Stone to Fire

CHAPTER 1: Found Feelings

  Kai walks into the bunk room picking up a pillow from his loft. He walks over to the window and throws open the blinds. "WAKEY WAKEY SLEEPY HEAD! he exclaims, throwing the pillow at Cole. "It 10:00am, everyone else is up. Get up-". "Besides, you sleep in any longer you're gonna miss the legendary 'Ninja Tournament'! Jay is already leading with 65 points to Zane. And, we gotta get to the game shop to pick up the newest issue!". Cole groaned, sitting up in his bed, when he got comfortable he threw the pillow right back at Kai. "Give Zane time. Jay never wins these kinds of things. We all know that" he scoffed playfully, "just let me get ready and we can go ok?". With that, he slowly got up out of the bed, tossing the sheets back into place before walking over to the dresser. "Is that all we have to do?". Leaning against the bed frame, Kai watched the earth master walk across the room. "Well, I guess? Sensei left a couple of hours ago, all he said was to 'hold to fort down'. So, the guys and I have just been playing video games."  He pushed himself off the bed and picked up the pillow he'd thrown. As he spoke with Cole, he fluffed up the pillow, placing it back on the bed it originally came off. "Since when do you sleep in this late? Did ya not a good nights rest or something?" The brunette asked. "No I just couldn't sleep with your snoring" Cole joked, laughing slightly under his breath. He wasn't going to admit how he had trouble sleeping when someone that looked as amazing as him slept in the same room as him. "No, it's just I think I pushed myself a bit too hard yesterday, my body needed some relaxation today" Cole pulled out a shirt as he spoke his lie. "Why does it matter so much to you? Caring about me?". "Listen bud." Kai began, placing his hand in Cole's shoulder. "I care about you as much as the next. But no one can ever care about you more than care about cake," he finished with a light smack on the back of Cole's head. He rushed to the door and paused before exiting the room. "And hurry up! If you're not out here soon, Jays gonna throw a fit. And I won't live long after that- I can't listen to another one of his sob rants about a video game...". Cole rolled his eyes. Watching Kai leave before turning back to the dresser to finished getting changed.
       A few minutes passed before he came walking out, going straight to the living room. "So, I heard someone was being a crybaby" he joked. "Who was it?" Both Kai and Zane look at Jay. Jay exclaims and cry's out that he wasn't throwing fits, as he currently began to complain about how long it took Cole to wake up. "And if anyone is a cry baby-" Jay continued "It's Kai." "WHAT!? NO WAY. HOW!?" Kai exclaimed. "Because you've been complaining about how bored you've been during this whole tournament!!" Jay argued back at him. "Well yeah. Of course I have. You both are WAY to easy to beat!! I need an ACTUAL challenge." He says folding his arm. "Then I suggest going against the one who just woke up" Zane chimed in. Nodding a little towards Cole. "But I highly doubt that you can beat all three of us". "You will definitely lose to me, Kai. Do you want to embarrass yourself?" Cole teased. "I'm the gamer here I could take you down in a second". He held out his hand for the controller, Zane shifted on the couch to hand him his. "Do you want to challenge me?"The black haired boy asked,"I can take you on ANY day. Besides, you'll have a foggy brain. Even easier to defeat you!" Kai laughed confidently, as he snatched a controller from the floor. "Get ready to eat dirt!","Using my lines too? Oh you're definitely going to pay for that" Cole scoffed. Dropping down right next to Kai. "And my brain is never foggy. Especially when it comes to playing games." He said. Nudging him with his elbow slightly. "Get prepared to lose!". "Yeah right. I haven't lost in three whole hours." Kai then proceeded to start a new round, readying up for a challenge. He was ready to take on the so-called 'game master' , and was fully confident in his gaming skills against Cole. "Yeah yeah, and it was fun while it lasted because you're losing now" Cole shifted in the seat a little, his eyes now on the screen as he focused on the game. Preparing himself against Kai.
