The trip home went without any incidents. Once Zim parked the Voot in the hangar, he and Dib worked together to carry the Spittle Runner into its own separate maintenance spot. He ordered his minions to come and help with unpacking…and even with both robotic minions, and both Dib and Zim carrying bags, it took a few trips to get everything moved into Dib's bedroom.

Zim grabbed the bag that had food in it and headed to the kitchen. GIR was playing around with Dib's stuff, even pulling on one of his old shirts, while Minimoose was already diligently organizing items into different piles.

Dib thanked them and grabbed the clothes pile they had started. He initially did a sniff test for each shirt, trying to decide if they were clean or dirty…but just shrugged and tossed everything into the laundry basket. Zim would probably be happier if they all got washed, anyway.

Once Zim came back, he started helping Minimoose sort things into piles. Dib convinced GIR to keep searching for just clothes, which he would then add to the laundry hamper. Once the SIR unit seemed to understand his mission, Dib started going through the pile of tools and equipment.

Smaller items were set on one of his shelves, and anything too large was shoved aside to be dealt with later. By the time he weeded his way through the pile, there was another, smaller clothes pile, which he lobbed over into the hamper.

…he didn't quite make it, some clothes being strewn across the floor instead of landing inside. Zim cackled, and Dib grabbed the nearest shirt and tossed it over his head. Zim screeched and swatted at it, complaining about how stinky it was before throwing it back at Dib. Dib laughed as he gathered the stray clothes and actually put them where they were meant to go.

After a few more minutes of sorting, Dib realized he hadn't seen GIR in a while. That worried Zim enough to send Minimoose to go find him. He kept working with Dib to sort through bags…though Dib kept brushing his hands against Zim's, nudging into his side, and soon, they had become distracted by exchanging small kisses with each other, doing very little unpacking.

"Nyeh!" Minimoose said as they floated back in, disappointed and carrying GIR behind them.

"Oh, hush!" Zim said, curling up on Dib's lap. "The Dib deserves a break, and so do I." He leaned up to press his lips against Dib's.

Minimoose rolled their eyes, dropping GIR and his clothes to the floor. "Aww, but I took 'em to the hangar!" he whined.

"What?" Zim said, squinting in confusion. "Why there?"

"I was tooold to!"

Dib blinked a few times. "Oh! GIR, no, they go in the hamper." He pointed over to the now-overstuffed laundry hamper in the corner. "Hamper, not hangar. Thank you, though."

"Oooooh." GIR slowly nodded in understanding, then dragged the clothes behind him before tossing them on top of the rest of the laundry.

"Nyeh," Minimoose said, floating past Zim and Dib and sorting through the bags again. Zim sighed, stretched, and after kissing Dib's nose, got up to resume sorting. Dib began to open bags at random until he found the one with his haunted collection, which he started to unpack onto his shelves. He needed to at least get that taken care of before getting distracted again.

After finishing that, he pawed through bags until he found his toiletries, which he carried over into the bathroom. Then he just began going through the organized piles Zim and Minimoose were making, while GIR seemed to be playing a game seeing how far he could throw Dib's laundry and get it to land in the hamper.

"Nyeh?" Minimoose said a few minutes later, floating over and holding a stack of VHS tapes to Dib, tilting their head in curiosity.

"Oh, those are some old movies and episodes I recorded," Dib explained. Minimoose's face lit up with interest...though Dib hummed in thought as he took the tapes. "Actually...Zim? Do you have any way to play these?"

Zim pulled himself away from the bag he was working on to come over and look. He took one tape, turning it over in his hands and frowning. "How is this supposed to work?"

"...I'm going to assume you don't know what a VHS is," Dib said. "Which means you don't have a way to play these." Which was a little disappointing, having some of his favorite episodes but no way to watch them...

"Nyeh!" Minimoose said.

"You're right!" Zim said, perking up. "If we can figure out how these are meant to be viewed, we can build our own device, a superior one to any other on Urth!"

Dib also perked up, nodding enthusiastically. "Computer!" Zim yelled. "Pull up any information you can find about these..." He waved a hand in the air, then gestured to Dib.

"VHS tapes."

"Those things!"

Zim pulled a tablet out of his PAK for the Computer to transmit the information to. Minimoose peered over Zim's shoulder, curious…and after stacking his tapes on a shelf, Dib found himself peering over Zim's other shoulder. He knew in general how VHS players worked, and vaguely recalled seeing the insides of one at some point, but didn't know anything about the specifics.

It was interesting, learning how they worked, even with Zim's muttered comments about inefficient technology. And even with the comments, he was typing out a few notes alongside a diagram, so…maybe Dib would be able to watch his videos after all. Minimoose seemed almost as happy as he was at the idea, and Zim just seemed eager to prove he could pull this off.

Dib's stomach growled loudly, making all three of them stop. Dib looked up and to the nearest clock, seeing it was past their usual dinner time. He glanced back at all the bags…and though they'd made a significant dent, there was still a good amount that needed to be done.

"You know what you said about deserving breaks, Zim?" Dib said. "Because I think now would be a good time for a dinner break."

