ZADR Orange Chapter 015

        A couple of hours passed, one right after the other, until finally Dib started to show the first signs of waking back up, though this time for good.

        "Mmm...Zim?" he murmured before blinking his eyes open to look around the room.

        To his surprise, said Irken was nowhere to be found. He had gone upstairs while Dib was sleeping but hadn't made it back before he woke up.

        So, sitting up in bed slowly when he realized Zim wasn't in the bed with him, Dib looked about the room confusedly. "Zim?" he said again, unsure whether he should get up and look for the other or stay put. Squeezing his legs together somewhat uncomfortably, he squirmed about in the covers a bit as the urge to pee hit him all over again, reminding him that he had needed to go the last time he had woken up.

        Zim, meanwhile, was up in the kitchen, cooking as fast as his equipment would allow him. He was making quite the mess but wanted to get it all done before Dib woke up. Little did he know, however, that said human already had.

        Back down in the bedroom, Dib couldn't help but bounce slightly in his spot in the bed, looking back and forth between the covers and the elevator that he and Zim had taken down there.

        "Almost done." Zim panted out as he set several different kinds of breakfast foods out on the table.

        "M-Maybe I should just..." Dib looked back and forth between the covers and elevator one last time before standing up from the bed to head over towards the elevator, anxious to find Zim and then the bathroom. But just as he was nearing it, he heard it activating, beginning its descent back down to the room.

        Bouncing up and down excitedly, Zim was eager to wake Dib up now and show him the meal he had worked so very hard on for him. Stopping his bouncing just as the lift stopped and doors opened into the bedroom, he was, to say the very least, surprised to see Dib standing right outside them. "Dib? Y-You're already awake." he said somewhat flustered, feeling a bit embarrassed now.

        Taking a few steps back, Dib could only blink at the other before resuming his earlier bouncing. "Uhm...Yeah...Y-You wouldn't happen to have a bathroom somewhere in this base, would you?" he sounded a bit rushed as he asked the other his question.

        Letting out a short laugh, Zim merely pointed down the hall from where they stood. "The last door on the right." he said so Dib wouldn't get lost looking for it.

        "Okay! Thanks!" Dib didn't even wait around for Zim to say anything more about where he had been as he merely made a mad dash for the bathroom, sighing out in some relief when he found it.

        Sighing to himself, shaking his head and chuckling, Zim could only smile in amusement at the boy's urgency before turning to head back for the elevator. "When you're finished, meet me upstairs!" he called back to the other, deciding to give his human some privacy.

        Hearing Zim's words, Dib finished up quickly, washing his hands in some gel like substance before heading back out into the room and over to the elevator, jumping slightly when it automatically opened its doors to him and started up of its own accord to bring him up to the house level of the base.

        "Well good morning, Dib." Zim greeted him, smiling warmly before rushing over to meet Dib at the lift. "I hope you're hungry." he smiled wide at the other.

        Taking a few steps back as Zim rushed towards him, Dib could only drop his gaze to his fingers as he nervously played with them, a small blush gracing his face. "I...Uhm..." he began before falling silent and merely nodding his head slowly. "S-Sorry...About last night..." he apologized for the way he had reacted when they first reached the base.

        Stopping in his tracks, Zim seemed to blush also at his words. "No, I'm sorry." he said before taking hold of Dib's arm. "Come on. Forget about last night. Let's just eat." he smiled again at Dib.

        Blushing even more at the small smile, Dib nodded his head slowly and allowed Zim to lead him towards the kitchen table to take a seat.

        The table was buried under all kinds of breakfast foods for Dib. Bacon, eggs, pancakes, waffles, toast, cereal, and basically anything else Zim could think of to make him. "I-I wanted your first day here to be special..." he explained, hoping the small gesture would make Dib feel more at home.

        Staring wide-eyed at all the food piled up on the table, Dib shifted his gaze over to Zim after a moment. "Wow...Th-This is amazing, Zim! B-But...Y-You didn't have to do all of this for me..." he said, feeling as though the Irken may have gone a little overboard.

        Waving Dib's words off with a hand, Zim merely insisted it was no trouble at all. "Nonsense! Of course I did." he said before leaning in to kiss Dib. "Now, how about you eat some of it?" he smirked at the other, his eyes falling half lidded.

        Blushing at the small kiss, Dib could only bring his fingers up to lightly brush across his cheek where Zim had just kissed him. "A-Alright...B-But I'm not so sure I can eat ALL of this..." he said, looking back at the multitude of food.

