Being Tall Isn't Everything

by P.A.W.07

Zim was about to destroy the world, his dying adversary at his feet … yet he doesn't kill Dib. He wants to use that cunningly huge head of his, especially now that they are both so tall. Now, years later, the newest Tallest finds himself in a web of secrets, the past and the future seemingly tearing him apart. As usual ... this is all Zim's fault.

3. Let's Make a Deal

Proofreader: Kira Kyuu

Chapter 3: Let's Make a Deal

Sniffles filled the hull of the ship. It was an almost dying sound that sickened Zim to his very core, but he couldn't shut it up. Dib was still in too fragile of a state for Irken sedatives and human sedatives could be deadly at such a time. A moaning scream echoed over the ship's interior and then a soft metallic scrapping was announced to the Irken's antennae. Zim soon found small blue optics staring up at him in utter distress.

"Master –"

"Why aren't you watching Dib?!" growled Zim as he pressed a few more controls. Generally, autopilot was rather reliable, but with him being dead, he couldn't risk being seen. And a chase wasn't the wisest of moves with Dib in such a bad state. The DNA transformation was just starting on the reconfiguration of the human organs, leaving the human in sheer misery as well as passing seizures as organs shut down so a new Irken one could take over. The process had slowed down remarkably as if the serum he had given Dib knew this was a delicate period and needed to be handled gracefully and with time… a lot slower than most of his external features like Dib's hands. Irk, that had scared him to see Dib rip into himself like that. Ropes and restraints were a necessity for a while there.

"But… but he's shaking master and he keeps… keeps asking," whispered the robot as if it were a horrible secret. The small robot even threw his head from side to side as if looking for the spy.

"Asking what?" added Zim in a cautious tone. He wasn't asking for water again, was he? If he even had a drop now, he'd surely die. Dib was just so frail that Zim was almost afraid to touch him.

The little robot looked at his owner with dewy eyes and then burst into tears. Zim still had no idea how a robot could manage to cry, but Gir pulled it off nicely.

"He keeps asking master and I keeps telling him noooooo! But he won't stop! Please make him stop asking Master! I don't want to kill Dib!"

… That was a surprise and Zim's face gave it away completely as his mind scrambled for answers. Dib always acted so strong. He never gave up… EVER. He didn't know the meaning of the word, and here he was begging for death, for an end. The Invader got up and forced himself to push autopilot which made Computer's voice came to life.

"How bad is it?" asked Computer, his new AI for the ship/house. His little Voot Cruiser had had some quick modifications. It was no longer such a cramped ride and he'd just leave it at that.

"I'll tell you in a minute, stare out of the window or something," the tall Irken snapped as he ducked into the small quarters that were serving as a medical bay. His feet led him into a dim room that smelled like a salty, metallic concoction of blood and rot. Dib had been coughing up black chunks for days now. Sometimes there were trace amounts of dead organs in the soup of his regurgitated innards. It wasn't a pretty picture, but at least Dib's squeedlyspooch had started to form; thus he could do a quick job of getting rid of the waste materials… or Dib's inferior human organs, if you wanted to be specific.

Zim stared at the sleeping being on a proto-bed against the wall. Dib was shaking again and his breath was more labored. Reluctantly, the invader turned on the lights; he knew Dib would probably whimper in pain due to his adjusting eyes, but he really needed to examine him.

"Dib?" said Zim softly as he sat on a stool which had sprung out of the floor. The transforming human didn't make any indication that he knew the other was there… not until Zim tried to touch him, that is.

The human sat up with a blood curdling scream as he pulled his limb away, screeching, "Don't touch me! Don't you fucking touch me!"

The human shivered against the wall, clutching his green tinted arms which now had three clawed fingers each, his blankets hanging limply on his shoulders. Zim couldn't help but stare in awe at how far the transformation was along. The human's skin… Well, it didn't have much human in it anymore. It had already turned a soft green and most of his body hair was all but missing. Speaking of hair, Dib's head hair was falling out as well. The Irken had never taken into account what the human would look like without hair. He wouldn't say it aloud, no matter how badly he wanted to, but Dib's head looked even larger.

