Woo, long chapter. This was a bloody mother to write. Lot's of stuff happening. This is a little fluffier of a chapter, but a little fluff is necessary. This chapter was slightly rushed and just spur of the moment, and while I restarted it a couple times, I may do further editing later.
I have began designing new cover art for Glitch (yeah, I have no life and draw this stuff, too), and I'll begin work on Chapter Five and post it ASAP. For now, time to enjoy this Florida weather!
Thank you for reading, and if you'd be so kind, leave a review!
~M
The farther Zim walked from the library, the more reality crashed in on him. He had just shared the likely doom that awaited Earth to a human. Not any ordinary human, but still! FOOL! What have you done?! He inwardly screamed as he entered the classroom. Plunking down in his seat, he leaned on his left arm, his right hands secrets?! his inner invader ranting. Betraying his home, his peoplet high on the ladder among his people, a part of Zim still held loyalty to the bastards. However, his instinctual, more maniacal side was winning over the fight.
You know why you did it. It was to see that look on her face. That one she always gets when you say something exciting… In his mind's eye, the Irken saw Gaz's face again, the expression that had appeared there. Her petal lips had parted, eyebrows risen slightly, and her breath had hitched. Her eyes, however, were the clearest detail to him. Amber, liquid gold, had darkened, a mix of surprise, fear, and another emotion that stirred that feeling in him again.
Lust.
Zim, though he was not always the brightest person, was not blind to her recent behavior. The girl had become slightly less aggressive towards him, and more likely to sit nearer him. He caught her staring at him often, and when their eyes met, many words went between them, unsaid but known. After a few moment of contact, one or the other would look away, and a light blush would appear on her face. Zim himself did not truly blush, but he knew the feeling of warmth in his cheek. He had spent many evenings, while working through calculations or Hi Skool homework, pondering what had led to this tension. Of course he knew the biological factors; she was a maturing human female, likely already capable of bearing young. Her instincts, though diluted by higher consciousness, were to find a mate. However, why, out of all the choices available to her, had she chosen him for courtship? Or at least, that seemed what were intentions were. Zim growled quietly, leaning more heavily on his arm. He was clueless in the ways of courtship, even Irken courtship. Of course, he had watched it happen many a time, but he himself had never entered into the ritual. Not only was he too young at the time he had been on Irk, but his reputation and behavior made him a rather undesirable mate. Now, he on a foreign planet, and while he had watched human courtship since Mid Skool, it still confused him. Females would act interested one moment, then uninterested the next. The male students called it "playing hard to get." They always pursued males of similar social stature to them; nerds with nerds, jocks with jocks, so on. Gaz, however, had remained a mystery. Her nature drove most males away, and she had never showed interest in the rituals of "dating." Then, out of the blue, she began showing these intentions and wants to him, the alien sent to conquer her world and people. Why me, when she could have her pick of any human male? Why would she-?
The obnoxious ringing of the bell brought Zim out of his thoughts, and he realized that the girl in question had slid into a desk beside him. He eyed her, curious when she had arrived. Her chest was heaving slightly, and sweat slid down her brow. The stack of books and journals was sitting on the floor beside her; she had ran to class. He chuckled, drawing her attention.
"Hey, what's so funny?" she asked heatedly, eyes narrowing back to their characteristic slits, lips pursing slightly in a frown. His inside felt wobbly, looking at her. Irk, she's beautiful.
"Had I known you required assistance, I would have stayed." One of her eyebrows crooked up.
"I didn't need help," Gaz snapped. "I'm not a wimp like Dib." She reached into her satchel, withdrawing the class text book. "Besides," she hissed as the teacher began speaking, "I wouldn't have had to run if someone hadn't decided to be Mister Dramatic."
Zim guffawed, earning a glare from the teacher. Leaning slightly closer to the girl, he whispered, "It was not for shock value, Gazlene, it was a simple truth. I could easily enlighten you more about it later." Feeling bold, he reached his hand over and lightly placed his hand on her arm. "I believe there is much for us to discuss."
Zim watched her eyes lighten, the faint pink returning, and took note that she did not remove his hand. She met his gaze, unwavering. "I suppose it wouldn't hurt to talk—"
"And now class!" interrupted the teacher, smacking a ruler against his desk. "As a requirement of Health and Fitness, we must discuss your wellbeing as wild little maggots. This, unfortunately, includes all the lovely miracles that are happening to your bodies and the disgusting things you will be doing with them." The teacher turned on the projector and turned back to the students. "This is Sex Ed day, people!"
