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“Cheers!” Lloyd cried, holding up a halfway filled glass of wine. He’d smuggled it away from his mother’s office, and like any good kid would, immediately wanted to try some. Most of the other ninja were gathered around the table with glasses of their own, but Lloyd and Nya were the only ones who seemed excited about it. They were both giggling at everything after their first glass, though Kai couldn’t help but wonder if they were overreacting to one glass of wine. Even Jay, who wasn’t technically old enough, seemed fine with the alcohol.
“Excuse me, what is going on here?” Came an ominous voice from the doorway. Zane. He was the only one who had absolutely zero tolerance for underage drinking, and it showed in the anger on his face.
“Zaneeee! It’s fine!” Nya cried.
“Yeah, relax, Zane.” Kai tried to defend his sister, but Zane pushed past him and held out his hands.
“Lloyd, Nya, hand it over. Jay, hand it over.”
“Hey, I’m twenty one!” Jay protested. Leaning back in his chair, Cole took a long sip from his own glass, almost taunting the others.
“False. You are twenty. Now please surrender the wine.”
“Fine,” Jay agreed, and motioned for Lloyd to hand the bottle to Zane. He did, albeit begrudgingly.
“Don’t see why Cole and Kai can keep theirs,” he mumbled under his breath. Zane sighed and left without another word. He would probably rat them out to Sensei Wu.
“Asshole,” Nya spat in Kai’s general direction as she was leaving.
“What did I do?!”
He never got an answer. A few minutes passed in silence until Cole handed his still mostly-full glass to Jay and stood up.
“Don’t let Zane catch you. I’m going to bed.” It wasn’t entirely noticeable, but Kai thought his voice sounded strained. Cole stopped and steadied himself on the wall, rubbing one spot on the side of his head.
“I’m going with him. Night, guys.” He waved goodbye to Jay and Lloyd and followed Cole down the bounty’s narrow hallway. Cole could hear the footsteps behind him, but he didn’t turn around until he reached the door of his room, when he suddenly stopped and held out a hand to Kai. Kai jogged to close the gap between them and slipped his fingers into Cole’s grip.
“You had dinner, right?” Cole was getting better about eating regularly, but Kai sometimes needed to nudge him in the right direction.
“Yeah, don’t worry,” Cole answered. He still sounded tense.
“You alright? You don’t sound great.”
“Just a headache. I think the alcohol made it worse.”
They entered Cole’s room and collapsed on opposite sides of the bed. Kai’s leg was bouncing with nervous energy, until Cole reached over and rested a hand on his knee. Kai wished it was more. He wished he could just stop being a coward and speak up, but every time he tried, part of him whispered that he was being selfish. Cole was still recovering. Kai was supposed to be there for him, not the other way around. It wasn’t right of him to want things from Cole.
So Kai didn’t say anything. Cole fell asleep within twenty minutes and Kai left the bed to sleep on the couch. When Cole was human the first time, they slept together all the time, even before they were together. Kai would bury his face in Cole’s chest and they’d wrap their arms together, and it was probably the most comforting thing ever. Kai was tall and wiry, but Cole still towered over him. He would never admit it out loud, but there was something nice about knowing someone was protecting you.
Of course, that was different after Cole emerged from Yang’s temple as a ghost. He barely slept at all, instead preferring to stay up for weeks on end. Of course, he still loved Kai, but he couldn’t physically show it. Staying solid for more than a few seconds took loads of concentration, so even a kiss was a rarity. Kai tried not to complain, because he knew Cole had it so much worse, but what could he say? His love language was physical touch. He wanted to snuggle. It was a huge relief when Cole managed to return to his human body, but Kai still felt wrong asking for anything. Maybe he was being stupid.
Kai slapped a hand over his eyes and tried to go to sleep.
Kai couldn’t take it anymore. He spent hours tossing and turning, but he couldn’t fall asleep no matter what he tried. He could hear Cole’s steady, even breathing from across the room. He wanted to be over there. Kai groaned in frustration and ran his fingers through his hair. Why was he like this?
“Are you avoiding me?” The small voice came from across the room. It was so quiet that Kai thought he’d imagined it at first. Cole wasn’t as asleep as Kai had assumed.
“Of course not, why would you think that?” He said into the darkness.
“Well, you left as soon as I fell asleep. What else could that mean?” Cole sadly answered. “Did I do something? You’re acting distant ever since I turned back human.”
“Well, I dunno.” Kai’s eyebrows furrowed. “I wanted to give you time to feel better about stuff. I didn’t want to be pushy, since I tend to be pretty touchy. You mentioned that you weren’t used to, like, skin contact, so…”
“How am I supposed to get used to it if you treat me like I’ll break if you touch me? I miss you just, like, randomly sitting on me and hugging me and touching my hair.”
“Is that an invitation?” Kai asked with a flirty lilt in his voice. “I thought you wanted to be left alone.”
“Nah, are you kidding? I need you. Feeling you with me is actually really helpful. It reminds me that I’m here, y’know? That’s a bad explanation, but you get it.”
Kai didn’t say anything in response, but he stood and joined Cole on the other side of the room. They couldn’t see each other, but they found each other instantly. Cole was sitting up in the soft mattress. Kai wrapped his legs around his hips and squeezed him tighter than he ever had. This was what he’d been longing for—and Cole had basically just given him permission to never let go. He didn’t plan to any time soon.
“Man, I missed you.”
“I haven’t been gone, hothead,” Cole playfully reminded Kai. “You’re the one who decided to stop being stupidly clingy.” He reached around Kai’s shoulders and carefully rubbed the spot between his neck and hairline.
“I’m sorry. You should have said something sooner!” Kai said with a small laugh. “I’ve basically been pining after you all over again lately.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah," Kai embarrassedly admitted.
“Stay with me this time,” Cole pleaded. Kai pulled him even closer and pressed a kiss to his collarbone. He trailed his lips along Cole’s skin until his chin was resting on top of one of his shoulders. This was the best he’d felt in weeks.
“I will. I promise.”