Chapter Text
Maybe it was raising Nya that had made Kai better at reading emotions than most. A sister as stubborn as his own hated opening up if something was wrong, or she was thinking about something particularly distressing. So Kai learned to read faces slowly and surely. Though it didn’t take a genius to tell that something was wrong with Cole. Kai could see something was off from across a banquet hall as he carried on a conversation with some clothing marketer about featuring the Master of Fire in a photo shoot, trying not to look rude as he continued to glance at his teammate with a growing sense of concern. Cole stood against one of the pillars that held up the high ceiling of the hall, blankly staring at the incredibly uninteresting tiled floor with an untouched glass of sparkling water in hand. His mismatched eyes were glazed over, and he looked exhausted in spite of the fact none of the ninja fought or even trained today, instead spending most of the afternoon preparing for the banquet. Yeah, Kai could tell Cole’s social battery was way past its recharge date.
As he politely said goodbye to the marketer, he slid his way around the other attendees to make his way to Cole, still staring with an unfocused, glossy look. Kai placed a hand on the broad shoulder and rubbed it with his thumb, taking the untouched drink out of Cole’s hand and placing it on a table next to them. The touch shook the earth ninja from his trance as he looked at Kai, his eyes no longer glazed but definitely exhausted. He offered a weak and forced smile, prompting Kai to return it with a warm one and lean close to the other’s ear.
“You look done, do you wanna go home?” He asked in a whisper. Cole didn’t answer right away, instead opting to think as he looked around the rest of the hall. The various other ninja were talking amongst other party-goers, their conversations melding with the others to become numbing white noise. The clinks of dishes stood above it, and the dishes that were close enough to Cole made his head hurt. Everybody has become a massive unidentifiable blur, even if they were spread out and separated. Huge chandeliers that hung overhead glinted off one another, making Cole squint whenever one of the light reflections hit his eyes. The tuxedo he was wearing fit fine, but he was beginning to sweat uncomfortably on his back which led to an itch he couldn’t quite scratch through the suit. 'It'd be rude to leave.' Cole thought, trying to ignore how peaceful and how quiet home sounded. 'They held this banquet in honor of us, in honor of us saving lives- of saving the city. It would be ungrateful if I left because I was…tired.' He silently reasoned, his eyes glazing back over as he stared tensely at the wall across the room.
“Cole, we don’t have to stay. If you’re tired, you should rest.” The calm and attractive voice of his coworker pulled him back, and he looked at Kai again. He looked both worried and welcoming, his handsome crooked smile now full of the same warmth he only gave to those who were especially cold. Cole paused, thinking about his comfortable bed and his headphones. His headphones were simple, large and black, custom made as a brand deal for a sponsorship. The head band had ‘Rock on!!!’ sharpied in large silver letters, and the speakers had one sticker each of his favorite old-school rock bands. They were a bit banged up from being used so often, but they were perfect, and…at home. And it occurred to Cole that he was tired, now weakly nodding at the Fire ninja that he indeed wanted to go home.
“Ok, I’ll walk you to my car. You know these people can't get enough of you.” Kai joked, taking Cole’s large hand to hold it and lead him out the door. That got a huff of laughter out of the earth ninja, making Kai’s heart skip a beat. He explained that “We’re clocking in for the night” and “Can’t save Ninjago without our beauty sleep” to the repeated bland questions of where they were going. First Master, how many people were at this party? And why did they all care so much about Cole? Seriously, they needed to mind their business, the guy clearly needed some rest and frankly Kai was about to get fed up with all the attention Cole so clearly didn’t want or even had the mental energy to process. A sudden realization came to Kai of how protective he was becoming of his teammate, making the collar of his dress shirt feel uncomfortably warm. But he was protective of Nya and Lloyd, why is this any different? He shoved the thought away for later.
Delightfully cool night air hit the two of them as they finally made it out of the banquet hall, walking down the expansive stone staircase where thankfully fewer people resided. Kai offered waves to the citizens that remained and looked behind him to make sure Cole was still there, even if the large hand he was holding was still in his own, heavy and firm just like the earth itself. Cole was indeed still behind him, now watching the ground as they walked together. He looked less tense now that he was out of the party, and his eyes were more focused than they had been. One of them was a dark chocolatey brown, as if melted down from the finest cocoa and poured into a sphere mold speckled with honey and gold. The other was a kind of green that you could only see from an empty beer bottle glowing with warm sunlight. Were his eyes always that pretty? Yes. Kai’s shirt got warmer, and he tried to hide the pulling of his collar to let in chilly air, stifling a shiver.
