Driver gave Zim a soft, quick peck on the mouth.
Then, she placed a hand on his left cheek and went in for more: his lips parted under hers, and the first thing she noticed was that they weren't much different at all from the ones of a human, except for their exceptional thinness.
She gently kissed his lips, one, two, three times, but he wasn't really kissing her back, and his body felt really stiff under her hands.
She pulled away from him and saw a look of complete, utter shock on his face: his eyes were wide open, his mouth agape, his antennae raised up straight on his head, and his whole body as rigid as a statue.
She had figured he must have been somewhat inexperienced with girls, but this reaction was just way too excessive.
"Hah, uhm-" she chuckled nervously, "Is something wrong?" she asked him.
Zim didn't seem to hear her.
After a few seconds of simply staring at her, he asked, in an incredulous tone:
"... what was that?"
Her heart sank from both disappointment and shame: so she had... misread the mood the whole time?
She pulled her hands away from him. With her usual eloquence mostly compromised by the alcohol, she simply replied, in a guilt-ridden voice:
"I-It was a kiss"
"... why... did you kiss me?" he slowly, quietly asked.
"Because... I like you" she murmured.
"... you... like me?" he asked, staring straight into her eyes, like what she'd said couldn't possibly be true.
"I-I thought you liked me too...!" she helplessly stammered.
Zim didn't answer, but simply looked down, poking at his lips with his fingers, as if the sensation of the kiss was still lingering on them. His expression was not of shock alone now: he seemed to be thoughtful, and somewhat conflicted about whatever he was feeling at the moment, his expression focused and frowning, not unlike what he had looked like when had thought about drinking alcohol for the first time.
His enigmatic expression further fueled her discomfort, so much that she was now sweating from the nervousness: she could practically feel the weight of the awkward air now lingering between them.
Great. It was all going so good, and you went and ruined the whole night for you both! You idiot! she thought to herself.
She turned away, unable to look at him: all she wanted right now was to escape that embarrassing atmosphere as quickly as possible.
"Look, I am very, very sorry I made you uncomfortable. I-It was a mistake. I will-" she sharply stood up from her seat, "I will just go pay and you won't have to see me again"
But just as she was about to head to the bar's check-out, something tightly grabbed her sleeve.
She turned to see Zim, pulling her by the arm: his eyes were once again focused on hers, and his expression had gotten very serious.
She sat back down, and confusedly returned his gaze.
"Do it again" he commanded in a strict, authoritative voice.
"W... What?!" she exclaimed in disbelief; she wasn't sure she had heard him right.
"Do it again before I change my mind" he repeated in a growl.
His eyes narrowed, and he fastened his hand around her wrist.
She normally wouldn't have given in that easily on his request after such a weird first reaction, but the relief and excitement she felt won against her better judgment -and also, she wasn't exactly able to think straight yet.
A surge of energy rushed back into her so suddenly it made her gasp, and just like that her jovial smile was back on her face.
She adjusted her posture on the couch. She placed a hand under his chin and gently led him back to her lips.
Trying not to be too quick or rough, she cupped his cheeks, using only her fingertips.
Zim, in turn, held onto her wrists; although his body wasn't as stiff as the first time, his grip was strong, as if he was releasing tension by clenching his hands, and she could feel him shiver through his palms. His lips, too, weren't really trying to respond to the kisses: for him it was probably more about reliving and examining this new experience. She wasn't really complaining about it, but still... what could she do to make him feel more comfortable?
To test what he would do, she stopped kissing him, but kept her lips a few inches away from his.
Much to her please, his mouth tried to grab hers again: it was a very sloppy attempt, his mouth clumsily opening and closing on hers, but that didn't matter at all to her: the simple fact that Zim had tried to kiss her meant pure delight to her.
As she kissed him back, she was happy to find that this time he was actually responding to her movements; she went at it slowly, so that his lips could more easily keep up with her pace.
Then, she moved her hands: she caressed his head, his antennae lowering backwards under her strokes, much like a cat's ears; unlike his skin, which was smooth as silk, his antennae were covered in a sort of small, short hairs.
She placed the other one on his nape, and gently scratched him; he shuddered under her touch.
Finally, she slid her tongue in his mouth, and a stronger, more violent shiver ran through his body, a faint "Uuhh!" sound erupting from the bottom of his throat.
