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It was another morning on the Massive. Probably. Dib could never really be too sure in space, but the lights were on. So probably morning. He hated mornings. Mornings meant getting up and doing stuff. The Irken Empire had been a complete mess when he and Zim had staged their coup nearly 5 years ago. It was hard to believe Dib had only been 20 at the time.
With a little help from the Resisty, he and Zim had been able to knock out the control brains and usurp the puppet government. Unfortunately this created a power vacuum that needed filled and fast. The only member of the Resisty that the Irkens could even begin to accept as some sort of authority figure was Zim, so he was the obvious choice. Zim's total annihilation of the control brains using only his defective PAK was broadcasted throughout the Irken empire, so there were no questions about his qualifications as a leader, despite his short height of 145 centimeters.
Dib was officially granted the rank of second in command, though this usually meant having to do all the work Zim didn't feel like doing himself. And if it didn't involve robots, stomping, or snacks then Zim usually didn't feel like doing it.
"DIB-WORM!" Zim's loud voice cut through Dib's reminiscing.
"Urrrrgggghhhh," was his well articulated reply. He cocooned himself in blankets and tried to bury himself in the pillows of the large circular bed as a way to emphasize the sentiment.
"Dib," Zim waltzed over and sat on the edge of the bed, glaring at the pile of bedding Dib had decided to become one with. "It's three hours into the day cycle already, come on." He began steadily removing the pillows and tossing them to the floor. Why did Dib insist on so many throw pillows? Zim did not know. He suspected it was to make it easier for him to hide.
"Noooo," Dib weakly protested as Zim removed the last of the pillows. He buried his head in his arms to block out the light.
Zim jabbed sharply at Dib's arm. When the human still refused to get up, Zim sighted and got off the bed, and began walking towards the door. "Fine, fine, sleep your life away. Zim has work to do."
Dib relaxed when he heard the swish of their door opening and closing. Maybe he'd be allowed to actually sleep in for once.
All illusions of extra sleep were shattered, however, when he heard small feet charging towards the bed followed by the weight of Zim landing on his chest.
Dib's reflexes kicked in, his brain screaming 'intruder' rather than 'Zim.' He grabbed an arm and had it twisted behind the owner's back in no time, pinning the body to the bed.
"So nice of you to join us," Zim commented from under him. Dib jumped slightly in surprise. He had only acted on instinct, and so wasn't too terribly awake just yet.
Zim saw the opening left by Dib's momentary lapse in concentration and took it, wrenching his arm free from the human's grasp and then rolling over on top of him. He jabbed a claw at Dib's now exposed neck, but pulled back just before making contact. "You're dead, Dib," he said. It was not a threat, merely a statement of fact. As the de facto leaders of the largest empire in this part of the galaxy, Zim and Dib had lived through their fare share of assassination attempts.
Zim moved off Dib and sat next to him on the bed. He only groaned and began to scoot up into a sitting position. He glared as Zim as best he could. "Why do you always do that?"
Zim shrugged. "You let your guard down, Dib," he said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world.
"I was sleeping," Dib protested. He playfully shoved Zim in the arm.
"Sleep is for the weak," Zim said. He batted at Dib's hand with a gloved claw. He didn't want to get into a fight right now. At least, not a physical one.
Dib rolled his eyes. "Humans need sleep, stupid."
"It makes you vulnerable, dirt-child!" Zim tried not to let the genuine concern leech into his voice.
"Well there's not much I can do about that, space boy." Dib stretched and began to move to get out of bed. If he wasn't awake before, he was awake now.
With his back now to Zim, he couldn't see the worry plainly evident in the alien's face. His antennae lay flat against his skull, and his eyes were open wide. "If you would just let me fit you for a-"
"Nope," Dib cut him off. He knew where Zim was going. Somehow they always ended up there. "Nope, we are not having that conversation, Zim." He put his bare feet on the floor and walked over to the bureau, taking special care not to look back at the Irken. "I said no, and I mean it."
Urgh, the human boy could be just so stubborn. "You let me fix your eyes!" Zim countered. "How is this any different?" It wasn't like the process would hurt Dib. Zim just couldn't comprehend it.
Dib angrily pulled on his uniform pants under his long night shirt, which he then pulled off and tossed on the ground. "That's not the same, Zim, and you know it." He grabbed a dark blue tunic and slipped it on, arms sliding effortlessly into the long sleeves.
Zim crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at Dib from his place on the bed. "No, actually, Dib, I don't," he said, more bitter than angry. "And excuse me for actually caring about your long term survival."
"Zim, it's not about that and you know it." Dib turned and walked towards the bed, gently sitting on the edge.
Zim glared at him. "Then what is it about, Dib? Is this," he gestured to the grand room they were in, "so horrible that you can't wait for the sweet release of death to take you? Is that it?"
Dib sighed. "Zim, it's not…"
"It's not what, Dib? What?" He took a deep breath, antennae twitching in irritation. Dib sensed a rant coming on. "Irkens live for hundreds of your earth years, Dib. Hundreds. And Zim is barely 150! And you? How old are you, Dib?"
Dib muttered his response, awkwardly rubbing his arm.
"What was that, Dib-worm? I didn't quite catch that." He was being difficult on purpose.
"Twenty-five!" Dib snapped, turning to glare at the angry alien he called his companion.
"Twenty! Five!" Zim repeated. "Over a quarter of your pathetic life, gone!"
"You think I don't know that, Zim?" Dib felt his eyes starting to water. He would not cry. He would not cry.
"Then why won't you let me help you?" The anger melted out of Zim's eyes, and was replaced by pure sincerity. Dib was so important to him, despite having been in Zim's life for only a short period of time. He wouldn't even be here if it weren't for Dib. He inched closer to Dib, hating to see those eyes so wet.
