CHAPTER 11! This story doesn't seem to be as popular as TSI and I would have liked. But we enjoyed rping it so I guess that's all that mattered. Just a little something though. Those of you reviewing with things like "I like it, despite the OOCness " really aren't complimenting us as much as I think you think you are. If you like it and have nothing to critque don't, you know, don't point out things like that. We did this for fun, it's AU, and it's fan fiction.

That said, REVIEW PLEASE!


Fifteen minutes later, (not twenty because Dib was rushing as fast as he could) Dib came down the stairs in a new wardrobe, unbloodied, and still without its holes. Ah, it was time to make something for Zim to eat! But not so soon, no. He wanted his arm back!He snuck up behind the alien before throwing his small teen hands over the other's eyes. In-between his antennae, and on top of his head did Dib rest his chin, playfully and teasingly as a warning that he feels very touchy at the moment.

"Ack!" Zim choked, moving his hand up to Dib's and asking the human, "What are you doing?" Before tilting his head up to try and get a look at him.

Dib just gave Zim a flat smile before reaching his hands down Zim's chest in an awkward backwards hug, pulling his leg up over the back of the couch so he could slide into the seat in the hug.

Zim leaned a little to help Dib slide down without falling and asked, "Feeling any better?" His antennae twitched, yes, it did seem like Dib was feeling better, however weird it was to see Dib this happy.

The hug loosened enough to glide its way to Zim's arm. And there it clung, and there Dib rested up against Zim's arm. His arm. He nodded happily, but now he could really get what he wanted; the warmth of his arm to hold and rest with.

Zim blinked down at the human, it was kinda... cute, how Dib clung to him like that. But were friends really supposed to cling like that? He saw some humans do it, it never really made sense to him. What person could want to be touched just THAT MUCH? Though he had to admit it was nice, Dib leaning in him like that. He supposed he liked taking care of the human, and that was why he liked Dib clinging to him, kind of like a pet. Yes, he deciding, almost nodding to his own thoughts. Dib was very much like a pet. A cute little doggy maybe? And he liked to take care of Dib, so really it all made perfect sense. 'And maybe when this is all over, the tallest will let me keep you...' Zim thought as he looked down at Dib.

As if on cue, Dib looked up at Zim and met his smile with his own, more innocent one. His eyes closed, though and he went back to nuzzling Zim's arm softly before deciding it was the perfect time to rest.

Zim relaxed against the back of the couch, suddenly feeling a little protective of Dib and leaning back against him as well. Nothing would hurt Dib from now on. Not some stupid school bullies, no careless parents, no invasion. He would protect Dib from all of that, and maybe the human would have a good life in the empire. Yes, he had to keep telling himself that, had to believe that, otherwise he wasn't sure he'd be able to concentrate on his mission, his purpose in life. Without it, there was only death to greet him when the armada came.

The human never once let go of Zim's arm as sleep more and more crept upon him, but he didn't exactly want to sleep yet. No, he was enjoying just being conscious and clung onto his arm. Sleep would only subtract from his memory of living through such a good moment with Zim. Nah, but he was sleepy and he needed some rest, too. Getting beaten up and thrown in a closet with who knows what kind of liquid spilt all over the floor and his wounds always took a lot out of the boy. And thus, his brain went on autopilot and his breathing steadied out. He'd stay on the verge of sleep for as long as possible.

Zim stared up at the ceiling and idly lifted a hand up to stroke Dib's head, flinching back a little at the still burning wetness of the hair there. But he tried to play it off as static shock or something by putting his hand on the boy's face instead.

Zim was quite cozy, yes indeed. Dib would shift his weight around, closer to that warm body that he had in his possession by arm. He hummed out lightly to Zim to let him know such claws on his face pleased him, but that small, little subconscious noise that he made left him wide eyed and looking up at Zim.That hurt. For some reason he made a noise for Zim. He knew it would hurt, but was he just really that comfortable around the alien now?His eyes fell half lidded once against as he tried to ignore the knife-like feeling in his throat.

Zim's eyes quickly snapped to Dib. "Are you ok?" Zim asked, worriedly about the boy's throat, the last thing he needed was for it to tear again.

