Dimensional Scope
part seven"No...." Zim dropped his gun, his own breath stopping in his chest. "Nooo...I didn't mean...."
"Hurrah for Tacos!" Gir cheered.
"But I...." Zim fell to his knees, a strange emotion filling his eyes with wetness and making his whole body ache. He crawled slowly over to where Dib's body lay, quickening his pace with every painful second.
"Dib...DIB!" He reached out, grasping the prone body and burying his head in Dib's chest. "No...I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! Don't die...don't.... I don't care what the Tallest do or say! I was wrong! Dib...DIIIBB!"
"Zim."
Zim's head shot up, his tear-streaked face flushed.
Dib shook his head. "I think you had the velocity turned on full," he started. "That really hurt."
Zim looked down at Dib's chest; the deep red stain on his shirt. "You're...."
"It's paint, Zim. You bought paint ball guns." Dib gave a startled laugh. "Wish I'd known that from the start. You scared me to death!" He smiled mischievously. "I KNEW you didn't really want to do this."
"You speak nonsense!" Zim shouted, wiping off his tears. "I could really kill you if I wanted to. I knew it was paint all along. It was a test...." Zim's eyes bulged as two arms wrapped around him; not his neck in a choking grasp, or just around his arms, as if to hold him still. They wrapped completely around him, drawing him to that wonderfully warm body. Zim hadn't the strength to fight back. He let his head drop between Dib's shoulder and neck, his arms falling to his sides.
Dib held him tighter as Zim relinquished himself to the embrace. The last few minutes rang clear in his mind. The feel of something pressing against his chest, the fear as he realized he'd been shot, the anger when he knew he was going to live and that the alien had actually gone through with it, and then the feeling that arose as Zim held him and cried, begging forgiveness and for Dib's own life. And now there was Zim's soft green skin against his neck, the whisper of his breath over his flesh. Dib rested his own head on Zim's, feeling the antennae tickle his cheek.
"I guess this is another draw then," he said softly.
Zim nodded, sliding further into the friendly warmth.
"Awww...no tacos?"
Crimson eyes shot open, arms pressing away from Dib violently with a jerk that snapped up, hitting him in the chin. "Leave my fortress. Now," Zim ordered dully.
"Zim?"
"As you said, it's a draw." Zim stood up, wiping invisible dirt from his clothing. "I hope that doesn't stain your shirt."
Dib looked down for the first time. The straight face on his shirt looked like it'd been dealt with executioner style. "Ah, I should have known better not to have worn it for this type of thing anyway."
Zim nodded, pushing the elevator button. It came down quickly and opened, admitting the three and taking them up.
So much for a battle to the death, thought Dib. He looked over at Zim; at the defeated and confused look on the alien's face. He looked hurt. Down to the soul kind of hurt. Dib felt a shiver pass through his being, the kind of intimate feeling you get when you know empathetically what someone is going through. Why was it that he connected more with an alien than with his own race? Maybe this had been what Zim was talking about. The "test," or whatever it was, Dib thought. Maybe Zim was testing him to see if he could be his...friend.
"So...does this mean we're friends now?" Dib asked, rubbing at his chest. It may have only been a paint ball pellet but he could tell there was going to be a bruise.
The Irkin shook his head. "I don't know." Zim's face felt hot and he quickly turned away from Dib, hoping the human wouldn't have seen. "Do friends...do...what we did downstairs?"
"You mean try to kill each other with projectile weaponry?"
"No...the hugging...thingy..." Zim risked a turn of his head to study the human's reaction.
Dib shrugged. "Well, yeah. It shows how much they care for each other."
"You...care for me?"
Gir's turquoise eyes turned a glowing red. "Master doesn't need a human to care for him!"
"Silence, Gir!" Zim spat, smacking the robot over the head.
"Ouch...that huuurrtt."
