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It’d been half a year since Doll Fest– six months since he was allowed back into the action after being basically forced into hiding, both to recover and to hide from his siblings. He was annoyed out of his mind, tired of feeling coddled and like he could never actually be useful ever since their altercation with the Raiders in the trash beast. He felt like nothing but a dead weight.
Today he would prove himself wrong, at least he hoped.
Once again he’d taken on the role of a teacher, ever since learning that mentoring Rudo earned him so much praise, he’d volunteered to take on their newer recruits as well. He was almost surprised that he was allowed to take them out on his own, but after getting a report of a small pack of trash beasts on the outskirts of a secluded town, he figured now was a good time to help the newbies get a better understanding of how the Cleaners functioned.
Of course, Follo didn’t need any more understanding of that, he was a seasoned supporter by now even with his newfound giver powers, Rudo was on a smaller mission of his own with Riyo in Canvas Town, and Fu was still being basically harassed on Raider intel– which left Zanka with Amo. He wasn’t complaining about her company, per se, but even with just the two of them it felt a little overkill for the kind of report so small that he usually would have done it solo.
So, imagine his surprise when their ‘small mission’ turned into an ambush. It certainly wouldn’t be the first time, but in the moment he panicked– he had a new cleaner with no offensive abilities with him, so he had no idea how she would hold out in combat. All they had learned in their minimal training was that Amo’s boots worked to lure trash beasts, and other than that she could throw a mean right-hook or headbutt, but that wouldn’t do much against armed Raiders.
One Raider in specific.
“Long time no see, Mr. Bad Attitude.” Jabber’s familiar voice purred from the shadows, grin peeking out from under his hood. He swayed forward and activated Mankira with a pout on his lips, gaze locked on Zanka from between his locs, paying the other Cleaner no mind. “You been outta commission for a while… I missed ya a whole bunch, y’know?”
Zanka’s heart dropped into his feet, activating Lovely Assistaff and holding her out defensively, keeping himself firmly between Amo and the Raider.
“Thought ya were bored of me and wanted to fight ‘another cleaner’, what happened to that?” He scoffed, keeping his voice steady and a glare firm on his face. He looked over his shoulder at Amo, who was staring at Jabber with a far-off and dazed look in her eyes. “Hey- do ya remember the way back to HQ?”
“But Amo can help!” The girl insisted just slightly louder than she thought, her boots flickering with orange light.
In the brief moment he was distracted by Amo, Jabber had lunged forward– aiming to slice Zanka’s arms where he held out Assistaff. Zanka reacted just in time and batted Jabber away, sending him sliding on the dusty ground and bumping into a collapsed wall.
Zanka frowned, turning his attention on Amo again for a moment and praying that his desperation wasn’t so obvious on his face. He knew arguing with her probably wouldn’t do much since she seemed so determined to help, but he couldn’t guarantee Amo’s safety or that her abilities would even work on Jabber.
He turned back to Jabber, catching his expression when he finally laid his eyes on Amo. His brows furrowed, watching as Jabber’s grin faltered and something almost like recognition flashed over his features before his gaze flickered down to Amo’s boots at the flash of orange. He dashed forward again, claws sparking against Assistaff’s handle as Zanka used it to hold the Raider back. He pushed forward, sending them both barreling into a tree and knocking Jabber out of his daze.
“Heey, you got a friend with you this time, huh?... I recognize those kicks…”
Amo’s far-off look turned to one of rage at Jabber’s comment. After so long of being locked up and kept away from her treasure, she was ready to charge forward and pounce on the raider for so much as mentioning them– while Zanka couldn’t blame her, he still had a duty to keep her safe, so he stepped in her way. She pouted and stayed out of the boy’s way with a grumble, letting her anger settle and intensify the effect of her boots to seemingly no avail since Jabber remained unbothered.
Zanka didn’t say a word, just used Lovely to keep Mankira firmly held down. The closeness was dizzying– or was it how strong Jabber smelled of blood and chemicals? He had half a mind to reach up and cover his nose since he couldn’t reach his mask and the scent was so distracting, but he couldn’t exactly hold Jabber down one-handed without him potentially getting the upperhand.
