The Present

by uwutopiia

Summary:

Zim returns. Dib is conflicted.

OR

Zim and Dib finally reunite in Hi Skool after almost two years of radio silence. They've both drastically changed.

Notes:

playlist-

🎶 - Eclipse (Inner Wave)

🎶 - Maple Syrup Tears (Huron John)

🎶 - Don't Trust Me (the booyah! kids)

🎶 - Wounded/Surrounded (Kid Bloom)

🎶 - New Light (John Mayer)

Chapter 1: Before

Present Day

One year, two months, eight days

after the Florpus

 

 

It was different, Zim noted. His body, his mind, his inner wiring and mental capacity- it was all different. 

 

They were nodes, and switches, and intricate wires that had restricted his ability to evolve. He, as an Irken, as an Invader, was given a constant dose of a chemical that PAK's could create with any constant doses of carbon dioxide. The Earth had a rich supply of it, as well as Irk, and thus, for the many years he and other Invaders had lived, they had been unable to reach their full potential. 

 

Zim was better, now that he's done the one thing all Irkens were taught not to do; tamper with their PAK. 

 

He was taller, stronger, could control his outbursts and emotions- he could work without the irritating itch at his skin and bone to destroy and conquer. It was like a breath of fresh air, or, like many Invaders had told him before, returning to Irk after spending a lifetime conquering a planet for the empire. 

 

Zim knew he could never return. He still couldn't remove the admin command that had his PAK set to explode if he ever left the Earth's solar system. He was trapped on a planet filled with ignorant, stupid, fleshy humans. And he pushed away the only one who would ever understand him- the only human who knew how terrible and mind numbing it was to be hated and isolated by the rest of your own species, the only human who knew what Zim really was, the only human who could match him in intellect, stubbornness, and sheer insanity;

 

Dib Membrane. 

 

Zim felt his antennae shift around atop his head, rip him from his thoughts, and once again make him spacially aware. A knock at his door in the middle of the afternoon was strange, especially as the neighborhood he was in was practically barren now, cept for a couple houses with old people. 

 

He was on his couch- well, a new couch that his Computer constructed while he was away at the store a couple days ago- watching some animated cartoon that GIR was adamant on catching up on. Gravitational Falls, or whatever. Zim could care less, as he was in his own little world while propped up in some ugly, bright green sweatshirt. He stole it from Dib at one point, but it fit his larger body pretty well, so he had no complaints other than the fact it had lost the strange boy's scent a long time ago. 

 

His antennae pressed hard against the back of his head, irritation settling in his bones when another knock came after a couple of seconds. It was evident they weren't going to leave. The alien sighed, stretching over to the table next to the couch to slip on his contacts and wig. He blinked once, twice, and a tanned nanosuit phased over his green skin, hiding the unhuman color. He perfected the contacts technology to respond to his eyes, and would be able to connect to his PAK so it could dish out the nanosuit evenly across his skin. 

 

He still couldn't fix the three 'fingers' and two 'toes', but it's not as if humans were very preceptive creatures. 

 

GIR was utterly taken by the chaos happening on the t.v before him, not moving as Zim stood from his seat and padded over to his door. The shorts that came down to his knees felt weird against the nanosuit. He opened the door, just a smidge, enough to peer through the crack. 

 

"Who disturbs Zim?" He croaked out with a disgruntled tone, squinting at the light that hit his eyes head on. The human outside came into view when they tilted to the side to look at Zim through the crack of his door, and the way his squeedily spooch settled when bright blue eyes peered back at him instead of warm brown ones was telling. 

 

He didn't know what he'd do if Dib suddenly appeared at his door. 

 

"Uhm, hello? Me and my dad just moved in next door, and said to bring by some brownies as a sort of greeting gift? That okay, or..?" The human had an undistinguishable voice- Zim couldn't tell if it were male or female, and felt a bit confused at that, but grunted a little regardless. He liked brownies. He wanted brownies. 

 

Wordlessly, Zim opened the door a bit wider, and glared down at the human who dared to talk to him on a Sunday afternoon during his brooding time. An unamused stare met him back, accompanied by dark brown wavey hair, acne ridden skin, and thick rimmed rectangular glasses. He looked down, and noticed a bin of equally rectangular chunks of equally dark brown lumps of sugar in the human's hands. Zim still couldn't tell the human's gender, and decided to just cut whatever conversation they could have short-

 

"Zim begrudgingly accepts your offering." He spoke quickly, and slowly took the bin with a bit too much enthusiasm, almost unable to resist the grin on his face when he inspected the treats. It switched back to his normal snarl in a second. "Now, begone." He ordered, closing the door in the human's face with no regard for their feelings. They didn't look like they had any, anyways. 

"Yeah, sure. My name is Fil, and you're welcome, or whatever." Fil spoke behind Zim's door, promptly walking away after their simple minded 'clap back'. Zim half hazardly slipped off his contacts, wig, and deactivated his nanosuit in one fell swoop as he returned to the couch, and happily indulged in the bin of chocolate delight while GIR screamed about 'piggies' to minimoose. Zim hadn't even realized minimoose had returned from it's weird slumber until now, but it seemed to be well rested enough to aimlessly float there next to GIR with zero thoughts behind it's big eyes. 

 

As Zim munched on a brownie, he wondered if he should start going to skool again. It'd give him something to do other than waste away eating sugary things, plus it'd warrent suspicion if he didn't show up at skool after revealing himself to another 'teen'. 

 

He peered down at the piece of chocolate crumbling away in his claws, and decided, yeah, whatever. He might as well. 

 

"Computer," Zim exclaimed loudly, seemingly startling GIR and minimoose, who both visibly jumped at his voice, "enroll Zim in the current human education building depending on how old Zim would be in human years." He spoke lazily, shoving another half of a brownie in his mouth, shivering at the taste. They were good fucking brownies. 

 

"You got it, boss." The a.i drawled out, sounding just as tired as Zim did. The irken heard wires and electronics start up somewhere in the house, and figured that would be that. Computer got shit done fairly easily without any questions or concerns, so Zim had no reason to stay tuned in to what the a.i was doing. 

 

He probably should've made sure he got enrolled in a different place than Dib, but it slipped his mind. The brownies were too good. Made his antennae tingle. 

 

---

 

He couldn't do it- Dib wouldn't do it. 

 

Seeing Zim's house, remodeled, clean, completely different yet so familiar and so him set off so many warning signals in his brain that he almost had a seizure on his front porch. Zim was definitely alive- Dib almost didn't believe it. He spent a long time thinking that he had just up and offed himself- he wasn't just going to accept that he was alive and well enough to fix his house up and go shopping. 

 

Gaz couldn't believe it either- didn't, actually. He showed her a picture of his house, though. That definitely made her pause and think about it. 

 

"Well," She began, slow and unsteady, knowing how sensitive the subject was for her brother, "he did say to just.. consider him dead. Not that he'd-" she made a quick show of cutting a hand past her neck with a slick sound comming from her lips, promptly going back to the purple laptop that she was seamlessly typing away on. Dib groaned, walking past her to go collapse on the couch a couple feet away with clear unease. He was so damn conflicted right now, he could barely focus. 

 

He felt betrayed, yet also relieved, and weirdly.. proud, almost, that Zim didn't end up just removing his PAK and slowly wasting away. The alien did kinda indirectly kill dozens upon thousands of his own species, including his superiors that he had once practically worshiped. He was really distraught, and Dib honestly couldn't blame him for just disappearing into his base for a year.

 

But to just.. abandon Dib, knowing how chaotic and overthinking his mind was, knowing that he was practically the only other person that he actively talked to beside his sister... it kinda just left a bad taste in the boy's mouth. He's spent three years with Zim- plotting against him, fighting him, sometimes even fighting with him, yet his sudden disappearance was difficult to handle. 

 

Being suddenly stripped of something that made you feel whole would always leave a scar. 

 

Suddenly, Zim was back. The one being that made his life worth living was suddenly back, and Dib hadn't the slightest idea how to handle it or cope with it. Gaz wasn't any help, since she figured that this was something Dib should handle on his own, but how the hell does he handle the return of an alien that was once hellbent on destroying and/or conquering Earth? 

 

He'd figure it out, probably. He's dealt with Zim a significant chunk of his life, he can deal with him again. If he remembered correctly, he still had those shock cuffs and a semi-powered ray gun in the garage out back. 

Dib jumped a bit where he was laying down at the sound of his sister's soft chuckle, looking back at her with a look of confusion on his face. She didn't turn to stare at him, but did pause in her typing, "See? I told you that you'll figure it out." She shrugged, somehow knowing that Dib had already pretty much come to terms about his current situation. He grinned, feeling his dimples press into his cheeks, and rolled his eyes. 

 

"Yeah yeah, whatever. Shuddup."

Notes:

wowie i finally wrote smthn for the next part- shocker right?? anyways this is justa update on how the boys are doin, as well as a new character that'll be around to 'fill' the roll of keef since he's off in juvey for multiple sexual offences 🗿
basically a common ground that'll play a bigger roll later as the story progresses
idk how long this fic will be but ill try to make the chapters decently long uwu

ty for readin

Chapter 2: Thinking

Summary:

Our idiots do some thinking, and realize a couple things.

Notes:

psa ive tried to write this like FOUR TIMES to no avail, forgive me for i hath sinned. songs at the beginning of the first chapter allude to the vibes im hoping to give each chapter, one to five. listen to them accordingly and hope for the best maybe?? idk

After all the time Zim has spent inside his base, Earth's rain has not improved one bit. 

 

The acid liquid cascaded down from the sky in buckets, thunder and lightning accompanying it. Safely tucked away in a large blanket on his couch, Zim paid it no mind, but knew well that he'd have to walk in it come morning. His lips curled into a sneer at the thought, soon interrupted by a squeal from his small robot 'slave' as he would have once called him. 

 

"EEEEK! There's drums in the sky, mastah! DRUMS!!" GIR exclaimed with fear and or excitement, the distinction almost impossible despite Zim's accute hearing. His antennae pressed hard against his head when the little gremlin dove into the couch next to him before stealing half of the blanket that Zim was attempting to keep for himself- it only took a bit of squirming for GIR to encase himself in the purple fabric like one of his burritos. 

 

"GIR, it is thunder. Surely you don't think it's drums." Zim growled under his breath, peering down at the glowing blue lights that were pressed up into his left side. GIR audiably giggled a bit, but didn't reply, seemingly content with just being trapped in Zim's makeshift nest. The Irken let out a long sigh- he didn't know if it was from relief that GIR wasn't actively shredding his blanket to pieces or annoyance that he was even in his blanket. 

