Dib woke up warm. Everything was warm which was rare. Travelling in space meant that everything was nearly impossibly cold even with the ship's heater. So, he usually had goosebumps everywhere but where Zim sat or leaned against him. This time however, he felt the heat from the tips of his toes to his eyelids.
Unfamiliar sounds of the distant rushing of Foodcourtia, other beings which made Dib smile with glee. He hoped they would have time to study things a bit more before they left. Then the familiar sound of Zim's breathing. The Irken often went into a sort of slumber when Dib slept and more often than not awoke before he did. The breathing was really close and it was only then (wow, genius aren't you?) that he noticed why he was so warm, and why he could hear the soft whoosh of oxygen through complex organs so clearly.
Dib's eyes shot open, immediately flickering to the alien in his arms. Zim was blurry because his glasses were on the edge of the bed and Dib held his breath to see if his sudden wakefulness would jar his companion awake. It didn't. Zim slept on unaware of human arms that sometime during the night had reached out for warmth and companionship.
They'd found it in the slim form. Cautiously, Dib reached one arm over and grabbed his glasses, clumsily putting them on and staring in mute awe now that he could see; yes, he'd seen Zim up close but, the alien was always moving, always talking and gesturing, making these faces of disapproval and curiosity. And during their travels he'd never seen Zim asleep for long.
Now though, the Irken's face was still. It was almost eerie how calm he looked in comparison to the fireball he normally was. Zim's face did make lines when he talked or smiled, grimaced or laughed. But, there was none to be seen. Perfectly smooth. Like plastic but, so much more…real. The sunlight's gentle warmth played off his features as they tilted slightly towards him. Brushed over eyelids that were so thin he could almost see the ruby beneath, danced across thin, sharp cheekbones stretched over skin and glistened off hardly there lips.
Zim was so alien and he shouldn't have been beautiful. Dib decided that he wasn't beautiful traditionally like a flower or a rainbow. No. Zim was beautiful like a supernova, like fire eating at a forest, a dying man getting that drink of water after thirsting for it forever, a car crash in the way that everyone needed to stop and stare. Zim was like staring at the sun too long and having a permanent blue haze where you used to be able to see colors and now all you could focus on was…
Dib decided he was getting entirely too poetic and cleared his throat loudly to awaken the slumber alien. Would that even work?
Magenta eyes burst open as Dib's chest rattled under the Irken's head, his antennae shooting upward in surprise, hitting Dib's face with a soft WHAP. His face was smooth other than the lines around his wide eyes, staring forward until cautiously looking up to see the familiar human.
"Oh," Zim breathed, relaxing a bit before realization struck him. When had he fallen asleep? And more importantly, when had this happened? "Oh!" He said again, more alarmed. He propped himself up a bit, getting a better view of the human's face. He looked much better now that he had seemed to get an adequate amount of sleep. Believe it or not, but it was a bit difficult to get the rest you needed in a crammed spaceship. Zim hadn't really noticed the dark rings under his eyes until they were gone.
And he didn't realize how warm he was until his had lifted himself from the human below him. He already knew the human was an effective space-heater, but without the cold of space to counter the human's body heat, it was almost too much. He felt warm all over, and it came in small waves that rushed from his cheeks, down his neck and back, to his toes and back again.
Zim cleared his throat. "You look like you slept well." He stated, trying desperately to dispel the awkwardness of their situation.
"Oh." Dib responded agreeing, rubbing at bit at his cheek where the antenna had smacked it. It hadn't really hurt but, there was a…sharpness to the movement. It almost made him want to giggle but, he suppressed it. The alien was obviously surprised, which was understandable.
Eyes wide, mouth in a little 'o' as he tried to work out what was happening. It was…cute. Was that the word? Maybe. Whatever. Dib felt a bit fuzzy inside, glancing down at the alien's mouth and he had a strong desire to lean over into Zim's personal space and—
'You look like you slept well.' "Oh…Yeah. I did. Warmly and for the first time in days I got to stretch out properly so…yay. And uh, you? You slept well?" Dib dropped his hand from his cheek.
