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When Zanka was sure something was a bad idea, it really was a bad idea… It was not redundant… At least he considered it.
Night had fallen a few hours ago, as he arranged his clothes in front of a cracked mirror. He barely had time to dress, he just rushed out of his room when he read the note. Lovely Assistaff was leaned on the wall next to the broken glass in which his reflex was showing a nervous and distrusting guy that was impatiently and contradictorily arranging the clothes and his hair as if it was possible to look better even the darkness falling over his shoulders, he was not trying to look good, just not looking like he just came out from bed. Took a deep breath.
Bad idea… This is a really bad idea…
His fingers clenched around his staff, a way to drain away the nerves. Though it was not really helpful actually.
Waiting in the middle of an alleyway, with such dark night, to a damned psychopath to appear.
It sounded like the beginning of a horror movie.
And Zanka was the main, stupid victim of the film.
He had already prepared to leave, impatient and his mind rethinking and having too many intrusive thoughts in just those five minutes of waiting that he had stood there, nervous and glancing all around him only because the solitude felt overwhelming and uncomfortable, because there was no way there could be a possible slaughter there. And the possibility of it being a fake note was as great as the possibility that it was a trap, and naturally, he was prepared for that as he squeezed Lovely Assistaff between his hands.
A tiny stone echoed in the middle of the alley, bouncing as if dropped from a great height.
The echo got Zanka's attention as if a thunder had crossed the sky, and his navy eyes focused on the movement of the stone, rolling from friction, he threw his eyes towards the direction it came from. Standing over an almost ruined building… ravishing and stunning magenta eyes glared back at him with that psychotic smile of his, almost provoking him to get him for having startled him.
Instead, Zanka stood there, still quite stiff by the nerves, expecting him to jump as agile as a cat. To his surprise, the magenta eyes rushed from his sight like a timid coward.
Which obviously was almost like he was insulting him. Zanka frowned as an automatic reaction, and it was him who, agile as a cat, climbed the ruined building almost with two jumps.
“Jabber!” Hissed, offended by his sudden flee.
No response, at least if bursting into laughter didn't count as one. Zanka felt his veins throbbing in his temple and neck, and rushed towards him, skipping and leaping between the buildings, chasing Jabber.
No one seemed to live there, it was all darkness and flickering lights with lots of moths fluttering around it. The only noise was the breathing of both of them, slow gasps and chuckles— especially coming from Jabber— as he was tightly followed by Zanka. Suddenly, among the ruined buildings, a massive gap between two of them showed an impressive distance Zanka considered his winning point.
Because there was no way Jabber could jump that, wasn't it?
Far from slowing down, Jabber ran as if it were a final sprint in a race and without hesitation jumped— of course he would jump… He was Jabber Wonger. His laughter echoed thrilled and nervous, demonstrating how reckless, albeit wild, that jump had been.
Instead, Zanka stopped abruptly, skidding to the edge of the building, where it remained right there on the ledge, using Lovely Assistaff to bring it to a safe stop. Amazed, he kept glaring, Jabber reached the other side of the building, rolling a bit because of the limited and tight reach and turned around, still on the ground, rapidly standing, with a wide smile on his face. Prompting him to jump as well with a faint movement of his head and a sudden, yet provoking, raise of his brow.
Was all that a fucking game for him?
Zanka clenched to his staff. No way he reached the other side… Swallowed hard. Stepped back. It was not his way of gaining momentum, it was the evidence that he wouldn’t jump. Pursuing his lips, Jabber was able to see them tremble for a second, so he drew a smile on his face and provoked him with mockery, a slow victory dance.
“Seems like I won you again!”
Zanka growled immediately and frowned as if the word won had been the needed trigger to make him act. No bad feelings, but was the only way of making him move his ass for something. Didn’t turn back and see if he was still there, just frowning or actually acting. Jabber just started running again.
“This bastard…” hissed Zanka.
Everything was a fucking game for him!
A few steps back, infuriated because of the flee, he couldn’t allow that to happen. He wouldn’t permit it. Whatever Jabber wanted to do, it won’t work. Whatever Jabber would try to do it just won’t absolutely happen! He would make sure of it, Zanka would make sure he avoided Jabber’s destruction and chaos.
