Maybe Dib's theory about him being 'in shock' had some truth to it, Zim mused. After what he did, he should have felt horrified by his actions. He should feel guilty, and throw himself at the Empire's judgment for his crime. He should be angry at himself for being both a traitor and a defect.

He felt none of that. As he told Dib, he did feel proud, because he had accomplished an impossible task that had never been done before. But other than that, he felt…nothing.

Okay, he also felt a bit happy, but that was because of Dib holding onto him, comforting him, not because of what he had done. Zim didn't feel like he needed comfort at the moment, but…being held by Dib felt really nice. Even if he didn't need it, he wasn't going to turn it down.

"So…what will we do now?" Dib said after a while.

"Well, this is pretty good," Zim answered, nuzzling against him.

"You little dork," Dib sighed affectionately. "No, I meant…we can be together now, but what are we going to do? You're not conquering Earth, now, and I don't need to fight to protect it…at least not from you."

"Oh." Now Zim felt something…he was upset. He'd always had a purpose in the Empire, and now that purpose was gone. He didn't exactly want it back, but he wanted…he wanted some direction.

"I don't know." He lifted his head to look at Dib. "What will you do?"

"I have a few ideas…" Dib said with a smile. "…but hey. You should think about what you want, too."

"Hmm." Zim frowned up at him. Dib had such a…human outlook. Filled with ideas that people should find truth for themselves, and make their own choices about who they wanted to be. Back in the Empire, it would be a foolish notion.

But he wasn't in the Empire, and Urth would never be a part of it. And…Zim knew that determination and resilience were part of what made Dib 'Dib'. It was another thing to…to love about him.

He nuzzled against Dib again. "Fine, I'll think of what I want to do. You'll help me get started, won't you?"

"Yeah, sure! …you want to do it now?"

"Yes, but this isn't the best place for brainstorming." Zim stretched, lifting an arm and pointing out the door. "I have a scheming room we can use."

Dib didn't move. "…okay, are you going to guide me?"

"I am!" Zim said, pointing at the door again. "You're going to carry me there!" He turned to beam expectantly up at Dib.

It didn't take long before Dib relented. He adjusted his grip on Zim as he stood up and walked out the door. Zim shifted so that he could contently lounge in Dib's arms. He smirked up at his human. "You love me~."

Dib blushed, eyes flitting away. "S-Shut up…you fell first…"

Zim didn't know what he meant by 'fell', but he still laughed at his human's reaction. Still, he gave Dib directions to his scheming room, pointing in the directions he needed to turn.

With a few adjustments to the base, with directions sent from his PAK, it only took them a few minutes before they arrived. Only when they came to the door did Zim hop out of Dib's hold to open the door and step inside.

Ah, the scheming room, where several of his brilliant plans had been conceived. While Zim felt at home with everything digital and mechanical, sometimes having physical materials helped with his planning. This was why in this room, he not only had screens his Computer could put displays on, but a conference table with papers and writing implements stacked on top, plenty of moderately comfortable chairs…and a blackboard and stack of colorful chalk on one wall.

And it was in complete disarray! Zim frantically looked around at the papers that had been scattered all over the table. So many world domination schemes…he didn't want Dib to see them! The past was too recent for such a reminder.

Zim quickly grabbed the papers off of the table, filled with schemes and ideas, and tossed them into the waste bin. He then darted to the blackboard, quickly erasing its contents (detailing some sort of plan for defeating Dib).

Dib stepped in just then, looking around. "Woah," he said. "You use this just to think of plots?"

"Mhmm!" Zim said, pulling out a chair for Dib. Once he sat down, he placed blank paper and some pens in front of him, grabbing his own stationary and sitting closer to the blackboard. "Of course, I can develop ingenious plans anywhere, but having a nice space like this can make it easier."

"…hey, is that the blackboard that went missing from our middle school?" Dib asked, pointing at it.

"I won't say," Zim said. "But! We can write our very best ideas here, where we can then flesh them out!" He smacked a palm against the blackboard.

Dib nodded. "So…how do we start?"

"Just try thinking of any ideas, any at all," Zim said. "You can write them down or just announce them." With that, he leaned back in his chair, twirling a pen between his fingers and frowning in thought.

"Alright, then." Dib also started to frown in thought, clicking a pen in a pattern that seemed specific to him. He jotted down one note, then went back to thinking.

…Zim realized he was just staring at Dib, and not doing much brainstorming. He shook his head and scrunched his eyes closed. He was looking for a goal, an objective, something to do! Staring at his human (though nice) wasn't enough!