     Zane got up slowly, walking over to grab Jay, "let's not get in their way" he said, trying to move them both behind the two."What!? No way! I'm staying here to watch Kai's butt get kicked!!" Jay insisted. "Well sadly you for you, that's not gonna be happening." Kai snapped back with a cocky attitude. His sight shifted from the tv to Jay as he spoke, leaving his guard down. He'd let his confidence get to his head, something he'd do of'en. "GET HIM COLE!!" Jay cheered on, from the sidelines. "SHHHSH!" Kai waved one hand at Jay while keeping the other on the controller. Cole immediately took advantage. Dealing heavy damage to Kai's avatar. "See! You won't win" Cole laughed. Following with a "thanks Jay! Keep up the work!" His eyes focused on the screen, clicking the buttons as he tried to get even more of an upper hand on him. Kai's jaw dropped and his brows furrowed to the sight of such damage. "WHAT WEAPON DID YOU EQUIP!?!" He exclaimed flabbergasted. "Sounds like someone is a sore loser." Jay teased trying to lower his guard again. "I'm not THAT stupid,Jay. I'm not falling for your tricks." He focused in on the battle, sticking the tip of his tongue out as he fixated on the screen. "No he is right. All I'm hearing is a cry baby finally learning his lesson" Cole grinned. Continuing to push for the win. "Don't forget. You fell for it already" he added, leaning slightly forward, not giving up easily. Kai let out a silent laugh of anger, as he continued pressing the buttons. "Ya hear that, Cole? He's gonna snap!" Jay teased, as he crouched down beside Kai's ear. In doing so, Kai tried his absolute best to ignore Jays attempts to distract him. Though he didn't look away, his thoughts were definitely distracted by his running mouth. He found the simplest way to win was autopilot. After having enough of Jay's voice in his head, he completely shut out all noises. He was determined to beat his opponent.There was a small glance over at Kai, from Cole, before immediately going back to the screen. "Oh I know you'll definitely break soon" he said, risking a poke to Kai's side before immediately grabbing his controller again to keep his win. "Maybe if you didn't tease me about cake earlier I would've let you win, or maybe if you ask politely now, I'll show you some mercy". "Sounds like you want me to beg- I don't know who you're talking to." The fiery one barked back sharply. It almost sounded as if he took offense, when in reality he wasn't paying attention to his tone. He was finally about to gain the upper hand, when all of a sudden a voice called his name from the neighboring room. "Kai!!" Nya called out. "Kai!!!!" There was a pause before she yelled again louder. "I'm a bit busy at the moment!" He yelled back. She came walking into the room, "Kai, I need your help." She said, leaning into the room supported by the door frame. "Not now sis! Im gonna beat Cole!!".
     She let out a chuckle, "I don't even think YOU can do that. Maybe on a real battle field you'd have a chance, but digital?" Kai's shoulders tensed up as his eyes widened. He scooted closer to the tv with his hands gripping the controller. "Come on....come on...I just need one opening....". Cole leaned a little closer to Kai, "how about you admit your loss, let me win and maybe you can rematch me another time? Hm?" He kept his eyes on the screen. Making sure Kai couldn't win. "Just admit defeat and you can go help your sister. She really needs your help"  Cole snickered. "Be a good brother" he added. His opponent frowned. He wanted to win, but he wanted to help his sister. He couldn't stand letting Cole win after all the trouble he'd gone through. There was a pause. "What do you need my help for?" He shouted still staring at the screen. "I just need your help!!" Nya cried out. "Why!?" He dropped the controller and looked at her. "Because it's important!"? The boy let out a sigh. "You. Me. Rematch. Later." He said threatening Cole to a round, before following Nya out of the room. "He gave up!" Jay laughed with joy.
      "Okay. What is it?" Kai asked, as he followed her into a bedroom. "Red or blue?" She asked, walking to a closet. "What??" He was confused by her question. She expected him to answer with zero context? "For a date! Jay and I are going out, and I need your opinion! You are my brother after all. So?" She held up two casual dresses. "Red, or blue?" "I walked away for this?...." her brother moped. In the other room, Cole celebrated his victory. "He lost! I'm the ultimate winner still!" He yelled, doing somewhat what looked like a little dance as Zane began to pick up the controllers. "I'm the game master still, I'm undefeated and unchallenged!" Cole grinned, "and he wants to rematch! He's just going to lose again". Hearing his triumph, Kai peaked his head out of the room and yelled out; "BY DEFULT. THAT DOESNT TAKE SKILL.". Cole gasped dramatically at him. "What! You don't have that skill at all though! You have no room to talk when I just kicked your butt! Your sister gave you a excuse, you would've lost either way!" He huffed. "YEAH RIGH-" before he could finish his sentence, Nya pulled him back into the room. "You're not helping." She said, impatient and annoyed. "Ok, Ok, I'm sorry- what's so important about this date though? You've gone on like- a bagillion.". "I thought you'd forget, it's our anniversary. Jay and I?" She explained. "ANNIVERSARY!? OF WHAT!?!!!" "Two years of being together? Gosh it's not like he proposed, it's way to early. You're more on edge than normal huh?" She said, giving him a flick. To that, Kai rolled his eyes.      
