By the end of the day, the ninja were only a third of the way through Phoenix's intensive posing programme, so it was decided he would stay at the temple until it was finished. It was just after dinner, and everyone sat at the table to chat for a little bit.

"It was nice of y'all to let me stay over," Phoenix nodded. "I'm sorry we couldn't get it all done in one day!"

"It's okay, I mean, we're total amateurs," Lloyd insisted. "we needed an expert badly."

"I wouldn't say I was an expert…" Phoenix bashfully waved his hand.

"You're a professional stripper – you get paid to take your clothes off – I'd say that makes you an expert." Jay added with a smile.

Phoenix opened his mouth to speak and was interrupted by his smartphone going off; the sound of a sweeping waltz rang out as he retrieved it from an inside pocket on his hoodie.

"Pardon me," He looked at the screen; his face burning a distinct shade of red when he saw who was calling him. "hey sugar plum, how's it going? … Ah, congrats babe! Guess all that studying really paid off! … Huh? No, I'm not coming back tonight, but I'm sure the ninja wouldn't mind if you stopped by tomorrow…?"

Phoenix looked at the others, silently asking for their permission for his friend to stop by. They looked at each other, nodding in agreement, and Lloyd gave an approving thumbs up.

"Yeah, swing by tomorrow and watch me whip these lads into prime posing material," Phoenix chuckled. "…yes, I've taken my meds… yes, I've done my bloods, they're fine… aw sweetness you gotta stop worrying about me so much! … I know, I know… well, I'll see you tomorrow then, bye!"

"Who was that?" Nya asked sweetly. "Your girlfriend?"

"No, no, we're not official or nothin', we're just really friendly." Phoenix blushed.

"Your heartbeat is getting faster, are you certain there's nothing more to your relationship with-" Pixal began.

"Darling, he doesn't like to be scanned," Zane intervened. "I should've told you before."

"My apologies." Pixal bowed her head to Phoenix.

"It's okay, I get that you do it for health reasons," Phoenix replied, putting his phone away.

"So, who were you talking to?" Jay asked curiously.

"Aruna," Phoenix smiled softly. "she's a design student, but she's in my work psychology classes; she worries about me so much, bless her."

"You never mentioned you were on medication before." Cole noted.

"I'm type 2 diabetic, but I was only diagnosed recently; gotta take pills every day and check my blood glucose level regularly to make sure I'm on top of it," Phoenix confessed, looking at Zane pointedly. "but you probably already knew that though, right Avalanche?"

"Correct," Zane responded. "it was one of many things I noticed…"

"Still got a habit for nicknames, huh Fireball?" Kiku joked. "I notice you didn't use one for Aruna; are you finally getting close to someone?"

Phoenix's receding blush suddenly returned. Kai gave Kiku a playful nudge.

"Stop teasing him, babe." Kai grinned.

"What? I'm just saying," Kiku giggled. "he likes using nicknames to keep people at an arm's length, even on me – he's never once used my name, it's always Kix or Baby Cakes."

"I'm not that bad…" Phoenix refuted. "I use Cole's name all the time, and Jasper's."

"He's used my name a few times too," Lloyd interjected. "in between calling me Blondie."

"I'm jealous." Kiku jokingly pouted.

"Don't be, Lloyd did even worse on the pole than Jay," Kai smirked. "and he managed to get stuck, upside down, trying to show off."

Lloyd blushed in embarrassment as everyone had a chuckle at his expense. Phoenix put his arm around Lloyd's shoulder and gently jostled him, before leaning over to whisper in his ear.

"Don't listen to Kai, he's been getting pointers from my sister," Phoenix offered as assurance. "if Kix hadn't been here to teach him stuff, he probably would've done the same thing."

"Yeah, I guess…" Lloyd stammered, his face burning red.

"I can teach you, if you want; I've been thinking about doing one-to-one classes, if you don't mind being my guinea pig…" Phoenix grinned.