Dib nodded. He was fine, really, it was just a bit of pain and it would pass in a few hours or so. It was stupid of himself to have even made a noise, and he shouldn't had. He knew better, so instead he just curled up into an even tinier ball against Zim's arm, shifting some so that his legs were over the nurse-in-training's lap.

"You sure?" Zim asked, his antennae flicking a bit to test the air, making sure that Dib wasn't lying to him.

Once again, Dib nodded, but instead of resting his head back on his arm, moved to his chest where his hands, as well, curled up there.

Zim wrapped an arm around Dib, keeping him there and giving the boy a small amount of comfort. He knew that sound must have hurt at least a little bit. "Are you tired?" Zim asked, resisting the urge to let his head against the top of Dib's and burn himself again. "Want me to carry you up to your room?"

What an awful idea! Dib's bed didn't have Zim's warmth. Though, he was falling asleep at an extraordinary rate. The boy shook his head, nuzzling more into that chest he so did enjoy. No, Zim is his bed right now. And his pillow. And his heat. And his comfort. And his band aide, however much that band aid barely worked on his throat, it was quite alright at the moment.

"Ok," Zim said, scratching the boy's back lightly and leaning his head back against the back of the couch, sighing in a bit of comfort at the human's weight against him. This was kind of nice, like that time Dib had gotten into his jacket with the invader still inside of it. The memory made him chuckle a little.

It didn't take very long for, despite how much Dib was enjoying this, to fall asleep at the sweet, sweet touches Zim was giving him, whether he exactly knew what he was doing or not.

After a while of just sitting there Zim looked back down at Dib, about to ask him when he would want to eat when he stopped, shocked. The human had fallen asleep? When had that happened? And on top of him no less! Not that it really mattered, but what was he going to do now for the next however long it was until Dib woke up?

That's when the door creaked, signaling the entrance of a very tall, very white coated man with shiny goggles. The man just waltzed in as if he owned the place, which he did, and stopped in the living room to look at the two on the couch. There, on the couch was two teens, one of which, a much younger teen it looked, was his son."Oh, hi, my son's nurse!" The man waved. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, um, hi," Zim said back, giving Membrane a wave in return. "I go to your son's school. He ran in to a little bit of an accident while there though, so I brought him home to fix him up, I hope you don't mind." Zim couldn't help but blush a little at the position they were discovered in.

"Oh, that's interesting." The man said before waving him off to dismiss him as he made his way to his lab. "Make sure he does his homework." Just like that, he was gone as quick as he had came.

Zim blinked confusedly at the professor. How... weird. So dismissive and... would uncaring be the word? He certainly seemed interested in Dib's grades though, so he couldn't be completely useless right?Zim shook his head. It wasn't any of his business, pretty soon it wouldn't matter anyway. He would meet the same fate as every other human anyway.He looked back down at Dib, wondering if he should wake the human up now and make him eat something whether he wanted to or not, he was so thin, making the alien wonder how often he had been locked in closets before going to the hospital.

Dib just twisted in Zim's arms until his forehead laid against Zim's chest. His fingers curled up to grip his school shirt. It was a rather soft cotton, nothing like the scrubs Zim wore before has his uniform. This all just made it easier for the boy, like a child, to drool.

Zim gasped and jumped at the feeling of the wetness seeping into his shirt and for a moment he thought it was water, but there was no burn.

The human's breathing persisted until his arms rose and wrapped around Zim's neck, now hanging by some miracle as he continued his sloppy sleep where a dream of sorts was being formulated in his mind. Oh, and what a dream that was, as well.

"Come here you." Zim whispered, wrapping both arms around the human and carefully getting up, then moving his arms lower to make sure he didn't drop the now slightly shorter human as he made his way upstairs.

With the boy's sleeping disturbed, he opened his eyes to see his nurse carrying him away. He knitted his brows as he yawned and went back to resting up against his chest, but only stayed awake to watch them move, until he saw his bed.Dib wrapped his arms tighter around Zim's neck, stiffening a bit. He didn't want to let go of his perfect heat source! It made him entirely too happy to even touch, nevertheless sleep on! He couldn't do this! He couldn't remove Dib from him as if he was a problem! He was too cozy!

