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Jay felt like he was melting. Absolutely melting in the summer heat. It was a wonder his face wasn’t all weird and his arms on the floor.
Kai groaned, fanning himself with a fan that each of them had stolen one of from Master Wu’s collection. Well, everyone except Zane, but Jay could hear his internal coolers, whirring overtime. “Zane, buddy,” Kai said. “Come on. Make some ice.”
Kai scooted closer to Zane and Jay wanted to do the same, but now Kai was there and Kai radiated heat, so he couldn’t go there. He refused to go near Kai in summers, and he’d already heard a million complaints in the past few years. Less kisses, less hugs. Kai always complained that Zane hogged Jay.
Well, Jay thought as he lolled his head to the side to look at Kai. Who’s doing the hogging now?
“Even I seem to be having trouble,” Zane said with mild surprise. Still, he held his palm out, and tiny snowflakes formed over it. Jay didn’t even have the energy to lunge at Zane. Or even talk. Zane noticed. “Are you okay, Jay?” Zane asked.
Jay shook his head. His hand, which had been fanning himself, now hung limp, the fan dropped out of his grip. His brain felt like lukewarm soup and sludge. Everyone else, the lucky assholes, were out at a charity event, surrounded by cold glasses of champagne, air-conditioning. Kai had pulled his shirt off long back, and so had Jay.
Oh, how he longed to see cool drops of condensation on cold metal glasses, filled with iced water . . . He couldn’t even go and sit in the fridge, because the power was gone and Zane and Kai weren’t letting Jay even talk about using himself as a battery. The fruit was probably rotting by now, the milk curdling up. Theoretically, Jay could simply go to the grocery store in the city and ask them to keep it. Theoretically, all three of them could go to a mall and have a happy little date. Theoretically, he could wait for them to fall asleep and then power the Monastery himself.
What worried Jay the most was that he couldn’t even find it within himself to ogle at Kai’s bare chest. All he wanted to do was curl into a little ball, but then he would have to touch his own sweat-sticky skin, and he would just be heating himself up even more.
With a start that didn’t really move Jay’s body, he noticed that Kai had been silently examining him for a while, from his spot on Zane’s chest. Kai squinted. “You look like you’ve been given drugs,” Kai announced. Jay’s face twisted into a light scowl, but then he tipped his head back against the sofa again, so it ruined the effect and really just proved Kai’s point.
“Jay, love, I don’t think you’re okay,” Kai said, his expressions contorted in worry. Zane fixed Kai with a flat look, although his hand didn’t stop running through Kai’s limp, sweaty hair.
Jay cleared his throat. “No shit, Sherlock,” he said.
“Do you want something cold?” Zane asked.
“You’re the only cold thing here, and Kai is hogging you,” Jay said seethingly. “And I’m not going anywhere near Kai in this heat.”
Kai made an offended face, but Jay could tell he understood.
“To prevent our emotions from getting even worse, why don’t we go out in the city?” Zane offered, as if he had read Jay’s mind. Oh, Jay really loved this stupid, adorable Nindroid. He knew what was good for Jay, what was good for Kai. He knew how to take care of them and love them.
“Fuck yes,” Kai hissed.
“Language,” Zane and Jay said at the same time, even though Jay’s was significantly more tired. Jay couldn’t bring himself to care that much, honestly. The heat was frying his brain and making swear words more than acceptable—wanted, even. Welcomed amazingly.
“Jay?” Kai prompted. Jay nodded, but then he scowled.
“I don’t wanna put a fucking shirt on,” Jay said. He didn’t have the energy to get all dressed up, not even for his boyfriends. He didn’t want to get off the sofa and walk to his room. That would require exertion, and exertion made people feel hotter. Yes, Jay had grown up in the Sea of Sand with barely any aircon, but he was ashamed to admit that he had in fact gotten used to the coolness of Ninjago City.
“I promise we’ll get ice cream later,” Zane said, gently pushing Kai off of him and walking towards Jay. Jay tipped his head backwards just as Zane pressed a soft kiss to his face. Jay grabbed his cheeks, not willing to let Zane and his coolness go. Kai could burn up right now for all he cared.
“Promise?” Jay asked.
Zane nodded, putting his hands on top of Jay’s. “Yes, darling. I promise.”
Jay hummed. “Carry me?” he asked. Kai made a sound of indignation behind Zane. “Shut up, you fucker,” Jay hissed. “You’re the master of fire, you can handle 50°.”