Zanka clenched Lovely Assistaff with one hand and prepared himself to jump before Jabber ran too away and lost him. He took a deep breath, feeling his brain screaming at him to stop and not jump, but his body was already jumping the moment he regretted doing it.
“Shit!”
Jabber stopped and turned around the instant he heard that, his magenta eyes shining with both satisfaction and surprise. The brightness disappeared as fast as it appeared the moment he realised Zanka wouldn’t reach the other side.
“Yikes…” Jabber spat.
Zanka raised his hand, trying to at least reach the edge of the building, not even daring to let go of the staff. The slam against the stony wall was as painful as he assumed it would be, even quite worse. A few rocks fell because of the impact, but he didn’t. He raised his eyes, stunned by the impact against the wall and the surprise, seeing the tip of his staff tightly held by Jabber, who, almost effortlessly— that’s what his relaxed expression displayed— raised him to the edge of the wrecked building.
“You almost lose your life, you dumbass”
Anger made his blood boil when he listened to that mocking tone and how relaxed Jabber crossed his legs, sitting on the floor of the roof, not even caring about anything else, not even caring about what he just did, downplaying the importance and the strength of the moment per se to just ruining it with that bullshit.
“You… fucking bastard!” yelled.
It echoed in the darkness, not drawing anyone’s attention, due to their loneliness in that realm. Jabber had barely time to react when the other clenched Lovely Assistaff willing to smack him to death for mocking him. Fortunately for him he was able to dodge it just on time by rolling sideways and skipping to stand.
Zanka stared at him with deadly eyes.
“You take everything too seriously…” rolled his eyes.
Or perhaps it was him who didn’t take it seriously enough…
Zanka tackled him, both hands clenching Lovely Assistaff, his eyes as bright as they could be, like a deadly fierce, willing to take him down.
“Chill, dude… You’re exceeding yourself!”
A scream demanding his silence was his only response, not satisfying. Jabber was not expecting more, but it was not in his plans to fight a Cleaner that night. All he wanted was a little game, a little chasing, just drawing someone to persecute him and mock his lack of stamina when Zanka was unable to continue to make him raise as if mocking was the magical formula to make him move.
It certainly was.
“This was not what I wanted”
There was a lot of openings he could use, there was a lot of possible options he could take to flee, there was a lot of chanced to knock him down and just run, but Zanka’s aura and presence was so furious that made it complicated to trying to move without the erratic and frantic movements of his trying to avoid his escaping.
“Fight back, you damned physcho!”
“You’re so tense…” he chuckled, dodging the attack with a simple move of his torso backwards.
Zanka growled.
“Stop mocking me, you fucking genius!” took momentum with the staff.
Jabber stopped the direct impact to his head with just one hand. It was just a flat slam against his hand— making a subtle shaking because of the sudden pressure—, and all of Zanka’s strength was drained almost magically when Jabber’s smile disappeared. Zanka’s skin paled.
“I didn’t mock you now” Zanka tried to pull Lovely Assistaff to get away from his grip, but Jabber didn’t let him go, instead, he pulled him close, forcing their closeness, as he knew Zanka wouldn’t let it go. “You are tense. Not fighting properly. It’s not a matter of being or not a genius. I know you can do better” hissed.
A few drops of sweat slid down Zanka’s face as he pursed his lips and clenched Lovely Assistaff. They were so close that he would be unable to prevent anything Jabber could do. Took a deep breath, expecting something, perhaps a fight back, but it never came, he let him go.
There was a brief silence. The distance between them was suddenly wide.
“Why did you bring me here?” wondered Zanka as his body was still tense, even if he was trying to control it to not stand like that, expecting an attack.
Where no one can hear me scream…
“Silly chasing game” shrugged.
His honesty was the worst blow he could have got in the pit of his stomach— strangely not painful. Lovely Assistaff’s tip touched the floor as Zanka let his guard down, for instance his frown furrowed with confusion.
A game…
It was a game for him…
It all was…
Zanka let go an exasperated sigh and shook his head, twisting his lip. Hearing Jabber's laughter enraged him even more than usual, so with the edge of his staff he struck his opponent on the head with a precise and firm touch, causing the opponent to let out a groan and rubbing his head between his dreadlocks.
“You’re so fucking childish” growled.
