The next day—the day Dad was apparently 'unveiling' something—passed by peacefully for Dib. Sure, he was avoiding watching any TV so that he wouldn't have to hear about whatever his dad had done now, and sure, he had stayed cooped up in the lower levels of the base, paranoid that someone would come to drag him away…
But it was still better than actually being there. No Dad to scrutinize everything he did and believed in. No adoring fans of Dad judging him for not meeting any of their expectations as 'Professor Membrane's son'. He could just sit back, relax, and do whatever he wanted…which was mostly reading through the foraging guides and trying to teach himself more Irken.
Zim had been understanding, bringing Dib books to read and helping him with a few Irken phrases. Dib even overheard him telling GIR to not watch any live TV today, to avoid having images of 'that man' in his base.
It had been pretty touching.
The day had passed uneventfully, and though Dib went to bed with the worry that someone was still going to come after him, he had easily fallen asleep as Zim stroked his claws against his scalp.
By the next morning, after a good night's sleep, Dib's worries had disappeared. He'd avoided something his dad wanted him to do, and no one had hunted him down. The world hadn't ended.
…and he was tired of being cooped up in just a few rooms, so he declined Zim's offer of breakfast in bed, instead heading upstairs to eat breakfast. Zim attempted to make eggs sunny-side up…but after a few attempts where they burned, he decided to just scramble them, instead.
Still tasted great to Dib, either way.
After that, they both headed downstairs, going their separate ways. Dib explored an unknown part of the base, finding himself in an armory of some kind later in the morning. He felt tempted to mess with some of the bizarre, clearly alien weapons…
He quickly left the room, having a sudden burst of sense and realizing that touching weapons he knew nothing about probably wouldn't end well.
…but they were Zim's weapons, and Zim probably knew how to use them. Or at least he could tell Dib what they all were, satisfying his curiosity. With that in mind, he turned and started to search for Zim…asking the Computer for help when he again remembered just how big Zim's base was.
The Computer sighed but gave him directions, and Dib soon walked into a room with several large screens and an oddly-shaped chair. Zim was sitting in it, and scrolling through videos on TubeTube on the biggest screen.
Zim's antennae twitched, and he turned to face Dib. "Ah, my human! Has your exploration been going well?"
"Yeah, I just had a couple of questions about a few things…" He glanced up at the screen and saw that, for whatever reason, it was a video ranking children's animated shows in a tier list. "What are you up to?"
"Oh, just doing some research," Zim said as he typed notes onto another screen. "I've found that humans can become obsessed with the strangest things, even if they're fake! This could be a potential weakness to exploit…"
Dib's stomach clenched when he realized Zim was thinking about world-domination plots. But of course he was…he said he liked Dib, not that he had given up his evil mission for Dib.
Well…Dib didn't really want to fight him, but he didn't really want to just stand by, either. Perhaps if he could sabotage Zim's research a little…
"Want to see videos most humans are already totally obsessed with?" he offered.
"Oh, yes!" Zim said, looking intrigued.
Dib leaned over him and began to search for cat videos. He found one compilation that looked innocent and cute, and selected it to begin playing. The first video showed two kittens wrestling with each other. Zim rose a brow, but watched the video with interest.
Once the first video ended, Zim glanced over at Dib, shifting in his seat and patting the spot next to him. Dib sat beside him, and Zim moved over and into his lap. He leaned back to make himself comfortable against Dib's torso, grabbing Dib's hands and resting them over his stomach.
Dib leaned back and began to relax as the next video played. Watching some cat videos sounded pretty nice…and it felt good to have succeeded in distracting Zim without him suspecting a thing.
Dib's ploy was utterly transparent. Zim knew that the human was intentionally trying to distract him from his plotting. But it was a pretty clever ploy on his end, and…well, the Urth-beasts in the videos were very cute and tiny.
It was enough that Zim decided to let his human have his small victory for now. That, and it did feel nice to just curl up against him and watch all these silly videos.
He ordered the Computer to bring them lunch, and they both munched on sandwiches as the videos kept playing. It wasn't long after they had polished them off that a security alert popped up in the corner of the screen.
Zim frowned, leaning forward to pull up the security feed outside of his base. To his surprise, the Dib-sister was standing at his front door. She had somehow made it past all of the gnomes without them firing, and just finished pounding on the door before glaring at it expectantly.
Dib tensed up behind him. His grip tightened on the hem of Zim's uniform, his hands shaking. A flick of his antennae let Zim sense a cocktail of emotions from his human…but chief among them was fear.
