The walk was sort of a long one, taking them to the bowels of the ship. It was without a doubt the busiest area of the ship, with Irkens rushing about, but with more of a spring in their step with promise of food. "We do get our own rations for snacks, but seeing as how you might need it a bit more than I do, you can have some of mine."
"Umm. Thanks." Dib replied distractedly, watching the Irkens swarm by and being surprised at how he could see over all their heads. When they finally reached the 'cafeteria', he exhaled at how big it was. It was the Massive of course but, still, everything was huge. Everything from the ceilings to the line to get food. Although the smell of cheese and all sorts of sugary confections was more than enough to have him salivating. It felt like he hadn't eaten in weeks.
Zim nodded. "Yes, generous, I know. No need to thank me." Zim waved a hand as they made their way to the line. "It's actually pretty slow, at the moment. This won't take long at all, you'll see." Zim said, though it was more directed to himself. It wasn't long until he was tapping his foot, grunting impatiently. "No, this is taking too long! We are awaiting important news from the Tallest themselves; we don't have time to be waiting around for food!" He growled and clenched his fists. Turning to look up at Dib, he grinned a bit as a plan formed. "Dib, you can make your way through this crowd easily! Get in front of me and get us through to the front."
Dib was much more patient than Zim and even though he was hungry, he also understood, yanno that lines were there so everyone had their fair share without it being chaos. "Um…but, what about everyone else?" Not that he wouldn't mind cutting and all, but still.
"Plus, just because I'm taller doesn't mean I'm—" Just as he was talking a much taller Irken cut through the smaller ones at the front, grabbed a tray and walked away. No one even seemed to notice. Huh. On earth there would've been a freaking conniption. Shrugging, Dib pulled Zim behind him. "Alright. Let's go."
Zim chuckled triumphantly; latching his fingers onto the fabric of Dib's uniform so as to not get separated in the crowd. The much shorter aliens, though most being taller than Zim, almost reluctantly moved aside for the human. They didn't recognize him as any alien they had seen, and while they didn't normally allow other aliens Irk customs, he WAS on the massive and not in handcuffs. Not to mention he was wearing Irken clothing, which was also odd, and elicited curious mumbles throughout the crowd in ripples.
They reached the front in half the time it would have taken them if they had waited. Zim sprang up to the counter, it barely reaching his armpits. He threw his arms up and pulled himself onto the smooth surface.
"Yes, now we can get my food and get out of here. Er…OUR food." A smooth cable snaked out of his PAK and connected with the machine that guarded the counter. After a short while. The cable and retracted, Zim having used his rations given to him by default, and was rewarded a small ration of glorious junk food. "There, now get us out of here." Zim ordered, scooping the food up.
"Yes, Sir." Dib replied in good humor, grabbing Zim by the elbow and squeezing them out through the crowd. "Are we eating in here or back in the room?" He asked, mumbling some apologies to a few Irkens as he bumped through them.
"Well I had planned on leaving, but thinking about it now, maybe it is best we stay in here a little while. We might as well get you used to the ship, seeing as how you will be here a while." Zim answered thoughtfully as he looked around. He handed over the food, nearly shoving it in Dib's chest. "Here, take this and go sit down," He ordered, pointing a cluster of seats in the distance. "I forgot something." He murmured before disappearing into the crowd.
Raising an eyebrow, Dib took the tray that was thrown at him and made his way through the crowd till he found a group of empty chairs and took a seat, lifting up a bottle that looked like some sort of fizzy drink with a nondescript label. He popped the cap and hesitantly took a swig. Seconds later he cringed. It was sweet. Very,very sweet. It was almost like pure sugar. Surely, he would get cavities after this. Dib waited a bit and then took another drink. It wasn't as bad the second time.
A harsh click of Irken from right behind him, had Dib turning and nearly falling out of his chair. There was quite a few of them around their table. Five tallish Irkens were talking to each other. They were bigger than Zim anyway, at least by half a foot. Dib understood a few of the words; strange, alien, tall, touch, dare…uh. Not good. Clearing his throat, the teenager stood to his full height, hoping that maybe that would deter them from messing with him.
Of course, it didn't. If there was one prominent feature in every Irken, it was stubbornness. Unfortunately, it was something Zim shared with his Irken peers. The Irkens that had surrounded Dib didn't falter, their smirks and grins only widening as they talked amongst themselves, their eyes never leaving the human. Their words became more frantic as they began nudging each other, dangerous laughter and chuckles coming from the ones that dared to get closer to the human.
