Hey all, I apologize for how long this took... again. Nothing new. The whole story is a little embarassing, let's just leave it at I need to keep a map in order to keep track of where I put my flash drives. -_- Anyway, ther story get's a little slow around this area, but I'll try and keep it interesting. Just bare with me.
Also, I have the next chapter completely written, so don't go bonkers if it takes me a while to update again. I try and keep ahead of what I post, so usually it's not that I don't have the next chapter done, it's that I don't have the one after it done. Keeps me from getting too bored with things and just letting them hang, you know what I mean? Anyway, on with the story.
Dib woke up the next morning in a state of pure uncomfortable-ness. The bed felt lumpy, the pillow seemed flat, and the world outside seemed to be making as much noise as it could, just to annoy him.
"I'm UP already!" He yelled, pushing himself up with a groan.
Zim's antennae twitched and he clung to the pillow harder, as though that would block out the human's obnoxious yelling and anchor him in sleep.
Dib didn't care one bit about the other person sleeping in the house, grabbing his clothes so he could get a shower, slamming drawers and doors and stomping on the way to his destination.
Zim got up and rubbed his eyes before glaring at the direction the door was slammed. His back felt hot, like it had a mild sunburn, from the shock the night before, and he would have liked nothing more than to punch Dib in the face for that. But… after last night, the human seemed to actually be a threat to him and this made Zim VERY uncomfortable.
With a sigh he got up and pulled on a random pair of jeans and long sleeved shirt, not caring how he looked that day. The shirt came up a little on the alien's long torso and bunched weirdly, but eventually he had to stop messing with the clothes. He slipped on his gloves and the ring, deciding to himself that he would keep his mouth shut as much as possible. With how irritated Dib had gotten with him the night before, he didn't want to run the risk of any damage being done to him, simply because he couldn't keep his opinions to himself.
Yes, being quiet would make life a lot easier.
Dib groaned as the spray of warm water fell on his head and got in his eyes. He wished he'd slept in, but even as he thought this he felt restless. There would be no need to pretend to be lovers anymore, at least not until the wedding or his father decided to check in, which ever may occur first. He didn't have a lot of work to do, since he'd taken a vacation in anticipation of capturing Zim and putting this plan into motion, and since everything had gone according to plan (mostly) he didn't need to worry about the alien or any plans to dominate the human race.
What was there left to do?
"I wonder what Zim does when he's not taking over the world." Dib said out loud before turning off the water. He got out and got dressed (drying his hair as much as possible) before heading down to the living room where Zim was sitting, watching the movie from the night before, as he couldn't figure out how to put the TV back on cable channels.
"Hey," Dib said, seeming much more cheerful than early that morning. Zim just gave a wave and so he continued on, only half forcing the smile that was on his face, "What do you wanna do today?"
Zim shot Dib a small glare before shrugging as he reached up to rub his bare antennae, trying to relieve some irritation he'd gotten from that wig he'd had to wear.
Dib looked confused, moving around the couch to sit next to the alien, asking, "What's up? Are you sick… do irkens even get sick?"
Zim leaned away, finally opening his mouth and saying, "No. I'm trying not to get in trouble. You know, 'don't speak if you can't say something nice' or whatever it is you humans talk about on your TV shows."
Dib rolled his eyes before saying, "I'm not going to shock you just because you're an ass." He sat back away from Zim then. "I've only done it once. What makes you think I'll just do it over any little thing? That'd make me petty."
"I didn't do anything!" Zim argued.
"Please," Dib said, giving Zim a 'get real' look. "You were demanding things of me, like you're in charge or something. I can take some protests, but don't think you can just order me around. I just wanted to remind you that I'm in charge."
"You were trying to sleep with me!" Zim yelled. At this point he sounded like a child trying to justify some kind of unruly behavior. "What if we'd touched!"
Dib stared at Zim a moment, the alien almost able to see the wheels turning in the human's head. Finally Dib reached out a hand and experimentally brushed his fingers over an exposed green midriff.
Zim yelled something in his native tongue and dove over the arm of the couch he'd been resting against. "Don't do that!" He yelled, crouched behind the arm like it would shield him from harm.
Dib gave a smirk, asking, "You know what this means right?" He paused to watch Zim's confused and angry look. "It means I've got one up on you."
"Don't! I don't like touch!" Zim yelled, glaring.
Dib crawled over to threaten Zim with his fingers over the alien antennae, asking, "Why don't you like it?"
"I just don't!" Zim said, scooting back away, antennae plastering to the top of his head.
Dib leaned over, hand cupping Zim's cheek gently. It was hard to imagine that such a thing could bring such a reaction from Zim.
Zim, without thinking, lashed out, wanting to remove the hand from his skin any way he could.
"SHIT!" Dib shouted, pulling back and cradling his injured arm to himself. Three long gashes stretched over the sensitive flesh of his inner arm and were bleeding badly.
Zim was breathing hard, one moment of fear fading into another at the thought of the shocking he'd get for having done that.
"T-told you not to…." He tried to reason.
"Oh come ON!" Dib shouted, making his way to the kitchen to run his arm under some water. "We kissed before!"
"Yeah, lips." Zim said, standing and taking a few steps toward the kitchen to see what was going on. "It was okay."
"That is so backwards!" Dib yelled, leaning over to pull a first aid kit from a drawer a few feet from him.
"No, you were just as vulnerable as I was when we kissed." Zim said, crossing his arms. "We were at the same disadvantage."