He forced himself to think. He wanted…to be with Dib, and to spoil him. Dib had enjoyed their shopping trip, hadn't he? Zim wouldn't mind continuing to do that. But that required money…

Several human occupations would get them Urth currency, but Zim had a better method. "I've got an idea!" he announced, opening his eyes.

"Really?" Dib said, perking up and looking at him with interest.

Zim sat taller, puffing out his chest. "How's this sound—taking wealth from the richest humans slowly until we have the most wealth and get to decide what to do with it all!" Zim said.

Dib grimaced. "Mmm…sounds like just a different flavor of world-conquering to me."

Zim paused. Oh. Hmm. Well, it would make for a great way to take over the world, and he would normally jot it down to flesh out as a full scheme, but…that wasn't the point of this. They were trying to steer away from invasion. He sagged a little.

"…hey, maybe we can take money from corrupt organizations and their leaders," Dib said, patting his shoulder. "I wouldn't be opposed to that, if you ask me for some actually corrupt targets." That made Zim perk up a little, and he decided to write Dib's addition to their board.

He sat back down, and Dib slid a piece of paper and a pen over to him. "What if you just tried listing off everything you like doing?" he suggested.

Zim hummed, twirling the pen and tapping it against the table. What he liked doing…well, there was always creating explosions, or making new things in the lab. He wrote those down and bit his lip in thought.

…well, he kind of enjoyed making food for Dib and seeing his reactions. Even if he sometimes had mixed feelings that he didn't know the source of about preparing food —but those were easy to ignore when he saw how happy his creations made Dib. Cooking was added to his list.

That made him remember other hobbies he had tried in between world-conquering schemes, and he started to jot down a full list of things he liked. After writing down several things on his new list, Zim suddenly paused, antennae twitching. Dib was very quiet. He lifted his head and saw that Dib was just...watching him write. Smiling. "What?"

Dib flinched, startled. "Sorry! I just...it was nice, seeing you think of so many things you enjoy." He nodded at the paper. "I wanted to make sure you had time to think and write them all down."

Oh. Zim glanced back at his list, longer than he initially would have thought he could come up with. He smiled a little, setting his pen aside and looking back up at Dib. "Thank you," he said. "But! This brainstorming session is for both of us. So, tell me, what ideas do you have?" He pointed at Dib.

Dib fidgeted a little. "I had one idea…we could work together to solve mysteries, uncover cryptids, and discover new things on Earth," he suggested hopefully. "Then we could both receive the admiration of the whole planet."

"Because that's worked excellently for you so far, hasn't it?" Zim said before he could stop himself. As soon as the words came out of his mouth, Dib looked sad, and Zim kicked himself. Why could he not say the right things today? The last thing he wanted was to hurt Dib, and yet he kept doing it.

"…I'm ssss…sss… sorry," he hissed out, perking up when he successfully forced the word out. Then he remembered Dib was still sad, and that he should continue his apology. "It's…it's not a bad idea at all. I think I'd like to learn more about your spookies and beasties from you, but…I don't know if I want to spend my whole life doing it."

He did write it down on the board, though. Dib leaned back in his chair with a sigh. "…you do have a point, though," he groaned. "I don't think I could take it if everyone kept treating me the same way they have been for the whole rest of my life…but it would be so, so sweet for them to realize that I was right…"

His eyes glittered with a daydream, but he shook his head and sat back up to look at Zim. "Your turn, though. Looks like you write a lot of things, have any that don't involve world domination?"

"Oh, a few," Zim said, straightening his list out in front of him. "Wait, do weapons development and experiments count as being involved with world domination?"

"…probably. Most likely for weapons development, and I think it depends on the context for experiments," Dib said. Zim nodded, jotting little asterisks next to those items on his list. "Looks like you have more ideas than just those, though."

"I do! For one thing, I enjoy baking and cooking," Zim said, before starting to go down the list. "I've also found that I like watching movies, playing games, making art, solving puzzles, knitting..."

"Yeah, those are pretty good..." Dib mumbled, making Zim beam. "But...a lot of those sound more like hobbies to me. Would you want to center your life around any of them?"

Zim looked over his list and frowned. He did enjoy all of them, but maybe not doing them for entire days at a time, over and over. They were good in small doses, and he liked trying new things, but... "Not really good new 'life goals'," he muttered in agreement, tossing the list aside.

"...hey, maybe we could make our goal to try out as many different hobbies as we can together!" Dib suggested.

