Hello once again. Let's see if I can't keep up the good work. Enjoy!
"THIS IS NOT FUNNY GAZ! STOP LAUGHING!" Dib screamed towards the kitchen, as the bellowing laughter from his sister could be heard echoing through the house, all the way to the front door. To no one's surprise, Gaz didn't stop laughing. Very much to Dib's dismay.
"What's wrong with the Dib-sister?" Zim nonchalantly questioned, peeking inside the house from behind Dib. Almost instinctively, Dib turned back to face Zim and used his entire body to block the alien's view into his home. He quickly looked him up and down and saw his iconic disguise, which is to say his black-haired wig and contacts with the light purple iris. And of course, the same alien uniform he has worn every single day since Dib met him. He made a sound of disgust in his throat, still not fathoming how people still hadn't realized that Zim was an alien, especially with such a lousy disguise.
Zim must have picked up on Dib's sound, as he crossed his arms with an offended expression.
"What's your problem, Dib-slug."
"What's my-WHATS YOUR PROBLEM?!" Dib yelled at Zim, who seemed unfazed by his outburst. He must have realized he had yelled a little bit louder than he had wanted to, for Dib started looking around the neighborhood. More than several of his neighbors stood either on the sidewalk or in their backyard. A man walking with a dog looked at Dib with the same judging look as the neighbors, as if he had any say in the matter. Dib felt a wave of embarrassment roll through him, making him bend down a bit as if hoping he could hide away from their stare. Incidentally, he now stood at direct eye level with Zim, who apparently couldn't sense the judging stares from behind him. Which Dib was rather relieved about.
"What are you doing here, Zim?"
"Oh, just accompanying my fellow classmate to skool! That's a perfectly normal human thing to do, isn't it?" Zim asked, with a dubious smirk forming across his face.
"Not that I have seen you do that, Dib. But then again, you're already a sad excuse of a human creature, so it's not like anyone would want to anyway. ISN'T THAT RIGHT, MY FELLOW HUMAN SLUGS?!" He yelled to the people behind him, who replied to his question with nods. Dib felt his stomach turn.
Of course, he noticed.
"Just tell me what you're planning Space-boy. Now, so I can get this over with," Dib said, clenching his teeth together. He wasn't in the mood to deal with Zim's antics. Not that he ever was, but he had just spent his morning trying to convince Gaz to forget her stupid theories, and now Zim had come and sorely ruined any chance of that. So he felt entitled to be more short-tempered than usual.
"Oh, but that's the genius part, insolent-Dib," Zim replied with his smirk turning more crooked and evil, tapping the tips of his claws together, small chuckles escaping his mouth. Dib could already tell that this was going to be a long day.
"You see, I have noticed your several, pitiful attempts at trying to control Zim, with your begging, and pitying-"
"Dude, first of all, that was literally only last night, and second of all, I did not beg, and I did-"
"SHUT YOUR MOUTH HOLE ZIM IS TALKING! *Ahem*...And now, my dear Dib, you must understand that I can't let you go unpunished."
"Can't you now?" Dib sarcastically asked, now leaning against the door frame, having given up any hope of coming to skool on time.
"No, I can't. Therefore, I have come up with a punishment, so it suits your crime. And for that punishment…I have thought of the most stupid…and lazy plan…THAT ZIM HAS EVER CONJURED!" Zim said, raising his arms in the air, laughing to no one but himself. His evil smirk then turned into something that resembles a child waiting to get their present. He was waiting for a look of horror to erupt across The-Dib's face, expecting it to come any minute now. So he waited. Waited a little bit longer. A bit longer. Just a little more.
Dib, on the other hand, was not as terrified of his plan as Zim had hoped. Instead, the human just looked at him with a raised eyebrow, with the sheer amount of how unimpressed he was, counting in the millions. Zim's face turned blank, and he quickly turned around.
"That sounded much more impressive in Zim's head." He whispered to himself, nervously biting into his claws, with Dib still behind him with the same bored expression.
"So…can you tell me your plan now?"
Zim let out a little *ick* sound, before turning back to Dib, his voice and movement now filled with confidence, as if trying to compensate for his lacking plan.
"If you so truly wish to hear your horrible punishment, then Zim will leave you wondering no longer! Zim's punishment for you will be…" He then leaned over to Dib's ear, who slightly flinched at Zim's sudden movement towards him.
