Work Text:
December 1st crept in with no fanfare, as the team was still reeling from their fall festivities. Wu looked around as he sipped his morning blend of tea, clearly unnerved by the state of his beloved ship.
“This place is a fucking mess.”
That was an understatement. There were bits of trash strewn all over the place, food splatters left on tables and wooden chairs, dishes left out, and dust accumulating everywhere. He sighed as he finished his tea, fixing his attention on the 5 kids playing video games in the living room.
“Jay, I fucking swear. Stop throwing caramel popcorn at me!” Nya yelled.
“Yeah, man. Cut it out.” Cole sniped back.
“Bro, it’s not that big of a deal! I don’t know why you all are so pressed!” Jay protested.
“Because I can’t beat this level for you if you’re pelting me with food!”
As they continued bickering, Wu finally stood up and walked through the living room. His little trip found him in front of the bedroom door, where the room’s only current occupant was just starting to wake up from a nap.
“Yes?”
Wu opened the door slowly, not wanting to startle Zane.
“Hey, can you come into the living room? I need to talk to everyone.”
“...sure.”
Zane stood up, still shaky from their nap and barely awake. Their hands fumbled as they searched for their cane, but they eventually found it and used it to stand up. As they made their way out of the room, Wu sighed again and rested his free hand on their shoulder.
“Before I start this conversation, I want you to know that none of this is directed at you. You’re not in trouble in the slightest.”
“It’s just about collective responsibility?”
“Exactly. Go sit down.”
Zane nodded and complied, sitting next to Nya on the floor. She turned the console off and leaned into her friend.
“You’re not as warm. Glad the medicine is working.”
“As am I.”
“Do you feel better?”
“...a bit.”
They grew solemn, and Nya took that as her cue to shut up. Cole settled into the other side of Zane, careful not to aggravate their shoulder as he snuggled up.
“How did you sleep?”
“Well.”
Everyone else soon settled in, and with the clearing of Wu’s throat, they all realized that something serious was about to go down.
“...I can’t believe you. Seriously. 2 days to relax, and this place turns into a mess? Absolutely fucking disgraceful! How hard is it to even clean up the messes you alone make?”
The team held their breath in anticipation. Most brushed off the verbal tirade, but Zane felt themself shrink in shame. Nya lovingly stroked their hand to reassure them, since Wu’s earlier comfort was beginning to fade.
“Hey. This wasn’t your doing. You’ve been sick, and it’s better that you’ve been resting. Ok? This is our fault.”
“OUR fault?”
“Kai, shut the fuck up.”
Kai tried to leave, but Wu glared and pointed back at the couch.
“Excuse you. Sit your ass back down.”
Kai rolled his eyes and complied.
“Now, before anyone else gets the bright idea to leave: I’m making today a family wide cleaning day. Everyone will chip in. got it?”
Zane nodded, and everyone else sighed.
“Ok, let’s get started. Zane, I just want you to worry about the guest room today.”
“But it’s the least fucked up room on the ship!” Jay whined.
“That’s the point. Since Zane didn’t contribute to the mess, I don’t want them wasting energy cleaning more than they have to. And just for that, you’re getting the shared bedroom.”
“WHAT THE- Ugh, fine…”
“I can take my spaces: Bedroom and bathroom, and maybe the hallways. Kai?”
“...I can handle the kitchen.”
“Let me do the living room.” Cole offered. “Most of this mess is mine.”
“Nya?” Wu asked. “How is your room?”
“A wreck. I need to organize for Yule and get those cards charged.”
“...can you do both bathrooms as well? I’ll give you $30 per bathroom.”
“Deal.”
“WHAT THE FUCK? You’re not paying US to clean!”
“That’s because this is time that Nya could be using for her personal spiritual practices. Lloyd? Can you take care of the deck?”
“Sure.”
Everyone nodded and broke away to clean their assigned spaces. Just as Nya slammed the door to her room open, Zane snuck in and handed her $60.
“I’ll get the bathrooms. You get ready for Yule.”
“But-”
“It wasn’t fair of you to get assigned the extra work.”
“And it’s not fair for you to do extra work when you haven’t contributed to the mess.”
Zane rolled their eyes and cleaned Nya’s bathroom anyways. It wasn’t a cesspool like the bathroom Zane shared with the other fighters, so they weren’t drained by the task. Just wiping down surfaces and moving laundry to her hamper.
By the time they finished, Nya’s altar was organized and her tarot cards were charging in a corner of her desk.
“Thanks.”
