Our Masks

It had of course occurred to Dib that letting Zim into his apartment might be a bad idea. But he was confident that all of the protective measures he had previously installed, as well as the building's security, would be sufficient. After spending a little more time with the alien, he wasn't even convinced that he had anything to worry about. Whatever it was that had caused Zim to abandon his mission, it wasn't seemingly going to change any time soon.

Zim arrived carrying a bottle of wine, causing Dib another fit of surprise. "That's what you're supposed to do, right? I saw it on TV..."

"Ha... Sure!" Dib laughed. Unfortunately, after pouring himself a glass he found that it was horrible. He was glad that Zim didn't really care to see him dribble the rest of his serving into the sink. "You, uh, don't drink liquor, do you?"

Standing a little awkwardly in the middle of Dib's little kitchen, Zim shook his head. "Water burns badly enough... Alcohol--Ugh." He shuddered.

Dib sat down on his couch and ushered Zim over. After a moment, he finally came, sitting on the opposite end. "So... You don't drink alcohol and you don't put out. Why are you always hanging around that bar?"

Quirking his head in that little way of his that Dib was beginning to find cute, Zim asked, "'Put out'?"

"You hang out with all those boys but you don't have sex with any of them."

Shaking his head, Zim sighed. "I... was hoping to eventually find someone that DIDN'T want to have sex with me."

The idea was so absurd that Dib couldn't help but guffaw. When Zim glared he covered his mouth, but it took a minute before he was calm enough to speak. "What--what the hell, Zim."

"What?"

"You... You tease those boys mercilessly. You buy them liquor, sit there in your little stool with your legs crossed all prim and proper, smiling oh-so-coyly at them and accepting their advances. You let them rub you and grab your ass..." He rubbed his temples. "But you DON'T want to have sex with them?"

Holding his head up in a haughty fashion, Zim replied, "No, I don't." He looked down at his knees and began to rub them with is palms. "No. No, I don't. Not at all. At all."

Zim's behavior was so strange. Dib couldn't figure it out. "Let me guess: You HATE going to the bar, don't you?"

"Yes."

"You hate letting them touch you like that, don't you?"

"YES."

"And you really really really want to fuck them, don't you?"

"YES. I mean--NO. AH--!!"

Leaning back on the couch and throwing his arm over the back, Dib hissed, "I told you I was pretty good at reading people." He nodded in Zim's direction almost as thanks. "Years of trying to figure out when you were up to something-- that was pretty good training. I have to thank you."

"You tricked me!!" Zim's smooth white skin was flushed dark red.

Dib pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, a wry smile on his lips. "It's only natural, Zim. You don't have to be ashamed of it..."

"NO." Zim jumped to his feet. "I don't have any of those urges! I don't want to have sex with anyone, EVER."

In an instant, Dib was on his feet as well, catching Zim before he ran out the door. "WAIT, Zim. Don't leave."

Pure hatred was on Zim's face as he turned and tried to pry Dib's hand away from his arm. "Let me go. This was a mistake."

"No, no it wasn't!" Dib cried. He grabbed Zim's other arm and forced him to make eye contact. "Let me help you, Zim. This-- issue you're having, it's obviously bothering you a lot."

"I don't need your help. Let me go." Zim was struggling somewhat feebly against Dib's grasp... "Shit! You have my Pak disabled, don't you? I should've known. I should've known. I should never have come in here!"

"It's only for my protection!" Dib shook Zim a little. "You're overreacting, Zim. I don't want to hurt you. I want to be your friend!"

"Why?"

Dib sighed. "I already told you. Because we have so much in common, you and me."

"No. No we don't."

Despite his adamant denials, Zim appeared to be calming down somewhat. He had to know that Dib wasn't trying to harm him, didn't he? "Please, Zim... Sit down on the couch with me. Talk to me. Maybe I can help you."

The alien was a little taken aback. Nobody had ever offered to help him with anything before. "I don't understand... why you would want to help me..."

