Chapter Text
Semiu was having a wonderful dream.
Long gone laughter and warmth wrapped around her, a soft hug from times long past. It reminded her of the large family dinners she would have when she was younger and all was right with the world. Or as right as it could be, when the world you call home is a garbage dump.
There was this scent, fresh herbs and simmering broth. The extra spicy one her mother always made when she was unwell, a recipe she had refused to share with anyone.
And then there was something else, something sharp, something...burning?
Semiu shot out of her chair, all alarm bells ringing in her ears. Her brain chanted like a mantra; The kids. Get the kids out. Get the kids, get the kids, get the-
Her eyes landed on Enjin.
He was leaning casually against the countertop, the smoking pot of what was supposed to be soup sitting in the sink next to him. And he was smirking at her.
Semiu shook off the lingering sensations of her dream.
Enjin looked rather rough, ears bright pink from cold and eyes rimmed darkly. That wasn't what made her pause though.
He was soaking wet and dripping all over the floor. A small puddle had already formed at his feet, so he must have been standing there for a hot minute.
"So," he pushed himself away from the counter, hands finding his pockets. "What happened here?"
"Why are you drenched?" She asked instead.
"Y'know, I was sure you were planning on getting black-out drunk every day for two weeks straight," Enjin remembered. "But, here we are."
"Yeah, well, I can't very well care for your sick kids while drunk, now can I?" she carefully avoided the workplace incident Enjin was creating underneath himself and dug through the cupboards.
"I hope they weren't too much trouble."
Semiu ignored him. The kids were angels, how could he question that? There were bigger elephants in this room.
"Seriously, why are you dragging an entire ocean in here?"
"Have you looked outside recently? The weather's pretty bad," he teased.
"Your weapon is an umbrella, Enjin!" The exasperation turned her voice hoarse and squeaky. She flung a towel at him, closed the cupboards a little harder than necessary.
Enjin caught it before it fell into his DIY pond, rubbed his neck and gave her the most guilty look she had ever seen. "I never said the rain got us wet."
"I swear if you make me use my glasses on you-,"
"Okay fine. We should ban that one from arguments, it always wins," Enjin held up his hands in a soothing gesture. Then he tucked them back into his pockets and casually declared, "I took a dip in the canal."
...
....
.....
"You what?"
"I said, I took a dip in the canal," Enjin emphasised, as if Semiu's ability to hear clearly was the issue with that statement.
Enjin was seemingly alright with being secretive about this incident. He started dabbing at his hair to get it dry. Then he walked over to the door and leaned on the frame, watching the kids tear his supply bag apart.
"D'anything happen that I should know about?"
Semiu, who was still processing his earlier statement, snapped back into reality. She went over the day again in her mind. Should she tell him about Riyo's guilt? For Riyo, if she ever found out, that would feel like a betrayal for sure. On the other hand, Enjin knew his kids. One look would probably tell him exactly what was happening in her head.
And then something else popped back into her mind.
"Zanka needs a shower," she announced slowly.
Enjin looked at her, then at Zanka who was trying to stop Rudo from choking on the candy Enjin had picked up on the way.
"He does look rather...wild?"
"Sticky would fit more," She grumbled back. Then she went on to explain Zanka's desperation to look neat in front of Enjin and Gris, how she hadn't had the time and energy to help him clean and anyway his fever was much better now so it shouldn't be as risky.
"I can handle him," Enjin assured her. "You should probably get a nap. It's pretty late."
"And miss Gris' cooking? No way in hell. I waited for this all day"
"We would have been here much faster if Gris hadn't driven like a grandma."
"Where is he, anyway?" Semiu wondered suddenly. She promptly got an answer when the man himself appeared.
"Right here," Gris answered. He was dressed in dry clothes, thankfully, but his hair was still damp and his ears were just as red so she assumed the aforementioned dip in the canal hadn't been a solo adventure for Enjin.
