Ok so this chapter contains some piss at the end, don't like don't read. If you still read, well dont come crying to me. If you havent already, come follow me on Twitter Kayahatesu where I give updates on this and all my other stories! Alright enjoy!
Zim and Dib quickly got wind of what Mai was doing. It had been a week straight of her bringing Zim over to play, to get Dib on their walk to school and then walking back to Dib's house after to play some more.
They didn't really mind though, they were actually becoming something that might be considered friends
Membrane didn't really mind them coming over, he was actually glad his son finally had a friend.
What he was NOT happy about was when he'd come home to find all his papers in his office, the equations he had been working on had be solved
All these problems he had been working on for months, all had been solved in purple marker over his work with a little "You're welcome, Mai" at the bottom of the paper
Who did this woman think she was? Coming into HIS house, going through HIS lab, through HIS work and solving it for him like he was just some idiot?! It was so rude, invasive, and disrespectful to his work
And he absolutely loved it
His late wife used to do the same. Doing little things to piss him off, make him feel dumb, all just to get a reaction out of him. He had never been an emotional person, in fact he's always been very shy and withdrawn. She had been the reason he came out of his shell, and had become the passionate, quirky science lover he was now.
He had been trying to catch her in the act but he was just too busy with work, often coming back after they had already left. He sat in his office now, thinking. He pressed a button, calling his secretary
"Hey, cancel all my meetings for tomorrow"
[The next day]
As had been usual the past week, Mai walked Zim to Dib's house. Dib ran outside, chasing Zim down the street as they play fought, a usual thing now too. Mai laughed following them
The same thing after school when she went to pick them up. They walked back to Dib's house, of course running and laughing and play hitting each other in some weird form of tag. Dib stopped when he ran in, seeing his dad sitting on the couch
"Dad! What are you doing at home? Is it our yearly dinner?" he asked nervously. Zim ran by, punching him in the arm
"You're it! HAHA!" Zim laughed running up the stairs
Gaz walked in past Mai "I'm so glad we're in different schools now" She grumbled as she walked up the stairs to her room
"What? I can't take a day off once in a while?" Professor said before looking up at Mai, giving her a little wave
Mais face went red, she felt like she had been caught red handed even though she wasn't doing anything..well, right now at least. She gave a shy wave back
"Well yeah but I mean…You never have before…" Dib said. He looked back at Mai, realizing why his dad took the day off. He suddenly felt hurt. His dad had never taken a day off for him!
"DIB THING! I'M WAITING!" Zim yelled from upstairs. Dib gave his dad an angry hurt look before running off
"He'll get over it" The profesor sighed "You know how kids can be"
"Yeah…" She said watching Dib run upstairs with a concerned look
"So, I saw your notes. I'm very impressed. Where did you study?" He asked, sipping his tea
"O-Oh, uh yes! I uh…study?" She tried to rack her brain for Earth colleges. She searched using her PAK "Harvard! Yes. That's where I went!"
He laughed. Mai's face flushed. Was that not a good school?
"You know, I'd expect the woman who's been critiquing MY work to be a little more confident. No need to be nervous, just trying to get to know the mother of my son's best friend. Would you like some tea?"
"Oh uh, yeah…That sounds great" She smiled, still really flustered. He wasn't mad? She followed him into the kitchen and sat at the table. He brought her over a cup of tea
"Thank you.." He sat next to her
"Mhm…So, Harvard? Me too. Nice to meet someone educated for once" He chuckled "So, you must have a great job then" He asked smoothly
Mai smiled. Her plan was working. "Oh no, I stopped work because of Zim's uh…condition. Lots of doctor appointments you know"
"I see. Well, I'd love to have your amazing mind on my team. I could be flexible on the hours for those appointments, if you'd be interested?"
"Really? Oh that would be amazing! I'd love to" She smiled "When can I start?"
"Tomorrow morning. Sounds good?
