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“Just because Prospero went into a tempest does not mean I will too!” Dojo asserted, the small dragon had hidden under his pillow with nothing more than his snout peeking out.
April was pretty sure Prospero did not go into the storm willingly in that story but one thing for sure the dragon was right about the weather outside. It was violent and windy with the sound of rain even being heard in the deepest parts of the temple, Master Fung had even ordered for the windows to be shut and locked for precaution. April had only come to the temple that day to fill in her volunteer hours, keeping an eye on the monks as they train. Using simple healing spells for training related injuries.
Master Monk Guan had come along as well to have a meeting with Fung, of what content the young woman wasn't too sure about.
The strawberry blonde girl looked down now at where Guan sat, having tried to persuade the green reptile to brave the storm for about five minutes before finally giving up. He muttered an unpleasant comment under his breath which Dojo scoffed at and April grin lightly, she found it amusing when the rather stoic monk loses his composure. Made him seem more human.
”Ill inform Master Fung that it seems he’ll have two guest for dinner tonight, and possibly overnight if the storm does not let up” Guan spoke as he stood back up and gave a side eye to the still hidden dragon, “for now you are free from your duties for the time being”.
April only nodded, but when you're a student of Master Monk Guan you're never really free of your duties. “I’ll go see if the kids need help in the kitchen if you need me” she responded and gave a small bow to him before departing.
She let out a breath and her body loosen a bit, moving into a more relaxed walk as she headed towards the smell of something good cooking…and two monks bickering. Never a dull moment in the temple.
She peeked her head in and took in the scene, Raimundo was over by the sink washing dishes that were used during prep work meanwhile Kimiko and Clay were over by the stove. A pot of rice was simmering under a lid and the delicious smell was coming from a steel wok. A mixture of chicken, beef and shrimp along with some vegetables sizzled together in sauce. The noise meanwhile came from Clay and Kimiko.
“Kimi just let me take over-“
”Don’t Kimi me! You got burned once today and I’m not allowing that to happen again!” Ah, yes. April stepped into the kitchen and glanced at Clay’s arm, even though mostly covered by the sleeve of his robe she knew underneath it lay gauze covered arm.
Kimiko had been trying a new power and Clay was not fast enough to move. April had done her best but burn wounds were different from cuts, but she had got it healed enough that he would thankfully not have any scarring but it would still need to be cared for. Obviously Kimiko had felt awful and volunteered to take over most of the cooking, something Clay was used to doing and from the looks of it wasn’t exactly ready to give up.
April cleared her throat “Clay, why don’t you set the table? It seems you guys will be having guests for dinner tonight and Master Fung would perhaps like to have the table set nicely…unless you want Omi to do it”.
Clay looked at her then Kimiko then April again before letting out a sigh of defeat and walked out of the room.
Kimiko let out a sigh of her own and concentrated on the simmering food before her. “Thank you” she added after a minute, April smiled before looking around the kitchen. “Anything I can do to help?” She asked. Raimundo was now drying his hands “We haven't really planned anything for dessert” he mentioned, he raised a brow and gave April a playful grin “Think you can use your chi to whip something up?”.
April rolled her eyes but was already opening the cupboards doors and her eyes scan over the ingredients presented to her. “The best I can do is a no-bake chocolate pie-“ she then reached into the back and pulled up a hidden bag of chocolate chip cookies ‘-With a cookie crust”.
Kimiko stared at the bag before turning to glare daggers at Raimundo, “You told me we were out of those”. Raimundo blinked and gave her a nervous grin before quickly excusing himself. Bringing the two containers of drinks-lemonade and ice tea-to the dining area. April decided not to ask what that was about and started working on dessert.
The two girls worked in silence with only the sound of clinking cookware between them.
Kimiko had set the stove to warm when she finally looked down at her own robes and let out a light gag, no one said cooking was a clean task. She looked between herself and the food, a bit hesitant to leave it.
”I can keep an eye on it Kimiko,” Guan suggested as he stepped into the kitchen. April gave a light nod of greeting but continued her work. Having pushed the crushed cookies into a pie tin to form the crust.
Kimiko thanked him and quickly headed out of the kitchen, her head poked back in for a second “Do not touch, add or subtract anything” she warned looking at the two before leaving.
Guan looked at the doorway before lightly shaking his head and couldn't help but smile just a bit. He lifted the lid lightly and took a peek before opening one of the drawers to pull out a small tasting fork.
”I'm pretty sure Kimiko specifically said not to touch anything” April reminded him, her back was still to him as she folded the chocolate pudding into the whipped cream. “She never said I couldn't have a taste” Guan counter, before sampling the dish. It was quite delicious, the vegetables were nicely caramelized in the sauce and the beef that Guan had sampled was nice and tender. Kimiko had done well though Guan could think of a few improvements.
