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Kai took a long breath. “Okay Kai. You can do this. Just…” he groaned, “It's not that difficult!”
He stood in front of a mirror, giving himself a pep talk.
Cole and Kai had been friends for a long while now, and though their relationship hasn't been extremely romantic, Kai couldn't help but fall hard for the Earth ninja. And so, he felt there wasn't going to be a better time to ask than now. Being ninjas, they were always going into new, unexpected, and stressful situations. But since nothing huge has happened in the past few weeks, they got to spend more time together than usual.
Kai often noticed small things. How they moved as if in sync—reading each other's thoughts—during spars, how they would drift towards each other during movie nights with the group, when the two would run into each other during late nights when neither could sleep and would just… talk.
He inhaled, mustering up all of his non-existent courage. “Cole, I really really like you, please be my boyfriend?”
The mirror shimmered.
Kai looked at the floor, squirmming around out of embarrassment, then looked back up. “Cole, whenever we are together I feel so happy- no- uh- shit! That's so fucking corny!” He kicked the ground angrily.
He looked at the nearby dresser that him and Jay shared. Four White Camellias were planted in a sleek black vase on the top. He grabbed the vase, adjusted the flowers slightly, and went back to the mirror.
“Cole, I wanted to give you these, because they remind me of you and I think you would like them,” He held the flowers out to the mirror, blushing slightly.
Oh, what the hell am I doing? He's never going to say yes to me. He told himself, He deserves someone who isn't cocky, cheesy, or corny, and I'm all three of those.
He sank to the floor and just laid on his knees with his head down patheticly, still holding the flowers, just trying to figure out just how he would do this without getting rejected within the first 2 minutes.
Finally, he sat up and looked at the flowers. I should decorate the vase! He jumped up, leaving the vase on the floor next to the mirror, and ran over to a big box next to the door.
He glanced at the name for a second, admiring wryly at the messy glitter glue letters that spelled out “scraq bOx”.
I cannot believe they made the ONE person in the monetary with dyslexia write the label! He whined. Kai has never been good with letters and reading.
Even without dyslexia, he still couldn't even read until his younger sister, Nya, started teaching him when he was around 12 years old. She had taught herself how to read at the Ninjago City Library while Kai would work at the Blacksmith Shop.
Kai shook his head, clearing away the memory.
The box was used to store scraps of craft and art supplies, mostly collected by Jay, but it could be used by anyone. He dug around until he pulled out a white ribbon. Perfect! It'll match with the flowers!
He held it in his hand for a moment. Wait a second, how do I tie a bow again..?
After about 20 minutes, and a few TikTok tutorials, there was a sloppy white bow wrapped around the vase. It wasn't perfect, obviously, but Kai was proud of it. He gathered all the small scrap pieces and threw them away.
He walked back to the mirror and held the vase up. “Cole, I wanted to give you these... I hope you like them.”
After a few moments of standing silently at the mirror, someone knocked at the door. Oh God!
Before Kai could do anything, it opened.
And to his relief, Lloyd walked into the shared bedroom. He let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding, thanking the FSM that it wasn't Cole.
“Hey, have you seen the gym chalk? I can’t find it,” he asked, not really paying much attention. His gaze eventually landed on him and gasped.
“...Oh?” is all he managed to say, his eyes widening as he realized what Kai was doing.
“Hi, uhm, I think it's in the bathroom closet closest to the kitchen, if not, check the storage room,” he laughed awkwardly, “Don't tell Cole.”
He nodded. “Got it, thanks!” Lloyd smirked at him quickly, then looked at the flowers Kai was holding. “Woah, those are pretty,” he stated.
He squinted at the bow Kai had tied onto the vase. “What is that..?”
“Wha- it- I-” he frowned. “It's a bow! What do you mean?”
He stared at it for a moment longer, before returning eye contact with Kai.
“It looks like a hairball,” he jokingly stated. “I bet he'll love it, though,” he added more sincerely, “it's… the thought that counts.”
“Oh come on, it's not that bad.”
“Yeah, no, it is.”
Kai scowled, mostly to himself. “He's gonna hate it.”
He looked at the vase, feeling the ribbon with his finger as he brushed against it, disappointment trickling into his mind like a faucet leak.
“No he's not!” Lloyd protested, drawing Kai’s attention away from his self-pity. He walked closer to Kai, sitting on the edge of Zane's bed, since it was the closest to where he was standing.