The two walked in silence for a few minutes before finally coming up on the car that Kai rented for the night, as his larger and more obnoxious mech rider would’ve been more recognizable and much harder to park. With a quick shuffle of his pockets and a fumble of the buttons, the black doors unlocked with a click! and the pair separated hands in spite of their mutual disappointment. Not much was said as they buckled in, or as Kai sent a quick text to his sister to let her know the two were leaving and to let the others know when she could. She responded with a quip about not getting too gross while they were alone. Kai shut off his phone to hide the blush that was brightly blooming on his cheeks and nose.
“You can turn the radio to whatever, I’m not picky.” The fire ninja said nonchalantly while turning the car on and inching out of the parallel parking spot. He actually was picky about his music, stupidly picky, but Cole needed his comfort music more than Kai right now. His teammate took the opportunity to turn the volume down and change the channel to a soft rock channel. Kai smiled- Cole, Master of Earth, former leader, and complete badass liked soft rock. He even recognized the song from when Cole would play his music over the tv speakers while doing chores: Foreigner’s ‘I Want To Know What Love Is’. Cheesy, but the fire ninja couldn’t say he disliked the song. It was in his own playlist for First Master’s sake.
A quick glance to his right told him Cole was about to fall asleep in his car if not already asleep, his eyes closed and head lay back. Kai bit back a chuckle and continued to drive quietly, nodding along to the music from the radio and ignoring the way his chest fluttered at the way Cole looked so at peace. The flashing oranges of passing roadside lamps certainly didn’t help, illuminating the dark skin in a citrusy glow that was there for a second and gone the next and there again. The thought that Kai would have to wake his teammate up so he could get inside made his heart break a little. He ignored that too.
The monastery at night probably would’ve looked like something out of a horror movie to anybody that didn’t live in it, moonlight backlighting the mountain that stood tall and looming and thus making the black silhouette cut into a star-spotted cloudy sky. Kai thought it looked cool, and Cole thought so too, but he was too sleepy and drained to admire it. So he just let Kai’s warm and charmingly calloused hand guide him inside to the garage elevator, where the bright clean light made him squint and the jolt of upward movement made him stumble more than it should’ve. Kai caught him, telling him something about standing steady like a rock. It wasn’t that funny, but Cole laughed anyway. He was too tired to think about why Kai made him laugh more than the others, or why Kai’s own laughter made his stomach flip. He just wanted his bed and headphones. But Cole was awake enough to regret not eating anything at the banquet, and his stomach was beginning to twist uncomfortably at being empty. Weren’t banquets literally just fancy dinner parties? How did he go to a dinner party and not eat any dinner?
“Do you want something to eat? I didn’t see you eat anything at the banquet.” Kai must’ve read his mind, or the earth ninja was easier to read than he would’ve liked to admit. The fire ninja was now looking at Cole with the same concern he did before. It was still as warm and understanding, almost like a sympathetic hug. Cole bit his tongue and hoped it was hidden by his silent nod, an embarrassed smile now unmistakable. Kai let his own smirk come onto his face and looked forward as the elevator doors slid open. “Don’t worry, you didn’t miss much. None of it was particularly good.” He assured the other as he started walking to the kitchen.
Cole let out another half-hearted laugh and forced himself to speak as he followed. “Are you just saying that to comfort me or was it actually just made for rich people's taste buds?”
Kai barked his own laugh, “Guess you had to eat the food to really know.” God, what an asshole. An asshole with eyes too damn pretty for his own good and a smile that’d get you to agree to anything. “You can go change while I heat something up, any requests?” He asked as he looked in the refrigerator. Cole couldn’t see what was inside from where he stood at the counter, so he trusted Kai with giving him something he would enjoy.
“Not really, maybe something sweet?” He mumbled, now struggling to loosen the tie around his neck. Though Cole deemed the task too difficult and opted to do it in his room instead, where he could at least listen to music while he fought the tightly knotted fabric. The cool halls of the monastery were expectedly quiet, peaceful and dark as Cole made his way to his bedroom, occasionally flicking a light switch only to squint at the sudden blinding white. Who’s idea was it to make these stupid lights so damn bright??
Cole decided to keep his room dark when he reached it, the moonlight from his window and the light from the hallway providing plenty of brightness for his eyes, although he did need to blink for a few minutes to let his eyes adjust. Finally able to pull the tie off along with the rest of the tuxedo in spite of the dark, he let out a relaxed sigh and just let himself be bare for a minute, the restriction of tight expensive clothing now gone. Cole considered pulling a shirt on as he picked out a pair of loose sweatpants, but he couldn’t find a clean one that was loose enough for comfort. But he did find his headphones, which he immediately put on and connected to his phone to play something with low energy.
