Take Another Look

Skoodge walked down the streets of Earth. He was in his full disguise (which was really just a blonde wig and eye sockets, much like Zim's disguise). He had done a bit of shopping and was returning back to his and Zim's house.

Skoodge had been living on Earth for about a year at that point. He caught on much earlier than Zim that he was no longer wanted by his own race, even after his many grand achievements as an invader. It took quite a while for him to bear the pain, but it was made a bit easier with Zim, though Zim was still gullible and thought that the Tallest liked him.

He finally returned home, twisting the door knob to open the door and entering the strange house at the end of the cul-de-sac. As soon as he shut the door, he was greeted by GIR. Skoodge had taken a liking to GIR since he was always there to brighten his day with his overall silliness. He handed GIR his bag of groceries and asked him to put them away in the kitchen. GIR did a slight salute before walking into the kitchen.

Skoodge popped out his human eyes and took off his wig. He brought them into the compact space of his PAK and walked forward. He heard some scuffling in the kitchen and assumed that GIR was having troubles with putting away the food. This happened a lot, so Skoodge went in to help.

What he discovered was the last thing he expected.

GIR wasn't in the room at all, but Zim was… and he had a friend with him. They were connected in an embrace and the friend had his lips on Zim's… and Zim seemed to have been enjoying the kiss.

The 'friend' turned out to be Dib.

"Z-zim?!" Skoodge said in a shocked, exasperated voice.

Zim quickly his gaze over to Skoodge and immediately jumped off of Dib. "Skoodge, avert your eyes!" Zim yelled.

Skoodge covered his eyes and turned around. He ran out of the kitchen, completely shocked by what just happened. He used the elevator to move downstairs to his small bedroom.

The small room, which was slightly smaller than Zim's room, held Skoodge's bed, his desk, and a single picture: the one thing that he managed to salvage from the Massive. It was a picture of him and Zim at the Academy. Zim wasn't so mean to Skoodge at the Academy, though he still resorted to making fun of Skoodge's short and fat exterior.

Skoodge went into his bedroom and closed the door behind him. He slowly sat down on his bed, trying to see if he could wipe away the image of Zim and Dib kissing, but he was having trouble doing so. One of the main problems he had with it, though, was that he wasn't entirely sure why he was upset in the first place.

'Zim is allowed to do whatever he wants with whoever he wants,' Skoodge thought to himself a few times. He laid down in his bed and stared up at the ceiling. He groaned and whispered, "Uuurgh… why does this bother me so much?"

He jumped out of his bed, balling his hands into small fists. He was getting frustrated and his insides were pumping faster than normal. "Uuuurgh… why is this bothering me so much?!" Skoodge yelled louder. He was inclined to bang his fist against something when he heard a few knocks at the door. "What?!" he yelled in his fit.

The door opened and Zim was revealed on the other side. "I think we need to talk," he said in a subtle voice, something Skoodge rarely got to hear.

"Yeah, I think so, too," Skoodge said, trying his best to calm himself down so that he didn't uncontrollably lash out at Zim. "What was that?"

"That, Skoodge, was weakness," Zim said, connecting his hands behind his back. "Dib and I have been, eh…. doing some experiments. Yes, some experiments, that's it."

"Experiments involving human romance and affection techniques?" Skoodge asked with a hint of doubt in his voice. He had been studying humans for the past month since he knew that he would have to call Earth home and adapt well with the other humans.

Zim rubbed his gloved hand on the back of his neck. "Y-yes. The Dib-human calls what we do 'dating'."

Skoodge turned around. He was very much aware of what Zim was talking about and it made him feel even worse. It made him feel…

Lonely.

"Yeah, I get it Zim," Skoodge said in a low voice. "You are allowed to do whatever you want with whoever you want," he finally said out loud.

Zim's antennae fell, not because he was sad, but because he was confused. They raised themselves again and Zim glared at Skoodge. "Something tells me you're hiding something, Skoodge. Tell me! Tell me your secrets, Skoodge!"

"I don't have any secrets," Skoodge lied, turning around to face Zim again.

"Zim doesn't believe you," Zim exclaimed.

Skoodge crossed his arms. "I'm not going to say anything," Skoodge said honestly. "Something tells me that you don't want to hear it, anyways. Mainly because you don't want to hear anything I have to say."

Zim rolled his eyes. "Perhaps I don't, but Zim is giving you a gracious three seconds to explain what you are hiding from me. Consider this one of Zim's generous offers."

"Fine…" Skoodge said with a sigh. "I guess I'm getting lonely."

Zim's composure didn't move even a little when he heard that phrase. He stared at Skoodge and mumbled a "hmmm?"

