NOTE: This chapter was originally chapter 13 of Wonderful Christmastime.
Hello reader, please enjoy this mature bonus chapter. WARNING, GREENFLAME LEMON INCOMING so if that's not your thing I highly recommend waiting for the next connected fanfic I'm planning - "After Party" - which is where I will put any further bonus chapters for this story (people going on dates, Zane and Pixal post-wedding fluff, and other random shenanigans).
Also, I have never written a yaoi lemon before, so please bear in mind my n00bness when reading it.
Enjoy!
Kai groggily opened his eyes.
His head was spinning, his mouth was as dry as stale toast, and his chest felt as though someone were sitting on it. He tried to recall the night before; the gala, the surprise wedding, the open bar… the ride back to the hotel turning into a late-night bar hop. That would explain the headache, but why couldn't he sit up? As he raised his head to see what was pinning him down, he was surprised to see Lloyd, sprawled across him like a starfish and wearing nothing but pyjama pants.
He put his head back on the pillow and looked up at the ceiling, while Lloyd's soft breathing purred in the background. What was Lloyd even doing in here? His room was next door, Kai was certain of it, but it could've been worse; neither of them were naked at least. However, as he searched his mind for clues, the memories soon came back.
"So, she was caught outside, in the middle of the night, with no trousers!" Pixal recounted, telling of the first time Rae got drunk at a staff party. "Poor Rose was mortified!"
The others all fell about laughing as they sat in the corner booth. This wasn't the original plan; the original plan was to go for one more drink then head back to their hotel, yet here they all were – at 3 am – loitering in a trendy bar and still enjoying themselves.
"Rae sure knows how to knock them back." Nya chuckled.
"Look who's talking," Cole countered. "that's your fourth glass of wine since we got here!"
"And why not?"
"Why not, indeed," Pixal raised her glass. "Nya worked very hard, not just to arrange the wedding, but also to learn the winter dance – if anyone deserves to 'cut loose' it is her."
"Here, here!" Zane agreed.
"You've barely touched your drink," Lloyd swayed, prodding Kai's face. "what's up with that?"
"Someone's gotta keep an eye on you guys." Kai mentioned as he had a swig of beer.
"C'mon bro, we've got this guy here to look after us," Nya turned to the suited gentleman sitting opposite her; their designated driver and the one who recommended this bar in the first place. "I'm sorry, I forgot your name."
"It's Mr Johnson, miss, but you may call me Jake if you so choose," He replied, finishing his glass of soda. "would anyone like another drink?"
"Thank you, sir," Pixal beamed. "the same again, if you would."
"Yes, ma'am." Mr Johnson got up and headed over to the bar.
"Come on, let's give him a hand." Cole announced, tugging on Jay's sleeve.
"I dread to know what our tab looks like!" Jay laughed as he and Cole went over to Mr Johnson.
"I would not be too concerned, Mr Bo- sorry, my father, is covering our post-gala refreshments," Pixal remarked. "he figured we might wish to go out after the main event was over."
"It's nice to have friends in high places." Kai winked at her.
"It is a good thing that sensei left before we did," Zane declared with a smile. "I cannot imagine he would approve of us staying up this late."
"Well, it is a one off," Lloyd shrugged. "it's not like we make a habit of it."
"Considering this is our first late night where alcohol is involved, I believe we're all doing quite well." Zane nodded. "I thought we would be back at the hotel well before this time."
"Don't you be thinking about the honeymoon just yet," Nya grinned. "we're only just into the after party."
Zane felt his face heat up at Nya's overt insinuations. Lloyd and Nya started giggling, especially when Pixal leaned on his shoulder and glanced up at him; her green eyes brightly shimmered and a joyous, inebriated smile adorned her lips.
"I hear that Wu is gonna be teaching Pixal some fighting basics." Kai said, changing the subject.
"Yes, we are concerned about my ability to protect myself when Zane is not around." Pixal answered.
"We cannot have a repeat of what happened on Chen's island." Zane mentioned darkly.
"No kidding, but I gotta admit, I wish I could've seen it," Kai raised an eyebrow at Zane and flashed a half-smile. "you're always so calm, it would be amazing to see what it looks like when you go ballistic."
