HI, WELCOME BACK, ENJOY (the reason for a late[?] update is because I was drawing symbols for Snakes Among Humanity and planning out other wips, including one for a Secret Santa event I'm doing so sorry)

treating myself with my precious platonic oppositeshipping because i deserve it. *drinks plenty of water*

"No, I don't think I'll be doing much over the weekend," Zane spoke into his phone, holding up a finger to silence his friends, especially Jay. The brunet pouted but obeyed, crossing his arms. He was in the middle of describing his project for his robotics club. "Alright, I suppose I can go. I'll go there immediately. Thank you, father." Cole chewed on the lollipop in his mouth.

"What was that about?" he asked, the curiosity getting to him. He also asked first so Jay wouldn't bombard the blond with stupid questions.

"The younger children at the elementary school are going on a field trip and my father asked me if I was willing to chaperone for them. I thought it'd be a nice thing to do," Zane explained. Jay gasped excitedly and skipped in front of the other two.

"Ooh, what's the field trip for? Can I go, too? School's so boring and I have nothing to do!" Jay whined, tugging on his hoodie's sleeves. Cole rolled his eyes and gently punched the smaller boy.

"One, you should have been listening to the headmaster's announcements because he mentioned the field trip like three days ago. Two, there's a deadline and you probably already missed it. Three, even if you didn't miss the deadline, which is highly unlikely looking at your track record, there is a limit to how many kids from each grade can sign up to volunteer, which is like two or three. Four, you do have something to do- homework and your robotics project," the dark-skinned boy told the other. Jay stuck out his tongue.

"Phooey! Deadlines are stupid! Why do you think I never turned in that summer packet from third grade?" The two boys stopped walking, leaving the other confused as to why he was so far ahead of them now. "What?"

"Are you telling us that the homework packet worth more than half our grade that you claimed you lost was actually never turned in?" Zane asked hesitantly. Jay nodded brazenly. Cole groaned.

"You can't actually be serious."

"Well, to be honest, I never started it in the first place and I just played video games instead."

"And you wonder why your grade suddenly dropped to a D."

"It was pointless, I tell you! We need new rules! Less homework! Fewer school hours! Naptimes after lunch!" Jay chanted loudly, pumping his fist in the air. Cole covered his face with one hand, embarrassed to even be walking within a five-kilometer radius of Jay at that moment. Zane parted from their group, heading in the direction of the elementary school. The freckled boy ceased his shouting to ask, "Dude, where are you going?"

"I'm going to the elementary school to pick up the chaperone forms so I know what I must do for the field trip. I'll text you both later," Zane said over his shoulder and waved goodbye to his friends. They weren't too far of a distance from the elementary school, so it only took the blond a few minutes to arrive at the building's front door. The bell must have already rung because children were already out and about in the hallways. Silently, he approached the front desk and waited for the secretary to take notice of him.

"Hello, dear. Oh, Zane! Is that you?" the secretary gasped. She smiled warmly. "You've gotten so big! How are you doing in middle school?"

"I'm doing well. I'm here to pick up a chaperone form for the field trip the younger kids will be taking this weekend," Zane explained. The woman nodded and pulled out a thin packet of two pages. "Fill this out, alright? I'll be right back." She got up from her chair and left the office, presumably to use the bathroom. As the young boy signed what was necessary, he could hear two familiar voices echoing from down the hall. Standing up from the chair he was in, Zane peeked around to see Kai and his arm being pulled by Nya. The blond waved at the two coming. "Hello." Kai grinned shyly, unlike how he normally is.

"My brother's going to help with the field trip! He already signed up and everything!" Nya announced proudly, finally letting go of her brother's arm. Zane smiled and bent down slightly.

"Is that so? That's fantastic! I was just signing up for the same thing. I'll be glad to see a familiar face during the field trip," Zane said, mostly to ease the uncharacteristically nervous brunet in front of him. "By the way, where is the field trip taking place? My father didn't tell me."

