All in all, it hadn't been that bad. In fact, the final trek upstairs aside, it had been rather nice. Bizarre, but nice. Feeling his way along the upstairs wall, he eventually reached the bathroom and slipped inside.
He was promptly smashed in the face by something flat and very hard.
Dropping his fresh clothes and tripping over them, Dib let out a groan. "What hit me...?"
"That bar of soap. And if you don't get out right now, I'll send worse your way." Came a very Gaz-like voice from the direction of the bathtub-slash-shower. Dib blinked, still laying face-down on the floor.
"Gaz! What are you doing in here!"
There was a brief silence, followed by, "What most people do when they get up. Cleaning. You may like smelling like soiled monkeys, but I don't."
"I don't smell like a soiled monkey! I smell like a Smolten Video henchgoon!" Dib protested.
"Monkey, goon, same thing." Gaz said. "Now get out."
"You could have locked the door." Dib muttered, gathering his clothes and feeling around for the doorknob.
"I could have." Gaz agreed. "But I didn't feel like it."
"What would you have done if I had had my glasses on?" Dib asked, already tired of having his face hurt so much.
"You know that plunger that the toilet ate a month ago?"
"Yeah. What about-- ...Oh. ...Ohhhh. I'm just... going... to make a note to never enter without knocking. Ever." Dib stated, turning the knob and quickly rushing from the occupied bathroom.
Once he was back in his room, Dib made his way back to his glasses to put them on. With a sigh, he decided on changing clothes once now, then once again later, after Gaz got out of the tub. It would be extra laundry, but he didn't want to go the whole morning stinking like a festering wound.
After changing, he left his room again. He hadn't heard any doors open, so he assumed Gaz to still be bathing. As he descended the stairs, he briefly entertained the thought of peeking back in. But his rational side won out. No sight in the world was enough to get hit by the Plunger That Wouldn't Die. A shudder passed through Dib's body as he made his way into the kitchen.
"...Maybe I should make a nice breakfast. That'll be a good way of apologizing. I think. Gaz seems to still be in that weird mood. She normally would have thrown the plunger at me, glasses or no. I guess that's good. I should have bought her something nice sooner. Well. Let's see here... What do we have, what do we have? ... I need to do something. People would say I was crazy if they saw me standing here and talking to myself."
And with that, Dib set about making the biggest breakfast he ever had.
As he prepared the meal, he idly wondered just how abormal a mood Gaz was. It wasn't like Dib hadn't ever seen his sister in the buff. He had been the one to bathe her when she was very little, after all. Their dad certainly wasn't going to. He was always too busy. But that felt like it had been almost a lifetime ago. So much had changed over the years...
But he couldn't keep focusing on the past. Not with so much being cooked. The last thing he wanted to do was burn the house down. For one thing, it would melt the game system he had just purchased. For another, Gaz was still in the bathroom. He didn't think his sister would be very forgiving of him if she was forced into public without any clothes.
"Why do the biscuits smell like sausages?" Dib asked to an empty room.
Shaking his head, he continued his preperation of food. When he was almost done, he stuck his head into the living room and shouted, "Hey, Gaz! Breakfast is almost ready! Get out of the bathtub before you shrivel up!"
Pondering what a prune-y Gaz would look like, Dib went about setting the table and serving breakfast, setting the extra food off to one side. He was vaguely aware of doors opening or closing upstairs. He sat down and waited. Thankfully, Gaz could be quick when she wanted to be and was downstairs before Dib had finished buttering the biscuits.
"I don't shrivel." Said Gaz as she entered the kitchen and sat. "And have you looked outside yet?"
"No, why?" Dib asked, blinking.
"Go look." Said Gaz, simply.
Raising an eyebrow, Dib hopped down from his chair and went to peek out the curtains. When he did, he let out a shocked cry. Bath water being drawn wasn't the only thing he had slept through, apparently. Several feet of snow had built up outside. Dib peered off in the direction of the living room and began to ask something when Gaz cut him off.
"I already tried. The doors are sealed tight."
"At least we can get out through the upstairs windows if we need to" Dib said, more to himself than to Gaz. "In case of emergencies or something."
"Like you burning the house down?" Gaz suggested.
