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The ninja were exhausted.
They often were, being the sole protectors of Ninjago after all. Day after day they fight crime, injustice, or the occasional eldritch being that threatens more than just the city, but the whole realm. So to put it in short, they were often occupied and away from home for prolonged periods of time. This time would be no different.
Currently, they had tracked down a notorious smuggler. Their illegal business was miles from the city, unfortunately for them, the ninja were practically known for their lightning fast vehicles.
The fight that had expired was swift, if not a tad annoying. Involving bursts of elemental power, the diffusing of a bomb, and the freeing of several hostages.
Just another day in the life of a ninja.
It doesn't change the fact that this drains them, to the bone. The group of barely adults feel as if every ounce of energy had been zapped out of them, drained from their bodies like a power plant.
Despite this, they're ninja, so they must continue to work. They speak with the local government, working with them to be able to send the criminal straight to custody of the Ninjago City police department. And with the surplus of evidence, most likely straight into the cold cells of Kryptarium Prison.
So now, they could rest. Finally.
Unluckily for them, it was far to late, and they were far to exhausted to traverse all the way back to the monastery. They had called Wu, explaining the situation to him.
"We don't think it's worth it to head home…in the state we're all in." Lloyd had explained sleepily, barely suppressing a yawn. The wise man had nodded through the screen, scratching his long beard with thoughtful patience.
"That would be best I suppose…do you have a place to rest?" He asks, glancing behind Lloyd to find Jay practically passed out while leaning against Cole. Who also looked like he was only moments away from dropping as well.
Zane slowly approaches the camera, standing besides Lloyd. His normally brightly illuminated eyes dim to conserve power.
"We do not currently." He states, voice slightly staticky. "We could sleep in the vehicles, but I do not think that would be the most comfortable option."
"…Probably the worst one." Kai yawns from somewhere off screen, exhaustion clear in his voice.
"I agree…I am not sleeping in my mech." Nya grumbles, walking groggily across the screen. Looking ready to drop dead like her brother likely would, eye bags heavy and practically sagging down the rest of her face.
Wu gives an absent-minded nod, "Yes…perhaps you all could find a hotel or inn to stay in the meantime…" The sensei suggests, feeling the impacts of sleep as well. "None of you are injured I presume?"
"Nothing that a few band-aids and rest can't fix." Pixal responds, a half smile on her face. "I think we should take his advice, there are plenty of motels around the area. I can direct us to one right now."
The half dead ninja all give some sort of grumble of approval, bodies slightly relaxing at the thought of rest. Wu smiles at his students, "Alright. I will see you all tomorrow. Good work today."
"Good bye master Wu, goodnight." Lloyd replies back sleepily, ending the call with a sigh. After a beat of still silence, he cracks his back and lets out a breath of air. "Alright…let's get a move on guys."
Knowing their vehicles were far to big to ride into the small rural town, they begin the short walk into the village. Kai stumbles over his own feet, Jay nearly falls asleep mid step. Cole having to support him as they walk. Pixal and Zane walk like…well robots, rhythmically putting one foot in front of the other, barely keeping a steady pace. Nya slouches to their left, quietly grumbling to herself as she pulls herself forward.
After what felt like an eternity, the seven of them pull themselves into the only inn with it's lights till on. A small old woman behind the counter glances at them for a moment, before returning to her crosswords.
"We only have one room left." She states, glasses hanging on the tip of her nose. Zane stiffens, sighing internally. "How many beds does it have, ma'am?"
The woman grunts, turning in her chair to check a book to her side. "No more than three." She responds, crossing her arms across her chest. "50 for the night. You stay or no?"
The ninja glance at each other, despite the circumstance, they knew that not enough beds were better than none at all.
Reluctantly Pixal lays down a bag of coins, "That will be perfect." She bows, lying through her teeth and her exhaustion. "Thank you."