Dib noticed the Irken's assessing stare and quickly threw one of his medical blankets at the alien to stop him from staring. What? It was all he had to throw. After his first freak out the invader had bound his hands, stripped him of anything he could hurt himself with (or throw), and locked him in a small room with Gir, of all things. He was in pain, he was sick, hot and cold all over, his hair was falling out, his teeth ached, and he was coughing up his lungs. It was hell. Not to mention he was finding it harder and harder to sleep. His mind just wouldn't let him shut down, almost like he wasn't in need of sleep anymore. And then there was the knowledge that his family was dead. Yes, they weren't the best family in the world, but they were his! Nobody else's! And now he had nothing. He wanted to cry so badly, but he found out the hard way what would happen if he started to cry. It was best just not to.

Dib swallowed, feeling something new slide down his throat that wasn't salvia. His mind was haunting him with why's. If one question would just be answered, he might be able to find some rest.

The human slowly pulled his legs into his chest and tried not to hiss in pain as he buried his head between the crook in his knees. "Why?"

"Why?" replied Zim, his antennae perking up. This was the first calm thing Dib had said to him since he saw what he was becoming. Mostly he'd curse Zim and then draw into himself whimpering in a dull agony. The Irken might have sighed in relief, but resisted. So Dib's mind wasn't gone, just hiding. If Dib's mind was to disappear there would sadly be no use in keeping him.

"Yes? Why?!" barked Dib as he tried to remain somewhat calm. "Why have you done this to me!? You won! There is no need to torture me anymore. I would have been happy dying, Zim!"

The human was panting after his short outburst and slowly drew his staggering limbs back into himself as he grumbled. "You could at least tell me why you're doing this to me, Zim."

The invader smirked and leaned forward so he was a few inches from Dib's face. He wanted the once human to get the point as he asked, "Dib, you're very smart, aren't you?"

The human glared at him and shoved him away slightly to get the Irken out of his breathing space, not that he could really breathe anyway right now. "You already knew that. All the times I've interrupted your plans for world domination should have told you that."

Zim resisted the urge to rub in Dib's last failure with the Armada and continued, "And your stature is extremely tall even for a human. It's almost equal to my own height."

"Yes, I am tall, Mr. Obvious. You know what my skin color is too? It's peach. Oh wait, it isn't anymore," hissed Dib acerbically.

Zim pulled his antennae back. He knew this was sarcasm, but no matter how hard he tried he never quite understood it and so ignored the comment, "All for the better. I certainly can't execute my plan without notice if a human is lagging behind me."

"As if I'd follow you. I'd be ripping you to shreds right now if I had the strength."

Zim leaned back on his stool as a back suddenly appeared for it. The Irken pretended to be looking at his nails, as if showing disinterest as he spoke. He had learned a few tricks from the earthling females… deceptive creatures, really, when it came to playing with the mind. The right combination of words and physical movements could get you almost anything.

"I'm sure you would… but then you would never get your revenge," he said in an uninterested tone. "Shame really. With me dead you'd be stuck floating in space with nothing for company, but your own thoughts… your thoughts on how you failed Earth, for example."

Dib leaned forward and was about to scream in protest, but Zim slapped his hand over the half-Irken's mouth and continued, squeezing his nails into the flesh for emphasis on silence.

"Or how all the humans are slowly going extinct, because you weren't strong enough to save them. And then there's the thought that somewhere else in the universe the beings that have raped your Earth, so that it can bear nothing but oh-so-chocolaty goodness, are happy and healthy and safe while the last of your people are worked to death."

The human had stopped struggling against the hand and was listening with this haunted look in his eyes, a broken look, but he seemed to still be listening so it wasn't completely hopeless. Zim could live with that.

"But, Dib," drawled Zim as he loosened his grip, "What if you could have revenge? What if you could, per say, get rid of the Tallest, hm? Revenge is a dish sweeter than all other emotions, no? "

Zim removed his hand and stood up. The human had this glazed look in his eyes now. He was obviously thinking.

"I leave you to yourself, Dib. Think over what I've told you. I'm sure you'll agree with my actions soon enough," said the invader with a straight stance, giving one more glance at the other before he left without another word.

