HOO BOY LADS THIS A LONG ONE. Ok, so I got a little inspired this time; this one came out over 3.000 words so almost 1K to 1.5K longer than the usual chapter. I've wanted to play with how Zim would do in this situation for a while, so I hope you enjoy!

Part 26: Socialization

The sun was hot, too hot for the time of year and for Zim's liking, and Zim tapped his foot on the concrete in aggravation. He was watching the busses cart away with masses of students in them. They were packed inside like sardines. Zim would never understand how humans could withstand such a small space packed together as they were; and especially in this heat. The only thing worse that he could think of was the train. He shuddered, thinking of the number of germs that he would inevitably be swimming in if he ever ventured into one. He started pacing, needing some sort of distraction as he waited. Dib was taking much longer than usual. Zim wondered if perhaps Chunk and company had finally decided to test Zim's patience again and were cornering the boy. Zim was ready to enter the school again when he caught sight of Dib rounding the corner, unharmed and speed walking toward him.

Zim crossed his arms in disapproval when Dib neared him. "You are quite late."

"Sorry. Gretchen stopped me in the hall. She invited me to a party." Dib explained, jumping off the stairs and clearing them to the pavement. Zim sauntered down them, arms still crossed, into the heat.

"A party?"

"Yeah. She said it was being held tomorrow into Saturday at a house on Spressor street. It's supposed to be the whole school, she had to really twists his arm to get him to agree to that, I mean I guess I can see why she'd have to do that—"

Zim rolled his eyes as Dib fell into his blabbering. He found it only slightly endearing, in that it showed how enthusiastic Dib was about something. Zim would be lying, however, if he said he wasn't grateful it didn't consist almost solely of questions aimed at him. He thanked Irk that Dib had seemed to be more passive in that regard; and he wondered idly if the boy was out of questions. He doubted it, though he had been enjoying the rest from questions for the time being. He was spacing out when Dib took a breath to start again and Zim took the chance to break into the conversation.

"Dib-stink, why are you telling Zim this?"

Dib blinked and looked at Zim. "Oh. Because I'm her plus one and I was wondering if you'd be my plus one, so we could both go. I assumed you hadn't been invited yet."

"… Zim had not." Zim admitted. He hadn't even been aware of a party commencing that weekend. He vaguely remembered students discussing it earlier that week, but he'd tuned them out as he'd designed a new invention during the lecture. The chemistry class was so remedial it was numbing. All the science courses were—Zim had discovered years prior that if he'd had to attend college, he'd find some fun advancing the species' space travel with the little effort it would require of him. He put that thought on hold and turned back to Dib. "Zim likely wouldn't have been. Does that not mean that they do not want Zim to attend?"

"I mean… I didn't expect to be invited. And we're friends, so I assume Gretchen knows that if she invited me I'd invite you. That's how the whole invite system has been working. I know the club will be there." Dib explained. He stopped them at a crosswalk as a car blew the stop sign. Dib sighed after them, double checking the street before allowing them to cross as Zim pondered the information.

"Zim is unsure if he would enjoy this…. Party."

"Why?"

"Gir enjoys the blasted things. Zim can not hear him over the music and he cannot hear Zim. It is infuriating." Zim explains, rubbing at his temples. The music played at Gir's parties was so loud it was a wonder it never blew out Zim's speakers at the base.

"It's not a rave. It's a high school party. Just teens getting drunk and having fun. I've never been to one and I want to go. It's our senior year. You don't want to at least see one? You'd learn something about human culture. More than if you just spied on it from your base. Or a tree." Dib added with a smirk laden on his face. Zim resisted the urge to push the cocky human.

Zim hummed. Dib had a point in that regard. He'd learn something new about humans that was a distinction from the raves that Gir frequented. He wondered how different it would be. He didn't know much about the raves—he would have to ask Gir about them—but, Dib was saying they weren't the same. Zim wondered how different types of parties could be. He recalled the celebrations on Irk after a particularly coveted conquest. He pushed the memories away and focused back on Dib, who was still waiting on his answer. He sighed.

"Fine, Zim will attend. For a short time."