"I'm getting lonely, okay?" Skoodge said, flicking his arms forward. He sat on the bed and looked away from Zim. "The sad, ugly, fat Skoodge that no irken or human would want to associate with. Yes, I am lonely."

Zim blinked. "I… eh, I see. Is Zim's company not enough to you?" He place his hands on his hips.

"Yeah, it is," Skoodge said. "I don't know. It's not important."

Zim sighed. "Fine, fine. But just know that the whole Dib thing is ending right now. I have a mission and a promise to uphold with the Tallest, and I obviously can't uphold that promise if I have a secret relationship with the Dib-worm."

"Wait, seriously?" Skoodge asked. "You're just going to end it like that. Sounds a bit heartless."

Zim shook his head. "An invader must be heartless, Skoodge. I'm sure you learned plenty about that in the Academy. Unless your disgusting looks distracted you from your studies."

Skoodge smirked. "Yeah, who's the one who actually conquered a planet?"

Zim grimaced for a moment, then thought of a decent comeback. "Who's the one who has the respect of the Tallest?"

Neither of us, Skoodge thought to himself. He rolled his eyes and apathetically said, "Yep, you got me there."

"Gooood," Zim said in a long tone. "Now, Zim is going to return to the kitchen and get rid of the Dib-human. You're welcome to watch the show."

Skoodge shook his head. "No… I think I'm going to stay in here for a little bit."

Zim gave Skoodge a straight face. "Ooookay." He turned around and exited the room. Won't even leave his room. No wonder he's lonely.

Skoodge laid down in his bed and dozed off. He started to dream like he normally would, but something was out of the ordinary. Zim and Skoodge were on Earth, walking down a busy street. They were… holding hands. It was strange to Skoodge at first, but it then it got even stranger.

The two during the dream returned back to Zim's house. They exchanged a few words to each other until eventually… Zim leaned forward and Skoodge a kiss on the cheek.

That kiss immediately woke Skoodge up. It was something that he wasn't at all expecting. He was beginning to get a bit uncomfortable, but wasn't allowed to when he heard a knock at his door. Skoodge again regained his composure and finally said, "Come in."

Zim entered the room and said, "Zim may have a slight problem."

"Why, what happened?" Skoodge asked.

Zim thought for a moment. "I tried to kick the Dib-stink out of my house, and then he asked me if I had an explanation for him, which is ridiculous. I actually had to put in an effort to appease his human curiosity… then he started crying."

"Dib? Crying?" Skoodge asked. He knew for a fact that Dib wasn't a very emotional or sensitive person. "What did you say?"

"I told him that I didn't want him in my life or house anymore and that I had a plan to destroy his planet tomorrow. I mean… you understand how modest that is. Dib should be thanking me."

Skoodge blinked. He almost wanted to laugh at Zim's lack of subtlety, but he knew full-well that Zim clearly didn't understand what Dib was going through. He shook off the thought and asked, "But… why is that a problem to you? It sounds like he's the one who is upset."

Zim rubbed the back of his neck. "Zim maaaaaay feel a little bad. He was hoping that Skoodge could tell him that he did everything right and that he has nothing to worry about."

"Okay," Skoodge said eagerly. "You did everything right and you have nothing to worry about."

Zim groaned in frustration. "We both know that is far from the truth. Why would you lie right to my face, Skooooodge?"

"But you just sa-"

Zim interrupted Skoodge. "I don't want to hear it, you lying stinkhead."

Skoodge raised his hands up innocently. "Alright… Zim, calm down. Just sit down and we'll figure this out, okay?"

Zim blinked at Skoodge, surprised that he actually wanted to help. "Ehhh, okay." He sat down on the bed next to Skoodge.

"Alright, this is a simple question. What do you like better: the invasion of Earth or Dib?"

"The invasion of Earth, duh," Zim said. "What a silly question?"

"Then who would Dib be to get in the way of your dreams?" Skoodge asked.

Zim thought for a moment, then balls his hand up into a fist. "A dirty, big-headed stinkhead."

"And who's here to help you make your dream a reality?" Skoodge asked.

Zim blinked, knowing the answer. He wanted to say it, but then came to a realization. He crossed his arms and said, "I don't need anyone's help."

Skoodge frowned. "But… I want to help."

Zim frowned. "Well… I don't need your help. I am Zim! Zim doesn't take help from anyone!"

Skoodge grabbed onto Zim's hand and decided he would give it one more shot. "Please?"

Normally Zim would shove Skoodge's hands to the side. He was disgusted that Skoodge constantly did things with his hands. But this time… he simply rested his palms on Skoodge's. Zim let out a slight sigh and said, "Fiiiine. Why are you so eager about it now, though?"