Her tongue moved to taste at his palate, and circled his own; she kept one hand on his head, while the other continued scratching his nape.
So far he had managed to synchronize his breath pretty well with the kisses, but now that ability was failing him: his fingers dug into her arms, and he gasped against her mouth.
Since he was having so much trouble breathing, and was apparently panicking, she withdrew her tongue, gently bit his lip, and pulled away to look at his face.
He was breathless, almost grasping out for air; truthfully, she was panting herself, although more out of euphoria. The dark on his cheeks had deepened, and he was sweating, like he had just stopped from a long, tiring run.
"Th... that was... gross" he strained to push out of his trembling lips.
"Th-the tongue thing, I mean..." he added in a whisper, like he'd suddenly realized that his words could have seemed offensive.
"Well, heh. People usually do that when they make out" she whispered back.
"... is that what we are doing? Making out?" he asked.
"Yeah" Driver chuckled, nodding.
She moved her arms around him and pulled him towards her into a hug.
"I'm sorry I startled you. If you want" she kissed his forehead "I'll be" she kissed his 'nose' "more gentle from now on" she planted a kiss on his closed mouth.
He squinted, his face frowning, and he weakly tried to push her away by her shoulders.
"This is so... undignified " he murmured.
She blinked, but wouldn't let him get away from her hug.
"What is?" she asked.
"All of this! That we just did!" he explained, his voice full of frustration.
"Did you not like it?"
"I- it doesn't... I'm not... supposed to ... I... I shouldn't like gross! " he finally managed to stutter.
"This isn't… right" he looked down, trying to avoid her gaze. Even from there, she could see the faintest glimmer in his eyes, like he was about to cry. "Nothing ever goes like I plan! It's all so difficult, but... everyone is counting on me!"
He sounded so sheepish, and worried, and embarrassed, that it actually tugged at her heartstrings; clearly, something very important and grave was going on in his life that had made him so worried and sad. Maybe it was the very reason why he'd stumbled upon that gloomy old bar. And her.
"Do you want me to stop?" she asked, her hand gently petting his head.
"I... I don't... I don't know what to do" he stammered in a desperate, pleading tone, his big, sad eyes rising up to meet hers, as if asking for his help.
'I don't know what to do'. Oh boy, had she been there too...
Her hand moved to gently caress his cheek. This was probably the first time that evening that he'd been so open to her about his feelings, and it had evidently been extremely difficult. What could she do to help him?
"Well... Why... don't you just... do whatever you feel like doing?" she suggested, carefully measuring her words.
She resumed scratching his nape in a soothing gesture.
Zim shuddered again, a low, pleasant hum escaping his mouth.
"You know, whatever it is that's worrying you, it isn't here right now. It can't hurt you" she gently pulled him against her chest. His body instinctively tensed up at first, but he didn't fight her.
She petted the back of his head, and placed a kiss on its top.
"I'll make all the bad things go away" she sweetly whispered to him.
He sighed, his head rested in her chest, and he actually managed to relax.
After a while, since he had gone completely silent, she asked:
"Hey, are you sleeping?" he might as well be, as she couldn't really see his face from that angle.
"Heh. Irken soldiers don't sleep" he snickered, even though his voice sounded distinctly sleepy.
He tilted his head up to her, with his eyes closed. He really looked like a cat sitting in her lap.
"You know" he suddenly opened his eyes; his voice now sounded more confident.
"I think you're right, human. There's nothing worth worrying about. ZiM should just do whatever he wants"
"Oooh. And what is it that Zim wants?" she purred.
"Well..." he placed his hands on her shoulders to lever himself and stood up on his knees. "I never thought I'd say that, but sucking on someone's face doesn't seem like a bad idea..." he purred back, a suave smirk on his face.
"Hahaha! Well, I'm here, and you can suck on my face the whole night long" she said, cupping his cheeks once again and squeezing them.
They kissed again, pushing themselves against each other.
Driver slowly leaned back on the armrest of the couch, and Zim followed her, so that he now lay on her torso.
Now that he was all-around more relaxed, he also got bolder, faster and more passionate with his kisses: he was actually the first one to use his tongue, shoving it into her mouth, while keeping his hands on the base of her bare neck for balance.
She trembled, and felt a jolt of arousal coming from her lower half. He was still inexperienced, but man was he a fast learner.
