Dib groaned as he felt himself return to consciousness. He had felt so peaceful and relaxed while he was sleeping, and he knew there was something wrong right as he fell asleep…he didn't want to have to wake up and deal with it.

But sleep was already outside of his reach. Even if his bed felt very comfortable right now…

…actually, he couldn't remember the last time his bed was this cozy. Or smelled so strongly of…was that detergent? Fabric softener?

Confused, he sat up, rubbed his eyes, and looked down. The comforter draped over him was a dark purple…with the Irken Invader symbol blazed across it.

His blood ran cold, and his head snapped up, gaze flitting every which way to figure out where he was. He didn't recognize the room, but the metal walls and floor and the ceiling of wires told him he must be in the depths of Zim's base.

But it appeared to be, for all intents and purposes, a normal bedroom. The bed he was in was large enough for two people to comfortably rest, and the sheets under him were blue with black stripes. There was a desk in the corner, complete with a computer, and a nightstand beside the bed, where his glasses were sitting.

He quickly grabbed his glasses (now unbroken) and slipped them onto his nose. He continued to look around, spotting a magenta rug stretched along the floor…and a metal door across the room, currently sealed tightly shut.

Zim was nowhere to be seen. Dib patted himself down, searching for anything unusual. It didn't look like Zim had attached anything to him, or placed anything inside him…though each of his injuries were tightly wrapped in bandages. And his shirt had been replaced with one that had the same pattern as Zim's uniform.

Remembering the syringe of…whatever Zim had injected him with, Dib pulled back the covers to look at his leg. A metallic band was wrapped around where the break was, probably keeping his bone in place. Strangely, he couldn't feel anything there, aside from a light tingling sensation.

"Huh," he said, tapping a nail against the band. Maybe there was some way to remove it…

As he fiddled with it, trying to find a seam or hinge, a robotic voice spoke up. "You know, maybe removing the thing holding your healing bone in place isn't the smartest idea."

Dib yelped, jumping back and looking every which way…but the voice just seemed to have come from some speakers in the ceiling. And it wasn't Zim's voice, or his robot's…it took him a second, but he remembered the AI that watched Zim's base.

His eyes narrowed in suspicion. "Why do you care?" He remembered getting roughly thrown out by the AI too many times to count. Almost always on Zim's orders, but still.

The Computer let out a sigh. "As amusing as it would be to see you struggle, I'm under very strict orders to watch you…and give you whatever you want." The last part was muttered at a low volume, almost reluctantly.

Dib's eyebrows shot up in surprise. He had to have misheard that bit, right?

Well, he could easily test it. "…could I get a glass of water?"

A tube descended from the ceiling, dropping a cup onto the nightstand and then adding a straw. There was a loud whirring for several seconds before a thin stream of water was poured into the cup, as well.

Huh. Dib continued to watch, a little surprised, before finally picking on the glass and taking a sip. He was a little surprised that Zim allowed any kind of water into his base.

Speaking of which… "Where's Zim?"

"Out. He wasn't pleased about it, but he had to go grab some things. Considering how fast he was moving…he'll be back in an hour, two at most."

Dib grinned. This was his chance to escape! Before Zim got back and did…something. Probably some weird experiment that he had already started testing on Dib. He glanced down at his broken leg, then back up to the ceiling.

"…could you…give me an elevator to the ground floor?" he asked.

"Mmmm…nope."

Dib blinked, a little startled. "I thought you were supposed to listen to me!" he snapped.

"Ugh," the Computer groaned. "Only if it doesn't go against something Master Zim's commanded me to do. And he's made it clear that you aren't getting out of bed without his approval."

Dib glared at the area it sounded like the voice was coming from...and rolled over, jumping out of the bed.

Almost immediately, a robotic tentacle dropped from the ceiling, looped around his torso, and plopped him right back onto the bed. Dib tried again, but the same tentacle pushed him back before he could even get off.

With a groan, he flopped onto the mattress, limbs sprawling out. "Fine. Whatever. I'm still not going to just let Zim kill me when he gets back."

"Kill you?" the Computer said, sounding appalled. "No, Master Zim might be…Zim, but even he knows better than to harm his Ssnemi."

Dib's brow furrowed. He had made an effort to learn Irken over the years, but that word was a new one. "His what, now?"

At first, there was only a hum in response. "There really aren't any good English words for it," the Computer said. "Or any Urth ones, really. The best I can find is… 'attached' and 'smaller'."