A loud bark coming from the crowd caused them to turn their heads. Zim, fighting his way from the last layer of the thick crowd, glared at the Irkens surrounding his human.
"Get away from him!" He ordered, throwing the packets of what appeared to be sauce down on the table before marching up to them. They towered over him, but that didn't stop him from puffing out his chest and getting in the tallest Irken's face. "Are we going to have a problem here?" He growled.
One of the tallest Irkens, stepped forward and looked down his 'nose' at Zim, growling back. "I don't know what you're talking about, Drone. We're just trying to get a good look at the alien. Why? Does that bother you?" He clicked harshly. His peers laughed and the circle tightened. Dib sneered and took his own step forward, standing next to Zim. He was a few inches taller than the tallest Irken.
"DRONE?!" Zim seethed, standing up on his toes. "You have no idea who you are talking to!? I am ZIM! Invader Zim?!" He pointed an accusing finger to the tall one he was huffing at. A ripple of recognition went through the small swarm that surrounded them, though they didn't seem particularly impressed. "We are in direct business with the Tallest, so you'd better not start anything, and keep your grubby mitts off the Dib!" Zim continued, hoping to throw them off, or impress them. Maybe a bit of both.
The mention of the Tallest was enough to have them considering their actions. The Irken hissed. "The Dib? Is that it's species? What sort of business could a puny thing like you and a alien have with the Tallest?" Dib was only catching words here and there, working to make sense of them, twist them into sentences. It was all he could do but wish that he could speak Irken so he could tell off these idiots.
"What's it to you?" Zim scowled, causing the taller Irken to step closer, his stomach almost touching Zim's chest.
"Well I just want to know if we'll be expecting a new drone down here." He smirked. "What other business would the Tallest want with you? You being an Invader was a mistake, after all." Zim's jaw clenched as he growled, his eyes glaring daggers into the Irken in front of him, who was un-phased.
"And what will become of your little pet, I wonder? No doubt their new play-thing." He reached out toward Dib, as if to touch him, but he didn't have the chance before Zim was on him.
"I'll teach you to speak filthy lies about the Tallest!" Zim screeched as he pounced, his gloved claws closing over the Irken's face. The small crowd jumped back in surprise, only watching as Zim mauled their friend. The other Irkens scrambled backwards as soon as the fighting started. Most of them were trained in combat but, the thing is that as soldiers they were taught to use weapons, their pak, not hand to hand. Zim was playing a field that his combatant had never even glanced at before.
Dib yelled and, at risk to his limbs, wrapped his hands around Zim's arms and pulled him back as hard as possible against his chest. As soon as he was restrained, the other Irkens scrambled. "You're crazy!" They yelled. "Defective." They spat as they ran.
The human held his irken against his chest as he flailed about, still shouting and trying to claw at anyone near him. "Calm down, you hot head!"
Zim kicked and hissed and cursed, his cheeks flush with anger as he was restrained. He wanted to whip around and claw at the human for preventing him from defending himself and his leaders and Dib. Finally, his frantic mumbling slowed to a stop, and he was left panting in Dib's arms. Still a bit tense he gave one final snort before speaking in a coherent tone.
"You can let go of me, now." His voice still dripped with acid as he glared at nobody in particular.
Dib hesitated for only half a second before he nodded and loosened his hold, letting the Irken's feet touch the floor again and let go. "So uh, what did you go get? Or was that all for nothing?" He said, sitting back down in the table as though nothing had happened, taking a small sip of his soda and beginning to check out the food.
Zim scooped up the packets he had gone back to get and tossed them at Dib. "I can't leave you alone for a millisecond without you getting into trouble." He grumbled and plopped down at the table. "You're like a smeet I have to care for." He held his head in his hands, still seething from the encounter. "Did they say anything to you?" He asked after a moment of silence.
Dib picked up a packet, looking at it unimpressed before looking back at Zim with a raised eyebrow. "No. They didn't say anything. Just stood around like a bunch of idiots, elbowing each other." It was actually quite familiar. It wasn't like Dib thought himself particularly special in his bullying experience. Everyone went through that. Kids were mean.
The food actually looked pretty great. Almost like earth food. Except the second he had it in his mouth, he could feel himself getting diabetes. Dib's face scrunched up. "Wow, this stuff is sweet." He coughed into his fist, and took another bite of what was almost like taffy. "Are you okay?"
