February 21, 2007 -
ZoeChan
Dib cleans up a bruised and beaten Irken female that stumbled into his backyard in the middle of the night.
Isn't Dib just adorable when he's being so sweet and caring? This is a scene from a piece I wrote, that I hopefully will finish, about this poor Irken girl.
Here it is, if you care to read it. (BTW, that's not water in the tub; it's milk. There's a good reason for that, but you'll have to read it to find out)
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Dib snuggled his head deeper into the pillow and pulled the covers tighter around himself, a peaceful smile gracing his lips. His sleep was never usually very peaceful, as he usually schemed in his dreams of ways to expose Zim’s ‘alien-ness’. But, tonight his dreams were pleasant and for once did not include Zim. So, Dib slept peacefully as his subconscious entertained his sleeping mind. That is, until a soft sound dared to interrupt his much deserved rest.
His features wrinkled in annoyance at the sound, but he slept on. He remained undisturbed by the soft rustling outside his window, until a loud crash broke the silence of the night. Dib’s eyes snapped open at the jolt and he tumbled out of bed with a thump as the silence resumed once again. Quickly reverting to ‘Dib-mode’ (as his sister Gaz called it), he slipped his glasses on and grabbed a flashlight from his drawer, intending to investigate the source of this sleep-depriving sound.
Adjusting his pajamas, Dib slipped quietly down the stairs and out the front door, casting the illuminating glow of the flashlight anxiously across the front lawn. But there was nothing to see. No Bigfoot. No aliens. No swamp-creature oozing slime. Nothing. Dib was disappointed and turned to go back to bed, but a flash of something caught momentarily in the flashlight’s beam grabbed at his attention. Excitement filled him once more and he dashed around the side of the house after the thing. He emerged in the alleyway between his house and the neighbor’s fence and flashed the light across the darkness, searching for the creature.
Nothing. Undaunted, he continued into the backyard and carefully swept the light across the grass. Disappointment began to settle over him again as his search turned up empty. Whatever it had been, it was gone now. Exhausted and feeling ridiculous, he turned to once again return to his bed. But, a soft rustling stopped him in his tracks. He turned around and cast the flashlight’s glow over the jumble of trashcans next to the house as a pair of blue-green eyes reflected the light back at him, appearing to glow, much like a cat. The large, oval eyes disappeared behind a trashcan and a soft whimpering emerged from their location. Dib was mesmerized and approached carefully.
"Shhh… It’s alright. I’m not going to hurt you." Dib whispered soothingly to the creature.
Those blue-green eyes emerged over the top of the trashcan again and Dib stopped his approach. The creature whimpered hesitantly, glancing behind it in uncertainty, and Dib was stunned to see a pair of curled black antennae pressed flat against its head. It was difficult to tell under the flashlight’s dull yellow glow, but the creature appeared to be a very pale green color. Dib was beginning to recognize just what this creature was. He approached more slowly, as the creature was still preoccupied by its frightened state. Lowering the flashlight, he crept up to the barrier of trashcans. He could hear the creature breathing erratically in fear, but there was also a labored sound to it, as if it struggled to breathe with every breath.
He stood, ready to jump the trashcans and capture the creature, but at the same moment there was a banging sound as the neighbors let their dog out for the night. With a frightened squeak and a blur of green, the creature raced out from its hiding place and straight into Dib, clinging tightly to his waist and whimpering like an abused child. Dib was surprised, to say the least. And now that he could see the creature up close, he immediately recognized it for what it was; an Irken, like Zim. In fact, Dib had almost thought it was Zim. But a quick glance at the curled antennas assured him that it wasn’t. This Irken was female… as far as he could tell. He didn’t really know that much about Irken physiology and was merely basing this assumption on the fact that Tak had curled antennas and had taken on a female human form.
Dib also noticed that this Irken female was without clothing; she was naked… and shivering. Feeling slightly uncomfortable at the other’s… lack of clothing, Dib carefully pried her arms from around his waist and pushed her back a bit. She stared pleadingly at him with those round blue-green eyes and Dib saw that she’d been badly wounded, possibly beaten, and was having difficulty both standing and breathing.
He felt torn in two directions; on the one hand, standing right in front of him and completely helpless, was the proof he’d been searching for and was finally able to grasp. Yet, on the other hand, this battered and abused creature had come to him, seeking… what? His protection? His help? What was he supposed to do? Hide her away in his closet, or get the recognition he so rightly deserved by delivering her to the Swollen Eyeballs?
Watching as this desperate creature struggled for life, waiting for him to… do something, anything, in the end his compassion won. Wrapping a protective arm around the frail Irken female, he led her silently into the house and up to his room.
Sitting across from his bed, Dib watched as the wounded Irken tried in vain to sit comfortably in her injured state. She pulled his covers around her bruised body and whimpered softly in pain. Dib felt a sudden pang of sympathy for the poor thing. She certainly didn’t act like a member of a vicious, self-serving alien species bent on dominating the galaxy. Dib shifted uncomfortably in his seat; he couldn’t stand to watch something in this much pain any longer.
