[A/N: wasn't too sure what to make the 'sound' one about. Thought maybe a continuation of 'Skin' touch-fic could be something?? Hopefully still written as a oneshot, written after the "smell" one. :P

TW/CW: ZaDr, auditory description/processing, sleeping, physically close, touching, clinging, tiredness]

It was hot outside. The kind of hot that only cicadas seemed to enjoy: to the point where they seemed like the temperature's soundtrack. Barely anyone else wanted to be out there, even if there wasn't the relief of an a/c unit indoors.

The night hadn't been far cooler than the scorcher of a day it was. There wasn't any use for a cover in bed, much less being close to something that also produced heat. But unfortunately you sometimes get stuck with a sweaty, stinky human-beast clinging to your arm, fast asleep and completely immovable.

Zim sat still. His eyes hung half open staring at the ceiling, not knowing what to do with himself. He didn't get this kind of solitude very often: his robots were always only a sharp yell away, but they were all sleeping now. He'd go to his lab, but there weren't any experiments that he thought could handle the hiatus if he decided to actually rest for a little while. And maybe part of him did like his stupid human-pet too much to disturb his slumber.

He closed his eyes for a moment and breathed deeply. He scanned over everything he had been studying again, and once more because he had nothing better to do.

"Hhhumm, Z-zimm, umm…" There was noise coming from his companion.

"Hmm?" He perked at it and looked over. "Dib, did you say something??"

He watched him for a minute, but he seemed to be fully asleep. Zim relaxed back to himself and stared at the ceiling again. A little while passed, and then he heard more noise. "They bummum um…"

He stayed still. Maybe Dib would fume at him if he pretended he wasn't listening to prove that he wasn't asleep. "Teh bayo stuff…" He only glanced over. "You know, right???"

Zim turned his head again. There weren't amber things looking back at him, just a yucky drooly mess. He examined the thin film of natural oils on Dib's face, and a little bit of dandruff near his forehead. His nose wasn't dripping, but he could tell that it was disgusting inside, and his breath stunk.

Zim cringed at it. He wondered why he ever let the filthy creature get near him like this in the first place.

His eyes dodged over to his shoulder. He saw it slowly moving up and down with Dib's tranquil breathing. He listened to see if the timing matched, and the course of the next 20 or 30 seconds proved for that to be so. He continued to listen to him closely, curious if he could pick out any other sounds from him.

"Tradatta." Oh yeah. Zim forgot that the reason he was looking at him now was because of his little sleep talks. "What does it do?" He always felt like he was being pranked with this because Dib mixed real words and phrases with random sounds. Sometimes he swore that he really was trying to have a conversation while he was dead asleep.

"It eats babies."

"Oh, that makes sense." And also because he would respond sometimes. He had to be awake to answer something, right?

Dib shuffled over the bedsheet and cuddled against the pillow. His hand clenched a bit on Zim's arm, and he breathed a gentle sigh. Zim dodged his eyes up and down his partner again, and listened to his tiny snores. He could hear the way that the night air entered Dib's lungs, being pulled through his oddly contorted throat. It was quiet for a moment, then he heard air quietly squeeze out of his mouth before it merged again with the universe. Zim listened to the steady rhythm for a while, and eventually noticed that the bedsheet was also making a small sound in tandem with how Dib's chest moved. He guessed that maybe the fabric liked him, too.

As he was focusing on the sounds next to him, Zim started picking up other sounds as well. He heard the quiet whirring of the mechanics inside of GIR and MiniMoose at the foot of the bed, and he heard how loudly GIR respired compared to the other one. He took a moment to admire his own genius in remembering that when he designed MiniMoose. The movements that they were making were too small to affect the sheets the way Dib did.

He concentrated harder. He never really paid attention to the sounds that his own fortress made, but now he was actively listening. It all hummed similarly to the robots, but it was deeper in tone, and it seemed like it was from much farther away. It felt weird on his auditory sensors: as if there was a lot more pressure to it than there was at any other time it existed. It was uncomfortable, and it became frustrating and upsetting. Zim tried his best to drown it out again and forget it, so he turned his attention to something else.

"But that ebbledum…" At least that snapped him out of it. "It's not… no, i… It's not gonna do it..." Dib snored and jostled.

"It's okay baby. Don't worry about it."

He huffed, in a way that mimicked an exhausted version of the way he usually did. "Er you sure, Zimm???" He sounded a little disgruntled.

"Yes, Dib-worm." He closed his eyes for a little while. "Relax and let Daddy Zim take care of everything." He smirked and chuckled to himself.

Dib breathed deeply a few times. "Okayyy…" He paused again. "If you say so…"

Zim didn't know why, but he thought that Dib sounded a little bit sad at the end there. His antenna twitched. He spoke quietly, in a reassuring voice that he would never use during the day. "It's going to be okay, Dib-love. I'm going to take care of everything. You don't have to worry, my dear…"

Dib stayed still and quiet for a small while. He breathed out again, and nuzzled his face against the pillow again. He unconsciously gave his arm another little squeeze. "Alright… Ziim."

Zim glanced all over Dib's face again. He seemed to relax again and returned to soft snores. Zim couldn't understand how his typical demeanor could be permeated when his Earth partners became distressed, but it sometimes felt brighter in his belly when he did that. He pulled his free arm over himself and brushed a few loose strands of hair away from Dib's face. He glinted his digits against the soft skin. He felt his heart pull in his chest when he thought about how Dib reacts to that when he's awake.

A minute later, Zim smirked to himself again. "Tell me, Dib. Who is the greatest?"

He responded after only a second. "You, Zim."

He grinned. "Who is the ultimate ruler of the universe??"

"Zim is."

He laughed once. "And who owns you???"

Dib made a face in his sleep and huffed a quiet, defiant grumble.

Zim smiled and giggled, because that response was the same he would have given if he were awake. "Foolish Dib-thing." Zim relaxed his body. "I love you, my darling."

Dib smiled a bit. "I love you too, Zim."

Zim closed his eyes and allowed the soft breathing of his bedmate to lull him to slumber.