"It's at an ice rink! We're going skating!" the young girl told the blond. Zane grinned widely. He loved the cold, everyone who knew him knew that. He had ice skated many times before and enjoyed the activity quite a lot. He was now even more excited to chaperone the little kids. Nya squealed and hugged her brother, jumping up and down. "Ooh, I can't wait for tomorrow! It's going to be so much fun!"

"Yeah, it sure will," Kai said happily, although something about his tone made it feel as though he was uncertain about his own statement. At least, that's what it felt like to Zane. Before he could ask the other anything, the brunet grinned widely. Zane could see two rubber bands peeking out from the back of his mouth. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow, Zane! Bye!"

"Bye!" Nya echoed, waving her hand wildly. Zane waved back in a more controlled manner. He smiled at the girl's enthusiasm. He didn't know why the thought suddenly came to him, but the blond knew Nya was going places in her future. Her very near future.

Zane pocketed the money into his hoodie as he entered the ice rink. Altogether, there was close to fifty children waiting to skate. As much as he was happy to help chaperone, Zane was grateful that the elementary school was small and the average classroom size was very small, about ten to fifteen children in each class. He scanned the area, noticing some of the older kids from his school before he finally spotted Kai, who was eyeing the ice rink from the window warily.

"Good morning, Kai. It's good to see you," the blond greeted. Kai turned to him, a slightly surprised expression shifting to a warm one with a smile.

"Morning, Zane," the brunet repeated, his amber eyes flicking back to the ice rink. Zane frowned.

"What's wrong?"

"Hm? Oh, nothing," Kai answered quickly. Too quickly in Zane's opinion. He noted the sudden clenching of fists with Kai's hands and how his right eye twitched ever so slightly. He didn't say anything though, especially when the teachers were leading the children to the ice rink after they finished paying for their admissions, pushing open the double doors. The children lined up to get their skates. The student chaperones aided those who couldn't tie their laces properly so they wouldn't trip and fall on the ice. Zane remembered when he first started skating. Even though he rarely fell, when he did, it really hurt. He watched Kai help his sister stand on the blades and walk across the floor to the ice. They were having a quiet conversation, but Zane could tell they were speaking in their native language. Nya was the first child on the ice. However, Kai did not follow his sister, so she had to hold onto the wall until she was able to clumsily move on the ice. Soon, the other children joined her, chaperones included. The teachers would be remaining outside for whether a child needed to check in or out of the area.

Zane got up and walked over to Kai. "Ready?" he asked with a smile.

He did not expect to see a fearful look on a normally cheerful face.

Kai rapidly shook his head, his knuckles turning white as he gripped the edge of the wall. "N-no. What if th-the ice breaks and then we all fall into the water underneath? The sharks will get us then!" Kai stuttered in a trembling voice. Zane nodded, finally knowing what was going on.

"Are you scared?" he asked earnestly, no ill intent to tease the brunet. Slowly, Kai nodded. "Don't worry, the ice is too thick to break. And there are no sharks, believe me," the blond added to comfort the other. He held out his right hand. "Here, hold onto the wall and I'll help you up if you fall. I'm assuming you can't skate either?" Giggling, Kai nodded again.

"Mætçjœ, Zane," Kai thanked, hesitantly putting one foot on the ice. He squeezed the hand he was holding tightly before placing his other foot on the frozen surface. Zane joined him by his side and smiled.

"See? It's not so bad. But if you want, I'll stay with you as long as you need." He enjoyed seeing the warm smile spreading across the brunet's face. They moved slower than a snail's pace, but Zane didn't mind. The two of them held a conversation as they gradually circled the rink.

"Y'know, I didn't really want to do this," Kai suddenly said. He stopped skating (if he could even call it that).

"Why did you come, then?" Zane asked, stopping as well. The brunet jerked his head in his sister's direction, who was playing a game with some of her classmates.

"Nya convinced my parents to sign me up. She likes to mess with me, as I do with her. She knows I can't skate because I get scared." Zane raised an eyebrow.

"Nya? She doesn't seem like the type to do something like that." The blond was even more confused when Kai giggled.

"And I do?"

"Th-That's not what I meant."

