The hunt for the ghost wouldn't be the first cryptid hunt Dib and Zim went on together. The ones over the next few weeks weren't quite as fruitful (or dangerous), but that didn't dampen either of their spirits.

Honestly, Dib couldn't remember feeling this happy even after coming up empty-handed. Zim just had a way to lifting his mood…even if it happened to involve insulting him. Or humans in general.

And almost every hunt led to Zim demanding Dib treat him to ice cream afterward, using the 'awful, horrid land summer heat' as an excuse. It turned out that yes, Zim's sweet tooth applied to ice cream almost as much as snack cakes.

Almost. Dib had run to the store to buy more packages because of how quickly the merken went through them.

Zim's sweet tooth wasn't something he complained about, though. Their dad had set up accounts specifically for their expenses during vacation, which they had barely even made a dent in, and their vacation was almost halfway over! Being the children of the most famous scientist in the world had some perks.

They entered the house in the late afternoon, licking their ice cream cones as Dib and Zim rambled about vampire squid—a human term they both disliked for different reasons. Zim because it was given by humans, and the creatures weren't really squid, and Dib because they didn't actually drink blood.

"You didn't get killed or anything this time, did you?" Gaz asked, gaze flicking up at them briefly before going back to her game. Gir was sitting on the back of the couch, looking over her shoulder.

"No. We couldn't find any signs of anything, anyway," Dib sighed. Zim leaned over, trying to lick at his cone, but Dib lifted it up and out of his reach. He was too used to Zim attempting to steal food from him at this point.

"That's the third time this week you've gone out," she said. Her tone became sarcastic as she asked, "Are you going to work and research for the whole month, or are you going to do something like, I don't know…swim? For fun? Since we're at the beach, on vacation?"

Zim froze, a myriad of emotions churning inside him. When he thought about it, he wanted to go swimming, he wanted to be in the ocean, so, so desperately. So much so that he nearly ached for it.

But he knew he couldn't, and that turned the ache into a stinging pain.

"C'mon, Gaz," Dib said with a slight whine in his voice. "It's bad enough at home, when Dad gets on my case about my hunts..." He suddenly looked worried. "You're not going to tell him, are you?"

Gaz scoffed, rolling her eyes. "I'm not going to say anything," she said. "But don't blame me if he starts asking what you did over vacation and you don't have anything to talk about but paranormal junk."

Dib opened his mouth to protest…but then shut it. He gestured to Zim…but dropped his arm with a sigh. "…I could make something up?"

"You can't lie to save your life, Dib."

Dib looked ready to protest again…but shut his mouth, huffing out of his nose. "Yeah, okay," he grumbled. "Maybe we could go swimming…"

Zim ground his teeth together, scowling at the mere idea. Thinking of watching humans enter the ocean without being able to join them made his blood boil. But he latched onto that anger, since it felt better than the longing ache. Dib glanced down at him, rose an eyebrow, but didn't comment.

"…or I could find something else," he continued. "Something vacation-y, something I could tell Dad…" He began to mumble to himself, and Zim slowly relaxed.

"There's the festival tonight!" Gir chirped helpfully.

"...the what?" Dib asked.

Gir reached into his can and pulled out a folded-up flyer, which he handed to Gaz. She quickly skimmed over it, hummed thoughtfully, then passed it to Dib.

It was an advertisement for the Summer Starlight Celebration in town, which promised dancing, food, and fun. Dib hummed it approval as he looked it over.

"This is a pretty typical vacation activity, I think," he said. Zim grabbed his arm and stood on his toes, scowling as he tried to read the flyer. "That and human gatherings like this tend to attract spirits or fae..."

"Dib, you are not ruining my chance to go to a party with your paranormal work," Gaz said, giving him a stern look.

He quickly held his hands up in surrender. "I wasn't planning on making a scene or anything! And...you're going?"

She shrugged. "Been a while since I went to a party. And it gives all my devices a chance to fully charge. …Zim, you've been remembering to charge yours, right?"

Zim crossed his arms and scowled. "Only because your human technology is inferior and keeps blacking out on me." He had become very attached to the Game Slave that Gas had given him—whenever he wasn't scheming or hanging around Dib, he was most likely playing on it.