Lloyd could feel his heart practically thumping out of his chest as Phoenix's heterochrome eyes pierced into his emerald ones. At first glance, Phoenix was not intimidating, but there was so much intensity in his expressions, and Lloyd felt like he was about to be eaten alive by the silver-haired performer. Pixal noticed Lloyd's anxiety and endeavoured to free him from Phoenix's grasp.

"Perhaps you will show me how to use the pole," She said loudly. "it looks like it could be fun."

"Sure thing, Lil Mama," Phoenix agreed, releasing his grip on Lloyd's shoulder. "if you're anything like Baby Cakes you'll pick it up so fast."

"I didn't know you were interested in pole dancing." Zane noted.

"I wasn't initially, but Kiku learned to do it, so I thought it would be something for us to bond over." Pixal replied.

"OMG that would be so cool!" Kiku squeaked. "I know you're helping the guys or whatever, but when you're done with that could you please help Pixal?"

"One thing at a time, Kix," Phoenix laughed. "come to think of it, do you ladies know how to pose? If not, I can put you in touch with Magpie; she'll show you the ropes."

"That would be most appreciated," Pixal spoke softly. "I don't know the first thing about posing."

"I'm not experienced in front of a camera, but I know how to rock what I've got!" Nya stated confidently.

Jay opened his mouth to speak but stopped as Kai pointed accusingly at him.

"Jay!" Kai barked. "Don't you dare say a word!"

"All I was gonna say is that Nya doesn't need lessons on how to pose," Jay held up his hands defensively as he turned to Nya and gazed adoringly into her eyes. "you're already a supermodel as far as I'm concerned."

"Oh Jay…" Nya blushed, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

Kai looked like he was gonna explode with rage. Phoenix laughed and looked over at Cole.

"Is that normal?"

"No, Jay's not normally that bold in front of Kai, for fear of getting his ass handed to him," Cole chuckled. "I think he's picking up your brazen attitude."

"Like, no offense, they're in a long-term relationship," Phoenix mentioned. "surely that kind of flirting is expected? Even with Sonny here to see it?"

"Well, how would you feel if someone kept flirting with your sister while you were there?" Kai asked sternly.

"I'd say it's about damn time; Magpie is a fine young woman who should be getting that kind of attention!" Phoenix insisted with a smile.

"What about Sagittarius?" Cole baited.

Phoenix's eyes flashed red with fury.

"Sage is too young!" Phoenix growled, slamming his hand on the table. "No one goes near her without running it by me first!"

In the immediate silence that followed, a handful of feathers floated down from seemingly out of nowhere.

"That reminds me though, I need to let the girls know I'll be gone overnight; just gimme a minute." Phoenix hurriedly stood up and left the room.

"Wow, he's protective…" Lloyd declared. "I get that he's basically their parent now, but I would not want to be on the other side of that temper."

"Who has a temper?"

All looked up to see that Sensei Wu had entered through a different doorway.

"Phoenix," Cole explained. "we asked how he would feel if someone flirted with his sisters in front of him, and he didn't react well."

"Only with Sagittarius," Nya corrected. "he seemed okay with Magpie getting attention."

"Phoenix only has one sister." Wu stated.

"But I've met them both." Cole tilted his head.

"Do you know him sensei?" Lloyd wondered.

"I knew a Phoenix once, when I was younger, but maybe it's a different person…" Wu backpedalled. "silly me, of course, it must be a different person."

He nodded assuredly to himself and wandered away towards his meditation room.

"That was weird." Kai announced.

"It can't be the same guy, right?" Jay refuted. "Wu's really old, and Phoenix is what, mid-twenties at most?"

"26," Cole mentioned. "Magpie's 22 and Sagittarius is almost 18."

"No wonder he's protective!" Jay chuckled.

It was the middle of the night and Lloyd had gotten up to use the bathroom. He yawned loudly, as he washed his hands and headed back to his own room to try to get some more sleep. On his way there, he paused. He could see a faint glow coming from downstairs. Thinking someone might have left something switched on, he sighed in annoyance and headed down to turn off whatever it was.

There was something very peaceful about the temple at night. Being all on its own, on a largely undeveloped piece of land, they had no neighbours to speak of and not much in the way of wildlife, so aside from Cole's dragonesque snoring, the night-time was beautifully quiet. Well, usually it was.