“If I know Cole, which I do, he won't care about how much money it costed or what it looks like, he cares about the fact that you care. You love him so much that you got him a gift that you think he would love and decorated it yourself. That’s what love looks like to him,” He paused. “Even though it's different for you,” the young teen ended vaguely. God, this kid spends too much time with Master Wu!
Kai finally looked at Lloyd. “What do you mean?”
“Love language,” he elaborated, “It’s different for everyone. Holding hands, compliments, remembering special dates or facts. It could be platonic or romantic, but everyone feels and shows love differently. Like how Zane gets really excited when we remember one of his bird facts he told us, or how Nya helps you with writing letters to people because you suck at it.”
“Wow,” Kai rose one eyebrow at him jokingly, “when did you become Mr. Cupid?”
Then he froze, processing the last thing Lloyd said. “What?! Hey!!”
He made a goofy shrug, ignoring Kai's reaction. “Reading romance novels for fun makes you a natural, I guess.”
Kai sighed. “Remind me to thank Nya for introducing them to you.”
They were both silent for a minute, then he lit up, as if Kai had just proved his point.
“See?” he pointed at Kai like he just caught the latter doing something. “That's another form of love. You love me, platonicly, and you show that by affirming my gender identity. Mr. Cupid.”
“Oh! I’ve never thought about it like that,” Kai admitted.
Suddenly a thought popped into his mind, and his face turned red with embarrassment as he realized he was getting a love lesson from a 13 year old.
“Lloyd!!” an old, shaky voice called from a separate room, making the Green Ninja jump.
“Ah! Sorry, I got sidetracked!!” he wailed back in response. He turned to Kai quickly and rambled, “Sorry, I was training with Sensei, I gotta go!” He turned and began to run, but stopped and looked back. “Good luck!” Lloyd added hurriedly before taking off.
“A- uh- okay! Bye!” Kai said, now to himself, for the room was yet again empty.
That was… thought provoking.
His eyes fell yet again onto the flowers he was still holding, and he took a deep breath. Okay before I second-guess myself, I need to ask now.
He walked to the door, but stopped just before opening it. He twisted on his feet and paced for a minute, before finally going through.
“Okay, now where is he?” Kai mumbled quietly to himself.
While walking around the monastery, he adjusted the flowers around in the vase.
Oh my fucking shit I can't believe I'm actually gonna do this.
Still looking at the flowers, he turned a corner and accidentally slammed straight into someone, sending them both tumbling to the floor.
A beat passed before, “Oh my gosh, Kai! Sorry! That was my fault, I didn't see you.”
Kai realized he was shielding his face with the flowers and quickly moved his hands away. But as he did, he was met with the person that he had run into.
And, of course, to his stupid luck, it was none other than his he-hopes-soon-to-be-boyfriend.
Cole pushed off the ground with a grunt and held a hand out to Kai, smiling. Kai hesitantly took it and let himself be pulled off the ground.
“Sorry. Thanks,” he said vaguely, trying to avoid eye contact out of embarrassment. I can't believe I did that!! I'm such an idiot!
Cole gained a slightly worried expression, making Kai mentally punch himself in the face.
“So… who's that for?” He asked, pointing to the flowers. Kai felt his face go hot. Now or never!
“Cole,” he held his breath, forgetting everything he practiced while holding out the flower vase, “I- whenever we are together I feel like my heart is going to explode and I know that is so so so corny but I… uh… hope that's okay-”
He continued, gaining confidence, “I've liked you for a long time and I hope you feel the same. It's okay if you don't, and I hope it's okay and we can still be friends.”
Kai transferred his weight from foot to foot, making him sway slightly with anxiety.
“I- uh- I got you these flowers. They're called Camellias! I hope you like them, they remind me of you.”
Kai exhaled slowly, silently thanked the FSM that he pronounced Camellias right, though he practiced saying it earlier. Cole looked speechless, his face pale, but not with disgust or sadness. With a look that said he was just caught off-guard. So far so good, I think?
“Is… that a bow?” he slowly asked, pointing at Kai’s attempt, looking like he was trying not to laugh. Kai couldn't tell if that was a good thing or not.
“I- Yes? Dude you're the 2nd person who has asked that,” he took a double take at the handmade bow and sighed. “Is it really that bad?”
“No, no, no! It's not bad at all,” he smiled and gently clasped his hands around Kai’s, giving Kai an intense wave of euphoria. “I think they are lovely. I was actually going to give you this,” he released Kai’s hand and pulled out a small box from his pocket.