…

Days were usually dragging and painful, not that Dib knew the time, but now at least his mind wasn't in torture. His fingers twitched for the hundredth time that day at the thought of the dead Tallest; watching their poor excuse for blood pool all over the floor with him being bathed in it as he dissected their paks. He held onto that image with a truly insane smile, and for the first time in a long time he was able to fall asleep. He couldn't recall if he dreamed, but he was sure that if he had he would have been dreaming of killing the Tallest. Not Earth and its valleys, but killing the Tallest.

…

The door oozed open silently and Zim peeked in. Dib had been sleeping for two human Earth days and hadn't shown any signs of waking anytime soon. This of course surprised Zim. Dib was far enough in his Irken stages that he was probably no longer in need of sleep, yet here he was, dozing quietly and twitching his Irken fingers. He seemed angry, yet happy. It was easy to conclude that Dib was dreaming. Irkens didn't dream so it was a questionable thing really. How was a human's mind able to function when it was technically offline? Not only would it create pictures and emotions, there were sometimes coherent thoughts occurring in dreams, apparently. It was an interesting thought, especially since no other recorded species in the universe dreamed. It was a shame he never took time to investigate.

Zim was suddenly dragged from his thoughts when a small whimper was born from the figure under the sheets and Dib rolled over, careful to not put any weight on his belly.

The Irken grinned. "About time."

Dull, almost white eyes opened and with a soft whine the sleeping figure sat up facing the wall; sheets mindfully hanging on his shoulders. "Morning, Zim."

"It's not morning, Dib, but since you're finally awake do you want me to continue with my proposition?"

The sheets shift for a moment and Dib pulled his feet out so they hanged off the edge of the recovery table. He stared at his three black-clawed toes for a moment. He dragged his head up lazily and whispered, "I had a dream, Zim, and in that dream I killed the Tallest."

The human said no more, so Zim smiled, his words gloating, "I'll take that as a 'yes' to hearing me out."

The Irken then waved his hand and a chair sprung from the metal tiles in the floor, the invader sitting down.

"I'll be quick and to the point since I know a growing boy needs his rest," quipped Zim, ignoring Dib's growl. "You and I are going to play a little game, Dib. We're going to play dress up."

Dib rose what was left of his brow, his words irritated, "I thought you said you were going to get straight to the point?"

Zim's smile disappeared and he rubbed the back of his head, grumbling, "So I did… Oh, humor me! Once you look a little more Irken we can easily infiltrate the advisers' ranks."

Dib sneered, but quickly closed his mouth when he saw Zim smiling at his newly developing teeth. His words were tired, "I'm rather sure you could have done that on your own, Zim. So, why drag me along?"

"Well… it's my pak," stated the invader with distaste, which caused Dib to perk up his head slightly. He didn't know much about paks except for the fact that Zim had always been overly protective of his. In fact, he had never been able to get his hand on it or get a proper scan. As far as he was concerned, the only purpose of the pak was to be a technological Swiss Army Knife of sorts. It had everything an invading Irken needed apparently.

Zim swallowed as if embarrassed, his words soft, "Well… you know that time that huge Irken came and snatched me out of the class room?"

Dib tried not to laugh as he watched Zim start to twitch in his seat and fiddle with his fingers. He was embarrassed, and the human took no time in abusing that fact as he joked, "What? Was that your dad and he came to give you a time out of something, Zim? You never told me who exactly that was or where you disappeared to for a month."

The invader's eyes became slits. He liked the mostly docile sick Dib, but the original Dib was starting to peek through again. Regardless of the treatment he'd likely receive, he answered quickly, "No … hewasmybossatafastfoodrestaurant ."

Dib's grin grew all the larger, and he no longer minded the fact that his teeth were sharp. In fact, the feel of his human tongue sliding over them was enthroning, and he half wished he had a mirror to look at them properly. Of course, he wasn't going to tell Zim that.

"What was that? You know my ears haven't quite fallen off yet so I do believe you're mumbling," joked Dib as he leaned forward on his arms and stuck his smiling mug into Zim's face. The other Irken's face contorted with distaste and he leaned back so Dib couldn't get any closer.

"No," hissed the invader as he pushed Dib's head back out of his personal bubble. "His name was Sizz-Lorr and he was my… boss."

