Chapter Text
“Z-Zim, how are you not f-freezing?” Dib could practically see his soul leaving his body as he barely managed to get the words out. Zim slowed as he approached him, a confused look on his face as he came to a stop next to the taller boy.
“It’s not that cold Dib,” the words left Zim’s mouth as easily as water leaving a faucet. Dib looked the alien up and down, his usual attire firmly in place and his feet completely submerged in the snow that covered the sidewalk. Zim seemed to be totally at ease despite the fact that Dib could feel all of his bones rattling as he violently shivered where he stood.
“Z-Zim, it’s below freezing.”
“And I suppose that's somehow my fault?” Zim crossed his arms and glared up at Dib, “It’s not my fault that your filthy planet is so sporadic.”
“I wasn’t s-saying that, but now that you m-mention it…”
“I already tried a weather thing last month, Dib. I’m not going to do it again so soon.”
Dib’s eyes lit up, “S-so that acid rain was you!”
Zim simply shrugged, “Now you know exactly what it feels like when you throw a water balloon at me. Now can we get a move on? We’re going to be late.”
Dib shook his head, “I’m not walking to s-school with you dressed like that. I’m f-freezing to death just looking at you.”
Zim rolled his eyes, “You were already doing that before I got here, now can we just– Hey!” Zim yelled as Dib wrapped a hand around his arm and started dragging him towards his house.
“N-nope, no way. I’m finding you something, anything, to p-put on that’ll at least make it look like you’re t-trying not to freeze,” Dib said. He didn’t give Zim anymore attention except for tightening his grip on the alien when he tried to break free. Once they made it inside the house, Dib proceeded to drag Zim up the stairs where he finally released him to look through the hallway closet.
Zim jerked away and crossed his arms as he watched Dib rummage around, “I’m not wearing any of your disgusting garments. You have absolutely no fashion sense.”
“Zim– Wait,” Dib paused his search to glare back at Zim, “I dress way better than you!”
Zim just snickered and responded with, “No you don’t.”
Dib sighed and rolled his eyes, now just the tiniest bit self-conscious that he might not look as good as the tiny green alien he begrudgingly spent way too much time with. Digging further into the closet, his hands finally landed on something that he thought could work.
“Here! You can wear this. And before you start whining, it isn’t mine.” Dib pulled out a purple coat and spun around to show it to Zim, who eyed it up and down.
“Whose is it?” he asked.
Dib lowered the coat slightly, “Gaz’s, but it’s old! She won’t even know that it’s gone.”
Zim’s eyes immediately bugged out of his head, “I’m not stealing your sister’s coat! Are you insane? This is a set up to get her to kill me, isn’t it?”
“That’s ridiculous! Just put it on!”
“I’m not wearing that thing!”
“Zim–!”
The two jumped as Gaz’s bedroom door slammed open, and they both stared at the rather sickly looking purple haired girl.
“Gaz! Oh, hey, great. Zim can just ask you for the coat now. Zim?” The moment Zim glanced at Dib, the taller boy flung the coat onto the alien’s head. As Zim struggled to get the coat off, he could hear the sound of someone running down the stairs, followed by the front door slamming shut. Zim finally managed to escape the clutches of the sinister coat, only to be met with a far greater threat staring directly down at him.
“Dib-sister– I mean Gaz!” Zim said, clutching the coat to his chest. It acted almost like a shield, but nothing could protect him from the fury he had invoked. Gaz didn’t say anything as she picked Zim up and stomped down the stairs, where she proceeded to fling the front door open and chuck him out into the snow.
Zim landed face down in the front yard as he heard the door slam shut for the second time. He then listened to the sound of footsteps crunching in the snow as they approached him.
“Yeah… so I kinda f-forgot my sister was home s-sick,” Dib said. Zim’s head snapped up, and his rage was only fueled further as Dib snickered at his snow covered face.
“You forgot?!” Zim screeched. Dib backed away and laughed some more as Zim struggled to get out of the deep snow.
“Yeah, b-but hey! You got the coat. Now p-put it on and let’s get going space boy.”
Dib didn’t wait for a response, instead heading towards the sidewalk. This proved to be a mistake, because the moment Dib had his back to Zim the boy felt an extreme force hit the back of his head, causing him to fall face first into the snow.
Dib groaned, managing to turn his head just enough to see the balled up purple coat beside him. Zim walked over and calmly picked up the garment, brushing it off before finally putting it on. He studied himself for a moment before saying, “Let’s get going Dib!”
Zim began a leisurely stroll towards the school, Dib watching for a bit before letting his head fall back into the snow with another pained groan.