A/N: Ahh...Such a nice feeling getting to take my time posting this chapter rather than rushing through the process in order not to be late for school. Yes...I do oh so love my breaks from school. Especially Thanksgiving Break. One of my favorite holidays because the food is always awesome and it's just that much more of a reminder that the school semester is almost over. (Sighs happily) Anyways, for those of you who have been waiting oh so patiently, here be Chapter 27 of ZADR Orange. Be thankful for it. XD Because we sure are thankful for all your guys' faves and reviews. Oh, and we're thankful for those of you who added the story to your story alert lists, of course. ^^ So, without further ado, here be the next chapter already. =3 You guys are great. Just remember, feedback be much appreciated. 8D So Happy Thanksgiving to you all! 8D Oh! And you guys should all go wish NGD a Happy Birthday as well. =3 Her birthday was this past Saturday. So send much love to her in your reviews this week! X3
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: Me
Beta: Notgonnadie
A worried look coming to Zim's face at Dib's words, the Irken could only reach out a hand to press against one of the boy's cheeks gently. "Just close your eyes and rest, Dib." he instructed the other before returning back to his work.
Merely nodding his head and closing his eyes, Dib pressed himself even closer to Zim for comfort.
Smiling at this, Zim leaned down to kiss him lightly before pulling away, his smile never leaving his face. "Get well soon, Dibbers." he said in a soft voice.
Twitching his antennae forward a bit at the light kiss, Dib grazed them lightly against Zim's skin.
The Irken laughed. "Be careful with those, Dib. They're very sensitive after all." he warned the other.
Peeking his eyes open to peer up at Zim, Dib then attempted to look up at his own antennae. "I think they have a mind of their own..." he whispered to the other quietly as his antennae continued to twitch all about the place.
Laughing even more, Zim just about fell over at that statement. "No, they are just responding to your surroundings and feelings, Dib." he explained, knowing it would take his human hybrid a while to get used to them.
Having by now reached up a hand to touch them, Dib stopped himself before looking back at Zim. "Do yours do that too then?" he asked the other curiously.
Nodding his head in response, Zim twitched his own antennae forward to almost meet Dib's. "But I have more control than you do...I can force them to stay pressed against my head when I need to wear my disguise." he said before showing the other by slicking them back momentarily.
"Oh...Does that mean I can't go out in public yet?" Dib then asked, concerned he wouldn't be able to hold his antennae down for quite that long yet.
Zim merely smiled however. "You have hair, Dib. Your antennae are fine no matter what they do. They just look like part of your hair unless you actually know what they are." he assured the other in a purr before nuzzling Dib's soft hair. "You have a lot of benefits to being a hybrid...Though I think you'd heal faster...and maybe feel better if you had a PAK...But that's really all up to you." he said with a shrug.
"A PAK?" Dib questioned.
Nodding his head, Zim reached back to touch his own PAK. "Yeah...But I wouldn't say you need one...But if you wanted to use one to heal faster..." he began to say letting his sentence trail off before shaking his head. "But it could screw with your personality..." he seemed to be fighting with himself over whether it would be a good idea or not as he reasoned out all the pros and cons.
"M-My personality? L-Like how? Is YOUR personality different without yours then?" Dib asked, sending Zim a slightly confused look.
Blushing at Dib's question, Zim looked away to the side. "Well...I-I don't really know...I've had my PAK since birth...And it's kind of...Well, it's really defective...So...I have no idea..." he admitted, never having wanted to test that theory to find out.
Facial expression only growing even more confused, Dib could only tilt his head to one side. "It's d-defective? Defective how? Like does it have a mind of its own too? O-Or is it something else?" he asked, trying to understand what the other was telling him.
Shaking his head, Zim couldn't help but sigh. "My PAK...doesn't really control my emotions and personality well...Thanks to it...I find myself often coming up with horrible plans that have no POSSIBLE chance of ever working...But I do them anyways because it tells me they will work...It kind of...screws with my logic, I guess...Which is why you probably shouldn't trust me as much as you do..." he said, his entire body drooping as he bowed his head in defeat somewhat.
