Their trip into space was so far, for the most part, uneventful. But they'd been out for less than a day, and it was still space! That alone made it exciting!

They'd made it to the Fleavian market fairly late in the 'night', Dib getting up just to see what it looked like—a giant pyramid resting on an iridescent planet, large enough to be visible from space. Giant billboards floated around each of the levels, advertising what each level of the structure had. It was quite a sight, and Dib snapped a quick photo of it.

Zim had parked their ship in the designated area for ships, then wandered back into the bedroom, taking Dib's hand and dragging him along with him.

Not that Dib complained much…he still felt pretty tired, and was certain he'd passed out the second his head hit the pillow again, Zim curled up against his chest.

Hours later, GIR woke them both up—at some point in the night he'd crawled onto the bed and slept while draped over Dib's feet—excitedly rambling about space tacos and space donuts. Dib groaned as he sat up, stretching widely in an effort to fix all his sore muscles. It helped a little, but he still felt tired…

Zim yawned, stretching out like a cat across Dib's lap before rolling out of bed. At that point, GIR was jumping up and down on the bed chanting even more fervently for the treats he wanted.

Dib got up and grabbed him, holding him up in the air. "We'll eat as soon as we get ready," he said. "Why don't you pick out some socks for me?"

That made GIR light up, and he poured over Dib's sock drawer. That bought them enough time to get dressed, and for Zim to grab Dib and run a comb through his hair a few times before he was satisfied. GIR handed a mismatched pair of socks to Dib—one with a galaxy print, the other with bugs, and Dib put them both on.

Dib searched the room until he found a small device—an earpiece and wires, essentially. Dib slipped the earpiece into his ear, taking a wire and attaching it to the rim of his glasses, a tiny camera perched at the rim. If it worked (as it did when they tested it), any common alien languages would be translated and read as English into his ear, and a hologram over the lens would tell him what language it was. It should even be able to translate any text via those same holograms. Another wire coiled over his ear, snaking down his face to hover just over his jaw, which should translate anything he'd say back into the alien tongue.

With that, they stepped out into a structure filled with plenty of other ships. Once Zim had made sure they'd all memorized exactly where their ship was parked, he started to lead the way to the closet elevators. Dib was slow to trail behind him, slowly looking at all the ships surrounding them, drinking in all the different designs.

Zim snapped his fingers to get his attention back. "These are just used ships," he said. "If you keep looking so bamboozled by everything, you'll probably end up falling for some scam or getting kidnapped by traders."

"Sorry," Dib said without feeling, jogging to keep up. "But it's all so cool!"

"We can go look at much, much newer and more impressive ships later," Zim said with an amused huff.

"We can!?" Dib said. "Do they sell whole ships here?"

"Eh, there's probably a few used ones being sold here and there…but no, for new ones, we should go to a shipyard."

They all stepped into the elevator, and Zim selected the level for food vendors and restaurants. "You can probably find food anywhere here, but this saves us time searching," he said. GIR hummed, swaying on his feet as the elevator shot rapidly to their destination.

There was already a decently-sized crowd surrounding them, and Dib was practically spinning in a circle as he walked, trying to take all of it in. Fortunately, Zim grabbed a hold of his elbow to keep him from drifting off or bumping into anyone.

"…I should have brought my briefcase," Dib said as they bustled into a tiny café.

Zim reached into his PAK and pulled out a small notebook, pen, and camera, handing them all to Dib. "Here," he said. "Don't expect me to cover for you every time, though."

"Thank you!"

"Yes, yes, now pick out what you want before we're at the front. You, too, GIR!"

After a bit of deliberation, they all chose what they wanted, even if they had to talk GIR down to getting just one item from the menu. Zim got a slice of pink cake with orange frosting, while Dib ordered a savory breakfast sandwich, Zim surprising him with a soda to go with it. GIR got a huge berry-filled muffin, which he slathered in butter before taking huge bites out of it.

They managed to claim one of the tables, with Zim chasing off someone else who was eyeing it, and Dib was able to watch aliens go by as he bit into his sandwich. With one hand, he was writing notes, both of what he was seeing and what the sandwich tasted like (not too different from something from Earth, though the cheese had a little hint of…citrus, maybe?)

