Lloyd's alarm woke him up at a very respectable time of 9:00 AM the very next morning, and he was more than happy to wake up to The Fold's hit single blaring from his phone.
He stepped into the shower which was worth more than himself, and took his time to get ready that morning - after a lengthy shower and hair-drying, he slipped on his green bathrobe and neon green crocs to go meet up with the team for breakfast. He also grabbed a cup of coffee from the coffee maker he had smuggled into his room, because why not?
However, after he stepped out of his room, he saw a sight that almost made him question whether or not he was dreaming still - Cole had an updo. And a sweatband?
"Woah, Cole!" he said, shocked and impressed at his brother's new look. "You do that yourself? It looks awesome!"
"Haha, thanks bud!" Cole smiled. "But no, I didn't do it myself - have to give Zane the credit there! He is the hair stylist on the team, after all."
"True that," Lloyd nodded. "Well either way, it looks great! You looking to... impress someone there, perhaps?"
Cole blushed briefly, before smirking. "Well, it'll certainly impress anyone more than those abominations on your feet."
"Hands off bub," Lloyd said, making a fighting stance, before bursting out laughing with Cole - Lloyd's crocs had been a subject of scrutiny ever since he bought them, and he knew it was coming when he got them too.
As the two walked down to the breakfast bar area of their particular rooming area, a few others joined them - Wu came out looking as normal as ever, but when Jay joined them, his hair was an absolute wreck.
"Woah! Someone skipped a part of their morning routine," Lloyd joked.
"Shut up dude," Jay chuckled. "I wasn't gonna miss a free Shintaran breakfast if my life depended on it."
Suddenly, Vania came around the corner - and Cole gasped. He hadn't seen her without her hair done up in so, so long… but it looked absolutely stunning; she looked stunning. Cole remembered specifically how he had only thought of her as a friend, but… well, that had all started to shift after her coronation.
"Good morning to you all!" Vania smiled, before she laid her eyes on Cole, and a soft gasp escaped her lips. "O-Oh my, Cole! Y-Your hair, it's… it's… stunning!"
"O-Oh, you think so? T-Thank you!" Cole blushed, brushing the little piece that rested over his headband to the side just a tad. Everyone smiled at this exchange, as they were all shipping this like the Postman. "Zane deserves the credit though. He does all of our hair."
"Well, he certainly did a good job here," Vania smiled.
After the two walked alongside each other in silence (despite both wanting to say something) with the rest of the group, Vania asked, "Where are the others?"
"Nya's still getting ready; we both woke up late," Jay chuckled. "And the others… I actually don't know."
"Kai, Zane, and Pix were invited to the Geckle chambers," Lloyd said. "I heard Gulch raving about how every law they've ever passed is written down on a pad inside their room last night - at around midnight too. That guy scares me."
"Chancellor Gulch? He's harmless!" Vania giggled. "A bit… out there, but he's just doing him. And I think that's beautiful."
"I know something else that's beautiful," Cole said, before biting his lip and cringing - that was meant to be a thought, not a statement! Stupid Cole! "O-Oh?" Vania smiled, looking up. "A-And… and what might that be?"
Lloyd took a sip of his coffee and looked down at his crocs. Meanwhile, Jay was covering his mouth, and Wu was stroking his beard in anticipation.
"U-Uh… C-Chompy!" Cole stuttered, smiling nervously. "Yeah, Ch-Chompy! Where is that little rascal? I ha-haven't seen him in a while, I don't think!"
"He should be around here somewhere," Vania chuckled. "He's always been a bit of a hider in the mornings… never knew why though!" However, a very small bit of disappointment was evident when she first spoke… but she did her best to hide it, and thankfully, it seemed to work.
As she walked ahead of the group, with Cole slowing down unconsciously, he and Wu eventually ended up side by side.
"Would you please stop stroking your beard condescendingly at me?" Cole whispered. Wu chuckled in response. "Young love… it truly is an interesting thing, is it not?" Cole just rolled his eyes…
Next time, maybe.
-0-
"Never. Again."
Zane was awoken by these two words coming out of Kai's mouth, which was odd - but then he saw the book that had been tossed to the floor, and remembered a heavy thud beforehand. "What seems to be the matter, Kai?" Zane asked, just waking up and feeling a bit hazy.
