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“We’ll be back Zanka, hold down the fort champ!”
“I’ll bring you back something sweet! See ya Zanka”
“.....get better”
Is what Enjin, Riyo and Rudo said when they left for another mission, but that was days ago. Zanka looks outside the window like he had so many times already. It was getting late. The days had started blurring together yet Zanka was still stuck in the infirmary. Fucking Jabber, whatever he gave him was driving his immune system crazy. But Eisha said he needed bedrest and sleep. He absolutely wasn’t allowed to move like usual. It was dreadful really, not being able to move around, especially after getting his ass handed to him by that crazy bastard with a weird smile.
Zanka could feel that itch starting to creep back up on him, that itch that always plagued his hands and legs, the same itch that screamed at him to train every morning he woke up and every evening after dinner. But he couldn’t give in, as impulsive as he could be with his training, he knew how to think long term. How could he keep training if he made himself sicker?
Zanka sighs and sits up, he had been alternating between sitting up and laying down in different positions to keep his body from getting sore. His legs were starting to feel tingly and stuffy. He hated it. Even during his days at the academy he couldn’t stand resting longer than a few days when injured. It had been a week and the poison was still eating away at him. It was thanks to Eisha’s healing that he wasn’t getting any worse, but he wasn’t getting any better either. She told him she was working on figuring out what poisons were used on him so she could make an antidote. It would take some time. Zanka understood that but it didn’t make waiting any easier.
Ugh! All this thinking was making him more antsy! He should just sleep at this point, nobody else was coming to visit him anyways. Zanka lays down on his good side, his back to the window.
CRASH
Zanka jumps up but doubles over in pain, his chest, fuck! He looks up from the corner of his eye, breathing heavily as he grips his chest. That…was that? You had to be kidding.
“Heyyy Mr. Bad Attitude~” that dreadfully familiar voice grates his ears. “What…are you doing here Jabber” Zanka growls. “Is that even a question? Obviously to visit my favorite sparrin’ buddy!” He cheers. Zanka frowns, slowly reaching for Lovely Assi-Staff next to him. “Woah man, chill! I’m not here to fight!” Jabber takes a step back, that insurable smirk still on his face. “I find that hard to believe—” Zanka says before freezing. Wait, why weren’t the alarms at HQ going off? Everything was as quiet as it was a second ago, no red lights, shaking walls or defense systems kicking in. That meant…he really meant no harm?
Zanka takes a deep breath, trying to calm his racing heart as he gently sets Lovely Assi-Staff down. He couldn’t afford to start a fight, not when it pained him to move ‘too fast’. “So, how ya been?” Jabber smiles, leaning against the wall next to the window he broke. “...Is that even a question, jackass” Zanka glares at him. “Oof! Glare any harder and I might kill over” Jabber teases him, grabbing his chest and ‘doubling over’. Zanka lets out a low growl, this guy always found a way to piss him off. He takes a deep breath before sighing. “Why do you care?” He asks, his glare still sharp. “Of course I care about my fightin’ buddy! You’re the only one who can really get my blood pumpin’! Like that crazy rush” Jabber half moans, drool dripping down his chin as he gets lost in thought about something definitely not normal.
Zanka gags a little on the inside, how weird was his guy going to get?!
Jabber snaps out of his weird daze before focusing on Zanka again. “Ehe” he chuckles, “even if you did get your ass handed to you, I’m willin’ to give ya a second chance, after ya heal up obviously” Jabber says casually. Zanka’s brows furrowed, what was he even talking about? “I don’t know what you’re trying to get at, and I don’t really care to know. But I’m not fighting you anytime soon” he says blankly. “What? Why man! Come on, that isn’t fair!” Jabber whines, a shcoked expression on his face. “What do you mean ‘why?’ You poisoned me!” Zanka shouts. “Oh…well, that is true” Jabber says, his fingers stroking his chin in thought like he forgot. Zanka scoffs, he couldn’t believe this bastard.
