A/N: Alright, you guys! So here's a very quick chapter update before I have to be heading off to work for the day! And being updated on time this time, as promised. :) Next update should be out on March 20th. Yes, I know that must seem like quite a bit of a stretch to some of you, but since my gaps between chapter updates have become rather large in recent years, I've decided to try increasing the length of my chapters so they're more worth the time spent waiting for them. So expect longer chapters in the future. As well as more detailed chapters as I'm trying to improve the quality of my writing a bit more. Thanks for everybody's support in the meantime. Gotta be heading off to work now!

ZADR Orange Chapter 185

Warnings: Extreme OOCness

Rating: M for later chapters

Disclaimer: We do not own Invader Zim, nor any of the characters from it. We do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Zim: Notgonnadie

Dib: Me

Enjoy. =3

Blushing at the small nuzzle he received as he chewed on the piece of chocolate in his mouth, Dib glanced at Zim with an all too bashful look on his face before swallowing down the sweet treat, the lingering taste of dense caramel remaining ever present on his taste buds. It was the first sweet he had eaten in a really long time and he couldn't help but savor the sticky remains of sugar still clinging to the roof of his mouth.

Zim smiled wider at Dib's reaction, having always found Dib's timid nature rather adorable. "Want more?" he then asked, offering Dib the box of chocolates again.

Staring at the box of chocolates being offered to him for just a little while longer, Dib considered whether or not he should be indulging so much then reached forward to take just one more piece, pulling it back to himself as he curled up in his spot and enjoyed it, this particular piece of chocolate containing a more favorable texture than the last one he'd eaten had, crunchy with a nutty aftertaste that complimented the chocolate nicely.

Zim smiled when Dib accepted his small offering and nuzzled him a second time, cuddling close.

Making himself comfortable pressed up against Zim, Dib snacked on his prize in silence, his antennae twitching contently beneath the bunny hood as he absorbed what body heat he could from the other.

Closing his eyes a little when things finally seemed calm again, Zim yawned before settling himself back into the bed, any anxiety he'd felt earlier finally leaving him along with what remained of any tenseness he felt in his aching muscles.

"Are you tired?" Dib asked, looking up from his spot in Zim's arms.

Zim nodded his head at the question. "A little..." he admitted though didn't want Dib to think it had anything to do with him.

"Then you should sleep..." Dib pressed at least one of his antennas up against Zim's chest and listened to the Irken's heartbeat, a soothing lullaby for their smeets as they seemed to kick happily at the bit of sweets they were receiving from Dib after such a long time going without them.

Zim smiled and nodded his head again, snuggling down into the bed covers and closing his eyes. "Will you be here when I wake up?" he then asked, not even bothering to open his eyes again at this point.

"...Sure..." Dib closed his own eyes, not feeling tired but willing to stay with the other as long as he wanted. "I think Jack and Rose want us to have dinner with them tonight though...Are you hungry at all?" he then asked, remembering his earlier promise to Rose.

Zim merely yawned a second time at that question. "I'm fine…But you should go eat." he slurred a bit before cracking his eyes open to smile up at Dib. "I'll be fine up here so go get yourself some dinner. Just come back to me, okay?" he said, a part of him still worried Dib might vanish like he had before.

"I'm not very hungry..." Dib shook his head at Zim's suggestion, not wanting to leave Zim either. "I can get something later..." he then said so the other wouldn't worry about him refusing to eat again.

"You sure?" Zim bit his lip then smiled when an idea came to him. "Well, at least eat some more chocolate then." he offered the half-eaten box to him once more.

Staring at the box of chocolates for a few long moments, Dib then shook his head before pushing it away somewhat. "N-No, I shouldn't...I-If I get hungry, I'll get myself some real food to eat. Probably better for the smeets that I don't fill up on just chocolate. Besides, I got these for you. I don't want to be the one eating them all. I think you need the sweets a lot more than I actually do." he said, not wanting to take anything more from Zim than what he'd already taken.

Sighing to himself at that response, Zim shook his head and smiled a little sadly. "Well, the smeets probably enjoy the sweets, Dib-love, but alright." he gave in, setting the box back down and closing his eyes again.

