Chapter rating: K+ mild 'romantic' stuff and some swearing. ZADR! If you haven't figured out this is ZADR yet there's something wrong with you. If you give me hate mail for the couple I like, you will be laughed at, then ignored. Thank you.
I don't understand how I can sit and type out about 6,000 words, and still feel like nothing happened in a chapter. DX Then again, I've been just upset about this in general because of how long it took to write. I wanted it up by Friday. It is now Sunday night and I'm just posting it- I wasn't even procrastinating! How this happen?!
Well anyway, to those who haven't looked at my profile, I'm going back to school soon, which will almost completely destroy my time for writting. Also, it's getting cooler by me as fall approaches, and this time of year always makes me want to work on my original stuff, headworlds, and the like. In other words, I'm going to almost completely disappear soon. I'll try to keep a bare minimum of at least one update here per month, but I'll see what I can do.
Please review! Feel free to point out errors, offer constructive criticism, let me know what you liked and didn't like, discuss fan theories, or even ask questions. I'll try to get back to you if your review is one that needs a responce. To everyone who's reviewed so far, I'm glad you're enjoying this. Thank you for the encouragement! Here's your chapter of delicious doom!
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It was way too hot outside. Especially for little green aliens who's home planets never got so close to their suns. Now that class was over, some kids were LITERALLY attempting (and succeeding) to fry an egg on the black, parking lot asphalt outside of school. It was fizzling away just like bacon in a pan, and one boy went to look for something to flip it over with, daring one of the others to eat it when it was 'done'.
Zim made a face of disdain and sickness at the giggling earth-monkeys, wondering where on earth they'd gotten that random egg from, and snarled low in his throat at the blinding humidity. He hurried away in his quick, stiff-legged march, chin in the air. By the time he'd goose stepped around the skool, climbed over the brick wall surrounding the recess area, and gotten into the adjacent 'nature park' shaded by trees, he was already sweating pretty badly.
His antenna could sense Dib; who was now HIS Dib; somewhere around here, and he followed the trail, hurriedly zooming in to the source.
He smiled without thought and purred tiredly to himself, breathing a sigh of relief when a soft breeze cooled his fake hair. That charcoal colored mop of waxy fluff had been treating the poor irken's head like a solar panel, absorbing that volcanic agony, but if he took off the wig he'd blow his cover. Even here in the woods wasn't safe. If a hobo didn't see him, he'd be caught on satellite.
A little out of breath, Zim slowed, keeping to the thicker shadows that blocked the sun more efficiently, and began to reflect as he followed Dib's trail, seeing the boy had gotten a good distance into the park.
All day after Zim had said 'yes,' Dib had been off in his own little world, appearing deep in a happy land of unicorns and fluff, cotton candy, flowers, and cute little baby animal things. Dib's innocent, untainted smile of pure contentment and joy, as he stared off at nothing through the rest of his classes, was rather nice to look at, Zim thought, though it was apparently a little confusing and frightening to Dib's classmates.
Someone had hesitantly asked the brown-eyed earthling if he'd been high, and Dib had made a face before pretending he didn't hear them.
Dib's smile was nice though. He rarely smiled, unless it was a challenging or taunting sort of grin. Seeing that look of calm contentment made Zim feel like things were okay. It certainly took his mind off his own crumbling, uncertain life. Not to mention his loss of companionship.
Gir...
Zim had hoped that after agreeing to be the human's lover-thing, he could just... Be around Dib, talk to him, have someone to be with, maybe follow Dib home, 'hang out' as humans said. He wanted someone skipping along beside him and jabbering and ranting away about nonsense again. Dib wasn't Gir, but he seemed almost equally important to the invader, and companionship from him would be a welcome salve for his bruised emotions.
The invader had arrogantly expected that Dib would be following him around even more obsessively, closely, loyally, and loudly, then usual, maybe even trying to be all icky and romantic. He'd probably be clinging to him and smothering him in hugs, Zim had thought.
Instead the earthling had avoided him for a time. He seemed to be thinking very carefully, yet happily, so it was probably about the relationship, but the earthling strategically avoided any social interaction after the 'yes', especially with Zim. It baffled and annoyed the alien. And now he had to make himself look like the needy one, and go looking for the Dib, instead of Dib chasing him like how things were supposed to be.
