"Why do I have to be the one to tutor your stupid alien butt?" Dib whined dramatically.
"Maybe because it's your fault I had to miss an entire month of skool?" Zim shrugged as they walked.
"There was no way it was my fault."
"Oh? So you weren't the one that broke my ribs in a way that made them puncture my Squeedlyspooch?"
"Well..."
"Take a little responsibility, Dib-Stink, come on."
"Okay, fine, whatever." Dib shrugged, shoving his hands into his pockets as Zim unlocked the door to his lair.
"I MADE WAFFLES!" Was the first thing Gir greeted the two of them with once the door was open. "WHO WANTS SOME?"
"I'LL TAKE SOME!" Zim yelled back, then turned to Dib, much quieter, "What about you?"
"Waffles for dinner?"
"It's one of the only human foods I can eat." Zim shrugged. "Waffles, or no?"
"Sure."
"DIB-STINK WANTS WAFFLES TOO!"
A high pitched squeal sounded from the kitchen, then a loud crash.
Zim gave Dib a toothy grin. "He's happy to be feeding more than just me."
"I thought he mostly cooked for himself."
"Most of what he makes I can't eat, but he likes to get feedback. Since he's a robot, he can't taste what he cooks." Zim shrugged. "GIR! BRING THE WAFFLES TO THE LAB, WE'RE GOING TO BE STUDYING THERE!"
Another loud screech and crash came from the kitchen, followed by a singular pot rolling out to the living room.
Zim stared at the pot for a moment, then looked back up. "ALRIGHT, SEE YA!"
They went down to the lab- a sterile room that somehow seemed both too quiet, and excruciatingly loud.
Zim led them to a stainless steel table, and dragged two chairs over to it.
"What do we start with first?" Dib sat his backpack down, unzipping it.
"I don't know, whatever you're struggling with most? Get the worst out of the way first?" Zim shrugged, sitting, slightly slouched with his chin rested on his hand.
"Alright, English it is."
Dib pulled out a beaten and battered copy of a book, explained that they were reading it together as a class to analyze.
Dib started going over the rubric for answering the questions the teacher had sent.
Zim tried to listen. He started out listening, at least, but soon, his world was plunged into silence.
Dib's lips kept moving, but Zim would be hard pressed to believe there was any noise coming out.
He blinked a couple times, processing this, then panic set in.
"WAIT, WAIT, WAIT! HOLD ON, DIB, I CAN'T HEAR."
Dib's mouth closed, and his head tilted to the side as Zim picked at the sides of his head, around where a human's ears would be.
Small speaker-looking things were plucked off Zim's head, which he frowned at.
Dib's hand appeared in his line of sight, and when Zim looked up at him, his face was contorted to a look of confusion.
"SORRY, DIB-STINK, I'M DEAF. I USE HEARING AIDS MOST OF THE TIME, BUT THE BATTERIES JUST DIED AND I DONT HAVE THE CHARGING CASE ON ME." Zim looked back down to the hearing aids with disdain.
Dib tapped his hand, demanding his attention again.
Zim looked back up, already growing tired of this back and forth.
Then, Dib started moving his hands in what Zim recognized as American Sign Language.
'Do you know A-S-L?'
Zim nodded. 'It's close to I-S-L'
'I-S-L?'
'I-R-K-E-N Sign Language. It's like A-S-L, but with less fingers.' Zim put his hearing aids down and flexed his hands, reminding Dib he only had 2 fingers and a thumb on either hand.
Dib bobbed his head, visibly thinking, before signing, 'can you teach me?'
Zim smiled. 'Yes. It's easy if you know A-S-L.'
The rest of their time was spent with Zim teaching Dib ISL.
At some point, Gir brought them their waffle dinner, and was asked to charge Zim's hearing aids.
They didn't pack up until Dib got a call from his dad to come home.
Only as he was leaving did either of them realize they never went over the skool work they had set out to do.