"Your boss?" Dib was a bit put out by the answer and couldn't help but slump back away from the other being, his smile gone. "But wait… I thought your bosses were the Tallest?"

"Well, they are, but he's my boss at my job," sighed Zim. He couldn't believe he was going to say this.

"Your boss? But you're an invader. You can't have a normal boss."

Zim sighed, cringing as he admitted, "I don't know how much of the hail you caught when the Tallest were talking to me on Earth."

He rubbed the back of his neck nervously as he stalled. He really didn't want to enrage the halfling with memories of his defeat, but it was the easiest way to explain.

"You were kind of out of it so I doubt you heard the fine details."

"Yeah, I remember the fine details," growled the half-Irken irritably, his teeth bearing in an angry manner like a rabid dog. "I remember bleeding like a stuffed goat all over the floor and you calling your precious leaders like a good dog. You know I think it's kind of funny that they abandoned you. Its- "

Dib stopped the moment he saw the Irken's antennae drop. Something deep inside him told him to stop… his Irken side told him to stop, but his human half was bitter, so he found himself biting his own tongue to keep the anger in. He needed Zim right now… he needed his revenge. Dib twitched and yelped as blood started to drip down the side of his mouth. Maybe he shouldn't have bit down.

Zim's antennae quickly perked up. It smelled metallic, like Irken blood. Dib was getting closer and closer to his due date. He had to convince Dib now before his transformation was complete. His human organs would last a little bit longer, but not forever.

Beside himself, Zim jumped off his chair and slowly made his way to one of the walls. He murmured to it softly and a drawer popped out of the wall. Dib twitched when Zim walked back to him and handed over a soft material to dab the wound with. The bleeding stopped almost immediately.

"Good," said Zim, having wandered over and back from a different wall-drawer. "Now put this in your mouth."

Dib rolled his eyes and reached for the little metal orb, trying to ignore the fact that his and Zim's hands were almost alike now. It sickened him to think too much on it, so he just pushed that fact to the back of his mind as he picked up the little ball between his fingers, only to drop it with a squeak as he slid farther back onto his bed. The human stared at the little ball as it wiggled about for a moment on his sheets only to fall back into its original form.

His words were almost a screech, "Y-you're trying to kill me! I knew it!"

Zim rolled his eyes, only to curse himself for it… Irk, another human characteristic.

"I almost forgot you were so paranoid. After all the work I've put into you, why would I kill you now?"

Dib's eye's shifted in a paranoid manner. "Then why did it move? What is it for, for that matter?"

The Irken resisted the urge to laugh at the stupidity of the question only to stop himself… to an Irken it would have been a stupid question, because almost every Irken had to use it at least once. But then he remembered, despite the way Dib looked, he wasn't Irken.

"Why, it keeps you from damaging your mouth," he stated simply as he picked it out of the sheets.

The halfling raised a brow and Zim sighed as he reminded himself: not Irken, not Irken.

"Smeets, Irken babies, are born with their teeth and like human children their motor skills are not perfect, better, but not perfect," Zim explained as if Dib was a smeetling. "So basically, these are like human braces and they make sure you won't bleed yourself to death by biting down on your own tongue."

Dib resisted the urge to slam his head against a wall. Braces? Braces! After all the indignities he had been forced to live through in his short life, Zim was going to try and push that on him? The human rubbed his temples as he growled, "That's not necessary, Zim. I bit my tongue on purpose. Now continue with your pak thing. What's the issue with it?"

Zim narrowed his eyes and pushed the object a little closer towards the other. He was not going to have his plans go up in smoke just because Dib drowned in his own blood one night dreaming about filthy human hamburgers. "Basically, my pak says that I'm a food drone and that I must work as one, nothing else. Now, take it and put it in your mouth."

Dib turned his nose up. True, he could no longer smell out of it, but it still had its uses. "So, as a food drone, you don't have adviser's rights to, let's say… get in the Tallest's private quarters? And, no."

"Yes, that's exactly what I mean, and yes, you are going to take it," growled Zim as he pushed the item a little nearer to his past foe's face.

"So, what are we going to do? I doubt those pak things are easily compromised since you're here talking about it and haven't done it to yourself yet. No."

