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The Haven seemed different in the night time. The halls were dim, the white columns appeared almost a shimmering silver under the moonlight. The lanterns that lit the halls seemed quieter, tinting the fortress in a soft white that warmed the hall. The torches that lit the bridges in the distance resembled warm stars that guarded the Haven. The entire fortress seemed to have fallen asleep just like all those within.
Well, most of those within.
It was near one in the morning when Johnny emerged through one of the doorways in the portal hall. He yawned loudly, stretching until he heard and, more importantly, felt a large crack in his lower back. He sighed in relief as he rubbed at his eyes. He was among many of the Defenders who had day jobs to attend when not Defending. As such, he was exhausted after several hours of filming on a new set for his film. Between taking on more hours and losing his sunglasses he was very tired. His saving grace was that the Haven seemed to silently welcome him home.
He made his way through the halls, not remembering where the Otherrealmer quarters started and where the Rogue quarters began. Hell, he could have been in the Lin Kuei quarters for all he cared or comprehended. Despite the weeks - almost two months - he had lived in the Haven, his sense of direction had not gotten any more precise. His biggest indicator of direction happened to be the symbols carved into the columns that were present in each sector of the Haven.
He finally stopped wandering the moment he came upon the statue of a person holding a heart in their hands. He always tried to figure out if the statue depicted a man or a woman, and even with his glasses he had a hard time being able to decide who the statue more resembled. Making his way through the halls, he entered a doorway that was not far from the statue, entering it he very carefully, and very slowly, made his way up a set of stairs to the second floor where all the rooms and domestic spaces belonged.
He had to admit, if he and Kabal had not gone exploring their first day at the Haven, he would not have realized that all the bedrooms were on the second floor. Hell, he probably would not have assumed there even was a second story despite the height of the fortress.
He found himself in the much smaller and personal halls of the sleeping quarters as he made his way to his chosen room. He gently dragged his fingertips over the barren walls as he walked, trying to make as little noise as possible so as not to wake his fellow Defenders.
He tried to recall who would be in at the moment, as a few of the defenders had already been sent out on missions, some even overnight. He recalled that Kabal had not been sent out yet, and that Smoke was still considered too new to be sent at all. From the back of his mind he remembered that Nightwolf was off in the Matokan nation for the week like usual. Or had that been last week? Johnny shook his head. He was too exhausted to think clearly.
He was finally close to his room when he noticed a figure standing in the hall, leaning against the wall. Johnny froze, wanting to shriek in terror as he almost didn’t even notice anyone in the space with him from afar. The person held entirely still. Johnny would have walked right past them if he they didn’t have a very obvious silhouette. Gulping down the scream in his throat, Johnny strained his eyes to try to identify who the person could be.
It was with a slight hesitancy that he took a few steps closer, trying to be as calm as possible in case one of his roommates (housemates?) just so happened to be a sleepwalker.
It only took a few seconds for Johnny to finally make out the almost paper white hair that belonged to the person, and he breathed a huge sigh of relief as they startled at his presence.
“Smoke, dude, what are you doing? You nearly gave me a heart attack!” Johnny whisper-yelled, holding his chest and feeling his heart pounding beneath his palm.
He walked closer and was finally able to see the sheepish look on Smoke’s face as he approached. To Johnny’s surprise, Smoke still wore his metallic mask that he always dawned. He had assumed the man would take it off eventually, especially in the night. But shrugged it off as he chalked it up to the former-Lin Kuei being a nostalgic guy.
“Why are you stalking around in the halls like Jason Vorhees, dude?” Johnny asked, noticing that Smoke had been looking into another room through the tiniest crack in the door.
Smoke did not respond verbally. But Johnny knew he had heard his question. Instead, Smoke responded by tapping the door silently, gesturing to whatever was inside as his subject of interest. Curious, and extremely nosy, Johnny forgot his tiredness as he squeezed in close with Smoke to see what was keeping the taller man’s attention.