“Still, you came towards my call…”
“I assumed you were threatening to kill someone if I didn’t come!”
Jabber rolled his eyes. How underestimated he had him.
“You really think someone could live here?” Zanka said nothing, no arguments could be made to be able to sound convincing enough. “And you looked so cute arranging your hair…”
“I was in my damned bed!”
“Even cuter…” chuckled, getting the mocking smile back again in his lips.
Zanka’s levels of exasperation rose to its limit. However, before hitting Jabber’s head again, he stopped it again, grabbing the staff again to stop the blow.
At this gesture, Zanka frowned and tried to twist the staff to force Jabber to release it, reaching the limit of its length. But Jabber was faster and grabbed Lovely Assistaff with both hands, just as he had.
They were as if a barrier stood between them, Zanka trying to pull back to break free from Jabber's strong grip, while Jabber barely resisted. In fact, he was using a bit of leverage by leaning back slightly, so he hardly felt the tugs he was giving Zanka. Suddenly, he raised the staff above his head, knowing beforehand that Zanka wasn't going to let go for anything, and passed it behind his shoulders and neck, receiving an almost immediate impact from Zanka's body against his own.
Their lips were just inches apart. Jabber twisted into a malicious smile.
"I know what you're trying to do." hissed Zanka, pulling back his head, but not letting go of the staff.
"And the funniest thing is, you're not reciprocating, but still you won’t stop it either."
"I'm not that stupid." Jabber chuckled at the snarky reply.
“Let go of the staff then” teased with a twisted smile.
“Never” growled.
Jabber chuckled.
“Stop laughing, this isn’t—”
“Funny?” ended up the other. “It’s hilarious how you’re trying to avoid my lips at all costs… Still… your grip is as strong as mine, but apparently you have no strength to raise it over my head to get away from me… Seems contradictory, isn’t it?” Zanka growled.
“You’re implying I want this?”
“Perhaps…” purred with a sly smile on his lips, holding the staff a bit back, separating it from his neck and making Zanka’s head and body move closer. Even the pressure and the attempt of the blue-eyed to get away, it was useless, his body was almost glued to his chest, but still he was leaning his head back to about his mouth. “See?”
“Let me go”
“You’re the one who doesn’t want to—”
A sudden kick in his thigh, perhaps higher. Yup... Higher.
“Low blow”
“Literally…” purred Zanka as Jabber’s grip loosened, he was able to pull the staff back and step back immediately, making it roll between his hands with an imposing movement.
Jabber sighed with pain, then let off a subtle groan, his weight on his knees, heavy breathing, his shoulders moving slowly as he recovered from the exciting pain. Definitely invigorating and satisfying, he wouldn’t deny it; but it was not the moment. He was not fighting seriously, it was not the mood.
But he would turn the mood on then…
“That’s it. I’m going serious now”
Zanka paled.
“Shit…”
Zanka now regretted what he just did.
The danger was now on his hands, especially when he saw a maniac smile spreading in his lips and his magenta eyes shining intense pink. Mankira activated. He better dodge everything or he’d be fucked. No one could listen to him there.
Zanka stepped backwards, setting a wide distance between them and tensed his posture, holding with his both hands Lovely Assistaff to be able to stop any kind of unpredictable blow or attack Jabber might do.
The tackle was expected, but he still anticipated a painful attack, perhaps even one so unpredictable that he'd have to be constantly on guard. He managed to maintain his distance despite Jabber's relentless tackles.
Zanka used Lovely Assistaff to block Mankira's precise attempts of scratch. His strength seemed to multiply when the claws activated, and it was not only incredibly unnerving but also stressful, to the point that his knees nearly buckled.
He managed to push him back, but his body felt such nervousness and tension that he wasn't sure if he'd been able to dodge the venom from the claws.
Jabber looked at him, satisfied with his tension and the almost paranoid way he fearfully stared at his arms and hands. He took advantage of that to launch himself in a sudden attack. Zanka was unable to stop him in his tracks, and the two ended up tumbling down to the adjacent building. A collapsed roof gave way under their impact and weight, sending them tumbling down a mountain of rubble to the ground. From the impact itself, Lovely Assistant was caught in the debris high on the mountain.
"SHIT!" the blue-eyed yelled, feeling fear, specially the moment that those claws buried just next to his face, cutting the view of his staff.