But, Zim looked for Dib anyway, even if it did make him look needy. There was no one watching who he needed to impress, and he wasn't sure why, but he didn't want to go back to his empty base yet- he wanted to be with Dib.
Especially sinse they still had something important to talk about.
'Pain Park' wasn't near as bad as the name suggested. It was surprisingly large too, given how the city had surrounded it and threatened its borders.
Dib had once done an essay for skool, saying that, the reason construction crews refused to take down the forest, or even enter it in uniform with their noisy trucks, was for fear of being attacked by the mutant, semi-anthropic slugs that had territory in the park. All Zim knew was that the place was full of squirrels, birds, large trees, and other filthy nature. He also had labeled it as a possible shelter on hot days like today, with the generally thick canapy and the cool breezes. It smelled of moss and flowers; hey, at least it wasn't the stink of GARBAGE; and there was a small lake, or a large pond, either way, a largish body of water, off around the middle of the park in a huge clearing.
Zim smirked, remembering the counselor who'd pretended to take Dib's side in the battle for earth, who then willingly got 'abducted' by the plutosians... Plutonians?... plut-something it was; but it happened right in that very clearing by the lake. Heh, memories.
Zim had decided he liked those plut-aliens a bit, at least those two he'd met. They gave him free super-weapons. Hooray!
All in all, the park was wonderful by human standards, and to Zim, it was tolerable enough that he'd consider making a point not to destroy it when conquering the planet. He'd come to appreciate it a little. And Dib seemed to like it. He could keep it for Dib, he supposed, but only because it didn't take up much space as far as a percentage of the planet.
Zim tracked Dib down after several minutes, and found him laying at the foot of a tree, sprawled out on his back. There was a notebook and pencil next to the boy in the grass, suggesting he'd started writing or doodling but then decided to forget it. His trench coat had been taken off and was bunched up beneath his head for a pillow, so he was just in the blue, neutral-face T-shirt that was one size too big for him.
Zim walked up beside Dib, looking at the boy past the high, pink collar of his uniform that hid his chin when he turned his head down.
Dib knew Zim was standing there, but neither one of them did anything for a couple seconds. The cicadas in the trees were buzzing away in protest of the temperature, and would have drowned out any quiet whispers. Both the human and the alien currently felt too lazy to put much effort into being heard.
So they both shared a little moment, somehow both feeling the same thing and knowing the other was feeling it with them.
It was a very odd experience. When Zim finally thought about it he shuddered, weirded out, and later accused Dib of being phycic and attempting to lull him into a state of serenity for unspeakable purposes.
Zim broke the moment by loudly and dramatically clearing his throat.
Dib was staring up with half-closed eyes, glasses askew. He turned his head slightly, finally acknowledging Zim with a goofy smile.
"It's too hooooot..." Dib moaned.
Zim thoroughly agreed and flopped down to sit beside Dib.
They sat there for another minute, the heat forcing their minds into another state of lazy carelessness until Zim finally broke it again.
"It IS too hot. Zim absolutely refuses to go anywhere until it cools. Curse your earth sun! CURSES!" He shook a fist at the sky and Dib raised an eyebrow.
"What if it doesn't cool off for hours? Then what will you do?" The boy questioned, just to be difficult, eyes following a sparrow that hopped from branch to branch above their heads for a while before flying up and spontaneously combusting the moment it was above the canopy. Dib made a 'what the hell' face, but Zim hadn't noticed.
"Then Zim will remain here so his flesh is not cooked to a crisp." The Irken folded his arms and stuck out his long, pointed, serpentine tongue in a huff.
"Won't that get boring?"
Zim considered this. "Yes... But I'll make you stay here with me. Then it will be less boring."
Dib smiled happily.
"I don't feel like going anywhere until it cools off either- I have a big, black leather coat to lug around."
Zim nodded, looking at the bunched up coat Dib had laid his head on, then grinned his 'mildly evil', joking sort of grin.
"I like your coat. It smells like caribou. I want it."
Zim reached out to snatch it, but Dib saw the move and quickly rolled over onto his stomach, pulling the coat underneath himself and hugging it to his upper chest.
"No, it's mine."
He still had his eyes closed sleepily and exhaled a long sigh, resting his chin on the coat sinse he was now laying on his front.
Zim smirked and growled playfully, scooting closer to try to push the human over and grab the coat. Dib remained stubborn, laying on his front with his arms wrapped around the garment and his face buried in it, causing his glasses to be pushed into his face.