Zim took a few bites of cake, then reached into his PAK again, pulling out what looked like two credit cards. "I moved the credits from my old accounts to a new, joint one for us. Separate from the Empire's," he said, passing one to Dib. "We can each have our own paything, even with the connected account."

He frowned, tapping his card on the table. "The funds were…smaller than I'd initially thought. But it should still be plenty for our shopping trip today!"

"…how much do we have?" Dib asked.

"Eh, don't worry too much about it," Zim said. "Even if we go over, we'll have some time to pay it back. And they'll probably be lenient since the account is new."

"…if you say so," Dib said with a shrug, slipping the 'paything' into his wallet and taking another large bite out of his sandwich.

"Aww, whaddabout me?" GIR whined.

Zim pursed his lips. "We definitely don't have all the funds to get…whatever you would want. Just ask me or Dib if you want something."

"Can I get a pet bee-mongoose!?"

"No."

GIR sighed, hanging his head in disappointment before continuing to pick at his muffin.

"On that note…is there anything we should be getting?" Dib said. "We seem pretty well-stocked on a lot of things." Food, weapons, entertainment (not that he needed distractions in space)…

"We are—for things we could get on Earth. There are many more options out here."

"Like what?" Dib asked, actually curious.

"Well, to start, I want to look through the ship parts available," Zim said. "It's always good to have spares."

"I thought we got plenty of spares from gutting my ship," Dib said.

"Not for everything, especially since a lot of those went into expending our ship." Zim took a large bite. "Also, that ship seems to be made of actual garbage."

"Pretty good for garbage," Dib muttered as he slurped his soda.

"Anyway. I'd also like to top off things like the repairing nanites, and maybe even pick up some medical supplies."

"…can't your PAK heal you?"

"Yes. But only me." Zim reached over to flick his nose. "The medicine will be for you, Dib-thing. There's stuff out here way more advanced than what we grabbed from Earth. And it should still be compatible with your meat-flesh."

"Oh. Yeah." Dib blushed a little, reaching up to rub at his nose.

Zim smiled fondly at him, antennae twitched forward in his direction. "You can get whatever you'd like, though. But anything you get is your responsibility alone…unless it's snacks." He smirked and took a large bite. "I expect a share of those."

"You would, wouldn't you?" Dib said teasingly, but without malice. He frowned in thought as he polished off his sandwich. "I don't know what I want…I really just want to see what all there is here."

"I figured," Zim said. "Should we explore together for a little bit? Just to keep you out of trouble?"

"Sounds good," Dib said, taking a photo of the café and its patrons as Zim and GIR both finished their breakfasts. They stood up and left, and Dib turned to give Zim a look. "What makes you think I'd be the one to get into trouble?"

"Because trouble always flows behind you, latched onto your coattails," Zim said. "…GIR is still much worse when it comes to trouble, if that means anything." He grabbed the little robot's antennae before he could go running off to what looked like a bakery.

They headed to the elevator, and Dib needled Zim into going back to the ship first so he could get his briefcase and all his supplies. Zim sighed about it, but it was exaggerated, and he gave Dib a fond smile when he triumphantly held up the briefcase, eyes practically gleaming at the idea of everything he could learn today.

Then it was back to the elevator, and to 'Ship and Home' goods. Zim weaved through the crowd, glancing at each stall to see if they had what he wanted before quickly moving onto the next.

Dib moved a lot more slowly, drinking it all in, and eventually Zim reached back and grabbed his hand just to keep him moving forward. Dib grabbed GIR with his other hand before he could run off again, tucking him under his arm.

Whenever Zim stopped at any of the stalls, Dib took that as his opportunity to take a few photos and strike up a conversation with the vendor, using a tape recorder. Zim bartered over prices, eventually buying some ship-repairing nanites from a Vortian who said they used to be an engineer…though Zim still grumbled about them being overpriced afterward.

Zim continued to flit around in the same area, buying different parts that caught his eyes. GIR spotted snacks off in the distance, and Dib volunteered to take him over so they could look around while Zim kept haggling over a spare ship CPU.

