Redefinition of an Irken

November 7th

He knew this was a bad idea.

It was too sentimental, too… human. The stupid alien would laugh at him and he'd be embarrassed and run off and everything would be ruined. He might not even like the gift- doing this could destroy their entire relationship!

On the other hand… it might not. He might like it. Maybe even let him see some of his art again…

"Hey, Zim," Dib called before he could think better of it, turning around and walking toward him.

"Human," he replied with a smirk, not bothering to turn around.

"Don't act like you know I'm going to chase after you, my ego can't take much more of this," Dib said as he caught up to him. He knelt down, tossing off his backpack and digging through it. "I, uh, hang on a sec."

Zim, intrigued, turned and watched as the human searched through his things.

A moment later, Dib seemed to pull out what he needed and closed the pack, throwing it over one shoulder. "I- um…" he hesitated fiddling with the edges of… some sort of book, it looked like. "So, I don't know if you know, but… we met five years ago today. I marked it on my calendar because I wanted to make sure I had an accurate date for the first time I'd ever seen an alien in real life… But, well, obviously since then we've grown out of the trying to kill each other thing," Dib laughed a bit, looking increasingly nervous as he rambled. "I just wanted to… well, get something for you because I'm really glad we met," he said rapidly, shoving a large sketchbook towards Zim.

The alien stared at the human and his offering. "You…? Y- You- Dib-thing-" Zim stammered, clearly flustered before he rolled his eyes, placing a hand on his hip. "Stupid sentimental human. Zim needs no gifts from you. However…" his face flushed slightly, reaching out to take the book. He flipped through it, feeling the paper, his eyes widening slightly. Dib had clearly been very careful with his purchase. Most paper felt horrible to the alien's sensitive hands, yet this one felt… almost nice. It was thin enough that it didn't feel bulky, but thick enough that it wouldn't bleed if he used a pen. And it didn't smell of all those nasty chemicals humans felt the need to put in everything. "However, Zim appreciates your kind gesture. Stupid sentimental human, yes, but a thoughtful one," he smirked, finally looking back up at Dib. "The Zim is also pleased to have met you."

The brightest, most excited smile that he had ever seen the human wear grew on his face. "Good! I'm really glad you like it! I wasn't sure about the texture- I mean, it's better than most but- ya know what, I'm going to just go before I ruin everything, I mean, yeah, I'll see you tomorrow!" Dib yelled over his shoulder as he ran home, trying to tell himself that the flush on his cheeks was from running.

Zim couldn't help but laugh at the human's awkwardness a little, but he too turned to walk home. He had plans for this sketchbook that he wanted to get started.

Dib ran the entire way to his house, not slowing down for a moment. His heart raced and adrenaline raced through his veins. Zim liked the notebook, he was positive. Well, he'd said he did, so… And the stupid alien was generally pretty straight forward about things. Maybe he'd even draw something tonight, since it didn't seem to hurt his hands…
He barged into his house, practically throwing the door open and shut. Bounding up the stairs three at a time, he didn't even bother to glance behind him. The interaction couldn't have lasted more than five minutes, but… Dib finally reached his room and threw himself on his bed, crushing a pillow to his body as he waited for the adrenaline coursing through him to settle. He could practically hear Gaz's confusion from downstairs in the silenced video game music, but he couldn't bring himself to care about that just yet. He'd tell Gaz what had happened when his face stopped burning…

Zim on the other hand, with his still slightly flushed cheeks, closed his new sketchbook and opened the door to his house much more softly. His mind wandered as he stepped into the elevator to take him to his lab, playing with the edges of the book. The texture of it really wasn't unpleasant.

By the time he got to his lab he'd gotten a pencil out of his Pak and looked about ready to pounce on the paper, excitement growing in him as ideas crowded his thoughts. He walked slowly to his desk as he started drawing basic shapes in the general outline of what he wanted. When he finally got to his desk he was hunched over the paper, drawing rapidly before the exact image left his head…

Almost an hour later he finally sat back in his seat, smiling proudly at his new picture. Tomorrow he'd be able to show it to the stupid hu-

The giant computer in front of him flickered on and an image of the Tallests appeared on the screen in front of him. "Invader Zim, what exactly is going on here?"

The Irken in question all but leapt out of his chair. His antennae stood straight up and his eyes widened. He looked almost panicked, saluting a bit sloppily. "My Tallests! Z- Zim doesn't know what you mean? H- Has he done something to displease you?"

Red rolled his eyes, "'Displease' us? Don't you think that's a bit of an understatement? It's been five years since you got to this filthy planet and you still have yet to conquer it! This… 'Dib' creature would never be able to stop a competent Irken soldier! You're a blemish on the title of Invader!"

"T- Tallest Red, it's not that simple!" Zim protested, his antennae drooping, "Zim has a plan-"

"Oh, of course you have a plan. You always have a plan," Purple sighed. "You're a liability. You'll get caught one day and then you'll put the rest of Irk in danger. We can't allow you to continue to be a part of this operation. Your status as Invader has to be terminated."

Zim blinked.

That… that didn't make sense. That couldn't be. He was Invader Zim! Who would he be without a rank? His status couldn't be revoked…

"We won't bother retrieving any of our supplies, or SIR unit- it's basically broken anyway," Red mused, waving his hand as though the issue were merely another inconvenience.

"M- My Tallests…" Zim started weakly, "Please, reconsider-"

"We are no longer your Tallests. Do not attempt to contact us and in the event that you are found, if you reveal any information about Irk, us, or your duties, you will be deemed a traitor and hunted down. You are no longer an Invader, nor are you a citizen of Irk. You'll be lucky to have the title of person from now on. You will never hear from us again." With that, the transmission was cut off as Zim simply stared back at the dark abyss of the monitor.