With Magpie's information session complete, the team started getting the temple ready for the unusual arrival. Zane began to prepare the marital bedroom for the little guest that would be staying with them; moving any weapons or other dangerous items out of reach then having a general tidy up and cleaning from top to bottom.
Pixal refused to leave the egg unattended but lamented her inability to help with the preparations. Fortunately, Magpie had the foresight to bring – among other things – a specially modified hoodie with a pouch pocket at the front, which the egg fit into perfectly. Pixal had been wandering around the temple with her treasure ever since, beaming with joy at being able to protect the fire opal orb and not be confined to one spot. Kiku jokingly likened her to a kangaroo as Pixal helped her sort out the living room.
Kai and Jay had gone to get some more groceries, with a list that Wu had left before he went out, and Magpie asked if they wouldn't mind getting a few things for Phoenix. She offered to give them her debit card, but the two ninja were insistent that it was fine, they could handle it – besides which, the card had her name on it, and the ninja were known by name to the general public. So, Magpie decided to just go with them, reasoning that they'd need an extra pair of hands anyway.
Nya was cleaning the kitchen, but occasionally she would go in the living room to see if Pixal was okay. The droid was perfectly happy – especially when the egg would intermittently shake a little. Nya and Kiku both giggled at Pixal as her face literally lit up; her green eyes glowed, her circuits illuminated, and she wrapped her arms around the pouch with a contented sigh.
"I didn't know droids could get broody." Kiku teased.
"Broody?" Pixal tilted her head.
"That's what they say when someone feels like they really want to have a baby," Nya explained. "it can mean other things too, but it's used mostly for people who get a sudden urge to have kids."
"Not just kids," Kiku countered. "Marilyn from accounts practically melts every time someone shows her photos of their dog; Shiro says she's broody for a puppy."
"It's not that I wish to have a baby, I simply wish to witness the rebirth of Phoenix." Pixal elaborated.
"Could've fooled me, with the way you got so overprotective when my brother was being an idiot," Nya chuckled. "I'm sure you know he wasn't serious about letting Phoenix regenerate on his own."
"I am aware it was intended to be humour, but for some reason it struck me in an adverse way; I felt like my little ho-oh was being threatened."
"The fact that you describe Phoenix as 'my little ho-oh' and almost got violent when Kai made an admittedly bad joke, tells me that you're already a Mama Bear, and Fireball isn't even here yet!" Kiku grinned. "Inari help anyone who gets between you and your bubba."
"Is Magpie back yet?" Cole asked as he walked in the room.
"No, she's still out with Kai and Jay," Nya mentioned. "anything wrong? Are you and Lloyd finished cleaning upstairs?"
"Yeah, we're finished, and nothing's wrong, Lloyd was just wondering," Cole insisted, turning to Pixal. "so, how's the mama-to-be?"
"I'm excited! The egg has been shaking!" Pixal beamed.
She took his hand and placed it on the top of the egg; as if on cue, it shook fiercely, and Cole's eyes grew wide.
"Wow..." He breathed.
"That was the biggest one yet! I think he remembers you!" Pixal squeaked. "I hope he will hatch soon..."
"Well, you've kept him warm all this time, I wouldn't be surprised if he made his appearance tonight," Nya laughed. "right Cole?"
"Uh, yeah..." Cole mumbled, still stunned by the feeling of baby Phoenix moving around inside the glittering shell.
"Where's Lloyd by the way?" Kiku wondered. "If you're finished cleaning, why didn't he come down too?"
"Oh, he's tidying his own room now." Cole explained.
"Seriously?" Nya raised her eyebrow. "He won't get very far if he's starting this late."
"Is his room really that messy?"
"Let's just say, he doesn't clean it every week, or even every month, make of that what you will; he's still got some of his 'little kid' habits I guess," Cole snickered. "but the sudden need to sort out his room makes it sound like he's expecting company..."
Nya started laughing, as she suddenly figured out why Lloyd was wondering about Magpie's current location – he obviously wanted to get his bedroom in order before she got back.
"He obviously didn't think about the state of his room when he offered to have Magpie stay with him, but he probably knew the offer would get shut down." Nya surmised.
"If it's that drastic, maybe I should go give him a hand," Kiku stated. "I c-blocked him once, can't let him c-block himself with a messy bedroom."
Kiku walked away laughing, and Pixal tilted her head.
"What does 'c-block' mean?" She asked Nya.