"Well, if you remembered to charge it more, that might not happen so often," Gaz told him. "Anyway. Dib? You going?"

"…I think I will," Dib nodded. "And I promise, I won't cause a disturbance or do anything to bother your night."

"You'd better not," she said.

"Master…are we going, too?" Gir asked, turning to Zim with pleading eyes. "It sounds fun, I wanna go, too!"

"No, Gir!" Zim snapped. "We're not taking part in any frivolous human activities."

"But I wanna go!" Gir chanted. "I wanna go! I wanna go I wanna go I wanna—"

"Alright! ALRIGHT!" Zim said. "I'll take you to this stinking human festival."

"Yaaaay!" Gir scurried to the bathroom. "Imma put on makeup and be pretty!"

Gaz looked miffed and stood up to go after him. "Don't touch my things without me there!" she barked. She headed into the bathroom and closed the door.

Zim sighed, rubbing the space on his face where the bridge of his nose would be. It was a gesture he had seen Dib perform a few times. "I'll regret agreeing to his demands, won't I?"

"Maybe, maybe not," Dib shrugged. "...though it does sound like it could be fun. Going to the festival, I mean."

"Hmph. I'll believe it once that's proven," Zim grumbled. "Which you won't be able to. Because you can't! It will be the most un-fun experience ever! Hah!"

Dib rolled his eyes. "Whatever you say, Zim."

A few hours later, they had all eaten a light dinner and gotten ready. Gir had decorated his can with sparkling eye shadow…using the pastel colors Gaz usually didn't touch. Gaz had put on an amethyst dress with a black belt around her waist, which had a silver skull clasp. She had also put on black eye shadow.

Dib hadn't done nearly as much—choosing to wear black slacks and a clean blue t-shirt, then gelling his hair to keep almost all of it from sticking up all over the place. Only after a few threats from Gaz did he leave off his trenchcoat. He did, however, bring a disposable camera with him…just in case.

Zim had done least of all. He just swapped his shirt for a purple one with a pink floral pattern and made sure that his wig was straightened out. He wanted to wear his high heels, but since Dib knew dancing was a possibility, he had hidden them under his bed.

Zim grumbled as he put his boots on. "How long is this…human celebration going to last, anyway?"

"Until midnight," Dib answered, earning another grumble from Zim. "But you can leave whenever, really, as long as you can make it back here by yourself safely."

Zim sighed. "Then I could just drop Gir off before leaving?"

"Noooo!" Gir whined. "Stay, stay! It'll be fun!"

"Hmph. Doubtful."

"Yeah, well, if you're going to be so negative about it, nobody will really want you around, anyway," Gaz stated bluntly. Zim stiffened up and shot a glare at her back. "Anyway. Ready?"

She headed out without waiting for an answer. Dib followed, and Zim placed Gir on his shoulder and walked alongside him.

"…Zim will at least grace the puny celebration with his presence briefly," the merken huffed, almost under his breath. "And everyone will miss Zim after he leaves. They always do."

Dib glanced over at him curiously, but Zim stayed quiet over the rest of the walk.

It didn't take them long to reach the site of the festival in the town plaza. A small stage had been set up on one side, where a local band was playing, their music echoing over the whole area. Most of the plaza was dominated by throngs of dancing people, though on the fringes, there were vendors hawking various snacks and souvenirs.

Gaz snapped her fingers and pointed at the side of the plaza. "Hey, they've got a bar!" True to her word, there was a temporary bar, several bartenders quickly passing out drinks.

"Well, I'm going to get some drinks," she declared, flashing them a peace sign before heading to the bar. "See ya. Don't ruin the party, dorks."

With that, she vanished into the crowd, most people easily moving to make a path for her. Dib sighed, glancing around and scanning the celebration. "I guess it's just us, then."

"A good observation, for once," Zim said, scanning the celebration. His brow was slowly furrowing in confusion. "What are they doing?" he asked, pointing at the crowd of dancers.

"They're dancing," Dib answered. "Zim, you've seen dancing in movies before!"

