Petra really did hate driving the Voot Cruiser. It really only had space for one, and a little extra space for GIR, but it also was wildly outdated. She learned to drive on a five-seat Spittle Runner, which was significantly more modern and much bigger. In fact, Tak's old ship was a souped-up standard Spittle Runner, so presumably even Dib might have a preference over Zim's hunk of junk ship. But, Zim managed to keep the Cruiser in surprisingly good condition, so the flight home wasn't terrible, at least.

After they landed safely at the base, Petra heaved her invader up and transported him down to his personal quarters where she laid him on his rest bay and hooked him up to the built-in monitoring system. Once she plugged him in, his disguise dropped and a screen emerged from the wall and reported his condition.

"Yeah, yeah, I don't need you to tell me he's wasted, I can see that," she muttered, switching the screen to monitor Zim's brain activity. There was a lot of cleaning up to do after Zim's absence- both figuratively and literally. There was the matter of forging a doctor's note and making a few excuses, but that paled in comparison to the literal cleaning up to do.

Zim's personal quarters were an absolute shipwreck. There was being a bit untidy, and then there was living in a giant flesh-eating demon squid nest. There were tall piles of stuff in the corners, the floor was dirty and scuffed, and the only clean part of the room was the area near Zim's rest bay. It was so messy it almost seemed uninhabitable to the tidy lieutenant. Most Irkens were clean, organized creatures. If they weren't, living in such close proximity to others would be intolerable. Of course, there were messy Irkens. Foot soldiers and the odd student would often have trouble cleaning up after themselves. But this… Petra had never met someone who was this messy. Although, to be fair, Zim wasn't like most Irkens.

This won't do at all, she thought. What kind of lieutenant would I be if I allowed my invader to recover in a place like this? With that thought in her mind, Petra set out to clean Zim's quarters from top to bottom. Part of her worried that digging through her invader's possessions without permission would upset him, but the logical part of her knew it would be a lot easier than if she did it while he was awake. Maybe she could get away with it if she claimed he did it when he was blacked out.

"Urgh," a familiar voice groaned. Petra turned around to face a very confused looking invader. "I think I'm dying- Dib must have given me some horrible parasite!" He sat up and looked around him.

"It's not a parasite, sir. Just a hangover," Petra said, walking across the now clean floor to sit on the edge of Zim's rest bay.

"What?!" he exclaimed, before wincing at the loud noise he had made.

"You probably shouldn't exert yourself, you hit the phthalo pretty hard," she warned in a warm, quiet voice. "I'm guessing you probably have a killer headache, huh?"

"A respectable invader such as ZIM wouldn't drink himself into oblivion. You must be mistaken," he denied, lowering his usual perpetual yell down to a stage whisper. "It must be a parasite."

"Well, you weren't drinking, but you soaked up a lot of phthalocyanine anyhow. I'll tell you the story later. How are you feeling, sir?" Petra asked. Zim opened his mouth to reply, but instead of giving a verbal reply he retched a large amount of cyan colored liquid onto himself. His face darkened and he glanced up at the lieutenant the same way a child who thinks they're in trouble does. "Fair enough. You needed a gel bath anyways."

"I can do that by myself," he snapped with a dark green flush on his face. Before Petra could stop him, the invader unplugged himself, scooted to the edge of the bed, pushed himself up and… promptly fell flat on his face.

"Sir, when I said you ingested a lot of phthalo, I meant you basically soaked in it for two days," Petra explained, kneeling next to the fallen Irken. "Here, let me help you."

"Don't you dare- agh!" Zim exclaimed as Petra scooped him up bridal-style. "How dare you treat the almighty ZIM like a smeet!"

"It's not infantilization, sir, this is my job. I'm here to take care of you, right?" Petra soothed as she began her walk to the bathroom. Zim didn't reply, but his antennae were pulled back in annoyance and embarrassment. "You're still slightly intoxicated, I think-"

"Why do you talk like that?" Zim asked in an annoyed voice, and Petra paused in the doorway to the bathroom.

"...Like what, sir?"