     "You wanna go against me!?" Jay asked Cole, excited as he grabbed a controller. "Another win for me? Sure" he nodded. Sitting back down and grabbing one of the controllers. "You're just practice for me, '' Cole added. Setting up the next round
Zane shook his head at the two. Before stepping away to check on the Smiths. Peeking his head in, followed with a knock, he asked politely "Is everything okay in here? Are you needing any assistance?". "Zane! Perfect timing, I could use a second opinion!" She walked over to the nindroid, and asked him if the red or blue dress was better for her occasion. Meanwhile, Kai stood in the same position as before, and let out a deep and long yawn. The type of yawn that would make your eyes water. "Hey, Zane." He shot out. "I know you're a nindroid, but how did you sleep last night?" He was curious about Zane's answer. First Kai, then Cole. Was it only the two that had rough nights? Or was it just an off night?  Zane answered a simple red, following after, "it's the lucky color" before turning to Kai with a confused expression. "No, I slept decently. Are you not feeling well? Has anyone else been troubled with  sleep as well ?" Zane asked. "Yeah, Cole slept in pretty late too. I don't know- I certainly don't feel sick." Kai said in reply to Zane."You didn't sleep well?" Nya chimed in. "Not at all, no. I was tossing and turning all night. " Kai replied, with tired eyes. "Well, you know what they say! If you cant sleep, that means someone was thinking about you!" She nudged his arm, as she walked passed and to her wardrobe. "Well, tell that someone that I need my beauty sleep. You can't expect me to protect Ninjago, when I can barely keep my eyes open.." He yawned. Zane shook his head at the small myth. "I highly doubt that someone thinking about someone keeps them up at night" he said, the joke completely going over his head.  "Who knows? Maybe that wife's tale is true." He teased, knowing Zane would correct him due to logic of the fact. "Did you have any trouble sleeping last night, Nya?" The brother asked. Nya let out a small giggle, "It's just a wives tale. I slept pretty well actually!" She walked out of the room to and into the bathroom to do up herself.
    "I doubt Jay had any issues sleeping," he said, giving a small smile. "Because if it was true Nya and him would both be tired as well, maybe you and Cole were 'thinking about each other'" he teased right back. Clearly not believing the myth.  "I mean. Can you believe it? Two years. It's been two years that Jay and my sis have been together! And I can't land a single date!? Maybe Jay has more game then I give him credit for.. no- what am I saying? Of course not. He just got lucky with my sister. "  Kai rambled, smiling and shaking his head. "Perhaps he has more.. game.. than you, maybe you should be more open to others and try finding someone to go on a date with." Zane shrugged before adding. "Maybe ask Jay what he did to win over Nya. You might learn a thing or two from him". A slightly shocked emotion creeped onto Kai's face as Zane teased him, though he quickly recovered himself. "I think I'll be fine without his advice. Maybe I'm just looking in the wrong places. I mean- Jay and Nya met because they were already in such a tight group. Maybe I have to look closer within my circle of people!" He gave quick thought to the people in his life, there were very few he could ask out. And boys never really crossed his mind, it was a new feeling to be flustered at the thought of Cole thinking of him. He didn't associate the emotions to romantic feelings, but if they weren't why did he feel so hot when Zane teased him? It was like someone turned up the heat in the room for a moment.  He brushed off the thought. Perhaps he had an early cold, or it was simply a heatwave. He couldn't like Cole. No way.
        Nya soon came back into the room, dolled up. "So, what do ya think? Is it too much?" she asked the boys. "Where are you going?" Kai questioned. In reply, Nya had explained a restaurant that sounded quite fancy. "Yeah, I think that'll do." He chimed back in. Zane turned to Nya when she walked in. "I think you look rather lovely" he said, giving a smile. "Jay will definitely love it too. Are you both leaving soon? I think we weren't paying attention to time out there earlier, we should let him know to get ready too"."Yeah, we're supposed to be leaving for lunch. After that, a nice stroll through Ninjago City park. I want to go before it gets too cold." She explained to Zane. "And what's this about dating? DO you like someone?" She interrogated her brother. "No- not really. Not anyone in mind, nope." He said backing out of the room. "I'll go let Jay know you're waiting!" With that, he left the room quickly and shut the sorry behind him. Zane watched the door shut before turning to her. "He seemed a bit off when I made a joke about him and Cole" his face changed a little to concern. "After that he was just ignoring the entire thing" Zane tried to explain before saying "I hope I didn't offend him or anything". He let out a soft sigh of relief. Kai just so happened to be one for the flirt, but when it comes to actual romantic relationships, he'd never quite been the type.
      The fire master made his way to the common room, where the others were still playing. "Hey, Nya is ready for that date. You better get ready- " He informed Jay.
"Ooh a date? Kai must be really excited for that rematch" Cole laughed, nudging Jay before turning to Kai. "Do you want to do that rematch? I could give Zane an errand to run. It will give us enough alone time for me to kick your butt" he snickered, grinning at him."Yeah- that's cool and all, but I have errands to run myself- outta town- for dinner. So, yeah" Kai spoke quickly and briefly. He took what Zane said to heart, and couldn't stop thinking of the possibility. After what was said, he didn't feel like 'one on one time' with someone he could possibly have feelings for. Typically he'd like that, but this felt off to him. He turned to look at Jay before exiting the room "hurry up! Don't keep my sister waiting!"