Well, that was unhelpful. "Just what does that mean?" Dib said, crossing his arms. "And I'm taller than Zim, anyway. Shouldn't he be the smaller?"

"Ugh, it's not about literal height. That's why there's no good equivalent in English." A robotic sigh. "And if being the 'smaller attached' is suuuuch a problem, maybe you should have won the k'ssnek."

"What?" Dib said again. The Computer sighed again, louder and longer. "Is…k'ssnek…the fight I just had with Zim?"

"Yes, obviously." Dib imagined the Computer would be rolling their eyes, if they had any. "You went through the k'ssnek, completed the K'ssnemi'chk, and now you're the Ssnemi to Zim, your K'nemi, the 'taller attached'."

Dib blinked. He…didn't understand what any of those words were supposed to mean. And if the Computer was right, a direct translation wasn't going to be that helpful.

"…why is Zim so determined that I stay here?" Dib asked.

"To heal, probably. A good K'nemi looks out for their Ssnemi, and the last time I checked, Master Zim was extremely determined to take good care of 'his Dib'."

"…'m not his," Dib mumbled petulantly, crossing his arms.

"After losing the k'ssnek, yes you are," he was told. Dib's jaw dropped, and he was ready to argue, but they added, "If you don't like it, just challenge him once you're better, win, and switch roles."

Dib rose an eyebrow. "And what stops Zim from fighting me again and trying to say I'm 'his'?"

"Nothing. But most Irkens in a K'ssnemi'chk eventually reach some kind of stability where the roles are in name only, or they settle fully into their roles." A robotic sigh filled the room. "I can only hope that happens soon with you two… fewer messes for me to deal with…"

"...wait," Dib said, holding up a hand to pause the Computer. He frowned in thought, his brow furrowing.

So...Zim thought Dib "belonged" to him, now. But Zim also had to care for him. And Dib could switch their roles through fighting, which would eventually (maybe) stabilize into equal roles...!

The blood drained from his face. "Are...are we married!?"

"Ugh, that's what GIR rambles about, and I never understand what he's trying to say," the Computer huffed. "Let me just…" There was some grumbling in Irken, probably as he looked into human marriages.

Dib bit his lip. He had to be wrong, right? The Computer didn't know what Dib was talking about, after all. This couldn't be a marriage, he was just jumping to conclusions. There was no way that he and Zim could have gotten married, of all things. They hated each other!

Or, at least…Dib knew he hated Zim. But did Zim…?

"Well," the Computer said, shaking him out of his thoughts. "A marriage is the closest thing that humans have to the K'ssnemi'chk. So, if it finally helps the concept sink into your brain, yes, you're married."

Dib felt like he was just punched in the gut. The air wheezed out of his lungs, and he turned a vacant gaze to the ceiling. Married. To his worst enemy.

The door suddenly burst open, a small robot fiddling in with a giant stack of…something covered in white frosting. "Congradulations!" GIR yelled into the room. "You and Mastah are finally married!"

He threw the plate onto Dib's lap, then covered his eyes and sobbed exaggeratedly. "I'm so happy for you two!"

"GIR…weren't you supposed to be cleaning up the lab?" the Computer sighed.

"I cleaned it!" GIR chirped, suddenly stopping his crying and giving a thumbs-up. "It's spotless now!"

The Computer gave a long-suffering sigh. "Oh, I'm sure…that I'll have to do it myself before Zim gets back."

GIR ignored the comment, clambering up and leaning against Dib's side. Dib poked at the frosting pile and found that there was a stack of soggy waffles underneath. "Mastah's gonna be so happy you're awake!" he said. "He loooves you so much!"

"…we can't really be married, can we?" Dib said, mostly to himself.

"Yuh-huh!" GIR said with a nod. "Mastah told me all about it." His eyes switched to red. "My Master issued a challenge, and you accepted. He made the mi'chk, and now your K'ssnemi'chk is fully established."

His eyes flicked to blue just as quickly, and he squealed and kicked his feet. "'M so happy you and Mastah finally get what you wanted!"

"Hey...no!" Dib said. "No, no, no, I did not want this! This can't count, because I didn't agree to this!"

"...welllll..." the Computer said. Dib glared at the ceiling.

"Mastah said you was the best!" GIR cheered. "You were responding to everything, and you started dates, and he was soooo happy you accepted his proposal!"

"GIR, can you just...go somewhere else?" Dib sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. GIR hummed and happily toddled off to some other part of the base. "Ugh. He's insane. I didn't accept anything!"

"Wellll..." the Computer repeated. "You did come rushing in when Zim challenged you to the k'ssnek to seal your bond."

