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Jabber laid there on the ground of the trash beast with Zanka looming over him, excitedly asking him questions, too many at once for Jabber to respond to. Not like he could at the moment anyways, to his surprise, Zanka just so happened to work with toxins and poisons as well. Laying there on the ground, with his scrambled mind, Jabber thought one thing. ‘How could someone so idiotic be better than me at something I’ve been doing for years…’
“Hm…you’re not responding…does that mean I did good?” Zanka questioned with a smile that didn’t quite meet his eyes. Jabber just stared up at him, the toxins already doing their job. Zanka seemed to have noticed and smiled again before he carefully and gently moved Jabber’s head to his lap before he looked away, lost in thought. “How’s it like with the cleaners? You all seem so…happy together. It’s weird, the boss man never smiles, he always has this look of indifference on his face. Kinda reminds me of you.” Zanka murmured as he began to pet Jabber’s hair, the latter only focusing on the way Zanka was talking, it made him seem calm for once, not like the crazed maniac that Jabber’s come to hate.
“Lovely was the only thing that brought me joy for a while, she was the only thing keeping me going and alive…that was till I met you.” Zanka murmured softly “I don’t know why…I guess that I liked that you were the only one who could put up with my shit.” He continued, his voice getting softer and more quiet at the end.
Jabber didn’t get it, why did this raider trust him so much, maybe it was because Zanka thought he wasn’t listening, or maybe it was a trick to make Jabber’s defense go down. As if he wasn’t paralyzed and at Zanka’s mercy at the moment. He didn’t get why Zanka didn’t just get it over with and kill him right there, why was Zanka telling him all this.
“I like you.” Zanka breathed quietly, and with that, he kept silent, only looking away, zoning out as he waited for the effects of his poisons to wear off so Jabber could either push him away or they could start right back where they ended with their fight.
The area of the trash beast had fallen into silence now, the only sounds were Zanka and Jabber’s breathing, one soft and quiet, the other ragged and shallow.
That was till Zanka heard someone walking towards them, not like Zanka cared. The footsteps stopped right beside them, boots that Zanka didn’t quite recognize, not flinching when he heard the familiar sound of someone’s finger going to the trigger. “He’s fine. Not dead or dying, he’s just paralyzed.” Zanka murmured simply, the other kept their finger on the trigger before sighing and taking her time putting her gun back in its holster.
That is when Zanka looked up slightly, the two looked at each other, blinking. Before Riyo shouted “OH MY GOD, YOU’RE THE-THE UH WELL KID!” Zanka blinked, bewildered as he looked at Riyo. “Excuse me…?”
Riyo sighed as she tried to remember before an imaginary light bulb turned on over her head. “THE KID THAT ME AN ENJIN TRIED TO GET OUT OF THAT WELL, YOU SAID “I came down here on purpose to kill myself-“ OR WHATEVER, I never thought you got and would become a raider of all things though…” she continued as a confused Zanka just looked at her like she was crazy before he realized. “Oh! You were with that one guy, right? Uhhh, shit, the guy who was talking to me and rubbing it in my face that he was eating something, right?” Zanka questioned, causing Riyo to give a nervous laugh as she nodded.
“So, you mind helping me carry him so we can find a way to the other cleaners?” Riyo asked as she looked down at Jabber, who was just glaring up at the two. “Hm? I don’t mind.” Zanka murmured as he gently pushed Jabber off his lap and stood up, bringing Jabber to a stand beside him, putting Jabber’s arm around Zanka’s shoulder, Jabber having already felt some effects of the poison wearing off and leaned more on Zanka.