"Shtop ih, i's mine!" Dib mumbled again, face still shoved into the coat.
"Yes, but YOU are mine!" The Irken argued, grinning wider, shoving at Dib's shoulder. Dib would have been glad at the 'affection' but he knew Zim had only said it because he wanted something from the earth-monkey.
"That doesn't mean my jacket is yours!"
"Yes it does! What's Zim's is Zim's, and Dib is Zim's, so what's Dib's is Zim's also!"
"That doesn't even make sense!"
"It is perfectly simple! What's mine is mine, and what's yours is mine also!"
Zim tried to reach under Dib to snatch the coat. Dib rolled away onto his side, curling up around it.
"So then is your stuff mine Zim?" He smirked as he looked back over his shoulder.
"No." Zim jumped forward and shoved at him again, trying to reach around and grab the treasure.
"Why not?"
"I am Ziiiim!"
Dib felt the Irken give up on trying to push him over, and just fall back to sit on his butt, poking him hard in the back over and over, claw extended to sharpen the jabs, and Dib squeaked, trying to squirm away, back arching.
"Hey, ow, quit-quit that!"
Zim started to laugh, enjoying the game, and continued poking him.
"MINEMINEMINEMINEMINEMINE!- Oh, eh, that reminds Zim."
The Irken finally stopped poking Dib, getting comfortable, sitting Indian style. Dib turned to look back at him over his shoulder again in mild curiosity. Zim cocked his head.
"You said we could talk after school. About affectiony stuff."
Dib's sunken, pale cheeks turned slightly pink, and his lips twitched into a nervous, slightly embarrassed smile.
"Oh yeah... You... wanna try something like that?"
"Yes!"
The Irken looked excited, and proudly confident. This would make it official that Dib belonged to him. Dib felt heat rushing into his cheeks; as if he wasn't sweating enough already.
"But preferably without touching!" Zim quickly added.
Dib's happiness was smothered quite suddenly and he looked away.
"Well what-...Why not?"
"Eh, because... It... Germs... Dont touch me smelly."
"Oh come ON Zim, I shower every day!"
The boy looked upset and exasperated. His bright eyes dug into Zim's fake ones, questioningly, subtly whispering, 'you aren't being funny, whats the REAL problem?'
Zim fidgeted where he sat, looking away and starting to pull up individual blades of grass. He was quiet for a minute. The jovial air from before was gone.
"Aren't there any signs of affection we can do without touching each other?" He questioned innocently.
Dib frowned and didn't answer. After a second he sat up, leaning forward a little more into the alien's space to get his attention, wanting the power and connection of eye-contact, that Zim wasn't giving him. The Irken had gotten distant very suddenly.
"Zim?"
Zim glanced up at last, but his gaze fluttered around the boy's face, unfixedly.
"You had no problem shoving at me, poking me, and hitting me, when we were enemies. Why won't you touch me now?"
"Because." Zim spat, eyes darting across the ground as he struggled with how to respond. Even if he were to tell Dib the truth, he wouldn't be sure how to say it.
"Zim is still not COMPLETELY sure that you wont harm Zim- even just... accidentally."
"So you're... Scared I'll hurt you?"
"OF COURSE NOT! I AM TAKING PRECAUTIONS!"
The invader snarled at the idea of Dib ...knowing his weakness. As he'd said, the only touch he'd ever known was painful, and as such, he believed, it must be very difficult to touch someone without hurting them.
Not only that, but this required trust. Zim didn't build that easily, he knew trust really hurt if it was broken.
Dib thought for a moment.
"But you hugged me that one time-"
Zim visibly shuddered at the mere mention of that scenario.
"It needed to be done to get Keef happy enough to explode from my happiness goo, since he wanted us to be friends and all. If we hadn't done that... 'pretending,' he would have made our lives into earth-hell!"
"Earth-hell?... But Zim, I didn't hurt you then did I? And we were still enemies then, it's just a hug."
Zim felt a little sick. He really hoped Dib wasn't implying that he WANTED a... Hug. And if he was, well, he wasn't getting one! That had been an absolutely traumatizing experience. Zim hadn't even had time to mentally prepare himself for the physical contact. He swore he almost went into cardiac arrest. It had been too much. Every nerve that he felt pressure on had been sending a panic signal to his brain.
