It was late at night, and neither Zim nor Tak had anything to do. All the TV shows were lame reruns of bad sitcoms, the radio produced only static, and all the robots had gone into sleep mode. Often when these things happened, Zim would go down to the lab and work on his experiments. But now that Tak was around to help, all of his work for the day was done.
Irkens very rarely slept, as they had no need for it, their PAKs being able to stimulate their bodies 24/7. The only reason for sleeping was if the Irken had undergone something so exhausting that their body was unable to process the PAK's stimulators. Although, some Irkens took sleep as a form of recreation, Zim was not among them. He found sleeping to prove weakness, and perhaps had only slept once or twice himself (Tak felt much the same way, though perhaps not so strongly).
There was truly nothing for either him or Tak to do.
So they talked.
"Okay, you go first." Zim said to Tak, feeling a little uncomfortable. This was probably the first time he'd ever had a real conversation with the Irken, even though she'd been staying for about a week.
"Well, what should I say?" She responded, feeling even more uncomfortable. She was supposed to be taking over his mission, not chatting with him at the kitchen table.
"I don't know, anything. How about your time at the Irken Military Academy?" He suggested, trying to pick something that he'd be able to talk back about.
"Well, it wasn't all that great. I always wanted to be an Invader, but none of the other Irkens- students, trainers, anyone- ever took me seriously." She said, a little angrily.
"Really?" Zim blinked. Tak had been one of the most impressive Invaders he'd seen. "But you're so good-"
She cuts him off with a nod. "Yes, I know. The only reason I'm as good as I am is because I was determined to be better then all the others. I had to be twice as clever, twice as strong, to prove to anyone that I was Invader material."
"Why? Why didn't any of them take you seriously?" He couldn't help but ask. It made no sense to him at all. But Tak just shook her head, refusing to answer.
"Alright Zim, you're turn. Tell me about your time at the Irken Military Academy." Tak insists, and Zim figures that he might as well tell her about it. He had nothing to be ashamed of.
"Well, honestly I didn't spend much time there. For a few years I worked in Vort Research Station 9, helping develop better ships and weaponry. I even helped work on the Massive's design. But that was all boring, so I spent my spare thing creating an infinite energy absorbing thingy. It was chubby." He appeared to be reminiscing about the infinite energy absorbing thingy. "I miss that little guy."
"Wait a sec…wasn't is an infinite energy absorbing thingy that devoured Tallest Miyuki and Tallest Spork?" Tak asked, feeling rather astonished that Zim was able to create something like that.
"Uh…yeah…but it wasn't mine, really!" Zim said, looking anywhere but at Tak.
"You said that you only spent a few years there. Where did you go later?" She asked, getting caught up in his past. It was much more interesting then she had thought.
"Right. Well, after Tallest Miyuki was eaten by the NOT MINE infinite energy absorbing thingy, they sent me to military training on Devastis. I was even in the same class as the now-Tallest Red and Purple. When it came time for Operation Impending Doom I, I knew that my people would need my superior Invading skills." Zim looked quite pleased with himself as he proceeded tell how well he managed to destroy things.
"But you never even left Irk." Tak pointed out, to which Zim simply dismissed with a wave of his hand.
"What does it matter where I was as long as I destroyed things?" He asked, to which Tak could simply stare blankly at him.
"Zim-" She began, with an angry tone, but then GIR leaped in.
"GOOD MORNING!" He cried, and Tak looked out the window, noticing that the sun had come up already. Wow, they had spent the whole night talking. It had been so easy too.
No! You are here to take over Zim's mission! NOT become his friend! Tak thought angrily to herself, was shocked to feel a pang as she thought it.
It took a little while to realize that it was a pang of regret.
A/N: I really had to do my research for Zim's past, so none of you can say I made anything up. Tak's really hard to keep in character, especially because I only have one episode to work from, but I think it's coming along well. The fanfic will probably end up being around 12 chapters long, maybe a little more, at this rate.