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“i´m not so sure about this, really? bigfoot? living like 4 blocks from my house?” Dib asked, really dumbfounded that bigfoot; the bigfoot living really close to his house (he usually goes for his investigations in the opposite fucking direction, he guesses it's time to change some habits)
“well, in my dimension he was… right there” said Zib, pointing with a flashlight confidently at a clump of bushes that to be frank looked suspiciously and conveniently close together blocking a small path that where going nowhere or so it seemed “at least where i remember he was, i don´t know probably its different here but it could be the same too, It's worth a try, don't you think?” they where walking into a close forest that was like a extension of the park.
yes, zib escaped from the void a while ago and has been staying in a safe house that dib has close to home (because well zim is a bitch and sometimes won´t let him have some peace so he will give Gir some coffee and have some well deserved 9 hours of rest while zim dealt with a gir out of control) its not like dib didn't wanted zib in the house but since the first few times he tried to get zib to stay inside so he could give them things they needed like food, materials or stuff for whatever they were working at the moment, they couldn´t stay in the house because they always looked...nervous, tense even uncomfortable. Dib thinks it's because of membrane and their situation regarding "the incident" they don't talk about "the incident" at least not much and it's zib who makes all the calls since dib doesn't want to bother him or look too nosy; the few times they got to talk about it was when zib was so tired that he perforce had to rest and would talk nonsense or spill one or two things about them or their past. Usually they doesn't need to sleep until exhaustion forces an 8 hour rest... or at least when they can, with nightmares but zib's get to the point where they has to have an alarm to go and help to bring him back to reality or he will have to deal with a moody zib also, what you have to learn if you are going to be friends with someone with traumas is to deal with nightmares or night terrors; dib has also dealt with nightmares but zib's get to the point where they has to have an alarm to go and help to bring them back to reality or he will have to deal with a moody zib locking himself in the safe house or what he likes to talk “emo sad hours”. The difference? dib's sad emo hours last for hours, as the name says but zib and their ability to go without eating or sleeping for days allows them to have “sad emo weeks”.
this time zib had a nightmare two days ago and instead of locking himself in they went through the window to dib's room, sat at the foot of the bed waiting for dib to wake up. They didn't wait long, dib was awake and he saw them come in through the window… he just decided it was best to wait and see what zib was going to do. After 5 minutes of silence, dib got up, sat next to them and waited for them to speak.
Yesterday as a diversion, dib told zib to tag along to see if they could “catch some big feet” as a joke; he just wanted to go for a walk (1 a.m. mind you) and then Zib was like, "Oh yeah, I found one when I was about 10?, it was a fluke because I tripped over a rock and it sent me rolling right into their hiding place." dib was so excited and told zib if he could please show him around the place, he didn't expect to be so damn close.
Now they where heading to see if the spot was the same.
"If you don't mind, I have a question and I don't want it to sound like I'm not believing you, but did you really see him or just his hiding place?" dib said and zib gave him a fake gasp and an annoyed expression
"Too bad, that absolutely sounds like you don't believe me at all" Zib told him and then stuck their tongue out at him mockingly with the most serious face he could muster at the time, dib tried to say something but only a snort came out and they both started laughing; they also didn't realize they were facing the bushes so dib tripped and rolled until he landed in some kind of big nest that was a little bigger than him. Zib jumped after dib and stopped when they saw that dib was okay, though that didn't stop them from asking.
“are you ok?”
"Yeah, I'm fine don't worry" Dib said with a shy, crooked smile
zib just did a soft hmmm in acknowledgment, "congratulations, you found it" dib turned around, looked to his sides and then whispered a little "wow", two seconds later he blurted out "I don't see Bigfoot? how it looks?" pointing his flashlight at zib
zib held out their hand to help him up and said "if i remember correctly, which I do... it was small for my expectations; brownish in color and usually hidden here... i may be wrong but its rare so listen: number one your big foot was here, but not anymore
number two, they are different so maybe we are looking in the wrong place
Number three, he should be near here we only came when he went to get food or something“ dib was just nodding as he spoke, he took Zib's hand to get up and started theorizing with zib the options of why bigfoot wasn't there. Neither of them noticed the blur of movement to their sides until Zib froze, his antennea like hair twitched and then he whispered through clenched teeth, "When I tell you, start running to your right and don't. look. back."
that made dib freeze and shut up immediately but he still nodded a yes.