 

Before Zim could even blink, Minimoose had floated over and plopped down onto his head. It beeped, and apparently it wasn't leaving. This time, Zim groaned, and knew it was in annoyance. 

 

His minions were rather clingy, but he didn't mind. Kind of. Sometimes, Irken's like him needed their isolation. He supposed that's why he took such a long time away from Dib and GIR, two constant thorns that stayed glued to his side- much like now, for instance. Minimoose just went into hibernation, or something. He just woke up one afternoon and it was there, so he hadn't questioned the strange creature. 

 

The human reality TV show was deaf to Zim's antennae as he allowed himself to return to deep thought, finding the storm outside to be quite comforting. On the topic of the human that had been the very bane of his existance for three years on this planet, a new feeling that he hadn't felt for awhile emerged. 

 

Fear. 

 

Would Dib kill him? He could, Dib always had the ability to kill him, in some way. All Irken's had the weakness of their PAK, and Dib could have always stabbed it, or sent an electric current through it, or done something to disrupt the complicated machinery inside of it. He could have killed him many times over, and Zim could have done the same. After all, human's were fragile, unlike Irken's. Especially with his new body. 

 

Zim allowed his gloveless claws to slowly rake over his light olive green skin, the rough yet smooth texture unfaltering despite how sharp his claws were. His body was nearly impenatrable, and any and all wounds were usually healed within seconds thanks to his PAK. Despite this, he dug harder with a sharp point, and barely flinched when he felt blood cascade down his arm after he used his brute strength to break hus skin. The small cut closed up instantly, and he knew not even a cut would remain. 

 

Irken's were also strong, but their bones were brittle, encased by muscle and thick skin, it was easy for them to break. Dib could have broken his legs, or his arms, and render him useless with the amount of pain that would instantly flow through his body. Not now, of course, as his bones were now on par, if not stronger, than a human's.

 

There was no doubt Dib has harbored some hate against him, despite Zim's advancements after tinkering with his PAK, but.. if Dib truly wanted to kill him, Zim didn't think he could. His body was supposed to be the absolute peak of the Irken species, thanks to his newly found growth spurt. He was stronger, faster, smarter.. and, this time, his arrogance wouldn't get in the way. Hopefully. He was still under the impression that he was the best thing since the rocket was invented, but y'know. 

 

Another powerful strike of thunder brought him out of his thoughts once more, making him realize that GIR has gone into sleep mode, and that minimoose has fallen from his head into his lap, the small creature snoozing away. A fond grin threatened to cross his face, but he willed it away, instead scoffing a little under his breath. Gently, he wrapped the moose into his blanket, tiredly leaning his head back onto the couch, willing his eyes to close. 

 

Irken's didn't need sleep, but he did now after his 'transformation'. His PAK couldn't recharge it's energy and keep him at tip top shape unless it had a couple hours each day to turn off a couple motor functions. If he overworked himself, he'd need to sleep in order to get his strength back. A small setback, but a welcome one, since sleep was.. surprisingly nice. Humans did it involuntarily. 

 

"Computer," He spoke as he felt his conciousness drift away, a few gears turning around in the ceiling and rafters when he did, "wake Zim up at 0900 hours. Zim is going to Hi Skool." He deadpanned, making the a.i hum a bit in acknowledgement. The lights dimmed as he drifted, and the TV grew quieter. 

 

He hoped Dib would be more happy to see him than angry. 

---

 

Dib's first reaction to the unlikely return of his once rival was shock, of course. Shock then turned into anger, and anger into searing, burning rage. He was fuming hard enough to blow his head off for awhile, for a number of reasons. 

 

One, Zim was coming back. This meant that he was stronger, wiser, and probably had a plan to make the entire world fall to it's knees. That had to be the reason. He went into a state of depression because he'd never be able to do it- so the only viable explaination for his return would be that he's found a way to enslave the human race, right?

 

Two, there was the possibility that this wasn't the case. It was entirely possible that someone else refurnished the house- that Zim wasn't coming back- that he had already torn his PAK from his body and welcomed the face of death with open arms. Maybe, by the time someone went in and found him, he was just a shriveled up corpse, barely able to be classified as anything more than a dried up branch. Maybe the gnomes were just repaired and put back up, maybe someone revived the lawn and put a couple new coats of paint on the house.. maybe Zim was dead. The thought made him unusually tired, even if he had thought he'd come to terms with the alien's disappearance months ago. 

 

Then, here came the third option. Zim was alive, for real, and wasn't interested in enslaving the human race or destroying planet Earth anymore. Maybe he, just as Dib did, came to terms with the circumstances. His superiors were dead, killed by his own actions, just as dozens upon dozens of his own kind were in relation. Such a great deal of loss was what he needed, in some way. He and Zim.. they couldn't have kept going the way they were, blinded by their own egotistic personalities and fighting a battle that wasn't even real.

 

After all, finding out that your only purpose was a sham, then accidentally killing thousands of your people when trying to prove yourself.. must not be a good feeling. 

 

Reflecting on this, Dib decided that, if Zim did in fact come back, he'd judge him based on how he acts. If he's still the small angry miget that he was almost two years ago, then he'd be upset. If he's changed, maybe grown a bit of a heart (and has definitely given up that 'conquer the Earth' bullshit), then.. he didn't know what he'd do. Apologize for pissing on his front lawn, maybe? Probably. 

 

In retrospect, he probably shouldn't have been thinking about it in the pressence of his dad. Or, at least, in the pressence of the floating t.v displaying his dad's face. The man must have picked up on how deep in thought he was, despite the fact he was just lecturing Gaz on the dangers of Hi Skool and druggies. 

 

"Dib, my boy," the man exclaimed through the speakers located on either side of the device, almost scaring the said Dib out of his wits to the point he nearly stabbed himself in the eye with his fork. "you seem distressed, tell me, what is the matter? I'm sure I can give you a scientific explaination for your sorrows!" The teenager nearly rolled his eyes at his words, and in taking a glance at his sister across the table, knew that it was his turn to entertain their father. She was gripping her knife a little too tight. 

 

"It's nothing, dad. Just the normal nervousness when it comes to skool. You know other kids don't exactly like me." He shrugged, twirling the spaghetti around on his plate, uninterested in eating at the moment. The electronic hummed as his father did, before the screen flickered a couple times after turning back to him. 

 

"I do indeed know it, my boy! They don't like you because you're a man of science- calm and intelligent- while they haven't even crawled their way out of the stone age. Do not fret- jealousy will get them nowhere!" He exclaimed with a sort of proud aura to himself, and for the first time, Dib felt that he might have been proud of.. him. He felt his heart clench in his chest, and turned to the floating television with shock- his cowlick almost slapped him across his face with how hard he whilped his head around. 

 

"W- wait.. are- are you proud of me? Is- is this what's happening right now?" He almost squeaked as he talked, finding his stomach shrivel up in pride when his father's eyebrows bent in an almost comforting way, "Oh, Dib- of course I'm proud of you! You and your sister are my greatest achievements, no matter how rich and famous I become! You are children of science, children of mine- unstoppable." The television practically nodded, and for once, Gaz looked equally as shocked as Dib. What the hell was going on? 

 

"R-.. really...?" Dib almost felt tears come to his eyes at the first real sign of affection coming from their father, but the spell was broken just as quickly as it was cast, "Of course! Why, you've been so eager to learn and study, and haven't been screaming and screeching about that alien and paranormal nonsense you always liked to blabber on about. You've both finally begun to walk in my footsteps, and I couldn't be prouder."

 

Gaz's face returned to being neutral, but Dib could feel her disappointment. He allowed his feelings to be shown, and nearly glared at the video rendition of his dad. He.. he felt really dumb right now. Of course he wouldn't be actually proud of them. All he wanted them to do was be exactly like him- carry on his legacy and whatever. He was only proud because they were acting like they'd happily waltz right into a lab and spend the rest of their days inside of it, unwilling to even leave to go see their own family. Dib felt ashamed to even be related to him. 

 

"A- ah.. yeah." Was his only response before he turned back to his plate, continuing the motions of twirling around his fork, and tuning out the ramblings of the madman floating in the spot next to his head. This was the norm when their dad came on one of his surprise visits, usually before big events like Christmoose or Thankstealing.

 

Yeah. You could say he would be okay with a change of pace.. as long as it was named Zim. Hell, maybe he'd end up crazier than before so Dib could really expose him as an alien.

 

He found it funny that he still thought he wanted to do such a thing.

 

---

 

Zim donned his wig and contacts with slow, lazy movements on a Wednesday, September second, the first day of Hi Skool. A full length digital mirror in his chambers showed his image, and he would gag if he had the reflex. He looked... human. His tan skin, light freckles dusting his cheeks, wide and non-single-cellular eyes allowed him to blend in seamlessly with the general public. He grimiced. It was disgusting, but necessary. 

 

The tight black skinny jeans hugged his legs comfortably in a way that reminded him of his uniform pants, and the slightly baggy hoodie that hung loose on his upper body still held the color of his old magenta leotard. That uniform was sacred, yet he refused to ever don it again. He didn't feel-.. he wasn't worthy to wear it. Maybe, one day, he would be. Today was not that day. 

 

A small blue and silver robot clinged to one of his leather boots, sucking his thumb, simply existing, as Zim peeled on his fingerless gloves, and mentally prepared himself for the day ahead of him. He'd be around more humans than he's used to for the first time in a long time. He hoped he wouldn't freak and end up stabbing anyone. 

 

"Computer," His nasaly, slightly deeper voice interrupted the wirring and huffs of the machines that made up his base, a confirmation noise coming from the a.i, "send Zim the directions to the 'Hi Skool'. As well as a warm body count." He ordered, the command being followed instantly, as the information suddenly swirled and locked itself into his mind. His PAK was connected to it. 

 

"Zim will return shortly, GIR. Eat anything that dares to enter base." He spoke down to the small SIR unit, who hopped off of his boot and instantly saluted him with a blare of red lights, "Yes, Mastah!" He spoke affirmatively, like a well programmed machine, but hopped off like a rabbit seconds later, humming a small, familiar jingle. Zim allowed himself to breath, and took a look outside the window adjacent to the wall he was facing. The clouds appeared ominous in the sky, and he thanked past-Zim for remembering to make any and all of his clothing water proof. 

 

A soft echo of thunder sounded from above. His antennae twitched under the mass of fake hair, and his eyes narrowed. 

