "Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow! Ooowww!" he exclaimed, returning to his side and curling in on himself again, wrapping his arms around his abdomen. "I can guarantee you I'll be sick if you try to move me from here right now..." his voice came out in a strained whisper.
Flinching back at Dib's outburst, Zim looked at him worriedly. "What hurts?" he asked in a somewhat panicky voice now.
"Everything!" Dib exclaimed, getting upset now. Pulling his knees to his chest, he then hid his face away in them. "It's like my insides are on fire!" he just wanted the pain to stop.
Trying to calm him back down now, Zim stroked the side of Dib's face gently. "It's okay, Dib...I'm sorry...You'll be in pain for a little while until you fully heal...If you want though, I have some painkillers..." he offered in a quiet voice to the other.
"I'll take anything that will make this pain go away!" Dib cut in, looking up at Zim desperately.
Nodding his head quickly, Zim jumped up off the table and returned seconds later with another syringe. "This is fast acting, Dib." he said before injecting it carefully and stepping back.
Continuing to whimper in pain for another minute or so longer, Dib suddenly felt a good portion of it finally dissipating away for the time being.
Finally calm again, Zim reached down to stroke the side of Dib's face gently. "I'm sorry...I didn't realize it would hurt so much..." he apologized in a quiet whisper.
Letting his eyes slip closed at Zim's gentle touch, Dib slowly took in a shaky breath. "B-But it will go away, right?" he asked before opening his eyes to gaze back up at Zim again.
Zim could only smile softly at him. "Of course it will. You just need to heal..." he reassured the other softly before a tap on the shoulder reminded him that Gaz was still in the room with them. "Uhh...Y-Your sister is here too..." he smiled nervously at the boy as he was afraid to turn back around and face Gaz.
Towering over Zim from behind at this point, Gaz had a deadly look on her face. "Zim, do you remember what I said I'd do to you if Dib didn't come out of this alright?" she asked, cracking her knuckles loudly.
Flinching away from her, Zim ducked himself underneath Dib's bed for protection. "B-But he is!" he exclaimed, trying to pass Dib's current state off as 'alright'.
Glancing down at Dib for a moment, Gaz then turned her glare back on Zim again. "He doesn't look to be doing all that well right now!" she said, closing in on him.
Hiding more under the bed, Zim tried to keep her from grabbing hold of him. "H-He has to recover! J-Just let him recover! He'll be okay! I-I gave him some medicine a-and...JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!" he curled up in his spot, bringing up his arms over his head to protect himself.
Meanwhile, Dib could only watch the exchange of words between Zim and his sister in silence for a few moments before letting his eyelids slip back shut to to sleep, letting out another tired yawn before curling up on the table as Gaz proceeded to attempt to turn Zim into a pretzel.
Screaming out in obvious pain, Zim struggled to escape Gaz as she managed to grab hold of him and yank him out from underneath the bed.
Holding Zim where he was, Gaz wrenched his arm behind his back painfully before giving him a small warning. "I'm going to bed for the night, but if I come down here in the morning and find that his condition has grown any worse that it already is, your arm won't be the only appendage suffering!" she threatened him before finally releasing her grip on him and shoving him to the ground to storm away and head on back upstairs.
A/N: And there you have it. Your weekly update of ZADR Orange. =3 And look! Dibbles be finally awake! 8D Too bad he's in so much pain. D8 Anyways, next chapter will be up sometime next week. Hopefully on time, though I have another HUGE paper assignment to get done then. But we'll see. =3 Now, let me take this time to respond to those of you who reviewed. =3
To Illisandria Carthain: Lol. XD Hey, she's got rights to threaten Zim in that last chapter, just as she's got rights in this chapter to try and turn him into a pretzel. XD But anyways, we're so glad to hear you enjoyed that last chapter so much! 8D It's one of our favorites. ^.^ As for your weekly question, I'd have to say yes. It's just one I've committed myself to finishing when it comes to ficafying. =3 That may involve retyping this entire story, but your guys' reviews make it worth the effort. We've had such a strong response from our fans, I don't think I COULD stop working on this story, even if I wanted to. Also, the fact that I can actually SEE the ending in sight makes me more confident that we can finish this story. And finishing such a long story would probably be one of the greatest accomplishments in my life as a writer. Most of the stories I write, I'm lucky if I can get past even just Chapter 10. However, this story, I'll tell you right now, I'm in the middle of typing out Chapter 72 on. That tells me I made them just the right length. Not too long, not too short. I feel as though updating has become more possible because of that. So that's the only real reason I would say I have such high expectations for this story. Unless you count the fact that it's also just so fun to write. ^^ Thanks again for commenting. Until next time~
