A/N: I don't own Lego Ninjago. Period. Just my humble OCs and my story XP
Thank you so much for keeping the embers glowing by reading my work! I especially want to thank my reviewers from the last chapter and everyone who has become a follower of me or my story or has favorited the same! I am truly honored!
Doing Zane's POV has really been fun, but challenging! I really hope everyone enjoys the following chapter! As always, feel free to contact me in any way you can, I look forward to it! I love to hear what people enjoy about the story and about other things they may enjoy reading! Your encouragement and suggestions are why this is the 36th chapter!
Onward! (as always, rated T)
Chapter 36
**Zane's POV
The obscuring cloud of powdered sulphur was beginning to settle, affording me the ability to see a short distance into the dimly-lit store. The high-pitched sounds of pressurized gases being released from their constrictive flasks continued all around me, like I was in a pit filled with agitated vipers. The second call of the Serpentine commander to his squad broke through the ominous sounds.
"Garmadon's boy and the girl were at the bait and likely didn't move far! Retrieve them immediately! Acidicus also ordered that the leader and his teammate be put to death! Find them and see that it gets done, then proceed to the rendezvous point!"
Doing an about-face, the Venomari marched outside, leaving his lackeys to do the dirty work. I was getting the impression that this was a retaliatory strike against Cole as well as a bid to seize both the power of the Green Ninja and a pawn for use against Garmadon. The thought of what the Serpentine intended toward my family made my synthetic blood boil.
When facing the back of the place, the front entrance was situated on the left side of the rectangular shop, the 'bait' for which Lloyd had fallen was in the far right corner. Following the passageways which ran from the left to the right, Cole had succumbed to the anesthesia gas after running blindly into the right wall of the building.
He had probably collapsed no more than thirty-five feet from wherever the objects of his quest had also lost consciousness, yet several shifted shelving units and boxes still lay between us and the far right corner.
Ducking down as the eleven Serpentine soldiers I had sighted began combing the expanse, I sifted through options for my next move. Now that Cole was safely contained, I knew my next priority was to prevent a kidnapping. The kidnapping of my beloved's dear friend who was also the beloved of my own dearest friend.
Thoughts of Sofiya pushed their way to the forefront of my mind as I fingered her silver mantra talisman for compassion and protection which hung on a thin strip of leather around my neck. I had not seen her in two days, although I had spoken to her several times, and I was missing her immensely.
Facing the Serpentine troop alone had me wondering if and when I would be with her again, when I would be able to luxuriate in the sensation of holding her in my arms, having her warm breath and nimble fingers on my skin…
Catching my psyche drifting, I immediately switched back to the issue at hand, the Serpentine threat and their fighting style, which was largely disorganized. They currently had three objectives: the abduction of the Green Ninja and Lloyd, the murder of Cole, and the issue of dealing with a skilled, riled, and able-bodied ninja. I calculated that handling them methodically would be fairly unproblematic if their squad was split.
Being very reluctant to venture wielding the heavy, cumbersome, and sharp-bladed weapon that the earth ninja used with such practiced ease and proficiency, I elected to leave the scythe by his temporary repository before setting out to defend Arwyn and Lloyd.
In a crouch, I wound my way around the ends of aisles and through stacks of boxes, hoping I was getting closer to my sensei's kin. Negotiating a shelf end, I soon saw them being bundled up by two Fangpyres as a Venomari and two Constrictai uselessly supervised.
Finally visualizing them, I understood then why our opponents seemed insusceptible to the sulphur and isoflurane. Each of them was equipped with a full-face, self-contained breathing apparatus, indicating with more certainty that this was not a last-minute scheme. Just how they had known we would be in this area, I had no time to ponder.
One of the insidious scarlet serpents caught my movement as I stood to confront them. "NINJA!" The loitering three turned, no doubt surprised to see a conscious shinobi, and rushed to the attack, but were a split second too slow as I employed a trick I had taught Arwyn which she had successfully used on the Bounty.