“Hey mountain man, I couldn’t find anything sweet to eat so I made cocoa. I have your mug right-” Kai said as he came to the doorway, stopping as he found Cole’s back to him. The sight made him stop in his tracks and almost drop the two hot mugs of cocoa in his hands because First fucking Master he’s so hot, suddenly fronted with the picture of huge faded scars from really nasty battles, stretchmarks from rapid muscle growth, and dark body hair following said muscles like waves. The shadow of his headphones gave an explanation as to why Cole didn’t turn around at first, as did the gentle nodding of his head. There was a selfish and burning urge inside of Kai to stay quiet so he could admire the piece of literal art that was the Master of Earth. He tried to ignore the question of what the front looked like by staring at the frankly ridiculously muscled arms and broad shoulders, outlined by the moonlight coming through the window; though Kai quickly found it to be a mistake as his face began to feel as hot as his element, the thought of how strong Cole is or if he would weigh anything to him if the man carried him not helping in the slightest.
Kai realized Cole was staring at him, and was suddenly boiling with embarrassment. His dress shirt now felt like it was going to melt and stick to him. “Oh, sorry I just- Uh, shit- You looked, uhm, your headphones were on and I didn’t-” Smooth, Kai, real fuckin smooth. Just stare at his back like a weirdo when the guy is already tired of people. “I…Here’s your cocoa.” He ended, holding the steaming black mug to his coworker awkwardly as he stared into his own mug. Cole didn’t say anything as he took the mug, ignoring the truth that he was being given a drink and not food now recognizing it as ‘his’ mug. Cheap, replaceable, but special all the same; the graphic of an album was faded and peeling away from the many trips to the dishwasher when it should’ve been hand washed, so much so that Cole couldn’t really see which album it was supposed to be. He had a feeling it was supposed to be either AC/DC or Van Halen considering the rest of the mug was black. And it occurred to him that Kai had gotten him this mug, whether for his birthday or Festival Day, he couldn’t remember. Maybe that’s why it was his favorite.
Desperate for a topic change and for the air between them to become at least a little breathable, Cole asked in a low tired voice, “When did you get me this mug again?” Kai looked up from the long sip he was in the middle of taking and studied the mug for a minute. His dark brows pinched in thought, forcing a light smile onto Cole’s face. He always gave that look when he was thinking hard, regardless if it was over a mission plan or which cologne to use. Cole was honored to be given such serious thought.
“I think…I got it just because… it reminded me of you.” Kai slowly replied, his blush coming back across his cheeks even though it never really left and his brows coming apart as he said his answer. The day he bought it had become vivid in his head, he was out window shopping with Nya and Lloyd. The trio had wandered into a trinket store, and while his two siblings were busy looking at other things, Kai had found himself looking at a mug. The only reason it caught his attention was because of the rock album cover that was cheaply printed on, recognizing it as ‘Back in Black’, one of Cole’s favorites. The earth ninja had a t-shirt of the album he almost always wore when going out in casual wear, because ‘Black goes with everything.’ in his words. Kai couldn’t agree more.
Cole looked at the cocoa in his mug to avoid looking the other in the eyes, the mug that he only had because his friend thought of him when looking at it. His heart fluttered again in the way it always does when Kai tells a dumb joke or winks at him in a completely platonic way that friends do. “I guess I owe you, huh?” The earth ninja said with a husky laugh, quickly raising his cocoa to his mouth to take a sip. The fire ninja blinked at him, surprised at the notion he was owed over something as simple as a cheap mug.
“I- No, dude…It’s just a mug, you don’t owe me anything. Besides, your friendship is enough.” Kai muttered back while switching between staring at his mug and the floor with a definitely-not-flustered face, now leaning on the door frame for support. He considered just walking to his room right there, just to get out of this…whatever conversation this was. Cole let out one of those exhausted chuckles he did that was followed by a deep satisfying inhale. Wow, Kai was truly fucked, wasn’t he? The silence that followed was almost comfortable, almost, as neither ninja moved from their spots, quietly sipping the warm chocolate drink. Kai again considered the option of leaving to his own room and ending the conversation here, but he couldn’t force himself to leave Cole for the same reason he had asked him if he had wanted to go home in the first place.
“It’s not just a mug to me.” Cole finally said under his breath, quiet enough that Kai almost didn’t hear it. “It…It’s more than that.” The Master of Earth continued. The Master of Fire held a breath, trying not to let his heart leap out from his chest. He hid his red face by staring back down at his mug, the painfully familiar freckled surface of the dark drink giving him little solace from this scene. He wasn’t entirely sure if he was dreaming or not. “You…bought it for me, because you saw it and thought of me. Right?” Kai didn’t look up from his mug, nodding quietly. Because of the fist-sized muscle in his chest demanding attention by beating uncontrollably in his ribs, he nearly didn’t hear what Cole had said.
