Work Text:
The river flows gracefully from where they sit, sky painted in beautiful hues of pink and blazing oranges as the sun begins to rest on the crest of sight. The grass is soft under her, it tickles her skin, and makes her want to join the woman next to her on her blanket.
“I'm glad you came with me.”
She looks over at her partner with a raised eyebrow. Jabber typically tries to avoid.. Well, any inkling of being human, any hint that she may have feelings outside of excitement and adrenaline from a good fight. “What?” Her face is blank, confusion evident.
“You woke up at the crack of dawn,” Jabber looks over at her, pink eyes radiant and tan skin practically glowing in the warmth of the beginnings of this summer day. “Just to humor me.” She looks domestic, a horrifying look on Jabber. But something about it makes her feel warm.
“Normally wake up early for training anyway.” She shrugs and faces forward again, trying to keep the other woman from seeing the slight blush on her face, and allowing the sounds of water to soothe her now rapidly beating heart, and she hears a sigh from the woman beside her.
Jabber places a hand next to her leg. Not touching, not crossing the boundaries she had previously set, but merely an offer. “You work yourself too hard. You’re great, truly, and I think when you see that, you’ll be able to reach even greater heights.” The warmth radiates off of the skin next to her, and Zanka leans in slightly, and the hand rests on her.
“Accepting something that isn't true will set me back further. It may be true for you, Ms. Genius, but for common folk like myself, I can't say the same. And that's perfectly fine with me.” A lie. A very clear one if you knew anything about the girl, her eyes fluttered slightly as she spoke, a telltale sign; the slight red on her face didn't help either.
“Why would I be Ms. Genius when I could be a Nijuku?” She smirks and leans on her free hand, leaning over at her. “Don’t worry. I think you will find I diagnose you with adorable dumbass. One day, you’re gonna see yourself the way I see you. It's gonna be so great, dude, like. You’re so pretty, and you're so smart. You don't believe any of it. But it’s all true!” She drags out her last word and boops Zanka’s nose.
Zanka can't help a smile from growing on her face, although she tries to hide it.
A voice, loud and obnoxious, seems to boom down on them from the sky. “Come on!” The voice drags, and her head feels mushy. “Wake up already, you lazy fuck!”
Shes brought back to reality, it feels like being taken from the perfect warmth to being blasted with ice water. A cold cave with warm hands on her shoulders, shaking her from her dream. “What do ya want?” She says, tone edged with speepiness and anger from being interrupted.
Jabber looks down at her with something indistinguishable in his eyes. “One, you were saying my name in your sleep, two, if you don't get back i think your cleaner frings will beat you- actually, they’d probably beat me, my bad. But like-” She bites her lip and leans back, giving her an almost flirtatious expression. “I fear if you didn’t like me, you wouldn't be here.”
“Yer so fuckin’ dumb.” Shaking her head, she looks away, only glancing back at the woman when she begins to talk again, the woman's dreads swinging in the air as she acts dramatically.
“I may be dumb! However, I think if you don't get that wound checked out by that lady, it’ll get infected and be terrible to deal with!” Her voice is much too cheery for her words, and she moves her head back and forth as she speaks, in a way that reminds Zanka of a bobblehead, but oddly cute. She doesn't think she should be finding the woman who’s been trying to kill her regularly cute, but how is she supposed to deny it when she looks at her like that?
Zanka stares down at the large stain in her uniform, the night before Jabber had pressed her balled-up jacket to the wound, while smiling and talking about how pretty it would be to have a tie-died jacket with Zanka's blood, and that Jabber was going to wear it with honor until it started rotting. She, of course, had been hardly conscious; the neurotoxin and exhaustion had done a number on her, but Jabber stayed sober and oddly calm. “Yeah.” She heaves out a breath and sits up, hands on her thighs, looking around the area. Jabber smiles at her, and Zanka stands, groaning as she does.
“Bye, Jabber.” She looks back, and Jabber smirks, waving her hand as Zanka turns to leave.
“Bye, Mrs. Wonger,” The voice had been teasing, and sweet Zanka turns back around to look towards her.
“You seriously think that I would take your last name?” Her eyes look at Jabber incredulously, putting a hand on her hip.
“I thought you were going to hear me say that, realize you forgot your stick, and then use her to beat my face in.” Zanka’s eyes follow where Jabber’s eyes were flicking, and she practically scarpers to grab Assistaff and throw a glare back at her.
“But of course I'm right. Yo bitch ass is not a Nijiku!” She acts like that's the most obvious thing in the world, the sound of her hand slapping her own thigh punctuating her statement. Zanka slamms Assistaffs head into Jabber’s side and turns back to the door, grumbling.
“Until next time, babes!” She scoffs at Jabber's words and walks into the bright light of the day.
The pain in her side radiates through her; she should have left so much sooner. She opens a hand mirror as she walks. There is some blood on her face that she starts to scrub off with her already past-saving sleeve, and- was that a hickey? And a few more marks than she remembers falling asleep to. The woman had mentioned thinking she looked cute when she was sleeping before, but did Jabber really have to start the trail directly on her jaw, so even if she wore her uniform all prim and proper, it wouldn't cover it?
“Fuckin’ Wonger.” She tries to growl, but it turns out sounding fond.
Ah, Jabber would pay for this next time. For now, Zanka just has to survive the injuries and the chewing out that she was much overdue for from Eishia.
She sighs. There is no way Enjin is going to let this pass unremarked.