   As Kai left the room, Jay put down his controller and turned off the console. "Did that seem...weird to you?" He asked Cole. "That was really weird" he agreed, setting down his controller, "I've never really seen him act like that before. He was so persistent on being the winner too and what? Now he doesn't care? Normally he would take advantage of this" Cole got up, "maybe I should check on him? '' he thought. He was really concerned about Kai but he didn't want to push him or realize that his feelings were true. Nya turned to Cole, surprised by his appearance. "Oh! Yeah, he did seem a bit off. Why, he was weird to you too?" She asked, interested in why he questioned them."Weird to me and Jay. I had said a joke about staying home alone and he got all crazy and said he had to go somewhere and then walked off. I just wanted to see if he was acting that way to you two as well. Do you guys know why he might be acting like that?". Zane glanced at Nya before shrugging. "I'm pretty sure it's what I said. It must've really upset him". "Yeah, what did you say, Zane?" Nya asked curiously. "Not a lot of things can make my brother act like this.. you must have said something to really get him riled up-" she pressed on. "Well, he had told me Cole and him both had trouble sleeping and I joked about how they were thinking about each other like how you said".  Cole tensed a little, his expression faltering a little bit but he tried to keep it calm, "n-no way would I have thought about him" he said, letting a little laugh. "Does he really think that?". "I had tried to clear up the air by saying you and Jay would have issues sleeping if that myth was even true. But it seems to have gotten to him still, he had this look like maybe he believed in old wives tales". "Cole and Kai?" Nya giggled, " I know my brother better than to believe an old wives tale, but this is just rich!" She continued to laugh a bit, before Jay came strolling in. "Ready for that date, Ms.Nya?" he said with a confident smirk on his face. "Ready as I'll ever be!".  "Oh, it's a little cold, so you might wanna grab a coat! Just to make sure! You could always borrow mine if you'd like!" Jay insisted with a wide grin. "Alright then, we'll be off now! Have fun! And try not to weird out Kai anymore" she teased Zane, before leaving the Bounty. Zane looked at Cole who sighed, he was starting to put the pieces together, "you were thinking about him, weren't you?" He asked only for Cole to tense once again with a light pink running across his face, giving him the exact answer he was looking for. Placing a hand on his teammates shoulder, he promised to stay quiet with the information before the two walked out of the room. Cole, almost immediately heading off to go look for Kai, who stood in the bunker room, by the sink that was placed by a small window. He stood there for a few moments arguing with himself in his head. To anyone else, it would've looked like he was staring intensely at his reflection. And they wouldn't be wrong at that.
     Cole opened the door, typically, never knocking before entering here but froze in his tracks when he saw Kai. He gave it a few seconds assuming the red one would finally turn away but, to his surprise, he didn't. Cole let a small cough clearing his throat before saying. "Hate to say but, I don't think you look that good to stare at yourself for so long" he said with a joking tone. "Personally" he thought to himself "I would disagree. He always looks good, who wouldn't want to stare at him??". "is everything okay? We are all worried about you". Kai's stare broke as he looked towards Cole, quickly ushering away from the mirror to grab something quickly off the top of the dresser. "Yeah, why wouldn't I be? What do ya have to worry about?" He said with a grin, seemingly back to his old cocky self. "I say you're the weird ones here." Cole seemed unfazed, watching his crush carefully before saying "I talked to the others about it and Zane said you reacted strange when he brought up the thing about me" Cole was hesitant before he continued, "Don't worry. Last night had no connection". "Connection? Hah. What connection? I don't know what you're talking about. See, you're the weird one. I gotta go to the market. Nice talking. Cool. Yes. Okay. Bye." He said, very rushed as he blocked Cole's view of his face the entire scramble. He knew he had made it obvious, but he suspected Cole was already on to him. He doubted Cole would share these odd feelings, He'd liked Nya after all. It was all just a big misunderstanding. It would be over tomorrow morning.. or at least that was his thought. Cole couldn't help feel his face warm once again, covering it immediately as he mumbled a quiet "God, Kai, Why are you so difficult with this stuff" before following right after him. "Make sure you grab a jacket at least!". "Since when did you start to care about that? See what I mean, weiiiirddd~" Kai yelled out, once more, before slamming the door shut to leave. Cole let a small groan under his breath. Running out to grab one of the coats by the front before chasing after him, not even hesitating to stop and grab a coat for himself. Running quick enough to easily catch up and grab onto Kai. "You're going to get sick. Especially you" he said. "Now get this on before we have to all parent you when you're sick" this physical contact was driving him crazy, to the point where the pink had once again returned to his face. "Looks like you're the cold one, Cole....And you just stepped outside dude- you good? I could like-" he lifted his hands and made a small noise to imitate fire, then looked at Cole. "To like heat you u- Dude you're face is literally turning pink....." He stared at Cole's face with his mouth slightly opened, surprised by his colouration. He shook his head no. "Stop staring at my face, just take the jacket." He held it out slightly to Kai. "And you call me the weird one." Cole joked, Rolling his eyes. He desperately wanted to take his eyes off Kai but couldn't. Kai stood still, slowly reaching out to grab the coat. He hadn't broken eye contact with Cole, but gave a very concerned and almost frightened stare. "You're starting to creep me out...." He said, with the coat now in his full grasp. Cole shook his head, "Just ignore it. You were scaring us earlier the way you were acting and then you left without a coat. You started all of this just because you think I like you or something" he let go of it, clearly embarrassed, which was a rare occurrence to his laid back personality. Kai stood there, coat in hand, with a softer expression. He had to take a moment to think, meanwhile he looked at Cole. His eyes shifted from the man before him to the ground, then to the coat, then back to Cole.