"Because I am good and caring. Sit down." He was beginning to lose his patience. "Please."

Ultimately, Zim complied. Sighing in relief, Dib retook his former seat. "Now-- Tell me what's bothering you and what I can do to help."

"You can't help me..."

Running his hands along the back of the couch, Dib growled, "You don't know that. I don't know that, unless you tell me what's wrong." Zim bit his lip and was silent. "Okay then..." Holding out his hands, Dib asked, "Tell me why you don't want to have sex. Ever." More silence. "You've watched TV. Sex is all over TV. And it is very good. Why wouldn't you want to have something that's so good?"

At first, Dib didn't think Zim was going to answer. But he rolled his eyes to the side a bit, showing that he was, perhaps, trying to process this question. Finally, he murmured, "I don't have a choice."

"Don't have a choice in what?"

Letting out an exasperated breath of air, Zim looked to Dib and said, "It's different for humans. Yes... I'm sure it is."

"How so?"

"SO MANY QUESTIONS."

Dib wanted to pull out his hair. "I'm trying to help you!" After a moment of thought Dib plowed on, "If your race does it differently... Maybe... you should try it the way we humans do it. You might like it."

"Do we have to discuss this?"

He reached out and grabbed the TV remote. "No." Dib smiled as he flipped it on. "Oh, look! Mysterious Mysteries is on." It had been in syndication for years on the science fiction network, but Dib was always working so much he couldn't catch it very often.

"What a worthless show." Rolling his eyes, Zim expounded, "I didn't hate it until you forced me to have to be on it."

"Fat lotta good that did. Your stupid robot fooled everybody somehow..."

Zim chuckled, "Because humans are stupid!"

Crossing his legs and casting Zim a sidelong glance, Dib said, "So, I'm stupid then."

"Sometimes."

Dib supposed that "sometimes" was better than "yes," so he smiled. They watched a report about some moth-like creature flying through the mountains. "What do you suppose it is?" Dib asked Zim when it was over.

"Didn't you pay attention? It's Mothmus."

"No..." Dib grinned. "...It's not. I think it's something else. Maybe a mutant Lymantria Dispar..." He made a mental note to have someone from his team check it out.

They watched for awhile longer, Zim growing increasingly annoyed with it. Especially when they spoke of anything pertaining to space or aliens. "Which parts are wrong, Zim?"

"All of it. Well, the part about Melmiuns has some truth to it." He picked his teeth. "They are pretty lazy."

Placidly stretching out his arms, Dib remarked, "I would love to go up into space someday... And maybe never come back."

"Where would you go?" Zim asked, genuinely interested.

Dib shrugged. "I don't know. I don't know... anything about space." Looking pointedly at Zim, he said, "Maybe I'd just fly and fly and fly in space forever."

"You'd get bored eventually!" Zim pointed upward, probably referencing some solar system he'd once flown through. "You guys don't have anything worth looking at for at least 19 Zibules."

Licking his lips, Dib looked at the ceiling. "I would DIE eventually. I'd run out of food or oxygen or something."

"That's why humans aren't meant for space travel," Zim admonished. "You don't even have Paks." He folded his arms. "Otherwise, I'd take you somewhere."

"Really?!" Dib sat up excitedly. "No kidding?"

An evil smile spread across Zim's pretty face. "No kidding! Then I'd leave you there, come back here, and take over the planet."

"I might not even mind," Dib said wistfully. "I told you that I wouldn't leave the planet unguarded, though."

"Pfft," Zim spat. "Without you around I doubt it would be very difficult to raze this place."

Leaning over a bit, Dib whispered, "Admit that you respect me, Zim."

"Huh?"

"I've been a thorn in your side since you got here. You've gotta admit that I'm pretty smart."

Throwing out a fist, Zim cried, "No you're not! You dance like a puppet for the human race. What's in it for you?"

"I'm happy."

"No, you're not."