"Zim will torment you all day!" He whispered into Dib's ear, before leaning back, with an evil grin. Dib looked at him confused, before chuckling.
"So you're just going to do what you already have been doing for all these years, is that correct?"
"Oh, I don't think you understand the severity of Zim's punishment-" Zim answered with the same evil grin.
"-I will be tormenting you, but not just when we're in skool-"
Dib's bored look suddenly vanished and was replaced with a shocked expression.
"-Zim will be tormenting you from now, right till the end of this planet's rotation." Zim continued, pointing down in the ground affirmingly.
Dib's shocked expression then turned into one of utter horror.
"And finally, I won't let you out of my sight…You will be forced to stay with Zim, so you can't escape your punishment." He said the last part a bit quickly and squinted one eye as if wanting to capture most efficiently Dib's screams of horror. Speaking of Dib's screams of horror;
"NnnnnNNNNNNooooo0000000OOOOOOOOO!" Dib screamed into the sky, as he fell on his knees in front of Zim, shaking his fists in the air.
"WHAT CRUEL GOD WOULD ALLOW THIS TO HAPPEN?!" Dib continued to scream. Zim stood and laughed maniacally, having the time of his life. He then grabbed Dib's head with both hands and pushed his face right in front of his.
"YES, SUFFER THE WRATH OF THE MIGHTY ZIM!" He yelled directly into his face. He then let go, and continued laughing, while standing with a pose of victory. As soon as he had let go of Dib's giant head, The-Dib had fallen face front into the pavement, now reduced to a sobbing mess. The sound of pictures being taken could be heard from a window somewhere in the Membrane house.
This was everything Zim had wanted. Dib humiliated. Dib crying. Dib suffering. He couldn't have asked for anything better. This would be one of the happiest moments in his life, from now, to the day of his tragic death. And would probably be one of Dib's worst. Yes, he was currently experiencing suffering greater than he had ever experienced, just as he had deserved. But soon Zim's laughter started dying down and turned to chuckles. Then even those chuckles turned into awkward coughs. Yet the human still laid on the ground, still sobbing. Dib was suffering a little… too much.
"Eh, what's wrong with you, you pathetic worm-human?"
No response, only the same sound of continued sobbing. Zim was starting to feel a deep sense of being humiliated.
"Come on, it's not that bad Dib-thing! You just have to spend the rest of this planet's rotation together with me! With Zim!" He exclaimed, trying desperately to frame his plan as a positive thing, and not the world-ending punishment he had wanted it to be.
The sobbing suddenly turned very violent, and now it was Zim's turn to get judging stares from Dib's neighbors. He looked around, feeling the same embarrassment as Dib had done before.
"Seriously Dib-stink, you should be honored! It's not every day that Zim follows along with a worthless human. So get up and start thanking me!" He said, trying to make it sound as casual as possible. In response, Dib's sobbing would now periodically be followed by wheezing and heavy breathing. Then a thought struck Zim. He took a few steps around the human on the ground, and eyed him suspiciously, before returning to his original spot. A serious expression covered his face, and he started standing straight, his chin in the air, and arms crossed once again.
"You're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"
The sobbing and breathing suddenly stopped and for a moment, only the sound of birds could be heard.
"...No?" Dib's muffled voice cautiously replied.
Zim in turn let out a short sigh, before crouching down and jumping high into the air. Dib, with his face in the ground and all, didn't see Zim jumping, and certainly did not see Zim plunging down towards him, elbow first, aiming straight for his spine. But he sure did feel the impact.
Whether it was all the times that Zim had beaten him up, or if his dad had injected him with something after he kept coming home covered in bruises and injuries, Dib had become surprisingly durable. Because even though it felt like his spine had been broken in two, it still seemed to be intact. Well, he could at least still walk.
He and Zim were walking down the road, towards their hi skool. Together. Something that rarely happens, and what was even rarer, was that they were walking in silence. Dib gave Zim a glare that could burn through steel, but the alien seemed rather content with himself, and this entire situation. Which still baffled the human.
I still don't get it. it just doesn't make any sense! Zim has done way worse for something less than just asking him to wait with one of his plans. For crying out loud, he simulated my perfect life, and took it away from me again, just to make me admit I had thrown a muffin at him! So why this? Why did he decide that staying close to me was the worst thing he could do to me?
