Chapter Text
Zanka just wants some alone time, trying to get Jabber off of him. It frustrated him to no end that Jabber was positively receptive to any push back he gave him.
Spitting on his face just made the freak lick up the saliva thrown at him, kicking him just made him squeal, yelling made him giggle, and biting just made him… moan. It was disgusting.
And Jabber was so thoughtful, returning everything Zanka gave him twofold. He felt like a chewed up toy.
But, finally, while Zanka was pinned by his wrists on the ground, Jabber’s stomach growled. And Zanka realized he hadn’t eaten anything.
“Why don’t you leave and eat something. Why not shower while you’re at it”
Zanka said through gritted teeth.
“Agh but that’s boooorrrriiiiiing. I rather play with you! Food and hygiene is for people who don’t got somethin’ better to do”
Zanka was going to say something, but then noticed his oddly well-kept hair.
“…What about your locs? They’re not boring for ya?”
Jabber giggled to himself, “Awwwww shucks, you noticed??? Pretty, right?”
Jabber then lets his hair fall around Zanka’s face, shaking his head to make pretty clinking sounds with his gold cuffs.
Zanka’s not gonna admit anything about how he feels about Jabber’s hair.
“I make my own hair products, y’know~ Come on! Sniff ‘em”
Deadpanned, “I’m not sniffing your hair”
Jabber rolls his eyes, “Why people gotta act like hair sniffin’ is weird. Come onnn I scented them, inspired by you! What an honor!”
Jabber just flops his hair on Zanka’s face. Zanka squeezes his eyes shut, he tries not to take a whiff, but he does so without meaning to. And… incense?
“Seeeeee? While I was waitin’ for you to wake up, I used incense in here. So you can keep your nice scent, and so I could wiggle my locs over the smoke. The scent really doesn’t stick around long, though”
Zanka… oddly appreciated it? Now that he mentioned it, the room did have that familiar smoky smell to it. He must’ve used the incense days ago, wasn’t that strong.
Zanka couldn’t help but automatically take another whiff. Though he immediately regretted it, since Jabber took notice. Making him smile. God he hates that smile.
“Ooooo look who’s bein’ the weirdo now, huh?”
The smell definitely wasn’t bad, he got a whiff of what the raider usually puts in his hair. Coconut? Shea butter?… Paying attention too long on Jabber’s surprisingly well kept hair wasn’t doing him any favors. He can feel his face getting hotter, and he definitely doesn’t want that humiliation.
Zanka quickly tries to move his face away from Jabber, but it’s really not getting him anywhere.
Yep, Jabber’s enjoying this too much, watching Zanka squirm like a cute lil’ bug. He was practically thinking out loud, “He’s payin’ attention to me! He’s payin’ attention to me!”
He’s about to headbutt his skull onto Zanka’s face, until his stomach is suddenly kicked by two feet, and he gets launched onto his back on the floor.
“You are payin’ attention to me! That’s my move!”
Again, Zanka wouldn’t admit it, but he did use the same tucked-in double kick Jabber used on him, when he first woke up.
While Jabber got flipped onto his back, Zanka used the momentum to slam his weight onto Jabber’s stomach.
“GO and EAT something!”
Jabber blinks twice, face surprised and neutral. As if Zanka was the lunatic around here.
“Ok!”
With an easygoing smile, he lets go of Zanka, stands up, skips away, and out the door.
“I’ll be back!!” He hollers over, before the door shuts and locks.
And… Zanka’s alone, and it’s quiet. Thank goodness.
With disgust, he wipes off any remaining blood and slobber from his face, and anywhere else. And, with a tired groan, he stands and presses his back against the wall he’s attached to. Sliding down to the ground.
Why did he ever try any chance at a normal conversation with that guy? He’s so goddamn clingy.
He starts to think back to the last time him and the raider clashed. The “incident” Jabber was so upset about.
The fifth match between them. After going back and forth all the other times, getting stronger, more aggressive, and quick-witted, both of them could agree, they both improved each other.
Jabber’s inherent power and fast movements forced Zanka into making more aggressive and direct physical moves. It forced him to adapt and transform his fighting style, and it really got on his nerves.
