Life kinda sucks sometimes; but fanfic is fun, so have a new chapter! (see the notes at the end of the chapter for more detail if you're interested)

Enjoy!

Part 77: You Call These Dates?

It'd only been a week and a half into July when Gaz heard a knock at the front door of the boys' house. She'd been upside down on the couch, heels propped lazily against the wall, head lolled off the cushions as she played her Game Slave. When the knock occurred the first time, she'd paused her game and peered at the door from under the coffee table with a raised brow. There was a pause, then a more incessant set of knocks. Gaz sighed loudly, flipping upright on the couch and setting the Game Slave onto the coffee table. She stomped towards the door, ready to kick whatever salesman was daring to be so belligerent right in the crotch.

She swung the door open with a nasty scowl. Tak blinked at her, fist raised for another set of knocking. The two stared at one another for a long moment before Gaz's entire body seemed to relax once her brain recognized Tak's disguise. A smirk spread across her face.

"Oh, you did come back-"

"Shut up," Tak spat, shoving Gaz aside to enter. Gaz couldn't even muster up the anger to retort, simply shutting the door behind Tak with a smug smile.

"Told you you'd be back," Gaz says. Tak groaned, spinning on her heel and marching for the door. Gaz blocked her path, locking their arms and dragging her towards the linen closet.

"Release me, you wretch!"

"You just got here. You're not leaving again just because I teased you. What are you, a tsundere?"

"A what?"

"Don't worry about it," Gaz says. She pulled Tak into the closet. "Computer. Take me to the two buffoons."

Tak looked at the wall, distracted, for a moment, leaving her arm to hang in Gaz's grip. She gasped, whipping her head around to glare at Gaz, practically hissing as she spoke. "I am not this 'tsundere'!"

"I forgot you get internet," Gaz grumbled, tossing Tak's arm aside. "So, do you want a room down here, or?"

"No. Because I am not living here," Tak spat.

"Yeah? Where else you gonna stay? In your ship?" Gaz asks, looking back at her with a new smirk. Tak was silent, a slight blush creeping up on her cheeks. She groaned, hanging her head, and Gaz knew she'd won. "I'll tell Zim to fix something up for you. He has too many empty rooms down here, anyway."

"They're meant to be used during invasions…" Tak grumbled.

Gaz hummed, nodding. Is that why so many have dressers in the wall? She wondered. If invading Irkens were going to stay anywhere, it made sense that it'd be in their ships or in the pre-established base. Most of the rooms looked like they could be easily converted into full dormitories, and Zim already had converted several into rooms for Gaz and Dib to use, and one for Skoodge's use when he stayed at the house. Other than allocating specific rooms to different sciences, like his biotechnologies lab or the bioengineering rooms being separate but connected with a conjoining doorway.

His farms took up a few different rooms at this point with artificial sunlight and a watering schedule across an entire floor of the base. The odd, sugar cane plant that Zim had explained was the base for most Irken food product, and their soda, grew about as fast as bamboo. Out of curiosity, Gaz had measured it for a week and found it had grown from one foot to four across six days before finally starting to plateau. The plant itself had been vile to taste. The sheer sweetness of it was so overwhelming that Gaz spat it out and scrubbed her tongue with her sleeve to try and mitigate the flavor. Zim had gotten a laugh out of it before taking a large bite out of the plant. It was a little frightening, given he'd had to use his claws to crack open the outer shell and dig out the softer interior for Dib and Gaz to try. She'd tested the hardness of the shell, resorting to smashing it against the desk just to crack it. She didn't even want to consider how strong either Zim's teeth or his bite strength was to have bitten it so casually.

The elevator came to a stop and Tak stomped off, bee-lining right to where she could hear Zim's voice further down the hall.

"Um-" Gaz halted, nearly ramming into Tak's back once she'd reached the door she needed. She raised her foot. "HEY!"

Tak kicked the door, splintering it out of its sliding frame with a cascade of the plastic and metal material across the floor. "YOU OWE ME A SHIP!" she shrieked.

Gaz stared wide-eyed at the pieces as they littered the floor, her arm still hanging in the air from where she'd tried to reach for Tak's foot before her assault on the door. She felt, for a brief moment, an intense thumping in her chest. Zim was screaming, but Gaz could hardly pay attention. Her brain wasn't even trying to process sound at the moment. She flexed her fist at her side, wondering if she'd reach that point once the PAK was fully integrated. When she had finally come back to herself, Tak had Zim by the collar, rocking him back and forth in the chair.