Dib stared down at the soft flesh of his pale hands. "You just don't understand," he muttered, hoping it was too quiet for Zim to hear.
Zim placed a gentle hand on Dib's cheek and pulled his head up to look at him. "You're right. I don't." He stared into Dib's wet, honey eyes. "Help Zim understand."
Dib turned away, preferring to focus on his hands. "When I…" He took a deep breath. "When your… When your PAK attached to me, when I was eleven… I wasn't me anymore." He faced Zim directly. "I was you. And for a minute, I thought I'd never be me again."
That whole day was a blur to Zim. He almost died, and near death experiences tended to make memory a little hazy, even the unfailable memory of Zim. "That was Zim's PAK, Dib-human. Of course your inferior mind couldn't handle all its greatness."
Dib smiled a little. Count on Zim's flaming narcissism to ruin a moment. "This one will be yours, Dib," Zim finished.
"Just… Give me a bit more time, ok?" Dib replied. Zim started to nod, but was cut off when Dib jabbed him in the organs, just under his rib cage.
Zim screeched and fell off the bed and Dib lightly tapped his PAK with his foot. "Who's dead now, space boy?" he chided.
"You little rat," Zim snapped playfully. The seriousness of their earlier conversation all but forgotten as Zim once again pounced on Dib, pinning him to the bed.
Dib tried to wiggle out of Zim's grip. Briefly, he succeeded, and tried to scramble across the bed to escape Zim on the other side, but once he reached about the middle Zim pinned him again, this time using his PAK legs to help secure the human's ridiculously long limbs.
"No fair, that's cheating," Dib protested.
Zim booped Dib's nose. "If you had accepted my offer earlier, then we'd be on a more even playing field," he teased.
"Oh, shut up, space boy!"
Zim grinned. "Make me, earth-sti-"
Before Zim could even finish his insult, Dib had leaned forward and slammed his mouth into Zim's, effectively cutting him off. He did say make me, after all.
Zim leaned into the kiss, loving and hating the way the human boy chewed and sucked on his bottom lip with his blunt teeth. He withdrew his PAK legs, and straddled Dib's waist.
He adjusted his position on top of Dib just enough to inch up the human's tunic over his hips so Zim could reach his hands under it without having to stop kissing the boy beneath him. He felt Dib's hands reach up to stroke his thin thighs.
When Dib first introduced Zim to kissing, he was appalled by it, but then he quickly became determined to be the best kisser the human would ever know. It was just another thing Zim wanted to be better at than Dib, and as good as Dib was at kissing, Zim knew he was the best.
His prehensile tongue explored Dib's mouth, their teeth clacking together every once in a while in a way that was somehow both painful and arousing.
Zim moved on, leaving a trail of gentle kisses from the corner of Dib's mouth down his jaw line, and Dib eagerly exposed his neck to accommodate Zim's explorations. Zim could kill him in this moment, he knew that, but he also knew that Zim wouldn't. Zim nipped and sucked on the skin on Dib's neck, leaving dark bruises in his wake.
Zim was always amazed at how salty humans were. It was a perfect contrast to the sweet flavor Irkens practically oozed. Zim grinned against Dib's collar bone, before scooting down the boy to nuzzle his chest. Humans were so weird but Zim loved it. He reached down and began to paw at the boy's crotch.
Dib let out an undignified squeak at the contact before leaning into the touch. One of Dib's groping hands moved from Zim's thighs to the back of his neck, holding Zim flush to his body. The other hand began lightly touching one of Zim's sensitive antennae. The smell was just so Dib. It was sweet, and pheromone filled. Zim relished in it as he fell in a near boneless heap on top of the boy.
This, this was his human, the Dib he knew, his equal in every way possible. Zim purred against Dib's chest, Irk did he love this creature.
Zim's hand lazily slipped into Dib's pants as the human played with his antenna. When the human's fingers gently brushed the base Zim could feel himself releasing sweet Irken pheromones which only seemed to heighten Dib's arousal. In response, he felt his own phallus emerging from its protective sheath within his body.
One thing Zim always found odd about humans males was that their genetalia remained on the outside, even when not in use. It just seemed impractical, as far as he was concerned.
Zim relished in the small squeaks and hiccups he was able to draw forth from the human with just a few light touches. He was the only one who ever saw Dib in this vulnerable state, just as Dib was the only one who knew Zim's every weakness. He managed to gain enough control over his arms to push himself up and move to grind his hips against the earth childs, his hands gripping the fabric of Dib's tunic.
Years ago he would have called that color Vortian blue, but after seeing Dib in the shade for so long it took on a different meaning. It was Dib Blue, as far as he was concerned.
"Nng- Zim," Dib muttered, his skin a beautiful shade of dusty red.
Zim grinned and ground slower and harder, antennae twitching in delight at Dib's low moans.
Dib's back arched as he began to reach his limit, and Zim used the opportunity to snake his hands behind the boy, leaning down to hold him close. Dib, not sure what to do with his hands, simply wrapped them around Zim's lower back.
Both Irken and human climaxed at the same time, Zim with a satisfied hiss and Dib with a quiet moan of Zim's name. They collapsed as one in a heap of soiled clothes and sweat, panting gently in time with each other.
Dib rolled over onto his side, taking Zim with him, and curling over to nuzzle Zim's neck. Zim lightly stroked the dark hair on his human's head.
"Go back to sleep, fool boy," Zim said softly. "The empire will still be there when you wake up."
In less than 10 minutes, Dib's breathing had evened out, signaling the had once again entered a deep, human sleep. With any luck, Zim thought, It will be his last one.