A whole variety of snacks were being sold, some appetizing to Dib and others less so. He managed to convince GIR to just get one snack for now and one for later, and after some deliberation, GIR choose a ball of green slime to eat now (Dib confirmed with the plasma-alien manning the booth that yes, it was food), and a bag of neon taffy to eat later.

For himself, Dib bought a few jars of honey from a three-foot tall bee alien, even striking up a nice conversation with her. She even plucked a yellow fur from her body and placed it in a sample jar for him to study later!

He made his way back to Zim, who was easy enough to find, as he was having a rather heated conversation with an alien with a giant screw on their head. It sounded like they were refusing to sell to Zim, and some of the crowd had stopped to watch in curiosity.

"Leave, before I call security!" they shouted at Zim.

"Hah! I've done nothing wrong. I'd love to see your 'security' try to do anything to me!"

"You shouldn't even be allowed here!" The screwhead snapped. "Irken scum-monster."

Zim froze…and then started to growl, seething and hunching his shoulders. Dib quickly darted forward, placing a hand on top of his head before he could lunge to attack. Zim whipped around to look at him.

"C'mon, we'll find better ones somewhere else," Dib said quickly, sliding his hand down to Zim's shoulder and trying to lightly tug him away.

Zim narrowed his eyes at him, then turned to shoot a much angrier glare at the vendor. "…fine," he snarled. "Who would want your inferior, rusty junk anyway!?"

The screwhead gasped, offended, and looked ready to lunge forward himself. Dib grabbed Zin's wrist and gave it a squeeze, pulling him away. The crowd parted for them…and now that Dib looked, he saw they were giving Zim a wide range of looks. Curious ones, nervous ones, even a few angry ones.

Dib kept going until the crowd had thinned out, tugging Zim into a shady area. "What was that all about?"

Zim crossed his arms. "How should I know?" he said. "That rust-brain took one look at me as I approached and refused to sell me anything! The nerve!"

Dib frowned, thinking of the tail end of the conversation he had caught. "…he wouldn't happen to be from a planet the Empire conquered, would he?"

"Hmm? Oh, yes, the Screwheads had their planet turned into a delivery system that they now work in for the Empire…" Zim said offhandedly. His eyes widened, something clicking. "Ah."

"Mm." Dib pursed his lips. "Okay, not gonna say that he was right, but I can see why he was refusing you service."

Zim grumbled, crossing his arms as his antennae flattened against his skull. "Don't know what he wanted to accomplish with such a pointless rebellion," he muttered. "If what he had was really any good the Empire would just take it…"

"Well, he is in a public area and would probably have the crowd on his side if someone attacked him," Dib said.

"Peh. Just adding more targets and victims for the fight."

Dib bit back a sigh. "Let's just…forget about him, okay? We'll look somewhere else for the parts you wanted from him." He wrapped an arm around Zim's shoulders.

"Fine," Zim muttered, leaning against Dib's side even as they kept walking forward, scanning different booths for ship parts. Dib wasn't sure what Zim was looking for, but he did his best to help look for it.

It didn't take Zim too long to find it, which was apparently a spare water filter, buying it after unsuccessfully trying to haggle over the price. After that, he grabbed Dib's hand, plus GIR's to keep him from running away again, and headed to a new section of vendors, these ones selling medicine.

Dib was more involved with this process, working with Zim to pick out bandages, painkillers, and topical ointments. Zim showed off a few samples of more advanced alien medicine that, though diluted, would be able to rapidly heal serious injuries, even broken bones. Of course he bought almost the entire stock, delighting the pink alien selling them.

By the time they had gotten what Zim considered a sufficient amount of supplies, Dib's stomach was growling. GIR was quick to lead the way back to the area selling food, where they each got some lunch before heading to the outer wall of the pyramid. GIR ate what looked like a blob of greasy cheese, Zim got a sandwich, and Dib was eating honey-covered noodles with some tiny green tentacles scattered inside, plus some vegetables.

"So," he said, chewing on one tentacle. It tasted nice, but the texture was…weird. Rubbery and slippery. The noodles were undoubtedly good, at least. "Is there anything else we need to get?"

"Nothing I can think of," Zim said. "Unless you've thought of something else you need?"

