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all-the-things-2020 · 3 months

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Further Along the Way - Chapter Thirteen

Summary: The injured cadets start to come home, and the Djarins go to a birthing class.

Rating: PG

It had been a week since the rest of the cadet squad came home, and Din was adjusting to his new assistant, Corporal Zim. Unlike Fennic, Zim had a hard time making a connection with the students. He had come up the ranks just like Fennic, but was of the opinion that these cadets were a bunch of spoiled kids. Din had already fielded comms from three sets of parents complaining about their younglings calling home in tears over something Zim had said or done.

Fortunately, the older students more than made up for the aggravation of the younger ones. Glenna Laren had effectively taken charge of the third year class; despite the trauma, she’d blossomed since returning and Din felt confident she was going to be a fine officer one day. The fourth year class was a bit more aimless, but that was only to be expected, as they lacked a leader like Laren.

Today, however, the injured students had returned, and while Din had hoped one of them would step up to take the lead, he hadn’t expected it to be X’intari. The Bendaski had always been the quietest one in class, the last one chosen when he asked them to pair up for exercises, but the moment he stepped into the classroom, still swathed in several bandages and limping a bit, the other cadets swarmed around him.

“Hi, Mr. Djarin,” X’intari said when he’d worked his way through the cadets. “What did I miss?” He smiled despite the shadowed look under his bright orange eyes, and Din felt another weight lift off his soul.

“Not much,” Din replied. “And I won’t expect much of you for a while, until you’re fully recovered.” He turned to the other injured cadets. “Same goes for all of you. Do what you can, help the others if you can’t and don’t be ashamed if you have to sit something out. Sometimes it takes more strength to listen to the doctor’s advice than it does to defy it.”

Once class began, X’intari approached Din again. “They kept Pando awhile longer,” he said quietly. “I’m kind of worried about him.”

Din nodded. “Yes, Glenna told me he was most badly injured. Are they going to be able to save the leg?”

X’intari shrugged. “They wouldn’t tell me much, but I kind of doubt it, sir. I mean, if you’d seen what happened …” He sighed. “Did Glenna tell you how it went down?”

“I was at the debriefing,” Din said simply. The details still haunted him; the terrorist bombs had killed the cadets guarding the front gate, but the rest of the injuries had come when they had entered the embassy with weapons blazing and gone after the embassy staff. They had not been clean blaster wounds, either, but hits from slug throwers and guttings from indigenous Vrentan hunting knives, with their intricate, razor sharp barbs and spikes. Fennic’s throat had been cut; Shandilon and Limante had been shot in the back; the rest had been gutted and bled out. The survivors had all taken slugs. Pando Florenz had taken the worst of it. Three slugs and a shattered leg from fallen debris as he defended a doorway until the last of the embassy personnel were able to get out, thanks to the sacrifice of Nandoo Bendar.

“You tried to save Shandilon, I heard,” he continued.

X’intari shrugged again. “What else could I do? He was a jerk, but he was part of my squadron. I couldn’t just leave him there.”

“You might not have been hit if you had,” Din said evenly.

X’intari looked up at him. “I couldn’t have lived with myself if I hadn’t,” he said simply.

Din clapped his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Then I did my job,” he said.

**********************************

Mariana was surprised to find another couple at Valinda’s when they arrived. “I hope it’s okay with you,” the midwife said. “This was the only time they were free and since you’re both due around the same time, and it’s their first one as well, I thought we could do a group appointment this time.”

The other couple looked friendly enough, but very young. Mariana doubted the woman was more than twenty years old, her eyes huge in her fine-boned face. Her husband looked terrified.

“Of course,” Mariana said. She introduced Din to Valinda, who looked him up and down appraisingly.

“Sorry,” she said. “I’m used to assessing my patient’s health visually, and I do the same thing with the fathers, I’m afraid. It’s a bad habit.” She winked at Mariana and gave her a thumbs up behind her back.

She introduced them to the other couple. “Lixa and Tristan Delacor, this is Mariana and Din Djarin.” They exchanged polite handshakes all around while Valinda fiddled with a holovid player.

“There,” Valinda said as the player powered on, projecting a medical logo onto the wall. “I know we’ve already talked about what’s going on as the child develops, and where you both are at the moment, but tonight we’re going to jump ahead a bit and talk about the actual birthing process.”

Mariana felt Din shift a bit next to her on the couch. She reached out and took his hand.

Valinda started describing the first signs of impending birth and the stages of labor, illustrated with very detailed vids. About halfway through, Tristan looked like he was going to be sick, and by the end, Lixa’s eyes were even larger than they’d been to begin with.

“And then we deliver the afterbirth,” Valinda concluded, “and I check it for abnormalities. Any questions?”

The Delacors shook their heads, clearly too stunned to speak. Mariana snuck a look at Din. He looked fine, but she knew from the way he’d squeezed her hand tightly at certain points in the vid that he felt uncomfortable.

“I don’t think so,” Mariana said at last. “You were very thorough.” Din stifled a snort, and she elbowed him in the ribs.

Valinda shut off the vid player and sat down in a chair facing the two couples. “Now, all of that was about what the mother goes through,” she said. “Which is very important, of course, but what we’re here to talk about is the role the father plays in this process.” She smiled at Din and Tristan. “First of all, I thank you both for being willing to participate in this event. Many women choose to deliver in a clinic, with med droids in attendance, and there really isn’t much for their partner to do. Your wives have chosen to have me deliver their babies, and I take a more holistic approach to the birthing process. Which means I’ll need your assistance.”

“Um, how much assistance, actually?” Tristan stammered out. “I don’t have any medical training or anything. I mean, I want to be there for Lixa, but I don’t know how much good I’ll do.”

Valinda patted his hand. “You don’t have to have any medical training, that’s my part of it. And I’ll have Arnie to help if necessary.” She gestured toward the corner where a powered down droid crouched behind a potted plant. “Come on out, Arnie.”

The droid powered up and rolled forward. “This is RNE-82,” Valinda said. “I call him Arnie. He’s an emergency medical droid and he’s my backup in case anything goes wrong.”

Mariana felt Din stiffen beside her. “I thought you didn’t use droids,” he said suspiciously.

“I don’t,” Valinda said. “Mariana voiced your concerns about droids, and I can assure you, Arnie is only there in the event of an emergency. I’ve delivered over one hundred babies so far and I’ve only had to use Arnie three times. In one case, the mother started to hemorrhage and needed immediate surgery, which Arnie performed. In another case, the mother went into cardiac arrest and Arnie resuscitated her. The third case was a premature birth where the child needed life support until we could get him to a hospital for surgery.”

The droid swiveled its head to look at all of them. “I will be here if you need me,” it said in a vaguely male voice. “Otherwise, I will sit in the corner … as usual. I really don’t get to see much action, because Valinda is very good at her job.”

“Thank you, Arnie,” Valinda said. “You can power down now.”

“I hope I will not see any of you again,” the droid said as it rolled back into the corner.

Valinda went on to explain how a birthing coach assists the midwife by keeping the mother focused and calm. She went over breathing techniques they could practice during the coming weeks, and how to time the frequency of contractions using a pocket chronometer.

“And finally, I’d like you to discuss whether you want to have the birth here at my office, or at your own home,” she said. “There are advantages and disadvantages to both and only you can make the right choice. Either way, Arnie and I will be with you every step of the way.”

The Delacors, both looking very pale and somber, took their leave quickly. Valinda turned to Mariana. “I’d like to suggest you do a home birth, unless you can make arrangements for someone to watch your son,” she said. “I didn’t want to bring it up in front of the Delacors, because I’m not sure of their … politics.” She wrinkled her nose.

Mariana was puzzled, but Din nodded. “I understand,” he said. When Mariana raised an eyebrow at him, he went on. “There is a sizable pro-Imperial faction in the city. They’re extremely xenophobic. I’m afraid not everyone is as appreciative of Ad’ika as the Mondellas are, cyar’ika.”

“You’re kidding,” Mariana said. “I’ve never had any trouble …” She stopped. Now that she thought about it, there had been some incidents when she’d had Ad’ika out, going shopping or playing in the park. Some sideways glances, people suddenly moving to the other side of the street, or children hurriedly called away.

Valinda shook her head. “I wish it wasn’t true, but it is,” she said sadly. “I’ve already had one patient leave because she heard I’d taken you on. And I’ve already delivered three babies in her immediate family.”

“If I’m costing you business …” Mariana began, but Valinda cut her off.

“That’s not your problem,” she said. “It’s theirs. I can afford to lose a patient here and there, if it means I get to work with families like yours.” She laughed. “She was a stuck up bitch, anyway. Probably blame me if she bleeds on that fancy new silk birthing gown with the Denovian lace she kept bragging about.”

******************

As they waited for their skimmer to arrive, Mariana leaned against Din. “I like her,” he said, slipping his arm around her waist. “Even if she does have a droid.” He winked at her.

Mariana had been quiet after Valinda had revealed she’s lost a client because of them. He wanted to make her laugh.

“Are there really that many people in the city who hate Ad’ika?,” she asked. He tightened his arm around her and kissed the top of her head.

“I’m not sure,” he said truthfully. “And they don’t hate him, they hate the idea of him. The Empire was very good at sowing the seeds of discord, of dividing people into ‘us’ and ‘them’ for its own political goals. Clarvos City is a financial center, and a lot of the major families made a lot of money by working closely with the Empire. They weren’t as happy to see it fall as the rest of the planet was. And since they can’t blame themselves for their losses, they have to blame someone else … anyone else.”

Mariana sighed deeply. “He’s just a baby,” she said softly.

“I know,” Din replied. They stood in silence until the skimmer pulled up, then they went to pick up their son.

#the mandalorian #star wars #grogu #pedro pascal character fanfiction #baby yoda #din djarin #din djarin x original female character #din djarin fanfiction

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reynaruina · 3 years

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Hey. So, I hadn't read your fic for a while and- omg... Like... Dude, wtf. Shit can go from south to souther really flippin' fast here. Anyhow, I have stupid questions:

So, you've mentioned they gonna end up happy together... Now, assuming this legit not some Romeo and Juliet situation, would they want to rush off to space or try and stay on earth instead?

I know Zim doesn't like people much, but does he appreciate earth?... Y'know: forests, rivers, the ocean...?

We've seen Dib's reaction to gore... How does Zim feel about? It feels pretty light, but is it like a sychopath (zero/nothing/blank) or there is a tad of hate, disgust... or maybe even guilt (Dib IS human, after all..)?

Does Mambraine has the robotic arm from the movie here?

Also, if you don't mind me asking, what's your nationality, Rey?

Love you, love ur work. Pls, continue.

Aahhh welcome back :D nice to know u still like this story enough to come back to it after a break <3 And yes, shit going from south to souther is an apt description of how things are going down on this au. Don’t worry, there’s still plenty of more south to go to c:< About your questions:

Most likely no, at least not for a good few years. A lot of the cosmos is heavily controlled by the Irken Empire and ever since Zim’s exile became enforced hard enough that he finally took notice there’s not many places Zim can freely go to that aren’t desolate/wild planets with no civilization to speak of (or, for that matter, civilizations that don’t recognize Irkens as the all-consuming universal blight that they are and don’t have a kill-irkens-on-sight policy). On his own he does still have plenty of spaces to go, but with a fragile (comparatively fragile , anyways) human in tow it’s much more difficult to safely travel around. Zim has spend enough time getting Dib on his side as is, he’s not likely to wanna gable his life away in the wild wasteland of space right out of the gates. They can still go on short trips here and there tho, to get resources n shit, and give Dib some much-needed serotonin in the form of cosmos-related wonderment, but it’s gonna take some time to get anywhere further away. Compared to what Zim used to feel about Earth he does appreciate it a bit more (it’s hard to be stuck on a single place for over a decade and not at least start to see the nice things about it, if anything just out of pure Stockholm syndrome), but t’s not really by much. He might open up more about the wonders of it once he gets deep into human stuff with Dib by his side but on his own Zim still mostly considers Earth to be a big, dirty, wet place he would really like to conquer for himself and Dib but don’t really like on it’s own. I’m guessing by “gore” in this situation you’re asking if Zim feels anything about killing humans? In that case....nah, he’s a remorseless bastard. Always was, even in the show. Not sure if it qualifies as psychopathy but he does greatly enjoy killing whatever human dares to wrong Dib, and a lot of his aggression level is informed by how miffed/frustrated he’s feeling that particular day (a poor fool who dares make a snarky remark at Dib as he walks by might get dragged into an alleyway and tortured for like half an hour before getting killed just because Zim was having a bad day, that kinda thing). Also no guilt. Nah. None. To Zim there’s the rest of humanity, and then there’s the Dib. They’re both completely different beasts, and even tho Dib operates by human logic Zim refuses to pair him up w the rest of the garbage in his mind, especially considering the way they all treat him. He’d happily throw all of humanity into a volcano and leave Dib to be the only human in the universe, thus turning him into the unique, one-of-a-kind creature he already sees him as. About the robotic arm...it’s hard to say. I don’t consider ETF or p much anything that’s happened in the comics as canon in my story, mainly because I had only ever watched the show when I came upo w this au, and to me comic, movie and series IZ are akin to their own aus with their own internal logic, plot and character differences (I especially disagree with that cowardly backpedal on membrane’s character for the movie, ugh) and I’m spinning mine off from the series. I don’t remember Membrane having a robotic arm in the series, it wasn’t relevant then, and I don’t expect it to be relevant to my story either so that’s a resounding “eh” for this question.

Oh! And I’m Argentinian c: we on the other end of the American continent, hi :D!

#ponytail dib au #PT AU CANON #good ask #gave me the chance to add some Lore #ty for the nice words as well <3 #Anonymous

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professormembranexreader · 3 years

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Sub! Membrane x Fem! Dom! Reader (smut duh)

Includes:

•brief sad boi hours

•headcanon middle-name for Mem that I did research for

•a praise kink (me too)

•pussy eating (yEs plEasE)

•overstimulation (yESSSSSSSS)

•bondage (tie me up science daddy I mean what?)

Membrane's POV

'This is what I get for always setting the bar,' I thought to myself. I was currently sitting in my office, burying my head under mountains of failed designs. I'm such a failure. I don't understand why anyone likes me. I bet my kids hate me too. I'd had to make my wife take care of them for the past few weeks as I tried to work through this burnout. She'd always come into my office late at night and hug me from behind, telling me about what happened that day.

"Dib finally decided to try and make friends with that one kid down the street, and Gaz beat the Wither in Minecraft—she's been prepping for a while," she had said. She'd paused, rubbing my shoulders, "Any progress so far?" I shook my head and laid it down on my cluttered desk.

"Don't worry, baby. I'm sure you'll find a breakthrough soon enough." She patted my back and reminded me to take my medicine before she went to bed. I couldn't get into bed with her. I didn't deserve to. She was doing so much while I just... Why does she like me? I'm not half the man she married.

Going into the kitchen, I saw she left out a plate of food for me. 'I'll eat it later,' I thought. I made some coffee, took my medicine, and went back to work.

|—— time skip ƪ(˘⌣˘)ʃ ——|

Y/N POV

He was overworking himself. This was so easy to see, even his son could see it without his glasses. (And you don't even wanna know how bad his vision is.) If he continued like this, this burnout wouldn't be temporary.

But how to make him take a break? I sighed to myself as I made the kids their breakfast. I know Gaz has some friends she was going to hang out with over the weekend... if I could convince Dib to stay at a friend's house I could definitely...relieve some tension.

Speaking of, Dib looked up at me after he finished his pancakes. "Mom, do you think I could investigate Zim at his house?" I choked on air before composing myself. "Yeah, sure! That sounds great!" He immediately set out to grab his science stuff and ran next door. One down, one to go.

A few minutes after she finished eating, I went over to my daughter. "Gaz, sweetie, you ready for me to drive you over?" She nodded and went up to her room to grab her suitcase and a bag. I drove her down to her mysterious friend's house and returned to get my tired husband (bitch me too).

"Cariño~ ¿Dónde estás~? Desayuno está listo. " He trudged into the room, goggles off, mumbling a tired "buenos días". He grabbed a cup of black coffee and sat down with a plate of the now cold pancakes. His eyes were open. I couldn't help but stare into them. It was rare to see them after all.

His eyes are why I fell in love with him. It should be a crime to constantly hide away such a beautiful thing—they were milk chocolate with hazel flecks spattered near the pupil. However, the dark circles that almost constantly accented them? Not so much. He needs to take care of himself.

"You should show your eyes more."

"What?" Oh fuck I said that out loud. I turned slightly red as he chuckled. "Well, I'll try for you, mi amor." A smile tugged gently at my lips. He lifted up the surgical mask he wore and sipped his coffee. I couldn't help but smile sadly at him.

"Well... if you'll try doing that, do you think you could do something else?" I asked cautiously. He raised a brow. "Do you think you could, now hear me out, do you think you could take a break for me?" He visibly tensed. Eyes looking anywhere but mine, it was clear that he was nervous.

"Um... about that-" I put a finger up to his lips behind the mask.

"I already know. That's why I'm asking. If you don't stop overworking-"

"But what have I done to deserve a break?" he said, voice breaking, "I haven't come up with any plans or inventions, no innovative ideas whatsoever—I haven't even been there for the kids! I don't deserve a break."

"Oh, baby~" I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled him down to my level. "You're trying too hard. Nothing will come if you try and force it. Clear your mind. Take a break. (Let me fuck you)." I muttered the last part under my breath, but he seemed to hear it.

"¿Q-qué?" He flushed a contagiously violent shade of red, as mine was soon crimson too.

"I-I mean... if you want to?" Oh fuck I made a mistake. "I just I thought it might make you feel better or relieve some tension or-" He gave me a quick, passionate kiss on the lips.

"I'd love to." Gears turned in his head, "But what about-" "I already took care of it." He gaped, but quickly shut his mouth and nodded.

Both red, I led him upstairs to the bedroom.

"Take off your clothes, Miguel. " His eyes widened. I raised my eyebrow, "Did I stutter? Strip." He flushed crimson and began to comply. I took off my blouse and shorts and threw them onto the floor. I looked over my shoulder as I went over to lock the door—he only had his boxers on, but a noticeable tent around his groin was preventing him from taking them off as well. I chuckled, and walked over to him.

"Tsk tsk tsk. Tell me, what did I tell you to do?"

"Desvisto."

"And what have you not done~?"

"...Desvisto."

Smiling coyly, I whispered, "Would you like any help with that~?" He nodded, not wanting to make eye contact. I grabbed his jaw and forced his head towards me. "Look at me and say it."

"Y-yes please~" I hummed in approval. I took my fingers and teased around the area his bulge was most present. "Ngh~ Y-Y/N~ pLEASE-" I quickly unbuttoned his boxers and his erect cock sprung up. He groaned in pleasure.

"Sounds like someone is a bit pent up~ hm?" I ran my fingers down his shaft, going at an uneven pace to mess with him. He leaned up against the bed frame, chest heaving up and down from my touch. "You really ARE pent up~!" I chuckled, "Man, am I gonna have fun with you~". I pulled my hand away and slowly took off my bra and panties, flinging both at him. I chuckled as he was still frozen in place yet red as ever. I pulled him onto the bed, placing his head at the foot of the bed.

"A-amor, ¿qué haces?" He stuttered. I smirked as I grabbed two pairs of handcuffs from my bedside table.

"Don't worry, darling~" I purred. "Just focus on me~" I handcuffed his hands to each side of the bed frame. I sat myself down on his abdomen, placing my hands on his broad chest.

I leaned down to his neck and whispered, "I want to break you. If it's ever too much just say our safe word, (s/w), got it?" He nodded. "Good boy~ now..." I lifted myself up onto his face, "Eat me out." I looked down to make sure he was okay with it. His mouth opened ever so slightly as I held open my pussy over his lips. "Come on, what are you waiting for~? You can start whenever you want to~" I settled myself down onto his face and felt his tongue push into me. I gasped and pulled his hair on instinct. I looked down to him, eyes full of lust. I bit my lip and smiled.

"I knew you were good at kissing but THIS is a pleasant surprise~" I nodded to him to go at his own pace. I bucked my hips against him, pressing him further in. His tongue pushed inside me reaching tight crevices that would otherwise be missed. "Gah~ Mi-Miguel~" My grip on his hair tightened as he began to probe around inside me. "Y-yeah~ Just like that~ Keep goING AH~" My thighs squished the sides of his face as I involuntarily tensed at the sudden ecstasy. I leaned back onto my arm, pushing his head closer to my heat.

"Just keep going~" I moaned, "You're doing so good~! Ngh yeah right there~ right tHERE YES~!" I bucked my hips as he worked on me with his tongue. "F-Fuck Miguel~ You're so good~ Just a bit longer~" I panted out between moans. The knot in my stomach was about to snap and I couldn't hold it back any longer. My back arched as I screamed his name and came all over his face. Waves of ecstasy crashed through me as I fell forward, only holding myself up with my arms.

Panting, I pulled myself off of his face and closer to his stomach.

"We aren't done?" He asked, out of breath. I raised an eyebrow and looked behind me. It seems that I wasn't the only one currently riding out an orgasm.

I smiled coyly, "Not yet, but you've done really good so far!" I looked him dead in the eyes—they were closed but it's the thought that counts. "Remember, if it's ever too much, just say (s/w). Okay?" He nodded.

I slowly put myself on top of his dick, groaning as it twitched inside me. I moaned out as I got closer to the base of his shaft. I bit my lip and looked up, tears threatening to spill from my eyes.

"Are you alright, dear?" I nodded hastily and started to slam myself onto him. Slower at first, but it soon got up to speed. My hands were planted on his sides as I rode him. "F-Fuck you're so gOOD~!" He moaned my name out loud and twisted against his restraints. Fuck he looks so hot... I picked up the pace and kept slamming down onto him. Tears began to stream down the sides of my face as I groaned out his name.

"¡(Y-Y/N)~ Voy a-!" "Just a bit longer, baby! You think you can do it?" He nodded and panted as he tried to delay the inevitable. He bit his lip and opened his eyes, rolled up to the top of his head.

"Almost~" I felt the knot burst yet again as he released inside me. I panted and quickly undid the handcuffs, pulling him overtop of me right-side-up in the bed.

"Te amo, amor, so please take care of yourself. Can you do that for me, please?" He simply nodded and pulled me closer.

"I'll do anything for you, mamacita~"

Middle name for Membrane came from Miguel Alcubierre (a Mexican theoretical physicist)

#writing #membrane #professor membrane #professor membrane x reader

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choose-your-own-pronouns · 3 years

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CYOP: On The Road: Part 2

Part 1

He/him type pronouns: he/him/his/himself “he was”

Replace:

[insert gender here] (IE: “nonbinary” “a man” “a woman” “genderless” ect)

[he]

[his]

[him]

[himself]

“Hey guys, say hi to our new digger, [Name]! [He] just moved here from past Clade’s Edge, and [he] came all this way just to work on the Great Machine with us, so I know you’ll all give [him] a very warm welcome, isn’t that right, Lern?”

One of the people scattered around the fire in the middle of the camp threw their arms into the air and protested, “I didn’t even do anything yet!”

“Exactly!” Kvalic slashed a wing through the air for emphasis. “Keep it that way!”

[Name] wasn’t sure whether to be alarmed or amused. Kvalic hadn’t mentioned anything about a troublestarter on the walk over. [He] wasn’t sure how seriously [he] was supposed to be taking this interaction. Did Lern actually do something wrong with past workers, or was this just some sort of inside joke?

“Uh, should I be worried?” [He] asked hesitantly, keeping [his] voice low so only Kvalic could hear.

But instead of giving a serious answer like [he] hoped, Kvalic just laughed loudly, and lightly slapped [his] shoulder with a wing, cackling, “Only if you like fish!”

This caused a scattering of laughter from some of the other workers, except for Lern, who continued to protest their innocence in what sounded like genuine grievance.

[Name] was glad [he] was wearing a mask to keep out the dust and night insects, because it meant [he] didn’t have to keep the annoyed scowl off [his] face.

If these people were going to be this annoying the whole time [he] was working with them, [he] had the feeling [he] wouldn’t be working here long.

Kvalic abruptly turned and left without any further conversation or warning, apparently deciding that that was enough of an introduction that zis job here was done, leaving [Name] standing awkwardly at the edge of the circle, with no idea what to do next.

There were at least three different species of people here, none of whom were even the same species as Kvalic, and [Name] had no idea what kind of etiquette they would expect from [him].

Fortunately, one of them decided to take pity on [his] clear confusion, and came over to greet [him] properly, stepping over other people’s assorted legs and tails and lounging bodies to join [him] at the edge of the circle while the rest of them went back to talking amongst themselves.

They were another quadruped, but unlike [him], they had two pairs of arms, not just one. Their legs were in the middle of their body, with the front pair hending backwards, and the back pair bending forwards, with a matching set of arms in front of and behind them.

From what [he] could tell just by looking, they appeared to have hard, chitin like armour like an insect, instead of fur, feathers, scales, bark, or skin.

Most of their body was orange, with thick, lighter yellow stripes on the back of their thorax, and smaller light yellow spots on their abdomen. Their top parts of their arms and legs were grey-brown, and their hands, lower legs, and feet were bright yellow, reflecting back the light of the fire whenever they moved. Their head sat at the front of their body on a short neck, and was shaped like an oval, with a single orange eye at the front, two depressions that might have been ears or a nose on the sides, and mandibles for a mouth.

“Hello,” They said, sitting down in front of [him] and holding out both of their front hands in a familiar greeting. [He] copied them gratefully, sitting down in the tough grass and reaching forward with [his] fronds.

Theirs were smaller than [his], with three appendages tipped with long, hard claws, in sharp contrast to [his] six flexible tendrils. Since [his] fronds were softer, [he] placed [his] on top of theirs, and they touched them together for a moment before pulling back.

Nothing exciting happened, which [he]’d been expecting, but surprisingly, there was a slight tingle on the tips of [his] tendrils, indicating that at least some sort of transference had happened, just not enough to tell anything by, at least on [his] end.

“My name’s [Name].” [He] said, not sure how much information they’d gotten out of that, “I’m [insert gender here], and I go by [he],[him],[his], and [himself]. What about you? I’m sorry, our chemicals aren’t compatible enough for me to have gotten any information.”

They opened their mandibles wide in what [he] recognized easily as a friendly smile. “My name is Oleili Tevisi, and you can call me Oleili, it’s my personal name. I am liavnu, and I go by li, lia, lias, and liaself. It’s nice to meet you, [Name]. I’m sorry Kvalic seems to have abandoned you, ze does that with everyone. Ze seems to think that being dropped into a situation without help is the best way to learn, which is why it’s a very good thing ze isn’t in charge of anything except giving new hires the tour.”

“And just for the record!” A voice called out from the circle that [Name] recognized as Lern’s, “I’m not going to eat you, no matter what Kvalic else says! Ze’s just joking, and don’t know how to convey it!”

“No,” Another voice piped up, “Dy’m pretty sure at this point ze just refuses to learn.. Dy’ve been here since the start and Dy tried to teach zim when Dy first met zim, and no matter how many times Dy explain it to zim, ze never listens. Ze doesn’t want to learn, ze thinks we should all just be able to magically tell when ze’s joking and when ze’s being serious.”

Yeah, that fit with what [Name] had seen of Kvalic so far. [He] shook [his] head in exasperation. “Doesn’t ze know how hard it is to read the tone and body language of an unfamiliar species?”

“Yes,” Oleili said, “But ze doesn’t care. Ze thinks its everyone else’s problem. There have been many complains to zis superiors, but no one ever does anything. We have a theory that ze’s a favorite sibling of one of the council members, but no one knows for sure.” Li stood, gesturing with lia head towards the crowded circle. “Enough about out annoying boss. Come sit with us, we can all properly introduce ourselves, and you can get something to eat. You get your first rations on the first full day you work, so you’ll get yours tomorrow, but we always pool ours, and there are plenty to go around.”

Li lead the way, and [he] followed, grateful that the other workers were considerate enough this time to pull their legs and tails and other appendages out of the way so [he] could walk past them without worrying about stepping on anyone.

They’d all arranged themselves in circles around the stove in the middle of the clearing, with smaller people close to the fire and larger people in the back, though it didn’t seem to be a universal rule. Some people were sitting on the dirt or grass itself, some were sitting on blankets, and a few had cushions.

Oleili led [him] to an open space in the middle where li had been sitting on a dark green blanket, and someone threw a cushion so that it landed right in front of [Name]. [He] jumped in surprise, then called in the general direction it had come from, “Thanks!” right as another cushion flew through the air and slammed into [his] face.

It was heavy enough to knock him to the ground, and the shock of it left [him] dazed for a few seconds, trying to figure out what had happened and why [his] face and shoulder suddenly hurt.

The camp was humming with thunderous vibrations, but [he] couldn’t figure out what anyone was saying past the dull throb in the side of [his] head where it had hit the dirt.

[He] pushed [himself] upright, lifting a frond to [his] face to make sure [he] wasn’t bleeding, and found [himself] staring into Oleili’s single large eye, wide with concern, less than a few inches from [his] face. [He] jerked back instinctively, and felt the fragile metal of [his] hearing-aid dislodge even further.

Oleili backed up a bit to give [him] more space, and lia mandibles opened and closed, but [he] couldn’t make sense of it. Li didn’t have lips for [him] to read, and even if li did, [he] didn’t speak the language, and without [his] hearing-aid, [he] couldn’t hear or understand what anyone was trying to say.

