Work Text:
Dib stared defiantly at the many screens in front of him. Most only displayed static or nothing at all, but a select few showed various rooms in Zim’s base. The green alien was nowhere to be found, though his robot sat on the living room couch, staring just as intently at their tv screen.
Dib rubbed tiredly at his eyes, he had been at this for hours and his lack of sleep was catching up to him. But, still he stared at the screens. He could feel a yawn bubble up in his throat, but he quickly swallowed it. This was far more important.
A knock at his door caught his attention, but not enough to pry his droopy eyes from the screens in front of him. “Come in.” He mumbled, not really remembering or caring that it was far too late for a person to be at his door. His door opened and soft footsteps padded toward his chair. A hand placed itself on his head, an affectionate tone to the touch.
“How long have you been up, Dib?” A voice asked, sounding just as tired as he felt. Dib tore his fixated gaze just for a moment to glance up at the person in his room. Next to him was you, a playful smile on your lips but worry in your eyes. You were dressed in comfy clothes, but nice enough to be worn in public without too many troublesome stares.
“....I haven’t been keeping track.” He finally admitted. You rolled your eyes and groaned. “I swear to god, your going to kill yourself if you keep doing this. Zim’s not doing anything right now, even if he was, I’m sure it’s not worth denying yourself sleep over.” You sighed. Dib shook his head. “I know you mean well, but I’ve known Zim much longer than you, and I know if he’s up to something I need to find out what it is, so I can stop him.” Dib explained.
You shook your head. “That may be true, but you can’t stop Zim if you don’t have any energy.”
“I’ll be fine. Besides, shouldn’t you be asleep? Why are you up?” He asked, turning his chair to face you. You averted your gaze, an awkward laugh slipping past your lips. “I uhh, forgot to take my meds. So I’ve been up for awhile.”
Dib sighed. “Then you have no right to berate me for not getting any sleep.” He rolled his eyes. You yawned and grabbed Dib’s hand, tugging slightly. “Yeah, whatever. C’mon.” You mumbled tiredly, dragging Dib out of his chair. Dib tried to protest, looking frantically back at his observation screens, but relented.
You led Dib to his plush bed, and pushed him onto the sheets. Dib ignored his tiredness fairly well while he was in his chair, but the second he hit the surface of his cool sheets and soft mattress, his body caught up with his mind and his eyelids drooped. He was so caught up in his newfound tiredness, he didn’t notice you crawling into bed next to him. You shucked the blankets over yourself and dragged Dib down to your level.
“H-hey, shouldn’t you go into your own room?” He asked. You only grunted in response, circling your arms around Dib’s torso and entangling your legs with his. “Too tired to walk back.” You whined. “Your room is literally across the hall!” He replied. You didn’t respond, and only dug your face into Dib’s chest. “...You seemed fine just a second ago.” Dib muttered. You laughed lightly into his shirt. “Well now I’m tired, and you need to go to sleep too.”
He sighed and looked longingly at his abandoned workstation, then back to you, curled up next to him. Dib shook his head gently and wrapped his arms around you. Just a little nap couldn’t hurt, then he’d get right back up and resume his work.