As soon as his young nemesis had been right up against him then, Zim had been suddenly, unexplainably sure, that he was about to die. A small point of contact was bad enough, that alone could make him vulnerable, but for his whole body to be pressed up against someone who he thought for sure would stab him in the back... It was torture. Just the concept was torture. It was simply a pathological, unreasonable fear.
And trust was nothing but vulnerability.
"That's beside the point! You just don't understand." Zim hissed and considered getting up and walking away, at least scooting a little farther from the human who was currently leaning into his space bubble. He was upset, and felt frustrated.
"Hugging is too, ih, eh..."
Dib could tell Zim was frightened and uncomfortable. His expression, body language, and stuttering said that clearly.
"Well we don't have to hug now, you could just hold my hand or something, I don't know! I mean, You can get used to being touched slowly, or..."
Dib was disappointed and Zim knew it. For some reason the boy wanted this. Zim didn't understand. The thought of it made him feel sick.
"J-Just let me-"
Dib lifted a hand, fingers reaching.
Zim saw the movement and felt the electrocuting shock of simple instinctive panic throbbing in his chest; in the span of a second, before he could think, he hissed like an angry cat and swatted Dib's hand away, jerking away from the boy.
Zim's eyes were wide, and Dib could see a hint of his real, red eyes behind the contacts, their glow pulsing with the alien's racing 'heartbeat'.
Dib jumped, startled by Zim's sudden hostility. Then insecurity began to creep in.
Shit! He should have known better! What if Zim disowned him now? Zim clearly didn't want... Why was Zim responding this way?
The human's eyes searched Zim's face in nervous apology, as the Irken fought to calm down as fast as possible, feeling stupid and slightly embarrassed. The invader refused to look at Dib.
"I said not to touch me!" Zim growled, then more quietly, "You didn't even WARN Zim..."
"I'm sorry," Dib murmured. "I didn't think tha-"
"No, you DIDN'T think!"
The invader snapped. Pulling his knees up to his chest, Zim narrowed his eyes at the ground, appearing defensive in a hurt sort of way, like some piece of security had been taken from him.
"I'm sorry." Dib said again softly, fearful. He knew it wouldn't be a good idea to make Zim uncomfortable when their relationship had just started. Dib's expression looked punished. Yet somehow, despite everything, he still had the nerve to push things.
"Can't you just let me try? It's really not that bad..."
Zim looked up with an absolutely poisonous death-glare. Dib looked away for a second, before meeting his gaze softly, but not backing down, pleadingly.
The words 'just try it' were bouncing back and forth in Zim's head. Wasn't that what Dib had said about the whole lovey-thing in the first place? And here Zim was- he'd given in. Because something about what little he knew of the concept had been appealing. Because something about Dib and being with Dib was appealing.
The boy had been quite happy when Zim had agreed. Quite, quite happy. Zim thought he might kindof like seeing Dib happy.
Dib really seemed to want to touch him. It would probably make the earthling happy...
Out. Of. The. Question.
Zim felt butterflies fluttering in his spooch, crawling up through his flesh to spread out through his entire torso. Nervousness was tingling through his body. His eyes darted conflictingly. Could he try it? Not a full hug, but just a little touch? There was hardly any real reason for refusing to do so. It would make him stronger to develop this... Tolerance...
But it would require trust. Trust wasn't strength, trust was weakness. Irkens trusted no one.
As Zim argued with himself, Dib's eyes ran over the Irken's form. Zim sat there Indian style, quietly, with sweat that made his pretty green face gleam, and his scruffy, unkept wig was drooping into his eyes. Dib realized he really did want to touch him, to feel him, it was affectionate curiosity. He felt his heart fluttering. He felt surprised at himself, and again wondered if this attraction was a little... Too unnatural. But Zim looked so... Nice... Right now.
But Zim clearly, REALLY didn't like the idea of being caressed or hugged. Dib sighed.
"If you just can't handle it then I won't touch you. Just say so. I won't unless you let me, but I promise, it's really not so bad... Please? Just a couple of seconds is all, you'll get used to it. I won't HURT you."
Dib tried to reason with the extra-terrestrail, to slide him into the idea.
Zim felt a knot of anger in his chest and clenched his jaw. Dib had picked his words well. Now if Zim backed down he'd look weak. He'd look like he 'couldn't handle it' and was afraid for no good reason, or that's what he thought.
Cursed, filthy, clever dirt-monkey.
"Well FINE." The proud little invader finally yelled. "If you NEED to so BADLY."
