Hello everyone! Sorry for being late, I've been busy with, you know, LIFE and stuff xD I say we go to the story as fast as possible, I'm just gonna answer these anons real quickly:
Toolazyforlogin: Thank you!
trippnessa: Thanks, I'm glad you think so! I don't really have any Zim vs Dib planned, but maybe I could add something like that if people would like that :) Also calm down, Zim doesn't actually have a PAK yet xD It's interesting to see people figuring out where I'm going, though!
Guest: Off course I'm gonna keep this story going! PLEASE DON'T GIVE UP ON ME!
Chapter 16
"You did good today", Dib told Zim. They were out on the streets, looking for a place where they could buy new clothes. Or rather, Dib was looking for new clothes for both of them. Zim was just tagging along.
"Off course I did", Zim said, standing with one foot on each of Dib's shoulders. It was just as crowded as last time and he was not about to risk getting trampled. He also had a better view from up here. It had nothing to do with the overwhelming amounts of noises, smells and people all around them.
"Tomorrow I'll try to get you something to do as well", Dib said and spotted a store which seemed to sell clothes. They headed for it, while Dib tried not to push people around too much.
"Great", Zim grinned. He relaxed slightly once they entered the store, where it was quieter and less people. He didn't risk jumping off Dib though.
"Hey, look at this! I think we'll find what we're looking for here", Dib smiled, looking around the first alien shop he'd ever been in. The windows had Vortian mannequins in them, dressed in clothes designed to fit the anatomy of a Vortian, but inside the collection was far more extensive, so he'd certainly find something fitting for Zim and himself. Soft music played from somewhere farther inside. He looked around and walked to a hangar of shirts.
"What about this one- never mind", Dib put it back when he noticed the holes for an extra pair of arms. He took another one, this time finding the right design. It was probably he simplest shirt in here, with short arms, a high collar and a gray color scheme. Dib took a few and kept walking, looking for pants.
This proved to be harder as Vortian legs were quite different from his own. He had to look for half an hour before finding some stretchy black pants that fit him. He wasn't even gonna look for shoes; Vortians didn't use them just like they didn't use socks. Instead, he returned to the shirts section to look for something in Zim's size.
Zim had been on his shoulders the entire time, curiously looking around the quiet shop. He didn't really grasp the concept of it. After a life of getting and making everything he needed the idea of 'stores' was just way too strange. Who made the stuff? Why would they make stuff for other people? What was even these 'monies' that Dib spoke of?
"These seem fitting", Dib mumbled, mostly to himself. The only clothes in Zim's size were on the kids' section and in bright colors that Dib didn't like. "Zim, pick some shirts for yourself."
Zim squinted at the rows of fabric, instinctively reaching for a forest green one that would have helped camouflage him had they still been on Irk.
"This one?" he said, rubbing the tunic against Dib's face to draw attention away from his own confusion. Dib took it, putting it with the other clothes.
"Okay", Dib said and walked to the cashier while pulling out his intergalactic credit card. The Vortian behind the register was blue and Dib had no way of telling if they were a male or female. They took the clothes and scanned them with a strange looking device.
"That's 130 monies, mister", the Vortian-who-could-be-either-male-or-female said. Dib dragged his card, relieved to see that the monies he'd earned from his mission on Irk had been properly put on his bank account. The Vortian nodded and gave them the clothes in a paper bag. Dib thanked them and left the shop, once again entering the always-busy street outside.
"What to you wanna do now, Zim?" Dib asked, looking around. There were lots of other shops around that he wouldn't mind looking into, especially those filled with technology from around the universe.
"Not be in the streets", he said, already tired of the lack of space. Dib hesitated. He could walk around here for hours, but he knew that Zim wouldn't like it and if there was one thing nobody needed, it was Zim being cranky because of the stress.
"Okay then", he sighed,"but lets at least stay outside for a while longer. We could explore the garden for a bit, what do you say?" Dib just didn't want Zim to become restless inside their room and figured the Irken would do well if he got to run around for a bit.
