Work Text:
A breath heaves out of her chest as she steps back into her bedroom, a layer of water resting on her pale skin from the hot shower she has just gotten out of.
Her bed creaks underneath her weight as she sits; she allows herself to lie back. The group had a long, and horribly tiring job today; her back aches as the cloudy hands of sleep gently bring her to their land.
"Zanka."
Her eyes are fuzzy as she absent-mindedly paws at her collar, the red thing having produced the noise that disturbed her slumber.
"Zanki~"
Eyes widen as she recognizes the voice. Sitting up in her bed quickly, she reaches a hand to her neck to respond to the message, but is interrupted by her window rattling and opening.
"Morning Jabs."
Jabber's playful expression softens just a little bit when he sees her yawn.
"Didn't take you for the type to nap after a mission,"
She raises her eyebrow at him for a moment before coming to terms with the fact that he will somehow always know what she is doing; better not to think too hard on it.
"Didn't think you wanted a cranky girlfriend, you like me violent not like that."
He moves farther into the room and leans against her nightstand, looking at her with a sly expression and tossing her a bag.
"Gotcha a little somethin'. After you get all set up, we're getting outta dodge."
"You.. Planned a date?"
He sighs dramatically, rolling his head back before looking back up at her.
"Ya act like I'm the least romantic person ever, I can treat my girl right!"
She sighs and shakes her head, standing and fixing her outfit before picking up the bag.
"Y-"
"Shut up, I'm going to the bathroom to change."
Jabber shuts his mouth animatedly with a giggle and watches as she leaves the room, taking a breath and trying to keep his smile from drooping ever so slightly.
A few minutes pass before Zanka walks back into the room.
[CONTENT REMOVED.]
“Damn girl! You fly as hell!”
Jabber smiles and smirks as she looks down at her feet for a moment, most definitely not blushing, before walking further up to him and swatting his shoulder.
“Shut up.”
He looks down at her with a soft expression, then gets himself back on track.
“You ready? We got a awful lotta walkin' ahead.”
Zanka looks at him with suspicion and mild horror.
“Oh God, what’ve you got planned?”
He grins at her.
“You'll see soon, Zanki, but let's bounce!”
He opens his arms, and she begrudgingly lets him pick her up, her legs quickly going over his arms.
“Ready?”
“Shut up, just do it already, you freak.”
She buries her head in the crook of his neck and breathes in when she feels the cold air of the side on her neck. Jabber jumps out of the window, landing roughly on the ground with Zanka unharmed.
“Woo!”
He sets her down and barks, cracking his legs and smiling over at her.
“See~ that wasn't so bad!”
“I don't ever think I will understand how you do shit like that and not break your legs.”
Laughing, he smirks at her, waggles his eyebrows for a moment, and then motions for her to follow him.
The trip takes them a while to complete, the sun beginning to set on the horizon as they step into the barrier of the bustling city.
“Canvas Town? Why would you take us here?”
“You're always so pent up! We oughta calm you down, dontcha think?”
For a moment, she looks at him with suspicion, but she takes a breath and lets herself relax a little.
Not like he is going to kill her, if he wanted to, he could have done so about 100 times over by now, fighting stays in their “play times” and they discuss before those, but she can't help the feeling of something being off with how he is acting.
“Tell me four colors.”
Confused about whether this is him trying to ground her for a moment, she shakes her head and speaks.
“Uh, green, teal, pink, black?”
He nods and walks up to the vendor. She stands back and prepares for the shitty giggles as Jabber tries to flirt his way into free shit as he always does, but as she waits, she sees that it doesn't come. He had just given the man a few pieces of gold and walked away with 8 markers in his hand.
"They’re paint markers, but I know that ya can use’m on your skin."
Jabber holds his palm out, the colors she had asked for, along with purple, a metallic goldish color, pink, and a navy are there, the others presumably being his colors.
She picks the markers out of his hand and looks down at them for a moment, looking at the odd brand labels and plastic in them before looking back up at him.
"What was ya plan?"
Excitement fills his eyes as he roughly grabs her wrist, dragging her over to some secluded corner and sitting on the ground.
"Come on, sit, I'd say I don't bite, but then we both know I'd be lying."
She scoffs at him and sits on the ground, raising an eyebrow skeptically at him.
"Uh-huh, get on with it."
Jabber raises his eyebrows and smirks at her.
"-not what I meant and you know it, what are we doing here?"
"You sadden me, my dear, Zanki. I thought it'd be cute if we drew on each other, like just little things, no magic, no weird shit there, just.. Us."
Looking down at the markers and then up at the pathetic eyes of the man who is looking back at her, she sighs and rolls her sleeves up, picking up the green marker and shaking it.
"Seems like ms lady knows what she's doing!"
She glares at him, and he smiles.
"lay 'gainst the wall".
He listens, and her slender fingers pick up his arm.
For just a moment, her eyes unfocus, something in her tightens, but she opens the marker and presses it onto tan skin.
"You good?"
She shakes her head, letting her posture relax.
"m fine."
Pulling her knees to her chest, she rests his arm on her legs.
