VINDICATION

****Well, hello everyone...it's about 5:30 in the morning right now (bah, stupid 7-7 shifts) so I figured I'd post the next Chapter before I left to go to work. Enjoy, and don't worry, I'mma gonna keep 'em coming! ***

Chapter 15: Release


Upon returning to the base, Zim and Dib removed their biohazard suits. Before Zim could pull his leg out of the second pant leg, GIR came tearing into the room.

“HUG!!!” He pounced on Zim, knocking him to the ground and hugging him, his metallic arms wrapped tightly around Zim’s body.

“GIR, GET OFF ME!!” Zim shouted.

The little robot climbed off of him, then looked up at Dib, grinning. “HUG!!!” He jumped on Dib, squeezing him tightly.

Dib grunted, wondering if the little robot knew his own strength. Then again, it was GIR, so probably not. He chuckled, hefting the little robot in his arms and winking at Zim. “I’ll keep him occupied for a bit.” He whispered, then carried GIR towards the TV room. “C’mon, GIR, Scary Monkey’s on!”

“OOOOO, I love that show!” GIR squealed.

Zim stood there, still only half out of his biohazard suit. The Dib’s behaviour was so strange now…it wasn’t threatening or annoying, the way it had always been until Dib had come to him with his proposal for alliance. Something had changed Dib…Zim idly wondered what it could have been. He finished removing the biohazard suit and put it away, standing in the doorway of the TV room, watching as Dib and GIR watched the Scary Monkey Show and ate Poop Corn together.

It didn’t anger Zim as it normally would have, to see his former nemesis watching television with his SIR. Indeed, it gave him an odd feeling inside, but he didn’t know what it was or how to describe it. He shook his head, going down to his chamber on the lower level, drawing a hot gel bath and stepping in, sinking down into it with a sigh. It was so strange having someone here other than GIR. Lost in his thoughts, Zim rested his head back against the edge of the tub and closed his eyes, unintentionally drifting off.

After watching TV with GIR for an hour, Dib stood and stretched, patting the little robot on the head. “Good night, GIR.”

“Good night, Master’s friend!”

Dib smiled, wondering if that was really the case. He went down to the lower level, where he and GIR had actually converted a storage room into a makeshift bedroom for him. As he was about to step into his own room, he wondered where Zim had gone. He noticed that Zim’s chamber door was open, and he poked his head inside.

“Zim?” He stepped in, looking around, noticing another door off to one side. When he entered that door, he found Zim dozing in a tub of clearish purple goo. The sight brought a stupid grin to his face, and he walked over to the tub, kneeling down beside it. God, he was an idiot for doing this, but he couldn’t resist. Dib leaned over and pressed his lips gently against Zim’s, yelping when Zim bolted upright and grabbed him by the front of his shirt, fisting both hands in the material.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING IN HERE???” Zim snarled, shaking with rage at having been caught off his guard.

Dib chuckled, the stupid grin still on his face. “Just wanted to see if you’d kick my ass for kissing you.”

“I ought to stuff you back in that cage for sneaking up on me, you filthy stink-beast!” Zim snapped, releasing him and shoving him away. He climbed out of the cooled gel, grabbing a towel and wrapping it around his naked body, scowling at Dib.

Dib looked down at the gel, which was draining out of the tub. “What is that stuff anyway?”

Zim started drying himself angrily, his back turned to Dib. Nudity was not something that Irkens were very self-conscious about unless in public. “Bathing gel.” He snapped, rubbing the towel roughly against his skin, shivering a little. He jumped when Dib pressed up against him from behind.

“Are you cold?”

Zim scowled, whirling and raising a fist, taking a swing at him.

Dib jumped back just in time to avoid being pummeled, and he raised his hands in what he hoped was a placating gesture. “Whoa, whoa! Don’t kill me, okay?” He smiled, then looked over at the tub curiously. “Can I try that?”

Zim blinked at him, in the middle of raising his fist to try and punch him again. “Try what? The gel bath?”

Dib nodded.

He looked at the tub, then back at Dib, his eyes narrowing. “I don’t want your filthy human body in my tub.”

Dib shrugged. “Suit yourself.” He turned and walked out, gasping when he was grabbed roughly by the arm. Thinking that Zim was going to follow through on kicking his ass, Dib raised his hands defensively.

Zim pressed a button, and the metal collar around Dib’s neck released and snapped open. He removed it and tossed it aside, then scowled at the human.

“Get out of my quarters, Dib.”

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Well that's it for now folks, I'm off to work my 12 hour shift -_-;