Zim sipped at the soda in his claws, it was late, but he held no desire to rest.
Maybe he should go back and fix more of his PAK, it'd make use of the time.
Yet he felt little desire for that either, he wasn't even sure why.
He wanted to fix every error in his PAK, but found himself reluctant to finish it just yet.
Zim tapped the can, its metallic beat echoing quietly.
He had a lot of free time now.
It was actually kind of worse, he liked doing things, he liked not having free time.
He liked to be fulfilling task every second of the day, to have purpose.
Having all of that replaced with essentially nothing, it made a weird kind of haze.
Haze, yes. A haze, that's what all of this was.
His enemy was sleeping on his couch. Zim was letting him.
Zim was inviting him, even.
How strange. Just a few days ago, they'd been at each other's throats, and now?
Dib was helping him. He didn't even know why, did he pity him?
He hated when people pitied him. All the fake empathy, pretending to care.
It made him feel smaller, like some sort of smeet.
Zim's antennae were flattened, he felt weird.
It was probably because of the changes to his PAK, yeah.
The loyalty enforcer.. Why had the Tallest put one on him, was a question he had no answers for.
He let out a groan, everything was getting confusing.
His PAK had looked so different from the normal ones, and he didn't even know if he'd fixed that.
He could only hope, he supposed.
Zim took a large gulp of the liquid, his claws firmly wrapped around the can, leaving dents.
It had only been an hour or so, it was around 5:18 AM.. So two. Yeah.
Should he wake up Dib? No, no. His inferior body probably needed the rest.
GIR would make too much noise, perhaps he should just watch something.
He'd put the volume on low, subtitles were always on anyway.
Zim carefully walked into the lounge room, glancing at the two sleeping figures.
"Computer, turn on the TV… and put..er, something on. " He commanded in Irken, a preferable language when he was trying to be quiet, as it was just a combination of hissed and clicks.
"Do I haave to" The Computer complained, matching his quiet toned irken.
"Yes! " Zim hissed, sitting at the foot of the couch.
The television soon buzzed to life, making Zim hissed for the computer to turn the volume down.
"... What do you want me to put on? " Computer asked generally.
"... Err, I don't know! Anything. " He waved carelessly, before pausing.
"Not that weird monkey show that GIR likes, though. " He added.
The TV flashed with a few images for a moment, before settling on a random cartoony styled video.
The screen showed colourful ponies, and even though the volume was low, he could see how cheery it was.
He didn't really care though, anything to pass the time.
"Zim? " A groggy voice cut through his focus on the TV.
Zim turned around to see Dib, and he hummed in response.
"What.. What are you watching? " The human asked, his tone slightly surprised as he glances at the screen.
"Eh.. " He turned to the screen again, what was this show?
He shrugged, both at himself and Dib.
He shook his head, turning back to the Irken.
"Ok.. What time is it? " Dib genuinely asked, sitting up carefully.
Zim thought for a moment, it was.. 10 : 03 AM.
Wow.
"I-It's 10 : 03 AM right now. " He fuddled, almost speaking in Irken once more.
How long had he been watching this?
"Oh, " Dib mumbled, realising he'd slept in.
He stood off the ground, stretching his limbs before turning to the Human.
"You need your.. Eh, 'breakfast' meal now, yes? " Zim asked, trying to ignore the awkwardness that always swirled the air around them.
"Oh, yeah I guess. What do you have? " Dib chirped, stretching too.
"Mm, well Zim has waffles-"
"Waffles?? " A loud robotic voice suddenly cheered, cutting off the Aliens sentence.
Zim groaned, annoyed.
"Yes GIR, we have waffles. " He continued, waving his claws dismissively.
"We uh.. " Zim paused as he faced Dib once more.
"I think GIR also got pancakes. " He concluded with a nod, he didn't really have much human food in his base.
"... Unless you want to try Zim's Irken food! " He smirked, antennae perked confidently.
Dib looked like he debated for a second, before shaking his head.
"Very tempting.. But knowing my luck I'll probably get food poisoning from it. " The human loudly sighed, glancing at GIR, who was now indulging in the show on the screen.
"Waffles sound good? " Dib offered, smiling awkwardly.
"Ok, " Zim clicked for a moment, before deciding he doesn't trust GIR not making hundreds of batches of waffles.
Zim walked into the kitchen, hands darting around to find the supplies he needed.
The packet of what GIR called 'Store waffles', And one of his superior Irken cooking devices, it was suited for much sweeter things, but it would still work.
Ah, and also the syrup. Or should he do honey? He was never sure of what GIR used.
Syrup seemed like a better choice.
He plopped the waffles into the machine, only taking a few seconds before it finished with a quiet click.
He placed them onto plates, one for him, one for Dib. He liked waffles when there wasn't so much soap in them.
Passing the plate to Dib, they sat at the table, next to each other.
The bottle of syrup was placed in front of both of them, Dib was the first to began layering his in the sweet substance.
Then Zim did, he used a lot more that the human.
They ate in near complete silence, other than the occasional small talk, the few minutes were soundless.
"Don't you need to go back to your house soon? " Zim suddenly asked, antennae bobbing slightly.
"Oh! I almost forgot. Yeah, we should go there soon.. * Dib sputtered, picking up his finished plate and putting it on the counter, just as Zim had.
" mm, yes… Computer! Clean these dishes! " The Irken commanded, he usually did it himself, but figured skipping it once wouldn't hurt.
The machine groaned, but complied. Taking the plates with small claw-like tools.
"We can go now. Just let Zim get his disguise on.. " He fuddled with the wig and contacts as he put them on.
Walking into the lounge room to retrieve his outfit, he slightly smiled at the small robot paying all its attention to the TV.
Throwing on the pink material, his antennae perked as he recalled what he'd promised the night before.
Biting back a small sigh, he called for his Computer to bring him the tools he would need. In Irken, it felt needed.
Once he had everything gatehred, he stepped back into the kitchen.
"Why didn't you go get your stuff? " Zim perked brow at the human.
"I was waiting? You were getting dressed so.. * Dib trailed, looking slightly embarrassed.
" I'll go get everything packed up." He hastily left the room to get his things, leaving Zim standing, amused.
He smirked as he peeked into the room, watching him scramble to pack his belongings away.
It didn't take long, only a few minutes before they were both standing at the front door.
"You ready to leave? " Dib inquired, facing him briefly.
"Zim is always ready! " he vowed with pride.
"Er.. Actually.. Computer! Keep an eye on GIR! Don't let him mess up the base! " Zim spat orders, before he turned back to Dib with a nod.
The human opened the door, and they both set off, bright sun brushing against their figures.