Zim studied Dib's face for a bit before nodding a bit.
"Irkens don't require sleep, but sometimes we do, regardless." He shrugged a bit. "So whether or not I slept well doesn't matter." But it was much better than sleeping in the Voot. And he wasn't going to pretend that sleeping so close to the human wasn't enjoyable. Or maybe he would. He rubbed at the back of his neck. "Is there anything you need to do before we are ready to leave?" He asked, looking around the room once more at all the food. It was going to be fun being stuck in a small space with that greasy stench.
He looked back at the human, who was still lying down and looking up at Zim. It seemed….surreal. He looked so relaxed around the Irken, Zim couldn't help but relax a bit himself. Something within him lurched a bit at the sight; his dark hair even messier than before, the sleep still lingering around his bright eyes, and his cheeks and ears flushed from the night of being close to another. He thought maybe he could get used to seeing Dib in the morning.
Zim bent forward a bit and planted a small, unsure kiss on the human's warm cheek.
"If there is anything you need to do, you'd better do it now." The Irken warned. They were going to be in that ship for quite a bit, and he didn't want to have to listen to Dib complaining the whole way. Though he supposed that was inevitable.
Blinking, Dib wasn't sure what to do as Zim pulled away. He sat up fully and put his hand back to his cheek. "Did you just…?" That seemed oddly human, very intimate, more innocent and crazy than what had happened last night. Throwing his legs to the side of the bed, he stretched and grabbed his pants, pulling them on before doing the same with his shirt and jacket.
"Yeah, I just…bathroom and stuff." Unfortunately, that was a human thing he had no choice about. Luckily, this place had a fairly simple one and Dib relieved himself, tried to fix his hair in the mirror before giving up. Zim had most of the food put in a group and he grabbed as much as he could.
"Okay. I think I'm ready."
Zim nodded, scooping up the bags that Dib wasn't able to carry and made his way out the window, returning shortly to carry his companion after he dropped the bags outside. "Ok, now let's try not to draw attention to ourselves," He began as he picked the bags up again. "That means no gawking." He shot the human a knowing look. "Just…try not to look too excited." But Zim knew that he was asking a lot of the human.
Zim lead them through the crowd, which was as busy as always, regardless of the time. Foodcourtia never rested; its surface was an endless moving mass of alien swine. He continuously peeked over his shoulder to make sure Dib was keeping up, slowing down to bark at him whenever he saw him fall behind to stare at any particularly interesting species that walked past.
They had almost made it to the where they had parked the voot before Zim noticed they had attracted some unwanted attention, regardless of their efforts not to.
"Great." Zim mumbled as the large aliens, dressed in spiffy uniforms looked them over. They checked some sort of device before taking doing a double take towards the pair. "Change of plans," Zim yelled, making sure he had Dib's attention. "Run!"
Zim clutched the bags close, elbowing and tackling people out of his way. "Hey! You! Stop!" He heard one of the guards yell after them, but it wasn't until he heard the firing of weapons that he started to panic.
"We're almost—AH!" Zim fell forward, letting the bags of food fly out of his hands as he hit the ground. White hot pain seeped into his shin and ebbed up his leg. He chanced a looked down at where the pain gripped him, not surprised to see the warm pink fluid that flowed out of him. His breath came out in a long pained sigh between gritted teeth. Shot for stealing food. Seemed fair. Then again, it could have been the fact that he was an Irken that tightened their fingers against the trigger. How lucky for Zim.
"Zim!" Dib cried out having run ahead, unable to believe that they'd just shot at him for stealing food, turning around as fast as he could to come to the alien's aid. The guards were gaining and laughing in horrible growling chuckles at having shot Zim. "Jerks." Dib sneered, grabbing as much of the food he could into one arm and reached down to snare the other around Zim's waist. "Come on! Lean on me!"