"Oh, uh, it's when something gets in the way of someone being 'intimate' with someone else…" Nya explained with pink cheeks.
"It sounds like a very nonsensical expression." Pixal declared.
"Maybe it'll make more sense if I tell you that the 'c' stands for…"
Nya whispered in Pixal's ear. The droid immediately blushed bright purple and, much to the amusement of Cole, wrapped her arms around the egg as if trying to prevent Phoenix from hearing what Nya just said.
Meanwhile, Kiku stood outside Lloyd's room and knocked on the door. She heard shuffling around and the mumbled expletives of someone she assumed to be Lloyd, as a thud sound rang out; evidently, he'd fallen over something. After a few more moments, he opened the door and looked very surprised to see her.
"Kiku?" He raised an eyebrow. "Can I help you?"
"No, actually, I'm here to help you." She grinned.
"Oh, well, that's nice of you but I'm okay on my own." He tried to insist.
"I just figured since Magpie will be home soon," She lied. "you may need some assistance…"
Kiku noted with some hilarity that Lloyd appeared to momentarily freeze up when she mentioned Magpie.
"Well, as long as you don't mind." Lloyd nodded.
With some hesitation, he invited her into his room. Kiku walked in and looked around curiously. Yeah, it was pretty messy, especially compared to Zane and Pixal's room, but it wasn't the tremendous disaster Cole and Nya were making it out to be. Maybe he had tidied it recently and it had gotten into a bit of a state since then? Who knew, but that wasn't why she was here.
"So, where did you get up to?" Kiku asked.
"I started putting some stuff away, but then I found a bunch of clean socks that weren't paired, so I started doing that, and then I came across a comic I haven't seen in ages, so I kinda started reading it…" Lloyd elaborated sheepishly.
"Wow, you really have held onto some of your 'little kid' habits," Kiku chuckled. "look, I get it; tidying is boring as hell, but there's a couple things you can do to make it go faster, so let's start with this."
She picked up a trash bag that had a few things in it but was clearly not utilised as much as it should've been.
"Get all the rubbish first, then we'll move onto the next part."
"Okay, but what if I find something I've been looking for?" He queried.
"Put it aside for now – gotta stay focused, Blondie," Kiku demanded, raising her index finger. "one thing at a time."
It took a few prods from Kiku before Lloyd stopped getting distracted by random things he kept finding, but with her help – both keeping him focused and picking things up herself – the first stage of the clean-up was done in 2 minutes. Lloyd was quite surprised, as it always seemed to take him forever when he was working alone.
"See? Quick and painless!" She smiled. "Okay, next thing; laundry – clean clothes go in one pile here, and dirty clothes go in another pile there."
For the sake of his modesty (and to spare him the humiliation of her finding his underwear), Kiku let Lloyd get on with this himself. She still had to prod him occasionally – as he invariably discovered some lost item that he hadn't seen for a while – but he was doing well on his own.
"So, what's with the sudden desire to clean your room? I mean, I get why Zane's doing it, but no one's coming to stay with you," Kiku paused. "as far as I know, anyway."
"Everywhere else is being cleaned, I guess it made me want to sort out my own space…" Lloyd stammered in mild embarrassment.
"Indeed…" She commented knowingly. "It's been a crazy few days, hasn't it?"
"I'm surprised you didn't know about Phoenix's powers, since you two are close." He stated.
"It's been a couple of years, and technically I'm not the same droid he knew back then, so it makes sense there are things I don't know about him," She shrugged, perusing the books on his shelf. "and I got the impression that it was something he kept secret; only his sisters and your Sensei seemed to know."
"Okay, that's the clothes sorted, now what?" Lloyd said confidently.
"Clean stuff needs to be folded; dirty stuff obviously goes in the wash… I'm assuming you do your own laundry given that it's piled up this much."
"Ugh, I hate doing laundry, it's so boring!" He snarled as he sat by the clean pile and began folding various articles. "Even a cold wash takes over an hour, and you gotta stay there until the machine is done."
"Is that why you have so much reading material?" Kiku asked, as she clocked onto a very interesting title on the shelf and grinned wickedly. "Oh, ho, what's this then? 'Confessions of a Shrine Maiden', sounds like a saucy read."
Lloyd facepalmed as he blushed to the roots of his blonde hair. The ninja didn't typically go in each other's rooms without the person the room belonged to, so the only things he actively hid were the more intensely personal items. His face somehow got even hotter when he looked over to see that she had picked up the graphic novel and opened it. She made a high-pitch whistle.