And Zanka’s ability to analyze, defend, keep space control, quick to adapt, improve, and sheer prowess and creativity with a stick, allowed Jabber more freedom in battle. Even challenging his own strategies he hadn’t realized he got too used to! And he loved all of it so much.
But… man was Jabber tired that day. He must’ve been having a ton of missions lately. Enough to put him in such a sleepless state that he wouldn’t believe he’d be able to see Jabber in.
See, initially, some of Team Akuta were simply out to find some trash beasts they got a report on. A large, mountainous polluted zone full of dips, cracks, and hills. They sent out Zanka, Riyo, and Follo, alongside Gris and Tomme.
Riyo and Follo became preoccupied farther along, while Zanka was surrounded by the monster truck-sized trash beasts. There were a lot more than they all were expecting. And he was sure he could handle them anyways, but he got whacked from behind by one of their dinosaur-like tails. It caused more knock-back than he anticipated. Flying through the air, and down a deep ravine. Tumbling down, trying to pierce the face of the cliff with Lovely Assistaff. Though the momentum of pushing against the rock made his back scuff against a rough ledge from the other side of the ravine.
Eventually, he landed on… something hard, but soft? Thankfully breaking his fall.
With a groan, he sat up, thankfully in a large, cavernous indent on the face of the cliff. He looks down and oh… he landed on… Jabber.
Zanka quickly stood up and away from the raider, readying Lovely Assistaff and… Jabber could only wearily blink and open his eyes.
“Oh, hey Mr. Bad Attitude… when did you get here?”
No smiles, no annoying laughter, just… a yawn.
“What… when did you get here? Are you… taking a nap?”
Jabber rubs an eye, “Mmm was I? Shit, I’m not supposed to… Boss’ll have my ass. And not in a good way…”
Zanka continues his steady and defensive position, watching as Jabber gives a tired groan while he starts to stand up, wobbling in place a bit.
“Mmm fight… we gotta fight now… Sorry to keep ya waiting”
Jabber is lazily holding up his arms in front of him, dinosaur style, and activates Mankira. He tries to poke and stab himself awake, but it only makes him feel more at ease and relaxed.
He flops onto the dirt floor, face-first.
Zanka… doesn’t know what to do? Jabber’s just mumbling into the dirt now.
Zanka pokes him with Lovely Assistaff.
“Hey, Hey, hey”
He pokes him again… then lifts up Jabber’s face.
“I can’t hear whatever you’re saying”
Jabber, huffs with a frustrated sigh, “I said I don’t know why I can’t just moooooove! This is so embarrassin’. Just hit me already, man”
“I ain’t hitting ya” Zanka lets go of his head, letting Jabber’s chin hit the ground.
“But… why?”
“I’m not gonna fight you while you could barely walk”
Jabber gives a pout, looking like a kicked dirt puppy.
Zanka keeps his distance, and eyes on Jabber, as he moves back to the mouth of the cavern, trying his choker.
“Hello? Riyo? Riyo”
He sticks his arm farther out, “Follo? Tomme? Gris? Shit”
He was barely in the cave, why wasn’t it working? Did he really fall that far? Now he feels like an embarrassment.
Speaking of…
He turns fully back to Jabber, still in the same position. Wonderful.
It’s frustrating enough he messed up during a simple clean-up, and now he has the most annoying person stuck with him. At least he seemed to be too tired to talk much.
He really wanted to stay away, but… he didn’t think he’d see the guy like this. Maybe he’s got looser lips while being sleep-deprived? It’s worth a try, considering they need to stop the Raider group’s plans as soon as possible.
“Hey”
Zanka walks back over, keeping a distance as he takes a seat on a boulder.
“Hey, why are you down here in the first place?”
Jabber grumbles, “Boss… crow… present…”
“And what the fuck is that supposed to mean?”
Jabber closes his eyes again, Zanka prods his head with Lovely, keeping him awake.
“Damn Zanka, y’know, you can be pretty annoyin’ sometimes…”
“Right, I’m the annoying one”
“Hell yeah you are! I’ve been writin’ letters to ya! Invitin’ you to my favorite restaurants! And what do ya do? Ignore me! And now.. you won’t even fight me…”
Jabber turns his head away, lying on its side, away from Zanka.