"But I do...I can't explain why I do, but so far, you've given me no reason NOT to trust you." Dib reasoned back to him.
Looking away, Zim could only sigh again. "Don't get too used to it...I've made several bad choices already...Doing this to you was the worst one..." he said, now regretting that he had gone through with the procedure.
Staring up at Zim, Dib could only reach up a hand to take one of Zim's own. "Nonsense...I told you to do it...I wanted you to do it...And even though it may not seem like it right now, I at least mentally prepared myself for any pain that resulted from it..." he said, squeezing Zim's hand lightly.
Smiling back down at Dib sadly, Zim squeezed back Dib's hand lightly as well. "You're just saying that, Dib." he said before leaning in to kiss him.
A somewhat hurt look coming to his face at those words, however, Dib pulled away from the kiss instantly. "No, I'm not! I mean it! Every word of it! So please just stop blaming yourself! This is my fault and nobody else's! And even if I had known in advance how much this was going to hurt afterwords, I still would have gone through with it!" he seemed to explode on the other angrily now, upset that Zim was regretting this.
Hanging his head in regret, Zim merely dropped his gaze back down to the ground. "But it was me who gave you the idea in the first place..." he argued back.
"And you think I regret that you told me? Zim, you've saved me...You've saved me from ever having to turn out like my dad..." Dib's voice fell down to a whisper again as he dropped his own gaze away.
Shaking his head at those words, Zim looked back up at him more seriously now. "I put you in serious danger...and almost got us both killed because of it..." he said, deciding then that he would never put Dib through something like that again.
Face falling at Zim's words, Dib could only shake his head in disagreement. "No...No, don't say that...Please...Please don't regret any of this...Not when you know this is what I wanted...Please..." he pleaded with the other, bringing Zim's hand to his cheek and nuzzling it gently. "How can you expect me to trust you when you won't even trust yourself anymore?" he asked, on the verge of an emotional breakdown.
Unable to comprehend what Dib was saying to him, stuck in his own remorseful loop, Zim merely shook his head again. "Y-You never lost your home. I MADE you loose your home!" he said, trying to make the other understand why he couldn't be trusted.
"No, you didn't! How can I make you understand that none of this is your fault? I lost my home long before you even came into my life! My home stopped being home the second my mother died! It has nothing to do with you!" he screamed back at the other, thoroughly upset now.
Realizing this, Zim sighed, refusing to make eye contact with the boy. "You need to relax, Dib...You need to get better..." he changed the subject quickly, knowing this wasn't the time or place to be discussing this.
But Dib merely shook his head, having by now started sobbing. "How can I relax when you won't even believe me about any of this?" he exclaimed, scooting away in the tub, his back pressing up against the opposite end of it as he began to panic. "It's like I just walked into the same situation I was in when I was with my dad still!" he said, looking about the place wild eyed as his breathing began to become uneven.
A horrified look coming to Zim's face at those words, Zim looked back up at the cowering hybrid. "Wh-What do you mean by that?" he exclaimed, feeling a bit offended now.
Just staring back at Zim with wide, fearful eyes, Dib shook his head as he trembled where he sat. "I-I can't stay here...I can't stay here!" he told himself before shoving Zim aside without warning and jumping out of the tub in a panic, managing to pull his pants back on before making a break for the elevator. He didn't want to be trapped in another situation like the one he had just gotten out of.
Surprised by the sudden shove, Zim jumped back up to his feet in a hurry, scared now of what Dib was planning on doing. "Dib? Wait!" he chased after the hybrid, all the while yelling at himself on the inside. "Wh-What have I done...?" he asked himself, his eyes watering up now.
Reaching the elevator before Zim and pressing a button to make it take him up to the house level of the base, Dib turned just in time to see Zim one last time before the elevator doors closed on the other bringing Dib up to the level he wanted to be on where he swiftly making a dash for the front door, just wanting to get away from there.
Having just missed the elevator, and Dib, Zim growled before commanding the computer to stop Dib. Long metallic arms descending from the ceiling, the computer shot them out at Dib before he could reach the door and pinned the hybrid to the wall, allowing Zim time to run upstairs to catch him.