"Y-Yes! I'll be here!" She smiled, trying to drink the tea when it burned. She put it down
The loud stomping of the boys as they ran down the stairs made them both look over
"Hey dad! Zim and I are gonna go hunt ghosts in the old abandoned mall!" Dib said pulling Zim along
"Ok son, that's great" He waved him off. Dib went to run out the door but Mai stood up
"Wait! No youre not, at least not Zim. It doesn't sound safe" She put her hands on her hips
They both whined
"Mother Tallest, Zim just wants to see the invisible people Dib is obsessed with! How can invisible humans be dangerous?" Zim said with some sass as usual
She looked at Membrane and went over to Zim bending down so she could talk quietly to him
"Zim, call me mom. That is the human word for me ok?" She whispered to him
"Mom? But you are Zim's MT, you're not mom-"
"Shhh, just call me mom, mother, momma, either of those but not Mother Tallest ok? Not in front of humans at least" Zim made a little thinking face
"Hmmm…Momma? Zim likes that one. Zim will call you that. BUT I wanna see the invisible humans with the Dib" She gave him a look thinking for a bit
"Mnnnh….No" She decided. The professor walked over
"You know Dib does this all the time and he's always fine. I know Zim has medical issues but it wouldn't hurt to run around. It's what boys do-" He tried. He honestly just wanted to talk to Mai uninterrupted for a bit longer
"No, Zim is not responsible enough to be out on his own without an adult."
"YES ZIM IS! AND I WANNA GO TO THE SPOOKY PLACE WITH THE INVISIBLE HUMANS!" Zim screamed, stomping his foot
"You know, maybe we should get home. It's already late-"
"NOOOOOOO" He screamed, grabbing the hem of her dress and pulling it "NO! ZIM. WANTS. TO. GO!" He screeched having what could only be described as a tantrum. She picks him up as he freaks out more, scratching and thrashing in her arms. She gave the professor an apologetic look
"I'm sorry, I better get him home uh…What was your name?" She felt so stupid not even knowing his name yet
Now was the professor's time to be flustered "O-Oh, yes im sorry, Where are my manners? Haha…It's James. James Membrane" He was glad he had the collar of his coat to cover his face cause he was definitely blushing right now
He wanted more of that flustered, 'I'm stupid' feeling he had long forgotten over the years
"Well James, see you tomorrow. Have a good night" She smiled, leaving the house and taking Zim home
When they got home Mai was burnt out. Zim had been screaming and thrashing the whole walk home so as soon as she got inside she put him on the couch and walked off to get ready for bed
"ZIM HATES YOU! ZIM JUST WANTED TO DO THE THING! YOU ARE NOT THE BOSS OF ZIM!" He yelled. Mai's head pounded. This was by far the most annoying smeet she had ever been assigned
"Zim, please be quiet. My head hurts" She said softly
"Yes! Suffer in pain! You deserve pain for ruining Zims mission!" He continued to yell. Mai sighed and walked back out, picking him up and holding him against her chest again. She carried him to his room and sat on his bed, rocking him in her arms as she shushed him
Of course he fought, kicking and flailing around. Mai started singing an old Irken lullaby, bouncing him in her arms as she rocks him
He quickly calmed after that. Why was that song so familiar? He didn't remember where he had heard it, but it filled him with a sense of calm. He started purring
"W-WHAT IS THAT!" He flails around freaking out
"Shhhh, you're ok. You've never purred before? It is very normal for smeets when they are content or happy…" She realized he must have left the smeetery so young that he didn't even remember what it meant to be one…no wonder he was so damaged
"Oh…" He pushed his face back into her chest to hide his face. She smiled
"Are you calm now?" She asked
"Mhm…"
"Ok, let's get you some sleep clothes and a bottle and go to sleep"
He looked up at her confused. "Do you have special clothes for sleeping?"