Dib could hear his heart pounding, like it was in his ear
zib took a look behind dib and immediately after zib whispered "now" dib started to run as his life depended on it (probably so), thousands of questions ran through his mind and he looked around frantically, the trees were but a blur on his periphery and when he had advanced a few meters he heard zib shout behind him "DON'T STOP, DON'T LOOK BACK" and then he heard a roar
He looked back and could only see in the distance how Zib was fleeing through the trees in the opposite direction, he was going to turn to go after him but he realized that it didn't matter, he couldn't do anything to help him and by the time he came to the conclusion to keep a close eye so he could meet up with him later it was too late, zib was nowhere to be seen his flashlight couldn't reach zib's figure, his pink and purple detailed coat fading into the trees and darkness.
He took a step forward, and began to think that if he got closer to the nest where he started running, maybe zib would do the same and they could meet again but he realized something
...
“where the fuck am i?” He looked around, panting
...
“WHERE THE FUCK IS ZIB?” He started to panic, short puffs of air that he could see forming in front of him that began to fog up his glasses and before he could start looking for zib something grabbed him down his midsection, covered his mouth and carried him up a tree.
Screams muffled, he elbowed as hard as he could at whatever caught him and was about to take a second when he heard a "stop moving and hitting, will you??" in the form of a whispered cry against his ear "I told you to run and don't stop, didn't I?"
He froze again when he realized who the voice behind him was and how close it was.
Zib released him but dib in a desperate attempt to gain space between them almost fell from the tree and zib grabbed him by the hip "STOP SWIRLING IS THE LAST WARNING, SURE YOU DON'T WANT ME TO MAKE YOU RUN BACK TO YOUR HOUSE, DO YOU?" and dib stopped, but his entire body was on fire and his head was dizzy.
I ran too much, that's all
The were waiting for… what were they waiting for?
“hey” dib started whispering, just turning a little behind him (and to give himself some space, there was no way he could talk normally with him in that position) “when we can go?… in the first place, why i had to run?”
“apparently, your variation of bigfoot is like 8 feet tall, mine was barely 5´9”
“oh my god- i want to see it”
“No moron! I have a photo, but you won't go after it, he can grab your tiny head and crush it between two fingers”
“okey shesh didn't say i would fucking go after it damn, we can go now? i don´t see-” zib covered his mouth again and dragged him further in the tree and whispered hastily “turn off your flashlight ”
dib quickly turned off his flashlight and heard breathing just a few trees away from where they were, he saw a shadow to their left was the only thing that came to his mind. The cope of the trees covered his head and just the body was visible but because of the brown fur It camouflaged itself well among the trees trunks, it actually looked like a damn tree and his movements were so slow; they were barely noticeable.
they were frozen there for about 10 minutes Zib practically wrapping it up and holding him still. Dib was losing his temper, he would be lying if he said that this didn't take away a reaction. He felt like he had a fever, his head was dizzy, his thoughts confused and racing through; his heart pounding strongly. He was so sure Zib could hear him.
he shouldn't feel like this, this is wrong
It's probably just the excitement, he has an 8 foot big foot next to him, his reaction is normal
“I don ´ t see it anymore, did it left?”
zib stayed quiet for about a 5 seconds before he said “yes, we can leave but were not walking”
“whatdoyoumea-”
dib gave a little shriek that would deny later, zib took him by the waist and started to climb the tree with the help of his pak. When they were near the top of the tree, Zib jumped to the next one and swung himself with the help of his pak legs.
the only thing dib could do was hold on tight to zib and try not to pass out so as not to become dead weight, but after a couple of swings he felt excited
he started to lift his head a little higher to see and he felt a gust of wind on his face and then he looked at zib and felt a flutter in his chest… no, it probably is the adrenalin.
zib landed when they reached the fence that defines the park, he separated a little from dib to say "I should have given you a warning, but we are already far away, better let's go back to your house"
Dib took a long breath and said "YES, erm yes, that's for the best... can you let go of me?"