Phoenix, not wanting to impose on anyone's space, opted to sleep on the couch; Lloyd figured the glow must've been coming from Phoenix's smartphone, and the closer he got to the living room, the more he could hear what sounded like female vocals. Was Phoenix listening to music?

Lloyd approached silently.

"~Go to sleep little baby... Go to sleep little baby...~" the female voice sang. "~I'll take you on a ride, once you close your sleepy eyes, and we'll drift through the skies little baby...~"

Phoenix was apparently asleep, owing to the soft snores coming from him, and as Lloyd got closer, he looked over to see that the 'music' was in fact a video call. There was a young lady on the other end, with long black hair that was clipped back with jewelled hair sliders, and elegantly styled makeup as though she'd been out dancing or on a date. Around her neck was a velvet choker, adorned with draping crystals.

"~Go to sleep little baby… Go to sleep little baby… Higher in the clouds, is where everything's allowed
don't be-~" the girl on the screen suddenly noticed Lloyd looking at her and stopped singing. "oops, sorry! I didn't mean to wake anyone up!"

"No worries, I saw the glow from the phone screen before I heard you," Lloyd chuckled quietly as he noticed her heterochrome eyes; one blue, one grey. "wow, your eyes are really pretty!"

"Why thank you…" She said demurely, blushing at his kind words. "I'm Magpie, nice to meet you."

"You must be Phoenix's sister," Lloyd noted on recognising the name. "I'm Lloyd, Lloyd Garmadon."

"So, you're the cute blonde one that Phoenix told me about," Magpie nodded sweetly as Lloyd started blushing too. "what are you doing awake at this time?"

Lloyd looked at the time in the corner of the phone screen. It was 1am.

"Oh, you know, normal middle of the night stuff," Lloyd hinted. "how about you?"

"I've not long gotten home from doing my burlesque show." Magpie smiled.

"Burlesque?" Lloyd tilted his head. "Phoenix said you were a vet tech."

"That's my main thing, yeah, the burlesque is just a side gig – I always send Phoenix a text when I get home, so he knows I'm safe and that's when he called; he said he couldn't sleep, so I started singing," Magpie explained. "my dear brother… I've always sang for him when he couldn't sleep, even before he took me in."

"He's out like a light, so it obviously works." Lloyd smirked.

"I'm so glad, sometimes it takes a good few songs to knock him out," She giggled. "well, I guess I'll say bye for now…"

"Wait!" He quickly said. "Your voice is beautiful; do you mind doing one more song?"

"Um, of course…" Magpie stammered, her blush deepening.

Lloyd walked around and sat on the floor in front of the couch, then picked up the phone and propped it on the coffee table so he could see her better. He smiled widely at her and nodded appreciatively. Magpie was mildly stunned. Phoenix had mentioned that the green ninja was cute – evidently, he was also quite charming – but he didn't say anything about Lloyd being so physically defined. Not that she was complaining of course, she just didn't expect to see his sculpted torso at 1 o'clock in the morning. Magpie cleared her throat and began to sing another lullaby-like tune.

"~Once, as my heart remembers… All the stars were fallen embers…~" She confidently crooned. "~Once, when night seemed forever… I was with you…~"

Lloyd happily watched her as she sang; the glitter of her eyeshadow was sparkling just as much as her jewellery.

"~Once, in the care of morning… In the air was all belonging…~" Magpie purred. "~Once, when that day was dawning… I was with you…~"

He picked up the phone from its place on the table, and held it in his hands, as if holding an actual magpie that was singing just for him. A contented smile formed on his lips and his eyelids grew heavy.

"~How far we are from morning?... How far we are? ~" Her voice went up an octave, almost reaching soprano notes. "~And the stars, shining through the darkness… Falling in the air…~"

As he sat in the dimness of the temple, with Phoenix fast asleep behind him, Lloyd was hypnotised by the symphonic radiance of her voice, and he couldn't help but yawn. Magpie opened her eyes to sing the next part, and they glimmered in the lights shining around her.

