A/N accent guy is a real guy I met lol. People are strange.
"So… Where to now, Dib?" Gaz asked as the three of them loaded up into the car. Gir, luckily still in sleep mode. Dib's face lit up with excitement and Gaz immediately felt as though she had made a huge mistake in asking.
"Well, we have to go to the museum! I want to see all the evidence they have, and-"
"Dib, I doubt they have any evidence." Gaz scoffed as she put her seatbelt on. Dib frowned, looking through the rear view mirror to scowl at Gaz.
"How would you know? You don't know anything about this."
"Why on earth would I want to?"
"Come on Gaz ! What could be cooler than mothman?"
"Yí ogaícheí, yí ogaícheí. Al kha az usped." Zim muttered. Dib rolled his eyes and shot him a look.
"No one asked you." Dib grumbled, fiddling with the wires of the car and getting it to start.
As they pulled out of the parking lot, Dib hummed happily to himself with the excitement of exploring the town.
"I hate lemon demon." Gaz muttered. Dib seemingly ignored Gaz's comment, and continued to hum to himself in happiness as he drove. Gaz looked away from the window, at the other side of the car, to see Zim happily downing sugar packets… Suspiciously like the ones that were at the diner.
"Where did you get those?" She asked, raising an eyebrow playfully. Zim's antenna lowered almost in shame, and he tapped his hand against his leg.
"I… The morning, yes?" He sheepishly grinned. "The diner… I want sugar so…"
"Okay, sugarholic." Gaz laughed, turning back to look out the window. The car fell silent, save for Dib's humming and the sound of Zim tearing open diner sugar packets. Soon, they arrived back at the town, and Dib stopped humming, only to replace it with excited yammering about the town.
"The french founded this town, I think, not that that really matters… what really matters is the mothman! Okay so his first appearance was in 1966, although I think you'll learn that at the museum. He's huge! A whopping six to eight feet, with a monstrously large wingspan and-"
"Dib, if you're gonna make us go to this museum you can shut up about it now."
"Come on Gaz! Let me live a little." He whined as he pulled into a parking spot on the main street of the town.
"No." She smirked. Making sure that Gir was safely tucked away under a jacket, the three of them exited the car. It was a sleepy town, and there was hardly anyone walking up or down the streets. Zim frowned, the atmosphere of the town was… odd. The three of them all felt it, and while it was eerie to Zim and Gaz, Dib was excited.
"Come on guys! Let's explore!" A few blocks away, there was a sign for the museum, but as they neared it, Dib stopped and peered into one of the shop windows. He excitedly walked into the shop, with Gaz and Zim trailing behind.
"What is it, Dib?"
"They have some of those new polaroid cameras here, I can take pictures of the mothman!"
"You're not going to find mothman Dib-"
"Shh!" He whirled around and pointed at her. "You don't know that, oh ye of little faith!" She rolled her eyes, and followed Dib into the shop, Zim trailing behind her.
It was a cute little shop, mostly filled with mothman themed clothing and gifts, but had a few other odds and ends lined up against one of the brick walls. Gaz went to go look at some of the clothes, admittedly finding the mothman themed leggings a bit cute, and Zim followed her like a lost puppy, occasionally pulling out a sugar packet to eat.
"What do you think of these, Zim?" Gaz asked, pulling up a pair of the leggings to show him. He smiled sheepishly, nodding his approval at the leggings.
"How are you kids doing today?" A middle aged man, slightly balding and portly, walked up to the two of them, a friendly smile on his face. Gaz took a subtle, but protective step in front of Zim.
"We're good, how about you?" The shop owner nodded, looking over her shoulder at Zim. Zim's eyes narrowed behind the large sunglasses, suspicious as to why this man was taking interest. The man took his gaze off of Zim, cheerfully turning back to Gaz.
"I'm doin' just fine, thanks for asking! Oh, we're having a sale on those leggings, buy one, get one half off!"
"Oh, that's nice, thanks for-"
"What is 'sale?'" Zim asked, leaning in to look at the leggings inquisitively. The shopkeeper looked surprised for a moment, before he smiled at Zim.