Opening the door just an inch, Johnny recognized the room as being - what he called - the living room. It was a big space, compared to the rest of the bedrooms, that only possessed a few furnishings and opened out to a balcony that overlooked the outside of the Haven. Within their time, Johnny and Kabal had both brought items to fill the space, leading to Johnny recognizing the giant TV he had purchased being on and playing a movie, albeit muted.
It took Johnny a moment to realize someone was in the room watching the film. Taking caution in case he startled the person, he opened the door wider, startling Smoke who hid behind him cautiously. He paid no mind to the elemental as he entered slowly, walking up behind the couch and eyeing the movie playing. Glancing over the couch, he recognized the long head of brown, unruly hair and the same damn mask that the mysterious man always wore.
It was without tact - partially due to his long shift - that made Johnny speak in his usual volume, “Jesus Christ, do you and Smoke just live in those things or what?”
Kabal startled harshly, turning behind himself and nearly throwing the remote in his hand had it not been for him recognizing Johnny’s visage in time.
“Are you stupid?” He asked, reactively.
Johnny blinked, “That the first question you had on mind?”
“I didn’t know you were there, I would have thought of a better comeback,” The man spoke breathlessly, trying to calm his racing heart from the fright.
“Why are either of you even awake? It’s almost,” Johnny checked his phone, wincing at the brightness. “Two in the morning.”
“Oh. I’m an insomniac,” Kabal answered indignantly, turning back to the movie without a care. “No clue why he is awake, though.”
Johnny glanced at Smoke who seemed rather invested in the movie, leaning against the couch to get a closer look at the action unfolding. He raised his brow at the man, receiving a shrug as an answer.
Johnny sighed, dropping his bag on the floor and sitting on a neighboring couch next to where Kabal was firmly sat.
He pulled off his jacket as he lowered his voice, “Smoke, dude, you gotta help me out. I can barely see and you’re not gonna say a peep?”
Smoke audibly sighed, sagging his shoulders as he jumped over the back of the couch. He sat cross-legged as he gestured to his throat, making a slicing gesture as he looked expectantly at Johnny.
Johnny took his best guess, “You just… can’t talk right now?”
Smoke nodded, hair tumbling down his shoulders.
Johnny paused, but nodded, accepting it without question, “So like… is it just a night thing? Since I’ve heard you talk during the day?”
Smoke nodded again, turning his attention back to the movie, enthralled. Johnny took a moment to take in the information, staring at the screen without consciously following what was going on. A moment of comfortable silence came over the small trio, the room quiet save for the almost indiscernible sound of electrical humming coming from the TV.
Not feeling tired enough to sleep and too comfortable to leave, Johnny pulled out his phone, turning down the brightness and scrolled mindlessly through his Twitter. He liked a few posts until he came upon a tweet of behind-the scenes photos of that very shooting day. He groaned quietly as he realized he would probably get a message about the writers needing to change the script to keep the film’s plot from leaking. Again.
He set down his phone as he rubbed his eyes, irritated.
Through the quiet, Kabal’s voice rang through, “...Your glasses are prescription? I thought you just wore them to look like a dick.”
Johnny opened his eyes slowly, turning to the speedster with a look of unamusement on his face, “And you watched movies with the subtitles?”
He could admit it wasn’t his best jab, but considering the hour he forgave himself as Kabal gave his retort.
“Pissed because you can’t read fast enough?”
“Pissed because I lost my glasses,” Johnny said, running a hand through his hair. “They cost me five hundred dollars.”
“Cheap ass,” Was Kabal’s final remark, watching as the action in the movie picked up.
Johnny could very vaguely comprehend that Kabal had put the volume up just a few digits when his attention was called by one of the voices on screen. With a look of surprise, he focused on the screen, and was immediately met by his own face staring back at him.
“You’re watching Breaknose Mountain??” He asked, incredulously, recognizing the movie from his early career. He looked almost baby-faced in his eyes now that he watched the movie, and he quickly considered that he looked better after his face finally matured. He pulled at his collar the moment he realized the movie was building up to the scene of him and his coworker making out.
“It’s the only one where you played somewhat of a cowboy,” Kabal responded, unbothered. “Besides, it brings back memories.”
