The iPod shuffle game! I put my iPod on shuffle and decided to write a little snippet set to each song. Let's see how long I can keep it going XD Just a warning: I will be jumping around time periods and whatnot. Just don't think about each one too much :) Onward!

Clean shirt, new shoes.
I don't know what I'm gonna do.
Silk suit, black tie.

I don't need a reason why.
They come a-runnin' just as fast as they can
'cause every girl's crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man.

ZZ Top-Sharp Dressed Man

They never got dressed up. EVER. They were trying NOT to draw attention to themselves; dressing up in frilly Earth clothing was entirely counter-productive in her opinion. Tak would have preferred to not even go to the prom; everything she'd heard about and seen of them on TV made them seem so boring. But Zim, always so paranoid about appearing more human (even though he was always horrible at it), insisted not only that they go, but dress the part as well. She'd relented after seeing how firm he was on the subject, not that she was happy about it. She'd chosen a simple purple gown constructed for her by the Computer. Nothing at all too dramatic or uncomfortable. She should have no trouble blending in to the crowd of Skool children. At the moment she was standing at the door, getting photographed repeatedly by GIR (who was holding the camera upside down with the lens cap on), waiting impatiently for Zim to join her so they could leave and get back. She was just about to punt the insane little robot out of the room when he shoved the camera in her face for the fifteenth time when the aforementioned Irken finally made his entrance.

There was a song she'd heard in passing once during her first stint on Earth. She'd immediately dismissed it as nothing more than human noise, but now she realized how true the song was.

Zim was dressed in a smart black suit, a crimson dress shirt contrasting his jacket beautifully. His wig and ocular lenses were the same as always, but the suit...something about it...she couldn't put her finger on it, but it definitely set off a tingling sensation deep in her squeedlyspooch. It didn't hurt that his growth spurt had already made him more attractive to her (well, less physically repulsive anyway) as well; the suit only enhanced it. Apparently females of any species do find well-groomed males to be desirable.

He was fiddling with the small buttons on his sleeve wrists, something he couldn't quite manage with only on three-fingered hand. Tak shook herself to clear her mind and focus, making her way over to help. She smacked his hand away and pushed the button through the whole without a single slip. She then noticed one of his lapels was off-kilter. Her eyes remained on her work even though she could feel him staring at her. Despite becoming mates over a year ago, both Zim and Tak were still painfully shy around each other regarding any romantic notions or displays; they were still too foreign, too far away from everything they'd been taught and encoded with as smeets. But they were no longer welcome in Irken society, both labeled as 'defective'. The freedom to do as they pleased was theirs, however hesitant they were to take it.

Always full of surprises, Zim placed a hand on Tak's cheek, a clearly loving gesture that forced her to meet his eyes. A strange heat rose to her face at his touch. She briefly feared it was his doing and she would soon explode. She had to remind herself that those days were long behind them. No more trying to defeat one another, no more yearning for vengeance.

A bright flash of light brought her out of her thoughts, and Zim, too. GIR had finally taken the lens cap off the camera and snapped a picture. She would make sure it never saw the light of day...but there would be no harm in keeping a copy for herself. "Awww, you looks cute!" GIR squealed with insane delight.

"Meep!" agreed Minimoose.

Tak, fully embarrassed for no discernable reason, turned toward the door and opened it. "Let's get this night over with, Zim," she called over her shoulder. He quickly caught up with her and matched her strides, which were shorter than his own. That unconscious show of care made her smile in spite of herself. Maybe this prom won't be so bad after all.