"Because I thought it was a literal fight! A normal one over the fate of the world, not...not a freaky alien wedding!"

"And you fought back each time he challenged you before that."

"Because he was attacking me!"

"And you would challenge him to fights as much as he did. More when you were younger, if I remember right."

Dib wanted to argue…but couldn't. He clamped his mouth shut, the muscles in his jaw twitching. "…I want to read the information about this…K'ssnemi'chk for myself," he finally growled. This had to be wrong, and if he had the information in front of him, he could prove it!

"Suit yourself." A tablet was unceremoniously plopped into his lap. "Not everything translates well, though."

"That's fine." Dib was already busy pouring over the information.

Since the beginning of time, even before the invention of the PAKs and Control Brains, Irkens were a dominating species. They claimed every inch of the planet as theirs, and when individuals began fighting for scraps of land amongst each other, they looked to the stars for more.

As an Irken reaches full maturity, they may begin to feel the urge to conquer a fellow Irken in the way the Empire gloriously conquers the universe. These files have been unlocked because you, great soldier, are beginning to reach that age of maturity!

You may be looking at an Irken you greatly admire and respect, and find yourself wanting to make them yours. Or perhaps you see admiration in another's eyes and want that look focused only on you. An inferior species might call this "love", but this is the beginning of the far superior Irken K'ssnemi'chk.

The K'ssnemi'chk has existed since the beginning to tie equal Irkens together. If you find yourself wishing to form a K'ssnemi'chk with another, you must both prove yourself to one another. Issue a challenge, and attempt to defeat them in the trials of combat! Show your abilities, and fight to surpass them in any way!

If they want to conquer you, as well, they'll issue you challenges of their own. Some Irkens may challenge each other like this for decades before one finally dominates the other.

But simple challenges alone won't seal your K'ssnemi'chk. No, one party must issue a final challenge to the other—a battle to the 'death'. The k'ssnek. If the challenge is accepted, they will both fight with all of their power—until one delivers the 'fatal' bite/kiss, leaving the mi'chk. A mark of your bond together.

From that point, the conquered's old self is dead, and they are now reborn as the Ssnemi of the bond. They belong to the victor, the K'nemi, who in turn must care for their needs.

May their K'ssnemi'chk last for all time and strengthen the Empire.

Files and files later, Dib's head fell back onto the metal wall behind him, and he let out a groan. Everything he read just seemed to further suggest that he and Zim had just perfectly formed a K'ssnemi'chk. Heck, even just reading details of the challenges presented and accepted…

It just said that Zim was clearly very serious about this commitment. And Dib's responses had said he was eager, accepting, and an 'exemplary partner'!

"What now?" he groaned, rubbing his eyes. "I can't be married to Zim, of all people. I just can't!"

"Well, you are," the Computer said. "Not much you can do about it now." After a pause, they added, "Except make yourself the K'nemi. But that's not going to stop your whining about getting married, is it?"

"No," Dib grumbled. "…I can become the K'nemi?" It wouldn't fix any of this, but it sounded better than Zim thinking he had some kind of ownership over him.

"Yes, I said it before. Long story short, you can initiate challenges even after the K'ssnemi'chk is sealed," the Computer said. "You basically redo the k'ssnek, and if you win, your positions in the K'ssnemi'chk are flipped. Most pairs tend to flip a few times before either settling into their roles or essentially just sharing an equal role."

"Hmm." Dib grabbed the tablet again, reading a few more files. What the Computer said was true. He took the chance to look up more about what K'nemi and Ssnemi meant to Irkens.

It wasn't much new—the K'nemi was the one 'in charge', but they had to look after the other. The Ssnemi would be taken care of, but had to listen to their K'nemi…or initiate a rematch.

Dib bristled knowing the position he was in now. And yet…if they were reversed, with Zim as the Ssnemi… "So..." A wide, eerie grin spread across Dib's face, the lens of his glasses flashing with light and hiding his eyes. "If I win the next fight, Zim would have to do whatever I wanted."

"Yes...within reason," the Computer said.

"Hmm?" Dib was already picturing telling Zim to reveal himself to the world, with him receiving recognition and awards. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"If a K'nemi lets their Ssnemi get hurt, or worse—either purposefully, or accidentally when they could have prevented it—the K'ssnemi'chk is severed. Forever."

"So, a divorce, basically?" Dib said.

"Are human divorces considered a severe crime that prevent you from ever forming a bond with anyone else unless reparations are paid, with punishments equal to the harm dolled out if they're severe enough?"