"No, no, I get it. But if you think that, then you don't know me and Nya at all. You can ask our old babysitter, Mrs. Grumbmiller. She can tell you all kinds of stories."

At that moment, Zane realized just how odd and mischievous of a person Kai actually was, as well as Nya.

It happened out of nowhere. Zane knew to always move to the walls when one stops skating to avoid collisions with other skaters. He had forgotten to do so with his focus on his conversation with Kai. Nya had skated over to surprise her brother and his friend but couldn't stop in time. She slammed into Zane and he fell on his face onto the cold surface.

When he sat up, he realized many of the young children were screaming. Nya was one of the few who was quiet, but her jaw hung open. She was staring at Zane's left leg. The blond gasped and tried to reach for the prosthetic that had come off, but it was too far.

"Wait, let me get it, Za-" Kai cut himself off when he bent down but lost his balance instead, falling onto his back. Some of the kids laughed, including Nya. Zane scooted on his behind and grabbed his leg, then continued to move towards the exit of the rink. A teacher helped him up while one of the older chaperones aided Kai. Zane removed the skates and began to hop away from the rink. He was embarrassed, to say the least. He jumped slightly when he felt someone wrap their arm around his waist and his left around their neck. Kai smiled and stood up straighter. "Let me help you without falling on my butt this time." Despite himself, Zane smiled. "Where should we go?"

"The locker rooms. Turn left. That door over there," the blond instructed.

"I see it." They entered the fortunately empty locker room. Kai led Zane to a bench, where the blond relaxed and set down his leg. The brunet joined him and began to fidget, his knee bouncing and his thumbs twiddling. "So... mind telling me what that was about? Why did your leg come off?" Zane sighed, rubbing his chin. How could he start this?

"Do you know what a prosthetic is?" The brunet shook his head. "Well, a prosthetic is an artificial device used in replacement of a limb or something of that nature. Let me show you." Before Kai could say anything, Zane removed his pants, as well as his other leg. "See? I don't have any." He smiled, but there was no emotion to it. When he looked up, he was rather shocked to see tears in Kai's eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Why don't you have legs? That's so sad!" the brunet cried out, poking the fake legs. Zane chuckled.

"I was born like this. I had two arms, but my left was deformed and what my father called 'gimpy'. He told the doctors it was best to amputate it. I believe his exact words were, 'Why would I let my son live life with a badly made arm when I can make him a perfectly useful one?' My father is very gifted," Zane praised. He loved his bionic arm, almost as much as he loved his father. Kai's bottom lip still trembled.

"What about your other arm? Is that one not real?"

"I was lucky to be born with one good limb at least. Although it sucks. Even with a bionic arm, I can't seem to write with it even though it responds to the shift of my muscles. I always wanted to be ambidextrous," the blond commented. He smiled and was happy to see Kai did the same. However, he still crossed his arms.

"So why didn't you tell me about your... uh... prothesics? Did you not trust me?" Zane grinned wider and chuckled at the mispronunciation of the word.

"Prosthetics, Kai. I just didn't think it was necessary to mention it at the time, nor did I deem it important. No one asks anyway since I wear sleeves to make the prosthetics appear as flesh. Cole and Jay didn't even know until the third grade when I decided to show them," Zane explained. Kai nodded in understanding. "Still, I'm sorry for not telling you. I think I may have scared most of the kids."

"Nya thinks it was cool," Kai told him.

"How do you know?"

"She's my sister. I know how to read her." Zane chuckled. He showed Kai how he put on his prosthetic legs and demonstrated how he controlled his bionic arm. The brunet added commentary with complete and utter wonder and amazement. He really was adorable.

we love a sporadic updating queen uwu

So I read a polyninja fanfic a couple of days ago and that inspired the "Zane has prosthetic limbs" thing because HOLY HECK I CAN'T BELIEVE I NEVER THOUGHT OF THAT BEFORE! And so, this came to be. :)

Also, Kai's fears were based off my ACTUAL fears when I first started skating. I was and am a very imaginative child.

Now excuse me while I prepare myself to die for tomorrow because s8 of Voltron comes out and I'm not ready for ANYTHING.