Dib kicked Tak's ship with anger rivaling that of his own sister; having fail after fail after fail of trials he had had enough. Zim had left a week ago, meaning the distance he would have to make up grew with every passing second let alone day. Whilst Dib was cussing profusely under his breath from the pain in his foot, the garage door was thrown open by Gaz. Her shadow only emphasized how late he had been working, looming deeper into the space with the dying light of the sun setting.
"Dib, dinner, now." She pivoted and left, the door ajar in a silent echo of her command. Dib set down his tools, removing the torch mask first, and locked the garage behind him as he rushed to the back door. Gaz was at the table when he made his way over to the sink.
"Why do you keep working on that stupid ship?" Gaz uncharacteristically piped up, shocking Dib only for a moment; he was still thinking about final tests he could try and fix.
"Why do you care?" He really meant the question, turning from the towel he was drying his hands with to see his sister properly. She sat in silence, clearly choosing her next words carefully as Dadbot made his way over to make them… food.
"The noise messes up my focus." The reply lingered between them as Dib took his place next to the head of the table that sat empty. Dib couldn't reply in fear of Gaz whacking him, but the garage was not only detached from the house but sound proof because the neighbors used to complain about all the experiments' noises. So they sat in silence, refusing to drive a scalpel into the moment; since both were untrained in the science of emotional conversation.
"It's the last Friday of the month…" Gaz shifted her gaze from the beef on her plate to the dust replacing their father. Dib couldn't bare to do the same, lights sparking under the basement door were visible from where he was already. And from there they finished their meals and departed the kitchen separately; Dib to his room and Gaz to the couch.
Upon reaching his room Dib saw that night had finally snuffed out the sun. Well, more accurately he couldn't see. He gingerly let his hand roam on his bedroom wall until the light switch flicked up between his fingers; the sudden light caused Dib to cringe as he closed his door and made for his few lamps for a dimmer option. Once he had them on, he flicked off the main light, letting the softer wattage of light caress the corners of his room and leaving a few dark spots here and there. His corkboard by the computer was Dib's first destination from the light source, examining what notes and scraps of evidence he had. Not enough for a public release or even for the Swollen Eyeball but- speaking of the paranormal group, when was the last time he was in touch? Dib turned to face the computer, turning it on and clicking through a few files, folders, webpages and whatnots that he left open as a "maze-like ruse;" When he got to where he needed, the icon took over his screen for a few moments before revealing the network.
Dib muddled around, talked to some associates who actually believed the Zim endeavors, listened for updates of activity I his area and even neighboring areas. But most importantly he asked around for engineering tips for foreign technology, sadly most of the answers he had were people assuming he was talking about across the globe not across the stars.
"Ughhhh. I guess I'm still on my own here," the investigator muttered as the icon once again took his screen before returning to his normal web pages and other ridiculousness of that nature. Spinning the chair he ended up in, Dib faced the cork-board again. The most recent notes he added where from this morning, hypothesizes and questions about irken technology and Tak's ship as a 'custom' item from that range. Anger flared up I him, at what he couldn't decide out of the many things he had to be angry about; so he went with the easiest option.
"Stupid Zim, and G.I.R. and and Tak for having a custom ship. But mostly you ZIM for LEAVING." the cork-board shuttered as Dib his head while naming the objects of his hate, but lost momentum after he hit the corner of the board.
"Ghah!" Dib's own cry shook himself out of rage and into some twisted and toxic sense of self-pity. Cradling the shallow cut on his forehead, Dib slinked into the bathroom and cleaned it, making sure the bandage covered it. After checking that no one was in the hall, Dib returned to his room, flopping onto the bed with a soft 'oof.' He was too tired from today's work to do much more than sloppily kick off his boots, thud… thud, and wander off as the stars filled his window.
Why are you trying to chase him down anyway? It's better to just accept the victory anyway. Shaking his head, Dib tried to answer himself but, he didn't know why he was trying. Maybe it was because he wanted to destroy the alien himself, maybe it's an excuse to get out of this place, or to show his dad that he was right while also pleasing him with science, maybe, maybe… he just didn't know anymore.
You miss him. NO. Dib did not miss that little green and hot pink gremlin that changed everything. He was a menace and the world benefits from his absence…
Without him, there's nothing definite down here anymore. You're just chasing leads, hopes, and not even the Swollen Eyeball has anything to top what you have to chase. Dib, sprawled on his back in his signature blue shirt (that he re-bought because he outgrew the old one) and trench coat, cowlick askew on the sheets (and somehow starting to grow what looks like another spike?) wondering, was he really going to go through with this?