 

"Well," Zim grumbled, heels tapping against cold tile as he descended down the stairs, across his living room, and out the door, angrily facing the world he was stranded on- forgotten on- "here goes nothing." 

Notes:

updates will be coming bi-weekly along with Worlds Collide, which you should read too if youre into mashing fictional worlds together into one

Chapter 3: Chem.

Summary:

They only share one class.

Notes:

i know i KNOW i havent written in awhile dont patronize me im still figuring this fic out ok

The acid spilling from the dark clouds in Earth's sky had calmed considerably, and had dampened to a light trickle by the day Zim was to return to human society. Donned in his perfectly crafted disguise, he needed to wear his hood up while trecking the few miles to Skool, otherwise the chemicals and icky bacteria would be too much for his skin to handle. 

 

Despite the pure disgust that shot through his body when the 'rain', if he could even call it that, touched the open skin thanks to the gloves that revealed his three claws, he still stook his hand outwards, and watched the liquid bounce off of the nano-tech, falling to the ground with each passing droplet. 

 

Zim's PAK whirred when his brain decided to compare it with his own failures, and he narrowed his eyes as he allowed the machine that kept him alive also keep him mildly sane. His thoughts were drowned out by the sound of rain water collecting into puddles on the road. 

 

Zim felt neutral about today. He could stay at his base, his home, and never have contact with another human again, but.. that'd be boring. Well, not really boring, as there was never a dull moment with GIR attatched to his hip, but... lonely, perhaps? A feeling that persisted through his isolation from the outside world, as well as a feeling that came once he thought of how... dib-less he was. 

 

That human gave him challenge, irritation, excitement- if anything, he was one of the only reasons why he was still active. That crazy, idiotic, babbling worm-baby was the only worthwhile thing on this piece of junk planet, and Zim was hoping to, well, y'know. Reistablish their.. thing. Whatever they had going on. Their... rivalry? Occassional reluctant alliance? On-again-off-again truce once their lives were at stake? 

 

He didn't know what to call his and Dib's relationship, but he wanted it back. Some parts of it, at least. 

 

They had never really been on good terms. From the beginning, Dib knew he was different- alien- and constantly attempted to expose his identity to the much more stupid population of Earth. Zim had deducted that most of the organ-filled-monkies were well.. 'dumb as fuck'. The adverage IQ back when they were in middal skool was about, uh, 12. Zim didn't even know that humans could be more ignorant than a slab of gelatin, but they were.

 

All except Dib.

 

Every plan he made, he would either thwart it, or end up being the reason why Zim would call it off and work on another idea. Everywhere he went, Dib followed, and Zim found himself doing the same thing, eventually. Humans were a constantly changing and constantly evolving species, and with how intelligent Dib would grow to become, Zim realized he was the only human evolving forwards, not backwards. He was special, irritating, annoying, huge headed, and too loud at the most irritating times, but still special.

 

Zim didn't know when the change began to occur, when they began treating eachother as occassional allies rather than constant rivals, but.. it happened. Sometimes Zim's ideas would backfire, and they'd both need to do something to stop a cataclismic event, or a world extinction issue- even if Zim was supposed to conquor Earth, he couldn't destroy it. Not with him and Dib being on it. Humans were meant to be led and enslaved, not killed off like cattle. 

 

Now, Zim could also say the same about his own people. Despite their intelligence, physical and mental superiority, effecient lifestyle and universal pressence, Irken's were all followers, all made for specific jobs and purposes, to unite under one leader. Ants in a colony, bees in a hive, fish in a skool, always with a common directive.

 

Zim himself diverted from that directive, multiple times, almost killing or destroying precious Irken life each time. He supposes- no, knows that this is why he was exiled. He was like a ticking time bomb that could stay in tact after it blew up.. Dib had the same situation.

 

Born to a scientist, expected to be a scientist, only to take an intrest in the supernatural, and end up isolated from everyone once the boy with the green skin showed up. Turned away, shunned by their own people, he and Dib weren't so different, and Zim found himself comparing them.

 

Intelligent, head strong, a little insane, loud, confident yet insecure, diversion from a predetermined path.. huh. No wonder they clashed so strongly when they were both still practically smeets. Zim has been alive much longer than any human currently living and breathing, yet he has held that egotistical, smeetish mindset for much longer than needed. He wonders if, maybe, Dib has matured as well. Since he's stopped pissing on his lawn, Zim guessed that he has.

Zim thought idly about the boy with the big head as he began to see the skool in the distance, as well as a plethera of human-meat-sacks around his height flooding into the doors. He grimaced, narrowed his eyes, and immediately scanned the building to see if there were any back entrances. He saw one on the side, and decided that he'd go there instead of bump shoulders with way too many humans. Ugh. So full of disease and bacteria- he was starting to regret this already, but he needed to find Dib. 

 

An explaination was in order. 

 

---

 

"Dib, we aren't listening to your lame emo boy soundtrack-" Gaz spoke with an irritated tone to her voice as she unlocked her truck, Dib groaning to himself as he hauled his heavy bookbag and even heavier body into the vehicle- he felt like shit, "But Gaaaaaz.." He whined out, a little peeved off himself, since he didn't sleep well last night. 

 

He hasn't slept well since he was nine, but that's besides the point. 

 

"No. Absolutely not. We're gonna listen to some EDM to get un-sleepy, alright? I feel like a plastic ball full of rocks, and your Fifty Shades of Grace bullshit is gonna make me fall asleep at the wheel." She looked a little pissed, but Dib could tell she was teasing when he crawled into the passenger seat, adjusting it to sit lower because his height and cowlick have been growing again. His dad's genes were strong, so he doubted he'd stop growing until he was as tall as him. 

 

He didn't sleep well last night, despite the fact he'd be going to a brand new place with possibly brand new people as his classmates. This backwater town had attracted more people to it after the Florpus incident, most notably people who had barely any excitement in their lives and wanted some. Sadly, without Zim around, they didn't get any. 

 

Maybe they would when he returns.. Dib didn't know if he'd be present the first day of Hi Skool, but he didn't know if he was excited or scared to find out. Conflicted was the best word for what he was feeling right now, especially since he'd probably get more attention from teachers thanks to his father's fame. 

 

"Fine, fine.. it's your truck, you pick the music." He replied with a sudden yawn, buckling himself to the seat and removing his glasses to clean the lenses. He'd probably need a new prescription soon. 

 

"Damn right it's my truck-" Gaz mumbled to herself as the dark purple monster hummed to life, shaking Dib around like it always did. He didn't care though, Gaz was a surprisingly safe driver when they weren't with friends, otherwise she'd go a bit above the speedlimit and had a habit of slamming on her breaks.

 

Dib wore one of his trenchcoats that had a hood to it today, only in case that the rain escalated and he'd need momentary protection from the acid ridden substance. The last thing he wanted was his skin melting off because of how toxic the water from the sky was. He couldn't help but grin ever so slightly as he remembere the first day it rained while Zim was on Earth. Poor bastard. 

 

His thoughts were accompanied by the fast paced beeps and boops electric dance music, somehow allowing Gaz to drive better, despite the bobbing of her head to the beat. Once, she ended up tapping her toe as well, forgetting that she was in a car, and almost got rammed in the back by a BMW when she suddenly breaked on the highway. Dib's seen his life flash before his eyes many times thanks to the alien from his childhood, but it's never quite flashed so quickly before until that day. 

 

"So," Gaz started the conversation for once as they turned a corner towards the skool, surprising Dib only a little, "what's your schedule look like?" She asked, sounding semi-interested an semi-uncomfortable, possibly because she never initiated talking to anyone before. She could tell Dib was on edge. 

 

Dib hummed and pulled out his phone from his pocket, flipping open the screen and quickly scrolling to his photos tab to get to the picture of the paper sent to their house (he has one of those android flip phones- he thought it was cool). 

 

"I have.. English with Mr. Tick," he counted off the names on his fingers as he read, "American History with Ms. Richard, Food and Nutrition with Mr. Rockfield," they both noticably shivered about the idea of making food in skool, but Dib continued, "and Chemistry with Mrs. Polls. For today, I mean. And, honestly, it doesn't sound too bad?" He shrugged, deciding not to mention his next four classes for the sake of speaking too long. Gaz hated his ranting. 

 

She shrugged as well, almost in response to his own shrug, "Yeah, true. I have heard that Mr. Tick is a little high strung, so, tread lightly, bro." She offered him a smile with a look to her side, and Dib returned it without a moment's worth of hesitation. 

 

The Hi Skool had a seperate road for those who had cars, or at least had learners permits like Gaz, so they wouldn't be held up by the bus's and flood of students that could simply walk to school. She parked up front in the handicap place, and pulled out a fake handicap tag from the glove box to hang it around the rearview mirror. Dib said nothing about it, knowing that no one was going to check it anyways. 

 

His anxiety peaked when they were heading into the school, bags slung around their shoulders, surrounded by friend groups and dozens of loners that were just amongst the crowd. He could recognize a few familiar faces, but couldn't get a single peak of magenta on anyone. Then again, Zim was probably so small now that he'd get killed if he ended up coming in here during the rush of kids. 

 

Gaz quickly found a few of their friends to huddle around when they were ushered into the auditorium in the back of the school (which took about fifteen whole minutes, give or take) to sit with so things wouldn't be too awkward. Dib was sitting next to Neddine, a girl who had an obvious crush on him which wasn't accepted in any way, shape, or form, since he was.. y'know. Gay. But who was he to crush someones dreams before they even have a chance to reach them? 

 

He'd wait till she confesses to drop the bomb. Dib supposed that was another biproduct of Zim rubbing off on him. 

 

The principal soon walked onto stage and asked for everyone's attention, a dapper looking old man with graying hair, a monocle, and very gnarly looking teeth. He sure as hell had a loud voice though, and startled most of them into silence just by him speaking. 

 

The introduction to Hi Skool life was just as boring as Dib thought it would be. It was practically just the 'terms of service' page that most games and websites give you before you actually put their product to good use- meaning he didn't pay attention at all unless it was about the teachers that he had for classes. 

 

As usual for first days and first weeks of a schoolyear, Dib would have time to get aclimated to the layout of the building, learn the names of his teachers, make the optimal route for traversing through seas of students, and get used to being called 'Mr. Membrane'. The teachers call them by their last names in hi skool to do attendance easier, since a lot of them have similar sounding first names. He didn't think he'd ever get used to being called something other than Dib and other versions of his name. 

 

Such as Dib-smelly, or Dib-stink, or Dib-baby, or Dib-human, to name a few. He didn't think he'd miss Zim's nasaly voice or irritating nicknames, but he did. 

