pOnly two days had passed since they graduated, but they were a busy two days for both Zim and Dib. The first day was spent looking over their ship, taking it up into orbit to ensure it was fit for space travel, and making sure all systems were at full functionality. They'd added plenty of fuel, some engine lubricant, and even charged up all the batteries. And, while the Computer cleaned the hull until it shone, the travelers went over their plan again…to make it to civilized space, stop at a convenience station for Dib to get his bearings, then head towards a heavily-populated Fleavian market, deciding from there what to do./p
pThe day after that was spent packing. They obviously couldn't take everything of Dib's, so he needed to carefully choose what to bring. He picked at least a week's worth of clothes to be added to the Voot's tiny closet, and encouraged Zim to do the same. He'd then filled a briefcase with cameras, notebooks and sketchpads, and plenty of pens and pencils, plus some empty containers and tools he could use to collect evidence. Voice recorders, video cameras…soon, his briefcase was stuffed./p
pHe'd picked out one crystal—the rose quartz, which he had since imbued with a magic that gave it a soft glow—to bring along with them. He'd also brought some books, and double-checked their food stores to make sure it would last them at least a few weeks. Finally, he'd been sure to pack the taser/knife from Gaz and the telescope from Dad./p
pOver the months, they'd made the Voot bigger…mostly by borrowing a lot of machinery and metal from Dib's old ship. It was like a shabby space apartment, now—along with the original cockpit, there was a tiny bedroom-slash-lounge-slash-study, where the bed slid into the wall if they ever needed more space and a small closet along one wall. There was a tiny bathroom (that also had medical supplies and a small washing machine), and a storage room (divided into pantry, armory, and general storage) between the two./p
pIt would probably be a bit cramped, but they should have everything they needed when they traveled between planets. Upgrading to a bigger ship could come later, when they had more credits to spend./p
pZim, meanwhile, made sure they had plenty of weapons and snacks, and packed himself some games, puzzles, and yarn to keep himself occupied during the flights. He uploaded the most recent maps to the ship's computer and ensured they had tools packed to fix any maintenance issues they could run into./p
pBoth of them scoured the base, checking that they had not left anything too important behind. Zim pointed out that if they really forgot something, they could retrieve it the next time they returned to Earth. Dib agreed, but he also wanted to spend as much time as possible in the stars before they felt the need to turn back./p
pWhich was why he also spent a lot of time with GIR that day, trying to help the robot figure out what he wanted to pack without him stuffing the ship full of his favorite trinkets. Eventually, GIR picked out a couple of his favorite toys (including a rubber piggy) to set in the bedroom, there were coloring books and crayons tucked into storage, and Zim was convinced to download episodes of GIR's favorite show to the ship's computer./p
pMinimoose was also asked to join them, but the moose said they would prefer to stay on Earth for now. Zim approved of this, putting them in charge of watching over things while they were gone./p
pDib paced around the base that evening, making sure he wasn't forgetting anything. His nerves were abuzz with nervous energy as he lay in bed that night, and it took Zim humming a lullaby while brushing his fingers through his hair to help him fall asleep./p
pZim was in a good mood in the morning, fixing waffles for breakfast. Even Dib grew excited the longer the day went on, looking forward to heading out. There was just one more thing they needed to do before leaving./p
pAround noon, there was a knock on the front door. Dib hurried over and pulled it open, letting in Gaz and Professor Membrane, carrying a box of pizza and donuts respectively. "Thanks for coming!" he said, walking into the kitchen with them./p
p"Of course. I couldn't miss the opportunity to see you off," Membrane said. Gaz nodded. "You've packed everything you need?"/p
p"Yes, and we already doubled-checked everything," Dib said./p
p"And our vehicle is fueled, I performed a routine maintenance check, and we figured out where we'll head first," Zim said, sitting down, already in his disguise./p