She realized, Invaders are taught to always be ready for battle and never sleep. No wonder he was so short! None of the bottles which was mostly liquid sugar but also had necessary nutrients for growth, and definitely not enough sleep which is what gave them time to grow
"We will go shopping for something more comfortable to sleep in tomorrow" She again grabbed a bottle out of her pak and fed it to him, making him fall asleep quickly. She laid him on the bed and went to eat and take a bath herself before crawling into bed with him. He quickly clung to her, purring loudly
[The Next Day]
Zim woke up bright and early, considering he wasn't used to sleeping at all, and went to sneak into his lab to work on his laser gun thing
He hasn't been able to come down here since Mai came and just wanted to work on something, even if he couldnt use it. Engineering was his biggest passion after all
He got down and was about to get to work when he looked up at the big TV screen. His computer. He remembered Mai had said he could ask the tallest himself if they had really sent her here. She gave him permission! And giving them a report couldn't hurt
"Computer, call the tallest"
"Yes sirrrrr" The computer said sarcastically. Zim rung his hands nervously. He didn't know why he was nervous
"Zim! How's our favorite invader doing?" Red had answered with a forced smile on his face. No way, was he dreaming? Just hearing that could let him die happy now
"Zim is wonderful, my tallest" He said, a big dopey smile on his face. A purr erupted from his throat and his antenna vibrated with glee. He had forgotten entirely what he wanted to talk about
"That's great…uh, where's Mai?" Red asked a little mad she left Zim alone
"O-Oh, she's asleep. Zim snuck down to his lab and thought he would call-" He was still smiling brightly
"Oh, that's nice, Zim. Hey, you're eventually coming back to Irk and I know you're gonna wanna brag about being the…the best invader, but do you think you can promise me to keep your mission a secret? And that little uh, vacation to Foodcourtia between us as well?" Red asked, trying so hard to be nice if just to save himself the potential of getting in trouble by the control brains
"Anything for you my tallest Zim will gladly do! Zim knows his mission on Earth was top secret so don't worry, Zims lips are sealed!" He said proudly
Why did hearing Zim be more happy and obedient than usual make him feel….something. Zims reactions were actually kinda cute. Purple floated over, just coming back from the cafeteria with a drink in hand
"That's great, Zim. It's very important that you keep it between us. Well listen to Mai ok?"
"Yes of course Zim has been!"
"Good job, keep it up. We are just so excited to see you when you get back. Anyways we need to go, tallest business. Go back to Mai. She's probably looking for you, ok?"
"Yes, my tallest Zim will go back right now!" He saluted them with the same giant grin. As soon as the call was over he ran back to the elevator going up to the house level and jumping back in bed, waking Mai up
"Zim?" She rubbed her eyes "What are you doing?" She looked over at him. The little shit pretended to be asleep
"Hm?" He opened his eyes acting like he was just waking up "Zim does nothing.."
"Oh, I thought I felt you jump on the bed. Well, let's get up" She sat up and stretched, looking over at him. He was just laying face down trying to conceal the huge smile he still had from his talk with Red. She poked him in his side
"AH! Hey! Don't do that!" He jumped up on the bed covering himself
"Oh why, did that tickle?" She smiled before poking him in the belly
"EE! N-NO!" Mai made an evil smile before attacking him with an onslaught of tickles
"EHEHEHE! S-STAHAHAPPP!" He giggled and flailed around, rolling on the bed trying to get away but she kept dragging him back to tickle him some more
"HAHA! W-WAIT! AHA! I-iMMA-" His eyes went huge as he felt his pants grow wet
Mai gasped, scooping him up and running him to the bathroom but the damage was already done
"Oh sweetie I'm so sorry! Lemme get you cleaned up-" She said trying to pull his clothes off
"No! I Hate you! Don't touch Zim! You make Zim weak and sticky and gross! This is your fault!" He yelled at her, his eyes tearing up "Zim had such a nice talk with his Tallest and then you ruin Zims mood!"
"Wait you…I KNEW I felt you jump on the bed! You went into the lab didnt you?!" She said getting an angry face
Zim realized his mistake and jumped up, holding his arms up "Nothing! Zim said nothing! Clean Zim!" She gave him a glare but still undressed him, placing him in the tub to rinse him off quickly
"You're not off the hook. You know you're not allowed down there" She scolded
"Well you made Zim wet himself!"
"That's different, that was an accident. Here, you're good" She finished rubbing him down with gel quickly and pulled him out, hurriedly getting him ready. For once Zim just let her dress him without fighting since he knew he was already in trouble. She grabbed him hurrying out the door. They were already gonna be late but it would be much faster to carry him
She really hoped Membrane would understand