Her head spinning from the excitement, she moved her hands from the top of his shoulder to his chest, and then to his back: she tried shoving his metal backpack aside, so that she could feel it under her palms, but the damn thing seemed to be glued to his clothes.
Her hands traveled lower until she found his butt and squeezed it; he jerked, letting out a surprised squeal.
"You really have the build of a soldier" she grinned into his neck.
"Eh, I-I... already knew that" he said with an embarrassed smile.
Giggling, she kissed his neck, her left hand slowly creeping down his butt between his legs, to finally reach-
As she was blinking, she saw something in the corner of her eye, and all of a sudden she remembered that they were actually still in the bar: a couple of curious faces were staring at them from the tables placed no more than six or seven feet from them.
She immediately withdrew her hands, closed her mouth and stood up sitting upright, making Zim fall on his back on the couch.
"Hey! What are you doing? We aren't done yet!" he protested in a whiny voice.
She looked around, bewildered: the sight of an Irken soldier and a weird naked ape making out must have been particularly bizarre and fascinating , because all the clients currently present in the bar were staring at them -and the barman too.
Somebody kill me, she lamented in her mind, face completely red.
She looked down and pressed her hands against her eyes, as if that was enough to hide herself from the other people in the room.
How could I forget we were still here? I almost initiated sex in public!
"Hey! Are you listening to me?" Zim angrily shouted and kicked her tight, still lying down.
"Sorry, I was initiating sex in public" she murmured absentmindedly.
"Uh? What?"
"I mean, uh- Aah..." she sighed and massaged her temples. She really shouldn't have drunk that much. But at least, she could feel that the effect of the alcohol had worn out a bit. She spied Zim from behind her hands, and found that the same couldn't be said about him: he was still lying down, his eyes narrowed at her and his arms crossed, completely unaware of the eyes pointed at them.
"Hello?!" he shouted again, "Have you gone deaf? Come right here and suck on my-"
Driver swiftly placed her hand on his mouth; he continued shouting under it, his screams muffled. He flailed his hands and legs around, but didn't really make an effort to free himself. The alcohol wasn't leaving him as fast as it had done with her, apparently.
She leaned closer to his face, slightly lifted her hand and tried saying:
"Why don't we-"
"Get your filthy hand off my mouth!" he screamed at the top of his lungs.
She immediately put her hand back down, and cringed. Everyone in the room had probably heard that too.
"Please, can you not shout?" she begged him.
He grumbled something angrily. She wasn't sure it was a yes, but she tried lifting her hand nonetheless.
"Get back to your revolting activity, human" he hissed, "You were just getting good at it!"
"I promise I will, Zim, but first" she quietly said, lifting him back up by his shoulders, "why don't we go to a more private place?"
He blinked at her, confused.
"Like where?"
"Like… my house" she proposed. Please, say yes.
"Oh" he said, considering it. "Is it... very far?"
"We can just teleport right inside of it" she said, pointing at the teleporters on the other side of the room.
When she let go of his shoulders, he kind of swayed back and forth as if he was losing his balance. He lifted a hand up and placed it on his forehead.
Just as she was about to ask him if he was okay, he replied:
"Yes, that might be a good idea".
Driver smiled. She searched in her pants' pocket, drew out some money and placed it on the table to cover their bill.
"Good. Then let's go" she grabbed his hand, and led him away from the couch and towards the teleporters; he followed her, obediently and tamely, and above all quietly.
As she passed through the tables, she didn't nod at the other clients like she usually did, but instead kept her eyes pointed at her own feet. In fact, she was really hoping she would never have to see them again.
In front of the teleporting cabin, she drew the key out of the pocket, but then stopped, dubious. Normally, she would travel to a couple of random locations rather than going straight home, in order to make her movements a bit harder to track; but going through multiple teleportations when she was still dizzy from the alcohol would have surely made her barf.
She decided for this one time to just take the risk and teleport directly at home; both her key and home's teleporter had been rigged to be untraceable anyway.
She stepped in the teleporter and stuck the key in the lock; when she turned it, the screen above turned on to display a blank space and a number pad.
"Come on in" she invited Zim on, squeezing his hand.
Zim tentatively stepped into the cabin. It wasn't really suited for more than one person, but luckily his tiny size allowed him to stand just before her, as long as he kept his back pressed tight against her legs.
She dialed in the code corresponding to her home's teleporter, and the teleportation started.
