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“Damit! Come on! Don’t break again!”
Kai struck the now-smoking turntables with his golden sword, cutting another blackened groove into charred wood. The dummies and punching bags were all covered in scorches, most of them reduced to ashes. Even the specialized training bots Jay has made were a broken, sparking mess.
“Shitty scrap heap.” He kicked the remnants of one of its arms, watching it sail over the edge of their new ship.
Kai ignored the ringing pain in his foot and stomped back to the last propped up dummy. He adjusted his stance, then attacked with a fast series of slashes and stabs. Aiming for the neck, it wasn’t long until it was sliced off and joined the carnage on the deck.
The teen bared his teeth before driving his blade straight through the torso, igniting the blade and watching fire consume the thing from the inside out. Pulling back, he watched as cinders flaked off into the cool night air as heat licked his face.
He heard a creak come from the quarters. Turning to glare, he found Cole staring out at the mess in front of him. From what he could see, the other teen was mostly dressed. His nightshirt hung off of one shoulder and his hair looked messier than normal.
“What? Are you here to tell me to tidy up after myself?” Kai snapped.
“I wasn’t,” Cole pushed aside a bent sword with his foot, “I couldn’t sleep, so I wanted to do some training.”
He didn’t blame the red ninja for being so antsy. After his sister was nearly killed at the Mega Monster Amusement Park, Cole was frankly surprised the whole ship hadn’t been set on fire.
There was a touch of guilt, but Kai pretended to be proud. He smirked. “Too bad I beat you to the punch.”
“Hey, who said I’m giving up that easily.”
He reached into one of the lockers and pulled out a set of sparring gear and helmets. Tossing one over his shoulder, Kai caught it as Cole pulled out a blunted scythe.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” The shorter teen asked.
“You and me. Wanna spar?” Cole stepped around Kai, swinging his weapon in steady arches. “Just don’t leave too many marks and I’ll do the same.”
Kai was skeptical, then grinned as he donned the helmet and pulled the chestplate over his uniform.
“Who’s to say I don’t mind getting a little rough.”
The master of fire could only see the first few feet in front of him, but he knew that Cole was rolling his eyes. He heard him huff out a sigh as his stance dropped.
“Are we flirting or fighting?” He asked.
“Why not both?”
This time he heard Cole laugh as he stopped his circling, falling into a low crouch with his scythe at his back.
“Alright. Then bring it on, firecracker.”
“You’re on, boulders!”
::::
Cole stood, leaning on the rails of the bounty. He tapped an uneven rhythm on the wood, staring up into the clouds and night sky. His expression was pensive, opening and closing his mouth and tugging at loose strands of hair.
“Oh, you’re out here again.”
Kai’s tone made Cole want to curl up and crawl into a cave. “Heya, couldn’t sleep again?”
He sighed, leaning against the mast of the Bounty. “With how wild the last few months have been? I don’t know how anyone here can.”
Cole wanted to reach out to him, but reminded himself to be patient.
“So, were you waiting out here just for me?” Kai asked with a half-hearted smirk.
The darker teen rubbed the back of his messy black hair. “Actually yea, I wanted to tell you something.”
“Under the moonlight too, I didn’t think you were the romantic type.” He remarked.
That stung. Cole could hear the bite to his words and flinched. “I… yea. About that, I wanted to say sorry. I’m sorry you sister got caught up in me and Jay’s stupid argument. I just - there’s nothing I can really say to justify it. I was being dumb and spiteful. I’m sorry, Kai.”
The red ninjas hair wasn’t spiked, Cole noticed. It lay in wispy tufts across his eyes, flowing like little ribbons. Kai eventually pushed himself up and stood beside Cole on the edge of the Bounty.
“I gotta say, I really though you were being an asshole back then.” He huffed. “But I’m glad we’re back together, boulders. It’s nice. I… I kinda missed this. Whatever this is.”
Kai made a vague circling gesture in the air before going back to pick at his nails. Cole frowned and placed a hand atop his.
“Stop that, you’re gonna make yourself bleed.”
“Ha, who’s to say I’m not into that.”
Cole narrowed his eyes. “Kai.”
