Dib stood in front of his bathroom mirror, pulling down the collar of his blue shirt. Green and brown bruises were just starting to form on his shoulders. Grunting, he let go of his shirt, and stared at himself in the mirror. He was lucky those jocks didn't hit his glasses. Hell, he was lucky he was left with just a couple of bruises. Zim hadn't been so lucky. With a dull thump, Dib rested his head against the mirror, and he heaved a sigh. He would've been the one bloodied up, if Zim hadn't shown up when he did. Even after the way he had acted to both him and Min, Zim still stepped into that alley. The least Dib could do to repay him was to give Min a chance, even if it did bother him.
He lifted his head from the mirror, and blinked again at his reflection. Lifting up a few errant strands of hair, he noticed a slender line of blemishes starting to form along his hairline. Acne. Great. Welcome to adulthood, Dib. Well, it was barely noticeable for now. He just hoped it wouldn't get any worse. It was hard enough being a designated loser at skool, he didn't need a pizza face as well.
"Hey, Dib! You know what they say about guys who spend too much time in the bathroom..." Gaz's muffled voice fought it's way though the closed bathroom door, accompanied by the bleeping and blooping of her GameSlave.
"Ha, ha. Very funny." Dib answered, turning from the mirror and opening the bathroom door. His sister was there, staring down at her game screen. She glanced up at him for a millisecond.
"What's wrong with your face?"
"Nothing." Dib replied quickly, rubbing his forehead self-consciously. Gaz raised an eyebrow conspicuously, then returned to her game. "Whatever..." She said, pushing her brother aside and slamming the bathroom door in his face.
"Nothing's wrong with me!" Dib insisted.
"You're such a dork, Dib." His sister mumbled flatly though the door.
"Yeah, yeah." Dib droned. Like he hadn't heard THAT before.
Dib wandered into his room, and closed the door behind him. His laptop was still running, but he disregarded it. The Swollen Eyeball Network probably had already sent him a million encoded e-mails since that morning, but he had gotten lax in keeping up with the daily posts. Big surprise, when the supernatural is staring you in the face every day. He flopped down onto his bed, his arm dangling over the side, and fingered the NNY comic book lying on the floor. He sighed. "Hey, Mimi, are you in here?"
A flash of black heralded her as the metallic black cat with red eyes zipped up onto the tip of his foot bedpost. She stared at Dib for a few seconds. "WHERE WAS DIB HUMAN?" She said, her voice sounding like a freshly stuck tuning fork.
"Oh, I was over at Zim's." He said, rolling over and staring up at the ceiling. "...We got into a fight on the way home from skool. Zim was pretty badly beaten up, too..."
"IS ZIM STILL OPERATIONAL?"
Dib smirked. "Yeah, he's all right. Thanks to Min." His smile faded, and he continued to stare at the ceiling. He heaved a sigh. "Well, it looks like she's gonna be sticking around here for a while. She's already been helping Zim with his research, from what he told me on the way home from skool."
Mimi blinked and cocked her head to the side. "…IS DIB HUMAN ALL RIGHT?" She asked, catching Dib off guard.
"What? Oh, yeah. I'm just… I dunno… Tired of being alone. No one at skool will even give like me a second look. The "weirdo" thing is starting to get on my nerves. Zim has Min, now. You know what I mean? Even he gets someone!!" Dib was suprised at the sudden anger in his voice. He blinked as he realized what exactly was bothering him. "...That just leaves me. I'm guess I'm just… Lonely..." He glanced down at the little robot on his bedpost and half-smiled. "I'm glad I was able to piece you back together from the parts I found inside Tak's ship. At least you aren't gonna run off with a tom somewhere."
"…DIB HUMAN. THE ODDS OF AN IRKEN FINDING ZIM ON EARTH IS 2,167,492 TO 1. THE ODDS OF ZIM FINDING COMPANIONSHIP WITH SAID IRKEN ARE MUCH STEEPER..."
"...What does that have to do with anything?"
"DIB HUMAN HAS BETTER ODDS. WAIT."
Dib sat up and blinked at the little robot. His lips slowly curled into a warm smile. "Thanks, Mimi." He scratched his chin in thought, his smile sharpening into a confident smirk. "Hey... Can you do me a favor? Use the laptop and patch into Zim's system files. There's gotta be a lifeforce monitoring program or something in there that Min's using on Zim. If you find one, can you plug into it, and let me know if anything happens to him?"
Mimi blinked at him. "YES, MASTER." She quickly zipped over to Dib's laptop and sat down next to it, her tail curling gracefully behind it and clicking as it plugged into a data port. It's a good thing Zim doesn't know about her, Dib thought. No one did. For six months, he'd worked by himself, trying to piece together the shattered remains of the SIR unit, when he wasn't at skool or hanging out with Zim. Yeah, it wasn't easy, and at one point his room was starting to look more like his dad's lab, but he kind of enjoyed the challenge. Mostly, he just wanted to see if he could do it, if he was smart enough to figure her out. But, a small part of him seemed to be happy just to possess her, and not as a tool or weapon or computer. Something personal. Something he had to keep to himself. A reminder, maybe. Who knows.