"Hey! I did just fine with breakfast!" Objected Dib, sitting down once more. "At least, I think so. How is it?"
"Surprisingly not charred." Said Gaz around a mouthful of bacon.
Dib resisted the urge to stick his tongue out at Gaz, but only after stuffing a large bit of biscuit into his mouth. After nearly choking himself on it, he coughed out, "I think I'm going to take a nap after I eat and shower. Body's still protesting a bit... stupid body."
"I'll try and keep the volume on the TV down." Gaz said.
Dib blinked. "Alright..."
This really was bizarre. And it wasn't very easy to get used to. Which wasn't to say that Dib wasn't enjoying it. It was certainly better than getting waffle ironed in the crotch. That had happened about two years ago after Dib had accidentally thrown away some of Gaz's backup batteries. They had been laying around on the counter and he simply assumed that they were old and dead. A lesson learned the hard way, that. Since then, he hadn't come within five feet of a battery. At least one left around anywhere other than in his room.
"I wonder how much longer it's gonna snow." Dib idly wondered awhile later as he collected the dishes. "I don't want the roof to come caving in."
"I think it stopped. I haven't bothered checking, though." Gaz said, hopping down from her chair and heading into the living room. After setting the rest of the dishes in the sink, Dib followed his sister in. Passing by her as she took up her usual spot on the couch and grabbed her controller, Dib climbed the stairs.
As he popped back into his room to grab a change of clothes, Dib peered out his window. The snow hadn't stopped, but it was so light that it didn't really matter. He really hoped that it was soft... just in case he had to fling himself out his window or something. As he went back toward the bathroom, Dib mentally pictured himself dragging an unconscious Gaz to the hospital in snow that was well over both of their heads.
"I hate snow." He muttered, locking the bathroom door behind him.
oOoOoOoOoOo
Gaz was enjoying herself as she slaughtered the hideous, blood-sucking piggies of death. It helped that she was now thoroughly full. Whatever might happen to her older idiot of a brother, she had to admit that he wasn't a bad cook.
But her rampage through the game world and her ponderings of dinner were cut short when a high-pitched shriek rang out from the bathroom upstairs. Pausing her game, Gaz tilted her head back and opened an eye partway, just in time to see Dib glaring back at her from the top of the stairs.
He had a towel wrapped around his lower body and was dripping water. His hair was down out of its spike, matted down to his head. He also had an interesting twitch in his left eye.
"You're getting the carpet wet." Gaz observed.
"You didn't leave me any hot water!" Dib cried.
"Oops."
"Oops!"
"Oops."
Dib stared at Gaz for a few moments longer before glaring once more and storming off back into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him. Gaz stared at the spot he had been standing and, with a shudder as she unpaused her game, tried to forget seeing the numerous scars that were littered over her brother's body.
oOoOoOoOoOo
Dib's bad mood gave way to a cold chill and a sudden urge to just go back to bed. His annoyance at Gaz forgotten, he had fallen into a deep sleep after switching into a fresh set of clothes. He wasn't sure how long he had been out for, exactly, but it was dark in his room when he opened his eyes again.
At least he was warm again. A small shudder passed through him as he recalled the freezing water spraying him. He hated cold water! Cold water always irritated his old 'war wounds' that he had received in the various battles against Zim. None were overly large, except for one that crossed over his left side. That one ran from his back clear around to his stomach and had been from a fight where Zim had pulled out something he simply called "The Cutty Thing." It did its job very well.
Groaning, Dib shifted positions, moving from his right side to his back and groaning. His arm hadn't liked getting slept on. His shoulder wasn't too happy with him at the moment, either. He was about to rub at his poor, aching shoulder when he felt, rather than saw, something move.
It was just to his left and, for the briefest of moments, Dib wondered if Zim had decided to brave the snow to attack him in his own room. But, after carefully reaching for his glasses and slipping them on, he saw that it wasn't Zim. Though almost as scary at times, Gaz wasn't nearly as bad as Zim was.
And that left one glaring question in his mind: Why in the name of Bigfoot was Gaz curled up in his bed?
Wondering how strange the week was intending to get, Dib rolled onto his left side to better face Gaz, who seemed to be out cold. Dib wasn't entirely sure, since Gaz's eyes were normally squinted to the point of being shut altogether. Made it very hard to ascertain whether you were being watched or not.