[He] guessed that li was asking if [he] was okay, and lifted both [his] fronds to reassure li, and did [his] best to say clearly, “I’m okay, my hearing-aid just got knocked loose, I can’t understand you, I have to fix it first.” [He] could feel it inside [his] ear, the two main pieces knocked out of the base. They were all connected with tiny wires that were rooted in [his] skull, so there wasn’t any danger of them falling out of [his] ear entirely, but [he] had to fix them before [he] would be able to hear or understand anyone that didn’t speak sign-language.

Most of the other workers had gotten to their feet and gathered around [Name], as well as another person further back in the crowd that [he] couldn’t see past the gathered people, probably the person who’d thrown the second cushion. [Name] was giving them the benefit of the doubt and assuming that hitting [him] in the face had been an accident.

Oleili was trying to talk to [him] again, moving lia mandibles and gesturing with lia hands in a way that meant nothing that [he] could understand.

But there should be nothing stopping lia from understanding or hearing [him], so [he] said again, enunciating as best [he] could when [he] couldn’t hear the sounds [he] was making, “I’m not hurt, but my hearing-aid was knocked loose, and I have to get my friend to fix it for me. Can you show me the way back to the main entrance? They’re not a worker, they’re camped outside. I’ll know my way from there, I just don’t remember how to get back to the entrance. Can you show me?”

Trying to speak out loud when [he] couldn’t hear what [he] was saying was always hit or miss. [He] couldn’t tell if [he] was speaking too loudly, or not loudly enough.

Oleili seemed confused, but after a moment li deliberately nodded lia head, then glanced over lia shoulder to say something to the rest of the crowd.

Li turned back to [Name] and gestured for [him] to turn around, so [he] did so, heading back towards the spot where Kvalic had left [him] at the entrance to the clearing as the crowd parted to let [him] pass without issue, many of them looking concerned.

[He] resisted the urge to sigh as Oleili moved past [him] to lead [him] down the correct path. The annoyance wasn’t directed at lia though.

This was a frequent issue with [his] hearing-aid, and finding a solution was one of the major reasons [he]’d decided to come all this way to Bricklayer and work on the Great Machine.

The main reason was that the surgeons in Bricklayer were probably the only people within a year’s journey that could perform the surgeries that Aryl and Xaurec needed.

The other reason was that Kanta was looking for mates for the first time, and wanted the good luck that came with pairing with people who lived far away. Especially if xe could convince some of them to return with them when they went back to their territory, and bring their luck with them.

Hopefully some of that luck would rub off on [Name] so that [he] could find someone besides Xaurec who could fix [his] hearing-aid for [him]. Or so that [he] would be able to find someone who could permanently stabilize it sooner rather than later. Or maybe just someone who was smart enough to build an entirely new one from scratch.

The scientist who had created it for [him] had disappeared just as abruptly as he had appeared, dashing all over the territory with his companion like a kaliba that had broken into the stores of fermenting fruit. [Name] didn’t even know his name, he’d just called himself a doctor without elaborating further. [Name] didn’t know where he was from, who he was related to, or where [he] could find him again.

Maybe he would be here, working on the Great Machine, but he had disappeared so quickly that [Name] wasn’t going to get [his] hopes up. Maybe [he] would never see him again, and would just have to hope that [he] could find someone else who knew how to work the hearing-aid enough to fix it.

It obviously hadn’t been designed for twoqi use, unless whoever had designed it wanted it to be so obnoxious and inconvenient that at times [Name] was tempted to rip it out and throw it into the creek.

And oh, how convenient. There was a creek that ran parallel to the path Oleili was leading [him] down now, lia orange markings seeming to glow in the darkness. [He] could rip the darn thing out of [his] ear and chuck it in to be swept away if [he] wanted to.

But…[he] wasn’t quite that annoyed with it just yet.

Xaurec could fix it for [him] tonight, and tomorrow, well tomorrow was [his] first day of labor, so [he] would have to wait and see what exactly that entailed before making any final decisions.

Until then, [he] followed Oleili into the deepening night, hoping things would be better in the morning.

============================

She/her type pronouns: she/her/hers/herself “she was”

Replace:

[she]

[her]

[hers]

[herself]

[insert gender here] (IE: “nonbinary” “a man” “a woman” “genderless” ect)

“Hey guys, say hi to our new digger, [Name]! [She] just moved here from past Clade’s Edge, and [she] came all this way just to work on the Great Machine with us, so I know you’ll all give [her] a very warm welcome, isn’t that right, Lern?”

One of the people scattered around the fire in the middle of the camp threw their arms into the air and protested, “I didn’t even do anything yet!”

“Exactly!” Kvalic slashed a wing through the air for emphasis. “Keep it that way!”

[Name] wasn’t sure whether to be alarmed or amused. Kvalic hadn’t mentioned anything about a troublestarter on the walk over. [She] wasn’t sure how seriously [she] was supposed to be taking this interaction. Did Lern actually do something wrong with past workers, or was this just some sort of inside joke?

“Uh, should I be worried?” [She] asked hesitantly, keeping [her] voice low so only Kvalic could hear.

But instead of giving a serious answer like [she] hoped, Kvalic just laughed loudly, and lightly slapped [her] shoulder with a wing, cackling, “Only if you like fish!”

This caused a scattering of laughter from some of the other workers, except for Lern, who continued to protest their innocence in what sounded like genuine grievance.

[Name] was glad [she] was wearing a mask to keep out the dust and night insects, because it meant [she] didn’t have to keep the annoyed scowl off [her] face.

If these people were going to be this annoying the whole time [she] was working with them, [she] had the feeling [she] wouldn’t be working here long.

There were at least three different species of people here, none of whom were even the same species as Kvalic, and [Name] had no idea what kind of etiquette they would expect from [her].

Fortunately, one of them decided to take pity on [her] clear confusion, and came over to greet [her] properly, stepping over other people’s assorted legs and tails and lounging bodies to join [her] at the edge of the circle while the rest of them went back to talking amongst themselves.

They were another quadruped, but unlike [her], they had two pairs of arms, not just one. Their legs were in the middle of their body, with the front pair hending backwards, and the back pair bending forwards, with a matching set of arms in front of and behind them.

From what [she] could tell just by looking, they appeared to have hard, chitin like armour like an insect, instead of fur, feathers, scales, bark, or skin.

“Hello,” They said, sitting down in front of [her] and holding out both of their front hands in a familiar greeting. [She] copied them gratefully, sitting down in the tough grass and reaching forward with [her] fronds.

Theirs were smaller than [hers], with three appendages tipped with long, hard claws, in sharp contrast to [her] six flexible tendrils. Since [her] fronds were softer, [she] placed [hers] on top of theirs, and they touched them together for a moment before pulling back.

Nothing exciting happened, which [she]’d been expecting, but surprisingly, there was a slight tingle on the tips of [her] tendrils, indicating that at least some sort of transference had happened, just not enough to tell anything by, at least on [her] end.

“My name’s [Name].” [She] said, not sure how much information they’d gotten out of that, “I’m [insert gender here], and I go by [she],[her],[hers], and [herself]. What about you? I’m sorry, our chemicals aren’t compatible enough for me to have gotten any information.”

They opened their mandibles wide in what [she] recognized easily as a friendly smile. “My name is Oleili Tevisi, and you can call me Oleili, it’s my personal name. I am liavnu, and I go by li, lia, lias, and liaself. It’s nice to meet you, [Name]. I’m sorry Kvalic seems to have abandoned you, ze does that with everyone. Ze seems to think that being dropped into a situation without help is the best way to learn, which is why it’s a very good thing ze isn’t in charge of anything except giving new hires the tour.”

“No,” Another voice piped up, “Dy’m pretty sure at this point ze just refuses to learn. Dy’ve been here since the start and Dy tried to teach zim when Dy first met zim, and no matter how many times Dy explain it to zim, ze never listens. Ze doesn’t want to learn, ze thinks we should all just be able to magically tell when ze’s joking and when ze’s being serious.”

Yeah, that fit with what [Name] had seen of Kvalic so far. [She] shook [her] head in exasperation. “Doesn’t ze know how hard it is to read the tone and body language of an unfamiliar species?”

“Yes,” Oleili said, “But ze doesn’t care. Ze thinks its everyone else’s problem. There have been many complains to zis superiors, but no one ever does anything. We have a theory that ze’s a favorite sibling of one of the council members, but no one knows for sure.” Li stood, gesturing with lia head towards the crowded circle. “Enough about our annoying boss. Come sit with us, we can all properly introduce ourselves, and you can get something to eat. You get your first rations on the first full day you work, so you’ll get yours tomorrow, but we always pool ours, and there are plenty to go around.”

Li lead the way, and [Name] followed, grateful that the other workers were considerate enough this time to pull their legs and tails and other appendages out of the way so [she] could walk past them without worrying about stepping on anyone.

Oleili led [her] to an open space in the middle where li had been sitting on a dark green blanket, and someone threw a cushion so that it landed right in front of [Name]. [She] jumped in surprise, then called in the general direction it had come from, “Thanks!” right as another cushion flew through the air and slammed into [her] face.

It was heavy enough to knock [her] to the ground, and the shock of it left [her] dazed for a few seconds, trying to figure out what had happened and why [her] face and shoulder suddenly hurt.

The camp was suddenly humming with thunderous vibrations, but [she] couldn’t figure out what anyone was saying past the dull throb in the side of [her] head where it had hit the dirt.

[She] pushed [herself] upright, lifting a frond to [her] face to make sure [she] wasn’t bleeding, and found [herself] staring into Oleili’s single large eye, wide with concern, less than a few inches from [her] face. [She] jerked back instinctively, and felt the fragile metal of [her] hearing-aid dislodge even further.

Oleili backed up a bit to give [her] more space, and lia mandibles opened and closed, but [she] couldn’t make sense of it. Li didn’t have lips for [her] to read, and even if li did, [she] didn’t speak the language, and without [her] hearing-aid, [she] couldn’t hear or understand what anyone was trying to say.

[She] guessed that li was asking if [she] was okay, and lifted both [her] fronds to reassure lia, and did [her] best to say clearly, “I’m okay, my hearing-aid just got knocked loose, I can’t understand you, I have to fix it first.” [She] could feel it inside [her] ear, the two main pieces knocked out of the base. They were all connected with tiny wires that were rooted in [her] skull, so there wasn’t any danger of them falling out of [her] ear entirely, but [she] had to fix them before [she] would be able to hear or understand anyone that didn’t speak [her] territory’s sign-language.

Most of the other workers had gotten to their feet and gathered around [Name], as well as another person further back in the crowd that [she] couldn’t see past the gathered people, probably the person who’d thrown the second cushion. [Name] was giving them the benefit of the doubt and assuming that hitting [her] in the face had been an accident.

Oleili was trying to talk to [her] again, moving lia mandibles and gesturing with lia hands in a way that meant nothing that [she] could understand.

But there should be nothing stopping lia from understanding or hearing [her], so [she] said again, enunciating as best [she] could when [she] couldn’t hear the sounds [she] was making, “I’m not hurt, but my hearing-aid was knocked loose, and I have to get my friend to fix it for me. Can you show me the way back to the main entrance? They’re not a worker, they’re camped outside. I’ll know my way from there, I just don’t remember how to get back to the entrance. Can you show me?”

Trying to speak out loud when [she] couldn’t hear what [she] was saying was always hit or miss. [She] couldn’t tell if [she] was speaking too loudly, or not loudly enough.

Oleili seemed confused, but after a moment li deliberately nodded lia head, then glanced over lia shoulder to say something to the rest of the crowd.

Li turned back to [Name] and gestured for [her] to turn around, so [she] did so, heading back towards the spot where Kvalic had left [her] at the entrance to the clearing as the crowd parted to let [her] pass without issue, many of them looking concerned.

[She] resisted the urge to sigh as Oleili moved past [her] to lead [her] down the correct path. The annoyance wasn’t directed at lia though.

This was a frequent issue with [her] hearing-aid, and finding a solution was one of the major reasons [she]’d decided to come all this way to Bricklayer and work on the Great Machine.

The main reason was that the surgeons in Bricklayer were probably the only people within a year’s journey that could perform the surgeries that Aryl and Xaurec needed.

Hopefully some of that luck would rub off on [Name] so that [she] could find someone besides Xaurec who could fix [her] hearing-aid for [her]. Or so that [she] would be able to find someone who could permanently stabilize it sooner rather than later. Or maybe just someone who was smart enough to build an entirely new one from scratch.

The scientist who had created it for [her] had disappeared just as abruptly as he had appeared, dashing all over the territory with his companion like a kaliba that had broken into the stores of fermenting fruit. [Name] didn’t even know his name, he’d just called himself a doctor without elaborating further. [Name] didn’t know where he was from, who he was related to, or where [she] could find him again.

Maybe he would be here, working on the Great Machine, but he had disappeared so quickly that [Name] wasn’t going to get [her] hopes up. Maybe [she] would never see him again, and would just have to hope that [she] could find someone else who knew how to work the hearing-aid enough to fix it.

And oh, how convenient. There was a creek that ran parallel to the path Oleili was leading [her] down now, lia orange markings seeming to glow in the darkness. [She] could rip the darn thing out of [her] ear and chuck it in to be swept away if [she] wanted to.

But…[she] wasn’t quite that annoyed with it just yet.

Xaurec could fix it for [her] tonight, and tomorrow, well tomorrow was [her] first day of labor, so [she] would have to wait and see what exactly that entailed before making any final decisions.

Until then, [she] followed Oleili into the deepening night, hoping things would be better in the morning.

============================

They/them type pronouns: they/them/their/theirs/themselves “they were”

Replace:

[they]

[them]

[their]

[theirs]

[themselves]

[insert gender here] (IE: “nonbinary” “a man” “a woman” “genderless” ect)

“Hey guys, say hi to our new digger, [Name]! [They] just moved here from past Clade’s Edge, and [they] came all this way just to work on the Great Machine with us, so I know you’ll all give [them] a very warm welcome, isn’t that right, Lern?”

One of the people scattered around the fire in the middle of the camp threw their arms into the air and protested, “I didn’t even do anything yet!”

“Exactly!” Kvalic slashed a wing through the air for emphasis. “Keep it that way!”

[Name] wasn’t sure whether to be alarmed or amused. Kvalic hadn’t mentioned anything about a troublestarter on the walk over. [They] weren’t sure how seriously [they] were supposed to be taking this interaction. Did Lern actually do something wrong with past workers, or was this just some sort of inside joke?

“Uh, should I be worried?” [They] asked hesitantly, keeping [their] voice low so only Kvalic could hear.

But instead of giving a serious answer like [they] hoped, Kvalic just laughed loudly, and lightly slapped [them] shoulder with a wing, cackling, “Only if you like fish!”

This caused a scattering of laughter from some of the other workers, except for Lern, who continued to protest their innocence in what sounded like genuine grievance.

[Name] was glad [they] were wearing a mask to keep out the dust and night insects, because it meant [they] didn’t have to keep the annoyed scowl off [their] face.

If these people were going to be this annoying the whole time [they] were working with them, [they] had the feeling [they] wouldn’t be working here long.

There were at least three different species of people here, none of whom were even the same species as Kvalic, and [Name] had no idea what kind of etiquette they would expect from [them].

Fortunately, one of them decided to take pity on [their] clear confusion, and came over to greet [them] properly, stepping over other people’s assorted legs and tails and lounging bodies to join [them] at the edge of the circle while the rest of them went back to talking amongst themselves.

They were another quadruped, but unlike [them], they had two pairs of arms, not just one. Their legs were in the middle of their body, with the front pair hending backwards, and the back pair bending forwards, with a matching set of arms in front of and behind them.

From what [they] could tell just by looking, they appeared to have hard, chitin like armour like an insect, instead of fur, feathers, scales, bark, or skin.

“Hello,” They said, sitting down in front of [them] and holding out both of their front hands in a familiar greeting. [They] copied them gratefully, sitting down in the tough grass and reaching forward with [their] fronds.

Theirs were smaller than [theirs], with three appendages tipped with long, hard claws, in sharp contrast to [their] six flexible tendrils. Since [their] fronds were softer, [they] placed [theirs] on top of theirs, and they touched them together for a moment before pulling back.

Nothing exciting happened, which [they]’d been expecting, but surprisingly, there was a slight tingle on the tips of [their] tendrils, indicating that at least some sort of transference had happened, just not enough to tell anything by, at least on [their] end.

“My name’s [Name].” [They] said, not sure how much information they’d gotten out of that, “I’m [insert gender here], and I go by [they],[them], [theirs], and [themselves]. What about you? I’m sorry, our chemicals aren’t compatible enough for me to have gotten any information.”

They opened their mandibles wide in what [they] recognized easily as a friendly smile. “My name is Oleili Tevisi, and you can call me Oleili, it’s my personal name. I am liavnu, and I go by li, lia, lias, and liaself. It’s nice to meet you, [Name]. I’m sorry Kvalic seems to have abandoned you, ze does that with everyone. Ze seems to think that being dropped into a situation without help is the best way to learn, which is why it’s a very good thing ze isn’t in charge of anything except giving new hires the tour.”

Yeah, that fit with what [Name] had seen of Kvalic so far. [They] shook [their] head in exasperation. “Doesn’t ze know how hard it is to read the tone and body language of an unfamiliar species?”

“Yes,” Oleili said, “But ze doesn’t care. Ze thinks its everyone else’s problem. There have been many complains to zis superiors, but no one ever does anything. We have a theory that ze’s a favorite sibling of one of the council members, but no one knows for sure.” Li stood, gesturing with lia head towards the crowded circle. “Enough about our annoying boss. Come sit with us, we can all properly introduce ourselves, and you can get something to eat. You get your first rations on the first full day you work, so you’ll get yours tomorrow, but we always pool ours, and there are plenty to go around.”

Li lead the way, and [Name] followed, grateful that the other workers were considerate enough this time to pull their legs and tails and other appendages out of the way so [they] could walk past them without worrying about stepping on anyone.

Oleili led [them] to an open space in the middle where li had been sitting on a dark green blanket, and someone threw a cushion so that it landed right in front of [Name]. [They] jumped in surprise, then called in the general direction it had come from, “Thanks!” right as another cushion flew through the air and slammed into [their] face.

It was heavy enough to knock [them] to the ground, and the shock of it left [them] dazed for a few seconds, trying to figure out what had happened and why [their] face and shoulder suddenly hurt.

The camp was suddenly humming with thunderous vibrations, but [they] couldn’t figure out what anyone was saying past the dull throb in the side of [their] head where it had hit the dirt.

[They] pushed [themselves] upright, lifting a frond to [their] face to make sure [they] wasn’t bleeding, and found [themselves] staring into Oleili’s single large eye, wide with concern, less than a few inches from [their] face. [They] jerked back instinctively, and felt the fragile metal of [their] hearing-aid dislodge even further.

Oleili backed up a bit to give [them] more space, and lia mandibles opened and closed, but [they] couldn’t make sense of it. Li didn’t have lips for [them] to read, and even if li did, [they] didn’t speak the language, and without [their] hearing-aid, [they] couldn’t hear or understand what anyone was trying to say.

[They] guessed that li was asking if [they] were okay, and lifted both [their] fronds to reassure lia, and did [their] best to say clearly, “I’m okay, my hearing-aid just got knocked loose, I can’t understand you, I have to fix it first.” [They] could feel it inside [their] ear, the two main pieces knocked out of the base. They were all connected with tiny wires that were rooted in [their] skull, so there wasn’t any danger of them falling out of [their] ear entirely, but [they] had to fix them before [they] would be able to hear or understand anyone that didn’t speak [their] territory’s sign-language.

Most of the other workers had gotten to their feet and gathered around [Name], as well as another person further back in the crowd that [they] couldn’t see past the gathered people, probably the person who’d thrown the second cushion. [Name] was giving them the benefit of the doubt and assuming that hitting [them] in the face had been an accident.

Oleili was trying to talk to [them] again, moving lia mandibles and gesturing with lia hands in a way that meant nothing that [they] could understand.

But there should be nothing stopping lia from understanding or hearing [them], so [they] said again, enunciating as best [they] could when [they] couldn’t hear the sounds [they] was making, “I’m not hurt, but my hearing-aid was knocked loose, and I have to get my friend to fix it for me. Can you show me the way back to the main entrance? They’re not a worker, they’re camped outside. I’ll know my way from there, I just don’t remember how to get back to the entrance. Can you show me?”

Trying to speak out loud when [they] couldn’t hear what [they] were saying was always hit or miss. [They] couldn’t tell if [they] were speaking too loudly, or not loudly enough.

Oleili seemed confused, but after a moment li deliberately nodded lia head, then glanced over lia shoulder to say something to the rest of the crowd.

Li turned back to [Name] and gestured for [them] to turn around, so [they] did so, heading back towards the spot where Kvalic had left [them] at the entrance to the clearing as the crowd parted to let [them] pass without issue, many of them looking concerned.

[They] resisted the urge to sigh as Oleili moved past [them] to lead [them] down the correct path. The annoyance wasn’t directed at lia though.

This was a frequent issue with [their] hearing-aid, and finding a solution was one of the major reasons [they]’d decided to come all this way to Bricklayer and work on the Great Machine.

The main reason was that the surgeons in Bricklayer were probably the only people within a year’s journey that could perform the surgeries that Aryl and Xaurec needed.

Hopefully some of that luck would rub off on [Name] so that [they] could find someone besides Xaurec who could fix [their] hearing-aid for [them]. Or so that [they] would be able to find someone who could permanently stabilize it sooner rather than later. Or maybe just someone who was smart enough to build an entirely new one from scratch.

The scientist who had created it for [them] had disappeared just as abruptly as he had appeared, dashing all over the territory with his companion like a kaliba that had broken into the stores of fermenting fruit. [Name] didn’t even know his name, he’d just called himself a doctor without elaborating further. [Name] didn’t know where he was from, who he was related to, or where [they] could find him again.

Maybe he would be here, working on the Great Machine, but he had disappeared so quickly that [Name] wasn’t going to get [their] hopes up. Maybe [they] would never see him again, and would just have to hope that [they] could find someone else who knew how to work the hearing-aid enough to fix it.

And oh, how convenient. There was a creek that ran parallel to the path Oleili was leading [them] down now, lia orange markings seeming to glow in the darkness. [They] could rip the darn thing out of [them] ear and chuck it in to be swept away if [they] wanted to.

But…[they] weren’t quite that annoyed with it just yet.

Xaurec could fix it for [them] tonight, and tomorrow, well tomorrow was [their] first day of labor, so [they] would have to wait and see what exactly that entailed before making any final decisions.

Until then, [they] followed Oleili into the deepening night, hoping things would be better in the morning.

#choose your own pronouns #pronouns #pronoun tester #pronoun testing #name testing #name tester #neopronouns #xenogender #nonbinary #trans #queer #mogai #pride

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saintheartwing · 3 years

Text

Breaking Dawn, Part Four: HOLD ON HOPE

The entities of emotion were, to many a race, creation deities. They had beget many a species, including the Irken race, a race born from a union of Intelligence and Will.

And now the species born from Hope was poised to end the Irken race. High above the planet Irk, aiding the Resisty ships as countless others formed a blockade to cut off Irk from the rest of the galaxy, it appeared as though all of Irk's hopes laid in the Wing, the host to Hope, herself an Irken...

"Please." She insisted, clasping her hands together, getting on bent knee before the Meekrob race as the "lighties" hovered before her. The rest of the Resisty stood behind her, Lard Nar frowning slightly. He had had reservations originally about having her join his crew, but she'd proven invaluable, gentle, and above all, considerate. She had owed the Resisty a debt after they'd saved her life...and she'd repaid it time and time again. Now she asked for clemency...

"Can't we give them half a year?" Lard Nar finally asked. "...I don't like the idea of giving the Irkens much time, but just a few months to surrender?" He went on, waving his hands in the air. "It's only fair."

"Would THEY give YOUR race the same mercy?" The leader of the Meekrob growled in its ethereal voice. Sarong was not a kindly being by nature. "DID they give your race half a year to submit before they pitilessly invaded, foul little BUGS that they are?"

"...aren't we supposed to be better than the bugs?" A third voice spoke up, as they turned to see two people stepping off a teleportal pad, dusting themselves off. "The Massive's been moved. Sold. Fresh off the market and on it's way to a very, VERY happy customer."

"Well, THAT would put a smile on my face had I a face!" Sarong laughed. "...alright. I'll give the Irkens a MONTH to surrender to our blockade, to come over to our way of thinking. Get the message out." The phantom-esque glowing being demanded, turning his head to his people as they moved along with the Resisty to the communications relay. "I sincerely HOPE...for your people's sake...they do the smart thing and give in." Sarong told the Wing.

"I have faith that they will make the right choice in the end." The Wing said as she stood up, nodding firmly, moving majestically back to her quarters as she laid down on her bed, noticing her room's communication was going off. She picked up the phone, listening intently. "Yes?"

"...milady, it's me."

The Wing's eyes went wide as the Entity of Hope shimmered overhead. "Turn up the volume, quick." It asked.

"What's happening?"

"The worst, that's what. My friends tapped into your powers with the Exemplar rings. I NEED access to Hope. I need a way to break a hold that Two has over Earth's Avatar of Will, Dilbert Membrane. Otherwise he won't have a fighting chance and...and kids are gonna die."

"I'll be happy to assist, but what of the Entity of Will? Have you contacted it?"

"I don't know where it IS, only you, Compassion and Love are on my speed dial...I don't suppose any others have appeared that could be of help?"

"...the Entity of Corrupted Passion, Rage. He's appeared, but he...he won't help. Not yet. We need to have faith in Sude, who is still bonding with his own host."

"They need to hurry. YOU need to hurry."

"I'll do what I can. I must ask though...you'll need a deputy to assist you. Dib is the Pillar of Will on Earth, is he not?"

"And Gaz is Rage, yes. And you wanna know if there's one for Hope on the Base Planet? Yes. And you know him."

"Who?"

"Skoodge."

The Wing chuckled. "Oh, Skoodge, that dear little soldier. Such a cheery soul. Always looking forward, always devoted. Yes...yes, I don't think we need to worry, Frequency..."

The Wing and Entity of Hope, Psyche, smiled.

"ALL WILL BE WELL.”

Dib paced around in front of his classroom, sighing as he held his hands behind his back, chewing his lip. The Principal had announced that everyone was to leave the school building in an orderly fashion, one class at a time due to a bomb scare.

Naturally, everyone thought Dib or his sister had something to do with it. Mostly because Zim and his weird "cousin", Skoodge, wasn't in class to be pointed and hissed at. M"Alright. I am about to tell you the explanation but if I know you all...and I DO..."

He rolled his eyes at this. "You're all so ignorant you won't believe it. So here goes. A psychotic alien forced a magical kind of ring on me and my sister. He turned us into Manchurian agents that would have decimated the school around lunchtime due to a trigger he put in us. I'm still not entirely sure why. But you aren't buying ANY of that, are you?"

All of the class looked at each other, blinked, and most of them broke out into laughter. Gretchen just sighed, leaning back in her chair, head hung low as Dib sighed and pinched the space between his eyes, chewing on his lip again. "...all right, fine. Nevermind. Moot point, anyhow." God they're all IDIOTS! I'm surrounded by ID! I! OTS!

"Moot point indeed." A voice, filled with snarling rage, a faint laugh lingering in the air called out.

KRUCHA-THROOOOOM! The wall was practically shattered as Two barreled through it, encased in a red energy aura, slamming Dib through the wall on the other side, windows and wall shattering. Soon the class, in fact, the whole school was watching as Dib was sent sprawling across the football field of the High Skool, Two standing tall, fists clenched as red energy rippled from his body.

"Ah, RAGE." Two laughed. "The "Passion" turned dark just like "Diligence" became "Avarice"! A step up, in my humble opinion. See, unlike Miyu, who's off to visit my daddy dearest here in town, I don't "want it all". Nah. I think smaller. I'll just settle for my existence restored to stability as your world is transformed into MINE."

He leapt through the air, fist flying, but Dib managed to roll out of the way, Two growling angrily. "Forgot, I gave you until after lunch to have most of your will back...and I DO suppose stripping any chance you have of fighting back against me would be cheating." Two mused as Dib leaped to his feet, pointing his ring at Two.

"GO!" He yelled out.

Tiny little sparks jutted out, wisps of green slipping to the ground...but nothing. Nothing happened.

"Then again..." Two laughed, his knee going squarely into Dib's gut, knocking Dib to the football field's grass below as he cracked his neck before delivering ANOTHER kick to Dib's side, "I also have kept you from using your ring. So it's hardly a fair fight. I LIKE these odds."

THWUH-THWUCK! Dib was rolled over onto his side as Two knelt down, grabbing his throat. "I...am going to beat you so...so...badly. I'll make this last. And then, after I've stopped by this lovely Chinese restaurant in town for some noodles..." The alien leered, his golden eyes glittering like a dark fire. "I'm going to come back, have you and your sister burn this whole place down with everyone in it, and make sure you're conscious through it all. See, I WAS going to strip your consciousness from your body after this, but frankly...I think me leaving you helpless, trapped inside your own body has a certain poetic CRUELTY to it, wouldn't you say?"

He sniggered darkly, throttling Dib with his clawed hands. "Ooh, I LOVE me when I'm NASTY."