To Casykirby: Lol. XD Did our story steal it? Sorry about that. *Turns to story and wags finger at it* Now, you return that face to where it belongs! *Story spits it back out at you* XD Now that you have your face back, let me say we're so glad to hear you enjoyed that last chapter so much. =3 And, yes. Gaz is indeed scary. But she's scary in a loving way. ^.^ And don't worry. She wouldn't have let Dib get killed. =3 If anybody, you should be more worried for ZIM'S life at this point. XD Anyways, thanks again for reviewing. And we hope to hear from you again soon. =3
To heartofstone15: EXACTLY! 8D Thank you for understanding that! Gaz had every right to act in the way she did! That's just her way of showing luv. At least towards Dib. XD Can't say she's loving Zim all too much at this point though. XD Anyways, can't wait to hear back from you. =3
To Vithian: Oh, good. =3 Gaz is too awesome to receive hate mail in this story. And she's got legitimate reasons for acting the way she did in that last chapter, just as she has legitimate reasons for acting the way she does in THIS chapter. As for Zim, however, it was probably because his focus was more on getting himself a snack than it was on keeping Dib alive. XD Lol. Just kidding. Hopefully he comes off better in this chapter. =3 And, yes. I agree with you. A large portion of IZ fans' hatred for Membrane comes from the Dib lovers because he's Dib's father. But I always found the relationship between the two to be quite interesting. That's why I love to play around with it so much in my other stories as well as this one. But anyways. I totally understand how you feel. I have another RP partner who feels the exact same way. Any pairing other than ZADR makes her heart hurt a little because she loves that pairing so much. Zim, I don't generally work with in other pairings. ZADR's my favorite also. But Dib. I just see him as being this character nobody else can really resist. So I LOVE pairing him with lots of different characters. There's just something about him that seems to draw them all in. That's why I like the idea of all the IZ characters fighting over him. XD It's cute. Of course, in this particular story, as you'll see much later on, we actually DO have a bit of competition over Zim. Or perhaps it's Purple. Hard to say really. It just turns into this whole big mess in the end. But you'll see what I mean by that at a later time. =3 And I agree with you 100% on the OC stories. Some people can pull them off. But rarely do people pull them off WELL. They almost ALWAYS screw with the IZ characters' personalities, knowledge, hell, even just the IZ universe in general! I think if people are going to write an OC story, then they need to abide by all the original rules of the IZ universe rather than trying to mix it up to make it work for their character. Because often times, it just results in this huge mess. -_-; And, no. No Keef. I DO love his character. But I can't think of any reason we need him in the story at this point. Like I said, maybe in the next story. Thanks again for reviewing. =3 We're glad you enjoyed it so much, and we hope you enjoy this next chapter just as much. =3
To jack spicer bug: Well, hello. =3 So nice of you to join us. 8D We're glad to hear you're enjoying the story so much. And, yes. There are still many chapters to come. As things stand at the moment, the story is updated weekly. But I can assure you, this story is far from over. =3 In fact, it's estimated to reach well over 100 chapters by the time we finish writing it. So you may want to keep an eye on this story, because we have much more to offer. =3 So we hope to hear from you again soon. =3 Thanks for reading.
To Cat Human: Well, hello, and welcome back. 8D No worries about not reading and commenting last chapter. ^^ I totally understand how that can be. Probably best your mom NOT read this story. XD It's not parent appropriate. XD Thanks so much for the awesome comment. 8D We're glad to hear you're enjoying our story so much. 8D And we hope you'll continue to enjoy reading it. =3 So until next time~
To lillybean queen of the i ocean: Lol. XD We're glad to hear it. Sorry for cutting you off though. Really, though, it's not much of a cliffy where I left you guys off in that last chapter. =3 Nothing much happens after that point. But hopefully the wait was worth it nonetheless. =3 This is one of my favorite chapters, so I would hope so. ^^ Thanks again for reading. Until next time~
To maliceofhumansacrifice: Lol. XD I remember it took me over a year to get all three Zim DVDs. Every time I ordered them, something would go wrong. First, they sent me the wrong disks, then when I tried to re-order again, they sent me nothing and kept my money. -_-; So I eventually just asked my parents to get me them for my birthday/Christmas. Well worth the wait in my opinion. Though now I can just watch it on TV since they brought it back on the Nick Toons channel. =3 So I'm happy. Anyways, we're glad to hear you enjoyed that last chapter so much. 8D And we hope you enjoy this next chapter just as much. Yes, Gaz is rather protective, but I would be too if I walked in on my brother being dissected. XD Despite how she may act in the show, I think she DOES care about Dib on some level. He IS her last living relative after all, aside from Membrane who disowned them. So it makes sense. My brother is kind of an ass too. But I just learn to live with it. Thankfully, he doesn't leave his room save to go to work each day. So I don't have to deal with him. Anyways, with that said, we hope you continue to read and review. Until next week~ =3