Silence passes over the two, Jabber lost in thought again while Zanka carefully stares at him, his guard still up as he grips the blanket tight. He felt like he was stuck in a cage with a crazy lion, a wild beast that could pounce at any moment. “So, ya not gonna fight me for a while?” Jabber asks curiously and Zanka hesitantly nods. “Well we can’t have that, can we Mr. Bad Attitude” Jabber smirks that crazy smirk Zanka saw in his nightmares— at least that's what he called them whenever Jabber appeared in his dreams. But as of late, they didn’t always end badly. But Zanka would never tell anyone that, he wouldn’t even admit it to himself. Was he in denial? Maybe, but he’d never truly know. “Are you crazy? Actually don’t answer that” Zanka sighs, grabbing his head. It felt like a giant hammer was trying to nail something sharp into his frontal cortext. Eisha said the poison was doing something to his cortex as well, and that’s why he shouldn’t be moving, he’d hurt himself with his balance out of whack. Damn that Jabber.
“Maybe” Jabber shrugs, “but I can help ya feel better, as long as you fight me again when you’re all better” Jabber says casually. Zanka looks at Jabber who still had that obnoxious smirk on his face, he wanted nothing more than to grab Lovely Assi-Staff and knock it off his face. But Medic's ordrds were bedrest. So he’d listen. “And how will you do that?” Zanka questions slowly. “You’ll see, come on” Jabber offers a hand and smiles. It was an actual smile that makes Zanka’s heart skip a beat— wait what?!
No, no. His heart didn’t skip a beat ‘cause of Jabber’s smile. It couldn’t have. He was just…taken off guard by his smile! Yeah, that was it. He was just surprised is all.
At least that’s what Zanka tries to tell himself but he couldn’t deny the heat growing in his cheeks that were probably dusted a light pink by now. Fuck.
“Come on man, it's just dancing” Jabber gives in and spills his plans. Zanka looks at him blankly.
“What?”
The thought echoes in Zanka’s head. Jabber wants him to do what now? What was this weird floaty feeling in his chest, it was warm and fuzzy. Was he getting sicker?
Jabber waits for the blonde’s response but when he just keeps staring at him Jabber sighs and rolls his eyes, exasperated. “Come on man! I promise it’ll help ya feel better. I want to fight you again! Can’t beat me in a fight if you’re all sick” Jabber’s snarky voice teases him. Zanka feels that soft, floaty feel disappear immediately. The veins on his head tighten, an annoying, hot itch clawing up his chest. He grabs the glass of water next to him and throws it right at Jabber’s head, hard. Of course the bastard dodged it. The glass shatters the moment it hits the concrete wall.
“Why in the world would I dance to feel better? Especially with the likes of you” Zanka growls, that hot itch coming back. Jabber had to be pissing him off on purpose. “Besides, I don’t know how to dance” Zanka mutters, his cheeks heating up again. He didn’t know why he was so embarrassed about it, usually he never cared what people thought. But for whatever reason it was different this time. “I can teach ya” Jabber smiles that smile again. Zanka silently curses that fluttering feeling in his stomach. Dancing with Jabber sounded like the dumbest idea, besides “I can’t even stand without stumbling” Zanka mutters, he honestly wasn’t sure why he was telling him this. They were alone in the infirmary, everyone in their rooms for the evening. If Jabber decided to attack him he was alone, and he was in no condition to defend himself alone.
Jabber looks at Zanka before sighing, his smirk dropping. “I’m not gonna hit ya” Jabber puts his hands up in surrender before stepping away. “It's not fun fighting somebody when they’re weakened, it’s just a waste of time and ain’t my style” Jabber waves his hand in front of his face, looking super disinterested in the idea of wasting his energy like that.
Zanka relaxes a little at that but not much, he seemed to mean it, but he would never fully trust Jabber’s words. Trusting your enemy was the quickest way to die down here, especially someone as unhinged as Jabber. Zanka swore he was bipolar with how quickly he went from forty to one hundred-fifty out of nowhere. But still, he finds himself swinging his legs around the edge of the bed. The world spins slightly, but he tries to ignore it. “Good” Jabber smiles and offers his hand again. Zanka looks up at Jabber, before looking away quickly, trying to hide the heat in his face. He looks down and takes Jabber’s hand, slipping his shoes on even with his shaky feet.
“Good job, Zanka~” Jabber coos mockingly as he pulls Zanka up. Zanka gasps sharply, tripping from the sudden force pulling him in. He closes his eyes, waiting for the cold tile floor but he meets a warm, firm chest instead; arms wrapping tightly around his waist. Zanka feels a chill run down his spine when Jabber calls his name. It sounded…nice coming from him for some reason. “You good?” Jabber chuckles. Zanka looks away again, his face was definitely red by now. He could feel his legs trembling and he chose to believe it was from the poison.
