Chapter Text
The morning light shined through the window. Zanka slowly blinked.
"God, what time was it?" He sat up and looked at his clock. OF COURSE HE FORGOT TO PLUG IT BACK IN. He grabbed his phone to check the time; it was already 9:36 PM. Sure, it was only 36 minutes late, but he's never late.
Screw that alarm not going off! He already had a bad day yesterday when he ran into his brother at Kroger.
Zanka pulled together motivation and got up. As soon as he put his feet down, sharp claws grabbed his foot. "Ow lovely! For the love of... let go!" He lifted the bed skirt up to find his Siamese cat. He pulled her out from under the bed after getting her claws out of his socks and put her on the bed. "I love you, but stop doing that." The cat purred and rubbed against him. Awww, who could be mad at that? Zanka gave her some pets before going to his closet to get changed.
He needed to wash his clothes; he didn’t have many options today. He grabbed his gray jeans and quickly changed out of his pajamas, sliding on the jeans. Then he looked through his tops. HE REALLY DIDN'T HAVE TIME TO BE PICKY. It was a bit cold out; it was fall, so he just grabbed a dark blue off-the-shoulder knitted sweater. He liked it because it went over his hands, and he bites his nails a lot, so it hides that.
He put food in Lovelys bowl, giving her one last pet before walking off and grabbing an apple to eat on the way and his car keys before rushing out the door. He didn’t have anything fancy as a car. As a matter of fact, it was just a Jeep Enjin lets him use. He really did smile at the fact Enjin trusted him to use it. He hopped into the Jeep, quickly starting it and pulling out of his driveway. He lived in a duplex, so Enjin lived under him along with Rudo, who was Enjin's roommate more like Enjin picked him off the street and said, "You can live with me," or something like that. It just sounded like kidnapping or whatever to him. A few red lights rage baited him on the way, but he made it there only... 40 minutes late.
That's not horrible, he supposed, but he's definitely not proud of it. He locked his car as he got out in the parking lot. There was quite a big group of shops in one corner. About 10 shops down, there was a market for just reptiles and fish. He found that a bit funny two pet stores almost right next to each other. He opened the door to his workplace; it was a dog and cat grooming store. Of course, they sold stuff as well, but it was mainly just grooming. His favorite thing about the job was the cats and dogs they sold; he could play with them for hours. The store had a nonprofit animal shelter that gave them some cats and dogs they didn't have room for and surprisingly helped the animals get adopted more. He would adopt them all if he could.
"Sorry, Riyo, I'm extremely late." He gave his friend Riyo a bow, his blonde hair falling in his face.
"Don't worry about it; I don't mind that much. Business isn't that bad today," she waved her hand dismissively. "But the boss might be a little upset because only you and I clocked in today. I have three dogs to groom, so could you just manage sorting the products we got and feed and water the dogs and cats if you can, please? I'll be at the register till they come in then you gotta take over" she said as she was adjusting a grooming stand. At the pet store he worked at, all the employees were pretty close, even with the manager and owner. So it really wasn’t a big deal if he was late for 40 minutes one day. If it was more than one day, maybe, though, but that's just common sense.
Meanwhile, the store 10 stores down, or in other words, the reptile store...
Jabber worked there. Zanka had never been in there, and vice versa, so they hadn't met yet. Jabber was getting a snake used to handling it. It was a pretty ball python. He personally owned a Mexican Black Kingsnake; it was his favorite thing in the whole world, other than the rings he got from his mother. He even named his snake after the rings.
"Mannnn, yo, you're making me miss Mankira." He watches as the snake wraps around his arm. "I bet she doesn't even realize I'm gone. I wonder if she misses me as much as I miss her." Yeah, he's only been gone for an hour, by the way. Who cares? The man misses his snake! He lets the snake slither back into its tank.
"There ya go, pretty girl. Let me go get you your food." He goes to the back of the store to the freezer. If he can open the freezer... it's like a game: 'Will the freezer open today? Who the hell knows?' The freezer door likes to get jammed, in other words. "Open, says me... uhhh Alohomora! Magic, shi... just open!" He pulled the freezer open.
"Ah, shit, it worked! Heh..." He grabbed the package of the frozen rat, letting it thaw out for a little while. As he waited, he played with some corn snakes to also get them used to handling before they sold. He happily skipped back to the back, grabbing tongs and the rat. He popped the tank back open and put the rat in there. "There you go, pretty girl. Eat up."
*He threw away the packet and put the tongs away. As he was doing that, he got a text from Cthoni saying, "Can you get my cat some food while you're out, please?" Jabber looked at the text and sighed dramatically like a kid but smiled again. "Yes, ma'am!" he responded. Right, cat food… He could stop by the pet store not too far up, just a little walk. He'll do that on his lunch break.