"Wow! This is a saucy read!" Kiku exclaimed in astonishment, flicking through the pages. "I didn't think ninja read such filthy manga!"
"Please put that down!" Lloyd pleaded.
"No wonder you always wake up at 1am, if you're reading stuff like this before bed!" She turned the graphic novel vertically and lewdly giggled.
"I don't know what you're talking about…" He denied, still red as a strawberry as he continued pairing socks.
"Give it up Lloyd, we both know you're tidying your room in case Magpie comes to sing you to sleep in the middle of the night…" She smirked cheekily.
All the colour drained from Lloyd's face as he stared at the droid in disbelief.
"You are aware that my name is 'Kiku', yes? As in 'to listen'?" She tauntingly asked, pointing at her red horns. "And make no mistake; nothing escapes me."
Lloyd was floored by her ominous tone. As she shifted her body weight, she put one hand on her hip and the other on her cheek, and beamed at him with a wide, malicious grin.
"Name your price," He sighed defeatedly. "just please don't tell the others."
"Pfft! Dude, cheer up; I'm not gonna rat you out to the others about being a simp, I've got more integrity than that!" She laughed again as she sat beside him and put her arm around his shoulder. "Magpie's got a gorgeous voice for sure, no wonder it put you to sleep."
"Thanks, Kix, I appreciate that…" He smiled sincerely at her, then briefly hesitated. "So… do you really hear everything?"
"Unfortunately, yes," She confessed, nervously rubbing the back of her head. "I've had to develop a makeshift filtering software – everyone here is really… active at night, which is weird considering how early you have to get up."
"Uh, yeah…" He laughed awkwardly.
"Come on, we still gotta get this room sorted," Kiku stated, patting him on the head and handing him back his naughty manga. "oh, and you might wanna put this somewhere a bit more inconspicuous."
"I know this is where I got it last time," Magpie declared to herself as she perused the shelves in the baby aisle. "it was in a big tub with a yellow lid..."
"Need a hand there, Magpie?" Jay loudly offered.
He stood at the very end of the aisle, a little too embarrassed to actually go into it.
"Oh, come on Jay, grow up and stop shouting!" Kai chastised, then paused as something caught his eye. "Wait, is this it? It's smaller, and it's a pack of six, but it's the same brand name."
"Pre-mixed formula, that's handy!" Magpie nodded. "Right brand, right age range, yep, this'll do nicely – thanks Kai."
Kai grinned somewhat smugly at Jay, who finally let go of his self-consciousness to follow them into the aisle. Magpie picked up two of the six packs of pre-mixed and put it in her basket.
"I'm nearly done now, just a few more bits to get."
"What else do you need?" Kai wondered aloud.
"Let's see..." She looked at the items she had so far, and then at the list on her phone. "supplemental nutrition powder, a few pairs of pants, several pairs of jeans-."
"Just pants? Don't you need shirts too?"
"I have some racer back tank tops already – until he's learned to retract his wings, he won't wear any other shirts – but I need to get pants in wide variety of sizes for him to wear as he gets bigger," She explained. "cotton pants are fine while he's younger, but denim is more hard wearing, and Phoenix can be a little... rough and tumble once he's mobile."
"As long as he doesn't play pranks the way Lloyd used to." Jay sighed.
"Aw, come on, surely he wasn't that bad." She giggled.
"He had his moments, the little pain in the butt," Kai began. "but he was an alright kid really, he just had a rough start because his dad was evil."
"It appears to be a common thing, dads who are terrible influences on their kids," She lamented. "Aruna was so badly treated by her dad that she still has psychological issues."
"That's awful," Jay noted sadly. "hopefully, she's getting better though."
"With Phoenix's help yes; he's healed her a few times," Magpie's expression turned pained and saddened. "…he almost lost her once…"
Jay and Kai both glanced at her worriedly, and Kai placed his hand on her arm.
"I'm sorry, I shouldn't have mentioned it," Magpie took a deep breath, then endeavoured to smile in assurance. "but she's still with us, that's the important thing."
"Aruna seems like a nice person," Jay smiled. "and I loved her wolf ears!"
"Yes, she told me you wanted to pet them," Magpie giggled. "you're so adorable, you know?"
"Oh, thanks!" Jay smiled wider.
