The silence suddenly grew heavy on Zim's shoulders. He cleared his throat in an attempt to break it.

"Eh…now what?" He asked, his antennae folding down as the tension seemed to die down.
Dib released his bottom lip, unaware that he'd even been biting it and annoyed about that. Turning to Zim, he immediately wanted to take a step back. Or maybe even a step closer. He could see everything now. They were only a foot or so away. There were so many pigments in his skin. It wasn't just green. It was ivy and jade…there were small lines there, where none had been before. Frown lines and thinking lines.

Those eyes though, Dib could finally see them up close; gigantic. They glistened wetly and though they had no pupil they had a thousand emotions and stories. Intelligence and a bit of something else. They sucked him in and put him on edge. They were dangerous eyes.

Zim was real.

"Wow." Dib realized he was staring. He blinked and looked away. "I mean, we…we wait. They'll spend a while trying to plan. Then when they leave I can get out of this box…maybe you can too. Maybe you can be of assistance with the alarms."

Zim scoffed. "I'm sure I've dealt with more complicated security systems." Zim reassured, waving a hand dismissively. "So of course I'll be getting out of this box. You'd better not go back on Zim, now!" He pointed an accusing finger at Dib.

"Now that you've pulled this little stunt, you're in this 'till the end." He reminded him. Dib had made it very clear which side he was on in doing this. Betraying his father-figure for Zim, after all.

There was a thought. Dib had willingly betrayed the other humans. Zim brought his hand to his chin as he thought about it. How far was the creature willing to go for Zim's sake? Well, they were going to find out, that was for sure.

Dib had proven to be useful thus far, and Zim had to admit that he had underestimated his abilities at first. Maybe there was hope for him, yet.

"So we wait, then? And do what? Swap war stories?" He asked, impatiently.

Dib rolled his eyes. "I'm on the side of my own humanity. I won't let you die for some scientists and their ignorance." It was uncomfortable standing up so, he slunk against the side of the box, sliding down until he sat with his feet out.

"I don't know. I'm not your entertainer. And I hope you're being sarcastic. I don't have any war stories. But, if you have any you could tell me." He shrugged, trying not to sound too excited about the prospect.

Zim's shoulders slump as he made his way over to the bed and plopped himself down on the hard mattress. Did he have any stories left in him to tell? Was Zim finally talked out?
"Zim is tired of talking." Something he thought he'd never hear himself say. And besides, Zim had found himself mildly interested in the creature that now shared a cell with him.

"I think it's my turn to ask questions." Zim pressed his fingertips together as he thought. "Like those lenses; they are for poor eyesight, correct?" He addressed Dib's glasses with heightened curiosity. He had been wondering ever since he had first laid eyes on the human. He had seen very few humans with glasses, so he never had a chance to inquire about them.

Dib shrugged, figuring that was fair. Zim had been pretty much put under a barrage of questions from day one. His finger flew up and grabbed at the arms of his glasses. "Yeah. My eyes kind of suck from years of staring at a computer screen and reading in the dark…"

Hesitating for a second, but only a second, the boy finally lifted them off his face and held them up for the irken to see, who was now just a green and magenta smear.
"My vision is blurry now because I don't have them on, but if you want you can look at them."

"Interesting," Zim breathed as he pushed himself off the bed. He took a few hesitant steps towards the human before reaching out and plucking the lenses with delicate fingers from Dib's hands. He turned them over and studied them, watching as the world through the lenses writhed and warped as he moved them about.

"I fail to see how something so simple can enhance your vision." He thought out loud. Gingerly, he slips the arms over his face, holding them against the sides of his head to keep them in place. They fit awkwardly, the bridge of the glasses setting uncomfortably against the Irken's smooth skin where he lacked a nose.

Zim was instantly thrown into a distorted version on reality.

"Whoa!" He turned his head every which way, watching the world turn in its perverted new existence. Everything blurred together and perspective seemed to be a thing unknown to this world.

Zim's eyes filled up the lenses as he looked around with wide eyes. "This is what you see all the time?" He asked, baffled by the thought. How could somebody go through their life with the world looking like this?