"They're very delicate. I could die if I crossed the wrong wires, and yes, you will put it in your mouth! Stop acting like a smeetling!" growled Zim as he rose from his chair, stood up, and leaned on the bed, pushing the item nearer to Dib's face.

Dib merely turned his cheek and continued, ignoring the round item that was mere inches from his cheek and the hand holding it.

"That's very interesting to learn. If I were you Zim, I'd watch my back, literally. Now what's the plan to rid yourself of this little problem?" stated Dib in a bored tone as he leaned into one of his hands staring at the little orb, but not touching it. The human tried not to smile as a little game entered his head. He was too sick to properly torture Zim for doing this to him, so he'd just irritate the living crap out of him. The human frowned and couldn't help but note Zim's smile as he reached for the little silver orb, but before he even picked it up, he used his forefinger to flick it. Zim stared at him with shock for a moment, and then growled as he tramp towards the direction the little orb had flown in.

"So, are we going to steal someone else's pak or are we going to hack into the computers or…?"

The tall Irken growled and got on his hands and knees to search under some machinery. He grunted once or twice until he hit his head and came up cursing, holding the orb. He glared at it with one dewy eye before glaring up at the human on the cot. Dib smiled, crossed his legs, and leaned down, awaiting an answer.

"Well, all those are 'no's, Dib-worm, because advisers are mostly on the Massive, the Control Brains are on the Massive, and Irk, and you are going to put this in your mouth!"

A screech filled the room as Zim crawled across the room with the speed of a rabid beast and grabbed the mocking human by the collar of his baggy white shirt. If he was well enough to mock him, Dib was well enough to take a little roughhousing.

With a rather loud thud, the human was dragged to the floor and into a headlock, kicking his bare feet as Zim struggled to subdue him. There was much cursing on the human's part until the Irken managed to get a decent headlock, wearing the human out. "I believe we've come to an agreement, Dib."

"I'm not putting that thing in my mouth. It's been on the floor!" hissed Dib as he pursed his lips together only to have to choke on his own hiss as he nipped his tongue again. Of course, he wasn't going to tell Zim that, and sweet Nessy, his blood tasted like a bucket of salty rusted iron.

Zim sighed, it was like dealing with a smeetling. He lifted up his free hand and dipped the round object into a cup that had just appeared out of the wall along with a tray of food. The Irken then wiped it on his uniform and once again tried to force the other to put it in his mouth.

"No," hissed Dib as he tried to keep some of his dignity, "That was poison. You're trying to kill mmmmh!"

Zim smiled as he stuffed the thing into his Dib's mouth, mid word.

"I used to think your big mouth was irritating, but it seems it's not in some cases," Zim mocked as he let the human go so he could hiss and wiggle like a worm on a hook as the little orb went to work. "Another use of your big mouth is that I'm fairly confident that you have better people skills then I do."

After gagging for a few times, Dib was able to remove his clawed hand from his mouth, wince once or twice as the wiggling came to a halt and tightened around his teeth.

"You're a bastard, Zim," murmured the human as he wiped some spittle from his mouth and slowly rose to his feet, struggling for balance. After a moment or two, he was able to stand without the help of the bed. It felt strange on these legs. They were so thin, yet they felt sturdy.

The human wiped his mouth again and glared at Zim whom had opened a closet of some sort and was silently digging through it in the shadows. "What exactly do you mean by 'people skills'?"

Zim peered over his shoulder to glance at Dib before returning to his search. "The Voritans."

"Is that an illness?" Dib swallowed and slowly picked up a polished metal tool. He bared his teeth and couldn't help but howl in agony and fall to his knees in a drama queen fashion. "Great, as if I wasn't enough of a freak already. I look like I ate the Tinman."

"Quit whining. You've already bitten yourself twice today so just be thankful." Dib glared at him, but said nothing as the invader continued in his rant. "The Voritans are a technologically advanced race. In fact, they designed the Massive, the Tallest's ship, and then we imprisoned their race."