Zim said it so plainly, it wasn't one of his stock denials. The statement hit Dib like a punch in the gut. "What do you mean?"

"You can read me. And I can read you too." Zim looked very proud of himself to say this. "All that time you were watching me before, in the bar, I watched you too. People came up and talked to you, and you brushed them off. Watching the news made you angry. You never smiled. You hate humanity as much as I do."

"And you say we have nothing in common." It had come out so easily. Dib had just admitted that he did, in fact, hate humanity. Though his face flushed, he felt... relieved. Relieved to finally be able to say it.

Angrily, Zim hit his fist on the couch. "Yet you insist on defending them! Why?!"

"Because I am good and caring."

"Stop that. Stop saying that."

"What do you want me to say?" Anger flicked across his features. "So what, I step back and let you take over my planet? And then what? Don't tell me you guys would be fair and benevolent rulers. I have an inkling you're not."

"Maybe I'd put you in charge," Zim speculated, chewing thoughtfully on his tongue. "They'd be more receptive to rule by one of their own."

Dib laughed, sitting back against the couch again. Somehow he just couldn't take this conversation seriously. "You'd do that for me? You're a real pal, Zimmy." Looking at Zim a little strangely, he said, "Why would you do that for me, anyway?"

Zim looked away for a few moments. The gears in his head were turning again. "Hmm..." At length, he finally mused, "I think... I'm starting to understand." He turned back to Dib, propping himself up on the couch with one knee. "You were right. About the other night. When you kissed me? I liked it." Grabbing Dib's shoulders, he said, "And when those boys flirt with me... I like it. I do. I enjoy the attention. I like boys better than girls because they don't play games. If they want you, they say so. And it's important for me to know."

"I just like boys because... I think I'm wired that way," Dib replied. His stomach felt heavy. "I wish I could change it, sometimes... If I could be sexually attracted to my girlfriend, I think my life would be a lot easier."

Eyes widening, Zim cried, "Yes! You understand how I feel, then."

Dib raised an eyebrow. "I... don't know what you're getting at."

"I can't help it. I don't have a choice in the way that I feel." Before Dib could answer, he went on, "But I don't really LIKE those boys. I mean, when they speak to me I just want... I just want... TO KILL THEM. Their voices fill me with RAGE. They're so stupid and... And..."

Understanding began to dawn on Dib. Or at least he thought maybe it did. "But you don't mind me so much?"

"No... I don't think I do."

Dib was curious again. "Did you ever leave the bar with any of those boys?"

"Once. And he tried to... Take off my clothes. But..." Zim shook his head. "I knew better. My disguise isn't good enough yet..."

"But he saw you for at least a short time," Dib interjected. "And he saw that your penis isn't like a human's."

Zim laughed somewhat cruelly. "He thought I was a freak! But he wanted me to suck his cock anyway."

"Did you?"

"No!" Looking a little embarrassed, Zim added, "I don't even know how, anyway. Watching and doing are two different things."

"Watching it on TV, you mean."

"Yes. And... It didn't excite me at all."

Dib smiled. "That's probably because you didn't have any genuine feelings for him." Dib held gently onto Zim's hips. "Sex... isn't just about being attracted to someone. Well, sometimes it is... But... I mean, for it to really be good you have to have feelings for them."

"Feelings? Such as..."

"You have to actually LIKE them, for starters."

The thought took a few moments to process. Then, Zim's grip on Dib's shoulders tightened. "Let me try something."

Before Dib could object, Zim had leaned forward and pressed his lips to Dib's. He closed his eyes, wrinkling his smooth little brow in what seemed to be a concerted effort. Dib accepted his attentions and tried very hard not to laugh... It was adorable. He was really absorbed with whatever it was he was doing. After a moment he stopped, pulling back and glaring. "You're not helping."

"...what do you mean?" Dib smiled impishly.

"You're not kissing me like you did the other night."

"Oh." Grabbing Zim's hips and pulling him close, he whispered, "If that's what you wanted, you could have just asked..."