KRA-THROOMP! Two was knocked clean through the air as Gaz lowered the bench she'd carried from the end of the football field, folding her arms down at Dib. "Get up, you idiot. If ANYBODY'S gonna kick your ass, it's me and me alone."

"Thanks, Gaz!" Dib said, laughing with relief as he stood up and made to hug his dear sister, arms stretching wide. I-"

"If you get REMOTELY sentimental I'm feeding you your own nose." Gaz said swiftly, Dib shutting up and turning to face Two as he stood up, nursing a bleeding head as he frowned at them.

"Gaz...almost forgot about you. You know..." He rubbed his chin. "...you look so much like my great aunt, at least, from what the old photo albums showed of her. How'd she die again? Lab accident?"

Gaz turned pale at this. Not with fear, though. This was pure, undiluted grief running through her as Two dusted himself off.

How does he know about Mom? Dib thought.

It had been an ordinary day. Well...as ordinary as life with Prof. Membrane GETS. Peggy Membrane was listening to him speak about his latest invention in his laboratory as Dib, age 7, and Gaz, age 5, stood nearby in the Professor's considerably larger-on-the-inside-than-it-was-the-outside garage laboratory was lighted up.

"How uh...how does...this...um..." Dib asked again as Prof. Membrane strode by him, a strange, bulbous helmet atop his head as he fiddled around with a screwdriver and a control pad in his long, black-gloved hands. He was wearing his large labcoat...he ALWAYS wore his labcoat in the lab, but never in the house, thank God. Peggy always said it smelled too much like plastic.

"Compression technology." The professor laughed. "Shrinking something very, very, VERY big and compacting it into a pocket dimension, I'M A

GENIUS!" He hovered in the air, lightning splitting the air around him as Peggy quickly snatched Gaz away from an accidental bolt that almost singed her hair. "Sorry, I've GOT to be more careful about where I gloat, my dear." Matthew Membrane told "Pegster", taking the helmet off and motioning for his family to come by a table with several vats nearby labeled "DANGEROUS: EXPLODING CHEMICAL COMPOUNDS! DO! NOT! OPEN! SUPER-SERIOUSLY!" written over them.

"What's that?" Peggy inquired, pointing at his latest invention, what appeared to be some kind of mechanical clip for the hair. "You told me your invention was SMALL and unassuming but...you DO know somebody's already invented these Bluetooth things, right?" Peggy laughed.

"My dear, it's a device that lets me speak any language! Even to animals!" Prof. Membrane laughed, pulling on a lever nearby as several cages filled with animals popped up from beneath the floor, all of them looking at the family.

"Ooh, big kitty!" Gaz said, pointing at the tiger as Dib looked at a snake. It began to hiss, it's eyes almost...glowing?

Prof. Membrane quickly led Dib away from the cage, the snake cursing under its breath as Membrane held the strange, segmented clip up, giving it to Peggy. "Put it in your hair. It will transmit signals to your brain, to the part centering around language recognition. All barriers are broken down INSTANTLY! The aftereffects have been odd...something of a shared link...I talked with that bunny yesterday and after that I kept thumping my foot against the ground for half an hour."

Peggy put the clip in her hair and stared at said bunny as it chuckled. "Ooh, have I got a carrot for YOU!" It said, giggling immaturely.

"OH!" Peggy clasped the sides of her face with her hands, gasping. "You little!" She waved her finger at it and took the clip off. "Maybe I should go find a nice CAT or something to talk to." She told her husband. "Here you go, Matt."

She tossed it back to him and he stepped back to catch it...

And he went knocking into a plank that had a small vat of "Exploding Chemical Compounds" placed on the other end. Like a catapult, the small vat was launched through the air at a stunned Peggy as Dib looked up in horror, eyes widening, Gaz's mouth beginning to open in a gasp as Matthew Membrane watched most of his wife become a sloughed pile of flesh...

He never took off the lab coat after that...there was always a tiny bit of Peggy still lingering on the edges of his collar...

A tiny bit of Peggy lingering in his heart.

In ALL of their hearts...

"Do you know what rage TRULY is? The most powerful kind of hatred ISN'T born from ignorance or prejudice or from a perceived threat. Oh no." The alien waved a claw in the air. "Those are Fear in disguise. The real fire that fuels the burning hatred of rage...is personal loss. That's why I wear the red."

Two held his fist up as Gaz and Dib readied themselves, Gaz shaking angrily. "You lost your mother, you must have felt so unhappy, so ANGRY. You didn't understand. Why, why did it have to happen? And I think you blamed your father...and a tiny bit of you blamed your brother, because neither one of them were strong enough to help."

Gaz opened her mouth to say something, but then closed her eyes and clenched her fists, holding them tightly to her sides. "...that's...it wasn't MY fault...somebody had to...somebody had to take the blame. I LOVED...her." She whispered out. "...I LOVED her so...so much..."

"...my own mother is slowly dying. WILL die if my world isn't returned." Two told them softly.

"Then you know how I felt. Then you know that if I had the power...I would have done anything, ANYTHING to get her back." Gaz asked in her dark, accusing tone. "I have that power now...you FORCED it on me, but with you dead and gone, and me with this power..."

She held up her ring, grinning coldly. "I WILL find a way. I'm smart, and I'm tough...and there's not a kid in the world who wouldn't burn it all down if it meant getting back his mommy."

"Oh, Gaz..." Two whispered softly, almost sadly. "You couldn't have described me any better."

And with that, he launched himself at them, claws held high.

...

... "So..." Nick inquired, his county-boy accent thick and homely as he sat down on the pink, fluffy couch with the squat Irken Invader Skoodge at Zim's house, Zim having gone off to the Radioshack to pick up "supplies" as GIR did his own "private thing" in the laboratory. "If Mr. Billingsly is the sleaziest, number one backstabbing lover in all the town, why's he defending this gal off the street? Reckon it don't make no sense." He asked Skoodge, who was, before you ask, NOT in any disguise.

Oh no, Invader Skoodge, short, fat and cuddly Invader Skoodge, was "au naturale", ladies and gents...well, except for the clothes he was wearing, his usual maroon Invader's attire with that mysterious splotch lingering on his stomach.

"It's because before he got amnesia, William Billingsly was the sleaziest number-one LAWYER in Dawson County!" Skoodge explained, waving a gloved hand in the air as Nick passed the chocolate-covered popcorn GIR had made over to him, Skoodge tossing a handful into his mouth.

He liked having the human over. It got so boring, just being stuck in Zim's basement. This way he could talk about human soap operas like "Kissy-Kissy-Boo-Boo" AND wrestling programs like "Skull Squisher" all he wanted and with somebody who wasn't too "busy" or "stupid" to care about either one. Plus, in the event he ever said too much about Irken culture, he'd just erase Nick's memories with a little mini-squid Zim had developed to be attached to people's heads.

...again.

Yeah, he'd tested out a LOT of things on Nick and-oh. Skoodge grimly frowned as Nick took off his cap, scratching at the...

He couldn't bear to look at it. Skoodge looked away, almost puking up the popcorn he'd gobbled down as Nick decided to use the bathroom, promising to come back with soda from the kitchen as Skoodge sighed, turning his head slowly back to the television. Nice kid, that Nick. Stupid, yeah, but nice. Even before what Zim had done to him.

...that had been...

Skoodge was a trained and experienced invader. He did not ever take his job personally, and he understood that Dib had his own duty to save the planet just as he had a duty to help Zim take it over. It was, on an intellectual level, sad. In another time and place, he might have been capable of being friends with the humans. It was somewhat sad he never could be. There was a lot about this world he liked. And he was beginning to fall into an enjoyable rhythm, just staying here on Earth, hanging out.

Maybe...one day...maybe this would feel like his real home. Maybe one day he'd fine that thing he needed to make him want to stay forever. Maybe one day he WOULD be friends, and there wouldn't be a need for this back-and-forth, and they could just...BE. He was fine with waiting. He was good at that...the waiting and the hoping.

Heck, truth be told, even ZIM was beginning to fall into a steady pattern. A new plan every week instead of every day, and there was a faint camaraderie between he and the Dib-human. Sometimes, Skoodge, he could swear Zim LIKED being continuously beaten. LIKED being stuck here, constantly plotting.

Heck, GIR liked Earth plenty, Skoodge thought to himself as he snuck over to the linen closet and pulled it open, a monitor revealing what was occurring in the laboratory downstairs. GIR was dancing around, a disco ball hanging overhead as lights sprayed around, the little robot posing and singing as he strutted his stuff.

Can't read my, can't read my, No he can't read my Poker Face!

"She aint' got to love nobody!" GIR sang out, waving his butt in the air before he whipped around, holding his arms behind his head and shaking his groove thing.

Can't read my, can't read my, No he can't read my Poker Face!

Yep, nothing changed around here, Skoodge thought to himself as he closed the door, returning to the couch and turning back to the television. The state of normalcy: sitting and waiting for something to happen, and usually, it did. In the end. Things tended to work out in the end, Skoodge thought to himself as he popped some more chocolate popcorn in his mouth. He just had to keep where he was. Stay happy. Keep believing...

He stiffened suddenly, as a voice called out to him, a faint accent lingering in it as he slowly turned his head, looking upon a blue-furred being that had stepped into the living room. It wore a blue cap with a strange white symbol on it's head, and blue shorts to match with a special ring in one hand...a ring with a blue symbol upon it that was being offered to him. To HIM.

"Skoodge of Irk." Frequency said cheerily. "Stoic ol' Skoodge. You have the ability to feel great hope."

He put the ring in Skoodge's hand and Skoodge slowly slipped it on, eyes widening. It felt so natural...like he'd been missing a limb all his life, forced to wear a prosthetic but now gaining back his old hand...

Meanwhile, a maroon-eyed, green-skinned being, Invader Zim himself, was walking back from Radio Shack to his house, his arms filled with sacks full to the brim of technical material he needed for his latest plan.

"Brilliant, BRILLIANT! I'll transform pigs into half-human slaves, rounding up humans and overriding their genetic code with my own glorious Irken DNA!" Zim laughed to himself. "Irken and human fused together and at my command, I'll build a new Irken Empire right here on Planet Earth!"

He blinked suddenly, frowning as he put down his bags and scratched his head. "Wait. I'm TALKING TO MYSELF...vrik na tishanti!" He cursed. "I'm becoming too much like the Dib-Stink." He sighed and reached into his maroon outfit, pulling out a small notepad from within. "And have I already done something like this lately? Better check the list."

He took out a pen that popped up from his PAK, flipping through the notebook. "Hmm. Fiddle with gravity in school...launching chickens into outer space...replacing organs with STUFF...launching COWS into outer space...launching GHOST INSPECTORS into outer space...oh. "Turn dogs into dog-people". Ah, DOGS, not pigs. Yep, this'll work!"

"Observation: You always had a knack for such ideas. Insanely brilliant...they called you mad." A metallic, yet distinctly feminine voice rang out, making Zim whip his head in its direction as he saw a robotic female approach him, black-outfit making her look VERY slim, with a red helm over her head and tipless white gloves showing off almost Irken-like long clawed fingers. "But madness is merely genius to a small mind, and when compared to you, most organics have small minds."

"...what ARE you? Explain yourself!" Zim demanded angrily, pointing at her. "Tell Zim!"

"Explanation: I have an offer for you." The woman said. "I am Miyu. I ask this..."

She held up a ring in her finger...a faint orange glow to it.

"Join my corps."

...

...The kids of the school were watching, their teachers unable to get them to leave as they saw Gaz and Dib struggling with Two, who kept flinging them around the football field, kicking and punching them whenever they got close enough. Dib had managed to bust one of Two's cheek bones, and Gaz had delivered, WAS delivering-

"YOOOOOWWW-OOOOOOH-HOOOO-HOOOO-HOOOO!"

Ooooch. Gaz fought DIRTY. Two staggered back, flailing out with his ring as a medieval torture rack attached itself via energy construct to Gaz, trying to stretch her out as Dib struggled to break her free, Two cradling his sore crotch. "Y-you dirty little...GAAAAH..."He muttered out.

"You're just going to stand there and watch them suffer like that?" Gretchen asked the others as Ms. Bitters calmly looked up from her copy of "Beyond Good and Evil", "harrumphed" and went back to reading. The rest of the class looked around at each other, almost hesitant.

"We can't just stand here and WATCH!" Gretchen insisted angrily, waving her arms in the air. "We've gotta DO something! ANYTHING to help them!"

"That thing can shoot finger-beams. What're WE gonna do?" The Letter M asked, scratching his head as Poonchy nodding in agreement.

"Oooooh. He just made a shark." Zita called out as Dib yelled for his life, climbing one of the football poles as Two danced in victory, Gaz being beaten up by a cheer-leading team he'd summoned forth with his ring, Gaz swearing to rip off Two's head and make him eat it later. Somehow.

She could do it, you know! She TOTALLY could!

"GRAAAAH!" Gretchen tugged at her hair, exiting the room and stomping out into the hallway-

Running into a beautiful-looking being who was standing by the Guidance Counselor. Her eyes widened as the Guidance Counselor nodded at the angel.

"This is her."

"I'm surprised you figured it out."

"I spent years around the Entity of Love. I know souls filled with it. And her love for Dib has marked her."

The Beautiful Angel stepped forward, putting something in Gretchen's hand. "You won't remember us. Nobody in this school will remember us, my friend will make sure of that. But when the time comes, you'll know what to do inside your heart." The Beautiful Angel crooned, taking Gretchen's cheek and kissing her on the forehead before leaving, Gretchen moving the ring in her hand to her pocket as the Guidance Counselor took her shoulder.

It was as if a veil that had been placed over her eyes was ripped away. "Wh-what was I doing?" She asked, scratching her head as Mr. Thildari moved her back to the class.

"I THINK you were watching THAT." Mr. Thildari said cheerily, pointing outside the opened-up walls as two forms descended from the sky on blue wings, Dib gasping as a green blaze swirled around him, power coursing through his body. Now he was returned to his once-heroic form, standing tall and proud, his Will reasserted over the ring as Two snarled furiously, turning on Frequency.

"You! And...and YOU?" He gasped, seeing Skoodge as Skoodge smiled over in a surprised Dib and Gaz's direction.

"Power levels at 104%...119%...124%..." Dib's ring called out as Skoodge gave Dib the best thumbs up he could.

"Don't worry, Dib-Thing. Hope's wings have always lifted Will higher than it could ever soar. Trust me...All will be well." Skoodge spoke kindly, comfortingly.

And did he look IMPRESSIVE. A cloth covering the top of his head and forehead, with the white symbol of Hope emblazoned upon it. His outfit was vaguely Shamanic...long robe-like shirt to wear, exposing his arms, tipless gloves, plain, simple...and above all, he looked so peaceful and comforted. So SMUG, almost.

"So you've betrayed us?" Two growled at Frequency.

"What can I say, dude?" Frequency laughed, holding his ring up with Dib and Skoodge. "Except...COWABUNGAAAAAA!"

With that, an ENORMOUS blue wave of energy shot forth from Frequency's ring, formed like a tidal wave that SLAMMED into Zerinim Two Jookiba with all the fury of an ocean, as Dib now launched his OWN shark at Two, the pointy nose JAMMING into Two's chest, making him gasp in pain as he was sent spiraling through the air, knocked around by the wave...

Skoodge leaped forward, forming an enormous pair of hands that suddenly pinned Two to the ground, a pair of hands that rapidly became attached to the energy construct of a professional wrestler.

"And now Rodrick has his evil twin Rodrick in a Leg Hold!" Skoodge laughed, the wrestler slamming Two into the ground over and over before tossing him through the goal posts.

"TOUCHDOWN!" Gaz laughed, racing towards Two and kicking him squarely in the face, knocking him through the air and towards the school, right in the direction of Ms. Bitters.

"Huh?" She looked up just in time.

KA-THRUNCKA!

Everyone let out a simultaneous "Ewwwww" and stepped away as Two stood up, dusting himself off and looking down beneath him at what he'd landed on. He stuck his worm-like tongue out, stepping off and watching as Ms. Bitters' feet curled up, the rest of her body melting away as she let out a final sigh of "What a woooorld".

"It's over." Dib said, cracking his knuckles as Skoodge, Frequency, Gaz and he approached Two, who growled and reached into his vest, pulling out a small capsule-like computer.

"You'll never control Dib again, not with ME here, brah." Frequency proclaimed. "And you ain't gonna get to GAZ, either. We've spoken with the Big Bad behind it himself and he's given the ALL clear. Try to take her over again, you get a wipe out!"

"No. It's just BEGINNING." Two growled out. "EMERGENCY TEMPORAL SHIFT."

With a WHOOMP, he was gone, vanished from sight as the class looked from the wreckage to Dib, who scratched the back of his head. Were they FINALLY going to believe him now about the aliens thing?

"I guess...you're all wondering about all of that, right?" He asked.

"It's a gang war, you see." Mr. Thildari said quickly, stepping forward and waving a hand in the air. "Dib informed me that members of a gang who were INSANELY jealous of our school since it's so amazing, especially the clean bathrooms..."

"Oh yeah, yeah."

"Absolutely.

"Of course." Everyone agreed, nodding their heads.

"So they prepared to carry out an attack and decided to beat up Dib because he was the most noticeable of us all with his big head. Luckily Dib's friends here were skilled enough to fend them off with the fancy technological equipment that Prof. Membrane loaned his son and his friends in the event something strange like this ever happened. Isn't that right, Gaz?" Mr. Thildari wanted to know.

Gaz shrugged. "Yeah. Whatever."

"Oh, yes, YES." Gretchen said quickly. "Oh, Dib and I have talked about this before when we're alone! Some people have mace in their pockets, he's got super-tech!" She lied with a smile, quickly putting one arm around his and grinning.

"Er...yeah! Big, bad, rival gangs! It was all a rival gang." Dib decided quickly, gulping nervously. "DEFINITELY not aliens! And these guys are just in costumes cuz they were going to a party at my house later this afternoon. Costume party. Really private affair and stuff. Right, Gaz?"

"Yeah. Costume party. I mean, you can see the zipper!" Gaz chuckled, pointing at Skoodge's teeth as he grinned.

"Well, I think Gretchen had best inform the principal of our little...predicament...with your teacher." Mr. Thildari told the class. "And I think that perhaps I should drive you home, Dilbert, Gazeline...it's been a long, long day and I think we could all use a break, especially you two..."

...

... "I can't BELIEVE they bought it. I can't believe TWO bought it! One of the worst performances of my career and he didn't doubt it for a second." Frequency laughed, slapping his knee as Skoodge poured everyone some soda using GIR, who opened up his mouth. Gaz then closed GIR up and moved him over her chips, pulling down on an arm as nacho cheese was squirted down onto her snack. "I don't even know what the Entity of Rage LOOKS like! Ha! This is off...the...HOOK!"

"Hope, huh?" Dib inquired, looking Skoodge over as he calmly sipped some Diet-Poopsi, nodding sagely.

"Yes. Our Exemplar Rings gain power from the Entities of Emotions, and I was meant to wield Hope the way you were meant to wield Will, and Gaz was meant to wield Rage." Skoodge explained.

"Meant to? Entities?" Dib asked.

"What...ARE you?" Zim inquired, eyes widening at the ring in Miyu's hand.

"I suppose I should explain." Frequency admitted, sitting in a chair nearby as GIR clapped his hands together, beaming.

"It's STORYTIME?" GIR asked cheerily, hopping up and down.

"Uh...yep."

"Ooh, does it involve monkeys?"

Skoodge snorted, looking over in Dib and Gaz's directions as Gaz growled. "What's THAT supposed to mean?"

Frequency laughed and chuckled slightly, holding out his ring as an series of images began to form for them all, GIR's eyes widening. "Oooooooh. Laser liiiiights..."

"In the beginning, there was just one universe planned for creation. What happened...was something quite different. There was a...change...in the nature of the cosmos." Mr. Thildari explained calmly.

"Instead of ONE universe being made, a multiverse was created." Miyu went on. "Endless parallel worlds, similar in some ways, bizarrely different in others, were formed. All were occupying the same space, but vibrating at entirely different frequencies."

"Like two cars parked side by side in the same parking lot...or sometimes right on top of one another, with nobody realizing." The guidance counselor suggested.

"And there were entities, beings of INCREDIBLE power, that watched over all of this and spread the power of emotions through the universe." Miyu murmured. "The first was entity of Life, Sude, of the Seraphi race."

Zim blinked. "The Seraphi?" Wait, the Irken race had SENT invaders in the direction of the soc-called home of the Seraphi, the planet Allforce. What had happened to them? Had they becme dragon chow? They'd never heard from the fools again...

"I know what you're thinking. The race did not perform things such as that. They were the kind who offered laughter and joy up to their God instead of blood rituals. They simply sent Irken laughter to Sude."

Zim raised a non-existent eyebrow. "...wait...you mean?"

FIVE HUNDRED YEARS AGO...

"WE'LL TICKLE YOU FOREVER!" One brown and yellow-horned draconic being exclaimed as he held a giant feather up from a box, the tied-up Irken nearby gulping as his friends were held in place. "Prepare to enter the unbearable world of COOCHY-COOCHY-COO!"

PRESENT...

"ANNNNYHOW, the next was the entity of Passion, Chulainn. He's turned all nasty and dark when he became "Rage". Frequency went on with a sad expression flickering across his face. "Poor dude. Then we got the pretty lil' entity of Hope, Psyche. She's cute, in a weird way." He added, tilting his head to the side. "Kinda...looks like a butterfly. I think she IS that, a big, alien butterfly."

"And I spent many years conversing with the Entity of Love before I came here." Mr. Thildari explained, putting one hand to his chest. "Jourmungdr sent me here to the Base Earth to keep an eye on the planet and those within. It said this place was too important to be ignored. I've been keeping up a guise, with the Entity taking my place back at my home planet without anybody noticing."

"This world...this MUDBALL is...actually important?" Zim scratched his head. "How?"

"EVERYTHING in the multiverse stems from the material found in this base Earth." Skoodge interjected. "Remember when he talked about the "parking lot" analogy? Think of your world as an original model of car, and every other car in the lot is a rip-off or copy of that original." Skoodge went on as visible models of the many parallel Earths floated around.

"Without this world, there won't BE any other parallel Earths. No more stories of Zim and Dib and Gaz and GIR. This world is the cornerstone upon which the multiverse of Universe I-Z spins..." Miyu went on, gesticulating in the air. "Within this world...there's the POTENTIAL to remake the world that was tragically lost."

"They want to bring it back. If one tried to sacrifice enough of this world, Earth B-S will return. The people of this world will be, well...they get folded into the historical fabric. Become reborn anew, I guess you could say..." Frequency admitted.

"I'll DIE?"

"Answer: You'll become BETTER." Miyu informed him waving a clawed finger in the air. "You will reach your physical and mental peak, and will become a being both feared, loved and admired across the universe. And it is not just you. GIR, Minimoose, they'll be better too. People will respect you, Zim, be amazed at what you've become. I would never not lie..."

She gently took his shoulder, smiling at him as the visor on her helmet lifted up, and Zim's eyes widened in surprise. "To my own father."

"I...I need to...think about this." Zim mumbled.

"Statement: I shall do you one better." Miyu informed him as he pocketed his ring. "I will take you to your wife. I think you'll be more than pleasantly surprised."

Zim's eyes bugged out, mouth flopping open. "Zim has a WHAT?"

#invader zim #Zim #Dib #Gaz #superhero #superheroes #fanfiction #fanfic #science #fiction #science fiction #science fiction fantasy #Frequency #Miyu #GIR #Skoodge #Gretchen

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darkgunslinger · 4 years

Text

Saving Zim Extras/shorts

These are scenes from Saving Zim by Dib07 that didn’t make the final cut. There are many more scenes like these that I left out, but these are some of the ones I did not show in the FFN story due to them being scrappy bits and pieces - but still, I hope they can be enjoyed for what they are XD

The current series can be found here!

Scene: the professor’s garden

The professor was in his main study, overlooking datasheets on his chemical production. On his desk was a small swilling vessel of bright pink emulsions beside two computers and a blood analyser machine. Things were always making noises in here as machines and computers cranked and clonked out results. It was music to the professor’s ears.

“Hi, urm... Mr. Membrane?”

He looked round, and appeared to be smiling behind his neck collar. “Yes, what is it my girl?” He saw that she was holding his little patient.

“Are the outside doors locked?”

“Go through the back way, it’s all open. Why?”

“I’m taking the little guy outside while it’s warm and sunny. He’s been a bit... despondent.”

“It could be the medication he’s on.”

“Some days he’s really chatty and coherent. Then there are days where he’s like this.”

The professor paused, perhaps conflicted with what to suggest. “Just don’t have him outside too long! There is no insulation in his body to help keep him warm.”

She already knew, but nodded anyway. “And just where is Dib?”

“Still hard at work preparing for the little house guest! Here. Call him.” He whisked out his own personal Samsung Mega Xtreme 36 phone.

Thanking the professor, she sat on one of the plastic seats in the hallway outside his door and called his home number. Zim was looking lazily around, preferring to stay cuddled against her.

She waited through the dial tones. He answered on the fourth ring. “It’s just me, Dib! When are you getting back?”

“Oh, hi Clara! Getting back?” There was a pause. She could hear music in the background. “An hour or two tops. I still have these little step ladders to put up. I can’t remember where I put the drill.”

“Can you come over?”

“Why? Is everything okay?”

“Zim’s not quite himself.”

Zim, hearing most of her side of the conversation, rolled his little pink orbs skyward in exasperation.

She disconnected the call. She lowered it from her ear, and then looked down at the Irken resting against her chest. She gave him a little cuddle. “He said to tell you that he’s on his way.”

He nodded.

After giving back the phone to the professor, she headed for the double doors. They were made from heavy oak, and were used as flood shutters in case of stormy weather. She stepped out into the open sunshine. They were inundated with bright, cheery birdsong, and amongst the uncut waves of deep green grass were early April butterflies that glanced along the stems like aerial dancers.

Zim’s remaining antenna became attentive to these outdoor noises.

“It’s beautiful out here. Didn’t realize it was so warm.” Clara mused. She didn’t follow the stone path. Instead she headed across the grass in just her plimsolls. There was the wooded area, and the rockery. Midges were flying in the air in roaming clouds. She was careful to keep the flies off him.

“Isn’t it...dangerous o-out here? Won’t someone s-see m-me?” She felt him tremble.

“No, don’t worry! This place is closed off; it’s all private, see? And no one’s getting over the brick walls that surround this place. It’s secure.”

She wondered how much he was caring to see, or if he was just looking at it all with closed indifference. Sometimes it was hard if not imposable to read what was going on behind his eyes.

They reached a stone bench that had green lichen growing along its lion-like feet. She lifted him from her lap and perched him on it. He could lean back if he wanted, thanks to the wooden backrest. He sat there a moment, looking startled as if he’d been teleported to a different world. Then he looked around, seeing the diaphanous butterflies and the fat, lazy bumble bees that hovered over a patch of tangled jasmine. The sunshine made him look paler, giving him a haunted look.

“This is nice!” She said, leaning back beside him, watching his reactions carefully. “You forget how dark it is inside buildings until you go out into the sunshine.”

They shared a serene sort of silence. Clara started to wish she’d brought a book with her, something to take his worried mind off things. Zim was looking around and was picking up on everything. This fresh air was the best he’d had all month. Always he seemed to stoop and shrivel beneath the weight of his own shadow, so it was good to see him sit up a little more and become alert to things he’d usually ignore. But. He was still frightened of pain. She could see it on his face.

A butterfly circled them, gliding on a lofty warm breeze. But when a bluebottle landed on Zim’s shoulder, she grew angry, and flicked it off him. He smelt of medicine, antiseptic and fresh linen, but beneath it all there was still the cloying smell of illness.

The moment of serenity seemed to leave him most suddenly, as if a cold wind had blown into his soul. He looked down, and his right antenna stopped picking up the slightest feather-sound of butterflies.

“Zim? Hey? Are you cold? Should I bring you back inside?” But she knew the depression would follow him there too.

He said nothing; just stared at the grass below his dangling little boots.

She knew to watch him for any signs of a seizure. The Irken hadn’t shown any such signs, not to her, and she hoped never to witness it. If they always started with a nosebleed, it gave them forewarning before he went down.

“Dib’s on his way I promise.” He was always the cure to Zim’s gloom. He’d bring a deck of cards, and they’d play games on the bed. “Hey,” she began, hatching an idea, “how about we collect flowers? Whoever gathers the most, wins!” It was so lame really, anybody would see straight through her attempts, but Zim’s unfocused gaze began to clear.

She got off the bench, and he slid down, following with more caution in his step. The tall grass was a little bit difficult for him to navigate, his right antenna bobbing with every step. When it looked like he would fall she scooped his hand in hers and kept him balanced. But there was more determination in his step than there had been in the lab. Out here there were no bars for him to look upon: no reminders that he was in a cage. The gloom of it had filled his eyes: the cage was now inside.

But out here his eyes seemed to drink in the light. The blue of Earth’s sky was something he appreciated. No longer was he slouching with a dismal frown crowning his sadness.

Slipping out of her hand, he limped to a thick glen of grass where he had a choice of flowers. He gave them a brief look of intensity, his militarism always shining through. Then he stooped and picked out a daisy. He seemed unusually hesitant to pluck it from its long stem. Dib often said that Zim was a destroyer, and cared not for what he smashed and ruined.

His claws snapped the stem, and he lifted it up, gazing at its white petals.

