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Kai was.. in a mood. You know, when you have one of those bad days? You don't want to do anything, you have no motivation to eat or take care of yourself. You just want to stay in your bed for a whole day as if it was your only shield.
It wasn't like Kai was in a bad place mentally, no, of course not. He was just.. lost in himself? Yeah, guess you could say that. The fire elemental tried to sleep, he really did. Especially, after sensei Wu didn't spare them all during today's sparring. But Kai couldn't concentrate on sharpening his skills. His mind was far from sensei's lectures and Lloyd's fists near his face. It was the first time he let the younger boy win without even trying to fight back! Usually, Kai would be so mad about it, he would argue that it was an unfair fight, and Lloyd was clearly cheating, but today everything was different. In all honesty, it was different the last few days, and Kai didn't know what he was supposed to do to stop it.
Though, Kai was the last person out of everyone to ask for a help. Growing up alone, Kai had to do everything on his own. Taking care of Nya, feeding both of them, owning a blacksmith shop and other stuff every single person faced in this world every day. But if the others had someone by their side to help them with their issues, Kai was completely alone. Of course, he had his sister, but she was too young to help him find a way to, for example, earn some money. He needed to do all of it by himself.
The brunette didn't blame his parents for anything. After all, it wasn’t really their fault. But it didn't change the fact that the Smith siblings had to grow up on their own. It also didn't magically make all of Kai’s mental scars inside of him fade away. They were still with him, every single one. When he and Cole started dating, Kai had a chance to cover them with a band-aid, Cole made him really happy. The noriette was awesome in every way. He could support any idea of Kai's, make him laugh until his stomach was in pain and other stuff you could say about your partner.
Yet the brunette didn't want to bother him with it. Cole already had other stuff to worry about. In fact, all of them did, so Kai and his personal problems weren't really things the black ninja would want to deal with right now. Kai could do everything by himself though, he always managed to find a solution to every problem, so he could solve this problem, either. He was Kai Smith after all.
All of the sudden, Kai jumped from the weird noise he heard outside. He looked in the window, seeing rain. For some reason Kai disliked this type of weather. He didn't like the dampness you could feel in the air after the grey clouds disappeared, he didn't like the sound of raindrops falling on his windowsill. It was annoying, and the brunette never tried to hide it but didn't dare to complain either. Still, he couldn't understand why everyone was so happy when the sky was covered in the dark clouds and then followed by rain.
Kai sighed and decided to check on Cole. His boyfriend seemed really exhausted by today's sparring, considering how hard Wu was on him. He explained it as “Cole was the strongest out of all of them, so he needed to train more, so his muscles wouldn't disappear because of his laziness”. The master of fire chuckled at this kind of wisdom. Wu always said something weird but in his opinion smart, though none of the ninja could understand what the heck his words meant sometimes. The teen jumped on the floor from his bed and left the room.
To his own surprise, it was so quiet, he forgot when it was so silent in the monastery the last time. All of the ninja usually were very loud, whether they were playing video games or just arguing about random things they didn't agree with. It was so quiet that Kai shuddered. Cole's room was located between Zane and Nya's rooms, so Kai quickly made his way to the door he needed. The brunette didn't bother to knock, knowing that the earth elemental probably wouldn’t answer cause he was sleeping. Kai slowly opened the door, he couldn't help but smile at the sight of his boyfriend.
Cole was lying on the bed, deeply in his sleep. He didn't even bother to change his clothes, falling asleep in his suit. Kai chuckled and shook his head.The black ninja didn't look like he could be easily awoken, still Kai thought it would be right to be as quiet as possible. However, something clicked in his mind. He looked at his boyfriend again, the noriette seemed so peaceful and quiet that Kai was almost jealous he couldn’t fall asleep the same way. He thought that maybe, just maybe, Cole wouldn’t be mad if Kai slept with him a little. They were a couple after all, it wasn't that bad, was it?
With that, Kai took a deep breath and walked up to the other's bed. Only seeing Cole’s face made a smile form on Kai's lips, and with every second, it only became wider and wider. Quickly, Kai snuggled into the other's arms, immediately feeling the warmth spreading in his chest. Surely, he was master of fire, he couldn't feel cold naturally, but lying next to Cole, in his arms could never compare to any elemental power. It felt so right, so amazing.
