Dead Screams
part sevenWaking up naked is one thing. Waking up naked and in a considerable amount of pain is another. Waking up naked, in a considerable amount of pain, and with one too many arms accounted for on your body is something else entirely.
Zim could feel the sunlight on his face pouring in from the window on the opposite end of the room, the booby-trapped rays kissing his sensitive flesh like daggers. It was definitely morning, if not already noon. Blankets clung to his body, every fiber in the cloth poking at him; the strands of hair from his wig stabbing at his head while the soft hand against his chest sent white fire through his veins. Unconsciousness had so much more to offer than the waking nightmare he’d not yet opened his eyes too. He couldn’t remember if he’d opened his eyes underwater, nor was he about to find out while the cursed sun rained upon him. The water. Had he had the will to move his arm in light of probable discomfort, he’d have punched something; not that punching something would be anything less than painful, as well. Why, of all planets, did he land on one with such horrible natural phenomenon? No wonder he hated the species as well. The damned things were 98% of the liquid themselves. And judging by how much he hated one in particular, he could guess Nye was at least 99.9%.
Nye. If Zim hadn’t already have been burning, he’d have been red with rage. He’d given the human too much information; too little credit, as far as brains went. A mistake he would readily rectify. It was about time he made a temporary lab on the campus, anyway. Tearing the wretched human limb from limb and feeding him to a new batch of laser weasels would be a wonderful starting project. Not to mention the advantages of a nearby paste bathing facility.
Zim smiled despite the pain, a light chuckle lifting his spirits.
“Zim?”
Now there was a voice that was hard to forget. The Irkin’s brows creased. “Jax...”
“Oh my god you’re awake!” The sound of nearing footsteps padded across the floor. At least that narrowed the field down as to whose hand rested against Zim’s chest. “How do you feel?”
/Like shit; like I’ve been attacked by the Blorch; like I’ve been thrown in a pool by your friend. Oh wait, I was./ Zim groaned, every muscle in his jaw not wanting to be moved. “What are you doing here?”
“I helped Dib get you home.” The voice was very close, close enough that Zim was sure he could reach over and hit him. “I’m glad you’re awake. I don’t think I’m as good with Dib as you are.”
Now there was an interesting thought. Zim turned his head, regretting it with every minute movement, and opened his eyes. The sunlight attacked as predicted. Zim squinted and cursed, but remained determined to see. As it was, all he could see was black. It was as though he was blind. But as morning fogginess drifted from his eyes, the blackness materialized into strands, a black head of hair resting on the mattress with an awkwardly positioned body resting in the chair. He hadn’t even bothered to take his glasses off.
“You should have seen him last night,” Jax continued, following Zim’s gaze. “I’ve seen him drunk, I’ve seen him angry, and I’ve seen him depressed. I’ve never seen like that before. It’s probably best you didn’t see him.”
“Can’t be worse than when he was high.”
“I’m really sorry about that.” The bed shook slightly as Jax’s hand rested on the headboard. “Had I known...well I’d just rather it had never happened.”
“That makes two of us.” Zim looked up, forgetting pain for a moment. “He trusts you.”
“And you don’t. Not that I’ve given you any reason to,” Jax admitted. “It’s okay though. Sometimes I feel the same way about you. But I guess anyone who Dib’d go crazy over is worth a little more consideration.”
“Perhaps.”
Zim watched Jax as he stepped away from the bed and back towards the door.
“Well, staying up all night looking after the two of you’s got me pretty hungry. I’ll pick you and Dib up something, while I’m downstairs and bring it up. What’ll you have?”
“Something that doesn’t require large amounts to chewing.”
“Coffee it is.” Jax smiled as he opened and closed the door behind him silently, remembering the still sleeping brunet lying in the chair in a most uncomfortable fashion.
Zim wondered absently why Dib hadn’t just slept in his own bed, which was still made from the night before. Not that he minded his vigilance. In fact, he was quite encouraged by it.
The hand on his chest didn’t hurt so much as before. His muscles slowly stretched and worked out what the tense underwater excursion had burned into his body. Not to mention that Irkin’s were very fast healers. Zim lifted his own hand, wanting to lay it over Dib’s. Too bad that particular muscle was still tender.
“Ahie!”
Zim bit his lip, curling his arm back down onto the bed softly. The soft hairs at his side shifted as the pale head stirred in sleep. Zim held his breath, but Dib’s golden eyes fluttered open, drawn from slumber by the sudden shriek. He seemed disoriented, his eyes shifting uncomfortably as he sat up, drawing his comforting hand away and rubbing his gritty eyes under the crooked glasses. One second of memories was all it took for the startled and frightened look to return to the pale features and his eyes to rest upon flaccid green.