“That’s a daisy.” She told him. “Many people see them as weeds, but I’ve always liked daises. I used to make a chain out of them for a necklace when I was little.”

He baulked, as if he found the idea ridiculous, and stared at the daisy as if he could see where the Velcro was hiding. She laughed, hoping he wouldn’t take offence. He did cock his head at her, and look dismayed, as if he was trying to suss mockery, but then he gave her a relaxed, happier look. “Don’t you have a better use for your t-time?” He asked.

“I can make one for you.”

He looked back at the flower, suddenly crestfallen.

She didn’t want him to think that he had lost a part of himself just because he’d lost parts of the machine on his back.

Don’t let the PAK define you, Zim. You define the PAK, not the other way around.

His raucous coughing cut short the moment, and dark fright was in his eyes again.

“It’s okay. I’m here.” She rubbed his shoulder, giving him time and reassurance. He was frightened of pain and how it made him feel.

He kept hold of the daisy, passing it to her, as if silently asking her to make something out of it.

Clara stooped and plucked a red tulip. When Zim reached for a big purple thing bristling in barbs, she gently pushed his hand away. “That’s a thistle, honey. Leave it be.”

“Why are these things so different?”

“Well, they are different types, for different purposes.”

And that’s when he found it. It was growing in shadow and under the ivy clasping the rightwing of the building. It was as beautiful as he. He crouched low, looking at it in something that might have been wonder.

It was a rose so dark that it looked like it had been stained in blood. He went to touch it, hold it maybe, or pull it up, and he suddenly shied back, jabbing his claw into his mouth. A green droplet of blood hung from one of its thorns.

“That’s a rose, Zim.”

“A r-rose?” He asked, looking up at her. He took his claw out of his mouth and inspected the prick.

“They’re beautiful, but they have thorns.”

“W-Why?”

“To protect themselves. Not all flowers are defenceless.”

He looked for more roses but there was only the one. It stood, as if defiant: alone, but vibrant even as it existed in shadow. It looked parts fragile, its delicate petals all blood-red silk, but its thorns could not be mistaken.

Zim sat back, admiring it. She thought he might try and snap it from the stem in the ground, but he did not. Clara watched, thinking he was so like a rose, slender and graceful, but prickly beneath.

“It grows from dirt.” He summarised, as if this was what confused him.

“It does. All things grow from it.”

“So how can this thing be so...?”

“Beautiful?”

He grunted.

She pushed his boundaries again by squeezing a comforting hand on his birdlike shoulder. He gave that childish look of trust. One day she hoped he’d look at her in the same way he looked at Dib.

“The Earth can grow and nurture beautiful and delicate things that are found nowhere else in the universe.”

He pouted, finding her claim hard to believe when he’d seen that universe, however partial. But he could not deny her either. In all his travels, he had never found something as beautiful as a rose.

He went to reach for it, and drew away again.

Dib had explained to her that he had meant to hand this planet over to his leaders. Failure meant execution or exile. It helped to explain the weight he seemed to carry.

She could see it on his face that he was struggling to accept the beauty in front of him, but he was seeing it.

“But they grow f-from dirt.” He insisted. “How do they do that? What’s in the dirt? What’s so special about it?”

“Earth’s soil is fertile, and it has all the minerals in it that plants need to grow.” She supposed that even if she took the trouble of drawing him up a chart with diagrams to help explain it, he still wouldn’t get it.

His mouth set stubbornly, wanting to understand, yet disbelieving how anything could be that simple.

He had a childish wonder, but also an insistent need to understand and uncomplicate things, even when things were perfectly okay to let wonders be.

He stood up, and precariously wobbled a moment before he chose to leave the rose perfectly where it was. He went back to picking other flowers, and always so daintily did he take from the stem in strange reluctance.

Soon he had a little bouquet of many different things; a clump of jasmine, a dandelion, buttercups, lavender, bluebells and tulips. He was attracted to all things colourful, and the unkempt garden was quite full of these treasures, but it was the deadly rose he liked most of all.

A little while later he sat warming himself in a patch of sunshine on her lap with his eyes closed as she worked at lacing daises together. He had been attracted by the magic of watching her weave daises at first, but he’d soon grown tired.

With half a daisy chain complete, she soon heard someone calling. The Irken’s antenna jerked and then rose higher, his eyes cracking open.

“Hey you two!” Dib’s boyish and cheery voice called to them across the grounds.

Zim looked round immediately, and sunshine filled his eyes. “Dib!” He called back in his broken voice.

“Been looking all over for you guys!” He returned, shaking his head as he plodded across the grass, hands in his pockets. “Dad said you were mooching out in the garden.”

“We’ve been enjoying the sunshine.” Clara said with a smile.

Dib noticed their collection of flowers, and the tidy string of daises his fiancée was making. “What have you two been doing?”

“Picking flowers.” Zim piped up.

The human sat next to him. “The space boy has been picking flowers?”

“Hey, don’t tease him.” Clara defended in all seriousness. “We’ve been enjoying it.”

Dib chuckled and rubbed the little guy’s shoulder. “Uh huh. And how’s my favourite alien today? Not got the blues, I hope?”

“I’m green.” Zim said in stupid innocence.

Clara said as she joined the last daisy. “Here you are. A daisy chain of your own!”

She lowered the white ring of daises around his neck. He straightened a tad and touched them with a claw. “Thank you!” He said. “Gir made daisy chains. But I... I never....”

“Maybe you should have made him a crown, Clara.” Dib joked to dispel Zim’s moroseness, “It might have suited him better.”

They walked back to the building. Zim looked over Dib’s shoulder and watched as the rose grew smaller and smaller until it became a speck of red under dark pools of shadow.

Scene: Zim’s second night with his humans at home

Surviving this unfamiliar dystopia exhausted him.

He pushed the door open, expecting to see that silly bathtub for dolls filled to the brim, and found it hard to hide the dismay opening on his countenance when he saw her sitting, waiting there by a basin of hot bubbly water. Stacked close by were soft fluffy towels, and placed by her knees was one of those water-proof mats that was large enough for him to lay on. She was dipping her hand into the bubbly water, testing its temperature.

Clara looked over at him, her eyes impossible to read. She smiled, trying as she was to appear reassuring, and he hoped the expression was as genuine as her intentions.

“Whenever you’re ready Zim, you can take off your robe.”

But he wasn’t ready.

He stood rooted like a statue as he held the opening of the purple robe tightly to his chest. He felt the cool of his nakedness under there, and the uninviting chill beyond the cocooning fabric. Why couldn’t she just leave him be?

“Zim?” Her question made his right antenna ring. “Are you okay?”

He shook his head, hardly believing he was suffering human help and kindness he was still so afraid to trust in. He’d believed that if he kept moving, if he kept going forwards, he’d be unstoppable. Now he could not move for fear of pain.

He clung on to whatever he could when defeat had him sink to the deepest depths. Looking back, even slightly, filled him with horror, but a glimpse that way also revealed what he had overcome.

Clara maintained her smile despite his stony silences. “It’s okay, Zim. I won’t bite.”

Zim peered over at the bubbly water in the bowl. He’d suffered their sponge-baths over the weeks, and not once did the water sting or burn him. The sight of it however still filled him with the instinctive distrust of it: being on Earth had stamped many fears and uncertainties into his heart, and he was not familiar with what was safe and what wasn’t without the sanctions of his computer.

“Here. Let me.” Clara walked over, knelt down by his indisposed form and slipped off the long and soft purple robe. His eyes took on a frightened, miserable cast, as if being naked opened up new ways of being disgraceful. It didn’t matter how many times he was stripped and then clothed again; whenever he was bare before them, self-loathing and shame crowded the colour in his eyes.

He tried to hide himself behind skinny arms and skinny claws.

Hands touched his shoulders. He tensed, emitting a squeaky growl.

Her gentleness was unreal. Every time she touched him, his defences rose to the rafters, expecting something malignant beneath her contact. Life was hard edges, mistrusts, hate and pain. Without Membrane’s protection, he was adamant that Clara would change from her superficial gentleness into something else.

She guided him over to the water-proof mat. “Sit on the mat, honey, and relax.”

He gave her that sharp, assertive look, and she knelt beside him, waiting, showing infallible patience. Her smile was fading at the edges, her eyes more confused than anything.

“Leave m-me.” Please. “I d-don’t n-need y-your h-help.”

“Being stubborn isn’t going to help you, Zim. And just because you’ve left the lab doesn’t automatically mean you’re out of the woods. You are still convalescing. Now, are you going to argue, or are you going to sit down?”

His eyes shifted to the mat, and back to her.

Fighting her, he could see, was going to get him nowhere.

Stiffly, he sat down, making sure to keep his bony legs over his crotch area.

“After we get you clean and snuggled up, I’ll make you some soup. How does that sound?” He nervously watched as she dunked the sponge into the bubbly water. She lifted it up and he instinctively tensed, eyes screwing shut, fists clamped. “You carry so much tension in your shoulders.” He felt her knead the sponge into his back under the PAK’s mantle. He’d expected the water to be tepid, but the sudden heat of it was a wonderful surprise. Then she worked the sponge into and around his neck. The moan came out before he could stop it in time.

This is really... really nice...

There was little use resisting the flexes of his right antenna. As a cat communicated joy through its ears or tail, he did the same thing with his antenna.

Her eyes were looking him over as she cleaned him, checking for any new bruises or marks that would indicate bedsores or signs of self-harm.

Though he was not answering, she chatted away with the same attention and care. “Is there anything you want to work on first? Or what you’ll want to build?”

“Se-security.” He choked.

“You don’t need to tackle everything at once. You’ll still get it all done, Zim. Just enjoy the day as well.”

He began to lean a little more into the sponge-massages, eyes lowering from the soporific heat. The sponge-baths were usually brisk and quick affairs so that they didn’t exact too much energy from him and so that he didn’t get too cold.

She threw a towel over his shoulders and proceeded to massage him dry.

Zim had to secretly admit that they were providing a damn good service even if their help was still making him tense with shame, but for a moment he allowed himself the comfort.

She was careful with him as he was mostly all bone, with little to no insulation protecting his organs.

Clara had fresh nightwear ready just an arm length away. He woodenly replied, stretching out each arm as best he could, and felt the fluffy soft material cloak his littleness. He knew he would sweat through this too, and he sighed.

“There. That’ll soothe those shivers away.”

How did she never find this strange? Perhaps in the lab there had been a sense of displacement, of surrealism when you had a fantastical scientist hurrying about with his fanatical machines and caring for an exotic otherworldly creature, but here, in an ordinary house, she acted as though she was looking after someone she had known for a long time. He tried to see past her affections, her warmth to spy the truth. But he could never find anything other than her sincerity.

“You wanna go for some homemade soup?”

They were always propelling food his way. “Not r-really hungry.”

“That’s okay, just manage what you can.” She picked up the basin and sluiced the used water down the big human-sized bathtub’s plughole. Seeing that as his cue, he woozily climbed to his feet. The floor tilted just a little before righting itself again, but the fleck of dizzying colours took longer to leave his vision.

She noticed. She came over, knelt down and wrapped an arm around him. “Do you feel okay, honey?”

The question was so very simple, and yet it entailed too much.

Zim only leaned into her, tired and dizzy. His lower legs were shaky. He had been dependent on his self-sufficient self-healing PAK - and he had never needed to give pause and regard his injuries – only to ever see them as novel and irrelevant inconveniences.

Living in this mortal hell without this reliability made him that much more careful and that much more timid. Every little bit of pain was much more terrifying and much more intimate.

They told him that he’d get stronger, with time. He didn’t believe them.

“Let me take you to bed, Zim. It’s no trouble.” Her arms went around him. He fetched a set of claws into the fabric of her cardigan to hold on when she spooned him into her arms. Her hold was secure, and there was never a moment where he felt she might drop him, but for insecurity’s sake he held on anyway.

She carried him back into his softly lit bedroom. The nightlight was painting the ceiling with dappling colour. When she set him down on the bed, she immediately bundled up his legs and torso, and shored up the pillows so that he could lean against them. He had long stopped stiffening or shrinking away whenever she went near or touched his PAK.

“I’m going to heat up your supper. You snuggle down and rest.”

“Cl-Clara h-human?” His choke was filled with what sounded like water.

“Yes, honey?”

“Can I h-have something to d-drink?”

“Of course. Do you have anything in mind?”

He shook his head.

“That’s okay, I’ll get you something.”

His wrinkled fuchsia eyes were drawn to her with a heavy intensity.

“Zim. Everything will be okay. Just remember that we’re here to support you, and protect you. This isn’t a limited affair. This is for life.” She reached out, and stroked his cheek. His fear cooled: sliding away like shadows after the lights had been turned on.

When she left, he sat, cupping the blanket to his chest. He sipped in breath, gladdened when there was no wall of pain. Lying down all night made the coughing worse and he had scrunched up, hacking and spluttering until he was coughing up blood. Now he was breathing easy – and the scary event seemed far, far away.

He waited for her to return, looking for her company. Being alone wasn’t quite as welcoming as it used to be, so he tried to hide the smile when she returned with a little tray of food.

“Just manage what you can, honey.” She set the food on the bed tray after positioning it over his lap. Though hardly hungry, his spooch grumbled.

He reached for the cup of honeyed milk, and he slurped it down, his thirst seemingly increasing with every gulp. Before he had scarcely begun, she was prying the cup out of his little claws. “Not so fast, Zim! You can have some more in a little while. Wait for that to go down first.”

“Who d-do you t-think y-you a-are?” He rasped.

She frowned at him, as if she had hoped their relationship wouldn’t backtrack like this, and that she might be spared his anger. “The voice of reason. Be my guest if you want to vomit down your nice new clothes and bed sheets.”

A dangerous glitter intensified in his eyes as he looked up at her, stupefied by her sudden sharpness. She didn’t back down. His right antenna bobbed up and down, and the querulous fire in his eyes dissipated. “You su-sure are bossy.”

“Well, someone’s got to look after you. We both know you’re terrible at it.” She said with more kindness. “You can bark at me all you like, but I’ve got a job to do, and nothing you say or do will stop me from doing it.”

That made him cock his head slightly, expression softening.

“Now try some soup. It isn’t all that bad.”

“D-don’t stand there – w-watching me.” He grunted.

She couldn’t help but shake her head, smiling at his stubbornness. “All right, all right. Just don’t forget to use your napkin.”

He gave her a long look to make sure she was leaving him in peace before he lifted up a spoon and dipped it into the soup.

Scene: getting some private time

“Zim, stop messing with the power! For five minutes!” He leant back in his desk chair, waiting for any affirmation, but it would be a miracle if the Irken had even heard. Blowing out breath, he returned to the computer and continued typing up a few measly sentences for his loosely constructed CV. He had poured over the keyboard most of the day, lost for words, and distracted by noises from a construction of a different sort. They had given up trying to stop the former soldier from ‘improving’ the house, learning quickly that there could be nothing that would stop an Irken’s wilfulness.

Clara was waiting upstairs. ‘Just a few more minutes’ he had said to her.

Dib stared at what he had painstakingly written. The skills and experience he could list all day; it was the passion that was so hard to put into words.

Just as he was about to save his work, the power died, the house fell into darkness, and so did his computer screen. “Zim!”

The power came on within seconds, the house bursting back into life. Muttering and cursing, he found Zim connecting the fuse box down in the basement with a handheld construct of his own, mostly alien in design, but made with a lot of used parts he had cobbled together.

He needed two seconds of the Irken not-getting-into-trouble or throwing the house into some sort of mode while he spent time with Clara. The lost work on his CV would have to be forgotten.

“This primitive homestead of yours is inefficient in every way.” Zim was saying before Dib had got a word in. “It’ll be months before I can get this place in working order. You just let things fall apart around you, don’t you Dib stink?” One eyelid curled down, his look sly.

Dib ran a hand across his face before sobering up and putting on his best smile. “Look, urm... there’s this really good cartoon on. You gotta see it!”

Zim hardly looked interested. “Recess can wait.”

“But it’s a special episode!”

“Then record it!”

“But...” He was running out of options. Fast. “I have no one to watch it with. Clara’s just not interested...”

Zim looked once at his handheld circuit board before reluctantly setting it down, “Very well, human, if my presence is that desperately required.”

“Good!” He put his hands on Zim’s skinny shoulders and practically steered him all the way to the lounge, the squeak coming from the heels of the Irken’s loafers dragging along the floor.

Switching on the TV, he flicked through the channels, hoping that there would be something to save him. Zim sat on the sofa using the stepping stool. “It had better be a short episode of whatever this... thing is. Work doesn’t get done by itself you know.”

“Ah here it is!” Dib said sheepishly, turning to give him a weak smile. It was a cartoon of a blue hedgehog. “Trust me! You’ll enjoy it. It gets really good!”

“It had better.”

With no time wasted, Dib flew up the stairs.

Clara sat up in bed, looking frustrated. “What took you so long?”

“Sorry! Urm, work, and Irkens.”

Before long the bed was squeaking against the wall. Zim came up less than ten minutes later, and Dib and Clara had to disengage in a tangle of limbs while he looked in on them from the doorway, holding the Gir doll. “W-What are you doing?” He croakily chirped from the doorway, eyes impossibly wide. “You’re b-both so...sweaty and noisy!”

Scene: Holograms

He left the kitchen, but returned minutes later with his laptop and electronic tablet. With the kitchen curtains drawn to dim the light, he had a number of devices laid out on the table, and when Clara came in to join them, she was impressed to see a hologram pouring out of the computer screen.

In his element, Zim drew up more schematics as easily as laying down paper and more holograms appeared. It was reflected in Dib’s glasses as he studied the projections. Clara could make neither heads nor tails of it as she stood watching them. The holograms showed vast columns of numbers, and everything that was written were in strange symbols, like runes. And accompanying these alien hieroglyphs were diagrams of a machine.

Even Dib wasn’t sitting pretty on the same page. Zim was aloof in his plans and his approaches, and even had an ingrained habit of keeping Clara and Dib at a distance as if he still had trouble trusting them. Zim had done things by himself all his life, and sharing that control wasn’t an easy thing for him.

The alien scarcely looked their way. Strips of code glowed in his bright fuchsia eyes. It was good to have him focused on something. Though he always worked there was a certain distraction in his efforts and in his focus. Now he sat with his back straight, his shoulders firm and his chin raised as he sought key coding in the stratum of alien mumbo-jumbo.

Dib forced the panic from his voice. “Is this for recreational fun, or is it for something else?”

Zim registered the English word ‘fun’ even if he did not know exactly what it meant. That word went into the same ambiguous category of words he struggled to understand the meanings to; such as sex, happiness, human humour and babies.

Dib went under the scrutiny of another long cold look.

“Earth needs protecting...” The aged Elite paused, finding the answer hard to dig up and reveal as if he had crushed it down there, inside, for so long that it was now hard to find and hard to pull it out. “Membrane will take measures to protect this dirt ball by following my instructions.”

Dib kept staring. ��Did I just hear you right?”

“Oh s-shut up and stop with your g-gloating!” He snapped, rubbing at the side of his head, both eyes wincing as if working with his protégé was a real headache. After a moment he raised his stylus and drew dots and lines on a hologram that painted them in pink. Clara couldn’t stop staring as Zim drew magical lines into a magical screen. He did not seem to mind his audience, perhaps because he was expecting them to not understand a single thing he was doing.

Zim flicked a hand, and the screen’s current information and jungle of symbols was replaced by weapon blueprints. They stood tall and leaned slightly forwards like masts. “Earth is a backwater planet full of toxicity. It’s hardly worth much, but it’s still up for conquest, as is this pithy little solar system it’s in. The Earth’s sun would make a great source of fuel. It’s how energy cores are made. My Tallest may take an interest.”

When he next looked to Dib and Clara, there was relief in his eyes.

For so long he had never belonged anywhere.

Zim looked again to the hologram. He flicked his wrist, and the jumble of symbols magically metamorphed into English. “Your Membrane will build these anti-ship turrets once I provide him with the design. Their range will blanket the planet and that of your horrible star, keeping you filthy critters safe.”

Dib stood there, taking it in. He hadn’t thought of the Armada paying a visit someday. It was unlikely, but it had obviously been on Zim’s mind.

Since when had this snarling alien pulled his talents, energy and recourses into DEFENDING something?

The Irken smiled. “Wouldn’t it be funny if all they ever did was blow asteroids to little itty bitty bits? The planet’s measly existence would continue to persist until that awful sun of yours finally implodes. Humans. Thriving for evermore. Now that disgusts me.”

Dib was about to speak; to begin verbalizing his shock and disbelief when Zim again flicked his wrist and the screen swapped out weapon blueprints for the ship’s coding. He pressed some infinitesimal transparent button on this transparent screen and a 3D image of Tak’s ship popped into existence. Dib’s heart fell heavy and it fell hard.

Zim’s plans were never that humanly plain. He was clever, and he also liked to keep his real thoughts and real plans close to his chest. He never usually did something unless he reaped the benefits, and he was a sneaky little guy. Not that Dib suspected him of doing anything underhanded with the ship.

Zim. You can’t fly. What do you intend to do?

Just nod and smile at him. Creative outlet and all that, yes dad I remember. This had better not bite me in the ass.

Using a stylus, Zim reached up, and traced a line around the front of the vessel.

“Ooh, that’s pretty. What does that do?” Clara pointed at something that almost looked like a metal flower of alien grotesquery. It spun slowly in the hologram, looking like some hellish rose. It was probably the main core engine, with all its tapering pipes and elements.

Zim, bathed in pink from the screens, gave her an amused, beady look, and quite happily and croakily bragged about core drives, their compounds, auxiliary turbines, a feln guard, plasma charging cells, a hubbard, and so on. Clara looked bewildered in under three seconds of his wistful explaining.

There was no mistaking the fact that this little bastard loved attention. If he so much as looked at Clara the right way, she’d pick him up and cuddle him.

“Hang on a second. What’s this thing back here?” Dib pointed at the hologram of the fuselage. “We could move that, and expand the cockpit.”

“That shouldn’t go there.” Zim’s voice was dusky and small. His hooded eyes could barely stay open but he always led the debate. If anything, Dib was the one trying to keep up with him.

“Why not?” Dib leaned back slightly. He wasn’t a complete novice when it came to repairing and redesigning machines. Irken technology was a huge leap in science and brains, but he was more or less knowledgeable on the parts, and where the power had to go. Yes, connecting it all, and hoping they’d be no leaks would be a bitch. Working with plasma would be a lot different than say, oil or fossil fuels. Zim knew how to make more plasma, and he apparently knew how to recharge the cells in the ship too. Usually a ship worked for centuries with just a power core, but Tak’s power core was too badly damaged to be used. And a damaged core was a dangerous core.

“The ship will explode, that’s why.”

“Zim. I know how to build a ship.”

“No you don’t! You don’t know anything about anything!”

Clara disappeared to make some iced tea for them, and when she returned with a tray loaded with drinks she said, “Don’t forget that Gaz is coming later.”

The very name made Zim’s antenna drop.

It wasn’t like she didn’t know him. Their paths had interwoven with Dib at the centre. She was just like any other enemy he’d had to contend with, except that she could outwit him in one breath, and leave him and his ship battered and smoking. He’d done everything to avoid her since he’d put Dib in a hospital bed – of which he’d done quite a few times. Maybe she’d be okay with his – state – and situation. Or maybe she’d barrel past Dib and Clara and hang him on the wall.

“Let’s not.” Zim said openly, carefully watching their reactions.

“She’s family, Zim. She’s got to come.” Dib patted him on the shoulder. “It’ll be fine.”

He had decided there and then that he would retreat to his room, barricade the door, and fashion a weapon from bits and pieces if he had to.

#just scrappy bits and stuff #invaderzim #saving zim #dib07 #lost scenes #there is more of this rubbish #Epilogue moments

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sketchdrawsstuff · 4 years

Text

Moments and Minecraft (ZaDr drabble)

“No you have to jump- oh my god jump, Zim! Not in the ravine- and now you’re dead, good fucking job.”

“Stupid, useless piece of earth dirt technology-”

“Aren’t you supposed to be advanced?”

“BE‌ SILENT Dib-pig! How DARE you insult ZIM with you- your blocky nonsense-craft game!”

If it weren’t for how hard the little alien was clutching Gaz’s controller in his hand, Dib would have found his little hissy fit amusing. Instead the teen stared and ultimately ignored the mixed curses in Irken that poured endlessly from Zim’s mouth. Slowly, he drew his gaze back to the TV where the words ‘YOU‌ DIED’ were printed, and underneath them sat ‘Zim fell from a high place’.

It had taken a whole hour just to teach Zim how to play, and even then by the time they switched the game to survival mode the invader had managed to die more times than Dib could keep count of. Of course, the teen taunted and mocked Zim endlessly for it.

Now, Zim was currently strangling one of the couch pillows in his frustration, claws starching at the cloth and, for a moment, Dib worried about the scolding he would get if the other actually tore it. Still, it was better to face a light reprimand from his father than deal with the inescapable doom that would await him if Zim ended up breaking, scratching, or so much as leaving a single mark on any of Gaz’s controllers. Dib had no doubt that his sister would drag both their asses into a grave if they were even lightly damaged.

“Don’t get upset when you were the one who decided to jump into the ravine.” Dib chided, irritable after having endured the Irken’s non-stop whining.

“Zim did not decide to do anything.” The invader hissed, stopping his pillow-beating just as quickly as he’d begun. “It was your stupid game!”

“Zim, it isn’t fucking sentient. Maybe if you listened to me for once you wouldn’t die over and over.” Dib rubbed his temples in exasperation.

“LIES.”

For once, the human boy didn’t bother with a response. They had been doing this long enough for him to abandon all hope of trying to even imply that the ‘almighty Zim’ had done anything wrong. Sometimes, Dib wondered if this is what babysitting was like.

Still, he never denied Zim when the Irken followed him home after skool. He never protested as they walked together, chatting over their endeavors in class, at lunch, and over whatever stupid assignments they had been given that week. Dib didn’t protest when they approached his home and Zim just walked inside after him, bags discarded at the door and immediately snagging their spots on the couch to watch old Mysterious Mysteries reruns or play video games.

This time, they had gone for the latter. Now Dib was seriously regretting his ‘brilliant’ idea to try to teach him how to play Minecraft. The game was old, having been buried in the back of the TV shelf under numerous other games and simply collecting dust. He hadn’t played it in years, and the version was outdated, but Dib had figured that there was no harm in trying something new.

He should have known that it would come back to bite him in the ass.

They really should have just stuck to doing homework instead, but Dib had wanted to relax. He had wanted to enjoy the time they had to lounge on the couch and play games to their hearts content while Gaz was over at one of her friend’s house. Again, Dib should have known better.

At least they had been getting along, and by getting along he meant they hadn’t resorted to throwing punches quite yet.

All things considered, Dib was almost impressed with how calm things had been. Sure they had gotten on each other’s nerves enough to leave them both frustrated, but that wasn’t so out of the ordinary. What was out of the ordinary, however, was the way that Zim sat back and crossed his arms over his chest.

The teen blinked, surprised that the alien had stopped yelling so quickly. That was definitely a new record.

“Whatever,” The other hissed through clenched teeth, but otherwise remained civil. “Zim does not need your silly game of craft. It is barbaric, anyway.”

“Wha- how is Minecraft barbaric? And don’t you think that’s a bit hypocritical coming from the world conquering alien??”

Zim was up and standing on the couch cushions in an instant. He was glaring holes into Dib’s head, magenta eyes hidden behind fake lenses, though the teen could still feel their intensity. “Your craft game is stupid, just like everything on this miserable dirt planet!” He declared, like he hadn’t been so determined to play said game just ten minutes ago. The Irken had practically forced Dib to teach him to play once the human brought it up. Dib rolled his eyes, and Zim continued.

“Zim has no need for your games. I am just gathering information on your primitive earth technology-”

“You asked me to teach you to play-”

“-soon Zim will hand you to your BLOCKY ‌DOOM!”

Unimpressed, Dib grabbed the nearest pillow and threw it at Zim’s face. The Irken let out a shriek and fell back onto the couch rather dramatically, screaming the entire time. “HOW‌ DARE‌ YOU‌ DAMAGE ZIM!”

A slow grin was already inching its way across Dib’s lips. He reached over and grabbed the pillow off the floor. “It was a fucking pillow, you baby.” He mocked, and the second that Zim sat up Dib smacked him in the face again.

Zim let out another scream, and Dib was laughing up until he was yanked down by small hands that had grabbed onto his shirt collar. He barely managed a squeak before he was thrown to the floor and a weight settled on his chest. Zim’s grip was tight, both hands fisting the collar of his shirt and yanking it close so that the teen was forced to crane his neck up uncomfortably, face level with the alien’s.

Zim’s wig was crooked on his head, face contorted in anger and his thin lips curled back into a snarl. “STUPID, stinking human pig! How DARE you!?” He slammed Dib’s head back, and suddenly the teen was glad that they were on the carpet. Still, it hurt, and his head pounded from the force of his skull hitting the floor.

“You wouldn’t shut up!” Dib countered, and his argument was weak, but he couldn’t have cared less. “You’re the one getting upset over a stupid game!”

“It is stupid.” Zim was still glaring, but at least he’d stopped man-handling Dib. “This is a waste of Zim’s valuable time.” He sniffed, and in an instant the weight that had sat on Dib’s chest was gone. Zim stood and took a moment to readjust his wig while the human peeled himself off the floor.