"I still wonder what Nya sees in you sometimes," Kai snarked. "you're such a softie, it's hard to take you seriously."
"That's right, Nya's your sister, isn't she?" Magpie stated to Kai.
"Yes…" He glared at Jay.
"I understand the protectiveness; me and Phoenix are tremendously defensive of Sagittarius; she's young and prone to being foolish," Magpie mused. "she's interested in someone she met in the art department at her college, but she'd dare not say a word in front of Phoenix."
"Yeah, we saw how he reacted when we asked how he would feel if someone flirted with her in front of him," Kai agreed. "I thought he was gonna break the table!"
"He was much less aggressive when we asked about you, though," Jay added. "he said it's about time someone showed an interest in you, which is handy because Lloyd-."
Kai interrupted him mid-sentence by roughly jabbing him with his elbow. Magpie had heard enough to get the gist however, and she couldn't stop a light blush from grazing her cheeks. She followed the ninja as they strolled two aisles over to the 'Health and Wellness' section, and she thought back to her almost-kiss with Lloyd. It was obvious that he liked her really – he'd hardly attempt to kiss someone he wasn't interested in – but hearing it from his compatriots was encouraging. Lloyd was kind and good-natured, and she loved his golden blonde hair; how nice it would be, she thought, to stroke his hair as she sang him to sleep…
"So, what do you need supplemental stuff for?" Jay queried.
"Phoenix ages up so quickly that he needs more ways to get all the nutrients his body needs; eating isn't always enough," Magpie replied, selecting a large container of protein powder. "Oooh, a new flavour! He does love cherries…"
"Does it bother you that you have to be his mum sometimes?" Kai asked seriously.
"Kind of; the first time I had no idea what I was doing, even with the instructions he wrote before he went into the cycle, and I felt very alone," Magpie sighed. "but he saved me, literally brought me back to life, so the least I can do is look after him when he needs it."
"And at least you aren't alone this time, we're all gonna help out." Jay nodded.
"It's very much appreciated, believe me." Magpie beamed.
"I think the clothing department is on the other side of the store, so if it's cool with you, we can work on Sensei's list while we're heading that way." Jay suggested.
"Of course!" She concurred happily. "You guys could've been doing that while I was dawdling in the baby aisle."
"This place is so massive you could literally get lost in here, so it's better to stay together," Jay chuckled. "right Kai?"
That's when Magpie and Jay realised that Kai had slipped off somewhere while they were talking. He soon reappeared, however, with a mid-sized shopping cart, and gestured for Magpie to put her basket inside it. She humbly smiled and took him up on the offer, placing it in lengthways to minimise the space it took up.
"You got the list Jay?" Kai held out his hand expectantly.
"Yep," Jay responded, not getting the hint to pass it over. "we gotta hit the produce aisle first."
"Must be expensive with so many people under one roof." Magpie theorised.
"Only on special occasions; day to day isn't so bad," Kai stated as he pushed the cart towards the food department. "besides, Pixal and Kiku don't eat, so it's not as many as you might think."
"I know about how Pixal and Zane got together, but how did you end up with Kiku?"
Jay snickered, and Kai gave him a dirty look. The lightning ninja cheekily grinned and wandered ahead to find the fresh things on the list.
"Well, Kiku's only at the temple temporarily, she came to us for training and was staying with me because of a personal conflict with Pixal and Zane," Kai explained. "that's all settled now obviously, but me and Kiku just clicked right away, and we've been a couple ever since."
"Something of a whirlwind romance, wasn't it?" Magpie giggled. "Are you gonna be okay when she goes home?"
"I think so, we're gonna be long distance and see how it goes." Kai stated in a cautiously optimistic tone.
"I'm sure you'll be fine," Magpie smiled. "and she's totally stunning, anyone would be happy to go long-distance just to be with her – I absolutely love girls with silver hair, they're gorgeous!"
"Yeah, she's really sweet and-," Kai paused. "wait… did you just say you love girls? I thought you were into guys?"
"Well, I like both you see; I'm bi," Magpie blushed. "I'm very open about it when people ask, Phoenix taught me that orientation is nothing to be ashamed of, and that if others don't like it, it's their problem."
"I don't have a problem with it, not at all," Kai quickly insisted. "I'm just not used to the openness – it's not something we really talk about much in the temple."
"Of course, I should know that; religious buildings are no place to discuss such things so casually." She nodded in agreement.
