Within minutes, the serum did its job.

Skoodge gave a thin noise as his body began changing once more, only this time morphing the grotesque blob of a body back into a more recognizable shape.

Dib, once again, chose to put a little distance between himself and what was happening. He walked over to take a seat in front of the monitors, though he kept his eyes on what was going on.

In his cell, Skoodge writhed and convulsed, flopping from side to side until he managed to find some kind of balance again.

As soon as he regained basic functions of his limbs, Skoodge curled up on his side, hiccuping miserably as he laid on the floor to try and let the serum take effect.

For the moment, it seemed that whatever fight the alien had left in him was gone.

Zim walked up to the cell, once it looked like the reversion was complete. He eyed his fellow Irken cautiously. "So… Tell me, Skoodge… feeling any better, are we? How's the nausea doing?"

"Curse you... " Skoodge breathed out, wanting desperately to put strength and venom into his words, but exhaustion left him with little to work with. "Once our A- Almighty Tallest hear of this-... you'll rue the day you were cracked out of your pod."

To that, Zim just sneered. "Oh? And what makes you think they will ever hear about this?"

"I know you, Zim." Dark, pink eyes lifted to stare at Zim's magenta ones. "I know you better than any other Irken. There's n-no way-" He paused to catch his breath, struggling with the effort. "-no way you won't want to show off about this sick little game here. You're a teacher's pet. A suck-up. You'd do anything to make the Tallest look at you with anything but the disgust you deserve. Anything to pretend you're more than a misshapen defect."

"Zim is not a defect!"

"Yes, you are! You are damaged! Your PAK is faulty! Your programming is catastrophically bad, Zim. Look at you! A tiny, outcast, little mistake the Tallest failed to erase properly!"

Zim visibly bristled and, though he stayed in the background, Dib felt a similar reaction to the captive Irken's harsh words.

"What do /you/ even know, Skoodge?! You were sent to a tiny, backwater planet, filled with deadly, disgusting Rat-People! The Almighty Tallest were hoping you'd perish there!"

Instead of the anger or denial Zim expected, Skoodge burst into an amused, if weak, giggle.

"Yeah, well, but I did my job! And I was given a real mission. Not like the 'mystery mission' you were sent on! How dense can you be, Zim?! Do you really think a derelict like you would be given the honor?" Somehow, Skoodge managed to dredge up energy to settle into a full-blown rant, hissing angrily between words.

"Think about it, Zim! You weren't given an invitation to the assignment ceremony. You showed up unannounced and the Tallest were finally so fed up with you that they sent you off. They were trying to shoot you into empty space in hopes that you'd manage to aim yourself into a star and serve as fuel for it! It was pure happenstance you ended up finding the /only/ viable planet in this whole sector! Happenstance, Zim! Your existence" Skoodge focused his eyes on Zim with glaring intensity and hatred. "-is nothing but happenstance."

Zim didn't move, and for a drawn-out second, it seemed that every motion in the room ceased.

Then, though, Dib moved, rushing forward and grabbing Skoodge through the bars of the cell. The alien gave a startled grunt as fingers fisted in his ruined uniform and he was hauled face-first into the bars.

The next thing he was aware of was a sea of poisoned honey, glaring death at him.

"You're lying." Dib hissed, warm breath washing over the alien's chilled face. "You're /lying/! Don't you dare try to weasel your way out of this experiment like that, or I'll swear-"

"Dib-Thing."

A small hand touched his shoulder, and Dib tensed, turning to Zim with the same rage in his eyes, ready to just-

"DIB!"

Dib gave a sharp gasp and he shoved away from the cell, letting go of Skoodge's uniform and flailing to get back up on his feet. "Z-Zim, I-... I wasn't- I-"

"He's not worth it." Zim said, his voice calm, but Dib could feel the subtle tremor in the other's hand as it held on to his shoulder.

"I know. I know, Zim." Exhaling slowly, Dib closed his eyes to force himself into calming down. Zim was right. Skoodge wasn't worth losing his grip over.

With a soft gesture, the human took Zim's hand from his shoulder and pulled him out of the room without another word or look in their prisoner's direction.

Which, by all means, was very welcomed by Skoodge, who was still quaking in terror at what had just happened.

Outside, Dib pulled his little companion close, holding him tightly against his chest. "It's not true. I know it. He's just trying to get under your skin. Your mission wasn't-"

"Zim knows. It's not." Zim gave a small noise and pushed his face against the warm chest in front of him, his antennae flat against his skull. "I was given a special mission. Because I earned it. Because Zim is more of an invader than Skoodge could ever dream of being."

Leaning down, Dib nuzzled against the smooth skin of Zim's forehead, earning himself a small sigh and the slow unclenching of bunched-up muscles between his arms.

"And look at how well you're doing, too. I mean, if it hadn't been for me, you would've been successful and taken over the Earth a long time ago." Softly, the human ran a thumb along Zim's cheek. "I think I'm starting to feel a little sorry for stopping you as much as I did." He smiled lightly.