Zim sighed, putting the tablet away. "Yes, I suppose you needing to eat is as good a reason as any to take a break…GIR, Minimoose, you can rest for a bit, too."

GIR cheered, throwing another last bit of laundry into the hamper before running out. Minimoose floated away, and Zim dragged the now-overflowing hamper out of the room, commanding the Computer to start doing the laundry. Robotic claws dropped from the ceiling to carry it away.

Over dinner, Dib and Zim discussed ways Zim had thought of to be able to play those tapes. Zim made a couple of remarks about inferior technology (again), and Dib countered with a short rant about human ingenuity with limited resources, and the charm and passion that 'older' technology seemed to have.

They were still talking about it over dessert and even as they headed back downstairs, though the conversation had shifted more to films Dib personally enjoyed, and trying to give spoiler-free descriptions of his tapes to get Zim interested. They kept going through a few more bags, but it wasn't long before Dib started to get bored of just going through bags.

He was glad to have his things, of course, but he didn't feel pressured to get them all sorted. They'd all still be here tomorrow.

That was his justification when he dug out a magazine and sat on his bed to read, at least. Zim griped at him, but it didn't take long before he also got bored and came over to sit next to Dib. He nudged himself against Dib until he had wormed his way under one of Dib's arms. He read the magazine with Dib for a bit, then pulled a device out of his PAK and started to play some kind of game instead.

When Dib started feeling tired, he set the magazine aside for later and started getting ready for bed. As soon as he climbed into the nest of blankets, Zim latched onto him, burying his face in the crook of Dib's neck.

Dib smiled, wrapping his arms around Zim and relaxing.

Something woke Dib up.

He blinked, lifting his head and looking around the room. That mess of bags was supposed to be there…oh. There was music playing. That must have been what woke him. Sounded…kind of like a video game.

"Zim…can you turn down your game?" Dib mumbled.

"Nngh…not playing one," Zim mumbled back.

"Oh, okay." Dib snuggled back into his pillow, ignoring the music and falling asleep again. If Zim wasn't playing, it would go away.

It did stop…but then started back up again. Dib closed his eyes, ignoring it and slipping back into sleep. It wasn't important…

"...why is the Vampire Piggy Hunter soundtrack playing?" Zim groaned, poking Dib in the side to wake him back up.

"Ugh...Gaz set that as 'er ringtone, I don't even know..." Dib muttered. Stupid game music, and Gaz's stupid obsession with it, and stupid music waking him up in the middle of the night...

Wait. Gaz's ringtone. He had grabbed his phone earlier. Gaz was calling him.

"Shit!" he said, jumping to his feet, nearly tripping over the blankets as he darted to the bags. He dug through them, tossing things aside until he found his phone, which he barely answered in time.

"H-Hey, Gaz..." He yawned. "What're you doing up?"

"It's not even midnight yet," she said, laughing. "Were you seriously in bed already?"

"Most people are in bed before midnight! Normal people!" Dib snapped. Gaz just laughed. "Why are you calling?"

"Maybe because pretty much all of your things just seemed to vanish into thin air?" she said. "That was you that grabbed all of it, yeah?"

"With Zim's help, yes," he said. "I decided to move in fully with him."

"Seriously?" Gaz sighed. "Dib, he's—"

"Not treating me like a pet. We're actual partners now," Dib said, cutting her off. "He's also not taking over Earth anymore. We don't know the exact details of what's next, but it'll be...definitely less evil."

"I made no promises about that," Zim said, still curled up in the nest and watching him. Dib stuck his tongue out at him.

"...just to clarify," Gaz said, "When you say 'partners', is that in a romantic way?"

"Yes, it's romantic," Dib sighed, rolling his eyes and sitting down next to Zim. "Zim confessed, and so did I, and there was a big conversation we had to have to figure everything out."

"…really?" Gaz said, voice dripping with skepticism. "Dib, did you decide all of this, or did Zim?"

Dib's face was starting to heat up. "W-Well, he might have confessed first, but I chose to be with him, and to move in for real! I made plenty of decisions!"

"After he manipulated you."

Dib inhaled sharply, but paused. "…why am I talking to you?" he said, more to himself than to her. "I don't need to explain anything to you. Goodbye."

He moved to hang up, but she started to talk again. "So you're cutting both of us off, just like that," Gaz said tersely. "You got a boyfriend, and you couldn't even bother to say goodbye to us, or let us talk to you?"

Dib bristled up, miffed that she was mad at him for this. He was going to snap back, but then she sighed and inhaled sharply, and he could hear her shuffling on her end.

Gaz wasn't angry, he realized, but upset. Maybe even...sad, though it was difficult to picture her feeling that way at all.

Realizing that quickly doused his anger, and his shoulders sagged. "…would you have let me go if I had tried to say goodbye?" he asked quietly.

"I don't know. Probably not, because I don't trust that Zim actually cares about you," she sighed.

Zim, who had been leaning closer, grabbed Dib's arm and pulled himself up until his mouth was about at the level of the speaker. "Dib is mine, now," he said. "I lo…I care for him, very much, and you're not getting him back!"

