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Zanka was tired. A tired that seemed to ache in his bones, that resisted the very notion of keeping his eyed open - dragged down by the weight of his exhaustion.
Today was... eventful, to say the least. He had been on solo missions from morning to evening, he'd dealt with it as quick as the average cleaner could but...
There had been a horde of trash beats lingering near a settlement of villagers, everything had seemed as per usual but as he rushed in, Lovely Assistaff gripped in hand, he realised as he swiped at these creatures, that his hands were burning. He barely had time to look at his hands before more trash beasts were rushing at him, snarling and when he looked at the liquid frothing at one of the creature's mouth, he saw the spots the bubbling liquid hit were evaporating.
Fuck.
He had managed to deal with them, mediocre folks have to get creative after all but the sight of the acidic fluid hitting his hand...
It just reminded him of that fight with that poison obsessed maniac. It haunts him still, he admits to himself, knowing that guy was holding back when he was already struggling to hold his own against that natural talent. The fact he was taken out so quickly, left with deluded visions of getting back up, of fighting against such a menacing opponent and winning. What a joke. He was nowhere near good enough for a feat like that yet. He needs to continue training, continue with his assignments, get better, stronger and-
Thud.
Thud.
Thud.
Right. The noise that's been keeping him awake for the past minute or so - not that his overworking mind was helping him sleep in the first place. Actually, now that Zanka thinks about it, it sounds closer than before. He takes a deep breath in-
Thud.
-and lets it out. He drags a hand down his face. He'll just deal with it. Dragging his reluctant limbs out of bed, he makes his way out the door. He turns to the right, finding nothing there, he turns to his left finding-
"Rudo?" He sees Rudo standing with his head hanging against the wall, muttering something to himself, most of his form concealed in the darkness of the passage.
"What the hell are ya-"
Thud.
Thud.
Shit. Rudo's what's been banging on the wall and what he hadn't seen before was the blood leaking from his forehead.
He reaches out to Rudo, his hand on his shoulder, pulling him from the wall.
"Why're ya-..." He trails off. Rudo has tears in his half-lidded eyes. Zanka knows he's a kid but this is so different from how he usually sees him, all rude and loud and filled with righteous fury. Rudo mumbles something he can just barely make out.
"..Regto..'m sorry..," ..What the hell is Zanka supposed to do in this situation? There ain't exactly any training on what to do when you find yer teammate giving himself a concussion outside yer room, he laments to himself.
A tear slips down Rudo's bloodied face. Right. He needs to get cleaned up.
"Rudo. Ya gotta get that face of yers cleaned up. Let's go."
He drags Rudo's limp form to his bathroom, and places Rudo's ragdoll-like form on the closed toilet as he reaches into the cabinet under the sink. He pulls out the first aid kit, grateful that he restocked it recently and that despite the bone deep exhaustion, today's mission left him fairly unscathed. He prepares the cotton pad with disinfectant as he gazes at Rudo from the edge of his vision. Seeing Rudo so.. despondent honestly unsettles the ever living hell out of him. He tries not to think too deeply about it as he cleans Rudo's - thankfully - shallow wound, it had definitely looked much worse than it was. Rudo's oddly silent through the affair, though Zanka supposes he's been oddly quiet this entire night - save for his mumblings about Regto (whoever that was). Well, not like Zanka was going to pry, he doubted they were close enough to warrant that kind of behaviour. Still...Zanka hopes he can at least talk it out with Enjin or something. Apologising to someone that isn't even there to hear it seems so tragic for the usually loud and determined boy. He finishes cleaning up the wound and drags Rudo out the bathroom, stopping at the side of his bed. He is more than ready to sleep at this point.
He maneuvers Rudo to his bed and gestures to the empty space, giving Rudo a light push to his back.
"Come on. I'm way too tired for this." He ignores the odd feeling in his chest at the unfamiliar situation. Still, he'd rather not have to walk Rudo all the way back to his room.
He climbs in and pulls the covers over the two of them, closing his eyes. He's just started feeling the grasp of sleep on his mind when he feels something tugging lightly on his haori, and the presence of a head near his shoulder.
"..thanks.." It sounds so odd coming from Rudo, so different from their previous interactions, he's not entirely sure what to say.
"Yeah, yeah, go to sleep Rudo."
He ignores the warmth in his chest as Rudo snuggles his head against his shoulder, already lost to the realm of sleep.
He wakes up more well rested than he has in weeks.