Zim's toes were the only thing that moved, wiggling in his boots as he stood at attention. The other Irkens did the exact same thing, chin up, back straight and eyes straight forward.
They were statues to the Empire, permanently in their salute. And Zim didn't dare move even a millimeter, wouldn't dream of doing so, not when it could bring shame to himself and his people.
The commanders and generals walked past them, an inspection. They hardly gave Zim a glance, almost missed him entirely for he hardly qualified to be a soldier, standing chest height with many of the others.
Cold eyes passed over him and then continued. He relaxed minutely. Another test passed. And there had been many up until then, leading to this great moment when the newest generation of smeets would graduate from the Academy and lead the rest of their lives above the surface of Irk or beyond the stars, exploring the universe.
When they called his name to 'officially' encode him with his duty, Zim almost missed it. But, after a small moment of embarrassment he stood up for the entire class to see, a gigantic smile on his face because he was an Invader at last and he would bring glory to the Empire.
The wires slid down from the ceiling and plugged into his PAK, changing his status from Smeet to Invader with a flash and a buzz of electricity and everything around you is on fire. This time it's not your fault though. Instead it's those Meekrob. Horrible, filthy things with incredible powers. You turn and run, telling yourself it isn't cowardly. The air smells of war; blood, abandon, dirt, sweat, primitive hand to hand combat. They've discovered how to alter paks with their minds. A dirty trick. And you have nothing to reciprocate with. This was nothing like the Vortian wars. The Vortians were soft with few hard soldiers.
This was brutal. This time you feared death, wondered if being here courted it. But, they're all around you now, feeding off of one another, this hatred is all consuming and Zim turns around to see that he's surrounded by at least ten of them. No. Not death.
Not now. They get closer, laughing in your head. You black out. Zim blacks out. Next thing you know is that you're in the clear, and everything in your path is dead. Meekrob, Irken…nothing gets in your way and nothing will, he swears the day he lands on earth.
It's nothing like he's imagined. Not that he's known what to expect but, this rotten stink hole was even more disgusting than his wildest dreams. It has gigantic pools of deadly liquid. You learn it falls from the sky fairly quickly. And that it hurts.
Sometimes you have nightmares. Sometimes Zim wakes up in the middle of the night with dreams of drowning in the stuff, being trapped outside or falling in a lake or a pond. The 'water' sizzles outside of your skin, before breaking inside to invade your veins and organs, cooking your eyes and tongue. You become nothingness, the horrible stuff is inside your pak and no, no help! Somebody help! I'm not a coward but, I don't want to die!
Dib thrashes in his sleep, whimpering and sweating profusely. These images are not his own. Or at least they weren't. Until now.
Zim watched his fitful sleep. It made him strangely relieved to know that he wasn't the only one that wasn't sleeping well. He reached out a gentle hand and tapped Dib's warm cheek.
"Dib-worm, stop your whimpering." Zim whispered. He ran the pad of his thumb across his brow, wiping away the beads of sweat before making a disgusted face at the substance and wiping it off on the bed. Dib continued, however, and Zim huffed a bit. He leaned down and grabbed his face in his hands, shaking his head a bit. "Dib-worm, you are dreaming. Wake up!"
It took a couple tries to wrestle himself from the hands of the cloying water, gasping for air, feeling as though his lungs were collapsing, his body shaking. "I-I…don't want to die." Dib whimpered, not seeing Zim or their room. All he saw was death; other aliens, his own at the hands of something that was also a life giving element for him.
Zim shook the head in his hands some more. "Dib, you aren't dying. Just wake up." He could see Dib's eyes dancing frantically behind his thin eyelids. Searching for his grasp on reality. Zim sighed. "Alright, I didn't want to have to do this." He lifted his hand away, returning it to the human's sweaty cheek with a wet SLAP!
In an instinctive move, Dib yelled and shoved away whatever had just smacked him, sending it crashing to the floor. Frantically, he looked around, realizing where he was and relaxing just in time to glance down at the floor where Zim had landed. "S-Sorry." He cleared his throat because his voice sounded entirely too high pitched. "Sorry. Are you oka—you slapped me." Dib realized, rubbing his stinging cheek. Everything was blurry and too vivid now that he had awakened from…drowning.