"Like that. You go from informal to formal so quickly, it's obnoxious. One minute you use phrases like 'hit the phthalo' and then you use words like 'infantilization'. Do you think you're better than me or something?" the invader accused.

"How did you…? Of course I don't think I'm better than you, sir." Petra sighed and set the invader down on the cool white tile of his bathroom. She turned to a small panel on the wall and drew up an antibacterial gel bath- with extra fragrance. The little defective reeked of vomit now. "I suppose I'm just not used to being in work mode all the time."

"What's that supposed to mean? Has my parasite began eating your brain?" Zim inquired quite earnestly, handing the lieutenant his soiled clothing. She gingerly took it and threw it down the incineration hatch.

"No, no, it isn't that. You know how it is back home, how we have a voice for our tallers and a voice for our smallers. I'm used to being surrounded by height matches and smallers, so most of the time I used my informal voice. I didn't use my 'tallers' voice as often, but now I'm with you all the time. It would be highly inappropriate for me to speak to my invader in such an informal manner." Petra helped said invader stumble into the gel tub where he sank in quite happily. "Please forgive me. I'm just not used to it being only you and me all the time."

"You must have had a ton of friends, then," Zim said quietly. Petra fell silent. Did she have a ton of friends? Were those memories fabricated? "Of course I did as well! Who wouldn't want to be friends with the almighty ZIM?!" he exclaimed, defending himself to an invisible critic. She let out a few quiet chuckles.

"Your rest bay needs to be cleaned, will you be okay by yourself, sir?" Petra inquired. Zim's face flushed once more.

"I'm not going to drown, I'm not a smeet! Go now!" Hesitantly, the lieutenant left the bathroom, but once she reached Zim's room she set the display monitor above his rest bay to show a live feed of his bathroom.

She took a cloth she had been using to wipe down various furnishings and cleaned off Zim's rest bay. However, something was bugging her. She'd noticed that the rest bays in the base weren't incredibly comfortable. It made sense, seeing as the egomaniac invader didn't really sleep all that much, but that meant that the base didn't have any comfortable places to rest. Wait a minute… yes there was!

"Petra! Come and- ugh, I don't wanna say this- come and help me get out!" Zim said over the intercom in his PAK. Quickly she arrived and helped him into a large, loose t-shirt. "When did you clean in here- and where on Irk are you taking me? Is that monitor displaying the bathroom?" he asked as she carried him past his rest bay.

"I figured you felt bad enough, the rest bay probably wasn't helping matters." she said, entering the third and final room of Zim's chambers. The room was dark and purple, and inside was a large, white, circular bed surrounded by a few shallow stairs. It faced a big screen on the wall that was currently dark. He knew that it wasn't nearly as clean when he saw it last, so that meant...

"YOU WENT INSIDE ZIM'S ROOM OF SECRETS AND SNACKS?!" he stage whispered, pulling on the front of Petra's suit. She spared him a single glance before climbing up the dark purple stairs and setting him down on the soft sheets. He grabbed her shoulders tightly and pulled her so close that their foreheads almost touched. "HOW MANY OF ZIM'S SNACKS DID YOU STEAL?"

"None. I had to clean up, sir, it was absolutely filthy. I can't let you recuperate in such a dirty place, it's against my training. Don't worry, I didn't throw anything away, it's all just organized. I promise," she added, prying his claws out of her arms. He pouted and crossed his arms, but admittedly he was quite pleased. His chambers had been festering for way too long, and it was nice to sit in the bed without a layer of crumbs and general dirt. "I'll be right back," she said, walking out to grab her invader something to eat.

When she returned, the sight awaiting her almost made her laugh out loud. There was a mountain of large pillows on top of the bed, and the only evidence of Zim being inside was a familiar pair of antennae sticking out of the top. "Sir?" One antenna twitched, but her call was only met with silence.

"I know you're in there, sir."

"Zim is not here. Go away." Yeah, Zim was definitely still wasted. Even he wouldn't do something this stupid sober.

"Sir, are you upset with me?" Silence. "Oh my, it's such a shame that my invader left, isn't it, mysterious pile of pillows? I even brought him snacks and tea, but he isn't here. How sad."

