"Wow," Dib breathed, "The stars sure look different up here." Zim gave him a funny look
"How do little dots of light in your sky look different?" He asked, obviously not caring if Dib answered; it was more of a teasing question anyways. Dib sighed
"There are more of them up here, er well; I can see more of them." He explained. Zim shook his head in irritation and rolled his eyes at the strange human.
"They are burning balls of gas Dib, what could possibly be so interesting about that?" Zim asked with a bored expression.
"They could be planets too." Dib stated, Zim thought for a moment,
"Only a few of them; you have to realize Dib," He spat the name, "that there are more stars than planets in your solar system's sight range."
"Goody! I like star gazing anyways." Dib huffed
"Yeesh, you are strange! You still haven't answered my question Dib!" Zim almost hollered.
"What question was that?" Dib snarled
"What's so fascinating about those stars!" Zim did holler this time. Dib groaned in frustration at the annoying alien whom so randomly decided to plop down next to him.
"You wouldn't understand ZIM. It's a human thing." He growled
"Do not underestimate my ability to assimilate your pathetic hobbies!" Zim growled back shoving a finger in the side of Dib's face. Dib swatted Zim's hand away and glared at him before groaning at the alien's stubborn expression.
"Fine!" He barked, "Just give me a second." Half expecting Zim to demand an answer right away, Dib was shocked to see Zim nod and stare ahead of him almost patiently. Dib was grateful for the moment of silence, but was annoyed for the lack of words that came to mind. He sat there and stared ahead of him as well, and that was all he really needed.
"Imagine we're back at home, er you're base." Dib started, Zim gave him a funny look, but decided to play along. "It's sunset; do we ever see any stars?"
"No, too much light pollution in our area to see the rest of the sky, the light reflects off of the junk you humans put in your atmosphere along with the hydrogen, oxygen and water molecules." Dib smirked a little.
"True, but it is sunset here right?" Dib egged on; Zim looked impatient.
"Get on with it human." Zim huffed
"Look how many stars we can see! The sun isn't even down yet Zim!" Zim shook his head.
"They are always there Dib-stink." Zim growled
"Zim, I should give you a little "Human 101" lesson here: We love mystery, we're naturally curious. We're also stupid creatures that think if we can't see it, if we don't understand it, it's not there; it doesn't exist. There's only a few of us that want to find out what makes the sun set, what makes a thunderstorm growl, and what makes the stars sparkle even when the sun hasn't set yet. That's why I love the stars, they make me curious." Dib was struggling a bit with his explanation. He growled to himself as the last of the sun's rays faded quietly away.
"So," Zim stated quietly "you love the things that humans usually fear. Interesting." Dib was a little confused as to how Zim came to that conclusion, but he was right.
"I guess so." Dib mumbled before curling up, resting his chin on his knees.
"There's more I assume." Zim sighed
"I like the idea that there's something bigger than us- er humans." Dib looked beyond the hills down to the faint glow of the city. "For some reason, humans have this thought process that we're the most intelligent and were on the only planet that can hold living creatures in the entire universe. Thinking that there's something bigger than humans fills them with fear and loathing. I don't think we're in control of everything; I know we're not the only creatures alive out here. Now the most intelligent might be possible, I haven't been proven otherwise." That earned Dib a slug in the arm from Zim, but he got serious again fairly quickly. "I wish others could see what I see." Dib flopped on his back and stared at the summer constellations. His heart sang with joy at the fact that he could finally see the whole sky with no clouds, and no busy lights or noises to interrupt his stargazing.
Zim stared at the boy in confusion and fascination. Such a primitive race, He thought but they might have some hope.