"Like I pay attention to your land films." He paused, staring at the throng. "Besides, this looks different."

He was correct, Dib mused—most of the movies they had seen that showed dancing were usually carefully choreographed, with elegant musical numbers behind it. The music here was fast-paced, the dancing rough and random, with people laughing and beaming even as they tripped over their own feet or missed a step.

Gir quickly dashed forward, curling into his can and rolling into the thick of the crowd. He popped back out in an empty spot and began to dance, cheering as loudly as everyone around him.

"Wait, Gir, no—!" Dib called, immediately worried about the attention Gir would draw. But...no one seemed to even bat an eye at the fact there was a large, grey hermit crab dancing along with them. Even as other people made space for him to dance, they didn't seem curious or concerned!

Dib looked over to Zim, who seemed just as shocked. Still, Zim quickly shook off his surprise and scoffed. "Humans. They're so foolish they'll ignore what's right in front of their faces."

"Hey!" Dib lightly punched his shoulder. "Not all humans are like that, now are they?"

"...that's true," Zim said. A mischievous grin spread across his face. "The Gaz-human is an exception. Everyone else is foolish."

"Hey!" Dib tried to feign being angry, but Zim's laughter made it hard to keep up the act. His resolve soon cracked, and he ended up grinning widely.

A song that he recognized began to play. The crowd cheered, a few singing along, most quickly switching up their dancing to stay with the rhythm. Dib glanced at them, then back at Zim…then grinned, his glasses gleaming in the light.

"What. What are you thinking," Zim said, trying to hide the nervousness he felt.

"Just that it'd be fun to introduce my favorite merken to human dancing," Dib answered. Before Zim could react, Dib's hand shot forward and gripped onto his wrist.

The merken shouted a couple of insults at him, but nothing out of the norm, so Dib kept a hold of him and marched forward into the dancing crowd. They didn't part for them nearly as quickly as they had for Gaz, so Dib settled for an empty pocket not far from the edge of the crowd.

He turned back to face Zim, who was looking all around them in confusion. "…now what?"

"We dance!" Dib said. He lifted up Zim's arm and twirled him once (causing him to let out an annoyed and confused shriek) before letting go and starting to jump up and down to the rhythm of the music.

Zim's head bobbed up and down to follow his movements…and he laughed. "You look ridiculous!"

"Maybe!" Dib laughed. He wasn't the best dancer, so Zim was probably right. "But it's fun! Besides, I can dance a lot better than I bet you can."

Ah, those were the magic words. Zim's eyes gleamed once he realized a challenge had been set in front of him. He watched Dib's movements carefully for a few more moments…then then began to copy them, wildly bobbing his head up and down.

Now it was Dib's turn to laugh. "You look more ridiculous than I do!"

"LIES!" Zim's dancing became faster and more frantic. "I am ZIM, and my pointless movements are far superior to yours!"

He was moving so quickly that his wig was starting to shift on his head. "Hey, careful," Dib hissed as quietly as he could, still trying to be heard over the music. "Zim. Zim! Your disguise."

Zim froze mid-jump, carefully landing in his feet. He reached up and adjusted his wig, then went back to dancing…this time with less crazy head-bobbing.

Dib also kept dancing, though his head was swimming with thoughts. When Zim first showed up at his door, he wanted to expose him as a merken…even before that! He had only gotten the disguise so that no one would notice something off about him until he had the chance to turn Zim back and show everyone the truth.

That could have been the reason he just helped Zim. That would be the easy answer. But…did he really want to expose Zim anymore?

If he told the world, Zim would be locked up, seen as something fascinating to study or to poke and prod at. The thought of that happening made Dib's stomach churn.

He…he liked Zim, as a person. Liked him a lot. Being around him was the first time in a while that he could remember really, fully enjoying someone's company.

Zim laughed loudly, catching Dib's attention and snapping him out of his thoughts. The merken had started to literally dance circles around him, showing off. Dib laughed and smiled warmly down at him.

