Chapter Eighteen: Unicorns
Warning: long author's note.
Aaagh!
Not writing has been killing me!
I had finals this week, and on top of that, I moved to a new place. Yesterday I went fourteen hours without a real break. I mean, I acted out Green Destiny, but that was basically it.
Then I got two hours of sleep last night, because a) I was too hot, b) my new place is very noisy at night, and c) my cat was chirping because she couldn't figure out how to jump onto my loft bed (when she finally did jump, she almost made it, but she was hanging onto the side, and I had to help her up). Then I had another final today and had to spend two hours cleaning and then do more unpacking but *sighs* I'm finally done moving! Yay!
And I finally finished March of the Oni! I knew Lloyd was gonna be fine somehow but...I was about to lose my shit at two in the morning.
Anyways, I should hopefully be getting back to regular updates now. I'll be focusing mostly on Quarantined and probably finishing up Second Wind, as well as posting one-shots. I'm thinking I'm going to put Shooting Stars on hiatus because I'm not really sure what direction it's going in, and I want to start a new chapter story soon (or two...). I've been chewing on these ideas for a few weeks now, and I'm super inspired.
Also, I can finally write that season ten lava one-shot! I've been looking forward to that—I'm starting to really like that ship :)
WalrusWins257: Oh my gosh, thank you so much! You have no idea how much that means to me. I was on a walk when I read your review, and it had me smiling from ear to ear! I really picture the ninja saying what I'm writing, and try to think about what each of them would say, as well as how they would say it. I'm so glad that comes across in my writing :)
CaptainSteve1: Haha, thank you! And your cousin. I'm glad you think my drunk writing is gold. And thanks for the cookies!
Steampunk Wilson: Aww, I'm glad you liked it! I showed it to my friends—one of whom is also ace—over a zoom call and I had to cut out the last portion. There's some more of Lloyd's drunk fic that I can put in this story—after that, I couldn't even show it to my friends, because it literally turned into smut. I'm not kidding.
Content warning: language and more talk of smash.
"Uh, what's going on here?"
Lloyd whipped around as he heard the red ninja's voice, making himself stumble in a dizzy haze. "Kai–whoa!"
Kai lunged forward, catching the blond before he made contact with the ground. "You okay?"
The green ninja nodded. "Y-Yeah," he stuttered. "Thanks."
The brunet helped him to his feet and turned to Jay. "What was with all the commotion out here? I could hear you all the way from the bathroom."
"Cole and Zane are in the bathroom?" Jay asked, puzzled.
Kai laughed. "No…"
"I thought you said you were going to find them...?"
"I was," the master of fire answered. "But I had to pee. Alcohol's a diuretic." He shot a pointed glare at Lloyd.
Nya shrugged. "Well, Cole and Zane were in the bathroom in Lloyd's story," she pointed out.
Lloyd's green eyes widened. "Nya, shut up!"
"What story?" Kai queried, raising an eyebrow in curiosity.
"N-Nothing!" Lloyd lied.
The fire ninja narrowed his eyes. "Is that what all the yelling was about?" After receiving a hesitant nod from Jay, he continued. "Tell me about this story."
Starting to come down from his state of intoxication, Lloyd took advantage of the fact that Jay was distracted and snatched his phone back. "No, it's bad," he told Kai. "Drunk me wrote a story and it sucks." He glared at the blue ninja. "And now Jay can't read it to you. So, ha!" He stuck his tongue out at Jay.
The redhead chuckled. "It's alright. I texted a copy to myself."
"Fuck!"
Cole skipped down the hall, making his way back to the rest of the team. I can't believe that just happened! He thought excitedly. Zane just kissed me!
He had never felt anything like that before. He'd known for a while that he liked boys—one boy in particular—but never in a million years had he imagined one would actually like him back. It was hard enough coming to terms with his sexuality, and most straight people seemed to have a difficult time finding love, so he had all but given up hope.
Thank the First Spinjitzu Master he hadn't.
"Well, someone looks happy," Kai commented, eyeing the ghost with a smirk across his lips.
Cole blushed. "I am happy."
Jay leaned forward in his seat on the counter, slapping his thighs in excitement. "What happened? Spill!"