“…oh”
----------------------------------------------------------------------
The walk back has silent, just zib asking dib if he was ok and dib doing a grunt in approval. When they reached the house dib was just going to walk him to the front door and go home but the moment he turned to leave and said a soft "good night" zib stopped him
"Can you stay for a while? If you don't want to, there's no problem, but I would like not to be alone until at least 4 in the morning, you can use the bed you gave me, I'll be working on something"
“oh no, don´t worry i´ll probably won´t sleep either i-i´ll go”
they entered the safe house and dib went to grab a chair to sit near zib so he could see what he was doing
Zib was sitting at a desk with a computer and tools hanging on a shelf next to the desk.
"so... what is that?"
"Nothing, I just write... Don't you have to go to sleep or something?"
"What are you writing if you don't mind? And nope, I don't think I'll be able to sleep in a while too much emotion I didn't expect to have to run from bigfoot, I always imagined it would happen differently"
"I care, don't read it and well can you ermm pass me the eraser? It's in the drawer to your left "
"Ok, sorry... Here you go"
Zib took it and made a soft "thank you" humm
"zib i was just messing around"
"...What?"
"I don't know, I feel like I was bothering you"
"Well, you're not uhhh I'm not done yet and I'm not used to people looking at me while I write, ok?"
"oh, yeah sorry..."
"Okay, you can read it later... Maybe"
"Really?"
"Yes, seriously, I'm also sure that if I don't, you'll find out one way or another because you're a nosy"
"OUCH?"
They laughed for a moment and then silence. Dib was starting to nod off, drifting off to sleep when he heard Zib murmur something beside him
"Wh- what did you Say?" Asked dib
"I said if you want to go lie down, you look tired"
Yes but I'm not going to sleep because I'm not tired, it's because I'm agitated and I'll have nightmares if I go to sleep"
"oh, ok that reminds me erm thanks? for coming and... helping me when...-"
"I understand and don't worry, you don't have to explain yourself"
Zib was silent for a moment and then he got up, went to a small drawer near the bed (more like under it?) and pulled out a small cube that was silver in color
"What's that?"
"this is for taking photos, it will automatically save them to your phone when you ask it to do so, you just have to configure it so that it recognizes your voice and you can ask it to take the photo without wasting time... Think of it as one of those cell phone assistants"
Dib stared at him, amazed and confused... and before he could ask the question on his mind zib spoke
"Yeah it's for you moron, you can't just adopt me like i'm a damn stray dog or some shit and expect me to sit idly... It's so you don't get eaten alive while trying to get your phone out of your pants"
"HAHAHA First of all, I am not treating you like a pet and second of all I am going to take care of you so well that you are going to have to invent things every day for the rest of your life"
"... You do not have to do it"
"but I want..."
"why?"
'why' the words echoed in his head, why did he do it? was it kindness? Was that reason enough to convince him? Why did he have to convince them? WHAT IS HE TRYING TO HIDE? NO- HE IS NOT TRYING TO HIDE ANYTHING-
"Are you okay? You're a little uhm pink.."
he noticed that he stared at zib for at least a whole 10 seconds
"NO I- I MEAN YES Ermmm yes, I'm sorry it's just that ahahaha nothing really I just care about you... is it weird? do you want me to go out?"
"what? no, ahaha just that you looked a bit embarrassed that's all..."
"okay"
"Let me see if I can uhm find the charger for this thing"
"Lmao does it need to charge?"