Zim grinned back, showing off all his sharp teeth. But the way his eyes sparkled from under his contacts told Dib that he wasn't trying to be threatening or condescending. Seeing Zim so happy made something shift in his chest, his heartbeat speeding up.

It caught him by surprise, and he almost tripped over his own feet. Fortunately, he stumbled forward, and Zim quickly caught him by his shoulders. The merken quickly pushed him back upright with a scoff.

"You can't even use the feet you've had since birth?" he sneered. "Pathetic."

"Whatever. I'm surprised you haven't tripped yet, fish face." Dib briefly regretted not letting Zim wear his high heels. The results would have been hilarious.

"Hah!" Zim continued to dance around him. "It just goes to show that I am truly super—" He stumbled over his feet mid-jump, flailing as he fell to the ground.

Dib quickly caught him under his arms, holding him up to his eye level and grinned smugly. "You were saying?"

Zim huffed, crossing his arms. Dib laughed, holding him high in the air and twirling him around once before setting him back down on his feet. Zim tried to hide it, but Dib spotted the ghost of a smile on his lips.

The two of them danced through two more songs with little tripping or stumbling. But while the band was switching out with another, and the plaza filled with chatter, Zim slumped against Dib's side, lifting up one foot and glaring at it.

"Something wrong?" Dib asked as Zim gave it a weak shake.

Zim flinched, looking up at him. "Eh…Zim is fine! I have enough energy to outdance you through the whole night, you know. Nothing could stop me." Still, he reached down to rub circles on his sole.

Dib's brow furrowed in concern. "Do your feet hurt?" Man, he hadn't thought about that…Zim had adjusted to having feet, sort of, but he hadn't strained them to this degree yet. "We can—"

Zim quickly shook his head, even as he switched feet to rub at his other sole. "Zim would never be hurt by a silly human activity like this. Never!"

Dib bit his tongue to keep himself from sighing. "…my feet hurt, actually," he lied. His feet were only a little sore, and he could keep going, but it was obvious Zim needed a break. "Why don't we sit down for a bit?"

"Yes!" Zim quickly agreed. "…for your sake. Because I am perfectly fine."

Dib turned, about to push through the crowd…until Zim grabbed on his wrist and tugged, getting his attention. "Carry Zim."

"…what?" Dib said, raising an eyebrow.

"Ugh, fine! Carry Zim…please," Zim repeated, trying to hide his eyeroll. "…so I can see above this mass of sweaty, smelling humans. It's a horrible sight, Dib-beast."

Dib hesitated. But he had asked politely, at least…he reached down and scooped Zim up under his arms, hoisting him up and placing him on his shoulders. "Does that please you, your highness?" he asked sarcastically.

"Yes, this is satisfactory," Zim answered, either oblivious to his sarcasm or choosing to ignore it. He patted the top of Dib's head. "Excellent work, my human slave drone."

"Call me that again, and I'll drop you." Dib began to push his way through the crowd.

Zim huffed and grumbled, but wisely didn't call him that again. Still, his claws burrowed their way into Dib's hair as he rested his chin on top of his head. Dib didn't mind the close contact, though…

He managed to escape the crowd, quickly spotting an empty bench. He sat down, lifting Zim off and setting him down. Zim adjusted his shirt, then lifted up his feet and began to rub at the soles again…though he seemed much more relaxed about it.

Dib was content to lean back and watch the crowd, catching his breath. To his surprise, after the song finished, Gaz slipped through the crowd and over to them, a plastic cup full of orange liquid in each of her hands.

"Hey. Got you both something." She handed them the glasses.

"Thanks," Dib said as he accepted his. Zim took his and narrowed his eyes, sniffing at it suspiciously. "…they aren't alcoholic, are they?"

"Nah, it's just punch. There's no way I want to see what either of you are like drunk," she said. A smirk briefly flashed across her face. "At least not in public."

Dib huffed slightly, taking a small sip of punch. It tasted mostly like oranges, but there was also a hint of pineapple and coconut to it…very tropical and sweet. "Mmm. It's pretty good. Thanks, again."

"Don't expect me to get you anything else," she said, nodding to him. "And don't wait up for me if you guys head back. I'm going to be staying here a while." With that, she turned back to the crowd, stretching and cracking her neck.

