Gaz locked herself in her room when she returned from the park and flung herself down on her bed. She snickered a little as the aging springs of her mattress groaned in pain at her weight atop them. The smirk vanished when she thought back to her exchange with Zim in the park.

She would find out what was going on. Her curiosity would eat her alive if she didn't.

Dib beat on her door and she had to force herself to remain calm as he ranted about how she shouldn't go out alone anymore, especially around Zim.

"What's the big deal, Dib?" she demanded as she finally opened the door. "He's your friend, not mine. Aside from the fact that we want nothing to do with each other, he wouldn't dare try anything on me. He knows that I'd kick his ass. I've done it before." She pushed past her annoying sibling and started down the hall. He followed, still insistent on having his say.

"I'm not sure about that, Gaz. He keeps asking about you, and acting weird. And I've found you two together before. Don't deny it."

Gaz turned, her head swimming with questions, but she chose to lock her curiosity in a steel vault in the back of her mind for later. Now it was time for her anger to come through, a time that she relished greatly. "Dib, if you haven't noticed, every single time Zim is around me, Gir is as well. Did it ever cross your mind that I find the robot more tolerable than Zim or any other human on this planet? And for that matter, why don't you just pay attention to your new girlfriend?"

She paused in her monologue, her attention on not tripping over her shoelaces as she tromped down the stairs. "Or did you forget that you have a girlfriend? I would guess it's the latter because you certainly failed to mention her to me. So mind your own business, Dib. I'm not a small child anymore. I can certainly take care of myself. Besides, if you really did care, then you would clue me in on what's going on in your life, rather than have my 'enemy' inform me of such things at your insistence!" She reached the front door and pulled it open forcibly. "And for another thing – who are you?" Gaz demanded, staring at the blonde girl that stood on their front step.

Dib stepped in front of his sister, taking the girl by the hand and leading her in the house. "Gaz, this is Lisa. We're in the same chemistry class together. She came over to study."

"Oh, is that your girlfriend?" Gaz inquired, looking the girl up and down. The girl in question glared at Dib's sister.

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I am. And who are you? Are you cheating on me, Dib?" Lisa demanded, turning her glare on him.

"No, this is my sister, Gaz," he said lamely, his failed attempt at introducing them. Lisa smirked.

"What a relief. I would hate for you to be going out with something that looks like that," Lisa laughed. Dib gave his sister a pleading look not to doom them, and Gaz shrugged, but made it clear that he would pay dearly…just at a later point in time. She spun on her heel and slammed the door behind her.

"Stupid Dib," she muttered to herself as she kicked a rock in her path. "Figures he would find some stupid blonde girl with a brain the size of a peanut." She looked back at her house. She longed to go back inside to her room, but she was still annoyed and didn't want it to look like she was crawling back to her brother while that witch was there. She fumbled in her pocket for her cell phone and a scrap piece of paper. She dialed the number and waited for someone to pick up.

"HELLO?" A voice shouted on the other end after a second ring.

"Why are you shouting?" she replied.

"Who is this? How dare you call my telephone number!"

"It's me."

"Me? I know not of this 'me.' I am me! Not you!"

Gaz sighed. "It's me, Gaz. Stupid. I was wondering if I could stop by in a few minutes. Dib's girlfriend is over, so…"

"Yes, yes. Of course you can stop by, miserable human. I will be down in my lab, so just come down the garbage shoot, I suppose."

"Thanks Zim." She hung up and headed in the direction of Zim's house, a slight bounce to her step.

She was let in by Gir, who immediately clasped its arms around her neck, riding piggy-back style. They went down to its playroom and Gaz played a few rounds of Galactic Invasion while she waited for Gir to fetch Zim.

"Hello, Gaz." Zim entered the room and sat beside her. She raised an eyebrow at his lack of name-suffix, but didn't take her eyes off of the screen.

"Hey, Zim. How's it hanging?" She frowned suddenly. Since when did she start talking to him like he was a friend? Weird.

"All right, I suppose. The usual. So…how do you like Dib's new love monkey?" Zim asked and was surprised when Gaz started to laugh.

"'Love monkey'," she gasped, "what a great concept!" She tried to calm herself. "Perfect description, really. She's horrid. And mean. I can handle someone being mean, but she was completely hostile toward me for no reason whatsoever."

"What did she do?" Zim cleared his throat. He was tempted to tack on something like 'not that I care, of course,' but that didn't seem like the right thing to do to Gaz. She was upset, even if she thought she was masking it well. Which she was. But Zim was not such a big fool as everyone seemed to think.

Gaz shrugged, still avoiding eye contact. "She made fun of the way I dress, and told Dib she was relieved that I'm his sister, and not some girl on the side because of how hideous I am. Apparently I'm ugly. I never realized such a thing. Alas, the great bitch of Dib's heart said I am, so it must be true. Oh, cruel fate." She chanced a look at Zim and blinked in confusion when he began to laugh.