Dib laughed lightly. "I guess. I never really thought about it before but...I don't know. It kinda felt...right." He scratched the back of his neck nervously. "Being a paranormal expert, I'm pretty good at going with what feels right and not just what makes sense."
"Do friends hold hands?"
"Sometimes, I guess. I really haven't ever had a friend."
"Do friends...kiss?"
Dib's eyebrows shot up. "Kiss?"
Zim nodded, crossing his arms over his chest.
"I...I don't know. A certain kind of friends do." Dib began to wonder how much longer he'd be in the elevator. The questions were becoming slightly uncomfortable, so he decided to turn them around a bit. "Do you think friends try to take over another friend's planet?"
"...yes?" Zim answered. The look on Dib's face made him quickly rethink that one though. "No..." The Irkin sighed. The Tallest were not going to like that. "Could I take over a country at least?"
Dib narrowed his eyes.
"Somehow I think you would be getting more out of this friendship thing than I, Dib," Zim spat, "...but, I will agree to coexist on friendly terms."
The elevator opened and a disgruntled Gir ran out, jumping onto the couch and hiding his head under a rubber pig. Dib smiled, his eyes wide with delight.
"You mean it?"
"Yes, yes. It is by my great will that I deem you worthy of my time and compassion." Zim cleared his throat. "But...because you are getting the better end of the deal, I request two things from you."
Curious, cautious, but overly optimistic, Dib nodded. "Sure. What?"
"One, we continue to test our skills against each other as usual. Just no more trying to kill or dissect the other."
Dib nodded. "And second?"
Zim closed the space between them with two short steps and pressed his lips against Dib's. It was a soft and chaste kiss, but it left Dib breathless in surprise, with his cheeks painted scarlet.
"Second, I get to do that every once and a while."
"It is for the greater good of mankind," a little voice said in the back of Dib's head. The meek voice in the background seemed to say something about a sad cover-up and conspiracy against suppressed emotions but, as always, the louder one won out. Luckily, for the first time in a long time the two agreed.
"O-okay. In private though."
"Of course." Zim opened the front door, unsure what else to say or do. "Well...goodbye. Friend."
Dib nodded, stepping out, grateful for the cool breeze as it chilled his burning face. "See you at skool." They stared at each other for a few more minutes until Dib finally gave a last wave and ran off in the direction of his house. Zim watched him through the open door for a while, resting his head on the frame.
"Can we go get those tacos now?" Gir asked, jumping out from behind the couch.
Zim smiled, his mind finally resting and content with the present reality. "Yes, Gir. Let's go get tacos."
**
Dib walked through is front door and fell onto the couch rather than make his way upstairs to his bedroom. He checked the VCR for the tape of Mysterious Mysteries he hoped Gaz had taped, but found it empty. So much for that. The couch was very inviting, though, and his room was all the way up those stairs.... Dib wondered why he thought he had to make excuses for himself to sleep on the couch and just sprawled out for a nice long nap.
In the morning, Gaz came down the stairs in her black, skull-print P.J.'s, eager to watch her Saturday morning cartoons. She grabbed a bowl of cereal and carried it out to the coffee table to eat. Better to rot your teeth and mind at the same time, she thought. The bowl quickly dropped from her hand, though, as she saw the body lying on the couch. The dried blood on his shirt told the whole story.
She wiped a tear from her eyes and held a closed fist to the sky. "Curse you, Zim!"
"You mind keeping it down, Gaz?"
Gaz jumped ten feet in the air, a gasp of relief slipping through her usually calm composure. Dib rolled over on his side, smacking his lips in his sleep. Red-hot steam collected over her head as Gaz glared at her brother, who had probably given her the scare of her lifetime. He was still asleep, she noted, as she stood next to him with her fist ready to slam into his thick and overly proportioned head. And still alive. She sighed and let her fist drop to her side. She bent down and kissed him softly, knowing he wouldn't remember she'd done it, let alone that he had succeeded in getting any kind of reaction out of her.
"You really are pathetic."