"IT'S UNSALVAGEABLE! HAVE YOU ANY IDEA HOW LONG IT TOOK ME TO BUILD?! TO BUILD BOTH OF THEM?! AND NOW I HAVE TO FLY THE INFERIOR COUSIN OF MY SHIPS BECAUSE OF YOU!"

"How is that my fault?!" Zim asks, shoving his hand in Tak's face and trying to force her away with his boot. Gaz couldn't help but snicker at how much it resembled when he and Dib started to quarrel.

"YOU DESTROYED THEM BOTH!" Tak said, trying and failing to get any better of a grip on him.

"A tree destroyed your last one, that's not my fault!"

"He's got a point there," Gaz mumbled. Tak shot her a venomous glare over her shoulder. Gaz glanced away, pretending not to see. I do not perceive it, I do not perceive it… Gaz thought. She caught sight of Dib, sitting with a gaping mouth and a chip halfway to his lips, on the opposite side of the room with Skoodge. She blinked at the two, shuffling to their sides.

Tak shoved Zim back in his seat with a growl. "You're helping me build a suitable ship. You did ruin my first one!"

"Fine, just stop screaming!" Zim spat back. "Didn't you get here on a ship?!"

"I had to find one, no thanks to you, and it is woefully inadequate compared to my prior, self-designed ships. I refuse to use a ship that is not up to my standard more than I absolutely have to," Tak says, exuding more haughtiness than Gaz had ever seen in her life. "You still have access to my first ship, I assume?" Tak asks, crossing her arms and tapping her foot expectantly.

"Yes," Zim hissed, slumping in his chair.

"Good, because I'll need its parts. Now, where is my first shi-" Tak had turned, pausing at the sight of Dib and Skoodge. Skoodge waved awkwardly.

"Hi?"

"You came back?!"

"I said I would!"

"Immediately?" Tak asks, dragging a hand down her face.

"Well… I like spending time here…" Skoodge mumbled, looking away uncertainly. "Y-you came back quickly, too!"

"I at least gave this idiot some buffering time," Tak says flatly.

"Hey!" Zim kicked at her shin, earning a glare and hiss. "You both are freeloaders, that's what you're doing!"

"What does that even mean?" Tak asks.

"It means you're taking advantage of staying here for free," Gaz explains flatly. "We're basically collecting you guys at this point."

"I am not a collectible," Tak grumbles. She stomped out the door. "I'm working on my ship, don't disturb me!"

"Wouldn't dream of it," Zim sighed, returning to what he'd been working on before the interruption.

"Where's Gir?" Gaz asks.

"He's out getting groceries," Dib says.

"Ah. What exactly is he working on?" Gaz nods in Zim's direction.

"He's tinkering with our PAK coding. He'll need to take them off when he updates them. Skoodge didn't feel comfortable sitting too nearby while he did, though, so we sat over here. I've been showing him conspiracy videos."

"You sound too proud about that," Gaz says. "It's all bullshit, by the way."

"Not all of it!"

"No, all of it. Aliens and some of the monsters I'll let pass, because no shit. But the rest is bullshit," Gaz says, waving Dib off. Dib groaned, resting his head on the table.

"Ignore her, Skoodge, she never believed any of this stuff," Dib says.

"Because it's all a pile of horseshit!" Gaz spat, kicking Dib's chair and nearly sending him careening. She huffed, leaning on the table. "Are you nerds spending all day down here?"

"I mean, maybe?" Dib offers with a shrug.

Ugh, no. Gaz merely blinked at him before turning away and following Tak to where her ships had still remained docked. She could return to her Game Slave any time, after all. And there was something much more interesting not far off she could pass the time with. She found Tak on the floor below, already hunched over a desk and fiddling with parts. Irkens worked fast, Gaz could at least admit that much. She walked up beside Tak and leaned against the table, resting her head on her arm and staring at Tak. Tak ignored her presence, with the only indication she knew Gaz was even there from an antennae that flicked her direction. Gaz reached over, poking Tak in the cheek.