"Oh, that was friendly," stated Dib in a drawl as he picked up a metallic saw and started looking at his face again. So this was him, huh? All of his hair was gone and it was easy to see the two developing antennae peaking up an inch or two from his scalp. He could hear out of them and… smell. It was weak and barely noticeable, but his nose hadn't worked in days and his ears had this echoing sound to them, by morning both would probably be gone just like his teeth. His skin was also a soft pale green now too; a shade or two paler than Zim's. The only things that hadn't changed much were his eyes. Too bad they looked like the eyes of a dead man, a misty white. He was going to be a dead man soon, wasn't he? There was no way he was going to be able to survive this way, but he'd try for the Earthlings. He'd hold out for them, and then he'd let go.

"That is why they won't listen to me… I am an Irken. You, on the other hand, will never be a true Irken. So they'll listen to you over me," stated Zim as he walked back over to the closet he had been digging through earlier.

Dib rubbed his cheek once more and tried not to wince as pain shot through his chest while his back ached as if wanting something.

"What exactly do I tell them?"

"Well," came Zim's muffled voice, "You tell them the truth. You want to kill the Tallest for destroying your planet and that I want to kill them for trying to kill me. I'm sure they'll relate, and to do so we'll need their help. They'll have to rewrite my pak to state that I'm an adviser and some other stuff. After that, the rest is simple. Every single Irken is extremely loyal to the Tallest so they don't expect treachery from the inside. It will be easy to poison their snacks or lace their sheets with acid or something."

"And that's all?" added Dib in a dry tone; Zim's plans were never that simple. There was something else he was keeping from him and he wasn't willing to share, but Dib would just hold his tongue for now. The human race was his number one priority. Zim had promised and he didn't seem like he was going to go back on his word.

"Yes… well, there is also this." Zim pulled out a uniform that looked almost identical to his though it had a high neck. He had a huge grin on his green face regardless.

"I am not wearing that," hissed Dib.

"Well, not today you're not, but since planet Dirt is an Irken planet, it will attract the least amount of attention, which is a good thing since an Irken without a pak is already impossible enough," added the Irken as he tried to keep the worried tone out of his voice. There was another reason he was going to planet Dirt besides rewriting his pak… and it had to be done soon.

Dib rolled his eyes, too tired to fight about it.

"Good. Now let me get you some Irken food so you can try those new teeth out. We'll be to planet Dirt in a two days and I need you as strong as possible."

"Why?" Dib asked worriedly as he tried to shake off an exhausted feeling that was creeping up on him. "Are Voritans tall, huge, spiky, and dangerous?"

Zim merely laughed.

...

Dib wanted to throw up what little of the Irken food he had been able to keep down. Perhaps it was because he looked just like them in this uniform. The only thing that kept him from falling into a nervous tantrum were his still white eyes, and the fact that he didn't have one of those horrible paks. He didn't need the weight of one right now anyway. He was already feeling terrible with his breathlessness and heavy limbs. So much so that he probably couldn't stop Zim from making him wear a pak anyway.

"When in Rome, do as the Romans do," grumbled Dib as he slipped on his last boot.

"We are not in Rome silly huma- I mean Dib. We're on planet Dirt," added the invader as opened the hatch to the outside.

"I kind of figured that out with the shaking of the hull when we came through the atmosphere," the human bit out sarcastically. Just because he was feeling extra crappy today didn't mean he was going to let Zim walk all over him.

Moments later Dib followed Zim soundlessly down the street trying not to note just how dust encrusted everything from the buildings to the people themselves. No wonder they called it planet Dirt. And it was probably a perfect place for illegal pak encoders to hide, no?

They turned another corner and Dib felt another shot of pain in his chest. He was hoping this wasn't going to take long. He felt faintish, but he'd rather keep that to himself. Zim would probably say something quirky like, 'Irkens don't have weaknesses and therefore don't feel pain' or something equally irritating. Suddenly, there was a sharp pain in his chest and the human found himself leaning against a wall, gasping. Zim didn't seem to notice and kept walking as Dib leaned against the wall heavily gasping for even the smallest of breaths. Why couldn't he breathe and why was he becoming light headed. Zim had told him there was air on this planet!

Zim's antennae twitched in a nervous way as he kept a stern gaze out for the Voritan he had contacted shortly after administering the Irken serum to Dib. The other was entranced by the idea of Dib and by the promise of 'payment' he had promised if his plan succeeded.