The shorter teen dropped his cocksure grin. Cole still held his hand, he could feel rough skin under his palm. No doubt from years of working a forge and his training. He wondered how many times the other had burned himself.
He bit his cheek before speaking again. “What were you doing… after we split apart?”
“Nothing really.” Kai gave a shrug. “Just kinda drifted. Worked at a powerplant for a bit, then some seedy bar.”
“Is that all?” Cole asked again.
Kai tried to steel his face. But he felt his lip twitch. His hand balled into a fist and nails cut into hard skin.
“Not really.” He whispered. “The first few weeks were… bad. Really bad. I don’t - I don’t remember a lot, just being angry at everything. You, Jay, myself, god I hated myself so much. I just kept thinking ‘If only it were me, then Zane would still be here.’”
His breath came in soft hisses through clenched teeth. He could see curls of smoke leaking out of the corners of his mouth. The hand Cole gripped was squeezing him tight and growing hotter by the second.
“I needed to just… do something. I needed to get all of that hate outta me. Someone from the powerplant invited me to that bar, they had a fight club and I joined. It gets fuzzy again from there. But I remember… a lot of drinking. I woke up in a lot of other people's apartments.”
Cole didn’t comment when Kai reached up to wipe quiet tears from his face. He carefully wrapped an arm across his back, letting the other hide in his shoulder.
He gave the master of fire several long minutes of silence before speaking up again.
“I ended up as a lumberjack.” He said. “Apparently, they actually liked my cooking.”
Kai huffed against his neck. “Wow, they must’ve been really desperate.”
“Guess so. Or maybe you’re just picky.” Cole smiled.
“Hey, I’ll eat just about anything in front of me,” Kai pulled back just to shove his chest, “as long as it isn’t made by you.”
“Come on, even my homemade granola mix?”
“You mean your homemade bricks? No thanks, besides,” Kai was smirking again, “I’m already a snack.”
“Keep telling yourself that, firecracker.”
They laughed, smiling to themselves as they watched the clouds float by. Cole didn’t let go of Kai’s hand, the other didn’t object.
“Honestly, I can’t believe I thought I liked your sister.” He tentatively joked. “I guess I was still trying to pretend I was straight.”
Kai turned to give him a weird look. “Wait, what do - oh.”
“I thought I told you guys?” Cole said. “Uh, well I guess you know now. Surprise?”
The master of earth didn’t know what to make of Kai’s new expression. After the surprise passed, there was an awkward air between them.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make things weird.” Cole drew his hand back. “You’re still my friend, I wasn’t implying anything.”
“Oh, so you don’t think I’m hot?” Kai threw back. “Is that it?”
Cole just scoffed as Kai gave an overdramatic and offended gasp. The other teen didn’t know what reaction he was hoping for, but he rolled his eyes and told himself he shouldn’t have expected anything less from the master of fire.
Neither of them asked if the other wanted to spar. Kai found himself oddly at peace just standing beside the other. He leaned his cheek in his hand, letting his mind wander. At some point, he heard humming from Cole.
He didn’t say anything and didn’t give any indication he heard the other. Kai didn’t want Cole to stop though.
::::
Cole was panting hard, ducking under another swipe, he brought up his scythe to block Kai as he slammed down with his pair of swords. The grate of metal rang loud in his ears, Cole watched as the blades sparked against the scythes handel.
He slid back and before Kai could charge, he stomped the ground and a shockwave burst forward. The red ninja leapt into the air, but Cole cracked the earth with his scythe and where Kai would have landed split apart.
He fell through the fissure, legs pinned by the stone and swords scattered out of his reach. When Kai tried to push himself out, Cole clenched his fist just as he got one hand free and shot a fireball at his face.
Unfortunately, that moment was all he needed. Cole was knocked back, tasting ash and coughing up smoke. Trying to sit up, his chest felt too heavy as he gasped for air. He sighed, head thumping against the ground as he grinned.
“C’mon!” Kai yelled, shaking his lone fist. “Best two outta three! I’m not done yet, boulders.”
“Too bad, I am.” Cole laughed, coughing again before sitting up.
“Aw crap, did that actually hurt?” Kai looked to the scorched training gear. “Sorry, shit.”
“You’re worried for me, firecracker?” He grinned.
