Chapter Text
“Enjin, why the hell’re you here?” His (not anymore) boss asks gruffly after he notices him approaching, some foam from his coffee stuck in his moustache. He is standing over the blueprint of his latest project.
Enjin has to try.
“Listen, Graham, I really need your help–”
“Absolutely not. I can’t believe you have the guts to come back here after getting fired. You messed up the project, Enjin. It’s done. You made me lose my credibility and I cannot help you with good conscience,” Graham says to him, grabbing his yellow helmet and beginning to walk away.
Enjin is quick to plead.
“Please, please just–, my children. I have two little ones and I’m almost through my savings. I don’t have time to job hunt and I can’t just leave them alone, I need something reliable–”
He almost trips trying to keep up with the old man dressed in a seemingly even older brown and red flannel.
“Enjin, just find a damn babysitter if you don’t have time. I don’t know how you ended up in this situation, but I’m not surprised with the way you always slept around. What a joke,” the man laughs right at his face and Enjin’s shoulders slump. “Get a god damn grip, son. They need a dad, not a good-for-nothing beggar.”
The blond grits his teeth, his hands change to fists and hang at his sides. The words sting harder than he’d expected, since he actually did kind of look up to Graham, back when he still had a job. Too bad the guy now hated his guts.
“I’m sorry to have bothered you, Graham,” Enjin says quietly, walking back to his van. Graham doesn't even bid him any goodbyes, only scoffs and leaves to go back to the makeshift office on the construction site.
Riyo is waiting for him in the back seat, holding Rudo, who is sleeping soundly for once. Enjin heaves a sigh as he sits down behind the steering wheel and digs the heels of his palms into his eyes, wondering what he should do next. What he could do next.
“Daddy, you look sad.”
“Nah, daddy’s just surprised that old Graham seems to be entirely bald, now,” Enjin tells her, willing himself to seem casual as he looks back at her and gives her a grin.
It makes her giggle, at least, so Enjin turns to face the wheel again, deciding to just go home.
Just find a babysitter.
But Rudo…
Enjin bites the inside of his cheek, frowning as he drives onto the busy road.
He’d tried babysitters before. Many times. They could get along with Riyo, who even managed to help them with Rudo, but mostly, Rudo seemed to be an off-putting child to the point where they no longer wanted to look after him.
Rudo barely cries, but when he does, it’s endless. Enjin has lost many, many hours of sleep because of his youngest, but he also knows that it wasn’t the cause of their reluctance, since they never even bothered to bring that up.
Rudo would stare. It was all he did, really. He’d stare at people he didn’t know. He wouldn’t eat, he wouldn’t sleep, would be unresponsive to any type of stimulation, be it talking or playing or anything that might catch a baby’s attention. He’d just… stare.
Rudo is healthy and a typical baby, save for his wariness. With family, he’s completely normal. It’s just the people he doesn’t know.
Enjin understands why. He wouldn’t like it either if someone random just came and took care of him, instead of someone he knew. Whereas typical babies would get fussy and grumpy, Rudo would stare.
So Enjin has given up, for a while, though it’s clear that he’s running out of options.
“Hey, Riyo,” Enjin says after lowering the volume of the radio and ultimately just turning it off altogether.
“Yes daddy?” She replies.
“Would you wanna try a babysitter again?”
He briefly looks at her through his rearview mirror and watches the way her face scrunches up before she looks down at Rudo. He is neatly strapped against Riyo, with one of the blankets from home since he didn’t want to leave and Riyo had suggested they just take the blanket with them. What resulted was a complicated puzzle of clothwrapping and a seatbelt on top of it once Riyo climbed into her car seat, but Enjin was surprised to find Rudo didn’t care at all for the whole thing as long as he got to hold the blanket and was held by his sister in turn.
