Well, that was an unexpectedly long break, wasn't it:) Don't kill me, plz.
As usual, Invader Zim and all its characters are copyright to Jhonen Vasquez and Nickelodeon Studios.
And I apologise for the long wait. I hope this makes up for it!
Maybe if you didn't attempt to kill everyone who comes close to you Dib, you might actually have some friends.
Six and a half hours later, Gaz's words stung deeper and more painfully than if she'd been standing right in front of him, screaming them. The effort might have killed her, though.
Dib sighed for the umpteenth time, reheating the material of his sleeve that half his face was still buried into, his other hand having not budged from its over-the-head position either. If anything, in the course of three hundred and ninety minutes, Dib had managed to melt a good portion of his brain mulling things over.
I shouldn't have hit him.
Bullshit. You had every good damn reason to hit him.
What justifies beating an innocent man?
Innocent my ass—you're slipping into that pitiful, forgiving state again Dib. Don't you remember what he did to you? Something along the lines of, oh, utter betrayal?
I was a child. It was a mista—
All the worse for him to betray a child! He stole your trust, Dib, and he spat in your face. Don't be so naíve, Dib. You also remember what happened afterwards…
Don't..
How they accused you.
Stop it..
Condemned you.
Shut up.
Punishedyou.
" SHUT UP!!! "
Dib threw himself forward on his lap, panting raggedly as he jammed his fingers up into his hair roughly, willing the shivering in his body to cease. He didn't even see the dark-haired figure standing stiffly in the mouth of the hallway, watching him with tired but worry-filled eyes.
Timidly, a broken voice trickled through the tense atmosphere of the room.
" .. Dib? "
Dwicky remained at a fair distance from the shaking boy, still harboring some wary fears of the teenager due to the past hours' events.
When Dib didn't respond to his calls, Dwicky pushed a little more volume into his call, however the intended product didn't come out, and instead of a strong, commanding tone, Dwicky's voice cracked halfway, giving out a near-screeching pitch that made the boy on the couch jerk and twist his head up to look at the suddenly squeamish counselor in the hallway.
Dwicky shrunk back a little into the blanket he'd wrapped around himself, barely peeking out with those dark, childlike eyes.
" D-.. Dib? I—uh, I'm sorry.. t-to disturb you b-but I, uh, wanted to s-say s-s-sorry.. I shouldn't have been—"
" Are you alright? "
Dwicky blinked and looked up, having let his eyes fall to the floor in his stammered rush to apologize. He saw Dib, sitting forward on the couch with a weary look on his face, his fingers folded loosely together hanging past his knees. What caught the counselor's attention more than anything though, in the face of the teenager before him, was the trace of what looked like.. worry.
Dwicky stared at Dib, his mouth parting slightly in awe as he soaked in the emotion in the boy's face, at the same time registering a faint, growing twinge somewhere in the center of his chest.
It was strange, how feelings worked. Intangible, inanimate, mostly uncontrollable, and yet things like heartache.. actually hurt. Dwicky had to fight with himself not to leap across the space of tatty carpeting to the teenager on the couch, to wrap his arms around him and try and change that expression on Dib's face that ate at his insides.
Dwicky shook his head slightly and suddenly he was back standing in the hallway, the faintly warm blanket wrapped about his body, smelling of.. Dib.
" Dwicky? "
Oh jeez, had he been silent this whole time? Stupid head, rambling on and on. Now he didn't even remember what Dib had asked him in the first place. Before Dwicky could make himself look even more foolish, Dib spoke for him, relieving Dwicky's embarrassment a bit.
" Er.. How's your head? "
Oh yeah, that was it.
" Its, uhm.. its fine, I deserved it, really, don't worry about it—"
Dib's eyes flinched at the counselor's words, and in response, Dwicky's mouth dropped in immediate regret.
" Ah, no! I m-mean, I didn't deserve it at all! "
This time, Dib's eyes grew dark and instead of worry, there was a deeper sadness. He slowly dropped his head to stare at the carpeting.