Zim didn't look at Gaz, but he felt her tense up, and as the film started, he quickly withdrew his hand, the familiar heat returning strongly to his cheeks, and other regions.
After the class was over, and many students had either passed out, vomited, or gone into shock, those left ran from the classroom, some screaming. Zim and Gaz were the last to exit, both silent and feeling fairly awkward. "Well," Zim started, "I had hoped there would be slightly less tension between us when we talked." He looked down at Gaz, who met his gaze.
"I don't see why we can't still talk. You can explain what you meant when you said you would 'enlighten me'." There's more than that we need to talk about, her eyes spoke.
"It is quite simple to explain, really. Even a human mind can grasp it." There is, but is now the time?
She nodded, answering both his statements. They began to slowly walk through the halls, which were quickly emptying as the final bell rang. "School isn't the best place, though."
"Hmmm this is very true," Zim muttered. An idea popped into his mind. A dangerous one, but better than nothing. "You could come to my base, er, house, later. That would be quieter, and more secluded…" he trailed off, turning to face her. She stood, looking up at him. He hadn't realized quite the difference in their height until then. She was hardly over five feet four inches, by his estimate. He was pulled out of his thoughts once more when he felt a feather light touch on his arm.
"That… doesn't sound horrible." Her voice trembled slightly, losing its dark tone for a moment. He felt his chest tighten. Something in those eyes of hers…. They were enticing, entrancing. His body moved of its own accord, stepping forward. She stepped back in response, bumping into the wall. He closed the gap between them, and stood nearly chest to chest with the girl. His gloved hand went up to her skull necklace, idly playing with the pendant. "I'll see you at around five o'clock, then?" His eyes narrowed slightly as she swallowed.
"Or I could just go with you now."
That wasn't a reply he was expecting. Still, it sent an excited shiver through him. The Irkens gaze wandered down to her petal pink lips. Kissing, that ritual that had always fascinated him, popped back into his head once more. He looked in her eyes once more. Is this really what you want?
Her eyes narrowed, a fire burning deep in her irises. Those lips parted slightly. Yes.
Before he could change his mind, the invader leaned down, and pressed his green lips against the girl's. He felt her breath stop for a moment, her eyes widening, then watched as her long lashes fluttered shut. Gaz's arms tentatively wrapped around his waist, pulling him closer. This pull made them move ever closer to the wall, and Zim placed his arms on either side of her head, balancing himself. He withdrew, then placed his lips back against hers, watching through half-lidded eyes. It was an odd sensation, being so close physically to another being. He could feel her breath and lashes brush against his face, her hands grabbing fistfuls of his shirt, her chest against his. He tentatively ran his tongue across her lips, and was surprised when she parted them further, allowing him entrance.
For a moment, there was pain, burning from the water in her body. Then, ecstasy.
Dib watched the scene play out, stomach rolling with anger and disgust. His enemy, the alien he had been opposing, chasing, fighting for years, had his little sister against a wall, lips to lips, chest to chest. Even worse, she was quite obviously enjoying it. Her cheeks were flushed red, hands gripping his shirt until her knuckles were white (whiter than normal). The teen felt his hand clench into a fist, teeth gritting together. Oh, don't think you'll get away with this, Zim, he thought maliciously as he watched the pair begin to untangle from their embrace. You won't get away with this. The investigator turned quickly, trench coat whipping behind him like a cape, his mind turning to cold, calculating fury.
Gaz was stunned. Not in the horrified way, but in the pure bliss way. The awkwardness of sitting through a film solely about sex next to the one being she lusted after had quickly left the more they spoken and completely vanished the moment his lips met hers. The fire inside her swelled, growing hotter and hotter each moment his lips stayed on hers. When she felt his tongue on her lips, asking permission, then as it began running itself over her own, she thought would explode or melt or simply turn to dust. It was an odd feeling, his tongue. She had kissed before, an unfortunate experience that ended up being more messy than sensual. Compared to a human tongue, his was softer, more dexterous, and clearly longer and more pointed. She cautiously returned the kiss, aware when he winced, and when she believed she really would pass out, he withdrew slowly, breaking the contact. Gaz opened her eyes, hoping her disappointment wouldn't show. His expression was almost unreadable (she'd realized long ago that the Irken apparently had no blush), save the dull glimmer in his eyes. She knew they were contacts; his natural eyes were large orbs of red and pink swirled. Gaz preferred those eyes much more. Slowly, a grin formed on his face. Not the sarcastic, egotistical one he so often wore, but a genuine smile.