"Well, for one, I'm trying to make you feel better," Skoodge said. "Which, I think it's working, but I can never tell with you. For another thing, well… I want to help you. You're the only irken who has finally accepted me enough to give me a place to stay and to, well… give me company."

"Oh, please Skoodge," Zim said, starting to frown again. "Don't get all sappy like you normally do. It'll start getting to me, and we both know we don't want that."

Skoodge chuckled. "Fine, but I'm just saying." He looked up at Zim and smiled. This was something that Skoodge rarely did at that point, but that was mainly because he had no one to smile with… until that point.

"What's with that smile?" Zim asked. "I didn't know you were capable of doing such a thing."

"Well, I'm just full of surprises," Skoodge said.

"Well, so am I," Zim said, blinking. "That doesn't make you special."

"I didn't say that it made me special," Skoodge said. "I'm just full of surprises."

Zim let out a low growl. "Yeah, well… you're a pig-smelly, dooky-head." He almost felt proud of his 'proper' insults.

Skoodge rolled his irken eyes and said, "Zim."

"What?" Zim asked.

Skoodge took a deep breath in, thinking about what he was about to do. He then looked Zim in the eye and said, "Zim… shut up." He leaned forward and gave Zim a slight kiss on the lips. Since he had already seen Zim and Dib do it, he figured that Zim would be okay with it.

Zim blinked a couple of times, his head turned sideways a bit. He backed-off a bit, but then moved forward, making slight noises with each motion. "W-… what did you do?"

"I, uh… I did the thing," Skoodge said, suddenly getting flustered and forgetting a bunch of human romantic terms. "You know, the thing where I… connect the two things."

"Skoodge, you're babbling nonsense again," Zim said.

Skoodge thought for a moment, trying to lower his own heart rate. His eyes then flicked wide open and he said excitedly, "A kiss, that's what it's called."

Zim blinked. "That's… great?"

Skoodge frowned. "You didn't like it, did you?"

"I… eh, I liked it," Zim said quietly. "You could use some improvement, but you're better than the Dib-human."

Skoodge took in a deep breath. He actually felt a bit awkward at that point. "So, wait… what does that mean?"

Zim thought for a moment. "Why don't you do it again, and I'll let you know?" He coughed. "Consider this a generous gift from Ziiiim."

Skoodge chuckled a bit. "It's almost like Christmas." He leaned forward and gave Zim another kiss, this time lasting longer so that both Zim and Skoodge could get the feel of what it's like between two irkens.

Zim eventually separated the kiss when he felt it was time to catch a breath. He looked at Skoodge in the eyes for several moments before eventually bringing his head forward and hitting it against Skoodge's head. Hard.

Skoodge rubbed his head and said, "Ow, Zim. It's nice that you did that to me and all, but can you at least do it a little lighter next time."

Zim huffed. "Is Skoodge ashamed of Zim's extreme sense of affection? The harder I hit, the more I care."

Skoodge blinked. "Wait, seriously? You hit me really hard."

Zim nodded. "Indeed. You should feel lucky."

"I do feel a bit lucky," Skoodge said, a small smile on his head.

"We need to fix that smile of yours," Zim said, slowly rubbing his finger on the edge of Skoodge's lips and attempting to bring it down. "It doesn't suit you."

Skoodge rolled his eyes. "Fine. So… would you like to go to the park or something?" he asked, remembering his dream just a few moments ago.

Zim blinked. "Eh… why don't we just go upstairs and watch some TV?"

Skoodge shrugged. "That's fine with me."

Zim nodded and opened the door for Skoodge and exited with him. They took the elevator up.

As they did so, Skoodge looked over at Zim and asked, "I'm curious, have you done very much research on human relationships?"

"I can't say that I have," Zim said. "I focus on the important matters."

"Well, I've done a little bit of everything," Skoodge explained. "And there's another form of affection that humans do with each other. Want to hear it?"

"Fine," Zim said.

"Well, it starts with you taking off your pants, an…."

Zim shoved Skoodge against the wall of the elevator. "Don't finish that sentence."

"Sorry," Skoodge said with a heavy groan.

Zim lightly bashed his head against Skoodge's head. "It's okay, Skoodge. Let's go, you perverted cretin." The elevator landed on the ground floor and Zim exited.

Skoodge went after Zim. He knew that he was going to get a bit more of a beating from Zim, but he was actually okay with it. In essence, it's the thought that counts. He sat down on the couch and wrapped his right arm around Zim.

Zim took Skoodge's arm off of him and said, "Baby steps, Skoodge."

Skoodge chuckled uncomfortably. "… Okay."