ZADR Orange Chapter 001

"Jerks..." muttered the teenage boy from his hiding spot inside the boys' bathroom. He had been stuffed into a locker -AGAIN!- and locked inside for what was probably the hundredth time now. And, to make matters worse, he had then been scolded by one his teachers almost immediately afterwards for missing morning classes that day, as if he had had a choice in the matter. A fairly typical day for him, he mused, though annoying nonetheless. Things like this had begun happening to him on nearly a daily basis, ever since he had first entered high school. And to say the very least, the rumor going around that he was "gay for Zim," was not helping matters at all. Thus he found himself once again hiding out in the bathroom stalls, his preferred eating place during lunch period. Nobody would bother him while he was in there. At least...nobody human.

Dib snapped his head to when he heard the bathroom door opening again and quickly pulled his feet up onto the toilet seat to hide. The last thing he needed was to be getting ambushed by anybody looking to start trouble with him. That's when he heard an all too familiar voice break the silence, as if on cue.

"Argh! Those HORRIBLE! FFFFILTHY! Little worm babies!" came the angry voice of his arch nemesis, Zim, causing Dib to sigh in some relief and roll his eyes. He hopped on down off the toilet seat and exited the stall to throw out his tray of food. Of all the people in that school out to get him, Zim was the least of his worries. In fact, Zim hardly ever bothered him nowadays, save for the usual arguments they would quibble over during school hours each day. Otherwise though, said alien hadn't plotted anything new to take over the world, destroy mankind, or torture him in a long while now. It was almost as though he had changed over the years, not that Dib minded. He made his way out of the stall and headed for the bathroom door.

"What's the matter NOW, Zim?" he asked in a casual voice, as though pretending to be concerned; anybody with half a brain could tell he was just trying to get on the other's nerves though, perhaps in hopes of netting in an argument with him, different from the ones they could set their watches to. Of course, it was obvious already what the matter was just by looking at the Irken. It seemed that one of the other students had "accidentally" dropped their tray of food on him. He stood before a bathroom mirror, currently trying to brush a combination of cafeteria-grade peas, carrots, and mashed potatoes from his clothing.

Jolting when he heard Dib's voice directly behind him, Zim turned to glare daggers at the raven-haired teenager. "You want to know what the matter is, WORM BABY?!" he emphasized his last two words so as to show he was in no mood to be played around with in that moment. "I'll tell you what the matter is! You and all the other filthy maggots I'm forced to mingle with on this disgusting excuse for a planet are what the matter is! I hate it here! And I hate all you horrible hyuman stink beasts and your horrible stinking food stuffs and your horrible hyuman habits!" he huffed , baring his teeth at the other in an almost threatening manner now.

Carrying his tray of food over to the garbage can, Dib just shrugged nonchalantly at the other's ranting. "So? What else is new...?" he half mumbled, not in the least bit surprised by that response. As if the other needed another reason to hate all humans, the same rumors that were making his own life a living hell were no doubt doing the same to Zim's. Years of fighting and chasing after each other had already convinced nearly the entire school that they were going out, though it was largely untrue. For as long as he had known the other, Zim had hated his guts, so no doubt the circulation of such rumors was like a shot to the alien's pride.

It had irked him at first too, being mocked in such a way by his fellow peers. But after nearly a year and a half of putting up with the other students' taunts and practical jokes, all at his expense, Dib couldn't say it really bothered him as much now, being classified as "queer" or even gay for his worst enemy in fact. After all, it wasn't like he cared all that much for anybody else at that pathetic excuse for an educational establishment, male or female. At least Zim acknowledged his existence as more than just a fabricated stereotype.

Dib headed for the door to return back to class, but suddenly felt a hand closing in over one of his arms to stop him.

"Do not just brush off what Zim says to you as though it were nothing! Everything I say is not just...brush...offable!" he growled, obviously angry that Dib couldn't care less about his current predicament. "Besides, what pitiful reason could you have for being in here, anyways? And don't go into any detail about the disgusting things I already know you humans do in these sorts places!" he added quickly while gesturing to the bathroom surroundings.

Pulling his arm free from Zim's, Dib took a few steps backwards. "What does it matter to you what I was doing in here?" he met Zim's glare with a glare of his own.

"Oh, nothing. I just like to see you squirm uncomfortably is all." Zim snickered at the human's sudden defensiveness, already well-aware of Dib's own circumstances. Although he hated being lumped together within the same boat as the other, he couldn't deny there came a certain satisfaction with teasing him still, distasteful rumors aside.

"Oh yeah?" Dib turned to face the other better now. "Well, same here then." he smirked back at the disguised alien, advancing on him in one fluid motion.

"Eh?! Hey! Wait a minute! What are you-?!" Zim found himself being cornered against one of the restroom sinks as Dib leaned in a little too close for comfort before wrapping his arms around the shorter alien's torso. Hoisting him up into the air with hardly any warning at all, the human then began carrying him out into the hallways, as though to expose him to the rest of the world outside.