“Well…” Cole paused for a minute, finally prompting the other man to look up from his mug, finding eyes full of unsaid admiration. “That alone…That makes it more than just a mug, doesn’t it?” He continued slowly, finding the words as he went. Cole didn’t think that he would be saying this here of all places. He imagined this scenario being somewhere like a moonlit gazebo instead of his messy barely moonlit room. Being shirtless and drinking cocoa in the middle of night wasn’t exactly peak romance. Kai would say otherwise.
“Yeah…I guess so.” Kai replied, a shy smile creeping its way onto his tanned jaw. A small sense of relief came over the fire ninja, and it made him realize how tired he really was. A yawn rose out of his throat, making Cole chuckle again.
“Didn’t mean to keep you from changing.” He said, swirling what was left of his drink. Kai shook his head and let out his own exhausted laugh, “No, no it’s ok. I kinda forgot, if I’m being honest.” He stood up from the door frame to look at his room down the hall, only two doors down. Looking back to Cole, the earth ninja gave him a nod of his head to let him go change. “G’night, Kai.” He said, his smile now both more tired than ever and the kindest Kai had seen it. He let the blush on his face be and gave his own tired smile.
“Goodnight Cole.” He yawned again, and began his trek down the hallway to his own room while turning off the hall light, where Kai changed into his own loose sweatpants and a white sriracha racerback tank.
The analog clock on his nightstand read 11:48pm in bright red numbers. Kai’s heart still pounded against his chest, unsatisfied with the confinement it was given when it had so much excitement still within. The fire ninja took a few deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself down, the recollection of what the hell just happened both fresh and fading in his tired mind. Laying down helped a little bit, though the question of what Cole’s arms would’ve felt like wrapped around his body proved to be a hard thought to dislike, much less ignore.
He heard the other’s come in quietly, whispering goodnight and sleep well to one another, doors quietly opening and shutting followed by sheets being shuffled. An oddly calm quiet came over the monastery, and Kai became jealous of his teammates that were asleep. His mind screamed at him to leave the man alone, and that he was being incredibly selfish by even considering these thoughts. Still, Kai found himself in front of Cole’s room moments later, more awake than he would’ve liked to be and hoping he didn’t wake anybody else up. He sucked in a breath, closed his eyes, and knocked on the wooden door in a way that he hoped would only wake Cole up. Thankfully the only sounds of waking came from the closed room in front of him, and the door slid open with the gentle hiss that wood makes. Here they were again.
Neither of the men said anything for a few seconds, looking at each other as if they’d unjustly been separated for years and this was the first reunion. “Couldn’t sleep either?” Kai reluctantly asked in a hushed voice, trying to find his mental footing as he stood in front of the still shirtless man.
“Not really. Too cold.” Cole whispered, looking down at his bare chest in regret as a hand rubbed the back of his neck. Kai thought this might be his only chance he’d ever get, so with another scrape-together of his wit, he reached out for it.
“I’m warm.” He said, and as it came out of his mouth, Kai paled. Oh First Spinjitzu Master. That was it?! That was the line he chose?!? He’s a god-damned disaster. He hadn’t gotten better than “Not so fast”?! Really?? The blank look that Cole was giving him wasn’t making anything better, and Kai really and truly thought this was the end.
A pause.
A pause that felt a little too long.
The snort that spilled out of Cole as he tried to muffle it with a hand baffled Kai at first. The earth ninja had to hold on to the doorframe for support because he was laughing into his hand so hard, and Kai thought he was crying for a moment. Cole took a deep breath as a few more drained giggles flowed out of him, standing up properly to look at Kai with a goofy exhausted(love-struck?) smile that said very plainly ‘It’s too late for this’.
“Well, if you’re so warm, would you be kind enough to come help me with my temperature problem?” Cole asked, letting his head rest against the doorframe as he blinked slowly. Kai didn’t say anything for a minute, stunned with the fact that his spectacularly awful one liner had somehow landed. Another pause passed between them, so it was Cole’s turn to grab Kai’s hand and lead him inside. The earth ninja made himself comfortable in the bed, holding the sheets open as he waited for the fire ninja, who was still shocked that this was actually happening. It took some tugging of the hand to shake him from the trance he was in, and the two met eyes once more. “I’m not getting any warmer with you standing there, dork.” Cole whispered, a playful frustration lingering in the now very tired voice.
The question of how Cole’s arms would feel around Kai had been answered, although an hour ago Kai would’ve been content to just bury it under his shame and unaddressed feelings. However, as the Master of Fire’s eye’s became heavier, he breathed in the faint scent of hot chocolate from the jaw he was desperately tempted to kiss, and smiled. Steady breathing with the occasional snore became Kai’s favorite lullaby as he closed his eyes and shifted closer to the body he cradled, and that cradled him in kind return. The different question of whether Cole had actually been cold didn’t cross his mind, because of how comfortably warm he was now. If that was because of the Master of Fire, neither cared, and if they did, they would have decided they were too comfortable for it to matter.