Zim nodded, writing that idea on the chalkboard. "I do like the sound of it," he said. "But is that all we want to do? We'd probably run out of things to try eventually."

"That's true," Dib sighed. "We can still try hobbies, but as a...a supplement to something else." Zim jotted an asterisk next to the 'try hobbies' idea before sitting back down.

They both sat in silence, drumming their fingers on the table. "If we're trying out new skills, that'd mean learning new stuff too, right?" Dib said.

"Yeah?"

"Maybe we could go to university together. Get degrees in something. That'd take us four years, maybe more." Dib shrugged. "Heck, it'd probably make my dad happy…if he even noticed I chose to do it."

"Eh, while I'm all for learning more…your Urth educational institutions haven't impressed me so far," Zim said. "There are space universities that would be far superior."

"Yeah, but no one on Earth would actually believe we have any credentials that way," Dib pointed out. "Besides, college is supposed to be much better than…grade school…"

His face started to go a little bit pale, and his heart raced. "Oh, no," he groaned, clutching the sides of his head. "No no no! I can't—ugh!"

"What?" Zim asked, concerned.

"We've both been absent from school for months now! We're lucky they haven't called the authorities for truancy, but we'll never graduate with how much we've missed!" Dib slammed his head onto the table. "I can't believe I could be so stupid! Dad's gonna kill me..."

"Don't worry," Zim said, patting his head. "Zim made an algorithm that hacks into the school system years ago!"

Dib lifted his head, narrowing his eyes. "...what kind of algorithm?"

"Oh, it just makes sure that I'm always marked as 'present' in the system, and that I'm given good grades on everything automatically," Zim said. "I added you to its system, too, so you have nothing to worry about."

"Don't you think someone's going to notice that we're not actually there and haven't been doing any of the work?" Dib said, raising an eyebrow.

"Dib, please. Think about what the faculty there are like."

After a few moments of thought, Dib sighed, hanging his head. "True…and no one can try to use their Crazy Card on me if I'm not actually there. …when exactly did you add me to your system?"

"Shortly after the first time I took you in."

"You mean the time you kidnapped me?"

"…yes. I wanted you all to myself," Zim admitted.

"That's…I'm going to choose to think of that as mostly sweet, and not completely creepy," Dib said.

Zim nodded. "Yes, thank you."

"Anyway. Guess we don't need to worry about school, so thanks for that, too." Dib chewed on his lip. "…what were we talking about before the whole truancy thing?"

"University."

"Right! So, if we found a university that's better than our current school—and trust me, that won't be hard—would you be interested?"

Zim leaned back, giving it some thought. "…not particularly," he said. "Not unless it's required to fulfill some specific role here on this planet. And if you want actual knowledge and not just credentials, I still say that non-Urth universities would be far superior."

"That…would be cool," Dib said. "…but I don't know what I would even study out there, or if they'd even let me enroll. They probably don't even know what a human is."

"…Zim could sneak you into classes as a…what's the term?" He did a quick search through the nearest tablet. He jokingly finished, "Emotional support human."

Dib tossed a balled-up piece of paper at his head. "Pass! Not funny." Still, his lips twitched a little, fighting against a smile. "Have you been to those before?"

"No, but I used to work with scientists who studied at a few of them," Zim answered. "The University of Vort was highly recommended." On the screen, he pulled up a quick image, showing off the large space station in orbit around Vort…one of their promotional pieces that also showed off a nebula in the not-so-far distance.

Dib's eyes sparked with interest and curiosity. "It looks amazing," he said. "…even if I couldn't be a student, maybe we could go on tours to all those different universities?"

"I'm sure we can sneak you in, if you really wanted to see them," Zim smiled. "…though there are other wonders of space I think I'd show you first."

"Huge space stations that are just dedicated to education aren't wonders?" Dib countered.

"You know, I'm starting to think you'd be happy and impressed anywhere in space," Zim said half-jokingly. "I could probably take you to a landfill planet and you'd be interested."

"Shut up," Dib said with a laugh. "...is there really a whole planet for that?"

Zim laughed, and though Dib looked embarrassed, he was also laughing a little. Zim thought that he really wouldn't mind taking Dib anywhere in space that happened to catch his eye. Even if they were places that he didn't know well, he was sure the human would still be fascinated by them...

He sat straight up, antennae shooting up as he was struck with an epiphany. He turned to face their board, eyes flitting over the few things he had written. He grabbed the chalk and underlined 'discover/solve mysteries', then drew an arrow pointing to the center of the board, where he wrote SPACE.

