A Title that could not be though of

Zim lay in his room for a good portion of the morning. It was unlike him, but he felt a streak of laziness upon him that he had no desire to dampen. His thoughts drifted, his mind much more at ease than it had been for a while, and he found it amore simple task to think. And of course he thought about the Dib.
What were the two of them, friends? No. What would the Tallest do if they found out? Found out about what? It was easy to tumble into thoughts of ‘what ifs’ and ‘why’s’ as he bummed around the house, -he had skipped school- feebly trying to hold back the images. If he had the nerve, not that he would ever… but what would Dib do, how would he react? No no no, he would never condone it, he was positive Dib would sooner die then, … he didn‘t know. And that was something he hated. It was a stupid thought anyway, if informed, Red and Purple would exile him, again. Did he even want to be near the human, or any alien? Wasn’t that against some kind of law, to fraternize with the lower species? Not that it mattered, it wasn’t excepted back on Irk anyways.
But it didn’t matter, he didn’t like the human race in the least. And that kiss meant nothing and neither did the boy. Zim rubbed his eyes, he knew better. That fight had rattled him, and he was worried. That, fiery little shit just gave up that fight, and their fight before.
Zim sighed, flipping through the channels on TV and not watching any of it. Dib said he would be home today, and his family probably wouldn’t be around, he could go to see him. But why do that? He wasn’t his nursemaid. But… he was curious as to whether or not he survived the night anyway. So armed with the excuse of the century, Zim abandoned Gir in front of the television, and made his way to the ship.

. . . . . . . . . . . .

