Chapter Text
When Kai woke up, the first thing he noticed was that Lloyd had vanished.
Immediately, he sat up in a mix of fright and confusion, scanning the room for the younger ninja whom he distinctly remembered had asked him to join him for his nap. But Lloyd was nowhere to be seen. Tossing the blankets off, he stumbled out into the hallway and looked down both corridors of the Monastery. His heart pounded in his chest as he thought of where the kid could've disappeared to. He'd been in a pretty young headspace and usually the younger he slipped the clumsier he got.
He checked the clock on the wall 14:45 PM.
"Lloyd?" He called out, running in the direction of the living room and hoping it was the right call. He could hear laughing and the tell-tale sounds of a heated video game session between Cole and Jay.
"Okay I'll get the two elf looking motherfuh- weirdos! And you get the once magic fella in the middle." Jay strategized.
"Nice save." Came Nya's unimpressed tone.
Cole groaned. "Why do you always give me the hard ones?"
"You think the spell punks're hard? I'm purposefully taking the two guys with the unnecessarily long spears so you don't have to! I mean who needs a spear that long anyway?”
"That's what she said!" Nya laughed.
Sure enough, when he reached the room there were four ninjas sat on the couch. Cole and Jay were in the centre of the coach locked into the video game session. Sat next to Jay was Nya, laughing away at her own antics and sat in her lap batting away her hands from his ears with an annoyed expression and a frustrated whine was just the little rascal Kai was looking for.
“Lloyd! There you are, you little monster.” The second the age regressor heard his big brother’s voice, he turned and reached his arms up excitedly towards the fire ninja, giggling wildly behind his pacifier.
Kai grinned and gladly obliged, scooping up the blonde and holding him like a real child. “What are you doing out here?”
Lloyd excitedly pointed at the tv as Jay’s and Cole’s characters battled skeletons and giant spiders on screen. Kai shuddered while the youngest ninja only continued to giggle happily.
“But you’re supposed to be asleep.” The older said, pointedly. “Your naptime’s not over yet, Buddy.”
Lloyd froze like a deer in the headlights.
“Have you even slept at all?”
Lloyd nodded quickly but Kai didn’t even need to study his expression for more than ten seconds to understand that he was lying. “Lloyd.”
The blonde sighed, removing his pacifier from his mouth so he could speak. “I ‘idn’t wan' wake you up.”
Though annoyed, Kai couldn’t stop the smirk that crept onto his face. Amused by his own antics. “How come I managed to fall sleep before you did?”
Lloyd shrugged.
Kai sighed. “Well you’re definitely going back to bed.”
Almost immediately the whining began, followed by the struggling as Lloyd insisted through a series of ‘no’s’ that he wasn’t sleepy and wanted to stay with the others and play video games with them. Though what he really meant was watch them play the video games while he played with the figures that they needed for the game.
“No, no, no. You need your sleep, you know that.” Kai sighed, trying to pretend he didn’t notice the dull ache building in his head.
“Aww, come on, Kai.” Jay laughed, pausing the game and earning a side eyed glare from Cole. “Let him stay with us for a while longer, we’ll put him down when he starts to nod-“
But Jay couldn’t even finish his sentence as the point he was trying to make was interrupted by a perfectly timed yawn from the little, causing his pacifier to drop from his mouth and clatter on the floor. Kai rose a brow at his sister’s fiancé and then directed it to his little brother. But Lloyd just continued to shake his head, insisting he wasn’t tired.
“Hey, Lloyd.” Cole swivelled around in his seat to look over at Lloyd. The little ninja reached his hand toward the older ninja, which Cole took and held gently, holding clear eye contact and a reassuring – slightly amused – smile. The scene was a lot more dramatic then it needed to be but with a little like Lloyd, it was a Tuesday afternoon. “The quicker you get your nap over the quicker you can come and play with us again?”
Lloyd remained silent for a few moments, weighing his options, before he sighed and rested his head on Kai’s shoulder with a hum. With Lloyd finally complying, Kai turned down the hallway and returned to the green ninja’s room. Behind them the sounds of the intense gaming session started up again.
Using his foot to close the bedroom door behind him, Kai strode into the room. He took a moment to scan his surroundings, bedsheets untucked, green dragon plushie abandoned on the floor, weapons rack empty and babyproofed, green gi thrown haphazardly on the chair beside an overflowing plushie bin. Wilting plants on the windowsill beside a half melted candle, fairy-lights unlit and half falling from the ceiling. Comic books strewn about the desk, auspicious pile of shoes boxes, some empty, some full of random knickknacks beside the bed. Kai grimaced. He’d be a bit of a hypocrite for judging given the state his own room was left in nearly half the time, but he’d definitely have to bug someone else into reminding Lloyd to keep his space clean and tidy once out of his headspace.