"You AND your sister are staying HERE, Dib!" he said, glaring at Dib as he walked up closer to the struggling boy and pulled out an odd scanning device from his PAK. Then, holding it up to himself, he proceeded to scan himself then Dib afterwords.
"I will be the one leaving..." he said, pressing a button on the scanner, a loud beep sounding throughout the house. "I've just set you up as the sole owner of all of my technology...I am the intruder now...If you hate me so much, I won't bother you again." he said before dropping the device by Dib's feet and turning on his heel to walk swiftly out of the base before the computer let Dib go.
His entire body shaking violently now as he completely broke down, Dib could only sink to the ground and watch as Zim turned to leave the house. "You really are just like him!" he screamed at the Irken before pulling his knees to his chest and burying his face in his arms.
Tears finally seeping out of his eyes and down his face, Zim merely squeezed his eyes tightly shut. "I'm not like him, Dib...I won't let you live on the streets. I want you to be happy...And if that means I need to be taken out of the picture...I will leave..." he said in a suddenly very calm voice as he kept his back to him.
"We don't need your help if you plan on just leaving us! Even if you turn over control to us, we won't stay here if you leave!" Dib then exploded on him again.
Sobbing to himself a little, unable to control himself any longer, Zim turned back on Dib to yell. "WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT FROM ME?" he demanded, feeling as though his heart had just been ripped out and stomped on.
Falling silent at Zim's yelling, Dib dropped his gaze to the ground. "Nothing...All we want is to be somewhere where we're not going to be a burden on anybody...We don't want to be somewhere where we're not wanted..." he said, close to breaking down again.
Tears still leaking down his cheeks, Zim didn't understand Dib's words at all. "But you ARE wanted here! I don't want you to leave! Th-That's why I am..." he said, trying to get what he was saying across to Dib.
"...Which is why we can't stay here...Whether you leave or kick us out, you want to leave us...It doesn't matter what your reason for leaving us is...It doesn't change the fact that you have a reason for wanting to...You're leaving because we're a burden on you! If you really want me to be happy, then why don't you go ahead and just go through with killing me already? You wanted to for years after all!" Dib glared back at the Irken, just wanting to end this cycle before it began again.
Despite what the Irken said, he knew it was a burden on the other to keep them around, Zim's regret over everything he had done since they had moved in more than enough proof of that.
A/N: And there you have it. Your weekly update of ZADR Orange. =3 For those of you who were waiting for that drama to kick back in, there it be for you. =3 And even more drama shall follow in the next chapter, which should be posted by Tuesday. So you should all be looking forward to that. But until then, we hope you guys enjoy this quick Thanksgiving Day update. Until next time~ 8D Now let me take this time to respond to those of you who reviewed. =3
To Casykirby: Yep. 78, actually now that another week has gone by. And even more than that if I weren't so lazy getting chapters converted from script to narrative. But oh well. That's still so far from where you guys are in reading, it doesn't really matter. The point is, it's a LONG story. Hell, 78 chapters into this story, I'll still be telling you people you've barely made a dent in the actual story. That is, if you guys all stay with us for that long. But we'll see. Anyways, as for your question, yes, Notgonnadie is an artist. We're both artists. Only difference is that she's actually good at what she does. I'm very...eh...not good, unless I spend weeks at a time on one piece. She's able to throw her pieces together rather quickly though. One of the best artists I've met. Her work is all over the internet if you just look for it. Lots of IZ art, the majority of it being for different comics she makes. Her story lines are awesome too. Some of the most original work you'll find out there. I'd say you could find her over on DA, but she left that site a few months back. People on DA can be such jerks. _ There are some links to her work in my profile, mainly of pictures pertaining to this story, though I haven't checked to see whether those links still work or not. She may have taken them down when she left DA. I'm not quite sure. I haven't been online much there these past few months either and therefore, haven't really checked. Perhaps later tonight I'll post a few links to websites I know she's currently active on though. Her work really is worth giving a