"...um." Dib sat in awkward silence for a moment before finally speaking up again. "Is...that how it works on Irk?"

"Yes, in the rare circumstances that someone does break the K'ssnemi'chk," the Computer said. "Which normally doesn't happen, because they are both rare and important."

"...but we're far away from Irk," Dib mumbled. "Even if the Armada is heading here, right now, Zim's the only Irken who can enforce their barbaric 'laws'..."

Already his mind was racing with ideas on what he could make Zim do. There was revealing him to his father, to the press, finally getting him on an autopsy table as he had always dreamed of when he was younger...

And if he played his cards right, he'd finish Zim off once and for all before Zim could get the upper hand on him again!

He just needed to wait for the right moment. Probably once his leg was fully healed. And after he could get Zim to gift him some alien weapons. And he needed to think of a good place to issue the new challenge…

Maybe his dad's lab. He could get a good recording of the fight and toss Zim into a preservation tank as soon as he finished…

His planning was interrupted when the door slid open. He clamped his mouth shut in case he had started muttering to himself, head snapping up.

Zim walked through the doorway, holding something covered under white plastic. GIR was marching along behind him, and it looked like he was begging for what Zim had. The door closed before he could get in, and he began to audibly scrabble against the door.

The Irken's expression of mild annoyance melted away, eyes lighting up as soon as he saw Dib. "My human-Ssnemi!" He yelled, rushing forward and dropping whatever he was holding onto the nightstand. He then jumped onto the bed and pressed his cheek against Dib's. "I hope you didn't miss Zim too much. I just needed to grab a couple of things for you…"

"Not your Ssnemi," Dib muttered, shifting and fighting the urge to shove Zim off of him. This was too weird.

Zim snickered. "Your pronunciation is atrocious." His claws tapped Dib's chin and began to slide down to his neck. "And this says otherwise."

He tapped Dib's still-healing bite mark. It twinged painfully, and though he tried to hide it, Dib winced.

Zim's expression softened, and it took Dib a moment to realize it was a look of sympathy. "I know it'll scar, but the pain should fade quickly," he said. "Do you desire painkillers…?"

"No!" Dib said quickly. "I mean, uh, no thanks." He didn't want Zim pumping him full of more alien medicine. Even if he was trying to help Dib, who knew what 'helping' meant in Zim's mind, or what reaction he might have to chemicals not of this world?

"Whatever you say," Zim hummed. "Just let me know if you need anything. The Computer can get it for you."

"Or you could let me out of bed, and I could get it myself."

Zim barked out a laugh. "Ha! Nice try. Not until that fragile leg of yours heals. Even with my superior technology, human bones still take more than a day to heal."

A day…? "…how long have I been down here?" Dib asked.

Zim paused, starting to count off on his fingers. "We fought about an hour before sunset, and now it's a little over two hours before the sun sets…so, nearly a full Urth day." He patted Dib's head, claws scratching against his scalp. "Clearly your healing body demanded the rest it needed. I've been waiting the whole time for you to wake up!"

He had been missing all day…and he was going to be missing for a while longer. For a moment, Dib felt hopeful. Someone had to notice he was missing and come looking for him. When they did, he could expose Zim as a (love-crazed) alien!

But as soon as the idea entered his head, he discarded it, shoulders deflating. Even if someone noticed he had gone missing, he couldn't hope that they'd figure out how to make it into Zim's base. After all, no one besides him and Gaz had figured it out.

"What's wrong?" Zim asked, sitting next to Dib on the bed, hand resting on his stomach.

"Uh…" Dib hesitated. "Just…thinking about what'll happen if someone notices I've gone missing."

Zim leaned over and began to play with Dib's cowlick. "Don't worry over it," he said. "Zim can ensure you'll fully heal before anyone notices. And even if someone does, I can take care of it before it becomes a problem."

Dib didn't want to know how exactly Zim would 'take care of it'. He had too many memories of the 'experiments' Zim performed on unfortunate humans…and sometimes being the subject experimented on.

His stomach growled loudly. He had been so focused on being apparently married to his enemy that he didn't even realize how hungry he was.

"Ah, I see my timing is as impeccable as always," Zim said. He slid off the bed and went to the nightstand, picking up the covered object he had left there and holding it out to Dib.

Dib tensed, fully expecting strange alien devices or bizarre food. There was a loud clanging sound outside, and GIR ran in, clinging to Zim's legs and whining.