 

Maybe, if he had looked to his upper left into the stands above the autitorium that housed more students, he'd notice sharp fake eyes staring into the side of his head, or purple zipper teeth curling up into an elevated smirk. 

 

---

 

Zim was certainly surprised at how.. firm his new body was. 

 

When he was smaller, or, as he'd rather call it, Pre-Molt, he was easy to knock over and shove away, thanks to how lightweight he was. Although strong thanks to tightly compacted muscle, Irkens were quite easy to overpower if you had a good one to two feet in height over them. Now? He was doing the shoving, he was doing the knocking of the over. He felt powerful, even moreso than usual. 

 

Irkens were always superior to humans, though, so he wasn't surprised that his fully grown form was no match for such squishy, meaty, dumb creatures. He was nimble, thin, but his lean muscle and firm bones balanced it out. While humans were quite large in the middle of themselves, Irkens had no such problems, thanks to their singular organ compared to a human's, like, twelve organs. He was pretty lean enough to just brush past them without any fuss or disgust coming from the Irken from simply coming into contact with a nasty human.

 

What? He didn't know where they've been. He was certainly picking up on some smell that reminded him of a dumpster when the mass of human bodies were being led into a large, spacious area. 

 

Zim enjoyed how some of the humans he bumped into didn't even notice they were shoved, and the ones that did only shot him an estranged look before backing down. They could tell how strong he was just by a glance. Ha. It was pathetic, honestly. This meant he could sit where he wanted now. Perfect!

 

Of course, he choose to sit in the seats in the highest place of the auditorium, being able to look down upon the dozens of little human scum like ants, ready to be squished and crushed under his boot. 

 

Zim almost screamed in terror when a sudden loud talking human interrupted his thoughts, only to see it was an authoritive figure up on the stage, old and looking as if he were mere seconds away from death, despite the rasp and bellow of his voice. His facial recognition flicked on, and he registered the man as the administrative leader of the Hi Skool, Doctor Phil Roost. He was an old looking man with a hunch in his back and wrinkles decorating his face- he seemed.. approachable. Possibly too kind for his own good. Most elderly humans were like that.

 

The introduction to Hi Skool life was.. interesting. Zim did not know what the 'vaping' was, and would rather not inhale smoke or water vapor into his body, so he wouldn't be trying it or using the bathrooms as long as that trend was still, well, trending. He had already seen enough human teenagers with the rectangular devices in their pockets, so he'll be steering clear of them. Zim also did not know that they were stealing sinks, or what a 'devious lick' was. He'll ask Dib once he initiates first contact. 

 

Speaking of Dib, he was easy to spot, and after awhile of scanning faces and hair styles, Zim noticed his oddly shaped antennae poking out within the crowd of lesser humans. He felt a smile crawl onto his face, and analyzed just how different the boy was. 

 

Taller, definitely. From what Zim could see, about half a foot of growth had occured over the past two years. Zim has obviously grown more, having reached the height and build of an Irken's full potential, but he was still a head shorter than him. He snorted to himself, since it made a lot of sense. Dib had a huge head. 

 

His clothing style was different. Instead of an obnoxious blue shirt and a coat too big for his thin body, he wore different shades of black and gray. Pointed toed boots connected to ripped skinny jeans, a surprisingly well fitting trench coat with a long collar, and Zim swore he could see some sort of mark starting at the back of his neck. A 'tattoo' if he remembered the term correctly. He had to admit that stabbing your body with ink covered needles to create art on your skin was an impressive feat that humans did, but Irken's were still superior in many ways. 

 

So what if a 'tattoo' made Dib a bit cooler? He was still a big headed nerd... a nerd that Zim wanted to reconnect with bad enough where he was tempted to simply snatch him up with a PAK leg and take him back to base, but a nerd none the less. 

 

Suddenly, a bell rang through the ceiling, and the mass of humans began to gather their belongings and leave the auditorium. Zim supposed this meant the exchanging of students for teachers, as it did back in Mid Skool. With three fingered claws tucked away in his pockets, Zim blended into the crowd seamlessly, keeping one eye on Dib as much as he could before even he disappeared amongst the tall human-children. Zim could almost curse. 

 

A ping from his PAK instructed Zim of the classes he would have for today, and he went through them in his mind as he made his way to the first. Geometry- smeet's play- gym- too easy, thanks to his upgraded physical stature- World History- worthless now that he won't be taking over the world- and Chemistry- again, too easy. His PAK was assigned to a royal scientist at one point, for Irk's sake. Then again, the Computer probably signed him up for these classes so he could just glide through Hi Skool without a care... eh, whatever. 

 

He was just hoping that he'd end up seeing Dib today. He didn't feel like waiting. 

 

---

 

English, American History, Food and Nutrition, and Chemistry- those were his classes, and he was honestly not that fond of them, but he couldn't care less, not when it came to the first day of skool. 

 

Having to introduce himself to classes full of people he either did or didn't know was a fruitless endeavor when the teachers couldn't even control their students, honestly. Whispering, giggling, all that nonsense. They were all there for the same reason, so Dib honestly couldn't comprehend why they were intent on sabotaging themselves. 

 

English went as well as he could expect- a sweet teacher with asshole students who take advantage of said sweetness. He was already picked out as 'the decent kid', so he had to pass out the syllabus paper, attempt to introduce himself, and ultimately end up needing to write the Gagle Classroom code on the board so everyone could see it since they wouldn't listen to what the teacher had to say. 

 

American History was... well, American History. They were told about what they'd learn about, aka the same four events, and end up doing group projects- ugh- to better explain those events, and all that bullshit that Dib didn't give a shit about. He still couldn't believe that no one figured out that Martan Lucas A. was an alien. Like, Martan, Martian, come on. He still needed to ask Zim about that, but only remembers that he needs to once they start talking about it, and immediately forgets after the month is over. 

 

Food and Nutrition was gonna be terrifying, and he could tell. The 'food' that they were going to be making was barely even edible from what he could see from the examples that last year's classes did. He'll spare the explaination- it was just.. a lot. 

 

And, finally, after almost four hours of introducing himself to people who didn't care and almost having two panic attacks, came Chemistry class. Thank god that this was something he actually knew about. It didn't help that it was on the third floor, though. He almost died trying to get up the stairs during the period rush to get to the last class of the day. Getting crushed between people smaller and bigger than him wasn't fun. He's already been approached by the Gym coach during lunch about joining the Bowlball team because of his height, which, haha, fuck that. The last thing his scrawny ass needed to do was participate in a team sport.

 

Walking into the class felt like a checkpoint in a video game- a phrase from Gaz that he finally understood in Hi Skool that she's been saying since they were six. He took one of the seat's up front and to the side of the room, as he always did, to avoid getting in the way of anyone trying to see the board at an angle and to also avoid not being able to see because of how terrible his vision was. Sometimes he couldn't see well, even with his glasses. 

 

Dib almost slammed his bookbag, with his laptop in it, on the table when he went to sit down, taking out a fresh notebook for the class and immediately beginning to commit the room to memory. Equations and different forms of elements lined the walls, as well as beakers in glass cabinets, rows of books on tables not meant for the students, and a chemical shower on the far left of the room in case of emergency. He knew it'd be used this year, considering how dumb some of his friends were. 

 

He had a couple friends in his classes, three in first period, one in second (aka Gaz), two in third, and he was currently seeing no one that he knew walk into the room. Of course the only class he knew how to do shit in would also be the class where he didn't have any friends. 

 

The first few days of skool were always really exhausting for Dib, even if they were the easiest. All the social interaction did a number on his 'give a shit' meter, and it was slowly going down throughout each interaction with another hooligan teenager. He was almost at zero. He didn't know what would happen when he reached zero. 

 

He'd probably fall asleep and hit his head on solid concrete, but still. 

 

The second to last bell of the day rang, signaling that students should all be in class by now, despite the dozens still roaming the hall trying to figure out where their correct classrooms were. They'd be excused for that for about a week until the hall monitors started giving a shit. 

 

Mrs. Polls clapped her hands a few times and began talking, though Dib couldn't exactly hear what she was saying. He was sort of just blanking at the moment, staring off into space, seemingly paying attention but also looking like he was half dead. He's been really pale all his life, so he's been asked if he was 'okay' a lot today as well by teachers who pretend to care. 

 

He didn't even register the bright magenta and green coloring next to him, or the irritated looking face of an old frenemy. 

 

"Okay, class, now that I've introduced myself, why don't we make a new friend?" She sounded extremely pleased, but the instant groan of irritation from the class made it obvious that they weren't on the same page. "I want you all to turn and talk with your table buddy about what you did over the Summer while I set up the Classroom, okay? Go on!" Her rich English accent came out in every other word while she spoke, and another collective groan came from the students. Soft chit chat enclosed around Dib's ears, and he was half tempted to fall asleep for a few minutes, just to reset his 'give a shit' meter. 

 

"Wow, the Dib-stink must be miserable without Zim- so miserable that he hasn't even noticed Zim is right next to him."

 

A nasaly yet mature sounding voice penetrated his moment of peace, very loud compared to the gentle sounding conversations that had filled the air around them. Dib didn't know if his blood had ran cold or if every inch of his body grew hot with surprise, but he was sure that his eyes audiably snapped open in sheer confusion when he heard him. Him.

 

Slowly, almost mechanically, Dib turned to face the one who he shared a table with, and almost combusted on the spot when he saw that familiar smirk, fake contacts, and messy wig. 

 

"Z-.. Zim?" He squeaked out, voice almost failing him. He had to be hallucinating, or dreaming- god did he fall asleep and start dreaming about his childhood rival showing up in class? What the hell- what kind of pining level was he in right now-

 

An irritated click of a slimy tongue against the roof of a mouth interrupted his wild thoughts, the boy beside him rolling his eyes in an almost fond fashion, propping his head up against his three fingered hand, "Of course it is Zim, idiot. Who else would Zim be? Surely not a sweaty meat-human. Ugh- who does the Dib take Zim for?" He sounded almost offended, but, if Dib was right, he could hear sarcasm in his voice. When- when did he learn sarcasm? He used to take everything seriously- he used to think that people would actually kill birds with rocks and then would do it too and bring Dib the dead birds. Like- like a trophy-

 

"Hey," two out of three fingers snapped in front of Dib's eyes, once again bringing him out of his stupor- Zim was beginning to look more and more irritated and- oh my god what happened to his skin? It wasn't- it wasn't green? Did he finally figure out how to make a decent disguise-? "Zim to Dib-thing, Zim to Dib-thing, wake the hell up." The Irken growled at him, cursed at him, and-

 

Much too abruptly, black dots filled Dib's vision, and the screams of surprise from the students around him, coupled with the irritated sigh of a certain Irken, were the last things he registered before it all disappeared. He thinks he fell, but he couldn't tell. 

