[A/N: (Word Count: 1,048) ZaDf blurb about Dib's Wonderful Life of Doom. (It's on YT)
Btw, Zim just let Dib loose into his lab at the end of that episode???? Wtf with that? I love how chaotic they both are there, tho, ahaha. And uh, i only read the last volume of the comic (with Zib) but i mean for the timeline to be showcomicsFlorpusall of this, i.e. sorry about the muffin thing.
TW/CW: school/food (mentioned, setting), fighting (mentioned), eating, little bit of angst/emotions]
The two were now amicable enough to sit together at lunch, much to the relief of all the kids that always got stuck between their ends of the cafeteria during a food fight. Now at least their bicker and banter was contained, instead of being smeared across every wall by the end of the break.
Gaz sat with them only sometimes, when she wasn't in the middle of a game. She wouldn't even consider being near them then, as their weird competition continued even through all that had happened. But she did provide some insight to something that helped Zim a lot: she told him that he could just bring his own food from home instead of having to pick at what was served at school, because he couldn't think of that himself. At least he could get a snack in during the hours that he was forced to be there.
Dib, on the other hand, was still fine with eating the slop that was served there. He collected his tray and things and took his seat.
Zim glanced his eyes over at it. This stuff always smelled worse up close. "Did they have cafeteria food like this back on Irk???" Zim turned his vision to Dib.
"Cafeteria food, yes. Like that, no." Zim waved his hand. "Even the worst Irken cuisine is considered a rare delicacy across lightyears throughout the universe."
Dib grunted. "I'd argue with you, but this stuff really is putrid sometimes." He put some of it in his mouth anyway.
Zim cringed. "So why are you eating it???"
Dib swallowed and thought for a moment. "I guess i never really considered it." He made a face at his tray. "But i am kinda hungry right now." He turned his attention from what he just tasted to the muffin on his plate.
He pinched the liner and took some of it off to bite into it. These things were always far better than the other stuff because it was pre-packaged stuff that you could get at the grocery store.
"What flavor is that one??"
Dib looked at it. He didn't really register that there were supposed to be differences between the instances of the stuff. He sniffed it. "Um, i think it's banana nut." He was mostly guessing. But smelling it did spark some memories of Dib's. "Do you remember that time you kidnapped me and hypnotized me into telling you that i threw one of these at your head?"
Zim sneered. "You mean the time where you absolutely 100% did throw a muffin at me??? Yeah. I remember."
"Pfft! You remember the stupidest things." It was almost entertaining, he had to admit.
Zim turned to Dib and glared again. "You were the one that remembered it, pig-filth!!"
Dib nearly let himself laugh. "Calm down, calm down!" He waved a hand at him and took another bite. He thought about the incident as he chewed. "It's just funny how far we go sometimes."
Zim huffed, "yeah, like how you throw stuff at Zim unprovoked."
"How'd you know what kind of stuff would get me to say that??" Dib leaned his big head in his empty hand.
Zim tried to put it into terms that he'd understand. "The machine reads and manipulates a subject's brain waves. In that case, i programmed it to follow a neural path in your mind based on a 'dream scenario' that had already started. I filled in some of the blanks, but it was a lot of you just thinking that stuff up."
"Hmm, i guess that makes sense…" Dib tapped his cheek. "So what was with the floating alien shoes???"
"Oh, those were Meekrob. They're from a planet of the same name. I think that they're also part of the invasion thing." Zim flipped through the details to himself. "It was just an easy scapegoat, i guess."
"Do they really have the ability to do that kind of thing??"
Zim paused a beat to try to think back. "Um, i don't think so? I don't know."
Dib mulled it over. He tried to think back to the more significant parts to the dream. He sighed, "that's too bad. Having all those powers was fun, even if it was all in my head." He gazed over the texture of the confection before slamming his hand on the table. "Why'd you have it go on for so long?!"
Zim turned his head to him in surprise. He smirked mischievously. "Because it made it funnier."
"It was so detailed!! It was as if i really did live through all of that stuff." He reviewed the timeline again. "What was the stuff that you added??"
Zim thought back to the things that he did. "Besides the obvious, i made it so other people saw the things that you found. I figured that you're doing your…" He flopped his hand and wiggled his fingers in disgust; "Things… for attention. Your dream didn't have any of that on its own, which i thought was weird."
"I do!" Dib cocked his head an inch. "I just want for people to open their minds to all the amazing things in the world."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Zim turned his head, and Dib glared at him. "I also showed you the Irken Armada, which was kind of dumb, in retrospect." He tried to ignore the lump in his throat. "But it doesn't matter now, so who cares?"
"You had people respect me and gave me girlfriends and everything! It was great!!"
Zim made a face and grunted. "Calm down, the machine just exemplified the things that your hideous human mind thought up."
"Yeah, but you made people accept me! That's all i really want from chasing cryptids…" He deflated some. "Ya-ya know??..."
Zim glanced his eyes over. He sighed. "Yeah. Zim knows."
The boys sat in silence for a minute. They tried to jump over their own emotional hurdles that they unexpectedly came across, but met up on the other side after a bit.
"So, um…" Zim turned his head so that he could see Dib again. "Thanks for that… i guess…"
Zim turned his head to him a bit more. He smirked a little bit more than his coldness would have wanted, but he spoke honestly. "Sure thing, stink-meat."