Summoning my element, I insured that the trio was held fast to the floor by a mound of ice which bound their feet. But, where Arwyn had tried to be merciful, or had not had the energy to do more, I built up the frozen mass to entirely cover them and let them await their fate when I returned.
The Fangpyre pair, now carrying their captives, were already making their escape toward the front of the building and yelling to their fellow legionnaires about my unanticipated wakefulness when I was able to devote my full attention to them.
Cutting down the next aisle, I saw a Venomari advancing from the opposite end. Looking back, another was in pursuit. Not slowing down, I veered to the left, set a foot on a middle shelf, a hand on the top shelf, and hurdled the six-and-a-half foot unit, landing lightly on my feet in the adjacent aisle.
Two alert Serpentine appeared side by side before me, intent on hemming me in and impeding my progress toward my quarry. They halted briefly when I hefted a shuriken and hurled it, clipping one in the temple. The other snake flinched away as his partner froze from the top down, before he could fall to the floor.
Glare on his full-face shield from the trifling amount of light in the place prevented me from seeing the second snake's sneer, but I heard it in his jeer. "You missed me, ninja."
Flicking my wrist unperturbedly prompted the golden shuriken to arc in its flight, clipping the head of the disdainful reptile on its return as it heeded its master's call. I snatched the ricocheting missile from the air as the scaly adversary became an icy monument. "Not on the rebound," I noted with vindication to his now-deaf ears.
For added insult, the icebound pillars were shoved to the floor, shattering them and their nuclei, as I impatiently vaulted between the chilly couple on my way to intercept the hostage takers.
Succeeding in making it to the end of the aisle unmolested, I spied the abductor carrying Lloyd as he exited onto the street. It was too late to stop him, but the Serpentine bearing my newest teammate was only a few feet behind him and was an achievable goal.
Making my stand at the end of the shelves, I reached into my leather flank pouch and exchanged my shuriken for a kyoketsu-shoge, grasping the hilt of the double-bladed knife in one hand, the attached cord and ring in the other.
The ringed end of the cord twirled at my side three times before the ring was launched at the retreating back of the kidnapper, circling the snake's neck and winding the thin rope around it twice.
A yank on the cord pulled it taut, bringing the Fangpyre to a sudden, uncomfortable stop as he hit the ground on his back, Arwyn's weight on his chest making matters worse for him. Stunned for only a second, he shoved her unconscious form off of his torso, jarring her protected head on the floor, dislodging her helmet, and sending it rolling to the side.
Rising to his feet before I could get near enough to set hands on him, the infuriated serpent grasped the cord at his throat and unsheathed his sword with his free hand. "You fricking,' bastard ninja! You die today!"
"You are incorrect, snake. That is not on the program." It was time to engage mano a mano.
Doubling the cord several times, I reeled him in closer, an action he rejoined by lunging forward with his blade. Trying to avoid his show of aggression, I took an expeditious pace back, but not far enough as his rapier sliced deeply through my arm wrap, staining the cloth with my alizarin-tinted life-fluids. The sudden pain was disregarded as I deftly ensnared the blade of his sword with a loop of the nylon cord while completing my backward movement.
A diaphragm-paralyzing side-kick to the abdomen sent my combatant to his knees. As he went down, I saw that behind him, another Serpentine dashed in from somewhere to my left, lifted Arwyn from the floor, and spirited her away.
Gritting my teeth in frustration, I swiftly wrapped another loop of the flexible cable around my nearest foe's neck, pulling the entangled sword with it to rest tightly against his vulnerable throat. Releasing the hilt of the double-bladed knife, I clasped the grip of his weapon and pulled, utilizing firm pressure to draw its blade through the major blood vessels supplying the brain of the reptile, thus hastily ending our contest.
Unable to avoid the spurting lifeblood that spattered my yellowed uniform and armor, I paid no heed to it and expertly loosened the cord around the expiring Serpentine's neck to allow it to be pulled over the head, retrieving it for later use.
His body crumpled to the floor, and I sprang over it, preparing to follow Arwyn's captor, when thudding and bashing noises stopped me in my flight. They emanated from my left as two Venomari labored with a mace and an axe to break the ice block in which Cole was cocooned.