Dib seemed to lighten right up while Zim fidgeted in flustered nervousness.
"I just want to show you it's not so bad, it can actually be really nice."
Dib reached out his strong yet bony, pale skinned hand again. Zim was looking away so Dib couldn't see him shutting his eyes tight. The alien's clawed fingers dug into the ground for something to hold onto. As he sensed the distance between them shortening he tried to mentally prepare himself somehow but it only made him feel sick with fear.
Awkwardly, hesitantly, Dib formed his hand around Zim's shoulder gaurd, not really knowing where to start. After a moment he gently slid the point of contact down to Zim's upoer arm. Dib's heart fluttered, excitedly, and he was only touching the irken's cottony uniform sleeve, but he could feel the shape of Zim underneath it. He wanted to feel the irken's skin and he wanted to hold him tight. He wanted... Zim... Blush dusted a darker color onto the boy's cheeks as he was trying not to grin with zeal. He was TOUCHING the alien. It was field research and affection rolled into one!
Zim felt the light, brushing contact and tensed up with a jerk. He felt the opposite kind of excitement as Dib, a negative kind, and swore he was going to vomit. His body seemed to hear up and his head felt strange. Zim fidgeted, eyes narrowed but trying not to let any of it show.
Dib rubbed his thumb massagingly against the compact irken muscles in Zim's thin arm.
"See, I'm not hurting you."
"Silence."
Zim growled, fidgeting again, but just beginning to calm down a tiny bit. Okay, so Dib wasn't hurting or threatening him, but Zim was still NOT enjoying it.
Calm. He needed to calm down. Just bare with it for a minute, it would make him stronger... Maybe... Sort of... But he could learn to get used to, and even enjoy this! He was Zim!
Dib slid his hand back up to the invader's hard, triangular shoulder guard, then down to the left tip of the irken's inhuman collar bone.
Zim's panic spiked back up, past where it had been before, now that the point of contact had moved to his chest. Dib felt the slightest jerk as Zim gasped inaudibly and tensed.
"I'm not gunna hurt you."
Feeling insulted, Zim snarled, and squirmed a bit as Dib's fingertips moved down his uniform tracing his ribs.
Those small bones protected Zim's vitals- and his former enemy had his hand over them!
Zim did not like this. Something was wrong, and it was a lot worse then the fear he'd been expecting from this. As his body temperature rose, he was starting to see spots in his eyes, his cardiac muscle was beating so hard and fast and heavy and he felt so lightheaded. The only reason he hadn't pulled away, was because his terror had jumped up enough to pressurize his head and complicate his thinking process. Zim frowned, feeling strangely confused and not knowing what he felt that way about.
Dib's hand went even lower, towards the alien's flat mid-section, towards his spooch, the boy's face getting redder, eyes showing total fascination, his thoughts were completely consumed in the extra-terrestrial.
There were to more rib-bones to protect Zim in his mid-section. It would be so easy for Dib to slip a knife out of his sleeve, stab, twist, saw him open; just like he'd said when he was a kid;
~*Spill your insides all over an alien autopsy table*~
A wave of something like a mix of coldness and heat and fear completely fizzled all Zim's nerves suddenly and his digestive system seemed to completely flip over.
Dib pulled back his hand, looking up as Zim made a sudden coughing sound, jerking as if he were gagging. His tongue stuck out as his stomach clenched but he didn't throw up.
"Z-Zim?"
Dib let his hand fall to his side, figuring that his 'lover' had definitely had enough of that for now.
The alien swallowed thickly, eyes appearing clouded, and Dib realized suddenly how heavy and shaky the invader's breathing was.
"S-stop..."
Dib felt a pang of something like sadness or sympathy. Zim really forced himself. Dib hadn't realized just how much that had upset the green being, his amber eyes widened as he saw that the alien was TREMBLING. Zim still sat just as he had been, knees drawn up to his chest, clawed fingers dug into the ground. He lifted his arms to hug his knees now, staring as blankly as he possibly could ahead of himself.
He didn't like this. He didn't like it at all.
Zim's spooch twisted and convulsed as he forced himself to hide what he felt, and stop the vicious hot chills running down his spine. He didn't know what he was feeling but he hated it.
"Are you okay?" Dib's voice was quiet, and higher pitched with concern. Zim thought it sounded garbled, like something underwater. One of his antenna twitched involuntarily, and Zim suddenly realized that his antenna felt all soggy and heavy, even more so then they usually did when trapped under his wig.
