Chapter Seven

"So this is Zim? Why the hell is he hiding out in the middle of nowhere, thirty feet up a tree? And how'd he get so pathetic?"
"Gaz, he can hear you y'know. Try to have some tact? And I don't know, he can't speak."
"What do you mean?"
"He just can't speak. No clue why. When I found him, he freaking meowed at me, it was really weird… He couldn't even say his name properly. Could you give me a hand and pick up that dog basket? Oh, and the food from that feeder over there too please."

Gaz gave a sceptical look at the bundle of green in her brother's arms. Clinging onto Dib's shirt with both hands, skinny knees were held against his equally skinny chest, the small invader seemed to be coated in dirt of some kind, his antennae were back, eyes wide, almost pleading and it looked like he was shaking too.
To sum it up: he looked like shit.

For Zim to reach this low a point was unbelievable, even to Gaz. An alien who was once so proud, you could cut the self-loving air around him with a butter knife, was now curled into a little ball, whimpering like some kicked puppy. No wonder Dib had taken pity on him, the big oaf had always had a soft spot for lost-looking animals. It was one of the rare traits they shared, actually.
Still, he may seem like a poor, lost soul now but he'd still put he brother in a frantic state. This grudge she had developed over the years was not one that could be forgotten so easily.
Giving a final doom stare at the terrified alien, she turned to pick up the collection of pillows around the basket.

Dib chuckled quietly. He'd caught Gaz's facial expressions (as well as Zim's not-so-subtle jolt of fright) and knew exactly what she was thinking. This was one of her rare 'mothering' moments. It was truly lovely having his sibling, who would once have sold him for a slice of pizza without a second thought, feeling so protective of him. Strange, but a lovely strange.

Glancing down at the shivering Irken, Dib couldn't help but wonder if there was anything he could do to relieve some of Zim's suffering there and then. It would be a long drive back to the house, and by the time they even reached the road it would probably be rush hour too. He didn't really want to see a little jade body trembling in the back of his truck for two hours or so, that was far too mean for Dib's tastes.
But what could he do?

"Hey, Gaz? What do you think I could do to, y'know, lessen his suffering for a bit or whatever?"
"Why are you asking me?"
"I dunno, you might know more than I do about this stuff…"

"You do remember that you are a qualified doctor, right Dib? You help ease pain every day."
"Yeah, but- that's humans! They can at least tell me where it hurts or what happened or something! I have medicine there too. I'm not good with anything outside of my own species, ironically. You're generally good with cats and ferrets and stuff, right? How would you calm one down?"
"I don't know; pet its head or something? Speak soothingly; act confident, the usual stuff."
"Pet his head? I guess I could do that… Yeah, I can manage that."

Looking back down at Zim, who was now worriedly turning his head to look between the two siblings, he took a deep breath in.
'Be confident, he won't bite. The worse he'll do is scream…'
'Oh God, here it goes.'

Lifting his hand slowly above Zim's head, Dib brought it back down to meet a bewildered alien's little round head. Rouge eyes snapped wide open as the unexpected feeling of contact flooded strained senses, sending waves of information throughout the drained body. Jolts of electricity seemed to shoot down the aliens' spine and little spasms shook the skinny form against his chest, small squeaks slipping from its mouth.
'Well, no screaming at least...'
As Dib began to move his hand down the back of Zim's skull, lime eyelids fell closed and the small head collapsed weakly against Dib's chest. Taking this as a positive response, he continued the stroking. After a few seconds, the squeaking subsided and the breathing of both parties settled.

Dib noted that Zim's head and antennae seemed lightly furred, just enough to feel fluffy when brushed with a hand but not enough to be noticed when roughly treated. Dib had always thought Zim had smooth, reptilian skin, similar to a snake, not for it to be like a mouse's tail. Soft to a gentle touch, the curious paranormal investigator began enjoying the feeling of petting himself, loosing himself in watching the lightly fluffed black stalks dance under his palm. It was like stroking a cat. And then-

Both siblings looked up and around them before turning to each other, Gaz lowering the small mountain of pillows she had piled onto the dog bed. They'd heard something, a low rumbling of sorts that echoed throughout the room but… from what? It sounded almost soothing. And close.
Very close, in fact.
Two heads followed the noise and turned to stare at the now contently curled up Irken, still calmly resting in the arms of him former nemesis.

"Was that… purring?"
"It sounded like it. Are Irkens descended from space cats or something? He's starting to seem more feline than alien."
"Don't be ridiculous, Dib. Now-"
"Ridiculous? Zim can purr! Why the hell would an Irken need to purr?"
"I don't know, just try petting him again."

Dib cautiously began to move his hand across the lightly furred skin and, sure enough, the relaxed rumble came once more from within the settled green chest.
"Well, that's… disturbing." Dib whispered, furrowing his brows.
"That's adorable." Gaz quietly replied, her grin growing across her face.
"Gaz!?" Dib whispered as loudly as he could, shocked at his siblings words. Didn't she hate Zim still?
"Oh, shut it Dib. You know it's cute too, cut the act. He obviously likes being petted; who'd have thought such a horrible person could make such a cute sound? Do it again, I want to hear him." Gaz responded just as quietly as before, her eyes refusing to move from the now apparently sweet looking Zim.

Dib opened his mouth to argue but promptly shut it after seeing the catching the look of joy on his sister's face. It was such a rare sight to see his sister smile at anything really, who was he to deny her such a small thing? And he did kinda want to hear it himself, just a little bit! It was so unusual, so bizarre, and what kind of paranormal investigator would he be if he didn't investigate the strange behaviour of a foreigner from outer space?
And so, he raised his hand once more.