At times like this, I understood why my brothers cursed.
My processor instantaneously began to calculate where the weakest point in the ice block may exist, the amount of force exerted by the warriors, the pounds of pressure being applied with each strike, the time it may take to shatter the frozen shield, whether I should put a stop to their efforts or pursue the kidnappers….
Screw it, it's a no-brainer… A baseball pitch sent a shower of icy, foot-long, razor-sharp spikes flying at the offensive pair, impaling both through the head and neck multiple times, the force throwing them back against the same wall Cole had rammed.
My moment of hesitation in order to attend to preventing harm from coming to him at the expense of losing Arwyn would probably later have Cole arguing with my logic. I whirled and ran out onto the sidewalk, looking left and right for any sign of Arwyn and her abductor.
A trail of yellow footprints to the left led me to the next alley which held nothing but a dumpster. The roar of a distant engine down a side street blocks away was my only indication of where they may have gone. I considered following them on the Snowmobile, but knew I could not indefinitely leave Cole in the state of suspended animation in which he currently existed.
We will find you…
Returning to the empty, and now quiet, shop, I retrieved Arwyn's fallen helmet, and then the Scythe of Quakes, using the latter to dispatch the group of serpents I had frozen previously. I did not need them doing violence to us or anyone else later.
Taking a quick survey of the area for anything I may have overlooked earlier, I spotted the catalyst to this whole, untidy muddle. A young cur of about twelve weeks with short, tan-and-white hair lay in the spot where he had been dropped by his rescuers.
Gazing down sadly at the small, yellow-powdered body, I reflected on how the little innocent had been used and sacrificed in such a nefarious plan. To my amazement, my requiem for the puppy was interrupted when I detected life. The respiratory rate was greatly decreased, yet he still breathed!
Scooping him up in my gloved hands, I straightaway brought the pup to the open door and placed his fragile body on the doorsill in the uncontaminated air, hoping it would help revive him and that he had not had a toxic dose of the gases.
Walking back to Cole, I thought of Sofiya and how she would appreciate my act of compassion, even as she would find my less-than-benevolent actions of the last few minutes thoroughly repugnant. She would unquestionably remain ignorant of those.
Standing over Cole's frigid shelter a moment later, I stared at it, suddenly feeling physically and mentally fatigued. The reptilian-blood-sprinkled mass measured seven feet by two point five feet by three point five feet with a volume of sixty-one point two five cubic feet. Including Cole, it weighed about three thousand five hundred twenty pounds.
Well, hell. I have most definitely screwed myself.
The iceberg was too heavy for me to consider moving alone and would take far too long to thaw. I would have to painstakingly carve him out of it to avoid injuring him, thereby worsening his developing hypothermia, and slowing the process of his recovery from the anesthesia.
Exhaling slowly and feeling I deserved a respite, I sat on the foot of the ice block and tapped in Jay's call code on my comlink. He answered right away, his anxious voice crackling over the device's miniscule speaker.
"We read you, Zane! Got you on three-way with Kai. What the hell's up? You didn't answer my call back to you, and neither did Cole or Arwyn, so we took off, and we're on our way to Castor!"
Propping my elbows on my knees and gripping my temples with one hand, I related a synopsis of our predicament. There was nothing but silence from my brothers' end when I had completed the tale. "Hello? Are you still there?"
"Ohmigod…," was, surprisingly, Jay's only initial comment, but Kai made up for it.
At first, he was enraged. "Those fricking sons of bitches!" But then he barely stifled a guffaw. "Not that I don't appreciate the gravity of this situation, since that is one, big, frickin' mess you're in, but considering the part where you made Cole into an icicle, I have this awfully powerful urge to roll on the floor laughing!" He capitulated to some of the aforesaid laughter. "It's gonna be especially funny when you wake the big grizzly up from hibernation!"
"Yeah, he's gonna be ten kinds of pissed over that!" Jay put in. "Like he'll need any other reason to be upset when he learns Arwyn's in the hands of the Serpentine!"