“Zan-kaaa… You givin’ me the silent treatment? C’mon man, don’t do me like that,” Jabber whined and pouted like a child not getting his way, hardly even fighting back against Zanka’s hold, “I thought you liked me!”
“Liked ya? What kinda sick fantasy world are ya living in?” Zanka scoffed in reply, letting Assistaff slip just enough to press into Jabber’s neck and hands at the same time, forcing Jabber’s head to tilt up with a groan. He didn’t want the answer to that question.
“Amo’s boots aren’t working…” Amo mumbled to herself from a few feet away, stomping one foot and kicking up dust. When she realized she couldn’t be of any help without her abilities working on the Raider, she rushed off to hide behind some rubble and call for reinforcements on the new-and-improved chokers they’d gotten since Doll Fest.
Zanka looked up at the sound for just a moment, panicking internally at Amo’s sudden disappearance– it was a stupid decision, really, because as soon as his grip loosened on Assistaff in his panic he felt a prick at his wrist and promptly blacked out.
—
Zanka was tired.
To put it plain and simple, he was exhausted. His whole body ached, numb and just barely twitching at his fingers and toes as the toxins from Mankira’s cruel– beautiful, his mind supplied the word without much thought– blades seeped bone deep into his very being. They were new ones this time around, still paralyzing him but not making him see things like the times before. After his blackout, his brain felt a little fuzzy at the worst, to his surprise it felt almost like a warm hug that eased his racing thoughts for once.
He could still see Jabber lingering nearby out of the corner of his eyes, his head throbbing with the strain to keep his gaze locked on the Raider while he cleaned grime and blood off of Mankira with a care and calmness that he would have never expected from the same man that moaned when Assistaff’s spikes broke skin. The sound of Jabber’s humming and the rings in his hair hitting each other like windchimes as his long locs followed the sway of his body filled Zanka’s ears, making his eye twitch in annoyance.
Zanka noted how the Raider never went after Amo even after he downed Zanka. Did he seek Zanka out on his own? Or was he sent by Zodyl? Jabber’s odd obsession with fighting him as opposed to anyone at his own level drove him crazy and plagued his thoughts late at night, but deep down he knew that the thought of Jabber going after someone else, whether out of some sick kind of pity or boredom, made him sick to his stomach. But really, what was a stick supposed to do against those poison-slicked claws?
“...Are ya tauntin’ me?” Zanka spoke up after five odd minutes of silence since he came to.
“Awh, hey! There he is!” Jabber sauntered back over and crouched beside the Cleaner with his arms wrapped around his legs and his chin resting on his knees. “You been holdin’ out on me, big guy? Don’t tell me you’re building an immunity to my toxins…”
Zanka didn’t speak for a moment, silently grateful for the closeness now that he didn’t have to strain his eyes so much. Still, he shot Jabber a heated glare– putting as much malice into his gaze as he could with how fuzzy he still felt. He noted how Jabber didn’t smell as strong anymore. Weird. What happened between now and then to change that?
“Yer tauntin’ me…” He mumbled, like he was sure of it this time. It came out much whinier than he would have hoped, wincing internally at the sound of his own voice.
Jabber let his arm drop lazily to Zanka’s, taking his hand in his own and digging a fingernail into his palm. Zanka sucked in a pained breath through his gritted teeth, making Jabber grin excitedly.
“You totally are! That shit’s wearin’ off already! That shoulda taken… Mmh, I dunno, a solid half-hour?” Jabber responded to himself, rather than Zanka. He shifted his position to sit on his knees, eagerly hovering over Zanka with his face only inches from the Cleaner’s, eyeing how his pupils dilated.
Jabber bit at his bottom lip, his grin unchanging, making Zanka’s gaze dart downward briefly to eye the sharp canines poking the skin. When Jabber spoke up again his voice had lowered to an almost dreamy hum.
