Our Masks

I'm trying to write shorter chapters so updates won't be as sporadic. Let's see how long I can keep this up! LOL.

THANK YOU SO MUCH TO *EVERYONE* THAT HAS REVIEWED SO FAR. YOUR COMMENTS ARE WHAT KEEP ME WRITING :D Hope I don't disappoint ya'll when it's all said and done.

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Slowly, Dib climbed into the driver's seat. Zim seemed absolutely traumatized... So they both simply sat in silence, Dib occasionally eyeing his companion's lean form in the rearview mirror. Sprawled across his backseat as he was, Zim looked like a model reclining on a Venetian beach.

With a shake of his head, he ground his fists into his eye sockets. It still hadn't set in that the lovely thing he had been lusting after for almost two weeks was ZIM. Even worse, the whole time he was lusting, Zim knew who he was and thought he was out of his mind for feeling the way he did...

"Lord. I'm so embarrassed," Dib finally exhaled. "All this time I've been... Thinking about you... Wanting you... And you were... Zim."

Waving his hand dismissively, the alien answered, "Pay it no mind. It is only natural that you should feel such a thing..."

Dib laughed derisively. Egotistical as always! "You're such a hottie, Zim. It's only natural that I would want to fuck you. Is that what you're trying to tell me?"

Zim sat up, looking into Dib's eyes via the rearview. "Well, yes. What did you think I was trying to say?"

For an instant, Dib felt a little pity. Zim's face was unnecessarily drawn; it's as if his whole world had just fallen down about him. He seemed almost... SAD to admit to the fact that he was hot.

"Even you, who hates me so... You still felt attraction to me. So... I think it is obvious that--"

Pursing his lips, Dib interrupted, "I never really hated you, Zim. I just hated the fact that you were trying to take over the planet."

"Are the two not mutually inclusive?"

"Not necessarily," Dib shrugged, smiling a little. "I'm not the type of person to hold a grudge, anyway."

"That's true," Zim pointed out, nodding satisfactorily. "You went out with Zita for awhile, even though she was always so mean to you..."

Wow, that was so long ago. "I forgot about that!" Dib laughed. "She apologized to me for being so mean, you know. Then I met another girl and dumped her two weeks later." Scratching the back of his head, he said, "I'm surprised you remember that."

"I thought maybe you were dating her to get back at her for the way she acted." Zim shrugged. "But you weren't. You... changed a lot by the time you turned 16."

The way he said it almost sounded like an accusation. As if his changing were a bad thing. "You've changed too," Dib shot back.

"No I haven't."

"Have."

"NO."

Zim was actually getting quite angry. Though the temptation to continue baiting him was strong, Dib decided to go another direction. "So... If you haven't changed... Then why aren't you trying to take over the world anymore?"

"Who says I'm not?"

"You haven't tried... For, like, shit... Almost ten years."

Scoffing, Zim spat, "Ten years to a human is a day to an Irken."

"Are you waiting for me to die?" Dib laughed. "Because if you are, I don't plan on leaving Earth without protection, you know."

"Oh?" Leaning forward in the seat, grabbing Dib's headrest, Zim hissed, "So, Dib-human... When you pass on, who shall be Earth's great champion?" He fiddled with Dib's hair a little. So much personal contact... The old Zim would have shuddered to consider touching a human. "You only mate with your own gender, so you can't have any offspring..."

"How do you know who I mate with? I happen to have a girlfriend, you know."

In a moment, Dib regretted sharing that information. He mustn't forget that this is an old enemy he was talking to... Sharing personal information like that could be damaging. Zim knew what he had just gotten, too, because his face spread into a vicious grin. "Does she know about your trips down here, Dib-beast? Knowing what I do of humans, I doubt it."

"What you used to know about humans couldn't fill a teacup," Dib growled, glaring back at Zim. "So what do you know now?"

"So the answer to my question is 'no,'" Zim snickered, falling back against the seat again. "Don't worry, Diiiib. I won't tell her."

Falling silent momentarily, Dib finally sighed in resignation. "Okay. I told you something. Now, you tell me something." Without waiting for acknowledgement from Zim, he pressed on, "Why did you disappear in 11th grade? You just stopped coming to skool one day."

"I don't owe you anything," Zim replied coolly, opening the door to the car and stepping out.

Just like that, he was gone. Despite himself, Dib felt a horrible sinking feeling in his chest. What was it? Fear? What exactly could Zim do? Dib's taskforce could easily protect him. And if any news of his trips to the bar got back to the girlfriend, well... He could probably lie his way out of that.

No, he was actually... Sad. Sad because there was a part of him that did feel like he and Zim shared a common bond. He was the only person on the planet (he assumed) that knew Zim's true self (Well, except for Gaz, but she was apathetic). On the same token, Zim knew and remembered Dib for HIS true self... The self he used to show everyone when he was a child...

But Zim was right. Ten years probably wasn't much to his race, and he could easily be lying in wait to launch a plan even more dastardly than any of his previous plans. If that were the case, though... All the more reason to keep an eye on him, right? He could have his taskforce tail Zim...

...but that would undoubtably lead them to the bar that Dib so often called home.

This was a solo mission. Dib couldn't help but feel a little rush of excitement at the thought of pursuing Zim again, like in the old days... His mind made up, he walked back into the bar. As he figured, Zim had not gone inside. He probably wanted to avoid Dib for awhile.

"Too bad," Dib chuckled to himself, making his way across the room until he reached Zim's typical corner of the bar. As per usual, some of his boytoys were sitting at the table, being pathetic and drunken. "Hey," he called, sitting lightly on a chair next to one of them, "I see you guys over here all the time, sitting with that hot guy... What's his name?"

They just glared at him.

"I want his number," Dib plowed on, foregoing all formalities.

Wagging his head saucily, one of the boys said, "How much it worth to you, Professor?"

Dib rolled his eyes and held up a ten spot.

"I think not," the boy scoffed. "I know you're loaded. That's barely cab fare."

Thirty dollars.

"Pff."

"You don't even have his number, do you?" Dib accused. "You're just bluffing to make yourself look cool."

Disdain clear on his features, the boy finally sighed and wrote the number down on a napkin. He shoved it across the table and grabbed the money from Dib's hands in one clean swipe.

Shoving the napkin in his pocket, Dib barked, "T'was a pleasure." He rose and left the bar.