Author's Notice:
Welcome back! I love all the reviews I've been getting, I'm happy this story is loved by you guys, it's one of my favorites of my fics right now to write, so I'm more interested in updating this frequently.
It's slowly progressing; they'll probably be in space in the next few chapters. Thanks for reading and please leave a review once you get to the bottom!
"Red Velvet"
'Chapter Eight'
Dib arrived home late, weary of what he would find. He approached the house; it looked no different in the dark than it did in the day, though the complete quiet of it was unsettling. He couldn't place why, but he knew something drastic had changed and he no longer had control.
As he stepped into the dimly lit home he immediately was aware that Gir was not in the living room. The robot could be out, but somehow Dib didn't think so. He was just being overly paranoid, had to be, surely, this couldn't be Earth's last day.
The thought of it made Dib feel sick.
This was as unexpected as it was expected. He should have known eventually it would come to this, but it still felt like a shock. He had grown too used to the monotony of their lives that he failed to notice Zim's true intentions.
Intentions that had always been there, ever since they first met, but somehow Dib had overlooked them, blinded himself to the truth, believing Zim felt as complacent as he was.
But, it was obvious now Zim was never truly satisfied with what he had on Earth. Zim's aspirations for something greater than himself was always there, an undercurrent beneath the surface of their mundane life.
Dib was angry, but he was also disappointed, sad, and just so fucking tired.
He heard the hum of the kitchen elevator, a moment later Zim stepped out into the kitchen light.
He greeted Dib with a wide toothy grin; his hands tucked behind his back, his crimson eyes narrowed enough to be considered calculating. "You were gone a while."
Dib hardened his expression as the alien stepped into the living room, causing his anxiety to spike. "Just get to the point Zim. What are you doing?" Came his exasperated question, he already knew, but somehow hoped for a different answer.
"Zim is doing many things." The Irken waved his hand as if dismissing Dib all together. "But it's all unimportant to you, it's nothing you can change."
"That's where you're wrong," Dib said with more conviction than he felt, his tone, his posture; it reminded him of when he was a child, when he called Zim out in front of the entire student body to have a fight on the playground. "I won't let you do this."
It felt strange, standing in their living room, declaring war on the alien, though now there was more at stake than there had been back then.
Everything rode on him winning, but Dib already knew he had lost, even before the battle began.
It was a disquieting feeling, this complete helplessness he was hiding under a façade of anger.
Zim just kept his grin, completely smug, "What do you plan on doing then?"
Dib frowned, irritated by Zim's expression, how he had already dismissed him as unimportant. He had been Zim's greatest enemy once, but obviously that ship had sailed and Zim no longer saw him as the threat he was attempting to make himself out to be. It was infuriating that Zim saw through this sham. "Anything I can."
Zim lifted his chin, his bulbous eyes reflecting all light, illuminated unnaturally. "Would you kill me?"
Dib flushed, his fists clenched at his sides, his jaw tight as he glared at Zim.
The Irken laughed, a high pitched mocking laugh, "Could you?" The alien murmured, his voice like velvet, his body sensual as he approached the stricken human. His gloved hands reached for Dib's fists, easily easing the tension from the fingers and splaying them out, "That is the only way to stop this, but are you capable?" Zim lifted the human's hands, replacing them around his neck, his fingers pressed firm against the back of Dib's hands as he tilted his head up to his mate. His expression was open, just for a moment, a completely curious trusting look that was replaced by that arrogant grin, "Could you kill me, for Earth?"
Dib was stiff, his posture completely rigid, his hands burning where they wrapped around Zim's thin neck. His hold was firm, but he applied no further pressure, just standing there awkwardly, feeling the smooth Irken skin under his hands.
Zim was mocking him.
They both knew Dib couldn't kill him.
He couldn't choose humanity over his mate.
Dib wasn't the hero everyone needed, wasn't the hero his childhood self had viewed himself to be.