"~Once, as the night was leaving… Into us, our dreams were weaving… Once, all dreams were worth keeping… I was with you…~" Magpie grinned as she recognised the drowsy look on his face. "~Once, when our hearts were singing… I was with you…~"

She barely finished the final line, when Lloyd slipped into a carefree sleep and wilted onto the floor; the phone still barely gripped in one hand. Magpie giggled to herself then gave a small yawn of her own. Phoenix was asleep, now Lloyd was also asleep, and she felt like her job was done.

"Good night big brother – and good night Lloyd, sleep well." She beamed at him, before hanging up the call from her end.

It was day two of Phoenix's pose training, and the ninja were developing some decent swagger. Having spent the morning doing some difficult and mildly questionable yoga poses, they had now moved onto hula-hooping to increase their 'pelvic range'. Fortunately, Nya, Pixal and Kiku had vacated the temple for the day, having travelled to New Ninjago to meet with the candidates who were shortlisted from the casting call.

"Rolling the hips ain't just a female thing, guys," Phoenix insisted. "it's good for your flexibility and a great way to take your pants off when your hands are full!"

He threw his head back and gave a weighty guffaw at his own joke.

"I didn't realize we were gonna be working out," Jay puffed, trying to keep the hoop moving around his hips. "I thought he was just gonna teach us how to act in front of a camera."

"Just think of the long-term skills, dude," Cole smirked. "knowing how to move the body can help with more than just fighting and posing – think about it..."

Cole gave Jay a knowing wink, and as Jay picked up what he meant, his cheeks went red.

"Never thought of it like that…" Jay mumbled, looking over at Lloyd who was also blushing. "I guess Lloyd's thinking the same way you are."

"I think he's just flustered; Phoenix is having way too much fun teasing him," Cole chuckled as their silver-haired trainer was fussing around Lloyd and giving him advice on how to shake it.

"So, is he gay or bi or what?" Jay asked bluntly.

"Phoenix?" Cole asked, and Jay nodded to confirm. "Pretty sure he's pan."

Jay tilted his head like a confused puppy.

"Pansexual," Cole sighed. "I think it means he's attracted to people based on their personality rather their gender, or that he's not attracted to a particular gender."

"Oh… well I guess it's ideal for someone in his profession." Jay stated.

"Okay guys!" Phoenix declared, clapping his hands twice. "Let's break for lunch, yeah?"

"Thank gods," Jay sighed, letting the hoop hit the floor. "I'm definitely gonna need a hot bath later, my hip is killing!"

As the ninja all stopped hooping and stretched out, there was a knock at the front door. Lloyd immediately broke away to answer it, eager to get away from Phoenix's fussing over him. He was still massively embarrassed from waking up on the floor in front of the couch where Phoenix had slept; when Lloyd woke up, he was met with a pair of heterochrome eyes and a cheesy smirk. No one else knew – the male stripper promised not to say anything to the others – but Lloyd was still mortified by it.

He opened the door, and was greeted by a chunky young lady, with short black hair and white bangs, and bright pink eyes. In her hands was a silver backpack, and she also wore a purple crossbody bag. He also noticed that she had a pair of wolf ears and assumed that it was perhaps a quirky thing she wore for the aesthetic.

"Good day," She politely bowed, as the black ruffles of her pink waloli dress moved with her body. "my name is Aruna, I am calling to visit Phoenix."

"Oh, you're the friend of his that called yesterday!" Lloyd smiled. "Please, come in."

"Thank you, Mr Energy." She entered the temple and looked around curiously.

"You can call me Lloyd, it's fine," He smiled, while wondering if using nicknames had become the new normal. "Phoenix, your friend is here."

Phoenix soon appeared, smiling widely as he saw it was Aruna. Unlike with Kiku, where she had leapt into his arms and they spun around for a bit, he approached Aruna gently and pulled her into a tender hug. She placed the backpack on the floor and hugged him back; they stayed there for few moments, just holding each other. When they pulled away, she started rifling through her crossbody bag and pulled out what looked like an old cell phone.

