Danem

Comfort Sister

Gaz noted Zim pelting away from the Membrane house to the shrieks of her mother with no small amount of fury. What had she just told him? Was he that stupid? Ignoring him, she hurried into the house. The sight of her mother on the floor, curled up in the corner only added to her rage, but she set it aside to deal with later. Kneeling down by her, she gently worked her way under Gloria's arm. Often, she had noted, having something smaller than herself to hold seemed to calm the woman down somewhat. It probably had to do with the multiple children she had borne, but never been allowed to keep.

Sure enough, Gloria's arms wound tightly around Gaz, and she subsided into quiet weeping. Gingerly, Gaz reached for her thoughts. Though not as experienced without the guidance of her own kind, she was able to recover surface thoughts through physical contact.

What she found nearly made her lose her shape.

The idiot programmed the wrong code into her eyes, now she knows.

She had to get away from the house before she started destroying things. Gently disentangling herself from Gloria, she mumbled something about using the restroom, and walked upstairs. As soon as she was out of sight, though, the edges of her body blurred, shifting into a dark shadow. She slid through the wall, dropping outside, and turned her gaze toward Zim's household.

....

Zim's vision was blurring, and it was difficult to see the front door's lock well enough to fit the key inside. He fumbled with it for a good five minutes before the door swung inward. Cringing, he prepared himself to face the wrath of Della.

"Zim? Why're you up?"

He glanced up, relieved to see Tiana standing there, dressed in a pink terrycloth bathrobe.

"Hello, um, smeet, Zim was just, um, out. For a walk. Yes. Wonderful walk." Zim nodded fiercely.

Tiana looked at him uncertainly, then reached up and wiped something away from his eye.

Zim muttered a curse, scrubbing his face. When had he turned into such a weakling?

He felt Tiana tugging on his sleeve, and dropped his arm.

"You want some cocoa Zim? I can't sleep, so I was making some."

Zim nodded silently, stepping inside. As long as it was made with milk and not water, he'd actually found the concoction to be rather soothing. And if Tiana was already making it, well, no reason not to indulge.

He followed her into the kitchen, where she checked the temperature of the milk, then poured the steaming liquid into two mugs, dumping in liberal amounts of chocolate mix, and stirring thoroughly. Turning, she handed one to Zim, and took another for herself. She tilted her head toward the living room, and walked in, seating herself on the couch. Wordlessly, Zim followed, sitting beside her.

They sipped in contented silence for a bit. Zim broke the silence first.

"So. You couldn't sleep because...?"

She shrugged. "Y'know. I still get weird dreams sometimes. Not as bad as Mikko, but every now and then. Takes awhile to go back to sleep." She poked him in the side. "Your turn. Why're you out so late?"

Zim took a long drink from his mug, licking his lips as he thought. "I... had to clear my head." He hoped that would be enough.

"Yeah, Daddy said you kinda snapped today."

Zim sighed, antennae lowering.

Tiana reached up, gently running her hand over the tops of his antennae. His eyes half-closed as his muscles relaxed. If anyone but his sisters tried that, they would have lost their hand in a heartbeat.