“Ugh… God,” Dib moaned, stretched out haphazardly on the couch. He had fallen asleep somewhere in thought late that night, but he had woken around 4:00, with what felt like his whole body aching. He had staggered into the kitchen, popping about four or more painkillers and dropped himself onto the couch, the thought of climbing the stairs back up to his room completely repulsive.
Curtains drawn, and television on for a distraction, Dib had been awake since he had been roused in such pain, his body running on little more than three to four hours sleep. That was not a good thing if he had been planning to heal, but sleep avoided him, no matter what meds he took.
When he was positive to O.D. if he took anymore, Dib threw an arm to cover his eyes and willed himself not to cry. He felt pitifully alone in this situation, his father and sister still not home. Was it even worth the trouble saving him? No one was around to miss him. Suddenly, Dib’s stomach growled, and a though came to him. Food could help him sleep, couldn’t it? He stood slowly, shirtless still, but now a deep shade of purple in a few places. The swelling in his face had gone down, he had done a fine job with the ice, but it was still tender and bruised.
Rubbing his eyes, he padded into the bright kitchen, which now made him feel like some nocturnal creature with all the bright light. He looked, bored, about the counter, something easy would be best. “Ah,” he decided on toast, dragging out the bread and butter from the fridge. Pushing down the lever, he retreated back into the safety of the dark living room until it was done. He plopped back down on the couch, eyes unadjusted to the dark, and tried to focus on the TV and not his rumbling belly.
And then it popped, which he had completely tuned everything else out to listen for, but there was another sound to accompany it. The soft ‘clink’ of a plate against the countertop, as well as the brittle scrape of a knife against the bread. Who in the hell?!, Dib thought, already rushing to the kitchen. He stopped right outside the doorway, and gaped at the intruder who stood, smirking, in the center of the kitchen.
“Breakfast.” Zim stated cheerily, offering the plate over to the paralyzed Dib. The boy deadpanned. He nodded, quickly trying to get over the shock. He stood in the middle of the room, disguise forgotten, ruby eyes shining.
“You broke into my house.” Dib stated, no longer sounding surprised by it at all, in fact, it made more sense then the invader ringing the doorbell. Zim nodded back, triumphant grin growing,
“I did,” he placed the food on the table, “now c’mere.” He pointed authoritatively to the spot in front of him. Dib sighed, leaning against the doorframe.
“I’m fine.” He almost whined, feeling far from it now. Zim waved the finger, a ‘come over here’ gesture. He made a disgruntled noise and stepped from the shadow of the living room and into his spotlight of a kitchen. Zim’s cheery smile faded after he looked over the smaller boy’s pale body. Without a shirt, the damage done the day before was written plainly on Dib’s torso, arms, and even his face. Zim took a step towards him, features riddled with some emotion unknown to Dib.
“When I said defenseless,” He whispered, frowning, but he cut off, preferring a different set of words,
“Why the FUCK didn’t you fight BACK?!” He screamed, baring his teeth. Dib just glared back up at the Irk, crossing his arms over his chest, an act of both persistence and modesty. He didn’t use English curse words, this must be a special occasion.
“It wouldn’t have helped much, now would it?” He said calmly, Zim’s antenna flattened against his head. He took another step.
“Well, just sitting there waiting for them to kill you didn’t exactly ‘aid’ did it?” Dib narrowed his eyes, fists clenched,
“What else was there to DO?!” He stood on his tiptoes to meet Zim’s stare at eye level. “I wasn’t thinking that anyone was coming to help me.” Zim gripped the human by the chin, scowling only inches away from his face.
“And if I hadn’t? Where would you be?” His voice was venom in the air. Dib slapped away the hand holding his face, settling back down to his normal height. He didn’t want to think about it anymore then he already had. He raised his hands up, palms to the ceiling, the gesture questioning.
“What? Do you want an award?” He turned away, making his way back to the couch. “Well I’m sorry, but the person you saved has little value, try saving a celebrity or someone from a street gang next time.” Zim followed Dib from the kitchen, hoping to give him another piece of his mind, or at least another bruise for being so ungrateful, until he worked over what the earthling had said. Little value?
“What are you talking about?” He had cooled off some, confused by his last statement. Dib turned back to face the taller male, the tears he had been fighting a war with finally spilling over his cheeks.
“What do you want from me?!” He yelled, a sob breaking a few of his words. He felt like a complete nutcase. Zim was taken aback, he had never seen Dib cry like this before.
“D-don’t.” He said quietly, not sure how to handle this emotion in humans. Dib sucked in a breath, his face red, and hid in his hands. He was very still, not a sound escaping him as he stood, buried. If physics would allow, he would sink through the floor and never return.
“Why did you come here?” He finally mumbled, without looking up. Zim had almost forgotten why he had in the first place. He had told himself he just wanted to check on the human, he won’t know I was ever there, he had told himself, but when he got there he couldn’t help but pop in on him. He just wanted to talk to him, but why?
“You, you’ve given up the fight. Again.” Zim stared at the boy, appalled. “All the crap they make you put up with, the abuse, abandonment, your parental unit never came home today, and you have decided to stop fighting the world.” Dib finally looked up, he hadn’t thought of it in that way, it sounded pretty bad.
“I-” He was cut off when Zim slapped him across the face, hard enough to bring fresh tears to his eyes. His glasses fell to the floor. Dib tried to shake it off, “WHAT THE HELL?!” He held a hand to the abused cheek.
“Quit acting like your not strong enough to handle this!” Zim shouted back, hand stinging from the blow, and the water that had been flowing down Dib’s face, “You’re supposed to save the world, remember?” He looked hopefully into the uncovered eyes in front of him. They were wide with surprise, and bright in color. His voice became much more quiet, “Don’t you see value in that?” Dib looked back at the ruby eyes, intensely watching for the answer.
“Do you, Zim?” Zim was caught off guard by the way his name was whispered, he struggled to conjure an answer. What would lift the boy’s spirits?
“I think,” He shifted closer to the boy, “you’re,” Dib’s face flushed at the short distance,
“Zim…” He warned, anticipating what was to come, Zim smiled, moving the hand that had struck the boy moments before back up to his cheek, pressing the tips of his fingers against him softly.
“Dib.” was his answer, and reply, as he closed the distance between the two. Dib could almost feel Zim’s lips move past his as he spoke. Suddenly, there was a loud slam throughout the house. Dib jumped at the sound, and Zim straightened, releasing the human. There were footsteps heard at the front door, along with agitated grumbling. Gaz was home.