"It would be… interesting to see what you all would make of my explosive side," Zane mildly agreed, before protectively placing his arm around Pixal. "however, to do so would entail certain risks."
"Such as not being able to stop the explosion once it has started." Pixal put her hand on his and gave a gentle squeeze.
"Am I the only one getting chills?" Lloyd shuddered.
"You need to lay off the nitrogen-topped cocktails." Kai reprimanded.
Soon, Johnson, Cole and Jay returned with the next round of drinks, and their late-night merriment continued. The music was thumping in the background and the ninja continued talking about the gala, and the wedding, and how much fun they'd had, doing something different to their usual routine.
Kai somehow managed to sit up and rolled Lloyd off of his chest and onto the foot of the bed.
Holy crap, his head was really pounding now. He had a good stretch and stood up, stumbling into the bathroom as though he were still half cut. Having splashed some water on his face, Kai made his way to the minibar. There were a few bottles of water in there the last time he looked, and he had such a dry throat that he had a look to see if they were still there. Upon opening the door, he noticed all the alcohol that once rested on the shelves was now gone.
He took a bottle of water and practically downed half of it in one go. When he turned around to look at Lloyd, he saw the empty bottles littered on the carpet and shook his head.
"Onward, mighty steed!" Lloyd yelled happily as Kai piggybacked him around.
"Shh! Keep your voice down – people are trying to sleep!" Kai shushed him.
It was nearly 4:30am by the time they finished bar hopping and went back to the hotel. Poor Johnson looked exhausted as he dropped them off and politely took his leave. Everyone was well and truly drunk at this point, with the exception of Zane and Pixal, who – apart from being more affectionate with each other – appeared unaffected by the alcohol. They all said their goodnights as the elevator stopped on their respective floors; Nya and Jay's rooms were on the 5th floor, Zane and Pixal were on the top floor, and Cole, Kai and Lloyd were on the 7th floor, though Cole's room was at the opposite end to Kai and Lloyd's.
"Ooh, here's my room." Lloyd beamed as Kai let him down.
"This is my room actually," He corrected. "yours is next door."
"Aww, you're not going to bed already?" Lloyd pouted as Kai fumbled with the card key to open the door.
"Well, I am kinda tired." Kai eventually got the door open and stumbled in.
"Aw c'mon," Lloyd whined as he followed Kai into his room. "I'm not tired yet, can't we stay up a bit longer?"
"What for?" Kai wondered. "The others have all gone to bed, we should too."
"We could play a game." Lloyd suggested, closing the door behind him.
"Game?" Kai looked at him with a confused expression.
"Yeah, a drinking game." Lloyd grinned at him.
Kai sighed as he took off his jacket and cummerbund. Letting Lloyd drink alcohol had apparently opened Pandora's box; he couldn't get enough, even after several hours of indulging in it. Kai removed the bow tie and unbuttoned his shirt, before aimlessly sitting down on the bed.
"I'm dry docking you after this, you know that right?" Kai warned, kicking off his shoes.
"I'll dry dock myself if you play a drinking game with me," Lloyd insisted. "it's just for the experience, I swear."
"Fine," Kai reluctantly agreed. "what are we playing?"
Lloyd bent down to open the minibar, only to fall over. He started laughing and opened the fridge from his seated position, pulling out a handful of ornamental-shaped bottles full of different coloured liquid. Lloyd squinted at the green bottle, the words on the label blurring as he tried to read them.
"Truth or dare, with these… whatever they are." Lloyd said as he passed the bottle to Kai.
Kai too struggled to read the label, having had considerably more beer in the past 24 hours than he'd ever had in his life. While Kai was trying to figure out what was in the bottle, Lloyd decided to get comfortable, and removed his jacket, cummerbund and bow tie – flinging them to one side with careless abandon.
"Ab…sinthe?" Kai attempted to pronounce the word.
"Cool," Lloyd grinned, planting himself next to Kai on the bed. "we'll do rock, paper, scissors, and whoever loses has to drink one of these, then do truth or dare."
"Alright." Kai agreed.
