Disclaimer: IZ does not belong to me.

When Dib had first seen the strange thing, it had been through Zim's front window. The robot had been wearing a green dog disguise, which didn't make sense because it was never outside, anyways. Then, it had shed it's skin, revealing a gray robot with glowing blue eyes. The thing was called 'Gir' and, according to Zim's 'Paternal Unit', it was defective. That had been the only time Dib had seen the odd robot.

Well, until today, that is.

Large eyes blinked as Zim stood in front of him, holding a leash with that same green dog at the other end. It was sticking it's tongue out stupidly and staring up at him, "Uh, Zim? Why did you bring your... pet?"

"Pet isn't the word I'd used," Zim responded, "My Parental Units told me to get rid of Gir for the day. I could only oblige. I mean, they're my parents. What else was I supposed to do?"

"So... you brought him with you?"

Zim rolled his eyes, "Would you rather I leave him be in the park? Yeah, that will definitely go over well."

"Touche," Dib acknowledged, "So what are we gonna do with him?"

"How should I know?" Zim looked down to Gir, who was scratching himself.

Finally, after a while of listening to them bicker, Gir stated loudly, "I'm hungry! Mastah, can we go get food?"

Dib jumped, startled. He had known the 'dog' could talk, but hearing it up close was really something different. His voice kind of had an electronic edge, but was much more juvenile than Dib would have guessed. Then again, the last time he'd heard him talk was months ago, and even then he hadn't been paying much attention to the dog.

Yes, because when you discover a family of aliens hiding in your town from some intergalactic war, the thing you focus on is their pet dog/robot.

"Uh... there's a food stand not far from here. I'm sure it'll have SOMETHING you're robot likes," Dib couldn't stop staring at it, imagining how he knew Gir looked without the green dog disguise.

"Do they have WAFFLES?" Gir asked.

Dib blinked, wondering whether he had heard right, "Um, no."

The green menace started screaming. A loud, piercing sound that made Dib cover his ears and Zim grab at where he knew the alien's lekku were hidden. Gir's scream was sharp, high-pitched, and steady. If he had to guess, Dib would say it could last for several hours.

"ALRIGHT! We'll go somewhere else for waffles!" Dib managed to shout above the screaming. Gir suddenly stopped, resuming his stupid grin.

"YAY! I like waffles," Gir stated in triumph. The human turned and stared blankly at Zim.

"What did you expect?" The Irken asked, "I built him out of broken parts and garbage."

After another quick debate, they decided Dib should go in and get the waffles, while Zim stayed outside with Gir. The human went in and managed to stand in line for almost three minutes before he heard a scream coming from outside. An all too familiar one. Forgetting the waffles, he ran outside.

When he found Zim, he was lying on the ground, dirt covered with his wig slightly askew. Dib couldn't help it, the sight made him burst out laughing. The Irken glared before picking himself up and brushing himself off, "Well, I'm glad I could provide your daily amusement. In the meanwhile, Gir is probably somewhere in the city causing mayhem, destroying property, and endangering innocent people."

The mere thought was enough to make Dib stop laughing.

"So?" Zim pressed, "What are we gonna do?"

"We? He's your robot!" Dib snapped back.

"Fine," Dib tossed a look of confusion at the Irken, "Then I'll just go home and ask my parents for help. I'm sure-" He didn't even need to finish his sentence. Dib was already dragging him down the street, calling out for Gir.

To say they didn't have a lot of luck was putting it mildly. Though people had seen Gir, they didn't know where he went or which direction to go in. Most were just scattered sightings and glances that didn't mean anything anyway. For all they know, the people they had asked hadn't really seen the robotic pet.

The biggest clue they got came from a hobo in an alleyway. He saw them walking by and asked, "Hey, kids, ya got any money?"

The human boy went on guard. He had been taught not to associate with people like this. Zim, however, hadn't been taught to avoid strangers and responded, "No, we don't have any monies," One of Dib's eyebrow raised. Monies? "We're looking for my dog. Small; green; a little odd; possibly talking. Ya seen him?"