p"Ah. Good." Membrane said, setting the donuts on the counter. He once again looked Zim over, scanning him. Zim just smiled innocently as Dib sat next to him./p
pGaz set the cheese pizza on the table, and they all dug in. Membrane asked a few probing questions about where they were going, and Dib told him…without mentioning that those locations happened to be in space. Zim received a few questions about what it would be like out there since they would be 'near his homeland'. He did his best to assure that Dib would be safe with him./p
pHe wasn't sure if Membrane really believed that./p
pEither way…they finished off the pizza, and then ate a few donuts for dessert. There were still quite a few left, and Membrane insisted that they take them for their travels. Neither of them was willing to turn down donuts./p
pThey all moved to the living room. Zim made a show of searching the house for anything else to take, while Dib said his goodbyes./p
pHe turned to Gaz first, giving her a brief, slightly awkward hug and patting her back. "You'll stay safe, right?"/p
p"I should be asking emyou/em that," she snorted. "…don't get killed out there. I…I'll miss you."/p
p"Thanks, Gaz," he said, quietly adding, "I love you."/p
pHer eyes widened, and she blinked quickly, nodding at him. He was pretty sure that was her returning the sentiment./p
pHe then turned to his dad. Even now, he hesitated before stepping forward. When his dad opened his arms for a hug, he slowly moved forward and accepted it. His father's arms wrapped tightly around him…a little too tightly, pushing the air from his lungs./p
p"Dad, too much," he wheezed./p
p"Oh, my apologies!" Membrane let go and stepped back a bit. "…I just…I'll miss you, too, son."/p
pDib slowly nodded. "I'll…miss you, too." He scuffed his foot on the ground, and fortunately, Zim came back moments later with GIR in tow, wearing his dog costume. They all moved outside, as Zim didn't want any human besides Dib to be left unsupervised in his base after they had taken off./p
pThe Voot had been moved to the street, the holographic disguise now changed to look like an RV, compensating for its larger size./p
pGIR was the first to enter, hopping in and running into the bedroom. Zim and Dib stepped in, Dib setting the remaining donuts in the pantry before joining Zim in the cockpit. Dad didn't seem to notice anything off about their vehicle, even with the open windshield disrupting the holographic disguise./p
pDib sat down and strapped himself in. "I'll call when I get a chance," he told his family. "But, uh…I brought my phone with me, but you'll need to contact us through the ship's communications system." He tapped the control panel in front of him./p
p"Why won't your phone work?" Membrane said, brow furrowing. "…it's always good to have a more...personal communication device."/p
p"Not enough reception where we're going," Dib said. Zim nodded in agreement./p
p"Well, I…I'm sure I could get satellites set up so you're able to contact me!" Membrane said. "If you just give me about a week or so, you'll have reception wherever you need it, so your phone will work." Gaz snorted softly./p
pDib glanced at Zim, then turned back to his dad. "…I don't think any of your satellites will give us reception in space," he said bluntly./p
pMembrane's face contorted for a few moments before his brow furrowed in concern. "Son…please, be rational about this. …where do you think you're going, really?"/p
p"I just told you. Space."/p
p"Oh, son…" Membrane's brow furrowed further./p
p"Love you, Dad, Gaz," Dib said. He turned to Zim. "Let's go, hurry!"/p
pZim flicked a few switches, and the Voot hovered into the air. "No, really," he said, tugging off his wig and contacts, exposing himself to Membrane. "The cellular reception isn't going to reach that far!" Membrane's brow ceased furrowing, his eyes widening./p
pAnother switch flipped, and the Voot's disguise turned off. Membrane's eyes widened further, and the two of them reveled in how gobsmacked he looked before Zim grabbed the Voot's controls, orienting them towards the sky./p
p"Bye, Dad, Gaz! Love you!" Dib said, waving at them with a grin. Gaz waved back, but his dad was still too busy staring at them in disbelief./p
pWith that, Zim closed the windshield and gave the ship full throttle. They rocketed towards the atmosphere's edge and beyond, and Dib enjoyed a brief moment of floating before the artificial gravity turned on./p
pZim dialed back their acceleration so that they were cruising along at a good pace without using too much fuel. Now out of the planet's atmosphere, the two turned to face each other with wide grins…and burst into laughter./p