A swirl of colors appeared before her eyes, and she felt as though the whole air pressure on her body was lifted out. She squeezed his hand tightly.
Please, don't make me vomit, she prayed.
The teleportation lasted for five seconds tops; then, she felt the air pressure coming back on her, the swirl of colors faded, and her kitchen appeared before them. Not that they could actually see it, since it was completely hidden in the pitch black of the night.
They stepped out of the cabin, still hand in hand.
Being teleported just once didn't turn out to be so bad, even though she was still a bit intoxicated.
"Here we are. Just let me get the light..." she searched the light switch on the wall to her right, feeling with her hand.
When she finally found and pressed it, the room was finally illuminated.
"Please, make yourself at home. You can sit at the dinner table" she said, letting go of his hand.
She threw the key on the cupboard nearby, turned off the teleporting cabin, and for good measure unplugged the main power cable, as she was used to whenever she used it: she didn't want any stranger stepping out of it to arrest her -or worse.
In the meantime, Zim quietly sat on one of the chairs: his chin stood barely above the table's surface.
"Heh. I gotta say, this is a big improvement. That miserable bar was so disgustingly filthy" he chuckled.
"Well, thanks to you I won't even be able to go to that filthy bar ever again. But like you said, maybe that's not such a big loss", especially considering what I got in return, she mentally added.
"Say, do you want to drink anything?"
His eyes beamed, and he started swinging his legs hanging from the chair excitedly.
"Do you have more wine?" he asked.
"I'm afraid I don't have any drinking wine at home" she apologized, returning his smile. "Also, I don't think you should drink any more alcohol tonight. Would you like some fruit juice, instead?" she proposed.
"Oooh, I'd love some!" he said, his leg still happily kicking under the table.
Oh, my heart.
She went to the fridge, and poured two glasses of orange juice.
She sat at the table with him and offered him his glass.
"Uhmmm, I've been drinking the whole night but I feel so thirsty" he said, and he drank the whole glass with one series of consecutive gulps.
Driver followed him; she was pretty thirsty too.
"That's a side effect of alcohol!" she explained, "You know, for being your first time drinking it, you are actually holding it pretty well!"
Zim put down his now empty glass. He smacked his lips with satisfaction.
"That was some real good juice!" he complimented her, "I hadn't had one like that since I was on Earth..."
"I'm glad you like it. You know, those oranges come from my trees".
Zim frowned at her, apparently confused.
"You are… a plant-growing drone, too?"
"Haha. I'm an all-types-of-things sort of drone" she answered. She raised her glass back up, and gulped down all the remaining juice.
Zim tapped his finger on the table in an impatient gesture.
"So, can we start making out again?" he asked.
"Whoa. You like going straight to the point, don't you?" she grinned.
She reached for his hand, and squeezed it. She leaned towards him, getting real close to his face. Zim started puckering up his lips, but instead of kissing him, she just whispered:
"Would you mind moving upstairs? My bed is much cozier than the chairs".
"Can't we just do it here?" he whined, and he stretched out his neck to try and kiss her; she turned her face to the side, and his kiss landed on her cheek.
"You know what, don't worry- you won't even have to raise a finger for this" she said, as stood up, walked around the table, and scooped him up in her arms.
"Wait, what-" he gasped in surprise as she lifted him up from his seat.
When she got a good grip on him, her arms forming a cradle under his back, she kissed him deeply; he relaxed into her kiss, and kissed her back.
She then carried him bridal style to the stairs, careful not to bump into the furniture. When she started climbing the stairs, she broke the kiss, much to Zim's displeasure:
"Oh, come on, come back here!" he whined, and he picked her cheek with his finger.
"What, you want me to trip on the stairs?" she asked, although not kissing him for even one second was killing her too.
His finger moved from her cheek to her mouth, seemingly trying to open it and pull it towards him.
"Filthy… stupid… human mouth" he murmured.
"Hehehey, cut that out!" she chuckled.
She tried turning her head to the side, but his finger followed her lips. When she playfully nibbled on it, he withdrew it with a sharp jerk.
"Hey, no biting! What are you, a cannibal?!" he asked, outraged.
"Does it really count if we aren't the same species?" she snickered.
Finally, oh so finally , she reached the bedroom on the second floor.
She stepped in the dark room, gently placed him on the bed, and turned a lamp on.