Zim hadn't a clue of what had transpired just then, and he honestly couldn't care less. He could still feel the eyes of the two siblings on him, but neither felt hostile nor pitiful. There wasn't any tension in his surroundings and the words shared between to two humans were kept quiet and oddly reassuring. With the gentle movement of a large warm hand above his head and the soft touches against his lekku, Zim's Pak took the chance to release more chemicals. However, instead of filling him up with more driving hormones to pursue a mate, the Pak chose to send out calming, subduing liquids. There was a viable mate right here, what good would it be to go crazy finding another?

'If there's no threat, what's the point in being defensive?'
'I should just relax. Yes, this feels good. Zim deserves a pampering, he works hard, he deserves rest.'
'Wait, am I purring? Someone is, humans can't purr. I must be purring. Urgh, how low must I go until the fates are satisfied? Although, these worm-babies aren't harming Zim, do humans like purring then? Their felines purr, it's considered pleasant then. Humans even seek it out, if my information is correct. So perhaps…'
'Never mind, just relax, just enjoy, just submit…'

Drifting off into a pleasant dreaming state, Zim's purr kept going; a small smile slipped itself onto his lips. A deep, resounding sound began filling the small, dimly-lit room, letting everyone present know how happy the little Irken was.

The two young humans looked at the Irken with amazement in their eyes. Both had seen Zim's face unclench, his body relax and the smile that now sat upon his face but neither could believe how loud an Irken could purr. No cat could hold a candle to the sound; it was like a small motor that was brumming away any other noise.

"Guess he really likes his antennae being touched. You seem to have a talent in calming strange creatures. Good work, freakazoid." Gaz almost chuckled.
"Hey! You were the one who told me to pet him, I just wanted to stop his pain." Dib defended.
"And you succeeded, congrats weirdo."
"Why can't you just say things without insulting me? I thought we were getting along great too."
"And where could I get my entertainment from being nice to you, Mr alien whisperer? Don't kill my enjoyment in life. Let's get going, we need to get home. Dad's just messaged me; he wants us in the living room ASAP." Gaz said as she picked up the dog bed and food.
'The alien whisperer… That one didn't sound too bad.' Dib thought to himself as he headed into the roasting narrow passageway.

Once all feet were safely planted on the grassy ground, and a certain resting Irken had settled down again, the trio began the forty minute walk towards the rust heap that was Dib's car.

'Rust heap' really wasn't an exaggeration when it came to 'Creakie the car'. The doors squeaked and shook when carefully opened, one window was permanently stuck open, the tire rims and underside were almost completely eroded away and old car mats covered holes in the floor. It wasn't even a car but a pick-up truck, pieced together from all sorts of scrap parts. How it had ever managed to pass a single MOT had mystified everyone and yet little Creakie had kept on trucking for the four years since Dib had built her, carrying Dib and whatever equipment he needed from A to B to C and wherever else. Yes, Dib was very proud of his soldier vehicle.

Patting the side Frankenstein's monster of trucks, Gaz turned to her brother who was attempting to fumble about for his keys without disturbing his newly 'captured' specimen.

"Where are we going to put Zim?" She asked, actually concerned about where they could place the obviously sick alien.
"Oh, uh. I was thinking in the back maybe…?" Dib responded, still trying to find his blasted car keys.
"In the back? You are really going to put an alien who, not only has evaded you for years but is obviously hurt in some way, in the back of your open-top rust bucket?"
"Yes?"
"Unbelievable. You really are Earth's biggest idiot, and I'm including Zim and GIR too."
"Why the sudden care for Zim? I thought you hated his guts before? And I was going to put the top up, I'm not that stupid."
"I don't care for him, stink breath. You just don't treat sick animals like that, it's too cruel."
"He's not an animal; he's a foreign invader who wants to take over Earth. And besides, when I was ill with bird flu, you came in and broke one of my ribs for drinking the last two cans of Diet Poop Cola. And when I asked you to call an ambulance, you locked me out of the house for three hours and told me to 'Suck it up'…"
"You're different, and you got through it fine. Even you can see how shitty he looks right now, Zim wouldn't fake a scream like that, idiot."
"It was the middle of winter, Gaz. And I know. I just… where should we put him then? There are only two seats in front."
"How about our laps?"
"And may I ask why the hell to you want to put the very being who has tied to enslave the Earth on several occasions on your lap like he's some kind of pet?"
"You've had him happily curled up to your chest like some cat for the most of the past hour and I have yet to hear a single complaint. Just get him in the bloody truck, idiot"
"Fine, but it's your head if he kills us both when I'm driving."
"Getting snippy, are we?"
"No, sorry."
"Better."

After much adjusting, squishing and shifting, Gaz, Zim and Dib were finally seated within Creakie's already claustrophobic compartment. A still curled-up Zim's feet lay limply on Gaz's left leg as his head rested upon a reluctant Dib's lap. One human hand gripped the steering wheel with the other continued gently stroking the small green head beneath. The basket had been chucked in the back along with the food and several pillows and had been loosely tied down to the sides with some spare cable Dib had underneath the driver's seat in an attempt to keep it from blowing away.

The hour-long drive was mainly in silence, excluding the heavy purr still pouring from the relaxed Irkens throat, not that anyone minded. The siblings were used to silent moments in each other's company; the radio had only ever worked once and neither really felt the need to fill the gap with unnecessary words, why force small talk when quiet awkwardness settled between them so naturally?
The rumbling vibrations that floated through the air was a welcome change, the calming sound drove away tension and worried thoughts within the two conscious minds. Both humans could take this quite happily, in fact.

Pulling into the driveway with a screech, the trio arrived at the family household.