“I’m okay with it, but it’ll just end up like always. I don’t understand why no one likes him,” she says, and Enjin has to strain to hear her, but he hears her nonetheless. It pains him to see her worry over her little brother, as she’s always done, but the fact she knows people have trouble with Rudo, while she loves him so much, is hard for Enjin to witness. He’d told her time and time again that it wasn’t their fault. The babysitters just had to go somewhere else, or they got busy, but he knew Riyo was aware he was just trying to soften the blow. She may have been five years old, but she was smart. In the end, she decided that she could be the one to take care of Rudo. Adamantly, she’d stated it. But Enjin couldn’t bring himself to let a five year old play caretaker. He’d told her, just as adamantly, that she was the big sister, but she wasn’t a babysitter.
Riyo hadn’t liked it, and she’d yelled that she was better at taking care of Rudo than any of those lousy people, but Enjin had stood firm and said to her that she could help, but he wouldn’t leave her alone in the house. Not until she was at least fifteen and proved that she was capable.
So, with a ten year goal, Riyo had started to watch everything Enjin did to take care of Rudo, and it was quite endearing, but also left him exhausted at times, answering so many questions.
Still, he would rather be tired all the time and answer endless curiosities than deal with the overbearing silence that he used to drown in.
She slowly moves some of Rudo’s unruly hair out of his face, finally looking out of the window, also lost in thought before speaking up again with a pout.
“He just doesn’t like strangers. It’s not like he’s doing anything wrong,” she mutters.
“You’re right, baby girl,” Enjin says, “I’ll try to find someone who isn’t rude.”
“Good luck, daddy,” she huffs.
“I’ll need it,” Enjin runs a hand over his face, already dreading the whole ordeal.
✎﹏﹏﹏﹏
His apartment, if one could call it that, is…
1: A total mess.
2: old.
3: bare, save for the things he needed.
It was his fifth place after having Riyo, and later Rudo. Riyo never complained, but she didn’t have many things because “What if we have to move again, daddy?”
It sucks. He wants Riyo to be comfortable and feel at home, but he just… doesn’t have time. For anything, let alone making a dingy apartment in a shady area look cozy. Every single thing is overtaken by making sure the kids are okay and having food on the table, and that leaves nothing for miscellaneous things.
At night, he barely sleeps because he isn’t sure how long his family could stay here.
Riyo wanders inside and under Enjin’s arm as he puts the keys to the kitchen table. She goes to her and Rudo’s room to put him into his crib, as Enjin had given her a few steps to safely go up and down the bed.
Enjin eyes his laptop as he shrugs off his coat, knowing he has to place an advertisement if he wants to go and find a stable job. And even if he lands a job, he can’t go and leave the kids alone.
He needs someone to watch the kids.
Even if it means going through the absolutely exhausting motions again. The reject.
The disappointed face of his daughter.
He kicks off his boots and picks up the laptop, shuffling towards the couch and folding himself up in one of the corners.
He really, really just wishes someone wouldn’t judge his children.
✎﹏﹏﹏﹏
Zanka, contrary to belief, wasn’t raised with a silver spoon in his mouth.
He’d had to figure things out himself from a young age, not getting coddled and having to learn ways to survive in the world. His family mostly looked at him with judgmental eyes if he messed up, and they encouraged independence like no other, which meant earning a living and getting a respectable degree. Of course, he’d been given a marginal sum of money to just start out, and an apartment, but it was by no means the type of fancy people associated with his family name.
Kyouka had told him she put in a word for him at the college she’d attended, and that he shouldn’t disappoint. Goka had just helped him move, but got out of his hair before he even had the chance to offer him a meal as thanks.
Now, with two months having passed, he’s looking for a job. He’d looked at all kinds of advertisements, but he’d often become indecisive when actually responding to them, and in the end, he would fail to write anything.
“Hey,” Zanka hears from the kitchen.
“Mhm,” he responds absentmindedly, scrolling down the list of local jobs.
“Did you throw out the cereal?”
That makes Zanka look up, seeing Jabber rummage through his lower cupboards and hitting his head in the process.