"I was wondering when you were going to get here. Cutting it a little short, aren't you?"

The Irken nearly jumped out of his pak when a voice came from the area at his feet. It always irked him how he missed things like short people now that he was tall, but at least it was his Voritan and not an Irken that had recognized him.

"Oh, there you are. Zim has been looking for you. Do you have the item?"

The Voritan nodded not taking his eyes off if Dib who was grasping his chest and shaking. "He's not going to last much longer without a pak…

pak...

pak...

"… pak?"

Blue beadily opened one of his eyes and lazily looked up. A pair of red eyes stared down at him, heavy with worry.

"Tallest Blue?" whispered the adviser, daringly poking the taller being to see if he was awake.

Blue groaned and slung his thick wrist over his eyes to keep the light out.

"What is it, Pixen?" his voice was barely a whisper.

The adviser pulled his antennae up, glad that Blue had finally answered. It had been two days since Zim had dragged Tallest Blue away to one of the science labs. He later emerged with a semi-conscious Blue draped over his shoulder and pissed as hell. The adviser had been with Blue since then, trying to ask him questions… like who this Gaz was? He had been mumbling about them a few hours ago. Nonetheless, with his leader looking so pained, it could wait.

"I said, my Tallest, would you would like me to call a medical drone to look at your pak? Soothe Zim's repairs perhaps?"

A soft chuckle escaped the leader as he sat up with a grunt, "You mean to tell me you think Zim couldn't do pak repairs if his life depended on it?"

The adviser pulled away from the Tallest's berth with a look of fear. He was going to be shot out of an air lock, wasn't he?!

"I-I didn't mean to-too. I mean no! He's great at repairs. Tallest Zim is one of the best pak repairers I've ever seen!"

Blue laughed a little harder ignoring the ache in his pak. Generally, it wasn't his style to pick on his servants, mostly because they never understood his sense of humor. In fact, no one did except Zim. He'd never laugh, but his fellow Tallest could always read Blue's sarcasm. The taller Irken stopped his giggling and cleared his throat, soothing the other, "It was a joke… Zim knows his stuff, but he's not very delicate about it."

Pixen pulled his antennae back and stared at his leader in question. Joking hadn't even really been a word in the Irken vocabulary until Blue took his place of power next to Zim. In fact, there were a lot of things Blue brought forth. Curiosity was one of the top ones as well as a morbid paranoia when in enemy territory. Then, there were his dreams. No one dared speak of it out loud unless they were in the servant's corridors, because an adviser had been daring enough to ask Zim once Blue's origins… Well, no one ever saw him again. So no one dared ask or question Blue's strange attributes anymore. His pak had been encrypted as an adviser before he took power, so no Irken questioned where he was from, but all the advisers agreed: Blue never mentioned his origins because he probably didn't know, and Zim never mentioned it because he did know.

"Is that a yes, my Tallest?"

"Sure. I have stuff to do in the science department with a new alien species an Invader found. I can't spend a week in bed now, can I?" sniffed Blue as he rubbed his lower back, hissing slightly. He just could never explain it… there was just something about alien species that intrigued him. He had a want, no, a need, to dissect them and see how they worked. If they were intelligent he at least pitied them enough to put them out of their misery before he started cutting.

"Wonderful. Just a moment," said Pixen as he got off his knees from the cucumber shaped bed and disappeared.

Blue sighed and rubbed his head, feeling an antennae run between his fingers. It was always a strange sensation and he was very impartial to letting anyone touch them. It was like they didn't belong and that he was supposed to remember why they didn't. A pain pressed behind Blue's eyes and he took a shuddering breath so it would disappear, forgetting his thoughts. This pain always happened after Zim would dive into his pak. He had told Blue that only defects dreamed and that if anyone found out he dreamed he'd be considered a defect. So, Zim would rummage through his pak, deleting possible defect codes every once in a while. The Irken civilization could not have a defective leader so he'd live with the pain and the lost feeling that seemed to come with it. He was an Irken leader and as such he had to be strong.

XXX

Paw07: Nothing much to say. Hope you enjoyed.

Revisions September 2014