Dib couldn't help but let out a short-lived laugh at that comment. "That doesn't mean I'm going to be feeding them all sweets after they're born. They won't even have teeth to eat solid foods with at that point. Good for Irkens or not, I'd rather start them off on something healthier to eat in their diets after they're born." he said, trying to think of what he could feed them that would be healthy for both humans and Irkens to eat.

Zim pouted at that comment. "You're so mean~" he said in mock sadness before laughing a little himself.

"That's not mean! I'm just thinking realistically! Besides, you're crazy if you think I'd let YOU make any important decisions about raising them. I already know how you'd raise them if you had your way. You'd spoil them rotten!"

Knowing that was true, Zim snorted and laughed louder. For months now, he had been spoiling his hybrid with endless affections and he couldn't imagine not doing the same for their smeets once they arrived.

"In fact, you already spoil them, and they're not even out of the womb yet. So no more contact for you." Dib pulled away from Zim and turned over onto his other side, back facing the Irken now as he cradled his swollen belly close and curled up to keep Zim from touching it.

Eyes snapping wide open a split second later, Zim whined a little when Dib turned away from him. "But Diiiiiiib." he reached over to give the hybrid a small shake in protest.

"Nope. You're not going to change my mind about this. I know you, Zim. You'll rot their little brains and their as of now non-existent teeth. So no smeets for you. I don't trust you enough to leave them alone with you."

Zim pouted even more at that. "But Diiiib, they're my smeets too..." he argued, not wanting Dib to have all the say in how they raised them.

"Exactly...I can only imagine the trouble they'll get into being related to you...Especially if I leave you alone with them...No rotting their brains until they're at least 40." Dib hugged his belly close, stroking a hand over where one of them was kicking.

Letting out yet another short-lived whine, Zim scooted over and wrapped his arms around Dib rather needily. "But if I can't play with them, then they won't like me." he tried to plead his case.

"And if you CAN play with them, then they won't like ME." Dib argued back, his antennae falling back to press against his head as he tried to brush Zim away from him and his smeets, stealing part of the blanket to wrap around himself protectively.

Zim's antennas drooped when Dib pushed him away. "But..." he began to say before being cut off by Dib again.

"No buts!" Dib pulled the covers over himself completely now, balling up in his spot and closing his eyes as though to sleep as he purred quietly against his stomach, his antennas twitching as he tried to contain his laughter.

Unsure whether Dib was still playing at this point or not, Zim sighed and balled up in the bed behind him sadly. To him, it sounded more serious as he turned to lay on his other side now.

Waiting until he heard the other shift over onto his other side behind him, Dib then rolled back over underneath the covers to face Zim again, playfully reaching a hand down to right between the Irken's legs.

Gasping at the sudden groping, Zim jerked up in his spot, eyes wide.

Having more fun teasing Zim this way than he was having teasing him about the smeets, Dib giggled at the reaction.

Zim whined and pouted when he realized what Dib was up to. "Don't start something, Dib." he said, reaching down a hand to remove Dib's as he was still feeling rather hurt by the other's previous teasing.

"Hmm?" Dib peeked out from underneath the covers at Zim. "Why not? I thought you liked this." his antennae drooped a bit when Zim reached down to stop him from continuing.

"I thought you didn't." Zim retorted, nodding to himself and pulling Dib's hand away.

His antennae wilting even more at that response, Dib sat up more in the bed when Zim pushed his hands away. "Y-You know...I-I'm suddenly feeling really hungry..." he lied, getting up out of the bed to leave the room, feeling as though he had done something wrong now.

Watching him leave out of the corner of his eye, Zim sighed once Dib had left the room completely.

Slowly making his way back downstairs to where Jack and Rose were just preparing dinner, Dib, meanwhile, pressed his back up against one of the kitchen walls and slid down to the ground to sit with his knees to his chest. Perhaps he had taken his teasing a bit too far. He hadn't expected the other to turn down his advances though. Groaning to himself as he felt stupid now for assuming Zim would want anything to do with him intimately in his current condition, he then went to hide his face in his knees, feeling rather embarrassed now by his own actions.

A/N: And there you have it for Chapter 185. Until next time~