Dib was a failure, and Zim was pointing that out in the most demeaning of ways. Giving him an opening, laying his life bare, and knowing Dib would never take the shot, would never kill him.
Dib's brow furrowed, the pain in his chest becoming too much, he hated and loved Zim—it was unfair how conflicted he felt—he knew what was right, that saving the world was the right thing to do, but he couldn't squeeze the life out of Zim, he just couldn't.
Dib's hands fell from the Irken's neck, onto his shoulders, before they fell completely from the alien's frame. "You're a bastard, Zim." He said, his tone hollow, defeated.
Zim kept close to the human, his hands now reaching to grab at his hips, to force him close as he leaned up, licking up his throat in an obscenely inappropriate way, "I just know where your loyalties lie."
Dib pinched his eyes shut at the feel of Zim's rough alien tongue on his neck, suppressing a shiver. "Just leave me alone." He said before he found his strength and shoved Zim away, making a move to leave the room.
Zim was expecting the blow, and braced himself on the wall. He didn't let the human get far; grabbing him and spinning him back around before he pushed him up against a wall. One hand was on his hip, bracing, the other on his throat, Zim grinned up to him, "You don't get to leave until I let you leave."
"Zim." Dib said in a warning tone, glaring down to the alien, not in the mood for games.
Zim yanked Dib down into a smothering kiss; the sting of the human's saliva expected, addicting, as he claimed what was his. Dib tried to struggle, but Zim ignored him, and soon the human was reciprocating. Zim felt smug, no matter how Dib fought him, he knew what the human wanted. Dib didn't want Earth, didn't need Earth, what he needed was Zim. The alien broke the kiss to nip along Dib's jawline, to his neck, leaving tiny bruises where his sharp teeth hit.
"Zim, stop, Zim—" Dib gasped, pushing at the alien and getting them further into the living room. Zim was stronger, wasn't bothered by the struggling, and Dib's pathetic gasps wasn't helping his case at all—god damn it, Zim knew how sensitive his neck was!
Zim's legs buckled when he hit the edge of the couch, but he still had a grip on Dib and had the human sprawling atop him in the process. This was actually better, now they were even height and he could get at more of the human's flesh. He tugged down his shirt collar, biting at the junction where his neck met his shoulder, eliciting a long breathy moan from his mate. Good, Dib was close to submitting.
Zim wriggled his body out from under Dib and toppled the human easily, pinning him under his weight. He straddled his hips and leaned away from him, long enough to grab up his coat and throw it aside. Dib pushed at him, Zim slapped him, Dib yelped, and then the alien went to yanking off his shirt.
Dib flushed, angry, his face burning from the hit, his upper torso exposed to his oppressor. Zim had pulled off his gloves, his hands tracing the contours of Dib's body and reluctantly the human relaxed. The Irken traced the lines of scars, the old puckered puncture wounds, the flowered scar on his chest where he had gotten shot(that one time, long ago, by some crazy person in a back alley).
Dib watched Zim, his neck craned on the arm rest of the couch. Zim always looked concentrated when he did this, and he always did this. Dib didn't know what Zim thought in these moments, maybe remembering the past, or remembering how he had gotten each scar. Zim's skin was different, didn't show scars or blemishes; Irken's healed faster, they didn't shed their skin, but they underwent a similar process.
When he did this, it felt intimate, tender, and it lowered Dib's defenses. It made him remember why he had fallen in love with Zim in the first place, and it kept him from wanting to fight. Emotion welled in his chest when Zim traced the long uneven scar on his lower belly, the one he had gotten when Cyan was born; and Zim wore that expression he always wore when he did that, the pinched almost pained look that made Dib remember that the Irken could feel.
Zim glanced up to him then, wordlessly asking permission. Dib didn't do anything to shrug him off, just laid there, submitting to whatever Zim wanted. Dib didn't want to fight anymore, he wanted to feel better, he wanted to stop feeling this endless guilt.
