Dib gently ran fingers over the smooth, green skin of the alien on top of him, letting his mind drift happily as the chemicals in his brain ran amok.

He'd just had sex for the first time... with Zim. As girly as the thought made him feel he was deflowered by an alien and though that was weird he couldn't seem to even make himself be bothered with it. He hadn't even given much thought to his sexuality before, always just figuring he'd settle for whoever could settle for him, which he pictured to be a plain, mild-mannered girl with almost no future other than a regular nine to five job. His gaze had strayed on a few pretty girls in school before, sure, so he'd never felt the need to question whether he liked guys or not.

But then, maybe he didn't like guys. Maybe he just liked Zim... or Zim was REALLY good at kissing. Either way, the alien was currently naked and on top of him, eyes closed peacefully in post orgasmic bliss.

Finally, after a few peaceful minutes of almost sleep Zim began to shift, pulling himself off the human and rolling to the side, red eyes open and watching. Dib turned on his side to watch Zim as well, expecting some kind of embarrassed explanation. When he didn't get one he decided he'd better ask or be driven crazy with uncertainty.

"What was that for?"

Zim looked confused a moment before the question really sunk in. "The sex?"

Dib nodded.

Zim pouted a little as he thought about it, antennae twitching as he pulled for some kind of reasonable explanation.

"I wanted to." He finally said. "For one thing it forced endorphins to my brain which helped the head ache. Also you were... doing things that made me want to."

"What kind of things?" Dib asked, unsure if he was asking so he was sure it wouldn't happen again... or if he wanted to do it again.

"Breathing into my antennae." Zim said, a shiver running up his spine as he thought about it.

"That turns you on?" Dib asked, reaching out a hand to gently feel at one of the stalks. This made Zim shiver again and he eyes slide shut.

"Sometimes." Zim answered, his voice sounding suddenly drowsy. "That what you're doing is more like a back massage though."

Dib smiled at how untroubled Zim looked like that before pulling his hand away so Zim could think.

"But, I guess another reason I did that was to thank you." Zim informed the human after a while.

"Thank me?" Dib asked. "For what?"

At this Zim shrugged. "Pretty much everything I guess."

Dib was surprised. He had a feeling Zim was grateful to him, but always figured he would be too proud to admit it. He supposed the sex as a thank you made him right.

"So, what does this mean?" Dib asked after a moment of thought.

"What does what mean?" Zim asked.

"This... everything." Dib said, a blush rising to his face. "Are we together now? Or was this just a onetime thing?"

Zim seemed to actually ponder that question. "On Irk we wouldn't be. Sex is very casual... I think so it wouldn't become a distraction and is generally considered healthy for one's mental state... but if you want to be 'together' I guess we could do that."

"Do you want to be?" Dib asked Zim, unable to help reaching out and touching that green skin again. He ran his fingers over an arm, the skin there was clammy from the sweat that was now drying and the cold of the room. So the human reached under them and pulled the sheets back up and over them.

"Yeah," Zim said surprisingly quickly, pulling the sheet a little closer. "Yeah I think I do."

"Ok then." Dib said, hesitatingly reaching out and pulling the alien close. "We're boyfriends then."

Like with being friends it took a while for Zim and Dib to get used to being in a relationship. No one had ever liked Zim like that, having been considered among the irken community as short and ugly and not very desirable at all. Again... people just didn't seem to like Dib.

They began to sleep in the same bed together, a kiss was added to wake Zim up, along with right before Dib would leave for work. When he got off three hours later and found Zim wandering the halls, they would return to their room together, their fingers laced.

Most of the contact was for Dib's benefit, and was mostly something Zim just put up with. Affection wasn't in his programming, but he learned how to show it from various TV shows he'd seen and from how Dib behaved. He would hold the human's hand when he wanted, return his kisses, lean against Dib when his side was offered, and just generally stuck close.

Sex happened regularly, at least once a week. This was one thing Zim found easy to get into, especially since the human would eagerly give him tops when he wanted it. At first he was always the dominant one, and it continued to be so, even after Dib asked to top. The human quickly learned what a demanding submissive was.

And of course the alien wouldn't give up his spot on top easily. Blood was always drawn before he allowed Dib to take it.

No one else liked this relationship though. The humans all thought it was unhealthy, stupid, and dangerous. Their glares turned harder and insults louder, wanting to drive the irken away from one of their own. Neither paid any mind however. They just squeezed each other's hands and went about their business.

Months passed. It had been almost a full year since Zim arrived on the space station and while Dib was working he wandered the halls as was usual. Dib was taking extra long that day, however. Apparently something exploded, and so Zim made his way to the science department where Dib worked, hopping to see how much longer his human would be cleaning up the mess.

Before he got to the weapons department, however, he ran into the vortian slaves that the humans had rescued a while ago. There had been ten of them on the ship, and four were standing guard there, preventing Zim from passing.

"Sorry, no irken allowed past this point." One said. He was about as tall as Zim, and from the wrinkles on his grey skin he wore a constant sneer.

"Says who?" Zim asked, narrowing his eyes. He wasn't in the mood for anymore antagonizing.

"Everyone, of course." A shorter vortian said, crossing his arms. "No one wants you anywhere near the science department. They're worried you're going to sabotage something."