Zim landed on the floor with a solid thud, all his breath being knocked out of him in surprise. He lay on the floor for a while, staring up at the ceiling, his brow furrowed and his fingers laced together over his belly. "Hey Zim, thanks for waking me up from that bad dream. Sorry I'm a big idiot and knocked you down. Hey, Dib, that's alright. At least you apologized for it."
Still panting slightly, Dib rolled his eyes. "Hey, Zim you slapped me. Oh yeah, I did sorry about that but, your bad dreams were disturbing my beauty sleep." He rolled over and grabbed the alien's wrist, pulling him from the floor, back onto the mattress pad thingy. "Thanks, I guess. And sorry for doing what any normal person would do when awakened from a nightmare by a hand colliding with their face."
"Well, since you sound so sincere, I guess I can stand to forgive you." Zim grumbled, taking his place on the cot. He glanced at Dib's cheek and had to do a double take. A three-fingered print was forming in red along the side of the human's face. Zim couldn't help but snicker a bit.
"And just what are you laughing at you tiny green moron?" Dib growled, poking the irken's head. "It better not be something involving me or my face or I'll do something horrendous to you. It will be truly horrifying." Part of him wanted to get the hell out of bed and move around, walk around the ship, explore every single nook and cranny.
The other side wanted to curl up in a soft blanket, next to Zim and trace every single bruise, scratch mark, and soon to be scars (which were already healing on him, that little bug), admire how the dim lighting made Zim's eyes glow and his skin almost ivy. Groaning, the human squinted. But, he could do neither without his glasses. They had been tossed…somewhere in the passions.
"Oh? You think you can take me by surprise, do you?" Zim grinned and crossed his legs under him, suddenly realizing how vulnerable he was in his nudity. Though he was at an advantage, unlike Dib who's sex organs were on the outside. "I doubt you could do much in this state. And besides, I wouldn't be too beat up about your ugly mug." He added with a smirk.
"Oh really?" Dib replied, arching an eyebrow in response as he shoved away from the bed to search for his glasses, only to realize like two seconds later that he was about 101% percent naked and it was cold. And he was naked. Never mind that they'd like…rubbed bodies and exchanged fluids. It was…different now. But, he fought the urge to cover himself, because that was stupid.
With an awkward cough, Dib searched the floor for his glasses, finding them underneath one of their uniforms and he felt so much better when his vision was clearer. It also kind of removed the whole fuzzy feeling in exchange for cold reality.
But, Dib tried to act casually, walking back over to the Irken. "You have no idea Zim. I can do terrible things to you. You will beg for mercy and maybe even cry a little bit." He said with much assuredness. It would be devious indeed. Probably something of a mix between tickling and lying on top of the green dork.
Zim's lips parted slightly as the human made his way back to him. He was looking up at him as he still sat on the cot, his legs crossed in front of him. His eyes narrowed and he shook his head a bit. "You don't scare me, Dib-worm." He countered, though he was practically quaking underneath that mischievous glint in Dib's eyes. Not necessarily out of fear, however.
"Oh don't I?" Dib said slyly, two seconds before falling forward and pinning the alien underneath him. He smirked evilly, fighting the urge to laugh. "Now you are at my mercy."
"Erg!" Zim grunted as the human plopped down on him. "Mercy! Ha! Don't make me laugh, pig-stink." He growled a bit and lifted his head up, biting gently on the human's exposed shoulder.
Dib laughed evilly. Although, it suddenly wasn't so evil when it turned to giggling. He was ticklish apparently, something which up until this moment had never been discovered since no one had ever attempted to tickle him before. Dib shoved the alien's head away from his shoulder and rolled over onto his back next to him, still snickering slightly at the odd sensation. "Pig-stink, eh? You come up with the most romantic pet names, Stupid-face."
"Why, of course." Zim agreed in a matter-of-fact tone. "Zim is the very epitome of romance, you know. Why, on Irk, females flock at the sight of me." He grinned cheekily. He rolled on his belly and propped himself on his elbows, looking at Dib in a slight air of amusement.
That sarcastic eyebrow rose at the image of tons of Irkens flocking like birds towards Zim. He could picture him freaking out and running away. It made Dib smirk. "Somehow I doubt that." He stared at the ceiling, feeling the air of the morning wash over him. Or what felt like the morning. There was a slight soreness in his muscles, a whole rush of giddiness in his blood, tingles over his skin. Dib's mind felt full for the first time in forever. Earth was safe. It had been a productive night indeed.
