Alright, so, I mentioned this in an update for another story, but for those of you who only follow this one a lot has been going on and I'm VERY sorry for not having gotten to this in a while.
I would also like to apologize for any errors that may and I'm sure ARE in this story, as I no longer have Word due to my computer failing me and my brother reformatting it for me so that it will at least last me through the next semester or two of school. I am currently downloading something that's supposed to be just as good as word, so hopefully my future chapters won't SUCK so bad.
All in all though I really like how this chapter turned out. I think it's one of the better ones of the rewrite, possibly because it so much is told to us in this chapter, and because Zim seemed to just revert into his natural old self without much effort on my part. Let me know what you think.
Also, I'm wanting to come up with a different title for this rewrite. For some reason this title isn't working for me anymore, and I really don't like the chapter titles. If you have any ideas, let me know, I'd love to hear them!
It was almost six and Dib and Zim got ready to go.
"Coming, my lady?" Dib said only half jokingly, holding out a hand for Zim as the alien checked himself in the mirror. Deciding that his make-up and everything else once more looked perfect he took the offered hand and let the human lead him out to the car.
Dib made it a goal to be as gentlemanly as possible to Zim, not only because of his promise to make things easier, but also as good practice for when they got to the restaurant. Zim agreed that some practice would be good, so he played along. Dib opened the car door for Zim and closed it once the alien was in, slouching slightly in his seat.
"Hey, it'll be fine," Dib said. "You look great, we just have to make sure we answer all of father's questions favorably and he'll suspect nothing."
"What kind of questions is he going to ask?" Zim questioned, sitting up and looking at Dib as they drove off.
"Probably just stuff about your childhood, the kind of education you have and the work that you do." Dib said. "Speaking of which we should probably go over all that now."
The entire way to the restaurant Zim and Dib built up a story for Zimma about her childhood, where she grew up, what kind of background she had and everything. By the time they got there and parked they were confident in Zimma as a person.
Dib got out and opened the door for his fiancé', saying, "Now don't be nervous, we've got this."
"Provided he doesn't notice... you know." Zim said, shaking his limbs out a little to try and get some blood pumping so he didn't look pale and any more sickly.
They went inside to find Membrane already there and waiting, going over the menu patiently.
"Hello Dad," Dib said, pulling his seat out for Zim before sitting in his own.
"Hello, son," Membrane said with a nod.
"Dad, this is Zimma," Dib introduced, pulling Zim's left hand up to show off the ring. The alien gave the professor his best smile, trying not to look as nervous as he felt. It didn't really work, as the smile turned out exhadurated and creepy, but Membrane didn't seem to notice.
"Pleasure to meet you," The scientist said before turning to Dib and asking, "Tell me, her skin, is that the same condition as the little foreign boy had? You know, the one you used to play with all the time?" As though Dib had a lot of little green foreign friends.
"Yes," Dib said with a nod, having been prepared for this. "It's hereditary. She's a little sensitive about it though." And on cue he put a hand on the alien's arm in a comforting gesture, being sure to avoid the skin of his shoulder, as per Zim's request.
"Right," Membrane said with an understanding nod, though Zim felt as though he was staring at him very closely. "Now tell me, what kind of work do you do?"
"Um, I'm into astrology." Zim said quietly, in the girliest voice he could muster. "Mostly the geography of planets, used to do a lot of work for the military, but I'm looking for something a little closer to home now."
Dib put a hand on Zim's knee as his father nodded. This was going to work! He knew it!
"And where did you grow up, go to school?" Membrane asked, and Zim fidgeted, not liking where Dib's hand was.
"I grew up in S-Swedeland… in an educational establishment with other childrens with the same skin condition before coming here." He said, shaking his legs a little, but Dib didn't seem to get the hint. "Finished up grade school here before going to a university."
Dib's heart was beating hard in his chest and he gave the knee a squeeze before flipping through the menu as the waiter came asking for drink orders.
"The wine would be good, thank you, for all of us." Membrane ordered before adding. "I'll also have a bottle of water."
Zim paled a little, but agreed with the order and the waiter was off, leaving them a little more time to look at their menus.
Membrane continued to ask questions, like how Dib and Zimma met, to which Dib replied it was on one of his paranormal missions, and he had met with Zimma to ask about strange landmarks on Mars. He then asked about how long they'd been together and how Dib proposed, to which Dib gave a rough estimate of time and a semi-truthful answer of all but being forced to.
Finally the wine got there and the waiter inquired as to what they wanted to eat.
Membrane ordered some kind of fancy chicken while Dib ordered both him and Zimma a simple pasta dish, figuring that would be alright for Zim.
"Would you like one big plate, sir?" The waiter asked.
"Excuse me?" Dib replied.
"You know, like in the movie with the little mongrellish pooches. Spaghetti sir. Would you like to SHARE it with your lovely lady?" The waiter clarified and Dib thought a moment before nodding, deciding that would be a good idea.