Dib looked back to where he was walking. He tried placing his hand on his back as if trying to provide it some support. He quickly took it back, as a surge of pain spread through him. Dib couldn't help but let out a grunt of pain, which didn't go unnoticed by the Invader.
"Heh."
It was quick, but Dib still heard it and snapped his head to his left, right back at looking at Zim with the same glare. Zim still looked the same, but Dib could swear that he was smirking. With a tired sigh, Dib looked away again, deciding it would be best if he just ignored him.
It doesn't matter. This is Zim after all. He's probably going to get bored by this eventually. He always does. It's not like he's actually going to stick with me for the rest of the day…right?
"Hey, Dib-thing?" Zim had asked fifty different times by then, each with slight variation, in either tone or words. Dib was starting to wonder if Zim could ever run out of ways to say the same thing.
The answer to his question was much more unforgiving than he had hoped, as he sat in the classroom, with Zim for some reason sitting next to him. It wasn't even his seat. Dib was looking down on the assignment, trying his best to concentrate with Zim right by his ear. And of course, the teacher had walked out of the classroom to do something else than teaching. That left no one to stop Zim from bothering the whole class. Except for Dib of course.
He still couldn't tell if his situation in skool had gotten better, but he was sure that it hadn't gotten worse. Probably. In his old skool, Dib had been used to being bullied, but when he reached hi-skool something changed. It was after he had just gotten into a fight with a bully. If there was one positive thing that Dib gained from fighting Zim for years all those years, then it was that Dib had managed to pick up a few fighting skills. He had noticed that he and Zim had gotten a lot more physical in their fights, but he just put it down to him getting older. But it seemed the reason was that Dib had learned to fight. Something that became very apparent, as he had completely beaten the bully to a pulp.
His dad had to pull a few strings to keep him in the hi skool, but soon enough Dib was back again. He then learned that he had been promoted from the 'Insane Kid', into the 'Psycho Kid'. It didn't change how the other students acted around him, but it at least kept the bullies off his back. Which became very useful, as he needed his full attention to be centered around Zim. Because he had gotten nearly the same reputation. But instead, he was just the 'Green Psycho Kid'. They weren't very creative at his skool. But it didn't really matter. It wasn't like either of them was going to make any friends anyway. So they just dealt with each other, with the rest of the skool looking on in horror, waiting to see who would snap first and kill the other. But as with all things after enough time, it got boring. Soon enough, people stopped being scared and were just annoyed by the ordeal. The only thing that kept them from going insane was that they all suffered together. Students and teachers alike. Which was probably why the teacher had left in the first place.
"Dib?"
"Dib-thing?"
"Dib-slug?"
"Dib-worm?"
"Hey?"
"Hey, Dib?"
"HEY!"
"HEY!"
"HEY, DIB!?"
"HEY, DIB!?"
"HEY, DIB!?"
"HEY, DIB!?
"Hey, Diiiiiiiiiiiib-thiiiiiiiiiing…?"
"..."
"..."
For a moment, there seemed to finally be peace and the rest of the students let out a collective sigh of relief.
"DIB-THING!" Zim suddenly screamed directly into Dib's ear, whose body nearly started shaking from all the ringing in his head.
"FOR GOD'S SAKE DIB, JUST ANSWER HIM ALREADY!" Someone from behind the classroom yelled. Dib broke in half the pencil he was holding and violently turned around, intentionally in the opposite direction that Zim was sitting, so he wouldn't have to look at his smug face.
"WHO SAID?!" Dib yelled back at the voice. But all he was met by was the annoyed, and stern-looking faces of his fellow classmates, all looking at him as if this was all his fault. He looked around between them, trying to find who had yelled at him. When he didn't find the offender, he threw his hands in the air.
"FINE!"
He turned to face Zim who was leaning over the edge of his desk, towards Dib's desk, with the smug expression that Dib was expecting.
"WHAT IS IT?!"
"Your head is big." Zim replied, all easy going as if he hadn't just been saying 'hey Dib' for nearly ten minutes straight at that point. He then fell back in his chair and started doodling something on his paper, leaving Dib insulted, and with a flabbergasted expression. Around the classroom laughter erupted and lasted for a few seconds, before dying out, appreciating the newfound silence in the room. Dib could still hear a few girls whispering in the back of the class before their words turned into giggling. He didn't know what they were talking about, and neither did he care. He turned back to Zim and managed to capture his attention.