"Great!" Dib exclaimed. He pulled out a piece of paper and handed it over. "This is the address Gretchen gave me. It starts at eight. I'll meet you there. I have to get groceries today before getting ready."

Zim hummed again, turning down his own street as Dib diverged to his.

Zim waded through the amassed sea of classmates. All of which were either drinking, high, hollering, or getting there in some combination of the three. The music could have been heard down the block by a human, and it was heard three blocks away by Zim as he approached the house. He hadn't recognized the house; but had vaguely recognized the last name. Chunk's parental units must have been away for him to be able to throw one of these… Zim was generous to call it a 'gathering'. The music was as endless as the voices. It was an amount of stimulation that Zim did not prefer and wanted to end. It was beginning to hurt his antennae, forcing him to lower them against his scalp. It had helped, for a while. He was finding himself looking for an out before rationalizing that leaving the party within the first half hour was, perhaps, too soon. He'd started to be only slightly thankful that he'd managed to gain some insight to these gatherings via Gir's own tales and the TV. While it wasn't exactly the rave that Gir would frequent it did have a semblance of a DJ system and a mountain's worth of teens to swim through. Zim knew he'd hate the proximity to his peers sweating bodies and had prepared for it; but that didn't make his disgust of it any less. He had concluded that Dib was right in one respect: the party was not as wild and unkempt as a rave seemed to be.

He'd arrived late, a good hour or two into the party, meaning it was effectively in full swing by his arrival. To his surprise several teens were already passed out on furniture. One was being mocked by his friends, the group taking markers to his skin. Zim's skin crawled at the idea of the inferior ink touching his own. He was hesitant to get an Irken tattoo, let alone use something akin to a marker. He'd known from Gir that staying at least an hour was considered 'normal'. He planned to find somewhere quiet soon to wait out the rest of his sentence if he couldn't find Dib. If he could, he hoped Dib would have had the same thought and would already be in the recesses of the house. To his dismay he spotted the tall teen in the kitchen—not nearly far enough away from the rest of the party to do much good to Zim's pained hearing.

He was talking to the ones Zim had coined his 'like' peers. A small group of boys who happened to share Dib's interests—and despite that fact had still never believed Zim was anything but a human kid with a skin condition and an odd personality. Dib glanced up, having spotting Zim from his peripheral, and waved him over. Zim noted at least one of the boys seemed excited that he was there. Odd.

Zim pushed through the crowd, weaving effortlessly until he reached the group. "There you are."

"Sorry, I came about fifteen minutes in. I forgot to set a meeting time, so I just figured I'd see you here," Dib explained. Zim didn't have time to retort on that before Dib was pulling him into a side-armed hug and presenting him to the troupe.

"Zim, this is Daren, Eric, and Abed. They're in the Investigators Club with me!" Dib said, pointing out each human as he named them.

"The one you're President of?" Zim asked. He knew the question was true; but felt like humoring the group regardless. Dib nodded enthusiastically.

"And Abed is VP."

"I see. …Hello."

The trio of teens greeted him cordially, in a way that Zim wasn't sure if they were going to turn malicious like the rest of their peers. Dib's demeanor and low heart rate around their presence told him that wouldn't be the case. He decided to trust Dib's instincts, gently shoving him off. As he did so Dib was already talking again.

"Gretchen invited the whole club. I think we're the only four who showed up, though. Eric said something about paranoia?"

"They're afraid they'd get tar and feathered, or something like in the movies," Eric explained with a waving hand. Zim looked at Dib in slight confusion.

"I'll show you what that means later. The literal and comical."

"There's a distinction?" Zim asked incredulously.

"There is a big distinction, yes."

"He doesn't watch movies?" Eric asked. Dib was quicker than Zim to come up with the excuse; something that had Zim suspicious he'd been preparing for such questions for some time now.

"He was home schooled, and they didn't have a TV, so he's missed out on a lot of media. I'm getting him caught up." Dib said pridefully. Zim felt an antennae twitch. Mostly because it was only half of a lie. Their movie nights were incredibly packed still, much to Zim's shock, and he'd only ever assumed the massive DVD collection in Dib's living room had been the whole households'. How wrong he had been.

"Mostly sci-fi horror, though, right?" Abed teased. Dib flushed, coughing into his hand.