Dib shrugged. "If there's anything I want, it'd be to just learn more about all the people here. It's so fascinating, beyond the imaginations of anyone on Earth!"

"Ah, so we should leave quickly before you do something that has a mob chase us away," Zim said with a smirk. "And here I though GIR would be the one to get us arrested first."

"Hey!" Dib said, playfully punching Zim's shoulder as he laughed. "I'm not that bad."

Zim rose an antenna and a brow. "Really? Some mobs on your home planet would disagree with you."

Dib rolled his eyes and shoved Zim's shoulder again. "At least give me a little credit."

"Mmm…no." Zim scooted closer and leaned against Dib's side, nuzzling up against him. Dib sighed, looping one arm loosely around Zim and flicking a rubbery tentacle over to GIR as he ate another mouthful of noodles, doing his best to not slurp them obnoxiously.

From their position, they were able to peer outside of the pyramid, out at the planet beyond. Dib was fascinated by the clouds that shimmered in all colors, and in the pale, sand-like ground. It seemed that this place was uninhabited, the only structure the pyramid they were in.

"I mean…it's all so amazing. Isn't it?" he said. "Can you blame me for being…excited, even if it's too much?"

"…no," Zim said. "And you deserve to be as excited as can be."

A slight blush rose to Dib's cheeks, and he gave Zim's shoulder a light squeeze. They sat there for a few more minutes even after finishing their lunch, staring out at the view (and giving Dib the chance to take a few photos of it).

But of course, just staring at the planet got a little boring after a while, mostly for Zim and GIR. Even Dib had to say that flying through space or wandering the market was more exciting than trying to memorize just what a new planet looked like.

So, they headed back through the stalls, Dib standing close to Zim and keeping an eye out for anyone who might be upset at his presence…and for interesting aliens he'd like to talk to. A few people shot dirty looks at Zim, but they never did anything beyond that, and Dib would shot them dirty looks right back.

They stopped a few times when Dib saw something interesting being sold, asking the sellers what it was and where they were from. He ended up buying a few more things, most of them old alien toys or trinkets, but at most places just talked without purchasing anything.

It didn't take them too long to make it back to their ship, where all their purchases had been dropped off. It took them a little longer to put things away and organize it all the way Zim wanted, but eventually they were both sitting in the cockpit, Zim flying them out and plugging in some new coordinates.

"I got some recommendations for a good shipyard," he said as the autopilot took over. "It's a bit out of the way, but that should give you a good chance to look at as many ships as you like. No promises we can actually buy any of them, though."

"That's fair," Dib said with a stretch. "And it's not like the Voot hasn't been working for us."

He leaned back in his chair, staring out. But something was niggling at the back of his brain…it wasn't urgent, but it still bugged him. He stood up.

"I'm going to go grab something," Dib said. Zim gave him a thumbs-up, playing something on a GameSlave. Dib headed into the bedroom and poked around in the closest, pushing past clothes until he found a pile of his things he'd stuffed in here.

Thinking about ships, and especially seeing all those parts meant for ships at the market, reminded Dib of something. He continued digging through his possessions until he found what he was looking for—a brain sitting in a clear dome, about the size of a snowglobe. An Irken AI, specifically the one that used to be in Tak's ship.

He'd ended up bring it with them, even if he wasn't quite sure what he would do with it. But it had been months since they'd taken it out, months since he had talked to it. The thought made him frown.

The least he could do, since he had thought of it, was try and see if he could find a way to talk to it. He searched a bit more until he found his laptop, then some more until he found a stray cable. He twirled the brain around until he found a place to plug into the cord into, then paused for a second to think.

He shrugged—even if it was angry, it couldn't do anything if it was only connected to a laptop.

Dib plugged the brain into his laptop and bit his lip. In a few moments, the screen flickered and showed an image of Tak's symbol. "Hey, Ship," he said. "Are you there?"

The AI groaned. "Ugh. What did you do to me?"

"Well…we pulled you out of the ship. Then I plugged you into this device so we can talk without you trying to kill me," Dib said. "So, I guess I can't really call you 'Ship' anymore…" He still might out of habit, though.

"You did WHAT!?" the AI yelled, the screen flashing an angry red.

