It was common enough for Dib and Zim to lose track of the time when they fought. Common enough to lose track of their surroundings, of the things they've destroyed in the process, of the many places they would grapple- a fight sometimes spamming from one end of the city to the other, sometimes more.
But being trapped in a cabin in a snowstorm, with neither one wanting to risk getting frozen to death- that was not common.
"This is all your fault, you know." Zim bit back at him, eerily still. But he wasn't quite cold- no, his PAK was too advanced to let him freeze to death, he just wouldn't allow himself to move, on fear that one wrong move would cause the heat from his PAK to dissipate.
Not that he didn't have any trust in his PAK, of course not. But he'd learned the hard way how the Earth itself was his foe, fighting him with ridiculous atmospheric movements and causing water to fall out of the sky-
He wasn't risking his skin just in case the cold melted around him and burning his skin- he wasn't falling for the Earth's unpredictability again.
Dib, on the other corner, could only glare at him. He was sat on an old mattress- the lone luxury he could find in the abandoned cabin. He was shivering, mildly afraid that if he opened his mouth he might bite his tongue over his tremors.
Zim, apparently having one working braincell, noticed his silence. "Have you fallen weak under these conditions? If so, I will conquer the planet with this feeling that made you immobile! Just wait, Dib-thing, and I will obliterate you!"
"You're one to talk," Dib fought through the chattering of his teeth, "You're not even moving!"
"It's to conserve heat! I know well enough to figure out that this disgusting Earth temperature would last for a while!"
"You have a literal heater on your back! You can move!"
"Strategically speaking, I do not want to!"
"Ha! I found one of your alien weaknesses!" Dib sprung to his feet, cheeks reddening with his vigor. His breath drew white on the winter air, and for a moment Zim was taken aback- it was a sight to see- the human towering over him in response to his taunts, ready to take him on.
That one moment abruptly faded as the human, as if his energy ran out, sank to the floor almost immediately, burying his face in his arms, sinking deeper into a thin blanket.
"Shame that I have not learned human corpse disposal yet." Zim tutted. "Perhaps I would just keep you as a trophy."
"Could you just stop, just for a minute?"
"You cave, filthy human? Victory for Zim!"
"Just stop!" His shout was loud as ever, abrupt, and yet tinged with frustration. It faded away into a quiet plea. "Just… just stop."
The only sound that could be heard in their shelter was the soft whirring of Zim's PAK as he tried to figure out the… demand? Request?
He was an invader! Why would he seek to prolong the sick game they have been playing, when he could finish it right now?
Zim walked closer to the human, who ignored the very audible creaks he made as he stepped on the old, wooden cabin floor. Amplified by the slow but steady pour of snow outside, their whole situation had a bit of an eerie, wrong feel to it.
He poked the human, checking to see if he's still alive- poking at the crossed arms, flicking the side of his head, then ultimately trying to kick him over.
Dib blocked his leg the second time- his hands moving at the stubborn alien's petulant kicks, then almost froze as his instincts wouldn't allow him to let go.
It was too warm, the soft instance of his hand brushing over the alien's leg, and he shuffled back to avoid the temptation.
Zim took this the wrong way of course, and began to close their distance. "You cower in front of me?"
"Get back, alien scum! Or i'll-" Dib chattered, "Get back!"
"And if I don't?" It was unfair how easy it was for the alien to pick up that smug expression from him. It was unfair how much Dib wanted to punch him but didn't have the strength. It was unfair how Dib knew he should be moving away, and yet he was frozen by his own weakness- the faint craving in his body for warmth as the alien just excluded it so easily.
Even without contact, now that he found it, it was easy enough to pick up the beginnings of the warmth in the air just by being near the alien. His survival instincts could hardly refuse that.
The blanket that covered him wasn't enough.
If he was going to survive, he was going to have to do the unthinkable.
Before the other could figure out he was up to something- he quickly snapped into action, tearing the blanket that he so futilely had wrapped around him, and using it to catch Zim.
The alien was not happy about it, sputtering out threats about feeding Dib's face to GIR; to which Dib happily noted to himself that he could always bribe GIR with tacos.
There was only one explanation. Dib was cold, and cold equals delirious. Because he'd somehow swaddled Zim in the blanket, the alien still struggling, as he crushed Zim to his chest, burying his face in Zim's neck. "Release me, you human filth!" He cringed away from the cold contact- but the human held firm.
Dib's relief was instantaneous. He wanted to melt into the ever pouring heat, if he closed his eyes he could pretend he was back at home hugging his own pillows- if not for the utterly alien attachment that he could feel between them.
Zim snarled in his ears. He was hyper aware of the human that covered him- it was foreign, completely new- when was the last time he'd been forcibly shoved into another creature? Without getting shoved away?
The cold contact was suffocating- Zim could only close his eyes as he stilled. An unbidden memory surged by him, he will not let himself look back on that failure, that weakness, the lapse of pointless needing he'd had as a smeet-
He will not, he would not, he should not-
Zim's PAK was in between them- Dib felt like he had enough sanity to move if there was even a hint of those pesky metallic legs coming out.
Coffee was never that great of a substitute for actual rest.
Dib stifled a yawn, and found himself relaxing, his hold never laxing even as he left his thoughts to wander, eventually, into…
Move… he'll move, in just a little… while.
The cold was familiar. Zim found himself pressing his cheek to the cold, desperately trying to recall a memory- his small hands reaching up to once again, embrace the unfeeling robot arm- it was as still as it had been, but louder-
He didn't recall it having a steady thrum of lub dub, lub dub, lub dub, the rhythmic beat hypnotizing-
He didn't recall it being soft .
He couldn't deny it feeling safe, and he couldn't help but lose himself, his mind reaching a state of calm he had never felt the need to seek. And yet with the knowledge that he'd merely stumbled upon it, as no good irken would ever make their own pleasure a priority, he could let himself believe that this had been nothing , as soon as he opened his eyes and became the soldier he was meant to be-
As soon as…
He pretended as long as he could.
In the morning, when the weather had waned and they woke up somehow clutching each other, after bouts of shrieking as they woke, and pointed glares as they let their offense show as to not admit, in any way, that their actions might've been for the best-
As Dib turned to leave, he saw Zim watch him curiously, and he couldn't help but try and erase the encounter from his mind- when later, looking back, he would find himself not as quite appalled to have held Zim the night before.
And if Zim, who had watched him leave, decided that he wouldn't mind being caught again, wrapped around in his arms without rejection- well.
No one had to know, both of them think.