I squeezed my temples tighter, grimacing. "Thank you, Jay. I was completely unaware that that would be his reaction. However, I had no other viable options at the time."
"Sorry. I'm sure you did what was best at the time, Frosty," Kai slowed his giggling to make an attempt at sounding encouraging. "You always do."
"Yeah, Cole'll totally understand." Jay did not sound very convinced and changed the subject promptly. "We have you on the tracking monitor, and I'm receiving Arwyn's signal. She's moving north-northeast. We'll meet you in Castor wherever you are."
He paused a second. "Maybe you should wait until we get there before thawing Cole, so we can hold him off of you…"
I glanced down, seeing his masked features through the thick, frozen water. All of his life processes had been either slowed or stopped. Heart rate, four times a minute. Respirations, stopped. Blood pressure, forty systolic, twenty-five diastolic. Core body temperature, eighty-two point two degrees Fahrenheit/twenty-seven point nine degrees Celsius. His chances of a quick recuperation decreased exponentially with each passing hour.
"I do not think that will be necessary. It is very possible he will not be in any shape to chastise me much until well after you have both arrived." I considered the effects of reviving from hypothermia. "I am also hoping I do not need your services, Jay, but come as quickly as you can."
One of the complications could be a cardiac arrhythmia, especially ventricular fibrillation. On the other hand, Arwyn had told me during a discussion on surgical procedures that the younger and healthier the patient, the less chance of needing cardioversion with a defibrillator after coronary artery bypass where hypothermia was induced. Cole was only twenty-two years and ten months and hale and hearty. I was crossing my fingers.
"Okay, will do! I'll be with you in less than ten minutes, depending on where I can get on the ground. But Kai's ETA is almost an hour, and he's hauling ass!" Jay addressed his motorcycle-riding teammate with his gloating. "Still think your Blade Cycle is 'all that', hot shot?"
"Stick it, dim bulb!" Kai sniped. "At least I can say I've got something between my legs! That's more than you can do."
"Um, gentlemen?" Using the term loosely, I broke in to try to get my brothers back on track.
"Oh, right." Jay straightened up first. "Anyway, let's close this channel in case somebody's messing with Arwyn's comlink. We'll use the numbers from the first time she had set on our alarm clock. I think everyone should recall that, right?"
Terminating my communication with Jay and Kai, I sat for another minute while I regarded Cole's still form. I was motivated to get him out of the ice and begin his recovery as soon as possible, yet I dreaded it at the same time.
In his mind, as the leader of our team, in essence the captain of the ship, the safety of Cole's teammates took precedence over his no matter what. With the addition of Arwyn, this had nearly become an obsession for him.
No matter how much Jay and Kai approved of the decisions I had made during this ordeal, I knew with certitude that Cole was not going to appreciate that I had chosen to save his life—more than once—while allowing his beloved to be subjected to an uncertain fate. I knew if our roles were reversed, I would not.
Lifting Cole's scythe from the floor, I made ready to begin the process of removing everything that was not Cole from the enormous chunk of ice, when, with utter amazement, I felt the weapon pulsate. The closer it got to its master, the higher the frequency of the vibrations, as though it knew and understood that he was debilitated and in need of its services.
Putting the blade to the ice was like applying a hot knife to butter. The easy work gave me time to think about a conversation Cole and I had had yesterday in Miyagi on the Saitos' front porch after supper.
We were in ladderback chairs with rush seats, our legs stretched out before us, watching the sun race for the western horizon as Lloyd threw a couple of kunai at a tree in the front yard. Arwyn was taking her turn in the bathroom.
After sitting in comfortable silence for a time, Cole brought up an unforeseen subject. "You ever think about dying, Zane?"
With a questioning lift of a brow, I pulled my eyes away from the peach–lavender-and-orange sunset to confront his dark, brooding countenance. "It is not a favorite topic, but it has crossed my mind, and I do not fear it."