”And the verdict?” April asked as she set the pie in the fridge to set for a bit. Guan looked up from the food and set the lid back over it “it’s good” he said simply and set the fork into the sink along with the other dishes April had used to make the pie. April rose a brow and crossed her arms “You better come up with a better compliment then that” she admonished.
Guan sighed lightly and tried not to roll his eyes, what was wrong with saying it’s good? For the skills that Kimiko had for her age she was a good cook when she put her mind to it, what else could he say?
April stepped beside him and gave him a slight nudge “Dinner will be ready in a minute, I recommend finding a good spot at the table” she spoke and started working on the dishes in the sink so the monks wouldn’t have to do it later. The master monk looked at her for a moment before slowly leaving the kitchen. April glanced over her shoulder after a second and lightly shook her head.
~
Dinner was an amusing event.
Omi kept picking out the shrimp and secretly feeding it to Dojo,who was still in hiding but now under the table. Clay and Raimundo ended up having a chopstick fight over the last egg roll and Guan to April’s amusement ended the fight by taking the egg roll himself.
April was serving her pie when a roar of thunder shook the building and a second later the power died out, there was a bit of a commotion till Master Fung lit up the room with a gas lamp, “I’ll take this as a sign you two will indeed be staying the night” he spoke, tilting his head at student and master.
April didn’t mind. Guan did but did not show it.
After dessert and lighting up more rooms everyone eventually went their own way, Master Fung and Guan went to set up the guest room, Kimiko needed ‘me time’ and hid herself in her cubby, the sound of her sketching quietly heard, and April convinced the boys to play a round of board game she found. When Omi headed to his own cubby to rest, Clay decided to teach Rai and April a little bit of poker: his uncle taught him and they were sworn not to tell his mom. Dojo eventually join and everyone ended up folding after the dragon won for the 5th time.
~
April splashed water onto her face and cleaned it with a washed cloth. She wore a pair of borrowed clothes to sleep in for tonight. The lights were still off so she carried a lamp with her. She huffed and ran her fingers through her hair a few times before stepping out into the darkened hallway.
It wasn’t April’s first time sharing a room. She had shared one with her brother for a bit, her ex girlfriend and even now she shared a room at Guan’s temple with her teammates. But sharing one with the master monk himself felt different and April wasn’t entirely sure why.
She had only slid the door open before she froze at the sight before her.
Guan sat cross-legged in the middle of the room in a meditative state. He wore bottoms similar to hers but there was no top in sight. His back was facing April and she could see the scars that adorn the right side of his body that were usually hidden.
April herself only caught a glimpse of those scars one night many months ago but now with the Master Monk distracted she could perhaps take a better look and carefully took a few steps forward.
Yes Guan did indeed have many scars, some so old that there was nothing but a faint white line of what was once there, others were more recent and had a pinkish reddish hue. Some were jagged and others were more clean cut. April let her eyes wonder, just a bit.
Slowly they trailed over the broad shoulders and took a glance down his spine before she quickly pulled them back up.
Maybe the reason it felt different sharing a room with him was perhaps she was a bit-just a tiny bit-attractive to him.
“Are you gonna keep on ogling at me Ms Mallock?” Guan asked and looked over his shoulder at her. April’s eyes widened and she shot straight up, a tint of pink painting her cheeks. She narrowed her eyes at him. “I-i was not ogling!" She stammered and made her way to the front of him, arms crossed and hard frown on her face.
Guan’s face almost teased a grin.“I do believe the definition of ogle is to stare at someone boldly in a flirtatious manner” he remarked before pushing himself up and off the floor, standing to his full height and forcing April to look up at him. She still had a glowering look.
”I wasn’t ogling,” She stated, turning and heading over to the other side of the room where a pillow and blanket on a mat waited for her. “I was…admiring”. At least that was a better word than ogle.
Guan stopped midway of putting a robe on and raised a brow at her, “Admiring?” He asked. April blushed, glancing at him before laying out her blanket. “Yes, my uncle taught me to appreciate scars cause they have stories to tell, and you clearly have a lot” she spoke as she pulled the quilt over her and adjusted her pillow, “Good night Master Guan” was the last thing she said before turning off her light and after a moment Guan turn his off as well.
~
Sleep did not come easy for Guan; he was not accustomed to impromptu sleepovers. The call he had made to the temple did not soothe his nerves either. Chucky was all too eager to be in charge of the temple for the night, even though Guan had insisted that he was not. Hopefully the temple will still be standing tomorrow.
Eventually he slipped into a lull-like state when a flash of lighting had disturbed him. Once, twice and continued to do so. The monk sat up, wondering about this strange occurrence in nature. His eyes widened though when he realized where the bright flashes were coming from.
April.
Sprouts of chi surrounded her, attacking. She lay on her back, chest heaving and hands digging into the mattress below.