She felt the edges of her own mouth pull up, a shocking sight for anyone who may happen to have seen it. Thankfully, the hallway was seemingly empty. "Well," she hated how breathy her voice seemed, "shall we be going?" The Irken's smile widened and he nodded. Zim stepped back letting her move from the wall, but staying close. As the duo began to head to the exit once more, she felt his long gloved fingers reach tentatively for hers, lacing them together. Her heart soared, a new feeling for the dark natured girl, and she squeezed his hand lightly in return. Stepping through the doors and proceeding down the stairs and in the direction of Zim's base- house-, Gaz was aware of the stares, and heard Keef yell, "LOOK! ZIM has a girlfriend, and it's GAZ!" This made her eyes narrow. First off, Keef had always been a thorn in her side. His nosy ways and loud voice annoyed her. Secondly… She glanced back at Zim. She had no idea what this situation was. She quickly tossed the pessimistic thoughts aside, and simply reveled in the feeling of walking down the street, hand in hand with the person- alien?- who she had been yearning for for months' company. She realized as they walked Zim was staying silent. "Uh, Zim?" He looked at her, questioning look on his face. "Is something wrong? You stopped talking… Which you rarely do." She was surprised by the barking laugh that escaped his lips, and even more surprised when he let his tongue loll out of his mouth.
First there was the simple shock of how long his tongue was. It was ridiculous, almost like a giraffe's tongue, only shaped more like a reptiles. Second was the blisters that covered the surface of it, almost as if he had placed his tongue against something hot…
Realization smacked her in the face. The alien was allergic to water! Of course his tongue was blistered from being in contact with hers, and why he was so silent. "You knew that would happen," she said quietly. "So why did you do that?"
The alien's nonchalant shrug surprised her. "Uh momen' o' paii ith woofth du wuwawd. Eh will heal shoon unougth." They continued walking, and a couple blocks later, Zim turned and stuck his tongue out again. The blisters were mostly gone, or nearly healed. At her expression, he grinned. "I told you. We Irkens heal faster than humans. Now, let us get to the base; those clouds trouble me."
When they reached the house-base thingy, Gaz's insecurity and suspicion kicked in. What was she doing? Sure, she'd known Zim for years, but what was to say he wouldn't randomly turn on her, capture her and use him for whatever dastardly plot he may have. She mentally punched herself for that thought, which sounded entirely too Dib-like. She realized she had hesitated at the gateway leading into the yard, as Zim squeezed her hand. She looked up at him, seeing amusement in his smirk and eyes. "I promise, I am not leading you here for anything harmful." He slipped an arm around her waist, and led her up to the door slowly. "I said I wished to talk and discuss with you, and Zim is not one to go back on his word often." The often worried her a little, but allowed herself to be lead through the doorway, only to be greeted by a flurry of confetti.
"WEEEEEE! HI, SCARY LADY!" Gir promptly leapt onto Gaz, placing his feet on her chest, holding her shoulders to remain stable. "Where's big head?" The girl couldn't contain the giggle that erupt from her at her brother's old nickname. Soon, the robot was whisked away from her, Zim holding him firmly.
"GIR! Do not leap on the guests as if they are furniture!" Gaz laughed harder as the alien's old speech pattern emerged when he was flustered. As the robot and his master continued to struggle, Gaz surveyed the room. It had changed little over the years, save for more furniture and a nicer TV. Besides only a couch, there was a recliner, coffee table, and a small duvet. All were red, and covered in patches. Gaz had realized over the years how rowdy Zim's robot companion could be, and was not surprised that the items had been repaired several times.
"GO DOWN AND THINK ABOUT YOUR EXISTANCE, GIR!" Gaz blinked as Zim threw the robot into an elevator and closed it, ignoring his wails. The alien sighed, pulling off his wig and removing his contacts. "Sorry about that. Gir gets antsy a lot, since I don't allow him out much." He looked at her with those round red eyes, bright and expressive. "Shall we?" he asked, gesturing to the kitchen. She nodded, walking towards the doorway. All her worry washed away as the alien stopped her, and placed his lips softly on her forehead. "I would never intentionally harm you, Gazlene. Do not worry."