"Because you think I like you or something... is that a confession or he's mad that I thought that? Wait? Did I think that?-" He pondered in silence. Cole, once again, shook his head. "Well, I'd better get going to the market now- thanks for the coat."  Kai said, putting it on before turning and walking down the pathway. "you've really exposed yourself, he knows now."  the boy thought. "Have fun" Cole said, taking a deep breath to try and relax himself. He watched Kai for a few more seconds before turning to head back inside, shivering a little bit.
     An hour turned to two, and soon the sun had set. Not before long Nya and Jay had come back from their date. The two, very excited, talked on and on about how much fun they had. The clock struck 4pm, and Kai had still been out at the market. "Hey, Cole. How'd that talk with Kai go?" Jay asked "Not good at all" he said, sighing. "But I think he took the thing to heart." Cole added, "he was so out of it. Then basically called me strange for caring and he got all heated when I brought up the situation about me 'supposedly thinking about him' and since then he left and I haven't seen him. Which I'm getting a little worried about. He shouldn't be out this long" he finally shifted his gaze to one of the windows before asking, "do you think I should go look for him?"."Nah, knowing Kai, what went into the market? So, got distracted by a local blacksmith? Sounds about right to me." Jay teased, as Nya giggled. "Cole has a point though," she butted in " it's been getting pretty cold once the sun goes down. We'll give him a bit, if he's not back soon we can just give him a call!" She explained. "And try not to take it to heart" she said, placing a hand on Cole's shoulder, "my brother doesn't always have the appropriate reaction to things." She let out a soft chuckle. "Besides! He has to come back soon, it's his turn to cook! If he doesn't show up, I'm throwing hands. He promised to cook tonight." Jay jumped in. Cole smiled a bit but he still was concerned. "I should've really approached the situation with him differently. When I brought up how there wasn't any connection from last night he immediately wanted to leave." His voice got more hushed speaking to Nya. Turning to Jay again he spoke with confidence. "Well, If he doesn't show up I can cook for us!" Cole grinned. "You love my cooking!". "Uh.. not to burst your bubble buddy," Jay said, walking over to Cole. "But I think it'd be better if Kai cooked. Just sayin'" he gave Cole a pat on the back. "If you're really all that worried, I can dial him." Nya proposed. "What! I'm a great cook! You just don't have the great taste pallet to enjoy it" he said before giving Nya a slight nod. "If you could,that would be great" Cole mumbled to her, "Thank you.." She nodded then pulled out her phone dialing her brothers  number. The phone rang for a second before he picked up on the receiving end. "No. You just need to learn how to cook, Cole." Jay yapped back.
"Hey!" Nya opened, "have any idea when you'll be getting back? It's getting kinda late."  She spoke into the phone. "Yeah, it's also gonna get cold pretty quickly since the sun went down. If you weren't sick before, you sure will be soon. Okay! I'll see you then!" She hit the hang up button. "He said he'll be back in a bit. See? No worries!" She said with a bright smile."How dare you disgrace a chef like that!" Cole gasped before giving a small laugh. When he heard Nya speak and hang up, the look of concern seemed to lift, when she confirmed he would be coming home. "Thanks again, Nya" he said to her.
    After about twenty minutes, sure enough, Kai had returned from the market. As he returned he called out to Nya, ensuring she knew he was back. He hadn't picked up any idea she wasn't the one who wanted to have him return back. As he prepared dinner, Nya sat beside him on a chair, and he listened to her ramble on about the date. She spoke to him the entire duration of him making the dinner, and he didn't mind it. In fact, he found it rather nice hearing how happy she was. Cole was relieved when Kai finally got home. He wasn't going to test his luck following the two into the kitchen. Cole didn't want another freak out from Kai to lead to him disappearing for a few more hours. So he stuck with Jay. Occasionally he thought about checking in on the two by texting Nya. Finally deciding to go through with it he did. "How is he? Is he upset about earlier? Has he said anything about me?" He messaged. Nya checked  the ping from her phone. "Who's that?" Kai asked, as he continued cooking. "Oh, no one you have to worry about." She said replying to Cole's text. "Well now that gives me something to be suspicious of. Give it here!" He said teasing her and trying to steal the phone. "NO! It's mine! You need to watch the pot!!" Nya giggled "Give me the phone~". He proceeded to try and snatch it, then resorted to tickling. He was determined to find out who messaged her. Saying 'no need to worry about' was suspicious enough. The commotion had the two ending up on the floor laughing. It was just what Kai needed to break the stress he'd felt all day. Kai got up, and reached out his hand to help up his sister. She took his hand, and climbed to her feet, sitting back on the chair. The text made its way to Cole's phone reading; 'Everything seems fine again, he hasn't said much he's just been listening to me talk. I told you there's nothing to worry about!'. The message came through made the boy smile. Setting down his phone finally when he realized everything was okay.