They each raised one hand and with each of them counting up, one… two… three… Lloyd lost the first draw and Kai handed back the green bottle. Lloyd unscrewed the lid and the intense scent of aniseed wafted out of it. Kai waved encouragingly at him with a smug grin on his face. Lloyd took a swig straight from the bottle; his eyes went wide as the strength of the drink hit him with full force.
"Truth or dare?" Kai asked.
"Dare." Lloyd breathed.
"I dare you to get a bucket of ice in just your underwear." Kai smirked.
"But the ice machine is two floors down!" Lloyd protested.
"A dare's a dare…"
"Fine." Lloyd necked the rest of the bottle before he took off his shirt and pulled down his pants.
He stepped out of them and walked out of the room in nothing but his boxers and his socks. Kai laughed to himself; Lloyd was so strait-laced, he simply had to indulge in a dare that would expose the leader's weakness. It was funny seeing Lloyd so laid back – he couldn't wait to see where this game would eventually lead. Some ten minutes went by, before Lloyd returned with a bucket of ice and a face redder than Kai's ninja uniform. Kai burst out laughing.
"What happened?"
"I almost ran into a couple of businessmen on the way back," Lloyd fumed. "I had to duck behind the vending machine!"
"Here, have another drink." Kai chuckled.
Lloyd left the bucket of ice on the desk and challenged his compatriot to rock, paper, scissors. This time, Lloyd was victorious. He selected the red bottle and gave it to Kai, who had a mouthful and promptly started coughing.
"Jeez that stuff is strong." Kai grimaced.
"So, truth or dare?" Lloyd baited.
"Truth."
"Do you think you'll marry Skylor?" Lloyd asked.
"What?!" Kai stared at him as though he were speaking another language.
"You and Skylor seemed pretty close," Lloyd noted, sitting next to Kai once more. "I know you haven't seen her much since the tournament, but still..."
"Yeah, about that," Kai nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "don't get me wrong, of course I still like her, a lot – but we don't really get the chance to spend time together, what with her running the family business, and me being a ninja; always training and fighting – my relationship with Skylor is nowhere near the level that Zane and Pixal's is."
"Well, what about Rose?" Lloyd hinted. "She liked you."
"The dancer? Yeah, she's cute, but again it's the whole distance thing…"
"Maybe you just need to learn how to make a long-distance relationship work."
"Maybe… anyway, next round." Kai deflected.
"Rock, paper, scissors!" They said out loud.
"Victory is mine!" Kai cheered, as he fell off the bed.
He picked up the yellow bottle and gave it to Lloyd with a cheeky grin. Lloyd opened it – again the strong scent of liquor wafted up to him – and drank the lot in one go; fortunately, it was only a small bottle, but it definitely tasted stronger than the last one. He felt a wave of coldness go through his body, starting at his feet and swiftly washing up to his head.
"So, truth or dare?" Kai wondered.
"Dare!" Lloyd smirked.
"I dare you to drink this one-" Kai grinned and picked up the blue bottle. "-in one go."
"But I just had the yellow one!" Lloyd protested.
"Listen, tomorrow we'll have to go back to the old routine," Kai unsteadily leaned over and put his hand on Lloyd's shoulder. "we gotta have some fun while we can."
Lloyd seemed convinced – if mildly embarrassed by Kai invading his personal space in this manner – and as he downed all 40ml, Kai couldn't help but laugh at Lloyd's reaction; he was half expecting steam to come out of the blond ninja's ears. The truth was, Kai wanted to put Lloyd off drinking to this extent ever again and giving him the hangover to end all hangovers seemed like a good way to do it.
"Holy hell…" Lloyd shook his head as he suddenly became quite dizzy.
"One bottle left; one more game," Kai mentioned, waving the black bottle in his hand. "and then you have to go to bed."
"Okay," Lloyd gave a lop-sided grin and held out his hand for one last rock, paper, scissors match… and won. "hoorah, my turn again!"
Kai sighed and opened the final bottle. He had a feeling that this was a bad idea, but what the hell – he'd been drinking pretty consistently for several hours now, and apart from stumbling a bit, he hadn't been affected by it that much. The smell of liquorice and high-strength spirit drifted out and assaulted his senses. He looked at Lloyd, who was sitting there in just his boxers – his face red from sheer alcohol consumption – as his body wavered from side to side. Eventually, Kai bit the bullet and tilted his head back, necking the entire bottle.
