Reach A Little Farther

rooftop chatter

Lynn didn't scream at him, and she didn't lash out like a certain human had several years before. She didn't look at him, disgusted, or scoff at his antenna.

She was purely starstruck. Reaching out one of her gentle hands to brush his antenna back, locking eyes with him a moment before she did. He nodded, giving permission.

The texture was silky, stiff like a thick pipe cleaner. Lynn stroked them backwards in a petting motion, she could subtly spot as Zim leaned into the touch of her warm hand.

"So.. this is...."

She stopped so suddenly that Zim whined and pressed his head back under her hand. She resumed.

"Who would've guessed that the kid who sits next to me in math wasn't... human."

Zim peeked through his eyelids, catching the way she said human. It wasn't condescending, or snarky, Lynn spoke like she was still in shock, and probably was.

"Well? What do you think?"

Lynn placed both elbows on her knees, holding up her head with the palm of each hand. Where could she even start? Of course there was questions zapping around her head a mile a minute, and yet....

It didn't feel wrong, like something deep in her heart had always known Zim was differnt. The voice that had been silenced, crowded among her other thoughts, it was the voice that every other human being would call stupid, crazy, irrational.

Lynn felt numb. Zim's anntena pointed far enough forward to brush up against some the floaty unkept stands of her hair.

"It's different... but..."

She sighed, how was he supposed to know what she ment? He might if Lynn would let herself give it a try?

"But... what?"

Zim's voice shook with anxiety, please let her stay with me. The thought so strong in his head he nearly let it roll out of his mouth. A clattering echoed out of the trapdoor, lottie could be heard yelling about something before it went quiet again.

"But, it's not bad. Don't get me wrong, this is all just so... new..."

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Lottie grumbled after hearing the pair come up onto the roof. Doing a very poor job of extinguishing the cigarette, they pulled open the screen door sharply, slaming it just as hard behind themself.

A large pile of dishes cluttered up the sink and edges surrounding it. Lottie got to work on loading them into the dishwasher, trying to hear any of the conversation from the roof that may have traveled through the door. Sadly, none had, and they spent the short period in a calm silence among the kitchen.

After a while, everything was finished and being cleaned in the large contraption. Their stomach growled, lottie was already angry for being woken up in such an early hour, why not make some breakfast in an angry mood?

Macaroni... that would have to do, it was the only convenient thing left in the pantry, plus its delicious. They set to work, boiling the water and pouring the box, along with the still closed cheese packet in boiling water. Lottie glared hard at the pot, like it had been the one to steal the cheese packet.

They got it out, noodles already done by that point. The cheese was semi wet and clung to the package edges, lottie grimaced as they scrapped it off and into the pot with a 'plop'.

Minutes later, the 'Breakfast.' Was well and done. Lottie shifted it off the stove, shoving some other pots out of the way to place it there.

"I MADE MAC'N'CHEESE!"

They called, expecting to hear hurried footsteps rushing to rhe kitchen like an excited dog. Maybe they were hoping for too much?

Lottie banged a wooden spoon against the pot a few times, the loud noise would surly travel to the roof where the two idiots sat.

"I'M NOT COMING UP THERE TO GIVE YOU THIS!"

They called again, (new yorker accent thick this time) not waiting near long enough before becoming agrivated and storming up the stairs with a warm pot of mac'n'cheese in hand. Lottie managed their way up the ladder and onto the roof, only stumbling once or twice.

They heard Zim shriek, lottie had never been fond of his tone.

"Are you going to eat or not?"

Lynn sighed, noticing that Zim had managed to slip the cloaking device back on before anything more than it needed to be was spotted, but lottie had took their positions in the wrong way.

"Hey uh.. if you were about to kiss I can wait in the kitchen..."

Lynn felt Zim's eye's on her lips, maybe he had been thinking it, but that never was her intention. Lottie had all the rights to be suspicious, Lynn had her hand in Zim's hair, and Zim was red with blush that travelled all across his cheeks and stopped at his collar bone.

Stumbling to her feet, Lynn stammered out a wild and highly unbelievable excuse. But, in some strange turn if events, all lottie did was cock a brow, telling them to be downstairs soon so the food wouldn't get cold. And with that, they climbed back down the ladder.

"How the hell did that work?!"

Zim clutched his chest, heart beating rapidly. Lynn yanked him up by his shirt, he was close enough to her face now that if he had really wanted to kiss her, he could. But he enjoyed not having a black eye, thank you very much.

"Meet me again next week, Wednesday night. Lottie will be working the night shift. I need some questions answered."

Lynn thought about it for a second too long, she could feel Zim pressing himself farther forward. She let go of his shirt, letting him tumble to the floor, stepping back so his lanky body wouldn't fall on her.

A few soft giggles passed her lips, they clung in the air long after she had traveled back downstairs.

Zim felt the goofy smile come back, he was so hopelessly in love with everything she did. From the way she could complete just about anything wjen she set her mind to it, to how her hair would fall in front of her face when she laughed heavily, only pushing it back when she could breathe properly again. The ladder creaked underneath his weight, he was scared it might break, thankfully it didn't.

Lottie and Lynn ate silently with Zim. The macaroni was cold, and had clumps of cheese that hadn't been stirred properly placed here and there, but it was food.

Before he knew it, the sun was rising, and Lynn waved bye from her place in the doorway as he started back home.

What neither of them had noticed, small snowflakes fluttered down briskly, small enough to seem like rain. They littered the ground, not quite enough to be noticeable yet.

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Word count:1144

Heya lovlies, hope you enjoyed this chapter because it was mostly filler.

I might post again in the next week or so, stay tuned!