Zane obliged, walking to the front of the sofa and scooping a hand under Jay’s knees and the other settling on his back as Jay locked his ankles behind Zane’s back and rested his head on Zane’s shoulder.
He could make it up to Kai later, when he’d been exposed to air conditioning.
Jay barely noticed when Zane’s hand came up to his forehead. “Jay,” Zane said gently. “I’m going to cool you, okay?”
“Hell yes,” Jay said, closing his eyes. Zane didn’t sound very amused, but oh well.
Zane entered Jay’s room and laid Jay down on the bed while he rifled through Jay’s closet, pulling out the clothes he knew Jay liked wearing when he went out. Jay could hear Kai slamming the door to his own room and grimaced. They could calm Kai down later, when they were all in a better mood. Jay rolled over on his stomach and started playing with the tassels of one of his pillows, feeling slightly like a toddler being taken care of by a responsible adult.
And then Zane’s cool, cool hands were on his face and on his stomach and then on the inside of his wrist and Jay could finally feel like he wasn’t melting from the heat. How had he ever managed in the Sea of Sand without Zane?
“There we go,” Zane said, letting go of Jay. Jay chased the feeling of Zane’s hands but Zane straightened up. “I have to go to Kai, now,” he said in lieu of an apology. Jay frowned and got up, pulling on the shirt Zane had chosen for him.
“Okayy, I guess,” Jay said, even though he was fully planning on murdering Kai with affection as soon as they stepped through the mall doors. You would think that because they were on the top of a mountain, they would have a cooler atmosphere. Nope! Nobody in Ninjago City could get any relief—even if they were outside the borders!
Master Wu had spoiled them with the AC, made them go soft.
“Oh my Spinjitzu Master,” Jay said, closing his eyes as the cool air of the Ninjago Mall hit him. “Oh my Master,” he basically moaned, holding up his arms.
Kai laughed behind him, finally pulling Jay back into his chest and wrapping his arms around his waist. “Now I can hog you, too,” Kai mumbled in Jay’s ear.
“I’ll let you do whatever you want with me as long as we have an AC, Kai,” Jay said. He didn’t really care about the implications right now. After all, he’d begged for the same thing more than once. And Kai and Zane had always more than delivered. So there.
Jay rested his arms on top of Kai’s while Kai rested his chin on Jay’s shoulder. Jay had the feeling that both of their eyes were tracking Zane as he walked into an ice cream shop. “Well, what are you waiting for?” Kai asked. “Let’s go get our ice cream.”
“I really want cotton candy,” Jay said when he reached Zane.
“I’ve already ordered it, love,” Zane said. Sure enough, he was already pulling out his wallet to pay.
“And chocolate for me,” Kai piped up, still attached to Jay’s back.
“That as well,” Zane reassured.
“Have I ever told you how much I love you?” Jay asked, his hand going up to pat Kai’s carefully gelled locks. Kai barely complained, just humming a little for the sake of it.
“Multiple such instances,” Zane said. “Kai has expressed this as well.”
Jay detached himself from Zane and kissed him on the cheek. “My knight in shining titanium,” Jay said fondly.
Kai, not to be outdone, came to Zane’s other side and latched himself onto Zane instead. “He’s my shining knight, actually,” Kai said haughtily.
“Then you’re not mine,” Jay said as he took the cone for Kai in one hand and his cup in the other. Flattened out, with sprinkles. He really needed to kiss Zane stupid once they were done. And maybe Kai, too, because he missed Kai. Speaking of which, Kai made an offended sound and immediately corrected himself.
“He’s both of our shining knights?”
“Good,” Jay said, handing Kai his cone.
“No ice-cream for you?” Kai asked Zane.
“Seeing you two not miserable and sweaty is enough for me,” Zane said.
“Aww, you sap,” Kai said, leaning his head on Zane’s shoulder and Jay dissolved into laughter.
“Our sap,” Jay said.
“Communist,” Kai said as he broke off a piece of his cone to feed to Jay, who dutifully opened his mouth.
“You love me,” Jay said, smiling sweetly as he closed his eyes in pleasure when he finally ate the ice cream. Oh, sweet, sweet coolness. Relief from the heatwave of Ninjago. He wondered how his parents were doing . . . But they probably didn’t have a power outage, either.
“We do,” Zane said. Jay grinned at him as Kai wiped off a smudge of ice cream.
“Mhm.”