"Oh, boy," Dib said, scooting back on instinct. Then he remembered that it couldn't do anything to him anymore, and he sat up. "It's…well, okay, that does sound pretty bad. But think on the bright side, you're awake again now!"

"And not able to do anything but mess with the files you have on here," she said. "…ugh, why is so much of it photos of Zim? Irk, you're obsessed."

"Says a copy of the person who came up with a whole scheme just to get revenge on Zim," Dib pointed out.

An electronic growl came from the computer. "Oh, please. All you ever do is follow Zim around, even before you decided to…align with him. He hasn't killed you yet?"

"No," Dib huffed. "We're dating, actually."

The AI made a very staticy sound that Dib interpreted as a disgruntled one. "Ugh! So now you're even more obsessed with him, aren't you?" Tak's symbol flared brightly. "Unlike you, I at least have nuance. I'm not just caught up in some failure's orbit."

Dib snorted, and the screen flashed an angry red. "What? You think you can laugh at me!?"

"Yeah. Let's see: You hate Zim, dislike me but not quite as much as you hate him, and like Tak," Dib said, counting off on his fingers. "Is there really anything else to you? And no, snark really isn't a good substitute for 'nuance'."

Several seconds passed by in silence. "…oh, shut up," the AI grumbled. "I'm not going to argue with an idiot. At least I'm smarter and more competent than either of you two combined. Not like that's a challenge."

Dib grinned and snickered. "Right, of course," he said. "And yet, the two of us combined managed to beat you." The AI made an annoyed noise.

"…you didn't plug me into anything for months?" the AI asked, disgruntled.

"You can tell?" Dib's eyebrows shot up in surprise.

"I can see the clock and calendar on this computer, and I remember the date you unplugged me." Both dates flashed across the screen, showing the large gap of time between them. "You moron."

"Ah…yeah." Dib popped his lips. "I wasn't exactly keen to plug you into anything you could use to attack either of us, so…"

"You set me aside and forgot about me," she said bluntly.

"No…maybe," Dib said. "I was caught up in a lot of things, alright?"

The AI hummed, not believing him. "Alright, then. You purposefully waited for months, and chose to plug me into something now, because…?"

"…you could be a helpful guide in space?" Dib tried. The AI snorted at that.

"Well, I…okay, I might have felt a little bad about the idea of just letting you sit inactivated for that long," Dib admitted.

"Ugh. You're too soft," the AI said, a marshmallow icon appearing on the screen. "Thinking like that is going to get you killed." The icon changed to a marshmallow on fire.

"My thinking like that is why you're not just sitting in a corner gathering dust somewhere right now," Dib said bluntly.

"That sounds better than having to talk to you, and see all the weird files you have on here."

Dib scowled at it, then smirked. "Nice to have you back, Ship."

"The feeling is not mutual." The screen flicked off, and when Dib flicked his fingers over the keypad his normal screen showed up. There was still an application running, though, indicating that the AI was still there and just ignoring him. Even when it was in the ship, it would do that if it lost interest in conversation…Dib wondered if it also did it to see his reactions to being ignored.

Well, whatever. He doubled-checked his files, ensuring there wasn't anything he didn't want the AI to have access to, then scooped up the laptop and brain, carrying them both into the cockpit.

"Hey, Zim, check it out!" he said, placing the devices on the empty seat. Zim turned to face him, one eye squinting curiously. "I got Tak's ship AI back up and running!"

"Hrm." Zim squinted at the laptop…and the brain now plugged into it.

"Zim!?" The brain's globe flashed a bright pink, Tak's symbol plastered over the laptop screen again. "You! It's all your fault this happened! You're dead!"

"How? Are you going to kill me?" Zim said, then snickered and crossed his arms. "Are you going to shout me to death? Because I don't think you have many options."

"Oh, just wait," the AI snarled. "When your back is turned, when you take your eyes off me…all of you, and your whole ship, are doomed."

Dib was sure it was just exaggerating or bluffing, but…either way, he moved to stand between the brain and the ship's controls.

"I could have told you this would be a bad idea," Zim said, giving the brain a dirty look.

The AI growled at him. Dib sighed, scooping the laptop and brain up again. "Maybe. I'm not unplugging it yet, though."