“It was overdue,” Zanka tells him, going back to mindlessly scrolling down the offers.
“Cereal doesn’t have an expiration date, dude,” Jabber says crankily, “It's dried.”
“Who told you that? Cereal goes stale in like a month and yer the only one that eats it in this apartment,” the brunet mutters as he taps on a new advertisement that just popped up.
“Doesn’t matter who told me, and I was about to eat it again today, but you threw it out!”
Zanka groans.
Jabber came with the apartment. Basically. He is Zanka’s neighbor, and he was quite insistent on hanging out since the rest of the complex was full of ‘old ladies that smelled like windex’, and he’d been dying to feel like he wasn’t stuck in a nursing home. He liked the cookies he received, but he just didn’t care about the age old conversation of such nice weather today.
So Zanka had let him in, and ever since that day, it was like he’d accidentally invited a vampire into his home. He lurked around, messing with Zanka’s stuff (never actually breaking or displacing anything), and bringing his own things into Zanka’s home as well to make things ‘less boring’. He’d sometimes fall asleep on the couch and Zanka would care, but Jabber wasn’t mean like Goka, or cold like Kyouka, so he never actually wakes Jabber up to kick him out.
It had quickly turned into a routine, and in the end, Zanka had given Jabber a key in case he had to leave and Jabber was still asleep, so his almost but not really roommate could lock up if he decided he’d had enough of roaming around Zanka’s place.
So Jabber is a common occurance, dare he say even a friend.
With weird tastes, but a friend, nonetheless.
“I’ll add cereal to the shopping list, then,” Zanka says after reading over the new listing again.
‘Looking for babysitter for two children (age 5, age 6 months). Open to discuss times, willing to pay extra to cover transport. $25 an hour.’
“Hey Jabber,” Zanka says, earning a mildly annoyed, cereal-less response from the kitchen.
“Should I get a babysittin’ job?”
And that’s how Zanka learns that Jabber has a bad sense of humor, because he can’t stop laughing at the image of Zanka changing nappies.
✎﹏﹏﹏﹏
Enjin is a nervous wreck.
It’s so bad that he’s been staring at his pack of emergency cigarettes for fifteen minutes in the darkness of his own bedroom while the background music of Riyo’s fairy show is barely able to reach his ears. Rudo had just eaten and was peacefully napping in the living room by Riyo, since he was fussy when Enjin tried to get him away from the noise of the tv and his sister, and now he’s taken a few minutes to properly freak out before going back to playing reliable dad.
He has no idea if he should tell the babysitter about Rudo’s… habit. Realistically, he should. He has to, if he doesn't want the babysitter to freak out, too. But he also doesn’t want to give in and say that his child is weird. Because he isn’t. He just has trouble with strangers.
“Fuck,” he mutters, taking a cigarette out of the pack and burying his face in his hands.
Before he can even make the mistake of lighting it, the doorbell rings and he ends up throwing the stick in the air from the sudden sound before scurrying over through the living room and to the front door. He takes one deep breath, opening it slowly and allowing his eyes to widen just a bit.
In front of him is a brown haired boy(?) with downturned, deep blue eyes. He’s pretty tall, but also quite lean and he has a sort of air about him that doesn't exactly match Enjin’s chaotic household. He’s wearing a black t-shirt that’s about one size too big, revealing part of his collarbones. With it he’s wearing some loose jeans, and draped around his left arm is what Enjin could make out to be a college hoodie.
Enjin swallows, daring to open the door a little more.
Things are fine. This is just someone trying to make money, just like him.
“Uhm, hey,” Enjin says, wondering where the fuck his so called charming personality has run off to. Maybe the nightmares scared it away.
“Hello, Mr. Enjin,” the stranger says. He bows his head a little in greeting, and Enjin scratches his neck before he feels two grabby little hands around his leg.
“Daddy, is this the babysitter?” Riyo asks, looking up at the boy(?) with her big green eyes.