"If Zim were here he wouldn't want to eat food touched by you." he pouted, making Petra's brow furrow slightly and her antennae fall back. His statement was quickly followed by the all-too-familiar growl of a squeedlyspooch in need of food, and the pair of antennae sticking out of the pillows twitched.

"Is that so? If he were here I would have apologized and given him lots of Sugar-Coated Marshmallow Blasters." she coaxed, walking up the shallow steps and standing next to the talking pile of cushions.

"... If Zim were by chance to be here, would you give him the Sugar-Coated Marshmallow Blasters even if I was- I mean, he was still mad at you?"

"He hasn't eaten in two days. It won't matter to me whether he eats them angry or not." With that assurance in his mind, Zim's head popped out and he glanced at the lieutenant with a childish scowl. "I'm sorry for going through your things, sir. I'll ask you next time."

"Are you also sorry for treating me like a smeet?" he asked, and she blinked surprisedly.

"I didn't think about how you felt. I'm also sorry for treating you poorly. Would you come out of your pillow pile and eat with me?" Zim paused, but eventually crawled out of the pillows to sit across from her.

"It's not a pillow pile. It's my pillow fortress of doom," he explained, taking a hesitant sip of the still-hot pink tea.

"Ah, of course. I should have noticed. Very doom-y." Petra replied, popping open a bag of the Marshmallow Blasters. Zim, despite himself, smiled eagerly.

"You really think so? I mean, of course you do! It was built by the all powerful ZIM!" he declared, but winced when he realized he had unconsciously begun yelling again.

As they ate, she noticed that Zim was a lot more earnest when he relaxed, and it made Petra wonder when the last time someone had just talked to him was. Thinking about it made her chest heavy, and she couldn't really place why. It almost annoyed her, but she couldn't help but humor him and fawn over him. He was outrageously childish, but it was endearing in a strange way. Must be the imprint making me irrational, she thought to herself.

"You made that promise? To the Dib-worm?! You must be insane!" Zim declared after Petra had finished replaying the past few days events to him.

"To ensure your safety it was worth it," she replied simply, popping another marshmallow into her mouth. Zim frowned, but not in an upset way. It was more… confused.

"Petra?"

"Yes, sir?"

"Have you ever had a friend before?" The question took her quite by surprise, and Petra carefully set aside her mug before answering.

"Yes, I think so."

"What did that feel like?" When she shot him an equally confused look, he quickly backtracked. "Not that Zim has never had friends before, he just wants to know what your friends were like! For research."

"O-oh, of course." She paused for a moment to collect her thoughts. "It felt good, although it's hard to put into words. It made me feel appreciated, and wanted. It's kind of hard to describe when I'm put on the spot like that," she chuckled nervously.

"...Petra, are we friends?" The question hit her like The Massive going at hyperspeed. Oh, this was a loaded one.

"I-I'm your lieutenant, and you're my invader. I don't think we're supposed to be friends." Zim bit down on his lip slightly and Petra had to fight the urge to tell him not to hurt himself.

"You're weird," he concluded, pulling his knees up to my chest. "You bring me food, and listen to me all the time. You never call me names. You protect me. You smile at me, and apologize to me, and never make fun of me. You look at me like I'm important to you, l-like I'm worthy. You make me care about your well-being after I've hurt you, and I like talking to you. Is that not how friendship works?" He looked up at her with those huge ruby eyes, and somehow Petra couldn't meet them. Caring for him and protecting him were part of her job, but making him feel cared about and worthy was not. It was easy to say she cared about him so much because of the imprint, but what about him? What forced him to care? Oh, why did he have to start this now?! Why couldn't he have kept being angry?

"I'm not saying that that's not what a friendship is, but I don't think that a lieutenant and an invader being friends is normal. I certainly don't call any of my friends sir."

"It's fine if it isn't normal, everyone calls me a defect anyway."