p"Oh, man…" Dib wheezed. "Did you see his face!?"/p
p"I emknow/em!" Zim cackled, delighted. "I thought his eyes were going to swell up out of his skull!"/p
pThat sent Dib into another fit of laughter. "I just wish I'd had my camera out for that."/p
pZim smirked. "Oh, GIR?" he called, snapping his fingers. "Were you able to do it?"/p
pHis robotic minion nodded, scurrying forward and dropping a camera into Zim's waiting hand. On the screen was a captured image of Membrane's wide-eyed, slack-jawed expression. Zim giggled at it, then turned it around to show it to Dib./p
pDib immediately bent over, cackling wildly. "Can…can we print that?" he said in a minute, once he could breathe. "Please tell me we can print that."/p
p"I'm thinking we should emframe/em it when we get the chance," Zim said, tucking the camera into his PAK for safekeeping. He leaned back, sharing more laughter with Dib before they finally calmed down, staring out at the field of stars that stretched ahead of them./p
pIt would take them a while to reach their first destination, even using jump gates to leave this unoccupied corner of the universe. Still, at least they were in good company with each other./p
p"We'll be able to call them later today, though, won't we?" Dib asked./p
p"Of course!" Zim reassured him. "Minimoose should have given them the necessary communication device right after we left."/p
p"Good…" Dib sighed, slumping back into his seat. "Let's wait until the first jump gate, though. We will get there by this evening, right? Relative evening, I mean."/p
p"Of course," Zim said. "Then we cruise to the station, and decide whether to take a night's break there or keep on going." He stretched, leaning back in his seat and pulling out his knitting needles and a ball of yarn. "Relax, nothing will happen until we hit the gate. Probably."/p
pThat 'probably' wasn't exactly reassuring, but Dib still unbuckled himself, heading into the back. GIR was sitting at the foot of their bed, busy mashing two of his dolls together. Dib grabbed a book, then headed back to the cockpit to sit next to Zim and read./p
pAs he read, he stretched one leg over to loop his ankles around Zim's…and the next thing he knew, they were both sitting in the same seat, with Zim in his lap and lounging back against his torso. Not that Dib was going to complain about that./p
pHe leaned forward to kiss Zim's antenna, then went back to reading his book. Occasionally, he would lift his head to stare out at the wonders of space, but as Zim said…not much really happened for a while./phr /
pAs time passed by, eventually Zim got up and started to prepare some snacks for them. That really just consisted of going into the pantry and grabbing Dib a granola bar and himself some fun dip, then returning to the cockpit. GIR was tossed a rubber steak to chew on, something that would hopefully preserve their food supplies./p
pAnd just as soon as they polished off their food, they came up on a giant metal ring floating in space near an iridescent gas giant. "The jump gate," Zim said, hopping into his own seat, and then reaching over to buckle Dib into his. "After this, we'll finally be in the part of space you've wondered about." He looked over to Dib. "Are you ready?"/p
p"Of course," Dib said. Zim smirked, buckling himself up, then ordered GIR to sit in his charging station./p
pWith all of them ready, Zim pushed the ship forward and through the gate./p
pThe ship accelerated forward, pushing Dib back into his seat and making the stars around them blur together so much it looked like they were in a tunnel. They kept going faster, and Dib could feel himself getting stretched like taffy—/p
pAnd then, just as suddenly, it all stopped as they popped out of another gate into a completely different section of space. A few billboards hovered on rocket thrusters around them, advertising places in Foodcourtia, Touristia, and telling them the coordinates of a refueling station nearby!/p
pZim punched in those coordinates, and the ship began to drift forward. "So, how are you feeling?"/p
p"Fine," Dib said. "…a little weird, though. My limbs are all tingly…"/p
p"That's pretty normal," Zim said. "Trust me, that's probably one of the worst gate jumps there is…most cover a lot shorter distance. If you can handle that one, you can handle any of them."/p
p"Good to know," Dib said, shaking his arms and legs. The feeling was already starting to go away. "How much longer until we get to that station?"/p
p"Maybe half an Urth-hour," Zim said. "Plenty of time for you to contact your family unit."/p