look. Eh...I wouldn't say you're disturbing people. Compared to some of the comments we get for this story, yours are pretty normal. Your reaction isn't too much different from everybody else reading this story. So don't worry about it. And, yes. Your comment did come in before Cat Human this week. XD Your comment came in before EVERYBODY'S this week. As such, I'm replying to you first. We're glad to hear you're enjoying the story so much, as always. And I wouldn't say Gaz was SICKENED by the idea of bathing Dib. More like respecting the fact that Dib probably wouldn't want her seeing him naked. She's only really disgusted at the idea of what he must look like having alien genatalia now. Who KNOWS what Dib might have gained with that procedure. XD Anyways, here be the next new chapter. So we hope you enjoy and have a Happy Thanksgiving Day. =3
To Watermelondrea: Lol. XD Yesh! Teh cuddles in this story be full of win. X3 Though NGD and I DO have a habit of breaking up those moments rather frequently, as we did in this chapter. XD So best you enjoy them when they come. But anyways, we're glad to hear you found that last chapter to be so cute. It's one of our favorites for a reason. XD Here be the next update though. Hope you enjoy just as much. =3
To Sapcoat: Lol. Awwwz...Don't worry about it. =3 We understand that you guys have all got lives outside of reading this story. So don't worry too much about not reviewing every chapter. We're just glad to have you back again. =3 And we look forward to hearing from you again come future chapters. =3 So thank you for taking the time to write us. Until next time~!
To Vithian: Lol. XD Well, we're glad then. Hopefully this update will make you feel just as warm and fuzzy as it always does. And thank you so much for the kind words. 8D We're really happy to hear we're managing to pull off the unexpected in this story for you. =3 It's hard work but always worth the time put into it. And quite satisfying when we know we've pulled off a pre-planned scene exactly as we planned it. I agree with you. I LOVE taking baths. They're so warm and soothing. Unfortunately, I don't get to take too many because my mom thinks their a waste of water. DX I guess I'll just have to settle for showers then. Oh well. As for DADR, if you just become aware of the fact that it's out there and is fairly popular, you'll start seeing it everywhere. XD You just have to be conscious of it. The same thing happens with other pairings as well. If you're conscious of them, you'll start seeing more of them. In fact, I think that's true for ALL pairings. Even ZADR, which is so popular to begin with, you have to be conscious of before you realize how popular it really is. Hell, I know lots of people who never would have thought of that pairing beforehand had I not mentioned it to them. That's another reason why OC stories rarely work. People really have to be in tune with the IZ universe and its original pairings before they can start just throwing in random OCs. The same goes for ALL fandoms. I used to read lots of Sonic the Hedgehog stories. Some OC stories worked, others didn't. It just depended on whether the writers did their homework on the fandom before starting. NGD and I would never pair an OC with an original character though. Perhaps two crossover characters (NGD's favorite pairing is the "Other ZADR": Zim and Danny from Danny Phantom), but never just a random OC. The OCs we plant in this story play major roles but don't take away from Zim or Dib in the least. So thanks for the awesome review. =3 And we can't wait to hear from you again next chapter. =3
To Cat Human: In response to both of your reviews, first of all, we don't end the chapters puposefully. I have a measuring system to keep them all relatively the same length. So any cliff hangers that occur are for the sake of not having uneven chapters. The only chapters I try to make exceptions for are the adult ones since I would never think to end a chapter in the middle of a sex scene. Zim wouldn't do anything to Dib though while he's obviously already hurting. Mainly because of the fact that he's already the reason Dib's hurting in the first place. But as you'll see in this chapter, Dib doesn't make things all too easy on himself either. So it's kind of hard to initiate a sex scene when he's already hysterical. That's why we have to pull you guys along until the actually sex scene. If you got bored too early on into this story, you'd never reach that Chapter 34. XD But as for what you heard from CasyKirby, you guys need to pay better attention to what I say on here. I NEVER said we were going to stop posting here. What I said was that we're not going to post CHAPTER 34 here. Chapters 35, 36, 37, etc. will all be posted here. They do not contain sex scenes. Chapter 34 HAS to be posted on another site because it DOES contain a sex scene. And like I've been saying, when the time comes, I will post a link to that chapter in my profile. But no earlier because as of yet we have not reached that point in the story on here. So be patient and just enjoy the updates as they come. Like today's update. =3