Kai was awestruck, completely at a loss for words. No way this is happening. “Did… did you get me something as well?” Kai laughed airily.
“No, it's for Sensei Wu,” he deadpanned, catching Kai off-guard. “Of course I did!” he added quickly, “I was going to give it to you today, but you beat me to it I guess.”
Kai lightly took the small box from Cole's hands, handing him the flowers in exchange. He looked at the box, and with a slight hesitating glance at Cole, he opened it.
Inside was a thin, silver chained necklace. He lit up excitedly.
Cole sighed. “I'm sorry it's not as extravagant or romantic or whatever as the flowers, but I know you like jewelry, so I thought you would like it.”
“What are you talking about? This is so cool, I love it!!” He took it out of the packaging and looped it around his fingers, admiring the shine. “The flowers were really boring. I should have gotten you something more meaningful.”
“No- I really like them,” Cole muttered.
Kai looked up at Cole with a new goal in mind.
“You and me. Tomorrow. GameStop. I'm getting you the new Fist2Face game.”
He smiled. “I would love that, too. Especially if we play it together after so I can beat you.”
Kai gasped. “Oh no way! I would totally win!” He punched Cole in the arm playfully, realizing in the moment that the chain necklace was still in his hand.
“Okay… uh… how do I put this on?”
The Earth Ninja chuckled. “Are you kidding? You have pierced ears and like 6 different rings, you are even wearing one right now, and you don't know how to put on a necklace?”
Kai scoffed defensively. “Yes, I know how to put on a necklace. I think. But this one is different!”
“There's a hook on the back, I think?”
“Huh?”
“Dude- just give it to me, I'll show you.”
He handed the necklace back to Cole while sarcastically saying, “Yay. My hero.”
Cole set down the vase and grabbed a part of the necklace in the back and demonstrated for Kai, who was feeling really stupid at the moment.
“See this? It's a little hook you can use to attach the ends together. Pull this little lever and it opens, then you grab the other end and slide one of the circles into it. Then let go of the lever, and, Voilà!”
“Okay!” He took the necklace back and attempted to put it on. After a few tries, he finally got it. Cole quietly clapped and cheered, ignoring Kai's slightly irritated sob of embarrassment.
“So…” Cole slowly reached to hold Kai's hand again, and when Kai nodded, their fingers intertwined. He gazed into Cole’s soft, dark brown eyes. “what does… this… mean?”
“Hm?” Kai hummed.
“...are we dating now? Can I kiss you? Can we hold hands while watching romance movies together like Jay and Nya do?” he gasped and dropped his voice to a whisper. “Can I braid your hair? Not like one big braid– like, smaller braids. Like uh… Hiccup’s hair from How to Train Your Dragon. I've always wanted to do that. Your hair is very braidable.”
“Pfft- sure, that's so cute. I'll be hot as fuck with braids, too.”
“You would need to wash out all that hair gel first, though. Would make it a lot easier.”
“Oh come on! Fine. Worth it.”
He leaned closer to Cole and said, while simultaneously trying to stab the butterflies dashing through his stomach with a metaphorical knife, “And yes. To answer your question, we're dating. Let's date. Thanks.” before pulling him into a feathery kiss.
Kai felt as if his heart was beating out of his chest. Time seemed to slow down, and he wished they could be like this forever. Cole wrapped his arms around Kai and pulled them closer together.
Their lips eventually parted and Kai leaned on his shoulder, murmuring breathlessly, “You are so warm, what the hell. Why are you a furnace.”
“Says the literal Fire Ninja,” Cole softly replied.
They stood for FSM knows how long, just holding each other, smiling wildly.
“Aaaaand they're gay. Zane!! You owe me 20 bucks!” Jay excitedly yelled across the monetary.
Cole jumped and let go of Kai, whipping around to face Jay, who had walked in holding a glass of water in one hand and a phone in the other, which was playing a quiet recording of this year's MIKU EXPO. Neither of them had noticed him come in.
Kai snickered as Cole started flailing his arms around at the Lightning Ninja, stampering, “You bet on us!? What the hell, Jay?”
“Hey! Zane did too!” Jay retorted, cackling.
Zane walked into the room from Wu’s library, hearing his name be called. He was holding a thick navy blue book against his waist. “What's the matter?”
“Cole and Kai have finally realized they are gay for each other!!”
“I see.” He paused for a moment. “Jay, do you use Venmo?”
"Oh yes I do, Zane. Yes I do."