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"I said it’s fine!" a voice shouts, cracking like a whip down the hallway with its ferocity, and Enjin blinks from his chair in the dining hall.
"No, it ain’t!" Oh. That’s Zanka.
"Don’t tell me what to do, turdface!" Rudo.
"I’m your teacher! I’m s’pposed to tell ya what to do, so listen to me, ya skuzzball!"
These two. Enjin heaves a long sigh and gets up from the table. Well. Time to stage an intervention. It's not like he'd been eating, anyway. He's mostly been sitting around after finishing his food seven minutes ago.
He exits the mess hall and runs straight into Gris, who also happens to be walking down the hallway in the same direction. Knowing him, he’s on his way to split up the fight just like Enjin is.
Sure enough, Gris looks at him with eyes drained of all soul and says, "Why can’t they be normal?"
Enjin barks out a short laugh. "You think anybody here’s normal, man?"
"No," Gris admits. He pinches the bridge of his nose as they start walking down the hallway together. Rudo and Zanka’s argument is still going full-force. "You think we should just leave them alone?"
Enjin shrugs. He’s wondered the same before, to be entirely honest. There’s something to be learned from resolving issues on your own, and though the kids certainly haven’t been deprived of that lesson, it’s certainly one that could use reinforcement. Especially Rudo. That kid still has a lot to learn, just in general. "Probably," he says.
Zanka lets out a particularly loud shriek of outrage.
Probably not. There may be a lesson learned from resolving arguments, but maybe not so much if things come to blows. Zanka should know better than to let that happen, and Enjin trusts that he does, but even so— Their pace quickens just a little, from a walk to a… mildly brisker walk.
They round the corner in a matter of seconds and find that the argument is taking place right smack dab in the middle of the hallway, and both boys are seething, Zanka towering over an angry Rudo with a twitching right eye.
Zanka’s attention flits to their movement and his eyes widen immediately, mortified. Rudo, who is too buried in his frustration to notice their arrival, lets another insult fly. "Why don’t you just piss off and—!"
Zanka’s hand shoots forward and claps over Rudo’s mouth, cutting him off. Rudo lets out a muffled protest, gloved hands raising to scrabble at Zanka’s firm grip, before Zanka hisses, "Quit it, ya idiot!"
"Something going on?" Enjin asks.
Finally, Rudo notices them. He stops moving. One foot tucks itself behind the other, and Enjin arches an eyebrow at it, suspicious.
Zanka’s face flushes red. He opens his mouth to answer and lets out a remarkably high screech instead, jerking his hand away from Rudo’s face and flapping it around wildly. "Wh— Did ya just— just lick me, ya fuckin’—?"
Rudo glares and crosses his arms like a stubborn, very indignant cat.
Enjin tries not to laugh, because laughing means he approves, and he doesn’t really want to positively reinforce this behavior. But it is funny. Apparently he’s not hiding it well enough, though, because Gris shoots him a stern warning look.
Gris, at least, has an easier time getting it together. "Zanka. What happened?"
Rudo looks even more annoyed at the fact that Zanka gets to speak first, but he knows enough to keep quiet.
"Rudo ain’t cooperatin'," Zanka says, frustrated. "Won’t go get help even though he needs it. I told him—"
"Wait," Gris says, stopping Zanka before he can go on a rant with a raised hand. "Back up. Get help for what, exactly?"
"An injury?" Enjin asks, pointedly staring at Rudo’s tucked foot.
Zanka gives a single, damning nod.
All eyes turn to Rudo.
"Kid," Enjin starts warningly.
The kid folds like wet cardboard. "It’s just an ankle sprain," he mumbles.
"Just an ankle sprain?" Gris practically yelps. "Kid! What the hell?"
"How long have you been injured?" Enjin asks. Eishia can still heal infections fine, but it takes her more concentration to expel the exact amount of electricity to break them down. He’d rather spare her the spiral of self-doubt that often comes with her uncertainty. It also doesn’t necessarily bode well that Rudo tried to hide a sprain at all, especially in their line of work. Going out on a mission with an injury is practically a death wish.
Rudo is a weird kid. Enjin doesn’t know what his life was like before coming to the Ground, so he doesn’t know whether to attribute this to learned behavior or if he’s just being stubborn because Zanka is telling him what to do. It’s probably some mixture of both, because above all, Rudo is a kid. And, as Enjin has come to learn at least two times over, kids hate doing what they're told to do.
"At least since this morning’s mission," Zanka answers for them.
Their mission, as Enjin recalls, had been at ten AM.
It’s around a half hour into the afternoon now.
"Rudo," Gris sighs again, shaking his head.
"It doesn’t hurt," Rudo mutters.
"You were limpin’ like there was no tomorrow," Zanka, ever so reliable, chimes in.
Rudo bares his teeth at him, protest building, and Zanka sneers back.