 

Zim was back. Zim was back and... and.. fuck. 

Notes:

i wrote this at like 2 in the morning

Chapter 4: The Nurse's Office

Summary:

Dib wakes up after passing out. Zim wasn't a hallucination.

Notes:

ok ok OKAY i KNOW i havent updated in awhile (a YEAR) but LISTEN L I S T E N my hyperfixiation went to something else OKAY

anyways im back now and im finaly updating this again because zadr brainrot is back so BARE. WITH. ME.

Of course. Of course that idiot would end up fainting. Zim saw it coming a mile away. 

 

Not like it was any less amusing but still.

 

He didn't let the said idiot hit the ground though- of course he didn't- Gaz would kill him if he ended up being the reason why her brother cracked his gigantic skull open on the ground. The irritated screeching of the humans around him made Zim's head ache though, so he quickly raised the claw not balled up in Dib's loser t-shirt (some band shirt, he was sure) and addressed the teacher directly. 

 

"Teacher-human, the Dib has fainted. Zim shall- shut up!" He hissed at the two female students sitting behind him, who immediately snapped their mouths closed, and promptly turned back to the authorative figure, "Zim shall be delivering him to the infirmary. Carry on." 

 

With very little effort, Zim raised the unconcious human into his arms, and rose from his stool. As if he were royalty, another loser student opened up the door for him. He did not thank them, obviously. 

Zim's PAK had already done an immediate evaluation on Dib's 'situation', and noted that he simply lost conciousness and passed out from stress, which was understandable, mind you. Being graced with Zim's presence after not being in contact with him for a long period of time would surely pose a shock to his system. 

 

He already estimated he would be awake within the hour, if Dib was following his past trends of 'passing out for a time much longer than nessecary'. 

At least with him dead to the world in Zim's arms, he couldn't make Zim loose any more mindcells. Although, he had to admit, seeing him again, so up close and personal.. it was nice. He could not scent him as he wanted to, but he could tell that his smell hadn't changed much in the months past. He was heavier, for sure, and had a bit of scratchy stubble littered upon his pointy chin and sharp jaw, along with what seemed to be an undercut, but... Dib was still Dib, that's for sure. 

 

He still had that scar under his left eyebrow from the time he fell off his own roof. He still had that unsightly cowlick that bounced atop his head as Zim walked with him in his arms. He still had those slightly pointy ears that bended at odd angles from him pulling at his ear lobes. 

 

He was still Dib. And Zim was still Zim, he supposed. 

 

He still wore that same shade of magenta. His boots still rapidly clicked against the skool tile as he walked. He still held his head high, with a glare etched onto his face and determination set within his eyes. He still cared too much for Dib's wellbeing, even if he hate his guts. Hell, even his voice still scratched and scraped the air when he spoke-

 

"Human-nurse! Zim requires a bed for the Dib. He fainted. Zim does not wish to carry him anymore." And he still referred to himself in the third person, even if he knew what proper grammar was. 

 

Zim was given an ice-pack (a small zip-lock bag with a couple of crushed ice cubes in it) and told to sit with Dib until his sister arrived so she could drive them home. He raised a brow at this- since when does a loss of conciousness immediately equal needing to be sent back to home base? Ridiculous, but the nurse was the authorative figure here, not Zim (as much as he would've liked to be), so he did not complain, and simply held the bag of ice on Dib's large forehead in the meantime. 

 

Now that Zim was so close, and able to see his face so clearly, he could see a few more differences in Dib. For example, his eyes. Back then, whenever he was asleep or knocked out, his eyes would always squint together hard, as if he was in deep thought. Now? No thoughts, from what Zim could tell. His head was empty, and he wondered if there was even a brain in there anymore. 

 

The nurse was gone. He allowed himself to touch. 

 

A claw rose, and landed upon his jaw, tracing the line from his ear to his chin. Zim pushed down a rumbling sound from his chest as he lightly tapped at Dib's bottom lip, only his mouth to open, just slightly. Obediently. If he had hair on his skin, it would've stood on end. 

 

His instincts screamed at him to do... something. He could not pinpoint what, exactly, as these instincts were fairly new, but he could tell they had to do with Dib. 

Raising the bag of ice from his head, Zim placed a palm across his face, and gently brushed his raven colored hair away from his damp skin. He twitched, and leaned into his touch with a soft groan under his breath. Once more, he felt a tug of something (something) urging him to.. to...

 

Claim.

 

He recognized this feeling, if not only a little. Whenever he looked at a box of chocolate candies, or whenever he saw a particularly shiny object on Amozan that he had to have, or whenever GIR would steal his softest blankets-

 

"Mine." He whispered, to no one, to everyone, as he stared wide eyed down at the unconcious human. Why had he not thought of it before? Why hadn't it crossed his mind? Dib was his. It explained his unimaginable anger towards that one unimportant female back in Mid Skool, drooling and droning on about how she and Dib should 'date', or his prickling irritability whenever Dib would leave his side to go do something else that didn't involve him- jealousy. For someone touching his human, for his human not paying attention to Zim. 

 

Finally, it made sense. And Zim smiled. The gesture could come across as warm, genuine even, but it wasn't. It was devious, it was selfish. 

 

What Zim didn't know, was that this.. obsession.. was a phase. He will learn what it means to care for Dib, what it means to want his attention, his company, him. In due time. 

 

---

 

For awhile, all Dib could register was darkness. 

 

He blacked out- hell, he knew he did, because he remembered the feeling. Being awake, alive, present, and suddenly the world is spinning, there's black filling his vision, and then everything just. Stops.

 

Yeah. He fainted. Not the best feeling, sure, but he'll wake up. 

 

And, when he does eventually start waking up, he's in an unfamiliar place, with the scent of hydrogen peroxide and hand sanitizer in his nose, and the feeling of cold on his forehead. He groans, disoriented, rubbing at his face, and immediately noticing his glasses are missing. One, because he can't feel them, and two, because even after his vision focuses, he can't fucking see. 

 

He grumbles, and the irritated click of a tongue reaches his ears, sudden enough to make his body jump. "Yeah yeah, Dib cannot see, and will whine and cry about it." A familiar nasaly voice interrupts his thoughts, and a hand descends down onto his face before he's able to see again- they put his glasses on him. He adjusts them over his eyes, blinks, and peers to his side-

 

Zim. Zim. In- in Chem class, taunting him, snapping at him, he fainted- oh god-

 

"Hey. Hey." Zim urged him to come back to the present by loudly poking at his forehead, scowling down at him with those big, unnaturally purple eyes, "Do not start with the spiraling again- none of that! Zim is not dealing with another unconcious Dib-human!" The alien boy snarled, teeth sharp and zipper-y as always, with a cross of his arms over his che- is that a Barbie shirt?

 

He must've said that out loud, or looked at it really hard, because Zim snorted and peered down at the tee with an amused quirk of his lips, "GIR stole it from a Thrift Store. It brings out Zim's eyes~" The alien practically purred- purred- and gestured to his face in a sort of 'behold' kind of fashion. Knowing Zim, he probably thought Barbie was a fucking legend or something. 

 

Dib found himself grinning a little, despite the unfortunate circumstances of their meeting, "Your eyes? Really? Your fake, bright ass purple eyes?" He replied with sarcasm dripping in his tone, and Zim immediately gave him a glare that could kill- he could tell it was playful. 

 

"Yes, Dib, my fake, 'bright ass purple eyes'. You have antennae, use them." He made a move to loudly flick at Dib's cowlick, which was leaning off a bit too close to where Zim was sitting on his wooden chair next to Dib's uncomfortable bed. His grin deepened, and, surprisingly, Zim grinned back. 

 

Ah, he thought, I missed this.

 

"I missed you." He suddenly said, and he could feel his face begin to burn and unsavoury bright red color the instant he spoke. To his shock, Zim looked taken aback, and his own face turned a shade warmer, the same shade of purple that his eye contacts had. He could notice his hair twitch- his antennae, possibly, which would've jerked up to the sky as if they were a pair of eyebrows. 

 

Instead of the mocking, jokey words that he expected from Zim, he recieved an uncertain, almost fond stare, and what sounded like a chuckle, or perhaps a chuff.

 

"Zim has.. missed Dib too, Zim supposes." He then averts his gaze, which Zim never does, and Dib realizes something. 

 

Zim's changed. 

 

For one, he's grown. Still shorter than him, sure, but he's grown. Something he didn't know Irkens could do unless they were the, accurately named, Taller's. He's wearing clothes other than his Invader uniform, he's showing real emotion other than annoyance or (fake) pride, he seems.. put together. But he's still so undoubtedly Zim that he makes Dib's chest tighten and his heart race, as if he was getting ready for a fight or a battle, one that did not come. 

 

Looking at Zim now, from head to toe, Dib realized that the Zim back then.. was dead. This Zim.. he was confident, yet unsure of himself, put together, yet still messy, bold, and yet timid all at the same time. 

 

Dib realized that he liked this new Zim, and wondered if he.. liked him too. 

 

---

 

Dib opened his mouth once more, about to speak, before the sound of a door slamming open and the loud footfalls of heavy platforms interrupted him, and a groan of understanding filtered through his lips. Gaz. 

 

She marched past each curtained bed, loudly sliding each one open before huffing and going to the next one, and finally stumbled upon Dib's actual bed after about two minutes. Zim's unimpressed gaze shifted between the two siblings, one who was out of breath, and the other who was equally unimpressed. 

 

"Gaz." Dib spoke up, now sitting in an upright position on the sanitized office bed, a little concerned but also a lot ready for her to just scream at him and get it over with. Instead, she pointed at Zim in a very Pheonez Write fashion, and snarled, "You. Did you- whew- hurt him?" She wheezed, and Zim took his time crossing one of his skinny jeaned legs over the other, before replying, "No. Your idiot-sibling fainted because he witnessed Zim. That is on the Dib, not Zim." He idly checked and picked at his claws as he did so, in a very 'Tubular Blonde' fashion. 

Dib wondered where the hell he learned how to be so sassy. Gaz sighed. 

 

"Whatever. Geez- gave me a heart attack- who the hell goes to the nurse's office the first day of school, dweeb?" The purple haired girl exhaled, lazily tossing her and Dib's bags onto the said dweeb's lap, who was thankful that none of his hard cover books landed on his crotch. "Me, apparently.. all I wanna do is go home. I'm stressed out."

