Chapter Text
"Breakfast is ready!"
The sound of rapid footsteps hammering against the worn cherrywood of the monastery floors pulled Kai away from sleep, causing a sleepy groan to escape from his mouth as he rolled over to face his lover. He didn't want to wake up. It was the weekend, and one of his only days off. He wanted to spend it sleeping the day away, lovingly nestled in the chest of his boyfriend as he basked in the sunlight streaming in through their shared window. But unfortunately, if he didn't get out of bed and head down to breakfast within the next fifteen minutes, the entire spread would be completely devoured by his teammates.
Well hey, Zane's omelets were well worth the trade-off anyway.
Kai begrudgingly sat up, the covers sliding off of his body, revealing his scarred chest to the room. He'd earned each scar in a variety of different yet heroic ways, yet they've always been somewhat of an insecurity of his. His first one was earned when he was young and still learning the forge. A stray ember had floated away, catching on Kai's tunic, burning a hole through the fabric and catching his skin. Ever since then he's managed to collect at least ten more. Kai found them somewhat ugly, yet Cole thought they were beautiful.
Kai stretched, raising his arms high above his head, before lowering them so he could look over at Cole, who was sleeping beside him. He smiled as he looked down at his sleeping form, watching his shoulders gently rise and fall with each breath. His hair was messy and tussled around from a full night's sleep, with a strand of it falling in front of his eyes. Kai brushed said strand out of Cole's face, and leaned down to kiss his cheek. He chuckled lightly as he saw Cole start to stir, a smile creeping upon his lips.
"Good morning to you too," Cole said, his voice deep and thick as he slowly rose, yawning as he stretched as well. He was also shirtless, showing off his wide array of tattoos that decorated his upper body. Once he lowered his arms and relaxed, he turned to Kai and gave him a gentle kiss on the lips, causing the shorter boy to blush.
"What are you, gay or something?" Kai teased, sticking his tongue out playfully. Cole simply rolled his eyes and retorted with a gentle shove.
"We've been dating for over a year, get over yourself."
A loud thud broke the two out of their love-fueled trance, startling them both. A loud "OW!" immediately followed it in shrill, yet masculine voice. "That hurt like hell! Watch where you're going Lloyd!"
"Not my fault you're so fucking slow JAY!"
Kai and Cole sighed in unison before looking at each other. Cole broke the silence and scoffed. "Everyone knows that racing to breakfast always ends in disaster. Do they ever grow up?"
Kai pointed at Cole. "Hey, Zane's omelets are nothing to sneeze at-"
"Holy shit Zane made omelets?!"
Cole immediately threw his blanket off his body, hastily grabbing his black Metallica t-shirt off the floor as he ran out the door. "Hey! Wait for me asshole!" Kai called after him, also hastily throwing on a random shirt as he followed Cole out the door. The smell of eggs, bacon, buttered toast and hashbrowns began to fill his nose once he stepped out into the corridor. He already saw Cole pulling his shirt over his head as he turned left into the dining room. He had it on backwards.
The rest of the team was gathered around the table, in front of them sat an entire spread of delicious breakfast. Zane was helping everyone get served, although apparently they didn't need much help since everyone was already clamoring at the food like animals.
"Now now, there's no need to be so impatient. I made more than enough for everyone to get their fair share," Zane gently reminded the team as he plopped an omelet onto Cole's plate before returning to the kitchen.
"Sorry Zane," Jay said through a mouthful of food. "Your food is just too good. You take it fresh off the stove and it's gone within fifteen minutes."
Kai bounded into the room with a pep in his step, the excitement of the team chasing away any extra sleep. "Morning guys! I see everyone's started without me." Kai said with mock-offense as he grabbed a plate from the table, leaning over Nya and PIXAL who were chatting amongst themselves. Nya rolled her eyes.
"Not our fault you take like a zillion years to get out of bed in the morning. You're lucky Zane made an omelet for each of us, otherwise you wouldn't have gotten anything."
"Nonsense. I would have made sure you got your fill," Zane dismissed as he slid Kai's omelet onto his plate. "There's plenty to go around Nya."
"I was joking Zane," Nya replied, taking a bite of hashbrowns as she turned her attention to her boyfriend, who was sitting across the table from her. "Jay, you need to upgrade his humor systems, I think there's still a couple bugs."
"Nah Zane's just fine the way he is," Cole remarked as he sat down next to Kai, scooting in his chair. "Teasing banter has always kinda flown over his head. At least he can understand sarcasm now."
"Only when it's obvious," Kai interjected, taking out his pocket comb to smooth his hair back a bit before he started eating. "Frosty isn't exactly the master at comedy. By the way, your shirt's on backwards."
"What?!" Cole looked down, and saw no Metallica logo on the front of his shirt. Everyone at the table began laughing.
"Looks like someone was eager to get to breakfast," Lloyd teased through a bite of egg. "Why was your shirt off in the first place? Hmm?"
"Uh, because it gets ungodly hot in this place?" Cole answered, shutting down Lloyd's attempt to hint at anything embarrassing. "We both know we don't have funds to afford good air conditioning. Ninjago City's funding will only cover so much."
Jay began to snicker as he jumped in on the teasing. "Hmm, I'm pretty sure its because you were up all night sucking face with your teammate. 'Mwah mwah mwah oh Kai I love you soooo much," Jay teased, turning around and grabbing both of his arms as he made mock kissing noises. "Mwah mwah mwah oh Cole you're so big and strong, I wanna-"
"Hey," Kai interrupted, setting his elbow down on the table as he pointed at Jay. "Don't forget, you're only dating my sister out of the good graces of my heart or whatever. I can revoke that at any time, so don't press your luck."
Nya scoffed at that statement from Kai. "You're not my dad Kai, and I'm allowed to date whoever I want you know."
"Well our dad was kinda busy for the first 17-18 years of our lives so someone had to step up!"
"Hey, hey," Cole chided, putting a hand on the other person's shoulders. "We're all friends here. Everyone here is sucking face with at least one other team member, except for Lloyd he's kind of uh...in his own land. But anyways, ease up, will ya?"
"Don't worry, its all in good fun," Kai comforted his boyfriend, patting him on the back as he took another bite of breakfast. "Mm...Zane's cooking will never not be good I swear."
Everyone at the table nodded in agreement.
Zane walked in, folding his apron as he took a seat at the end of the table. He seemed delighted at their satisfaction. "I'm glad you all enjoy it. Technically I'm not required to eat, so I never really have the desire to partake in mealtimes, but I enjoy seeing you all happy."
"Ugh god why are you so wholesome?" Jay groaned as he looked at him. "I swear your sweetness is giving me cavities."
"Sensitivity to sweetness is an indicator of potential tooth decay. Shall I make an appointment with our dentist?"
Everyone laughed at Zane's complete obliviousness to the joke. Lloyd gave him a gentle pat on the back as he corrected him. "That's called a metaphor buddy. He's saying you're really nice and that he's an asshole who doesn't like joy-hey that was my toast!"
Jay retaliated by stealing the toast off of Lloyd's plate. Lloyd stole it back, causing a disgruntled Jay to stick his tongue out at him in return. However, the rest of breakfast carried on as normal, with the ninja all joking around and having a good time as they prepared for the day ahead of them.