He approached the bed and set the little down. It was a hot day and the kid was already in a loose shirt and shorts, something which Kai had helped him change into almost an hour ago when he was supposed to be getting ready for his nap.
Lloyd turned around and scanned Kai's hands, as if looking for something. But when he found nothing he whined. "Where?"
"Your dummy?" Kai asked. When Lloyd nodded, the older chuckled and turned to the bedside table, pulling out the drawers underneath and retrieving a lime green plastic tub. "It fell on the floor when you yawned remember? Take this one instead."
He opened the box and retrieved another green pacifier, holding it up to the kid's mouth but pausing when Lloyd yawned again. Kai smirked so he wouldn't be caught and end up yawning too. "See, this is what happens when you don't take your naps on time."
Lloyd took the pacifier into his mouth while Kai retrieved the dragon plushie from the floor. "Can't forget Monty."
The little ninja immediately reached out and hugged the plushie to his chest, nuzzling his head against it, lovingly. Kai chuckled at the sight, before grabbing the blanket and tugging it slightly, signalling for Lloyd to lay down so his brother could tuck him in. The little did so accordingly but before Kai could fully pull the covers over him, Lloyd looked over at the bin full of plushies and reached out a hand towards it.
Kai followed his line of sight and spotted one plushie in particular placed on top of the pile. Lloyd's newest addition to his cuddly army, a little lamb Nya had gotten him to cheer him up after he got hurt during a mission two weeks ago.
"Two plushies? Someone sure is popular." Kai chuckled, getting up to retrieve the plushie before handing it to his little brother who happily cuddled both plushies. The older ninja laughed, ruffling his hair. "Come on, it's sleepy time."
This time, Lloyd didn't try to fight it, he laid back as Kai pulled the covers, turning on his side and cuddling both plushies close to his chest, closing his eyes. For a few minutes Kai remained sat at the edge of the bed, running a gentle hand up his little brother's arm, watching him doze off and without even realising that he was staring intently at the rhythm at which Lloyd’s pacifier bobbed up and down in his mouth.
Once he was certain his little brother was asleep, Kai got up and left the room, closing the door behind him as quietly as the creaky doorframe would let him and made his way back to the living room. Sure enough Cole and Jay were still sat on the couch playing their game, Jay now playing as a different character.
“Move your ass, Jay, it’s my turn.” He declared, shoving the lightning ninja off the couch.
“Kai!” Jay yelled, falling to the floor with a thump and yelping when he landed hard on his shoulder. "Come on, we just started level 19!"
The fire ninja said nothing as he placed one hand firmly on the back of the coach before jumping over, landing perfectly in the spot Jay had just been sat. "Hey, I've been putting up with a cranky three-year-old in a seventeen-year-old's body all day. I deserve this."
"Aw come on, Kai! We've already made so much progress and we've only got like three levels left until the final boss fight. Can't you just wait until we clear this game and then have your turn when we get to the next one?" Jay tried to reason, refusing to give up his controller.
"No way!" Kai insisted. "Level 19 is were you go into the mines and have to fight all the lava monsters and fire witches! This is my level!"
"Kai, you're acting like such a brat right now!" Jay rolled his, he was about to say something more until another voice joined the conversation.
“Jay, you’ve been playing for the last four hours. I believe it would be wise to give your hands and your mind a break and let Kai have a turn." Zane said, entering the living room with a tray with five warm mugs. Finally Jay, seeing no point in arguing with a nindroid, relented, passing the controller to Kai and sitting beside Nya on the second couch. The nindroid set the tray on the coffee table, allowing Kai to realise three of the mugs were full of tea and two hot chocolate - one of which was immediately snatched up by the still pouting lightning ninja - and took a seat beside Kai.
Kai smirked, sticking his tongue out at the lightning ninja for extra credit, before turning his attention to their collection of characters. “Please tell me you haven’t already use all the fire elementals?”
Cole shook his head. “Nah, we put them to the side.”
"Yeah, 'coz we would have never heard the end of it from you otherwise." Nya said, not looking up from her laptop.
The fire master breathed a sigh of relief, selecting his go-to and thanked the earth ninja. They loaded up the level again and got straight to business. But Kai still had a bone to pick with the others. “You guys could’ve come and gotten me when Lloyd came in here, you know? I did say it was his naptime.”
Jay laughed from where he’d moved to sit by Nya. “Lighten up Kai. There’s no point in trying to get him down for an hour if he’s not even tired. And besides he was happy just getting to spend time with us.”
"Unfortunately, Jay makes a good point." Zane said, eyeing the tea on the table. It was only now that Kai noticed the colours of the mugs, white, black, grey, blue and green. A pang of guilt washed over him as he realised Zane had probably gotten the idea that a warm cup of hot chocolate would help put Lloyd to sleep. Well since Lloyd was too lost in dreamland to have it, may as well be Kai's. So he took the green mug for himself and downed the steaming hot beverage in five gulps.