"Ergh!" Kai winced and stuck his tongue out.
Lloyd found the whole thing utterly hilarious… until Kai went wide-eyed and froze in place, falling off the bed without so much as a whimper.
"Kai, are you okay?" Lloyd panicked, hurriedly staggered over and began tapping Kai's face.
A moment later, Kai came around. His cheeks had gone from a jolly pink to a drunken red and he pulled a gigantic smile. He groggily propped himself up and smiled at Lloyd.
"Well, are we playing this game or what?" Kai asked, as if he hadn't just passed out.
"Okay," Lloyd smiled back. "Truth or dare!"
"Truth."
"If you…" Lloyd hesitated for a moment. "If you… had to kiss one of your teammates – one of the guys, I mean – who would you pick?"
"Pfft, how should I know?" Kai responded with a laugh. "It's not the sort of thing you think about… why, have you thought about it?"
"Maybe…" Lloyd turned away; his red face getting even redder.
"Lloyd, are you trying to tell me that-" Kai tried to put the pieces together. "-you wanted to marry Zane?"
"No."
"Hey, no judgment here," Kai assured him. "so, it's Cole then, yeah? I should've known you'd be into the strong silent type."
"No!" Lloyd pouted.
"Well, you won't have much luck with Jay, he's too smitten with Nya and-"
"It's you, you idiot!" Lloyd interrupted, before covering his mouth with his hand.
A peculiar silence followed, as the young men sat on the floor of the hotel room – in various stages of undress – and tried to absorb in this new information. The alcohol made them incapable of sitting completely still, as their bodies involuntarily swayed. Lloyd couldn't look at Kai, he was so embarrassed that his little secret had come out; all it took was a night of excessive drinking, but it finally came out.
"Does this mean you're-"
"No, I'm not… I just…" Lloyd heaved a weighty sigh. "Look, I don't care that you're a guy, I didn't fall in love with your gender; I fell in love with you."
"Lloyd…"
"The secret's out now, but maybe we could find a way to still be teammates and-"
Lloyd was silenced as he noticed Kai looking at him hungrily, licking his lips as he shuffled closer. A wide, hotshot grin appeared on Kai's face, and Lloyd became suddenly aware that he was wearing only his boxer shorts and socks, while Kai continued to get closer to him until they were but a breath apart.
"Is this why you always make bets with me?" Kai flirtatiously murmured. "So, I can get close enough to whisper?"
"No." Lloyd could feel his heart beating even faster, feel his face burning hotter, with the object of his once-secret affections looming near him.
Kai placed his hand on Lloyd's jaw and leaned even closer, hot breath brushing against his lips. Maybe it was the alcohol, maybe it was his own hidden desires coming to the surface, maybe it was just the fact that Lloyd was 'forbidden fruit'… all Kai knew was that right now, this is what he wanted; now he knew that this was also what Lloyd wanted, there was no stopping him.
"So, if I wanted to kiss you, you wouldn't stop me?" Kai growled.
"No…" Lloyd breathed, as he leaned forward and stole the kiss being offered to him.
He was well aware that he was just in his undies, drunkenly kissing his equally drunk teammate and falling deeper under the spell he'd first succumbed to about a year ago, but he didn't care. On the contrary, it felt great being able to wrap his arms around Kai's chest, to feel the heat of their bodies mingling together, to know how his lips tasted.
Lloyd melted, as Kai fiercely kissed him back, briefly dipping out his tongue to lick those soft lips. Lloyd responded in kind and with great fervour, as he pulled Kai into a French kiss, heatedly grabbing his shirt collar and wrestling tongues with the fire ninja…
Such was the desperate need Lloyd had for his compatriot, that when Kai broke the kiss to take off his shirt, Lloyd immediately grabbed him again. Even as Kai attempted to remove his pants, Lloyd was too interested in getting his fair share of Kai's affection. It was only when Kai accidentally touched Lloyd's boxers that he faltered, moaning at even the briefest touch. Kai beamed at him coolly, as he touched Lloyd again, earning another weak moan.
"You like it when I do this?" Kai asked, as he began to stroke the area where Lloyd seemed the most sensitive.
"Uuhh…" Lloyd gasped, biting his lip.