“Man…You’re gettin’ so damn strong, ain’tcha? You’ll be able to beat me half to death without breakin’ a sweat soon enough…”
Zanka felt his cheeks heat and the corners of his lips twitch upwards against his will at the unlikely praise. It was a moment of weakness because of the fuzziness he felt, but he almost wanted to deny it because it felt like a lie. He wasn’t strong enough yet– wasn’t good enough. After his already awful track record, he let Jabber get the upper hand on him by getting distracted for even a second despite all his training throughout his youth. It was a stupid mistake, he didn’t deserve the praise, even from Jabber. But he refused to prove himself right by letting Jabber see him vulnerable.
“Yer ignorin’ my question.” Zanka growled through gritted teeth after steeling himself, trying to keep the conversation flowing to distract himself from his train of thought. Not like it was hard or anything, Jabber seemed to talk just to hear his own voice sometimes.
“‘Cause you should know the answer.” Jabber murmured cryptically, easing off of Zanka and opting to lay next to him instead in a way that was reminiscent of their trash beast fight. Zanka let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding with the Raider no long right up in his face.
The paralyzation in Zanka’s neck had eased up enough for him to turn his head to face Jabber, looking at him skeptically through narrowed eyes. Jabber was looking up at the sky, his side-profile looking so impossibly serene and normal that Zanka couldn’t stop himself from thinking about how pretty he was like that; with the evening sun shining on his skin and his hair sprawled out around him. Somehow that thought made him hate his brain more than any depressive spiral he’d ever experienced.
“...The hell is that even supposed to mean?” He whispered breathlessly.
“Means what I said.”
Just then, their interaction was interrupted by the sound of the heavy wheels of the Cleaner’s Jeep on the worn-down path leading to the spot where they laid. Jabber stretched out like a lazy cat with a grunt, slowly prying himself off the ground.
“Mmh… Now, I’d love to stick around an’ get a pounding from your Cleaner buddies for fuckin’ you up real nice with my toxins, but I got somewhere to be. Bossman’s orders!” Jabber sing-songed as he slinked back into the shadows of the decrepit alley he originally came from, his eyes never leaving Zanka’s face.
Creep.
Zanka barely registered the footsteps approaching him, or Gris’ jacked arms easily and carefully lifting his– mostly still paralyzed– body into the back of the Jeep beside Amo. He was too busy trying to convince himself that the fuzzy feeling he felt around Jabber was nothing but a lasting effect of the toxins he injected into him. He stared straight ahead, dazed, only shaking himself out of it when he felt Amo tugging at his sleeve.
“Amo thinks she knows why her boots weren’t working now,” She spoke with a voice so soft and dreamy that it reminded him of the way she spoke about love stories, “it’s because he was smelling you! Obviously, Amo’s boots don't work if your special someone is right in front of you!”
Zanka heard Gris choking on his own spit from the front seat, in fact, Gris must have been so caught off-guard that it interrupted his usually pleasant driving– sending them swerving for a moment. Gris cleared his throat and mumbled an apology, and Amo was still looking at Zanka expectantly. He briefly considered throwing himself out the window of the moving vehicle to rot on the side of the road.
“Is the Raider guy your special someone too? Is that why you said what you did back in Amo’s tower?” Amo continued excitedly. “That sometimes the people you want to kill are the ones you love?”
If Zanka could go back in time and strangle himself for ever saying that in front of Amo, or even at all, rest assured he would in a heartbeat.
“What-? No! Not even close!” He shouted in a futile attempt to get Amo off of his back, even though his defensiveness was certainly not helping his case. He felt sick to his stomach being forced to confront the thought of being romantically involved with Jabber, but he wasn’t sure how to explain just how awful and complicated the whole ordeal was to someone whose only comfort had been romance stories. He wanted to scream.
Instead of succumbing to any of his raging emotions, Zanka stared straight forward and tuned everything else out for the remaining ride back to headquarters.