Tak shoved her hand away, her antennae flicking wildly. "My patience is waning, is this entertaining to you?"

"Yes."

Tak groaned, running her hands down her face. Irk, she was exhausted. How long had it been since she'd taken a proper nap? It was before she had arrived on Earth prior, she knew that much. She would kill for one this instant if she didn't have something to finish sat right in front of her… and a pest to her left. She sighed, pushing away from the worktable. It would be pointless to keep trying to work with one of the siblings already targeting her.

"You should be practicing moving around with the PAK, shouldn't you?"

"I've done that enough today, my brain is shot. I was recharging my batteries when you showed up."

"What?"

"I was resting when you got here."

"Ah. What is it you want to do, then?" Tak asks. "Because you won't leave, even if I ask."

"How perceptive of you," Gaz praised. "I don't know. Just not staring at you doing stuff when I'm stuck being bored as hell. Or practicing. You want to take a nap? You have eye bags for days."

"What?"

"They have their own gravitational pull, Tak."

Tak didn't bother trying to dissect or search online for a translation of that metaphor. Frankly, and she hated to admit it, she was exhausted. She motioned for Gaz to follow her out as she grabbed a spare towel and wiped her hands clean. She tossed the towel aside as she turned to speak to Gaz once more. Her words caught in her throat when she saw where Gaz, looking at her phone rather than where her feet were going, was about to step.

She could only watch as Gaz stepped on the towel, lurched to the side, and her face hit the floor.

Gaz pressed the ice pack against her face with a subtle ferocity that Tak had only seen in her Irken superiors when they were about to tear into a recruit. Gaz leaned against the living room wall and shot Tak another sidelong glare, tapping her foot. Tak was silent for a moment, sitting awkwardly in the kitchen doorway.

"I'm sorr—"

Gaz shoved the ice pack into Tak's face. In her defense, she felt it justified and the ice was blocked by both a sandwich bag and rag. Tak's shriek was purely from the temperature.

"AH! Get that acid off me!"

"It isn't acid, it's a cold rag, and you deserve it!" Gaz spat.

Tak shoved her off. Or, tried to. She had to grip Gaz by the wrists to hold her at bay and it was rather concerning how much effort she was having to put in to keep Gaz off. It was entirely possible, in her mind, that Zim had not held back on the strength enhancements of the PAK's integration to the siblings. Gaz's gaze was filled with malice, and it appeared that the ice pack was going to brain Tak if she didn't get it out of her grasp.

Tak never thought that she'd ever meet someone that could strike the same degree of fear as The Tallest could, and yet here she was.

Tak twisted, forcing Gaz to do the same, and released her wrists only long enough to slide behind Gaz and get her in a chokehold. She couldn't help but think that this would get so much harder after she and Gaz started to spar regularly. Gaz lurched her body to the side, her feet contacting the wall and she started to step her way up the wall. Tak refused to loosen her hold, however. Rather than let Gaz try and flip her way over her head, Tak resolved to take Gaz down with her, and let herself fall backward to the ground.

No way am I tapping out, no way in hell, Gaz thought bitterly. She twisted in Tak's grip and tossed aside the ice pack. She braced her elbow against the floor, turning to face Tak instead. She took in a measured breath, refusing to let on in any capacity that Tak had actually started to succeed in choking her out. She would rather die.

"You—"

"AH! GAZ! At least make out with your girlfriend in Zim's room!" Dib shouted from the hall. Gaz and Tak whipped their heads to the side to see Zim dash into the hall right behind him.

"Absolutely not!"

"She already uses it more than you do, it's practically hers already," Dib says, turning away from the two girls.

As they continued to bicker, Zim adamant that he'd rather build an attachment to the house than offer up his room, Gaz flushed a deep red. She buried her face into Tak's shoulder, covering her eyes with her palm. Tak slowly released Gaz from her hold, holding her hands out to her sides like she was held at gunpoint. She was more stunned that Gaz could get embarrassed than she was embarrassed herself. Even when she did her own internet search to discover what 'make out' meant, the shock overrode the embarrassment.

Gaz shot up once she realized Tak had removed her hold and dashed into the kitchen. Tak laid there, resting her arms at her sides with a sigh. Gaz came out seconds later, one of the dining chairs in her grasp, and flung it down the hall with a shout, "FUCK OFF!"