 

Gaz nodded tiredly, before locking eyes with the alien that started this whole mess. Zim, the bastard, put up a lazy peace sign with a quirk of his lips. Gaz visibly widened her eyes and took a moment to look back at her brother in disbelief, who shrugged in response. Zim knew a lot about pop culture now, apparently. 

 

With that, the Membrane siblings (with an alien in a Barbie t-shirt in tow) left Hi Skool early on their first day. Their dad recieved a call that they would, but they of course doubted he'd even get it. Too busy with science.

 

With Zim accompanying them in Gaz's truck, they both had plenty of time to see just how much Zim had changed in the subtle ways. 

 

He was Gaz's height now, standing at 5'6" unless she had her platforms on, shorter than Dib by almost a full foot, as he was 6'2". Instead of marching around everywhere, he strutted. Like a model on a runway, or a rich mom going to pick her kid up from soccer practice. He didn't really speak unless spoken to, albeit he already did do that back then, except now he didn't have random bursts of excitement where he'd yell about random things. Instead, he'd just bring it up in conversation, as if it were normal to suddenly ask about their father's net worth or how much gas costs for Gaz's truck (she doesn't know or care, it's on full all the time because of some stupid invention their dad made). 

 

All in all, Zim's still Zim- still cheeky, still outwardly jerkish, still sly. But he's so much more as well, that it gives the siblings a bit of whiplash. 

 

Soon enough, they pull up to Zim's house, and the alien takes a quick second to whisper a little something in Dib's ear. Gaz doesn't catch it, but whatever he said made Dib tense up and get a little red in the face. "Come by any time, Dib-stupid, Gaz-sister." He waves half heartedly, exits the truck, and struts up to his home without another word- to them, at least. He's already barking orders at his computer and GIR by the time he opens the door and slips inside. 

 

Gaz narrows her eyes and looks over to her brother, who's strangely quiet. He meets her gaze, and he only gets more embarrassed. "L- let's just go home.." He stutters, slumping in his seat, and Gaz doesn't question it. She'll haggle him about it later. 

 

Right now, she just wants to go take a fucking nap. 

Notes:

so uh yeah, theres the update, hope yall like it. ty all soo much for the comments and kudos so far though it really helps!! i also have a twitter that im more active on, dont do zadr stuff there but i DO do bkdk stuff a lot so yeah- ily all and i promise ill update again soon, since im back on my zadr bullshit

might do more than five chapters if i cant fit what i want in just five >:) so be ready for that ig

twt: @uwutopiia

Chapter 5: Explainations

Summary:

Zim and Dib finally talk. Zim shows him how much has changed.

Notes:

ok so i've JUST started writing this and idk how its gonna go, so i'm gonna give the nsfw warning here in case i write any. most of this is written on a whim because of my excitement to Finally have zim explain some shit to dib and for dib to get the chance to see how much zim has changed (emotionally And physically)

so yeah. have fun. gonna try to make this chapter the longest one yet so we can go out with a bang. might make an epilogue too

(but who knows cuz i sure as hell DONT and the zadr hyperfixiation has appeared AGAIN so THEREFORE here i am)

A few days had passed since Dib and Zim had finally met again in hi skool. And Dib was going to go to his house. Out of his own volition. 

Yeah, he couldn't believe it either.

He couldn't believe he was doing this.

 

Going to Zim's base without any weapons or without having a single idea what would be awaiting him, he means. 

 

Zim had changed so much that he hadn't the foggiest idea of how his base looked on the inside, or if he still wanted to 'take over the Earth', or if this whole thing would end up being a charade just to kill him and harvest his organs... his mind was going haywire overthinking about all the possibilities, specifically the ones where he'd end up dead, and yet...

 

He was excited. Excited to spend time with Zim again, of all things. Excited to see just how much he's changed, and excited to show him how much he himself has changed as well. 

 

When he told Gaz such a thing, he could swear she smiled a little. 

 

"And you're telling me this.. why, exactly?" She deadpanned, barely giving him a glance as she typed away on her phone, probably telling one of their mutual friends about his (gay) panicking. His brows furrowed, and the red present on his cheeks glowed, "Cause- cause I need a reason to ask for h- help with-.. what I should wear." 

 

The sound of Gaz typing away at her EyePhone abruptly halted, and the two of them shared a long, uncomfortable string of silence. Dib didn't know particularly why he needed help with his wardrobe, since he was pretty good at knowing what to wear and when nowadays, but Gaz seemed to be pretty self aware when it came to things like style and event-specific-clothing. Everything she wore was, of course, adherent to her punk-rock aesthetic, but she always wore something that seemed 'appropriate' when it came to things like Hi Skool clothes and clothes you'd wear when out with friends and the like.

 

So, why was going out to see Zim such an important event that Dib needed assistance with his clothes? Hell, he'd seen Zim twice more this week (since the fainting incident on Wednesday), on Thursday and Friday at Skool during gym and another Chemistry class. On Friday, Zim invited him over- it was a casual conversation that Dib couldn't stop thinking about.

 

"Dib." Zim had suddenly spoken up during their scheduled 'Talking Time' that their teacher set up at the end of class, interrupting the teen's messy, uncoordinated thoughts. Dib jumped at the sound of Zim's (slightly deeper than he's used to) voice, still not totally accustomed to having him back in his life after such an abrupt absense. 

 

"Y- yeah? What's up?" He stuttered, whipping his head around to stare at the alien, who stared right back at him with an interested, yet bored, gaze. His lip twitched up into a smirk, and Dib felt a shiver crawl up his spine. 

 

"Dib should- no, will come to Zim's base this afternoon. Zim believes.. an explaination is in order. It has been too long since you and Zim have talked about-" a pause, and the alien's eyes peered off to the side when he continued, "...us."

 

Dib remembered the conversation (if you could even call it that) so clearly that he remembered feeling significantly underdressed compared to Zim in that moment. Where as he wore a pair of well-worn jeans and some banged up hoodie, Zim's whole outfit looked almost new in comparison. Black skinny jeans and bright pink converse, a slightly poofy dark magenta jacket, and a horrific neon green Gucchini shirt that looked real, not some knockoff version that you'd find going thrifting or in the back aisle of a Marshallee's. 

 

Dib wanted to look good for once, like.. handsome.

 

For Zim.

 

He didn't know if it was because Zim suddenly gained a hefty amount of fashion sense (and attractiveness, which was a whole new can of worms to open up, because what the fuck he's attracted to an alien), or because he wanted to one-up him and beat him at his own game, but he knew he wanted to look well put together. 

 

"Dude." Gaz suddenly snorted out from her laid out position on her bed, a surprisingly fond expression on her face, "You don't need my help to look decent, especially not for Zim. He's gonna tease you about your big head no matter what you wear."

 

Sadly, she was kinda right about that second part. Although, it did make him feel a little better. It made him smile through his uneased expression, and prompted a deep breathe to calm his nerves. Gaz was right. He'd be fine. 

 

---

 

He wasn't fine. 

 

He didn't know why he thought he'd be fine, not when he had no idea what to expect going to Zim's base, or any idea to what would become of him once he stepped inside. What was he thinking? Just showing up, ready to talk about all their problems, all the shit that he went through, all the shit that Zim went theough, like he was on his way to talk to a therapist? No! It's Zim! It's gonna be weird, and uncomfortable, and he'd probably gonna get a random boner or something, and get laughed at for his freakishly large head!

 

His head wasn't even that big anymore compared to his body! But he knew Zim was gonna talk about it!

 

Dib's thoughts ran rampent on his way to the alien's abode, just as they did not even an hour ago, the only difference being that he wasn't as insecure about how he was dressed anymore. 

 

He dressed casually, since they weren't going anywhere, and it would be strange for Zim to lounge around fully dressed in his own home. Bleached jeans, cuffed around the ankles, with his favorite pair of black army boots, and a shirt that he thought Zim would find funny; it had a bunch of the stereotypical green alien heads on it in a criss cross pattern with a black and purple galaxy print under it, something stupid that looked like it came from a gift shop. 

 

He carried a jacket with him in case it got cold later, but he doubted that it would. Gaz insisted in case Zim kicked him out, which begged the question.. was he going to sleep over? And if so, should he have brought pajamas? Maybe a toothbrush?

He was already halfway down the block towards Zim's place, though, so turning back would only make him wanna stay home. Guess he'll just borrow something of Zim's if he ends up staying. (Would Zim even have a toothbrush? Or toothpaste?)

 

God- what if he did stay at his place? Did Zim even sleep? Or have a bed? And if he did, would they sleep in the same bed? Could- was it even possible to- to have se-

 

No. No. He's- he's not going there. He doesn't even know if Zim is capable of doing that, or even knows what that is.

 

He didn't have much time to really think about the subject any more, since he arrived at Zim's base quite quickly. The gnomes swiveled around to stare at him, but noticably didn't fire any lasers or bullets or start blaring alarms. The computer that controlled Zim's base must've known he'd be coming. 

Dib walked up to Zim's front door, ignoring the wide unblinking eyes of the garden gnomes faces following his every movement, and loudly knocked on the dark purple door to the puke green house. "Zim!" He called out, thankful that his voice didn't break, "I'm here!" 

 

The sound of something inside Zim's base crashing or breaking immediately answered his words, accompanied by a 'just a seeeeecond!' voiced by none other than GIR, Dib assumed. A high pitched and squeaky scream came next, before silence, and the sound of multiple locks clicking out of place before the door opened, revealing the small white and blue robot that Dib knew so well. 

 

GIR gasped at the sight of him, and Dib found it kinda cute. "Hiiiii Mary! Haven't seen YOUU in awhile!" The robot sang, standing on the edge of it's little feet. He had a frying pan in his left hand, for some odd reason. He smiled down at the little SIR unit, chuckling at the name. Of course GIR still thought he was named Mary. "Hey Gir, is Zim-"

 

"GIR, what is all this racket abou- oh." Dib's head jerked up at the sound of the alien's voice, not expecting him to show up so soon- sure it was his house, but he thought he was.. getting dressed or something. Clearly that was either correct or wrong, since Zim was.. certainly not... dressed. For human company, that is.

 

Dib took in his appearance with wide eyes behind his glasses, which hopefully covered a bit of the blush beginning to flood his cheeks. Zim was completely out of his disguise, comfortably showing off his flawless green skin and bright magenta eyes, clothed in nothing but a too-big shirt, ends tied at his waist, and some.. too short shorts that came down to the middle of his thighs. 

