Dib's notes:
- See if it triggers any memories?
- This requires great care + focus, too much confusion may overload the system.
"Gir!" Zim called. The two would have to go to school today. But what to do with their unexpected guest? "Stranger!" He called as well, after some thought.
"I have a name," the stranger— doctor? Therapist? Scientist?— rubbed at his eyes, descending the stairs. He was still wearing the coat he'd shown up in the day before.
"I'm sure you do," Zim folded his arms, "And I'm sure it's wonderful, but that is not of import. You are going to have to find something to do today. Away from my home."
"Why?" the stranger yawned. Gir nearly knocked the man over when he barrelled down the stairs.
"Because I'm not leaving some stranger alone in my house for an entire school day!" Zim rolled his eyes. Maybe he was too harsh with the stranger, he was a foreigner after all. "This is how things work in America. You could come to school with me, I suppose."
"Go to what?" the stranger— what was his name? Ding?— hit his bag, it seemed to jolt him into consciousness. Weird. He'd have to remember to ask him about it later.
"School." Zim repeated, exasperated. This "Irken Empire" must be some sort of third-world country. No, that was offensive to third-world countries. Fourth-world , then. "Sounds like you need it, too."
"No, no, that's" the stranger blinked, as though remembering something. "Wait, you can't— I need you here,"
"I think things are moving a little too quickly, Ding," Zim stepped back from the stranger, who was advancing on him quickly. "I don't even know you!"
"It's Dib," the stranger— Dib! He remembered now— grabbed for his shoulder, "You don't understand, I wanted to… teach you about my… country."
"Let me teach you something about mine," Zim dodged Dib's hand. "We don't do… whatever it is you're doing here. Seriously, personal bubble. Do whatever you want, but stay out of my house." Zim opened the door, allowing Gir to escape and run ahead. "And stop staring. It's creepy."
Zim gestured out the open door, and the two shared a tedious stalemate for a few moments before Dib left. Zim closed and locked the door behind him, and strode ahead of the scientist to catch up to his younger brother.
Great. Now Dib was locked out of the only other Irken technology on this damned planet. And Zim was off to 'School', a completely non controlled environment with dozens of humans. Not the best place to try and remind Zim of his culture. He briefly wondered how the humans didn't suspect anything. It wasn't as though his disguise was any good. The humans, Dib learned, had a wide variety of skin tones. To his understanding, green was not one of them. Not to mention the lack of facial extremities and the obnoxiously gelled wig. Come to think of it, he had a lot of questions. Questions he could get answers to in due time, once he got Zim alone.
Step one. History lesson. Dib wandered the streets, trying to track Zim's path to school. He wasn't trained for this! Why would the Tallest entrust him with such a sensitive mission? Where on Earth had Zim go—
Dib stopped abruptly, his antennae twitching behind his holo-disguise. moments later, a large yellow vehicle careened past him with little regard for his— or anybody's— safety. He took the time to assess his surroundings, and finally found himself in front of a run-down building teeming with human children. 'Skool' the sign read, this must be it.
You could come to school with me, I suppose. Zim's voice echoed in his mind. Dib shook his head, this was serious. He had a week to return to the Tallest, no time for fun and games. He would just extract Zim from the school…
"Can Zim come to the office, please?" the speaker crackled to life, and Zim glanced at his homeroom teacher, who nodded. He stood with a flourish and exited the room. "Gir, Gir, Gir," Zim shook his head, muttering to himself, "Can't stay out of trouble."
"—And I'm just concerned for his well being," Zim pushed the door open and froze mid step. Why on earth was Dib here?!
" What are you doing here?" Zim hissed. The guy was borderline creepy. Zim was already regretting letting him stay in the house.
"Zim!" Dib had a fake smile plastered on his face. "I just wanted to check in on you. How are things?"
"Why is he here?" Zim ignored Dib, addressing the receptionist.
"It's okay, Zim. Seeing a therapist is completely normal for somebody your age. The doctor here says you haven't been attending sessions lately, and he was worried about you!" She was overly cheery, Zim had always been wary of her.
"I'm. Fine." he bit out, turning on his heel. "I will see you this afternoon, doctor ." Zim narrowed his eyes, stalking back down the hall. The gall! Yeah, he'd invited Dib to school, thought it would be a fun prank, but that was before the stranger got all creepy. Dib would have to do some explaining, and apologising, for Zim to let him stay in the house after all of this.
"Well," Dib turned to the receptionist. She creeped him out, staring into his soul with that wide grin. "I suppose that's that." He'd hoped for more. Things were not going according to plan at all. "I'll… be on my way." Every instinct he had told him not to turn his back on the woman. She just kept smiling, staring. She gave him a wave and he dashed out the door, nearly activating his spider-legs in an attempt to get out faster.
The day continued on. Zim would catch glimpses of Dib roaming the school grounds. In third period, he glanced out the window to see the top of the foreigner's giant head peeking up over the windowsill. He didn't mean to yelp, but he did, drawing the entire class's attention towards him. When he looked back, Dib was gone.
Later, after lunch, Zim had been dozing off in science when he heard a loud noise. He opened his eyes to find Dib on the ceiling, god knows how he was hanging on. He screamed and Dib fell to the floor. Both of them were sent to the office, and they threatened to call the police on Dib. As they should.
The weirdo got away scot-free, however, and the day went on. Not a moment to rest, he didn't even spend social studies staring aimlessly out the window like he usually did. The school day seemed to drag on, and with every passing moment Zim both wanted to fatally harm Dib and completely avoid him. It would seem destiny chose the former, as Dib was waiting outside the doors with Gir when school finally let out.
"Finally," Dib started. He probably had more to say, but Zim interrupted him with a punch to the chest. For just a split second, Dib glitched out— like he was part of a video game, or some sort of an illusion. Green skin replaced sickly pale white, and giant bug-eyes bulged in shock. Then just like that, it was over. Dib was back to normal, and Zim was left speechless.
"Are you done?" Dib choked out, clutching his midsection.
Zim shook himself out of it. "What the hell were you doing, following me around all day! You're some major creep! You'd better start explaining yourself or you'll be sleeping in the park for the rest of your— hopefully short— stay." Dib stared at him curiously, not saying a word. Zim rolled his eyes and started walking, "Start talking."
"Well that's what I was trying to do," It didn't take Dib long to catch up. Gir was a ways behind the two. "I thought if you knew more about my culture you woul—" Dib paused, as though choosing his next words carefully. "You would understand things from my perspective. It isn't easy being in a new… country, after all."
"You know it could've waited," Zim grumbled, "I'll give you another tip, the whole following me around all day thing? Not cool."
"Apologies," The two found themselves at the gate to Zim's front yard. "I didn't realise… regardless, I'd love to—"
"Not right now," Zim stopped and turned, watching Gir run down the street towards them. "Seriously. Two seconds? Alone? We can talk about your country or whatever later."
"Okay, okay," Gir finally caught up, and Dib followed the two inside. He'd have to rearrange his entire plan to account for what was essentially a wasted day. That would theoretically give Zim enough time to cool down. Maybe he could move step 2 forward…
A/N: Huge thanks to Invader Johnny and HurricaneFox for letting me know about the uploading errors with Ch 5 and 6. I probably wouldn't have noticed otherwise! Sorry for all the hassle and I hope you all enjoy!