"You should have heard the lies they told." Zim shook his head, fiddling with one of the packets, squeezing the contents of it in his fingers. After a while, he sighed a tossed the packet down, laying his arms over the table and watching Dib eat. "It doesn't matter," He said, finally. "I know what the truth is. They all envy my closeness with the Tallest, so they spread horrible, untrue rumors." He looked down at the tray of food and used his gloved fingers to pick a little off and pop it into his mouth. "Does the food suit you?"
Dib chewed, getting used to the overly sweet flavor, and nodded slowly. It was quiet between them for a few seconds besides the Irkens swarming everywhere, talking and chewing. He swallowed. "What did they uh…say exactly?" Then Dib realized that maybe it was a touchy subject. "Um, if you want to talk about it, that is."
Zim groaned a bit and licked the sugary syrup that was left off his glove before speaking.
"They say that Zim is not a real Invader." He admitted in a low voice. "Whatever that's supposed to mean." He slammed his fists on the table, sitting up quickly as he felt the frustration bubble up inside of him. "I was the one who destroyed the most in the first Impending Doom operation! So what if my infiltration on Earth was going a bit slower than the other Invaders? I know what I'm doing! I'm a fearless, conquering machine, obviously!"
With a final huff, Zim deflated, laying his head on the table and going limp. These were things he had to deal with his whole life, and while they never bothered him before, it was a bit of a pain to put up with. He knew none of it was true; he knew he was great. But sometimes it caught up to him. It didn't help that Dib was here, watching him and hearing all of it.
Dib blinked, licking the syrup of his own finger before speaking. "Well uh, as long as you know it, it doesn't matter what those idiots think. There's a reason you're an Invader and they're a bunch of pathetic cows that follow each other without a second thought. You think for yourself and you seemed pretty fearless when we were on Earth." Dib nodded, taking another bite and washing it down with a drink of soda. He shifted his legs under the table since it was kind of short for him and a bit cramped.
"Yeah, I guess so." Zim nodded a bit, leaning up on his elbows. His antennae perked up a bit and the bud of a smirk formed on his face. "You thought I was fearless?" He asked, the pride practically oozing off his words. He jolted a bit when Dib stretched out under the table, their boots knocking together. He pushed back against his boots in retaliation.
Dib half smirked, raising an eyebrow at the arrogance in Zim's voice as well as the alien's foot pushing back against his. "Well…yeah. You were loud and slightly scary, hypnotic and you didn't seem to be afraid despite the fact that you were locked in a giant lab like a rat. I would be terrified." He shifted and pressed back against the Irken, feeling slightly mischievous.
"Of course you would be," Zim grinned. "You're not an Invader." He answered with an air of smugness. It was safe to say the tiny Irken found pride in his status. His eyes narrowed a bit and he pushed back, his boots slipping between Dib's with a small squeak.
Dib chuckled and shook his head. "Well, good to know your ego is safe." The alien had taken his bait, falling right where he wanted him. Dib trapped Zim's foot between his two, holding it there. "But, you have fallen into my trap, Invader."
Zim jolted, his antennae springing forward. "Wha—hey!" He fidgeted in his seat, trying to free his foot. He hooked the toes of his other boot around Dib's ankle, trying to pry it away. "You underestimate me, Dib-worm! I won't let you win so easily." Win what? What were they even doing? Zim wasn't sure, but the mischievous twinkle in those golden eyes egged him on, and Zim couldn't say no to them.
"Haha, Space-Boy! There's no way I'm letting you go." Dib held fast, smirking evilly. As casually as possible, he took another bite of his food, chewing as Zim tried to pry his foot out of the human's hold. "You're mine now."
Zim tried to glare, but it fell flat. "Zim belongs to know one!" He stated loudly as he continued to struggle. He was now using the table as leverage, gripping and leaning on it as he tried to prey his foot away. He grunted and tried to kick the human's foot away from his.
Dib snickered and let the alien go. "Calm down. You're going to hurt yourself, moron." he sipped the last of his soda and set it back down on the table. "So uh...if this whole thing works out...when are we gonna do it and how does this whole marriage thing work? I know on my planet there's usually a witness, vows and rings...what about for Irkens?"