"Not from around here, are you son?" Zim smiled confusedly, his fingers twitching.
"I am… My english is not good." The shopkeeper laughed, and turned to Gaz.
"Where's he from? You know, normally I can place any accent, but I'm stumped with him." Gaz nervously chuckled, and tried to think quickly.
"He's, um, he's from… Czechoslovakia."
"Pfft, no he's not. Czech is completely different." The shopkeeper said, his voice taking on a suspicious tone.
"He's from a really small, uh, isolated part of Czechoslovakia. They speak a different language there. He's a foreign exchange student, trying to learn english, you know?" The shopkeeper nodded, raising his eyebrows in a look of disbelief, but seemingly accepted the excuse Gaz told. She was mentally kicking herself in the head for that one, but hopefully it would all slide under the radar.
"Huh. Never heard of that. I'm really good with accents, you know? Like, I betcha that you speak spanish, don't you." Gaz blinked surprisedly and nodded.
"Yeah, how did you-"
"Like I said." He murmured. "I'm good with accents." He stepped back, clapping his hands together. "Well, let me know if you kids need anything." He said, walking away towards the back of the building. Gaz wanted to leave. The interaction… unnerved her, and she was worried about blowing Zim's cover. Zim, on the other hand, didn't seem bothered at all. He just ripped open another sugar packet and meandered over to look at the mothman themed jewelry. Nervously, she followed Zim to look at what he was looking at, a subconscious part of her wanting to be around in case the shopkeeper came back. Standing behind him, she noticed his hands subtly shaking, as he tried to pick up a necklace to look at it.
"Are you okay-"
"Hey Gaz!" Dib shouted, interrupting her. She spun around on her heel to face him.
"What?" She hissed. Dib ignored her outburst, and walked up to her, waving a brand new polaroid camera.
"The owner was super nice and gave me a discount! If, I'm sorry, when we find mothman, I can get a photo!" Gaz rolled her eyes.
"Sure, Dib." She paused, glancing back at the direction of the shopkeeper.
"Can we get out of here?" She whispered.
"Uh, sure, why?"
"I just want to leave. Let's go, okay?" Dib nodded, and he made his way to the door. "Come on, Zim." She said, grasping at his sleeve to pull him along. The three exit the store, and the shop falls silent. A few minutes later, a sheriff came in, taking off his hat as he grabbed a pair of socks off the shelf and walked up to the shopkeeper.
"Hey Paul." The sheriff said. He sat the socks on the corner, and began fishing in his pocket for his wallet.
"Hey Mark, how's it going?"
"It's going, you know, any business today?" Paul placed his hands on the counter and frowned.
"Yeah, a couple of weird kids came in and one of them bought a camera."
"Weird kids?" Mark pulled a few bills out of his wallet and placed them on the counter.
"Yeah. One of them was… extra strange. Real tall guy, big sunglasses and a chopped off nose. Weird hands too. But the weirdest thing about him is I couldn't place where he was from."
"That's strange, for you, that is."
"No kidding! The girl he was with said he was Czech, but that was total bullshit, you know?"
"Nowhere near Czech?"
"Yeah, nothing like it. But hey, I could be wrong."
"Yeah…" The sheriff muttered to himself. "What did you say they looked like?"
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"This is so cool! Look at all this stuff, Gaz!" Dib leaned in closely to the glass to be able to read the witness testimonies preserved there. They had finally made it the mothman museum, which was really just a two room operation, with a front gift shop and a larger room housing the museum. A sectioned off corner in the back was currently playing some mothman documentary, and the museum was decorated with effigies of the cryptid. Dib was delighted, like a kid in a candy shop, happily perusing the newspaper clippings, photographs, and witness testimonies. Gaz trailed after him, only reading the clippings as a means of entertainment, and Zim trailed after her, being unable to read english, he was terribly bored. All he could do was observe the effigies and photographs. He tried to watch the documentary, but his stunted skills with the language just left him confused as to what story was trying to be told.
"Wow," Dib said. "I mean, I know sightings are few and far between now, but I know he's out there somewhere! He's got to be!"