p"Right." Dib swiveled to the communication panel…and paused, fingers hovering above the buttons. "You think they'll both be there?"/p
p"It'll be their loss if they aren't," Zim said. Dib shot him a grateful smile, then went ahead and reached out to the contact they'd preemptively labeled as 'Membranes (Earth)'. In a few seconds, a holographic screen popped up…one showing Gaz./p
p"Hey, Dib," she said with a small smile, shoulders relaxing. "Still alive out there?"/p
p"Yeah," Dib said. "…did Dad go back to work already?"/p
p"Nah, he's just outside." Gaz swiveled her head around. "DAD! DIB'S CALLING ON THE THING FROM THE PURPLE MOOSE!"/p
pIn the distance, there was a crash, then the sound of heavy footsteps rushing closer. Membrane slammed the door open and burst into the room, then rushed the rest of the way to stand beside Gaz, staring at Dib and panting./p
pMembrane looked frazzled, with bits of hair sticking up, his hair scythe puffed out like a cat's tail. Gaz looked a lot calmer, though a bit more tired./p
p"Dib!" Membrane said. "Are you safe? Where are you? Does that ship have food, oxygen, water? Can you fly it? Will—"/p
p"Dad, slow down," Gaz said. "Dib looks fine, doesn't he?"/p
p"I emam/em fine," Dib confirmed. "We just went through our first jump gate, so it won't be long before we make it to 'civilized' space. Yes, the ship has everything I need to survive, and emyes/em, I know how to fly it."/p
p"I see. Can you…tell me exactly where you're heading?" Membrane asked./p
p"Eventually, we're going to a Fleavian market, but for now, we'll just make a stop at…basically a gas station," Dib said. "It's built into a large asteroid, apparently! Isn't that amazing?"/p
pGaz gave a small nod, as did Membrane. Membrane looked a bit more…nervous, though, his hair still puffed up quite a bit. "Son, where's that…old spaceship you showed me once?" he asked. "I can't find it anywhere in the garage."/p
p"That's because I took it and brought it over to Zim's. We also took a lot of parts out of it to upgrade the one we're using," Dib told him. He then narrowed his eyes. "Wait. Why were you looking for that emnow/em?"/p
p"He was going to fly out and get you back," Gaz said as Dad's shoulders sagged./p
p"Really, Dad?" Dib said. "…I appreciate the sentiment, but I can handle myself out here. This isn't even the furthest I've been away from Earth!"/p
pMembrane gave him a startled look…and then glanced at Zim. "Have you traveled this far with emhim/em, though?"/p
p"Eh…" Dib waved his hand in a 'sort of' motion. "Not in the same ship, but a lot of my traveling did involve me following him into space. I guess this is one of the first times we've gone so far together." Zim beamed at him./p
p"Well, I'm not going to feel comfortable with you spending so much time around someone who lured you away from home!" Membrane said./p
pDib sighed. "I emchose/em to go to space, Dad."/p
p"But it was his idea, wasn't it?"/p
pDib shifted a bit. "It…might have been. But it was an idea that I liked!"/p
pMembrane sighed. "Of course it was. Because your little…alien boyfriend has proven to be very good at manipulating you."/p
pZim grumbled, and Dib gave his dad a look. "Oh, so you see he's an alien, but emnow/em you can't believe that I trust him?" He resisted the urge to roll his eyes./p
p"Yes! Because if he's really an alien, that means everything else you've told me about him is potentially and most likely true!" Membrane shouted, pointing at Zim. "He's tried to kill you in the past! He emotionally manipulated you, and he kidnapped you! I will emnot/em let you be hurt by someone abusive!"/p
p"It's not like that!" Dib shouted. "That was months ago, and it's been emages/em since we were enemies!"/p
p"That makes him no less DANGEROUS!" Membrane said. "You can't trust him, and you need to get away from him, to safety!" Gaz shifted away from him./p
p"Hey!" Zim snapped, pointing at him. "emYou/em have as little right as I do to tell Dib what to do!"/p
p"I'm his father, and I care for his safety!" Membrane said. "I haven't seen enough proof that your care is genuine!"/p
p"Are you emblind/em?" Dib said. "Of course he cares! …then again, it is just like you to not believe what I say…"/p
p"Son, it was emreckless/em and emirresponsible/em to go running off like this," Membrane said. "Please, for your safety, just…come home. Or at least tell me exactly where you are."/p
pDib hung his head and shook it. "SON!" Membrane said, sounding both upset and angry. "You can't just run off with him! You need to—"/p
p"If you don't stop YELLING at me, I'm hanging up!" Dib snapped, glaring at him./p