"Did you kiss?" Lloyd asked.
Jay glanced at the blond slyly. "Did you smash?"
Lloyd punched his arm. "Fuck off, Zaptrap!"
Cole nodded. "Yeah, we—wait, 'smash'?"
"Inside joke," the blue ninja told him.
"I'll smash you," Lloyd warned the master of lightning. He slapped a hand over his mouth. "Crap, that came out wrong. I meant, I'll smash your face. Shit!"
Jay started cracking up. "You'll have to ask Nya if she's okay with that."
"Go for it," the water ninja said jokingly. "Boost his self-esteem. I could use a break."
"Haha—hey! What do you mean, you could use a break?"
Nya shrugged. "I'm just kidding, Jay. You know I love you." She smirked at Lloyd. "Besides, something tells me you're not the ninja Lloyd wants to sleep with."
Kai tilted his head, looking at the green ninja curiously.
Lloyd went beet red under his gaze. "I...uh…" His eyes darted around the room, frantically searching for an excuse. "I need to go do something. That way. Okay, bye." He ran down the hall, leaving Kai and Cole furrowing their brows in confusion.
"What was that all about?" The master of earth asked.
"We're just messing with him," Nya replied. "But forget about that. What happened with you and Zane?"
The noirette grinned, his smile stretching from ear to ear. He bit his lip shyly.
"You kissed him!" Jay yelled, jumping off the counter. He threw his arms around his best friend's neck. "I knew it! I knew you would!"
Cole hugged him back. "Actually, he kissed me," he corrected.
"What?!" Kai exclaimed. "Zane made the first move? Way to go, Frosty!"
Jay pulled back from the hug, grabbing Cole's hands and staring eagerly into his sparkling brown eyes. "What kind of a kiss was it? Was it, like, a peck? Did you make out?" He gasped. "Do nindroids know how to use tongue?"
The black ninja giggled at the redhead's prying. "Yes. Yes, they do."
Kai shoved Jay aside, grabbing Cole's shoulders. "You guys made out?!" The hothead practically screamed.
"Yeah, we did," the earth ninja replied. He tried to remain humble, the butterflies in his stomach still obvious, but he was glowing with pride.
"Nice going, Cole!" The spiky-haired man exclaimed.
"Wait," Nya spoke up. "Wasn't that, like, your first real kiss?"
The ghost nodded. "Yep!" He let out a breathy laugh. "I must be the oldest person to ever have their first genuine kiss."
"Well, who knows? You can't be the oldest ghost to have their first kiss, I'm assuming," Jay chirped.
The noirette ruffled the boy's ginger hair. "Ah, well, you are the master of positive thinking!"
Jay smirked. "Maybe you'll even be the first ghost to…"
Nya threw her hands up in protest. "If you say 'smash,' Jay, you aren't getting any from me."
"I wasn't gonna…" The redhead trailed off, regretfully clasping his hands behind his back.
"Jay!" Cole pushed his shoulder gently.
"Hey, why am I everyone's punching bag all of a sudden?" He whined.
"Uh, because you're being annoying?" Kai suggested. He shrugged. "Whelp, now we just gotta find Lloyd a partner!" He looked at each of his friends in turn. "Any ideas?"
Jay cleared his throat. "Uh...nope."
"None at all," Nya agreed.
Cole thought for a moment. "Ooh, what about Pixal?"
"Nah, I don't think she's his type," Jay replied.
Kai tilted his head. "What is his type?"
The redhead muttered under his breath. "You." An elbow to his gut from Nya silently told him to fix that mistake. "You...nicorns! Heh. I think Lloyd likes unicorns."
The other men narrowed their eyes at him.
"I'm kidding. Hehe."
I got distracted while writing this chapter and started drawing bruise. Maybe I'll put it on my IG if it doesn't suck. Who knows?
By the way, I watched Ninjago when I was a lot younger, but I told myself I was "too old for it" and stopped for a while.
Haha, younger Century! You thought! There's no such thing as "too old for Ninjago"! Just ask yourself eight years in the future.
Gosh, this show is almost a decade old.
Anyways, during the summer I started writing Ninjago fanfiction, June 12th was the day I started watching the show again.
So, heya! It's a special day.