Jabber feels Zanka shaking and grips his waist a little tighter. “Don't worry I gotchu, I'm not gon’ let you fall or nothin’. Besides, dancin’ is easy” Jabber smiles again, his smile seeming genuine for once. Why was he doing that? Making Zanka’s chest act weird, it was annoying! When Jabber said his name he could feel a chill run down his spine, but not in a bad way?
“I’m guessing you have experience” Zanka says, pushing away from Jabber’s chest a bit while still leaning on him for some support. Jabber’s smile widens into that cheshire cat smile Zanka was so used to. “You’d be correct, Mr. Bad Attitude” Jabber chuckles. “Dancin’ is easy, you just move ya feet and have fun” Jabber smiles and pulls Zanka closer. He places one hand on Zanka’s waist, and holds his other hand. “Follow my feet” Jabber says, looking down and Zanka does the same. “One…two…three. One…two…three, there ya go, just like that!” Jabber cheers Zanka on with a smile that looks more like a smirk. Zanka feels his brows furrow, his focus intense. If he was going to do this he was going to do it right.
Jabber chuckles at Zanka’s serious face, “aye. Lightin’ up this is supposed to be fun” Jabber says and spins Zanka around, catching him before he falls. This time Zanka couldn’t hide his blush from Jabber, the taller guy laughs, “there ya go man!” He smiles wide and continues to guide Zanka. Every time he started to get in his head again Jabber would find a new way to pull him out and each time Zanka found himself blushing and sometimes smiling.
“Now you got it” Jabber encourages Zanka as he starts to catch up to Jabber’s rhythm. “I know” Zanka smirks, his free hand resting on Jabber’s shoulder. Jabber smiles down at Zanka softly, squeezing the hand he had been holding this whole time. Zanka continues to move, never noticing that this entire time the pain in his body was slowly lessening more and more. “Woah!” Zanka trips again but Jabber was quick to catch him, dropping him into a dipping position before pulling him back up and spinning him around. “Don’t tell me ya fallin’ already” Jabber teases. Zanka’s face explodes red. “Shut up!” He shouts and tries to punch him but Jabber catches his hand easily. “Got cha” He coos in Zanka’s ear before pulling away.
“Shut up” Zanka mutters, his ears bright red as he looks away but even he couldn’t stop himself from smiling. “Feelin’ better yet?” Jabber asks as he twirls Zanka around again. Zanka blinks, actually he was? “Yeah…I guess” he says. “I told ya, movin’ is always the best thing to do” Jabber nods at him. Zanka just sighs and shakes his head, of course the crazy guy would say that. “Ey, keep up Zan-Zan” Jabber says, dipping Zanka again. Zanka clicks his tongue but finds himself laughing softly.
Time starts to disappear entirely in that small infirmary room for the two and for once Zanks didn’t care to notice. He found himself smiling and even laughing a little as he stumbled his way around the infirmary in Jabber’s arms. And true to his word, Jabber didn’t let him fall one time. He even found himself thinking maybe Jabber wasn’t that annoying— until the loc-head did something to piss him off again.
When Zanka does look outside the window the moon was high in the sky, shining down on them.
It was night time?
“Hey Enjin, are you sure we shouldn’t come see him in the morning? He’s probably sleep” Zanka hears Riyo’s voice from the cracked door. He gasps, whipping around. “Yeah, I wanna at least check on him, its been a while Riyo” Enjin says. Zanka was quick to push Jabber away, “you need to go, now” he says sharply. Jabber looks at him, a half smile on his face. He knew that, but he still didn’t want to hear it. He was having fun dancing with Zanka too, but he wasn’t ashamed to admit that to himself.
“I’ll see ya later, Mr. Bad Attitude” Jabber smiles, lifting the broken window and sitting on the ledge. “That’s not my name” Zanka hisses softly, crawling back into bed. Jabber chuckles, “bye Zanka~” he coos before disappearing into the night. Zanka stares at where Jabber had disappeared from, his cheeks slightly flushed. He told himself it was the 'poison'.