Invader Zim ZADR: How did we get here?

Chapter 25: Next day meetup

With all the (possibly) useful technology gathered, both Zim and Dib can pat themselves on the shoulder. Now all that's needed is to put it to use. Still, Dib needs to wake up first.

To say that he had slept well would be far from the truth. Apparently staying up late coupled with life-threatening danger made it hard to fall asleep, even on the edge of losing consciousness from exhaustion. In the end, Dib had neither any idea when he fell asleep, how long he was asleep for, and could barely register which day it was when he finally opened his eyes.

The first thing he was met by was the blinding light from the sun that shone through his window. The sheer pain his eyes felt made him scream for a moment, before rolling off the bed and onto the floor. Once his sore eyes had recovered, he slowly adjusted to the morning light. When he felt he could open his eyes for more than a few seconds, he started fumbling after his glasses like someone with a terrible hangover. Which wasn't far from the case, considering the headache pounding against his skull. Making his hand walk across his bed to his nightstand, he finally managed to grab them and put them on. Only to realize his blurry vision had shielded him from most of the pain, as the clear and focused view of the world practically overloaded his brain.

After getting past that, the final battle was at hand. With unsteady hands and shaking legs, he used his bed as support while raising himself from the floor. His toothpick-like legs shook under all his weight but got steady again after a few moments. With that, he let out a long and guttural sigh, as he prepared to greet the day. He started by looking around his room, coming to the surprising conclusion that he had remembered to take off his coat and nice clothes before jumping into bed. Even his boots, while still lying on the opposite sides of the room, had at least not dirtied his bed. With that little bit of confidence, he tumbled along the floor toward his bedroom door. Opening it, he was met by the low but easily recognizable sound of the TV downstairs.

Slowly he made his way across the hallway and barely managed to walk down the stairs without falling over. Following the sound of the TV, he quickly ended up in the doorway to the living room. There on the sofa, sat Gaz and stared blankly at the flashing lights on the TV screen. Even in his barely awake state, he noticed she was still in her clothes from last night.

"Good...morning." He muttered, his mouth muscles barely responding to the inputs from his brain.

"Morning." She replied quickly with a little nod, before returning to the TV. "Slept well?"

"...No," Dib answered honestly.

"Well, that's a waste, since you've been gone most of the day."

"Come on, it's still morning, right? There's nothing wrong with sleeping for a little longer than usual." He said, before subconsciously looking over at the clock. Only to realize that it was 2 pm.

"...Okay, maybe I overslept a bit. How about you, when did you stop playing?"

"Oh, I finished it an hour or two ago. It was fine. Too many fetch quests." Gaz explained, and Dib slowly unpacked her sentence.

"Wait, did you stay up all night just to finish the game?"

"Ye." She half-heartedly replied.

"Alright, that gives you no excuse to judge me for my sleeping schedule. And shouldn't you be, oh I don't know, IN BED AND GETTING SOME SLEEP YOU INSOMNIAC?" Dib exclaimed, compelled by the small brotherly instinct that had managed to remain after all those years.

"No, because, unlike you Dib, I don't suffer from such weak needs as sleep. You should know that."

"...Have you been talking with Zim again? You sound like him."