Putting a hand behind Zim's head, Dib tilted sideways and dove right in. As their lips met, Dib softly nibbled on Zim's upper lip, closing his eyes. Zim's slender fingers dug deeper into the cloth on Dib's shoulders. His breath began to quicken. Chuckling a little to himself, Dib opened his mouth a little and pressed the tip of his tongue against Zim's own lips. The alien opened his eyes a small amount, peering quizzically at Dib. "Open," Dib commanded, quietly.

Zim did, and Dib's tongue slid past his soft lips. Shortly, he found Zim's own tongue... Long, thin, prehensile... And it began to echo Dib's movements. Soon, Dib felt desire building in the pit of his stomach. Zim moaned.

"God..."

No longer needing guidance, Zim's head moved on its own. Dib hands traveled downward, stroking Zim's back. The Pak seemed so small now, compared to when they were children... They had both grown and changed so much. He grabbed Zim's hips, pulling him ever closer as he leaned back on the couch, laying flat against the cushy arm. Grabbing Zim's ass, he clamped his hips tightly between his thighs. Zim's abdomen was now pressed firmly against Dib's crotch, squirming so deliciously as the pretty boy tried to kiss back as passionately as he was being kissed. Feeling dizzy, Dib pulled his tongue back into his own mouth, groaning when Zim followed. A little bolder, Zim's hands pushed themselves into Dib's messy hair, scratching his skin almost roughly.

"You're so hot," Dib growled as he grabbed Zim's head again, pushing it gently to the side so he could suckle the skin at his neck. It was even sweeter and more delicate than his lips...

Letting out a long breath, Zim hissed, "It feels... Feels... so..."

Suddenly, Zim pulled back a little. Propping himself up on his hands at either side of Dib's head, he looked down. Dib realized that awareness of his erection was what caused the interruption.

"I'm sorry," Dib breathed. "I can't help it. It just happens."

Zim almost tried to move away, but Dib stopped him with a firm grip on his hips. "Don't. Please."

"I... don't want to have sex with you," Zim stated, his voice wavering.

Smiling, Dib said, "You don't have to. If you don't want us to whip our cocks out, that's cool. I'm not that kind of guy." With their bodies still pressed together, Dib could feel that, possibly, Zim was aroused as well. He, perhaps, did want to. But something was stopping him...

Reassuringly, Dib sat up a little and gave Zim a chaste peck on the lips. "You're in charge. Whatever you want to do, I'll do it."

"I... enjoy kissing you..."

"Then kiss me."

So he did. Lips touched again, then parted, and Dib continued to travel around the side of Zim's head, kissing him delicately on the cheek, then his neck. He knew the ear was fake, but he couldn't help but breath a gust of hot air onto it... Zim actually shuddered at the action.

"Wow, you could feel that?"

Nodding, Zim answered, "My antennae are tucked into the ears... Otherwise I wouldn't be able to hear, under all that--" He scoffed. "--hair."

Dib played with them a little more, sticking the tip of his tongue into the center. He thought that perhaps he did feel the tip of Zim's antenna... And Zim began to squirm again, letting out a little squeak. Further up and down, he rubbed his body against Dib's crotch...

"...unh... Zim. I... I don't think I can do this anymore."

"Why? What's wrong?"

"Uh... My... cock is too damn hard. It's starting to hurt." With a soft touch, he pushed Zim into a sitting position and got up himself. The poor thing looked positively crushed. "Just... give me a few minutes to fix it and I'll be back. Okay?"

He rose to head for the bathroom, and Zim followed. "What are you going to do?"

Rubbing his painfully hard manhood through is pants, Dib replied, "Um... I'm going to get rid of it." Blushing, he leaned with one arm against the wall.

"I want to see how you do it."

Feeling absurd, Dib laughed. "Zim... I'm going to take my penis out of my pants and touch it. A lot."

"Oh!" Zim cried, pointing a little finger. "You're going to masturbate. I see. So that's what you do if it gets so hard you can't stand it anymore."

