Dlbn: Hello, everyone, and welcome to another chapter!
Nbld: Review Corner! Thank you to Invader Johnny and Zim'sMostLoyalServant for reviewing! Candy for you both!
Invader Johnny: It really is. I know a few people like him that get away with everything. One I'm related to, unfortunately.
Zim'sMostLoyalServant: Thank you. Everyone tiptoes around it because they either don't know what to say or don't want to upset her, and some plain don't know. But she's not really willing to talk about it with her brother because she knows what he'll do. She needs someone to talk to, though this particular character won't appear in this story again. She's got a better grasp on things than the others do, that's for sure.
Disclaimer: I own some OCs that you know by name, but anyone/anything canon to Invader Zim belongs to Jhonen C. Vasquez, man who owns half my soul. I make NO money off this.
Dedication: Dedicated to the store in my company that has given me hours for the next two weeks when my home store could give me nothing. You guys are helping me out so much and it's so fun working with all of you. Thank you.
000
Zim lay his head down on the breakroom table at work that night. He normally took a break two hours into his shift with Maddie, but he was tired after an hour and a half and asked for an early break. He heard someone tap on the table and looked up, fearful that he'd find his boss standing there telling him he overslept. Instead, he found Maddie holding out an energy drink for him with a smile.
"Need a boost, partner?" She asked, taking a seat when he grabbed the drink.
"Yeah, thanks, Maddie."
He popped the top with his teeth and spit out the metal fragment before taking a swig. The cool sting of peppermint brushed over his tongue, barely concealed under a layer of strawberry and pure sugar. Luckily, Irkens needed a high sugar content to survive.
"That's still cool how you can do that. Teach me?"
"Maybe."
She laughed. "So how are things going?" She asked. "Anything since the locker drama?"
"You probably heard about the assembly."
"I did."
"They laid low for a week."
"So, they're back up to their old tricks, hm?"
"You could say that again." Zim nodded. "Took the legs off my desk and left the top there upside down."
"How in the hell…?"
"That's something only Dib would have been able to do. I doubt the others know what a screwdriver is. Torque tried to say ants ate the legs."
"He meant termites."
"I know."
"They eat wood."
"Once again, I know." He nodded.
"Idiot."
"Yeah."
"What did you do?"
"Sat down and said the Japanese sit on the floor because it's better for your back and thanked him for looking out for my bone structure."
"Well done." She laughed. "Did you get them back?"
"Shraela had them in her bag and gave them to me. Janitors fixed it during homeroom." He shrugged.
"Good."
"And our teacher sent Torque to the office for being an asshole."
"And he was punished?" She sounded hopeful.
Zim gave her a 'get real' look.
"Yeah, I should have figured that out before I asked it." She responded, shaking her head. "He won't learn until someone stands up to him."
"And even than he still won't learn. He'll just direct his anger at them for a while until Caleb convinces him that his anger is better spent on me."
"Who's Caleb?"
"Enemy from back home. Him and his girl are here, too."
"Let me guess; parents kicked them out?"
"I'm not sure what their story is, but they're engaged." He shrugged.
"So young?"
"Not uncommon back where we're from." Zim replied.
"I see…go on."
"His mom's pretty attentive. I liked her. She didn't treat me like shit like most adults back home did, let alone how her son did."
"Did she know what he was into?"
"She didn't know all of it, just small pieces. We all respected her and her devotion to Caleb enough that no one ever said anything, that I know of. Any time I'd go over there to confront him on his shit and she was home, she'd always offer me a snack. It was like she had no idea he and I were rivals and wanted to kill one another."
"Did she know?"
"I've dislocated his jaw four times. Of course, she knows."
"Damn, boy." Maddie laughed. "Little spitfire, aren't you?"
"You know it."
"Why do you hate each other so much?"
"Rival gangs." Zim stated. "But he's always been an asshole."
"Back up, little buddy. Rival gangs?" She laughed. "Sorry, I can't see you as a gangster."