Zim gave Dib a small nuzzle at the boy's movements and sat Down on the bed before trying to pry Dib off him. He had to make the boy something to EAT damn it!"Come on Dib, I need to get you food." Zim said quietly, thinking the boy was still asleep.

Dib shook his head on Zim's chest, feeling against his cheek the saliva that he had let fall against Zim's shirt.Oh, how so very embarrassing!But the boy wouldn't let go. He wanted to sleep with his Zim some more if it was going to kill the alien in the process!

Zim gave a small whine before giving up. The boy was just too insistent on this!"I suppose," He said with a sigh. "Your emotional needs and come before your physical needs just this once."

Dib grinned up at Zim triumphantly, staring up at him with a look of glee in his golden sunset eyes. Another victory for Earth!

Zim gave Dib a small smile back before flopping down onto his side, dragging Dib down with him, their arms still wrapped around each other.

Dib's grin turned sweet yet smug. He could tell what Zim's plan was. He was going to wait until he fell asleep on the comfy bed before he'd leave. Well! Dib wasn't going to have any of that!The human pushed up against Zim, rolling him onto his back as he comfortably laid on top, snuggling his taller ex-nurse-in-training. This way- if he did fall asleep, Zim couldn't get up without waking him up.

Zim made noises of protest before growling slightly, annoyed that he could be defeated so easily by this young human. But he gave in, hugging the human close and letting his head lay comfily against the human's pillow. "Fine," He said, pouting. "You win, I'll stay, but you WILL have lunch before your sister get's home from school, got it?"

Dib nodded victoriously against his chest, happy with this. He had no problem at all with eating, but he just didn't want to eat when he was so comfortable, and he wanted to make food for Zim to boot.Ah, but now it felt like sleeping wouldn't come his way, as tiny bits of emotion he couldn't explain danced their way in his chest, telling him that, hey, despite the pain in his throat and many bruises, he felt pretty good like this!

Zim scratched boredly against Dib's back. He didn't feel like sleeping at all, in fact he was so riddled with anxiety he probably couldn't FORCE himself to sleep. No, not by a long shot. There was the Tallest to worry about. She didn't seem to like Zim's progress on conquering Earth. What little progress there was. And he NEEDED to finish his mission! But Dib, he wanted to spend time with Dib, just like they were now, relaxing together, happy. He knew that Dib wouldn't be happy once his mission was over, at least not at first, but surely the human could get used to the Earth being taken over by his old nurse's race, right? Humans seemed to be quite adaptable. He sighed and scratched more at Dib's back, giving it little rubs here and there. Doing this seemed to help him calm down greatly, as well as the human's weight on him as it was. Nice and warm and soft. Dib was very much a child wasn't he?

Dib wouldn't say he was bored at the moment, but he wasn't doing anything, and he couldn't go back to sleep for some odd reason. This was partially caused for reasons he couldn't explain, and partially caused by overwhelming warm tingly sensation going all throughout his chest, which was, as well, something he couldn't explain.Zim just felt so comfortable. So real. So warm. He felt the indents of the foreign muscle on Zim's chest under his cheek. He could feel his shoulder muscles under his hands, and under his chest he could feel Zim's stomach. Zim must have grown even more, because under Dib's stomach was still Zim's stomach muscle, leaving where his butt was to be his--Dib blushed furiously. He was sitting on Zim's crotch! He wasan alien, but still! One doesn't just do that! This was.. this was so weird! He couldn't pull himself up now, though. He could feel his cheeks grow hot, and he didn't want at all to show Zim he was uncomfortable or blushing, or Zim would have the same thoughts, or even worse, get Dib off. But Dib liked just laying on top of Zim like this. But all the while, this was weird.

Zim's antennae flicked. That was odd. Dib's chemistry suddenly spiked in a very odd way, in ways that completely set them aside from Irkens. Irkens didn't do THAT. The human's chemicals seemed to be just raging. He had felt other human's particularly his classmates' bodies react like that before, mostly around the bathrooms and locker rooms. And he was blushing. Did Dib know his body was doing that?