"At least one of you has the common sense to dry off first," Semiu returned to the kitchen and started cleaning out the ruined soup. "Seriously, I asked for backup but if you guys get sick too, I might just leave and go to the bar."
Gris merely laughed. "I did actually fill the bathtub, in case you want to use it." He told Enjin.
"I think I just got a better idea," the slow smirk crawling over his lips did not make Semiu feel better at all.
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Zanka knew what was coming. He knew everything that made Enjin, well, Enjin. So he didn't have to guess long at all.
When the blond did show up in the movie room, ruffling Rudo's hair until he looked like an oversized pigeon and whined loud enough to make even Riyo wince, Zanka did his best to disappear under the blankets.
Maybe if he pretended to be asleep for long enough, Enjin would think him dead and leave him alone. Trapping himself under a sheet with his own body heat certainly didn't do his appearance any favours, but it was better than having to face his idol in such a state.
Unfortunately his death didn't last nearly as long as he would have liked. One bite from Rudo and a new braid for Riyo later, Enjin was tugging on his blanket shield.
"Oi Zanka, bathroom. Now."
Zanka remained perfectly still. There was a rustle outside somewhere, Enjin shifting around most likely. "Seriously, you need a wash, kid. I can hear you huffing in there."
Zanka grumbled, buried deeper into his blankets. No point in staying quiet, then. "I can do that alone."
"Then why haven't you yet? Let's go, I'm freezing." Enjin insistently tugged on what he thought were his arms.
"I don't wanna," Zanka continued protesting. He tried to come up with a reason as to why getting up and out right now wasn't possible, but the residue fog in his head made it hard to think.
"Yes, you do."
"I'm not a baby."
"Act like it."
"I'm not going!"
"Alright then," he let go of Zanka, then there was more rustling and finally the heavy sound of Enjin's boots against the floor. Although he hadn't walked away, Zanka could still hear him moving around.
"I'm just going to stand here until you either get out or hypothermia kills me, whatever comes first."
Zanka's head shot out of the blankets so fast it made him dizzy. He looked Enjin up and down, including the watery trail he had left from the door to the kitchen and back to the Nest.
"Are you crazy? Go change!" He coughed.
"Nope, not until you get up," He was actually shaking a bit now, damp layers clinging to his frame. "But since you don't want to, it looks like you're just going have to explain to Semiu why I died a tragic and painful death. Gris put 20 bucks on pneumonia but I don't think I have that much time left."
This man couldn't be serious.
Zanka briefly thought about waiting him out, just until Enjin felt cold enough to give up and leave him alone.
Then he felt horrible for prolonging this scene. Enjin made just the perfect image of drowned kitten to be convincing. His shields cracked.
"Okay okay, fine," Zanka reluctantly agreed. He hauled himself out of the blanket cocoon, Enjin's arm coming to steady him when he swayed a bit, but the uncomfortable dampness just made him feel worse.
Enjin led him carefully upstairs, and as much as Zanka hated to admit it he wouldn't have made it that far alone, if his stumbling and swaying was anything to go by.
Enjin's guidance meant they arrived in the bathroom much faster than Zanka would have managed on his own, however they were still slow enough for Enjin's teeth to start chattering and his lips to turn blue when they stepped into the warm bathroom.
"Get in while I get some stuff," Enjin pointed to the filled bathtub. Steam was curling in the air, forming graceful waves. His congestion felt more bearable now in the humidity.
This was planned.
Unfortunately, as tempting as this was, there was another minor issue. He was not, absolutely not, under any circumstances, undressing in front of Enjin.
"You can't look," Zanka stated shyly. He sounded so pathetic to his own ears, like a child begging for his first taste of privacy.
Enjin gave him a glance, then turned to rummage through the shelves without another word.
Zanka made quick, although rather clumsy, work of his clothes. He tossed them into a messy pile in the corner and scrambled to get into the bathtub before Enjin saw him naked.
The three times he bumped his knee on the cold edge was definitely a price worth paying, despite Enjin's concerned questions the second and third time around.