"So, now what happens? What do we do?" Dib flipped over to face Zim, smiling softly, eyes full of anticipation. "Explore the universe? Go back to Earth? Have sex again?" He waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
Zim gave Dib a wry smile, his face scrunching up as he pretended to be disgusted by the suggestion, and then turned his attention to the wanna-be-mattress they were laying on. He scratched at the fabric idly as he thought. So Dib would want to go back to earth, anyway? Was this…all in vain? No, because now Dib was his and no amount of distance would ever change that.
"Well, I suppose since I don't have a mission, we could. Explore, that is." A slight pause and then he turned his attention back to Dib, his face scrunched up again. "But do you really wanna go back to Earth?" The dread in his voice was palpable.
Dib chuckled, laying his head on his arms and trying to shrug. "Not really. There's the whole universe to explore." The very idea was enough to have his blood boiling with wanderlust. "But, it is my home so one day, it would be nice to see it again. To properly say goodbye to people." Aka Gaz and Dad. "And I've never been much for material stuff but, I do have some things that I don't want my dad to like hock for new chemicals or something now that I'm gone."
Oh wow. He wondered suddenly how things were back at home. Part of him imagined it would be as though he never existed and everyone was actually happier with him gone. The other side imagined mass chaos as Membrane tore the world apart in search for his heir. He wasn't sure how to feel about either scenario, only that right now he had no real urge to go back and find out.
"Well, if you must." Zim rolled his eyes and mimicked Dib by laying his head down. His antennae flattened down against his scalp as he relaxed, his eyes staring unseeingly into the distance. There was so much to think about now that the fog had lifted. The fact that he was in union now was the last thing that was bugging him. Instead he was more concerned with his person, he was sore and in certain areas that made him want to fidget and squirm, but he refrained since Dib was here. Which was another thing that festered in his mind; Dib.
Just in general. Memories that weren't Zim's floated around in his head, making him feel either sad or happy or lonely on a whim as they became known to him. He wondered if it was the same for Dib. He gave the human a sideways glance. He seemed insanely giddy and just the fact that Dib was happy made Zim want to punch him in the face.
But at the same time, it was Zim that was making him happy, and that made the invader feel….really good. Because Dib liked Zim, and he knew that because he had seen it. Not to mention that Dib had flat out told Zim that he trusted him. Uhg. His chest tightened and he screwed his eyes shut. No, no, no. Don't think about that.
They laid in silence for a while, companionable silence which was also something that Dib wasn't used to. He didn't even have to stop himself from thinking as the smallest memories, things like playing 'games' as a smeet and making stupid inventions on Vort swooshed through his mind on a lazy river, interspersed with thoughts of exploring the universe, spending years and years with Zim.
They had all the time in the universe. Literally. And it would be…pretty fantastic. To learn, build, hunt, grow, eat, laugh…do everything with Zim, Zim who would be his protector, who he would get to protect, who was loyal and there for him in every single way. His heart beat rapidly in his chest. Dib sighed, feeling dazed with the future when he didn't even want to get out of bed, warm as he was with Zim's body heat radiating over them.
Soon, (as it always was with him) a question popped up, along with another and another. Most of which were shoved away for a later date. But, this one stayed in the forefront of his mind. "How long do irkens live?" It was somewhere in his brain. He could search for the answer but, right now he felt lazy. Asking Zim was easier. Might as well start learning now.
Zim let out a small huffed and stretched his arms out in front of him. "However long we can until we die in battle. We have no natural deaths. I guess you can say we live forever, but the accident rate for us is pretty high—"especially around Zim, though he'd never admit that. "—and considering we're a fighting breed, I doubt you'd find one very old." Then again they didn't age like humans did, so if you did see an older Irken, you'd have no way of knowing it. After a moment he looked back to his bed-mate. "Why?"
"Oh." Dib breathed, suddenly feeling kind of horrible. "Um…no reason I guess. Just…I've been curious for a while. You can um, expect random questions all the time, by the way." Zim could live for pretty much ever. That was…it was…unfair. That they…that he…this was for life. This bonding thing. "Um…so what if let's say, one part of the bond dies. Does the other person get out of the vow…?"