Zim grunted, kicked him off, and whipped the cover off with a flourish. Underneath the cover was…

A store-bought cake.

Dib blinked, and Zim crawled back on the bed, setting the cake between them and pulling plates and cutlery out of his PAK. The cake was covered with purple frosting, and blue icing on it read Happy Birthday! Blue butterflies were frosted in each of the corners.

Zim huffed, cutting a generous slice. "I would have had a better one for the occasion...if GIR hadn't decided it needed to be sampled first." He shot his SIR unit a glare.

"Three-tier buttercream…" GIR whispered, eyes becoming teary at the memory.

Zim scoffed, shoving the plate into Dib's hands before taking his own generous slice. "…I don't think I could have eaten a whole three-tier cake, anyway," Dib said, poking at his slice with his fork. It was chocolate.

"Peh. Your feeble human stomach requires food so often, you could polish off that cake over the course of a few days." Zim stabbed at his slice. "But this will suffice for now."

He held his fork out to Dib, shoving the bite of cake toward his mouth. Dib leaned away, raising an eyebrow.

"I know all about your inferior human bonding traditions, and I know one feeds the other the first bite," Zim huffed. He pressed the fork against Dib's face, smearing frosting on his lips. "Accept it, Dib. Accept it!"

Dib was tempted to protest, to question how Zim knew about wedding traditions but somehow didn't realize humans and Irkens courted in different ways. But Zim's face was set with a stubborn determination he knew he couldn't overcome.

So, he reluctantly opened his mouth, letting Zim feed him the first bite of cake. Zim brightened up as soon as Dib began to chew. He leaned against the wall and just…watched him. Intently.

Dib realized he was probably expecting him to return the favor. He didn't really want to, but…He had to play along. Act like this was what he wanted until he could get the upper hand over Zim, and then strike!

He took a tiny scoop off the tip of his cake, scraping up some of the too-sweet frosting before holding it out to Zim. The Irken's antennae twitched forward, eyes widening before he grinned widely. He quickly shot forward, biting down on the fork and stealing the cake.

Dib watched him eat out of the corner of his eye. He already knew snacks and desserts were some of the only things on Earth Zim could safely eat, but it was nice to have visual confirmation. He was already mentally typing out a report as he ate his cake…

His eyes drifted to the computer in the corner of the room. Maybe he didn't have to do it all mentally. "Which of us is that for?" he asked, pointing to it.

"Hmm?" Zim looked up, already halfway finished with his slice. "Both of us, technically. The base is technically yours now, after all, and any of your Swollen Meatballs stuff is mine. Not that I'm interested in your backwater equipment."

"Eyeballs, Swollen Eyeballs," Dib corrected. "Mind if I use that now? My leg doesn't even hurt that much."

"Finish your cake first, and take some medicine, and I'll consider it." Zim polished off his cake and cut another slice, dropping it on the floor for GIR.

Dib frowned and thought over it as he continued eating his cake. "I'll only take medicine if you can tell me exactly what it is and where it's from," he finally declared, finishing off his slice.

Zim gave him a look…but then sighed and smiled, leaning against his shoulder. "So stubborn," he sighed. "Alright. I'll go fetch everything. Don't go anywhere."

He cut Dib another slice of cake and left the room, carrying the rest of the cake with him and humming to himself. GIR gave Dib puppy-dog eyes, and after finishing half his new slice, Dib sighed and gave the rest of his cake to the robot.

Zim returned not long after, this time with a tray with bandages, a pill bottle, and another syringe filled with green liquid…though this time, it wasn't glowing as brightly.

He sat next to Dib, holding up the syringe first. "Mendoserum, diluted to twenty-five percent potency," he said. "I've had a supply of it building up, but after the shot yesterday, you shouldn't need much more to seal that bone together."

He tapped his claws against the cuff, and the middle part slid open, giving him a clear shot at Dib's skin above the break. Dib shifted away, but Zim's grip on his ankle kept him from moving far.

"Where's it from? What's it going to do to me? What's in it, huh?"

Zim sighed. "It's from one of the first planets the Empire conquered, now a medical research planet and hospital whose full name takes an hour to pronounce. I'll show you the coordinates later." He moved to jab Dib with the syringe, but Dib used his good leg to block it.

Zim huffed. "All Mendoserum does is promote your body to accelerate the healing process, and gives it the energy it needs to do so. It has…" He began to rattle off a list of chemicals that may or may not have been in English. Dib was so distracted trying to figure out if he recognized any of them that he didn't realize Zim had stuck the syringe in him until half the liquid had been depressed into his leg.