The red ninja scoffed. “You can’t pull me out of here if you’re dead.”
Cole just laughed again, releasing his grip on the earth and offering Kai a hand up. Dusting one another off and throwing snark after snark as they climbed back onto the Bounty. Cole was peeling off his training equipment, tossing it in the locker before he stripped of his ashy shirt.
“I always hate wearing that stuff.” He muttered, rolling his shoulders. “It always gets sweaty, how do you deal with it?”
“I mean, if you’re gonna spar shirtless I’m not gonna complain.” Kai batted his eyelashes.
“Hell no,” Cole shoved his face back, “and let you roast my ass harder? No thanks.”
“As if that’s all I wanna roast.”
“Stop!”
Both broke out laughing again. Kai left for the kitchen, letting the other use the shower first while he grabbed a snack. Pulling out one of the chilled water bottles, he squeezed part of it over his head and swallowed the rest. He’d just blame Jay for the mess later.
Lounging around the living room, Kai pulled out his phone when he heard humming. He knew the others were out on missions or errands, so his senses went on alert. Dropping his phone on the couch, Kai listened for the sound.
Save for the sound of a shower running, there was nothing. Kai figured he’d imagined it, until he heard it again down the hall.
Stepping quietly, the master of fire grabbed a knife from the kitchen in case someone had broken in to the Bounty while it was grounded. Pressing his back against the wall, he paused to listen again.
It was a faint sound, practically drowned out by the showers. Closing his eyes, Kai listened.
“While the weary nations weep, awakening me from a dream. I see the moonlight steal across my sheets.”
Kai nearly dropped the knife on his foot. Cole’s voice floated through the closed door, muffled by the wood and water but ringing clear as a siren's call.
“My love is lying fast asleep, chasing its beams. He stirs, and then he turns his back to me.”
He didn’t ever recall hearing the master of earth sing. They all knew he could dance - he’d even talked about making it his own fighting style - and they knew he doodled in his free time. But Kai didn’t know Cole had the voice of an angel.
“The clouds overhead open up. For the wicked and just, all the same. And lay low the hills, so to fill every valley below to the brim.”
It was smooth, low and almost tangible. Like a thread he could pluck from the air and hold in his hands. Kai wondered if Cole ever sang when the others were around, or if it was just for him. He found himself envious of the idea that anyone else being around to hear him.
“What the hell.” He muttered, pushing back wet hair. “I thought you weren’t into guys.”
There was a small pause, then Cole continued the next verse. He must’ve found more confidence - why would he not be? - because his voice was even stronger.
“But like the sun that turns the sky, illuminating all, in time. The tables in the temple will be turned on their side. And just as it scorches up the dunes beneath the height of noon, the pillars of the empire will be burned, in kind.”
Kai wondered just what inspired Cole to sing like this. He found himself wanting to ask Cole to sing for him again. Blinking at his own thoughts, Kai slid to the ground and dropped the blade by his side.
Scratching at his hands, he stopped and began pulling at the loose threads in his sweatpants. “Shit, shit I should go.”
Cole must’ve heard something. His singing stopped abruptly. “Kai? Is that you? Sorry, I’ll be done in a bit.”
“Sure, just don’t use all the hot water, boulders!” He shouted back.
He replaced the knife before Cole could ask what he was doing with it. Kai was about to dismiss all the thought as just envy for his singing abilities. Cole walked out with a towel wrapped around his hips, held up with one hand while he tried to figure out how to tuck it.
He’d seen the other shirtless before, Kai never thought too hard about that. But for some reason, now he couldn’t stop staring. Maybe it was the low mist from the shower collecting at his feet, or the warm shine from wet skin and sunlight. Kai had trouble looking away from Cole.
“Uh, Kai?” His voice broke him off his train of thought.
“Yea, better not be cold or I’m torching your shirts.” He muttered, keeping his eyes down as he closed the door behind him.
::::
Kai was wandering the halls of the Monastery again.
It felt surreal, to think that he was standing both on top and in the same building he had years ago. He could still remember struggling to finish the obstacle course. But he was here, alive against all odds and against all the ridiculed bullshit the universe threw at them.