Dib frowned. “Oh come on. Just…..fuck, Zim, sit down.” He slowly stood and brushed some imaginary dirt off his jeans.

Zim didn’t sit, but he didn’t leave either.

The teen stared at the Irken, watched how Zim stood with his arms crossed, foot tapping against the carpet and a steely glare pinned to the far wall. Dib ground his teeth, and dammit if he didn’t feel like he was babysitting a fucking two year old.

Dib sighed.

“……Wanna watch something? I think I have some Mysterious Mysteries episodes still recorded.” Dib tried, and for a moment he worried that Zim might actually leave. Eventually, and after a few moments of tense silence, Zim moved from his spot. The Irken walked right back over to the couch and sat down in his previous spot, arms still crossed but a bit of the tension draining from his shoulders.

“….there had better be the Bigfeets episode.”

Dib let out a breath he hadn’t known he was holding and resumed his spot on the couch. He took the remote and smiled to himself as he shut off the game and switched to the main television. “There is the Bigfeets episode.” He repeated in confirmation.

Soon enough the promised episode was on, and Dib found himself sitting back. He was pleasantly surprised when Zim did the same, both their gazes pinned on the screen and an almost calm silence falling over them, save for the sound of the TV.

So maybe they had ended up sort of fighting, but Dib thought that it was better than the alternative. If ever asked both of them would deny that they were anything even close to friends, but even Dib had to admit that, other than Zim, he didn’t really have anyone else. No one else would walk home from skool with him and talk about homework and his theories, his paranormal studies, anything he actually cared about. Maybe that didn’t mean that Zim necessarily cared, but the Irken always listened to him.

To Dib, that was worth a bit of irritation and some extra bruises because, whether he would admit it or not, he wouldn’t give up moments like these for the world. The teen smiled, small, but there, and his eyes darted over to catch a glimpse of Zim’s expression. Dib was surprised to find that the alien was staring at him directly. He looked confused, a mixture of curious and….not quite understanding of why Dib would be smiling. It wasn’t like his usual smiles, the wide, idiotic grins the human sported whenever they watched his favorite show. This was much…..nicer. Zim had only a moment to scowl at his own thoughts, face heating up and immediately looking away.

Dib blinked, confused, but he said nothing.

“Your smile is ugly. It almost compliments your absolutely massive head.”

Dib stared for a moment, and then he frowned. Okay, so maybe Zim would always be an asshole. Somehow, the teen had grown used to it through the years they had spent bickering. Really, it was just Zim, and despite the fact that Dib thought the Irken was the most irritating being on the planet (and he wasn’t even human), he couldn’t imagine being without him.

“Shut the fuck up, Space-boy.”

Zim didn’t respond, and silence washed over them again. Dib didn’t bother to mention how their shoulders touched through the rest of the episode, or how he thought that Zim looked rather cute when he blushed.

~Fin

#unedited #zadr #invader zim #zadf #drabble #i did this at 3am

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shadowofthelamp · 3 years

Text

Year in Review: Writing

So, I can’t do the ‘year in review’ for art because... yeah, I didn’t really draw that much this year. So I decided to trawl through my writing tag for one favorite piece per month, and a pulled few paragraphs from each! Basically everything here is Zim except for the one tendershipping week thing, lmao, oops.

Some months had slim pickings but I still do like every one of these and it was a nice reflection.

January: Arrival

Her skin was tinted a sickly green, more like decomposing flesh than irken or human. Dib swallowed, but her breathing seemed to be even when he placed a hand to her kind of chubby chest, so that was probably just how their skin colors mixed, right? Besides, the lighting in the lab was always weird. Her mouth was gummy with no teeth yet, but her vocal cords were functioning perfectly. He was going to need hearing aids by his twenties, between her and Zim.

She had four fingers and three toes, which he kind of expected, as well as a nose but no ears. That made sense, if she had antennae, but it was still strange to run his fingers along the sides of her head and just feel smooth skin.

Her eyes… they were Zim’s through and through, deep ruby with the color filling the sclera. Did irkens even have sclera if they only had one color? Under the lab’s lights and mixed with the way everything on her slightly shimmered from the sticky goo she'd been coated in, she was like a section of space stolen into the little room and it took his breath away. The water blurring his vision didn’t help as he wiped it away with his sleeve, shifting her to one arm. She was so small...

__________

February: WLOD Dib meets Twix, alt version

It’s fascinating, to see what could have gone right. The 1001 here had gangly, underdeveloped limbs, and wispy hair that never quite got clean from the showers. This version wasn’t fat or anything, but definitely had more meat on its bones.

He examined the goggles- peering through them, they altered its vision because they made the lab beyond the ‘glass’ blurry. Curious, very curious. He was about to pop the lens out when it began to stir, tugging at the metal restraints with a clatter.

_________

March: Zibvoid

He talked to himself.

He talked to Zim, who hadn’t said a word since he’d died, but maybe he was just giving him the silent treatment.

Round and round, the generator buzzed like a bee and a hospital and a bug zapper that would draw in prey like flies to a web, except he was the spider now and the Zims were the moths.

Dib. Dib Dib Dib Dib Zim Dibdibdibdibzimdibdibzimdib. The names popped off his tongue as he rolled them both in his mouth, over and over until they didn’t seem like names at all anymore.

__________

April: Sturdy Branches (I know the date’s different on ao3 but it was first posted April)

Her dad is either singing or talking to himself as he vacuumed inside the house with a sway in his hips. At least you’re pretty sure it’s her dad? You haven’t seen a picture of him or anything, but he’s about the same age as your dad, so he’s too old to be a brother and too young to be a grandpa, and she hasn’t mentioned any uncles. A babysitter, maybe, but that doesn’t really make sense since Tulip isn’t home yet- ah!

She’s talking to someone as she turns the corner, bouncing her backpack. It’s lilac and circular, as well as covered in buttons. The Ranger helmet is in her backpack or still in her locker, but either way, she’s not wearing it anymore. She’s got the boots on, though. You adjust the binoculars a bit, but you aren’t good enough at lip-reading yet to tell what she’s saying. Whatever it is, it’s making the girl she’s talking to laugh. Maybe she’ll tell you tomorrow in class or at lunch if you pull her to sit at your table again. She has more friends at the middle table, but they don’t like sitting next to you after the beetle incident, and she doesn’t seem to mind. She always has a big smile when you start talking, and she’d say something if she didn’t like you, right? Pretty much everybody else does.

_________

May: Do Something For You (TD spoilers!)

Dib had never really thought ahead to having a family, but she was pretty much everything she’d want in one. She was an assistant and a partner, she was invested in the paranormal, she hated Zim- but on the other hand, she didn’t want him hurt? She seemed weirdly invested in making sure he didn’t get caught, actually. Eh, she’d hit him pretty hard, so it wasn’t like she was opposed to him getting his rightful dues for being an evil space monster.

It was relatively simple- she was just worried if he died then her timeline would be destabilized, which was a decent enough concern. Zim had to be important to his life for years to come, in one way or another. But whatever they were dealing with in the future, it had to be better with Zim out of the way earlier, right?

__________

June: Unnamed capture au drabble

“Why do you even give me these stupid scripts if you don’t like me doing them?” Dib folded his arms, kneading the ball in his palm. “Just get a robot or something.” He snorted. “I mean, it’d probably break, like half the stuff you touch.”

Zim’s hands curled into fists. “Take that back, you- you- worm!”

Dib quirked an eyebrow. “What, touched a nerve? When I was a kid, half the stuff you made broke, it’s just a fact. You only conquered Earth because this place is a trash heap and your garbage is slightly better than ours.” Over a year in Zim’s presence without too many galling injuries and a lifetime of not being able to keep his mouth shut made him bold. “Honestly, if I didn’t know better, I’d say you’re probably broken yoursel-” He was cut off with a Pak leg aimed directly at his throat, prodding in just deep enough to draw a drop of blood down the alien metal.

Zim’s eyes were narrowed, but something was watering on the edges, and Dib swallowed, adam’s apple bobbing just below the leg’s tip.

“Zim. Is. Not. Broken.”

___________

July: Laughter

Ryou couldn't stand the lights on one minute and then hated having them off the next. The shadows bled from the way the light reflected off the couch, how it seemed to devour the wall behind it, and he swore he could still hear the voice in his mind. (Was that himself? Had he started thinking of himself as a separate voice? It had been ages since he'd really been alone, even though anyone outside him would have wondered about the boy who talked to his reflection like it was an old friend.)

He wished he could talk to Ryou. Ryou who had seemed so pliable as a child but had proved entertaining, a match for the fire, (heh, fire, even though it wasn't that funny, in fact, it wasn't funny at all, but what did he have but jokes? it wasn't like he could cry anymore) who carved out rules for use of the body with gritted teeth and tugged at the rope of the Ring so hard it had chafed his neck. He'd respected him. From a soft child, he'd hardened and grown firm, grown powerful, grown to be worthy. What were the odds fate had given him a chance at the same time someone had handed a young Yugi the box with the Puzzle? A roll of the dice. (The Gods having a last laugh, perhaps..)

Ryou dug his nails into the wood of the desk so hard that it made crescents, tiny moons in the umber that dug splinters into his pale fingers. The little model of the Thief King sat, as he always did, half-hidden on his shelf behind the pieces of Zorc. He'd never bothered to glue the monster back together but felt oddly reluctant to just incinerate the figures and be done with them. Both of them. Either of them. Maybe he just didn't want to pretend it had never happened. (Maybe he was worried he'd forget, thoughts and memories swept away by the sands of time, trickling down the hourglass, minute by minute, day by day, as he aged the way the Spirit had never been allowed to.)

___________

August: New Mission

It had been a month.

Nebula Twix had survived. She’d had to be popped into the healing pod when she had an allergic reaction to the oatmeal Dib had tried to feed her when it had inflamed her spooch, and Gir had tried to eat her head the one second Zim’s back had been turned, and she made goo from both ends a lot, but otherwise, she was perfectly fine!

And with that, Zim had come to a crossroads. It seemed that he was, indeed, in this for the long heel. (He was pretty sure that was the phrase. Humans liked large feet and large boots, so it made sense.) He could either continue to keep her a secret, or he could pass on his success to the Tallests.

Creating slaves out of the species marked for invasion was pretty common- something like 85% of invaders did it. But creating hybrids? That number was much lower. (Besides, they were usually disposed of as soon as the invasion was complete.) And irkens having those hybrids from their own bodies, and not just mixing them out of genetic slurry and quickly aging them up in time-fields? Almost completely unheard of. Zim was the pioneer in that area.

Also, having smeets from one’s body may have been a tad illegal, considering how hard it had been to find good information and judging from the fact that all irkens found to do it were brought in for experimentation. But no matter! Zim was nothing if not very, very good at things few other irkens dared to do, ready to drive the Empire forward by any means possible. They would have to appreciate that!

__________

September: Twix finds out she’s pregnant

Secondary life-form detected, the chamber chimed.

“Oh, gross, I’ve got a tapeworm? Well, flush it out.” Twix rolled her eyes, going back to the computer.

Lifeform has elements of Pak user.

Her finger froze on the ‘b’ key. “It… what? Analyze species origin.”

The chamber hummed around Twix as sweat dripped down the skin of her neck. There was a tiny 'ding!’ like a kitchen timer.

Lifeform is too underdeveloped to make more than approximations, but is roughly 25% irken and 75% Dominant Earth Species.

Her scream rattled the walls.

__________

October: Best-Laid Plans

“Of course, Number One.” Two turned his head slightly, and Dib jolted- he hadn’t directly commanded him to do that. “Your plan is perfect.” He blinked slowly- much slower than most Zims. Most Zims were utterly manic, back and forth and back and forth, loud and brutal and dangerous, but Two- Two had always worshiped him. Maybe even more than the rest. It had been nice, to be admired so heavily. Two had adored the personal attention when he was turned into an errand boy.

Dib might miss him.

He shook that thought out of his head, gripping both sides of Two’s face with his index finger and thumb, nails (not claws, they weren’t claws) digging into the cheeks.

“You belong to me.” Two didn’t respond, and Dib dug in a little further. Irken skin was thicker than a human’s, with a single drop of pink blood oozing over Dib’s fingernail and leaving a barely-perceptible damp trail. “Respond. Who do you belong to?”

“I belong to you, Number One.”

___________

November: Desperation (warning if you click through for impalement)

Dib’s lips were on Zim’s before he even knew what he was doing. “You’re not dying on me, you little bastard,” he hissed, fumbling to hold up the body as Zim nearly coughed blood directly into Dib’s mouth. It was salty and sweet all in one, but Dib couldn’t linger on the taste. Zim’s fingers grasped at his shirt, and Dib took that as a sign that it was working, pressing their lips together hard enough to bruise the capillaries.

There was a click. Dib breathed in blood and out carbon dioxide, sputtering and swallowing it down so Zim wouldn’t die like this-

Something red-hot and metallic climbed over his arm before digging into his spine, and he realized that the body had gone entirely limp before there was electricity and then there was nothing.

____________

December: Freak

Twix grit her teeth. “How am I supposed to trust you if you’ll just- just do that?”

“How am I supposed to drop my whole social life because you can’t help being the weirdest person in school?” Tulip shot back. “I do care about you, but it’s so, so hard sometimes, because you just don’t know how to act, and sometimes I’m sick of waiting for you to play catchup just because your parents are the town freaks!” She slapped her hands over her mouth and took a step back.

Twix’s eye twitched under her goggles. “At least they’re freaks that love me. I’ll see you tomorrow, third period.”

“Twix-”

“I said,” Twix said through gritted teeth, “I’ll see you tomorrow. Get out before I reactivate the security.”

Tulip got out, and Twix buried her face in a couch pillow and screamed.

#shadow says stuff

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missweber · 4 years

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WIP preview - Jack vs. the Cup

I really, really want to finish my ‘Stanley Cup is Actually a Malignant Entity’ fic this year. Meanwhile, here is a chunk from chapter 1. It features a young Jack, and some allusions to RL players and things that happened to said RL players.

Anyhow, here is the account of a Stanley Cup win that didn’t happen. Or did it?

The third candidate for Jack's first memory was neither uncomplicated and peaceful, nor generic and heartwarming. It throbbed like an infected splinter in his mind while other, theoretically more important memories felt like stories he once read about someone else.

This was because in this particular memory, the memory of his father winning the Cup for the eighth time, everything was wrong.

It was wrong because everyone was so happy and so sad at the same time, and no one would tell him why, and it made his chest and stomach hurt so bad he was dizzy from it.

Everyone was supposed to be happy. Why weren't they happy? Papa and his uncles had won not just any old game (and of course they won because they were The Best), but the biggest game! They had won the Cup!

So why did Maman and his aunties hug each other and wipe away tears instead of just cheering like they were supposed to? You were supposed to cheer when you won games! Why did they whisper to each other like they did when they didn't want Jack or the other kids to hear them? What were they talking about?

He didn't know, and not knowing twisted in his belly.

He wanted to ask Maman what was wrong, but before he could, she dragged him out on the ice along with all the other families and it was so exciting that he forgot all the wrongness.

They'd never gone out on the ice like this before. It was exciting, but it was also loud, because everyone in the arena was still shouting.

They were shouting his name. Zim. Mer. Mann! Zim. Mer. Mann!

Jack knew they meant Papa, but the sound of it and the way it pounded like a drum was the most wonderful thing ever, and he loved it more than anything.

But then—just like that—it was too much and all he wanted was to cover his ears and curl up until it went away.

He couldn't, because Maman held his hand way too tight and pulled him though the crowd so fast he had to run, almost slipping on the ice. He wanted to tell her that she was hurting his elbow, but he couldn't make the words come out, and when he tried to pull his hand away, she only held on tighter.

When they got to Papa, he grabbed her in a hug that looked like it hurt. Papa spoke into Maman's ear, all close like he was going to kiss her. Her hair muffled the words, but Jack thought he heard the name of his favorite uncle, and he tried to listen harder.

"I know, Bobby. I wish he could be here, too," Maman said.

"Is there any news?" Papa asked, but Maman shook her head before he finished his question.

Jack wished someone would tell him what was wrong. He hadn't seen Uncle Mario and Aunt Nathalie in what felt like forever.

(He worried that maybe they were mad at him or Papa, but when he had asked Maman, she just smiled at him like she was about to cry and told him that Uncle Mario wasn't feeling good and that she wished he wouldn't worry so much. And that was all she would say.)

Before Jack could ask why Uncle Mario wasn't at the game (Papa played when he was sick all the time), Papa and Maman broke their hug, and said it was time to take a family picture with the Cup.

Papa winked at him. "Third time's the charm, eh, Jacky?"

Even though he had seen photos, Jack had always thought of the Cup as looking like the yellow and white mugs his parents used at breakfast.

It wasn't. It wasn't like them at all.

The Cup was nearly as tall as he was. And it looked so big, up on its stand. Too big. Bigger and more in a way that made him try to hide behind Maman's legs.

A firm hand on his back held him in place.

Sometimes, it felt like he had two Mamans. There was the nice Maman who would let him hide away and be quiet when he wanted to.

Right now, he had the other Maman.

"Smile, baby," she scolded through her own smile. The cameras flashed and flashed and flashed. "Everyone wants to see you smile real big, okay? Now here, stand next to the Cup."

I don't like you, he thought at the Cup. It glinted back at him, and the light looked the way mean laughter sounded.

He wanted to go home. Not the apartment. But home. Home home, where he could see their pond from his bedroom window and where he never had to speak English or speak at all if he didn't want to. Home wasn't Pittsburgh. Home was where things were quiet and he got to see Mémé almost every day.

"Look, Jacky," Maman said once the cameras stopped flashing so much. She bent down to point at one of the big silver rings that made the Cup's tower and he snuggled into her side. The hand on his back turned into a hug, and she was back to being the Maman he liked. "Do you see what's there?"

Jack was old enough to know his letters, but reading was still new and hard. He knew what his name looked like, though, even if he could only write the first part without help.

He nodded. "Papa."

"That's right!" Maman led him in a circle around the Cup, pointing to Papa's name each time she found it.

"Every person who wins the Cup gets his name on it, and your Papa has won a lot of times, more than almost anybody else. Now, look at this one!" He looked. Then, her finger dropped down to another ring. "And now this one! You sat in the cup both of these times."

"Sat and shat!" Papa said solemnly, and Uncle Murph and Uncle Yags laughed like it was the funniest joke ever, or like they hadn't heard a joke in a long, long time.

Jack's face went hot and he wished everyone would stop laughing at him.

"It's okay, Jacky. You were just a baby," Maman soothed, but she laughed along with the others and pushed Jack's hands down when he tried to pull his jersey up to cover his head. "Bobby, don't tease."

"I'm just chirping." Papa ruffled Jack's hair. Jack tried to bat his hand away, but Papa laughed as if it was just another kind of joke. "It's just what us hockey players do. You know that, right, bud? And you know what? One day, your name will be on here, too! Just you wait and see!"

Someone took a picture, and the flash made the Cup wink at him.

"Where's your name for this time, Papa?" Jack asked, blinking away spots from the flash. He still felt the adults' laughter squirming deep in his stomach.

Maman laughed again, but it was her nice laugh, rippling and kind and safe. "It's not on there yet, baby. No one knew until your Papa scored the very last goal that the Penguins were going to win." She sounded proud, but she also sounded sad for some reason. Jack crowded in closer to her as she pointed to a smooth, shiny part of the ring, next to a 1 a 9 a 9 and a 4 and a bunch of names he didn't know. There were no letters or numbers in the shiny part, just his face and hers squished up all curvy and long and wrong. She tapped the metal. "It will go right there."

Papa knelt down between Jack and the Cup. One hand was on the cup ("Christ, that's cold!") and the other hand clamped onto Jack's shoulder. He gave Jack a little shake, and Jack fought the urge to wriggle free. He wanted to get away. It was too loud and too bright and too cold and Maman kept telling him to look people in the eye when they talked to him even though he hated it. He hated it so much.

Papa could tell he was unhappy, but he got it wrong. He always got it wrong.

"I know bud. I wish your uncle was here, too. I'd give all this up if only—"

Papa suddenly sounded like he wanted to cry, and that scared Jack more than anything. He hid his face in Papa's jersey. Maman always said Papa stank after games, but to Jack, he just smelled safe.

Jack remembered the smell.

It smelled like Papa. It smelled like the ocean.

He remembered someone shhhing him.

He didn't remember falling asleep.

He half-remembered a dream of snow and wind that never, ever stopped and that hurt like mean laughter.

* * *

When Jack woke up the next morning, they were already back home in Montréal.

"You're up early, Jacky," Maman said when he came into the kitchen. "Do you want breakfast?"

Jack nodded. He tried not to be sad about sleeping through the trip from Pittsburgh back to Montréal. He liked airplanes.

"Use your words, Jack," Papa reminded him, earning a frown from Maman, who went ahead and didn't wait for Jack to say anything before fixing him a plate with a scrambled eggs, a slice of bacon, and a piece of toast to match Papa's.

"Thank you," he made himself say when she put the plate in front of him, because he hated it when Maman and Papa fought. He really hated it when they fought about him.

Slowly, the bad moment went away and everything was as it should be again.

"Mario called," Papa said as he poured himself another cup of coffee. "He and Nathalie were wondering if we wanted to come over to watch the game tonight—it feels wrong rooting for the Devils after they took us down like that, but crisse, it would be good to see the Red Wings go down in a sweep!"

Jack blinked at that. "Is Uncle Mario okay, now?"

Maman and Papa both turned to look at him, puzzled.

"Your Uncle Mario's been almost all better for a long time, sweetie. You know that." Maman stroked his hair away from his forehead, and he leaned into her hand when she patted him on the head. She sighed and leaned down to kiss his cheek. "I wish you would stop worrying so much, baby."

Papa spoke around a mouthful of bacon. "He told me the other day he's been cleared to come back next season. Your mother's right—there's nothing to worry about any more. The cancer's all gone. I promise."

Maman hissed out a Bobby! like he'd said something wrong, but Papa ignored her and held out his hand to Jack, pinky crooked, waiting.

Cancer? What does that mean? And why was everybody so sad yesterday? Jack wanted to ask, but he didn't.

He didn't want them to tell him not to worry again. It just made him worry more, which he knew was stupid, but he couldn't stop it.

So, he smiled and hooked fingers with Papa, completing the pinky-promise.

And that was it. That was the memory.

It wasn't very clear anymore, but it was still there, occasionally flaring to life when triggered by a stray flash of light, or drifting past when he was on the edge of sleep. Sometimes he got a flicker of it when someone asked him about his father's legacy.

It was always gone again with a shhhh before he could think to tell anyone about it. Or before he could think about it too much.

Or think about it at all—or at least not enough to wonder why it had only become his first memory when he was an adult.

So no, Bob Zimmermann's last Stanley Cup victory may not have been Jack's actual first memory, but it's as good a place as any to start our story.

#omgcp #jack zimmermann #posting this as motivation #and incentive to keep going with it

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lexgox · 3 years

Text

Lettus Annus

Hello Unus Annus comunity! We all know that Unus Annus is coming to it’s end, so I had an idea: since they’re doing a live stream in Friday, November 13th, let’s all write a letter (can be a smal paragraph) saying how much the channel means to us, the adventures we had and the memories we’ll conserve. You can reblog this post or make your own with the #lettus annus.

My letter is under the cut (you can use it as an example, but you can do it how you want)

Favorite video: The Annual Unus Annus Dunk Contest

Birthday video: Tearing a Phone Book in Half With Our Huge Manly Muscles

At first I didn’t know about the channel; I got a notification of Mark’s new video Everything will end in one year, at first I thought he was going to take a break from Youtube for a year (no, I didn’t watch the video bc I’m an idiot). I was gonna miss him, of course, but then the next day he posted a new video, that took me by surprise.

A week passed by, I got a video in my recommendations of a video called “Unus Annus”, I was confused at first as to why were they wearing suits why is everything black and white what the fuck, so, as the curious kid I am, I decided to watch it. I must say that the idea was very interesting, so I decided to join the experience.

I don’t like to show off, but after seeing “The Annual Unus Annus Dunk Contest” I can say that I dunk better than them. And literally after reading the tittle “Hunting Heehoo” my brain said ight, my propety now. I started saying heehoo for every little bit of a scheme I did, some of my online friends use it not knowing where it’s from ;)<.

When classes strated here (Argentina) I wanted to tell all my friends about the channel, but then in the third day of classes quarentine started, I haven’t seen my friends since than, some I haven’t seen since last year.

Around April I stopped watching the videos, but I have a reason! I was busy with homework and my mom had told me that she, my sister and I were going to move out of my grandparent’s house, it made me feel very happy, it could be a new start.

I joined the Unus Annus Collab project, the Invader Zim fandom and met such amazing and talented people, some of them are the best people I’ve met in my life and I’m happy to call them my friends. They made me realize I have talent and that I am worthy of love and appreciation (still don’t know how to respond to compliments but hey, it’s a start).

I wanna thank Mark and Ethan from the bottom of my heart, this experience was amazing and I made a lot of memories along the way. You guys showed me that I should enjoy thing while they’re happening because they’ll end at some point; which is one of the biggest issues I’ve had in my life. I’ve always been worried, scared even that sometthing I love will end and I could never come back to it.

If it ends, then make the most of it before it does, you never know when the end will come.

Memento Mori, Unus Annus my dear friends.

#lettus annus #unus annus #markiplier #crankgameplays

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elitespacefreak · 5 years

Note

*KICKS DOOR DOWN* You have asked for requests and you shall RECEIVE! gimmie them headcanons about how Zim, Dib and Professor Membrane will feel about getting feelings about reader, Please And Thank You :3

IT IS 2:30 IN THE MORNING AND ITS SO GODDAMM HOT IN MY ROOM I CANNOT GO BACK TO SLEEP so I’m gonna drink my left over sweet tea and indulge some asks~ or maybe just this one ionno

Zim

Zim and feelings are kinda weird, he’s capable of them but identifying and understanding them is a hurdle. They happen, and usually with fairly moderate intensity, and he just sort of is along for the ride.

This means his behavior will change towards you without his express permission and at the start of this you’re both very confused at what’s going on. Did he just hold the door open for you? Why did he do that? Someone made a snide comment towards you and he seems upset about it?? You’re both thinking these things simultaneously because suddenly neither of you really know what’s going on.

He starts talking these feelings out to himself out loud at home just to sort of work through them. Gir, Minimoose, and his Computer all insist that he’s developing feelings - Minimoose articulates it the best. He is not convinced. Minimoose further explains how what happened with Tak was very different.

There’s a period of denial. And while you can sort of pick up on it, it’s purpose is unknown to you. The distance he puts up makes your heart hurt a little but you want to be sympathetic, a lot of things are still weird for him. But eventually you figure it’s just best to ask directly.

He tries to play it off at first, but that only lasts so long before he’s so annoyed that his emotions don’t seem to be lessening that he just monologues them for you. His thoughts, how his body physically reacts, how that makes him feel, etc. And then you have to gently explain to him what that means. He asks “Well what am I supposed to do about it?” You ask “What do you want to do about it?” He thinks for a second, then decides he deserves it and kisses you.

Dib

Dib is literally so cute about his feelings. But it takes him a while to actually acknowledge them. His mind is constantly busy, he’s got a lot going on because he likes to always have something to do, so it takes a bit for him to slow down enough before he gets the notion to assess his own feelings.

At first he just thinks it’s a normal reaction to you being nice to him. You listen, and banter, and make jokes with him. You’re kind so of course he’s going to like you more than other people, right?

That’s where it starts, and then he catches himself holding eye contact a little too long, and watching you leave a little too long, and getting a little too eager to see you. Is this what it’s like having a real friend? It feels kind of intense for that...

One night he gets caught up in new research after he had mentioned out loud going to visit you, and when Gaz gets upstairs and sees that he’s still home, she pokes her head into his room. “Hey, weren’t you going to go see your girlfriend/boyfriend?”

That totally catches him off guard. You guys weren’t dating! ... were you? Did people think that?? Why would people think that???? He’s quiet for a long time before it suddenly smacks him in the face that he really does have feeling for you. When did that happen!?!?

He immediately feels bad and drops what he’s doing to make good on his plans to see you and turns into the blushiest boy because he can’t tell if you can tell or what you think about it or if you have feelings too and he just starts rambling because he gets so nervous and he can’t help it and - you have to stop him with a smile. And ask if everything is okay.

Telling you is a debate in his mind. You two are friends, and there’s no denying that. So if he said something about his feelings, and you didn’t reciprocate, would you not be his friend anymore? He was so worried that he didn’t realize he’s gone totally silent and then he felt bad for completely spacing out and ended up just blurting his confession. His sheepishness is very cute and you can tell he’s never done this before so you kiss him on the nose and his heart just melts. He kisses you back~

Professor Membrane

I’ve never done these kinds of headcanons for him before so this is gonna be an experiment. For science. Because he’s a man of science, and I think I’m funny~

He’s not real good at paying attention to little details in a way that he realizes. What I mean by this is, he picks up on everything without really noticing, and doesn’t always do something with all this extra data his mind is constantly collecting.

You’d have to catch feelings first. And then the subtle changes of your behavior towards him are what he would subconsciously make note of. Sometimes he might respond in a way that makes you think he’s noticed, but verbally he doesn’t seem to have made the connection.

