Chapter Text
Zanka wouldn't call himself antisocial, but he never went out of his way to make close friends, people just happened to come to him. On the flip side, he also didn't go out of his way to make enemies. All the people he actually gave a shit about were quickly recognizable to him, and he could name all of them from memory. So why some random guy was flying at him was a mystery.
The whole event happened in slow motion from the moment he made contact. The back of his head collided with the floor as the guy on top of him reeled his fist back, silver rings glinting under the canned lights before rapidly approaching his face. He nearly broke his neck with how quickly he turned it sideways to avoid his face connecting with this guys fist. That didn't seem to deter him at all, because he raised that same fist to attempt another shot, but this time Zanka actually made an effort to fight back. Shock was immediately replaced with fury as he started swinging wildly beneath him. The fact he thought he heard the guy giggle only fueled his anger more, kneeing him in the hip as hard as he could and scratching his arms.
The whole scene, in reality, only lasted all of thirty seconds it took a guard to catch on and snatch the other guy off of him. But that was all the time he needed to take in long dreadlocks falling around him, glowing fuschia eyes, and a shit eating grin that held no remorse or concern for his actions at all.
He just layed there, blinking. He could be at home right now, driving himself and Rudo to school and playing whatever nonsensical music his little brother wanted and making fun of him for it. He could be laying in his own bed right now, if he just asked for a day off of school because his brain was starting to rip apart at the seams trying to balance finals and group projects and everything else he built his self worth around. But no. He had to do some stupid shit and end up surrounded by crazy people because he couldn't handle the pressure. Maybe this is his karma for thinking he was any better than he was.
"That's Jabber, he's a crashout." The woman that was showing him around the place extended a hand to help him up. Her name was Semiu, based on the lanyard around her neck. "Meeting everyone else should be a breeze since that guy decided to introduce himself first."
She continued on as normal with the meet and greet while his adrenaline was still pumping. He turned to the lady slowly as she droned on about the medication and bed time schedules. "Is this a fuckin mad house," he exclaimed, ears ringing.
"Well I wouldn't call it that, for legal reasons, but I guess you could since you're in it."
"Just because it's a psych ward don't mean I need ta be greeted by psychopaths at the door."
She smiles a little bit. "Definitely true. Promise, though, he's the most confrontational person in here. You'll get on with the others just fine."
And true to her word, he wasn't tackled again for the rest of the walk through. He was introduced to a few patients and staff that were in the common area, but the names flew over his head. The only things buzzing around in his mind were silver rings and fucking fuschia. At the same time he instantly regretted everything that lead him to this point; If that was their method of reform, it was extremely effective.
"And here's the infirmary, you're probably going to want to get your head checked before I show you your room. You hit the floor pretty hard earlier." That felt like an understatement. His brain felt like it was stomping around in clogs around his skull and he couldn't tell if it was a headache from sheer anger or a concussion setting in.
He let the shy nurse examine him, pin lights scanned over his pupils as his eye twitched involuntarily. She hummed softly as she worked then squeaked as if she'd suddenly become aware of it and stopped. "Um, well, it seems like you just have a case of whiplash, which is kind of lucky considering who you ran into! Oh, I mean, who ran into you," she shuffled around the room putting the items back, then offered him a juice box and a small cup with a pill in it. "It's ibuprofen,"
He crushed the pill between his teeth and sipped his juice box slowly. The girl still looked at him with concern, as if she had something to say, and it took all of his willpower not to interpret it as pity. 'Just whiplash' his ass. Whatever. "Thanks." He managed to grind out.
She sent him on his way with an ice pack. "See you soon, or, I really hope not considering your roommate situation..."
"Roommate situation? What roommate situation?"
She squeaked "I really think it's better if Semiu says! Sorry!" She then buisied herself replacing the paper on the bed he was sitting on, and he would swear she was deliberately avoiding any further conversation with him. He huffed.
Semiu was leaning beside the doorframe when he finally emerged, having pulled a magazine out of nowhere. She flipped the page of what seemed to be borderline smut with a manicured nail. "All good?"
"Who's my roommate?"
She raises her eyebrows and the corners of her lips tick, sparinghim a glance out of the corner of her eye. "Well. You met him already, I'll tell you that much."
The room is fairly empty on both sides despite the fact someone else had been occupying it for a while. The only way he could guess whose was whose was based on the sheets being tousled all over one bed, a teddy bear without eyes sitting in the middle of it. His eye twitched.
"He won't be sleeping here tonight since he couldn't seem to control himself, but we'll try again tomorrow." He didn't know how much a guy like that could change within a few hours, but he really didn't care. He was just glad he could spend his first night sleeping alone instead of having to deal with any roommate at all. The moment Semiu left him to his own devices, he immediately made his way to the bathroom to get out of his hospital gown, digging around in the bag Enjin packed for something to wear that could clearly say 'I have no interest in leaving this room right now'.
It probably would have been a good idea to ask Semiu what time it was, because between how long he waited in the ED for a spot to open up and the ride to get him there, he was exhausted. It could be 7pm for all he cared, he'd just have to sleep like an old lady this once.
He scanned over the pillow and sheets on his bed, deciding it was decent enough before flopping onto the bed and drifting into dreamless sleep.
He jerked suddenly out of his sleep on instinct, searching around the bed for a phone alarm that surely should have gone off by now. He flipped around like a fish looking for his phone to see what the time was. In the process of doing this his hands slid over the sheets again, legs restrained by a quality military sheet tucking, then he remembered. Terrible timing on his part, he was pretty sure it was Monday. He wondered if Enjin called his school to tell them he was out. He wondered if Rudo would just walk to school with Riyo, the red haired girl next door who was basically family at that point with how often she crawled through their window. He wondered if Rudo would tell her what happened to him.
He was suddenly snapped out of his thinking when he noticed someone was humming on the other side of the room. The guy was laying with his legs up the wall and his head hanging off the bed, staring at him. "You're a fun guy to watch." he commented casually.
It only took him a few more embarrassing seconds to wrestle himself out of bed, traction socks padding the ground as he kneeled to make himself eye level to his upside-down face. "Jabber, ain't it?"
"Am I famous?" He hummed, smiling in a way that only served to piss Zanka off.
“Nah, I just wanna make somethin' very clear” He grabs him by the collar and yanks him around slightly, just enoughto face him right. "Don’t think ya can just try and fuck with me 'cause I’m new here. I don’t care if ya think it’s cute or whatever to start something with random people, but I’m not some punk ya can scare off. If you try coming for me again, I'll snap yer neck and they can ship me to an asylum for all I care. Got it?”
And the guy must be off his meds or something because he's looking at him funny like that was what he wanted. “Loud and clear, Mr. Bad Attitude.“
He was already so tired of being here.