The hobo struggled to remember, "I dunno, my memories a bit hazy. If I had some monetary encouragement, however..."

Dib saw where this was going, and tossed the hobo his watch. The smelly old man grinned, stating, "Now I remember. Saw a green puppy with his tongue sticking out stupidly running towards Central Park," He eyed the boys, debating whether or not they could be of anymore use to him, "Hey, green kid, come here..."

Zim began to approach him. Dib, having been taught about these dangers, pulled a bar of soap out of his pocket, yelling, "Bad hobo! Bad! Go away!" The hobo hissed like a cat and ran off to try to solicit money from more naive children.

He then turned to his friend, "Stay away from those kinds of people. They're dangerous."

"Kay," Zim responded, not really committing to it.

The children ran to Central Park, calling out Gir's name. They didn't stop, minus one point where Zim had mistaken a cat for Gir and chased after it. That had ended with Zim getting clawed in the face. Dib chased off the cat with a spray bottle. Moments later, they were back on Gir's trail.

They ended up finding the troublesome robot at the park. Zim and Dib were walking through it when they heard a male voice screaming. The disguised pinkish eyes of Zim and Hazel eyes of Dib met, as they both knew what the screaming was probably about.

The man had been barbequing when Gir had tackled him, demanding food. The freaked out man cried out, trying to whack Gir off with his spatula, while his family nearby was screaming, huddled together on top of a picnic table. Zim ran up to the dog, shouting, "Bad Gir! Bad! You should know better than that!" Upon seeing that this had no effect, he turned to the man, "Sir, just give him some meat! He'll leave you alone!"

"And waste one of my prime cuts on THAT mutt?" The man snorted, ignoring Zim's glare, "No way!"

Zim sighed, then in the strictest, most emotionless voice Dib had ever heard, shouted, "GIR! FRONT AND CENTER, RIGHT NOW!"

The dog stopped, jumping in front of Zim and saluting, "Sir, yes, sir!"

The man blinked, then returned to grilling as though nothing had happened. The sight sickened Dib slightly. Zim had once told him how stupid he thought most humans were -stating, of course, that Dib was an exception- and found it hard not to disagree with the statement. Of course, he'd never let Zim know this.

He could picture the victory smirk on the alien's face if he ever told him. Nope, definitely not happening.

By the time they'd found Gir, fed him waffles to keep him from exploding, and convinced Gir to let them reattach his leash, it was sunset. Zim had to go home.

The two saw each other off as usual. Zim frowned at the ground, "Sorry today was so messed up. Now you see why I never bring Gir around."

"Hey, it's not a problem," Dib smiled kindly, "Besides, your parents told you to take him, remember?"

The mention of Zim's parents brought the alien down, "Man, they're gonna kill me."

"How would they even know?" Dib objected.

"My father -err, Paternal Unit- has a way of knowing everything," He sighed, "I am gonna be in SO much trouble. Don't be surprised if you don't see me tomorrow."

"It won't be that bad," Dib shook his head, "Besides, your mom seems nice. She'll probably keep him from hurting you."

"I hope so," Zim then smiled, "It was nice hanging out with you!"

"You too. Good luck at home!"

"Bye!" Dib watched the alien bound off, with that childish smile on his green face. The revelation shook him slightly. No matter how grown up he seemed, Zim was still a child, younger than he was. He was afraid of getting in trouble, took care of a pet, and enjoyed the simple things in life. In some ways, Dib was more mature than the young Irken. The memory of his tear-stained face came into view.

Of course, this only served to remind the boy that Zim needed him as much as he needed Zim. It was that simple.

So, that ended well. This was mostly just a humor/friendship fluff chapter. The plot (Le gasp! There actually is one!) will start soon enough, I promise!

I'd like to thank the readers and (especially) the reviewers for supporting this story, which is way different from the kind I usually do. So, uh, hope you enjoyed this.