“What now, Mr. Bad Attitude?” laughter echoed between the failing stones and ruined buildings. His body was on top of his, with his knees on the ground at either side of his body and the weight on his stomach. “Seems like I won again. Two wins in a row in a single night!” he celebrated, once again relaxing as Mankira retreated and his pink eyes turned magenta and calm again, he tilted his head to one side. “You give up, don't you?”
Zanka would never. He tried to push him off, but ended up with his arms pinned into the ground, completely immobilised.
“Just give in” purred with a wide smile on his face.
Never.
Never!
NEVER!
Jabber could see the determination in his navy eyes still shining with fury, his blood boiling because of the humiliation and the vulnerability of being away from his weapon and immobilised as he was. Raised his brows and leaned over him, his deadlocks falling pulled by the gravity, creating almost an intimate space for both of them. Just stares. Just them.
“You're not weak for giving up”
Never.
Still could see the determination in his eyes, also in the attempt of moving his arms and hands, and legs. He was fighting. He was still trying to prove he could. Jabber sighed, almost exasperated.
“You're a real pain in the ass…” rolled his eyes, tilting his head to one side again. “Lucky me I like them…” a malicious laugh echoes between them, less scandalous than the previous ones.
Zanka didn't want to know what the implications of that were, but he tried to fight again, taking advantage of— the apparent— Jabber's lowered guard.
He managed to get one of his hands free and so he managed to push him off, and crawled backwards with rapid kicks, managing to get to his feet and run towards the rubble, stumbling up to reach the upper area and get to Lovely Assistaff. Jabber was faster, and before he managed to grab it, Jabber did it a few seconds before.
“No!” He yelled.
His feet slid across the uneven terrain, but was able to hold his whole body weight to a thin edge. Jabber, instead, let himself go to the bottom of the debris, relaxed, and mocked him with clumsy rotatory movements of Lovely Assistaff, teasing him to let himself go. So, Zanka did it, blinded by rage. He threw himself towards the contrary, trying to grab his staff and have it back by all means necessary. Failing miserably.
“Stop playing!” Yelled with anger throbbing through his body as violent as the shake of his hands, impotence. His voice almost cracked.
It was not a game for him.
Jabber didn't seem to get it, right?
“Not playing now, you're just blinded by rage, not my fault” he shrugged. “Your emotions blind you in the worst way possible. They make you weak. You try to pretend you're not feeling anything, but rage always ends up eating you up…”
“You don't know anything! You always get carried away by your fucking emotions!” For a moment he thought he had reached his cane, but the second one following was knocked to the ground by a simple flick of the wrist.
“I have eyes. And I've been seeing you through the…” his eyes raised to the sky, dawn was coming. “Through all the night…” he lowered his eyes.
Zanka was trying to get up, so he pulled him down again, and he rested one knee on his torso, enjoying the futile attempts to reach for his staff despite leaving it right on the ground a few centimetres beyond his reach.
“And you know what? I know you won't listen to me… Next time you'll focus on defeating me again, and so on… But you'll never win… And I don't need to tell you why... But there's one big difference between us...”
Zanka ignored him, his only attention was on reaching Lovely Assistaff. In vain.
“You hate yourself…”
Zanka stopped right there, his hand stayed there, his fingers almost rubbing the staff, and they shook. Zanka’s expression didn't change, but it tensed, and for a moment, he stopped breathing.
“You train yourself to be the strongest… But you can't go beyond if you are your own obstacle. Your mind… Your thoughts…”
Of all the damn people in the world, why did it have to be him who told him?
“Stop… fighting…” whispered. “You can't always win, and it's fin—”
“Shut up!” his voice cracked, trying to reach Lovely Assistaff again. “You don't know anything about me! You're just a fucking physcho!”
“And you're just a broken boy unable to admit his weakness to become stronger…”
It broke him.
The attempts to reach the staff ended, scratching the ground, even forcing his arms to its limit, and there was silence.
…
Then a sob.
…
Jabber sighed and stopped trying to brake and forced his body out of the staff. Slowly and carefully held him and pulled up to sit him down, leaning him on his chest.