His head was thrown back and his laughter sounded purely maniacal, but Gaz took the opportunity to study her alien companion. He was out of his 'human disguise' and seemed completely at ease in the bowels of his lair. She smiled and let out a small chuckle. "I can't breathe!" Zim shouted, and gasped in air. "Oh, the fact that she called you ugly and made fun of your clothes is just too much! Has she looked in a mirror? She is one of the worse looking stink-beasts I have seen in our school! You look much better than her!"

Gaz shook her head to see if that would help bring her back to reality. "Zim, you do know that she is considered one of the prettiest girls in my grade, don't you? Are you just teasing me?" She was borderline defensive. Zim glanced at her and decided to try to tell the truth in such a way that it would not invoke her wrath.

He sighed. "No, Gaz, I am not teasing you. I do find her to be completely revolting. You are at the very least tolerable, if not occasionally pleasurable to be around." He cringed. "Don't hurt me."

"I'm not going to hurt you Zim. I don't know if you realize it or not, but you just complimented a human. I'm a little startled is all," she confessed. "Oh well, whatever. It's not all that important. I think it's time I kicked some ass." At his worried look she added, "Yours, I mean, in Bust-A-Cap: the Circus Edition. What do ya say?"

"I would say that I am thoroughly relieved. How did you know that I have that game anyway?" he asked. She pointed to the bookshelf.

"You have the case right over there. I didn't know that you like that game. It's so cool. I think you're the first being I've met that actually likes it besides me."

"You can call me a 'person' you know." She gave him a confused look. "Ahem. 'Person: noun. An individual of specified character,'" he quoted. "It doesn't necessarily refer to a human, you know."

"True, but most of the time that's the implied meaning. And you're better than any human that I know," she complimented, realizing what she had done a bit too late to take the words back.

"Of course I am better! I am ZIM!" he shouted. At her raised hand and evil glare, he lowered his tone and finished meekly, "and we shall start playing the game now, yes?"

"Sure."

Several hours passed until Gaz realized that she was late getting home. It was nearing midnight. She sat up from her sprawled position on the floor where she had been watching a horror movie with Zim and looked around, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Zim was two feet away, not sleeping, but not entirely conscious either.

She scooted closer to the alien and studied the way his chest barely rose and fell as he breathed. In an uncharacteristic display of affection for something other than a video game, Gaz allowed her hand to trail up the side of his face and over an exposed antenna. The alien let out a small, pleased sound. She repeated the action, fascinated by the effects she was having on him. She, Gaz Membrane, seemed to be making someone else happy, even if he wasn't fully conscious.

She moved to do it a third time when he suddenly sat up, bumping his head against hers. "Ow, what did you do that for?" she demanded angrily. "That hurt!"

"That's what you get for being so close to me," he replied stubbornly. "Besides, I started to feel something odd and I wasn't sure if we were in danger or not."

"No, it was just me. Did I hurt you?"

"On the contrary. It felt rather pleasant, oddly enough." He eyed her suspiciously. "What were you trying to do to me anyway?"

"I was, um…trying…to wake you up. You looked like you were asleep or something."

"Irkens have no need for sleep. I was simply in an idle mode. How did you do that?"

"Are you going to freak out if I touch you?" Gaz questioned dryly. He glared at her, but shook his head.

"No. You've already done it, so it can't be all that bad when I'm fully conscious." Taking that as a cue that she had permission, Gaz reached out her hand once again to touch his antenna. This time she made a circle with her thumb and fingers, applying a bit more pressure to the black protrusion on his head. He nearly purred with delight, and had to stop himself from leaning into her gentle ministrations. She pulled back, surprised by his conscious reaction.

"It's almost midnight, I think I should go home now," she mumbled, standing. She reached a hand down to help Zim up. He accepted it and leapt to his feet.

"I can walk you, if you so desire," he offered, surprising himself. She shrugged and they made their way to the terrestrial level of the base.

"What did it feel like?" Gaz asked suddenly, forcing herself not to turn and face him. She was sure that he was probably staring at her like she was insane.

"Sensory overload," he replied. "An odd sensory overload that was not together unsatisfactory." He winced when she stopped suddenly, turning to face him head-on.

" 'Not together unsatisfactory?' What the hell is that supposed to mean?" She didn't bother to wait for an answer, walking more rapidly than before. Zim hurried to catch up and heard only snatches of her solo conversation. "Stupid idiot, letting yourself get used like that. Ugh, moron!"

"Gaz-human, I was not using you! You stupid human!" Zim exclaimed. "You asked me what it felt like, and I merely told the truth. I would not use you," he said in a more quiet voice. "I…apologize if I upset you," he added grudgingly. "I'm not so good with tactful human conversation just yet."

She bit her lip to keep tears at bay, not wanting to be weak again. "Well, you aren't the only one with that problem." They finished their walk in silence. "Thanks for walking me home, Zim. You're a much better…person…than my brother seems to think. You're decent." With that she ran inside the house. Zim turned to walk back to his home, pondering on what she meant by her comment about her brother.