"Yeah, I'm kinda the same way," he admitted with a tilt of his head. "But Arwyn's different, and it's hard for her to talk about it. She hasn't been through the things we have. It's something that kinda came up yesterday evening when we were in the glade."
One corner of my lips curled upward. "On your first date."
"Yeah, I know." He rolled his eyes. "That was my fault. She said something that led me to say I would die before I'd let anything happen to her, and that sorta messed her up." He stood and paced to the end of the porch. "I think she's more scared of my death or someone else she loves dying than she is of her own. I feel the same way."
"She has the heart of a compassionate warrior."
"Well, I don't want it to affect how she reacts in certain situations. I don't want her giving up if I'm not there." Cole crossed his arms over his fitted undershirt. "And I definitely don't want any harm to come to her."
"I understand." Sofiya's gentle features came to mind. "I may not have two months ago, but I do now."
He smiled, nodding, before turning serious again and fixing me with an intent look. "You and I have targets on our backs, Z. You know that. I expect to get an ax buried between my shoulder blades every time we engage. I need to know something from you."
"All that is necessary is for you to question." I returned his stare with equal intensity.
"In the event that anything happens to me, like in battle, or an accident, or something…I need to know that you'll watch over Arwyn for me. At least as long as she'd be with the team, and afterward, if possible."
I was not certain I had understood his implication. "That is part of my job. And you know she has two other guardians…"
He shook his head, making his shaggy haircut swing a little. "That's not what I mean. I mean take care of her as the woman I treasure, not as the ninja of prophecy." The setting sun's orange glow bathed his pensive face as he peered back at it. "Especially…if we have a kid."
I nodded in awareness of his meaning. As always, he was thinking long-term, planning for whatever may lay ahead. "I understand, and I am extremely honored that you have asked me to do so. You know I would." His creased forehead smoothed, and I rose to stand beside him. "And since we are discussing the issue, I would like to request the same of you, in regards to Sofiya, if anything were to befall me."
"You got it, Snowflake." He held his open hand up and grasped my wrist and thumb as I pressed my palm to his. "You didn't even have to ask."
Returning to the present, as the last of the ice was scraped from my dear brother's eerily inert body, I realized I would have to admit that, with him incapacitated, I had opted to do other than that which he would have had me do. Perhaps I could use the excuse that I had saved his hide so that he could take care of her himself. It seemed logical. Yet, I still felt that I had failed them.
A minute later, Jay called to me from the doorway. "Hey, Zane! What smells like a fart in here? And is this the little guy responsible for hoodwinking Lloyd?" In his arms, he held the wakeful, but woozy, pup whose head was still wobbly. At least we had one positive outcome.
"The answers would be 'sulphur' and 'yes'." I motioned him over and gave him a summary of the present situation. "Cole's heart rate is slowly increasing, and he is taking a few slow breaths. He is in normal sinus rhythm at the moment, but stand by with a few joules in case he develops an arrhythmia. I want to monitor him a moment before we transfer him to his father's home. We will warm him there."
I had already removed Cole's mask and hooded helmet as soon as I had carved the ice away from his head. "Yikes," Jay grimaced as he gaped at him. "He looks like death not yet warmed over."
"Bearing in mind that he has just spent the last half hour encased in ice and is severely hypothermic, that is to be expected," I informed him crossly as I scanned our leader's vital signs.
Knowing he had hit a nerve, Jay winced as he scratched the puppy's ear. "Ooh, sorry."
I had to admit, however, that he was right. Cole was a very handsome man, but at this moment, he was undeniably not looking well. His tanned, olive complexion was paler with a bluish cast. His closed, bruised-looking eyes were puffy from the irritating sulphur, his lips dusky. I was grateful Arwyn could not see him, for the sight would have broken her heart.
Not wanting to wait any longer before starting the warming process, with Jay's help, I loaded Cole on the Snowmobile in front of me and was soon en route to the Montanaro home, thankful it was a short ride. Cole was heavier than he looked when he was unconscious. Jay followed with the little dog tucked into his jacket.