Johnny watched the screen intently as he remembered just how hard he went for the movie, nearly breaking his coworker’s nose. He could not apologize enough to the guy after the director finally yelled cut for the last time that shoot.
“What memories could this possibly bring back?” He asked, glancing at Smoke who seemed enraptured by the picture.
“I watched this before I joined the ‘Dragon. Anything before that brings back memories, no matter how shitty the movie,” Kabal answered dismissively. Johnny was surprised by the honesty and openness that the masked man seemed to possess now after hours. He blamed it on the exhaustion.
A question tickled his mind as he glanced at Kabal noticing the man was wearing his mask but no goggles. With nothing to lose, he asked his question mindlessly:
“...Do you always wear your mask, Kabal?”
The response was just as quick as he would have expected, “Only if I don’t want to die.”
“I thought it was for your aesthetic?” Johnny asked in response, eyeing the mask with curiosity.
The three shared another elongated silence as Smoke nearly fell off the couch leaning towards the TV. The man was so invested in watching the characters on screen as they shared many close and personal exchanges. He got so close to nearly falling that both Johnny and Kabal glanced at him to ensure he wasn’t dozing off and getting ready to hit the floor.
Johnny nearly forgot he even said anything as he waited for the fateful scene that made him an almost overnight scandal when the movie premiered. He recalled the way the media gave him serious grief for his role, thinking about it nearly gave him a headache all over again.
It was Kabal’s voice that made him recall his curiosity over the mask situation. The man spoke slowly and in broken pauses as he focused more so on the film than his answer.
“I have weak lungs from years of using my superspeed without support… You can’t exactly run at breakneck speeds and breathe at the same time,” He fell silent for a long pause as he watched the quiet scene, anticipating the climax but being disappointed when it took longer than he expected. “It gave me the equivalent of extreme asthma.”
“Oh,” Was all Johnny could muster without snorting. He hid his smile under his hand as he replayed Kabal’s inane retort in his head. If there was one thing Kabal was very good at, it was wisecracking.
He finally calmed down in time to watch as his character on screen grabbed the other cowboy and kissed him straight on the lips. He held his breath as the scene occurred, and for a moment wished he had gotten up and put himself to bed the moment he found out what movie was playing. The scene felt inordinately long to him as he watched himself get manhandled by his costar with so little explicit detail he almost wished they were allowed to be more sleezy on camera to make up for the acting choices he made when he was told to make noise.
“Whore,” Was all Kabal could muster to say after the scene passed, unapologetically muting the movie and putting the subtitles again.
Johnny snorted, crossing his leg as he watched the next scene with no embarrassment, “I tried.”
Kabal gave a dry laugh at the response, leaning back against the couch.
Once again peaceful silence overcame the room and Johnny started to feel like dozing off right then and there on the couch. Would he regret it? His back surely would, but nonetheless he felt too lazy to make the journey to his room.
He was swiftly awoken by the raspy voice of Smoke.
“You can do that?”
Both Johnny and Kabal turned to the man with such speed that Johnny thought he heard a crack in his neck.
“I thought you couldn’t talk at night?” Was the first thing he could think to say.
His question was left unanswered as Smoke visibly debated with his own curiosity. Furrowing his brow he locked eyes with Johnny in such a serious manner it made the actor gulp.
“You are allowed to kiss other men?”
The question hung heavy in the air as the two others were left entirely silent. Johnny quickly realized that the subject of relationships likely wasn’t encouraged in the Lin Kuei. Especially between the assassins. Mentally he thought over how he could possibly respond, considering Kabal was very much in the same room, all while not outing anything about himself.
Before he could answer, Kabal beat him to the punch.
“If you’re not scared to, then yeah,” He spoke entirely too casually, shrugging his shoulders in response. It was only when Johnny gave him a soft look of confusion that Kabal felt inclined to include the statement, “I’ve done it. No one can tell me shit.”
“Of course, dude. Nothing wrong with that,” Johnny spoke, raising his hands, squirming slightly as he tried not to call any attention to himself. He turned to meet Smoke’s look of confusion as he softened his tone. “It’s as natural as everything else in the world.”