Enjin clicks his tongue to interrupt whatever fight's going to start back up. "Thank you, Zanka. Well!" He claps his hands cheerfully. "Off to the infirmary we go!"
Rudo’s face twists like he’s swallowed a lemon. He doesn’t exactly protest, to his credit— or at least not out loud— but then he starts shuffling forward as if to walk.
"Nope. None of that," he chides, stopping the kid with a hand on his shoulder. Then he bends and hoists Rudo into a cradling position, careful not to jostle the kid’s ankle. Now that he has a closer look at it, he can see the sprain, even with the chunky shoes. "There we go! That’s better."
Rudo gapes, seemingly at a loss for words.
Gris huffs— a noise that sounds suspiciously like a laugh. Zanka is not nearly so subtle at hiding his amusement, openly grinning, an edge of smugness there in the way he eyes Rudo, who is still dumbstruck and blinking.
Is this what sibling fights look like?
He’d thought Riyo and Zanka were bad enough. They get into petty squabbles all the time. Granted, they do get along for the most part, and when they butt heads it never gets personal. They brush themselves off and are back to normal in minutes. Eh, he'll have these two make up again later.
He hums. "Hey, Zanka."
Zanka turns to him with rapt attention. Man, the kid looks at him like he’s hung the stars every time. "Yeah?"
"When did you notice Rudo’s injury?"
"When we got back to HQ."
Huh. Probably around noon, then. So they've been arguing for, what, thirty minutes? He turns his head to look at Rudo, who has buried his chin into the high collar of his uniform to the point that only his eyes peek out. They stare resolutely away, refusing to meet Enjin’s gaze. He glances at Gris, then back to Rudo to say, "We’re gonna have a talk later."
An incomprehensible, barely audible mumble.
Eh. Good enough.
— — —
Surprisingly enough, when they get to the infirmary, Eishia isn’t there— she’s scheduled to be in today, so she’s definitely somewhere in the building, maybe seeing her brother— but Tamsy is. The guy is sitting on one of the stools on the far side of the room, bathed by the sunlight streaming through the windows. Why he’s in here by himself, Enjin has no idea. When they enter the room, Tamsy looks up.
His eyes find Gris, Enjin, and land lastly on Rudo. He blinks slowly. "What’s this?"
"Hey, Tamsy," Gris greets, waving. "Are you off today?"
"Hello. No," he replies politely, then goes quiet, seemingly content without providing any elaboration. The silence that follows is a little awkward, considering the fact that he’s at the very end of the room while Enjin and his group are closer to the doorway, and the infirmary is by no means a small space.
Tamsy's always been a weird guy. Again, who here isn't— but something about Tamsy, even by Enjin's standards, is a little off-kilter, and Enjin has never been able to put his finger on why. Whatever Tamsy has got going on is really none of his business, though. Treat others how you want to be treated and all that. Enjin knows he wouldn't want anybody dragging the skeletons from his closet, so he has the decorum and the decency not to do it to a fellow Cleaner.
After another beat of quiet, Tamsy tilts his head. "An injury?"
"Somebody thought it was a good idea to hide a sprained ankle!" Enjin answers cheerfully. Rudo grumbles. "What? Am I wrong?"
"Hmmm," Tamsy just says, a lazy smile stretching across his face. "Shall I fetch Eishia, then?"
Gris shakes his head. "I was going to. Wouldn’t want to bother you. Thanks for the offer, though, Tamsy."
"Oh, no. It’s no trouble at all." Tamsy stands. "I happen to know where she is at the moment anyway." He walks over from across the room, his footsteps echoing lightly against the tile. He draws closer and stops. "Hiding injuries is no good, you know. They cause lots of trouble when they’re left to fester." His eyes narrow in a smile. He turns to Gris and Enjin. "I’ll make sure Eishia hurries over."
Gris nods. "Thanks, Tamsy."
"Of course."
And with that Tamsy is gone. His footsteps pad down the hallway and disappear. What a guy.
"Well. Let’s get you sitting in a bed," Enjin says. He peers at the white infirmary beds set up in rows lining both sides of the room. "You’ve got a lot to choose from. Any favorites?"
"I’m not a baby," Rudo protests. Even so, he doesn’t move from Enjin’s arms.
"You sure are acting like one," Enjin points out plainly. He stops in front of the first bed and deposits Rudo onto it.
"Eishia will probably make it here in a few minutes." Gris glances out the doorway, then back to Enjin and Rudo, who has started fiddling with the sheets. He lingers on Enjin and shrugs. "You talk to him? I need to head out."
"Yeah, no problem. Mission?"
"With Team Child, yeah."
"Good luck," Rudo mumbles, not looking up.
Gris grins and ruffles his hair. "Don’t get into any more trouble when I’m out."
Rudo flushes. His shoulders cave inward. "Uh huh."
"Good luck," Enjin echoes as Gris makes his exit. When Gris' footsteps finally fade out of earshot, he lets out a long, heavy exhale and seats himself next to Rudo on the bed. The mattress dips under his weight.
