Zim had opened the front door just as the gnomes had each grabbed an appendage and started to drag Dib off. Dib was about to yell at Zim for lying, but before he could speak he heard Zim shout, "Gnomes! Release him!" And they did.
"Uh, thanks Zim." Dib had still been waiting for some kind of trick, but he knew he couldn't pass up the opportunity to be escorted into Zim's base.
Zim just eyed Dib accusingly. "You're not hiding any cameras or explosives, are you?" Dib normally would have brought some sort of filming equipment, but the unusual circumstances had caused him to forget.
"No, I don't have…"
"GIR! Frisk him!" Zim cut Dib off. The little robot was out in a flash, checking Dib's pockets and feeling for anything hidden in his clothing. Gir's tiny hands tickled, and Zim eyed Dib every time he tried holding in his snerks and giggles.
"Clean and unarmed," Gir reported.
"Alright, come in," Zim said, shooting Dib a warning glare. "And don't touch anything!"
Dib walked in the oddly shaped house, relieved that he didn't have to worry about being ambushed this time. Zim took him down to one of the house's sublevels where a prototype and an incomplete frame of the death machine resided. "I'm not finished, but it's already terrifying, is it not?" Zim stood with his fists on his hips and a smirk on his face, staring up at his invention very proudly. He turned on the machine to test it. "Hmm, it still doesn't get hot enough yet."
At this point Dib was getting very warm, but he didn't want to say anything to upset Zim and get himself kicked out. Instead he just took off his trench coat and tried to grin and bear it. Then it got to a point where Dib couldn't stand it any longer.
"I'm just gonna turn it down a little," Dib said and he stretched his arm out for the machine.
"NO! I said don't touch anything!" In an instant Zim had tackled Dib to the ground, worried about human filth coming in contact with his creation.
Dib had tried to be nice, but he just couldn't stand it anymore. He wrestled with Zim on the floor until he had the Irken pinned, straddling him and grasping his wrists in his own fists. Zim seemed to be squirming more than ever in the attempt to free himself.
"Get off of me!" Zim demanded in failed attempts. Dib hadn't been hurting him or anything… just holding him down. He realized that this aggravated Zim more that quick pain. He'd kicked and punched Zim on the playground before, but that didn't seem to bother him as much as prolonged contact with human flesh.
If being nice to Zim had gotten him this far, imagine where he could go by being really nice to him.
With this thought, Dib touched Zim's face. Zim winced, eyes clamped shut and teeth tightly bared. Then Dib leaned in closer to where Zim could feel his breathing. Zim began to sweat, but Dib wasn't sure whether it was from the heat of the machine or because he had been making Zim so tense. Dib began to sweat too, but he had already taken his trench coat off. All that was left was his shirt, so he sat up and stripped it off as well. Zim wanted to do the same, but it was his only layer of protection against contact with the Dib human.
Dib stared Zim back in the eyes. "What do you want? Why won't you get off of me?"
"I will," Dib explained. "But only if you're willing to reason with me."
"What did you have in mind?" Zim asked disgustedly.
"Give up trying to enslave the earth."
"Never!"
"Okay, you asked for it!" And with those words, Dib leaned in up to Zim's face and gave him a kiss so strong it sucked the life out of the Irken's lungs.
As Dib backed up, Zim began to choke and wheeze. "What the heck was that!"
Dib sat back startled at himself, not knowing what to say. "Well, you asked for it." Both sat silently, staring at each other, confused and unknowing of what to make of the situation. Then Dib decided to lean in again. Curious, Zim didn't squirm this time. He accepted Dib's second kiss, feeling as though he had some kind of control over him. Zim didn't want to admit it to himself, but he knew that Dib's act had fooled him. He was only being kind so that he could see his base. Well, now Dib was becoming more submissive with every kiss and touch Zim returned. Maybe he could use this human act of kindness to his advantage as well.