Not Quite Human

Skool

12-year-old Dib Membrane ran down the stairs, bag in hand. Late, he was going to be late! Gaz and Dad were probably finished with breakfast already.

"HiDadwhat'supI'mhere!" He panted, slouching into his chair. Gaz had waffles in front of her, and she was looking at them with very well-hidden distaste. Dib's dad hummed as he set a similar plate of waffles in front of his son. Dib picked one up with his fork and stared at it curiously when it made a squish sound. He blinked.

"...Dad?"

"Mm-hm?"

"Did GIR make these waffles, by chance?" Though the answer was obvious. His little brother often didn't know what he was doing. So much so, that he had gotten an official diagnosis for ADHD the previous year.

"Why, yes. You should thank him, he saved me quite the trouble in making breakfast this morning."

"That explains why the waffles are soggy...and green." Gaz said aloud, though she took a bite regardless. Her face twisted.

Dib knew for a fact that his younger sister had a deep dislike for the color green. He shoved both waffles into his mouth after adding an excessive amount of "sirup" and choked them down, almost gagging. God, these were - ! They were - ! Not that bad, actually. While they were mushy and tasted oddly like grass, it was better than what Dib had seen Zim make.

"Ah, son, could you wake up your brothers for me? I'm afraid they won't make it in time for breakfast." Dr. Membrane asked. Dib nodded and left his seat, dreading having to climb up all those stairs again. Dragging his feet, he made it to his older brother's room. Zim was only a year older than him, yet still liked to act superior. He knocked twice before opening the door.

"Yo, Zim. We're late for school," he announced. His older brother looked up from where he was fixing his hair.

"Huh?"

Dib sighed. That was never a good sign when Zim wasn't fully awake. Heck, he had probably stayed up most of the night sketching designs for his "evil spaceship", which he didn't even have the parts for.

"Let's just go. Wake up GIR for me, will you?" Zim gave a quick salute, blueish eyes determined in his mission. Dib nodded and closed the door behind him. "Dad?!" He called, running down the stairs. "Do you know where GIR is?" His voice echoed off the walls. The house was pretty large.

"What!?" His dad called back.

"Have you seen-"

"What!?" Dib sighed and ran a hand over his face. His dad would often mess with him.

"Have-"

"Who?!"

"NOTHING!" He whipped his head around to Zim's room. "ZIM! WE'RE LATE! HURRY UP!" He didn't mean to yell. The 13-year-old's door opened and his brother shuffled out, his iconic gray backpack spotted pink on his back. He had had it ever since he had moved in with them, saying it was a gift from his birth parent. Dib quickly grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the door.

"Dad, we've gotta go! See you after school!" He wasn't worried about GIR; their brother was able to find anyone from anywhere. "Gaz, come on!" Gaz rolled her eyes and followed them to the door. She'd probably skip class anyway, to play video games or whatever, but it was still Dib's job to make sure she was healthy.

As usual, the 12-year-old walked ahead, dragging Zim with him by his hand. When the siblings had been younger, Dib would often lose his eldest brother, and Zim would be left terrified of all the cars and sounds. He was determined to never let that happen again.

"Dib-thing, slow down. Ms. Bitters could care less whether we're late or not." Zim sighed, adjusting his bag. Dib shook his head quickly.

"First, we have to find GIR."

"I'm sure GIR will be fine on his own." He muttered. Though a second later, he was yelling out, calling out his youngest brother's name. "GIR~! GIR, where are you?"

"Here!" A trash can from the neighbor's house shouted. There was a pause, before a small kid dressed in a green dog costume popped out, clearly happy. Zim broke free of Dib's grip and caught his little brother when he jumped.

"GIR! What were you doing in the trash can?"

"I found a piggy!" He yelled, holding up what was clearly a raccoon. Zim stumbled back, letting go of his brother by instinct. Dib stepped forward, taking over.

"That's great, GIR. Uh...we're late." GIR nodded enthusiastically, dropping the raccoon in his vigor, who scuttled away.

"BYE, PIGGY!" Gir called, skipping after his older siblings when they started walking. Dib frowned.

"Didn't you give him instructions to not disrupt the neighbors?" He asked. His sibling mostly followed instructions from Zim, though only from him most of the time. The eldest shrugged.

"You know how he doesn't listen." Din hummed.

"LOOKIT! There's that place!" GIR screeched, pointing to a familiar sign on a familiar street. Dib chuckled.

"You mean "Skool"?" He asked. GIR's cyan eyes lit up.

"Yeah!" He ran ahead. Zim looked up from where he was fiddling on his phone. Stuffing it into his bag, he sprinted after his youngest brother, clearly afraid he would get hurt.

"GIR! Wait up!" Dib gave a small smile at their antics and jogged to catch up, pulling his unenthusiastic sister by the hand.