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It was a lazy Sunday afternoon, and everyone was doing their own thing. Nya was upgrading her Samurai X gear, Cole was visiting his dad, and Jay was visiting his parents. Sensei Wu, Lloyd, Kai, and Zane were all on the Bounty; Wu was meditating in his room, Lloyd was taking a nap, and Kai and Zane were playing video games.
They had been playing for about two hours. The game they were playing was single-player only, so the pair had to take turns. Out of the two of them, Zane proved to be better at the game, and thus died less than Kai. The Master of Fire wasn’t bothered though. He was happy he was able to have this downtime with Zane, and was delighted that the Nindroid seemed to be having fun, if his smiles and laughs were any indication.
When they came to a challenging boss (one that Jay himself had yet to beat) Kai willingly gave the controller to Zane. He knew that the boss was out of his league, and if he played, it would take much longer to beat. Plus, he loved how expressive the White Ninja’s face could be, and enjoyed watching the changes as he played. Some of his favorites were when Zane bit his bottom lip when he was nervous about an outcome, when the smallest bit of his tongue stuck out when he was incredibly focused (though he didn’t seem to realize, or care), the smirk he had when he just KNEW he was going to win, and the little pout he got when he almost beat something, but ended up losing. However, his absolute favorite expression of Zane’s was when he was faced with a difficult challenge, and finally overcame it. His whole face would light up, and he’d break out into a huge smile. A few times it came with laughter, and on one occasion, he pumped his fist in the air and exclaimed triumphantly.
As Kai watched, Zane’s expression went from tongue-sticking-out focused, to biting-his-lip nervous, and then became an I-know-I’m-going-to-win smirk. The smirk quickly turned into Zane’s victory smile, but this one was accompanied by both the Nindroid’s laughter, and a fist pump with the exclamation of, “I did it!”
Kai couldn’t help but smile and laugh with him. “Congratulations! How does it feel to officially beat the boss Jay hasn’t beat yet?”
The Master of Ice saved the game and sat the controller on the couch between them. “It certainly was difficult, but finally beating it is quite wonderful.” He stood up and stretched, then walked over and shut the game off.
“What? Don’t want to play with me anymore?” The Red Ninja asked.
Zane frowned and tilted his head in a confused manner. “No. What gave you that impression? I was just going to get something to snack on and let you start playing something else.” Zane knew he was starting to ramble, but he couldn’t stop himself. “We have been playing that game for about two hours, and I did go over the time and death limit on that boss, and--”
“You’re cute when you ramble.”
Time seemed to stop as Kai realized what he said. A massive blush appeared on his face, and he mentally kicked himself. Why did he say something like that? Yes it was true, he did think Zane was cute when he rambled (and just in general), but thinking and saying were two completely different things. Sure he openly stared at the Nindroid almost every chance he got, but Zane didn’t seem bothered by it, and he was one to tell you if you were making him uncomfortable.
Zane stood there with his mouth slightly open and his eyes wide, completely stunned. Surely he didn’t hear that right. There was no way that Kai --the Red Ninja, Master of Fire, and his crush--just called him cute . Something must’ve disconnected or shorted out in his system. However, after a quick internal scan, he found that that was not the case. Everything was running perfectly, and that meant that what he heard, was correct.
Before either one could say anything, Lloyd entered the room. “Hey guys,” he said with a yawn. “What’s…” He trailed off as he saw Kai’s massive blush and Zane’s stunned expression. He gasped softly. “Did Kai finally confess?”
Kai’s head turned around so quickly, Lloyd was surprised he didn’t get whiplash. He was also surprised at the look of utter horror on Kai’s face. It was then that he realised that he fucked up.
Averting his eyes from both the Master of Fire and Master of Ice, Lloyd mumbled an excuse, and quickly left the room.
Silence once again fell upon the two Ninja.
Kai sat there, refusing to look at Zane, and mentally cursed Lloyd. Why did he have to wake from his nap now ? Couldn’t he have given me another few minutes to fumble my way out of this? No, of course not. He just had to wake up and walk in here at the wrong moment. Kai snuck a glance at Zane. The Nindroid had a neutral expression on his face, but Kai could tell by the look in his eyes that he was thinking. Probably thinking of ways to let me down. Or maybe he’s thinking about never speaking to me again. Or how to ask Sensei Wu for a different room. Maybe he’s thinking of not being a Ninja anymore...NO DAMN IT. STOP. Zane isn’t that sort of person. Even if he doesn’t like me back, even if he’s a little weirded out by the knowledge that I like him, he’s not going to quit being a Ninja or stop being friends with me. That’s just not who Zane is!
Zane’s mind was buzzing. Based on previous conversations with Cole and Jay (who had surprisingly kept his mouth shut so far), Zane had a pretty good idea of what Lloyd meant by ‘confess’. And judging by Kai’s reaction, there was an incredibly high chance that he was right, which meant that…
“Kai!”
The Master of Fire jumped slightly when Zane called out his name. Instead of sounding negative, as Kai feared it would, Zane’s tone was actually quite cheerful. Even more surprising however, was that Kai suddenly found himself with a lapful of Nindroid, and was being tightly hugged.
“Umm...Zane buddy? Everything okay?”
Zane leaned back and placed his hands on Kai’s shoulders, all the while smiling brightly. “Everything is great. Why do you ask?”
Kai rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, you did call out my name, and suddenly hug me, and you are, uhh, sitting on my lap.” None of which are bad things, he added to himself.
A bashful expression took over Zane’s face. “I apologize. I seem to have...jumped the gun as the saying goes. I should probably mention that I need to confess to you as well.”