His kids have though. They notice everything. All of the little side glances and smiling eyes and benign comments. All of it. And one evening at dinner they ask him. “He Dad, you and so and so seem to be kinda close. Are guys dating?” He laughs it off as a no in a way that tells them both that he hasn’t actually thought about it. Which means he doesn’t know he has feelings yet.

The next time you two are having a conversation he lightheartedly brings it up with a small laugh in that way parents do to fawn over their children. Right after he mentions it there’s a pause, and then sudden and abrupt realization that hang on wait they might have been onto something. And now he’s nervous. And stuttering. And for the love of god why can’t he get a whole thought together??

You take pity on him, he seems to be struggling with himself. You ask if he’d like to go to dinner. He says yes. Later he tells his kids about it. They both get wide eyed and start hounding him with questions until he finally just admits out loud that, logically he must have feelings for you. Their eyes get wider and their questions come twice as fast. He has a hard time keeping up with his answers.

At dinner he recounts his children’s’ reactions to dote on them, and when you comment on how sweet you think they are, he decides that he does in fact have feelings for you. Also would you like to start dating? You say yes. His children won’t shut up about it and he thinks it’s endearing. So do you~

#invader zim #zim #dib #professor membrane #headcanons #personal headcanons #ask #asks #hs-killjam #reader insert #I HOPE YOU LIKE THESE THEY WERE FUN membrane was a welcome challenge~

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chaoartwork · 4 years

Text

Multivoid: Chapter 1

A fanfiction revolving around 2K, Palindrome and the alternate Zims in the aftermath of the Battlevoid arc.

Based on Invader Zim comic issues 46-49.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“Hey. Um. Brother?”

“Sure! What is it, brother?”

“Uh...do you...um. Do you ever worry?”

“Worry about what?”

“Well heheh! Ofcourse it’s a dumb question. But um. Do you ever worry that maybe this won’t last forever?”

“Whaaat?! Come on! Ofcourse it will last forever! We can make it last as long as you want it to!”

“But wouldn’t you want to too?”

“....Hm. You know, that’s a good question. I always pondered about that. Im guessing you might wonder about that too.”

“Wonder about what?”

“Wonder which one you really are. Which one is the real you....Hey! I got a question for you brother! Let’s say we use to be someone. But an event occurred that made you become someone else. Someone grants you the second chance to be that person again. Will you take it?”

“Hmmmm. Not entirely sure. It really depends if my original self was better than what I am now:”

“Better in what way?”

“I don’t know. Superior? More flawless? I think.”

“You seem unsure, brother.”

“Eh I don’t know. Who knows? Maybe that original me was worse than what I am now?”

“In what way?”

“Mmm not sure. Maybe evil? Careless? Dumb? Pitiful?”

“Do you really think that’s what you were?”

“I guess so. You?”

“Mm. I’m not sure either.”

“I see....”

“....I know! Let’s play! Just like old times!”

“Like old times?”

“Yeah! Like hide-and seek! I hide and you have to look for me!”

“You expect me to look for you in an area this big?”

“Uh-Huh! But it will be different! You need to find someone to convince them to come find me!”

“I don’t think that’s how the game works. Shouldn’t I be the only one to find you.”

“Yeah but it’ll get boring. Besides! It’s nice to get to know someone! Even if there’s a chance they can be sketchy!”

“Brother, I’m not sure if that’s a safe idea.”

“Aw come on, trust me! I know you can do it!”

“Hm. Fine. How do I start?”

“Well...first, you have to wake up!”

———————————————————-

Palindrome gasped a breath of water, his body violently shuddering for a few seconds as if it was springing back to life. Within a second after it happened, the heavy sensation rushed across his body. It felt as though he was about to dissipate again, but felt like his body was holding back from coming apart again. He felt his weak arms wrap around 2K as much as he could to which he timed on when he was going to catch him, making sure never to let him go.

He did not know how long he kept his eyes closed for or whether or not he really did knocked out, but few flashes of traumatic images from the battle swept through his mind for a split seconds, despite it feeling like forever and wanting to cry out on making it stop. He suddenly felt a soft nudge soon after. It felt warm and soft, interrupting the pain enough to relieve himself. Even if it was just a moment. The one who was nudging him felt small and round, having a bit of puffiness to them. He gulped down, hoping to have the strength to speak with his heart fluttering in hope on who it might be. He weakly flicked open his eyes again.

“T....2K....?”

The blurry vision showed him what seemed like a pale blue figure instead of a light green as he had hoped. The vision slightly cleared up until he realized that the small being was softly hovering above him. The fish looking being had derpy eyes and squared buck tooth. What was that thing? Minimoose? No. That’s not his name. Why did he think that was his name? His name....is....

His breath stiffened from finally recognizing him.

“Mini....Miniwhale...? Is it really...?” He shakily reaches out, “Miniwhale...?”

“Nya,” the figure squeaked in a concerned tone and moved close in order to let him be able to rest his creator’s palm on the side of his body. Palindrome processed to make sure he really wasn’t hallucinating. No, he couldn’t be here. He just can’t. How could he have entered the Zimvoid? There’s just no absolute-

“”Nya?”

The fish Irken blinked.

“Wh...what are you...? What do you mean ‘where have I gone’? Why are you h-?”

He grunt from the unfeeling sensation rushing through his body returning, causing him to squeeze eyes shut and hug himself again.

“Nya?”

He found it impossible to respond to his subject this time, focusing more on fighting it back.

It took several seconds for it to ebb away, letting his body fully relax in exhaustion and breathe heavily.

“Nya!”

Yes I’m fully aware my bowl is very dirty thanks for reminding me at this time.

But he did not say that and instead respond weakly,

“Miniwhale. If it’s really you...please,” his eyes opened and trace back to him, “...help me.”

“Nya?”

He couldn’t tell him exactly what he needs help with. His body felt so useless that even speaking would easily tire him out. He can’t even look around the area because of how blurry his sight really was. There was really no telling when the horrible feelings were going to end. He felt like he could throw up at any moment.

“Nya...”

His heart melted by what the robot responded. He soon after started feeling him float down and nestle against his body. It made the unfeeling sensation grow numb again. He took a moment to process and choked up a bit, realizing how long it has been since he has encountered anyone close to him from his timeline. He gave out the strength to move his arm so he can rest it around him.

“Y-yeah....I missed you too.”

Miniwhale responded by nestling against his body more until he felt cozy against his creator. Palindrome wondered if he was doing this because he was trying to comfort him during the ill feeling or if it’s because he was embracing him after not seeing him for all those few months. It could maybe be both. Nonetheless, he felt his body start to shut down on him again. He wanted to beg his body so much on moving again. There was so much that he needed to know. What happened to the other Zims? What happened to the Elder? The Meat? Where’s that Zib? Where’s that alternate Dib?

2K....2K, are you still here? Did you come back too just like me? Why didn’t Miniwhale mention you or the others? Am I the only one who came back from....?

His eyes grew heavy until they closed shut to give into the unconsciousness.

...Where are you?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Zim can be seen laying face plant on a messy table sleeping, his drools having covered half of it. He can be heard softly snoring.

“Sir. Sir.”

There was a moment of no response.

“Hellooooo. Sirrrrr.”

“Huh! Wah!” Zim jumps awake with pieces of styrofoams stuck on his face and quickly glanced around his lab in wonder.

“Sir. School will be starting soon.”

“Wait.” Zim processed and looked up at the ceiling, “you mean now?”

“Yyyyup.”

“WHAT?!” He exclaimed, “why didn’t you wake me up earlier?!”

The computer sighed,

“Sir, I tried to wake you up for two hours-”

“Urgh! Forget about it,” he rubbed the pieces of styrofoams off his face, “I’ll do this later. Just don’t touch any of them!”

“I am aware of that, sir. You tell me this everyday.”

“Well it’s always good to be reminded,” he hopped off his seat. “Computer! Initiate my brilliant disguise!”

The tube shot down to cover Zim’s body. It then pulled back up to show him in his human disguise. He then walks over to the elevator and goes up to the living room, to which he can see Gir watching his TV as usual.

“Your in charge of the house, Gir. Make sure Minimoose doesn’t eat them again.”

“Okie dokie!” Gir said without even looking at him and changed the channel.

There was a likely chance he didn’t even listen, but not like Zim couldn’t do anything about it. He just continued on and left his home base, walking out to the usual casual days. Basically how it was everything day. Somewhat cloudy skies, some bird flying by with some of them often time hitting a house and getting knocked unconscious. The neighbor next door always screaming in order for their husband to clearly hear them. Boy does he love this planet. But it won’t be any better until he conquers it.

He walked passed the neighborhood and through the streets until it took him maybe half an hour to get to school, many kids having already gone inside. He walked inside the school, went passed the halls, ignoring some weird kid who was in the locker calling out nonchalantly to let him out, and was able to go inside the classroom just as soon as the school bell rang. Dib can be seen apparently not glaring at him as usual, instead scribbling on a journal.

Zim squinted, wondering what he was up to this time.

“Zim.”

The Irken flinched and turned to see Ms.Bitters behind him.

“Take your seat. Class is about to start.”

“Uh, right! Yes, Ms. Bitters!”

He went and did as she told him. Again, the school seat feeling uncomfortable as always.

“Alright, class. Today, we’re going to-“

She turned to notice Dib scribbling.

“Dib. I really do hope your not trying to write out your plans on how to get to Zim’s ‘secret alien lair’.”

The class giggles by her comment.

“Uh, no Ms. Bitter. It’s actually something different.”

“Oh? Then you might as well either stop scribbling whatever creative fantasy you always have in that big head of yours or would you like to spend more of these dragging moments of class time telling us what it is your scribbling about.”

“It’s just...have anyone noticed the stars looked off today?”

“Stars?” One kid asked in confusion.

“Yeah! For example, last night I was checking my telescope to see if Zim’s kind arrived as usual and the stars looked very different. Like...very different. There seems to be a lot more in the sky and not to mention that most of them look to be bigger than the others. Has anyone noticed that?”

“Dib, none of us aren’t into those stargazing gizmos like you do.”

“Ofcourse there is, ask Zim! He always checks to see what his kinds are up to.”

“Hey now,” Zim narrowed, “don’t get me into this conversation!”

“Maybe there might be meteor showers tonight?” One kid suddenly guessed.

“Oh I hope so!” One girl said, “I wish for a talking pony!”

“I wish for a kitten!” Another kid said.

“I wish to be singer!”

“I wish for a world’s finest pizza!”

“I wish to be a rock-“

“Well apparently wishing on a star is part of something out of a fairy tale,” the teacher interrupted. “In life, you won’t get anything unless you decide to work hard in getting it. Now that we’re back to reality, can I now continue this section?”

The class stayed quiet.

“Good. Now then, today we’ll be talking about the Schrodinger’s Cat theory. Can anyone guess as to what it is?”

—————————————————

The school bell rings. Kids screams in happiness as they run out of school and jump out of windows as usual. Zim walks out of the door mumbling.

“What kind of dumb question is that? Of course the cat is dead! Or alive. How can a cat be both dead and alive? that’s the stupidest thing I ever heard. Dumb humans with their dumb logical sense-“

“You have something to do with it, don’t you?”

“Huh?” He turned behind him and saw Dib come out of the entrance and walk down the stair to approach him with a look of suspicions. Oh here it goes again.

“You’re plotting something, do you? Why are the night skies different tonight? Is it part of your next scheme?”

“Gee I don’t know Dib human,” Zim in annoyance, “why don’t you next time use that weak telescope of yours to see what these new stars actually are?”

“Because dad called me to go to bed before I could analyze it more. So tell me, Zim! What are they?”

“Ok first off, if they were really part of my next glorious plan, I would not tell you what they are. Second, I have not analyzed the galaxies in a while.”

“Don’t you check the galaxy every night? Like, to check what the invaders are up to and all of that?”

“WHAT?!” He exclaimed, “HOW DO YOU KNOW?!”

“You one time complained about them doing something that was bugging you.”

“LIES! ZIM WOULD NEVER TALK ABOUT OTHER LESS SKILLED INVADERS!”

“Whatever, man. I guess I tend to forget that you’re not too active with your ambitions as usual.”

“That is also lies! Zim has become more ambitious with his great conquest to conquer your planet more than ever!”

“You mean by studying those things.”

“What things?”

“The packing pea-“

“I knew what you were talking about.”

Dib sighed and facepalmed.

“You spent the whole night studying them again?”

“They’re very important! I must know what their purpose really is!”

“Zim, you told me this for like what? The thirtieth time? And besides, what makes them so important? They’re just packing peanuts.”

YOU ARE WRONG STINK BOY! Those packing peanuts had much more potential than you should EVER know! Especially that one time!”

“One time?” Dib’s eyebrow raised.

“Yeah!” Zim smiled, “that one time when I-“

There were few seconds of silence. Zim stopped smiling and processed.

“Ok, maybe they haven’t done anything yet, but I’m SURE they have a purpose. I just need to remember what it was!”

“And how long exactly will that take?” Dib crosses his arms in annoyance, “you’ve been going on about it for a year now. Mostly because of that little ‘incident’. And it’s because of that incident that not only do you focus on them, you have been obsessed about them more and more.”

“And THATS because I am getting closer and closer to uncovering it’s purpose. Watch me, stink human...watch me! When I uncover the power of those styrofoams, you can no longer stop me! I will be able to conquer my planets with my BARE hands! Or feet, any of those can work.”

Zim lets out a laughter before running off to the street. Midway, his maniacal laughter turns to a yelp of shock as a car can be heard honking in the distance and then crashing sounds are heard, with one woman screaming,

“Hey watch where you’re going, stupid kid!”

Dib stares off at the scene and sigh in annoyance.

“Of all supernatural I could be chasing, why does my main focus have to be him?”

#zimvoid #invader zim #2k #palindrome #zim #zim palindrome #zim 2k #zim 2000 #zim 2002 #battlevoid #multivoid #fanfiction

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krizaland · 5 years

Note

Could I have zim with a irken s/o that came to stay with him rather than on the massive. Thank you!

YOU HAVE NO IDEA HOW LONG I’VE BEEN WAITING FOR AN ASK LIKE THIS!!!!

Note:

E/C- Eye color

F/C- Favorite color

H/C-Hair color

H/S- Hair Style

The Tallest were beyond flabbergasted when you requested to join Zim on his mission.

“You do realize he’s not actually on a mission right?” Red asked as he scratched his head.

“Yeah! We were just lying to get rid of him!” Purple added as he shoved a handful of donuts into his mouth.

“Oh! Of course I knew about that, My Tallest! I am simply volunteering to...keep Zim occupied! Yes! I am volunteering to make sure Zim stays away and never returns!” You lied.

Red and Purple exchanged confused looks for a moment.

“Well...If you really insist...I guess I don’t really see an issue here.” Red mused.

Purple nearly choked on his donuts.

“Wait! Are we really gonna send Y/N to Zim?! Y/N! You gotta think about this! You’re literally sacrificing your dignity here!”

“It’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make, My Tallest.” You insisted.

“Wow! That’s so...Stupid!” Purple shook his head and resumed eating.

“Very well! If you really want to join Zim on his mission, then you are welcome to do so! Just make sure he never comes back. Got it?” Red bent down a bit and pointed at you.

“Affirmative, My Tallest!” You announced with a salute.

And with that, Your F/C eyes lit up as you set a course for Urth.

Meanwhile, Zim found himself missing you.

He sighed as he plopped down in his lab. He couldn’t focus on any of his evil plans today. All he could think about was you.

Zim knew he should’ve expected this. After all, he was an Invader and you were an Elite Soldier. It was inevitable that he would have to leave you behind.

Still, Zim would always try to keep in touch with you through video calls.

However, for some reason you haven’t picked up in weeks! Zim begun to fear the worst as tears begun to stream down his cheeks.

“ALERT! IRKEN SHIP SIGNAL DETETCED”

The sound of his computer bellowing, woke Zim from his thoughts.

“An Irken ship? Oh no! The Tallest must of sent someone to replace me! Computer! Get me in contact with that ship! I need to make sure they know who this planet TRULY belongs to!” Zim commanded.

“Contacting ship..CONTACTING SHIP!!” The Computer roared as the monitor crackled to life.

Suddenly, all of Zim’s rage flew out the window when he saw who answered his call.

“Y/N?!”

“Zim! Hey! Sorry for not responding! I was busy trying to convince the Tallest to let me stay with you!” You explained.

“Wait? You’re gonna stay with me? But I thought you were sent to help battle the Resisty!” Zim squeaked.

“Yeah...Well...Let’s just say things didn’t work out too well. I’ll explain in a bit! I’m just about to land. Y/N, out!” You explained as you cut the call.

“Y/N is coming to stay with me?! I can’t believe it! I’m finally going to be able to spend time with them! Computer! Clean up the base! We can’t have Y/N seeing all of this FILTH!” Zim squealed as he hopped out of his chair.

“I don’t want to!” The Computer whined.

Zim let out a groan and dragged his hand down his face.

“GIR! Minimoose!”

CRASH!

GIR crashed into the lab, followed by Minimoose.

“YES, MY MASTER?!” “ GIR’s eyes turned red as he gave a salute.

“Neyah?” Minimoose squeaked.

“Y/N is coming to stay with us! So I need you two to clean up the base! And hurry! They could be here any second now!” Zim ordered as he shoved some cleaning supplies into their faces.

“Y/N?! Isn’t that your special frieeend?!” GIR giggled as his eyes returned to their usual cheerful blue color.

“Yes, GIR. NOW GET CLEANING! This place needs to be spotless! SPOTLESS!” Zim screeched.

“Neyah!” Minimoose cheered as they joined GIR.

Within a few moments, the base looked somewhat better than it did before.

“I’m gonna make Y/N some WAFFLES!” GIR giggled as he ran off to the kitchen.

WOOSH!

The sound of your ship landing sent Zim into a panic.

“THEY’RE HERE! QUICKLY! EVERYONE! ACT NATURAL!” Zim shrieked as he rushed to the door.

The moment you walked up to the door, Zim threw it open and pulled you inside.

SLAM!

Zim slammed the door behind him and checked to make sure no one had followed you inside.

“Phew! Heeey, Y/N. How’s it going?” Zim purred as he tried to act casual.

“Well, I’m doing a lot better now that I get to see you again.” You giggled as you pulled Zim into a hug.

Zim quickly returned the hug and clung to you for dear life.

“Oh sweet, Y/N. Oh how I’ve missed you.” Zim’s voice quivered as he let out a few alien chirps.

“I missed you too.” You let out a few chirps of your own as you kissed the top of Zim’s head.

“HI Y/N!!! YOU WANT SOME WAFFLES?!”

You reunion was cut short by GIR charging in with an enormous plate of waffles.

“GIR! CAN’T YOU SEE WE’RE IN THE MIDDLE OF AN EMOTIONAL REUNION?!” Zim roared as he continued to cling to you.

“Actually, I am kinda hungry.” You admitted as you rubbed the back of your head.

“Fine. Vey well. We shall try some of your waffles, GIR.” Zim groaned as he reluctantly peeled himself off of you.

“YAY!!!” GIR squealed as he dragged you both to the kitchen area.

“These are pretty good.” You mused as you took another bite.

“Yeah. Good work, GIR. It looks like your cooking skills have finally improved.” Zim admitted as he continued to eat.

“I guess now’s a good time to tell you the real reason why I was so unresponsive for these past few weeks.” You put down your knife and fork for a moment.

“I’ll get some more!” GIR sang as he ran off to get more waffles.

“You see, Zim. Went I went to battle the Resisty, I had been severely injured. My injuries were so bad I had to be sent to the infirmary for weeks. I was just recently released from the infirmary but my body is still recovering. So unfortunately, I’m no longer able to fight in any more battles until my body is fully healed.” You sighed as you hung your head.

Zim nearly choked on his waffles.

“WHAT?! THOSE FILTHY RESISTY MONSTERS HURT MY Y/N?!” Zim felt his blood boil as he spoke.

“Well, that’s kinda what happens when you go into battle. You get hurt. However, the Tallest were initially going to put me on guard duty but I convinced them to let me stay with you!” You explained as you looked up at Zim.

“Wait! Really? You would give up on being a royal guard just for me?” Zim’s eyes widened in shock.

“Of course! Zim, I love you! Besides, I had a feeling you were probably worried about me!” You giggled.

“I love you too, Y/N! Now I can keep you safe from any more FILTHY RESISITY SCUM!” Zim announced.

You couldn’t help but laugh at Zim’s over the top nature.

“You haven’t changed a bit, Zim.”

Ever since then, living with Zim was much more laid back than living as a solider!

You didn’t have to spend your days worrying that someone would try to kill you in your sleep or listening to Red and Purple whine.

You could hang out with your boyfriend and help destroy a planet! That was a lot more fun than being a guard in your opinion!

Zim wanted to spend every second with you. So he insisted you came to Skool with him.

You were bored so you agreed

Zim took the liberty of whipping up a matching crappy disguise for you. You had E/C contacts and a H/C H/S wig.

You thought you looked ridiculous but Zim insisted you looked perfect.

When you walked into skool no one batted an eyelash.

No one except Dib of course.

“Great. Now there’s two of him!” Dib groaned as he buried his face in his hands.

Zim snickered at Dib’s reaction but insisted on keeping you close to him at all times.

He couldn’t risk having the Dib-Stink try to expose you too!

However, that wasn’t enough to stop Dib.

You sat next to Zim and sniffed at the questionable ‘food’ on your tray.

“Don’t eat this disgusting filth! It’ll make you sick! Trust me! I know all too well. ALL TOO WELL!!” Zim’s voice quivered with disgust.

Before you could respond, you sensed someone trying to sneak up behind you.

SLAM!

You didn’t even turn around as you grabbed Dib and flipped him onto the table.

SPLAT!

Dib fell face first into your ‘food’.

“Didn’t anyone ever teach you not to sneak up on people?” You huffed as you shot Dib a glare.

Dib groaned as he slowly got up.

“What just happened?” Dib moaned as he held his big sore head.

“HA! Serves you right, Dib-stink! Nobody messes with the Irken Elite!” Zim cackled as he watched Dib try to collect himself.

Dib shook away the pain and bits of ‘food’.

“Don’t think you’re safe just because you have a new body guard, Zim! I’ll expose the both of you!” Dib snapped as he hopped off the table.

“I’d like to see you try, you big headed freak!” You countered.

“Oh you two will be so sorry once your bodies end up on autopsy tables!” Dib growled as he slithered back to his table.

“Geez. Does he always do stuff like that?” You grumbled.

“Yep. He tries to expose me at least once a day.” Zim explained casually.

“What a loser.”

You and Zim spent the rest of your time on Urth, scheming, cuddling, and trolling Dib. Every now and then, the Tallest would try to get you to return to your guard duties but you always declined.

You knew you were exactly where you belonged.

#invader zim #invader zim x reader #Anonymous

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nelvana · 4 years

Text

In which they travel to another continent

First [ARC 1]: In which the human is transformed First [ARC 2]: In which a present is prepared Next: In which there are dreams and discussions Previous: In which they arrive at the guild

The first trio staggered slightly after the teleport, then glancing around at each other and their new surroundings. Nelvana flipped over the now dull stone in her hands, passing it over to Alex to hang onto instead while she got a better look around.

“Yeah, we’re a bit off, but we definitely made it! There’s Gull Village just a bit south from here,” she told them, pointing out to where she spotted the nearby village, just past some trees from where they currently were.

“That’s great!” Keahi cheered, “we’ll just have to wait for the others to show up then, and we can head over,” zie continued, stepping up to stand beside zir partner again.

“Pretty nifty the guild makes extra teleport gems for cases like these, seem to be a capable bunch,” Alex commented, joining the other two. “Seeing as how Team A.C.T. was like, I’ll admit I was a bit worried that the others around the guild would be similar. A bit of a rude assumption to make, I know, but…”

Keahi sighed, “just being safe. Yeah, I get that’s what you were thinking.”

Alex smirked back, “glad to know we’ve been together long enough to pick up on those sorts of things.”

“Hate to interrupt, but shouldn’t the others have shown up by now?” Nelvana questioned, standing up on the tips of her toes in an attempt to get an improved look at their surroundings; searching for their allies.

“Nel’s got a point,” Alex agreed, his smirk fading away.

“Well, they shouldn’t be too far, right? Maybe they’re a bit closer to Gull Village, or maybe even a bit farther. Either way, that seems to be the point to meet up at,” Keahi suggested, though a worried look crossed zir eyes as well.

“Good idea, seems to be the best one we have, anyway. For as good as the teleport gems are, they aren’t perfect.” Alex nodded. “We were a bit off, so it’s reasonable to believe that the others were too.”

“Alright, let’s make our way to the village then,” Nelvana responded.

Taking the lead, she began to walk down towards civilization with her partners quickly following suit. They had just appeared right where the forest began thinning out right before the beach town, so it was simple for Nelvana to recall the steps and follow the sight of the buildings over to Gull Village itself.

It occurred to Nelvana that the last time she had been here, it had been nighttime. Thus, it was a mild surprise to see the town filled with more activity. Though it was beginning to drag on to late evening now, there were still plenty of villagers wandering the streets, and the lights illuminating the inside of the houses displayed shadows through the windows of other pokemon enjoying themselves indoors.

“Well…” Nelvana trailed off momentarily, adjusting her scarf absentmindedly. “Here’s Gull Village,” she announced, “you can see the docks over there-“ She pointed slightly eastwards of where they were. “-and right by those should be the tourist shop or whatever that runs the ferries.”

Alex peered over to where Nelvana pointed, and a smile grew on his face, “looks like Ceebee and Tsuki beat us there!” he said.

“They’re at the docks?” Keahi responded, “we should go over then! Come on!”

Laughing with relief, the trio hurried over to the docks where they found Ceebee and Tsuki, staring out over the water while they waited for everyone else to arrive. The waiting pair glanced over as the others approached, smiling back and getting up to meet them halfway so they could chat together.

“Glad to see you made it safely,” Tsuki greeted, “we had been worried at first when we did not see you here right away,” she admitted.

“But!” Ceebee chimed in, “I soon sensed you all were just by the outskirts, so we decided to wait for you to turn up here on your own. Figured everyone would turn up here eventually, and if not, I could have always just sent a telepathic message.”

“Hey, we were worried about you two too!” Alex replied, “where did you two teleport to?”

Ceebee tapped her forehead, “right where we were supposed to, here at the docks! You forget that I can teleport too, I’d be pretty bad at that if I didn’t remember where places were,” she told him with a giggle, “nothing against you, Nel! Don’t worry, you still were pretty close to here. So is Damien and that group, though a bit farther out than where you teleported to.”

Nelvana shrugged, “it’s alright, I’m not offended or anything. As you said, you’re the one who actually does this more often. You were also here more recently.”

“True that!” Ceebee agreed.

“So, how far away are the others now then?” Keahi asked, shaking zir feathers. “Does this place have closing hours? And are we actually going to use the ferry right away, or should we rent a place for the night?” zie continued.

“It doesn’t seem to have closing hours, when Damien and I showed up last time it was still open in the middle of the night,” Nelvana told zim, “you do have a good point though, this may be our last chance to get an actual room to stay in for the night.”

“Also, looks like the others are showing up now!” Ceebee chirped, “we’ll be able to ask for their input too!”

At Ceebee’s comment, the group glanced over to see the three ghost-types in the group heading over from the other end of the docks. They waved over at the trio, prompting Edgar to split off from the other two he was with and bolt over to the main group, too impatient to wait until all three of them got there together.

“Hello everyone!” Edgar greeted, “I hope you weren’t waiting too long for us!” he added.

“No problem, we have not been here for too long. We had just been discussing plans for tonight,” Tsuki replied, “there is some consideration of finding an inn to stay at for the night.”

“The original idea was to just set out right away, but if we don’t want to rush ourselves too much, I remember there is an inn we could stay at; seems like a nice spot,” Ceebee added.

“What’s this about an inn?” Damien asked, finally catching up with the others, Dusknoir right behind him.

“We’re thinking about staying at the inn here for the night to get rested up again before heading out on the ferry,” Nelvana told him, “we don’t know when we’ll get another chance for a good opportunity like this.”

“Yeah, I can get behind that idea,” Damien added, stretching idly.

Alex sighed, “mhmm… I wouldn’t want us to waste our time, but who knows what it’ll be like when we first show up at the Grass Continent. This definitely doesn’t seem like a waste, to build back some proper energy.”

“Hey, if Mr. Hasty can agree to this, we seem to be in the clear!” Keahi teased, “how about we look for that inn? Ceebee, you said you saw it last time you were here?”

“Yup!” Ceebee nodded. “So, we’re all in agreement to stay in Gull Village for the night then?”

Tsuki kneaded the ground in front of her with her claws absentmindedly, “I don’t believe this one night will make that much of a difference to our progress, so we should be fine to rest up here before going.”

“I…” Dusknoir paused, letting out a cough before continuing. “I recall someone mentioning that it could take another day on the ferry ride to get to the Grass Continent. Could we not rest on the ride instead? If we do not, we will end up needing to rest again right when we get to our destination.”

“Might be for the best though,” Keahi replied, “it means we’ll have rested right before needing to take on Brine Cave and any other dungeon before Dialga,” zie pointed out.

Dusknoir paused again, before nodding sagely, “very well, you have certainly convinced me.”

“Well, I think you were the only one on the fence about the matter,” Alex huffed, “alright, Ceebee, lead the way to the inn then.”