 

His antennae stood tall and proud atop his head, signaling his surprise at Dib's arrival, perked with intrigue, even if Dib agreed that he'd come over today. Maybe he didn't expect him to come so soon? Or at all? He didn't know. The thin stalks relaxed against his head before he walked over to Dib in long strides, courtesy of his longer, stronger legs. Dib couldn't help but notice his feet, which could barely be described as feet, and more like.. paws? They looked padded, and instead of five toes, he only had two, like his claws, which he also noticed were void of any kind of glove. 

 

Dib could remember Zim saying something about Irkens only removing their gloves when in company that they trust, but he wasn't quite sure of the legitimacy of such a statement. 

 

"Zim did not think you would show, Dib-stink." The alien glowered, propping up a claw on his hip (which seemed even more filled out than his own, if he was being honest). Dib prayed Zim didn't notice how red his face must've been when he replied, "Y- yeah, well, here I am! I didn't want to, uh, disappoint." He stuttered, and Zim seemed to smile. It was more of a smirk, considering Zim never really smiles, but it still made Dib's stomach do flips.

 

"Yes. Well, you didn't. Certainly unexpected from a human, but since you are Dib, the lack of disappointment is expected." Dib assumed this was a compliment, but was unable to voice any confusion before Zim spoke once more, "Come, Dib-smelly! We have much to discuss." Turning tail to beckon Dib into his base, the human had to summon damn near all of his willpower not to stare at Zim's ass when he walked away. GIR giggled like a maniac as he waddled after his master, and Dib mentally prepared himself for whatever the alien had in store. Passing the threshold between the outside and the lions den was never easy, but with a click of the door shutting behind him, and the sound of multuple locks slotting together, Dib accepted his fate. 

 

He just hoped the 'fate' wasn't death. Or worse. Who knew, when it came to Zim.

 

---

 

The interior of his base was certainly... different now. Dib could almost not recognize it as he strolled inside, immediately hollered at to take off his shoes, less he 'trail dirt and grime everywhere'. The place looked more like a human home, and had more personality, if you could call it that, but was also distinctly Irken, he noticed. Megenta and red were never far from his vision, and everything was just a smidge pointier than necessary

Toys and strange items were strewn about on the floor which Zim kicked aside and stepped over, all of course belonging to GIR, who giggled and squealed as his things were knocked around. Dib supposes GIR just stole them from actual children, since he can barely recognize the Ligo blocks that he was sure belonged to him at some point. 

 

Dib's head jerked up from scrutinizing GIR with his gaze when he heard an unmistakable 'nyah!' from his side, only to see that little floating moose that Zim had cherished so much. It gently flew into his cheek, almost like a greeting, and it made him chuckle, "Hey to you too, Minimoose."

 

He hadn't even noticed Zim's thoughtful gaze peering at him as he patted the small floating creature on its head, and was only interrupted by a clear of the Irken's throat, "Ahem, not that this is so very touching, Zim does believe that the attention should be on Zim at the moment!" 

 

Without looking away from the tiny moose who gently descended into the palms of his hands, Dib instinctively quipped back with- "Oh, quiet, don't be jealous cause m'not paying attention to you every second."

 

Zim immediately began sputtering with indignation, making Dib peer up at him only to be greeted by heat rising to Zim's cheeks, a purple hue settling under his wide, baffled eyes. He heard GIR holler with laughter, probably from something else, but still well timed nonetheless, only making Zim's embarrassment more palpable.

 

Dib's lips curled into an amused grin, about to open and tease the Irken about being clearly embarrassed from Dib merely assuming that he would be jealous of a moose, only to let out a yelp of surprise when Zim, who was just a few feet ahead of him, was suddenly directly in front of his face, grasping the collar of his shirt with his sharp, thin claws, and bringing him down to his level, his nose almost touching the smooth plane of Zim's face where his own nose would be. 

"Zim does not get jelly over his own things." His voice was low and dangerous as he glared at Dib hard, eyes piercing his own with such intensity that it had the human freezing in place. He was ashamed to feel heat coil in his gut from being manhandled so effortlessly by this 'new and improved' Zim, to be spoken to in such a way, with such a possessive and sharp tone. 

Zim seemed to take Dib's silence and heavily flushed face as compliance, and roughly let go of his collar, only to juxtapose such a motion by taking Minimoose from his hands with a gentleness that Dib didn't know Zim was capable of (he assumed he was being possessive of Minimoose, he will come to understand, with time, that he was wrong).

 

If he wasn't sure Zim had changed in the personality department, he sure as hell was now.

 

He was also sure that he was definitely attracted to him. There's no way he wasn't, honestly, especially as he turned and stalked back towards his kitchen with the same confidence he did as before. 

"Come. We go to my lab. Zim has much to show the Dib-human." The alien continued on as if he hadn't just given Dib the worst case of gay panic he's ever had, raising a hand and snapping his claws together with a sharp echoing sound throughout his kitchen, causing the full length pantry to shift and whirr with the sounds of machinery before opening with a hiss of steam. 

Zim's left antennae perked, the equivalent of an eyebrow raise, "Will you be coming? Or will you continue to stand in the Zim's alive-room like a pea-brained Earth monkey?"

 

Dib blinked, and with a shiver of resignation, stepped forward to join Zim in the pantry. 

No use wasting anymore time being a homosexual mess.

 

The pantry was obviously a new elevator to the underbelly of his base, but it had buttons now too, three of them to be exact. The one in the middle of the row was alight in a red glow, signifying the level they were currently on. Zim pressed the last button, and Dib prepared to be practically launched downwards into the Earth... only for it to be a surprisingly calm descent. 

"Huh."

"Why does the Dib 'huh'?"

"Nothin'. Just noticed you've finally fixed how damn fast your elevator tube was. And how... non-linear it was." Dib faintly remembers the elevator to the bottom of his base being a bunch of twists and turns and making him throw up everytime he used it. Zim scoffed.

"Zim did nothing of the sort. The last elevator was merely inconvinient, so I improved the design, as I am a genius."

"...so, basiclally, you fixed it."

"...shut it, Dib-worm."

 

Dib couldn't help but find himself smiling again as they reached the bottom of Zim's base, the elevator making a small 'buzz' noise as the doors reopened. GIR cartwheeled out first, followed by the floating Minimoose. Dib didn't even realize GIR went in the elevator with them. 

"As you have obviously noticed, Dib-thing," Zim began, and the teenager could tell he was about to go on one of his long rants as he began to strut into the recesses of his base, Dib following close behind, "the great and powerful ZIM has grown even GREATER and more POWERFUL than he was when we had our last encounter. This is not for any unknown reason, mind you," he held up a single claw as they passed through multiple rooms and doorways, some of which Dib recognized, others he did not, "for, since I had caused the complete destruction of The Massive, and thus the Control Brains who lord over the restrictions set upon my GLORIOUS Computer have been destroyed as well, allowing me, ZIM, notably UN-restricted viewing of nearly ALL documented Irken history, most of which had been hidden, as an Invader, like I was, simply did not need to have access to such information."

 

Dib nodded along, feeling his heart ache a bit when Zim referred to him being an Invader in the past tense. He should be happy that he isn't out to destroy Earth and enslave humanity, yet... being an Invader was all Zim ever knew- it was his entire being, coded into his very DNA... to be completely removed of such a thing, especially after the whole of your species was wiped out because of you, had to have been rough for him. He understood why hiding out seemed like the only option for him.

 

He must admit, he spent more time being angry about Zim leaving him rather than spending time understanding why he left in the first place.

 

"Zim discovered many things," the alien continued, leading Dib into his main control room, the towering super computer with its small keyboard glowing ominously, "things that have changed Zim on the inside," he solemnly touched the center of his lithe chest with the palm of his hand, "and on the outside." Zim proudly turned to face Dib, gesturing to his entire body, now, Dib assumed, being completely grown, or at least in the process of it. 

 

Dib tries incredibly hard not to check Zim out, but he immediately fails when his eyes follow the motion of the Irken propping his claws up on his scantily clad hips. 

Dib's dumb teenager brain immediately calculated that he could fit an entire hand around Zim's waist if he wanted to, and inwardly cursed at how appealing that sounded. 

Zim seemed to know enough of how humans (specifically Dib) functioned by now, and knowingly grinned as he watched his interested gaze falls upon Zim's body, "The Dib-stink has obviously noticed this, but Zim believes a more thorough explaination is in order. Surely your RIDICULOUSLY LARGE head is SWIMMING with the THOUGHTS and your... eh... THEORIES on such an affair-"

"Hey, my head has actually grown to fit my body, thank you very much-"

"-SILENCE! No interrupting Zim's GREATNESS!... where was I? Oh, yes- the great and taller ZIM has decided to be gracious and humble and whatnot, and allow youuu, Dib, to gaze upon Zim's MIGHTY research and subsequent improvements upon Zim's already great and powerful mind and body-"

"Yeah, okay, I get it, you found something and it allowed you to evolve or whatever, just show me-"

"-SILENCE!!!... and.. fine."

 

Stubbornly, as he'd been interrupted not once but twice (oh, the horror), one of Zim's slim and pointy PAK legs extended from his back, and, without looking, typed a couple of the Irken letters on the Zim-sized keyboard, causing the giant computer to run through multiple files at once before landing upon a... slideshow. 

Zim made him a fucking slideshow. 

Somehow, this was hilarious, and it took Dib's whole chest to not burst into laughter. 

"SO," Zim started up again, gesturing to the very obvious venn diagram of an Irken and their biology up on screen, directly next to a slightly smaller Irken- Dib noted that his knowledge of Irken biology hadn't wavered much, as his brain supplied that the one giant organ present in both diagrams was a squeedilyspooch, "this-" Zim gestured to the smaller Irken x-ray, "-is what the almighty ZIM looked like two Earth years ago, a standard Irken Invader, yes?... WRONG."

 

Dib flinched when Zim suddenly shouted at him, something he should be used to, but he hadn't seen the guy in years, so he guessed he wasn't exactly that used to it anymore. 

Another few clicks of the keyboard, and Zim's diagram shifted to the side, allowing a view of his PAK as well as a list of.. things.. 

 

"Zim is what's known as.. Defective. Zim is not like other Irken Invaders, as the Dib has probably realized."

"Yeah, the other ones actually completed their jobs and weren't sent into exile." Dib quipped, shuffling his hands into his pants pockets, expecting Zim to yell something at him about how he's perfect and great and something.