Zim crossed his arms and looked up at him with one raised brow. Dib shifted, averting his gaze. "I just…it wouldn't seem fair for it to be 'forgotten' in some corner," he said. "And it could…tell us more information about some parts of space?"

The AI scoffed. "Again—you're too soft. At this rate, you'll get yourself killed before Zim has the chance to finish you off."

"Hey!" Zim snapped, standing up to snarl right at the brain. "I'm not going to 'finish' Dib, and I'm not allowing anything to kill him!"

Another scoff. "Please. You destroy everything you touch. No matter what you do, this little 'quest' you have with this human is bound to end tragically."

Zim's fingers twitched. "Oh? Just wait until I get my hands on you, then," he hissed, clenching his hand into a fist. "You'll be crushed into a nice, brainy pulp!"

"O-kay!" Dib said, spinning on his heels. "I'm going to go put it away for now!" With that, he scurried into the bedroom and dropped everything into a corner. "See you later."

"Don't hurry back," the AI said dryly as he left the room and went back to the cockpit.

Zim was sitting in his seat again…needles clicking loudly together as he angrily knit something. Dib took his own seat, drumming his fingers on his knee. "…was it really a bad idea?"

"Yes," Zim said dryly. "…but, not in the sense that we'll be in immediate danger from it. Only in that…well, that thing is a nuisance, and I personally can't see any good in bringing it back." He waved a needle in the direction of the bedroom.

"You're that mad at it?"

"It did try to crush me. And its owner tried to steal my mission right from under me." Zim resumed knitting. "So…my feelings towards it really aren't fond."

"Fair enough." Dib sighed, leaning back and staring out at the stars. "…as a ship, it never took me seriously. Made it pretty clear it didn't like me. But…other than you and Gaz, I probably talked to that ship more than anyone else."

Zim's knitting slowed down. Dib shifted, still looking out into space. "I guess I just felt…sentimental. It would probably just tell me all about how I'm 'too soft' if I told it that, though."

Silence stretched on…and then, Zim wrapped his arms around him, resting his face in the crook of Dib's neck. "…your 'softness' is not a bad thing," he murmured, nuzzling him.

Dib sighed, leaning over and into Zim's touch, looping his arms around him. "Thank you."

Zim clicked, then shifted forward, pushing himself into Dib's lap and snuggling up against his torso. Dib tightened his grip around him and sagged forward so that his chin could rest on the top of Zim's head. He glanced out at the stars ahead of them, but soon ended up just closing his eyes and relaxing.

Eventually, though, Zim insisted on manually piloting the ship, navigating it through the gravities of several barren but closely-spaced planets. He chose to continue sitting in Dib's lap while doing so, though, something Dib certainly wasn't going to complain about.

Once they'd woven their way through, Zim turned the autopilot back on and stretched. "It's past the usual time you go to bed," he noted. "Trust me, you don't want to fall asleep on your feet in the shipyards. Next thing you know, you'll wake up and find out you've been sold as an accessory to a ship!"

"Good thing I've got you looking out for me, right?" Dib said, kissing just under Zim's antennae. Still, he failed to stifle a yawn.

"Go sleep!" Zim commanded, booping his nose.

"Alright, alright," Dib grumbled, though without any vitriol. Zim hopped up so that Dib could head into the back, where he brushed his teeth and combed through his hair with his fingers before he headed into their bedroom.

"Back already?" an electronic voice drawled, making him jump. He was briefly on guard before he remembered bringing the AI back online.

"Yeah," Dib said. He grabbed his pajamas, then ducked behind the bed for a little privacy as he changed. He then crawled into bed and flicked the lights off. "G'night."

"Seriously? You're just going to completely ignore me now? Again? How typical."

Dib grumbled, rolling over to give it a look. "I'm going to sleep," he said. "Be quiet."

"Oh, sure, I'll give you the same courtesy you gave me," it said dryly. "Such as how you'd wander in at any hour of the day or night and start trying to poke at my circuits. Or ask me as many questions as you could. Or rant at me about how terrible Zim was."

Dib sighed. "You aren't going to let up, are you?"