Kai continued to stroke the ever-hardening bulge in Lloyd's underwear, and smiled wider with every illicit groan he purred out. He took his teammates hand and placed it near his own hardening prospects. Lloyd nervously held his hand against the hot, hard object hiding under Kai's boxers and gently started rubbing. Kai let out a subtle growl and shoved Lloyd backwards. Lloyd now lay sprawled on the floor with his arms above his head, completely at Kai's mercy. With a demure smile, Kai hovered over Lloyd and breathed gently in his ear; he shuddered and moaned. Kai chuckled and softly ran his fingers along the chiselled torso of his prey, before he reached over and sank his teeth into Lloyd's shoulder.
"Ah!" Lloyd shouted. "You bit me!"
"And you taste delicious." Kai teased, licking his teeth.
"…Do it again…" Lloyd smirked.
"Oh ho, you've gone pretty kinky all of a sudden." Kai snarled.
He pinned down Lloyd's arms at the wrist and pressed himself against his leader. As Lloyd writhed beneath him, cheeks red with absinthe and enjoyment – his voice desperate and yearning – Kai could feel the stirrings of passion from both of them; twitching, scorching, throbbing arousal, separated only by the thin cotton of their underwear. And yet, it was also mildly amusing to have the leader of the elemental ninja at such a disadvantage. Kai ardently took Lloyd's mouth once more, in a sensual, urgent battle of tongues and intoxicated lust.
"Are you sure this is what you want?" Kai mumbled.
"Hell yes." Lloyd answered.
With that, Kai raised Lloyd's hips, just enough to pull off his starched white boxer shorts. Kai firmly grabbed Lloyd's hardness, and freely began rubbing it. He would be lying if he said he was surprised by the size of it; he'd had fleeting glimpses in the past – not that he was in the habit of looking – but seeing Lloyd panting and writhing in his grasp was incredibly exciting. Even for all his inebriated stumbling, Kai was effectively stimulating the thick, hot shaft as if he had experienced this before. Well, he had, but the playing was usually done with his own equipment, not someone else's. Finally, it all became too much, and Kai paused lavishing his affection on Lloyd's hardness long enough to pull off his own underwear. He growled and heaved deep, desirous breaths, briefly resisting the fierce desire to savage him.
"This might hurt," Kai warned. "are you sure you're okay with this?"
"Yes," Lloyd spoke, his voice full of carnal insistence. "I'm yours Kai; take me."
Kai could no longer hold back. He took the band-aid approach and entered Lloyd's tight body in one smooth thrust; though judging by the minimal resistance he felt, it was clear that the green ninja's body was eagerly anticipating this. Lloyd groaned loudly, half in pain and half swimming in lascivious bliss. Kai stopped for a moment, and as Lloyd's wide-eyed expression turned from discomfort to delight, he momentarily pulled back and thrust into him again. There was a brief moment of clarity while Kai continued to thrust into Lloyd with reckless abandon, that perhaps this would make things awkward for them both in the cold light of day – that if they weren't both drunk out of their comfort zone, this wouldn't be happening right now – but such lucidity was swiftly overtaken by the erotic pleasure of what they were doing.
Lloyd raised his arms and reached out for Kai to hold him, moaning and whimpering as the muscular fire ninja plundered his body. Kai wrapped his arms around Lloyd's back and pulled him into his lap, still pounding him from a kneeling position. Lloyd lewdly stole another wet, passionate kiss from Kai, not stopping even when Kai began stroking Lloyd's hard, dripping rod as he rammed into him.
"Ah…" Kai could feel himself weakening. "Lloyd, I'm getting close… can I…?"
"Yeah, just… don't stop… touching me…" Lloyd gasped, pressing his body to Kai's and draping his arms behind Kai's neck. "dammit, I'm gonna…"
In a glorious moment of heightened ecstasy, Kai yelled out as he released his hot, sticky fluid into Lloyd, while Lloyd's emissions ended up on both of them, spurting out while they were still latched onto one another. They remained in their heated embrace, panting heavily and basking in the sweet afterglow. Suddenly they looked at each other, slightly flustered and still gently drifting in the pool of tipsiness, when Lloyd realised he had left a trail of viscous fluid on Kai's body.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"Don't apologise," Kai murmured. "we both got a little… overenthusiastic."