"Typical of you, baby doll," Phoenix chuckled and turned to Lloyd. "first thing she wants to do after a hug is check my bloods."

"Hugs don't affect it, do they?" Lloyd asked.

"No, but Phoenix keeps forgetting to check them," Aruna responded as she turned the machine on and gestured with her hand, silently requesting Phoenix give her something. "and he hasn't been well lately, so I'm concerned."

"I'm fine, babe, honest."

Phoenix placed his hand in hers, palm facing upwards. Aruna placed the bottom edge of the device on the tip of his ring finger and pressed down on something at the top. There was a click, and Phoenix winced as a drop of blood appeared on his fingertip. She touched the drop of blood with a white part of the device; a couple of seconds passed when there was suddenly a long beep. Aruna shook her head.

"Darling, your sugars are far too low, you need something to eat!" She asserted in a concerned and somewhat sad tone of voice.

"Well, we did just break for lunch," Lloyd mentioned. "wanna join us?"

"Thank you, Mr Lloyd," Aruna bowed, looking at Phoenix. "oh, by the way, Sagittarius gave me this to bring to you."

She handed him the silver backpack and he politely accepted it, then casually hung it from his shoulder.

"Thanks, sugar plum." Phoenix grinned sweetly and softly kissed her hand.

A light blush came upon her cheeks as she batted her eyes and gave a half-smile. She soon realised that Lloyd was still standing there with them, and she shyly retreated her hand from Phoenix's grip. Quietly clearing her throat, she turned to Lloyd and bowed again.

"I will help with lunch preparations," Aruna offered. "which way is the kitchen?"

"It's this way." Lloyd chuckled as he led her in the right direction.

"What were you thinking of making?" Aruna wondered.

"I honestly don't know, we hadn't really decided," Lloyd replied, rubbing the back of his neck. "I guess it depends on what we have in."

Lloyd and Aruna entered the kitchen to see Zane was already there.

"Oh, I guess we have decided," Lloyd laughed. "if Zane's been nominated then it'll be gyudon."

"Hello Lloyd, who is your companion?" Zane queried.

"My name is Aruna," She bowed. "I'm a close associate of Phoenix."

"Ah, yes, he mentioned you yesterday," Zane smiled. "nice to meet you."

"I invited Aruna to stay for lunch because she was worried about Phoenix's blood sugar levels, and she offered to help." Lloyd explained.

"How kind, have you ever made gyudon before?" Zane asked her.

"A few times," Aruna nodded. "it's quite popular with students."

"Well, I'll leave you to it." Lloyd said as he turned to walk away, only to be stopped by Aruna.

"Please give this to Phoenix, to tide him over," She insisted, handing Lloyd a small granola bar. "his bloods are troublingly low."

"Will do." Lloyd nodded as he walked away.

He wandered to the living room where everyone was relaxing with cold drinks, and prodded Phoenix with the bar.

"Hey Loverboy," Lloyd teased. "your girlfriend told me to give you this."

"Thanks," Phoenix received it and gave a sentimental half smile when he saw what it was. "oh, Aruna, what are you like?"

"She's just worried about you," Lloyd confirmed. "it's really sweet."

"Is this the girl you were talking to on the phone?" Kai wondered.

"Yeah, turns out it was her at the door just now," Lloyd interjected. "she came in, gave Phoenix a hug and then immediately checked his blood sugar; she wasn't happy about how low it was."

"Aw, that's so cute," Jay smiled. "she cares so much that she keeps snacks on her, just in case you need a sugar boost."

"She sounds like a really caring girlfriend." Cole nodded.

"We're not involved like that just yet," Phoenix blushed and sighed happily. "but yeah, she's an absolute sweetheart, a total diamond; don't know where I'd be without her sometimes…"

"So, how did she get close to you when you're on different majors?" Kai asked.

"Like I said, she's in my work psychology classes, and one day I asked her for help with an assignment," Phoenix recalled. "she was pretty shy at first, and she's such a little cutie I couldn't help wanting to hang out with her more, even after the assignment was done; but she got one hell of a shock when she came to the bar where I work!"

