No specific pairings for this one. Just a bit of bromance between all the ninja, I guess. Yay!
"What?!" Cole stomped up to Sensei Wu, who stood in the doorway of the guest room. "What do you mean our mattresses were sent away for cleaning?!"
"I believe you know exactly what I mean," the man stated. "Unless you want bedbugs and other pests sleeping with you, you'll have to share a bed tonight in here."
Jay laughed, coming up to stand next to Cole. "Yeah, okay, but what about Lloyd? He's the Green Ninja, he should at least have his own bed, right? I mean, we could just let Lloyd have the bed and we can sleep on the floor, right?" He paused before continuing. "We have sleeping bags, right?"
"Come on, Sensei, this isn't fair, especially to Lloyd," Kai protested. "Can't you get us to a hotel or something for the night?"
"I'm sorry, but we don't have the funds for something like that," Sensei Wu replied. "You'll have to make do with what we have, which is one bed. It's times like this when, even if you don't like what you have to do, it must be done anyway for your own good." He turned away. "You'd best get ready for bed now, ninja. Tomorrow will be a long day of training once again."
"Sensei is correct," Zane said. "We must make do with what we have, despite our negative feelings towards it."
Lloyd cleared his throat. "It doesn't really matter, guys. I'm okay as long as we have a bed."
"Yeah, but don't you at least want a bed to yourself?" Jay asked. "Don't you think you'd sleep better that way?"
Lloyd didn't answer. Instead, he walked up to the average-sized bed, lifting the covers and flopping onto his back in the middle of the bed, resting his head against one of the many pillows. "Come in whenever you feel like it, I'm going to get some sleep."
The other four ninja exchanged a glance, before slowly getting into bed next to Lloyd, Zane and Jay on his left, Cole and Kai on his right. It wasn't long before they all started bickering quietly.
"Cole, move your foot!" Kai hissed, shuffling beneath the blankets.
"My foot? Yours is jabbing into my side!" Cole shot back.
"Okay, who's hand is that?" Jay whispered, shifting to the side with a disgusted look on his face.
"I apologize, that would be mine," answered Zane, who turned so his back was facing him.
Lloyd simply stared up at the ceiling, his face blank as his fellow ninja argued over sleeping in the same bed, wondering just how he literally got caught in the middle of this mess. "I don't know about you guys," he finally muttered. "But your fighting is more annoying than sleeping in the same bed."
They stopped moving when Lloyd said that, before they started apologizing profusely, which only made him even more irritated. "Okay, I get it. You're sorry. Now please, can you just let me sleep?" With that, he shut his eyes, his head lolling to the side slightly.
He didn't hear another word from his companions after that, and he relaxed. Maybe this won't be so bad after all, he thought, before eventually drifting off to sleep.
The next morning, Lloyd woke up before the others, and before Sensei Wu came in. He sat up slightly, surprised by what he saw. Not only had they managed to get to sleep, they were surprisingly closer to each other than he thought they'd be.
On his right, Kai had his face pressed into Cole's back, and Cole had one arm reaching out for Lloyd, the other on Kai's hip. On his left, Zane had turned back over in his sleep, with his chin resting on the top of Jay's head, and Jay's mouth hung open, a thin line of drool down one side of his jaw.
Lloyd smirked at the sight. For a bunch of guys who were so against the idea of sleeping in the same bed, they look strangely adorable doing it.
He raised an eyebrow at that thought. Maybe a little more sleep would do me good, he decided, laying back down and closing his eyes.
Now, I just want to say I'm really happy with the feedback I've gotten from you guys! This is actually my most popular story now, in terms of both views and reviews, so thanks so much!