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It was a couple months after the battle with the Oni. After Lloyd had regained his strength from dying and coming back. After the grotesque blotches of yellowed bruising had finally faded from Cole's back, and the nightmares of the dark Oni cloud had subsided. After the Monastery had been patched up, so it looked as if no battle had happened at all.
Movie nights and sleep piles were an almost nightly occurrence at this point. The ninja were always so exhausted, that by the end credits they had already fallen asleep in a rough lineup on one or both of the couches.
Tonight though, Nya hadn't agreed with the choice in movie. She had turned in early on.
PIXAL had disappeared into the workshop hours prior, acting distinctly secretive as to what she was working on when Zane and Jay had inquired.
Zane had shut down first, as per usual, then Lloyd and Cole had fallen asleep.
But the other two ninja were still awake.
Having both taken the side couch while the others had cozied up on the other, Kai and Jay now stood in the middle of the den under the glow of a single lamp, silently debating on where to best squeeze into this night's cuddle pile.
"So. . ." Jay began, assessing the sleepy situation before them.
There were only two spots left.
One next to Cole and the other next to Zane on the couch's end, and neither the cold-blooded Jay or heatseeking Kai wanted that chilly position, no matter how much they loved the guy.
So commenced the showdown.
"Which of us gets Cole?" Kai finished, standing beside him with his arms crossed, hiding a challenge behind a guise of nonchalance.
I'm not gonna take the bait. I'm not gonna freak. It's unbecoming of the totally mature and awesome ninja I am, Jay promised himself, glancing at the determined glint in Kai's fiery eyes. I'm just gonna assert the obvious decision,
"Well, being my best friend and all, makes sense that I should get Cole," Jay announced, already sauntering forward.
"Woah, wait a minute." Kai grabbed his shoulder to stop him.
Here we go. . . Evasive maneuvers intercepted.
"I don't think you should be able to call best friend privileges whenever it's convenient."
Jay turned to him, narrowing his eyes accusingly. "You call sibling privileges when it's convenient."
He realized his mistake too late.
Great. So much for not antagonizing Kai.
"We're all siblings," Kai deadpanned, crossing his arms again.
Jay sighed, twirling a hand. "You know what I mean."
Kai's face only hardened. "Not sure I do."
And they say I'm the annoying one? Before he could retort anything, Kai spoke again.
"Anyway, you get Cole all the time. It's my turn."
He sounded almost whiny to Jay. A bit too much like Jay himself. Probably mocking him for all he knew.
A humorless laugh escaped him. "Tch, you're such a child sometimes."
"Me? " Kai blinked, looking amused. "I'm a child?"
"Yes, you," Jay insisted, ignoring the irony dripping from Kai's tone. "You sound like a kid throwing a fit."
"Takes one to know one."
Okay, this is getting nowhere. Despite wanting to lunge at the Master of Fire at this point and duel for his rightful sleeping spot, Jay held back, instead switching tactics.
"What, do you. . . have something against getting Zane?" Putting his hands on his hips, he shook his head. "Kai, Kai, Kai," he tsked. "Your own brother."
"Zane is an icicle!" Kai scoffed. "You know I hate the cold." Zane wouldn't want me overheating him either, he thought to further justify his, admittedly childish, argument.
That did it.
"You're always warm already. I'm not!" Jay spat, volume control momentarily unchecked. "Do you want me to freeze?"
"So, you can be icicles together! Bonding exercise~" Kai added in singsong, sarcastically bringing his hands together in a heart.
Kai watched that sink in, watched Jay bite his cheek to keep from losing it all together, unconcerned. Jay wouldn't want to wake the others. If he did, they'd blame him, and he'd beat himself up over it all night.
Then something in his friend's expression shifted. Kai frowned as Jay's mouth curled upward, his shoulders relaxing.
"Fine," he said, eyes narrowed with mischief. "If you take that spot, I'll go and sleep in Nya's roo—"
In an instant, Kai's hand shot out towards him. Jay's voice hitched into silence, on account of the sweltering fist now clenching the collar of his nightshirt in a deathgrip.
He hunched slightly as Kai thrust him level to his face, the fire ninja's jaw clenched tight and flaring amber-brown eyes glaring daggers into his soul.
In the brief startled silence, there was the sound of something creaking.
"You wouldn't dare."
Kai was right, Jay wouldn't, but Kai didn't need to know that.
Dropping his voice into a sneer, Jay looked him dead in the eye, smirking in the way he knew Kai loathed.
"Try me, firebug."
Now Kai, once he'd finished blinking in dumbfoundment, could do a number of things in retaliation, all of which required some mild to moderate burning: holding Mr Cuddlywomp hostage and threatening to flay off its already ratty mane, scorching all Jay's gi's in the same unfortunate spot, turning his curls black and brittle during training tomorrow with a flaming fist. . .
But all those scenarios would draw Nya's terrifying wrath. Kai didn't fancy being yelled at and drenched at the same time.