        Blushing a bit himself, embarrassed by Dib's words, Zim looked back to the pile of food himself. "Uh...Sorry about that...I wasn't sure what you'd like the best. B-But don't worry! I'll help, and then we can just save the rest for later!" he said, nodding to himself assuredly.

        "Th-Then I guess I better start with the things I'm pretty sure you CAN'T eat." he said before reaching forward to take a piece of bacon so he could take a bite out of it, somewhat surprised at how good it tasted considering Zim didn't like meat and probably didn't make it too often. "Wow...This is really good, Zim." he smiled at the other.

        Smiling back happily, a blush gracing his face, Zim seemed more than pleased with the compliment he had just received. "Thanks. I-It was my first time making meat...I didn't think it came out right." he said before taking his own seat so he could take some of the waffles for himself.

        "Well, for your first time, it came out really good." Dib said as he finished his piece of bacon before reaching forward to take another piece along with some eggs.

        Grinning to himself, Zim then proceeded to take a large bite of his waffles. "So...After breakfast, we should design your disguise, correct? Or would you rather do something else?" he asked, swallowing down his food before taking a few more bites.

        "D-Designing my disguise sounds fine to me..."

        Nodding his head in agreement, Zim took yet another large bite of his waffles. "It's kind of nice around here, what with Gir being gone." he commented, enjoying the peaceful breakfast they were having now.

        Looking around, just then seeming to notice that Gir was indeed gone, Dib dropped his gaze back down to his food, picking at it with his fork a bit. "Oh yeah...Where'd he go anyways? I was wondering why it was so quiet in here..." his own voice came out in a whisper as though afraid to break the silence himself.

        Smiling at Dib's quietness, Zim began playing with his own food idly. "He went to some taco fest a few hours away from here. He'll probably be back sometime tomorrow. It's an all night thing." he explained, his mind wandering to all the things they could do while alone.

        "Oh...Okay then..." Dib returned to eating some more of his food, the thoughts Zim was having the farthest thoughts in his own mind. Finishing his eggs quickly, he then grabbed himself a bowl of cereal and a few of his own waffles to go with it.

        Zim, meanwhile, sat patiently in his seat as he watched Dib eat contently, having already eaten his own fill.

        Managing to finish up his cereal and about half a waffle, Dib finally pushed his plate away, deciding then that he was now far too full to eat even another bite.

        Smiling when he noticed Dib had stopped eating, Zim reached out as though to take his plate for him. "All done then, Dib-love?" the nickname just seemed to roll off the tip of his tongue.

        Blushing at the new nickname, Dib stared down at the table with wide eyes before nodding his head slightly. "Y-Yeah...It was really good...Thank you..." he thanked the other before glancing up at him shyly.

        Grinning to himself yet again, Zim then reached out to take Dib's hand. "Then let's go dress you up." he said, tugging on his arm so he would follow him.

        Nodding his head again, Dib stood up from his chair and followed Zim out into the living room, not exactly sure what to expect.

        Leading Dib over to right in front of the TV, Zim lifted his gaze to the ceiling. "Computer!" he yelled in order to get its attention.

        "Whaaat?"

        "Bring me the disguise maker!"

        Huffing out a sigh, the computer merely gave in with a, "Fiiine..." before bringing up the disguise maker for Zim, Dib merely standing back and watching as Zim began pressing a few buttons on it.

        "Okay, so...What do you want to look like?" he addressed Dib as he pulled a tablet pen out of the side of the machine. "We're keeping your hair, of course. But what do you want your other features to look like?" he asked, awaiting a response from Dib.

        "U-Uhm...W-Well, I guess I wouldn't mind having antennae for starters...I-I could always just tuck them back into my hair whenever I needed to..."

        Nodding his head at that, Zim turned to draw in the standard male antennae on the screen. "I kind of like your current eye color...But you can change it if you want." he said with a small shrug.

        Blinking at Zim, Dib merely shook his head. "No, it's okay...I'll keep my eye color. It's the one thing about me that doesn't resemble my dad." he said, not wanting to give up the one feature he had inherited from his mother.

        Smiling at that answer, Zim nodded. "Okay...Keep the eye color." he mumbled to himself as he scribbled even more on the screen. "Any certain clothes you want?" he asked, glancing back at Dib.

        "Ummm...Maybe something in different shades of blue and black?"

        Nodding his head some more, Zim couldn't help but grin as he scribbled even more onto the screen, obviously happy with the design they were creating. "Anything else special you'd like to add? I already took away your need for glasses." he informed the other, eager now to see what Dib would look like in his new disguise.