Zim just stared. He slowed and quieted his breathing, unclenched his muscles, relaxed, tried to calm down at least enough to look normal. He didn't answer for a while and Dib began to feel guilty, wondering what on earth he'd done to Zim. Apparently there was something he really didn't understand going on here.
Man, he just messed up everything didn't he?
Hopefully what he'd done wasn't as unforgivable as Zim's expression suggested, or their togetherness was over. Dib swallowed.
Irkens didn't show weakness. A pathetic HUMAN could have handled that touching without a problem, and here he was a superior Irken, and look at him! Pathetic, weak! He needed to pull himself together, just think of what they'd say! What would the tallest think of him?
They'd probably be even more upset with his reaction, then the fact he'd let the human start feeling him up in the first place, and that was saying something!
Zim just sat staring blankly. He shut out his emotions, and steeled himself. Letting out a deep breath, he looked up at Dib, who had started chewing on his nails in worry.
"Heheh," The invader chuckled shakily. "It's this miserable earth's sun." He insisted. "Zim is overheated and dehydrated, and it's making me feel sick, it has nothing to do with the touching." That was a half-truth. The interaction had been AWFUL, but Zim probably wouldn't have almost-fainted if not for this scorching heat. Even in the shade it was too much. He'd been out for too long. He needed to get somewhere with air conditioning. Irkens were used to cooler temperatures. This was just WAY too much, even in the shade!
Dib stared for a second, then nodded slowly.
"Right, well you need to cool off somehow then." Dib didn't buy the excuse, but he planned to go along. The sun was only getting worse. It was definitely time to hurry and get inside somewhere.
"Yes, indeed." Zim nodded, getting back to his regular self. Something about Dib's caring words helped him to calm down faster. The last of his terror was ebbing away. He was alive. Unharmed and alive, and it was all over, and he had nothing to worry about.
"We must go find a yellow car." Zim hefted himself up off the grassy ground and stumbled slightly before catching his balance. His head was still spinning and he felt strange, but he was an Irken soldier. He was tough and unfeeling. He would ignore it.
"You mean a taxi?" Dib asked, standing up also and adjusting his glasses, as Zim started walking in the direction of the nearest road.
"Yes, a taxi thing. Zim needs to go home and drink sweet cold juice things... And lay down on a fan."
Dib eyed Zim over. He knew the invader well enough to see he was NOT quite alright, but was pretending to be. Dib worried about how Zim responded just to that light little touch, but he was also relieved. Zim didn't want to seem weak, so he wasn't letting Dib know how upset he was, and in turn, he wasn't running away from him and breaking off their starting 'mate-ship' as Zim had called it once or twice. Everything seemed fine for right now. Dib just needed to keep an eye on the invader and see to it that Zim didn't force himself too far. Zim was stumbling slightly, weakened. He really did need to get home. Dib felt indebted to make sure he managed to get there.
Dib followed the alien loyally.
After a minute Zim looked back to check that Dib was coming, then smiled a little when he saw the boy. Dib smiled back.
Well, this had been an eventful day altogether. Dib was saddened by the thought of going home and spending the remaining hours in his room... Staring at his computer...
Watching Zim through his spy cameras...
it wasn't the same as actually being with him.
"So what have you been doing lately?"
Dib asked, making a little attempt at friendly conversation.
"Ehh, n-not much." Zim answered truthfully. After the empire began to collapse under rebellions, all his time had been taking up with attempting to support that cause from his base on earth, unable to fly out to the Massive due to all the confusion and signal interference. Now all signals had been shut off. He had been too nervous about what that might mean to go back to conquering. For a couple days he hadn't done a single productive thing. He didn't even have any plans for the earthling to sabotage.
"Zim has been... Bored."
Dib was the only really fun, exciting thing left in his life at the moment. He had no plans in progress... Nothing.
Zim realized very suddenly, that unless he got himself some entertainment, he was going to spend another long night laying on the couch watching television and eating potato chips, effectively ruining his nice, thin body shape.
Though neither being realized it, the earlier experiment with touch HAD done something positive for Zim. Dib hadn't hurt him. And Zim was beginning to realize that Dib had no wish to do so. The very first, tiny little mustard seed of trust was planted. It was enough for Zim wonder for a moment, and then decide;
"Dib will come to Zim's base until it gets colder."