"That's okay, yes", Zim agreed, recalling the huge meadow of poisonous flowers. Absently, he wondered how far it stretched and if there was anything else than millions of flowers and a few trees. Like birds or insects. Dib walked past the gates, where the guards nodded at them, recognizing the odd duo already. Zim left the safe spot on Dib's shoulders as soon as they entered the garden. The teen followed as Zim chose one of the many paths that went around the castle.
Zim stopped at a sound. His antennae twitched and he turned and ran along another path. It sounded like water. When he got closer, he could smell it as well. There had to be a stream close by! As he got closer to the sound, he saw a row of perfectly round trees poking up ahead. Stopping again, this time by one of the trees, he stared.
"Hey, a fountain", Dib said, finally catching up to Zim. The trees were planted in a circle with a pond in the middle. In the pond was a fountain, no higher than Zim but almost as wide as Dib was tall. Zim had never seen anything like it before. He half ran to where the water met the ground.
"Dib! Explain!" he exclaimed, running along the edge. He was far too hypnotized by the rushing water to listen for any answer though. Maybe later he would remember his question and ask again, but for now, he was just looking at it. Dib found a bench between two trees and sat down. He let Zim be occupied with studying the fountain, running around it and looking at it from different angles.
Zim looked at the rushing water in the middle. He knew there would be a lot of strange things on this planet, but that had to be the strangest. Water didn't work that way! Curious as he was, he needed to get over there and figure it out.
He stepped in the water, let the cool liquid cover his bare feet and ankles. It felt good. He took some more steps and dove. Opening his eyes, he noticed how clear the water was, much clearer than anything he'd swum in before. He could see all the way to the other side of the pond!
Half walking on the bottom, Zim swam to the fountain, his antennae vibrating with the increased roaring of water. It sounded like a great waterfall, but he knew better. It was just a Vortian machine causing it, Zim was fairly sure.
Meanwhile, Dib wondered if he should stop Zim from swimming in the pond. Swimming in a royal pond could hardly be allowed. But hey, nobody was really around watching them, right? It would be fine! Instead, he counted the seconds to see how long Zim could keep his breath under water, a number he would later write down beside all his other notes about Zim. He was currently on three minutes and thirteen seconds.
Zim touched the wall of bubbles and moving water in front of him. If he swam into it he would probably be crushed by the water hitting the surface and it just wasn't a risk he was willing to take. Instead, he swam up to yell at Dib. But as he inhaled the air, he was caught off guard by the smell of something that hadn't been there before. He looked around and tried to listen, but could only hear the fountain roaring beside him.
Trying to locate the new smell as he swam over to Dib, Zim picked up it smelled like people. As he got away from the fountain, he began to hear footsteps. And talking. There were two voices talking and coming closer to them from the right and Zim looked over but couldn't see them yet.
His feet touched the bottom and he ran the last bit to land. He hurried to get to Dib before the strangers would come closer. Just in case he needed to protect himself behind someone taller. Not that he couldn't care for himself if he needed to.
"What's up", Dib asked, noticing how Zim continuously glanced back as he approached. Zim said nothing, but climbed up and sat down beside him. "And don't come any closer. You're soaked."
"Listen", Zim said and pointed. Dib didn't hear anything, but looked in the direction Zim was pointing. Over the flowers he could see two pairs of horns moving about. He squinted, wondering who they belonged to.
"They're just some people walking around, nothing to worry about", he said to Zim, leaning back again. Geez, Zim was being really jumpy, wasn't he. Then the Vortians turned around the corner and Dib gasped.
It was the Queen. The Queen herself was out on a walk and now she and her guard was walking right towards Dib and Zim. The guard was the first one to notice them, and immediately stepped in front of the Queen.
Dib couldn't hear them over the fountain, but he could see their mouths moving, in which the guard looked stern and watchful, while the Queen seemed calmer. Then the Queen smiled and started walking towards them. The guard immediately hurried to get in front of her.
Dib quickly got up and bowed when they got closer.
"You- your highness", he mumbled," it's a pleasure to meet you." He stood up and noticed Zim was still sitting there, looking at them with big, confused eyes. Annoyed, Dib roughly pulled him off the bench. "bow before the queen", he whispered. Zim stumbled and then frowned at Dib.
"Hey", he hissed.