Cole shuddered beside him. "I know you're the master of fire and all, but… seriously how?"
Kai shrugged, wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his hoodie and leaned back against the couch. "Just the way I like it."
If Cole found it odd when Kai wordlessly scooted closer to him so that they were practically cuddling, he didn't question it. And when Kai noticed an odd sensation in his chest that made him feel light as a feather, he assumed it must have been the warmth of his hot chocolate and didn't question it.
"It does seem nice though." The fire ninja had been so preoccupied trying to locate a key he needed in the game that he didn't even notice the conversation Jay, Nya and Zane were having until Cole spoke up beside him. "I mean, he always seems so relaxed afterwards."
Kai paused the game so he could listen in on the conversation, curious. It soon became apparent that the topic of discussion was Lloyd's age regression.
"And Master Wu is always very helpful. He seems to enjoy seeing Lloyd so content like this." Zane pitched in.
Nya laughed. "That or it just reminds him of when his nephew was actually a baby and it brings back memories."
"Oh no doubt!" Jay agreed. "Honestly I'd be pretty interested in trying it out for myself one day but uh..."
The words were out of the lightning master's mouth before he even realised what he was saying. He laughed, sheepishly. "I don't think I really have the childhood trauma required for it."
Kai laughed at that. "Well, if that were the case you'd be one whiney kid."
Jay's freckles disappeared behind a thick shade of red. "I would not! I'd be super easy to handle! I'd probably just wanna watch cartoons and play with cars and stuff! That’s what I was like as a kid!"
"Oh yeah, well what about when it came to naps, or bedtime or eating your vegetables?" Kai challenged, listing off the things that usually warranted tears and screams from their little dragon.
"Oh yeah and like you'd be a little angel." Jay said sarcastically, rolling his eyes. Then a mischievous grin spread across his face. "Serious question though, what would you be like as an age regressor?"
"Ah- what?" The fire ninja scrunched up his brow in confusion.
Then Nya pitched in, a mischievous smirk to match her Yin's. "Oh well this one already loves being treated like a baby anyway, so it wouldn't surprise me."
Her brother faltered, about to respond before Cole voiced his own thoughts. "Honestly Kai strikes me as one of those kids that's super fussy when it comes to food."
Okay Kai couldn't deny that. He turned, smirking and pointed to the earth ninja. "Hey, you're not wrong but put hot sauce on anything, I mean anything! And I'll eat it."
"And set him up with enough pots and pans and he'll be having his own concert all afternoon." Nya pointed, quoting her father almost word for word.
"I do recall..." Zane started. "that when we first met, you were rather shy and kept to yourself a lot more than the rest of us. Shyness is often rooted in childhood temperament and behavioural inhibition so I imagine in headspace you would be rather shy."
"Yeah, you'd probably just wanna be around Nya all the time." Cole chuckled, recalling how protective Kai had been of his sister back when they'd first met.
Kai shook his head, trying to find a way to change the subject. "Okay, lets cut this increasingly humiliating conversation. Cole, are we gonna finish this level or what?"
Cole shrugged, unpausing the game. "Sure sure. But now I'm curious what all of us would be like as age regressors."
"Hey, well when I was a kid I hated seeing other people sad and I'd always try to cheer them up!" Jay explained, nodding. "So I think I'd be pretty easy to handle."
"Yeah but you'd also do anything and everything in your power to stick your fingers into outlets and electricity sources." Nya said.
Cole laughed. "Zane would be one of those toddlers that repeats anything and everything he hears."
"While certainly amusing, nindroids do not age so I am unsure if I could even experience age regression." Zane commented, unsure.
As the conversation continued around him, Kai tuned it all out, keeping his eyes on the screen. But deep down he couldn't help but wonder what it would actually be like to be an age regressor. Was it really as nice and relaxing as Lloyd always made it out to be?
Kai shook his head. He shouldn't think like that. He wouldn't be caught dead acting like a five year old. And he couldn't anyway. He was the older brother. The protector! He was usually the one Lloyd came to first when in his headspace. And Kai was always happy to take care of him. He played with him, spoiled him, let him sit on his lap while he played video games and teased him. He helped him with tasks he was too little to do on his own. He got him ready for bed and read him bedtime stories and whenever he woke up in the middle of the night crying his eyes out from a nightmare, Kai would always hold him and comfort him and reassure him that everything was okay and there was nothing to be afraid of because his big brother would always be there to protect him. He was basically his main caregiver! And he wouldn't be a very good caregiver if he also needed also things done for him.
The more he thought about such ridiculous things, the less focused he became until before he knew it, he'd lost two characters to the same enemy. "Oh come on, this level is rigged!"
"I thought you said this is your level?"
"Shut up, Jay!"