"Congratulations on finding two brain cells to rub together," it scoffed. "What are you going to do about it? Go crying to Zim?"

"Ignore you," Dib declared, rolling onto his other side and grabbing a spare pillow to press over his ear.

"Oh, so you think you can just ignore me that easily? You—" the AI rambled, voice cut off when Dib pressed the pillow more firmly against his head, muffling it. He could still hear it going, but it was now more of a white noise than anything.

…still, having to actively press the pillow down wasn't the most comfortable position.

Even so, he managed to keep ignoring it until Zim walked in the door a few minutes later. Dib perked up a little, and Zim smiled…but glanced at the brain sitting in the corner, which let out an electronic growl when it saw him.

"That thing is still on?" he sneered.

"You still haven't crashed us into a planet?" the AI sneered right back.

Zim's frown deepened. "…I still say we should unplug it and throw it away," he crumbled to Dib as he sat on the bed, kicking off his boots and peeling off his shirt. "Perhaps give it to GIR as a toy."

"Just try it," it growled. "Your soft-headed little human would be upset, wouldn't he? And you're listening to an inferior human now. A complete and utter disgrace of an Irken."

Zim bore his teeth and hissed at it, antennae flattening. It let out a static-filled sound to mimic his hiss.

Dib wrapped an arm around Zim's shoulders, brushing him against his chest and peppering the top of his head with kisses. "Don't listen to it," he mumbled. "It's wrong, and you're amazing."

Zim melted against him, rubbing himself against Dib's chin. "I know," he said. "…honestly, though. We need to do something, because I refuse to have to listen to that thing blather all night."

"Perhaps you'd be less of a waste of an Irken life if you bothered to listen to anyone at all!" The AI sniped at him. Zim rolled his eyes, mouthing along to mimic it mockingly, tongue sticking out of his mouth.

"I guess we can put it in another room," Dib said. That was one of the conveniences of their setup—if they needed alone time, there were enough rooms to separate themselves between.

Zim grimaced. "I'm not letting that thing anywhere near the ship's controls."

"You really think it can do anything?"

Zim gave him a flat look. "It's an Irken AI, specifically designed to interface with Irken ships. I won't take the chance."

Dib flinched a little. "Good point."

"No putting it in the storage cubbies, either. Too close to the weapons."

"You do realize I can hear you planning this, right?" the brain said.

"Yes, and you can't really do anything about whatever we decide," Zim said blithely.

"I could put it in the bathroom," Dib said…then immediately frowned. "Wait, no. I don't want her in there whenever I need to use it."

"Guh, same," the AI groaned.

"Well, there's nowhere else left…unless you want to shove it into the closet," Zim said. "I don't know how well that'll muffle her shrieking, though."

They both frowned in thought, ignoring the AI's attempts to needle them. It only took Dib a minute to think of another idea, and he perked up. "…hey, didn't you bring that thing for GIR to use when he gets a little too loud and we can't really handle it?" Dib said, snapping his fingers.

"Oh, the Quiet Box?" Zim said. "Yes, and it's good to muffle outside sounds and clear the brain-meats, too…why?"

"Well, if it muffles any sound…" Dib jerked a thumb at the brain in a globe. "I think that'll make it less of a problem."

Zim blinked, then smirked mischievously. "Yes…yes, I think you're right. That should do nicely." He hopped off the bed and ducked into the storage area, returning a minute later with a flat metal board. He flicked at a few buttons on the side, and it popped open, expanding into a box.

"What's that?" Tak's AI scoffed. "Yet another foolish device that will blow up in your—"

Zim plopped the box over it, cutting it off. He smirked smugly, patting the top of the box. "A perfect solution," he declared, turning on his heel and marching back over to the bed. "Now hold Zim."

Dib scooped him up and laid back down, bundling them both in the blankets. "…are you sure it's perfect?" he said. "Just, I mean…being stuck in a dark box no one can hear you from isn't exactly… 'fun'."

"I find it relaxing," Zim said. "…though, I suppose one's willingness to enter the box plays a part."

"Mhmm."

"But you know that if we didn't do it, it'd have blabbered on all night to annoy us," Zim said, stroking his hair. "It was this or unplugging it so you could get your needed sleep."