Almost like magic, a path opened for her, and she disappeared once again.

Dib continued to nurse his drink. Zim watched him out of the corner of his eye, and seeing Dib's positive reaction was apparently enough for him to dare to try a sip.

He hummed in appreciation and tipped back the glass, downing the rest of the punch. He smacked his lips…and turned to look at the half-full cup in Dib's hand.

Dib immediately tightened his grip on it, narrowing his eyes. "No." He took a long, slow sip, perhaps making a bit of deliberate slurping noise to irritate Zim.

Zim narrowed his eyes right back, scooching closer and reaching up with one hand. Dib shifted back, tilting his glass back and finishing the rest of his drink in a few gulps. He sighed as he lowered it from his lips, turning to give Zim a smug look.

The merken pouted. "…you humans don't make anything good in proportions nearly big enough," he complained.

"Well, maybe if you didn't just inhale anything set down in front of you, you wouldn't say that." Dib looked around, trying and failing to find any kind of recycling bin. With a sigh, he flattened his cup and slipped it into one of his pockets, to recycle later.

"And if the proportions were more satisfactory, my 'inhaling' them wouldn't be an issue!" Zim thrust his cup at him, and Dib managed to fit that into his pocket, too.

A new song began to play, one that Dib recognized almost immediately—the sort of song that always got played at every party. He drummed his fingers to the beat, humming under his breath. A few people in the crowd began to sing along with the lyrics, and soon, it spread until most people were singing.

"W-What is the purpose of this?" Zim asked, warily watching the crowd. "Is this song meant to summon something? A terrible land-beast!?"

"No, Zim," Dib said, trying not to laugh. "It's just for fun. There's not really a reason for it. Nothing's going to happen."

He gestured to the singing crowd. All that really changed was that a few more people began to dance. "See?"

"…ah," Zim said, eyes narrowed critically.

"I'm guessing that merkens don't sing 'just because', then?"

Zim shook his head. "We only sing when there is a purpose for it—to lure prey to their doom, or to bolster the morale of our armies," he said, puffing out his chest. "Or on rare occasions, to…wake great, horrible beasts." His mood briefly faltered.

"And almost all of you can do that?" Dib asked. "Magic singing, I mean?"

"Of course! Though some of us are better at it than others." Zim examined his claws, trying to appear causal.

Dib leaned a little closer. "…can you do it? Now, just for a little bit?"

Zim's head snapped up, and he gave Dib a sharp look. "…are you attempting to expose Zim?"

"No!" he quickly denied. "Besides, I doubt anyone will make the connection that you're…not human. They'll probably just think you have a really good voice."

"Hmm…" Zim stroked his chin in thought. "…I suppose doing it for just a few seconds wouldn't hurt. Besides, it's been too long since Zim has demonstrated his beautiful voice!"

Dib placed his hands on his lap, clasping them together and keeping his eyes locked on Zim. His irises shone with fascination, and Zim seemed to revel in that. He took his time sitting up a little straighter, clearing his throat, and taking a deep breath.

He opened his mouth, and—

"AAAAAAAA!"

Dib immediately clapped his hands over his ears, wincing. Zim's eyes were closed, so he didn't notice…he just kept screaming. Singing? Was he trying to sing?

"AAAAAAAA!"

Oh God, people had stopped dancing and were turning to look at them in horror. A lot of them looked annoyed, too…and more and more people were slowly turning.

"AAAAAAAA!"

How had he not run out of air yet!?

A small crowd was now glaring at them, and it was growing in number. Dib started to sweat…and quickly slapped a hand over Zim's mouth, muffling him. Zim 'sang' for a few more seconds before trailing off, looking at Dib in confusion.

The crowd gave Zim dirty looks…and then turned around, going back to dancing. Some of them quickly walked away, trying to get as far from the merken as possible.

Dib let out a small sigh of relief. Crisis averted…and his sister wasn't going to kill them for causing a scene. Hopefully. He slowly removed his hand from Zim's mouth, ready to cut him off if he tried 'singing' again.