He dunked his head under a few times, droplets running down his face and into his eyes.
"You can turn around now." Zanka sank deep into the soapy bubbles. Warmth spread all around his sore limbs.
Enjin sat the towels down near the rim of the bathtub. He rolled up his sleeves. It didn't really do much, they were already soaked through. Zanka heard the click of a bottle behind him.
"I can-,"
"Let me do this for you, please?" And damn, who was Zanka to ignore such unfiltered sincerity? If it was Enjin's will, he would get it.
He saw Enjin lather a generous amount of shampoo between tattooed hands in his peripheral, spreading the faint scent of artificial flowers around the bathroom.
Zanka still yelped a little bit when ice cold fingers touched his head. Enjin quickly pulled away.
"Ah, sorry."
This whole situation felt absurdly surreal in his mind. Enjin was rubbing his hands and fingers to get some warmth back so he, Zanka, wouldn't feel uncomfortably cold while he got his hair washed. He had to suppress the crazed laugh that wanted to crawl out of his throat.
When Enjin was sure his fingers wouldn't send him into orbit again, he started gently working the shampoo in. Soft and soothing scratches along his scalp, steam fogging his vision. "You're so tense."
Zanka didn't reply. There was nothing he could say.
'I am scared of being touched because I don't want you thinking less of me.' Or 'I can't lose you because I have no one else and I am terrified of being alone.'
These didn't really hit the mark.
"You don't have to be embarrassed in front of me, ever," Enjin mentioned in a painfully quiet and tender tone.
"I'm not weak," Zanka's arms had wrapped around his knees in mock comfort. Then, as if to solidify that statement, "I'm not weak."
Enjin paused, foamy hands reaching around him and Zanka suddenly felt brief pain on his forehead. Enjin had flicked him.
"Nobody said that," Enjin stated. "Remember when I broke my leg last year? While Eisha was on vacation with her grandma?"
Yes, Zanka did remember very vividly. Partly because it had been his fault, and partly because he had never seen Enjin sit still for that long. It was rather scary.
"Do you think I'm weak because I asked for help?" He asked further.
Enjin was one of the strongest people he knew, on par with his siblings even. But when he couldn't get out of bed last year and needed the support of others, never once has the thought crossed his mind that he might be weak.
"No," he stretched the word a bit longer than necessary. "But that's different."
"How so?"
"Well, you're a genius," he said as if that explained anything. "You can afford it. I'm not even strong when I'm on top of my game, so I shouldn’t allow myself to be even more hindered."
Enjin came around to kneel in front of him. He took Zanka's chin into his hand and made him look up into Enjin's eyes.
"For someone so smart you're surprisingly stupid," he grumbled.
Zanka sputtered, and then coughed so hard Enjin had to pat his back a few times. When he was done he found his chin tilted back up.
"It doesn't matter how strong someone is, everyone has the right to ask for help," Enjin let his face go, convinced to have Zanka's attention.
"You are not usually someone who looks down on others. I wish you would stop doing that to yourself."
Then he stood, took a bowl of warm water and began slowly rinsing his hair out.
Enjin had said that in such a disappointed tone, like Zanka had committed a grave sin. It made his skin crawl and his mouth turn bitter. Maybe he deserved a bit of that disappointment, for not trying harder to treat himself with respect. For being sick.The heavy squeezing around his heart tightened.
Next time, he would be more careful.
No, there would be no next time. He wouldn't allow it.
He had the distinct feeling that this was not the lesson Enjin intended for him to learn, but for now that didn't matter. He would do everything to not hear the disappointment in his voice again.
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“And then he actually had the nerve to blame it on the streetlight.”
Semiu burst out into a new wave of laughter, tears streaming down her cheeks. She slapped the table in a desperate attempt to get her wheezing breath back under control. The image of Enjin tumbling into near freezing water because of a lollipop of all things had her hunched over. It was just too good.
