By animeninjaNIPPON

Some two hours after that little endeavor, Dib stirred in his sleep. Unlike his sister, he had seen enough of the world at his tender age to know that most people were insane; and aliens were not to be trusted.

It was a nice bed, though. Normally, being this close to Zim would have made Dib set out to investigate, but the excitement of the hedonistic Irkens was beginning to impair his judgment. Besides, with Zim and Tak claiming not to know him, Dib didn't know what to believe anymore. And he was far too exhausted to fight, so he continued to doze behind the blue curtain.

A dark, shadowy figure crept slowly over his slumbering form, startling him into waking. "Zim!"

"Hello, DIB," he muttered. "Are you comfortable tonight?"

"What are you up to?" Dib half-yelled, scooting away from the opaque Irken silhouette. "Is this some sort of trick?"

"Calm down…you wouldn't want your sister to see you like THIS, would you?" Zim grabbed Dib by each ankle and pulled the human's figure closer to his.

Dib shrieked. "What the – "

"Have you ever kissed a girl?"

"What business is that of yours?"

"You don't seem to get noticed by many females," Zim observed, leaning over Dib. "Why, even your own SISTER is too busy with her VIDEO GAMES to notice how important you are, am I correct?"

"H-How did you know that?" Dib sat up and apparently forgot that Zim had known virtually everything about him before returning to Irk.

Zim chuckled. "ZIM knows ALL!" He sat up straight. "But seriously, I notice you." He leaned in closer to Dib and placed a shadowy hand on Dib's shoulder. "You're so strong…you must be in some kind of special training…"

"No, I just get into a lot of alien fights." Dib shrugged.

"Oh really… You must have many battle scars…"

"Uh, yeah; some."

The obscured Zim seemed to gaze into the eyes of Dib's shrouded figure. "You don't have to fight all the time." He leaned in closer and continued in a whisper, "Give an alien half the chance, and he can show you something AMAZING."

"Are you coming on to me?"

"Possibly. But it's up to you whether or not you accept me."

Dib thought for a moment. "OK. But don't tell my sister about this, or she'll think I'm even more of a freak."

"Oh, we're all freaks HERE…" Zim purred. "But tonight, you and I will be freaks TOGETHER!" He leaned in all the way to kiss Dib, and the two silhouettes assimilated in the darkness behind the blue curtain.

End of part nine