"Gaz?" He whispered.
"Nn?" Came her reply.
"Gaz, what are you doing in here?"
"Iwas sleeping, idiot." Gaz groaned, opening an eye slightly to glare at her older brother. "Why'd you wake me up?"
"...Your bedroom is down the hall." Dib stated.
"Thank you, Obvious Boy. I'm well aware of where my bedroom is." Gaz said, letting her eye slip shut again.
"So...why are you in here?"
"It was closer." Came Gaz's reply. "Less talking, more sleeping."
"But I'm not sleepy anymore." Dib said.
"Tough." Gaz said. And, before Dib could argue, she scooted up next to him, pushed him over onto his back again, and flopped against him. Her head fell against his shoulder and her arm draped loosely across his chest.
"I don't have a say in this, do I?" Dib asked.
"Nope."
"Great."
Dib reached up with his right arm - the only one that was free at the moment - and slipped his glasses off again. Before closing his eyes once more, Dib cast a glance aside at the purple head of hair resting on his left shoulder.
Losing himself in thought, Dib almost didn't hear Gaz ask him a question.
"How many do you have?"
"Huh?"
"Scars. How many do you have?"
"... About fifteen, total."
"Don't they hurt?"
"Only when it's cold out."
Gaz tilted her head back slightly. "So they've been bugging you since it started snowing?"
Dib shrugged with his free shoulder. "I've gotten used to it. I've had most of them for awhile. The only one really annoying me is on the right side of my neck down near my shoulder. Not very big, but it's still fairly new. Got it about a two weeks ago. Stupid robot."
"...I don't want to know, do I?"
"Probably not."
"You never act like you're hurt. Not permanently, anyway." Gaz said, the hand draped across Dib's body slipping up to feel at the side of his neck. Dib winced slightly as her finger came in contact with his newest scar, but he said nothing.
"What good would complaining do? That wouldn't heal it. Besides, I found a jar of blue stuff that heals cuts quicker. I probably would have bled to death from the scar on my left side if I hadn't used that junk. Gonna have to ask dad what's in it some time." Dib said, pondering the blue goo thoughtfully for a moment.
"You just randomly opened a jar of blue stuff and rubbed it onto a gaping flesh wound?" Gaz asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I was kinda desperate at the time. I had lost a lot of blood by the time I got home." Dib said, defensively. "Whatever it was helped stop the bleeding, though."
"Where were me and dad at the time?"
"I think you were off avoiding me like the plague. Who knows where dad is. I don't know where he is right now." Dib said.
"Ahh."
"For the most part, that scar doesn't bother me. Only when I'm taking a shower." Explained Dib.
"Why in the shower?"
"I dunno. The water hitting the scar feels strange, though. Not strange in the good way, either."
"Feeling strange has a good side?"
"It does."
"...You're an idiot." Declared Gaz.
"I am not." Pouted Dib.
"Then explain what you mean."
Dib paused, then tilted his head to one side so as to get a better view of Gaz's head. "...THIS is strange good. Strange bad would be floating brains shooting lasers at people."
"This?" Gaz asked, turning her head enough to make eye contact with her brother. "What do you mean 'this'?"
"This! Whatever happened between us ever since last night. Doesn't it seem...weird to you?" Dib asked.
"Yeah."
"Well, that's what I mean, then!" Dib then sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose with his free hand. "What did happen between us last night, anyway?"
"I dunno." Gaz said, laying her head back onto Dib's shoulder.
"I like this better..." Dib said, tentatively. "It's much nicer than worrying about being smashed in the head with some random, blunt object."
"But that was so fun..." Gaz protested through a yawn.
"Yeah, loads of fun." Dib grumpled. "You gave me one of those scars, you know. There's one just above my belly button. It's pretty tiny, but it's there. I got it when I was seven. Do you remember?"
Gaz stiffened slightly, but murmured, "Was that when I replaced the stuffing in your old Bigfoot doll with knives?"
"Yes. Yes it was." Dib said, scowling slightly at the memory. He had just gotten home from a hard day of getting bullied at skool... He had promptly gone up to his room, hopped on his bed, and gave his doll a squeeze. He had then been pierced by one of the knives that had been sticking out at a weird angle.