Dib shifted slightly on top of Zim, but the rubbing only made it worse. Oh yeah, he could feel down there for sure, now. The human pushed his forehead up against Zim's chest, unable to control just how hot his face was getting. But he wanted to stay! This shouldn't be happening! He wasn't suppose to feel so awkward and nice and shy all of a sudden! He wanted to make it stop- but all at the same time he just-

Zim shifted a little himself, Dib seemed... tense. Did THAT have something to do with all those chemicals? He remembered though, humans had those sensitive nerves right arooooound...He poked Dib's sides, waiting to see if the human was at all ticklish.

Dib inhaled and squirmed all about Zim while catching his claws in his nervous-induced clammy hands. It took his full might not to just squeal or sit up to reveal to Zim his reddened face.

Zim giggled a little at the reaction he got. "I'm sorry, that didn't hurt your throat did it?" Zim asked quickly, just realizing human's made noise when that happened.

Dib glared hard at his chest, just not to look up and glare Zim in the face. He couldn't see him right now. Although he felt loads more comfortable once more on Zim's body, he still couldn't quite get over the fact of what was going on. And did Zim realize this? He should. He is older, after all. Ah- but then again, he is an alien. Right. That made it feel ALL the more awkward.

"Dib?" Zim asked, a little worried now. Did that rush of stuff in Dib's body mean he was sick. "Are you alright? Feeling ok?"

Dib nodded, but upon nodding, he made sure to rub up against Zim some more. Oh, but this was so wrong.

"Are you sure?" Zim asked, putting a hand to Dib's forehead. "You feel kinda warm."

Dib felt all the more hot at Zim's touch. Finally, he pulled himself up to stare down at Zim, pouting ferociously, all the while mesmerized by how the laying teen looked at the moment. Oh, his stomach twisted with feeling.

"Maybe... low blood sugar... or maybe there was some kind of germ in that closet that's making you sick?" Zim offered, sitting up a little and leaning on his elbows. "Maybe I should get up and get you some medicine?"

This was all too much! Zim was being too nosy about this!In a rush, Dib pushed himself off of the alien and began running. He ran clear out of his room. Stupid Zim, ruining everything!

Zim blinked confusedly in the direction Dib ran. That human, what was his problem? Slowly Zim got up and followed the human, wanting to make sure he wasn't going to get sick, that would be VERY bad for his throat right now.

A door slammed. There, Dib took cover in his little sister's room, still holding onto the girl's doorknob as he sat on the floor. Zim couldn't get in! He wouldn't let him! He felt too embarrassed! Just what was all of that? Why did he allow it to just continue? How horrible!

"Dib?" Zim asked, standing outside of the random door. This was all too weird. And he felt sort of bad, was it something he did? Did he... somehow offend the human? He still wasn't very familiar with the human culture, so that idea wasn't very farfetched. "Did I... did I do something wrong?"

Dib let go of the doorknob and leaned back on his hands. It wasn't the alien's fault. He didn't know. Even if he did know it was his own fault for being a spaz.Oh, but it was so weird! Dib fell onto his back to stare up at the ceiling, trying to collect his thoughts.

Zim visibly wilted, his antennae going limp against his head. He HAD done something then? "Dib, I'm sorry," He said as he knocked on the door. "What-whatever is was, I didn't mean it."

Dib paused his breathing to pull himself back up. Was the alien... ...apologizing to him for something he didn't do?Slowly, Dib stood and took a hold of the doorknob again. Turning it, he revealed himself to the alien, a lot less flustered in the face as he panted softly.

"Um, hi," Zim said a little nervously, giving the human a little wave, unsure if he was supposed to do anything from there.

Dib stood there a moment longer before bending over and putting his hands on his knees, still trying to slow his heart down. He rose his head and brought his hand to his mouth, signing "Food" to let Zim know that all has passed and it was time to eat.

"Right," Zim said, smiling a little nodding, happy that Dib was ready to eat. "So, what do you want me to get, or, do you just want to go out?"