The Irken's head began to swim, and he had to force himself to peel the lenses away. He groaned slightly at the shift of reality and shook his head.

It was hard to really tell what was happening considering he was now half blind but, from Zim's exclamation Dib could safely assume the irken had tried on his glasses. He covered his mouth up with his hand to stifle a laugh before shaking his head. "No. They're made especially for my eyes. I see out of them just fine where others might have a much harder time. It might be blurry or way too clear and give them a head ache."

Speaking of which…Dib held out his hand for the lenses, not wanting to go without them too long, lest he start to get one. "Do Irkens not get bad eye sight?"

"Not generally." Zim answered, handing the accessory back to the human. Feeling dizzy, the Irken decided not to chance a trip back to the bed lest he fall on his face, so settled for sitting on the floor in front of the human, his legs crossed and he hands resting on his knees.

"The Irken race is all about perfection," He explained truthfully. "Breeding out the defective genetics, and what have you. And where there is a chance of defection, we usually reinstate or discard completely." He held up a claw and pointed to one of his large magenta orbs. "For example, ocular implants are standard issue. In fact…"

With a careful, slow movement, Zim pressed the tip of his gloved finger to the bottom of his eye. He trailed the round edge until finding a small groove, and pushed. His fingertip slid under easily, the magenta orb shifting in its socket under the new pressure.

He pushed farther until he was able to hook his fingertip around the edge of the orb, and pulled. The eye came free from its socket with a small 'pop', and fell into the invader's hand. A winding, green cord attached to the backside of Zim's eye dangled across his cheek and trailed to the inside of the now gaping hole where his eye once was.

Zim smiled and held up the magenta jewel to look at.

Dib fitted his glasses to his face just in time to watch the show. At first confusion and then horror racked his body. All the blood drained from his face. Zim's eye…was in his hand. Two possible reactions tugged at him; scream at the alien and make him put it back where eyes belong or ooh and ahh because it was kind of cool in a freaky, disgusting way.

"Uh…"Dib unconsciously scooted away a bit further. "Y-You took out your eye. That's…really cool and also extremely gross, Zim. Can you put it back please?" Whenever the teenager got stressed his voice got higher. At that current moment it was reminiscent of his childhood.

Zim could only laugh at the human's reaction. It was something so normal to Zim that his scared expression seemed so ridiculous, so unnecessary. He obliged, however, and popped his eye back into his socket with less ease than he had taken it out. Once it was in, he blinked a few times and looked back at the Dib-creature.
"So, in short, the answer is no. Irkens do not develop poor eyesight."

"Guh. Yeah. Um. That's freaky." Dib shook his head and sat up straighter now, taking a deep breath now that the eye was safely back in its proper place. Now that it was over though, he could laugh a bit at his own reaction and how cool it was to be talking to an alien who could apparently pop his eye in and out of it's socket. Then he looked back up at Zim and smirked.

"So was that the end of your questions? Just about my glasses?"

"Well, no." Zim admitted while pressing his fingertips together again. "Upon landing on this planet there has been one thing that has stood out among you humans, especially compared with other alien species I've encountered. It seems to be unique to your race."
And it was true. Not only that, but it just seemed so odd to the Irken.

He pointed to Dib's head, rather shamelessly. "That hair. What purpose does it serve? It seems useless and bothersome."

Zim's finger was like a few centimeters away from his face and Dib fought the urge to back up a bit more, eyes cross-eyed to try and see the end of the glove. "Hair. Hair's only real purpose is to keep our heads warm. 80% of body heat escapes from the top of our heads…so, hair hold some of it in. I guess." At least that's what he thought it was there for.

The human reached up and poked back at Zim's finger, trying to get it out of his face. "You're gonna smudge my glasses, weirdo."

"Eh? Is that all it does? How cumbersome!" Zim adjusted himself to his knees, leaning forward with an outstretched hand. How could they do anything at all with all that fluff on their heads? Wasn't it distracting? Zim could barely stand to wear his wig; he couldn't imagine having something like that weighing his senses down all the time.

But the texture was an interesting one; not like animal fur or anything he had seen before. "Let me touch it!"

