Lava | Ninjago

🜂 | the sleeping beauty and the written words brought to life

 The first thing he saw upon entering the room was his gorgeous boyfriend sitting in his beloved armchair by an open window. The golden rays of the sun that was slowly setting by the horizon made him look even more ethereal to Kai than usual. It seemed all of his attention was on the words in the book he was holding and Kai took extreme care not to disturb him from the peaceful moment he seemed to be having.

Except his presence didn't go unnoticed.

"Whatcha staring at, Kai?" He didn't move his head an inch but Kai knew he was looking at him out of the corners of his eyes. There was a small, almost invisible, smile on his lips, making Kai lose control over his own.

"I think you know," he replied and moved forward.

"I want to hear it."

"I'm staring at my beautiful boyfriend that I thought was having a nice moment of peace but decided to be a pain in the ass instead." Cole chuckled and put the book in his lap, looking up at Kai.

"I'm pain in the ass?"

"Pretty much, yeah."

"Says the one that came here to disturb me from reading. Did you come here just to insult me?" Kai stood behind the armchair and leaned over the backrest, his head next to Cole's.

"No," he said. "But I was looking for you."

"Why?"

"Just missed you, is all. What are you reading?" He pointed to the book and Cole picked it back up, turning the item over in his hands.

"I was going through some of the books Dad sent me," Cole explained, "and this was there... I remember reading it in school, it's a classic, Florante at Laura." He seemed to hesitate with his finger on the bookmark that was peeking out.

"You mind reading to me?" Kai asked quietly. Cole turned his head slightly to him but then opened the book and resumed reading where he last stopped. At first, his voice seemed weaker, as if he was self-conscious about reading aloud, or perhaps he just wasn't used to it yet. But Kai just stayed still and listened as he gained confidence and his voice strengthened. However, what didn't go unnoticed by the red ninja was how every now and then Cole would brush his hair out of his face only for it to fall back again.

His movement caused Cole to stop.

"Don't mind me," Kai said. "Go on, I'm listening." As Cole got back to reading, Kai took the unruly strands of hair in his hands. His fingers tenderly brushed through it before he tied it into a bun. Unlike Cole, he always had a hair tie ready on him – exactly because Cole just never had one when he needed it.

The fire ninja couldn't see it, but the small gesture caused Cole to smile to himself. It wasn't the easiest to read and think about how he adored Kai but somehow he managed. Or at least the other didn't say anything.

When Kai was done and satisfied with his work, he leaned back on the backrest and listened to the melodic voice of his earthling. Closing his eyes, he focused on the vibrant sound and let himself get lost in it.

Cole has taught him (and the others as well) some Tagalog over the years and Kai even got himself some books for it. However, he still was far from being fluent in the language and could understand only small bits while being able to say just a few phrases (Mahal kita being obviously his favourite). That fact couldn't ruin his evening though, as he loved to listen to Cole no matter what he was saying. And he could feel the passion with which he read the stanzas and helped the author tell the story.

His voice grew stronger as he got lost in the words and Kai couldn't help but marvel at how lucky he was to be Cole's. There was a strong urge to touch him and caress his hair but Kai already disturbed him twice and he would hate to do it again.

The two lovers glowed in the golden evening sunlight as they quietly enjoyed each other's company and got lost in the world of written words that were brought to life in front of their eyes.

Although despite how much Kai didn't want to, he brought Cole out of the pages again when he moved and went to sit in his lap. Sitting on the floor wasn't comfortable, the closest thing was the couch and that was too far – so Cole it is. And he was tired of standing still, his neck even started protesting about the uncomfortable position.

Cole stopped, silence filling the room, and let him get comfortable. When Kai laid his head on Cole's shoulder, watching the text on the paper, the earth ninja began reading once more.

Neither of them knew how the time was passing. As long as there was light, it was all fine. The slow rising and falling of Cole's chest that softly rumbled as he spoke were so hypnotisingly relaxing... And his presence was calming as ever... And Kai listened to the words that were slowly losing sense as his eyelids grew heavier and heavier... And he felt guilty but Cole's sweet voice worked like a perfect lullaby and eventually, he got lost in nothingness where he couldn't do anything about it because there wasn't even a place to feel guilty anymore...

It took Cole several more pages to notice something wasn't right. The odd calm took him out of the trance again and when he turned his head, he was met with Kai's relaxed face and even breath.

The sun grew weaker but the red ninja seemed to glow nevertheless. He always seemed to be the brightest star in whichever place they were, always catching Cole's eye first of all things. His mouth was slightly open as his muscles were relaxed. It was always somewhat unusual to see Kai so calm and motionless but it was as well a pretty sight. Prettier than the sunset that was taking place just outside the window.

Unable to resist, Cole placed a kiss on his boyfriend's forehead before going back to the book in his hands.