Zim struggled to pull free as Dib happily carried his prize down the still empty hallway. Lunch wouldn't be over for about another 15 minutes anyways, Dib mused, simply ignoring Zim's protests of being carried in such a way.

"Urgh! Release Zim!" the agitated Irken demanded, twisting his body this way and that in a meager attempt to wriggle free. "Release me or face the wrath of ZIM!" he then kicked out his legs desperately, but all to no avail as Dib refused to let go of him anytime soon.

"Nope! Not gonna happen. I caught you." Dib gibed, proceeding down the hall with a rather chipper step in his walk. After all, it wasn't like it would matter at this point being seen by anybody else in such a way, he figured.

"AHHH! NO! LET GO OF MEEE!" Zim continued to struggle relentlessly, no longer amused by this little game of cat and mouse.

Glancing back at the disguised Irken currently slung across his shoulder, Dib considered for a moment whether to put the other down or not before deciding on the latter. It was too priceless for words how easily he'd managed to "capture" the alien, game of pretend or not. Why he'd never thought to do this before was beyond him. After all, he was at least a good foot or so taller than the Irken now, something he was certain the other despised about him. "I'd rather not." he then said in a manner suggestive of more than just playing, causing the other to halt all his struggling for just a mere moment.

Zim's eyes could only grow wide behind his contacts at those words before he sent Dib a peculiar look. "And WHY exactly is that?" he asked, trying to keep his thoughts from getting too far ahead of him. The human couldn't actually be...No! It wasn't possible! he shook his head furiously, trying to rid himself of such thoughts.

"Errr...I WIN!" Dib quickly changed the subject, only having just then realized in one horrifying moment that perhaps his teasing had been bordering more on the line of flirting. But it wasn't like he had developed any feelings for Zim, he reasoned, chewing at his bottom lip all the while. Zim was his rival and sworn enemy, so there was no way they could be experiencing any sort of chemistry between them.

Zim's eyes grew wide once again, though this time due to the realization that he was losing their little 'game.' "What?! NO! I WANT A DO-OVER!" he pouted irritably at the human before then sending him a curious look. "...Uhh... What did you win precisely?" he asked, momentarily distracted by the almost propitious nature of the other's words.

Snapping back to reality when the other addressed his previously-stated achievement, Dib could only gaze back at the alien with a daze in his eyes, his face having paled considerably as his mind swarmed with too many thoughts to process in a single moment. "I-I just win...cause I caught you." Dib answered in a voice less certain of the claim to victory he'd just announced. He gripped at the other's midsection just a little more tightly for assurance.

"Oh, right...Wait...AHH! LET ME GO!!!" Zim hollered in exaggerated distress, hardly noticing the boy's sudden unease.

Dib felt his hands beginning to shake, no longer so concerned with winning this game as he was with just securing his prize, though he hadn't a clue why it suddenly seemed so important to him. Contrary to how he might have felt years ago, he had no desire to actually turn the other in any longer, nor did he have a desire to dissect him as he'd threatened to do so many times in the past. "And why would I want to do that if I'm obviously winning?" he finally replied, the reluctance in his voice speaking loud and clear now.

"Well...Ehhh...ZIM WILL GIVE YOU A GIFT!" he declared in a voice characteristic of his often impulsive tendencies, causing Dib to cast him an all too wary eye.

"And why should I believe you?" Dib asked in a tone laced with skepticism. Surely the other was just lying to him like he always did when caught between a rock and a hard place. After all, it wasn't like Zim had any reason to actually agree to such terms once he got what he wanted. The thought had Dib's insides twisting together uncomfortably. He knew that but still couldn't quite shake the desire he had to keep holding on to the other.

"What? Don't you want a gift from Zim?" the Irken angled as convincing a grin as he could possibly muster in the human's general direction.

Dib frowned at the artificial smile, mildly frustrated by the fact that he couldn't quite wrap his brain around this sudden feeling in his gut. Was the other making fun of him now? Perhaps he'd been too quick to believe Zim actually recognized him as more than just a target for everybody's ridicule.  "Nooo... Cause I don't believe you'll actually give me something. And besides, I'm happy with what I have right now." he said again despite the lack of enthusiasm left in his voice to back that statement up.

Sensing the other's resolve beginning to crumble, along with his earlier confidence, Zim continued to plead his case temptingly, certain his words were beginning to chip away at Dib's inner curiosity. "But Zim is offering moooore!" he prompted the human to hear him out on the matter, so close to freedom now that he could practically taste it.

Halting to a stop in the middle of the hallway, Dib stared at the floor tentatively for a moment before glancing back at Zim with an almost pensive caution about him. "What do you mean by that?" he asked, wondering what Zim had in mind to offer him on the off-chance he really WASN'T just stringing him along.

"Let Zim go and you'll find out." he smirked at the faltering human smugly, no longer doubting he'd just about seized full control of the situation at hand. After all, he was perfectly confident in his ability to persuade even the most skeptical of critics. It was that persuasion that had ultimately landed him his mission on Earth, come to think of it.