"It's not that, it's just most of the team are straight," Kai sheepishly said. "and talking about relationship stuff can be a bit awkward."
Magpie chuckled. They followed Jay from aisle to aisle, as he examined the list, picked up things they needed, put it in the cart and ticked it off the list. He didn't appear to be paying any mind to the conversation that she and Kai were having, probably because he was so focused on making sure he was picking up the right items.
"Phoenix told me that you were annoyed by Jay dating Nya, but he seems like a nice match for her." Magpie commented.
"It's just brotherly protectiveness I guess; I'm older than her and even though she can handle herself, I still worry about her," Kai sighed. "he is a decent guy, and they're very compatible, but living in the same building is difficult because I know they're probably…"
Kai couldn't bring himself to finish his sentence, but his uncomfortable expression was all Magpie needed to see to know what he was referring to.
"Not easy, is it?" Magpie began. "To know that your sibling is likely active in that way."
"Yeah, but you probably feel the same way about Phoenix being a stripper." Kai glanced at her.
"The most difficult part is hearing women talking about him like he's a piece of meat, or graphically lusting after him when I'm right there to hear it," Magpie frowned. "Aruna has never once acted so demeaning about him – she's always been more interested in his talent than his body."
Kai hesitated.
"I mean, I don't want to assume or anything, but maybe she's so used to people judging her body, that she doesn't like doing it to others." Kai speculated nervously.
"That's entirely likely," Magpie sighed. "she's such a sweet person, but people love to judge before they know someone, and I've seen the rage in Phoenix when he hears of it."
"He does seem like he has anger problems under his hyper temperament."
"My brother has been through a lot – long before Sage or myself came into his life – and he struggles to truly trust or get close to anyone; you might have noticed his consistent use of nicknames for people he doesn't know that well."
"He still uses Kiku's nicknames though," Kai observed "does that mean they're not as close as I thought?"
"In the past, he's said that sometimes a nickname just 'sticks', and he continues to use it no matter how close he is to someone," Magpie clarified. "he and Kiku are very close, but he's not a threat to your relationship with her."
"That's not what I meant by that..." Kai refuted, raising his eyebrow at Magpie.
"My apologies, I wasn't trying to insinuate anything, I'm only trying to reassure you," Magpie backpedalled. "it's just that Phoenix falls in love with the same soul in every lifetime, and that soul isn't inside Kiku; it's inside Aruna."
Kai started to take in this new information, when he suddenly had to stop. Jay was standing in front of the shopping cart with wide, tear-filled eyes and the now crumpled list clutched to his chest.
"Is… is that true?" Jay queried, his voice faltering.
"Yeah," Magpie nodded as she observed his adorable expression. "because of his regeneration, he's basically immortal, but in every lifetime, he finds the same mortal soul that he fell in love with as a young man."
"That's so romantic!" Jay squeaked, wiping his eyes on his sleeve.
"But how does he know it's her?" Kai wondered.
"He says he can detect the energy of that particular soul, and that it doesn't always manifest into a woman, but he always falls in love with them."
"Ohhh, so that's why he's pan?" Jay asked.
Magpie abruptly laughed, much louder than she meant to.
"Don't be silly; he was born that way!" She chuckled. "But you'll see what I mean once he's aged back up to his teens."
"I really think we should tell Aruna what happened," Kai concluded. "she's gonna notice if he doesn't show up to class, right?"
"Summer break started a few weeks ago – no classes or exams or anything until the new semester in a couple months," Magpie shook her head. "but she will need to know that he's safe, even if we can't tell her what's going on."
"Why can't we tell her though? If someone told me I couldn't see Nya for a couple of weeks but didn't tell me why, I'd be panicking for sure." Jay interjected.
Magpie hesitated. She couldn't argue with Jay's logic, and she internally agreed that they could potentially worry Aruna more by not telling her the full details, but she also didn't know what Phoenix had or hadn't told Aruna about his element and powers. Kai and Jay were both looking at her in anticipation, as if wanting a judgment about how to handle the situation right this instant.
"Are we finished with your list?" Magpie questioned.
"Yep," Jay confirmed, ticking off the last item.
"Okay, I'm making an executive decision and hoping it doesn't bite me in the butt when Phoenix gets back to normal," Magpie took a deep breath. "as soon as we're done here, we're gonna contact Aruna and fill her in on everything – are you guys prepared to back me up on this?"
"Yes ma'am!" Kai and Jay declared in unison.
"Good, let's roll!"