"Well, we could always have a bath," Lloyd suggested. "it looks big enough for two."
"Good idea," Kai agreed as he and Lloyd clumsily separated themselves from their romantic entanglement. "I'll go run it for us."
As it all came flooding back, Kai's face burned in embarrassment. How could they ever just go back to being teammates after what happened? How could Kai face Sensei Wu, knowing that he'd crossed a serious line with the man's only nephew? How could he live with himself, for getting intimately involved with someone he swore to look after?
Kai approached Lloyd and tried to jostle him awake, only for him to grumble as he rolled over and went back to sleep. Kai had never known Lloyd to sleep in this late. Having said that, they'd never been on such an epic bender before, so he was probably sleeping off his hangover. He picked up the empty bottles and put them in the bin, hoping that Mr Borg wouldn't mind a few extra charges on the bill. Kai shook his head. He was never gonna drink like that again – it would take days to get his body back to its usual equilibrium.
He sat on the bed and watched Lloyd sleeping for a bit. Kai smiled, but at the same time, he was weighed down with guilt. Despite Lloyd being old enough to consent to this stuff, Kai knew it was taboo; until the incident with the Tomorrow Tea – where Lloyd had aged up – he was like the little brother on the team.
There was also the issue of the remaining age gap between Lloyd and the other male ninja. Nya, on the other hand, was much closer to Lloyd's age, and it wouldn't have been a big deal if she made a move on him. Not that she ever would've seen Lloyd in that way, especially since Jay had all but monopolised her heart.
This was bad. Very bad. It felt good at the time, but the chill of regret was pressing down heavily on Kai now.
His train of thought was interrupted by Lloyd muttering in his sleep and rolling over. Kai reached over to ruffle the lad's already messy hair. It was surprising that Lloyd was wearing pants, given that the last memory he could pick up on was the two of them in the bath together.
"Now what?" Kai asked, as they sat in the soothing hot water and drank beer together.
"Nothing." Lloyd replied.
Even though he was drunk, Lloyd knew that this little foray of theirs would have to be a one off. They were bound to get into some trouble for helping themselves to yet another couple of bottles from the minibar, let alone if anyone found out they'd actually had sex.
Kai too was aware that there would be consequences for his actions, but he attempted to push down the guilt and remorse that was rapidly taking over his mind to try and enjoy this moment. He had to admit that Lloyd was cute, and the two of them got on really well; would it really be so bad if they made a go of things…?
"So, we just… go back to normal?" Kai said, raising an eyebrow at Lloyd's one word answer.
"Or wait until the next night out maybe," Lloyd mentioned. "don't get me wrong, you were amazing, and I've had a blast, but this isn't gonna work between us."
"I don't see why not..." Kai baited, hoping to gauge Lloyd's response
"Kai, how do you think Skylor would react if she found out about this?" Lloyd wondered.
"You're talking like she's my girlfriend; she isn't," Kai insisted. "we've only been on a few dates, we haven't discussed what our relationship is, we haven't even hit third base yet!"
"As if that means anything," Lloyd poignantly noted. "you and I have never been on a date, you and I have never discussed what our relationship is, but we still went all the way – not that we'll remember any of it tomorrow."
"And what if we do?" Kai paused to have a mouthful of beer.
"It'll be a wonderful memory," Lloyd sighed. "but as Ninjago's protectors we have a priority – the team has to come first."
"You never said anything like that to Zane," Kai pouted. "and he just got married – his priorities are gonna change now, ya know?"
Once again, his conscience grabbed hold of him, as Kai realised that he had his own priorities – one of which was to protect Lloyd, not sleep with him at the first opportunity.
"Look, if we could make a go of things like this, I'd be ecstatic," Lloyd necked what was left of his beer. "but let's be honest, stolen moments are all we're gonna get; the age gap is one thing, but there's no way the team would approve."
"Not to mention Sensei Wu, I think he'd kill me if he found out about tonight…" Kai sighed.
"On the other hand, stolen moments are better than nothing," Lloyd anxiously mentioned, rubbing the back of his neck. "so, if it's alright with you, then it's fine by me."