"Mmyeah…" Dib wrapped his arms around Zim and brought his knees up to fully trap him, head sinking into his pillow.

Zim chirped, snuggling his face against Dib's neck, his antennae batting at and tickling his face. A small huff of laughter escaped Dib, but he didn't open his eyes. Zim kept stroking his hair with one hand...and when his light purrs started to rumble through Dib's body, he was quickly coaxed to sleep.

The next morning, they ate a quick breakfast, and Zim fussed over Dib's outfit to make sure he was "presentable" enough. Mostly by making sure there weren't any logos on Dib's shirt that could mean anything offensive to some other species…and that there weren't any stains present.

In the end, Dib wore a blue shirt with sharks on it, along with his usual coat. Zim put on the plainest of his purple tops, but draped a pink shawl over his shoulders and wrapped a black belt around his waist, filled with a few tools and spare weapons. Dib kicked the box off of the AI, and it came back on to gripe to them about it, which Zim ignored.

Finally, as Zim navigated them into landing underneath the giant billboard, Dib grabbed his translator device and put it on. Immediately, a hologram was projected across the lenses, writing "Smorgy's Shipyard and Servicing" underneath the text of the sign.

He'd gotten better at reading and understanding Galactic Common, but having the device to help translate of course wouldn't hurt.

"Ready?" Zim asked, holding out his hand.

"Yeah, unless you want to make me change outfits again," Dib said.

"Hmm, now that you mention it..."

Dib snorted and playfully shoved his shoulder, and Zim laughed as they stepped out of their ship and into the yard. A snake-like alien slithered up to them, a wide, fanged grin on their face.

They looked through the ships available, Dib being impressed with each one, asking about how fast and far they could all go. Zim was a lot more critical, inspecting the batteries, fuel efficiency, the capability of weapons, how much damage each ship would be able to take.

But of course, the ships that caught their eyes were the most expensive ones, worth thousands of credits, even tens of thousands of credits. Their salesalien encouraged them to think about it, insisting on handing them both business cards and urging them to come back later.

"They seemed nice," Dib said as he drew one of the ships he liked in his notebook. It was sleek, all shimmering silvers and blues. But not only was it expensive, but it wasn't suited for two people traveling over a long period—there was just the cockpit with one seat, potentially room for two if they crammed in another seat.

"They're a salesperson. Of course they'll act nice if they think they can wring money from you," Zim pointed out. "…and they probably expect me to have access to more Empire funds. So."

"…fair," Dib said. "But at least we have options to consider once we do have more money. Right?"

"Yes, though it would take a while to save up for anything good." Zim flicked through his notes.

"I'm happy with the Voot," Dib said. "I'm really just glad to see how many different kinds of ships there are!" He finished a sketch of that sleek ship that had caught his eye.

"I knew you would," Zim said with a hunt of smugness in his voice.

"…we probably should find a way to start making money, though, shouldn't we?" Dib said.

Zim nodded. "That shouldn't be too hard, though. You wanted to explore new areas, make discoveries, and go on a few adventures, didn't you?"

Dib perked up and turned to fully look at him. Zim's grin widened. "There's always someone looking for someone else to take care of dangerous and mysterious work, for a price," he elaborated. "If we ask around, I'm sure we can find something we'd want to do and that would earn us a few credits."

A wide grin was already splitting Dib's face. "Any ideas on where to start?"

Zim smirked and strutted back towards their own ship, Dib walking right alongside him. "There have been stories about mysterious disappearances on the planet Shlurb," he said. "People going missing at night…being found much later with several pints or even gallons of their blood missing, and with no memory of what happened."

"…space vampires?" Dib said in an awed voice, hands shaking in excitement at the idea.

"Maybe. Nobody knows…but a few organizations offer quite a few credits to whoever could find the culprit." Zim grinned, hopping back in the ship and extending his hand to Dib. "Want to be the ones to crack that mystery?"

"Absolutely!" Dib grabbed Zim's hand, accepting his help getting into the ship. He was quick to take his seat and buckle in, looking to Zim to take the controls and lead the way.

Zim smiled adoringly at him for a few moments before closing the windshield and navigating them up and into the stars—to their next adventure.