"You must be Zim and Dib", the Queen said. She smiled gently. Not the wide, open smile she bore on broadcasts, but a small, welcoming one that felt much more personal.
"What- you yeah! That's right. How- I mean, off course you knew that. We kinda live in your castle and … stuff..." Dib rambled. Zim snickered at him.
"You're also the only human and Irken currently living in the castle. It's hard to miss you", she said and Dib was thankful she didn't acknowledge his stuttering. He smiled back at her, pretending that he wasn't dressed in a dirty suit and that Zim wasn't dripping with water from the pond. "And Fasdi Mi, please stop pointing that thing at our guests", the Queen said, facing the guard.
"My apologies, your highness", the guard said, and judging by the voice it was a female. The gun was moved away from Zim's face, but only by a few inches," but it's my duty to guard you and may I remind that this is an Ir-"
"He doesn't look like he's about to attack, does it?" the Queen interrupted. Dib glanced at Zim who was grinning stupidly and rocking on his heels. Admittedly, he looked very not dangerous at the moment. There was a moment of silence as they all looked at Zim. Zim didn't even notice, apparently distracted by something to the left.
"You're right, your highness", the gun was finally withdrawn. She still kept a watchful eye on the Irken, though.
"Let's sit down, I have wanted to properly talk to you two", the Queen sat down where Dib had been sitting and patted the space beside her. Nervousness swirling in his belly, he sat down. Zim sat down beside him, looking dangerously mischievous. The guard kept her stance, her watchful eyes gliding over the surroundings.
"How does it feel to be here on Vort?" the Queen asked.
"Great", Dib answered quickly, making an effort to make his smile less forced. Off course it just became even more forced than before.
"That's good. How about you, Zim", she asked.
"Sure is a lot of people. And flowers", Zim said, shrugging. Dib realized that she was the first one to really include Zim in a conversation. Their coworkers sure didn't. But then he analyzed Zim's dumb answer and dryly thought that maybe Zim was better if he was kept quiet. Still, while he was embarrassed by the Irken, he was also pleasantly surprised with the female ruler.
"It must be a lot to get used to. I hope you'll find yourself at home soon enough", the Queen said.
"Huh. Oh yeah, thanks", Zim said. At least he said 'thanks', a word Dib had worked particularly hard to teach him.
"You can both just come to me if you need anything," She was the nicest important person Dib had ever heard of. He hadn't known nice, important people even existed!
"Wow, thanks", Dib said, not able to stop his smile.
"Oooh, I need a skutlprtxx!" Zim exclaimed. Dib's breath hitched and he nudged the Irken with his elbow.
"No, you don't", he hissed. The Queen laughed.
"I'll see what I can do", she said.
"Oh! Don't worry about it, you highness! He really doesn't need one", Dib hurried to say, but the Queen smiled. At least she seemed to be enjoying herself.
"I'll see what I can do", She repeated, making some kind of hand gesture that Dib didn't understand. He didn't say anything, just looked helplessly at Zim. Did anyone even know what Zim was referring to? Probably not!
"Sweet", Zim grinned.
"Taking proper care of your needs is the least I can do", the Queen said," You're both doing so much for the empire and, honestly, I don't think I can ever repay you."
"I'm just honored to work on this project, you highness", Dib said.
"Then you don't understand how big this favor is to me", she sighed," anyhow, you can both expect lots of monies on your bank accounts very soon," She stood up, smiling at them one last time.
"Now, I must go, the empire doesn't take care of itself."
She walked off, and her guard followed, nodding at them in the process. Dib stared after them, not really understanding what had really happened.
"Good luck getting my skutlprtxx!", Zim called after them. Dib just shook his head, feeling like everything he'd said to the Queen had been the wrong thing to say. He wanted to blame Zim for messing up, but as he turned around to scold him he found that all he really wanted to do was to go to their room and forget all about it.
"She's not getting you a scuttleprix", was the only thing he could say.
TBC
Plot hole: Zim has no bank account he's basically working for free.
Omg I've been editing this for ages I never want to look at it ever again! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it and that not too many of you have given up me...
/Saga, recently dubbed Tortoise Queen by her bae