"What was that for, Dib-stink?" he asked.

"Eh…" Dib frowned, rubbing the back of his neck. "If that was your luring song, I don't think it was very well-received."

Zim blinked…and then scoffed. "Tasteless humans. They clearly can't recognize the voice of a far superior life form."

"Yeah, that's definitely it…" Dib rubbed at his ears to make sure they weren't bleeding. "Though you might be…a little out of practice. And a little off-key. And very…loud."

"How dare you! Zim's songs are always at the perfect volume!"

"That's the part you're offended by?" Dib asked. He glanced over and saw that they were earning a few stares again.

He held up his hands in a placating way. "Zim, let's not make a scene…remember that Gaz is here?" The merken shut his mouth with a click. "I could buy you a snack, if that'd smooth things over?"

Zim perked up, licking his lips. "Yes…I shall forgive your lies about my beautiful voice if you give me offerings," he said. Dib chuckled, rolling his eyes and standing up.

"Let's see what we can find." He took Zim's hand so they wouldn't be separated and pushed his way through the edges of the crowd.

Zim looked down at the human hand that covered his. Dib's hand was probably scrawny and skinny by human standards, but it was enough to almost completely engulf Zim's. It was also…warm. Almost a little too warm, but not enough to make him pull away.

The sweat in his palm, on the other hand… "Your hand is smelly and disgusting!" he shouted up at Dib. "This offering had better be spectacular for you to make up for getting your filthy sweat on me!"

"You'll like it, trust me," Dib responded. He scanned the vendors until he spotted one that satisfied him. "I bet you've never had cotton candy before, have you?" He guided Zim into the end of the line before letting go of his hand.

Zim stuck out his tongue and exaggerated wiping off drops of sweat. "You humans create candy out of cotton?" he asked, his first thought being the cotton balls kept in the bathroom.

"No, it doesn't have cotton in it, that's just its name," Dib explained. "Sometimes it's called candy floss, or fairy floss…no, it doesn't contain floss or fairies, either."

They had reached the front of the line, and Dib paid for two sticks of cotton candy. He received a stick with a heaping pile of blue fluff attached, while Zim received one with pink fluff.

Dib stepped away, taking a bite of his as they walked. Zim regarded the food in front of him carefully for a moment…then stuck out his tongue and licked the very top of it.

His eyes widened and sparkled as the colorful sugar melted against his tongue, sending sparks of sweetness across his taste buds. "Is it good, then?" Dib asked with a chuckle.

Zim's only response was to open his maw as wide as possible, burying it deep into the cotton candy before taking a bite. When he emerged, flecks of sugar covered his mouth, which he quickly licked up with his long tongue.

Dib laughed, and while Zim was tempted to glare at him, he was too focused on the treat in his hands to properly do so. They both wandered at the very edges of the crowd, watching the dancing and the spectacle.

"…we can go someplace quieter!" Dib shouted over the music. "If you want to relax for a bit."

Zim considered it, scanning the masses of dancing humans. Once he spotted Gir happily dancing in the middle of a group of them and clearly having the time of his life, he nodded.

Dib glanced around and started to head away from the celebration, nibbling on his cotton candy as Zim trailed behind him.

They eventually ended up on the docks, the music and shouting of the festival muffled here. Dib sat at the end of one of the piers, legs dangling over the water, and stared up at the stars. Zim hesitated, but then sat by his side, nibbling on his cotton candy as he looked at the water, lying just feet away from his toes.

"You know, I've always been sure there's more life out there," Dib said almost conversationally, snapping Zim out of his thoughts.

"Eh?" Zim glanced over and saw that the human was still staring up at the sky. "Out…where?"

"There. In the stars," Dib elaborated, gesturing to the sky. "There's hundreds of other galaxies out there, thousands of planets. On at least one of them, there has to be life. More than that, there must be other people."

"Ah…" Zim slowly nodded in understanding, slowly shifting his gaze up to the stars. "These would be the aliens mentioned in your magazines, yes?"

"Exactly!" Dib nodded enthusiastically. "Though I don't believe that everything they include is necessarily connected to alien life. Still…since I was a kid, I would go out with a telescope and an old radio, trying to pick up signals or spot…something."