"Tell me, Zim, why are you sitting in that seat?"
Zim looked at him with a casual smile, as if he knew that would make Dib madder.
"Well, because this is the closest seat to the Dib-Beast."
"But that's Clancy's seat" Dib explained with a cold voice, something he had learned from watching a few crime thrillers. Zim's eyes widened, before looking around his table and under his chair, before facing Dib with an obnoxious grin.
"It seems your assessment is correct Dib-stink. But you see, Clamcy is sick today, so I'm sure he doesn't mind."
"Oh really? Sick from what, Zim?"
"Poison," Zim replied, before turning his attention back to his doodling. Dib looked at him for a bit, before turning away, and letting his thoughts wander around in his head. He didn't think about poor Clancy, but instead the things that Gaz had said. For some reason, her words were stuck in his head and Zim's behavior didn't help one bit with putting his worries to rest.
Could it be that Gaz was right? That Zim is acting differently around me for…some reason? But that would be insane! Why would he possibly act differently towards me? That would imply that there is some part of him that sees me differently than he sees other people. I am his nemesis, but of course, he still sees me as nothing more than a stupid human, that will soon be a slave for his alien empire, and will soon cower under his boot…Doesn't he? Then why would he be doing all this, without causing me any bodily harm? The Zim I know wouldn't have hesitated to do something more violent... Okay, I can't stand this anymore, I have to try and figure out if something is going on with him, or else I'm actually going to go insane. But that should be the easy part, right? I haven't dedicated all these years to exposing Zim, if not to also try and understand what's going on inside that maniac's head.
With a new goal in mind, and with determination, he looked inside his backpack and picked up a blank piece of paper. With the broken pencil, he started to write down a list of Zim's new behavior and some other notes. As they continued with the day, Zim continued hounding Dib. The only thing keeping him from absolutely going mental was his notes. He knew that Zim would notice them at some point, so had to hurry. He hid them between his working papers, secretly scribbling down anything he thought could be useful.
They were sitting in class again and were put in groups to work on another assignment. To everyone's dismay, Zim had insisted to be with Dib. But what was most surprising to them was that Dib didn't object. They all looked in shock, as Zim walked over and sat next to Dib, with not a single complaint leaving Dib's lips. But that didn't mean Dib was going to work with Zim. He would never go so far. So there they sat, with Zim babbling on about something that Dib was tuning out. Instead, he was writing in his notes.
"-wouldn't you agree, Dib-stink?"
'Zim is still showing no signs of adverting his attention from me, and he seems completely dedicated to keeping close to me.'
"Hey, Dib-thing, I'm talking to you."
'Besides that, there have also been other signs of his changed behavior towards me.'
"Hey! Zim is talking. Listen to me."
'He also seems agitated whenever I decide to ignore his pleads for attention.'
"I said that Zim is talking! You better start listening, or else I will-"
'...It seems I might need more testing. I will continue ignoring him.'
"Dib. If you're ignoring me, I swear by the Tallest-"
'Still need more testing.'
"DIB-FILTH YOU BETTER ANSWER ME RIGHT NOW-"
'I think I'm starting to enjoy this. This might become a valuable tactic for the future.'
"ANSWER ME! AS YOUR FUTURE OVERLORD I DEMAND-"
'Okay I might need to answer him soon, he's starting to throw around chairs.'
"ZIM WILL NOT BE IGNORED DO YOU UNDERSTAND! DO YOU HEAR ME! ZIM WILL NOT BE-"
'And now he just threw someone out of the window. Note to self, don't ignore Zim for too long. Will start acting violently.'
The day neared its end, and it seemed that even Zim was starting to get tired from bothering Dib. But the human knew that it wouldn't last forever. So he was going to use the opportunity, while he still had it. He was waiting for something to happen. He had gathered more than enough notes to go through, but he just needed one more thing. Just the last thing, to convince him that it wasn't all a waste of time. To convince himself.
Even though he had spent the day documenting all the things that could tell Dib something about Zim's behavior, there still was a part of him that wanted to throw it all away. It wasn't because he didn't think that there was anything there. But because he was scared of what he might find.