Dib deadpanned and stood up straight. He looked very unamused. And so, just like that, he brushed past Zim and made his trek down stairs.

Zim grunted confusedly. What did he do THIS time!? He followed the human down stairs, asking, "Then what are we supposed to do? You have nothing in the house to eat so I can't make you anything here."

The boy walked straight into the kitchen. He has taken care of himself hundreds of times just fine without the nurse's help, and he can do it hundreds of times more!He found his way to the counter, and opened up a cabinet. There, he ruffled through things, to find something suitable to eat.

"I already looked there." Zim said, putting his hands on his hips. "Really I don't mind spending the money."

Dib grinned when, in the back, he found his prize!Noodles!Without hesitation, he pulled the two packages out and plopped them on the counter as he reached over for a pot to pour water into, as he quickly did.

Zim's antennae quivered. Dib was making something with water, perfect, and he would have to eat it too, lest he raise suspicion.

The water filled the pot, and Dib brought it to the stove where he put it on high to let the water boil. The human then walked over to Zim and defiantly put his hands on his own hips to show that, yes, he was indeed capable!

"Y-you know I could have done that if you'd asked." Zim pointed out, his eyes glancing from the stove to Dib then back and forth again. "You don't have to act all independent all the time, you can lean on me if you need to."

"I don't need to." Dib signed. "I wanted to for you." Then he folded his arms and showcased a pout.

'Why?" Zim asked confusedly, tilting his head to the side. "You're the sick one, not me."

Dib glared before pulling his hands out and shoving Zim's chest angrily. He was capable! He could do anything! He had before. This wasn't the first time he had to cook something for himself after getting beaten up, and it's not exactly like he was ill! Zim had been too nice. He needed to do something for him.

Zim scowled slightly, his face more shocked than angry, but still! That was uncalled for! "What!?" Zim asked.

"You deserve it. Let me." Dib signed harshly, pride wounded by the alien.

Zim blinked confusedly. What? He deserved it? For doing what? But he didn't push this, instead just putting his hands to his sides and blinking up at Dib as he side, "Ok."

"Good." Dib nodded and walked back over to the pot of water to continue what he was doing.

Zim looked around him, wondering if there were cameras watching him, or, you know, there had to be SOMETHING wrong. He was never deserved of anything, the Tallest even said so, on every occasion. So this just made no sense at all. But he wasn't going to argue with the obviously moody teen, so he sat there obediently as he waited for Dib to finish cooking.

After fifteen minutes of Dib stirring a giant pot filled with two packages full of noodles, he tipped the pot over into a giant bowl he intended on sharing with Zim, keeping most of the water in the pot as the noodles spilled into the large bowl. Happily, he got out two forks; he didn't have any chopsticks; and merrily brought it over to where Zim was sitting on the couch, setting it in between him and where Dib now sat.

Zim looked nervously at the noodles. All that water, though murky with flavoring as it was. Could he really eat that?He looked at Dib, so proud of himself for that meal. There was no way he couldn't eat at least a bit. "Thank you," He said and signed, taking the fork and poking the noodle a bit.

Dib happily stabbed the noodles with his fork before turning it, twisting and wrapping the noodles in the fork so he could bring it up to his lips and slurp it up.Oh yes. Pineapple flavor, his favorite.

Zim nervously did the same as Dib, biting onto his noodles and squinting, expecting terrible pain.And there was, it burned so bad! But most of it was from the temperature as the flavoring soaked up a lot of the water and as he pulled the hot noodle from the liquid a lot of it evaporated off. But it still stung like being popped with bacon grease.

Dib stared at Zim in front of him, giving him an odd look as he swirled up more noodles for himself. What was HIS problem?

"Th-thank you Dib." Zim said, giving the human a small smile before taking another bite, blowing the noodles off this time.

Dib just kept his eyes fixed on the alien as he went for more bites, filling his hunger up with the noodles that so yearned to be eaten.

By the time the noodles were gone Zim's mouth stung lightly, but not enough to make a scene and so he simply gave Dib yet another thank you and a small hug for the delicious (though slightly painful) meal.