"…did you ever get anything?"

Dib sighed and shook his head. "Nothing clear enough I could show to anyone as proof. And once I learned that you—that merkens were real, I spent a little more time researching the ocean. I didn't look to the stars as many nights, but I never really stopped."

"…but you never came back here," Zim said, a slight growl in his voice. "I know. I watched the beaches, Dib-thing. You never came back until now."

"…I know. I'm sorry." His words made the knot of anger in Zim's chest loosen. "I couldn't exactly drive here myself, you know. And Dad refused to consider this as a good vacation spot after I told him about merkens. I had to almost beg him to let me come this year."

"Your parental unit worried we would harm you?" Zim guessed.

Dib sighed, looking down at the water. "No. He didn't believe me, and thought something around here made me crazier."

"…ah." Zim wasn't quite sure what to say. He eventually found word that seemed alright. "…you are a foolish, filthy human. But not a crazy one."

"…thanks," Dib chuckled, giving a small smile. The two of them sat in silence for a few minutes, nibbling on their cotton candy, before he spoke up again.

"...you're the first person to really take me seriously on this stuff, you know?" Dib said with a sigh. "Guess it makes sense only a paranormal creature would believe me about other paranormal creatures."

Zim tore a heaping bite out of his cotton candy. "What do you mean?" he said.

"I...don't really have friends, back home," Dib admitted. He raised his head to look up at the stars again. "And even if I have proof of that there's something out there that exists outside our understanding...well, no one's really convinced."

Zim reached over and tore off some of Dib's cotton candy while he was distracted. "Even Dad just keeps trying to get me into 'real' science," he rambled. "Gaz is the closest I have to someone who believes me, and it's really only because she doesn't care either way."

"Yet you still keep trying," Zim said, reaching over to steal another piece. Dib noticed this time, though, and swatted his hand away.

"Yeah," Dib sighed, taking a bite and chewing slowly. "I care too much about the paranormal to give up. If I can just prove something without a doubt someday...they'll believe me and see I was right all along. I just know it."

He looked out to the horizon with a vacant expression, clearly looking into a hopeful future that Zim couldn't see. Zim leaned closer, carefully observing the human. There was a spark of passion in his golden eyes, one that thrilled Zim to his very core.

Suddenly, Dib turned to look at him, that passion still burning bright as he stared at the merken. Zim felt a rush of...something, feeling like he could be lost forever in those eyes.

"But you believe me," he said. "And I appreciate that…a lot, actually." He gave Zim a warm smile. "For a probably-evil merken, you're…pretty cool."

Something in Zim's chest twisted, and he felt his face growing warm. He quickly shoved the lower half of his face into his cotton candy to hide any evidence of it, something that made Dib laugh.

That laugh made the twisting worse, but the twisting felt good and made him feel warm and gooey inside. "…you're…decent, for a human," he spat out, quickly biting into his cotton candy as an excuse to not say anything more.

Dib's laughter grew a little louder, and its tone was still warm. "I guess that's high praise from you, huh?" he teased, lightly and playfully punching Zim's shoulder.

Zim quickly nodded, taking a few more bites and stuffing his face. Even if the dessert was making him sick…that was the only explanation for the fluttering sensation in his guts. Though…being sick never felt this good, or tingly, or like he was lighter than air itself.

"Anyway," Dib said, still slowly nibbling on his own treat. "Wanna stay here for a few minutes before heading back? It's calmer here. Not so loud."

"Not a lot of thrashing, sweaty humans," Zim added. "…staying here is preferable."

Eventually, they would head back to the main party, though they would be asked to leave not long after because of Zim's loud, off-key singing disturbing everyone again. They wouldn't go without filling their arms and bellies with sweets, though.

And for now, they just stared out at the sea and sky, silently enjoying their cotton candy. Zim felt something he had never felt before, a sort of happy, calm feeling that made him want to relax…and to lean against Dib.

He resisted the urge, telling himself it was the cotton candy-induced illness. But something in the back of his mind told him that wasn't quite the case.