By the time he was settling down in his room, the toxins had worn off and his thoughts had calmed for the most part, the warm shower he had served to relax the tensing of his muscles that happened every time he thought about the Raider. Just as he was drying off his hair, his choker started buzzing from the edge of the sink– weird, nobody should be calling him this late. Maybe Enjin wanted to do something with team Akuta? He felt hopeful at the thought, he could use the distraction.
“Hello?” He answered the call, still standing in the bathroom and running the towel through his dual-tone hair.
“Heeyy Zaan-kaaa.” The voice hummed lazily from the other line, making Zanka stop in his tracks.
He was tormented enough by Jabber in person and in his thoughts, he didn’t think he’d be able to put up with being harassed on his choker. He should just destroy the thing while he’s ahead.
“Now, how the fresh hell did ya even get my contact?” He growled out, barely managing to keep his distress masked.
“Relax, Mr. Bad Attitude! I snuck it while you was asleep.” Jabber’s unhinged giggles plagued Zanka’s ears. He should have hung up, but he couldn’t.
Zanka threw the towel down with a huff and clipped his long bangs back just enough to splash his face with water before leaning against the sink, rubbing his temples to ease his suddenly pounding headache. He thought back to what Amo said earlier on their way back to HQ; was he really Jabber’s ‘special someone’? He certainly had an odd way of showing it– if that was why he seemed so obsessed, so keen on bothering and targeting him all the time.
“What do ya want from me?” He demanded, keeping his head in his hands like it would lift the weight off of his shoulders.
“Ain’t it obvious? I want you to beat me good.” Jabber grunted like he was stretching and Zanka could almost imagine him sprawled out on a cot or a couch somewhere, twirling a loc around a ringed finger as he spoke. “You’re jus’ like me, and you got so much potential you’ll never see if you don’t admit it. I can help you with that…”
“There’s nothin’ to help with! I’m nothin’ like ya, yer just delusional.” Zanka prayed that the walls of headquarters were thicker than he thought– he couldn’t risk someone hearing him calling a Raider, much less when the sound of his voice sent warmth through his core.
“You gotta stop lyin’ to yourself, Zan-zan.”
“Ew. Don’t call me that.” The Cleaner buried his face in his hands, pressing the heels of his palms into his eye sockets as if it would erase the images his brain conjured up of Jabber lazing about, and the way they made him feel.
After that, the call was silent for a moment, the air filled with nothing but the sound of Jabber’s breathing. Zanka battled with his own brain and body, trying to convince himself to just hang up like he should, but just as he was about to Jabber spoke up again.
“Meet me tomorrow, where I found you and your little friend last time. You know you wanna.” Jabber sang, and then the line went dead before Zanka could hang up on his own.
Zanka spent the next day looking for as much work as he could, just to occupy his thoughts and keep him busy, but to his dismay there was virtually nothing. Since getting wiped out by Jabber again he was being coddled again– sure there just wasn’t much to do, but why send other Cleaners out on the singular call they got when he was practically begging? It was frustrating, but he had no one to blame but himself.
He needed an outlet, and so he caved.
He snuck out of HQ later in the evening, making his way back to the abandoned, rubble-filled outskirts of that secluded town he’d brought Amo to before. He paused in his tracks before taking the path, thinking back on how strongly Jabber smelled, just to smell normally again as soon as Amo was gone. Maybe she was right, and maybe Jabber was too. After all, he couldn’t seem to stay away.
As soon as he saw Jabber hunched over and fiddling with what looked like a plant growing out of a crack in the ground, he didn’t hesitate. He ran up to Jabber with footfalls just light enough to not kick up any sand, activated Assistaff mid-swing and sent the Raider flying into an already busted wall with a harsh crack and a groan. He heard Jabber cursing under his breath and relished in it.
“What’d I tell ya, huh?” Jabber shouted ecstatically while activating Mankira. He recovered easily and lunged back after the Cleaner at lightning speeds. “I knew ya liked me! You been in denial this whole time but you just keep on crawlin’ back!”