Minutes pass, and vines grow and stretch over the man's forearms, little outlines and flowers made with the other colors.
"Whoa. Damn, Zanka, these are sick as hell!"
He picks his arm up and looks over it, the injuries making him smile.
"Don't fucking brush it up against anything, you dumbass. Let it dry first."
"Don't have any on m hands, my turn? Won't be as pretty as the en's you gave me, but I reckon I can try?"
They swap positions, and the warm spot on the wall brings her some comfort.
Instead of pumping the paint out on Zanka's skin as she did for him, he rolls his pant leg up slightly and uses his ankle as a paint pallet.
"I'd ask you why you were doing that, and doesn't that hurt if I didn't know that you are a freak."
"Aw, Zanki, you're so sweet!"
She scoffs and rolls her eyes, instead looking down at what Jabber was doing.
Navy ink is used in small lines on her arm. She can't tell what exactly he is trying to draw, but when he finishes, he giggles and picks up the purple and draws something next to it in a similar shape, after he adds little flourishes on the blue one with the gold and on the purple with the pink.
"Yer looking at me more stupidly than normal. What did you do?"
"I finished: look at them. I demand it."
She picks up her arm and sees her face with dog ears and a tail, and Jabbers with cat ears and a tail.
"Babe."
She brings her other arm up to hold her face, and Jabber excitedly points at the drawings.
"Us!"
"Have I ever told you how stupid you are?"
After she rubs her eyes, she looks over at him with a smile poorly veiled by annoyance on her face.
"Have I ever told you how much I love~ you?"
"God, I love you too."
Jabber looks up and sees that the sun has almost fully set, and stands up quickly. He holds a hand down for Zanka, who picks it up and pulls herself up with it.
"Do you think you can climb, or do you want me to carry you again?"
"Where are we going that we need to climb there?!"
He points to the roof of a restaurant, which is about a 10-foot ladder to get up to.
"I can fucking handle a ladder, it's when you start jumping off of buildings that I have issues."
Giggling, he shakes himself and rushes over to the building, climbing the side quickly and making sure Zanka follows behind him. When she gets up, he stands at the ledge and looks at the sky, the sun having mostly set and the sky darkening.
"Do ya wanna know why I brought you up here?"
"The view?"
Seconds later, a firework explodes, illuminating the newly night sky. When Zanka looks over to it, the light shines on her pale face, and he smiles, using this moment of her being distracted to look at just how beautiful she is.
"Ya."
He pauses for a moment, looking out into the bright lights and then back at her.
"Zanka?"
She looks over to him, navy eyes almost glimmering.
"What's up?"
"Can I kiss you?"
He knows that she gave him permission to whenever he wanted to when they were alone a while back, but as her face reddens and she stammers, he remembers why it is always so nice.
"Y-yeah."
Warm hands hold the sides of her face as he practically leaps to kiss her. It isn't all-consuming and frantic like the past; it's slow, sure, like him touching her is a small act of prayer, something that he never wants to stop.
The thought that he never has to crosses Zanka's mind as her hands travel up his side and reach to hold his ribs. She hums, letting him deepen the kiss. When they separate, he looks at her with something almost worshipful in his gaze.
"Holy shit."
He blinks, and a breath wrecks his body. Shaking himself for a moment, he looks back up at her.
"Feeling hungry?"
"Uh, yeah. Mind helping me down? Not like carrying me just uh- fuck, you insane man- I need a minute."
This wasn't how it was supposed to be, the entirety of.. She and Jabber were supposed to be something fast, not anything important! In the past, it would just be he comes over for some pain, or for some fun, and then leaves, just something simple, not.. love.?
Her hands guided her down the wall. She thought that yearning just stayed as that; she knew that she liked him, hadn't really said love, but oh god, when he held her so reverently, it felt like the only place she should ever be.
"Drink?"
Jabbers voice tears through her thoughts, and she sees they are already in the restaurant.
"Water?"
Jabber nods, and when the waitress comes back over, he orders drinks for them, getting a Jack for himself.
That was the only place she wanted to be.
"I need to go to the bathroom. I'll be back."
God, she feels nauseous, her head hurts as she walks to the back of the place.
She misses the worried look he gives her, or how Jabber flawlessly orders her favorite meal for her.
"You're pathetic."
Her reflection in the mirror says back to her, he doesn't love her, she is just a game to him, a means to an end that he has found favorable recently.
What would the alternative be? That he, Jabber Wonger, cares?
Fucking stupid if that is the case. Loving her is a lost cause; she is useless, a pathetic mess that can't do anything by herself, or even make a distinction of when something stays.. Platonic?
Cold water runs over her hands, she splashes some of it onto her face, and takes a breath. Communication, they can talk, and it will be ok because if he doesn't like her when she talks about her feelings, or gets uncomfortable, then fuck that guy!
She walks back out of the bathroom and sees him messing with his glass and how he perks when he sees her walking back.
"Zanki baby, I missed you! Iz getting a little worried."
Oh god, feelings communication augh.
"I-"
"Come on, eat up, your soup may have gotten cold with how long you were in there for."