"Wait here, okay? I’ll be right back." Dib quickly left his room and slipped past Gaz’s toward the bathroom. "Where is it? I know we have one somewhere… aha! There it is!"
Dib grabbed the first-aid kit and rushed back to his room. He sat the kit on the edge of the bed and opened it, pulling out a cotton swab and a bottle of rubbing alcohol. Soaking the cotton ball, he gently held her arm and began to clean her wounds. But, an agonized squeal tore from the traumatized alien the second the alcohol-soaked cotton touched her skin. She pulled away from him and scrambled back into the corner, her skin sizzling and popping as though she’d been burned by acid. She sat in the corner, shaking and trembling, staring at Dib with accusing, hurt-filled eyes.
Dib just gaped at her. "I--I’m sorry! I… I didn’t know… I should’ve-- I mean, I knew that water… I’m sorry… Please, just… let me help you…" Dib felt so STUPID! He should’ve known that--
"Prepare yourself for horrible pain…Dib!" A familiar voice growled from the doorway.
"GAZ!!" Dib gasped… Uh, oh... she must’ve heard the scream. Who wouldn’t have, it was almost loud enough to shatter all the glass in the city. "Gaz, wait! I wasn’t my fault! Well, it was… but I didn’t mean to-- Just… look!" he pointed desperately at the shuddering ball of green flesh huddled in the corner of his bed.
His terrifying sister stalked silently toward him, her features unreadable. Dib covered is head, awaiting the horrible pain his sister had promised him, but… nothing happened. He opened his eyes to see her standing at the edge of his bed, her attention on the terrified alien.
"Okay… What did my idiot brother do, now?" she asked it.
"She’s hurt, Gaz." Dib answered instead, "I was trying to help her, but…"
"You screwed up?" Gaz cut in.
"Well… yea, I guess… Hey!" Dib was a little hurt by her accusation, despite it being true. "I was trying to clean her wounds, but… I should’ve known alcohol would hurt her… and we can’t use water either."
"What about milk?" Gaz suggested in sort of ‘isn’t it obvious?’ tone.
"Huh? Well… I never thought of that. But milk’s not an anti-septic, Gaz." Dib tried to explain.
"Then you can try iodine. I’m sure we have that." Gaz was beginning to sound annoyed. "I’m going back to bed. I don’t want hear anymore screaming, unless it’s me causing it."
"Yes, Gaz." Dib replied timidly.
Fifteen minutes later, Dib poured the last carton of milk into the bathtub, after discovering that milk did in fact have no ill-effects on the Irken’s delicate skin. It was an odd sight indeed; this tiny green-skinned creature sitting in a bathtub full of milk. Cold milk; she was shivering.
"Sorry, it’s so cold. Milk doesn’t really boil very well." Dib tried to apologize. Rolling up the sleeves of his shirt, he dipped the sponge into the milk and proceeded to gently scrub the dirt and blood from her skin. The milk soon began to turn a grungy, grayish purple color. It was sort of fascinating to discover that Irken blood was purple; it made him wonder about their chemical composition.
Dib continued to scrub the Irken clean, leaving at one point to allow her to… attend to her more personal areas privately. But, he soon returned and began cleaning the largest part of her body; her head. He wasn’t entirely sure why he’d left it for last, but continued nonetheless. He dipped the sponge into the grungy milk and squeezed it over her head, watching it trickle down her skin.
She looked so delicate and beautiful, with her pale green skin and bright blue-green eyes; one could almost forget she was part of an alien species.
"So… Do you have a name?" Dib asked as he lifted one of her black antennas to scrub beneath it. She pulled away with a yelp, holding a protective hand over the delicate sensory organ. "Sorry…" Dib apologized and handed her the sponge so she could finish the rest herself. He watched in fascination as she timidly finished bathing. She looked up at him shyly after a few moments.
"T-tula..." she whispered timidly in answer to his previous question.
"Hmm?"
"Tula." she repeated.
"That’s your name?" …she nodded, "It’s pretty. There’s this girl in my class named Tula; she’s new and-- Wait… you’re Tula, aren’t you?" Dib seemed stunned by this realization. Tula just nodded in confirmation.
"Aw, man. Why do all the girls I like turn out to be aliens?" First, it was Tak, now Tula. "I should’ve known from the way Zim followed her-- I mean you, around; it was like you two were glued together at the hip!" He felt a little outraged at this discovery. Why couldn’t he find a nice HUMAN girl? Why did all the ones he like end up being aliens? Tula looked hurt at his reaction. Dib looked at her sheepishly and tried to apologize, searching for an explanation.
"I’m sorry… It’s just that, well… inter-species relationships… don’t really work out, y’know?" Tula, trying to understand, simply nodded. An uncomfortable silence fell between them.
"Uh… W-we should get you dried off. Here’s a towel." Dib held up a soft blue towel and wrapped it around her as she stood up.
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