    "So, Jay," he said. "How did everything go with Nya?". "Oh, it was awesome! We went to this cool little restaurant downtown- it's like a hidden treasure. The food was AMAZING!? Then after we chatted over this totally romantic, candle lit lunch, we went to walk to for a bit. Nya insisted on window browsing, but I ended up treating her to a few things. Then, we went and walked uptown to Ninjago City Park, and the views were IMMACULATE!! Once the sun started to set, all the trees glistened with the frost. It was just perfect! Nya was so pretty, oh my gosh- it was just a blast!" Jay rambled on. It wasn't the smartest idea to ask him about the date. Surely, Cole had to have known it would start his little rant that would have no means to an end. And it didn't. He continues to spout information about the day, the whole time his face lit up with joy.Cole, after years of friendship, knew how he would go on a ramble. He was used to the long conversations he would have and ended up listening. Enjoying how happy the two made each other. He would nod occasionally, listening to the entire rant, every so often he would keep some of the information for sometime later on
       Zane had heard the commotion with the two and popped into the kitchen to see what was going on. "Is everything alright here? Do you need any assistance?" He asked. Kai turned to Zane, who'd just entered the kitchen. "Everything's cool, would you mind grabbing some of the carrots from that bag though?" He asked the nindroid, as his hands were quite full at the moment. "Of course." He smiled, walking over to the table to retrieve the carrots. Giving Nya a small wave hello before bringing them to Kai, as Nya waved back. "I heard a bunch of laughter. I just want to make sure you both weren't leaving me out on a prank" he joked. Kai let out a small laugh, "no, just trying to get my sister to stop keeping secrets" He elbowed her playfully before taking the carrots from Zane. "Ya know, just because you're my big brother doesn't mean I have to tell you everything about my life." Nya said, shaking her head. "Sure it does! Because if you meet someone and he turns out to be rotten, if I didn't know how would I be able to kick his butt?" He punched the air followed by a side kick. His playful mood started to peek back out, as Nya let out a laugh. "I'm just glad to see you're feeling better, finally. " Nya voiced. The mood quickly changed as he lowered his leg to the ground. That weird feeling wasback again. It was like his stomach was in knots or had butterflies. "Yeah-" he muttered. The smile on his face had faded, and he returned to the counter and began prepping the carrots. Nya looked at Zane tensing her expression. She didn't know bringing it up would cause such a shift in his mood. She looked from Zane to Kai as if talking through her eyes, "did you see that? I seriously don't know what's going on with him" she 'said', hoping Zane could read her face. Kai felt troubled with his situation. No matter what he tried, he couldn't escape the grasp of this feeling. But what WAS this feeling? It was familiar, yet foreign at the same time. He wanted to ask Zane, after all he was a walking computer. He probably had some sort of answer, but he also didn't want to possibly expose himself. Zane nodded to Nya, understanding a decent amount ofwhat she'd communicated. Taking the chance to mouth out 'Cole' and 'fight' when Kai's eyes were clear of his view. Before finally mouthing out 'tension'. He finally spoke out "is everything ok Kai? You can talk to us." He reassured, "I highly doubt that it's nothing at least one of us can't help you with". "No, just something I've been thinking about." He said quietly before raising his head along with his voice. " but thanks though, promise I'll ask if I need to!" He said with a smile, his promise was empty though. Zane could tell he didn't mean it, glancing at Nya with a worried expression on his face, moving his eyes to Kai and right back to Nya with an almost unamused look, really not buying his lie, "That's fine, Kai. We're always here for you" he gave him a small smile after to act like nothing had happened. Kai didn't feel comfortable with going to someone for this, possibly the only one he would trust with the information was Nya. But even she seemed to tease him about it.    
   Possibly liking a boy had never really crossed his mind before, and wasn't a topic he was familiar or comfortable with. He had nothing against it, but the idea was a bit much to digest. All he'd really ever known was guy meets girl, guy and girl fall in love, guy and girl have a family. Not, guy meets guy. And he certainly wasn't ready to possibly be the black sheep of the group. He took pride in his position in the team. Nya walked to Zane then back around to face Kai. "We're gonna go set up the dining table for dinner, okay?" She said, also pushing Zane out of the kitchen with her. Kai agreed to the idea, and continued the meal. Once outside of the kitchen, and in the dining room, she handed Zane a stack of plates. She ,herself, took the silverware and began placing them down. "What do you think this is about?" She urged. He started to place the plates down at each spot. "Well, Cole came to me before and practically revealed how he had feelings for Kai. Kai actions are quite similar to Cole's, in this situation. I propose that Kai may share Cole's feelings." He looked at her with a confused look. "Has your brother had any issues previously with romantic feelings?" He asked, placing another plate. "Specifically in liking boys"."Uhhh, I've never known my brother to like boys- that's honestly.. new. He's usually been a ladies man. But, I guess it's not entirely impossible for him to like Cole. And as for his behavior, no. I've never seen him act so strange about a crush. It's honestly really odd for him. " she explained, setting down the last of the silverware. "Perhaps, he is nervous about liking men? That could be a possible reason to why  he's been acting this."  Zane suggested, setting the last plate down before turning to her. "Cole has never really seemed like he was attracted to any ladies, unless they had made the first move. Maybe he's more comfortable with his sexuality, therefore, not giving a big reaction?". "Well, I guess time will tell us sooner or later!" She announced, her hands on her hips. She let out a sign and leaned against the table, "true. I think Kai would definitely be the type to be insecure about that.. but I just don't get why He'd be scared to admit it to us? I mean, he won't even tell me what's happening! He's pretty comfortable with the team being his family, but he won't even let me in on this? Maybe he just needs to sleep it over, is all. I'm sure his head will be clearer tomorrow. As of now, let's try our best not to make him uncomfortable again." The girl stood upright and went to grab Cole and Jay for dinner, leaving the dining room. The nindroid watched her leave, sighing as he walked back to the kitchen to help bring out any food Kai needed help with.