"Not… entirely." He said. "He liked Alien."

Zim's eye twitched, only so minutely, at the obvious joke Dib was hiding in that last statement. He allowed himself a smirk. But it only stayed until Daren piped up.

"Hey! SO!" Daren started in, physically butting between Dib and Zim. Dib caught Zim's body flinch into a frozen statue for a split second as he fought his fight response. It was a trait the others seemed to have completely missed. "Dib says you're stronger than you look. You lift weights or do aerobics or something? Secretly ripped or on drugs?"

"Daren. Sorry, he doesn't know how to ask questions without… sounding like that."

"Like that?" Zim parrots.

"An ass." Eric surmises, taking a swig from his cup. Zim hadn't noticed anything in the boys' tone, though he did concede to himself that Dib may have been onto something about learning human interactions.

Zim was suddenly reminded of what Daren had actually said and glowered at Dib. "Ah. …Did he now?"

Dib started to sweat, rubbing nervously at his arm as Zim stared him down blankly. "Ahm. Uh. Maybe."

Zim knew Dib wouldn't risk exposing him—now. He did wonder just how much the boy had revealed in his bragging. His question was partially answered when Daren was in his face again.

"Could you lift me? Like, I weigh almost 250, so could you? Chunk can lift at least 300-"

Zim grabbed Daren by the back of his jacket, lifting him high enough to be kicking for the ground. He had started with one hand, switching to both when he saw a panic rise in Dib's expression. Daren had hooted and started to holler when Zim lifted him, prompting his experience cut short as Zim dropped him back to the ground in the hopes he'd stop. He didn't.

Dib guided him over to the others to deal with his excitements, taking up his spot beside Zim again. Zim's antennae were now firmly planted into his skull, desperate to escape the noise soon. Unfortunately, it didn't look like it'd be possible just yet as Eric jumped in to ask Zim to do more feats. By the end of it all Zim had lifted all four boys (and comically Dib had been the easiest), partially lifted a sofa (stopping when Dib started to shake his head), the weights in the garage, portions of the wrought iron patio set, and the TV with the stand. He'd made sure to gauge how difficult to make it appear based upon Dipper's own silent expressions. When it came to the fridge being a challenge, Dib finally intervened in the shenanigans.

"Ok, how about you guys get a beer or two and come back? Get me a punch, I'm thirsty."

"Will do," Abed said, patting Dib's shoulder. He paused as he passed Zim. He made a notion to ask a question Zim already had the answer to.

"No."

"Fair enough. Three beers and a punch; got it!"

Zim watched him weave between the bodies across the house. Eric and Daren had started to talk to themselves, leaving Dib open to Zim alone. Zim eyed the fridge. He could easily lift it and throw it through the window, if he wished. He'd silently been enjoying awing the three boys. It had been a nice and brief stroke to his ego that he wouldn't have refused—party or no party. If it meant he could show the humans he should be left alone, he was glad to demonstrate. Daren turned to the two just as Zim was ready to take Dib somewhere quiet.

"That explains how you could launch Chunk like you did."

"Hm? Oh. That. Yes. Honestly, the student body hasn't forgotten that yet?" Zim asked. He was only partly interested in the answer. In truth he had almost forgotten the entire encounter until it had resurfaced the previous evening. Eric was shaking his head frantically.

"No! How could we! That was awesome!"

"Like a movie!"

"Or a cartoon. Or anime. Or a stunt!"

"Truly a marvel."

As the two played off one another Zim eyed Dib. He seemed to be enjoying their banter, making Zim's want to leave feel more and more like an inconvenience to the boy who'd thought to invite him in the first place. Zim was beginning to care less about that fact, however, as he felt more and more eyes trained on him thanks to the strength show. He was being assaulted by noise, eyes, and smells that he did not enjoy.

Abed reappeared, dispersing the drinks. Zim took the moment to slide down the wall. Dib took notice first, and perhaps only, as his friends started in on the topic of 'bigfoot' and their local forest. Dib sat next to him, swishing the punch around in his cup.

"You look more than a little miserable," he began. He gave the drink a sniff and then paused before holding it out to the Irken. Zim took one sniff and turned his nose up.