pMembrane reared back, as though slapped, but he did go quiet. He looked down, thinking carefully for a few moments. In a calmer tone, he asked, "Why didn't you tell me what you two were planning? Before you left, I mean."/p
pDib snorted, rolling his eyes. "Oh, like you would have believed me."/p
p"Well…" Membrane fidgeted./p
p"Don't deny it," Dib said. "Even right before we left, I could see you didn't believe what I said! You were trying to snap me out of my 'delusion'!"/p
pMembrane fidgeted more, his mouth opening and closing. Zim grinned, chuckling under his breath, seeming to revel in seeing the professor squirm a little. Membrane shot him a look for that./p
p"I…wanted to act in a way that protected your mental health," Membrane said carefully. "If I had seen, known that your view of reality was completely accurate…" Dib crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "Well. With different information, of course I would have acted differently."/p
p"You're about a lifetime too late to finally see how 'accurate' my 'view of reality' is," Dib said bluntly./p
p"…I'm sorry," Membrane said. "But…please don't break contact with me. For your own safety, at least."/p
pDib frowned—he could handle himself, and it wasn't like Membrane could actually do anything if he emwas/em in danger. But after a few seconds, he nodded. "Fine," he said. "…and I'd want to keep in contact with Gaz, anyway." A little bit of distance actually did wonders for their relationship, reducing their chances of butting heads over something./p
pGaz nodded in acknowledgment, giving him a thumbs-up. "Have you seen any space pirates yet?"/p
p"No, nothing like that." Dib glanced at Zim. "Do you think we'll see any?"/p
p"I think any we encounter would know better than to target an Irken ship," Zim said. With a wide grin he added, "And if they do, we're prepared enough to show them why that's a bad idea."/p
p"Nice," Gaz said with a wicked grin, even as Membrane looked concerned and fiddled with his hands./p
pThe conversation lasted only a few minutes more, and mainly consisted of Dib assuring them both that nothing exciting or terrible had happened as of yet, and that he and Zim were well-prepared for whatever they might end up running into. Membrane still seemed concerned, but was much calmer than he had been at the beginning of the conversation./p
pAs they approached the refueling station, Dib said his goodbyes and hung up, after promising that he would call them again when he had time. Zim landed their ship next to a fueling station, and when a message popped up on their screen, he prompted Dib to press his hand against the scanner within./p
pZim also pressed his hand on it, and it lit up green right away. Dib's, though, flashed yellow, with a note that the scan would take a little longer. After a few minutes, though, it also lit up green./p
p"What was that?" Dib said./p
p"A scan to make sure their artificial atmosphere is breathable for you," Zim said, popping open the windshield. "The last thing they want is to have to deal with someone's body if they choked on the common chemical cocktail they use for their air."/p
p"And…what if I couldn't breathe it?" Dib asked, sniffing at the air. He had no trouble breathing, even if the air felt different, a little smoother./p
p"If what you needed wasn't that uncommon, they'd probably have air tanks to give you," Zim said. "If you breathed something a little rarer, they'd probably come out and do the fueling for you...though perhaps with an additional fee."/p
p"Wow…" Dib said. Oxygen being a common thing to breathe explained why he'd found so many inhabited planets he could explore relatively safely, and the system scanning his needs was just fascinating./p
pZim hopped out and went to the fuel pump, scanning over the different options (at least five of them), before selecting the one he wanted. Dib climbed out after him, looking around. It really did look a lot like a gas station—just floating in space on an asteroid./p
p"Why don't you go see what food they have?" Zim said, pointing at the station. "That could be a good dinner. Don't buy anything until I'm in there, though."/p
p"Why, could some of it be poisonous?" Dib asked./p
p"Maybe, but I'm more worried about it just being a poor enough quality to make you sick."/p
pDib grimaced at the thought. So even that aspect of gas stations couldn't be escaped out in space. Still, he nodded and headed into the building./p