Dwicky frantically racked his head. Shit, shit, you're ruining this! He's actually talking to you with civility and you're fucking it all up!
" I-uh.. Dib, don't feel bad.. I mean, maybe I did deserve it, maybe I d-didn't but uh.. It doesn't matter now, yeah? Its all over. "
Ugh. How phony can you sound? Stupid counselor training.
Dib's head lifted slightly, but his eyes didn't return to Dwicky. Instead, they gazed half-lidded across the room at the black television, which stared right back with no consolation.
" Dwicky.. "
The counselor bit his tongue, actually surprised at the soft tone of the teenager's voice.
" .. Why did you come back here? "
Dwicky twitched backwards, almost reclusively into the hallway, suddenly not wanting to be in the room anymore, to not answer this question, to flee the confrontation and the questions that he knew were coming. His eyes quietly rested on Dib, a little less anxious now and more resigned and defensive.
" .. What do you mean? "
Feign innocence? Yeah, he could do that. After all, he was a psychotherapist.
Dib, however, was not so easily fooled. His head jerked up from the floor, pinning Dwicky with an utterly malicious glare, daring the counselor to play coy with him.
Dwicky's expression remained immovable, but his insides were on a hellish rollercoaster that was making him want to vomit.
Dib growled out his next words. " I want to know why you came back here. To Earth. "
The boy added that extra bit on, as if to specify what he wanted to hear, instead of some bullshit sidetrack.
Dwicky stared at him for a long time, weighing the pros and cons of spilling everything to Dib, a little bit, or none at all. Obviously, the kid wasn't tricked as easily as he'd hoped. Then again, he appreciated the fact that Dib wasn't just another mindless drone of the hundreds that populated the area. Even if it complicated things.
After an extensive period of silence in which the both of them could've burned each other's eyes out with equally intense gazes, Dwicky broke the eye contact, drawing his down to the floor.
The carpet appeared unusually interesting—more so than this moment. Dwicky wanted nothing more than to crawl down into the tiny spaces between each coiled piece of thread and hide.
" I ran away. " The words seemed to fall from his tongue like anvils and float in the air like a thick smoke that wouldn't disappear quick enough.
Dib, instead of goading the counselor on with more threatening tones, simply sat on the moth eaten couch and watched him, unaware of just how intimidating his glare was.
Dwicky seemed quite taken by the carpet at this point. " I came back here to escape from—"
The counselor's tongue seemed to writhe up in his throat and would not work. How could he tell him? What words would describe how utterly unfriendly the universe was?
How could he describe the torment?
One part of Dib wanted to relieve Dwicky, to give into the pity he felt whining at him in the pit of his stomach.
The other part, wanted to shove him back against the wall again and claw the words from his throat.
As if feeling the tension radiating from the boy on the couch, Dwicky picked up his head.
Dib stared at him, albeit without the intensity from a moment ago. A little bit of Dwicky relaxed inside, and before he knew it, his feet were leading him across the room to the couch, his legs bending to let him sit at the
other end of the couch.
Feeling the pivotal moment in their conversation nearing, Dib didn't even allow himself the comfort to lean back on the sofa. Instead, he remained quite still, only moving his head to allow his eyes to track Dwicky's movements.
Like a predator on its prey, approaching the opportune moment.
" I wanted to see you again. "
The words seemed to laugh in hysterical irony, shattering the heavy tension in the room into a million tiny pieces.
For a while, Dib only sat on the couch, staring at Dwicky in a new, profound manner. He looked as if he was unsure of what he heard, and at the same time, had heard it all.
Dwicky sat like a nervous student under the harsh scrutiny of his teacher, knees pulled tightly together, long, skinny fingers folded together haphazardly, head tucked down between angular, bony shoulders.
Only his voice, for once, seeped out even and confident from the depths under that messy rumpus of black hair.
" I came back for you, Dib. "
:O Romance threads finally being introduced, what? R&R pzty. :)