Zane just nodded and snuck back to the shared bathroom, allowing Nya to finish her personal holiday prep.
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Lloyd snuck in from the deck, setting his shoes by the door and tiptoeing to the broom closet. Just as he finished putting his supplies away, he ran into his uncle leaving his room.
“Are you still using that?” Wu asked, pointing to the broom.
“No.”
“Cool.”
Wu swept the hallways, and Lloyd made his way to the living room. He soon found himself helping fold blankets while Cole vacuumed the couch. As they cleaned, Wu snuck back in and began rifling through his vinyls.
“Let’s see…”
He soon found a collection of vintage Christmas recordings and let that spin as he helped set the cushions back on the couch.
“Thanks.”
The music played, and Cole found the perfect scented candle to light for the occasion.
“Warm apple pie… perfect.”
=====================================================================
Meanwhile, in the kitchen, Kai was having a miserable time. He had kept his word, cleaning most of the kitchen by this point and not half-assing his work. He had swept, mopped, scrubbed counters, cleaned the stove (for once), dusted, and even took a toothbrush to the air fryer.
“Ok. The only thing left… leftovers.”
He opened the fridge, only for food to fall out with the swing of the door. His rules were simple: Keep Thanksgiving leftovers, throw away anything that started growing its own civilization. This did clear out about ½ of the leftovers, but still left some gray area that he wasn’t sure how to handle.
“ZANE?”
“Yes, Kai?”
“Can you come help me? Please?”
“Sure.”
“I’m going through leftovers.”
“Got it.”
Zane snuck into the kitchen and sat next to Kai. He opened each container, and they looked through and gave their opinions.
“This one smells off. Toss it.”
“Ok.”
“Nah, that’s fine.”
“Got it.”
Soon enough, they had finished. And with the kitchen clean, Zane took over the kitchen.
“It’ll just be a sheet pan dinner tonight.”
“What are you thinking?”
“Let’s see… we do have curry paste. Good. And… perfect. I can make those curried drumsticks.”
“Those? Ugh, those are so good.”
Kai left, and Zane got right to work. They were able to prep the pan and everything else for the meal in almost the blink of an eye. And as almost everything baked, Zane set the packets of basmati rice to microwave.
“Perfect.”
Zane snuck out to finish the guest room, which only had the floor left to sweep. When they came back to the kitchen, Lloyd had finished his bedroom as well, so he helped mix the yogurt sauce.
“Dinner smells good.”
“Thank you.”
Jay snuck in, having finally finished cleaning the shared bedroom.
“Jay? Can you and Lloyd set the table, please? Dinner should be done soon.”
“Sure.”
They set off to the dining room, and Nya came in just as the oven dinged. Zane checked the meal one more time, disappointed with the results.
“It needs a few more minutes.”
“Ok. What can I help with?”
“Um… I don’t know.”
“Do you want me to take out the garbage?”
“No need, I’ll take care of that.”
Cole swooped in, and Nya busied herself with trying to find drinking glasses.
“I’ll let you know when dinner is done. Ok?”
“If you insist.”
Cole nodded, giving Zane their cue to take out the garbage. As Zane closed the back door, they found themself caught in a crisp gust of wind.
“It’s finally cold…”
Zane threw the garbage away and just basked in the chill of the wind. They finally felt like themself again, clear-minded and calm. They breathed deep, fully taking in the cold and allowing actual relaxation in their mind.
Looking up sealed the deal for them. In the dark sky lay thousands of bright stars, each shining in their own way.
Zane had always been a sucker for nights like these: Clear, starry skies just as the cold of winter starts to settle in and become the norm. They smiled as they saw their breath settle in the air.
“Perfect.”
They sighed and settled some more, only to be interrupted by a stern cough from their adoptive father.
“You’re just getting over being sick, I don’t need you catching something else. Come inside.”
“That’s an old wive’s tale.”
“I don’t care. Come inside, please.”
“...coming.”
Zane reluctantly followed Wu inside, swiftly greeted by a mug of beef broth.
“Come sit with everyone. They want to tell you how well dinner turned out.”
“If you insist.”
Zane sipped their broth as they made their way to the table. As anticipated, everyone was OBSESSED with the sheet pan dinner.
“I think we have a new staple!” Lloyd yelled in between bites of chicken leg.
Zane just nodded and found the last empty seat. To their luck, it was right by the window, allowing them to stare back at the stars outside. Their mug of broth fell to the wayside in their observation, much to Wu’s chagrin. But his music was still playing, and nobody was actively trying to kill each other. So to him, it was an absolute win.