"You look like you're onto something," Dib said.

Zim grinned, turning to face him, but hiding the board behind him. "You'll like this one. Are you prepared to be amazed, Dib?"

Dib nodded, gesturing for him to go already.

"There are large amounts of space that are completely unexplored, and Urth happens to be sitting in the middle of one of those dark areas," Zim began. "Even within inhabited portions of space, there are vast mysteries and untouched planets."

Dib leaned forward, his interest piqued. Zim grinned and continued. "What if two brave, amazing, intelligent explorers traveled through space, learning everything they could about each mystery and uncharted area? Facing danger, doing amazing things, and revealing new discoveries? Don't you think they could earn the admiration of whole planets for their work?"

He stepped aside, showing what he had written on the board and beaming at Dib. "So? What do you think?"

"…we could do something like that?" Dib said.

"What's stopping us?" Zim said. "We have the technology. Between my superior strength and skills and your knack for spotting anything unusual, the universe won't know what hit it!"

"I…I really like this idea," Dib said. "But I don't know if I could just leave Earth behind forever."

"We don't have to," Zim said, circling 'Urth' and writing 'base' to the side. "Every good mission needs a base of operations. Plus, with Urth being so out of the way, we can be mysterious and cryptic investigators who come and go as we please!"

Dib thought over it, but it wasn't long before he was smiling. "I want to do that," he said. "I've always enjoyed going into space, chasing after you…I guess the only difference now is that we'll be going together."

Zim smiled. "Yes…I'll need to make a few adjustments to the Voot, and we'll need to think of where to start…"

Just as he was compiling a mental list, Dib said, "Wait." When Zim looked at him, the human fidgeted nervously. "Do you really want to do this?" he asked. "You're not just trying to…cater to me, are you?"

"Does it matter?" Zim asked. "I won't be taking over your home, and you'll be doing something you enjoy."

Dib looked away, frowning and looking…guilty. "I just…you should be happy, too. Would you enjoy it?"

Zim sighed. "I would," he said. "I wouldn't have brought the idea up if I didn't like it. Being able to show you the places I've been to, and earning the admiration of others for solving things—that appeals to me." So did the idea of seeing Dib's face light up in wonder whenever they saw something new, but Zim found that sentiment was a little too sappy to say aloud right now…and he wasn't sure it would be what Dib wanted to hear.

"If you say so," Dib said with a little shrug. "…I like that idea best. But I'd also like to think about it a little more."

"Shall we continue brainstorming?" Zim said, twirling the chalk.

"No, I think I'm out of ideas," Dib said. "…they were really all variations of the first one. And none of them top yours."

Zim smirked, standing a little taller. Of course Dib had loved his idea, and it was the best! It felt good for that to be acknowledged.

"So…we're dating now, right?" Dib said. "Or courting, or whatever you feel like calling it."

Zim nodded eagerly, and Dib huffed in amusement. "So, if you're not busy right now…wanna make out?" he asked.

Zim tilted his head, brow furrowing. Dib explained, "It's like…kissing a lot, and cuddling a bit. I'm pretty sure."

"Oh, yes, Zim would like that!" Zim said. He quickly darted over to Dib, hopping in his lap and pressing his lips against the human's. Dib was startled, kissing him back as Zim pressed himself against Dib…

With maybe a little too much force, because Dib's chair started to tilt backward.

"Wait—" Dib said as they started to tip. But it was too late—the chair fell over with a loud crash. They went tumbling to the floor, Dib grunting as he rolled off of the chair, and again when Zim landed right on his chest.

"...oops," Zim said. He quickly scanned his human, making sure he was fine. (He was, with maybe a few new bruises at worst). "...can we still 'make out'?"

Dib laughed, then leaned up to press his lips against Zim's. Zim accepted that as an answer and returned the kiss. Dib went further, resting his hands on the back of Zim's head and pulling him closer to deepen the kiss.

It was a little rough at first, Zim wincing when their teeth clicked together once or twice. But eventually, they figured out exactly the right pressure to add to their kisses. With a hum, Zim melted into Dib. Dib's hands started to flit around Zim's waist.

Dib pulled back to breathe, head thumping back onto the metal floor. Hmm. Zim was comfortable lying on top of Dib, but Dib probably wasn't comfortable lying on the hard floor like that. There had to be a better place for this.

"Do you want to take this to your bed?" Zim asked.