Nodding, Dib answered, "I guess you can say that. Uh... I don't mind if you watch. But, um, will you be okay?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

Maybe Zim didn't equate masturbation to sex. It was definitely kinky, but Dib was so revved up that he didn't really care at the moment. Instead of going into the bathroom, he turned and walked into his bedroom. Turning the lights on low, the ushered Zim in and stood next to his bed. As he began to unzip his pants, Zim stood in the middle of the room, watching intently.

"Um... Why don't you have a seat in that chair over there, Zim..."

Shaking his head, Zim said, "I don't need to sit like a human does..."

"If you just stand there and stare at me I don't think I'll be able to do it."

Obviously eager to see this whole "masturbation" thing, Zim finally complied. Dib, still feeling a little odd, finished undoing his pants and lay down. The only chair in the room was adjacent to the foot of the bed, facing it so that Dib could see Zim easily if he tilted his head to the right just a little. He reached under the bed and pulled out a bottle of lotion, then nudged his pants and underwear down to the middle of his thighs. As his cock finally sprang free from its bonds, he sighed in relief.

First, he grabbed it roughly, rubbing the head with his finger. After applying some lubrication, he began to slowly stroke it, paying special attention to the underside... He rubbed around the base with a thumb and forefinger. "Mmm..." he moaned, letting his eyes flutter closed. After a moment, he began to forget that he was being watched... That didn't last long, however, as he felt a bit of weight next to him. He opened his eyes to find that Zim had laid his head on the mattress next to Dib's hips, watching closely as he pleasured himself.

Heat building in his chest, Dib whispered, "Do you want to try?" He stopped momentarily.

As if he just remembered Dib was there, Zim looked up. "Hmm?"

"I'll let you give it a try if you want. You can touch me... Stroke me..."

Cautiously, Zim got up onto the bed. Looking at Dib's hands, he slowly reached out and grabbed his cock.

"Yeah... There you go..." Dib murmured, closing his hand around Zim's. He moved it up and down a few times until Zim had finally gotten a handle on doing it himself. Zim, to his credit, was a fast learner. Within a couple of minutes he as moving at a good stride, even mimicking the movements Dib had made with his fingers. As he rubbed Dib's frenulum with a slender thumb, Dib almost choked. "Mmm. Yes..." He closed his eyes again. "You're really good at this, Zim. Close your hand tighter. Ggh... Yeah..."

Dib reached out and pulled Zim downward, locking lips with him as he moved his other hand down, encouraging Zim to keep stroking. They kissed, tongues tangling, and Zim let out a helpless moan. Dib's hand traveled downward until it was resting between Zim's legs. They both locked eyes as Zim pulled his head back a bit.

"I feel you..." Dib said, quietly. "Watching me pleasure myself... And touching me... It arouses you, doesn't it?"

Zim was clearly ashamed. "Yes..."

"I can do this for you, too. I can pleasure you."

Shaking his head slowly, Zim replied, "No... I just want--this." He kissed Dib again, pushing him back into the pillows. The need in Zim's movements finally drove Dib to the brink. Taking his cock back from Zim, he pumped furiously as the alien watched in fascination.

"Yeah--Yeah-- Mmm--- FUCK!" he yelled and arched his back as he shot his seed into the palm of his hand. Falling backward in exhaustion, he turned his head away from Zim and closed his eyes as he calmed down.

After a few moments of silence, Zim finally spoke. Very quietly.

"...Dib?"

"Mm, yeah?" He finally turned his head back toward Zim, smiling warmly.

Poking idly at Dib's flaccid manhood, Zim whispered, "Do you like me?"

Before Dib could fully absorb the question, a shadow fell over them both.

His girlfriend was standing in the bedroom doorway, her jaw completely slack. Pulling himself to a sitting position and not even bothering to cover himself, Dib looked at his lap. "Zim... Perhaps you should leave... and I'll answer your question later."