“… What does your boss want with a crow and a present?”
Jabber flips his head, lying on the side facing Zanka now.
“And now you’re dodgin’ the conversation!”
Zanka didn’t wanna deal with whatever Jabber had going on here. He’s probably just more emotional and cranky from being sleep-deprived.
“Jabber, I’m not fighting you. I want an even match. And if you’re not willing to give that to me now, then at least make yourself more useful”
Damn, that actually stings something in Jabber. And not in the good way.
Truth be told, Zanka does want to kick him while he’s down. Pick him up, and throw him down the rest of this deep ravine, hopefully killing him for good. But… he still wants to prove himself against the guy.
Zanka tries to nudge him again, trying to pick his head back up so he could talk, but Jabber wouldn’t budge.
“I ain’t talkin’ if you’re not gonna actually talk to me”
Jabber seems… emotionally hurt? Wow, who knew Jabber was capable.
With an annoyed sigh, Zanka thinks of some other options to make Jabber talk. He would offer to fight or hurt him, but the raider couldn’t fight back, even if he wanted. Jabber must’ve spent days without sleep to be that incapable.
Maybe accept his… invitations to go out and eat? No way in hell, but he could just lie.
…Did he really have to do this? Hopefully Jabber’ll forget the whole thing, like a black-out drunk.
With a sigh, he tries again.
“Hey, what’s um… your favorite food?”
Jabber stays silent, head still turned away. He then slowly turns to look at Zanka, surprised.
“What?”
Zanka rolls his eyes, “Don’t make me say it again”
Jabber continues to stare, a light of hope in his eyes.
Zanka starts to stand up, turn away, and walks farther into the cave, “Forget about it. What a waste of time” he grumbles.
“Wait!”
Zanka stops.
“I like spicy food… have.. you ever been to Taquería Espinojas?”
Zanka actually recognized that name, it’s the place Riyo recommended to him… but he never went back after he realized the food was so spicy there, it even made Riyo cry. Well, of laughter at Zanka’s face once he tried the hot wings.
“…Yeah. I hated that place”
Despite Jabber’s exhausted disposition, he cracked up.
“Ha! I knew it, of course a rich kid like you has delicate tastes!”
Zanka turned back fully, walking back towards Jabber dying on the ground.
“I ain’t some rich kid! I like plenty of food, but the food there was just spice, I could barely taste the flavor!”
He was now standing in front of a laughing Jabber, arms crossed, “It’s only the bland and bitter stuff that makes me sick”
Jabber’s still doing that awful chuckling of his, “Ooo I bet you’re the type who hates things like… Chocolate milk made with water! Or oat water! Hot dog water… Bean water…”
Zanka kicks him in the face, “This is why I didn’t wanna talk! Every time you open your mouth, you just don’t know how to shut up!”
“Zanka!”
He turns, seeing Riyo. She seems to be using a big rope they usually keep in the trunk.
“Hey! You okay? We heard you yelling down here and- Oh”
Her eyes lock onto the raider, that same deadly stare from the time she encountered him in the trash beast.
She moves a hand towards her scissors… And Jabber couldn’t hide his excitement.
Zanka speaks up, though, “Sorry I fell, that was really reckless of me”
“Oh! Yeah it’s no problem, Zanka, but… what do we do about-
Jabber moves while Zanka interrupts, suddenly stands on his hands and feet, makes a dash, claws one of Zanka’s legs, and jumps off the cliff.
“AGH FUCK”
“SEE YOU Later zan zaaaannnn….”
And that’s how Zanka got the nastiest dose of poison Jabber ever gifted him. Landing Zanka a full week to recover, got assigned to train Rudo afterwards, and got kidnapped later that day.
If Zanka had just killed him that day, he wouldn’t be in this mess. Maybe if he let Riyo kill him, everything would’ve been fine. But… he wasn’t immune to his sense of loss aversion. He knows he’s capable of beating him one-on-one.
He had come so close to beating the raider a number of times, he wouldn’t have been satisfied without a proper fight. All those times he lost, he just needed to get better. And get better he will.
Hopefully, he’ll be able to prove himself against the raider when he eventually breaks out.