"Please don't say what I think you're going to say." Gaz sighed.
"Tonight, we shall find the mothman!"
"Him?" Zim pointed at one of the stuffed dolls in the corner. Dib nodded excitedly.
"Yes! Well uh, the real one, anyway."
"Ah. Why?" Dib frowned at this, and turned fully to face Zim.
"So I can be a great paranormal investigator, of course!"
"Right." Gaz laughed sardonically.
"Oh come on Gaz. I mean, look, he's here so-" Gaz turned so quickly and with a glare so pointed that Dib immediately fell silent.
"Kindly shut the fuck up? Okay?" She hissed. Dib winced, and turned back to the newspaper clippings.
"Sorry." He mumbled.
"Watch what you say, Dib. You never know who's listening." She walked away from him, going to look at a different part of the museum to calm down. Like always, Zim stayed nearby. Not that she would tell anyone, but she was beginning to really like his presence. It was kind of relaxing. His habits were nice too. The way he ran his fingers over words he was trying to read, or how when he was interested in something his antenna stood straight up. Even with the hoodie on she could see him trying to raise his antenna like that. It made her smile.
To Gaz, it felt like they were in that small museum for hours, even though it was probably only thirty minutes, she wanted to leave. She could handle Dib quietly talking to himself about the mothman for so long. Looking for an excuse, she turned to Zim.
"Are you hungry?"
"Yes!" He smiled eagerly, his sharp teeth glinting under the fluorescent lights. Gaz turned around, and called out to Dib.
"Hey, can we go now? We're hungry. I saw a pizza place just down the other way."
"Oh, uh, sure. I guess I'm good." Dib frowned, but he didn't want to get between Gaz and a pizza. He took one last look around the museum, trying to absorb it permanently, and finally headed for the door.
"I'd love to get something from the gift shop…" He muttered.
"No, Dib. Come on, let's get some pizza." He sulked a bit, but followed them out of the museum and onto the street.
"Where was this pizza place?"
"Just down there. Look." A sign advertising for pizza, burgers, and fries, jutted out of the side of one of the old brick buildings, a faint aroma of food hanging in the air.
"Oh." He said, and the three of them set off towards the restaurant. The pizza place was dark, not because it was closed, but just because of poor lighting. Booths lined both walls, and the tiled floor looked like it needed a good clean, but the pizza smelled good. A few other patrons were in the establishment, but for the most part it was empty. A tired looking teenage boy came walking around the counter in the back, tucking a notepad into his apron.
"Hey guys." He called out. "My name is David and I'm gonna be taken care of y'all. Uh, sit anywhere you like, okay?" Gaz took charge, pointing the three of them towards an empty booth, strategically far away from any other patrons. They took their seats, and the waiter began his normal spiel as he handed them menus.
"Welcome to Rio's, what can I get you to drink?"
"Just waters for us." David nodded, and briskly walked away. Gaz glanced at the menu, and groaned.
"Dib, don't-"
"I want the mothman pizza." She rolled her eyes.
"Absolutely not. It's so expensive, and probably tastes disgusting. We're getting cheese."
"Oh, come on Gaz! It'll make a great picture."
"I said no, Dib." He folded his hands on the table and turned to Zim, who was sitting next to Gaz.
"What about you, Zim? Want some mothman pizza?"
"I-"
"He barely understands Eart- uh, american cuisine. Don't bring him into this."
"I want what Gaz want." Zim said decidedly. Dib slumped in his seat in defeat.
"Of course you do." He mumbled.
"Don't start, Dib." Gaz warned.
"…So no mothman pizza?"
"No." Dib fiddled with his camera as they sat in silence, Zim tapping his fingers against the table, and the ambient music and talking of the other diners wafting through the air.
"In a clearing stands a boxer, and a fighter by his trade-"
While it had been a stressful day, and a hell of a stressful week or so, Gaz thought it was kind of nice. Sure, her brother got on her nerves a lot, but she hadn't seen him in a while, and the atmosphere in the restaurant was nice. The sunlight came through the glass door in rays, softly carrying the dust to the ground, like a gentle hand. It's almost a picturesque scene, she thinks. Rudely interrupted by the waiter coming up with their waters.