"No," Zim stated flatly. He sat up, his legs folded underneath him as he did so. He motioned to the scarring tissue on his shoulder. "Even if we hadn't done this in such a crude manner, Irkens are marked for life inside their PAKs. We bare these marks for the rest of our lives. If either one of us dies, the other would be forced to live out the rest of their existence alone." It was heavy, but that was the Irken way; all or nothing, always.
Dib's brow furrowed and he felt his breath catch in his throat. Well shit. "Um. Then you may have gotten the short end of the stick, Zim." He also sat up, pulling his legs to his chest and wrapping his arms around them.
Of course Zim was already aware of the human race's pathetic excuse for a 'life-span'. The Irken sighed and let his shoulders droop. He glared hard at the mattress before turning his face away from Dib.
"I was alone before I met you, Dib-stink. You're the only creature I was willing to bond with, and that won't change after you're gone." A pathetic confession, Zim thought. He didn't need anybody, of course. He was a proud Irken invader, he stood on his own and stood tall and proud. So why did his voice sound so weak?
Dib's eyes widened, as he turned his head slightly to look at Zim. He had no idea what all that really meant since he would never have a full grasp of Irkens and their culture but, the very idea that Zim had been more than willing to bond with him, that he was the 'only one'…it sounded a lot like what he figured love and soul mates and all that freaking jazz to be.
Love. Something that he'd never really understood nor ever really wanted to. Not when sixth graders were running around saying it. So maybe what they had wasn't love. But, what they had done was so much more intense than anything that love stood for. So…whatever they had was beyond that. It wasn't even definable.
Still, his chest hurt and he huffed out a breath he hadn't even known he was holding, turning to sit on his knees, facing Zim and lifting the alien's chin. "Well, we have at least 80 years. And who knows, maybe along the way we'll find some miracle. But, no matter the time I'm looking forward to spending it with you."
80 years. That was merely a breath to Zim, and it reflected in his eyes that it wasn't enough as he looked at Dib. Then again, these last few weeks had felt like a year, but at the same time he felt like they had just met yesterday. He wanted to growl in frustration. Dib was distorting the very reality that Zim tried to grasp on to, making everything fuzzy and sharp at the same time. How did this one being have the ability to pull Zim into two sides of the spectrum like this?
"I am, too." The Irken admitted in a soft whisper, his eyes lowering to Dib's bare chest as he found he didn't have to will to look into those honest eyes of his.
"Hey." Dib pressed his lips against the alien's cheekbone, sliding his mouth down, bending his head to press a soft, lingering kiss against the other's lips. "Why don't we go now, huh? Get started." Another kiss. "Land on some foreign planet. Disturb the natives." A slight nibble. "Breathe in nebulas. Collect a thousand memories. Ones that's are iours/i. And not just mine or yours." The human stroked Zim's shoulders and back, rubbing slightly. "Come on, moron, let's go."
"You're a moron." He murmured from pursed lips as they just grazed Dib's own. He pulled back, licking his lips from the sensation that he couldn't quite get used to and left the mattress in favor of finding his uniform. He felt he should have been bothered in his nudity around Dib, but figured after last night that it just didn't matter anymore.
For several reasons. But he recalled Dib's bashfulness as he slipped the material over his wounded leg (which hadn't been bothering him, but was slightly agitated now) and up over his hips. "You seem to have lost your modesty somewhere between yesterday and last night." He noted with a smirk.
Dib returned the smile, rolling off the bed to pull on his own uniform, awkwardly over gangly legs. "Well, you weren't treating it like a big deal and uh, well after last night I figured I could be a bit more lenient in showing my body. At least around you." Still didn't mean that he wasn't aware of how freaking skinny he was or the little scars and imperfections that jumped out at him now that he was paying attention. Dib grunted and zipped up his outfit, pleased that there were no wrinkles.
The two being fully dressed, Zim felt like he was a whole person again with the Irken logo stamped proudly on his chest. He looked to Dib, who almost looked like a completely different person with his own uniform on. His raven hair was no longer the most prominent feature against his pale skin, now that the black fabric clung to his frame. But of course, his eyes always stood out, and Zim didn't think there was any way to escape their luminosity—nudity or not.
Zim only grinned in response as he approached the human and ran his hands over the material that cloaked his chest. He lingered only a moment before nodding. "Right, well I'm pretty sick of this room. Let's go, shall we?"
A huge grin split the boy's face. "Let's."