A/N: Hey, you guys! Long time, no see! :) Sorry once again for the bit of a wait on this next chapter. Life gets hectic though and setting these deadlines is all I can do to keep up with writing this story sometimes. In any case though, here's a longer chapter, as promised. You can expect my next update for this story to be out April 18th. Hope this quick update manages to hold you all over until then. Thanks once again for all your guys' recent support! ;) Happy first day of spring!

ZADR Orange Chapter 186

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

Noticing Dib when he entered the kitchen to take a seat near the entryway, Rose stepped away from the salad she was preparing at the counter top and made her way over to stand right next to him. "Are you alright, Dib?" she asked, able to tell from just a glance that something wasn't quite right with the hybrid.

Looking up at Rose once she had approached him, Dib tried to offer her a weak smile. "Y-Yeah...Everything's...fine..." he said with very little conviction evident in his voice.

Rose smiled sadly at that response. "I know that look, Dib. What happened?" she asked, not wanting to pry but hoping he'd open up to her a bit more so she could offer him some advice if need be.

"N-Nothing..." Dib blushed, not wanting to tell her what had happened. "R-Really, I-I just got a little hungry is all and decided to come down for something to eat." he tried to send her a more convincing smile now, not wanting to make a big deal over this.

Rose sighed at that response before smiling a little. "Well, alright. If you say so..." she said, deciding to drop the matter for the time being.

"...Thank you..." Dib returned his chin back to his arms as he waited, Rose returning back to the counter top so she could prepare him a small plate of food to eat as well as a bowl with some leftover soup in it.

"Are you going to eat down here with us?"

"W-Well...N-No...I don't think I should...I promised Zim I would be there when he wakes up. I...should probably get back to him now..." Dib said, getting up onto his feet again so he could head back upstairs once he had been handed the plate of food Rose had made up for him.

Rose reached out to stop him before he could leave. "Wait, Dib." she placed a little something extra onto his plate. "That's a little something for Zim to have in case he gets hungry. Tell him he's more than welcome to come on down and grab a plate himself if he'd like more. There's plenty of food left over. A-And dessert too!..If you guys want to join us for dessert later on tonight, that is." she said, hoping they'd at least take her and Jack up on that offer.

"Th-Thank you..." Dib smiled back at her. "I-I think Zim might like that..." he then said before turning to head back upstairs.

Watching as the hybrid returned back to his alien lover, Rose smiled warmly to herself, happy to see that the two of them at least seemed to be getting along better with each other now.

Heading back upstairs meanwhile, Dib opened the door to the room he had left Zim in quietly, unsure of whether the other had drifted back off to sleep yet or not. Things seemed silent enough as he slipped into the room and returned back to the bedside, setting down his food on the nightstand and pulling up a chair. Zim wasn't budging at all, leading him to believe the other really had already fallen back off to sleep. Sighing to himself, he then slumped into the chair next to the bed and began nibbling at a bit of his food.

Antennas twitching a little in response to the sound of someone eating, Zim cracked his eyes open just slightly when he sensed that the other had returned, an unfamiliar but strangely tempting aroma accompanying the hybrid's arrival.

Noticing the bit of movement, Dib looked over at Zim, who was currently watching him eat. "Want some?" he asked and offered Zim a buttered biscuit, one of the items Rose had added to his plate of food for Zim.

Zim smiled a little at the small offering. "Okay..." he nodded before going to sit up slowly in his spot.

Dib smiled also when Zim sat up in bed and took the biscuit from him. "R-Rose gave it to me to give to you...A-And there's more downstairs if you're still hungry afterwards." he said, setting the plate of food aside again so he could take up the bowl of soup to eat instead. "Th-They also offered us dessert later if you want." he added before going to blow on a spoonful of soup broth.

Nibbling at the biscuit the other had brought up to him, Zim smiled at the thought of dessert. "I might take them up on that." he said, never one to miss out on dessert.

"I thought you might." Dib said, dessert sounding pretty welcoming to him at the moment as well as he finished up his soup and moved on to some of the food Rose had piled onto a plate for him.

Feeling even hungrier now, Zim licked his lips as he finished off the biscuit, having thoroughly enjoyed the crispy delicacy and its soft doughy interior which held a hint of saltiness to it courtesy of the butter that had melted into it.

Taking up a fork, Dib scooped up a bite of creamy mashed potatoes to eat and then a second, smaller scoop to offer over to Zim. "You like mashed potatoes, right?" he asked, certain there were at least a few savory dishes Zim could handle in his diet.

Zim merely shrugged. "I've never had them before." he said, having only tried a few other Earth dishes provided to him by the cafeteria at school.

"Well, try them." Dib offered the forkful of mashed potatoes to him again. "I think you'd like them. They don't have any meat in them or anything else that I think you would be allergic to. In a way, they're kind of like French fries." he said, figuring that so long as Zim could handle those then certainly he could handle the base component of them.

Zim eyed the mashed potatoes warily. They didn't look or smell like raw sewage, much like they did when Gir made them. "Alright…" he said before opening his mouth and leaning forward.

Dib brought the fork to Zim's mouth, feeding him just a little bit at first just in case. "Well...How do you like them?" he asked as he watched Zim eat them as though trying to analyze the taste and whether he actually liked them or not.

Zim licked his lips a few times before smiling. "Those are great!" he exclaimed rather excitedly, his antennae twitching with delight as it wasn't all too often he actually came across an Earth dish he both liked and could consume safely without poisoning himself in the process.

"Really?!" Dib smiled wide at Zim's reaction, scooping up another bite for himself before setting his plate aside for just a moment. "Wait here! I'll be right back!" he then stood up to head back down into the kitchen, fixing up a plate of mashed potatoes and another biscuit for Zim to eat before returning about a minute later. "Here." he offered the plate to Zim as he took a seat in the chair again.