He took one of Dib's hands, gently massaging it until his grip loosened. "It's alright, you're safe," he assured. "I'm not going to let her hurt you or take you away." Once his grip was loose enough, Zim pulled his hand up to his lips to kiss the back of it.
Zim felt some of the tension leave his Dib's body, though he could still sense fear from him. "Besides," he continued, pressing Dib's loose hand to his cheek and massaging the other free. "She can't get to you, anyway. No human but you is smart or clever enough to find their way into my amazing base."
"Heh, yeah, that's…that's a good point," Dib said, his grip loosening. "Hey, look, she's already walking away!"
Zim's attention returned to the security feed. It was true, Gaz had stepped off of his porch. But instead of walking down the sidewalk and away from his base, she began to walk to the side, going around the corner. "What is she trying to do?"
"Oh," Dib said, a note of recognition in his voice. "She's…wait, no, she couldn't…"
"Hmm?" Zim said, looking up at him.
"It's…nothing. Probably," Dib said. Still, his eyes were glued to the screen.
They both watched as Gaz paced around the backyard. She would pause every so often along the edge of the house, stomping on the ground. Before Zim could even wonder what she was doing, she stomped at the corner…and the earth crumbled away, revealing a hole just large enough for a small human.
"What on Irk?" Zim said. Gaz grinned and hopped into the hole, slowly crawling down.
"…I made that tunnel, a few years ago," Dib confessed. "There was a blind spot in your security, so I made my own back entrance into one of your storage rooms. I…tried not to use it too much, because I didn't want you to know about it."
"And you told her?" Zim said, glaring at the screens, trying to find good footage. But after Gaz vanished into the hole, it was impossible to find her.
"Yeah, pretty soon after I made it. In case I needed someone to sneak in and break me out. I thought she ignored me, but I guess she was listening after all." Dib's tone was at least a little apologetic. Zim turned around to pat his shoulder, assuring him that things were fine, now.
"Wait..." Dib's expression became blank, gears turning in his head. Then, he looked furious. "She could have gotten me out of here all this time!?"
"Do you want her to?" Zim pressed.
"Not now, but she could have saved me from so many of the weird experiments you did on me when we were kids!" The more Dib spoke, the more livid he sounded. "Ugh, I can't believe this!"
"...can't you?" Zim said. "I mean, you did call her out for her selfishness just a few days ago."
"I mean, yeah, but..." Dib deflated, crossing his arms and pouting, muttering under his breath.
"Regardless, I'm going to kick her out of the base," Zim said, patting Dib's shoulder and hopping off. "...do you want to come with, or would you rather sit this out?"
"I'm coming," Dib said, quickly standing up with his hands balled into tight fists. "I…I need to talk to her."
Zim narrowed his eyes for a moment, but shrugged it off. It didn't seem that Dib was planning a rendezvous to escape. He was probably just declaring that something we wanted to do was a vital, life-or-death necessity for him.
He wrapped his fingers around Dib's wrist and headed forward. Dib slowly relaxed his hand enough for their fingers to entwine, and Zim gave his hand a reassuring squeeze.
It didn't take long for them to find Gaz. She hadn't gotten very far—it seemed like she had wandered down a few different hallways, but had mostly been pacing in the same area, close to where she had come in.
She heard them as they approached, and turned around to face them, crossing her arms. "About time," she grunted.
"Yes, you've been caught now," Zim said flippantly. "Why don't you just make this easy for everyone and GET OUT of my base, hmm?" He made a dismissive shooing motion.
She glowered down at him, and he did his best to hide his fright at it. "I'm not leaving without Dib," she said.
"I guess you'd better get comfortable sleeping on metal floors, then," Dib responded, crossing his arms. "Because I'm not going anywhere."
The two siblings glared at each other. "Uh, Dib-thing, I don't want her to be at all comfortable in here," Zim said in a stage whisper, nudging his human's side.
"I was being sarcastic," Dib huffed. "I don't actually want her here, either."
"Oh, okay." Zim turned to Gaz. "He's being sarcastic, and doesn't want you here! Now go away! Shoo!" He again made a shooing motion.
Gaz's glare whipped to him so fast that there was an audible snap, and she growled at him. "Shut up and stay out of this."
"Eep." Zim's hand wilted. Still, even with her glare trying to push him back, he refused to move. He would not let his Dib be taken away.