   Cole turned to Nya, "is dinner ready? That was quick" he said with a small laugh, getting up from the couch as he did so."Yep! Zane and I set the table. Kai will bring out the food shortly." She said, before returning to the dining room to have a seat. "Oh! Perfect timing!" Jay exclaimed, getting up and rushing into the dining room. "Anyone know what we're having!?" He beamed. Though Jay and Nya had a rather big lunch, there was nothing like a home cooked meal on a cold night. "I think he was making some sort of soup or chili. I'm not sure. But it smelt great!" The girl said, with delight. Cole followed Jay into the dining room. "Soup sounds so good too," he added, nodding in agreement. "Especially if Kai makes it." He took a seat, "I'm so excited to see what he makes!"
    Zane knocked on the door. "" Kai, is there anything you need help with? We're all ready for you in the dining room" he informed, standing at the door. He took a deep inhale before turning to Zane. "No I think I've got everything ready, thanks for the offer!" He grabbed a ladle and the pot from the stove. It had been heating for a bit, so it was still warm yet not to dangerous to touch. He walked out of the kitchen and placed the pot in the center of the table. Putting his hands on his hips he announced "dinner is served! Who wants first bowl?". To that, Jay jumped out of his seat holding his bowl. "ME ME! OOooOOO I'm starved!". He rushed over to the pot and Kai served him the chili. Next up was Nya followed by the others.He gave a small nod before following the other without a second comment.
"Of course you want to be served first" Cole teased Jay, getting up with his bowl and walking over to Kai to get in the small 'mini line'. A smile on his face. Food sounded amazing, it smelled great too. Thankfully his mood had changed completely. Watching Nya get her bowl he glanced to Kai, more focused on him now, "god, he's so.." his eyes moving away immediately to not get caught but kept trying to catch a few more looks at him. As Kai served Nya, his and Cole's eyes met for a moment. He had a very soft expression which quickly changed to wide eyes and pink cheeks. The panic feeling came back, almost causing him to drop Nya's bowl onto her. "WHOA!!" She exclaimed catching the bowl as he did the same. She looked up at him, and cocked her head to the side. To which Kai met with a quick smile. She walked back over to her seat, leaving room for Cole to step up. His eyes locked with Cole, but his face was ever so slowly shifting to a deep pink. He tried so hard to stop the warmth in his face but simply couldn't. Cole had now felt his own face starting to warm, the pink lightly growing across his cheeks. "Uh.. don't drop it on me too" he joked to try and pull away but he couldn't. "god. It's just your friend. Why are you staring? You're making a fool of yourself" he thought, holding out the bowl to Kai. The longer he stared, the longer his cheeks flushed pink. ''oh my god... this can't actually be happening. Why do I feel like this!? It's literally just Cole. You've done this like- a bagillion times... just give him the food. It's not that hard" said his inner monologue. Nya sat at the table, almost putting the spoon in her mouth before looking up and pausing. She looked back and forth between the two, they just stood there... awkwardly. She cleared her throat. Kai quickly looked at her then back to what he was doing. He served Cole his food and continued on to Zane. As soon as everyone was served he also took a seat at the table. Cole sat down, seeming distracted as he picked up the spoon, fiddling with it. "he was blushing, oh god, he was blushing at me?? No maybe he wasn't feeling well. He wouldn't be" he thought to himself. His gaze down, he wished the warmth on his face would go away but only thinking about the situation made it even darker. Zane sat down as well right after. Looking between Kai and Cole with a confused look but didn't want to call either of them out on their actions. Kai sat there as the others ate. He didn't take any bites, but instead just stirred the spoon around. His stomach was in too many knots to be eating, but he didn't want to draw extra attention by leaving. He stayed seated at the table as the others discussed their days and thoughts. Every now and then he'd glance up to see if Cole was still watching him, only to look right back down. It was a very awkward feeling. "I REALLY blew it this time..." the black haired boy thought. His eyes wandered to give small peeks towards Kai, only to have the slow fading blush come right back to his face. Immediately shifting his vision to one of the others to pull it off as though he hadn't been staring. Not even taking a bite of his food either, just fiddling with the spoon to try and get his mind off of Kai. Nya looked at Jay. He simply shrugged. Whatever was going on between the two was very odd. After enough of the awkward silence between himself and Cole, Kai stood up. Clearing his throat he announced: "I'm gonna step outside for a sec." He then got up and walked onto the deck of the bounty. The cool night breeze helped to clear his mind a bit. As he stood