"The hell is so wrong with touch?" Dib asked, pulling out some gauze and trying to dry the wound as much as possible, but it was just bleeding too much. He'd need stitches for sure.
"That is none of your business." Zim said, walking into the kitchen once the water stopped running.
"Damn it! Fine, I don't care!" Dib said. Holding his arm out with a cloth wrapped around it so he wouldn't drip on the floor. "Need to go fix this." He said as he started heading up to his room.
Zim crossed his arms once Dib passed and glared after him, glad to finally have the other away from him. He hadn't meant to hurt the Dib that badly… well, he had, because the other was touching him, but he had told the human.
The alien heard cursing coming from the room and went upstairs to see what the fuss was. Dib was stitching up his arm with one hand and was doing a horribly sloppy job of it.
"That's what you get." Zim said, looking superior.
"Yeah yeah, it's my fault." Dib said, rolling his eyes before hissing as he stuck himself wrong.
Zim rolled his own eyes, though the look was lost on the human, and came up, taking the needle and fixing Dib's stitches. His tongue poked out in concentration and Dib almost flinched back, but didn't, just staring wide eyed as irken hands quickly worked on his bleeding arm.
They sat there in silence until the alien was done and wiped his gloves clean on a nearby cloth.
"Th-thank you?" Dib said, looking at the decent stitch job. "Why'd you help me?"
Zim gave Dib an annoyed look before saying, "I can't have you bleeding your watery blood all over the place… and I wanted to prove once again that irkens are superior to humans."
"Right," Dib said sarcastically before asking, "So, is there anything you want to do today?"
"The only thing I want to do is go back to planning how to take over your pathetic world and end your existence." Zim said.
"Sounds like fun," Dib said with a sigh. He knew that today would be boring.
"Don't you have para-whatsit stuff to do?" Zim asked, hoping to be left alone. "Or girlfriend hunting?"
"Nah, I took some time off for this marriage thing. And I can't really look for a girlfriend until I'm well and married or else it would look a little weird." Dib said. "Guess I'm boring for now."
"Yeah," Zim said, though was still stuck on Dib's previous point. "How long are we going to be stuck together?"
"Not long!" Dib said quickly. "I'll have girlfriend in no time! You'll see."
"I hope so," Zim said. He went to sit on Dib's bed, wondering how long it would be before he could get into his pak again. It was hard to keep it in just life-support mode since he was used to using it on a regular basis.
Dib moved to sit next to the alien, asking, "On that note, when do you think we should hold the wedding?"
"I don't care," Zim answered on automatic, before realizing the question was actually important. "As soon as possible."
"Well," Dib said, looking up in thought. "That would depend on the type of marriage. We could get a quick legal thing, which would take no time at all. It wouldn't look good but it would be quick. It would take a little more time for a full blown wedding though, since so many things require advanced booking."
"Aren't you doing this for your father?" Zim asked before going on when Dib gave him a blank look. "He would want a wedding, correct?"
"Yeah, I guess so." Dib said with a shrug. "Guess it's a wedding then."
"And until then you'll have to stop touching me." Zim said, looking at his beautiful stitch job. "Or there with be nothing left of you but a shredded pile of Dib-mess, and that wouldn't look very good."
"I'll be sure to remember that." Dib said, rolling his eyes, though smiling at the mental image he got from Zim's statement.
For a few moments they just sat in silence Dib looking consideringly at the irken a moment before leaning forward. Zim's eyes widened, and then widened further when he felt the human's forehead touch his own.
"What are you doing?" He said, almost as though the whole sentence was one word. Had they not just talked about this!
"Why don't you like touch?" Dib asked curiously. He never was one for paying attention to warnings. If he turned away at every 'beware' sign he wouldn't have half the discoveries he's made under his paranormal belt.
Dib held Zim's upper arm as the alien tried to pull away, saying, "I'm not about to talk about that with you."
"Then I won't let go." Dib said, holding ever tighter and locking eyes with fake human ones.
"Then I'll scratch your eyes out." Zim said, his narrowing.
Dib stared for a while longer before pulling back, saying, "Whatever it was really traumatized you, huh?"
"How could you possibly know that?" Zim asked, standing instantly, hands balled into fists. "You DON'T know ANYTHING."
"Okay," Dib said, holding his hands up.
Zim quickly turned and went to stomp down the stairs. He avoided looking in the full length mirror in the living room and instead curled up on the couch.
Dib came down a while later, new shirt on, and plopped himself on his side of the couch, asking, "Why does your race want to take over Earth anyway?"
Zim eyed Dib a little, wondering whether he should keep his mouth shut or if it mattered. Deciding that knowing the motive would not affect the plan itself Zim answered, "The invasion has nothing to do with Earth. The Tallest wish to rule all planets. Earth wasn't even part of this invasion either. They ran out of planets to give the invaders though, so they gave me this one."
"Greedy little bastards aren't they." Dib asked. Zim opened his mouth to defend his Tallest and correct that statement before the human continued. "What does your planet look like?"
"Irk?" Zim asked, eyes widening with surprise. He discovered he actually had to think back on it. It had been so long since he'd actually seen his own planet. "It's clean." Zim said, summoning up his memories of the place. "No dirt or plants of any kind. The suns are close and light radiates off the pink buildings, and since there are no clouds it gives the planet a glowing look from space."
"Hold that thought!" Dib said suddenly, snapping Zim from his reverie. "I'll be right back." And he jumped off the couch, rushing to the basement.