"Really?" Dib said with a sneer. "Great plan, Gaz! Try and frighten us. Because that's definitely making me eager to leave with you." To Zim, he quickly muttered, "Sarcasm."
Gaz turned her glare back to him…but with a deep breath, she forced her expression to become more neutral. She clearly wasn't happy, but she wasn't trying to scare them into submission. "Alright, then," she said. "What is it going to take to get you to leave?"
Zim looked to Dib, a little worried. Dib actually seemed to be considering that question instead of outright dismissing it. There was…a chance the Membranes could provide what Zim knew Dib wanted. A small chance, but possible, if Dib told them exactly what it was.
He quickly grabbed Dib's hand, giving it a small squeeze. Stay, he tried to say with his gesture, with his expression, with the whole fiber of his being.
Dib looked at him, his eyes shining with a warmth that made Zim's spooch flip. He squeezed Zim's hand in return, and looked up to Gaz again.
"…there's nothing you can do to make me come with you," he told her. "Not today. Probably not ever."
"Seriously? Nothing at all?" Gaz said. Dib shook his head. She frowned, her gaze drifting to their interlocked hands. "…okay, what is this?"
"What?" Dib asked. Zim stuck his tongue out at her, leaning closer and hugging Dib's arm.
"That! Whatever is…going on between you two." She jabbed a finger towards Zim. "What on Earth is he doing?"
"He's actually showing that he cares about me," Dib said. "You could learn a thing or two about it!"
She growled, grinding her teeth. Dib took a step back, and Zim relaxed his hug so that he could follow. "Alright. Enough of the quips and snark, both of you," she said. "Dib, if you're not coming back…look, just tell me why you left us."
Dib raised an eyebrow, giving her a suspicious look. "You know Dad won't drop this if he doesn't hear a good reason," she said.
"Oh, you'd be surprised what he's willing to drop," Dib muttered. She shot him yet another glare, one he was quick to return. "Fine, you really want to know so badly? It's because I…I couldn't take staying with you anymore! Either of you!"
He groaned, ripping his hand away from Zim so he could place both on his head in frustration. "The only person who's actually nice to me is my ex-enemy! Everyone else taunts me, ignores me, or calls me crazy…even my own family!
"I just…you don't care about me. And I…" He wilted. "I didn't want to wait for it anymore. Not when it wasn't going to happen. Not when Zim came to me, and actually…showed he could give me what I needed."
"Dib…" she said. "We do care about you. We're your family, we…" She paused, the words getting caught in her throat. She glanced away, almost looking distressed she couldn't force it out.
Dib gave her a scathing, disbelieving look. "Yeah, sure. You and Dad only care about me when it's convenient for you," he spat. "If I'm not doing science or playing the role of Dad's perfect little son, you both just ignore me! You never care!"
"Dib, c'mon, you know it's not just you," Gaz said. "Dad cares in his own way, he's just busy. I don't see him anymore than you do." Dib scoffed, rolling his eyes. "And I don't ignore you, do I?"
"YES YOU DO!" Dib snapped. "You only ever help me if you or Dad get something out of it. And when you're not ignoring me, you're just as bad as some of the bullies at school. You're worse, because you're supposed to be my sister…you're supposed to be there for me."
Gaz stepped back, eyes widening a little as Dib glared at her, puffing. She opened her mouth, closed it…and after a bit of thought, pointed to Zim. "And he's supposedly any better?"
Zim snapped at the air, making a threatening clicking sound with his teeth and stepping a little closer to Dib.
"…yeah, he is," Dib said quietly. "At least he actually wants me around, and actually bothers to show it." Zim puffed out his chest with pride, draping one arm protectively around his human.
"You're kidding me," Gaz said. "You two have been trying to kill each other for years, and you expect me to believe that things are suddenly perfect between you two?"
"Zim is better than you and Dib's 'father'," Zim said, bearing his teeth at her. "Zim wants Dib here. I'll take better care of him than you ever would."
"He's right," Dib said. "He's spent more time with me, caring about me, in the past few days than you or Dad have in a year!"
"Dib…"
"And you're never happy when I'm around, anyway," Dib continued. "And I can never make Dad happy, either. So can't you just accept that this is for the best and just leave me alone?"
His shoulders were shaking. Gaz looked at him sympathetically, taking a step towards him. "Dib, I—"
Zim was quick to step in her way, growling and chittering to warn her away. "You heard him," he hissed. "Go away and leave us alone." She glared at him, a dark aura around her, but he stood her ground.