Zanka didn’t let up, he swung and slashed and bashed, sending Jabber every-which-way so he didn’t get the chance to nick his skin– the raider squealed with glee every time, turning his head to the side to spit out the load of blood that had accumulated in his mouth. Zanka wanted to lick it off his teeth.
With an unhinged grin, Jabber propelled himself off another worn-down wall and straight towards Zanka. Zanka responded in kind, holding out Assistaff last-second so that the Raider had no choice but to fly right into the curved head, ribs first. Jabber yelped and collapsed to the ground, clutching his ribs.
“No left claws yet, huh?” Zanka scoffed, eyeing Jabber down as the Raider looked up at him through his hair, magenta eyes half-lidded. Gorgeous.
“Are you kidding?-” Jabber chuckled breathlessly and struggled to stand up, “nah, I wanna feel it…You bruise me up so good, Zanka.”
The way Jabber always directly addressed him drove him insane, whether he was using some dumb nickname half of the time or not, he always seemed to know just how to make Zanka’s heart beat out of his chest. He was riding the high of having the upper hand over Jabber, but it was cut short when he realized that this felt much too easy– Jabber was fighting almost sluggishly and still hadn’t gone all-out with Mankira yet, like he was going easy on him and just taking it. It only made Zanka more and more frustrated, but despite his temptations to up and leave, he slammed Lovely’s curved head down against the Raider’s shoulders to hold him down.
“Why aren’t ya fighting me fer real?! Do ya think I’m weak?”
From where he hovered above Jabber, with his treasure to his throat, he could clearly see how the Raider’s expression went from shock to a sly smirk. Zanka only pushed Assistaff down harder.
“Just showin’ you how easy you’d take me out without any unfair advantages.” Jabber sputtered out from beneath him. Zanka’s angry expression dropped and shifted to confusion, his slit brows drawn together.
“...Huh?”
“Didn’t use my toxins, didn’t go all out with ‘Kira– An’ now you’re out here complainin’ ‘bout how easy it is to beat me, right?” Jabber nipped at his bottom lip, gazing smugly at Zanka through his eyelashes.
Zanka paused, processing Jabber’s words. He must have still looked confused, because the Raider kept talking.
“You say you’re average, when really the only average thing about you is that stick of yours. She’s pretty an’ all, but she only helps you a little, while most people’s instruments help them a lot. You’d still be a top-tier fighter even without her… Not a lot of givers can say that, y’know.” Jabber whispered. The way he grabbed the underside of Assistaff’s curve was almost tender, keeping her close.
Jabber’s sudden tangent didn’t make Zanka any less confused, just suspicious. Why was this Raider, his supposed enemy, trying to help him improve in combat? Talking him up and praising him to the point Zanka had to turn his face so his giddiness didn’t show. It didn’t benefit Jabber, so surely he was lying. He tightened his grip on Assistaff’s handle until his knuckles were white.
“Yer just talkin’ out yer ass.” Zanka mumbled with a clenched jaw. He opened his mouth to speak again, only for Jabber to interrupt him with a tut.
“Your doubt is holdin’ you back, makin’ you hopeless. You won’t improve ’til you admit you’re already good now and aim to get even better– Grow past whatever you learned at that prissy little academy,” Jabber leaned up, pressing his neck against Assistaff to get as close to Zanka as possible with their position, “soon as you let loose, you’ll beat cheaters like me, no issue.”
Zanka let out an exasperated sigh, his eyes downcast as conflicting emotions swirling up inside of him. He discarded Lovely beside them and straddled Jabber’s hips without much care, using his bare hands to grip the front of Jabber’s Raider uniform and tug him up until their faces were inches apart.
“Why are ya giving me advice?”
“‘Cause I want you to beat my ass. Duh.”
“It benefits ya that I can’t!” Zanka scoffed incredulously, shaking the man in his hold.
“No it don’t! How else will I get-?”