Gaz growled. "And why should I trust anything you say?"

"Would you trust something I say?" Dib said, placing a hand on Zim's face to shove him back a few inches. Zim grumbled, flopping onto his lap instead, antennae perked up to listen to the conversation.

"I might, if I didn't think Zim was just planting ideas in your head," she grumbled.

"…you know it's not Zim's fault I have a problem with you and Dad, right?" Dib said sharply. "He might have helped me realize some things, but he's not the source of the issue."

"I know," she said. "And…you're right."

Dib blinked. "Huh?"

"I just…I guess I never thought about it. How much it must hurt to feel…ignored." She sighed. "I could have supported you better. Especially when I knew you attracted danger. I just always figured…you'd be able to handle everything yourself. That you'd always be around."

"Yeah, well…I did handle things here myself." Dib crossed his arms. "But I'm not coming back."

"Not even if I apologized?"

"…that'd be nice, but I'm still staying here. I want to be with Zim."

"Of course…either way, I'm…sorry for how poorly I treated you."

Dib hesitated, not sure what to say. "…thanks," he finally said. "If it means anything…I'm a bit more upset with Dad than I am—was with you."

"I guess that's fair. And…thanks, I guess," she said. After another minute of awkward silence, she said, "Hey, how'd you and Zim actually end up together, anyway?"

"T-That's a long story…"

"It hasn't been that long since I last talked to you…did something I say stick with you, Dib?" He could practically hear her smug grin over the phone.

"Well, maybe it did…" he said. "But how would you know if that had anything to do with our relationship!?"

"If I hadn't said anything, I'm sure you'd probably keep letting Zim walk all over you…or you'd both go back to trying to rip each other's throats out," Gaz said. Sarcastically, she added, "You're welcome."

Zim scoffed. "We would have been fine on our own without your meddling, Dib-sister."

"Mhm, yeah, sure."

"He's right, we probably would've figured it out on our own," Dib said. Still, he pulled the phone a little closer to himself and quietly said, "But thank you."

"Good," Gaz said, a little smug. She was silent for a few moments before continuing, "You're really going through with this, huh?"

"Yeah," Dib said. "I'll be fine, you'll see. It'll all be fine."

"Dib, I...I..." She sighed. "I'll...miss you. It's not going to be the same, knowing for good that you aren't going to be around."

"I…" He sighed. "It's going to be different. You'll be fine by yourself, right?"

"Duh."

"…I might visit," he said. "When Dad's not around, I mean. Not that it'll be hard to avoid him."

She let out a dry laugh. "That'd be…that'd be good. Oh, before you hang up, I have something to say to Zim."

"Hmm? Okay…" Dib said, holding the phone out to Zim, who sat up.

"Zim, if I find out you hurt my brother, I will hunt you down and turn your life into endless suffering. Got it?"

"U-Understood." Zim clung to Dib. "I have no intentions of hurting my Dib."

"You'd better not. And you'd better not do anything too weird to him, either!"

Zim laughed. "Your brother has tried to stick his puny little tongue down my throat," he said. "He's already seeped in bizarreness, Dib-sister!"

Gaz made a gagging sound. "Gross."

"It's French kissing, and a lot of couples do it!" Dib said.

Zim reached over to pinch his cheek. "Still gross. But you're still mine, even if you're gross."

Dib groaned, playfully swatting him away. Gaz chuckled. "Sounds like you have things handled," she said. "…Dib, if you don't end up visiting, I'm going to hunt you down to see for myself that you're okay." Somehow, she still managed to make it sound like a threat.

"Got it, got it," Dib said. "And…you'll call if you really, really need me?"

"I haven't needed you babying me since I was four, Dib," she said. "…but yes, I'll call you."

"Alright. I'll see you around, then."

"Dib, I…" She started to say something, but her voice cut off, and she sighed. "I…really care about you. So stay safe." With that, she hung up.

Dib pulled the phone away from his ear, staring at the screen until it went to sleep. Zim shifted closer, sitting up and leaning his head against Dib's shoulder. "What is it?"

"I'm still…not happy with her," Dib said, setting his phone down beside the nest. "But I still care about her. And I…can't imagine never seeing her, even if she aggravates me. Does that make any sense?"

Zim wrapped his arms around him, kissing his neck and pulling him back into the nest. "You care deeply for your fellow humans, don't you? Especially your family," he said.

"…yeah."

Zim started running his fingers through Dib's hair. "You'll see her, on your terms. And I'll make sure she doesn't try to scare you or push you around."

Dib turned his head to peer at him. "You're just as scared of her as I can be."

"Silence!" Zim smacked his free hand over Dib's mouth. "…but I think, having that connection with another human, with your own kind…it would make you happy."

Dib peered at him for a few more moments, then nodded, shifting to relax into his pillow. He reached up and grabbed the hand over his mouth, entwining his fingers with it. "Still," he said. "I want you by my side, too. Always."

"…Same to you, Dib-smell," Zim whispered. He began scratching at Dib's scalp again. Dib sighed, going limp and starting to fall asleep again…though not before wrapping an arm loosely around Zim's waist.