ColexKai = Lava = Perfect♥️

VI

Tell Your Baby, That I'm Your Baby...

​"Zane, you're like a machine. Don't change anything," Lou said, his voice thick with a mix of pride and professional admiration. He marched past the Nindroid, completely oblivious to the fact that Zane was a machine. Literally. At least in the broadest sense. Not that Cole would ever think of him in those cold terms. To Cole, Zane was more human than half the people he had met in his life, and he deeply respected Zane's quiet, noble grace.

​Which only made the sharp twist of the knife in his chest hurt worse when he saw Zane's chest puff up at the compliment, his bright blue eyes glowing with gratitude.

​"And Cole..."

​Cole's heart skipped a beat. A heavy, suffocating pause followed, before a second, agonizing throb reminded him that it was going to keep beating anyway-much to his own resentment.
​"...try to act like you actually want to be here," Lou finished, delivering his final verdict on the Ninja's performing arts skills. Or rather, on Cole's "boyband," which was what Lou honestly believed them to be.
​Cole's head dropped, his gaze burning a hole into the floorboards. He was the Elemental Master of Earth. He could literally command the ground to open up and swallow him whole right now. He wished it would.
​The rest of the rehearsal blurred past Cole like a suffocating, gray fog. It wasn't until evening, when he was about to assign guest rooms to the guys and tell them about Giovanni's Pizza-the best joint in town where they could order dinner-that the fog finally began to lift. That was when he heard Lou's muffled voice.
​Lou was still down in the rehearsal hall, speaking earnestly to someone.
​Cole froze. Even though he knew it was a terrible idea-even though a primal, aching part of his soul warned him that he was about to get hurt-he retraced his steps down the dimly lit hallway, slipping into the shadows just outside the half-open door. Kai and Jay had already headed upstairs; he could hear the ceiling creaking beneath their feet in the kitchen.
​Which meant the only person left down here was...

​"Zane... man... a talented young man like you... I haven't seen anything like it in-heck, NEVER in my entire career! You're going to be the absolute star of this show. I can see it now: 'Zane, the Mechanical Marvel'"
​"Mr. Brookstone, I believe the honor of the spotlight should rightfully belong to Cole. After all, he is your son," Zane replied, his voice carrying its usual polite, crisp, and slightly formal cadence.

​Inside the hallway, Cole's stomach violently wrenched. Bitter bile rose in his throat. He didn't want to hear this. He begged his ears to stop listening, but it was too late. He was trapped.
​"Cole?!" Lou scoffed, a dry, dismissive sound. "Zane, bless his heart, but Cole is simply not a born star. Quite the opposite, really. He doesn't possess a single quality I find valuable. He cares nothing for dance, even less for singing, and if we're being completely honest, he's miserable at both. Truly dreadful! Sometimes I wonder if he wasn't switched at birth in the hospital. Unfortunately, he inherited Lily's eyes and my nose... I just wish-" Lou's voice dropped into a low, conspiratorial whisper, "-I wish I had a son like you, Zane. Ha! Imagine that. I could make you a legend. A true successor. But Cole? No... Cole doesn't have the stomach for it. He's no son of mine, he just can't be."

​Cole didn't stay to hear Zane's response. He didn't want to know if the Master of Ice would defend him, contradict Lou, or just stand there and silently agree.

If Zane was half as smart as he usually was, Cole would actually advise him to do the latter.
​Because Lou was right. About all of it.
​From a very young age, Cole had shown zero interest and even less talent for the performing arts. He had run away from the Marty Oppenheimer School at the very first opportunity-but Lou didn't know that. Not yet.

​A desperate, angry part of Cole wanted to burst through the door and scream it in Lou's face. To tell him that he had left that pretentious, suffocating school and actually found something he was good at.