He wandered through the moonlit rice paper walls, tracing fingers over polished wood. Everyone else was deep in a well deserved sleep. Kai wished he could do the same, but his thoughts refused to slow down.
He supposed old habits did die hard.
Stepping out into the training ground, he looked up to the same sky and stars from long ago. Sitting on the porch, his thoughts wandered back to Cole.
Closing his eyes, he could still see the other falling into the inky black. His throat felt tight, he could hardly speak. It was like watching Zane die, but somehow, even worse. He could remember nearly falling back into old, dangeround routines. But thankfully, he had the others this time.
Seeing Cole, alive and grinning, Kai wanted to sweep him off his feet. He wanted to scream at Cole, beg him to never leave him again and make him swear he’d stay with him forever.
A blush creeped up his cheek. Kai rubbed at it with frustration, scratching the nape of his neck.
"- and by the holy rock I stand, as blessed as the sacred ram - “
His head snapped up. He could pinpoint the sound above him, on the rooftops of the Monastery. Kai went stiff, hoping he could hear more and praying the other didn’t hear him. But there was something bitter about that train of thought.
He wanted to be by Cole’s side. After everything he went through - after everything they’ve been through - he figured he owed him at least that much.
Kai wanted to hear more, but he knocked against the wood to announce his presence. “Heya boulders, got room for one more?”
His response was quiet, but he heard a faint “Sure” and climbed up beside him.
Cole was sitting in nothing but a loose tank top and some sweats in the chilly night air. Kai frowned, at least he had the excuse of being the master of fire.
“Couldn’t sleep?” He asked. “Thinking of sparring or are you just gonna keep crooning?”
“Not re - wait, you heard that?” Cole stuttered.
“It’s pretty hard to ignore.”
“Sorry, didn’t think I was that bad.”
“W - no!” Kai shouted, then cringed. “I - I mean, you… you sound good. It was nice.”
“Oh.”
Kai wanted to slap himself, but he knew Cole wouldn’t like that. He hoped that the blush wasn’t clear. But it was a full moon and pale light fell down across their backs. Cole was fiddling with his hands.
His hair fell past his face, framing it like an ebony curtain. Kai reached up automatically and tucked the hair behind his ear. He froze, hand hovering by Cole’s cheek as the other stared back.
“Um, do you want me to keep singing?” He asked slowly. “I get it if you just wanna be quiet.”
Kai tried to play off the action with his facade of a cocky bastard. “Whatever you want, boulders.”
Cole huffed out a breath and smiled. Kai almost clarified before Cole tipped his chin back.
”I see the trail of shoulders I climbed over. But, by god, I'll bloody up my hands, with everything I am.”
Kai leaned forward, hands between his legs and simply watched the other. His face was clear, haloed with light and contrasted against the night sky. There was a faint pinch to his eyebrows, like he was drawing up lyrics from an old well.
“To cut away the mountains I've made and fill the dales below."
Cole glanced at him once. His voice caught near the tail end of his song.
Kai had more or less given up on controlling his expression. He knew he probably looked like a lovestruck idiot. He could see Cole blushing, even in the darkness.
“I thought you said you weren’t into guys.” He asked.
“I’ve been wrong before.” Kai shrugged.
He didn’t know what else to say. He knew what he wanted to say, but when he tried to form words, they faded to mist before he could catch them.
Cole reached for his hand. His were almost as rough as his own. Marked by calloused from climbing mountains and knuckles patched with scars from dozens - hundreds - of fights.
He squeezed rough palms. One cupped his cheek and Kai leaned into the touch. His eyes looked anywhere but Cole’s face, too scared to look at the other again.
“Kai?”
His voice snapped something in him like a taunt bowstring. Kai squeezed his eyes shut and grabbed the back of his neck. Kissing Cole, he tried to pour all the things he couldn’t say into the action; don't leave me, I can’t lose you again, please stay with me forever.
There were tears in his eyes once he pulled back. Kai still ducked his head against the others chest. Now the fear curled tight against his chest and he prayed the other wouldn’t hate him.
Kai blinked when the hand at his cheek raised up his chin. Strong arms wrapped across his back, holding him tight against his side.
“I love you too.” Cole whispered.
When he began to hum another song, Kai closed his eyes and leaned against his steady heartbeat.