《This was just a live write on Discord so sorry if it seems all over the place haha. I would never really write them like this but we need some fluff every once in a while.》

"Pet me."

Gaz looked up from her notebook at the alien on the bed sitting across from her. He almost phrased it like a question- and the hesitation in his voice would have thrown her off if she wasn't used to how pathetic he could be at times. Even so, her face reddened, and she suddenly understood why he needed impromptu help with homework.

After the shock, she narrowed her eyes to see that his antennae were pressed firmly to the back of his neck, and when she let her eyes drift further down, she noticed him rubbing his hands together nervously. It made sense to her that he had been waiting to ask her that since he walked in the door.

She gathered her composure and ignored the pounding in her chest, "Fine."

After her approval, she was glad to see his antennae perk up a bit. Gaz liked it when he was flustered; it made her feel in control. Awkwardly, and definitely uncomfortably, he made his way to her and locked eyes with her in anticipation. She smiled despite herself, and reached out to place her palm somewhere above his eyes and under the top of his head. To Gaz's satisfaction, Zim looked down again and his face turned a bright pink.

That was all it took to give Zim an unnecessary boost of confidence. He leaned into her touch, which Gaz was completely fine with, but she let a timid sound leave her lips when he unexpectedly got far enough to rest his head on her shoulder. Gaz was glad he couldn't see her nervous smile. She brought another hand to his face and continued, feeling much less collected than she did earlier.

"This is so weird." She commented, but nevertheless continued to let her hands travel closer to his antennae.

"Yeah." Zim agreed in the process of going limp. After a moment of silence, a grin crossed her face.

"I could make it worse." She said, causing the alien to look up with trusting curiosity.

Gaz wrapped her arms around his tiny form and pulled him closer, shifting her weight a little bit in the process. Now with the way they were laying, Zim was basically on top of her, which didn't bother her that much because he weighed about seventy pounds. Zim adjusted quickly, allowing his legs to drape her legs, but he seemed to go rigid. Gaz raised an eyebrow, wondering what could have killed his mood so quickly.

"What?" She asked with no real concern. Zim didn't look her in the eye, but still proceeded to wrap his arms around her torso.

"I didn't say you could do that." He whined, causing Gaz to smile. It was cute that he thought he was in charge. She let go of Zim, much to his disappointment, but he forgot every complaint he had when she put her hands around his face and began to rub at the base of his antennae with her thumbs.

Gaz felt his body relax again as she proceeded to pet him. Zim was always tense; he would never let his guard down even around her, but something about stroking the appendages on top of his head made his brain go numb, at least for a while. She was running her hands down the length of them when she caught on to something she nearly laughed at.

"Are you purring?"

The vibration suddenly stopped and Gaz could feel his face heat up in her hands. "No!" The thoroughly embarrassed alien shouted, his eyes wide with mortification. He could hear Gaz's teasing little sounds of amusement and unable to hide his face in his hands, Zim resorted to burying it under her neck.

Gaz was caught off-guard, but his reaction wasn't unwelcome. She simply let him recover for a moment, allowing the breathing on her neck to become steady, and again went back to massaging his antennae. Zim was at ease again, but his outbursts were funny. She would wait a little bit before trying to get under his skin again, because she was enjoying herself too.

Right now, Gaz just wanted to feel him purr again. Holding each antennae with her thumb and index finger, she stroked downwards until her hands were at the end of the line. During that she could hear the small beginnings of a sound in the back of his throat, but she still wasn't satisfied. Zim was holding back on her. What was he even ashamed of? They were already wrapped around each other. Noticing her pause and thinking he did something wrong, Zim nestled in closer.

"Do the cat thing." She demanded, implying that she wasn't going to touch him again if he didn't.

"What?"

"Purr, idiot." She clarified.

Zim frowned at her commands. He didn't think she would appreciate him being all weak and melty around her, but even that was being challenged with his current position. After a moment, he figured that him letting loose would be the most comfortable for the both of them, so he sunk back into her, and waited for her contact. "Fine." He replied.

Gaz once more fiddled with his antennae, and seconds later, she could hear a low growl coming from somewhere in his neck that she could recognize as a purr. It wasn't consistent enough to be considered "the cat thing," but it was still just as good as she was expecting. She noticed that his antennae turned into noodles whenever she was touching them, and when she wasn't, his back would tense and they would pop back up in search of her hand. It was neat, so she did it a few times, but she missed hearing him purr, so it didn't last very long.

She put her arms around him once again and pulled closer, just so she could feel the vibrations coming from his neck on her chest. After a while of this she could almost convince herself that it was coming from her, too.

"I could go to sleep like this." Gaz said after a long but comfortable silence.

"Really?" His head shot up and he didn't even try to hide the eagerness in his voice. Gaz pushed his face away teasingly, but she was almost relieved about how desperate he was. It made her gross and fuzzy feelings seem less crazy.

"Yeah, but what about finishing your homework?" She asked jokingly, causing him to grab her notebook and slide it to the floor.

"I'll just say Gir ate it. They always buy that one." Zim said shortly, afraid that she had lost interest in him by letting the conversation drift back to school. He nuzzled her again as a reminder that she should still be petting him.

"You don't have to pretend to need help to get in my room, y'know. If you wanted to cuddle you could have just asked."

Zim fell silent. The Gaz had seen through his ingenious plan once again. At least she seemed to be reacting well.

Gaz laughed, a rare occurrence for anyone other than Zim. It was an honor to be the only one to see her eyes crinkle, and hear that frightening noise escape her lips. He felt like it was for him and him only.

To his despair and absolute discomfort, Gaz moved away from him and he found himself scowling like a toddler. The warmth she had provided was already slipping away, and he put his arms around himself in order to preserve it. She turned off the lamp beside the bed (she never had the actual lights on) and pulled back the covers before laying down. The only thing providing light was the alarm clock, which read 8:30. She usually went to bed at one or two in the morning, but she could make an exception with Zim around.

Zim scrambled under the blanket after her. He was so cold; it was weird for her being the only person under the covers to have warm skin. She wrapped her arms around his chest, and in response, he put his arms and legs around her torso. It was a welcome surprise. She moved her fingers around on his back absentmindedly, and in return he nuzzled just under her neck. His purring was the only thing said between the two, and after a while, it seemed to develop a rhythm. To her, it might as well have been a lullaby.

Eventually, the purring slowed to a stop, and Gaz's hand laid motionless on his back, but neither were awake to notice.

《So uhhh please check out space-n-sky on Tumblr because their art is literally the best thing ever?? They have a good bit of ZaGr content if you're hungry and yeah.》