“That’s right, babygirl,” Enjin says, lifting her up so she doesn't have to crane her neck, “Riyo, say hello to…” he trails off, waiting.
“Zanka,” the brunet smiles, and oh. Maybe Zanka had stolen those charms the moment Enjin opened the door.
“Well, Zanka!” Enjin forces himself to perk up and act like he always does, because he can tell Riyo is a bit apprehensive, “Come on in so I can introduce you to Rudo and let you know where everything is.”
Enjin meanders back into the apartment, and sure enough, what he was afraid of happens the moment Rudo, now awake due to all the noise, notices Zanka.
Still, Enjin pretends nothing is happening. He sets Riyo down and picks Rudo up, noticing the way Rudo grabs onto his shirt. It only cements the theory that he hates strangers, his tiny hand buried in Enjin’s shirt to keep himself somewhat upright.
“This here is Rudo. He’s shy, but he’s sweet, right Riyo?” he turns to his daughter, who instantly nods so enthusiastically all her red hair is moving in tandem with her.
“Rudo isn’t weird and he’s the sweetest brother I could ever wish for,” she says, determined like she’d rehearsed it.
“There you have it,” Enjin shrugs, finally daring to look at Zanka.
He’s in a staring contest with Rudo, it seems, before he lifts up his slender hand and waves, and if he’s feeling uncomfortable by the set of eyes glued to him, he doesn't show it.
“I’ll uh. I’ll show you where to find the important things,” Enjin says after he deems the silence to be unbearable, tactfully evading some toys and a bowl that Riyo has planted next to the table because she’s too small to actually place it on there. She’d finished her fruit though.
✎﹏﹏﹏﹏
Zanka, after being challenged by Jabber that he could not, in fact, get a babysitting job due to his prickly personality, decides to show him otherwise and asks to meet up with the person who posted the advertisement to set up a trial day.
When he rings the doorbell of the old apartment complex room all the way upstairs and at the end of the hallway, he expects many things.
What he doesn’t expect, however, is a tattooed hunk of a man with a messy head of blond hair and dimples, introducing him to two children that don’t look like him in the slightest.
What follows (after what Zanka could only describe as Enjin’s fear of his children being rejected, mainly Rudo, Zanka notices) is a slightly chaotic tour of the apartment with instructions mostly on how to take care of Rudo, and things that Riyo likes to do (or should not do), together with a list of their routine. He occasionally asks some things about Zanka, like his age and if he goes to school. The usual. Zanka politely answers everything and notices the way Enjin’s eyes widen a little bit when he hears Zanka has only recently turned eighteen.
After the tour is done, Enjin turns back to Zanka and points to the list on the kitchen counter.
“And you call me when you don’t know where anything is, or if there’s something wrong, or–, or anything, okay?” Enjin is more serious than a moai statue with his last words, making sure Zanka agrees before reluctantly putting (a still staring) Rudo back on the blanket by Riyo and the tv, grabbing his keys and jacket and shoving his socked feet into heavy boots. After quietly saying goodbye to his kids and subsequently Zanka as well, he finally leaves the apartment and takes with him all the noise except the children's cartoon on the tv.
“So are you gonna stay? Or should I not even bother to show you my dinosaurs?” Riyo asks after a few quiet seconds with Zanka wondering what exactly he’s getting himself into, getting up from where she’d been sitting next to Rudo. He’s able to sense some frustration in her statement, and he’s curious as to how many babysitters she’d had before Zanka arrived.
“Depends on how well I do, I think,” Zanka smiles, approaching the two.
“Do you want my help? I swear it’s not difficult and Rudo is really nice if you actually get to know him,” She says, fidgeting with her hands, and Zanka raises his brows at her demeanor. She seems a bit hesitant, but tries to make herself look confident, holding her head up as she stands by her little brother.
“I’m sure ya can teach me a lot. It’s my first time as a babysitter,” Zanka admits, “Did some homework, though.”