Dib yelped, throwing up his hands and somehow managing to catch the chair. "What the hell?!"

Zim locked eyes with Gaz in a mutual glare. After a second, he smirked. Gaz's glare turned from violent to murderous and Zim beat a hasty retreat, dragging Dib back into his room and slamming the door. The dining chair was left forgotten in the hall. Gaz stood there, staring down the hall a long moment, before she started to flush red again. She glanced at Tak, who was pointedly not looking in her direction, having sat up now, and staring in the opposite direction.

Fucking asshole, leaving me here like this, Gaz thought bitterly.

"…So, are we still taking that nap?" Tak asks.

Gaz snorted, trembling, and started to chuckle into her hand. She nodded and led Tak down the hall to "Zim's" room. Once they were inside, she shut the door and pulled Tak to the bed. She climbed on, collapsing into the pillows and comforter with a satisfied sigh. She beckoned for Tak to join her.

"Alright, get in."

"..."

"Tak, do not pretend you do not know how to use a bed."

Tak grumbled something in Irken and slipped under the covers. Gaz let her lay there in the silence a moment before she slipped under the covers herself with a shake of her head. The bed was firm and the pillow exceptionally soft. Perhaps it was just that she was mentally exhausted that made it feel so good. She sighed, burying her face into the pillow. She felt Tak's weight shift and she tilted her head, cracking an eye open.

Tak wasn't looking at her, face flushing as Gaz inched closer until they were sharing the large pillow. Gaz was asleep—Tak was fairly sure—within moments. Tak, however, was too wired to even consider it, yet. She pinched her brow, cursing herself internally. She was going to kill that stupid brunette, she swore to Irk.

Dib sat at his desk, pouting at Zim, who was pointedly ignoring his stare. They'd already heard Gaz shut her door, but neither felt confident in making a single sound even with that confirmation. Dib started tapping his finger on his arm as the minutes dragged on.

"Just so we're clear," Dib began, finding some amusement in how Zim flinched at the sudden breach of the silence. "We're not making out."

"Wh-?!" Zim whipped around, actually meeting Dib's gaze now, even if he was blushing.

"Cuz I'm pretty sure that'd kill you," Dib went on with a shrug. Zim's next sound wasn't even a word, in English or Irken, just a strangled sound that Dib found too hilarious., and far too tempting. "Like, not literally, but your heart might stop."

"Enough!" Zim shouted. "That is quite enough!"

"Oh, but I could brag all day," Dib teased.

"About what? Your chastity?" Zim asks flatly. Dib choked, coughing into his sleeve.

"Hey! Low blow!"

"Is it when it's a fact?" Zim asks. Dib sighed loudly in aggravation, slumping over the desk.

"You're basically a virgin, too, asshole."

"Irrelevant."

"Bitch, how?!"

"Do you want to go out?" Zim asks suddenly.

"Wh- out? Sure? I didn't have any other plans today," Dib admitted. He shrugged on his jacket, options floating through his mind for where they could go. The campus was out of the question - he'd spent enough time there during classes. Zim tugged on the corner of his jacket, rubbing the fabric between his fingers.

"Why do you wear this even in this weather?" he asks. Even Zim, who had made it no secret that, up to a certain point, he loved the heat, was in a sleeveless top for the day. Dib shrugged, folding down the collar of the jacket for once.

"I don't know. I'm always a little cold."

"Is that normal?" Zim asks.

"Um… no. But, I mean, I don't really mind; I'll just dress in layers," Dib says. Zim gave an odd hum as they slipped out of the room and made haste for the door. "I'm fine."

"Mhm," Zim hummed, as non-committal as Dib had ever heard him, flipping on his disguise.

Dib sighed, grabbing his keys as they slipped out the front door. There was going to be a new feature to the PAK by the end of the week. He could feel it in his bones and see it in Zim's eyes. Now that he'd spent so much time around him Dib had started to pick up certain expressions that were largely hidden in Zim's eyes; like the "Inventor's Gleam", as Dib had coined it, that he saw quite often in himself and his father. It was a spark of ideation, or ingenuity, that always kickstarted new projects. It was something that his father was chronic with, to the point that more than two-thirds of the projects in his father's lab were just his own projects he'd delegated to other scientists for the bulk of the work. Either he started it, set it in a good foundation, or simply accepted that he just did not have the time. Even Professor Membrane couldn't escape every biological necessity of the human body - such as sleep.