"You know, this bed isn't that cozier than the chairs" he stated. "We came all the way here for nothing".
Driver slowly climbed on the bed on all fours.
"Are you always like that?" she asked.
"Like what?"
"Overly grumpy and critical"
"I'm just stating a fact!"
"You know what's also a fact?" she said, and she poked her finger against his chest. "With that rude attitude of yours, there's no way I would have ever made out with you, if I didn't happen to find it oddly charming!"
"If you like my rudeness, what are you complaining about?" he grinned.
"I'm not complaining at all..." she whispered as she kissed his lower lip.
A hand slowly crept to rest on his thigh.
She had planned on slowly making her way up with it, but when he eagerly grabbed her head and his tongue broke inside her mouth, a surge of primal excitement overcame her.
Oh, I can't take this anymore-
She quickly moved away from his mouth and kissed his neck; at the same time, her hand cupped his crotch.
"Eee!" Zim let out a surprised shriek, and fell on his back under her weight.
Driver kissed, and sucked, and nibbled on his neck's skin, while her hand moved between his legs in circular motions -oh, she had wanted to do that so bad the whole evening!
"Ah! H-hey, uh-hnngh!" he let out a series of choked moans, trying to suffocate his whimpers as his body spasmed and trembled.
This in turn only excited her even more: she searched under his tunic for the edge of his pants; when she found it, she started pulling them down, until they were folded at the level of his knees, and then-
"What are you doing?" Zim asked.
Driver instantly stopped moving.
She raised her head from his neck and stared down at him.
"U-Uh?" she asked, confused.
But he was wearing an expression even more confused than hers.
"Why are you undressing me?" he asked again.
… what?
For a few seconds, she stood completely still and silent, just staring at him. When she tried to speak, her voice came out in a clumsy babble:
"I, uh... you know, heh... C-come on, you know why!" she chuckled.
But Zim simply stared at her, looking both dumbfounded and sleepy.
Clearly, he didn't know why.
What was she supposed to do now? Explain to him what she was about to do? And hope that he would agree, now?!
Suddenly, it occurred to her that she was still holding his pants down, exposing his lower half.
She slowly, awkwardly put his pants back up, and what was worse, the whole time he just stared at her in a confused, perplexed expression.
"I was uh... putting you to bed" she finally muttered.
"... putting me to bed?" he repeated.
"Y-yeah, uhm... you know" she grabbed the blanket and sheets on her bed and laid them over him.
"The best way to work off alcohol is to get a good sleep!" she awkwardly smiled at him.
His eyes fluttered, slowly closing.
"Perhaps... that's not a bad idea" he murmured.
He turned to his side and collected his arms and legs to his chest.
"I wanted to... kiss a bit more..." he quietly mumbled.
After a short while, his breath relaxed in a slow, quiet rhythm, and he fell asleep.
He'd probably felt sleepy for a while now, and getting comfortable in a bed had made him realize how tired he actually was.
Driver watched him fade into sleep without saying a word.
Then, suddenly, the plates on his metal backpack turned on with an intermittent yellow light.
Alarmed, she got closer to examine him: his breathing seemed regular and relaxed. She tried shaking him, but he remained fast asleep. That backpack was probably more than a simple bag. Did it do that every time he went to sleep?
What now? What am I supposed to do?!
She had just made an unknown alien go drunk, invited him over to her house specifically to have sex with him, and now it turned out he had never reciprocated that sentiment at all.
And he was currently sleeping in her bed.
Maybe it wasn't exactly the case, but she really did feel like she had lured someone vulnerable into something they never wanted in the first place, under false pretenses.
What do I do when he wakes up? Oh, she didn't even want to think about that!
With no idea on how to proceed, she noticed that she herself felt very tired: it was pretty late in the night. What could she do now that he was sleeping anyway?
Sleeping in her bed beside him was out of the question, so she just grabbed her pyjamas and a blanket from a nearby drawer, closed the bedroom's door behind her and headed to the sofa in the living room downstairs.
As she was getting undressed, she noticed that she still had the ray gun hidden under her clothes.
Thank God it didn't go off when I pushed against him, she thought.
She placed her clothes on the table at the center of the room, then tucked herself under the blanket on the sofa.
She had no idea whatsoever what would happen the next morning: she prayed something would come up to her after this night's sleep.
Driver closed her eyes in the dark room and despite her worries, she easily dozed off into sleep.