 

He was wrong

 

Zim's antennae flattened against the back of his head, staring intently at his computer, an undecipherable emotion in his brightly colored eyes. He scoffed, disappointment being the only emotion he can sense from the Irken.

It was clear that it was directed at himself.

 

"...yes. This is true. Zim was never an Invader. Zim is Defective, a mistake, isolated and exiled from his own kind for my... destructive nature." The grin that crawled onto his face afterwards made Dib's skin do the same, "They were right for doing so, it seems, as I was the one who became the ultimate weapon against my own people."

 

Zim paused to accentuate the weight of his own actions, actions that caused the death of thousands, yet also involuntarily saved hundreds upon thousands of planets and galaxies from the reign of Irken terror. 

Dib doubted Zim cared about that last part, but didn't mention it for fear of getting yelled at. Instead, he stepped forward, and offered a comforting hand on Zim's shoulder. The Irken flinched, instinctively leaning away from the touch- Dib assumed he hadn't felt the touch of another living thing other than minimoose in the years he'd been away. 

"Your inferior human skin is disgusting." Zim glowered, yet made no move to get Dib off of him. He snorted. 

"Mhm, I can tell you hate it sooo much. Keep talkin', space boy. Said you wanted to tell me about your brilliant transformation and whatever, right?" Dib knew that comforting Zim verbally probably wouldn't go over well, so letting him finish his schpeel was probably better. The Irken perked up when he was indirectly complimented, his antennae stalks relaxing just the smallest bit. 

He huffed, trying his best to return to his giant ego-d self, tapping a few more times on his keyboard, "Of- of course! Yes! Well, after The Massive was destroyed, along with the Control Brains, my Computer had certain blocks and parameters completely removed."

 

The screen, beside Zim's x-ray, changed, and went through several documents and files all labled for 'Tallest Eyes Only'. Dib was baffled at how much Irken intel was being shown to him, from plans on how to create voot cruisers, to the inner workings of an Irken's PAK. Showing such secrets to a human would be considered treason, surely, but it seemed Zim cared little about what was and wasn't treason (when you kill thousands of your own species, along with your leaders, why would you?)

 

"Zim was able to access things that completely change his way of thinking- about himself, about the Empire, about... everything. Then, Zim discovered the Inhibitors." A tap of a key, and the inside of Zim's PAK was shown to him, the several parts and gears of the little mechanism neatly tucked away on each Irken's back. One part was highlighted- a small, round, spherical device, right in the center of the contraption. 

"The Dib is aware of how Irken society operates, correct?" Zim asked, peering up at the (still) taller human, who promptedly looked back at the alien to his side and nodded.

"Yeah- you choose your leaders based off of height alone, since the rest of you only grow to be- what- three feet tall? Maybe four if you're lucky?" Zim nodded, and with another tap of a button, a diagram of a Tallest appeared on the screen. 

"Indeed. It turns out, our entire system has been rigged from the beginning. Each Irken PAK is outfitted with this," he pointed at the small sphere in his own x-ray, "an Inhibitor made to completely remove certain functions of an Irken's natural processes- namely, our hormones. What do you notice, Dib?" 

The human peered at the two diagrams, and immediately answered, with a small gasp if his breath- "The Tallest PAK's don't have an Inhibitor.."

Zim snapped, "Exactly. And what does that mean when you add on the fact each Irken that has ever been alive has a specialized PAK attatched to them once they hatch?"

Dib almost felt stupid for not realizing it sooner, and grasped the edge of his chin, familiar anger settling into his bones, "The Tallest aren't chosen from Irken's who happen to end up being tall... the Tallest are made." 

Zim nodded, his own eyes clearly ripe with the same anger he no doubt sensed from the human, "Precisely. Every Irken has been lied to from the second they hatch from their egg, that the Tallest are special, that they are rare, when in fact each and every Irken that has ever landed foot outside of their shell had the possibility to be a Tallest, to reach our true potential... as Zim has."

 

Another click of his keyboard, and Zim's x-ray grew. The Inhibitor was removed, and Zim's body changed right in front of Dib's eyes. His brain, his body, even his organ shifted and grew in ways he didn't think possible. 

"Irken's are engrained with three rules the moment our PAK's are attatched; one, follow orders, two, worship and respect our Tallest, and three, never perform self repair or tinker on our PAK's. Our PAK's are what keep us alive, what make us Irken, and we all assumed that messing with the complicated contraptions within it's shell were forbidden for fear of death. Now, Zim understands."

 

The Irken turned to face Dib, pure rage seared into every crevice of the alien's face, his antennae practically vibrating with frustration, "It was to keep us pliant, small, and stupid. And Zim refused to be ignorant any longer."

 

---

 

Zim and Dib talked for what felt like hours. Considering this was the longest conversation Zim's had in literal years, he was possibly exaggerating. Zim showed Dib all that he found, and Dib listened to his words and watched his slides with apt attention. He told him of all his discoveries the past year, the conclusions he's come to, and the mysteries still yet to solve. 

At some point, Dib asked GIR to get him a chair (GIR got him a bright green peabag chair which he had no idea was in his house), and they sat next to his computer discussing the few things Zim had yet to figure out. 

Not all of these things were related to Irken secrets, though. 

"Why my YARD, though? And why excrete your nasty.. fluids all over it?!"

Dib was laughing- laughing- like he had the audacity to after peeing on his yard, "I don't know?! I was pissed off at you for leaving so I was trying to make you even more pissed by.. well- pissing on your yard!"

"Well Zim assures you that he is beyond pissed that your gross human MESS was all over my PROPERTY!!"

 

Dib's laughter only increased- a noisy, loud, grating sound that made Zim's squeedilyspooch tighten in his chest for some odd reason. He fought the smile that tugged at his face, leaning back in his swivel chair and playfully glaring at his-... friend? Ex-rival? Ocassional accomplice? Zim didn't exactly know, but... one thing he did know was...

Zim had missed him- Dib.

He had already admitted this to him, sure, but he didn't quite possibly understand just how much he missed him until he returned.

 

His presence in his life was more necessary than Zim had thought- Dib was easier to speak to now than he was years ago, though. It was much easier to argue and fight with the human boy back then than it was to speak with him, considering they were still at each others throats.

 

Now, though, they have no reason to harbor ill will towards one another- Zim is no longer an Invader (never was, to be exact), and the Earth was safe from the Irken armada until the end of time. Zim told Dib that he was unable to travel outside of Earth's solar system, so the human was effectively stuck with him now that the Irken was back to interacting with humans in general.

 

Zim could live a relatively 'normal life' as a 'human', while the only ones that knew about his true nature were Dib and his sister unit. 

For once... Zim was content. 

"Speaking of your gross human bodily functions... Zim believes that he has grown... something." He sneered, his cheeks unknowingly heating up against his own volition. Dib's laughter quieted down just enough to be able to speak, still grinning up to his ears (which Zim only now noticed had.. holes in them. Weird. He would have to ask about that).

 

"'Something'? What the hell does growing 'something' even entail in this-" he gestured to, pretty much, all of Zim, "-situation."

Zim rolled his eyes, promptly uncrossing his long legs and standing from his chair, strutting over to Dib, who's smile and confident demeanor suddenly changed into intrigue, and quickly became wonderfully panicked when Zim used the human's lap as his new seat. 

"W- wha- Zim-?!"

"Quiet, Dib-smeet- Zim will show you the something." A claw landed on Dib's chest, pressing him back down onto his peabag. Zim relished in the red hue that shifted onto Dib's cheeks, antennae perking when he scented the human's pheromones spiked so suddenly. 

It had been occuring all day- Zim was somehow even more sensitive to the sudden changes that the human experienced. Earlier, when he had answered the door, he scented the same thing- he couldn't put his finger on it, but his instincts knew it was... good. Yes. It was a good reaction. 

Now it was occurring again, so Zim assumed this was good too.

 

Dib appeared like a moose caught in the headlights as Zim leaned back to unbutton and unzip his tiny shorts, staring into the human's eyes as he stared at the small article of clothing. Zim couldn't help but feel a predatory chill run up his spine when seeing Dib under him, at his mercy. 

He's felt such a thing before, back when they were enemies- rivals- but... never quite like this. 

Raising his hips to pull down his shorts, Zim revealed just what had caused him so much angst and irritation through the course of the growth of his new body, the thin, taut slit between his legs- currently not dripping with messy slick like it had been doing in the warmer months. 

Shoving his shorts below his knees, legs spread on either side of Dib's waist, Zim expected Dib to launch a million questions at him- how did it form, when did it form, how it felt, all that nonesense. Instead... Dib stared. And stared. To the point where even Zim was beginning to get embarrassed. 

Tapping the point of his claw against Dib's nose, which of course shocked him out of his staring match with Zim's crotch. His face appeared even redder than before, and Zim couldn't help but smirk. 

"Well?" He hummed, feeling amusement coil and bubble in his newly developed nether regions, leaning forward and getting even more into Dib's space, snake like tongue gliding along the front of his sharp zipper-like teeth,

 

"What does the Dib-stink think? From Zim's research on your inferior human biology, this-" Zim trailed a single claw up the line of his slit, shivering at the touch, "-should be pretty compatible with this~" Zim purred, boldly cupping the space between Dib's legs, making the boy let out a yelp of what was no doubt alarm and confusion. 

Although Zim was mainly listening to his instincts, he also wanted to tease. He had a feeling this awkward mess of a human would be more than flustered when the topic of his sexual organ came up. Zim was no fool, he knew plenty about the hormonal disturbances than human 'teens' went through. Poo-berty, or something. He often ends up having to watch GIR's dumb 'teen drama's on the tele.

 

He's more than aware of how this could go. And, honestly...

 

Zim is excited.

Notes:

ok so there i finally updated shdjdgdj

if its a lil off from usual then chalk it up to my writing style changing in like *checks how long its been since i last updated* A YEAR

warning for next chapter which will Definitely include sex like 100% there will be alien sex and kink discoveries and who knows whos gonna end up fucking who but it WILL be happening cause theyre both (technically) horny ass teenagers

since the hyperfixiation is hyperfixiating, it'll probably come in another few days, so be ready for that

and whered minimoose and gir go?? who knows, they kinda just fucked off somewhere, as i will after finishing this end of chapter note

so yea hoped u liked it and brb for the sex

(also after reading over this the next day i realize that an editor who could help smooth out the transitions between scenes as well as between pov's would be helpful considering wow i kinda rushed it at the end there but yknow what whats done is done lol)

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 2 of Ripples in Time (ZaDr)