What was happening? Dib's eye widened and he suddenly realized just how trapped in the corner he really was. Gold eyes flew behind Zim looking for a exit before landing on the irken's outstretched hand.

"Y-You want to touch my hair? Why?" God. Ignoring how girly his voice sounded just then, he flailed around a bit before grabbing Zim's wrist. It wasn't that big of a deal. Just, Yanno, an alien wanting to mess around in his hair. Totally normal.

Zim clicked his tongue in annoyance at the human's failure to cooperate. His hand writhed a bit in Dib's grasp. "You creatures have taken numerous samples from Zim; the least you could do is let me touch your greasy head." Though when he said it like that, he wasn't sure if he wanted to touch it anymore. "Why, is it sensitive?" He asked, intrigued once more.

That made the human scowl, slightly offended and a bit defensive now as well. "My head's not greasy, for your information." With a annoyed sigh, he let Zim's wrist go at the mention of the samples. Freaking alien.

"Fine." He dipped his head out for prodding and poking. "My head isn't sensitive. It's…just my head. And you're very excited about this. About touching me. Which just so you know, is weird." Flattering. But, weird.

Zim grumbled and straightened his back. "Zim is not weird." He muttered as he trailed a gloved claw along the human's head. The hair rustled softly under the Irken's touch, which sparked further curiosity. Quickly, Zim peeled off his glove to reveal slender green fingers before they buried themselves in the human's hair.

It was soft. Much softer than Zim was expecting. Then again, he didn't really know what to expect in the first place. It was much different than the fibers of his wig. They brushed against his skin in a not so unpleasant way. He pushed the delicate fibers back and watched them fall back into place, then pushed them forward and watched them spring back up.

"Hm." His face scrunched up thoughtfully. "Interesting."

A shudder worked its way down Dib's spine. It was weird to have his hair played around with. Not altogether unpleasant however. In fact it was kind of relaxing. But, there was no way he'd ever be doing this if it wasn't for Zim's curiosity. And the fact that Dib still felt kind of bad about the whole samples thing.

With another shudder, he shook his head to put the hair back into place, lifting his chin again. "Are you done ye-oh." They were very close. Zim had scooted even closer in his observations. Dib could see every single fleck and swirl that existed in those eyes and he wasn't going to lie to himself, they were the most fascinating thing he'd seen since…since discovering that there was such a thing as stars.

Zim leaned back a bit at the human's sudden movements, jerking his hand back and letting it hover awkwardly. He looked down at him, wide eyes meeting each other.

A flash of tawny and Zim found himself frozen for a moment. Those scrutinizing eyes seemed to bore into Zim in a way no other human, or creature, had managed before. Zim hated it.
Zim growled lowly, though he wasn't sure why, and fell back on the floor. He shoved his hand back into his glove, looking down at his claws as he did so.

"Zim has no other questions." Or at least none that he could remember at the moment.
It was as if everything was hung in suspension, something crying out to be examined and recognized.

But, then it was gone, swept away in a primitive growl that sounded none too pleased and had Dib flinching slightly in fear. He iwas/i after all stuck in here with an alien. Zim had yet to seem violent but who knew what could happen.

"U-um. Okay." Dib felt shaken, dizzy almost. He glanced out at the crowd of scientists and the dazed look morphed into a heavy frown. Membrane stood in the middle of them all, talking and coming up with a new ingenious plan, Dib was sure. His father had said he was ashamed of him. That…was disappointing. And yet, it didn't hurt as bad as he'd expected it would.
Zim looked up, reluctantly, and was relieved to find that those amber daggers weren't directed at him. He followed his gaze, and sighed a bit.

"Ah yes, the Father-creature." Zim thought out loud before turning back to his cell-mate. "Quite the gall to defy him, like you have." He admitted. With the Membrane's tall, broad stature and obvious renown, it was impressive to see someone as seemingly weedy such as Dib stand up to him. Just another way the human continued to surprise Zim.

Dib's eyes flickered from where his father stood back to the alien who loomed over him. Running a hand down the back of his neck, he sighed before looking at the floor with a heavy frown. "Not gall. Just…doing the right thing. For once."