Zanka knew exactly how that sentence was going to finish, so he interrupted the Raider with a hard punch directly to the center of his face, making him gasp and cry out– blood starting to pour from his nose and onto his parted lips.
“Yer a disgusting perv.” Zanka growled with pink-dusted cheeks. He felt like his self-control was being tested every second he stuck around Jabber, seeing that pretty face streaked with blood made him warm all over, leaving him to question if maybe he was a sadist.
“Damn straight…” Jabber panted but he looked downright giddy, his tongue darting out to lick the blood off of his lips– Zanka followed the movement with his narrowed eyes, almost jealous. “Man, you’re looking at me like you wanna eat me alive… I’m into it.”
Zanka’s body moved on its own, deciding to shut the Raider up in a different way this time. One of the hands gripping Jabber’s clothes moved upwards to grab his jaw and guide his head up until their lips met halfway in a rough, inexperienced kiss. It was nothing like he could have imagined his first kiss. Instead of the fireworks he heard about from stories and his peers when he was younger, it was raw and full of heat, mostly gnashing teeth. He half expected Jabber to have at least some experience, given his behaviour, but the awkward press of their noses could only be caused by two teenagers with no idea what they were doing. Still, it felt almost natural.
Jabber’s arms came up around his back and Zanka pulled off abruptly, bracing himself for the pain of Mankira’s blades breaking skin, only to feel nothing but blunt rings on Jabber’s fingers. His brows furrowed, now would be a perfect time to take advantage of his vulnerability, so why wasn’t Jabber doing it?
“Relax, jumpy, you’re fuckin’ with the mood.” Jabber pouted, opting to wrap his arms around Zanka’s shoulders instead to pull his head back in. Zanka was almost grateful– that was the most romantic thing that’d happened yet– but the kiss still wasn’t any softer.
Zanka wasn’t sure why he was doing this, but it felt about the same as being drugged up on Jabber’s toxins: fuzzy, distracting, and warm. They’d settled into a steady rhythm and the Cleaner could hardly focus on anything else, trailing kisses down Jabber’s jaw like he’d seen in the kind of coming-of-age films people his age were into.
“Zanka! Where the hell are you?” Enjin’s voice called from where Zanka’s arms boxed Jabber in. He darted up and away from Jabber without a second thought, leaving him to pout on the ground. He’d heard the telltale ring of his choker, but he must have accidentally accepted the transmission by brushing his wrist against the other boy. Shit.
He brushed himself off and straightened out his clothes as if Enjin could see him, recollecting himself and trying to steady his voice so Enjin wouldn’t get even a hint of what he was up to. He cleared his throat and opened his mouth to speak.
“Hello-? Sorry, I went out for a walk to get some air.” He stood some ways away from Jabber, but he could still feel the Raider’s eyes on his back.
“For two hours? After sneaking out your window?” Enjin’s voice was deadpan and dry, like he wasn’t buying it for a second. “It’s getting late, kid, what happened to your hour-long instrument care ritual? Imagine my surprise when I went in to check on you to find your window wide open, and you weren’t in there cuddling your stick!”
Zanka let out an embarrassed huff, his eyes flicking over his shoulder to find Jabber snickering. He wanted to tell him off, knock him out with Assistaff, but he couldn’t risk Enjin realizing who he was with so he settled for shooting him a heated glare, Jabber only took it as a challenge and started laughing harder, intending for Enjin to hear.
“Who was that?” The older man on the other end immediately asked. He sounded like he was trying to feign nonchalance but he was clearly feeling protective.
“I don’t know what yer talkin’ about.” Zanka growled through gritted teeth, eyes wide and staring pointedly at the offender. He prayed he didn’t sound like he was taking a tone with Enjin out of his stress. “I’ll head back now, no need to be so worried for me.”
He hung up the transmission before his superior could get another word in, stomping back towards Jabber and yanking him up onto his knees by the collar of his hood until they were face-to-face once more. Jabber groaned and gripped the wrists holding him up, the combination of the warm hands and cold rings from the evening air sending a shiver down his spine.