Zim grimaced as he was picked up, the blood oozing out of his leg at the increased movement. "What are you doing, idiot, you're going to get yourself killed." Zim hissed in a pained tone. Not to say that he wasn't pleased that Dib came back, because he obviously didn't want to be apprehended. Although he could probably take on the guards, easy.
Zim had been injured before, sure, but nobody had ever come back for him. It wasn't something Zim expected to hopped awkwardly next to Dib, hurriedly tapping in the code needed to make the Voot reappear when they reached the platform.
"Hurry, get in." Zim ordered.
Dib threw the food in the back and lifted the alien up in his arms, gently putting him in the Voot before crawling inside, awkwardly pressed against the side. They would sort this out once they were in the air and away from the danger of giant guards shooting at them. The bullets made harsh pings against the metal of the ship and he could see them getting closer, yelling. People's faces were turning and alarms beginning to blare. "Go,go,go!" Dib yelled, breathlessly.
"I'm going as fast as I can, you-!" Zim's finger pounded furiously against the control board and they were in the air before the guards could even touch the pad. Taking the steering wheel, Zim lurched forward, sending them upwards and out of the planet's atmosphere, nearly knocking into a view other ships in the process. Sweat beaded Zim's forehead and he slumped into the seat as they leveled out.
"I doubt they'll follow us." Zim stated between pained gasps. He leaned over to look at his leg again, which had only seemed to have gotten worse in all the excitement. Blood was leaving his leg in steady streams, though it seemed to be letting up some. Zim clutched his hands against the wound, though it wasn't a fatal wound, he still wanted to prevent as much bleeding as he could.
Dib panted, from the exertion of running and from the shock of seeing the vast amount of blood, that poured from the alien's leg. "Shit. We need to staunch the flow." He said breathlessly, searching for something to do so with and deciding his trench coat would work. It took a few seconds to struggle out of it in the confined space but, once he had it off, the cool air hit him. With a shiver, he shoved Zim's hands out of the way and pressed the fabric to the wound, putting as much pressure as he dared on it.
"This isn't a real bullet right? They used lasers or something, right? Because otherwise we'll have to find a way to get that bullet out…" And Dib wasn't sure if he would do more harm than good if he attempted such a thing.
"Don't you be digging your grubby fingers into Zim's leg!" Zim barked, wiping the sweat off his brow with the crook of his elbow. He took a deep breath, the adrenaline running thin now. "No, it isn't a bullet." Zim stated after calming down a bit. "The bleeding isn't the part I'm worried about; it's the bone." It felt like it could have been broken or fractured, or something. But then again, it was hard to tell through the pain if this was a possibility.
But Irken's were fast healers, and now that they were out of direct danger, Zim could relax. He wasn't happy about being wounded, of course, but he wouldn't let himself brood over a simple leg wound. He was a soldier, after all. He could have gotten worse.
"Why did you go back?" Zim asked after a moment of hesitation. "If you had left me there, you wouldn't have to worry about your planet anymore, or about the union."
Dib's brow furrowed heavily, as he lifted the fabric gently to get a peak at the condition Zim was in. He couldn't tell if the leg was broken or not. That extended beyond his limited first aid knowledge. Brown eyes flew from the wound up to meet the alien's gaze, startled by the revelation that hadn't even occurred to him.
"I…don't…know specifically why." With firm hands he put the coat back in place, realizing it would probably stain the cloth and mourned for about a second before moving on. It would still work as a shield against the cold even while caked with old blood. Though he certainly did not relish the idea of smelling or feeling Zim's blood all over him. Ugh.
"But, you're…my companion. You've done so much for me. And I couldn't just leave you there. That would be…horrible and stupid for many reasons." Dib completed, reaching back in the bags and grabbing a water bottle.
Zim stared hard at the human, his eyes wide in disbelief. Did he just call him his companion? Sure, Zim had sort of referred to Dib that way in his mind, but hearing the word out loud was surreal. Zim had never had a companion before, let alone one that would willingly refer to Zim with such a polite term. He cleared his throat and shook his head a bit.