As well as Dib handled his insomnia, his father was the exact opposite. He reveled in the lack of sleep, even if it made some of his scientific decisions questionable, because it meant he could work for longer. And that was always going to outweigh most of the detriments to a lack of sleep to him. Dib had caught him practicing cat naps often growing up. A quick 20 to 40 minute nap when he truly couldn't stave off sleep any longer before returning right back to work. Dib had decided young that he'd never let himself get that bad. Yeah, he'd let himself slip a little this past semester, but he'd been largely successful.

"Do you want to go on a date?" Dib asks. "I have a place in mind."

"Where to?"

"Dib."

"Yeah?"

"What am I looking at?"

Zim stood, staring with mixed emotion, at the false wall in front of him. Dib was lacing up his harness for him. Zim had made it quite clear with a singular look that the staff member was neither welcome, nor safe, to do it themselves. Dib had done this many times, however, and took over before Zim had to make any verbal threats. Dib pulled on the harness, making sure it was securely in place. When he was satisfied he readjusted his own with a wide smile.

"It's a rock-climbing wall. They're popular in areas without cliffs. Or for people who don't want to risk it on a real cliff. Or want to practice."

"I see. Huma-people like to test fate that way, hm?" Zim asks.

The rock wall was large - towering above them in the ware-house like building to the third floor, by Zim's estimate. Despite the leg injury, Dib's love of climbing hadn't waned in the slightest since their trip to the abandoned building. While it was impossible to practice climbing such rock-like faces with the PAKs with so many other patrons around the building, it did give Zim an idea to install something similar in the base. And this was only one wall. Across the warehouse were other odd constructions, such as walls that bent outward much like real cliff faces, or that arched around with hand holds hanging from the archway, or with fabricated cracks to hold onto. One wall had something like a giant eye, speckled with the hand holds. He didn't understand the need for all the colors, but he didn't understand a lot about a human need to have everything speckled in splashes of color. Even the singular outcroppings or pillars either had links on the sides or a small resting area as one got further up. He had spotted an obstacle course area near the back of the building as well.

"I think it's cool," Dib says. "You'll like it. Here, I'll spot you."

Dib chose a wall that was a ways down the length of the room. It was a slower period in the day, so the wall was left unused and open for them to climb to their own content. Dib hooked Zim up on the ropes, setting them up properly to catch him should he slip.

"So, ground rules. Don't use the PAK legs. If you think you're going to slip, either try to readjust or let yourself fall, because I'll catch you with the pulley system you're hooked up to. I can either hold you steady until you can reach the wall again or let you down; just let me know. If you want down, I can do the same thing."

Zim smirked at him, patting his shoulder. "Keep up."

"Huh?" Dib could only smile awkwardly, his stomach sinking slightly, as Zim darted for the wall and began to climb.

Dib watched Zim scale the wall like a seasoned athlete. The rope was slipping through his fingers fast enough to risk giving him rope burn. Somehow, it slipped his mind how much of a climber Zim was, with or without the PAK to aid him. He'd seen Zim climb trees many times, yet he could barely keep up with the slack in the rope as Zim darted a full story up in less than ten seconds. He was practically jumping from one hand hold to another, calculating where to land his foot with an annoying amount of precision. Dib couldn't help the irritation rising in tandem with how impressive it was. He started to wonder if there was a real cliff in a nearby park they might be able to climb next time.

What are you, an Olympian?!

Zim had reached the top within two minutes, dangling off the last hand hold with a satisfied smirk. Dib gaped up at him, letting the rope fall slack beside him briefly. "That is so unfair…" he mumbled. He could faintly hear Zim snicker as he started to climb back down with a far more leisurely pace. Dib halfheartedly handled the ropes until he'd made his way back to him. The smugness rolled off him in waves.

"Your turn?" Zim asks.

"You're an ass."

"Don't be so defeated! Let us see how quickly you can get up there. Perhaps we can train with the PAK once I know your baseline, hm?"

"So we can race once I have it on me all the time?" Dib asked with a teasing tone. To his surprise Zim nodded.