But, Zim apparently thought he was brave or something for having stood up to his dad. Did it have something to do with the height thing? Something about the 'Tallest'? Someone who was taller was automatically superior? Huh. "Why do I have 'gall' for defying, dad?" Dib asked curiously, eyes down to his hands in his lap.

Zim was puzzled by Dib's question. Wasn't it obvious? He shifted a bit in his spot of the floor, feeling as though maybe he had missed something. Maybe there was some sort of unseen truce between Father and Spawn that Zim had completely overlooked?

"Well, the Membrane-creature is obviously powerful." He looked back over at the tall human, in the center of scientists that swarms around him like insects surrounding their queen. They all moved around each other as they scurried frantically, but never leaving the small perimeter that developed around the professor.

"His face is on everything of worth on this pitiful planet, not to mention his blatant numerous recourses and servants. If there is a creature on this planet worth fearing, it is most likely him." He shrugged and looked back at the smaller human. "Of course, he still isn't a match for Zim, so I have nothing to worry about. You, however…" He let out a small hum, leaving the explanation up in the air to be contemplated.

And contemplated it was. For about two seconds with a slightly raised brow. "He's also blind to anything outside of his comfort zone, ridiculously naïve about certain subjects, he's afraid to ask questions that might provoke danger even if it means sacrificing lives and it's hard to be intimidated by someone who you've seen clip his toenails and leave them for you to pick up later."

Unbeknownst, a dark gloom had settled over Dib, gaze and demeanor darkening before with a sigh, like air being let out of a balloon, it was gone. He loved his Dad, honestly. Dib and his little sister had never wanted for anything, ever. And there was always food, shelter and his father had always pushed them both to be the best they could be.

However, there just might've been a bit of resentment buried (or covered with a few inches of denial). "Look, Dad's powerful alright. He's the leader of a whole Empire that stretches all over the world. But, he's my dad. I don't know what that means on your planet, if anything, but he's kind of supposed to take care of me until I'm grown. I have no reason to be afraid. Unlike you, who've been locked up in a box for a week and would probably be dead if it wasn't for me."

Zim's back straightened and his antennae perked up, a deep frown embedding itself on his face. "Don't flatter yourself! I could have gotten out on my own; I was just waiting for the opportune moment!" Zim defended. He reluctantly relaxed, however—not wanting to mess up the chance for escape that he had. And with the darkening mood that seemed to shroud the human, Zim didn't want to press his luck.

He grumbled and looked back at the professor. It was interesting to think that the Dib-thing had seemed to grow a sort of resistance to his intimidation, which had already proven useful by this point. He wondered how that might come in handy later. He pondered it for a bit before realizing antennae stood on end as he whipped his head back to his cell mate. "'Fully grown'? You are just a smeet?" He asked, genuinely surprised.

Dib was surprised at Zim's surprise, stiffening at the sudden movement. Jeeze, the irken changed subjects quickly didn't he? Forcing himself to relax, he glanced at his fellow inmate out of the corner of his eye.

"Well…I'm almost grown. I've got a few years left until my 'growing period' stops. But, as it is…I turn 18 this year. Which means for all intensive purposes that I'm an 'adult' and can do what adults do like voting, getting married, joining the army and all that jazz."

Curious, Dib managed to get over his mood and turn towards the alien again with eyes widened. "Are you fully grown?" It would make sense. He didn't think the Irkens would want to send 'smeets' (that's what they were called, or at least that's what Zim had told them) to do their information gathering. But, Zim was pretty small…young looking really. With a very delicate facial structure and skinny, long limbs.

"Yes, of course! Just because I am not a behemoth like you humans tend to be…." He grumbled. He laced his hands in his lap and lowered his gaze. The humans had an interesting trait of height, and yet they took it for granted. It was frustrating to Zim to see all this promise go unfulfilled. Especially with the Dib-thing; who was already taller than him, but wasn't even fully grown as it seemed. He still had a few years of growing ahead of him. Zim glared at his intertwined fingers.