Guan scrambled to his knees and crawled over to her, attempting to grab her shoulder but a light shock caused him to wince back. He looked and saw no damage before carefully grabbing her shoulders, ignoring the flick of chi that pricked his skin and sat her up.
The chi warrior in training let out a noise and attempted to pull away from Guan-he saw that as a good sign. Her eyes shot open and she looked at Master Monk with fear. “Don’t touch me” she wheezed out. Guan frowned lightly, “April you're glowing” he stated, watching as April attempted to push him away “I-I’m fine,” she whimpered as another chi struck her and Guan winced. “I just need to calm down”.
“Then tell me how I can help” Guan asked, he could feel April’s shoulders twitch under his grip before the girl let out a sigh. “Just…just hold me tight” she muttered before pressing herself against Guan’s chest. Guan hesitated, his arms retreating slightly from her for a moment before slowly wrapping his arms around her.
The Master Monk believed the word for this was ‘Deep Pressure Stimulation’ a type of calming technique and he could understand why April would rely on this one to help ground her chi. His breath hitched a bit, feeling her pressed a hand over his heart to feel the steady rhythm. He only hoped she could not sense it speed up. Nonetheless Guan kept his breath steady and his hold around her tight, he felt her shift before resting her cheek against his chest as well.
They stayed that way for a bit. April’s jagged breath slowly became steady and the golden glow that surrounded her body dimmed down till nothing was left. Guan was resting his chin on her head. One hand rubbing circles on her back.
He wondered if that was the ‘Chi Attacks’ he had been told about. Guan had only heard it second hand from the kids, that when April was staying with them temporarily that she would get them when she was under duress. The monks had only seen it once and from the looks on their faces when they recounted it, it was something they never wanted to see again.
April slump lightly against him and Guan stiffen. “April-“ he started pulling back a bit to make sure she was alright but stopped upon seeing the peaceful look on her face. She had fallen asleep.
Her lashes curved against her cheeks like crescents and her head was dip a bit, resting over his heart. Guan quietly studied her resting face for a moment before settling her back down onto the mat. When he attempted to pull away something stopped him, he looked down and sigh seeing April’s hand curled up around it. Even in sleep she would find some way to annoy him.
He decided not to risk waking her up and carefully lay across from her. His body mostly off the mat, it shouldn’t take long for her to loosen her grip. He could stay awake till then.
~
“Are Master Guan and Ms April not awake yet?” Omi asked as he poked his head into the kitchen. The power had thankfully came back on in the early hours which meant they could atleast have a hot breakfast.
Raimundo looked up from squeezing the oranges and looked at the clock, it was 7:30. He quietly put the orange he was holding down and walked over to the sink. Taking a glass and filling it with water. Clay, who was making pancakes, looked over. “Thirsty?” He asked.
Raimundo didn’t look up “no, just gonna go pour this over Guan” he said simply. Omi's eyes widened in shock.
Kimiko came back from setting the table and only heard the last part, “why are you going to pour water over Guan?” She asked. Raimundo couldn’t resist and grin mischievously “he said I could if he did, and I’m not losing this chance” and dashed out of the room. Omi immediately followed to try and stop him with Kimiko not too far behind, phone already out and set to camera. Clay would have followed but he was managing the stove.
Raimudo slid the door open, holding the glass of water out of Omi’s reach as he tried to grab it. Kimiko was the first to notice the scene in the room and quickly grabbed the two boys by the back of their robes to stop them. That's when they noticed that one mat was empty and the other was very occupied.
Instead of them pulling away from each other in the middle of the night, Guan and April ended up entangled.
April’s arms were wrapped around Guan’s chest with her face half hidden in the nook of it while one of the Master Monk’s arms was used as her pillow and the other draped over her body, his head resting on top of hers. The three monks quietly gawked at the sight. Well Raimundo was more in shock while Omi was a bit confused. Kimiko of course had to take a picture.
Of course the click of the camera was the thing to wake Guan up. He stirred and glanced over at the doorway to the three intruders before looking down at the still sleeping April, his breath hitch and he sat up. April let out a groan at the quick movement and she slowly sat up. She blinked a few times and looked over at the kids then at Guan then back at the kids. It took a moment for her brain to register but when they did it zeroed in on Kimiko’s phone.
”Kimi please tell me you didn’t” April asked as she pulled herself up and out of Guan’s hold. Kimiko took a small step back and hid the phone behind her “I won’t then” she replied. They both were still for a moment before Kimiko took off and April came charging after, calling the girl by her full name.
Omi and Rai looked down the hall watching them both disappear around the corner. Guan joined them after a moment before noticing the glass of water in Raimundo’s hand and raised a brow at him. Raimundo gave him a cheeky grin and handed him the cup “I was going to pour that over your head but discovering you like that was even better”.
Guan just let out a sigh and took a long sip of the drink, hoping that this would never happen again.