Dib took a large sip of the wine, but stopped when Zim pinched him under the table. He did NOT want what happened earlier to happen again.
He was further taken by surprise when, after taking a smaller sip, his father asked, "So, when can I expect grandchildren?"
Poking, prodding, then snap.
Dib choked on the wine, needing to put the glass down so he didn't spill anything, and Zim gave the human a confused look.
"Dad!" Dib gasped, coughing still. "It's a… little early to be thinking of kids… it really is."
"Nonsense! It's never too early. Not for our family." Membrane argued. "You've got a successful, if not strange, career, plenty of family for support, and a lovely woman. There's nothing stopping you!"
Zim fidgeted uncomfortably, feeling as though he were expected to say something, but he barely had an understanding of where earth children came from, so holding a conversation about the possibility of having one was simply not an option.
The topic stayed on children a while, Membrane giving the two far more details of Dib's mother and his attempts at conceiving than either would have liked. Dib almost jumped for joy when their food arrived and his father had to occupy his mouth with eating, rather than talking.
After a few minutes of silence in which everyone enjoyed their food Dib decided he needed to get his father talking about something that had nothing to do with children.
"So, how's work, Dad?" He asked.
"Work is great!" Membrane said. "We've found a way to cure yet another cancer, and found a way to GROW super toast!"
"That's great!" Dib said, wrapping an arm around Zim, feeling much more comfortable now that the topic change had taken. This made Zim squirm a little, but neither really moved for fear of actually LOOKING uncomfortable. "Hey, isn't Zimma great! Smart, pretty, ambitious, everything you'd want in a daughter in law, right?"
This made Zim calm a little. He knew Dib was saying those things for his father's benefit, but one couldn't help but take the compliments.
Membrane seemed to think for a moment before nodding, and adding, "And eventually I'm sure she'll be a great mother!"
Dib's smile dropped and he said, "Yeah, eventually. You can't rush these things. It may be years before we're BOTH ready."
This seemed to annoy Membrane a bit, but he didn't say anything more on the subject, instead, saying, "Alright, well, I best be getting back to the lab." And with that he stood, pulling out his wallet and setting some money on the table. "This should cover the bill, will you take care of the tip?"
Dib nodded, sighing and saying, "Yeah, I'll take care of it."
The human didn't let go of Zim until his father had left the restaurant, and they both were able to relax.
"That was awful." He said, putting his face in his hands. He pulled his hands away though to reach for the wine and take another sip.
"For once I agree with you." Zim groaned. He never wanted to have dinner with Dib's father AGAIN.
"And all those baby questions," Dib said before stuffing some more of the pasta in his mouth.
"Speaking of babies," Zim said, taking a small bite before asking, "Why does the thought of a smeet weird you out. How do you humans even do it?"
Dib choked once again, this time, though, he had his alien fiancé to thank for that.
"Um, well," He said, rubbing the back of his neck once he'd swallowed his food down the right hole. 'Do it' was a very accurate statement. "Humans have, you know, intercourse in order to conceive. The male releases sperm into the female which fertilizes her eggs. Then the female carries the child in the stomach area for nine months and… then gives birth."
Zim paused for a moment before asking, "Isn't that… primitive?"
"I guess." Dib said, though didn't seem entirely sure what Zim meant. "How do Irkens do it then?"
"We genetically engineer most of our smeets." Zim explained. "We take DNA from deceased Irkens and clone new ones. They grow in tubes and when they're ready to be born a mechanical arm breaks the tube. We're given a pak and a shock to bring us to life and there you have it, an Irken smeet."
Dib absorbed the information as he ate more before saying, "That seems overly complicated. Really it doesn't matter though. In order for us to have a smeet we'd have to have sex, and you hate touch, plus you'd have to be a female."
Zim gave a shrug before flashing Dib a knowing smile and saying, "If you say so."
Dib stopped, seeming frozen in time for a moment, trying to figure out what Zim meant before finally asking, "What does THAT mean?"
"You mentioned that your females carry the eggs while the male inject their DNA." Zim pointed out. "With Irkens it's the men that have the eggs which we inject into our females, and it combines with their DNA."
Dib shook his head, trying to come to grips with what he just learned. "So- so you mean you and I- if we- then we could-…." The dots just didn't seem like they should connect like that! Dib couldn't seem to be able to decide if it was better when he didn't know that little fact about Irkens or not.
"If Irken and human DNA are compatible." Zim pointed out.
"That's scary." Dib said, taking a bite of food to give him a little time to think as he chewed, then swallowed. "I want to make Dad happy and all, but getting married and having children are two totally different things. No one takes marriage seriously anymore, especially not among the rich. People get married and divorced all the time, despite the importance people seem to place on it. Children though, that's a real commitment. That's what is really sacred."
"The odds wouldn't be in your favor anyway." Zim said, waving a hand at Dib's silly thoughts. "Why do you think we clone our smeets in the first place? It's because our race is all but infertile."