Obliging to Alex’s instruction, Ceebee fluttered into action again, navigating through the streets of the small town and over to where she could recall seeing an inn. While she paused momentarily at first to catch her thoughts and properly remember where she needed to go, she easily led everyone over to the building they were looking for.

Fortunately, despite being a docks town, there were enough rooms for all nine of them to stay in. While they had only intended to reserve their places there for the night, the team ended up being identified by another team staying there at the inn, and the two teams began conversing together in the lobby of the building for longer than intended.

During that, Damien requested to borrow the stone that housed Giratina from Alex, and managed to fill his own time speaking with the deity. He had initially done it to just pass the time, but soon found himself telling Giratina about how Gardevoir was doing and more of what had happened with that incident, and in return, Giratina spoke about Ninetales, and also about their own experiences with spirit guides like Gardevoir. Damien found it strangely comforting, and silently wondered if Giratina felt the same about their own conversation.

Dusknoir, on the other hand, felt adamantly against speaking to Giratina with Damien, and yet obviously lacked any place with the others’ conversation. He simply watched the larger group at first, but eventually grew bored and oddly envious, and left the building instead. He knew they would not be pleased to find that he had wandered off, and instead leaned against the outside wall right against the doorframe, watching the few townsfolk still walking the streets. For awhile, he was simply silent again, and let himself zone out into his own thoughts.

“Excuse me, mister?”

Snapped out of his thoughts, Dusknoir looked down to see that a young munchlax staring up at him. He mentally scolded himself for allowing himself to get so distracted as to not even notice a mere child getting so close to him, but forced himself to keep his body language neutral. It had… been a long time since he had been in the presence of someone so young, and part of him wished to hold onto such a simple moment.

“Yes?” Dusknoir finally responded.

Munchlax gave him a wide, toothy smile back, “hello! I noticed you looked kinda sad; do you want this chocolate? That usually makes me happy,” they said, presenting a thinly wrapped bar to Dusknoir.

Dusknoir blinked, and then narrowed his eye slightly, “…didn’t your parents tell you not to talk to strangers?” he questioned.

To his surprise, Munchlax shook their head, continuing to offer the item to Dusknoir. He almost wanted to sigh and shoo the child away for being so foolish; didn’t they know he could harm them if he felt like it? However, he found himself instead accepting the gift, eyeing it carefully now that it was in his own hands.

“I see a lot of new people here,” Munchlax said, “mum ‘n dad said that I should always be nice to them,” they continued, answering Dusknoir’s previous question whether they actually realized it or not. “Why were you sad?” they asked innocently.

“What made you think I was sad?” Dusknoir asked in response instead.

“You were standing here all alone and just staring at nothin’!” Munchlax answered, waving their arms in the air. “You looked sad.”

Dusknoir wasn’t quite sure what to think of this child, but he realized that despite Munchlax’s evident naivety and foolishness, they were right about Dusknoir’s prior mood. He wondered if all children of this time were so innocent, eyes wide open to the world around him. The kids back at Pokemon Square had been far too loud for him to really consider interacting with them much, and he almost found himself regretting that choice now. He couldn’t even recall if he had ever been like that, though he doubted it. He had grown up to a harsh world, and learned to act harshly right back. It was strange how much simpler and more peaceful things could be here.

“Well, thank you then,” Dusknoir simply replied instead, “you should go back to your parents now though.”

“Okay, mister! I hope you feel better!” Munchlax chirped, waddling off back to the streets; hopefully back home.

Dusknoir sighed, shaking his head as he watched the kid leave. Glancing behind him at the in again, he could faintly hear the conversation between the two teams closing up. He turned his gaze down to this… chocolate he held in his hands. Deciding it would be best to deal with this before the others found him, he carefully peeled away the wrapping to look at the contents inside. He had heard of chocolate before, and knew that it was a treat meant to be eaten. Crumpling the wrapper in one hand, he pried open his belly mouth with the other to place the food in. His jaw, or more specifically, the scar running through it, ached from the effort, but he managed to eat the chocolate bar.

It tasted good.

Soon afterwards, everyone else in the group exited the inn together. While they were momentarily displeased by Dusknoir leaving the building without them, seeing as he didn’t wander off too far, and they had to admit that they had talked for awhile, no one seemed to judge him terribly for it; which surprised himself slightly.

Deciding that while they were staying in a town for the night, they all decided to look for some sort of restaurant to eat supper at. The inn itself was too small for serving food itself, so they had to look somewhere else in Gull Village. Ceebee offered the idea of a bakery she had visited in her time here, but that was turned down in favor of finding something else. While Gull Village was small, they found that it did, in fact, have a restaurant in it. It was a local pub and grill, which seemed to suffice for what the group was looking for. They headed in and managed to get a nice warm meal out of the trouble, and fortunately had enough coins from the two dungeons they had been through to pay for the bill; as they had left their other savings back with Persian.

The rest of the night continued in a similar, relaxed fashion. Not wanting to just meander the streets for the remainder of the evening, after they had finished eating everyone went back to the inn to settle in their rooms for the night. They had rented two rooms, figuring anyone could go back and forth between the two when needed, and considering nearly half of them technically didn’t even need to sleep, this loose system was comfortable for everyone.

They stayed all in the same room for the time they were awake though, still having a few hours left in the day before they would need to go to bed. Normally at times like these, as Keahi commented, they would be able to play some of the board games at the base, but they lacked those here. Fortunately, zie instead offered to play some other games that were just vocal, introducing some simple games. Once zie got the ball rolling, Damien had his own ideas to offer, so they were able to keep entertained until it was time to turn in for the night.

In the morning, the group quickly checked out of the inn, ready to take on the next part of their journey. Ceebee again suggested the bakery for some breakfast, but at that point they had spent most of their spare change on the stay at the inn and the food at the grill, aside from what they were saving for the ferry fee, so they had to pass again on that idea in favor of just going back to the packed rations.

Without anything else to delay them further, they made their way back down to the docks, entering the building that was familiar to some, and finding Dewgong still there at the counter. Dewgong blinked with surprise as the large group entered, but smiled politely at them and waved them over.

“Why, hello there everyone! Welcome to the Gull Village Docks,” Dewgong greeted, “I see some familiar faces in the group, hello! How have you been?”

Nelvana nodded back politely, and Damien waved as well, though it would be Ceebee who would step in to carry on the conversation first.

“Hi again! We’ve been doing well, thank you,” Ceebee hummed, “we were hoping to get a ride down to the Grass Continent? Do… Do you provide rides down that route?”

“Yes, we do! Not many of our guides do know that route, but you’re in luck, we do have Lapras on shift. He’s also the best for taking large groups such as these,” Dewgong answered, “some of you got a ride from Lapras as well, which is another bonus! We always try to let visitors ride with familiar guides if they so wish anyway, so this seems to have worked out smoothly.”

“Yeah, that does sound nice!” Nelvana chimed in, “we’ll get tickets there for all of us then.”

Nodding, Dewgong rung up their total, with the group thankfully finding that they had saved just the right amount of coins to afford the tickets. With such a large group, and a faraway destination, they had predicted that the price would be high.

“Do you run this place on your own?” Keahi asked curiously, glancing around at the various souvenirs up for sale around the store.

“Well, not all by myself,” Dewgong answered, sliding over the tickets to be collected. “I do own the docks though, if that’s what you were wondering! I get plenty of help from a few other employees for this store, and then of course none of this would be possible without my lovely guides here,” she explained, “now then, since there are more than four of you, you’ll need the extra boat…”

Trailing off, Dewgong shuffled around behind the counter for a few moments before pulling out a thick walkie-talkie. It audibly fizzled with static, and she held down a button and leaned over to speak slowly and clearly into the old item.

“Barbaracle, Lapras is going to need the spare boat attached for a ferry group,” she said.

Through the static, they could hear a gruff voice of approval. Dewgong chirped out her thanks before turning off the device and setting it behind the counter again.

“Alright, Barbaracle should be making sure everything is ready for you all!” Dewgong told them, “Lapras should be on the dock just outside on your right.”

“Thank you for your help!” Keahi replied cheerily, prompting a chorus of thanks from many of the others.

“My pleasure! Safe travels, have a nice day!” Dewgong hummed, waving farewell.

When they got outside and over to where Larry was docked like before, they found the previously mentioned Barbaracle attaching a wooden boat behind the lapras. They tied a few ropes to the spikes on Larry’s shell, letting the small boat float behind him. The boat itself was decently sized, and could probably fit an extra four size category one pokemon in it if needed.

“Greetings!” Larry called out as the group approached. “Ah, Gengar, Nelvana, it is nice to see you again. Heading out to the Grass Continent with your friends, I see?”

Damien nodded, “yeah. And it’s actually Damien now,” he responded.

Larry smiled, “ah yes, names! Such a wonderful thing! I would love to get more introductions underway, but first we should settle the seating arrangements,” he said, oh, and thank you for your help with the boat, Ronald,” he added, turning back to look at Barbaracle, or Ronald.

“You’re welcome,” Barbaracle responded, though grumbled something about keeping first names to outside of work under his breath before leaving.

“How many should be fitted on your shell versus the boat?” Alex asked once Barbaracle had left.

“Well, Dewgong does her best not to overload anyone, but I’d say I could fit most of you onto my shell myself; most of you all are fairly small,” Larry answered, “no more than four on the boat, I’d say, and no more than six on my shell.”

“I’ll take the boat then,” Dusknoir decided, taking the initiative and carefully floating into the boat himself without another word about it.

Eyeing the situation, Damien sighed, “I’ve ridden on the shell before, I’ll try the boat too.”

“In that case, it would probably be best for me to ride on the shell,” Tsuki announced, “I am not sure how well I would have done in the boat regardless of who was in it; it does not appear steady enough for my comfort,” she admitted quietly afterwards.

The rest of the seating arrangements were handled swiftly afterwards. Alex was the next to go straight for riding on the shell, and finding comfort with her partner, Nelvana was quick to follow, though surprisingly she sat by the back of the shell, close to the boat. Keahi followed suit, and Ceebee simply perched atop one of the spikes on the shell, inviting Edgar to join her up there.

And with that, they were off.

As promised, Larry was quick to address introductions. He admitted that he couldn’t promise that he could remember everyone’s names, but assured them that he would try his very best to.

After that though, the awareness quickly sank in that they were all stuck sitting like this for the next several hours. It would be a long ride, and they had already previously begun exhausting their game options back at the inn the night before.

“Hey Larry, how’s about some songs?” Damien requested during a long period of silence after the first hour or so of the ride.

“I would be honored to!” Larry responded, “do you have any specific requests?”

“Not from me, just wanted something to fill the time.” Damien shrugged, though glanced over at Nelvana afterwards to encourage her to give her input, if any.

“How about one of the peppier songs?” Nelvana asked, “I feel like we’re in need of one of those.”

Eager to oblige, Larry chose one of the more upbeat songs he knew and began to sing for the group. Damien, again, began keeping beat, but this time chose to do so by tapping the edge of the boat he had lounged out onto with the extra space from only being himself and Dusknoir; he still felt mildly on edge around the larger ghost-type, but he felt it was worth the leg room to be on the boat regardless. Nelvana began simply keeping beat by tapping her club on the shell like she had the previous time, but she was soon interrupted as Keahi stood up on the middle of the shell and gestured for Nelvana to join zim.

“Come on, dance with me!” Keahi prompted.

“Dance?” Nelvana repeated, “I… I’m not good at dancing. I’ve only done it a couple times.”

Alex smiled, “you’re not bad at dancing, I’ve seen it once, so long as you have the steps down. I’m sure Keahi could teach you something if you can’t remember any human dances,” he chimed in, choosing not to mention that Nelvana had managed to recall something about her past at all as to not ruin the moment, despite how his heart leapt with excitement at hearing her mention even small details of her past.

“Come on!” Keahi continued, “Alex is right, I could teach you some steps. It’s just for fun, no one’s judging you about it!”

Sighing, Nelvana relented to the eager eyes of her partner and stood up. It was slightly shaky, to try moving on something that was moving itself, but Larry was steady as he swam and it wasn’t difficult for her to keep her balance. Keahi squealed with delight as Nelvana stepped over to join zim.

“Alright! Okay, I’ll teach you an easy one first, it goes well with most songs anyway, so it’s a good place to start for this…”

Beginning, as zie promised, with a simpler dance, Keahi led Nelvana through some steps to follow along as Larry sang. They both had to do the same thing, so if Nelvana ever felt too lost all she had to do was mirror her partner’s movements and just try not to fall behind. Getting excited watching his friends try dancing, Edgar ended up floating in circles around the pair for awhile before leaving to lay back down and just watch instead.

Afterwards, Keahi progressed to another type of dance that zie explained was traditional for zir family.

“Do you want to try another one?” Keahi offered, “this one will be a bit harder though, I don’t think we’ll get through the entire thing, but I can teach you some of the early steps at least.”

“Okay, sure!” Nelvana agreed, feeling more confident while the whole dancing idea by this point.

This dance required different steps for each person involved, so Keahi would show Nelvana what to do, and when they would actually try together, zie would do something different. They quickly found that this one wouldn’t be as easy. Nelvana’s part required more tapping around with her feet, which was difficult on the back of the shell, and in general the movements were more complicated than the previous one. Still, they tried it a few times, with Larry politely even repeating some songs to keep them better in beat. Besides, it was a pretty and fun dance to do. Even after finally giving up, Keahi promised that maybe some other time they could try again.

By the time they stopped with that kind of dance anyway, they were both getting pretty tired and decided to take a break from dancing altogether. Nelvana sat down after deciding that, though Keahi stayed standing a bit longer to bounce in place and flap zir wings about, almost similarly to how zie was supposed to in the dance, but quickly ended up wearing zirself out completely and sat down as well.

Larry continued singing despite the end of the dancing, but his voice by now was beginning to wear out slightly, so he moved on to some of the calmer songs he knew before eventually stopping altogether after a quick apology. At this point, he had been singing for at least an hour, and everyone agreed that it would be unfair to try getting him to continue, and he deserved to give his voice a break.

The ride remained quieter for the next couple hours, but any previous tensions had been mostly relieved after that and everyone began having various conversations. Edgar floated back down beside Tsuki, who was stubbornly not looking down at the water and just had her head resting in her paws, so he began energetically chatting with her, distracting her from her previous uneasiness. Ceebee leaned down to Keahi to ask for more details about the types of dances the torchic knew, since they had caught her interest.

Nelvana ended up rolling over to her belly, facing the boat being towed behind Larry again. She wrapped her arms around one of the spikes to make sure she wouldn’t slide off or something, and cleared her throat to get Damien’s attention.

“Hey,” Nelvana greeted.

“Nice moves back there,” Damien teased, propping an arm back to rest his head against. “What’s up?”

Nelvana rolled her eyes, but chuckled, “I actually wanted to ask you something, you jokester.”

“Alright, shoot,” Damien replied, turning more of his focus towards his friend.

“If you want, you could strategize a bit more,” Nelvana told him.

“That wasn’t a question,” Damien snickered, though Nelvana noticed that his smile faltered slightly now.

She sighed, “fine. Why don’t you contribute your thoughts more when we’re making plans?” she asked instead.

Damien shifted in place, as much as he really could for his position on the boat, “I don’t really have thoughts to contribute. You all are better at strategizing. What gave you the idea that I would be able to help with that.”

“Okay, well, this isn’t the best example… but you did plan that entire accusation against me really well,” Nelvana responded, and Damien stiffened. “Yeah, it wasn’t a good thing, we both know that. But at the same time, it was really well orchestrated. If we hadn’t actually gone out for evidence ourselves… I’m not sure how long the town could have just hung there in suspense,” she continued, trailing off slightly at the end of her explanation.

Frowning more, Damien curled up into himself slightly, shifting his gaze out to the water instead of at Nelvana. Eventually though, he exhaled and faced her again, though he did not say anything, instead looking to her expectantly, silently prompting her to go on.

“My point is… you’ve proven that you can contribute good ideas, even though you say that you can’t. It’s always good to have more input, especially from varying perspectives,” Nelvana finished.

“…fine. I’m just… not good at planning in the moment,” Damien admitted, “back when I was a trainer, I would do best when I could plan ahead, and when things didn’t go to plan, I would start struggling. You’ve seen that. Alex coming in during all… that, caught me really off guard,” he chuckled dryly.

“That’s still pretty good though. Alex ‘n I are a bit better at acting on the fly than strict plans ahead of time, so you could still help with planning more before hand,” Nelvana insisted, “I’m just saying, think about it. You’re welcome to share more of your ideas for planning; you’re smarter than I think that most people think you are.”

Damien sighed, “alright, thanks Nel.”

Smiling again, Nelvana nodded back to Damien before sitting up again and then turning to face forward. She simply sat back against the spike she previously had wrapped her arms around, before seeming to change her mind and carefully getting up to move so she could speak to Alex instead.

The day continued on for their ride across the ocean. Around noon there was discussion about actually having a lunch, but a few members were still feeling a bit seasick, so everyone decided to wait until they were on shore. A few minutes after that, Damien asked if Larry had his own lunch to eat, to which he was relieved that the lapras did, in fact, pack his own lunches for longer trips such as these.

“Are we there yet?” Edgar’s voice cut in suddenly.

Larry chuckled warmly, “no, not yet. We are over halfway there now though.”

“Okay…”

Finding more ways to occupy themselves for the remainder of the ride varied in difficulty, but in general everyone was able to keep themselves from getting bored for too long. Sitting around for so long with limited space was unusual to them; everyone was used to walking or having other games to play with, but they managed. While there were times they began thinking that they had run out of discussion topics, there was always something new for someone to talk about when reminded.

Eventually, as the sun began to set on that day, land could be spotted in the distance. Excitement and cheers bubbled up right away, but seeing didn’t mean that they were quite there, and everyone sat anxiously in wait for the last minutes to past before they finally arrived at the Grass Continent.

“Is there a particular location you wanted to land nearby?” Larry asked as they began approaching. “I’ll want to alter our course slightly if that’s the case!”

“We’re looking for Brine Cave,” Keahi told him.

Larry nodded, “got it! I’ll just have to go around some of the land to get as close as possible, hang on for a bit longer!”

Turning further west momentarily, he altered his path slightly to begin swimming around the land they had spotted. They watched as they moved past forests, mountains, and even what appeared to be a desert, on the mainland, continuing past all that as Larry curved around the land and finally docking where the water flooded in as a lake in the distance.

Right away… there wasn’t much to look at. In fact, while some of them had been expecting something new and unfamiliar compared to where they had come from, nothing stood out right away. They landed at a rocky part of the shoreline, and in the distance, there was mostly grasslands, with some mountains even further out.

“This is it,” Alex murmured, hopping off from Larry’s shell to navigate the rocks so that he could look out to the horizon. “Brine Cave should be just a bit north from here. You can almost see it from here.”

“Oh, wow!” Ceebee exclaimed, following the grovyle up to the land. “I remember this area! We camped nearby here when we came through here to get to the Temporal Tower last time! It’s so strange to see everything in color like this, so much healthier too…”

Nelvana carefully made her way over to the other two, scanning the area around her in hopes of meeting that same familiarity that her friends obviously had. She bit her lip, furrowing her brows as she studied their location. As Alex pointed out the direction that Brine Cave was supposed to be, she couldn’t help but silently agree with him about that, but past that she barely got any sense of déjà vu. Perhaps it was because last time she had been here it would have appeared differently enough that her current memory couldn’t piece it together the same way she had recognized Alex and Ceebee upon seeing them, but it was still disappointing to her to not recall this place the same way her friends could.

“Thanks again for the ride, Larry,” Damien told the lapras as he attempted to pull himself out of the boat, with it rocking as he stood up and began trying to walk around on it.

“Yeah, thanks Larry!” Keahi chirped as well, hopping off onto the rocks, pausing before going to join the others. “Will you be staying here the night, or do you have to swim all the way back tonight?” zie asked.

“I will rest here for the night, and head back in the morning, so long as you do not need me for the return trip,” Larry answered.

“We have the badges to get back, thanks though,” Keahi told him.

“Very well then! Thank you for allowing me to guide you all out on the trip here,” Larry replied cheerfully, “do not worry about how I will get back, I am still prepared to make the return trip on my own; I have done this before. Good luck on your journey!”

“Thank you!” Edgar responded, following by more thanks given by the others, chorused together and mixed with farewells to their helpful guide and ferry ride.

Once everyone had gotten off from the boat and shell, and in some cases taken a moment to recover from the trip overseas, they traveled on foot a bit off from the shore so they could set up camp further inland, walking until the sun had almost fully set. Due to lacking nearby trees for a campfire, the group was soon submerged into the darkness of the night. Seeing this as reason to sleep early so they could collect their bearings properly the following day, everyone turned in for the night, excluding Dusknoir and Edgar. Tsuki herself decided that this may be her best chance to get some proper rest and refill her energy, having stayed up at their stay at the inn, and thus she too eventually fell asleep with the others for once.

Nelvana had not been asleep for long, or at least she did not feel it had been long, before, to her surprise, she opened her eyes to a familiar green void in her dreams.

First [ARC 1]: In which the human is transformed First [ARC 2]: In which a present is prepared Next: In which there are dreams and discussions Previous: In which they arrive at the guild

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prof-zimbrane · 5 years

Text

The Face of Love

Summary: They’ve done almost all the dating cliches in existence, they’ve been in an established relationship for a while now but there are still secrets between them. Secrets pertaining to a certain someone’s true appearance. Zim loves Professor Membrane and he’s sure that the feelings are mutual but should he risk it?

Word Count: 7443

AO3 link

Yo, here’s a Zimbrane fic for the upcoming Halloween. It’s got body horror?? I guess so read with caution. It’s nothing too bad. Believe me, I bet it’s something you won’t expect ;)

It’s my first fanfic?? ever I guess so please be gentle and if possible, give me feedback on how I can improve cuz I love this pairing and I wanna write more for them ;-;

Zim’s current love-slave has everything Zim ever wants in a partner. Professor Membrane is brilliant, tall, good with weapons, and has caused Dib more anguish and doubt than Zim could ever cause.

Zim knows and has seen what Professor Membrane can accomplish. Combined, they’d be the greatest gift to the universe in all its existence. But there is this… oddity to their relationship.

Most couples would’ve already known how the other really looked like, appearance wise (actual personalities are sometimes never revealed), at their current stage. Yet somehow, Zim has never seen his partner’s face.

Sure Zim hides his appearance, but unlike Professor Membrane, Zim is pretty sure he has a lot more to lose, given his “foreign” heritage and occupation as an invader and all.

But Professor Membrane must be human, right? Whatever horrible thing he’s hiding under his lab coat and goggles couldn’t be the worst Zim has ever seen. Zim isn’t superficial enough to stop loving someone based on their appearance, height notwithstanding, hell humans are already ugly enough to Zim yet he still decided to pursue the scientist.

Maybe Professor Membrane was scarred or disfigured? Or maybe he’s so horrifyingly ugly according to “human” standards that he has to hide it. Dib does have a rather large head after all and Gretchen’s the only one Zim knows (has been told) that seems to like Dib.

There’s nothing wrong with asking things from your partner. In fact, it would only be fair for Zim’s burning curiosity to be satisfied. If Zim wants to find out how Professor Membrane looks like, then he will find it out. He is Zim, nothing is out of the question. But is he ready for it?

He could leave things as they are and continue like normal, or he could confront Professor Membrane and find out what’s hidden underneath. But would it be too soon? They’ve done all sorts of couply things together already, according to Zim’s “dating humans” guide list he devised when learning about human affection that one dreadful time with Tiq? Taco? T something, he still misses his robot bee, Robbee never even completed his first mission, but that’s irrelevant now.

They’ve gone to an expensive eating establishment (Zim paid with Earth monies but those monies were outdated cents and quarters), they’ve watched the sun set and looked at the stars (one of Zim’s favourite moments), they’ve watched horror movies in the cinema (they were more horrified by the actions of the teens surrounding them though), and they even did a “Netflix & Chilli” (Zim still believes that the alien Jim is a loser for losing his leaders to a space anomaly).

They’ve even passed through several stages of physical affection. It started out with staring, then casual pats, they’ve even skipped straight to hugging before hand holding. They haven’t begun eating each other’s faces yet but Zim still finds it repulsive and another factor in the brutishness of stinky human courtship rituals.

Today was one of their date nights. Their plans only included dinner at Zim’s base. Though, Zim hopes that Professor Membrane will acknowledge his amazement at Zim’s awesome cooking skills and be willing to show his face once and for all.

---------------------

Dinner went off splendidly. Although the turkey had an unfortunate extra ingredient added to it, in the form of a dysfunctional, hyperactive robot. Professor Membrane thankfully thought of it as a pleasant surprise, meant to showcase Zim’s brilliance.

But now comes the hard part. Zim has to convince the Professor to stay for a while longer. He can do this.

Zim mustered up all his courage and held Professor Membrane’s hand as he was about to say his goodbyes.

“Wait! Stay a bit longer! I still have much to do with you!” Zim looks desperately into Professor Membrane’s shiny goggles, he HAS to find out what was underneath or else he’ll be restless for the entirety of their relationship, which would definitely affect his plans.

“What? We didn’t plan anything else for tonight though. Dib and Gaz should be fine but this is rather sudden.” Professor Membrane looks at their clasped hands and Zim’s hopeful expression.

“What is it that you want exactly? Are we going to your lab again?” He questioned.

He’s been helping Zim out with his inventions, spending a lot of hours just tinkering together in harmony. Science has always been a delight to do but with Zim, it feels like he’s experiencing it for the first time ever. He’s regained some of his wonder and childish curiosity with Zim’s input and feedback.

Anxiety was visible through Zim’s body language. He was hunched over, his eyes hurriedly shifting from left to right and back. He exhaled.

“I want to progress our relationship to the next stage,” Zim admits, “it’s just that, all we’ve done so far is hold hands and cuddle. Not that I hate it! If you ever stop then I will go to your house at night and replace your roboarms with bamboo skewers!”

Zim lets go to cross his arms and glare.

“Well, it is true that we’ve been taking it slow. I could say that part of it is my fault for being unfamiliar with this... relationship thing.” Professor Membrane muses. Is Zim dissatisfied with what they currently have?

“I’m sorry Zim, am I going too slowly for you?” he asked.

“No not at all! You satisfy me plenty. I admit that I’m also new to what we’re doing right now.” Zim quickly denied.

Professor Membrane feels relief. As a scientist, he can deal with all sorts of fields but relationships were harder to understand.

“That’s good, I treasure you and our love together. I don’t usually get to have a lab partner who’s not an employee of mine.” He confesses. He’s grown too attached.

“Great! As for the reason I am keeping you here for,” Zim paused.

He was in the right to ask for things. He shouldn’t feel worried.

“I’m demanding that you show your face to me.” Zim said resolutely. He looked expectedly at his human.

Professor Membrane felt panic. He should’ve expected it. He didn’t think it would be now though.

“My face? There’s nothing to see! It looks quite boring underneath.” He tried to play it off.

Zim looks dejected and hurt. Professor Membrane ignored him, that hurt.

“But I don’t even know what you look like. I don’t know the colour of your eyes or the shape of your face or even if you have weird lips. How can I be sure that you’re not a new person every time we meet? Are you even the original Membrane that I confessed to? You’re not another weird clone right?” Zim accused. Starting a chain of repeated lines.

“I’m not…” Professor Membrane answered.

“Are you?”

“I’m not…”

“Are you?!”

“I’m not...”

“Are you?!!”

He had enough. While he may love Zim, he doesn’t enjoy this continuous back and forth, even if it is somewhat cute.

“ZIM!” he shouted, “I swear by my 24 degrees that I’m not a clone. I’m the only original Professor Membrane in this reality.”

“Then why are you hiding your face from me? Don’t worry! I don’t mind if you look hideous. Just show me your trust.” He tried to look harmless but inside, Zim is worried that he’s asking for too much. Something is telling him to trust Professor Membrane in return.

Professor Membrane remained silent for a while. He’s debating internally over whether he should show Zim his face.

But eventually he relented to Zim’s request.

“Alright, I’ll show you but do you have somewhere else where we could do this? Your kitchen-lavatory room is not what I have in mind for sharing personal secrets”

They looked around. Gir, still in the turkey, was taking care of his many pig friends. The camera Dib installed is still visibly there, recording their conversation. Zim should remind the Computer to disable it or have it record a non-stop footage of Floopsy Bloops Schmoopsy.

“Urghh, I guess it’s fine.” Zim groans out. “Join me in my basement.”

He leads Professor Membrane by the hands through a closet that goes underground. It was different from the other places of Zim’s underground level. Here is where he kept his more Earth friendly technology.

It looks somewhat similar to Professor Membrane’s own lab in his basement, except with what appears to be a waiting area, with a sofa, a soda vending machine and a receptionist desk. But the only life there were bundled in the cobwebs of the receptionist’s chair. The receptionist is apparently out for smoke break.

They settled on the comfortable purple sofa. Anticipation was in the air.

“Well? Show Zim the goods!” Zim holds out his arms in a ‘gimme’ gesture. He can’t wait to see what all the fuss is about.

Professor Membrane takes off his goggles first to reveal his eyes. His fingers then undid the upper half of his lab coat to reveal the bottom half of his face. Underneath his lab coat he wore a tight, black turtle neck.

It’s not what Zim expected. He was shocked. His previous expectations were crushed like humans should be underneath his boot.