“Same place, same time tomorrow. If Enjin questions me because of the stunt you pulled, I’ll kill ya for real.”
“Mmh… You promise?”
Zanka rolled his eyes and feigned indifference, his body heating up all over again at the other boy’s needy tone. He let go of Jabber’s hood and let him drop back to the ground with a dreamy sigh. How exactly were you supposed to make your exit after a heated make-out session with the enemy?
—
After a couple weeks of regular meetups with Jabber, it’d become a routine. They would fight, it’d usually end in heated kissing, but despite how wrong he knew it was, Zanka figured it was a fair exchange for improvement. Jabber was batshit insane, but Zanka couldn’t help the way he was drawn to him, so maybe he was crazy too.
Team Akuta was on another ‘mission’– in other words, they were walking the shop-lined streets of a town that was in no danger at all– because Enjin ran out of cigs and wanted it written off as a business expense. At the very least, they’d stopped for ice cream.
Amo– who had only agreed to come for Rudo and was walking next to said boy while he chowed down on his mound of ice cream, sprinkles, and syrup so big that it needed to be put in a bowl instead of a cone– spotted Zanka lingering at the back of the group and left Rudo momentarily to slow down until she was next to him. He raised a brow at Amo to question her while his mouth was occupied with keeping his melting ice cream from spilling onto his hands.
“You know,” she started, humming thoughtfully, “Amo’s noticed something.”
Zanka didn’t like the sound of that. Maybe he was just being paranoid because of his complicated situation, but she sounded almost accusatory, and if that was the case she was speaking much too loud for his liking. He swallowed the ice cream he had in his mouth, lowering it enough to focus on her.
“Oh yeah? And what’s that?” He hummed, hoping not to come off as worried.
“Your smell changed. You still smell like you… but different! Like that Raider guy…Does that mean Amo was right?” She asked excitedly, making Riyo look back over her shoulder at the two of them with concern etched on her features.
Zanka choked on spit, confident that if he still had ice cream in his mouth he would have spat it out. He pounded on his chest as he coughed until he stopped, taking a deep breath before speaking up again.
“Ah- No, ‘course not, he’s a Raider-”
“Ooooh, is Zanka mingling with the enemy?” Riyo matched their pace to join them, her tone teasing but portraying her underlying unease. Zanka shot her a look. He was closer with Riyo than he was with anyone else, so she knew anything he wasn’t telling her was a cause for concern– and this was definitely her first time hearing about anything involving Jabber.
“Riyo, yer eavesdropping.” He mumbled, trying to keep his voice low so no one else would join in on their conversation, hoping that the other two would catch on.
“What? You guys are talking loud in a group setting, can’t a girl be worried her friend’s getting into something he shouldn’t be?” She hummed, shooting him a pointed look in return.
“Amo’s boots didn’t work on him because he was smelling Zanka!” Amo spoke, basically ratting the boy out.
“Is that so? Well, can’t exactly say I’m surprised. Jabber’s been all over Zanka since day one, really…” Riyo hummed in interest, taking a bite of her popsicle– Zanka made a face, half-tempted to point out how criminal that was; he’d understand if she bit it because it was melting, but he knew Riyo long enough to know she just did that.
“His name is Jabber?” The younger girl asked Riyo with furrowed brows. Riyo nodded in agreement and the two started speaking amongst themselves, but she still shot Zanka another knowing look to make sure he knew he would be interrogated about this later on.
“Just because I’m his ‘special someone’ doesn’t mean we got somethin’ goin’ on…” Zanka huffed, unsure if either of them were even listening to him. He let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding at the relief of his temporary freedom.
He watched Riyo and Amo talk, Rudo eventually joining them, while Zanka stayed lingering behind the rest of the group. As soon as he was finished with his ice cream, he didn’t have anything else to distract himself from the fear of his not-so-lovely love life being figured out by his entire team. What would they think of him? Would it be a betrayal or just something that needed fixing? Would he even get the chance to defend himself?
He could really use an outlet right now.