He chewed the inside of his cheek, contemplating to himself whether he should say more before deciding to take the same route as Kabal to plunge himself head first, urged on by Smoke’s unbiased affliction towards the idea. After all, wasn’t he supposed to be trusting these guys?
“I do it on occasion too,” He said, sighing softly as he gave Smoke a gentle smile.
Smoke finally nodded, refocusing his eyes on the television as yet another scene of Johnny nearly breaking his coworkers nose as he attempted to kiss him passionately played on screen. Johnny cringed at his acting now, but was happy with how hard he went for the role. He finally breathed a sigh of relief as the three relaxed into the couches to watch the rest of the movie.
“I would like to try that,” Whispered Smoke, almost tenderly. Johnny could recognize the look of fondness in his eyes like nothing.
“...You like dudes?” He asked with kind intentions.
He watched the way Smoke puzzled about in his mind, contemplating the question until he finally came to a reasonable response, “I may?”
Johnny uttered a supportive “That’s what’s up” as he watched the movie, stretching before changing the way he sat on the couch.
“Hm,” Kabal hummed, catching Johnny's attention. “Makes sense.”
It was Smoke’s turn to look at Kabal with such speed and urgency that the pop in his neck was very audible.
The man was nearly crestfallen as he uttered quietly as though a grand secret was revealed, “How did you know??”
“You and Sub-Zero looked like highschool sweethearts to me,” Was all Kabal bothered responding with.
Johnny watched the way Smoke’s face fell into confusion and decided to interpret for the man knowing how little American slang the elemental knew.
“He means you two look like you’ve been in a relationship before,” He answered, more or less satisfied with his own translation.
“We have. We might… have?” Smoke responded after a beat, staring down at his hands looking for a way to explain himself in a comprehensible way. “Not the kind that you may have experienced. One we had in the Lin Kuei in… well, secret.”
He looked up at Johnny with such vulnerability in his eyes as though he did not have the language possible to explain what he meant. It drove Johnny to desperation as he searched for some way to express solidarity with the white haired man.
Instead the best he could blurt out was: “I mean… I dated a guy for eight months in secret, once. It was obvious, but no one ever figured it out because the news outlets kept calling us friends.”
He severely wanted to take back what he said, but was pleasantly surprised when Smoke turned to him in interest. He was relieved when Kabal piped up as well.
“I had an on-again-off-again thing with an old, uh,” He contemplated what word to use. “Coworker.”
Smoke seemed to be put at rest with both confessions, almost in wonder at having two people next to him that understood, in some way, what he had and was experiencing. Johnny could only think to give the man a thumbs up as his final word. Smoke nodded silently, returning to the movie and far more confident than before. All three were happy to continue the movie in silence.
—
Nightwolf was barely stepping into the Rogue quarters when he returned that night. He paid little mind to the late hour as he made his way to his room, his bag thumping against his hip as he walked up the stairs. When he had left his childhood home, it had barely been sunset. But the time difference was drastic between that time zone and the Haven’s time zone, and he found it to be closer to two at night. But he was unable to sleep, and instead he peeked into the living room to see if Kabal was awake, per usual.
He was surprised to instead see all three of his fellow Defenders awake, watching the TV that had mysteriously appeared during their first week at the Haven. Looking down the hall toward where his door was, Nightwolf shrugged, instead choosing to join the insomniacs as they watched whatever movie Kabal had inevitably chosen.
He entered the room as quietly as he could, keeping in mind the hour so as not to wake up any neighboring quarters. Smoke was the first to turn to him in slight alarm, only to immediately calm as he recognized Nightwolf. The man only gave Smoke a small nod, sitting down on the same couch as he and - an apparently dozing off - Cage.
He set his bag down at his feet as he took his hair down from his bun, letting the tresses hang loosely on his shoulders as he undid the tiny braids that he did whenever he was bored.
“How was your hometown, ‘Wolf?” Kabal asked, exhaustion in his voice very present.