The safest bet was to tattle to Master Wu, who would not approve of Jay's intended sleeping arrangement. But no, that was the childish way out, the guys would never let him hear the end of it.
With a level of restraint Kai really thought he should get an award for —seriously, Maya would be so proud of him if she were here— he loosened his grip on Jay's collar, but didn't break his deadly eye contact.
"Fine. You get Cole," he sneered back. "But you're on thin ice, buddy."
Jay looked entirely too amused as he slapped Kai's hand away. "Nah, seems to me like you are."
Kai restrained himself, albeit poorly, from making a strangling motion as he and Jay turned back to the couch.
But when they did so, they saw that the situation had shifted.
So that's what that sound had been.
Cole must've rolled over in his sleep, because he was now clinging to Zane's stick-straight form like some sort of overgrown koala. Lloyd had rolled with him and was nestled at his back, looking too much like a curled up puppy for Kai's traitorous heart to handle.
Welp. That makes my decision easier.
Before his future brother-in-law could process it, Kai leaped forward and launched himself down next to Lloyd. If he couldn't have Cole cuddles he wasn't going to lose the rare opportunity to cuddle his not-so-little brother.
The all-powerful ✨️legendary✨️ Green Ninja made a disgruntled whining sound but, by some miracle, didn't startle awake. Kai watched him bury his face in the black cloud that was Cole's fluffy hair.
As he settled down at Lloyd's back and looked up, he saw Jay's eye twitch, and for a moment Kai felt dread settle within him.
Stupid! Now he's still gonna go to Nya. . .
But Jay made no move towards the sliding door of the den. Instead it seemed the fight drained from him, his eyes flickering between Zane and Lloyd with a disinclined look. After a long few moments, he groaned and marched over to the end of the couch.
He really did not want to do this, though Jay felt guilty for feeling so.
It wasn't that he didn't want to cuddle with Zane. The other ninja was just freaking cold.
Ha! Knew he didn't have the guts. Kai smirked to himself. I wasn't worried.
He wouldn't say it out loud though, in case Jay took it as a challenge.
You're always warm already. I'm not! Do you want me to freeze?
The memory was a sudden, intrusive, gut-punch. Satisfaction gave way to a reluctant sympathy, and Kai's face fell.
Despite his better judgment, he realized how unfair it was to put someone who ran too cold at night next to a humanoid refrigerator. Even if he could never understand how that felt. Zane's chill wouldn't cut through Kai's heat too much, but Jay. . .
He knew he'd feel guilty tomorrow when he woke up to find him bundled under every throw pillow and floor rug in the room. ( Even though Jay was perfectly capable of bringing his bed things out here to cocoon himself in )
Kai glanced at the empty space on either side of him on this end of the couch, a glaring sign that he could bear scooching in a little closer to Lloyd. . . leaving extra room on his other side for one more.
Then he looked at Cole for the last time that night. Despite the fact the earth ninja was out cold, his arm slung over Zane's chest, his serene expression somehow looked all too smug.
It felt as if he was mocking Kai in his sleep, saying, "You snooze, you lose."
A phrase entirely too ironic for this situation.
Evidently, if you snooze, you win.
With a frustrated sigh, Kai relented.
"We can probably both squeeze in next to Lloyd," he offered, rolling his eyes at himself.
Jay's head shot up, one hand already resting on the cushion and feeling the cold air from one of Zane's internal fans.
"Really?" he said, his voice almost inaudible. He cleared his throat to get it working again, but didn't repeat the question.
"Get over here, Lightningbug, before I change my mind." Kai's voice lightened and he scooted as close to Lloyd as possible. He didn't miss the teasing smirk Jay was giving him as he shuffled over, but chose to not give it any heedance.
Jay climbed up beside him and squeezed into the space between Kai and the end table, still smirking, but in a chiding way now.
"I knew you loved me."
"You're just lucky I'm nice."
"Nice? Yeah, in a nice guy kind of way."
"You know I can still kick you out."
"No lo harás, you're too nice."
"Your pronunciation is actually offensive." Kai put his palm to his head in exasperation and rolled over, making sure to hit Jay's cheek with his shoulder.
Jay's fist connected between his upper ribs as he threw his arm over Kai's chest. The fire ninja made sure to swallow the unceremonious noise that threatened to escape him.
The lamp flickered off with the twitch of a lightning-directed wrist, casting shadows over the moonlit room.
"Warm enough?" Kai asked once Jay was securely wrapped around him and Lloyd was snuggled into Kai's chest and a hush had settled over them both.
"Yeah," Jay murmured sleepily. "You're adequate."
Exhaustion fogging over the edges of Kai's mind now, it took him a moment to process this. When it registered, he paused, blinking open his eyes.
". . . I should be offended. . . ," he hissed. "But I'll wait until morning. Watch your back."
Maybe he would burn that ridiculous stuffed donkey.
Jay shrugged against him. "That's fair."
"Will you two shut up already?"
Lloyd's sleep-muzzied voice startled them both into immediate silence.