She looked to Dib, but he just glared back, hands balled into fists at his side. "You can't change my mind," he said. "Just…go away!"
"God, fine!" Gaz snapped, throwing her hands up in the air. "Whatever, I'll leave. Have fun being a weird alien pet or whatever Zim sees you as."
Dib flinched, and Zim grit his teeth harder. His jaw was beginning to hurt. "GET OUT!"
"I'm going!" She turned and stalked in the direction she had come from, making a rude gesture towards the two of them before turning around the corner.
"...I'm going to make sure she actually leaves," Zim said, patting Dib's side. "If you're alright."
"Yeah, I just..." Dib sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I think I'm just going to need a minute."
Zim patted his side again before following behind Gaz. He stayed just out of sight, watching as she paused in the storeroom, looked around, and climbed straight up the wall to get out of the hole she had used.
...there weren't any hand- or footholds in the wall she could have used, which was a little unnerving.
But what mattered was that she had left, as she had claimed. And now Zim knew a weak point in his security. Dib would be able to tell him about the others he knew, and his base would become stronger than ever.
Gaz's intrusion was an annoyance, but one that had been easily solved. She had failed her goal, and nothing would come of this.
He nodded, feeling satisfied, and he headed back to where he had left Dib.
Dib wasn't there.
For a moment, Zim panicked—had he been tricked? Maybe Dib changed his mind and escaped to trail behind Gaz. Quickly, he ran to Dib's room, hoping to prove that idea wrong.
He froze in the doorway and peered in. Dib was sitting in one of the corners, bundled in one of his blankets and fiddling with one of the things Zim had bought him at the mall.
Zim placed a hand on his chest, sighing silently in relief. He stood still for a moment, waiting for the panic to fully leave him before he stepped forward. Dib glanced up quickly before looking back down, turning a crystal over in his hands.
He barely reacted when Zim sat next to him, even when Zim leaned over to rest his head on Dib's shoulder. He opened his mouth, then closed it. "Are…you still alright?"
"…yeah," Dib sighed. "Just…you know. Thinking."
"I would hope so." Zim chuckled at his own quip, but Dib barely cracked a smile. Zim grew somber again. "…what are you thinking about?"
"Just…stuff." Before Zim could press further, Dib patted the top of his head. "I just need a little time, probably some rest. Then I'll figure it out."
Something about Dib's tone and expression bothered Zim. But he wasn't sure what it was, and he didn't want to risk pressing the matter and upsetting Dib. He leaned up into Dib's touch, nuzzling against his palm.
They just sat there for a while, though Zim eventually wormed his way onto Dib's lap, nuzzling against his chest. The human would occasionally pet Zim, though he still had a far-off look in his eyes.
Eventually, Dib's stomach growled. He sighed, leaning back and letting his head thump against the wall. "…I don't feel like getting up," he groaned.
"You don't have to," Zim said. He, personally, didn't like the idea of getting up and leaving Dib alone like this. "Why don't I send GIR to pick something up for us?"
"…you'd trust him to do that?" Dib asked, raising an eyebrow.
"His cooking may be…dubious, but he does well when retrieving food from other places," Zim said. He pulled a device out of his PAK, holding it out for Dib to watch as he sent a message to the SIR unit. "What would you like?"
"…not really sure," Dib said. "Just…not pizza."
"Anything but pizza," Zim repeated with a confirming nod, adding that to his message before ordering GIR on his way. "…he's probably going to grab tacos. Unless he gets distracted along the way and chooses some other random food thing."
"Tacos sound fine," Dib said. Still with a distant look, and still fiddling with that crystal. Zim plopped against his side again, shifting until he was resting comfortably.
They sat in silence for a few minutes…until Zim started to grow bored. "Could you tell Zim more about these shiny rocks?"
"Mm?" Dib said, startled out of his train of thought. "Oh…yeah, I could. If you're interested." He opened his hand and held it to Zim, showing off the pink rock resting in his palm. "This one is rose quartz. It's supposed to promote trust, emotional healing, and, um…love."
Zim tapped a claw against it. "Does it actually cause those things?"
"Not by itself," Dib said. "Most rocks aren't just inherently magical, but some can be imbued with magic if you know what you're doing." He rolled the quartz around in his hands. "I haven't done it to this one, yet…I just…think they look nice."
He pointed up to his shelf, where the rest of his crystals were arranged. Zim stood up and grabbed a purple one, showing it to Dib. "That's alexandrite," Dib told him. "It's for hope and joy, I'm pretty sure."