Dib sputtered, his whole face turning red. "Wha…I…Zim, that's so…it seems so soon, but…"

Zim tilted his head. "Eh? What? I just thought doing this in your bed would be more comfortable for you."

He didn't think it was possible, but Dib turned an even brighter red. "Oh, right, of course that's what you meant," Dib squeaked.

"What else could—" Zim tried to ask. But Dib quickly cut him off with a kiss, squeezing his shoulders.

They had to separate so that Dib could breathe…and as soon as he had caught his breath enough, he panted, "Bed sounds good," with a small nod.

Zim gave him a nod in return, scooping him up and heading for Dib's room. It normally would have only taken a few short minutes, but Dib was very…distracting, nuzzling his face into the crook of Zim's neck. It was slow going, with Zim needing to stop and kiss him in retaliation.

But eventually, he did make it to Dib's room. He dropped Dib on top of his nest, then flopped on top of him, curling up against his chest. Dib was quick to wrap his arms around Zim and kiss him again, and when Zim kissed back, Dib's hands began to wander over him.

Dib's touch still made all of his nerves start buzzing, but being able to touch Dib in return, to let his own hands wander, made it much more enjoyable. Less torturous than being pinned down had felt. And now that they had found the right rhythm, so to speak, the kissing was also very enjoyable.

A few minutes in, Dib had to push Zim back a little so he could pant for breath. His face was flushed, and his eyes were practically glowing with a warmth that was directed just at Zim.

Zim smiled, letting out a small, happy trill. He was seeing the appeal of 'making out'.

They continued to make out for a while longer, until Dib was thoroughly out of breath and with a pink blush spreading to his chest. Not even Zim made it out unscathed, his organic shell a few degrees hotter than usual and his PAK softly whirring to process all the sensory information. It seemed to be getting better at handling the new information over time, though…

Dib sprawled across his bed, and Zim curled up against his side. They laid like that, peacefully, until Dib's stomach started to growl. He groaned, rolling to press his face into the crook of Zim's neck. "Ugh, I don't want to get up," he grumbled.

"But you need to eat," Zim said. "I can bring you something."

"Nooo, stay," Dib complained, wrapping an arm around Zim. Zim smiled, curling even closer. It felt so nice, to be so wanted.

"Fine, I'll stay," Zim said. "You still need to eat, though."

Dib grunted. "I'll just have GIR bring something," Zim decided. He shifted to free his wrist, using his communicator to send a message out to his robotic minion.

It didn't take too long for GIR to run in, carrying burgers from a greasy fast-food place. They smelled terrible, but Dib at least turned away to scarf down his meal, keeping the horrible meat and its juices away from Zim.

When finished, he shoved the bag aside and turned back to Zim, but Zim placed a hand on his cheek and stopped him before he could mean in for another kiss.

"No kisses for you while you still have meat-breath," he declared.

Dib stuck his tongue out at him, but begrudgingly got up and headed into the bathroom. In minutes he emerged, wearing his pajamas and with his teeth now clean.

"That was quick," Zim commented.

"I can wash up tomorrow morning," Dib said, sliding under the blankets of his nest, and then holding them up so Zim could join him. "I've got something else I'd rather do."

He leaned in for a kiss, and now Zim obliged him. After a while, though, Dib's movements became more and more sluggish…his poor, exhausted human was spent from the day and starting to fall asleep. Zim pulled back, but only to then press against Dib's chest and pepper kisses along his neck and collarbone.

Oh, curling up against his human's chest, and having Dib wrap his arms around him and hold him close...it was amazing. Zim nuzzled close, and allowed himself to begin purring. He wrapped both arms around Dib, and his hands started kneading at Dib's back.

Dib giggled. "Heh…cute space cat-bug," he mumbled, mimicking the kneading motion on Zim's shoulders. Zim's spooch twinged at being called 'cute', and his face felt warm, but…it was nice?

He sighed, burying his face into Dib's chest, antennae pressing up to rest on Dib's neck. He drank in everything he could, from his scent to the sound and feeling of his pulse. It didn't take long for Dib to fall asleep, his heart slowing down and his hands flopping limply over Zim's back.

Still, even in sleep, he mumbled and shifted his hold on Zim, making himself comfortable and keeping the Irken in his arms.

Zim let out a quiet, pleased chirp, closing his eyes. Dib wasn't going anywhere. He'd be able to spend all night like this, and the next night, and the one after that.

He smiled, shifting until he was using Dib's shoulder as a pillow, and let himself drift into a light sleep.