“Zim?!”
“Yes?”
Dib’s eyes seemed to glimmer behind the sun’s reflection in his glasses. “You’re so stupid,” he muttered, a relieved smile playing at his lips.
“I know. I should have pushed him in first.”
The human’s hand crept over the sheets, resting on the healing arm. “I’d say better luck next time, but if there is a next time, I’m gonna make sure I kill you before the water does.”
Zim scoffed. “You’re gonna have to fight Nye for the privilege.”
“It’s not like he knew what would happen, Zim.”
/No. He didn’t. But he knows enough to hurt both of us now./ Zim watched Dib’s hand on his arm, the beautiful, hazy contrast of green and soft pink. “Can you take my contacts out? They’re only making the sunlight worse.”
Dib nodded, carefully pulling the white lenses off, revealing the ruby, pupiless depths underneath. “Wig too?”
Zim deafly nodded, lifting his head to aid its happy removal.
There was an odd silence, one in which neither spoke, but both sought for words.
“This...um, this is the first time you’ve let me see you without your disguise in years.” Dib spoke in a hushed tone.
Zim tried to remember a time before, when he had taken off the accustomed gear in the other’s presence. With the unpredictable comings and goings, it seemed a rare occurrence indeed that the contacts and wig were discarded.
“Do I scare you?”
Dib shook his head. “I’ve never been afraid of you.”
“Good.” There was a finalizing sound to it that Zim hadn’t wished to put in context and cursed old habits for doing so.
The door resounded with a solid knock.
“It’s probably Jax. He left to get us food,” Zim explained.
Dib looked at the blue eyes that stared at him from the table top. “Put it all back on?”
“No.” Zim’s disgust at the idea was evident. His eyes felt gritty as it was and his head itched terribly, almost worse than the burns. “Hide me under the blankets and send him away when he’s left the food.”
Dib nodded, keeping in his seat and instead raising his voice. “Come on in!”
Painful blankets fell over Zim’s head smoothly, like a mortician’s, covering a cadaver.
Dib looked up from the white covers to gaze at the opening door, the tray of food in the hands, and the blond hair that passed through and closed the door behind him.
“Nye? Oh, hi.”
Nye smiled, crossing to the bedside table and laying the tray of food on it. “I met Jax downstairs and thought I’d relieve him of his duty. I wanted to come up and apologize anyway. Is he still awake?”
Dib hesitated only a second. “Huh? Oh, no. No. He fell asleep again. He’s asleep.”
“Pity.” He leaned against the table, his eyes looking around the ceiling. “I guess it’s for the best. It really is better I tell you in private.”
Curious, Dib leaned forward in his chair. “Tell me what?”
/Oh Irk...no.../ Zim’s hands clutched the sheets in tight fists under the heavy blanket.
Nye’s eyes sparkled with gossip. “Dib...have you noticed anything...strange about Zim?”
“The question should be, have I noticed anything normal about him.”
Dib’s attempt of humor did little to impress the college junior. “I mean, skool-wise.”
“Skool?” Dib worried his bottom lip. “No.”
“That’s funny. You see, Jax told me you once tried to get moved out of here, but the skool denied Zim’s residence and you got stuck here.”
Dib nodded. “Yeah. Computer glitch. I don’t mind so much really, though.”
Nye stepped away from the bedside table, waltzing behind Dib’s chair and putting both hands on his friend’s shoulders. “There seem to be a lot of computer glitches around here. Especially when it concerns Zim. You see, I thought I’d be nice and do a favor for Zim, seeing as I’m kinda the reason he got hurt. So I went to the administrations office to inquire about Zim’s schedule, so I could pick up assignments and what not. And guess what they told me?”
Dib hadn’t the slightest clue. Luckily, it had been a rhetorical question.
“They told me they didn’t have any records on him,” Nye explained. “Don’t you think that’s odd?”
“Well, second semester only started two weeks ago,” Dib pointed out. “Maybe they just don’t have him loaded into the computer.”
“I thought so too.” Nye bent down, his head bobbing beside Dib’s ear. “But then they searched the entire skool’s records for any sign of Zim. All the found was a copy of his application with a rejection stamp on it.” His smile was hidden out of view. “Zim isn’t enrolled at UNS, Dib. He never was.”