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You'd think a flying pirate ship full of elemental ninja would mean it would be pointless to install central heating. You'd be wrong. You would be so wrong, in fact, that you would not realise that until too late, which is exactly what happened to Master Wu.
And now, as he sleeps wrapped up in a million little blankets, an overstuffed duvet, and a lightweight portable heater from Amazon, the ninja suffer. Well, some do.
Zane, the element of ice, is perfectly fine. He would be anyway, considering his nindroid form. Jay, his dormmate, is not so lucky. Cold air emanates from Zane, and so the poor element of lightning is often forced to sleep on the sofa in their living room during these colder months.
Across the hall sleep Cole and Kai. Earth and fire, the perfect match, right? Wrong! Seriously, you need to stop making such logical assumptions. You see, the issue here is that Kai is a natural furnace, and whilst he swelters in the summer months, the winter ones are his element - the only time his body regulates the correct amount of heat.
Their issue therefore does not lie with Kai, and in fact lies with Cole. When Cole was thirteen, his father had taken him to the doctors after his mother had begged him to. Lou was not the most aware as a parent, and Cole's symptoms simply did not seem that big of a deal to him at the time. Anxiety? Psh, every teenager is anxious - its part of the job description. Mood swings? He's going through puberty, of course he'd have them. Difficulty sleeping? Maybe he should stop taking his damn phone to bed with him! Swelling in the neck? Time to take those tonsils out! Except that when Lou was eventually worn down by Lilly, he found out that Cole actually had hyperthyroidism. Nothing too seriously, just something to explain away the pill box Cole has always kept by his bed. But those pills weren't just any pills, they were beta blockers. And as Cole came to find, they lowered his body heat.
A flying pirate ship miles away from the ground? If it wasn't cold, Cole would've been worried. Mid-November, flying over the Wailing Alps? He's pretty sure his heart is going to stop.
And that leads us to tonight, where Zane and Kai were sleeping soundly in their beds, Jay had practically pitched a tent up in the living room, and Cole shivers in his hoodie, tucked up with as many left over blankets he could find that Wu hadn't already nabbed.
"Dude, your teeth are gonna break if you keep chattering them like that."
Cole strains to move his head and glare in Kai's direction. The ninja in question hadn't even opened his eyes to speak, just mumbled against his pillow.
"Y-y-you don't-t und-under-st-stand." Cole responds. He's jealous with how easy Kai takes these few months. Even now, the red ninja lies on top of his bedding, which he hadn't even offered out to anyone, in a simple tank top and pair of running shorts. Its like he's intentionally trying to piss Cole off.
"If you felt summer like me, you'd be glad someone was shivering now."
That competitive streak never fades. Sometimes, when he's warmer, Cole rises to the argument. Now, he can barely hear Kai's response what with his teeth smashing against each other. Maybe its all in his head, but he swears he feels a teeny tiny piece break away.
"Man, if you're really that cold, come over here." Kai says, slowly moving off his duvet to lift up the edge. He lazily rubs his eyes whilst Cole gradually develops hypothermia.
The bed looks really inviting. Kai has always had the softest bed; it used to be Jay's, back when Kai wasn't here, but then this guy turns up with complaints of a bad back, and Jay gets shipped off. Cole likes his own bed, but Kai's just always looked so good to snuggle up in.
The guy sleeping there didn't hurt to look at either.
Cole doesn't even know if he's moving to go there, having lost the feeling in each singular limb he has, but Kai sticks his hand out towards him, and he watches as his own falls so easily into it. Their hands look so odd together; Kai's are slender and long, whereas Cole's are chubbier and stubbier. Still, they almost look like a perfect match.
Geez, the cold is clearly getting to Cole's head.
Kai pulls Cole into bed. He pushes himself up against the wall, leaving space for Cole to snuggle up beside him. Cole tucks himself under the duvets, obliviously pushing himself closer to Kai.
The red ninja snorts. "Dude, you're like so cute right now. Warm enough under there?"
Cole glares up at him. "You don't have to deal with this every winter," he grumbles.
"Deal with it? Having you in my bed is like a privilege." Kai grins, moving closer. Cole tenses as his arms wrap around him.
"How's this? Better?"
It actually is, but Cole didn't want to say it.
"Yeah, yeah. This is way better." Kai smirks to himself as he closes his eyes, pulling Cole's head against his chest.
Cole tried to ignore the bulging veins in the taller man's muscles right next to his face. Totally wasn't distracting. Not in the slightest.
"Well, time for sleep." And as if by magic, Kai is out like a lot. It shocks Cole to this day how easy that man is to sleep in any situation - Cole doesn't even like to sleep in a bed that's not his own; it took him years to get used to this one.
So why did he so easily fall into Kai's? Well, that's a question he can answer for himself when he doesn't feel like a melting ice lolly.