"Sorry."
Dib blinked. "Ehwha?"
"I said I'm sorry." Gaz said, her voice quieter than normal.
"...Gaz, has someone poisoned you or something?" Dib asked, all of the confusion in his brain starting to reach a boiling point. "I mean, just last week you were tripping me down the stairs and pushing me into the yard with that horrible, grey dog that likes using my head as a chew-toy..."
"Things change." Gaz said, simply. "Now be quiet. I'm tired. Let's go back to sleep."
With that, Gaz's hand moved down from Dib's neck, her fingers lightly curling around her brother's shoulder. Dib let out a quiet sigh, his brow furrowed. He was never going to figure out what was going on. He just had that sort of feeling about the situation. It was something that would probably pass as quickly and suddenly as it had arrived.
Feeling that he might as well enjoy the situation while it lasted, Dib wrapped his left arm around Gaz and pulled her closer, leaning his head over and against hers. Letting his eyes slip shut, Dib allowed himself to be pulled once more into dreams. At least there he didn't have to worry himself about whether or not fate was pulling a fast one on him.
oOoOoOoOoOo
When Gaz next opened her eyes, it was to find that she didn't have her nice, snuggly Dib-pillow next to her anymore.
"Dib?" She mumbled groggily, lifting her head and glancing around the darkened room. But Dib was nowhere to be seen. With an annoyed sigh, Gaz sat up and wiped the sleep from her eyes, swinging her legs over the side of the bed. It wasn't quite dark out yet, but it was quickly getting there. Only a faint trickle of light filtered in through Dib's black curtains.
Gaz made her way out of the bedroom and was immediately hit by the unmistakable smell of pizza. That was more than enough to get her moving faster. She quickly descended the stairs and rushed into the kitchen. Dib was over by the cupboards, getting a pair of plates down. When he turned around, he blinked in surprise.
"Finally decided to wake up?" He asked, grinning crookedly as he made his way back over to the table. A large Bloaty's Pizza box had been placed there, its top opened up. "I didn't feel like making dinner, so I figured I'd do the next best thing."
"You... made a Bloaty's delivery boy get out in this weather?" Gaz asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well, I figured I kinda owed it to you. I did kinda screw up the last trip to the pizza place, after all." Dib said, setting the plates down and pulling his chair out. "Boy, he seemed pretty mad at me. Can't imagine why."
"...That's incredibly mean of you." Gaz observed, sitting down and pulling out a couple of slices. "When did you get a mean streak?"
"Same time you got a nice streak?" Dib asked. He was then forced to dodge a well-aimed pepperoni. "Okay, okay... Really, I don't know. I was just feeling really lazy after that nap. He made it here in record time, though. I'm still trying to work out how."
"Flamethrower?" Gaz suggested.
"He would've used it on me if he had one." Dib said, taking a large bite out of a slice. Around it, he added, "Thought he was gonna punch me out. I've done enough sleeping lately."
"Yeah, you have. But I guess if your laziness equals Bloaty's pizza, it's alright." Gaz said, finishing up her first slice and starting on a second.
"It's large enough to last tonight and tomorrow. Figured I'd play it safe and get the biggest pizza they made. For the price they charged, that stupid delivery boy should have praised me for my choice and given me an extra large." Dib said, shaking his head.
"Mmm. Leftover pizza." Gaz said.
"Always better on the second day. I don't quite get that, either." Dib agreed.
"Mysterious mysteries?" Offered Gaz. This time she had to dodge a pepperoni.
The two continued to chat about random things as they polished off half the pizza. Dib closed the box and slid it into the fridge before waddling into the living room to join Gaz on the couch. She had already turned on her new game system and was settling in for what looked to be a long session of bloody vampire piggie slaying.
Dib let his head tilt back, idly rubbing his stomach. He really shouldn't have eaten that last slice. But it was all so greasy and delicious. And for the ludicrous price he had to pay for it, he was damn well going to eat his fill! It had eaten through another small chunk of his saved-up money, but he didn't really care.