"So, what can I get y'all to eat?" He said as he placed the glasses on the table.
"A moth-"
"No." Gaz sharply said, glaring at Dib. He winced, and looked down at his hands. Shooting him one more glance, she turned towards the waiter. "We're going to have one large cheese pizza, please." David nodded, not even bothering to write it down in his notebook, and walked off towards the back of the restaurant. Dib placed his hands on the table and twiddled his thumbs together.
"So, after this, wanna take photos in front of the mothman statue?"
"Not really, but I have a feeling you're going to relentlessly bug me about it until I give in." Dib grinned, and nodded excitedly.
"Great! It'll be fun, don't worry!"
"I'll try not to."
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"So, Alex. How's it going with your wife?" Major Ian Johnson and General Alex Drewey sat side by side under a tent, looking over road maps and reports as they tried to figure out the alien's next move. Ian sipped his coffee every few minutes, flipping through the pages of random 'alien sightings' trying to decide if there were any of merit. Alex sighed, putting his paperwork down and leaning into the back of his folding chair.
"Well, you know… she still has the kids, which I guess works out right now but I want to see them. She's still fighting for full custody, but I swear I'm doing everything I can to get her to leave that douche in Rhode Island."
"Yeah, I'm sorry to hear that, have you made any headway?"
"Sort of. I told her I was possibly getting a big promotion soon, and that I could spend more time with her and the kids after that." Ian looked up from his paperwork, shocked.
"You didn't tell her about what's going on here, did you? I mean I know you want her back but-"
"Of course not! How could you even think I would do that?" Alex said incredulously. Ian rubbed his face and sighed, feeling more tired every minute.
"Sorry man, I'm just stressed. I know you wouldn't do that… Anyway, what did she say?"
"She said to call her back when I got it." Alex grumbled, folding his hands across his chest.
"Hey, cheer up. I'm sure you'll get the promotion. She'll come to her senses, okay?" Ian gave Alex a reassuring pat on the back, then picked up his paperwork once more."
"I hope so… I really miss her Ian."
"I know." They sat in silence for a few minutes, just the rustling of papers and soldiers talking in the background.
"Did you hear about Chloe?" Ian asked.
"Who?"
"Chloe." Ian turned in his chair and placed his hands on his knees. "She's one of the newer nurses at base. Rumor has it she went missing."
"Really? When?"
"Yesterday. Right in the middle of her shift."
"Oh." Alex winced. "You know, Norton probably got bored." A shiver went down Ian's back, but his curiosity got the best of him.
"What do you mean?"
"Oh yeah… you're new to this division. Every so often one of those nurses or doctors or whoever works with him disappears. Everyone has their own theories, but I think he gets bored."
"You're kidding. And he gets away with that?" Ian felt sick.
"Sure does. He does important work, and well, you didn't hear it from me but apparently if you're a psychopath that's okay as long as you're a good doctor."
"That's terrible."
"Hey, just stay out of Norton's way and you'll be fine. He's harmless… to us, that is."
"Right." Ian mulled this over before speaking again. "Are we doing the right thing?"
"What do you mean?"
"I just… I don't know. I feel like we're making a mistake." Alex laughed, and slapped a hand against Alex's back.
"Relax. We're just doing our jobs. Besides, it's an alien for Christ's sake. If you're going to get this worked up about it I would focus on people like Chloe first."
"Well I-" A young soldier walked into the tent and saluted.
"Sir!"
"At ease, private." Alex said calmly. "What is it?"
"Sir, a new report." The soldier held out a piece of paper. "This one is urgent. Filed by a sheriff." Ian glanced at the paper, his eyebrows raising with surprise.
"This one is definitely more legit than the others."
"What's it say?"
"A sheriff in a small town in West Virginia… Reported spotting the membranes and a third 'foreign' person. It's odd that he didn't mention the green skin…"
"Well, that's the best news we've gotten all day. Let's pack up and roll out!"