The old woman grunts, tossing them a rusted key and returning yet again to her crossword puzzle. The ninja stumble along, dragging their feet as they make their way to their room. Footsteps heavy and loud as the seven of them shuffle unevenly down the hallway.
The room is pressed into the very back of the inn, the worn wooden door greeting them as they reach their assigned space. Pixal's hand is shaking as she attempts to shove the key into the keyhole, trembling fingers stopping her from doing so.
"Let me, Pix." Kai offers, snatching the key from Pixal. The nindroid sighs, nodding as she goes to lean on Zane instead. With steadier hands, Kai forces the key in, turning it before practically slamming himself to get into the room.
The room was…quaint. Decently sized, pretty large windows, even a desk in the corner.
Yet…there was a glaring issue.
The was only one bed.
As the ninja shuffle in, they all find their eyes gravitating towards the singular queen sized bed in the middle of the room. Jay lets out a small whimper, groaning as he realizes they had most likely been "duped". For lack of a better word.
"No more than three beds…" Cole restates, chuckling lowly to himself. "No more than one bed more like it."
Nya groans loudly, dropping her trident carelessly on the the floor. "I don't even care…I'll sleep on the floor if I have to." Flopping onto the carpet for emphasis, sprawled out on the rug as Kai lightly kicks her hand. Pixal grins and shakes her head, locking the door to the room behind Jay.
Zane shakes his head, "That is not necessary, I will take the floor." He states, an almost matter of fact tone of voice slipping through. Already beginning to sit himself onto the floor next to Nya. However, the green ninja protests, "No! We can't have people on the floor…it's either we all fit on the bed or none of us are on the bed."
"Really Lloyd?" Kai grunts, leaning at the foot of the mattress. "You expect us, a group of seven..." He pauses, yawning audibly. "To squeeze together onto a queen sized bed?"
Jay laughs a bit at the quip, eyes drooping ever so-slightly. Lloyd feels his face flush from embarrassment, "Well….we could try?"
"Judging by the mass of our bodies, and the small surface area of the bed, it is most probably impossible for all seven of us to comfortably sleep together on the mattress." Pixal pipes in, leaning slightly against Lloyd as the battery in her legs slowly drains.
"I can take the floor with Zane." Cole offers, slipping out of his black gi, leaving him in his undershirt and pants. Nya grunts, "I guess I'll sleep on the floor too." Much to Zane's disappointment as he was trying to keep her off the floor. Nya hears the soft whine he lets out, causing her to chuckle and place a warm hand on his titanium shoulder.
Lloyd groans, exasperated. "C'mon guys! We can't not at least try…I don't want anyone on the floor." His eternal need for equity shining through as he tries to pull Nya up off the ground.
Kai shrugs, "I don't care what you all do, but I want the bed."
His sister groans, punching the elemental master of fire's shoulder lightly after she finally got up. Cole rolls his eyes, huffing softly. "Guys…c'mon…listen to Lloyd." The earth ninja rasps, leaning his head against Zane's cold titanium shoulder. "I feel like we could all fit, we just might needa squish together."
"As long as I am no where near Kai I'll consider it." Jay smirks running a hand through his greasy hair, and earning him yet another punch but from the master of fire. The group chuckles at the display, slowly pulling off their dirty gis and gear.
Lloyd hops into bed first, shuffling towards the middle of the bed with his smaller frame, finally letting out a long sigh. Jay squeezes next to him, allowing Nya to take up the edge of the bed. The blue ninja smiles, burying his face into the back of his wife's neck. The water ninja smiles in return, as she softly pets his curly brown hair.
Pixal slots herself next to Lloyd, practically almost falling off the bed with how much she was leaning off of it, yet she lays there comfortably nonetheless.
Kai grunts, sprawling out near the bottom of the bed seeing the top being taken over. "C'mon you guys, really?" A muffled, "You snooze you lose." From Jay causes Kai to grumble something to himself about "stupid siblings" and needing "his beauty sleep".