"Coming back for me was stupid; you could have gotten shot and killed. Then where would your pitiful planet be?" Not that Zim cared. But Dib should have, and the fact that he wasn't thinking ahead only proved that the boy was reckless. And…Zim was grateful for that.
Dib tugged on his earlobe, frowning. "Yeah well,…you're stupid." He said in retort, having nothing else to say. He hadn't been thinking about his planet then which was…bad. Very bad. All he'd been thinking was that Zim was hurt badly and they might die and he needed to save them. The adrenaline had been delicious, leaking into his blood and coloring everything so much brighter. Now that it was gone, well he sort of missed it.
"Look, I did it and it's over. Now, let's focus on your leg." Dib said by way of command, taking a long drag from his bottle before closing it tightly and putting it back with the rest of the stuff. "How do you know if it's broken or not?"
Zim leaned forward a bit and prodded at the coat, which had accumulated a handsome amount of blood, though the wound was no longer bleeding heavily. Zim gingerly lifted the coat away, the freedom of pressure causing the wound to throb and send a wave of nausea to course through the Irken. A weak groan escaped his throat as Zim swayed a bit, leaning back in the seat.
"I don't know. Just…..just don't mess with it. It will heal…" He breathed. After a moment, he looked back at the taller male, scrunched up uncomfortably in the small cockpit.
"Here, let me up." Zim ordered, grabbing Dib's arm to help himself out of the seat without moving his leg. "Sit down, you're making Zim nervous."
Dib stuck his tounge out in disgust at the jacket before glancing at where Zim was pointing, doing his best to keep the alien balanced before obeying and sitting down, "How am I making you nervous?" Dib asked before calmly helping Zim into his lap. It was a bit of a relief not to be hunched over and the seat of the voot cruiser was familiar and comfortable in the face of recent events.
The scent of Zim's blood hung in the air and Dib wanted to gag. It wasn't that it smelled bad…but, just that it was there. Yes, he'd known the scientists would try to cut the alien open and there was that incident at the hotel room but, this…suddenly, Zim wasn't immortal or this almighty being.
"Just shut up and sit down," Zim ordered again before nestling into the human's lap. It was strange how familiar this was, but even more so in how welcome it was. Not to say it was comfortable, because it wasn't. He didn't exactly want to admit that he was uncomfortable with how Dib seemed to loom over him, even while hunching down. He was much closer to Zim's eye level this way.
Zim huffed and relaxed against Dib, too drained to care about how intimate it seemed. His leg was a low, throbbing pain now; much easier to deal with the white hot mess it was a little while ago.
All at once it was like Zim slumped over and fell into him, letting Dib take the weight and honestly, he didn't mind. It was nice being leaned upon, someone trusting him enough to lean against. It was an interesting feeling, filling his chest with deadly, fuzzy feelings.
"When we get to the Massive, don't you dare utter a word about this to my leaders." He warned in a low voice. He'd rather tell them they were escaping the lab when Zim got this wound than admit to stealing food like some sort of lowly, pathetic drone.
Dib laughed softly, breaking his gaze from the window where he could see their reflection (Zim looked tired but, unguarded, fierce but, lazy. And Dib…well, he just looked weird, caught up in everything, distracted and not nearly as gaunt as he could remember himself being.) glancing down at the alien. His eyes caught on Zim's cheek as it shined from the glow of the far off planet and the control panel.
An urge struck him and Dib leaned forward a bit, pressing his lips chastely to the Irken's cheek. "My lips are sealed." He murmured.
Zim's previously half lidded eyes widened, like they seemed to have been doing a lot as of late. He looked at the human, his expression melting into one of curiosity only for a moment before a regained his calm. He couldn't help but smile a bit at the action.
"Yes, well," Zim began looking back down into his lap. "If the Tallest ask, Zim got this wound performing a daring escape from your earth labs." A slight pause as his mind returned to that moment on the plaza, where Dib had come back for him regardless of his own safety. And the safety of his planet.