Petra stared at him in absolute shock. Zim didn't even look like he believed he'd said it out loud. Was the Zim that admitted to being called a defect the same Zim that destroyed Operation Impending Doom with the weight of his ego? As soon as he finished processing it, his face flushed a dark emerald and he hid the lower half of his face behind his arms, which rested on his knees. He couldn't even begin to backtrack, as his ego was in shock. Oh, Tallest. Irk it, what am I supposed to say?

The lieutenant pursed her lips.

"It wouldn't be a normal friendship. After all, I still work for you and must be subservient to you in every way, which I don't think is really an equal friendship. It wouldn't be normal at all, but then again, what does normal even mean on Earth?" She laughed anxiously. Zim peeked over his arms and perked an antennae. "W-what I'm trying to say is that, well- oh, Tallest I don't even know what I'm trying to say."

"Would it make you happy to be Zim's friend?" he piped up, and Petra hesitantly nodded. I mean, how could she say no? "Then we will be friends- but not for Zim! Zim has many friends, he is the friendliest soldier to ever live, no, it is for you. Because I am so generous." His ramblings got quieter and quieter. Petra couldn't believe the outcome of the situation. Thinking about being the defective shipwreck's friend made the logical part of her brain shudder, but it made the emotional part soar.

"M-maybe you should get some rest, sir, it's been quite a momentous few days! Ha ha, let me clean this up…" Petra stiffly scooped up the finished food and tossed it into a nearby incinerator hatch. "I'll be going now, ha ha…" Why do I keep laughing?!

"Um, Petra?" The lieutenant froze in the doorway. "You play that instrument over there, right?" Zim gestured to a grand piano that sat in the corner of the room. Petra had found it underneath a gargantuan pile of magazines (she had no idea why he had it), but had to settle for simply cleaning it because there was no good place to store it in case Zim wanted it.

"You go to that musical teacher's home to learn human-song-thingies, right? I want to see you play a song on it before you go." It was an odd request, to say the least, but it wasn't like she had the ability to refuse.

"What song do you want to hear?" she asked, settling at the player's bench. After plunking out a few notes she realized it was actually tuned, which was a good surprise.

"I don't care." Zim replied, getting settled underneath the covers and arranging the pillows that had once been his fortress of doom into a comfortable position. As she glanced back and watched him, she realized this was his way of asking for a lullaby. She turned away again before he could see her smile.

"Alright, then. I watched Mrs. Mayer play this song a few weeks ago. She said it was called Gymnopédie, or something along those lines." Petra turned on her holo disguise, but only on her hands so she could properly play, and began to quietly play the song.

Zim watched her back in idle fascination, and soon found his eyelids began to get heavy. He could feel the urge to enter a sleep cycle pulling him farther and farther away from reality. Something popped into his head a moment before he closed his eyes, though. He had heard the song on the radio once before, and when he first heard it it struck him as an oddly lonely melody. He didn't really like it, but now…

"What a pretty song," Petra heard Zim mutter, so quiet it could barely be heard. When she glanced back at him, he was deeply asleep. He didn't really move when she stopped playing, so she got up and began to pick up pillows and throw them back into a storage panel in the wall. She left a good amount, but not nearly the outrageous amount he had brought out.

Before she walked away, though, she stopped to look at her invader. He had fallen asleep just before the end of the song, so he must have been exhausted. He looks so peaceful, she thought to herself before shaking her head to clear her mind and leaving the room. She had more important things to do than watch Zim sleep, like put together his doctor's notes.

She returned to her room and sat down at her desk to put together a convincing note. Petra paused, the pen in her hand wavering just above the paper. Her leg bounced, her finger was tapping, and she was generally acting like a spaz. "Oh, Tallest, I'm not going to be able to work unless I do this, am I?" she sighed, and caved in, gathering what she'd need and getting up.

That night, Zim slept peacefully, unaware that his lieutenant was silently sitting right beside him, hard at work.

(A/N: Hey, kind of a short chapter, I'm sorry. Classes started for me recently, and while I should still have ample time to write, it's been an adjustment. Also, all I've been writing this week is essays for class, so forgive me if this chapter feels weird at all. I just really needed to give Zim some love, I've been paying too much attention to Dib lately. Thank you so much for reading, and please leave me a review so I can improve.)