"Obviously? Did you expect it to have infinite energy like some sci-fi shit or is it because I'm a genius?"
"Oh my god just go-"
Zib snickered but went into a small room off to the side and just as zib said dib went straight to read what zib was writing
"It's a poem..." He muttered under his breath
The poem really talked about how much he hated being trapped, and how much he hates the void
But he realized that this was not the only paper, there was another under that one
The second poem was more... Complicated; it was hard to tell what he was talking about but the word 'love' was the title
'love' and nothing else. It wasn't finished either however at the bottom right there was a little 'to:' and an angry scratch where there seemed to be a name
it's my name
NO, ITS NOT
but maybe
...
His hands began to shake and his thoughts swarmed… confused and furious to find an answer. He left the paper where it was after giving it one last examination
Then behind him he heard a "really nosy"
The hairs on the back of his neck stood up and goosebumps rose on his skin
"I'M SORRY, I'M VERY SORRY I DIDN'T EVEN UNDERSTAND IT"
"Don't worry... you read this one didn't you?" Zib pointed to the poem of the void
"yes..." Dib said in a low voice, that even the crickets in the yard were heard louder
"You didn't read anything else... right?"
Dib didn't know what to say or do
should he run?
Should he lie?
Should he dig a hole and bury himself there?
The last one didn't sound so bad...
"Dib" zib said a little louder "did you read it?"
"Yes..." He finished saying seeing that there was no other way out and that his silence had only given him away and there was no longer an option to lie. Zib watched him for one... two... three heartbeats and then slumped back in his chair, sighing covering his face
"You shouldn't... Not yet"
"don't let tumblr people put ideas into your head..."
"...what?"
"you know... what they say"
"what do they say"
"nothing, just- you know forget it..."
"But I don't know... now you have to tell me or I'll find out myself"
"it's stupid, there's no need"
"Well-" zib leaned back a little and dib could see a screen pop out from his PAK and recognized the features of tumblr
"ok, well ugh they say you and I have an errrm 'tension'..."
“wha- IN THE SENSE OF LIKING YOU? ROMANTICALLY???"
"YES AHAH Bullshit, right?"
"yeah...ahah"
"...you don't seem so sure"
"I-Are you implying that I'm lying??"
"I don't know... do you?" Dib was getting confident... Confidence isn't entirely secure but he couldn't stop, he wanted to know if zib somehow thought that maybe...
"I MEAN- THAT POEM MEANS NOTHING"
"...What?"
"IT'S JUST THAT, WHEN YOU WRITE YOU JUST LET YOURSELF GO... IT'S SOMETHING THAT JUST APPEARED IT DOESN'T HAVE TO MEAN ANYTHING?"
"But I saw that it has a 'for', who were you going to give it to?"
"NOBODY, EVER BECAUSE I WON'T HUMBLE MYSELF LIKE THIS"
Zib then took the paper and began to tear it apart, Dib was surprised by the sudden movement and jumped back
Zib stopped, looked at dib his breathing uneven and then he seemed shocked. A beat and he just stared.
They were silent for a while and dib felt that all the weight of his shame was falling on him, crushing him. He now pissed off zib and he was being stupid
how the hell he was expecting to get out of that? The answer: he couldn't, he thought they were just messing around and having a casual chat
The confidence got the worst out of him and started to make things up, wanting to find something that didn't exist because zib didn't lo-
Wait, exactly
He doesn't
What is he thinking? who is he trying to trick?
Who is he lying to?