Really, Dib couldn't help all the sleeping he had done lately. It was a combination of his last fight's after-effects combined with the dreary weather. He wasn't good at videogames, so he couldn't really join Gaz in the exploding of pig demons, either. The blizzard had knocked his internet provider out, so at best, he could re-sort his various paranormal documents. And that just didn't seem worth it at the moment. He would rather sit in relative silence and watch his sister enjoy her Xmas present.
Every so often, Dib would hear her mutter darkly under her breath as she played. Usually after a random, powerful monster popped out of the woodwork to kill her character. Still, she was pretty good, considering she had never played the game before.
"Hey, Gaz?" Dib murmured awhile later after Gaz finished off one of the game's boss characters.
"Mm?"
"Why don't you open your eyes more often?"
Gaz raised an eyebrow and looked aside at Dib. "What?"
"What? It's a fair question. I'm just curious." Dib said.
"Why?"
"Why?" Dib repeated.
"Very good, Dib. You make a fine echo. Now answer the question." Gaz said, pausing the game and making as if to sort her character's inventory of items.
"Why am I curious? Um..." Dib bit down on his lower lip. This was definitely not going how he wanted it to. On one hand, he could try being honest. Given how Gaz had been acting lately, she might just not throw him into a pot of scalding-hot water if he was truthful with her. "I dunno. I just... think your eyes are pretty. That's all."
Gaz's fingers stopped working the buttons on the controller. Looking back over at Dib, Gaz stared at him for a moment. He looked quite nervous and seemed really tense. It was as if he were anticipating the need to escape at the drop of a hat.
"My eyes aren't pretty." Gaz finally replied.
"They are." Dib muttered in quiet tones.
"No, they aren't. They're awful and brownish and hideous." Gaz said.
Feeling this was going to develop into one of those 'am not-are too' fights, Dib sighed and shook his head slowly. "Well, for what it's worth, I think they're pretty. I don't care what anyone else thinks about them."
"Not even me?"
"Not even you."
Gaz unpaused the game and resumed playing, leaving Dib in a silence broken every few seconds by loud, dying squeals.
Dib shut his eyes and once more leaned his head back against the couch. Well, it hadn't gone as horribly as it could have. But it didn't turn out the way he was hoping it would, either. Not that he really had a clear idea of what he was hoping to expect, really. It was Gaz he had been trying to compliment, after all. He suspected that Gaz got as many compliments as he got invitations to parties.
Lost in thought, Dib jumped when something came in contact with his cheek. Eyes snapping open, Dib's head whirled to the side. But Gaz still seemed engrossed in the game. Raising a hand to his cheek, Dib briefly pondered what he had felt. It had almost felt like a kiss... But having never been kissed before, he wasn't entirely sure. Still... Something had come in contact with his cheek.
"Gaz, did you...?" Dib began. He was cut off almost immediately.
"Quiet! I'm near the lair of the Asploding Wrestleman. He controls the demon piggies!" Gaz hissed out.
Dib's brow creased. He stared at Gaz for awhile longer, ignoring the sounds from the game. From what he could tell, Gaz's face was just a bit rosier than normal, especially in the cheeks. There was some unreadable expression on her face, and her mouth seemed to be fighting with itself on how to appear. One minute, a ghost of a smile would appear, only to be bitten back to a tight-lipped, indifferent look.
Gaz, Dib decided, was very weird. And very fast. And probably very full. Maybe a little sleepy. Possibly with a stomachache. Dib knew he had one setting in. But he didn't want to go back to sleep! He had just gotten back up a little over an hour ago. Too much sleep was almost as bad as not enough of it.
Groaning as too many thoughts tried to push their way around inside of his morbidly-large head, Dib shut his eyes, let his body go slack, and decided that a very short nap would be better than trying to sort everything out on a painfully full stomach. And the minute he woke back up, it was going to be a mad dash to find the disgustingly-chalky antacids.
oOoOoOoOoOo
Author's Notes: Yay for references to stuff. Daggers is now half done. Chapter 3 finds our couple still stuck indoors. But take heart, those of you who might be sick of them sleeping - chapter 4 will involve an awful, hideous snowball fight. Oh, and apologies in advance for the next chapter. I told myself I wasn't going to include Zim. But I figured...as long as it was brief and in flashback, it couldn't hurt. Could it?
FFN needs more DAGR fics. I need more DAGR fluff!