"Believe it or not, it's true." He shrugged, looking at his watch for the time. "But that's a story for another day. Long story short, Caleb's egging them on. Bastard knows where to hit me and how to hit me so it hurts. It's only a matter of time before he outs me or some shit."
"Outs you?"
"There's a lot about my past I keep hidden. I don't need people knowing. My family and Zayena will keep their mouths shut, but Caleb won't if he has to resort to it."
"I hear you." She nodded. "We all have skeletons in our closet."
"Some bigger than others." He stood. "My break is over in a sec."
"Alright. We'll talk later. Need a ride after shift? Going to Zayena's again?"
"Her friends are going to be there until nine or so, so just bring me home if you can."
"No problem. We can talk more about this gang thing then, okay?" She winked.
He laughed. "Yeah, later."
000
He invited Maddie inside his home for the first time since they started working together. Both Sila and Lahna stopped what they were doing to give him a look and then share one themselves.
"This is Maddie. Play nice." He ordered.
"Hey!" She greeted, waving one hand. "Zim was telling me about this whole Caleb bullshit from back where you guys are from. Some interesting stuff."
"Yeah…" Sila cocked an eyebrow. "Jun, are you high?"
"How? You don't make shit no more." Zim took off his shoes and flopped onto the couch.
"Fuck you."
"Please do."
"Not in your life, boy."
"Oh, sure, you're saying that now."
She hit him with a pillow as Lahna laughed.
"Sorry, they're always like this."
"I couldn't have imagined they'd be anything else." Maddie watched the two friends bicker back and forth, catching the sparkle in Sila's eyes when she called him a prick and he laughed and called her a bitch. "I think they like it."
"Everyone does." Lahna stated. "Our brother thinks she likes him."
"She might. Hard to tell when she's calling him an oblivious fucktard."
Lahna laughed. "Sila, Junior." She called them both. "Cada ves."
They both hit her with a pillow, making the teen laugh.
"I'm glad you guys have each other…" Maddie interrupted them mid swoop of throw pillows. "With all the drama going on, it's nice to have people that will back you up."
"Yeah." Sila nodded. "Just like old times, right?"
"I should hope not." Zim laughed. "I refuse to be that kind of asshole again."
"But you admit you're an asshole now?"
"Better the asshole I became than the asshole I was."
"Here, here." Sila raised her pillow in a toast, giving Zim the opportunity to hit her with the one in his hand.
Lahna grabbed two and slapped them both. "There, now we're all even. We have guests. Try and act like the adults you are."
"Who says we're adults?" Sila wondered, tossing her pillow to the floor.
"The law." Lahna stuck out her tongue.
Maddie cocked an eyebrow. "You're both under eighteen, aren't you?"
"Legal age is lower where we're from." Zim stated.
"Gotcha." Maddie stood. "Well, I just wanted to say hi and meet Zim's friends. Well, friend and sister. I should get going home before my mother wonders where I am."
"You live at home?" Sila asked. "How old are you?"
"Sila." Zim protested. "Sorry, she's blunt."
"No worries." Maddie waved it off. "I'm twenty-four."
"Yeah, I didn't think you were a high schooler. What you doing hanging with punks like Jun?" Sila smirked as Zim elbowed her.
"He's a hard worker, and he's a good kid. Didn't talk much when he first started, but I think I've grown on him." She winked.
"Like a fungus."
"My cousin goes to school with you, but she's a year younger, so I heard bits and pieces about things before I talked to him about it."
"What's her name? I'm a sophomore." Lahna offered.
"Jenah Cambridge."
"We have math and art together, I think."
"Awesome. Well, don't let on that you know me. She'll never let me hear the end of it."
"We don't talk. My lips are sealed." Lahna put her fingers in an 'x' shape over her lips.
"Good to know." Maddie winked. "See you later, Zim. You working Thursday?"