“I got you…” whispered with an unexpected calm tone. “You can always be stronger as long as you're willing to…”
“I-I can't”
“That's what I meant…” whispered, stroking his back in a relaxing back-and-forth motion. “Your mind… That's your enemy. You settled on the idea of being unable to go over a Genius and you don't even try it. You hate me because you can't defeat me, but no more than you hate yourself…”
He's not even sane, how the hell can he say those things?
“You need to trust yourself…” he whispered. “You have to give up sometimes…”
“Shut up” the attempt of sounding threatening was useless.
“Stop fighting against yourself…” whispered, close to his ear. “Have mercy on yourself for once…” Jabber moved back far enough so that he could see that he was giving him the option of continuing to wrap his arms around him, or on the other hand, to step away whenever he wanted, perhaps grabbing the staff and surely continuing fighting as before.
But…
Zanka's head leaned against his shoulder and his sobs echoed against him. Jabber surrounded him.
“That's it…” muttered in a lower tone. “It’s okay, Zan-Zan…” a hiss echoed.
He didn't like that…
“Let me go…” Jabber slowly unwrapped him, still over him. He stepped back a couple of paces, squatting down, waiting for him to react.
“You're an absolute asshole”
“At least I’m telling you the true”
“Asshole” he repeated.
“You're so childish”
“It wasn't me the one who made me chase you through all this fucking place”
“It was funny”
“Idiot”
Jabber shook his head slowly, it seemed like the tables turned. No wonder Zanka's annoyance each time he set his eyes on him. The silence settled between them, quietness was quite comforting, the solitude of the place. His shoulders moved slowly, the back of his hands rubbed his wet cheeks, wiping away all the tears, erasing the evidence of humiliation he'd been through in just a few minutes.
“You know I'm still going to annoy you, right?” Zanka growled by the sudden cheerful tone of the contrary.
Twisted his lip to one side, and moved his eyes to his right, where his staff was. Rapidly checked if Jabber realised that movement, it seemed like he didn't. Tensed his body a bit, concealed enough to go unnoticed. Then leaped laterally and rolled to grab Lovely Assistaff between his hands.
Jabber didn't move, but his curled lip, made it evident that he had realised his intentions and did not move on purpose.
“Alright… Seems we'll keep playing a bit more…” he laughed.
Zanka couldn't react on time. Jabber was definitely unpredictable. Zanka leaped backwards, rolling the staff in a rotatory motion, then used the tip as a pole vault to jump over him, dodging the kicks and the claws of Mankira that was again active. His eyes shone bright blue, threatening and intense. Zanka rushed over the debris and leapt over an unstable roof, knowing Jabber was tightly following him, he could hear his laughter at his back.
“Don't run away! It's not funny!”
He wouldn't face him if he wasn't on solid, stable ground. He landed on a roof whose tiles slid as he stepped on it. He managed to recover, using the water pipe as a spring, which then broke free when he propelled on it.
“Fuck!” Yelled Jabber at his back.
He immediately turned back, holding on the edge of a safety rock, handing him the tip of the staff just on time. The edge of the building gave in, Jabber was able to hold himself on his staff.
“I don't even know why I'm doing this” complained Zanka, clenching tightly Lovely Assistaff, having the feeling it was slipping off.
“You owe me this after saving you before…” responded, propelling himself over the ruined building to reach the edge, then climbing carefully to his side. “Cute… You care enough to pay me back”
“I'll push you off the ledge if you mention that again.” Hissed with anger in his eyes.
“Cute…”
“Fuck off”
Jabber held his chin, letting a soft smooch on his cheek.
“Catch me if you can…” whispered against his ear.
Zanka's eyes widened and his face turned intense red. His brain had a reboot, strong and intense enough to make him need a few seconds to recover from the stun. That has been even more effective than a blow in the pit of the stomach.
“JABBER!” Yelled.
His scream echoed in the whole place, right after that he rushed towards him, following him tightly. The response was a burst of laughter that echoed through the place just like his scream.
Dawn blinded him, tripping with the ledge of one of the buildings, hopefully able to recover himself and jump on time. The first lights of the day began to raise, filling the place with a dense rose and orange blur. Jabber stopped abruptly, holding tightly to a broken street light, it was just the pole; the light had gone out due to deterioration, taking momentum to kick him.
Zanka stopped dead in its tracks. The two of them collided, not painfully, just the collision of their bodies, ending up over the rooftop.