To Illisandria Carthain: Lol. XD Yes, but shhh...Don't give anything away. Just enjoy taking in what you didn't notice the first time around. =3 Because it's so nice catching on to those sorts of things through a second reading. XD As for your question this week, after reading through the summaries you gave me, I'd have to say I could probably be persuaded to read your sequel, but the first story, probably not. Even though they're combined, that plot line in the first one is, like I told Vithian, something I try to avoid in OC stories. The second story, however, sounds more promising as an OC story. It's a story that I can see as having OC's that don't interfere too much with the original IZ plotline or its characters. And it sounds as though the OC's would be taking on side roles that would be necessary to progress the plot rather than major roles that interfere. So much love to you for keep up with our story. (Huggles) And we hope you have a Happy Thanksgiving today. 8D
To lillybean queen of the i ocean: Lol. XD We're glad to hear it, as always. Have a Happy Thanksgiving. 8D Here be a new chapter for you to be thankful for. =3
To heartofstone15: Lol. XD Yes, I do have a habit of overusing smilies. =3 But they're the best way one can get their emotions across to people over the internet. =3 And yes, Membrane does kind of suck, for now at least. But do cut him SOME slack. He's not the worst character in this story, as you'll see later on. NGD and I actually do both like his character overall. But poor Zimmeh and Dibbeh definitely suffer the most in this story. We torment them so much. XD And to think, you guys have barely even seen the extent of our tormenting them. This is only just the very beginning. Things are bound to get MUCH worse as you continue reading. XD Though we do cut them some slack at certain points throughout the story. So don't worry. =3 We're not completely heartless. Tormenting them is just our way of keeping this story interesting for you guys. So we hope you enjoy the chapters to come and have a truly Happy Thanksgiving Day. =3
To maliceofhumansacrifice: Oh, no problem at all. =3 We're not trying to rush anyone when it comes to reviewing this story. So please do take your time. =3 There are more important things that commenting. Like your little brother. =3 Sounds like quite an eventful day you had there. Though I wouldn't go around kicking police officers' asses. ^^; That could put YOU in very bad position at the end of the day. But I'm glad to hear it was nothing serious. =3 And yes, Gaz can be quite funny at times in this story. And I think she enjoys finding ways to tease Zim. XD I really would like to see how Zim would react on the show, but unfortunately, I highly doubt such a scene would ever actually take place in the show. XD It'd be awesome if it did though. It certainly would add to the ZADRy goodness of the IZ universe. XD
To OneeDomo: Well, hello there. 8D So nice of you to join us. We're really happy to hear you're enjoying our story so much. 8D And don't worry. Dibbeh will recover soon enough. XD He may just be sore for the next several chapters, but at least he's somewhat up on his feet now, as you can see in this chapter. And Chapter 34 be approaching slowly but surely. =3 I'll have a link to it in my profile later on in the story. So you may want to keep an eye open for it as this story progresses. As for what Gaz meant when she said she was gay, you'll see soon enough who she's gay for. I'm not saying any names yet since I don't want to ruin it for anybody. But it's pretty obvious given I state the pairings in the summery of this story. XD And the chapters for this story are already written out LONG before we actually post. We could have posted 78 chapters or more by now had we really wanted to. But I don't have all the time in the world to post several chapters at a time. That's why this story is only updated weekly. Because I have a life outside of updating this story. So do be patient. =3 This story WILL be updated regularly. The only reason it's late this week is because I wanted to post it as a Thanksgiving special. Otherwise, it's usually updated on Tuesdays. So feel free to check back with us then. =3 And we shall do our best to keep this story as interesting as possible for you people. So we hope you enjoy this Thanksgiving update and hope to hear back from you again really soon. =3 Thanks for the awesome review. Until next time~
AND HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU ALL!~~~