Then a ball of paper flew from somewhere in the class and slowly made its way towards Zim's head. And sure enough, it soon made contact.
Bingo. Dib thought to himself. This is perfect.
Dib patiently waited for Zim's reaction, as what had just occurred slowly made its way through the alien's nervous system, finally reaching his brain. He then jumped up on his chair and pointed across the room.
"WHO THREW THAT AT ZIM! REVEAL YOURSELF, AND I MIGHT CONSIDER SPARING YOUR PITIFUL LIFE, EARTH-WORM!"
He continued pointing around at the other students, grinding his teeth together, looking both highly offended and enraged. As no culprit came forth, Zim was forced to sit down, grumbling to himself, probably about how they were all going to pay and all that jazz. Dib took the chance and fumbled around his table for the nearest piece of paper. He took the first paper he could get his hands on and didn't even look as he crumbled it into a crude ball. His gaze was still fixated on Zim, paying close attention to the alien's body language, and how he was reacting to the situation. When Zim finally seemed to settle down from his outburst, Dib aimed for his head and threw the paper at him, hitting him right in the side of his skull. Which wasn't so hard, as Zim was still sitting next to him.
Just like the first time, Zim didn't react immediately. Instead, he just froze up for a second, before looking down on the ball of paper. He then turned his gaze up towards Dib and looked at him with an intense look in his eyes, but an emotionless expression. He kept staring for a few seconds, making Dib feel embarrassed, as he just realized he had just gone out of his way to throw paper at someone sitting right by his side. Zim kept starring, even as he picked up the ball. He held it in front of him with both hands, making sure Dib could see. He then started brutally tearing it into small pieces. When he was done, pieces of paper were raining down around him. When the last piece landed on the ground, he turned away from Dib, without uttering a single word.
Holy shit. Gaz was right. He is acting differently towards me. I still don't know exactly what that reaction could mean, but together with all the other things, I have gathered today, it should be easy for me to figure it out! I'm lucky Gaz decided this morning to bring this idea to me, as I will probably never get a chance like this to document Zim's behavior. Now I just need to write it down, and…
It was then that Dib realized that the paper with all of his notes, was not on his table. He looked up and under but still couldn't find it. He then immediately turned to Zim, horrified by the idea that he had snatched it up while he wasn't paying attention and was looking through all of its contents. Fortunately, Zim wasn't sitting with any piece of paper. Dib let out a sigh of relief. But then he wondered, where was the paper? He then noticed all the pieces of paper on Zim's desk, which belonged to the ball that Dib threw. He also noticed that the pieces were covered in writing. He looked back at his desk and realized something. There had only been one piece of paper on his desk.
Dib folded his hands together, put his elbows on the desk, and rested his head against his arms. He then let out a short sigh, trying to calm himself.
It's fine. I just have to start over. It's no big deal. I have time. Plenty of time.
It was then that the clock started ringing, signifying the end of the skool day. As the rest of his classmates started cheering, Dib stood up, breathing in as much air as he could, preparing for what was soon to come.
"SCREW THIS AND SCREW YOU ZIM!"
"HOW DARE YOU-"
A scuffle soon ensued.
"Will you explain yourself to Zim?" Zim asked while rubbing filth from the classroom floor off of his uniform, very much annoyed by the human's sudden insult, and the completely justified fight that soon followed. Dib took a quick, irritated look at Zim, before looking away again.
"I don't have to explain anything to you, Space-boy. Why don't you explain why you started biting me when I had you in a hold?" He subsequently asked, rubbing his arm, where a bite mark was punctured into his trench coat's fabric.
Zim crossed his arms, closed his eyes, and turned his face away from Dib, muttering an insulted "hmpf."
"I don't have to explain anything to you either, Dib-beast."
They continued walking together, completely satisfied with their own reactions to the events that had transpired. Except, Dib wasn't. He had continued rubbing his arm, thinking about his still aching side, and nearly broken spine, feeling that he had earned every right to be furious at Zim. He hadn't tried stopping any of his plans to take over Earth, yet he was still going to end the day covered in bruises, feeling pain all over. Yet, he felt bad. Bad about how he had acted towards Zim, of all people. It had happened a few times before, but Dib has repressed the memory of most of those instances. But now he was on his way home, after a fight he wasn't the only one to start, but sure led up to. It didn't feel right. And for once, none of it was Zim's fault. Well, not completely, at least. Dib felt the need to say something. Anything.