Kai smiled and nodded in agreement.
"Ugghhhh…" Lloyd groaned as he finally woke up.
"Morning sleeping beauty," Kai joked. "how do you feel?"
He never got an answer, as Lloyd suddenly jumped up and bolted into the bathroom. Kai winced at the aggressive retching noises that followed and grabbed a bottle of water, ready for when Lloyd eventually came out. There was a flushing sound, and the blond ninja staggered out of the bathroom looking as grey as a sidewalk. He flopped onto the bed and groaned in pain.
"That bad, huh?" Kai said as he handed over the bottle of water. "Don't drink it too fast, or you'll be sick again."
"Thanks," Lloyd grumbled, taking small sips. "what time is it?"
"Not even 10:30 yet." Kai replied as he sat down on the bed looked at the nearby clock.
"I feel like I've been hit by truck." Lloyd stammered.
"Me too, but at least I wasn't sick." Kai grinned.
"I never should've insisted on playing that drinking game." He lamented, standing up and stumbling over to the full length mirror to examine his ashen face.
"Oh, I don't know, we had fun didn't we?" Kai baited, hoping to find out what else Lloyd remembered.
"Yeah," Lloyd smiled to himself. "last night was great."
"So you do remember last night?" Kai asked directly.
The air quickly became thick with tension. Though Lloyd had not answered the question, his silence spoke more volumes than anything he could've said. Kai didn't want to make things uncomfortable, but they needed to have this out with each other while they were still in private; Lloyd was right about one thing, the team had to come first, and they couldn't risk dragging out this awkwardness in front of the others.
The silence lingered a little too long, so Kai opted to break it.
"Would it help if I apologised?" Kai offered. "I was a bit rough with you."
"No, don't apologise, I really enjoyed it," Lloyd walked over to Kai and sat beside him. "well, I am a little sore; I didn't know you were so big…"
"Flattery will get you everywhere." Kai winked and gave him a playful shove.
"But I stand by what I said in the bath," Lloyd remarked. "this thing between us, it won't work."
"Well, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't disappointed," Kai sighed. "but you're right, we gotta put team dynamics first."
"Ugh, I'm exhausted…" Lloyd changed the subject, falling backwards onto the bed.
"I'm not surprised, we probably didn't get to bed until like, 6am – well, to sleep anyway."
Just then, there was a knock at the door. Given that Lloyd was inconsiderably worse condition, Kai got up to answer it. He already had pyjama pants on, so he grabbed a t shirt before he went to answer whoever was knocking. Kai opened the door to see the concierge, bowing politely and offering him two sealed envelopes.
"Forgive the intrusion, Sir," the young man apologised. "but one of these is for your associate in the room next door, and no one is answering, I wonder if you could pass it onto them on my behalf?"
"Sure." Kai answered as he took the envelopes.
"Thank you, Sir." The concierge bowed again and headed back the way he came.
Kai shut the door and eyed the envelopes curiously. The fancy paper and wax seal looked very familiar.
"Who was it?" Lloyd asked.
"A guy from the front desk," Kai handed one of the envelopes to Lloyd. "there's one for each of us."
"Is it just me or have you seen this seal before too?" Lloyd opened it and pulled out an invitation card. "It's from Mr Borg…'Cyrus Borg cordially invites you to Sapporo Teppanyaki for a post-wedding celebration this evening at 6pm'… think I'll have time to get some extra sleep before then?"
Suddenly there was another knock on the door.
"Not if this keeps happening," Kai joked as he once again answered the door, only to see someone completely unexpected. "Jasper?"
"Oh, I'm sorry, I thought this was Cole's room." She mused, tucking her hair behind her ear.
"No, he's in 23," Kai grinned. "this is 93."
Jasper paused to look at the door and at the small bit of paper in her hand.
"Oops, terribly sorry, it's my handwriting you know," Jasper showed the paper to Kai; indeed the 2 looked like a 9. "it must be right on the other end of this floor."
"Yep, tell him I said hi."
"I will, thank you." Jasper smiled and waved at Kai, before turning on her heel and walking away.
"Did you hear that, Lloyd?" Kai smugly asked as he closed the door. "Jasper has gone to visit Cole in his hotel room…"