Rudo pauses his fixation on the sheets to eye him. Obviously, he's sensing the imminent talking-to that's about to take place. When Enjin looks back at him, his eyes dart back to the bedsheets, avoiding his gaze.
Too bad, kid. Can't wriggle your way out of this one.
"So…" Enjin starts slowly, "…rough mission today, then?"
Rudo pauses even more, then mutters, "Not really."
He raises his eyebrows. "No?"
A shake of the head.
"How'd you get that sprain, then?"
"I got it after the mission was over." Rudo's face twists a little. "Jumped down from a trash heap and landed wrong."
He whistles. "Yup, that'll do it." He glances down at Rudo's foot. "Did you realize right away?"
A nod.
"Zanka was with you, wasn't he? He didn't notice?"
Rudo shrugs. "He was happy 'cause the mission went good. Talked a lot about how I'm better with 3R now and stuff."
"So you didn't want to disappoint him?" Enjin asks. He fights a sigh when Rudo glares at the ground and doesn't reply. There's also another part of him that feels a little bit endeared by the idea. Damn. "Okay. You walked back to HQ on that thing?"
"Yeah."
Yeesh. "Didn't it hurt?"
"My arms've hurt worse."
That's not great news, either, but that's not the point right now. "That wasn't the question, kid. It hurt, right?"
Rudo nods reluctantly.
"I don't think I need to tell you why that's not great." He actually sighs this time, running a hand through his hair. "Zanka probably told you that already when you were fighting. Hell, Tamsy did too. Listen, you have to let us know when you get hurt. Every time. No exceptions."
"I don't want to be coddled."
Enjin gives a short, dry laugh. "We'd only coddle you if we didn't trust you. Reporting your injuries won't make us not trust you." He nudges the kid a little. "You know what would, though?"
Rudo's face sours even more. Clearly he's figured out what Enjin's about to say next.
He grins. "That's right. Not reporting your injuries." He accentuates each word with a poke to Rudo's shoulder. When his hand is inevitably swatted away, he sits back. "So."
"…So?"
"I think you've got the idea at this point." Enjin can hear light footsteps running towards them. That's Eishia, then. "You've learned your lesson. You're lucky Gris wasn't the one lecturing you, you know. You'd probably have been getting an earful for the rest of the day."
Rudo doesn't have time to respond, because, right on cue, Eishia runs into the room and skids to a stop in front of them. "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry— Tamsy said— he told me— Rudo has an— and I wasn't there, oh, I'm so—!"
"It's fine," Enjin says. If only August's self-confidence could be transferred over to his sister. Poor kid, honestly. "Yeah, he's got a sprained ankle."
Rudo looks as awkward as Enjin feels and just nods along.
Eishia stutters out a few more hasty apologies before her electrical cord plugs into one of the outlets in the wall. Electricity hums in the air as she closes her eyes in concentration.
It's a quick affair. Before long, Rudo is back on his feet and his expression is clear of pain. "Thank you."
"Oh, it's nothing at all!" Eishia insists. Her hands grab at the skirt of her dress nervously. "I really should have been here! I'm sorry for not— I mean— yes."
"Thanks for your help, Eishia," Enjin says. "Is there anything you need? Rudo here can run errands for you."
"No, no," she says, shaking her head. "No, I— I'm okay. Bye, now."
Rudo shoots Enjin a glare before waving back. "Bye. Um, thank you again."
They walk back out. The only noise is, again, their footsteps echoing against the floor. Rudo has his hands stuffed in his pockets.
"Okay," Enjin says, "now you promise not to hide your injuries anymore."
"Um. Okay. I promise."
"And! You're going to talk to Zanka."
Rudo sputters, freezing to a halt. "Huh?"
Enjin stops with him, sidesteps so he's right behind him, and starts nudging him forward. "Hup! That's it. Here we go. Zanka's probably still somewhere around here, don't you think?"
"Why?" Rudo squawks.
"Why is Zanka still around here?" Enjin repeats with faux confusion. He rubs his chin thoughtfully. "Good question. That guy might have picked up another mission already."
"That's not what— No, I mean— Why do I need to talk to Zanka?" Rudo snaps, mortified.
"Because he's your teacher, obviously." Enjin arches an eyebrow. "What, you're not gonna explain what happened to your teacher? You're going to meet him one on one eventually anyway. Why not make up for that fight now? Hey, let's check the mess hall."
Rudo is still only moving thanks to Enjin's pushes. He lets out many half-baked protests along the way. When they get back to the cafeteria, Enjin peers inside. There's more people here than before, various Supporters and Givers alike scattered at each table, and there— Aha.
Enjin steers Rudo in a beeline to where Zanka is trying to eat his food, parks Rudo in front of him, and says cheerfully, "All yours! No fighting this time, right? Right. You two will sort it out."
And then he turns on his heel and heads back out.
What can he say? He's great at this stuff.
Kids, man.