pThe inside was about what he expected—a tile floor, bright lights, shelves filled with all sorts of products, and a cash register right at the front of the door. The alien manning it raised an eyebrow at Dib…but then yawned and slouched back, too tired to wonder further about what he was./p
pDib wandered throughout the store, specifically looking at food that would hopefully be safe to eat. He at least recognized the slushie machines (he was pretty sure that was what they were), but also found some purple tentacles being warmed like hot dogs, a selection of mini donuts, a few salads that looked like they had worms in them (was that intentional?)…/p
pIn a few minutes, Zim wandered in after him, paying for their fuel and walking over to Dib. "So, any thoughts?"/p
p"Well…those look good. I don't know what they are, though," Dib said, pointing at the roasted tentacles. "One of their sandwiches might be safer." He'd found a shelf of them wrapped in plastic, so normal it was unexpected./p
p"Those are octonuries," Zim said. "Usually good, but we can find a better place to get them than here."/p
p"Aw." Dib eyed the alien food, then grabbed a sandwich that at least had some bright purple vegetable on it./p
pZim headed to the fridges in the back, returning with two cans of soda with alien writing. "These will be good, though," he said, handing one to Dib and filling a bag with mini donuts./p
pThey perused the snack aisles for a bit, Zim telling Dib what was good and what wasn't, until they had a small collection of alien snacks. They headed back to the front, where Zim paid for all their food, and they headed back to the ship./p
pOnce they had taken off and had the autopilot set, they tore into their dinners. The sandwich Dib grabbed actually wasn't too bad, but his favorite part was probably the soda Zim had recommended to him. Zim even shared a few donuts with him, and they gave GIR some gummies and a juice box when he sat nearby to join them./p
pIt didn't take long for them to sate their hunger, tucking the leftover snacks into their pantry. Dib leaned back in his seat and stared out. They were passing by a pink gas giant with swirling blue clouds, with a red star nearby. In the distance, Dib could see colorful nebuli, and what might have been moons or planets…/p
pHe grinned widely, drinking it all in. It felt emright/em to be here./p
p…though it didn't take him long to feel the gaze prickling against his side. And who else was it but Zim? "What?" Dib said, managing to tear his eyes away to look at Zim./p
p"You're beautiful," Zim sighed wistfully, staring at him with a lovestruck expression./p
pImmediately, Dib felt heat rise in his cheeks. Zim chuckled, and if anything, managed to look at Dib even more adoringly. Which, of course, did nothing to help the bashfulness Dib had been struck with./p
p"…thank you," Dib said. "You are, too."/p
p"I know."/p
pDib snorted. "I guess humility isn't your style, though."/p
p"Psh. Who needs something like that when you're this great?" Zim said, puffing out his chest. He scooted closer to Dib. "…but I'll never turn down hearing it from you, of course."/p
pDib grinned at him, admiring how Zim seemed to radiate smug joy, starlight glittering in his eyes. His chest felt warm. "Well, I'm not planning on stopping that anytime soon."/p
p"You'd better not be." Zim scooted even closer, then finally got up so he could move fully over and onto Dib's lap. Dib leaned back, making space, and they shifted until they were both comfortable. They paused, looking at each other./p
pZim leaned forward first, his chest pressing against Dib's. Dib leaned down to meet him, planting his hands above and below Zim's PAK, and their lips connected in a passionate kiss./p
pIt left Dib feeling warm and light inside...like somehow, even though they were inside their ship, he was floating in space itself for a moment. He let himself sink into and enjoy that feeling, all while gazing into Zim's large, beautiful eyes that reflected the space around them./p
pZim shifted just enough to deepen the kiss, eyes drifting closed. Dib sighed and did the same, arms fully wrapping around Zim to hold him. His heart fluttered, and...it all felt so emright/em. Like if they stayed together, like this, everything really would be okay./p
pNot that he was planning on doing anything differently...or that anyone could make him. Dib smirked a little, enjoying the kiss a few seconds more before he had to pull away for air. And even then, he nuzzled the bridge of his nose against Zim's face while he caught his breath again./p
pZim smiled, cupping his cheek and nuzzling him back. "I love you," he whispered./p
p"I love you, too," Dib whispered back, leaning in for another kiss./p