Her heart warms when she sees the meal, and she calms herself. She has time, they have time, it will all be ok.
They eat in a heavy silence. Well, he may have found it comfortable, but her mind feels so full that it feels like any silence is too loud.
"So, there was something I wanted to talk to ya about Zanki."
That makes her heart skip a beat as she looks up at Jabber, who is fidgeting with his drink a little.
"Ya?"
She watches as Jabber takes Mankira's ring fingers off and holds the two in his hands.
"I've been thinkin about us. I realized that every night I have to leave before morning, the feeling of going back to whatever dump the Raiders have taken up, wasn't worth it. Why would I be spending time with people for the only purpose of.. They don't supply me with anything. There isn't anything I would rather do or get with them than you."
He takes a breath and holds the rings out to her.
"I know your dad has a habit of picking up strays. Got room for one more in that building of y'all's?"
Her eyebrows furrow, and she tries to ignore the fighting in her mind.
"God, how much of that Jack didja drink? Shape up, man, you don't leave your group for me. They are your family, you oughta be with them."
"I haven't fucking touched my drink, the entire reason I brought you out here was for this! Been thinking about this every fucking day for weeks, and you act like it is a 5-minute decision! If you don't want me over there, just say it. I'll piss off and leave you alone."
Oh god.
"You're serious? You want to.. what; join the cleaners?"
"If that means I don't have to run or pretend that you mean nothing to me anymore, then it's the only thing I want to do."
Her eyes widen, and she looks down at the rings in his hands.
“It won't be easy. I'm not the best partner, and it would take a while for the cleaners to get used to you."
"Since when have I been afraid of things being hard? I wanna do whatever it takes for me to be yours and for you to be mine. For however long you want us to be, and don't give me that shit, we're perfect for each other, and you know it."
The silver glimmers in his hands, and she carefully holds her hands out.
"If you let me do this, then there's no turning back, 'm gonna come with ya tonight, and I'm not gonna leave."
"Do it."
His shoulders relax, and the unsure look on his face begins to melt away.
The cool metal slides onto her fingers, and when she looks down at them, she sees her hands are shaking slightly. She stares down at them for a moment, then looks back up at Jabber, who is looking at her intently.
“I love you. Like, fully unequivocally all-of-my-being type love, like I think if you ever left me, I would be like one of those widows who never remarries.”
Jabber giggles and winks at her.
“Trust me, the only way I'm leavin’ is if I die, and I have a feeling if that happens, we're going together.”
“Pay, we’re leaving.”
Jabber smiles as he sees Zanka stand and walk out. He very narrowly avoids the urge to wolf whistle at her.
After a few moments, Jabber joins Zanka outside, skipping up to her and offering his hand.
Minutes pass as footsteps fill the air synchronously as they walk back.
Zanka breaks the silence as she looks at the ground.
“We’re really gonna do this, huh?”
“Uhuh! You better bet we are, I mean,” He glances down at her hands and smiles. “I fear you're already stuck with me, no gettin' free of these chains!”
How on earth was she supposed to explain this to the other cleaners?
Carefully and patiently, probably.
"Wonder how Enjin is going to respond."
"Oh, he's gonna be fucking pissed!"
Zanka jabs his ribs with her elbow.
"Not helping!"
Jabber laughs.
"No, listen, listen, Zanki, if one day your teen daughter came home with a guy who almost killed her not once! But twice! And told you that she was dating him."
"I'd kill the fucker without hesitation."
He raises his hands.
"See! All that and I'm asking them to let me live with them."
"I doubt they are going to be particularly ecstatic."
She sighs, and the rest of the trip is them exchanging small, stupid conversations, Jabber attempting to bring her mood up.
When they arrived back at the building, Jabber went to pick her up, planning on going back through the window like they always do, but he was motioned not to.
"If you are planning on living here, you might as well come through the front. If we get caught walking up, we explain tonight, if we don't, we deal with it tomorrow?"
Jabber whispers screams at her in response.
“Hell yeah, let's do this!"
Much to Zanka's relief, they have an almost eerily uninterrupted trip back up to her room.
That did not mean that she wasn't out of breath or that her heart wasn't banging in her chest, however.
"That was much scarier than it needed to be. We are explaining at breakfast tomorrow, I cannot do that again."
As the door closes, Jabber cracks his back and sighs, motioning for Zanka to sit. When she does, he carefully takes her shoes off, then practically throws his off his feet.
“Sleepy?”
“Very.”
Zanka lies on her back and looks up at Jabber.
“Lay, arms around my waist, head on my chest.”
“I see we have chosen not to breathe tonight.”
He giggles as he climbs onto the bed, following her instructions and listening to her heart beating in her chest.
“What's that one thing, uh, a boyfriend is just a weighted blanket that bites you."
That makes Jabber openly laugh as Zanka slides her hand onto his head, gently scratching his scalp.
“I love you, Zanka.”
“I love you too, you little idiot. Now go to sleep, we have a long day ahead of us.”
He sighs and buries his head into her chest, humming contentedly. Zanka thinks that forever would be worth it if she had Jabber by her side.