Discoveries

When night fell, everybody prepared to sleep on the sleeping bags that GIR provided. They searched for a spot to sleep far from Zim, Dib or Gaz for the fuss they got themselves into a few hours ago, however it wasn't long before Francine walked up to Gaz.

"Hey, Gaz." Francine greeted her in her shy voice.

"Are you sure you wanna hang out with me, right now?" Gaz complained.

"You can say what you want." Francine smiled as she proceeded to sit by Gaz's side. "But I think that Jessica and Torque deserved it."

Gaz smiled knowing that at least someone was by their side in that story.

The girls began chattering as if they were good old friends. They were so entertained with their talk that didn't notice someone approaching.

Zim carried his sleeping bag around the market while the skool children eyed him cautiously. He didn't feel welcome at that moment, and felt like hanging out with Gaz, for some reason but, when he finally found her, he saw that she already had company. Gaz was talking to a pale blonde girl at a corner, and they didn't seem to notice him, so Zim decided to leave it alone and sleep someplace else. Gaz looked up to where Zim was standing moments ago, but saw nobody there.

"What?" Francine asked, looking up at the same direction.

"Nothing." Gaz shook her head and resumed their talk.

Zim found Dib sitting at a corner with his laptop on his lap. He seemed to be working on something.

"What are you doing?" Zim asked his friend, sitting by his side.

"I'm trying to contact one of the Swollen Eyeball members, but no such luck." Dib said as he closed his laptop to save some battery.

"What's that 'Swollen Eyeball' you keep talking about?" Zim asked perking a brow.

"It's a secret organization formed by paranormal investigators and aspiring-to-be." Dib explained. "They said they were working on something behind the covers, which I believe will help us in our battle."

"And what are they working on?" Zim asked.

"I don't know." Dib shrugged. "They didn't tell me because they said they wanted to make me a surprise."

Zim pondered about the fact of the "Swollen Eyeball" members lying to Dib to get him out of their back, everybody found him annoying after all, but Zim decided to keep that thought to himself and not hurt Dib's feelings.

Silence fell upon them when Zim noticed Professor Membrane sleeping by Dib's side.

"How can he sleep in a situation like this?" Zim asked pointing at Professor Membrane.

"I was just asking myself the same thing minutes ago." Dib laughed.

Zim smiled back at him, but it soon fell as he started pondering about something.

"Hey, Dib?" Zim called. "How do you know when someone likes you?"

"Uh… I don't know." Dib rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed by the sudden awkward turn of the conversation. "If they don't tell you, it's really hard to guess. Some people keep the signs very subtle."

"I see…" Zim said.

"Will you ever tell me who you like, by the way?" Dib asked suddenly.

"Well." Zim sighed. "I guess there's no escape from it, so I'll have to tell you, someday."

"Why? Is it Gaz?" Dib mocked and started laughing, but his laughter died faintly as he saw the look on Zim's face.

Dib panicked, he was about to yell when Zim covered his mouth with his hand.

"Don't freak out on me, right now!" Zim exclaimed.

"Seriously, Zim… How?!" Dib whispered removing Zim's hand from his mouth.

"I don't know, I just…" Zim trailed off, trying to find the right words. "I used to find her plain hideous before but, now that we're in this situation, I could see a side of her that I've never seen, before. She's strong and smart and I caught myself rather enjoying her presence. It's like a feeling that grows by every minute I spend with her."

"Yeah…" Dib said looking at the distance. "'Been there."

Zim followed his gaze to see Tak lying in her sleeping bag in the distance.

"You should go talk to her." Zim suggested.

"Why for?" Dib retorted. "Every time I do that, I get hurt."

"So, you're saying you're going to give up on her?" Zim asked.

Dib took a moment to look at Tak before responding.

"No." Dib said plainly.

"Well…?" Zim motioned with his hand to Tak.

Dib took a moment to gather the courage, but he finally got up and carried his sleeping bag to lay by Tak's side.

"Tak?" He called. "Are you awake?"

"Yes." Tak replied, rolling on her side to face Dib.

"Tak…" Dib paused as he tried to find the right words. "Will you give me a chance?"

Tak pondered for a moment before answering, making Dib grow nervous.

"I can't say for certain that I'll ever love you. Nor anyone…" Tak started. "But I do feel grateful for you rescuing me which, I guess, it's a start so… Yes, I will give you a chance."

"Thank you, Tak." Dib smiled feeling more relieved.

An awkward silence fell upon them as they tried thinking about what to say or do next.

"So…" Dib said awkwardly. "What now?"

"I guess you humans call this 'dating', right?" Tak pointed out.

"Yeah…" Dib felt thankful for the lights not being on, at that moment. That way Tak couldn't see him blushing. "I guess you could say that."

"Hm…" Tak hummed contemplative. "Say, Dib… How does this work?"

"Well…" Dib blushed harder, trying to find the words. "A dating couple usually does things like hanging out together, holding hands, kissing and…" He smiled awkwardly thinking about the subject. "Other things."

"Like what?" Tak asked curious.

Dib panicked and started sweating. He didn't know how to respond to that.

"Uh…" Dib said nervous. "That's something for another time."

"Okay?" Tak perked her eyebrow. "Just don't hide it from me for too long. I don't know much about this whole 'dating' thing, so I'm counting on you to teach me, okay?"

Dib's face turned vermillion. He knew that Tak didn't mean it like that, but couldn't help but feel embarrassed about her… inappropriate comment.

"Okay." Dib laughed nervously. "Count on me."

Tak didn't understand his suspicious behavior, but decided to ask questions later.

"Okay, well. I guess we should go to sleep, now." Tak said rubbing her eye.

"Sure." Dib said.

They both said their goodnights as Dib removed his glasses and they closed their eyes. Tak went through all the things that Dib just said to her about being on a relationship, and pondered about something. She opened her eyes and saw Dib's hand resting on the floor in front of her and took it in her own hand. Dib opened his eyes to see Tak's hand resting on top of his, then looked up at her face and found her smiling. Dib smiled as well and closed his eyes again, trying to get some sleep.