"I stayed up all night reading Geckle laws," Kai said, rubbing his eyes - now that Zane's eyes were more focused, he saw how Kai looked incredibly disheveled and tired. "I-I couldn't stop… t-they include the stories of how each law was passed, about how politics sometimes separated families - did you know that Proposition 6-point-5-point-1-stroke-2 resulted in a brawl in the courtroom?"
Zane just raised a brow as he felt Pixal shift next to him - she was waking up too. "That all sounds lovely, Kai," Zane said, yawning as he tried to process all that info he had just consumed at once.
"I don't know why I read all of that in one night," Kai stuttered. "I-I just… I physically could not stop."
"Hnngh… What happened?" Pixal asked sleepily, just now beginning to be aware of her senses. "Kai read the entire history of Geckle Parliament in one night. It cost him a night of sleep."
Suddenly, there was a knock at their door. "May I please enter?" a voice from the other side asked, the voice belonging to… Chancellor Gulch?
"Yes," Zane answered, getting out of the bed and stretching his back. Pixal just pulled herself further underneath the comforter - she wasn't exactly a 'morning droid'.
Chancellor Gulch then walked in, and gasped. "Why is the Geckle Parliament history book of our sacred laws on the floor!?"
"Kai stayed up all night reading it," Zane answered, then looking over at Kai - he had passed out in the five seconds it took for him to get up and Gulch to enter the room.
"Oh," Gulch said, looking at Kai. "Well, he didn't have to read it all in one night."
"He found it so interesting, he apparently could never put it down," Zane chuckled.
"Hmm… well, our history of civil court and the laws therein is quite the read; I don't exactly blame him," Gulch shrugged. "Either way, will you be joining us for breakfast?"
Zane looked back at his sleeping beauty, and chuckled. "If I can get my queen out of bed, Chancellor, then yes."
Gulch nodded, and then Zane felt a pillow hit the back of his head. "Oh come on!" he laughed, and he saw Pixal roll over with a smirk on her face.
-0-
Nya smiled to herself as she finally got out of her room to go to the banquet hall.
She knew she had probably missed the main set of dishes, but last night she had found Murt and slipped him a tenner to set aside her favorite breakfast dish - bacon and eggs - for herself. Nya was nothing if not a planner!
As she walked down the hallway, however, her mood soured just a bit - Queen Murtessa was there, and there was no easy way of avoiding her.
"Oh… hello, Nya," said Murtessa.
"Queen," Nya nodded. "Where are you off to?"
"Breakfast - woke up late," Murtessa answered bluntly. "And what of you?" "Same here," Nya said. "What are you having?"
"Bacon, egg. Is the only way to truly eat breakfast," Murtessa answered.
Nya found herself thinking just a tad higher of Murtessa at this revelation. "Same here!" she said happily. "It really is. I respect others' opinions, but c'mon - the classics are the best."
Murtessa's face lit up just a bit too. "True, true! And I also believe…"
Meanwhile, in the banquet hall, the crew from earlier were just finishing their morning meal. Wu had actually taken the final bite of his plate, the last one to have food on it, right before Nya and Murtessa walked in.
"...And that concludes my thoughts on why tap is superior to ballet," Nya was heard saying.
"You make great case," Murtessa smiled. "I do not know why we never got along before this." "We just had to get to know each other, I guess!" Nya said happily.
"...Mornin', honey!" Jay smiled, after a small pause. "And morning, Queen!"
Murtessa greeted Jay normally - something that caused Lloyd to look back into his imaginary camera with a pretty relieved look.
But whereas one "potential" romance had been completely squelched (not like anyone thought it would happen anyway), one other was possibly blooming…
If only they'd actually do something to forward it.
-0-
Thank you guys so so much for reading this chapter! It's a bit more of filler, I guess, but I still had so much fun with it! I also really wanted to write character interactions too, so I figured, why not here?
And it's time to get excited - next chapter is the gala chapter (or the start of it, possibly; haha)! Thank you all so much for the lovely reviews, if you'd be so kind as to let me know what you thought of this chapter too I'd love to hear it! See ye next chapter! :D