Lou greeted us with astonishment and near-panic upon seeing his stricken son, but proved himself to be very beneficial when I began giving orders for help with the removal of Cole's gear and clothing, and the preparation of a hot bath.
When things became more stable, as we strived to maintain the water temperature, Cole's father took a good look at me in my yellowed and bloodied uniform. "I think maybe you should clean up a little, too, and let me wash that. I have clothes you can wear until yours are cleaned."
Thanking him, I removed my armor and torn jacket as Lou went to acquire garments for me. I was standing in my mostly-white undershirt and soiled gi pants when he returned with a fresh set of clothing and a first-aid kit.
"'I'll take care of that wound on your arm, too, while we—," he stopped, perplexed when he saw no laceration, only the smear of my blood.
Rather than explain to him that there was more to me than met the eye, and that my father had apparently be able to manufacture skin that sealed and regenerated itself leaving just a faint mark, I simply took the clothing he offered. "Not to worry. A snake may have slashed my jacket, but it was his blood that was spilled in return."
He accepted that mutely and left me to clean up and change, going to the kitchen to set kettles and pots filled with water to warm on the stove. We had quickly emptied the water heater, which was slow to reheat, and Cole's temperature was still no higher than eighty-seven degrees Fahrenheit.
I deliberated over what else could be done. Presenting Cole at the hospital would result in a delay in getting our rescue mission started and being subjected to many prying questions. I felt we could take care of him here, but one essential component had not yet arrived.
XXXXX
"You want me to WHAT?!" Kai had entered the house only three minutes after Jay, Lou, and I had removed Cole from the tub, dried him, and settled him in his twin bed in his old room. The Spinjitzu master now lay under several quilts, covered up to his chin, while his father sat beside him, slowly stroking his bangs from his forehead with an expression of deep, and loving, concern.
As difficult as it was, I patiently updated the Master of Fire on Cole's condition and treatment. "We must increase his core body temperature as soon as possible. We have already tried immersing him in warm water, but there is not enough of it for long enough to warm him adequately. As a result, he is still unconscious, and his vital signs are still in the critical range."
I reiterated what had elicited his initial outburst. "I need you to enter the bed with him and produce enough heat with your element to warm him without burning him. Or the linens."
Through clenched teeth, Kai spat, "He wouldn't be like this if you hadn't frozen him!"
My gaze hardened like stone as I leveled it on my hot-blooded brother and spoke firmly and evenly, "You are correct. Instead, our leader would have been slaughtered in cold blood by the Serpentine as he lay anesthetized and defenseless on the trash-strewn concrete floor of an abandoned building."
Pausing, in my peripheral vision, I noted Lou's shocked reaction to my description while Kai continued to frown at me. "It was the only way I thought I could safeguard him and still fight nearly a dozen Serpentine. Alone. And I failed to prevent Arwyn and Lloyd's capture."
A moment of silence followed before Jay broke the tension. Smacking me on the shoulder, he proclaimed energetically, "You did what you had to do to protect Cole, and you did a damn fine job of it! I know he'll appreciate that—eventually."
He then jumped to Kai, gripping both of his friend's shoulders as he gave him his pep talk. "Now it's time for you to do your part and be the hero! All you have to do is cuddle with him for a while! C'mon! It's no big deal!"
Kai pushed him away in annoyance. "No big deal for you! You're not being asked to crawl into the sack with your buddy!" He stopped and looked around at everyone else in the small room looking at him like he was the most selfish boor in Ninjago.
His stubborn resolve crumbled quickly. "Okay, fine!" Flinging up his hands, he stripped himself of all armor and accessories until he was down to his gi. "But I'm not taking off my gi!"
The fire ninja lifted the covers to get into the bed beside Cole and instantly recoiled. "Oh, man! He's naked! Why isn't he wearing underwear or something, anything?!"
Cole's father came to his defense without delay. "Everything's in the wash! He was covered with powdered sulphur, and his clothes were soaking wet!"
"Besides, skin-to-skin contact is optimal for transference of body heat." I placidly raised an eyebrow and tried not to smile, knowing my next words were not going to be well-received, but delighting in that fact, anyway. "Therefore, it would be best if you were also in the same state of undress."