"Zim is not as tall, but you can bet that I can take you down anytime." He mumbled, his antennae folding down in defense. "Zim isn't even afraid of the Membrane-beast." He felt like his pride had been prodded, somehow and that he needed to redeem himself. Granted, the time spent in this wretched box hadn't been Zim's best…

Dib wasn't exactly an expert at human nature, in fact he had no idea what to say to make someone feel better or even how to start a normal conversation but, sitting in a see through cell with an alien, he somehow knew that Zim's pride was hit for some reason. He ran a hand down the back of his neck and then huffed, leaning his face on his hand.

"Take me down, eh? Well, I have no doubt. You're a solider right? And I'm just a teenager who has had no real experience in combat." Was that the right thing to say? God, he hoped so. "You have no reason to be afraid of dad. I'm go—we're going to get you out of here."

The assistants and scientists were buzzing outside busily, around Membrane. A quick glance at the clock that hung on the wall showed it was nearly closing time. People would leave. Some would probably stay to work late. "Nothing bad is going to happen to you, Zim."

It was strange how sure the human seemed, considering how jumpy he had always appeared to be. And yet…his words did manage to ease the invader a bit more than he'd like to admit.
"Yeah, well…" He sighed a bit and met the gaze of those burning amber eyes. "I don't doubt that." He shifted a bit in his spot, unfolding and folding his legs underneath him.

Antennae folding back, he broke the eye contact to look around the cell, pretending to be interested in something else. He inwardly begged for time to move faster so he could be free of this awkward situation he had created for himself.

Finally, Dib's attention caught up with his curiosity, as his eyes flickered from the clock and then back at Zim. The Irken's little, black antenna fell against his head and suddenly Dib was on his knees, hand reaching and fingers itching to touch.

This was an alien with new anatomy, things to learn from. If there was something that he loved more than mysteries it was discovering those mysteries and Zim was a fantastic puzzle to solve.

Were the antenna sensitive? Was this a smart thing to do?, Dib thought just before the tips of his fingers brushed over the length of a black stalk. It was just a second, and in that second he could feel that it was room temperature, solid and had the barest of fuzz that tickled his skin.

Zim leaned back as the human neared him, his fingers outstretched towards the top of his head. He was only able to bark a quick protest before those slender fingers found their way against the sensitive stalk. A shock was sent down Zim's spine that caused him to freeze. A shiver ripped through him and broke his momentarily daze, causing his shoulders to slump forward.

The human's fingers were surprisingly soft and not-so-unpleasantly warm as they fondled the soft feeler. Zim held his breath as he tried his best suppress the noise that tried to escape. Finally, Zim let the air out in a puff and a deep purr rolled out from within his chest.

"Th-that's quite enough!" He barked, jerking his head away.

Dib jerked his hand away and blinked, feeling as though he's just come out of a daze. "I um, sorry. Curiosity killed the cat I guess." He fell back on his butt, pushing himself away from the Irken, a blush beginning to form on his cheeks. Not really from his own actions but from the re-action they had drawn from Zim. Was that a purr? Like a cat? So, the antennas were sensitive. And that had only been a short, second long brush.

"They bounce around a lot. Are they like…eyebrows?" Humans used their eyebrows to convey emotions. Zim ran a hand over his antenna to try and smooth away the feeling of those alien fingers, but to no avail.

"What cat." He mumbled, a tad nervously. "And no, they do not function like your 'eye-brows'. They are much more complex than what your mind can wrap around, I'm sure." The Invader chanced a glance in the human's direction, and immediately looked away.

What was his face doing? It appeared to be flushed, which only frustrated the Irken that much more. He looked around feverishly for something to preoccupy him, and was relieved when he noticed the first of Membrane's peons begin to head for the door.

"I think they're leaving. Finally!"

Dib opened his mouth to explain the cat only to follow Zim's eyes to watch as the scientists began to leak out the door, after what felt like forever even Membrane left with a final glance back at the cage and what looked like a sigh as the door swished shut behind him.

The blush had no choice but to fade, as Dib pulled the 'key' out of his pocket and typed in the code. A few seconds passed before the clear wall dropped into the ground. Relief flooded him. He could hear again.