ZADR Orange Chapter 131

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

Enjoy. =3

Not so sure he believed Zim when he said something good might be right around the corner, Dib's antennae could only droop at the other's words. "...I doubt that...That hasn't been the case for the past 16 years of my life...Even when I think things might get better, they always just go from bad to worse...Perhaps it's not my family that's cursed but just me..." he sighed, hugging himself as he broke down a bit. "I don't want to think that things will get worse for us in any way, b-but it's just so hard when that's been the story of my life for every year since the time I was born..." he shuddered, squeezing his eyes tightly shut.

Sighing, Zim kissed him. "Come on, Dib. We can just go shopping some other day. I think we should go home..." he said, needless to say that the majority of the day hadn't gone over quite so well.

"And what makes you think another day will be better for shopping than today?!" Dib suddenly yelled at Zim, falling silent only after he saw the look that came to Zim's face. "...I'm sorry..." he blinked his eyes partially closed as he looked away. "...I want to finish shopping before we go though...I want to have what we need for the smeets ready by the time they get here..." he said, very little emotion left in his voice now as he refused to meet Zim's gaze.

Looking away, Zim headed for the door, his head bowed. "Let's go then..." he said, his own voice sounding just as emotionless.

Just as Zim was leaving, Dib finally looked back up. "Zim..." he sighed to himself. "...I'm sorry..." he said under his breath before following Zim to the door. They had forgotten about warning Gaz about the posters that had been put up, but Dib figured she could take care of herself anyways.

Waiting for Dib at the door, Zim then led him to the store across from the game shop. "So, what are we getting?" he asked, refusing to make eye contact with the hybrid.

His antennae drooping, Dib remained silent for several long moments before bringing his gaze up to meet Zim's. "...I don't even know..." he shook his head slowly. He had been hoping Rose could help them with this part. "I-I'm sorry...I guess I'm not very good at this either..." he said, feeling useless.

Sighing heavily, Zim then tugged at his wig in frustration. "Not even an idea?" he said, having no idea what they needed himself.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay?! I'm sorry for yelling at you back there! I'm sorry for being so bad at this! I'm sorry I can't have a more positive outlook on life! And while I'm at it, I might as well say I'm sorry for my very existence!"

Knowing this wasn't going well, Zim flinched.

Seeing Zim flinch away from him, Dib felt his knees shaking beneath him before giving out, causing him to sink to the floor in defeat, his voice dropping to a whisper now. "...I'm sorry I can't control my emotions better..." he said, antennae falling completely limp against his head.

"I-It's not your fault...It's just hormones..."

Glancing up at Zim for a moment, Dib then dropped his eyes away again, pulling his knees to his chest and wilting. "...The smeets are causing my hormones to go wild...But that's only because they're upset with me...Even when they're not even born yet, I'm already doing a crappy job taking care of them..." he said in a quiet voice as he sat in the middle of the crowded mall.

"What? Nooo. That's not true, Dib..." Zim crouched down and hugged him close. "You're doing the best you can." he said, understanding how difficult this all was for him.

"Well, my best isn't that great..." Dib sighed before leaning in to Zim. "I think they get upset because of how much I hurt their daddy...You want only the best for us but still I'm not happy...I don't know what's wrong with me!" he hid his face in his hands.

"You're confused. It's natural, Dib...It'll be okay..."

"I hope so...Because I want to be happy...I really do...I want to be able to smile again and laugh and just not worry about everything all the time...And I want us to be happy...You, me, our smeets, OUR FAMILY...Do you think that will ever be possible with me being like this...?"

Smiling, Zim nodded. "Yes, Dib, and it will happen too." he said confidently.

After a moment, Dib smiled back. "Alright then...If you say so, I'll believe it..." he said before slumping up against Zim tiredly. "...And I'll do everything in my power to make it happen...Because that's a dream worth working towards..." he spoke softly into the other's chest.

Holding him close again, Zim nodded.

After a few more moments of silence, Dib blinked his eyes partially open. "Can we shop around for the smeets now? I want to pick out some things for them." he said, lifting his head to look up at Zim.

Zim nodded. "Sure. Come on." he took the hybrid by the hand and helped him back to his feet.

Allowing Zim to help him back up so they could start checking out things in the store, Dib clung tightly to Zim's arm, not wanting to pull away anytime soon. "This place is huge...And there are still so many things we need to get...I don't even know where to start." he said, having a look around as they entered the store.

"Well, we have clothes...How about bottles?"

"Okay..." Dib followed behind Zim until they had found the bottles, which were in an area that had other baby products such as pacifiers and teething rings. "Do you think they'll need any of these?" he asked, picking up one of the teething rings.

Zim nodded. "Definitely. Irken smeets need to teeth for a while." he said, trying to pull up all the information he knew about smeets already.

"Alright then." Dib picked out three differently colored pacifiers and teething rings for each, two of which matched his and Zim's eye colors and at least one that was a purple color, same as Zim's ship and base. "Will these do?" he then asked, holding up the six items.

Grinning, Zim nodded approvingly. "Yeah, those look good." he said, liking the color choices.

"Did you pick out some bottles for them yet?" Dib then asked, turning to look through a few other things, eyes lighting up a bit when he came across some rattles also. "Oh! How about these?! Do you think they'd like these?" he took up one of them and rattled it in front of Zim.

Eyes widening, Zim stared at it as Dib moved it around.

"Weeell?" Dib smiled wide at Zim as he continued to rattle it, amused.

Eyes never leaving the rattle, Zim's tongue soon lolled out. It was like he was hypnotized.

"Zim?" Dib tilted his head to the side confused, glancing at the rattle himself before taking it away to hide behind his back and snapping his fingers in front of Zim's face. "Zim, are you alright?" he asked, trying to get the other's attention again.

"Huh? What?" Zim pouted, looking for the rattle and whining a little.

"I was asking you whether you think we should get them some rattles." Dib said, pulling it from behind his back to hold in front of Zim again, though this time not rattling it. "Though I suppose if they have any reaction similar to yours, it could be used to our advantage whenever they get fussy." he said, deciding for himself.

Zim blushed at those words. "Yeah...We should get some." he said, his eyes once again glued on the rattle.

Smirking at the look on Zim's face, Dib turned to pick out two others. "I think I better carry them though." he said before turning back to face Zim so he could hold up one of the rattles and shake it in front of him, luring him away from that area after Zim had picked out some bottles for the smeets. "Now, what else do we need?" he asked, looking away momentarily to think.

"Hmm?" Zim continued staring at the rattle, already making plans to steal it eventually.

A/N: And there you have it for Chapter 131. =3 Until next time~