"Thursday til Saturday, then I'm off for a week."
"Well, I guess I'll just have to come over to hear the latest gossip, eh?" Maddie winked. "Don't be a stranger. And play nice."
"No promises on the second one." Sila offered.
Maddie waved, bid her farewells, and left.
"I see why you talk to her. She seems nice." Lahna offered.
"I didn't really want to until she asked if I was okay after one of Torque's tamer pranks. I asked her how she knew, and she said something about her cousin." Zim explained.
"I see." Sila tapped her chin. "Might be a good ally. If her cousin ever slips anything to her that's going on or that she thinks is going on, we might know in advance."
"Yo, not everyone's a tool against Torque's morons." Zim stated. "Zayena already offered to help and has done so."
"And she's also told you that if Caleb forces her to reveal herself or help him, you're getting left high and dry." Sila stated. "They have nothing over Maddie's head, do they?"
"No." Zim shrugged. "But they have her cousin. She'll do anything to protect her."
"Gee, doesn't that sound familiar." Sila rolled her eyes.
Zim blushed, slapping her upside the head.
"Junior Haven, I am surprised at you. You'd never hit a woman." She complained, rubbing her head.
"You're a woman?"
"That's it!"
Lahna jumped as Sila tackled her brother, pinning him to the couch. Lahna shook her head and went to the stairs to go to bed. What a couple of idiots.
"Jun, what the fuck?" Sila complained, pulling away. "Control yourself, man. It's me for fuck's sake."
"Sorry, sorry." Zim sat up, inching away from her. "Can't help it. I'm a guy."
"You like when women pin you down. Good to know."
"I swear to god I'll kill you."
She laughed. "No, you won't. Go take care of that. Lahna got the next GTA game. I've been itching to play."
"Yeah…" He left without another word.
That was the most mortifying thing he'd ever been through. Luckily, he was gone by the time Sila began smirking to herself, face tinting emerald.
000
They didn't talk about what had happened three days before, but once Friday came around, Zim couldn't help but feel something itching at the back of his mind to talk to Sila about what happened between the two of them. He cornered her in the kitchen while she was getting a beer from the fridge.
"Can I help you?" Sila asked.
"Can we talk?" He asked.
"About what?"
"You know what."
"Go fuck yourself."
"Sila." He groaned. "For real, it's not like I meant it."
"No shit, Sherlock. Just try and have a bit more control." Sila rolled her eyes. "I mean, you're banging Zayena almost every night. Not like you need to get excited over the first broad that gets too close and isn't blood."
"No shit, Sila." He rolled his eyes, suddenly proud that she understood a human saying and used it correctly. "Look, I'm sorry, alright? Can we just drop the awkward shit between us? Fuck, how many times I have slept over and we woke up with me like that, and you never complained?"
"We've been apart from one another so long, I guess I forgot." She shrugged.
"Yeah…just you're my best friend, and I don't want anything getting in the way of that. Especially my dick."
She laughed. "Well that and the slew of sluts it brings home didn't chase my ass away."
"So, we're cool?"
"Yeah, Jun, we're cool."
She extended her hand and they shared an old handshake that only the two of them used.
"Good." Zim nodded. "I got enough on my plate without worrying about that added into it."
"Speaking of having enough on you, you going to Zayena's?"
"No, she's got those idiots over again. They think her parents are out of town. She's having a party this weekend."
"And we're not invited." Sila rolled her eyes. "First party around here since I got here, and we can't even go."
"Not our kid of party." Zim stated. "Nah, we need Undead blasting from the speakers, and booze and sugary treats up the damn ass."
"And all the babes you could bang."
"And all the customers you could ever want."
Sila chuckled. "We need a damn kegger, man. Like the good old days."
"'Cept no one here but my family and us could or would come to that."
"Eh, give um time. With everyone piling up here, I wouldn't be surprised if some old friends came out to play."
"I fear for this planet when they do."
"Me too, Jun. Me, too."