A/N: hello all! this is my first foray into writing for this fandom, and i hope that it turned out alright! i was challenged, by myself, to write one without a single character speaking. and this was born. also posted on my Tumblr~ sadsuperman!

The first time that they actually do something together, aside from fighting or trying to destroy or save the world, is on a Saturday evening. It's far from planned, too. Or rather, it isn't something that Dib or Zim had planned out.

Gaz? Well, that is another matter completely.

Later, when Dib confronts her in a dark hallway, she'll shove him away and tell him to stop being stupid. Claim that she only did it because she thought that he still hated Zim and it would make him miserable. Believable, coming from her. That glint in her eyes though, that is a little bit of satisfaction and maybe just a touch of affection, it will tell the real story.

But that is later. Hours later, close to being the next day. Right now, Dib is still at home. In he bedroom, watching the last of Mysterious Mysteries. When it ends, he slides off the bed and meanders over to his closet - and it is full of black and dark greys and blues and purples, like someone has painted his clothes to resemble a bruise.

He doesn't like wearing light colored things, even now when he's in Hi School.

It's just a movie that he's going to, so he doesn't dress up. Figures that no one in the darkened theater will care what he looks like. Most people don't care, even when they can see him. So he grabs out one of not-quite-trench coats, black, and shrugs it on over his dark blue shirt. Tugs on his boots, grabs a handful of cash and his pre-purchased ticket off his dresser, and makes his way out of the room.

Both his father and his sister are at home. Gaz in the living room, his father in the labs. Still, Dib doesn't see any need to announce his exit. They don't often care when he leaves. Rather, they don't often notice.

He just leaves.

Walks himself to the theater, even though its dark out and his neighborhood has never exactly been what you would consider safe. He's eightteen and, in his mind, he can handle whatever comes out at him from the shadows.

Of course, nothing does. Not tonight.

Dib makes it to the theater without any problems. Pulls the ticket out of his pocket and waits to be turned away - because it was a free ticket, one that just showed up in the mail one day. It would make sense for it to be a prank played by someone.

It turns out not to be. Dib's let in and he buys himself a large popcorn. Gets extra salt, a large coke, and then heads into the showing room to find a seat. Only to discover that it is packed and full and the only seats are way at the top, in the upper left corner.

Perfect.

Dib sighs, but then tells himself that he hadn't paid for the ticket anyway. He heads up, watching the advertisements instead of the seats, and drops himself into what seems like the only empty seat - only to jerk his head around when the person beside him starts to shout at him.

And it's none other than Zim who, later, explains that he also got a free ticket in the mail. And, obviously, neither of them are willing to pass up the free showing.

So they spend the first fifteen minutes of the movie in a tense, awkward silence. Then Zim makes a smart-assed comment about one of the actors and, really, Dib just has to agree. a few moments later, Dib makes a comment about the effects of the movie. Zim snorts, grabs a handful of Dib's popcorn, and points out another flaw.

By the end of the movie, they have eaten two containers of popcorn and a box of gummy-humans. They don't actually know how the movie ended because, at that point, they were busy argueing with each other over the obviously fake alien that had been the main villian for the movie.

Eventually, the lights flicking back on rips them from their conversation. It gets awkward again, because Dib isn't sure what to say now that he's remembered he's speaking to Zim. His rival. His enemy - and Zim is himself so, after a shout about the movie and snatching the last of the gummy-humans, for Gir he explains, he leaves.

And things start to change.