"H-hey, Space-boy?" He muttered, so quietly you would assume he was counting on Zim not hearing him.
"What?!" Zim replied, preparing for the stupid Dib to insult again, and for Zim to teach him a lesson.
"I'm…-no I'm not saying that-...you're, ugh…" Dib kept fumbling over his own words, trying to find the right combination for words, so it didn't sound like he was apologizing. Zim was looking at him with a concerned look.
"Is you're inferior brain having a seizure?" He asked, not sure what was happening to the Dib-thing. He was looking down on the sidewalk and up at Dib, waiting to see if he was about to fall over.
"What? No! I'm just…*sigh* I'm trying to say that, you're right." Even though the words came out fairly natural, Dib could feel his spirit weaken, ever so slightly. Zim was taken aback at first, wondering if The Dib was using some idiotic human expression he didn't know of to secretly insult him. But when he saw the despair in the human's eyes, he realized that Dib had actually meant his words. The first emotion that came into Zim's mind, was frustration.
How dare he apologize to Zim! I'm not some smeet that needs to be pitied. And especially not by the Dib-human. Who does he think he is! I'm an irken invader, and I won't let this inferior creature talk to Zim like an equal.
"Of course I'm right! Zim is always right! You truly are a moron if you only realize that now! Now shut your putrid mouth, before I close it for you!"
Dib was at first angry. He had just sacrificed a piece of his soul to try and make up for starting a fight with Zim, and he has the gall to not even acknowledge it? He was just about to start shouting at Zim, already having his mouth open and ready when he saw something he hadn't seen before. Zim was looking down on the ground, his eyes slightly closed, and with a sour expression on his face. Zim was still angry. Still mad. But there was no mumbling. No whispered insults. Just silence. He slowly closed his mouth, and looked away from Zim.
Dib had no idea what it meant, but he knew it was something different. He thought for a moment, what his reaction would be if Zim admitted he was wrong. Dib would probably have had a heart attack, but the sentiment was the same. There was a certain denial and bitterness there. The same that Zim seemed to show. Maybe they weren't so different?
He then noticed that they were reaching his house. He hadn't realized that they had been walking for so long already. When they reached the front lawn, Dib stopped up, and so did Zim, even though it seemed he had just woken up from a trance.
Dib looked from his house, back to Zim, who was now staring at him with the same sour look. For some reason, he felt that there was some kind of tension between them. He nervously rubbed the back of his head, trying to figure out what exactly he was supposed to say.
"Well…I guess I see you tomorrow."
When no reply came, Dib just turned around and walked up to his front door. He opened the door wide open, nearly falling into the house. It was just now he realized how tired he was. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the silence around him.
"Finally…peace." He said to himself, before turning around and closing the door, not even bothering to open his eyes. He only opened them when he turned back around.
And there in front of him stood Zim once again, with an evil grin, chuckling to himself as a look of exhaustion spread across Dib's face.
"You gotta be kidding me…"
"Son is that you? You're not talking to yourself again, are you?" Professor Membrane said as he appeared from the kitchen. Both Dib and Zim turned their heads to look upon the professor. Even though his face was completely covered up, it was still impossible to not see how much he lighted up, as he saw Dib and Zim standing with each other.
"Is that your foreign friend, Dib? You didn't tell me you were going to bring home a guest!"
"I haven't invited him-" Dib started arguing, trying his best to gain control over the situation. Zim was already inside the house, and he needed to get him out now. He was already tired enough as it was, and he didn't want to deal with this whole situation anymore.
"-and he's not my-"
But Dib was cut off, when Zim quickly placed his hand over Dib's mouth, already one step ahead of The Dib.
"Of course he invited me! Don't you remember-" He turned from Professor Membrane to Dib, with his evil grin now accompanied by eyes filled with malicious intent.
"-you invited me to stay over for the whole night?"
Zim let his hand fall off of Dib's mouth, which was open in shock. He felt his eyes widen in horror, as he looked from his dad back to Zim's evil face, trying to comprehend what was happening. Then his dad uttered words that caused Dib to nearly faint from despair.
"Oh, you mean a sleepover?"
Thank you for still sticking to this story, and I hope you will be there for the next chapter. See you next time!