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Kai hovered over his thumb over the call button, hesitating.
He shouldn't have left the monastery. He drove away in a rush, heading towards the nearest bar he could find to get a hold of some cheap booze. But the recent concerns of the ninja clouded his mind and he drove towards Ninjago City. He had told them he wanted to get better, and he did, but tonight was just too much. Between their fight with a small gang earlier, Jay and Nya arguing, Zane mothering him and getting too close to his personal space, he was overwhelmed. A quick drink could fix everything.
...But he had told them he wouldn't. Not after the ninja had found him passed out in an alleyway behind a sleazy bar. He didn't even know they had found him until they had told him the morning after. He promised he wouldn't do that again, no more blanking out, no more hangovers, no more drinking. And he didn't want to, he knew he became violent and stupid and sad when he drank. But it made things so much easier to not think about.
So here he was, in Ninjago City, a block away from the Slither Pit bar. He wanted to drink and forget everything but...
He had been holding his phone so long, his thumb relaxed and pressed the call button. "Shit!", Kai was startled when his phone began to ring. "No, no, no...!", Kai quickly tried to hang up the call but he misclicked and his phone closed out of the app and into his home page. Kai quickly tried to open the app again as he phone continued to ring, but the person on the other line answered.
"I'm surprised you called, I was starting to think you lost my number," Skylor answered over the phone. Her tone was playful and flirty, she hadn't heard from Kai in a long time. She was happy to get to hear from him again.
"Skylor! Hey...! Um, yeah, I just called because, um, I was just, um..." Kai trailed off as he tried desperately to think of an excuse. He didn't want to tell her that he was at a bar- that he desperately wanted to get drunk out of his mind, and drink all of his worries away. But alcohol consumed his mind, and he could barely think of anything else.
"Um," Kai stammered. He tried to swallow the knot in his throat before continuing. "Can I stay at your place tonight?"
Skylor was shocked to hear Kai say that. Kai had never been over at her apartment. They hadn't even been on that many dates, why would he want to come over now?
Kai had said the first thing on his mind and immediately regretted it. But before he could take it back and hang up this embarrassing phone call, Skylor replied.
"Oh! Sure, why don't you meet me at the noodle shop and we can walk from there."
Kai was surprised by her reply, but also relieved. Maybe he could keep his promise to the ninja. "Be right there," Kai hung up and hopped on his motorcycle. He sped down Ninjago City, driving away from the temping bar.
Kai pulled up and saw Skylor standing outside of the store, wearing an orange tank top and red sweatpants. Her hair was not in her usual high ponytail, but was down and hanging by her shoulders. Kai got off his motorcycle and approached her.
"Did you walk all the way from your place in your pajamas?," Kai asked. Kai had no idea how close or far her place was from her shop, so he was concerned seeing that she was wearing slippers.
"I did," Skylor replied. "It's not that far of a walk, come on." Skylor gestured to Kai to follow her. Leaving his motorcycle behind, he followed Skylor around the noodle shop. She opened a door leading to the back of the shop, which showed the back to the noodle house and a set of stairs. At the top was a door. Skylor began to walk up the stairs and Kai followed.
When they reached the top, SKylor opened the door and walked inside. Kai followed her inside and was greeted with a wooden interior, meticulously decorated with golden decorations and ornaments. He saw a string of lights hung all around the roof, and pictures on the wall.
"I didn't realize you lived above the noodle shop...!," Kai said, surprised.
"You never asked," Skylor said playfully. "What do you think?"
"It's amazing! Are you sure you're not the master of interior design or something?," Kai joked. He walked over to one of the walls covered in pictures. All the pictures were group photos: some were of Skylor with Kai and the other ninja, others were Skylor with the group of other elemental masters from the tournament, and others were of Skylor and some of her regulars.
"So...,"Skylor began, "What made you want to stay that night? I won't lie, it really surprised me when you asked out of the blue like that."
"Oh, that...," Kai began to sweat, debating if he should tell Skylor the truth. Opting for a lie, Kai turned around and said, "What? I can't hang out with my favorite girl?"
Skylor approached him, "That's sweet, but what's the real reason you wanted to be here?"
Kai sighed. He could never keep anything from Skylor. She could read him better than anyone he knew. "I... needed a distraction."
Skylor raised her eyebrow, "From what?"
"Everything. The guys, the monastery, the fights, the bar...!" Kai quickly shut his mouth as he realized what he had just said.
"The bar? I thought you didn't drink anymore."
"I don't! I mean, I don't want to... but sometimes... it's just...!" Kai struggled to try and justify himself. How could he tell Skylor that all he could think about was drowning in alcohol?
Kai struggled longer, turning away from Skylor. Skylor reached for his clenched fists and pulled them towards her, forcing Kai to turn towards her as well. "Okay, why don't we both take a deep breath?"