Zim chuckled, leaning into the touch before he could stop himself. "Well, maybe Zim felt like entertaining you, for a bit of a challenge."

"So you admit I was a challenge to you?"

Snorting, Zim grinned up at him, and the sight lifted a fearful weight off the human's shoulders. Dib found he hated the expression that Skoodge's words had put on Zim's features. He wanted to see Zim like this. Grinning, ridiculously proud of himself, self-assured and with the belief he could conquer the universe.

It suited him.

Unlike the veil of depression that had surfaced for a brief moment.

Zim cocked his head back, staring up at Dib in playful challenge. "You? Ha! Never. You pathetic human couldn't hold a candle against Zim!"

"Are you sure?" Dib grinned.

"Uh-huh!"

"Really sure?"

"Yes. Yesss… do you dare doubt my superiority, you puny human stink-beast?!"

"Matter of fact, I just might. What would you do about it, Space-Boy?" Dib laughed, the sound warm and low and honest, and the way it felt in his chest was like tons of weight were lifted off his ribcage. It had been far too long since he'd last laughed like that.

Still leaning against him, Zim joined his laughter after a few moments, chuckling against his shoulder. "Oh, I don't know. But it will be more than easy subduing you. You're pathetic and weak." He said, before adding. "By Irken standards."

"I'll take that as a compliment, then." Dib smiled, pulling Zim closer. He knew it had been one. 'By Irken standards' meant that, compared to other humans, Dib was still superior in Zim's eyes.

Thin arms wrapped around Dib's middle, palms resting flat against his back and he felt a gentle warmth pool in his stomach.

"Zim… I think you might deserve a small break. Skoodge has been taken care of, the other guy will be no big problem, so, maybe we can just take a moment and get away from this."

"Maybe." If he was honest, Zim felt the strain just as much as, if not more than, Dib. "Let's go have a meal, then. Maybe you're right. We're not on a schedule and Zim can have a look at the supplies so we won't run out of anything."

Instead of pulling away, though, Zim only held on tighter. "Carry me." He demanded, and Dib stared down at him.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me, Dib-Thing! Carry your superior Irken slave-master. You're too tall, at least make use of it."

The human chuckled, slightly confused, but all too happy to oblige the unusual request. "Come here, then…"

Bending down, Dib slid one arm around the back of Zim's thighs, lifting him with little effort. "You need to eat more, Space-boy. You'll blow away with the next breeze."

Zim gave a derisive snort, even while he wrapped his arms around his human companion's neck. "Zim'll break you into more appropriately-sized pieces, stupid human."

"Mhm… I'm sure you would." Not minding the oddly clingy behavior at all, Dib carried the lithe alien away from the lab rooms and back into the living area of the base. There, though, instead of instantly heading for the kitchen, he moved over to his own room and sat down on the small couch there.

"This is not the kitchen." Zim murmured from where his face was buried in Dib's neck.

"No, it isn't. I thought some real rest might be good for both of us. Not just some food, but a nice, real break. Especially after today." What the human left unsaid was just how much he craved the contact with Zim. It's been too long since they'd had a quiet moment to themselves.

Once he was settled down, Dib wrapped both his arms around the smaller male , feeling him shift to accommodate the touches.

"Skoodge is full of filthy lies…"

"He is. He's desperate. And he wants to hurt you."

"Mhmm." Leaning back, Zim dipped his head slightly, nuzzling at Dib's cheek. "I don't know how I ever thought he might be a suitable partner for future missions. It would have been a disaster."

Smiling softly, the human let his hands slowly run up and down Zim's back, tracing along the outline of his PAK with his fingertips, where it sat snug against Zim's skin. It earned him a noticeable shiver and a soft huff of warm air sighed into the hollow of his neck.

"Forget about him for a moment. Skoodge won't run, and we'll deal with him later. Not right now." Dib said. "Now, we rest." He leaned in to brush a soft little kiss to Zim's temple.

With a deep sigh, Zim exhaled, letting tension seep from his body and becoming heavier in his companion's arms.

"There you go…" Dib closed his eyes, reveling in the way Zim's smaller frame became pliant and sank into him. Holding him close with one arm, Dib scooted up onto the couch proper, until he could comfortably rest his back against the armrest and wall.

The quiet in the room was comfortable, only barely disturbed by calm breathing, and after a while, Dib's thoughts began drifting. Almost the same way, his hands moved in random patterns along Zim's back and sides, following down the gentle slope of his waist to the curve of his hips and back up his spine, the motion almost meditative and soothing to him.

Zim seemed to luxuriate in the touches, staying still for the most part, though he gave in to arch or lean into those warm hands occasionally. The casual brush of fingers against the back of his neck had him gasp quietly, however, and Zim felt a shiver run down his spine. "Dib…"

"Mmh?" The human only tilted his head slightly to indicate he'd heard Zim, not wanting to open his eyes and disturb the near-meditative calm he was in. Almost as an afterthought, he continued the motion of his head to affectionately press their cheeks together.

The velvety touch of lips against his jaw pulled him further back into the moment and without thinking, Dib nudged Zim's face up for a kiss.