“Ups…” Jabber chuckled. “Not what I had in my mind…”
Zanka grumbled and rolled his eyes.
“Get off me”
“I'm comfy” purred Jabber, smiling sideways.
Zanka growled.
He got off him, rolling to one side, and the two of them lay face up on the roof of that building. Zanka sighed deeply, closing his eyes momentarily.
“What's your plan now?”
“Night's over…” Jabber shrugged, chuckling. “Nighttime date is over too”
“Date?”
“Pretty cool date, isn't it?”
“You made me cry my eyes off”
“You're feeling better now, aren't you?” Zanka furrowed his eyes, confused by that gesture, then saw him draw a smile on his face. “You were moving better after that…”
“I was doing the same”
“You were less tense” Zanka pressed his lips and his eyes moved towards the sky. “Wanna continue the chasing?” Zanka moved his head to him, and rolled his eyes.
“Dumbass”
“I'm driving you crazy…”
“Definitely…” confirmed Zanka, sitting down and sighed, folding his arms over his knees in a relaxed gesture, still holding Lovely Assistaff in his hand. “I should go back…”
Jabber sat down too.
“Can I kiss you?”
Zanka flinched.
“Excuse me?” Jabber chuckled at that reaction.
“It's not like I asked you something crazy”
“It's crazy”
“Can I do it?” Jabber moved a bit closer, Zanka winced. “That's a no”
“Obviously is a no”
“Why?”
“Are you seriously asking?”
“Stop thinking for five minutes that I'm a Raider”
“And a psycho who almost get me killed three times”
“Two. I saved you from falling” Zanka gritted his teeth. True. “The same way you saved me back” winked. “Those shoots your friend gave me were such an experience…”
Zanka frowned as an automatic reaction.
“I don't want to talk about it…”
“Is that jealousy?”
“Of course not” grumbled, wrinkling his nose.
"Then... You were worried about me?" Zanka's lack of response made Jabber's smile widen.
Zanka growled. Jabber grinned, getting a bit closer.
“This sounds familiar…”
“What?”
“You want to avoid my lips again, but you don't move away either…”
Zanka pursed his lips.
“What if I try to take away Lovely Assistaff from you again? Would I get a kiss?”
Instinctively, Zanka pulled his staff out of his reach, gripping it tightly so that even if he reached him, he wouldn't be able to move it. Hearing him laugh confirmed that he wouldn't do it.
“Why the heck do you want to kiss me so badly?”
“Isn't it obvious?”
Of course not.
Zanka meditated for a few seconds, shaking his head slowly, then sighed.
It was a bad idea…
“You're insane…”
“There you go again, your mind tricking you again. What's the problem—?”
“You're a Raider”
“So?”
“You're insane”
“You like it deep down”
“I'm not—”
“Careful what you say. I'll kiss you to shut you up”
Zanka flinched.
“I…” rolled his eyes. “You don't care about me being weak...?”
“Can help you with more nighttime dates to train your reflexes and attacks…” winked.
Zanka bit his lip.
Sounded good...
Better than it should...
“You're unbearable sometimes…” snorted.
“You like it deep down too…”
Zanka grumbled, not admitting he was right out loud. A tiny smile appeared on his lips. He couldn't believe he was thinking about that. Jabber leaned against him, his chin on his shoulder, comfortable.
“I like your smile…” purred against him.
“Hard to believe you can be this soft when you're not trying to kill someone…”
“You're so frustratingly evasive with me”
“You like it… deep down…”
Jabber's brows raised and his smile widened.
“Oh… You turn it back to me… You're so clever…” Zanka chuckled. “Yes. I do. I like it…”
Zanka turned back to him.
“I like you…” muttered Jabber.
Zanka bit his lip. Then slowly nodded, it was such a subtle movement for instance it was hard to see.
Zanka took a deep breath.
“I'm…” whispered, then regret it, and bit his inner flesh in his mouth. “You can kiss me…”
Jabber grinned. He stopped leaning against his shoulder, lifting his head to subtly place his lips on his. It was not deep. Just a delicate touch. The moment he realised, Jabber was holding his hand tightly.
“I'd like another nighttime date…” muttered Zanka.
Jabber grinned.
“We will…” he nodded.
It was a deal then…
THE END