Zim tugged off his own shirt, and then went to work on his pants, kicking off his boots and the clinging fabric. Naked, the Irken crouched back to help Dib out of his shoes, socks, jeans, and underwear, leaving the human just as bare as he was.
The Irken then traced his hands back up Dib's legs, over his calves, his thighs, back up to his hips and along his sides. Dib let out a shuddering sigh, relaxing, his body arching into the familiar touch. Zim positioned over him, leaning down to nip at his stomach, his chest, tasting his flesh and breathing in his scent; his antennae perked forward, touching skin.
Dib groaned, taking off his glasses and tossing them onto the clothes pile. He didn't need to see; he just wanted to feel, wanted to be close, to be one with his mate again. This felt simple; this was easy and necessary for him to cope. He closed his eyes and reached down, his fingers tracing a velvety stalk, eliciting a low rumbling purr from the Irken.
Zim kissed down his neck, bit again at his throat, the blooming bruises not even bothering him. The pain felt good, made him feel alive; his heart beating in his head the only sounds aside from their uneven breathing and indulgent moans.
Dib loved these intimate moments, he truly loved Zim. A bastard, though he was.
Zim positioned himself at Dib's entrance, leaning back to bring up his legs. He pressed against him, wet and insisting. Dib's eyes opened just enough, seeing the blurs of color in front of him like a wet water color painting. Zim hesitated, just a moment, enough to prepare the human for what was next, then he slid right inside and Dib arched, crying out Zim's name in a beautiful guttural groan.
It had been much too long since he had claimed his mate.
Zim's antennae perked forward as he leaned down, forcing Dib to flex at an angle so he could kept pushing in and out of him. His stalks were pressed against Dib's forehead, scenting him, feeling him, an intimate touch, his hands were braced on either side of him for leverage.
No more words needed to be said; their bodies spoke for them. The constant sound of skin against skin, the wet obscene noise from their coupling, and Dib's little murmurs of praise and encouragement was all that broke the silence.
It wasn't long before Zim felt Dib start to tighten around him; the human becoming more urgent in his responding thrusts, grabbing desperately at Zim to finish him. His human was so alive, so needy; he kissed the pulse point in Dib's neck just as the human cried out, spurting across his belly in a stinging mess.
It didn't take much more to bring Zim over the edge, the Irken finishing himself inside his human. There wasn't a fear of pregnancy, now that Zim had been aware of their compatibility; it hadn't taken much to make himself sterile. As Dib caught his breath, Zim pulled himself out and got himself standing. He cleaned himself off with Dib's shirt, and ignored Dib's disgruntled protest.
Dib shifted on the couch to get comfortable, not minding the wetness pooling down his thighs, nor the frigid sting of his sweat as it cooled on his body. He groped blindly for his glasses and put them back on, the world sharpening back into focus. He looked up to Zim's thin, smooth body, and always found it strange how genderless Zim looked(when his penis had slipped back up inside his body).
"Dib-thing," Zim said, glancing over his shoulder at his spent mate. "I am going to go down to the lab. Don't disturb me."
"Is there a point asking what you're up to?"
"No." Zim grinned, Dib rolled his eyes.
"Fine." Dib huffed as Zim gathered up his clothed and began to redress. "Where's Gir?"
"Asleep." Zim said easily.
Dib frowned, "Gir doesn't need to sleep."
"Don't worry about it." Zim stepped back into the kitchen and turned on the harsh fluorescent light. Dib squinted as he watched the Irken step into the fridge, the elevator loudly powering up before it sucked Zim down into the bowels of the home.
Dib rubbed at his eyes and tried to get comfortable. He grabbed at his jacket and pulled it over him for warmth. He was too tired to go upstairs to their room, so the couch would do just fine for now. He didn't feel like thinking about what was going to happen tomorrow, he just wanted to finally get some rest.