“Like what?” She wonders, picking up Rudo (who’s still staring).
“Like how to change nappies,” he sits down on the blanket by her, picking up one of the toys she’d scattered around, “Or how to make bottles.”
“That’s not much. There’s a lot more,” she pulls a bit of a face, then, and Zanka chuckles.
“Well, hopefully I’ll pick it up quickly, then.”
✎﹏﹏﹏﹏
Four hours of job hunting and visiting old addresses later, Enjin feels like an exposed nerve. He’s tired, irritated, worried, and constantly taking glances at his phone that has no notifications. He refuses to think about anything resembling his nightmares, but it lingers, and he all but sprints up the staircases the moment he gets home and fumbles with his keys because he isn’t sure if his kids are alright.
Swinging the door open, he stands in the doorway and has an immediate eyeful of something he’s never seen before. Not since he moved in, at least.
The entire apartment has been thoroughly cleaned and there are no bowls or toys or hair ties anywhere to be found. There’s a piece of paper on the kitchen counter that's a drawing Riyo has made of them cleaning the place, and Enjin wonders if he entered an alternate dimension. Riyo hates cleaning, but apparently she’d helped.
He slowly checks the rooms and finds them all in the kids bedroom, Riyo and Rudo sleeping soundly while Zanka is sitting on the floor against Riyo’s bed, scrolling his phone.
The soft noise of the door opening catches Zanka’s attention, and he looks up, big blue eyes a little surprised before offering a careful smile.
“They got all upset when I tried to leave the room, so I figured I’d wait,” he says, stretching a little, “they both had an afternoon snack and Rudo’s been asleep for around two hours now. Riyo only just fell asleep.”
Enjin is stumped.
“You got the job,” he says instead, to Zanka’s immediate surprise. The brunet is ogling him like he just revealed the secrets of the universe.
“But Riyo said–, she mentioned that I’m like the 20th babysitter,” he sputters, and Enjin shrugs.
“Yeah, you are,” The blond holds out his hand with a relieved smile, and Zanka takes it, a little confused. Enjin guides him out of the bedroom, sitting down on the couch and heaving a big sigh. Zanka carefully sits down on one of the stools by the salon table.
“There’s a bit of a story for that one,” Enjin starts, “You’ve probably noticed it.”
“I ain’t sure what ya mean,” Zanka says.
“Rudo has been described as… strange. To most people. He doesn’t like strangers and I think he’s trying to figure them out, but to said strangers it just looks like he’s staring at them all the time. I guess they didn’t quite like the feeling it gave them.”
“Oh,” Zanka hums, then he smiles, “He stopped starin’ at me after an hour. I figured he was just shy, like you said.”
“How’d you do it?” Enjin asks, frowning at Zanka’s words. It doesn’t make sense to him. No one has ever figured out how to make Rudo stop staring, except Enjin himself and Riyo, but they didn’t have to do anything because Rudo had never stared at them like that.
“I just pulled a buncha ugly faces until he started laughin’ at me.”
Huh, Enjin thinks.
Maybe I struck gold.
✎﹏﹏﹏﹏
“I got the job,” Zanka says with a self satisfied smile once he opens the door to find Jabber playing a videogame instead of studying.
“You what?!” Jabber stands up all at once, gaping at him like a fish out of water before he finds his words, “I was joking!”
“Surprise, I run on pure spite,” Zanka grins, showing him the money he got from Enjin.
“Insane,” Jabber shakes his head, going back to his videogame but not actually unpausing it.
“So like, you gonna be gone a lot?” He asks, and Zanka can instantly tell Jabber is kind of upset at even having to ask the question.
“I’ll send ya the hours. It’s only short periods, since the dad wants to start small,” Zanka sits down next to him on the couch, kicking off his sneakers and folding himself up cross-legged.
“Mhm,” Jabber pouts, unpausing the game and immediately dying to a zombie.
“Yer shit at that.”
“Rude-ass.”
Zanka snickers.