A weight seemed to lift off of Dib's mind and he sighed, saying, "Good." Before picking up his napkin to wipe his face. He put the napkin down before asking, "Isn't it weird how quickly Dad left?"
Zim almost scowled, picking up his own napkin and said, "I thought he was always like that." He wiped Dib's cheek, cleaning some sauce off the human's face that's he'd missed.
Dib watched Zim intently, his cheeks heating up in a blush. "Z-Zim?"
"What?" Zim asked, putting the cloth down on the table.
Dib regained the grasp over himself. "Uh-right!" He took another sip of wine. "Do you wanna go home now? I mean… my home… but… right. You know what I mean."
"You're acting strange." Zim said, eyeing Dib's glass. "You aren't drunk again, are you?"
"No, I'm fine," Dib said, shaking his head and standing. "At least I think I am."
Zim stood as well, watching Dib carefully before deciding the human could be trusted behind the wheel and said, "Alright."
"Come on," Dib said, leading Zim out to the car after putting the tip on the table. Zim allowed this, keeping an eye on the human, just in case.
The car ride home was a silent, but not uncomfortably so. Zim watched as the scenery flew past them, enjoying how it felt like he was in a ship, though much slower.
Once home Dib opened the door for Zim, saying, "Why don't you find a movie to put on or something? There's not really a lot to do here. They're in the cabinet under the TV."
Zim shrugged and went over to the TV stand, opening it and flipping through all the disks he found there.
After a few minutes he grumbled, looking back at Dib, who had sat himself on the couch, "Do you own every alien movie ever made?"
"Probably." Dib said, laughing a little at himself.
Zim finally pulled a movie from the collection, asking, "What's this one about?"
"Vampires." Dib said. Not much better. His obsessions with the paranormal didn't leave him room for much else in his life, much less his movie collection.
"Oh, blood drainy things." Zim said, popping the disk in.
Dib grunted, watching the alien as he got up. Why did that leave him with images of Zim, eyes surrounded by thick eye-liner, dressed in all black, and with a knife to his wrists?
"Speaking of 'blood drainy things.'" Dib said, narrowing his eyes a little. "Do you hurt yourself a lot? How do you do it?"
Zim rolled his eyes, saying, "I'm not talking about this with you."
"Why not? I thought you weren't emo." Dib said in a slightly mocking voice.
"I'm not, which is why I'm not talking about it." Zim replied, keeping his eyes fixed on the movie as the screen panned around a small, rural town with lots of farms and a long, straight road that went right through the middle.
"Whatever." Dib said, turning his attention to the movie as well, enjoying the stunning visuals that opened the movie. He threw his arms over the top of the couch as he relaxed.
Zim leaned back, head hitting Dib's arm and he jumped, eyes wide before glaring slightly, leaning forward with his arms propping up his head.
Dib had jumped as well, and moved to the other side of the couch. The room had gotten awkward quickly.
After two hours, the movie having ended, Zim stood, stretching and saying, "I'm going to bed, Dib-stink."
Dib looked at Zim for a moment before standing as well, saying, "I think I will too."
The human followed Zim up the stairs. The irken seemed to be in a sour mood and lost in his own thoughts. This was only proven to be true when Dib closed Zim's bedroom door, and the irken jumped, asking, "What are you doing?"
"Going to bed, what does it look like?" He asked, starting to undo the buttons of his shirt.
"What's wrong with your room, why are you here?" Zim asked, crossing his arms.
"I already told you I'm going to follow you around. I don't trust you now." Dib explained calmly.
"Damn it Dib, get out!" Zim yelled.
Dib glared a little before asking, "How are your injuries doing?"
"I'm fine! Now go away!" Zim said, pointing at the door.
"If they're better…." Dib trailed off, putting a thumb to the opposite wrist and flicking a switch he'd hidden there under the skin.
Zim gasped hard, falling to the floor as electricity made his limbs useless. Dib flipped the switch once more, turning the electricity off.
"Ah! What was that for?" Zim asked through grit teeth, pulling himself into a sitting position and rubbing his arms.
"To remind you that you aren't the one making demands." Dib said, kneeling to tower closely over Zim.
"I don't want you in here when I'm trying to sleep." Zim growled. "How am I supposed to relax? It's hard enough being in the same house as you."
"I'm sorry, but I can't trust you." Dib said, shaking his head. "I can't leave you alone to hurt yourself."
"I don't NEED to hurt myself with you shocking me like that." Zim said, glaring hard.
"I'm not convinced." Dib said, glaring right back.
Zim grunted in annoyance, mustering up all the strength he possessed before saying, "Please… go away."
Dib stared a moment before rolling his own eyes, saying, "Fine." and standing. He left the room quietly, letting Zim have his peace.
"Damn it, Zim." The human breathed, getting dressed for bed before falling under the covers and into a dreamless sleep.