"I know this is sneaky, but it's not technically spying. I'm just making sure Zim's all right..." He hopped off his bed and started towards the door. "I'm going after a soda. Let me know if anything happens, okay?"
"DIB HUMAN IS CLEVER." Mimi melodiously said, her slitted eyes bending in a simulated smile. "DIB HUMAN REMINDS ME OF TAK."
Dib stopped at the door. "--What did you say?"
He lifted his head from the mirror, and blinked again at his reflection. Lifting up a few errant strands of hair, he noticed a slender line of blemishes starting to form along his hairline. Acne. Great. Welcome to adulthood, Dib. Well, it was barely noticeable for now. He just hoped it wouldn't get any worse. It was hard enough being a designated loser at skool, he didn't need a pizza face as well.
"Hey, Dib! You know what they say about guys who spend too much time in the bathroom..." Gaz's muffled voice fought it's way though the closed bathroom door, accompanied by the bleeping and blooping of her GameSlave.
"Ha, ha. Very funny." Dib answered, turning from the mirror and opening the bathroom door. His sister was there, staring down at her game screen. She glanced up at him for a millisecond.
"What's wrong with your face?"
"Nothing." Dib replied quickly, rubbing his forehead self-consciously. Gaz raised an eyebrow conspicuously, then returned to her game. "Whatever..." She said, pushing her brother aside and slamming the bathroom door in his face.
"Nothing's wrong with me!" Dib insisted.
"You're such a dork, Dib." His sister mumbled flatly though the door.
"Yeah, yeah." Dib droned. Like he hadn't heard THAT before.
Dib wandered into his room, and closed the door behind him. His laptop was still running, but he disregarded it. The Swollen Eyeball Network probably had already sent him a million encoded e-mails since that morning, but he had gotten lax in keeping up with the daily posts. Big surprise, when the supernatural is staring you in the face every day. He flopped down onto his bed, his arm dangling over the side, and fingered the NNY comic book lying on the floor. He sighed. "Hey, Mimi, are you in here?"
A flash of black heralded her as the metallic black cat with red eyes zipped up onto the tip of his foot bedpost. She stared at Dib for a few seconds. "WHERE WAS DIB HUMAN?" She said, her voice sounding like a freshly stuck tuning fork.
"Oh, I was over at Zim's." He said, rolling over and staring up at the ceiling. "...We got into a fight on the way home from skool. Zim was pretty badly beaten up, too..."
"IS ZIM STILL OPERATIONAL?"
Dib smirked. "Yeah, he's all right. Thanks to Min." His smile faded, and he continued to stare at the ceiling. He heaved a sigh. "Well, it looks like she's gonna be sticking around here for a while. She's already been helping Zim with his research, from what he told me on the way home from skool."
Mimi blinked and cocked her head to the side. "…IS DIB HUMAN ALL RIGHT?" She asked, catching Dib off guard.
"What? Oh, yeah. I'm just… I dunno… Tired of being alone. No one at skool will even give like me a second look. The "weirdo" thing is starting to get on my nerves. Zim has Min, now. You know what I mean? Even he gets someone!!" Dib was suprised at the sudden anger in his voice. He blinked as he realized what exactly was bothering him. "...That just leaves me. I'm guess I'm just… Lonely..." He glanced down at the little robot on his bedpost and half-smiled. "I'm glad I was able to piece you back together from the parts I found inside Tak's ship. At least you aren't gonna run off with a tom somewhere."
"…DIB HUMAN. THE ODDS OF AN IRKEN FINDING ZIM ON EARTH IS 2,167,492 TO 1. THE ODDS OF ZIM FINDING COMPANIONSHIP WITH SAID IRKEN ARE MUCH STEEPER..."
"...What does that have to do with anything?"
"DIB HUMAN HAS BETTER ODDS. WAIT."
Dib sat up and blinked at the little robot. His lips slowly curled into a warm smile. "Thanks, Mimi." He scratched his chin in thought, his smile sharpening into a confident smirk. "Hey... Can you do me a favor? Use the laptop and patch into Zim's system files. There's gotta be a lifeforce monitoring program or something in there that Min's using on Zim. If you find one, can you plug into it, and let me know if anything happens to him?"
Mimi blinked at him. "YES, MASTER." She quickly zipped over to Dib's laptop and sat down next to it, her tail curling gracefully behind it and clicking as it plugged into a data port. It's a good thing Zim doesn't know about her, Dib thought. No one did. For six months, he'd worked by himself, trying to piece together the shattered remains of the SIR unit, when he wasn't at skool or hanging out with Zim. Yeah, it wasn't easy, and at one point his room was starting to look more like his dad's lab, but he kind of enjoyed the challenge. Mostly, he just wanted to see if he could do it, if he was smart enough to figure her out. But, a small part of him seemed to be happy just to possess her, and not as a tool or weapon or computer. Something personal. Something he had to keep to himself. A reminder, maybe. Who knows.
"I know this is sneaky, but it's not technically spying. I'm just making sure Zim's all right..." He hopped off his bed and started towards the door. "I'm going after a soda. Let me know if anything happens, okay?"
"DIB HUMAN IS CLEVER." Mimi melodiously said, her slitted eyes bending in a simulated smile. "DIB HUMAN REMINDS ME OF TAK."
Dib stopped at the door. "--What did you say?"