"Not that you'd do that on purpose, would you Zim?" The third vortian asked, laughing maliciously.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Zim asked, scowling.

"The humans might not be aware of your history Zim, but of course we are." The first vortian said again. "We know all about your defecting. The Horrible Painful Overload days, you causing the deaths of Tallests Miyuki and Spork. Oh, and of course the millions of your own race you killed on Operation Impending Doom One."

Zim's scowl turned vicious, his antennae pressed to the back of his head. "What right have you to bring that up?" He growled. "That's none of your business! Why would you even care!?"

The first vortian stepped up to Zim, getting in the irken's face. "Because we care about these people. They're working just as hard as the Resisty against the empire, and we don't want you screwing that up for them." He gave the irken a shove before continuing. "So why don't you go run and hide back in your room. No one wants you here."

Zim hesitated a moment, letting the insults sink into his brain, opening and festering in old wounds. That wasn't true, that couldn't be true! He was wanted! But the doubt already sunk in, making him shiver. This brought laughter to the vortian group and the leader pushed Zim again.

This time there was no hesitating. With a growl he pounced, knocking the taller vortian back and onto the ground. He was handicapped, his pak still sealed shut tight, but he wasn't completely useless without it. Straddling the vortian's stomach he punched the horned alien's face over and over, drawing blue blood as teeth scraped against the inside of his mouth.

Acting quick the other vortian's pulled Zim off, wrestling him to the ground. They were a lighter build than irkens, but with the three of them they managed to pin Zim down while they're leader clawed and punched at Zim.

Over ninety percent of irkens would have some sort of combat training, this contrasted drastically with the only twenty percent of vortians that did. These vortians were not among that twenty percent, so while the three were able to combine forces and hold him, the leader was unable to strike properly to cause the irken to go submissive. He was also unfit to guard himself while attacking, which gave Zim a big enough gap to rise and foot and kick at the tallest vortian's stomach hard.

With their leader down the other three were frightened. Zim began to struggle and flail, kicking, biting, clawing, punching, using any means necessary to get himself from the hold as he recovered. Two of them dropped, then the third, but he was quickly grabbed from behind around the chest, which made him panic. With the speed of a true soldier he turned and swiped at the obviously taller attacker's face, aiming for eyes.

The taller was quicker, however, turning so instead of eyes Zim got cheek, which the irken turned out to be grateful for. The taller turned out to be Dib, who had been trying to pull Zim from the fray. Zim panted, immediately calming from the sting of blood on his claws and the red dripping down his human's cheek.

"Come on Zim." Dib said, grabbing Zim's hand. The irken was hesitant.

"Dib, I-...."

"Come ON, Zim." Dib insisted, tugging on Zim's arm. Zim gave in, letting Dib lead them from the science hall way, which was attracting a scene, to their room. Zim turned on the light as they got in, Dib heading straight for the bathroom for the first aid kit that was kept in there. It was kept in a small, card board box, all the supplies just dumped in there.

In the room was a desk for Dib to work at when he wasn't in the science department, and Dib took the chair from the desk and sat it next to the bed where Zim was sitting. The chair was slightly higher, so Dib was able to see Zim's injuries much better.

"I'm fine," Zim insisted, but Dib just quieted him with a kiss.

First the human wiped the blood from Zim's face, the stream dripping from the corner of Zim's mouth and the small cuts littering his arms and chest.

"What happened?" He asked as he got the disinfectant and began to dab it over the cuts. Who knew what those scientists had on their claws. Dib knew at least two of them worked with chemicals.

"They taunted me." Zim explained, barely wincing at the liquid. "Then they pushed me. So I pushed back."

Dib just hummed. He put bandages on the cuts that needed it before sitting back up. But Zim pulled him back down, his claws gently holding Dib's face.

"I'm sorry, Dib." Zim said, grabbing another cloth, one that wasn't stained green with his own blood, and began to wipe the blood from Dib's face.

"It's ok." Dib said, sighing almost happily as Zim took care of him.

"No it's not." Zim insisted, putting a large bandage over it when he was done. He then got up on his knees on the bed to better reach Dib's mouth for a kiss. "It's not ok. Maybe everyone's right. Maybe it is dangerous for you to be with me."

"Zim, what are you talking about? It was an accident." Dib said, giving his boyfriend a confused look. "Besides," He added, pulling Zim from the bed and into his lap. "Maybe I like the danger."

Zim just sighed, kissing Dib's cheek over the bandage. "I'm so sorry Dib." He said, hugging onto Dib.

"Zim, it's just a scratch, it'll heal." Dib said, pulling from the hug so Zim could see the confused look on his face. But first he caught the pained one of Zim's. "Zim, what's wrong? You know you can tell me anything."

"You don't not want me?" Zim asked, gripping his hands in Dib's shirt.

"What?" Dib was confused. Where did that come from.

"I hurt you, but you still want me anyway?" Zim asked, antennae looking wilted.

"Of course I want you." Dib said, giving Zim a reassuring smile. "Zim, I'll always want you."

The human then picked Zim up, moving them both to the bed. "I'll want you and want you and want you." He chanted, kissing from the side of Zim's head to down his jaw. "Always."

Zim was satisfied by this answer, baring his neck to the human. Yes, that satisfied him very much.