"WHAT?! No way!" Kai looked like an umpire calling a runner safe at home.
Pointing at the single bed, Jay had finally had enough of Kai's exaggerated indignity. "Kai, quit being such a pussy about this and get into that bed to warm Cole up, for God's sake!"
The ninja in red glared at the one in blue and testily jerked off his jacket and shirt. "Brothers should not be doing this with each other!" Feet apart, he stood by the bed, bare from the waist up, and pointed irately at Jay. "And I'm not taking off my pants!"
Jay crossed his arms with a smug grin as Kai, with his eyes closed tightly, tentatively crawled under the blankets and lay stiffly on the edge of the bed, almost a foot from Cole.
Sighing, I cocked my head to the side. "Kai, really. You will need to get closer to adequately warm him."
He opened his eyes and cast a sidelong glance at his suffering teammate. "Don't you think I'm close enough? My heat can reach him! What do you want me to do? Spoon with him?"
I gave him a look that said he had just stated the obvious. "Whatever position grants the most direct body contact. Ideally, your warmth should be in contact with his neck, chest wall, and groin."
You would have sworn I had lit a stick of dynamite nearby. "OMG! Are you serious?! No way am I touching his groin!"
"KAI TANAKA!" Taking a step forward, Jay nearly crackled with exasperation.
"Okay, okay, I'll spoon! But I'm not getting in the front! I don't really want to be in the back, either. Hell, neither way is right!" Pushing the quilts to the side, uncovering them both to the waist, he reached across to Cole's arm to push him onto his side. "Damn, he's freezing!"
"Duh," was my only response as Lou and I assisted him in repositioning Cole laterally, causing Kai to wince again when he got a glimpse of the nude ninja leader's backside.
Reveling in Kai's discomfort, Jay teased, "Just get behind him, and hug him, already! Pretend you're with Renata!"
Scowling, Kai shot him some really ugly eyes. "That is so not right, Jay!" Albeit reluctantly, he at last settled in with his chest against Cole's back as I pulled the edge of the bed linens up over them. "Today I'm really glad we don't have cameras on our comlinks. I wouldn't want anyone taking pictures of this!"
Quelling a smile, I clamped my lips together silently as I saved and backed up a couple of jpgs I had taken before their naked torsos were covered. They might prove useful as blackmail in the future.
Trying to be somewhat encouraging, Jay grinned, "Think about how impressed the girls will be when they hear about your selfless act! Chicks love this sort of thing! Arwyn'll be especially grateful."
Kai's head popped up from the pillow next to Cole's as he growled lowly, "Nobody breathes a word about this to anyone outside of this room, understand?! This stays here!"
I may have been the only one in the room who caught Jay's sly look and whisper. "That's what you think…"
"But, you know," Kai remarked as he made himself comfortable next to Cole, "This wouldn't be such a big issue with me if you had frozen Arwyn instead…"
Jay flashed him a warning look. "Suppose Renata and Cole heard that remark…"
"I'm just saying! And you know you'd feel the same way, so don't go judging me! How'd you like to be in this bed right now?"
"There's not enough room," Jay said dryly.
As Kai called up the heat, Jay, Lou, and I stood around in awkward silence for a minute, Jay's grinning causing me to recall a figure of speech I had heard Arwyn use. I believe it was 'like a jackass eating briars'.
Kai did not tolerate the gawking for long. "Look, I can't do this with an audience! Couldn't you people, especially Jay, find something else to do? Except you, Zane! I need you to stay and be a witness that nothing happened in here between Cole and me!"
Jay and Lou dutifully left the room, followed by the little dog Lou had decided to keep and named A-Cappella. Watching them go, Kai added crankily, "And, for the record, I am not enjoying this!"
I rolled my eyes. "That has been duly noted. Several times."
A/N: Please send me a review or PM! Hope you enjoyed Zane's fight and Kai's discomfort! (I'm not done with Kai) Later!