Kai followed Skylor in taking a deep breath. Still holding his hands, Skylor said, "You seem like you had a long day. I'll make us some tea, and let's talk about it."
Kai smiled. With his body relaxed, Skylor could see how tired he was. "I'd like that."
Kai sat down on the couch as Skylor went into the kitchen to make some tea. A few minutes later, she emerged with two mugs of steaming tea. The two talked, Kai venting about his day and his problem to Skylor, and she quietly listened and sometimes chimed in with her own advice. They talked for hours, before Kai finally sat back on the couch, sinking into it.
"Do you still want to stay the night? Not that I don't mind, but if you need to be on duty...," Skylor asked.
"If it's not too much to ask. I kind of just let myself in here huh?," Kai realized. He felt much better after getting everything off his chest. Currently, he was wrapped in a heavy blanket, and had just finished off his third mug of hot tea. He was pretty cozy where he was, and he could feel himself drifting off to sleep.
"Sure, I was hoping for some quality-us time," Skylor teased with a flirty grin. Maybe this night would be more wholesome than her original sexy expectations, but this would be a good step in their relationship.
Skylor snuggled up to Kai as she turned on the TV to put on a movie. A movie and a snuggle is better than nothing at all.
As the movie began to play, Skylor heard a knock on her door. Kai and Skylor were startled by the sudden knock, and it seemed pretty desperate. Skylor got up from her spot next to Kai and walked towards the door. She cracked the door open just enough to see a disheveled Lloyd standing at the top of the stairs. He was panting, as if he had run miles just to get to Skylor.
Before Skylor could say a word, words began to spill out of Lloyd's mouth. "Skylor! We can't find Kai, and we searched everywhere for him! He wasn't in any of his usual places and the noodle shop was already closed when he left and we don't know where else-" Lloyd stopped as he spotted Kai on Skylor's couch looking very sheepish.
"Kai! There you are! We have been looking everywhere for you!" Skylor stepped aside as Lloyd almost pushed his way through the door and made a stomping beeline for Kai. Lloyd fumed, "Do you know how long we have been looking for you? Why didn't you tell us?!"
"I-I, well, um-," Kai began, but he was cut off by Lloyd's intercom.
Lloyd put a finger in his ear and said "Yeah, I found him. He was at Skylor's place. He seems fine, I'm asking him now." Lloyd turned back to Kai, "Kai, did you drink at all?"
Kai, suddenly angry at the accusation, turned away from Lloyd and sternly said, "No, I didn’t."
Before Lloyd could begin to berate Kai again, Skylor stepped in between them. "Woah, woah, woah, slow down there Green Bean. Kai called me a while ago and asked to stay at my place tonight. Nothing else happened. No drinks."
Lloyd flushed with anger and worry, and turned around from Skylor and Kai. Once Lloyd caught his breath and calmed down, he turned around to the two once more. "Kai, why did you storm out? We could've helped you if you wanted to drink tonight. Why don't you rely on us?"
"I just wanted to get away, you guys have been driving me up the wall with how cautious and in-my-space you all are! It's like you guys don't even think I can handle myself. Like you don't even trust me..." Kai trailed off. He pulled the blanket closer to his face, hoping to quickly and discreetly wipe the tears that were gathering in his eyes. He had told all of this to Skylor earlier, but it was different being confronted by Lloyd.
"We just want to make sure you're okay. You were the one who told us to look out for you when you started to get that feeling."
"I know! But, it was just too much, I needed to get away. ...I wanted to go drinking tonight to forget everything, but I couldn't do that to you guys. Not after all that you've done for me… Maybe I wanted to go drinking to prove to you all that I could drink and be fine. But... I wouldn't be. So I called Skylor instead," Kai confessed.
Lloyd took one last deep breath. He put a finger in his ear for his intercom, "Hey Pix, I'm coming home. Kai is gonna stay with Skylor tonight. Mhmm, yeah, he's gonna be okay. He'll be back home tomorrow." Lloyd looked at Kai.
"Please don't scare us like that again."
"I won't. Sorry for storming off."
"You can apologize tomorrow, to everyone. But I'll tell them you need your space."
Lloyd walked over to Kai who stood up from the couch and hugged each other. They let go and Lloyd walked towards the door. "Have a good night you two," he said before closing the door.
Kai flopped down on the couch once more, next to Skylor. Kai snuggled into Skylor's side, wanting to be as close to her as possible. Skylor put her arm around Kai and pulled him close. Kai knew he would have to have a good long talk with the ninja, but right now, all he wanted was to be right next to the one who trusted him.
Kai fell asleep within the first five minutes of the movie, but Skylor didn't mind. She eventually fell asleep herself.