Grinning wide, Zim licked his lips again as he took the plate from Dib. "Thank you, Dib." he said before digging in rather ravenously.

"You're welcome." Dib blushed, smiling to himself as he returned back to his food. "I-I'm just glad you like it so much..." he then said, playing with his fork as he slowly began eating again.

"Mmm…It's almost as good as you are." Zim glanced over at Dib, snickering a little when he noticed the boy flush up slightly.

Dib blushed an even brighter red at Zim's suggestive words, shifting in his seat a bit uncomfortably now. "I-I thought you didn't want to start anything with me..." his voice came out in a quiet whisper.

"Words are different than actions."

"N-Not when they make me feel this way..." Dib's face very quickly became a bright, cherry red as he stared down at his food, fidgeting even more in his seat. How could Zim assume such an image WOULDN'T affect him in such a way as his actions had the other?

Glancing over at the hybrid, Zim stopped eating and blushed himself. "O-Oh... S-Sorry..." he apologized before falling completely silent.

"N-No...I'M sorry...I-I shouldn't have been trying to start something with you earlier..." Dib's antennae drooped a bit as he pressed a hand to his extended belly, his fingers twitching against it.

Zim sighed at that response before smiling a little. "If you REALLY want to…You can continue harassing me..." he said, figuring that's all Dib's earlier advances on him had been.

"I-I wasn't TRYING to harass you...M-Maybe tease a little, b-but that wasn't the reason I had started..." Dib's face flushed even more.

"Then why did you?"

Unable to bring his gaze up to meet Zim's, Dib merely shrugged, not wanting to tell him the real reason why. "N-No reason really, I guess...I-I was just being stupid..." he said, wanting Zim to just drop the subject now.

Zim smiled sadly at that. "No, you weren't. Now come on. Out with it." he pressed, not about to just drop the subject so easily.

Still refusing to look back at Zim, Dib could only bow his head in defeat somewhat. "It doesn't matter...It WAS stupid, and I never should have started with you..." he said in a slightly irritated manner now, just wanting to forget it had even happened.

"Oh come on, Dib. Tell me. Were you irresistibly drawn to me?"

"Wh-What would it matter if I were?! You weren't exactly drawn to me at the time...M-Maybe I was just trying to enjoy what we have while we still have it. But...the farther along I get, the more I get to thinking that maybe we should stop soon...M-Maybe we shouldn't be trying to do things like that now that I'm getting closer to the due date..."

Sighing at that response, Zim nodded his head a little, not having meant to upset his hybrid again. After all, the last thing he wanted was for Dib to start thinking that his pregnancy was turning him off to him.

Knowing he was having more urges lately to be with Zim but at the same time feeling less and less able to act on them because of the pregnancy, Dib's antennae wilted even more. He suddenly felt rather self-conscious about his body again and after a moment went to push his plate of food away.

Sitting up more when he noticed Dib set his food off to one side, his antennae currently hanging limp by the sides of his head, Zim smiled a little sadly. "Come here, Dib." he placed his own food off to one side and opened his arms up for the other, wanting Dib to come to him.

Glancing up at Zim sadly, Dib hesitated to do as he was told before finally climbing up onto the bed with him and nuzzling himself into the other's chest as he let out a shaky sigh, trying to keep his emotions in check so as not to worry Zim anymore. Perhaps he was just being paranoid about his weight again.

Pulling him close to hold tightly against his chest, Zim leaned down to kiss him deeply. "If you want something, just tell me what it is you want, Dib." he spoke comfortingly against the hybrid's skin.

Dib could only shake his head slowly at those words though, balling up in Zim's arms. Of course he wanted Zim, but he just assumed those were his hormones talking. It seemed as though he wanted Zim all the time nowadays, just to feel the other touch and kiss and pleasure him. But he didn't want something that the other didn't want equally, especially if he was becoming less and less able to act on those urges.

Smiling sadly and blushing when Dib didn't respond back right away, Zim answered as though he could read the other's mind. "You know I ALWAYS want you, Dib...You never have to question that... I love you too much not to want you with every fiber of my being." he said, not wanting Dib to think otherwise.

"...Then why did you stop me earlier if you wanted me...? I don't want to have to ask for it. I just want it to be something that happens naturally...I can't help wanting you 24/7 now! But you...didn't want it earlier..."

Zim's antennas drooped at those words. "I'm sorry...I thought you were only doing it because you knew I liked it..." he said, not wanting to feel like he was forcing himself on Dib just to satisfy his own cravings.

"And did you honestly think I would try to start something I didn't want too?!" Dib breathed in shakily, trying to calm himself back down before he got too upset with the other.

Zim's antennas drooped even more at that. "W-Well...No, I guess you wouldn't..." he said, suddenly feeling foolish with himself for having jumped to such a conclusion.

"I-I know I shouldn't expect to receive sex just whenever I want it...A-And I don't...B-But I can't help wanting to pleasure you...A-And be pleasured back by you..." Dib blushed, closing his eyes and shaking his head as he held it.

Zim smiled a little at those words and leaned down to kiss him again, softly but passionately on the lips.

Opening his eyes to look back up at Zim with wide, tearful eyes, Dib's cheeks flushed a light pink at the kiss he received as he brought up two hands to wipe at them with his wrists, not wanting to cry in front of the other again.

Zim nuzzled him a little. "Don't be sad, Dib." he spoke in soft voice just barely above a whisper.

Hiding his face away in Zim's neck now, Dib's antennae shuddered before falling back. He didn't want Zim to let go of him, now or anytime soon.

A/N: And there you have it for Chapter 186. Until next time~