Dib grinned back, and proceeded to put the bowl away. It wasn't long till Dib returned and wrapped his arms around his Zim from behind the couch. The small hug descended into a poking of Zim's cheeks by very prying human fingers.

"Eeeeh," Zim hummed, straining his head to look at the human. "Hello." He said, humor in his voice. The human was so playful. That's when his eyes met the clock. TWO THIRTY!? School let out at THREE! He had to get back or miss his meeting because he still had to get his work stuff! "Di-Dib, I have to go." Zim said, his face displaying how disappointed he was that he had to leave the human.

Dib's face fell to equal disappointment and confusion, though he still managed a semi-smile there. Why so early? Dib let go of Zim's cheeks to walk around the cough and plop himself onto Zim's lap, peering foreword and frowning immensely.

"D-Dib, come on, I have stuff to do." Zim said sadly, putting a hand on Dib's cheek softly.

Dib pouted and tapped his forehead up against Zim's to stare at his foreignly strange shaped eyes. He puffed out his chest in this position to show Zim that he wouldn't at ALL be happy if he left, soft hand on his cheek that seemed to make his whole skin tingle or not!

Zim gave a small whine, glancing at the clock quickly. If he didn't leave right then he'd miss meeting with those bullies. But... Dib... he couldn't resist for some reason. He was just so... DIB! How could ANYONE!? So, with a sigh, he turned back around and said, "Alright, alright. Half an hour more but then I REALLY have to go or I'll miss work."

Dib, unable to squeal in joy, smiled like mad, wrapping his arms around the invader for a tight hug. Yet another victory for Earth!

Zim smiled at how happy this seemed to have made the boy and hugged him back, just as tight. "And you BETTER not make me late for work." He added, though with very little threat in his voice.

Dib savored the hug a little longer before pulling from his ex-nurse and giving a Cheshire grin. Nah, he'd never keep Zim from his old men to tend to.

"Where is that sign language book?" Zim asked, looking around. "I can at least be productive while I'm here, right?"

Dib stuck his tongue out, but obligedly got up and started walking upstairs, leaving Zim alone with his thoughts.

Zim hummed as he waited for Dib to get back with the book, still wondering about earlier, and if he was really in trouble or if there was really something wrong with Dib' body, he seemed fine now, but was he really ok?

Dib returned happily with the sign language book. He hadn't mastered it, at all, but he didn't feel the need to study it as much anymore. After all, the only one he could talk to in it was Zim. So, he sat next to him, and handed him the book.

"Great, you got it." Zim said, giving Dib a smile. "Now, we were still working in the 'L's right?" He flipped through the book until he found the right section.

Dib nodded, and made sure to sit criss-cross positioned so he could watch Zim's every move to mimic.

Zim looked at the book and pointed to the sign he was looking for. "Now then, loud." He put his finger to the spot on his head where and ear would be for the sign 'hear' and then put his fists inform of them and shook them, combining the sign before with the one for 'shake'.

Dib, though daydreaming a bit, mimicked Zim perfectly. It was kind of a boring word. Loud. How would he say that? "I am loud?" No. He wasn't.Dib deadpanned Zim, now waiting for the next word.

Zim nodded and with a smile pointed to the next word, making the motions, hugging his hands over where a human heart would be. 'Love,'

The human blinked. Love. Now there was a word with slight interest. Only slight, though. It was certainly something he could use. "I love you," being the main thing. What a daydream that is. Him actually loving somebody. But then again, he did love his hobbies. He loved to write, he loved to doodle, however bad he was at it. He loved the supernatural.Dib snapped out of it, and stared up at Zim. How did he do it again? Love.

Zim smiled and went about giving Dib an example, something he though the boy could relate to. He pointed to himself, then made the sign for love before putting his two index fingers together and then made the letter 'V' on both hands, pointing them away from his head and moving them away and to finish putting his to index fingers side-by-side and rubbing them at about head height.'I love to watch stars.'

Dib watched, and picked up the sign for love. He quickly brought his fingers to his lips and brought his hand forwards in a scurry to say thanks before he held his arms as a cross over his heart. Yeah, love. This was it.