there, leaning on the banister, he deeply inhaled the cold crisp air. "Smells like winter is finally here" he said to himself. Night fell, as did curfew. As all the Ninja got ready for their nightly routines, so did Kai. He walked into the bunker and grabbed his towel and PJ's for when he came back. "I'm gonna hop in the shower, anyone need to use the restroom before I go?" He shouted out. "All good here!" Replied Jay. "Diddo!" Said Nya. "No I'm good" Cole yelled out as he fixed the shirt he'd just put on. "Enjoy" he added, turning to the others. "I'm just going to sit in the living room for a bit before I go to bed. I'm not feeling tired like yesterday" Zane didn't even respond to Kai. Typical nindroid things that they had all gotten used to. When Cole spoke he glanced over at the other two. Unsure about it. Kai proceeded to get in the shower and have a mini concert, taking his sweet sweet time enjoying the hot water. "I'll go see if he wants to chat." Nya said, looking to Zane. She went out to the living room and stood nearby the couch. "Mind if I join you?"" She asked. Cole looked up at her, the controller in his hands that he had picked up, unsure whether he wanted to play a few rounds of his game. "Oh, yeah sure what's up?" He asked, shifting on the couch. "Normally you and Jay are wanting to have some time together before we sleep" he teased with a smile. "Yeah. Normally we do, you're right" she said with a smile before taking a seat beside him. "I wanted to check on you... I know you've been on and off, kinda like my brother- but you seemed really out of it at dinner. Usually you love to eat when Kai cooks, but you didn't touch the food.. You know if there's something bothering you, you can tell me. Right?" She spoke in a soft and caring tone, assuring him that any secret he held would be safe with her. Cole gave a small nod. Clearly trying to put the words together in order to explain, his eyes on the controller again. "He looked at me and he was... blushing.." his voice quieted, "and I couldn't stop looking at him too." He paused before looking at her, "is that normal to say that?". "Is what normal to say? That you could possibly have a crush on him? I don't see why it would be strange to say it. I mean, everyone has their preferences! I like Jay, he's a goofball and makes me laugh! Maybe you like Kai for his looks, or his personality! Who knows? Is this what todays been about?" She lowered her head to try and meet his eyes. "After he thought of that idea, it has been because Kai doesn't want to talk about it, he's been avoidant" Cole seemed to get a little frustrated at the thought, "god, Nya, it was true about why we didn't sleep well too, I can't have a crush on him. He's my friend. We're just friends-". She placed her hand on his, gently. "Ya know, there's a saying. The best partners start off as friends. And maybe this is just a small thing, maybe the feeling will go away. Maybe it won't. But hiding yourself isn't going to give you any answers." She reassured him with a soft and caring smile."But I can't find out if I like him when he pulls away every time I get close" Cole sighed before a small smile began to form, "your brother is really difficult sometimes, you know that, right?" He joked. "I should really ask if he wants to talk and ask what he's been feeling about this, do you think that's the right thing to do?". She nodded in agreement to him being difficult, then explained how she thought approaching him, while he's been so avoidant, probably would work out well. "Master Wu, and Lloyd, will be back tomorrow morning. That means training will kick back up. Maybe you two could spar and talk things out. I really don't think approaching him is going to work out... as you said. He's difficult." She let out an awkward laugh along with a smile. Cole nodded. "Yeah, hopefully he will listen tomorrow then" he seemed like he was more relieved than earlier. "Thanks a bunch, Nya. I'm glad I have someone as sweet as you to listen" he hummed, "it felt nice to talk it out" he added? She rose to her feet with a smile. "Well, I'm gonna head to bed. Don't wanna be tired for tomorrow! You should probably get to bed as well. Maybe it'll help you a bit" she added. She waved him goodnight then walked into her room closing the door. He gave a wave goodnight, hearing the shower turn off he gave just a little time before he walked into the room, keeping his head lowered just in case as he walked to his bed, climbing in right away. He would've stayed up to rethink everything that happened but before he could, he was fast asleep.Kai made his way out of the shower. Half dressed he walked into the boys bunker room drying his hair. He made his way over to the sink to brush his hair and teeth before heading to bed. Hours passed, but surely enough, right when the sun began to rise there was a door that opened, followed by slight laughter and within seconds the blinds were pulled open as Lloyd yelled for all the boys to wake up, before heading right back out of the room to go do the same to Nya. Jay groaned but got out of bed, stretching, to get ready for the day. "Is it morning already?" He said with a yawn.