Dead Screams
part fourThe door opened and closed without a knock or hesitation. Zim could see the figure moving behind him in the reflection in the computer screen that sat before him, his fingers dancing blindly over the keys. Zim sat at his computer and waited, watching discreetly.
Dib pulled his dark blue, indifferent faced shirt over his head, tossing it to the floor as he flopped down on his bed with an audible groan. Everyone he knew was in class already, but Dib's head still pounded too hard and his stomach still churned. He turned his head, catching Zim's gaze in the monitor's reflection. If he wasn't mistaken, a slight flush came to the jade skin. Dib blinked a few times. His eyes felt gritty. He was probably just seeing things again.
"Hey, Zim," he greeted.
"Hello, Dib."
Dib smiled, his mind already playing out Zim's obvious reaction to what he was going to say next. "There's a party on Seventeenth Street tonight."
"You're not going."
"How come I knew you were going to say that?"
Zim turned around, looking into the humans real self. "Because maybe somewhere in that huge head of yours is some sense."
Dib rolled onto his stomach, propping his head up on his palm. "My head is not huge! Just big boned!"
Rolling his contact covered eyes Zim pushed his wheeled chair towards Dib's bed, jarring into it lightly. "Let me guess. Um...Jax and Nye will be there?"
"Of course."
"So I guess you want me to be here, waiting for someone to drag you home?"
"No. You're coming too."
Zim's face was priceless. It wasn't exactly a shocked statement, but it wasn't quite insane enough to be considered a normal Zim scowl. "Eh?"
Dib rolled onto his side, his head still resting in his palm. "Jax proposes that you hang out with us tonight. He thinks it'll change your mind about him and get you off my case."
"Stupid human."
"That's what I said," Dib replied. "I told him you were too stuck up and stupid to leave the dorm for even a second. Must be sad to have your paranoia as your only friend."
Zim glared. "You dare invoke the wrath of Zim?"
"Not now, okay?" Dib squinted. "I'm still feeling kinda out of it. Later, though, I promise."
Zim nodded, watching Dib watch him.
" ."
" ."
"So you talked to Jax?"
"Yeah. At the restaurant."
"What did he have to say about last night?"
"He doesn't know what happened," Dib assured him. "It's my own stupid fault. I need to watch my drink better."
Zim nodded, one of his hands daring to lie on the sheets just a few inches from Dib. "You could always find a different way to have fun."
"Like what?"
Zim licked his bottom lip, his fingers tingling at their close proximity to Dib. "I don't know. Something. Something that doesn't involve almost dying."
Dib smiled. "Since fourth grade, every game was a life and death battle. Because I was playing with you." His golden gaze was piercing, yet warm, no subtle hints of regret, but a hazy depth of memories. "It's always the same game, Zim. I'm just playing with someone else."
"You're flirting with death Dib," Zim spat. "It was kill or be killed before. This is ringing Death's doorbell and jumping into the bushes!"
"So the rules changed. The game's still the same."
"This isn't a game, it's your life!" Zim could remember a time when the human had been the rational one, and it pained his heart. "Besides, that's not the real reason, Dib, and you know it."
Dib's face cringed. "Don't you dare."
"It's because of her, Dib!" Zim shouted, backing away as Dib sat up, his face grim and dark.
"Shut up, Zim!"
"You think just because she's gone, you have to bury yourself in liquor! Does it take the hurt away, Dib? You can forget, but does the hurt ever really go away?" Zim backed away, biting his tongue as Dib lunged forward. The human's eyes were filled with tears, his face scrunched in pain and anger.
"Don't say another fucking word, Zim. You can't understand," he muttered through clenched teeth. "You've no right to judge me. You don't know anything about what I went through."
Zim nodded, wishing he hadn't pressed the buttons he knew were marked "self-destruct," but also finding himself unable to continue. Being stubborn had always been a part of him. "Yeah. Sure. I'll just go back to my computer and e-mail Gir and forget you're even here. It's what you want the world to do, isn't it?"
Dib let his fist fly directly at Zim's face. Zim dodged, raising his own arm to capture the one thrown at him. His other arm wrapped around Dib's waist and pulled him in until they stood chest to panting chest.
"Don't think I'm too stupid to know what it did to you, Dib." Zim's anger cut like glass, wounding the invisible barrier between them. "I see it every day in your eyes."
"Let me go!"
Zim pulled him nearer, their eyes so close it was all the other could see. "I'm not here to baby-sit some whiney, depressed teenager. So grow up and move on." He let go, pushing Dib backwards till his knees encountered the rolling chair and the human fell into it.
Zim waited for retaliation with his hands in fists at his sides.
Dib sat in the chair, his shocked eyes fixed on the Irkin in disbelief. When it seemed neither was in the mood to continue, Zim let his hands relax and walked to his computer, finishing the letter he'd been working on. He could see Dib in the monitor's reflection, wiping the moisture from his face with his arms, his body shaking. The human got up from the chair and headed for the bathroom, locking the door behind him.
Zim frowned. He walked over to the chair and pulled it back over to his desk, sitting down and clicking "send.