Cole grins, laying across Kai and resting his hands under his head. Letting out a sigh, he feels sleep begin to bury him in it's darkness already. Kai mutters something again, but this time it's much more sleepy, causing Cole to not pay him any mind.
Finally, Zane shimmies himself besides Cole while laying his head on top of Pixal's legs. Pixal doesn't flinch, already beginning to fall into stasis, and Cole just smiles, wrapping him in a quick side hug before returning his hand behind his head. However Zane having to fully curl in on himself to be able to fit was not ideal.
Good thing he was a nindroid. If he weren't, it would have been an incredibly uncomfortable position. Thankfully, with the ability to completely detach limbs with little to no consequence, gives the added bonus of not really having stiff bones after a poor night of sleep.
So somehow, some way. The seven of them laid together on the soft hotel bed. Whether they're laying comfortably or not is arguable, but just the feeling of a mattress beneath their aching bodies lulls them to sleep almost impossibly quick.
"Looks like you were right Lloyd…" Nya yawns, feeling her eyes droop as the seconds go by. "Like always."
Lloyd blushes slightly at the praise, a soft chuckle echoing throughout the warm hotel room. "Thanks, Nya."
"Shut up you two and go to bed." Kai grumbles, slinging an arm over his eyes. Jay grumbles, holding his wife closer as he tucks his head between Nya's shoulder and the mattress. Soon, soft snores emit from his crevice, making the water ninja chuckle softly.
"Night to you too, Kai." She mutters, already hearing Cole's obnoxious snores. Yet it hardly bothers her as she too begins to be lulled into sleep after hearing a quiet; 'night sis' coming from her brother.
The whirring of Pixal and Zane's fans cease slowly, signaling that they two had powered down into sleep mode of the night. So now, complete silence can finally enveloping the small hotel room. The only sound being the soft breathing of the ninja, and the crickets outside the building.
They all know that they'll wake up sore and uncomfortable, but they don't really care at the moment. They sigh, letting sleep finally take them.
- - -
Kai wakes up sore, feeling like he just got a truck ran through him. He looks around, finding Zane, Pixal, and Nya already up beginning to pack their things. The fire ninja just groans, shutting his eyes again.
"Oh no you don't, get up." Pixal grins, poking him with the blunt end of her samurai sword. Kai groans, causing Cole to stir.
"Kai stop fucking movin'" Cole mutters, weakly throwing a pillow at the other man.
Jay rolls over, throwing a hand across Lloyd's face. Making him splutter and wake up abruptly. His eye bags were lighter than they had been last night, yet they were still prominent. And with how he's staring down Jay with silent bewilderment, he looks as if he had just woken up after a 100 year nap.
Well that's how he felt anyways.
"The hell Jay…?" He groans, rolling over before falling off the bed with a thud. The ninja laugh, causing Jay to fully wake up from the noise. Nya smiles, extending a hand to help the green ninja up. "Thanks a lot you guys…" Lloyd groans, holding the back of his head with his hand.
"First master…" Kai says, rubbing at his crusting eyes. "We goin' home now?"
"Yeah once you get your lazy ass outta bed." Jay grins back, already hopping off the queen sized mattress. The fire ninja sticks his tongue out at him, shoving Cole off of him. "Hey!"
Zane shakes his head, handing Kai a change of clothes. As well as giving Cole a new sweater to wear as they walk out. "Thanks frosty…"
"My pleasure." He smiles without a beat, already energetic despite just waking up only a few minutes ago.
Groggily, the team lumber their way out of the hotel room after they pack all of their things, the front desk empty as the early morning light streams through the open windows.
They chitter as they walk back to their vehicles, about mindless battles, video games, mechanics. Anything and everything that crosses their minds. They talk like teenagers just hanging out at the mall, walking from store to store just browsing.
Soon they reach their mechs, thankfully untouched from last night- (They probably should've done something to hide them or something but hey sleep deprivation does things to you.) -and hop in slowly. Getting ready to finally, after a long mission and an even longer night of sleep, head home.