The rest of the time spent was annoying the cashier, his "sister" Amo, and feeding snakes and fish, cleaning tanks, stocking shelves, and helping any customers. He did have a bad customer; she wanted to get a corn snake, but she was also trying to just get a 10-gallon fish tank to put it in. He asked if that was going to be just a temporary tank for him, and she said, "No?" like she didn't even consider that corn snakes don't like being picked up from above because it stresses them out and that the snake is a little too big for that tank, especially if it's going to be its forever tank. "Ma'am, I'm sorry, but I can't sell you this snake until I know you have a larger tank. He's 2 feet long, ma'am." But he just argued with her until he got fed up and kicked her out. He would never sell these beautiful creatures to someone who wouldn't take care of them properly anyway. FINALLY, BREAK TIME.
"Amo, I'm going a few doors down to get Cthoni cat food for her," Jabber said before he opened the door. "Okiee, Amo will be here," she smiled and waved. "Remember to annoy Momoa for me," he said as he skipped out the door. He was walking down the concrete path when he got sidetracked watching those fuck Ass leaf tornadoes. He stared at it before remembering what he was doing (yes, I'm giving him my problems ENJOY). "Right, cat food. What do they eat, like mice and milk or whatever?" It's obvious Jabber has never had cats before; he was half-joking to himself, "But really, what do they eat..." He sighed as he kept walking, eventually making it to the pet store. He hadn't been in this place before, but it definitely smelled better than the reptile store he worked in. He looked at the glass stand of cookies and cakes for dogs and clicked his tongue in amusement.
"OOO, fancy~!" He blinked a few times as he stared at the sleeping man behind the counter. He was pretty cute, didn't look strong, so not really Jabber's type, but he definitely wouldn't say he wasn't hot. Ehhem. Anyway, right, cat food. He snuck behind the counter and got in the boy's face. "Aye, sleeping beauty, wakey wakey! I need some help." Zanka blinked a few times, slowly wakes up to dark wicks and burgundy eyes looking straight into his soul. Had the devil finally come to take him? "Ah! oh! Sorry, sir, but also, please don't come behind the counter!?" He watched as the man with the pretty dark skin, or... darker skin than his at least, basically fell back laughing. "Maybe don't fall asleep on the job, my guy. BAHAHAH!" Zanka's eye twitched... this asshole telling him how to do his own job. But he was right; he shouldn't have let sleep take him over... god, he was so weak.
"Okay, okay, my bad. My bad; shouldn't have scared you, but can you help me find cat food, please? I have no idea what to get." Jabber went back around the counter. "Sure, uh, how old is the cat?" Zanka got up, calming his nerves. "Ah man, I have no idea. Actually, it's my friend's cat. It's big, so probably an adult," Jabber shrugged. "Right... okay, yeah, right, this way then." Zanka sighed as he led the man over to the cat aisle. "I'm sure any of these will work, but you should probably ask your friend if there's a certain kind you need to get because you're not supposed to switch their food suddenly," Zanka said as he pointed to the shelf of food. "Ah, smart, smart," Jabber nodded as he pulled out his phone and sent Cthoni a text asking her which one. "Can I help you with anything else, or is that all..." Zanka was trying his best to leave this conversation. "OOO, yeah, what's the stuff that gets cats high or whatever?" Jabber's smile widened.
Zanka blinked a few times. "High off of...? Catnip!?" Man, this guy really doesn't know anything about cats. "Yeah, cat whatever, close enough," he shrugged. "Where is it? I wanna get some for her funky cat." Zanka pointed to the shelf across from the cat food filled with cat treats. "Those two have catnip in the treats, and then pure catnip is right there." Jabber nodded. "Alrighty, thanks, bad attitude." Zanka shot him a glare... it was hard to stay professional around this asshole. Zanka walked back to the counter.
Jabber looked at the picture Cthoni sent him of the cat food; he matched the logo and got the right one along with the catnip treats. "Here you go, sleeping beauty." Zanka closed his eyes and let out a breath. He just keeps pissing him off. Jabber's smile widened as he watched Zanka's expression. "23 dollars and 40 cents... cash or card?" Zanka asked as he rang up the items. "Card," Jabber said, still wearing his wide smile. "Do you want me to bag it?" Zanka asked in a monotone voice he was about to suffocate this guy in a bag. "Yup, pleaseeee," Jabber asked like he was a child who couldn't sit still. Zanka quickly bagged the items. "There you go, sir." Zanka handed him the plastic bag with the cat food and treats. "Jabber." "Huh?" Zanka tilted his head as he watched him hold out his hand. "My name's Jabber, not 'sir,' as well as it sounds coming out of your mouth," Jabber chuckled. Zanka did shake his hand; he hesitated telling Jabberhis name, but he forgot it's LITERALLY ON HIS NAME TAG. "Zanka..." Jabber smiled again. "I'm still gonna call you 'bad attitude,' but thanks!" He chuckled to himself as he skipped happily out of the store. "Damn prick..." Zanka muttered.
"I like my new neighbor... I should pay him another visit tomorrow." Jabber smirked as he walked to his car to put his stuff away