Zim nodded with a wide grin and went on with examples, seeing if Dib could hold at least some form of a conversation while at the same time trying to learn a little bit more about Dib, as he never really (not that he could) talk about himself.He pointed to himself once more, then pulled the index finger of his left hand up with his right hand and made the sign for love, then 'to' once more by touching his index fingers together and watch, pointing out with the two 'V's, then touching his index fingers again only pulling one away from the other and then placing one hand on top of the other and making his arm straight and making moving the other arm under it like a giant 'T', he then put his hand on his chest and then moved his hands out straight, then brought them down as if feeling three sides of a box.'I especially love to watch from on top of my house.'

He had to be kidding! That was too hard! Dib had to sit and stare and think to remember a few of the words. Finally, the human pointed to himself before making the sign for love by crossing his arms over his chest once more. Then he thought, trying to recall things. Then he waved his fingers and thumbs by his chin, tapped his forehead with his thumb, and formed a G, A, and then drew a Z."I love Mom, Dad, Gaz."

"Who is Gaz?" Zim asked and signed by drawing a circle around his mouth and then spelling out each letter the way Dib had done.

Dib blinked. That's right, Zim had only met her once before.He then made the sign for girl across his cheek and formed his fingers to an 'L' to his wrist to say it simply, "Sister."

"The angry girl?" Zim asked with a bit of amusement, making the sign for angry by pulling his fingers from his face as the bent.

Dib smirked back and circled his hands up his chest before making the sign for girl."The furious girl."

Zim laughed and nodded. before signing again and saying, "I haven't met your mom yet." His hands pointing to himself, then pulling into himself, his hands in the form of and 'A' flicking out from under his chin, making the 'V' to indicate eyes once more and pulling in front of his face, then pointing to Dib and making the sign for 'Mom'.

Dib kept his lighthearted smile towards Zim. The human again made the sign for mom and followed it up by thrusting the sign for "A" up to his chin and waving his arms out in front of his chest for a, "Mom's not here."

Zim idly shook his index finger as he asked, "Where is she?"

Dib took the book from Zim and began going through it, thumbing through pages until he found the V's. He pulled his thumbs under his armpits like he was putting on a backpack. "Vacation", Dib smiled.

Zim smiled and made the 'S' symbol with his hand and pulled it away from his ear, wiggling it a little. "Sounds nice."

Dib smiled more and nodded before picking the book up and setting it back on Zim's lap to continue their lesson.

the half hour passed by in a flash and only too soon it was time for Zim to leave to which he sighed and signed, "I have to go."

Dib frowned and looked at the clock. He did, after all, say he'd let Zim go so he wouldn't be late for work but... The human looked back at Zim, sticking out his bottom lip in show this wasn't making him happy. "Stay here." He signed, continuing his pout.

"I can't, I have to go." Zim said, though obviously torn about that. "I have to take care of old people."

Dib stuck out his tongue to show what respect he had for that before he grabbed Zim's wrist with both hands, making sure to keep him the place he was at the moment.

"Diiiiiiib," Zim wined, tugging at his hand. "I have to gooooooooooo."

Dib glared, pouted, and while letting go of Zim's wrist, jabbed himself in the chest with his thumb, getting out an angry, "Fine!"

"Don't be like that, you promised." Zim said, pouting back and rubbing his wrists. "But if you want I can stop by when I'm done."

Dib broke his pout when he heard a noise from the lab. He turned his head to check back at the sound. How interesting, his father was home. But he looked back at Zim and flapped his hand, pridefuly dismissing him as though he didn't care.

"Ok," Zim said, standing up and making his way over to the door, "If I can make it then I'll see you after work." He then gave Dib a small wave bye before slipping out the door and jogging his way home, grabbing his stuff, and jogging back. All the while he wondered about Dib's mood. It changed so easily and it was hard to keep up with the growing teen. One minute he was happily learning sign language and the next he was so down, and while talking about his mother too! Most boys loved their mothers. What was WITH this kid!?


Zim: Me

Dib: TSI