Zim nearly fell out of his seat when his foot was released. "Oh. Um. Just as planned!" He played off, looking around a bit and tucking his feet in under him. "Uh, no. It's not like a human marriage," Zim explained picking some more food off of Dib's plate. "It's an intimate setting, with only the two parties, and the control brains to witness. For Irkens, we link PAKs and send data back and forth. Sharing our most intimate selves with the other." Zim popped the food into his mouth and chewed thoughtfully.
"In our case, we'd have to compromise. I could maybe download some of myself onto a chip and attach it." He tapped the back of his neck to demonstrate where the chip would be placed. "But then there's the question of how we'd be marked. Our PAKs usually have a code in them that identify us and our spouses after we're married. We'd have to work around that. Maybe physically…" He trailed off in thought, picked at the food on Dib's plate, but not taking any, just pushing it around.
Dib's breath caught in his throat. He didn't even notice when the Irken jacked some of his food, he was too busy thinking about this…'intimate' setting. A chip in his neck… "What about you? I would get some of your memories and stuff but, how would you get mine…that is…if you even want them? I just figured that was part of the whole…thing." He trailed off, suddenly feeling self-conscious which was stupid. It had just occurred to him that well, Zim was an alien and much more interesting and had a billion memories whereas Dib was a teen whose life was kind of boring and…why on Earth would Zim want to see that if he didn't have to?
Zim's brow furrowed a bit. "Well…I suppose that comes with it. Not that I'm all that excited about having my PAK tampered with." He shrugged. "I suppose there's a way to get them out of that big cranium of yours." Zim snickered as he continued to pick at Dib's food, now constructing a little structure out of it. "We could cut it open. How about that?" He grinned and look up at Dib.
Dib flicked the little structure in the Irken's direction, giving him an unamused look. "Haha...and what about the physical stuff? Um, we could do tattoos or scars. Those are both permanent..." And would hurt. "Would you...put them on me?" Like the rings. And what if he could put one on Zim despite the whole pak thing? Why did that idea make his chest feel tight, his breathing harder?
Zim huffed and sat up, giving Dib a slight glare before his face melted into a soft thoughtful one. "Uhm. Yes." He answered, simply. "It will be you and I performing the ceremony, with the control brain witnessing. I'll being administering the markings, as you will on me. There's no information in your organic brain that will be able to be identified in my PAK upon inspection. So like you, I will need a physical marking. And you will be administering that." The thought made him shiver. He had to trust the human not to completely mar his beautiful Irken skin. But what choice did he have, after all.
Yes. Dib's traitorous mind whispered, he reached over and grabbed the alien's hand, sliding his thumb across the skin between his fingers. "Is it weird that the idea of this is…" a turn on? Sexy as hell? Something that he'd never even have imagined he would enjoy the thought of considering yanno he was signing his freedom over to an alien? "amazing? And that I want to kiss you right now? Would that be bad? In front of all these irkens…"
Zim looked around a bit, but mainly to avoid that look the Dib was giving him. He looked frantically for something to help him, something to shield himself from those darkening golden eyes that were making the heat raise up in his cheeks.
"Well…we'll probably be in union soon." He thought out loud, worrying his bottom lip a bit. He finally dragged his gaze to meet Dib's, all resolve melting under his warm stare. "So I guess it doesn't matter." His fingers laced themselves between Dib's before he was even fully aware of it.
Zim sat up, leaning over the table, cautiously. He was fully aware of the Irken eyes that were glued to them, but the only eyes that mattered to him at the moment were heavy lidded and drawing him in.
Dib laughed breathlessly, licking his lips and realizing that they had half the cafeteria watching them from the whole fight thing and the fact that Dib was an alien and this was probably insane but, they weren't exactly sane were they?
Zim's eyes were darkening too and they drew him in, closer and closer like a lure until they were millimeters away and Dib could barely breathe. "Right where I want you, Space-boy." He murmured before slanting his mouth over the alien's, reaching across and intertwining their other hands. How insane was it that a few weeks ago he'd broken this moron out of his dad's laboratory?
Zim chuckled warmly against Dib's lips before they mashed together in a way that was becoming dangerously familiar. Startled gasps rang throughout the horde of Irkens with their eyes glued on them as Zim leaned over the table as best he good, his neck craned to meet Dib halfway. Two weeks ago Zim would have never even thought of displaying such affection in front of his Irken peers. What was Dib doing to him?
He couldn't even think straight as their lips moved together, parting and mashing together rhythmically, their fingers laced together on the table top. His legs threatened to give out at the awkward angle he found himself in, but he ignored it. Not wanting to focus on anything but the human.