"Hello Enjin," Gris greeted cheerfully. He didn't even have the decency to feign a guilty look. "How'd that bath go? You look less drowned, at least."
Enjin stopped dead in the doorway, dressed in a hoodie about three sizes too big, and he was not a short man himself. For a moment Gris thought he had seen that exact hoodie on someone else before, but he couldn't quite place it.
And then Enjin sighed, a long-suffering sound that set the resignation to his fate in stone. "Couldn't you have kept that to yourself for five minutes?"
"No," Gris grinned wickedly. He stirred around in a pot of, what Enjin assumed based on the rich and milky smell, rice pudding.
"You fell into the canal because of candy?" Semiu took one deep, grounding breath which did stop her laughter, however it changed nothing about the menacing smirk tugging at her lips. She wiped her eyes dry.
"It was for Rudo," Enjin pointed out. "Do you know how expensive candy is? Besides, they had no more stock so I didn't really have a choice."
Semiu simply laughed again.
Enjin sank into the chair beside Semiu, dropped his head onto the table with a loud thud and grumbled something about hibernation and long nights.
Gris set two steaming cups down in front of him and Semiu. "It's too late for coffee, so you'll have to settle for hot chocolate."
Enjin wrapped his fingers around the ceramic and let the heat wash over him. The one from his drink, and the one from his family.
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"Not fair! I want a bath with bubbles too!" Rudo complained to Enjin when he, freshly showered and changed, returned to the Nest.
Semiu cackled into her magazine. She had made herself comfortable while Enjin helped Gris. It did have perks to be the exhausted, off-duty caretaker right then.
"Relax kid, we can do it tomorrow, yeah?" He tried, but Rudo, who had moved on from scuttling up Enjin's back to gnawing on his arm, wasn't exactly satisfied with that. "Hey, watch those munchers!"
"At least he's feeling better," Semiu supplied unhelpfully.
"As opposed to what?"
Rudo had moved on from cannibalism and apparently deemed it the best choice to simply push against Enjin until he stumbled.
"Semiu, help!" Enjin pleaded when Riyo tugged on his shirt from behind to help Rudo in the takedown, spurred on by the potential chaos. He staggered back a step, then another-
And fell straight into the Nest like a cat on the hunt, only without the grace and elegance. His arms had wrapped around Rudo when he went down.
Riyo giggled in delight and started poking his ribs, trying to tickle out a noise or a twitch. And Rudo, with a war cry, sat down on his legs to prevent a possible flight.
When Riyo didn't get a response other than Enjin's amused chuckles, she switched gears and threw a pillow at him instead. And that move started absolute mayhem.
Semiu was glad to sit this one out. A pillow flew past her ears. She watched Rudo fling a plushy across the room, which hit Zanka instead of Riyo.
And Zanka, with all the revenge a 17-year-old could fit, pelted 3 back. Two hit Rudo as intended, the third smacked Riyo.
When friendly fire broke out, Enjin used the opportunity to slip out of the Nest. He looked winded for someone who only tossed one pillow and called it a day.
"Hey, you good?" Semiu's eyebrows narrowed in suspicion.
"Fine," Enjin's voice was scratching, he swallowed twice.
"Don't you dare catch whatever they have," she warned him. "I am not making soup for you."
"It's fine, I don't get sick," Enjin brushed her off. She had never seen him sick in all the years they've worked together, true, but that didn't mean she would simply believe him. Enjin was human, and humans caught each others colds. As evident by the three sneezing teens in front of them.
Enjin actually winced when she gave him the flat look Arkha had imprinted on her. "I'm doing okay, really."
There was clanging from the Kitchen. The wonderful smell that always announced a freshly cooked meal intensified. Ceramic hit metal, then Gris appeared in the doorway.
"Dinner's done," he interrupted, a tray with six warm, steaming bowls of rice pudding in his hands. Semiu quickly made space on the table for him. Enjin, meanwhile, gathered the wayward pillows and returned them to their proper places so they had something to lean against.