"Yes, that was the idea," he says, as if Dib had asked something obvious. Dib's brain took a moment to reboot before he started to switch out the ropes on their harnesses, as if on autopilot. Studying Zim's face, he could tell he was being serious.

"Right," Dib croaked out.

Frankly, his prospects were not high compared to Zim's time. Dib was ranked a V3 at this point, and he was aiming to be V5 within the next couple of years if his schedule allowed it; but he wasn't sure Zim would be on the rankings map. From the speed alone, moving just under 50 feet in under two minutes wasn't the fastest time he'd ever seen - he'd seen actual Olympians do the same distance in roughly 10 seconds - but he could safely bet that Zim would be a V10 or higher if he was actually ranked. He tried not to let that annoy him. It was difficult to believe it when Zim said humans were impressive for a species when he was faced with that.

Dib grasped the first handhold and could already feel the sweat forming on his palms with Zim watching him. He pleaded with whatever cosmic force there was that he didn't' slip and make a fool of himself. He hadn't climbed in months at this point. He nearly slipped once or twice thanks to his slippery palms, but he managed to course correct easily. Overall, he had reached the top of the rock wall in just under seven minutes. It was not his best time; but it was decent for a wall he'd never climbed before. When he looked down to see Zim's proud smile he waved. Then, he let go of the wall and let himself fall.

Dib would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy seeing the brief look of panic cross Zim's face before he caught him on the ropes. He would have never seen such an expression when they were younger; or seen Zim so shakily lower him to the ground. He couldn't help but chuckle as he was lowered. When his feet hit the ground, Zim wasted no time in hitting him in the arm, which did nothing to stop his laughter.

"Don't do that!" Zim snapped.

"What? I knew you'd catch me," Dib said between his laughter.

"What if I hadn't?! What if I had let you fall?" Zim asks, wrenching the rope clip off Dib's harness and pulling him close by the hem of his jacket. Dib didn't flinch, smiling stupid and wide.

"You'd have never forgiven yourself," Dib says confidently. Zim grumbled, tossing the clip away. He knew he couldn't argue with that, despite how much he wanted to just to spite Dib, even a little. It would look unbecoming of him to do so. He didn't doubt he would more like a whining child than a concerned partner if he started.

"And you did that for fun," he mutters, scowling.

"I won't do it again," Dib promises. "I didn't think it'd scare you! I just wanted to surprise you, ahaha."

"Laugh again, I will punch you."

"Okay, okay!" Dib discarded the last of the harness, draping it over his arm. "Do you want to try something else? It's a similar sport you need a harness for; and usually requires, like, reservations, but I know that Eric is working for a place that does it right now so we can probably get in if there's an opening in the schedule."

"Anything is better than giving you an opportunity to do that again," Zim says. He turned away from Dib with a huff, missing the mischievous smirk that crept its way across his face.

Dib didn't divulge anything else the entire drive to their next destination. The drive itself was over three hours, into a nearby forest, and past the park they usually frequented to hike. Zim had resorted to playing an alien podcast that was, to Dib, the most annoying sensory nightmare he'd ever experienced. It was more than an hour of the last leg of the journey but he held steadfast in his silence. He wasn't going to let anything ruin the surprise. Not even Zim's strange idea of corporeal punishment.

Dib pulled into the parking lot, smiling wider as Zim looked over to the sign and paused. He turned to him slowly, and Dib stifled a chuckle. "What is 'ziplining'?"

"Don't Google it," Dib says. "It'll ruin the surprise."

"Your idea of a surprise has not been the same as mine, lately," Zim says, sinking into his seat with a side-long, suspicious glare at Dib.

"You'll have fun!" Dib assured him. He climbed out of the car, beckoning Zim excitedly towards the entrance. Zim begrudgingly stepped out of the car to follow.

He was trying to assure himself more than Zim at this point; but he had to at least get him onto the first platform before letting him bail out of it. Given how high Zim usually climbed with his PAK, this didn't seem half as bad. Once they'd entered the building Dib was delighted to see the main lobby empty. He bee-lined for the front desk, spotting Eric lazily scrolling on his phone.

"Hey, Eric!"

Eric jolted, looking up at him in confusion. "Hey, you weren't on the docket today. I'd've scheduled it for my lunch if I knew you were coming."

