To celebrate how much my hands hurt after finishing the epilogue/prologue for Fall to Ruin and its sequel, I started writing some MORE! I'm so clever! 8D

Theme challenges, from somewhere I don't even remember, and not from any particular list - I think I actually smushed like seven or eight of the things together, so...yeah. There's going to be a lot of these things. Provided I write them all. You know.

I'll try to leave a big, fat warning at the beginning of prompts containing more questionable stuff. Or ZADR, but I will, of course, be sticking mainly to enmity or amity, as it's more amusing that way.

ROT

He found the Irken on the roof of the skool again, a far off look in his eyes as he stared at the cityscape that stretched before him. For once, when he casually joined him, Zim said nothing; normally he would have snapped at Dib for being so bold, shooing him away with banshee-like shrieks and flailing fists.

Although somewhat curious as to what had brought about the alien's current mood, the boy kept quiet, only dangled his feet over the edge, kicking them lightly until Zim shot a quick glance to him that told him that if he'd like to keep his legs, he'd better knock it off. Then, after nearly a full ten minutes of silence between them, something that had never happened before, Zim spoke.

"Has Zim ever told you just how horrible this planet is?"

"Yeah. You tell me that all the time," Dib reminded him, brow furrowing somewhat.

The Irken pursed his lips, and bowed his head a bit, staring intently at his lap. "...Oh. ...Yes. I quite forgot."

Forgot? Dib turned to examine his enemy quizzically, remaining just as quiet as he'd been for the past ten minutes, before he simply shook his head and turned back to gaze out over the city. After another length of silence – they were both late for third period, but he didn't particularly care, and he knew Zim wouldn't either – the curiosity finally got to him and he stated casually, "You know, this has to be the first time you've let me sit up here with you."

Zim peered up at him, confusion evident. "Why shouldn't I let you?"

"Because I'm a smelly human?" Dib replied, mostly as a joke. The Irken hardly seemed amused, of course, but the confusion remained as well, which had the paranormalist faltering. Suddenly, words he never thought he'd utter to this particular person escaped him. "Is something wrong, Zim?"

"No." Zim shook his head, the distant look creeping back as he averted his gaze, looking over the city once more. "I don't think so," he added as an afterthought, almost uncertainly; his gloved fingers interlaced, separated, fidgeted, before interlacing again, and now the Irken was staring at his hands silently, as though he'd never seen them before.

Glancing from the alien's hands to his face, the foreign features drawn tight but otherwise unreadable, Dib couldn't help but think that the words weren't entirely true. He kept quiet, though, and on impulse, carefully – almost comfortingly – rested a hand on Zim's shoulder.

He wasn't brushed away.

"...I told you how horrible your planet is, right...?"

Tried something a little different from what I originally intended. It was going to be about humans, but...ehh. ((shrug))