There’s nothing wrong. Professor Membrane’s face looks like any other humans. If Zim were human, he’d even consider Professor Membrane’s face to be ridiculously good-looking, even by celebrity standards. But Zim wasn’t a human so, to him Professor Membrane’s face was as ugly as all the rest of the human species.

Even Professor Membrane’s eyes are nothing extraordinary, except for the glowing blue light that the irises emit and the pupils that expanded and contracted like camera shutters.

Zim actually found himself feeling slightly disappointment, since there was nothing special to look at.

“Is that all you have hidden there? Why even bother wearing your coat and goggles so conservatively?” Zim says annoyingly.

“That’s just my fashion sense.” Professor Membrane says chipperly.

He laughed disconcertingly, a drawn out “Ha ha ha,” as if he were watching a comedian embarrass himself instead of delivering actual jokes.

He’s trying to placate Zim. Professor Membrane was acting strange. His lips seem to be delayed by a couple of nanoseconds when he speaks. If it weren’t for the many modifications Irkens had to endure, Zim never would have noticed.

“Your eyes are different though. They’re not brown like the eyes of the Dib-beast or the little Gaz-monster.” Zim is judging Professor Membrane.

Zim’s nicknames for his kids were odd but somehow, they sounded charming to the Professor.

“I had them replaced when my vision was failing, you know how humans are with all the limitations of biology.” He hand waved his difference away. Zim is still not satisfied.

“Let me see them closer.”

Zim leaned on Professor Membrane. He’s holding Professor Membrane’s face in his palms as he stared deep into his human’s eyes. Zim always thought that human eyes were freaky, with their milky white sclera. But Professor Membrane’s eyes were pretty. He had long lashes and the electric blue glow they emitted reminded Zim of Tallest Miyuki’s calm gaze that captivated the hearts of her people.

Zim observed the rest of his face, Professor Membrane’s nose looked regal and fit him perfectly. Zim also notes that his features were perfectly symmetrical, another contributing factor in human attractiveness, although this time it also extended to Irken beauty standards. Finally, there was something both races had in common.

Before he realized it, his gaze then went down to the scientist’s lips. They looked soft and had a perfect curve to them. But they were pressed tight, stiff and unmoving.

He was removed out of his stupor when Professor Membrane uttered a word, Zim’s name, from his perfectly shaped lips. Such perfection was otherworldly, it shouldn’t exist. There weren’t any blemishes or other hideous imperfections on his skin either.

“Zim? Zim! While I do find your attention flattering, don’t you think you’re too close?” Professor Membrane said in a hitched voice.

Professor Membrane’s eyes revealed his current emotions more than the rest of his face. Despite the nervous tone, his face remained stoic, his wide-blown, erratic pupils betrayed him instead.

Zim hadn’t realized, but he’s moved so close that he was kneeling on top of Professor Membrane. They’ve cuddled before, it’s true, but never this close, and never face-to-face with Professor Membrane’s exposed, hypnotic eyes.

It was the first time Zim didn’t feel revulsion at seeing a human. His past self would’ve spitted at him and called him a filthy xenophile for feeling whatever this is. But Zim putting himself before his empire was nothing new, although it still hurt him to acknowledge it.

“You’re actually not too hideous. I am pleased.” Zim tried to sound dismissive, but it’s clear that he is affected by his lover’s appearance.

“I’m glad my face pleases you then, my celestial lover.” Professor Membrane said warmly.

His expression was light. A smile graced his lips. That made something flutter in Zim’s innards.

But he began feeling another rare feeling, guilt. What is it with all these feelings now?? Zim is too great to be bothered by that. Yet, should he reveal his actual face? Would he be dissected or worse vivisected if he did? He doesn’t want to live out the rest of his life stuck in a tube. His partner was related to Dib after all and his passion for science is, at times, obsessive.

Zim was distracted from his worries by a sudden pressure on his lips. They were soft. His love was kissing him. That was Zim’s first kiss. Not just Zim’s first kiss on the lips but first kiss in general, and it had to be lip-to-lip.

Before he could respond to Professor Membrane’s actions, the Professor drew back with a sheepish expression.

“I’m sorry Zim, I didn’t mean to kiss you like that.” He mumbled.

Professor Membrane’s arms, which were previously stuck to his side, lifted to caress Zim’s head.

“I couldn’t help myself, you’re really cute Zim. Was it too soon?” He asked.

“No it’s fine. I liked it. I liked it a lot.” Zim felt dizzy. He was embarrassed to admit it to himself, but it was the truth.

“There won’t be any cannibalism though right?” asked Zim. Worry appeared on his face again but more exaggerated than before.

“What if there was, what if I admit that I want to eat you up?” Professor Membrane said teasingly. He’s amused by his love’s thinking.

“If anyone does the eating it would be Zim!” he exclaimed. “My love-pig is no match for my razor sharp teeth.”

Zim shows off his pink, zipper teeth. Another odd thing about Zim that captivates the curious mind of the Professor.

“Perhaps, we should test it out with a little experiment?” Professor Membrane’s eyes sparkled with mischief.

“What kind of experiment?” Zim questioned.

“An experiment where we find out who’ll consume the other first.” He challenged Zim.

“It will definitely be me.” Zim grinned, showing off his teeth again.

This time, it was Zim who acted first. He pressed his lips tight against his human’s. Zim’s antenna tingled underneath his wig, if he hadn’t stuck it tightly with adhesives before, they would’ve sprung free from their confinement, he’s learnt his lessons during Earth’s many challenges.

Professor Membrane held Zim tighter towards his body. As if he never wants to let go, as if he’s afraid of losing Zim.

Zim’s hands were still occupied with exploring every inch of Professor Membrane’s face. He wants to burn his love's features into his hands, forever imprinting their impressions into his memory.

But, during Zim’s explorations, he began noticing a long depression near the outer reaches of Professor Membrane’s face. It wouldn’t have been noticeable, if Zim hadn’t been an Irken. Irkens had really sensitive skin, that’s why they cover themselves up so much.

He paused his kissing to get a better feel for Professor Membrane’s face. The depression circled the outer cheeks, over the eyebrows and seemingly ended between Professor Membrane’s upper and lower lip on both sides.

“My love? What are you doing?” Professor Membrane stuttered out. Yet, Zim’s previous observations about the stoicism of his features seemed sprung out more than ever.

“There is something you’re keeping from me. I can sense it beneath my fingers!” Zim accused Professor Membrane.

He stood up from his previous position to pace around the room, never taking his eyes of his lover. Zim moved like an interrogator in a prison. He won’t stand any lies.

If Professor Membrane could emote more, he’d have despair written all over his face. His right hand began covering the bottom part of face, in a nervous gesture.

“Zim, my love, there’s nothing wrong. Come back to my arms. Whatever you felt must have been due to your unfamiliarity with my face.”

Still seated, he leans towards Zim with his arms spread out.

“Oh no! Don’t lie to me! I know what I’ve felt, I’ve seen how you move your lips. Why don’t you trust me?!” Zim recoils.

Zim’s never trusted anyone before but he expects trust from them. Zim has always believed himself to be a genuine person, sans his human disguise, and to have his character or actions questioned really pissed him off.

“You’re right Zim,” he relented “I am hiding something. I’ve only shown this to a few of the people I know, and it’s always ended in them disappearing. Not even Gaz or Dib have seen me without this.”

There’s something chilling about the way Professor Membrane says it. It was like Zim stepped on an old landmine, waiting to see if it’ll end in a disaster or not. He’s not sure about what Professor Membrane meant by disappearing but he doesn’t want to question it. As a part of the Irken Elite and as an Irken soldier, he can face anything.

“Don’t worry, whatever secrets you hold won’t be enough to scare me away. I love you, I’ve never loved anyone before.” Zim’s voice was soft, remarkably different from his usual screeching.

How many times has he said those words? Aside from his first sentence towards the only parental unit Zim ever knew, he’s only said it to Professor Membrane.

Again, Zim is doing something uncharacteristic. Was he trying to ease Professor Membrane’s discomfort with this entire thing? Trying to convince himself to be brave? Or was it just love that made Zim say that. Could a human really make Zim question himself that way? What kind of person is Professor Membrane to hold this much power over Zim’s heart.

“Please, don’t look away.” Professor Membrane pleaded.

He walked towards Zim, the height difference more noticeable now that they’re standing in front of each other. But that difference disappeared though, when Professor Membrane kneeled in front of Zim.

It was like one of those Earth movies that Zim watches, where one of the members of a couple kneel down to ask for a union. But instead of reaching into a pocket for a small rock, Professor Membrane reached for the sides of his face.

Slowly, he revealed what’s hidden underneath. Zim was right. Professor Membrane was disfigured. What he didn’t expect was the severity of the disfigurement.

In all of Zim’s time on Earth, with his countless research on human biology, he’s never sliced off anyone’s face. But even then, it wouldn’t have looked like Professor Membrane’s current features. His face was a prosthetic.

He has no face, no barrier protecting his passageways from the outside world. The only remaining parts of Professor Membrane’s face were his lower jaw, his temples, and his eyes.

Looking closer, Zim could see that the glow of his eyes was concentrated on the front part, the only part that is visible with Professor Membrane’s face prosthetic. The other half was encased in metal, connected to his organic parts with wires.

It was fascinating actually, seeing the mucosal tissues of a human. There was so much pink, pink like the lifeblood that flows through every Irken’s veins. His tongue was resting on top of his lower jaw, it was weird seeing it disappear as it nears the throat, going down the oesophagus.

Zim could also see a marriage between the organic and mechanic, as metallic parts are there to support and cover some of the exposed meat. Where there should be the nasal passage, was an artificial tube.

The edges featured tiny magnets, probably to hold Professor Membrane’s faceplate. Zim has seen much in his lifetime. He’s seen how cybernetics could replace almost anything but it was always visible if something is unnatural. Yet, Professor Membrane’s face, or at least his prosthetic, was good enough to fool Zim.

It was better than a hologram, that only mimics and changes appearances visually. It was something turned physical. Zim should feel disgusted, but instead he was more amazing than Zim could ever imagine.

The Professor’s technology was even more intertwined with his biology than Irken technology is with Irken bodies. While almost everything is genetically enhanced or modified, the mechanical aspect of Irken’s only constitutes their Pak, which is located outside of their bodies, attached to their spine.

“Love, speak. Do I scare you?” When he talked, his voice projected out from his throat. He had a voice box implanted. His tongue and lower jaw aren’t enough to make the appropriate vocalizations.

It was at that moment that Professor Membrane tried to cover up his gruesome anatomy with his faceplate but Zim stopped him. Before he could attach his face back on, Zim snatched his prosthetic.

Zim says in a low tone, or as low as he could try, he still sounds loud.

“No, you don’t scare me. Your current appearance doesn’t even disgust me. Instead, you intrigue me. I’ve never seen a human like you before.”

“In fact! Everyone else is disgusting compared to you.” He said louder, almost giddy-like.

“You’re brilliant! A genius worthy of Zim even! You merge technology so wonderfully, I want to see more!” There was audible excitement when Zim spoke.

“Zim, you don’t have to attack me with compliments. Is that really what you think?” Professor Membrane whispers, it’s hard to talk without his prosthetic. He uses a voice box but the movement of his artificial lip over his real lip was enough to make him believe that he is producing sound the natural way. It hurts.

Zim is studying the face prosthetic Professor Membrane designed. It was animatronic. The movement was controlled with nanotubes and circuitry connecting to small motors. If Zim wasn’t concerned about offending Professor Membrane, he’d rush to his underground labs to study it.

He feels a surge of affection, this is his human, no one else’s but Zim’s. Even other aliens don’t compare to his partner. Some were even too stupid to be alive, but somehow they live.

“Don’t be foolish, foolishness doesn’t suit you. You know that I adore you.” Never has Zim uttered something so soft before.

“I love you for your mind,” he kisses his lover’s forehead, “your strength,” he kisses his lover’s robo arms, “your height,” he kisses the hair scythe, “and everything else about you.” he leaves a big kiss on Professor Membrane’s prosthetic and Professor Membrane’s lower jaw.

Professor Membrane was stunned, his lower jaw dropped down and his electronic eyes emitted an even brighter glow. Zim hands Professor Membrane the prosthetic.

“Now cover up your holes before the germs invade you. I will not be having my lover be sick due to some pathetic Earth virus.” Zim looks at his lover. If he could, he would kiss the Professor’s soul, so only Zim would remain in the scientist’s heart.

Professor Membrane, places his face plate on with a ‘click.’ He lifts Zim up in his arms as he stands from his kneeling position. Zim shrieked as his feet lost contact with the ground.

“I was right to love you, Zim!” The Professor was gleeful.

“You’d be stupid if you rejected me.” Zim’s smugness at being loved reached an all-time high.

Professor Membrane twirled Zim above his head and hugged him close.

“You remember how I said that I never showed this to my children?” Professor Membrane hummed into Zim’s wig.

“Yes?”

“Please don’t tell them.” The Professor begged. His request surprised Zim.

“The Dib really doesn’t know? Wonderful! You have nothing to fear! I’ll keep your secret. You must really love Zim then!” Zim laughed maniacally.

Zim was so euphoric, his legs were moving back and forth.

“I’m glad I showed this side of mine to you. I like to imagine that, if I had an actual face, it would look similar to my prosthetic.” The current richest inventor and researcher on Earth sounded defeated.

The feeling returned. The feeling called guilt. Here he is, in the arms of his lover. His lover who doesn’t even know that Zim is from an entirely different race, sent to conquer his beloved Earth. It was a heavy feeling.

Is Zim actually empathizing with this human? He feels wrong, dirty, for taking advantage of someone like Professor Membrane. It was like he was spitting at the Professor’s intelligence.

There is no turning back from this relationship. At least, no way of turning back on his love. If Zim were to break things off, or just disappear, he’d end up with a broken heart. He still doesn’t know why it would hurt but just the thought makes his squeedilyspooch twist in angst.

He wants to continue whatever this is. He wants to feel light, feel acknowledged, feel loved. But if this really were mutual, then Zim would have to reveal his Irken self and be exposed as the enemy he is.

The Professor is still holding Zim up. He seemed content having Zim in his arms. Cuddling and nuzzling him. This is a comfort unmatched by any other.

Zim doesn’t want this to end, he’s ruined almost everything else good in his life. The Tallest haven’t contacted him in ages and the Massive and Irken fleets still remain missing. It’s lonely being the only Irken on Earth. Every other Irken is fleeing from the colonies they’ve conquered.

If Zim were to meet his demise, then he wouldn’t mind it being at the hands of his love, his equal. He breaks out of his lover’s grasp. He knows what to do.

“With all these secrets we’re sharing with each other, I believe that it is only fair for you to cast your eyes on my amazing self!” Zim acts confident, he can do confident, he can be cocky about his real looks. After all, he is handsome in all ways except height.

“Yes Zim, you are an amazing specimen.” The Professor looks at Zim fondly.

“You don’t get it! Focus more on my actual features. I know this disguise is amazing but you, as Zim’s equal should be able to tell where I differ from the rest!” Zim said angrily.

“Ok? Well, you have no visible nose or ears, you’re green and you have the prettiest eyes I’ve ever seen.” His eyebrow lifted up in confusion as he spoke.

“Yes, yes I know my attractiveness is intimidating. But do you think I’m too attractive? Out of this world even?” Zim expects him to say the truth. The full truth. He’s not sure if he’s ready to be the one to confess things.

“You’re the only I know who looks like you.” Professor Membrane doesn’t know what else to say.

“Don’t you think it’s strange? The Dib always accuses me of being an alien.” Zim is stalling. He hopes that the Professor will find out on his own, so Zim wouldn’t have to admit it.

“I know my son is a handful, I’ll tell him to be more considerate of your skin condition.” The Professor said, exasperatingly, he doesn’t know what to do about his son.

If Professor Membrane thinks that that is what Zim is asking for then he really needs to join a reading the atmosphere class. Professor Membrane can be really blind at times.

“NO! The Dib-beast is right! I’m an alien! I’ve always been an alien. I come from the planet Irk. What you saw a few months earlier was real.” Zim said it. He can’t wait for Professor Membrane to find out his identity, it might take decades.

He takes off his contacts, his wig, and his goatee and threw them to the ground.

“I’m the alien you fought that day!” Zim points to himself.

“Look at my pink solid eyes, look at these antenna. Don’t you think I’m an alien?” He becomes more frustrated as he pointed out each strange thing about himself.

“Oh Zim, don’t worry about your appearance, I’ll always find you attractive. Your eyes are lovely by the way. You don’t have to call yourself an alien.” Professor Membrane still refuses to see what’s right in front of him.

Zim tugs off his gloves and boots.

“I have three fingers! I have two toes! Is it getting into your brain yet? I’m an alien.” Does the Professor want Zim to degrade himself further? Should he perform a little song and dance to the tune of the Irken Empires anthem?

“Those things could be congenital defects. I’m glad you’re comfortable enough with me to share your insecurities.” Professor Membrane’s attempts at being understanding are pathetic.

“Unless, you’re doing this because you hope to scare me off?” His voice takes on a worried tone, completely unwarranted in Zim’s opinion.

“You stupid, dumb, idiotic human!” Zim screams out.

Zim removes his shirt. He never intended to turn this into a sort of striptease, a term he learnt from a drunk guy who decided to ‘put on a show’ for more booze monies. Zim is glad that Gir dunked him in molten butter and popcorn because that display really disgusted him.

He drags the Professor down to have a seat on the floor and positions his Pak towards Professor Membrane. He also extends one of his spider legs. Hopefully, this will be enough to convince him of his extraterrestrial origins.

“Look at my Pak! Touch it with your robo hands! What you’re looking at is high quality Irken technology.” Zim is tired.

Professor Membrane is transfixed. He’s never seen something like this before. The Pak wasn’t stuck on superficially, it actually goes into Zim’s back. Studying it for a while, he realizes that it’s not made from materials found on Earth and it’s more advanced than anything he knows, something that shouldn’t be possible.

“I am a member of the Irken race. An intergalactic race who’s currently trying to take over the universe. I am an invader brought to Earth to take it over for Operation Doom II.

We modified ourselves biomechanically to be the ultimate species. The Pak you’re studying right now is where the entirety of Irken history and knowledge is contained. It is better than your human brains and computers. It holds my personality, my tools and my intelligence.” Zim explains.

“It holds all that information? You know the entire history of your race?” Asked an astonished Membrane.

“Several thousands of years of knowledge and more, regarding some other races and planets.” Zim didn’t think that Professor Membrane would focus on that, he thought he’d be held up on this conquering Earth thing he spewed out.

“Can you take up more information in your Pak?” The inquiries were calm, rational. As if Professor Membrane was doing a survey.

“Our Paks were designed to hold at least 1 billion years of storage.” That is a fact that still makes Zim proud of being an Irken, not many races can brag about having so much storage space.

In the scheme of things, 1 billion years is nothing compared to the expected lifespan of the universe, but it is more than enough for effervescent species like humans and Irkens.

Professor Membrane does the unexpected once again, he hugged Zim fiercely, ecstatically. Zim looked behind him, the stoicism of his prosthetic is nowhere to be found, an absurdly large grin was present on his face.

Was this a trap? His grin reminded Zim of the times Dib would smile before doing something horrible to Zim or before promising to do something horrible. That manic glint in Professor Membrane’s cyber eyes was heightened with the rapid closing and opening of his shutters, like a camera taking pictures.

Zim expected shock, Zim expected denial, Zim expected hatred or even understanding if things were more positive. But this elated expression on his lover’s face was something Zim did not expect. It was like he actually got the twelve cases of Uranium-38 from Santa on Christmas.

“Thank you Zim, I believe you. Without you I would’ve never had this chance.” Professor Membrane finally spoke out.

“What?” Zim asked.

“You’re amazing, Zim. Special. I’ll never regret meeting you.” The Professor was stroking his antenna in an overly possessive manner. This aggressive petting was something Professor Membrane never did. If Zim had any sensation on his one special, not defective, antenna, he’d be blushing from head to toe.

This really makes Zim wonder if Professor Membrane is planning to study his insides and dump him in a laboratory to be studied. But this time, Zim is prepared. He’ll face all sorts of tests, as long as he can stay by the Professor’s side.

This sort of devotion was only ever reserved for the Tallest though but they’re gone, possibly forever and the only leader Zim wants to have is Professor Membrane.

“Love-pig, I give you permission to use my body in whatever way you want.”

Zim accepted his fate, he willingly gives himself up for experimentation. He tries to break free from Professor Membrane’s vice grip to face him. It’s hard to have this discussion with his back against Professor Membrane’s chest.

The Professor paused his ministrations. Zim feels a sudden spike in Professor Membrane’s heartbeat and temperature.

“Zim, what do you think I’ll be doing with you?” The Professor is bashful. He doesn’t want any more misunderstandings between them.

“Aren’t you going to strap me on a table and use your various tools on me?” Zim was puzzled.

Professor Membrane still looks at Zim confusedly.

“I’ll let you cut me up but I’ll tell you where it’s safe to cut open because I still enjoy living and I expect to remain alive in your care until you can’t learn anything more from me. But don’t think it’ll be a short study! I am much more knowledgeable than you. I know more… knowledge!! than you. Things you humans can’t even begin to imagine!” He made his peace.

“Oh. NO! No Zim. I would never experiment on you like that!”

Professor Membrane’s outcry was unexpected.

“You’re more than anything I could ever dream of. You’re the answer to my loneliness.”

Was that it? Was Professor Membrane simply impressed with Zim’s true self? Was he in awe of Zim? The Professor might have reacted the same way if he met any other Irkens but it doesn’t matter to Zim. It is Zim Professor Membrane is reacting to, and not anyone else.

“Yup! Zim is the best! Too bad you’re a pitiful human and not a superior Irken.” Zim is back to his confident self.

“Let me apologize Zim. Please forgive me. I know you told me to trust you, but I haven’t been completely truthful.”

The Professor shrinks into himself, he’s ashamed.

Zim is more surprised. What else could Professor Membrane be hiding? Is it something on his body? While Zim was shirtless, gloveless and bootless, Professor Membrane still has his full coat on, only with the upper part undone. It’s not fair.

“I guess I should reveal my full self as well.”

He removes his face plate again, but instead of seeing the insides of a human head, there’s a hole. A black hole. Dark in colour. Not even his eyes remained.

Zim looks in. He sees everything and nothing, he sees the beginning and the end of humanity. He’s experiencing bliss but agony as well. There is so much information being downloaded in Zim’s Pak that it’s whirring frantically, trying to compile and organize everything. It was a sight he’s never seen before. He doesn’t even know what he’s looking at to be honest.

It’s addicting. He watches the smooth black void swirl with light splotches of what appears to be stars. There are nuclear fissions happening. It was like Professor Membrane contained a small galaxy on his face, with a black hole as its centre.

If Zim were sane he’d have lost his sanity but all he could feel is delight instead of horror. His scientific side is curious, he wants to know what, why, how it’s even possible.

Zim knows he should feel terrified. He’s dealing with something other, something inhuman. Professor Membrane is no ordinary being. He is like one of those Lovecraftian gods that humans make fiction of.

“Can I touch it?” He can’t call it a face, it held too much to be a face.

“Yes, but be careful,” Professor Membrane’s voice emitted from the void.

Zim briefly wonders what happened to the modifications Professor Membrane made. He hopes they’re not gone forever, it’s another part of his lover that Zim has learnt to cherish already.

Zim reaches for Professor Membrane’s actual ‘face,’ his hand gets sucked in. Terror filled Zim as he struggles. He’s afraid he’s being sucked in to be consumed by the void. Maybe Professor Membrane will consume him after all?

Before he can be pulled towards the centre of the hole, arms surround him and he is being held in place. Today is not the day Zim dies.

“Zim! I told you to be careful!” that voice appeared again. The voice of Zim’s daydreams and fantasies. Professor Membrane is still with him. Zim forgot for a moment.

“Hah! Don’t be silly my love! Nothing can beat the Almighty Zim!!!” He’s come down from whatever kept his mind in the clouds.

While being fastened by Professor Membrane, Zim decides to reach his arm out. Self-perseverance is a trait that Zim possesses but sometimes, he just wants to act out his impulses.

He feels something squishy and wet. Zim grabbed whatever that was. When he retracted his hand, he discovers that he’s holding onto a baby octopus. He puts it back in to grab something else. A teacup filled with hot tea. Typical. This time he doesn’t put his hand back in, giving the tea to Professor Membrane.

“What’s all that inside you?” Zim asks, he shrugs off the weirdness, it’s an ordinary Tuesday for him. A turbulent Tuesday but still a Tuesday.

“The combined knowledge of mankind.” It’s uncanny hearing Professor Membrane’s voice.

“What are you anyways?” If his lover isn’t a human, then Zim could gleefully continue their relationship without feeling too much guilt.

“I still like to consider myself as a human.” That dashes Zim’s hopes but considering Professor Membrane’s credentials, he’s still proud of being able to call himself Professor Membrane’s lover.

“But a human who’s been in existence as long as mankind has been. I don’t remember my origin, if I were to imagine myself as a child, it would be how I currently am, only smaller.” It was hard for Professor Membrane to admit that he’s forgotten important parts of himself.

“Irkens are only alive for a millennia of your human time.” It hurts Zim to realize this.

He always expected that he’d outlive his partner when the time comes but it might actually be the other way around. He doesn’t want to think more on it. He wants to move away from that topic.

“Is Professor your real name?” Zim has found out that Professor is a title, like Frylord or Invader or even Tallest is. So he was confused when looking at Professor Membrane’s documents to see that Professor is written as his first name.

“I’ve been called many things throughout my existence but the name that sticks out the most is Thoth.” Professor Membrane reflects back. That was something he can remember.

“Anyways, I want to discover more and your existence made me realize that mankind has restrained my full potential.” The Professor said.

Delight fills Zim. Is Professor Membrane willing to turn his back on humanity?

“With you telling me about your extraterrestrial origin, I was able to find proof of the existence of life in other worlds. The probability always existed but I never had any concrete evidence.

And the knowledge humans collected on space is so insufficient that they don’t really tell anything. Other information, like what Dib usually talks about, can be easily considered as hoaxes, quick to exit the minds of the populace.” He continued saying.

Every dismayed admittance of the inadequacy of humans and their discoveries makes Zim happier and happier.

“There are still many things to discover, that’s why I became a scientist, mankind’s knowledge is limited and information found can easily be lost forever.” Professor Membrane concluded his little speech.

Humans really are pitiful. Zim wished he could have landed on Earth ages ago, to forge a path for faster development. Hmm. Maybe he should consider doing it now, with Professor Membrane by his side.

“You’re not keeping anymore secrets from me are you?” To count, Zim has been shocked an entirety of three times in the span of this date. He checked the time with his Pak. Two and half hours have passed. This makes for a surprise every 50 minutes.

“No more secrets, my love.” Professor Membrane places his prosthetic back on his face. Zim sees the moment the void disappears and dissipates to turn back into the fleshy opening.

“We both showed our true faces to each other.” Zim said. His trust in the Professor is absolute. They’ll never have to hide themselves ever again in each other’s presence.

“We did. I’m glad we did. Thank you Zim.” The voice came out of Professor Membrane’s mouth, where voices are supposed to come out from.

Inspecting Professor Membrane’s face prosthetic, Zim acknowledges that he loves all of Professor Membrane’s faces. His kissable lips opened to say something. Zim wants to punch himself for thinking that way.

“You’re the only one to survive seeing my true self. Everyone else died from brain hemorrhaging or lost their minds to never recover.” He said nonchalantly.

“Good! Give Zim all the praise!” Zim takes any chance he can get to be praised. “And all the kisses!! Those were nice.” Professor Membrane delivers a quick peck on the lips.

“You deserve all the kisses from me,” Professor Membrane agrees, “I had a wonderful date.”

A realization hit Zim. Date night still didn’t end. And when date night continued after dinner, it usually meant that they would be spending time tinkering and working on one thing or another.

“Let’s work on making your prosthetic move smoother. I have just the right Irken tech to show you in my other working area. You’ll love it.

I modified it of course to make it less stupid but it should give you a fully functional ugly human face with feelings. It’ll hide your beautiful insides unfortunately but that’s living on Earth for people like us.” Zim rambled on, already thinking up of different things to do.

“Does it look anything like your disguise?” Professor Membrane loves Zim but a fake goatee, a wig and contacts don’t make for a good disguise, he confessed to himself.

Oh dear. Dib was right. Zim’s disguise was bad. Dib was also right about Zim being an alien. Professor Membrane promises to himself that he’ll believe his son more from now on.

“What? Unfortunately no! All the other disguises hid way too much of my handsomeness and it would be a disservice to everyone for me to hide it!”

Zim went on a tirade, “The Earth will be even more MORE sadder and uglier if I looked exactly like you humans. Gross. Be happy you get to see my full handsomeness in my true Irken self. There are many who don’t get the opportunity that you have.”

Zim gestures to himself. He’s still half-dressed. Professor Membrane hands Zim the rest of his outfit before things turn awkward. After dressing quickly, Zim once more is leading Professor Membrane by the hands into his labs, the cooler ones with all the alien tech.

‘Zim, never change, my lover from the stars.’ Professor Membrane thinks to himself fondly, as he is being led away. His various faces may not allow for much expression but he is smiling internally, full of love.

#zim #professor membrane #zimbrane #zapmr #pmazr #fanfic #mine #happy halloween folks!#i guess this could be considered my first serious-like attempt at fanfic #my regret is immeasurable

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