"It was last minute. Do you have a free spot for us?" Dib asks.

Eric locked eyes with Zim briefly before turning his attention back on Dib. "Both of you?" he asks. Dib nodded excitedly. Eric snorted, pulling up the schedule on the computer. "You're cutting it close. We have a slot and it starts in two minutes. I'll get Drake. He's running them today."

"YES! Thank you! Bill my tab."

"On it," Eric snapped as he walked to the back.

"You have a running tab?" Zim asks. "How often do you come here?"

"I picked up a hobby for when you're so honed in on your projects," Dib says. "C'mere, we have to size your harness."

"More harnesses…" Zim groaned. He stopped short of the wall holding the harnesses. "Why is there a harness?"

Dib grabbed one, holding it out to him. "Don't tell me the one who climbs buildings with some knives is scared of a harness."

Zim glanced between Dib and the harness quickly a few times before he snatched it out of Dib's hands. He might live to regret whatever scheme Dib was cooking up; but he'd be damned if he let himself be labeled a coward. Dib set the helmet on, clasping it in place.

"That's what I thought," he says smugly.

Drake came to pick them up within moments, leading them to the tree line in the back. Zim wasn't paying attention to what he was saying, letting his PAK pick up on basic information regarding how long the track was and how long the course would take. Instead, he was focused on the metal lines that he could see tracing through the trees. He idly followed Dib up a set of stairs, climbing several platforms of them until they were at the top. He looked back to where they were standing once Drake tugged lightly on his harness, hooking him up. The brief thought that they were repelling crossed Zim's mind; until he saw Drake push Dib down the line.

Dib raced away from them, picking up speed as he neared the end, with one hand gripping the hook set up near the top of the harness connection to the line, and his other primed above him. Another man at the next platform gave a wave as a signal, and Dib shifted his hand to break his speed on the line, buffering his pressure on the line to control his breaking speed. Drake watched until he'd landed, giving the line one shake. Once the man at the bottom shook it back, he hooked Zim's harness up next.

"Okay, so you'll hold one hand on the hook and ropes like this," Drake says, showcasing the position and specifying where Zim's fingers would lay, "And the other up here, on the bar. When Geoff gives the wave, start breaking with your palm like this…"

Zim felt a weight settle in his guts. He copied how Dib had been positioned on his way down, leaned slightly back and legs up. Drake pushed him off and he was practically flying. The speed was more than he'd expected. If he'd had a heart like a human, it would have skipped a beat. The view itself was beautiful. He'd only been able to appreciate moving through tree tops in the Voot before, and he was limited to areas that the Voot would actually fit. With the wind hitting him at the same time, this was an entirely different experience. He barely caught Geoff's signal to start breaking. He came in a little too fast, forcing Geoff to catch him at the tail end of his entrance.

"Okay! A little more pressure next time, mate," he said, unhooking him from the main line to reattaching him to the safety line traced around the trunk of the tree.

"Uh-huh…"

Geoff redid their hooks, moving on to the next line himself. Once Drake had landed, he was off to the next platform. Dib was bouncing on his heels, almost ready to re-hook himself if Drake wasn't fast enough, if it weren't for the ziplining etiquette he'd drilled into himself. He was being hooked up to the next line when he faintly heard the scratching of bark behind him. He paid it no mind, more eager to go on the next descent across the tree tops.

"I take it back, I'm a coward," Zim mumbled.

"What?" Dib asks, turning to face Zim.

He wasn't sure how to process the sight in front of him. Dib watched him as he clutched the trunk, all limbs circled around the trunk like a cat trying to cling for life at the top of a tree. They were still hardly thirty feet off the ground on the second platform. Dib cleared his throat, nervously chuckling as Drake continued to stare at Zim.

"Sorry, he's never done this before."

"I mean, I could tell when we started, but…"

"I'm not doing that again," Zim said adamantly, shaking his head.

"Well, we can't go back," Drake says, scratching the back of his neck.

With that said, Zim looked around, realizing in horror that there were no stairs with this platform. They were up in the tree, with the only way down either a jump - which he knew would be ill-advised and followed swiftly by panic of their guide - or the zipline. Zim slowly turned back to Drake and Dib with a grave expression. Drake gave Zim an apologetic smile.