"Eugh. It has the same smell on the breaths of these creatures. Just muffled."

Dib groaned, setting the cup onto a nearby table edge. He was lanky enough now that it hardly needed any effort to achieve. "Spiked. Of course."

"Does Dib-stink not partake in the drinking pastime?" Zim asked. Dib shook his head.

"No. I don't like the idea of inebriating my own brain."

"Zim is glad we can agree on that," Zim said. He started to rub a temple, feeling the dull ache of a headache permeating into his senses. It had taken it long enough. Zim was surprised it hadn't started sooner in the night. He was estimating how long he'd been at the affair to see if it was acceptable to leave when Dib nudged his arm with his elbow.

"Are you feeling ok?" Dib asked. Zim shrugged.

"It's loud. And stinks. And people were staring." Zim explains gruffly. Dib takes a cursory glance around the room. Most of the eyes had turned away, but he did catch a few, who just as hastily turned their gazes elsewhere.

"Let's go upstairs. It's usually emptier during these."

Zim wasted no time following Dib up the stairs, nearly passing him to get to the top. Dib was patient with the Irken. He led him as far back as the hall would allow. The music was significantly quieter up here. There was also a significantly less amount of people. In total with him and Zim, Dib could only count five. All three of those were on the stairs on their way up. Zim slid down this wall as well, sighing.

"Finally, reprieve."

"If you were that uncomfortable we could have come up here sooner." Dib offered, sliding down next to him.

"Eeeh. Zim will admit to enjoying the strength show for your club mates. The noise however, was too much. Zim could hear that infernal music from blocks away. At least it is lessened here. Zim can relax his antennae again." Zim explained, entering into one of his rambles. It had been years since Dib had seen him slip into one that wasn't related to conquest. He let the alien continue, unperturbed by the noise. It was better than listening to the nearly insufferably loud music downstairs.

"May Zim ask a question?"

Dib snapped back to reality. "Hm? Oh, yeah, what?"

"Why is the upper level scarce?" Zim asked, rubbing his headache away.

"Oh, um… well, I guess because of what the upstairs is used for at most of these," Dib explained. Too vaguely for Zim's liking.

"And?" he prompted.

"Couples usually come up here for… uh…. Quality time?" Dib said. It was a feeble attempt to keep from saying what was embarrassing for him to want to describe to the Irken. Despite Zim having already brought that topic up to him already.

"For sex."

He was always so blunt.

"Yes, Zim," Dib confirmed, burying his face in his hands.

"Ah. Is that why those teens on the stairs snickered once we'd come down the hall?" Zim asked.

"What? When did they…" Dib trailed off when he recalled Zim's hearing. Even under the muffler that was his wig it was exceptionally higher than his own. "Oh. Probably. They think it's funny for some reason. I don't get it, personally."

"Does Dib care?"

"About what they think? No. I'm applying to college out of state, so I'll probably never see them again unless it's for reunions," Dib explained, flicking some lint off his pants. He'd applied to seven schools as it was. An eighth tomorrow.

"Zim… had forgotten about that "cool-edge" business." Zim admitted. He drew his knees up to his chest.

"You haven't applied any… no, wait, you wouldn't have. It's not mandatory and you're an alien. I kind of… forgot that you wouldn't be."

"How does Dib-stink forget that obvious fact?" Zim asked incredulously.

"I just did! …Did you want to come with me? We could get off-campus housing. Dad's paying for it, so it's not like I can't afford it," Dib explained.

"Your parental unit is paying for your hobby?"

Dib laughed boisterously. "Never. I'm taking science courses to go into Astro-Physics. I want to be the first person to get us past the moon. Past Mars, even!"

Dib was getting excited again. Zim smiled at his enthusiasm. Science was a commendable field, on par with joining the Invader Force on Irk. To do anything else would have been a waste on Dib's intelligence. "Zim would be lying if Zim didn't admit there'd been… consideration for the astronomy field. Zim could get your species past Jupiter within the first year."

"I don't doubt that," Dib says. He started to drum his palms on his knees. "Would you want to do the same courses?"

"Mm. Sure." Zim muses. "What cool-edges did you apply to?"