"It's midnight Gris," Riyo chirped, but she sat down happily anyway and started wolfing down her portion. She looked almost fine again.
Rudo and Zanka looked much healthier as well. They devoured their bowls as if Semiu hadn't fed them plenty of food throughout the day.
She wanted to make a joking comment about their behaviour to Gris, who sat next to her. When she looked over, though, both he and Enjin were caught up in a similar 'starved man' performance.
The kids learn more from them than they realise, apparently.
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"NO!" Riyo wailed. She clung to Semiu's arm, staring at the +4 card on the table and the single card in her hand. "I don't wanna!"
Gris chuckled in amusement, his attempt at stopping Riyo's seven-game-long winning streak clearly a success. "Go on, pick 'em up."
Semiu did it for her when the girl didn't move, sliding the cards over one handed to a reluctant Riyo. Then she played her own card.
"Your turn," Enjin nudged Zanka who had started to lean heavily into Enjin's side. The boy blinked a few times, stared down at his cards and placed a green six on the yellow one already there.
Enjin looked at his hand, grinned menacingly.
"Don't do it!" Rudo warned him. He tried snatching the card Enjin held up threateningly. "I will do all of your chores for 2 weeks!"
"One month."
"What? No way! That's way too long!"
Enjins grin grew somehwat, he slammed down a plus 4 and nearly tipped over his cup in the process. Rudo groaned. "Why do you always have it out for me."
The round lasted maybe five more minutes. Rudo got his revenge when Gris turned the direction over, and Zanka gave them all a surprise when he ended up winning that round. How he did it, they weren't quite sure since he spent 90% of the game with his eyes either closed or half lidded.
Riyo was jumping up and down on the spot, demanding another round.
Semiu knew instinctively that this was the end for the night, though. Gris was starting to rub his eyes rather frequently and he had yawned thrice since the last game ended. Enjin had even tipped backwards and looked dangerously close to falling asleep, so Semiu decided to call it a day.
She gathered up the remaining cards, careful not to step on anyone's limbs. Rudo and Riyo were chatting in sleepy, half sentences that made no sense to her but it made her heart feel warm and fuzzy anyway. Because if they were doing well enough for silly antics again, everything would be fine.
One last fever check and a grumpy rearranging of arms and legs later, Rudo was squished between Gris and Enjin, Zanka had wrapped himself around Enjin's arm like a koala and Riyo was making herself home on top of Semiu.
When the Nest settled down and breathing turned even, Semiu let her head fall back onto the cushions.
The first lights of dawn crept through the window in a thin stripe, turning Enjin's hair faintly golden.
The silence that had felt oppressive earlier was now comforting. Her family was safe. It took a bit of guilt and shame, and a dip in the canal, but they were safe now.
And that's all that really mattered.
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Arkha had seen many, many things in his time as the Cleaners' boss. Some things were absurd, others funny and then there was straight up nightmare fuel.
Being a man or two down because of illness wasn't anything new either. Being down six? That was a rare first time, he thought, while he tried to untangle his children into recognisable heaps.
He was unsure of how this started, but Rudo had somehow ended up on top of Zanka, who, in turn, was squishing Enjin half to death. Both of them were sniffling faintly in their sleep.
Enjin himself was looking a little bit too red for his comfort, or at least the parts of him that he could see. Like the hoodie he wore, an old and comfortable thing that had gone missing from Arkha's room a year back.
Semiu and Gris slept next to each other in similar, straight poses but even if they had tried to get more comfortable, Riyo was preventing any and all escape attempts the way she had starfished across them.
When Arkha tried tugging on Rudo to get him off, so he in turn could free Enjin, the boy gave a half hearted and missaimed punch in his general direction and continued snoring.
That's when Arkha decided to leave them be. He would make himself comfortable in a corner and look over his children for however long they needed.
And if he checked heated cheeks and the steady thrum of a pulse near whatever wrist he could catch, then nobody had to know.