Maybe is because this fucking place it's too stuffy, too hot and doesn't let him think properly... Yeah it's that and now... Zib probably now is going to lock himself for diferent reasons
"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry I didn't mean to... I wasn't making fun of you... It doesn't matter, i'll leave" dib murmured under his breath and get up to leave, stopped to see if zib was going to say something... Anything but they didn't so he started walking faster to the exit, but... He couldn't he stopped his tracks the moment he touched the handle but fortunately at the same time he felt a tug on his other hand, he didn't say anything he just turned slowly back and saw zib taking his hand
Zib seemed... Confused? Regretful? it was hard to tell, and before dib could say anything, zib did it for him
"Don't go" he said looking into his eyes and that made dib blush
Before the situation became more tense dib decided to speak "l-listen you don't have to give me explanations, you've never had to... I don't even know who it's for i was trying to joke with you i didn't mean to piss you off..."
"... Didn't you see the name in the corner?"
"I mean... I tried but it's crossed out? Didn't you cross it out??"
Zib's eyes at that moment widened and he pulled dib with him, he took what was left of the paper and looked around for that corner and when he found it he looked at dib and said "no, it wasn't me"
Dib narrowed his eyes and looked away
"...so ermm the poem..." Dib didn't want to say anything else he couldn't get attached to a single idea of the thousands that roared in his head
He wanted to ask so many questions, make sure he wasn't hearing things or just understanding parts that he wanted to hear
He didn't want to affirm or deny anything since he felt like he was walking into thin ice, this was a fragile point and so easy to mess up
So he hoped, he waited for zib to give him a chance, just say it...
"was... the poem was..."
"I'm not judging you, I'm not making fun of you, just tell me..." Dib muttered, sliding his hand out of Zib's to reposition it on Zib's forearm
"It was for you" said zib in such a low voice that if dib hadn't been so close he was sure he wouldn't hear him
And that was what made him lose all logical thinking, fuck what happens, fuck the consequences, fuck everything; he just wanted this
In a blink of an eye he drew Zib forward but paused for a moment to see how Zib would react, they were standing in the middle of the room just inches apart, hot puffs blending into the available space, red faces and unfocused eyes looking at each other waiting for some kind of sign or approval; the signal? The moment dib looked at zib's lips
Zib took advantage of that entrance, a distraction that allowed him to grab Dib's hips and pull him close, smashing their mouths together.
For a few moments it was just about them finally breaking the tension, finally feeling connected to someone who truly understood them and all thoughts fading away
Dib pulled away for air and immediately reconnected their mouths, leaning in a little to get as close as possible wanting as much physical contact as possible and with a small growl zib seemed to agree.
That little dance was repeated, they separated, kissed and moved their hands around as if the other's body hid a secret that was vital to find, groaning and biting, until zib took the lead again and slid his tongue across dib's lower lip and dib whimpered in approval, he parted his lips and zib let his tongue slide inside dib's mouth where he also explored eagerly
They separated and looked into each other's eyes, neither wanted to lose against the other and their hasty kiss only confirmed it but in silent agreement they slow down, kissed again and started to give hot wet pecks all over, smiling in each others embrace. Zib tilted his head and found dib's neck and gave him a test lick which dib responded with a gasp, putting his hands on zib's back and bringing him closer.
Zib was nibbling where dib's neck and shoulder met and stopped when he felt dib move forward, he pulled away a bit and they started to walk towards the mess of bed that was there, zib pushed dib on the mattress but the moment zib tried to position himself on top; dib put a leg behind zib's knee and using a bit of momentum he changed their positions, zib looked surprised for a moment and started laughing, dib He thought for a moment that he was laughing at him, but he couldn't find himself annoyed with that because it was the most genuine laugh he'd ever heard from him... he ran a hand over where Zib's ear should be, stroked his hairline and he kissed his cheek
Zib froze for a moment and then did the same
The calm before the storm
Zib then turned dib again but this time they were side by side, they shared another frantic kiss, their hands grabbing and groping madly, wanting nothing more than to be closer. Dib pulled away with a gasp and paused for a moment to catch his breath, then began to laugh breathlessly
And finally after what it felt like forever he spoke
"Is it okay if I stay the rest of the night, maybe the morning?"
Zib laughed too and said "it seems my poems are that good?"
"Fuck you"
"Do it yourself"