"Hey!" Dib snapped. He was tempted to move, but Zim had a tight grip on his leg, and at this point, the syringe was pretty much empty. That didn't stop him from giving Zim a dark look as he tossed the syringe into what looked like a metal wastebasket.

"Don't be like that," Zim chided as there was a flare of light and heat in the trashcan. "Trust me, your leg will be better in days! I know exactly what I'm doing."

The next thing he grabbed was the pill bottle. He quickly popped it open, shook out two pink tablets, and shoved them into Dib's hand. "Take these."

Dib squinted at the pills. He hadn't seen any in this shade of pink before…and that was definitely the Irken Invader symbol stamped into that.

"It's just human painkiller chemicals I had my computer create," Zim said, peeling off some of Dib's bandages. "Nothing you couldn't find in an inferior human store…though the dosage is calibrated for your current level of injury."

"What, you couldn't just buy some ibuprofen while you were at the store?"

"This is better." Zim continued to replace Dib's bandages with fresh ones, though his eyes never left the pills he was holding. An unspoken warning that he wasn't going to get away with not taking them.

Dib frowned. He didn't fully trust Zim on a good day, even with everything he now knew. And he didn't trust that Zim had good knowledge of human health.

But nothing Zim had done so far had hurt him. And Zim was impatient enough that he'd probably shove the pills down Dib's throat if he stalled too long, so…Dib finally put the pills in his mouth and swallowed.

They were sweet…hopefully he hadn't just been given sugar pills as a placebo.

"Good Dib." Zim patted his shoulder, changing out the last of the bandages and tossing the soiled ones into the trashcan. "Still want to use the computer?"

"Yes!" Dib started to roll off of the bed…and found himself in Zim's arms, being carried over to the desk.

Zim plopped him into the chair, watching him for a few moments before heading back to the tray. "I'll be back in just a minute," he said, holding the tray in one hand and GIR's hand in the other. "But tell the Computer if you need me back sooner, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, sure." Dib was already focused on turning the computer on, watching as the Irken Invader symbol popped up on the screen. He tapped his fingers against the metallic keyboard, waiting.

He didn't have to wait long at all before it was on, and he quickly scanned through everything. The setup was similar to his own computer, and he even had internet access and a full library of games.

But for right now…he opened up the word processor and let his fingers fly across the keyboard, typing from memory everything he had learned about Irken courtship rituals…and how Zim was now behaving around him.

On that note…he saved his document, then started typing up another with everything he knew about Zim in general. He already had most of it written on his computer at home, but the thought of using Zim's own technology against him, using it to keep tabs on him and create a record about him…

It thrilled him, sending chills down his spine.

He continued typing, but his fingers were getting sluggish, he was making more typos…and his vision was getting blurrier. He groaned, rubbing his eyes. That medicine…

He shook his head. He had dealt with worse! He just needed to push through…and…finish one more page…

The next thing he knew, a clawed hand was gripping his arm and tugging on him, urging him onto his feet. He grumbled and stood, keeping the weight off of his injured leg. Whoever was there moved to that side, supporting him.

"Note to self: see if the painkillers can be adjusted to reduce the drowsiness side effect," Zim muttered, guiding him back to bed. Dib blinked and glanced back at the computer, and saw that it had been turned off. He hoped Zim didn't look too closely at what he had written. Or at least didn't question it.

He blinked, and the next thing he knew, he was lying in bed again, the blankets pulled up to his chin. Zim was fluffing the pillow under his head.

Dib watched warily as Zim leaned back, seeming pleased with his handiwork. But he wasn't leaving. Instead, Zim stretched like a cat, patted Dib's chest a few times...and then flopped onto his torso, curling his limbs close to his body.

The air was knocked out of Dib's lungs, and he quickly took a breath to complain...but stopped as Zim closed his eyes, relaxing. This was the most peaceful he had seen Zim...and he didn't want to antagonize the alien when he was perched right on top of most of his vital organs.

Besides, he reminded himself, he needed to stay on Zim's good side for now. At least until he could turn the tables on Zim and use...all of this against him. Somehow.

He yawned and leaned back. At least as weird as this all was, Zim wasn't trying to kill him.

Zim pressed a little further into his chest and began to...was that purring? That was new.

And a little cute.

He quickly shook the thought away and closed his eyes, slowly relaxing. It was actually pretty comfortable, and it seemed like Zim wasn't about to do anything anytime soon.

He began to drift into sleep, his arms twitching and curling around the figure on his chest without thinking...