Zim nodded and grabbed the next crystal that grabbed his eye. Dare he say it…the more Dib talked about what he knew, the more he seemed like himself again. So, he would prod with a few questions sometimes, like what it would take to actually enchant the crystals.
Dib was still talking when GIR burst into the room, holding a paper bag over his head. Zim reached out for it…and GIR lobbed it into his face.
That got Dib to laugh, which was the only reason Zim decided to not snap at his minion. Instead, he just waved him away…though not before GIR made him open the bag so he could grab one of the wrapped food items inside. He wandered away while eating it, paper wrapping and all.
"Is it tacos?" Dib asked, leaning and looking over Zim's shoulder.
Zim passed him one of the wrapped foodstuffs, and Dib tore past the paper to reveal a taco bulging at the seams. "Yes, looks like it." Zim reached into the bag and pulled out a round container that was filled with tiny, brown, fried disks. "Oh, and potatoey things!"
Dib snorted, taking a bite out of his taco. Zim looked at him questioningly. "Nothing, nothing. Just…the way you described them was…a little funny."
"Hmph." Zim popped up the container and popped one of the disks into his mouth. As long as Dib wasn't trying to mock him, he could laugh all he liked. But Zim knew his way of referencing things was superior.
They both continued to eat…though Zim quickly found that he couldn't stand to directly watch Dib eating this meal. Ingredients were threatening to spill out at each bite, grease was dripping down Dib's fingers, food was smearing over his lips, the chewing sounds…
Zim shuddered and quickly looked away, pinning his antennae close to his skull to try and block out the sound and smell. Dib needed to eat, and Zim wouldn't take his meals away…no matter how awful it was.
Only a few minutes later, though, the sound of chewing had stopped. Zim lifted his antennae carefully, twitching them a few times to make sure he heard that right, and then looked back.
Dib was leaning against the wall, staring down at the remaining half of his taco, set carefully on top of the paper it had come wrapped in. His expression had nearly returned to that tired, blank state from when Zim initially found him sitting here.
"Is something the matter?" he asked, making Dib jolt a little. Like he had started getting lost in his thoughts again.
"Eh, I just…don't have much of an appetite," Dib said with a shrug, pushing the taco away from himself.
Zim nearly shrugged it off. The scent of meat put him off his appetite, too, and the messy taco wasn't helping. He couldn't blame Dib for not wanting to eat it.
But, he realized, Dib was human, and a meal like this should have appealed to him. In fact, he knew that Dib had eaten meals like this in the past. His lack of appetite had a different cause, and he quickly thought through possible reasons.
…sickness could cause it. How did humans check for sickness, again?
Zim leaned over, pressing a hand to Dib's forehead. He was the same temperature he usually was…no fever. But did sickness always lead to fevers…?
"What are you doing?" Dib asked, raising an eyebrow.
"…checking if you're sick or not," Zim admitted. "This is how humans check, isn't it?"
Dib huffed, smiling slightly. "Yeah, you…you got it. I'm not sick, though, really."
Zim's eyes narrowed in suspicion (with a hint of worry). "I'm not!" Dib insisted. "I'm just…still thinking about…stuff. And it makes me a little anxious, so…" He scowled, placing a hand on his stomach. "Yeah. Not much of an appetite."
"…I see," Zim said. "You're sure you don't want to talk about this 'stuff'? Zim could ease the burden weighing on your mind."
Dib quickly shook his head. "No, no, I'm fine." He looked down at his taco and picked it back up, forcing himself to take another bite. "See? Fine."
"Hmm." Zim still felt worried, but…at least his human was getting the sustenance that he needed. And Dib didn't want to talk about whatever was bothering him, so he would drop it.
He grabbed a few of the little potato disks and began to nibble on them. Even if he disliked the smell of meat in the air, he was determined to share the meal with his human. And, he thought to himself, it would surely encourage his human to keep eating.
They sat in silence for a long time, both of them slowly nibbling on food and nursing drinks. Eventually, Dib sighed, setting down the remaining quarter of the taco. "Ugh, yeah, I don't feel up for finishing that," he said, sticking out his tongue.
"I'll tell GIR to put it away for later," Zim said, pushing the potatoes away from himself.
"Don't worry about it," Dib said. "He could eat the rest, I wouldn't mind."
"He's probably going to," Zim said, sending a message out to GIR. Still, he decided to save the little potato things, at least. Just in case Dib's appetite returned and he wanted more than the snacks in his room.