The brunette was about to close his eyes when he felt a movement next to himself. Kai turned around and saw that Cole was rubbing his eyes, probably trying to wake up. Kai started feeling so guilty. He knew how tired his boyfriend was, he wanted to have his sleep, but Kai ruined everything cause of the cockroaches in his head. The noriette was kind and caring, he would never yell at Kai for waking him up or being mad because of this. But he wouldn’t be very happy about it either.
“Kai?”
“Hey,” Red smiled awkwardly while Cole still tried to understand how did he wake up with his boyfriend in his arms.
“What are you doing here?”
Well, damn.
“I'm sorry I woke you up, I shouldn't have come at all,” Kai suddenly took a sitting position, about to leave, when Cole grabbed his hand, stopping him. Kai saw a tired smile on his face.
“I didn't say it's a bad thing, did I? I'm just surprised to find you here cause I remember falling asleep alone.”
Kai bit his lip. “Can we just.. cuddle? For a while?”
The noriette couldn't help but agree, nodding at his words. It immediately made Kai shine. Black wrapped his arms around Red, feeling the other's arms around him as well. Kai curled closer to Cole, feeling how he pressed a soft kiss on his forehead. It was all Kai could ever dream of. Cole was so kind, so caring, so amazing. He never failed to amaze Kai more with his support and incredibly big heart. There wasn't a day when Kai wouldn't feel happy with Cole around him. The noriette did things to him no one else could do. And it made Kai's heart fill with happiness because Cole made him feel like he was truly loved, like Kai was special.
Just a simple cuddling sent sparks to his stomach. Lying like this next to each other, their arms wrapped around each other's bodies and legs tangled together felt so good to be reality. The fire elemental couldn’t understand what he did to have Cole as his boyfriend. It was like the universe finally sent him a light he needed so much. Cole was his light.
“Something is bothering you, am I right?” Cole asked out of nowhere, breaking the silence. He was followed by a yawn, which made Kai realise. His boyfriend was so tired and slept less than an hour, it was clear as a day that he wanted to close his eyes again.
The brunette bit his lip, then hid his face in Cole's muscular chest. He wasn't ready to spill out this information, not yet.
“Hey,” Cole started kissing him all over the face, there was no spot left on Kai’s skin his lips didn't touch. “Talk to me, flicker, you know I just want to help. You can trust me.”
“I know, I know, it's just..” Kai sighed. He relaxed when he felt Cole's lips on his forehead again.
“Take your time,” Cole pulled him closer to himself, the brunette couldn't help but smile while leaning his head against Cole's chest. The noriette squeezed Kai's arm in attempt to comfort him, the bigger boy started pressing brief kisses on the soft skin again, seeing that it did calm the other teen down.
“I just feel like.. I dunno, like I'm so lost. I don't know how to explain it, but it's like I have no motivation to do anything. Dammit, I didn't even fight back and let Lloyd win today!”
“Yeah, I've noticed that too,” Cole sighed and left a quick peck on Kai's lips one last time, then buried his face in the other's spiky hair. “I wanted to talk to you about it, but you were so quick to hide in your room, so I decided to leave this conversation for another time.”
Kai curled even closer to Cole, leaving no space between them and feeling the warmth that emanated from Cole. Even tho Kai was the elemental master of fire himself, right now his boyfriend was his only source of warmth, not his powers. The noriette ran his fingers through Kai’s hair, receiving a sigh from him. It wasn’t a secret that this kind of affection from the black ninja made Kai relax. In fact, Cole was the only one who was allowed to touch Kai’s hair.
“I’m sorry I woke you up,” Kai said for the second time in a while.
“Hey, no more of that. I told you it’s fine," the pet name slid so smoothly against his tongue. Black left another soft kiss on the other’s forehead. “You can always come to me with everything, no matter what time of the day it is, alright? If you are so concerned about me not getting enough sleep, how about we get some sleep together then? You seem tired, too.”
The red ninja only nodded, a smile started forming on his lips. “I’d like that.”
They changed their position on the bed, now both of them laid more comfortable next to each other. Cole still had his arms wrapped around Kai’s waist while the other ninja was cuddling against his boyfriend. And right there, in Cole’s arms, Kai had never felt better. The noriette pressed a quick kiss to Kai’s neck, making his boyfriend giggle. It made Cole smile.
“I love you, flicker.”
“I love you too, bear.”