“It was just as I left it. Peaceful, calm, quiet,” Nightwolf paused, pushing back his hair. “As quiet as it could be with my entire family coming to see me.”
Kabal laughed breathlessly at the thought of the stern looking Nightwolf swamped by nosy Aunties and bratty nieces and nephews. Truly, he could never picture the man as anything more than a seeming god amongst men, but knowing he dealt with family just like all of them made him chuckle.
Nightwolf felt eyes on him, and met the curious gaze of Smoke with his heart on his sleeve.
“I’ve never seen you without your warrior markings, Nightwolf.”
“I wear them in the tradition of the Nightwolf,” He spoke, rolling his neck to release the tension of the week’s adventures. “I do not tend to wear it when I am about to sleep.”
Smoke blinked softly, and spoke a question he carried since his learning of Nightwolf’s monthly visits to his home.
“Forgive me if I overstep, but… what do you do when you visit your home?”
Nightwolf was happy to answer the question, spying the way Kabal curiously turned to hear the response. He was half convinced Johnny too stopped his soft snoring to hear as well. He simply leaned back into the couch and spoke honestly.
“My aunt is a curator at our tribe’s museum. I assist her in teaching and learning about our history,” He responded kindly, he gave a huff as he recalled one more thing to include. “I also spend the week telling my mother to not set me up with any of her friend’s children.”
“Makes sense, you’re too good looking,” Johnny spoke groggily, half-asleep but indeed still listening in to the conversation. It made Nightwolf crack a small smile in amusement. Kabal too chuckled at the response, and Smoke was more than satisfied with the conversation.
“I am expecting that Lord Raiden will be sending us out on missions soon. You included, Smoke,” Nightwolf spoke, leaning against his arm as he watched the ending of the movie playing.
Kabal was the one to respond first, giving a short grunt and saying, “Good. I’ve started getting bored messing with Sonya and her gadgets.”
Nightwolf huffed a laugh, “She tells me she has communicators arranged for us to easier call each other and share mission statuses.”
“You don’t need to tell me any more. She and Jax have practically read the instruction manual to me,” Kabal spoke quietly, still exhausted and finally feeling the remnants of sleep wanting to take him.
“I only expect that we can become more competent in our missions as we are in choosing good movies,” He spoke, and from the corner of his eye he saw Johnny’s lips raise in a smile. He could barely hear the incoherent comeback Johnny shot back as he fell completely asleep.
Nightwolf stood, stretching properly. He grabbed his bag, finally feeling a semblance of tiredness and intending to finally rest in his bedroom. He gently tapped the heel of Johnny’s shoe with his own, waking the man enough to get him to also return to his room. Kabal shut off the television and walked tiredly to the doorway with the intent of laying down.
It was Smoke who took the longest to get up, sitting down in contemplation as Nightwolf silently called to him in Mandarin.
“You wish to stay awake?”
Smoke nodded, thoughtlessly. Not getting up nor moving from his seat.
Nightwolf frowned in silent disagreement, but knew he could not force any of his Defenders to do anything opposite of their desires.
“...Lord Raiden tells me that he has an assignment prepared for you and Kuai Liang tomorrow. I think it may be best to rest for it.”
That caught Smoke’s attention as he stood quickly.
“Are you certain?’
Nightwolf nodded, “He tells me that he desires for Bi-Han to stay at the Haven as well. It will be just you and Sub-Zero on your mission. I would insist you be prepared.”
With silent gratitude, Smoke bowed on instinct, unable to think of any other way to express himself. Nightwolf returned it with a humble nod, turning for the door and bidding the man a gentle goodnight.
In the privacy of his room, Nightwolf glanced at the moon from his balcony. He considered the time, but felt no rush to sleep now that he had returned to his room. He stared out into the ocean, and let the wind blow softly through his hair. He felt content, calm.
And yet, he still felt it. Like the thrum of the Earth. The feeling in his stomach that something was coming. Something in the horizon that they just did not see yet.
He closed his balcony, prepared to rest. He would seek guidance from the Great Spirit soon. For tonight, he merely wanted the moon to watch over him.