Zim tucked the food carefully in the bag, folding it up neatly just as GIR arrived. He told GIR to place it in the fridge, with a quiet warning to not touch the potato disks. GIR saluted him and ran off with the bag…and even before he was out of sight, he was eyeing it hungrily.
He sighed, leaning back against Dib's side. The human was rubbing the grease and meat juices from his fingers into his pants, making Zim crinkle his face in disgust. For this time, though, he chose not to say anything.
(…but seriously, there had been napkins in the bag! Why make his clothes all greasy and disgusting like that!?)
"…I'm glad you still ate," he chose to say. "Even if you're not feeling well, it's important that you keep fueling yourself."
Dib grunted in response. But there was a small smile on his face, so Zim assumed it was a happy grunt. He nuzzled against Dib's side, and the human lazily wrapped an arm around him.
"I don't feel like doing anything else today," Dib said after a while. "I'm just going to go to bed."
"Alright," Zim said, unable to hide his grin of excitement. He was starting to look forward to moments when Dib slept, when he could relax beside his human until the next day came.
Dib huffed, smiling a little at Zim's expression. He stood and began to move towards the bathroom, peeling his shirt off and tossing it to the side. Zim tsked, grabbing it and moving it into the laundry bucket where it belonged.
And then it was just a matter of waiting. Zim sat next to the bathroom door and leaned back against the wall, listening to the sound of running water. He would have liked to give the human a bath again, since now Dib would probably enjoy it. But humans were so weird about what intimacy felt good, and what went too far.
As long as his Dib actually took care of his hygiene, Zim wouldn't force himself into the situation.
So, he waited, tapping his claws against the floor. It wasn't long before he got bored and stood up, beginning to wander around Dib's room. He did a little bit of tidying, such as making sure Dib's possessions were all placed on the shelves, and throwing away a few snack wrappers that were scattered around. He even went to Dib's nest and neatly arranged the blankets and pillows over the mattress.
He was in the middle of fluffing all the pillows when Dib emerged, rubbing his hair with a towel that he tossed over his shoulder and back into the bathroom. He was already in his UFO pajamas, and yawning as he walked over.
"That was pretty quick," Zim said. "You did everything you needed to?" He poked Dib's cheek. "Even brushed your teeth?"
"Ugh, yes," Dib said, rolling his eyes and grinning to show off his teeth. Nice and clean, and no disgusting taco-breath. "I just…felt like going to bed quickly, alright?"
Zim patted Dib's cheek gently. "Zim understands. Today must have been pretty tiring." He peeled back a few blankets of the nest. "But you did very well…you were very brave to face Gaz-human like that."
"Hmm." Dib smiled a little, slipping into the nest and resting his head on a pillow. "…thanks."
"You're quite welcome." Zim kissed Dib's cheek, then slithered into the nest behind him, wrapping his arms around the human's torso and pulling him close. A couple more kisses peppered along his neck made the human shiver and go limp.
There. He'd fall asleep soon, Zim was sure, and then whatever had been plaguing him could be forgotten. Zim rested his forehead against the human's back, closing his eyes and relaxing.
"…Zim?" Dib whispered.
"Yes?" Zim said, eyes opening again. He moved one hand over the human's heart, and found its pace a little faster than it should have been.
"Are we…I mean, do you…?" Dib paused…and then sighed, slumping deeper into the nest. "Never mind. It's silly."
"Is it?"
"Yeah, I'm just…tired." Dib yawned and started to snuggle into his pillow. "Just need some sleep…"
"Alright," Zim said, kissing the back of his neck. He could feel the shivers travel down Dib's spine, and it thrilled him.
Dib was silent for a long time, again, though his breathing and heart rate betrayed the fact he was still awake. Probably still thinking about whatever was plaguing his mind. Zim reached up with one hand to scratch Dib's scalp.
In minutes he had found the sweet spot that made Dib sigh and start to go limp. Zim kept scratching and rubbing there, only pausing every minute or so to gently rub the tension out of his shoulders. He kept going back and forth until Dib had gone fully limp and began to quietly snore.
Zim began to relax, though he still rubbed Dib's shoulders a bit more. His human would get the sleep he needed, and be back to his normal self by tomorrow.
Yes, today had been a small bump on the road, but barely anything to worry about. Zim settled behind Dib, spooning him and nuzzling into the back of his shoulder. Things would quickly go back to how they had been, no need to worry.
With that, he let himself slip into his peaceful reverie with a sigh.