There. Now he would have something to do. Besides, the thought of being all alone was starting to fill him with a similar dread as the idea of being touched. In all his life he'd almost never been completely alone. Now he was, and he didn't like it.
It made him feel small and his eyes would start to water when he thought about it for too long.
Yes, Zim decided; Dib would stay with him for a while.
Dib looked up in wide eyed disbelief. Was the alien really inviting him over?
"You... Sure? You want me to?"
"Yes."
Dib thought about this, extremely surprised. Surely there had to be some reason...
"You're not going to try to steal my lungs again are you?"
"Hah, of course not stupid dirt-monkey. Your lungs tasted like sand and puke."
Dib wasn't sure how to take that, but he followed Zim happily enough. He hadn't had much to do lately either. He'd love to stay over at Zim's, even if he had to stay up in the house part, forbidden to enter the actual base under the threat of pain and death. It would be great to actually be with Zim for the rest of the day instead of watching him on his computer like he usually did.
Eventually they reached an abrupt end to the park, looking out at a sidewalk, and then a multi-lane road, and after that, ugly city buildings. It only took a couple minutes to catch the attention of a desperate-for-money taxi driver, and they both eagerly climbed in, only to find that the cab was, beyond all logic, even hotter then the air outside. Wretchedly hot. It didn't smell very nice either.
Zim winced when he sat down on one of the cheap, dark colored, butt-burning seats. He looked around squirming in discomfort just as Dib got in after him and closed the door.
Zim hesitated a moment, getting a feeling of apprehension, it was just TOO HOT for him. His funny feeling from when Dib had been touching him was coming back. His head spun a little and something seemed wrong with his vision but he didn't know what it was. His spooch felt ill. Maybe it would be better to sit in the woods all day and night then to suffer through THIS, but the driver had already been given his directions and had started driving. Zim restrained a whimper as they pulled away from the sidewalk and scenery started zipping by. Well, no going back now.
It wouldn't last long, he assured himself, and tried not to think about how his insides felt like swirling lava in an active volcano.
"Zim, you need to get your seat belt on."
Dib nudged the Irken in the side and Zim snapped back to attention as best he could. Dib's eyes widened when he saw the invader's face.
"Are you okay? You look really feverish."
Zim huffed. While on some weak level he enjoyed Dib's sympathy, he told himself that he didn't need it.
His face was darkened, and his expression held a permanent slight grimace, like someone who's stomach was about to kick out its occupants. His face was coated in glimmering sweat droplets. And of course, Zim said he was fine.
Dib rolled his eyes. Zim was NOT fine, but he decided to be nice about it for now and not argue. Several seconds passed and Zim still hadn't put on his seat-belt. Dib wondered if the Irken had heard him.
"Zim." He said again, this time making sure he had the other's attention.
"You need to put on your seat-belt."
Childishly, the Irken pouted.
"I don't like it!" Irken machinery had artificial gravity that held the driver in place. The primitive restraints in these earth vehicles were disgusting and looked almost dangerous and threatening to a being not used to them.
"You have to wear it. It's not a choice."
"What if we hit something and catch on fire? It will take more time to get out!"
"It'll take a couple of seconds and cars don't just catch on fire unless they're leaking fuel."
Dib's voice had gained an exasperated edge. He was surprised the driver wasn't saying anything. Wasn't there a fine for this?
"If we DO get hit, you'll go flying out the windshield and land on your head the way things are now!"
"Noooo, I'll land on my FEET because I am Zim!"
The alien crossed his arms and stuck out his tongue and Dib didn't have a clue how to even respond to that kind of nonsense. He just stared with a dumbfounded expression for a second before holding up his hands.
"Alright, fine. You'll smash through the windshield, land on your feet like some bad-ass ninja, covered in broken glass, then get hit by a semi that'll come flying out of nowhere. Just put. It. On."
Dib reached around the Irken who immediately flinched away, growling. Dib grabbed the seatbelt, pulled it around the invader, and clicked it into the fastener before Zim could object.
"There."
Zim glared at the belt and pouted, but didn't do anything about it. He looked tired and sick, and sort of oddly confused. Dib knew Irkens didn't do well in such heat. He hoped Zim would be okay. He didn't look right.
Zim just growled and crossed his arms.
"Stupid flying semi's... Curse them."
Dib rolled his eyes and tried not to laugh.