"If it makes you feel better, accidents are, like, 12 in every million? Maybe less?"

"….Is that true?" Zim asks, his eyes narrowing.

"Even less go to the hospital," Dib confirmed. "C'mon, I wouldn't take you to do something dangerous."

"…Liar," Zim whispered into his sleeve. He reluctantly released his hold on the tree.

"I thought you'd like it," Dib admits.

"I didn't… dislike it," Zim says.

"So… can you go on?" Dib asks, hope lacing his question. At Zim's nod, he looked utterly elated.

Zim would admit - he got used to it as they went on more lines. The height of the platforms varied each time. From what his PAK had marked based on elevation differences, they fluctuated between thirty feet high to over 100 feet high. Even as he started to adjust to the routine, he couldn't quite get used to the sensation. The sights were a wonder, but they passed far too quickly for his liking. Perhaps he'd take himself and Dib out on one of the transport platforms to hover between the trees in similar areas on their next hike.

And humans do this for FUN. A LOT?!

He wasn't used to barreling at such high speeds without the aid of his PAK legs to catch him. He had to fight the urge to use them at every platform as he came in on the line. Each time he was pushed off the ledge, he was trembling, just a little. It was from nerves more than fear. Even if the thought of the rope snapping had crossed his mind on the first line, he had his PAK legs to catch him. Dib, however, did not. There was a drop of weight in his gut each time Dib took off on the line first, and it remained until he reached the next platform, when the anxiety would ease. It was illogical, but he couldn't help it. Dib hadn't worn his own PAK out, after all. He'd moved far faster in the Voot - hell, he'd moved far faster in a car - but they were left dangling on the lines, here, without so much as a gym mat under them if they did happen to fall.

They reached the final platform within an hour. Dib was smiling ear to ear once Zim had reached them on the massive final platform. The structure was more akin to a roofed deck. It had no less than five landing platforms on it, each connected to a different zipline route. Once they were finally unhooked from the lines, Zim was shedding his harness and helmet before either Geoff or Drake could stop him. Dib laughed, only discarding his helmet for now.

"But did you like it?" he asks as he led Zim back to the main building. Zim pondered it. He didn't answer, even after they'd entered the main building and Dib hung both their harnesses up. He waved at Eric as they left, shouting a quick "Charge my card!" on their way out. He turned to Zim, eagerly awaiting his answer as they made their way to the car.

"…I did," Zim decided. "But I'm choosing the next date."

"That's fair," Dib says with a laugh. "We can swap, how about that?"

"Deal. Milkshakes?"

"Oh, my god, yes."

Post Chapter Notes:

I apologize, as always, for my extremely disjointed and inconsistent as hell posting schedule. My health is not the best right now; and most evenings I'm mentally exhausted so writing is difficult, to say the least. I'm planning to schedule out my projects this next year or so; with actual due dates to try and hold myself to.

That aside; I've been wanting to do this chapter for a while now, because I've finally built up to the queerplatonic dating of these idiots and I'm going to indulge, damn it. Credit to Tomboy014 for sparking this idea in me, I loved the suggestion! If anyone has any other chapter ideas, or shenanigans they think might be fun, shoot 'em off in the comments section! I'd like to reach chapter 100 one day for this fic; and I need more ideas for that, LOL. I might have several planned chapters; but not like 20+ of them. Yet.

I hadn't planned to bring Tak and Skoodge back into the story this early, either; but I like the dynamic of the 5 characters, so even if Skoodge is canonically something of a wall flower, I wanted him back in, too. Or, at least, I kinda interpret him as a wallflower. I like how chill he is, even in the show. He's very 'go with the flow'. Also, I hold to the headcanon that The Tallest are at least wary of him, for some reason, and I think the reason isn't exactly the same as why they're wary of Zim (that's pretty obvious, he killed two of them almost one after another in the past and he's an unmedicated ADHD-nightmare of a gremlin alien [and I love him for it]).

But, I'll have to explore Skoodge's character more before delving into that headcanon myself. The thing is, I'm constantly thinking about and workshopping my fics and original stories, pretty much concurrently. So, my thoughts don't linger on one storyline too long before it switches up - but I find myself returning to headcanons and plot bunnies for fics often. In time we might get something about that in this very fic :) Who knows~