"I bet she was dying to go on a date with you once she saw you stripping off." Cole smirked wickedly.

"Actually, she was more curious about how I do the tricks on the aerial hoop," Phoenix corrected. "it was a nice change of pace to be honest, most women are only interested in my body, but she wanted to know about my aerobatic skills."

"That's nice," Kai agreed. "that she's into you as a person, not just as a stripper."

"Don't get me wrong, I do like it when people fancy me – good for the ego, you know – but Aruna was the first person who was attracted to my honed abilities, not my physical shell."

"So, what's with the wolf ears?" Lloyd queried, motioning with his hands.

"Wolf ears?" Cole raised an eyebrow.

"When I answered the door, I noticed she was wearing a pair of wolf ears," Lloyd elaborated. "you know, like the cat ear headbands that pop idols sometimes wear."

"Oh, those aren't on a headband, those are real," Phoenix replied casually. "it's part of her element."

All four ninja sat up straight and looked at him with expressions of disbelief. Phoenix blinked a couple times, wondering what he'd said that was so important.

"What's the big deal? I don't get it…" He said, taking a bite of the granola bar.

"You said it's part of her element," Jay repeated. "element, as in, elemental master?"

Phoenix nodded as he had a few more bites.

"There are other elemental masters?" Cole asked, glancing at Lloyd.

"There must be, I mean, we didn't know about Nya's element until later on," Lloyd responded as he looked at Phoenix, who was shoving the last of the granola bar into his mouth. "so, what's Aruna's element?"

Phoenix took a moment to swallow his food before opening his mouth to speak.

"Elemental Master of Beasts," Phoenix confirmed. "she can communicate with animals and also turn into them, but she tends not to do that very much."

"Are you for real?" Kai stammered.

"Sonny, why would I joke about something like this?" Phoenix gestured dramatically with his arms.

"I don't know, but like, how come we've never heard of her before?" Kai rebutted. "Why wasn't she at the tournament on Chen's island?"

"Funny you should ask, because I was curious about that too; that tournament and its aftermath was all over the news," Phoenix admitted. "she said her animal instincts told her it was bad news and she stayed away – you know, kind of like how dogs can detect earthquakes or epileptic seizures."

Aruna herself soon entered the room, bowing as she did so.

"Good afternoon, everyone," She said openly, as she approached Phoenix and stroked his hair. "how do you feel?"

"A little better, thanks," Phoenix smiled. "guys, this is Aruna; Elemental Master of Beasts."

"Phoenix, you didn't!" Aruna squeaked in embarrassment; her cheeks turning red.

"They asked about your charming little wolf ears, what was I supposed to tell them?" Phoenix defended himself. "And besides, you're safe to talk about it here."

"Yeah, we're all elemental masters too," Lloyd nodded reassuringly. "you called me Mr Energy when you walked in, remember?"

"Oh, my gods, that's adorable!" Jay beamed, looking at Phoenix. "No wonder you get on so well, you're both into nicknames!"

Aruna sighed.

"The secret is no longer secret – I may as well introduce myself properly; my full name is Aruna Ylva, I'm 23 and I'm a design student in the same year as Phoenix," She bowed and twitched her wolfen ears. "thank you for having me here."

"Aww!" Jay cooed and put his hands on his cheeks. "Can I touch your ears? Please?"

"Jay!" Cole barked. "You can't just ask to touch someone's ears!"

"Later, perhaps," Aruna deflected. "I should go back and help Mr Zane; are you sure you're alright darling?"

"I'm fine, I promise." Phoenix nodded.

Aruna wandered back out towards the kitchen. Phoenix started to toy with his ridiculously long ponytail and grinned softly.

"'Mr' Zane?" Jay chuckled. "Could she get any cuter?"

"Yeah, she's quite formal with strangers or acquaintances," Phoenix confirmed. "it was only after seeing me shimmy out of my pants during 'Merry Strip-mas' that she stopped calling me Mr Akane."

For reference, the songs that Magpie sings are Go To Sleep by Niykee Heaton and Fallen Embers by Enya - they're great sleep songs, check them out if you need music to fall asleep!