Basic human needs part two.
The black hood came down to expose Cole's flushed face so the tired ninja could bring yet another bottle of water to his face to drain the contents at record speeds. The rest of the team just watched as large gulps left water to slosh out of the container uncaptured to roll down the boy's neck bobbing on his overactive adam's apple. Cole breathed heavily as he rid the bottle of its last vestiges of cool liquid. Brought back down to normalcy, the leader regarded his friends with a bit of a frown. "Something wrong guys?"
Lloyd responded with slightly wide eyes "Dude! I wonder if I can do that?" The youngest ninja mused excitedly. The others just glanced at him bewildered by how the nearly grown man still retained his childish mind regardless of the potion's magic.
Cole tossed his water bottle away and readied himself for another go at sparring but the ninjas' sensei forestalled the black haired boy with a hand on his shoulder. "Perhaps we should call this training session short. You may no longer be ill but you don't seem to be up to your normal strength. Zane, would you prepare some cleansing tea for your brother while I have a talk with the others about the body's limitations?"
"Yes sensei." The white ninja bowed out of the dojo respectfully to do the elder's bidding as the human boys all winced thinking of the disgusting concoction used as medicine on this ship.
"I really don't feel more tea is necessary Sensei." Cole announced with a frown. "I really am feeling much better, just a little tired is all. I should be training as normal."
The bearded man nodded sagely to his student's words. "Yes, I suppose you're right. Tea is unlikely to help your condition any longer."
Cole let out a relieved sigh. "I'm glad you agree. So I should uh- go get Zane?" The earth nina moved to pursue his friend but was stopped by his master blocking his path.
"You said no one needs to drink the tea sensei." Jay pointed out. "Shouldn't we, ya know, stop Zane from making any more of it... Ever again." He added beneath his breath though the other boy's caught it and chuckled a bit.
Wu shook his head. "I will drink the tea." He decided, putting the younger males at ease though they still appeared puzzled at their teacher's actions. "There is something I wished to discuss wih you boys though."
Kai glanced at his fellows before pointing out, "Shouldn't we wait for Zane to get back?"
Wu shook his head. "No, Zane is actually what I wished to speak with you about. When Lloyd aged so quickly in so short a time, I assumed he would make the ideal companion for our electronic friend. Though Lloyd was a faster learner and much more eager than I had anticipated. I'm afraid the lot of you have left your brother behind in the dust."
Lloyd blushed, "I haven't been learning that fast. The others still take me down nine times out of ten and Zane isn't the exception." The blond boy admitted.
"I was not referring to your training. I was referring to your progression through life. It seems there are just some things I cannot teach you boys and I was hoping one of you might volunteer to help explain some things to your brother. My methods fell short in this lesson no matter how I remember being a young man."
The young ninja were confused through most of their sensei's explanation but as more was revealed they began to understand. They left the dojo with Cole proclaiming he would drink the damned tea and gathered in the kitchen to ponder the older man's words as Cole and Zane settled down to drink the tea the nindroid had made. Jay crouched next to the wall that joined the eating area with the hallway and groped along the panelling there.
Zane leaned over for a better look at the blue ninja asking, "Jay, what are you doing?"
The boy in question straightened like a bolt of lightning in his shock. "Oh uh. I was just looking for any holes that might have been... Made... Here..." He stated awkwardly.
"There is a small one on the other side." The android pointed out much to the others' astonishment. They had not expected their friend to be so cavelier about his habits even if he had not precisely confirmed their sensei's words. Jay moved to the other side of the door and smoothed his hand over the wall there. "Lower and to the left," Zane directed helpfully and Jay found the hole and stuck his finger in it as though to convince himself it was really there.
Lloyd stared with wide horrified eyes. "So it's true then. Oh my God, I can't believe this."
"What is the matter Lloyd?" Zane questioned innocently making the youngest ninja blush with a pained expression on his face.
Jay shook off the white ninja's inquiry with one of his own. "Where did you even learn about that sort of stuff Lloyd? It's not like you are really our age-"
Cole cut in. "Everyone has needs Jay and not all of us are as guilty as you are with Nya. Lloyd's probably just been experimenting which is perfectly normal for guys our age so calm down."
Zane's brows creased as he asked, "What are you talking about?"
Kai shook his head. "I'm not doing it. Cole should have to do it, he's the leader."
Cole took a sip of his tea and grimaced. "Jay should do it, he's the experienced one."
Kai shot a glare at his auborn haired friend. "Jay better not be that experienced! Not with my sister."
The blue ninja threw his hands up in defense. "Hey, I haven't even gotten to second base yet." Jay whined.
"Well you better not try." Kai threatened.
Cole stood and pushed the pair apart. "Come on guys. We've gotta figure out what we're going to do." He pointed out.
"Do about what?" Zane inquired again. The other's looked to eachother for support or maybe answers but eventually they just settled for asking Zane for his help in plugging up all the holes in the walls.
Lloyd pressed his face into Kai's back nervously. "I don't want to do this. What if they laugh at me or if I don't like what everyone else likes?"
Kai turned to face his lover, remembering just how young the boy really was and feeling a pang of guilt for all he had done to the kid. "Look, if anyone says anything, I'll take care of them. Just try to enjoy yourself, I'm sure you'll like what me and Jay picked anyway. Just relax and have fun. It's just five guys doing what guys do."
Lloyd was unconvinced. "So it's normal for friends to watch porn together?" The younger boy hazarded.
Kai shot him an uneasy smile. "Yeah. Just think of it as another part of our training." He assured the younger. Lloyd nodded and leant up to steal a kiss from his lover for reassurance before the pair joined Cole and Jay in the rec room.
Cole was bundled up in a blanket claiming to be cold while Jay fiddled with the T.V. to set up the system for their boys' night in. "Wu said he'll keep Nya busy until tomorrow night and gave us a number to call in case if anything goes wrong." Kai announced to the others who mostly just nodded, absorbing the information.
Lloyd looked alarmed. "Goes wrong? What's gonna go wrong?"
Kai patted the boy's back and pushed him down on the sofa next to the bundled up Cole reassuring the young ninja. "Nothing's going to go wrong. We just don't know how Zane's going to react cause he's not really like us. He all but shut down when he found out he was an android. We just want to make sure he's back to normal before we bring Nya back home."
"Nindroid," Jay corrected halfheartedly from his position on the floor.
Cole gave the green ninja a tight smile and shifted to make more room between them. "You don't have to do anything you don't want to Lloyd. You can leave right now if you really want to but it's kinda gonna be like when Jay or Kai jack off in the middle of the night. No one's gonna touch you or mess with you. We're just going to watch this together and show Zane what masturbating is supposed to be like then go our seperate ways. You don't even have to touch youreslf if it makes you uncomfortable. This is just so Zane can see it up close so we don't have to give the densest material in the universe the sex talk."
Kai scoffed. "Like you don't jack off Mr. High and Mighty. Sensei said Zane's watched us all in the throws of passion so don't act all innocent bro." Lloyd chuckled and his lover sat on his other side resting his arms nonchalantly on the back of the sofa. "And no peeking either you queers. Let's keep this as professional as possible." Kai chided.
"Kai?" Zane called from out in the hallway.
"We're in here!" Jay responded drawing the white ninja into the room. Jay grabbed the remote and shoved Zane onto the sofa before closing him in on the other side. "Want to watch a movie?"
The ice ninja looked puzzled and tried to get up but was pulled back down by fire and lightning. "Sensei Wu and Nya are missing. We must find them." The nindroid insisted.
Jay put his hand on the other's chest as he assured the white ninja the others were fine. "I spoke to Sensei. Him and Nya will be back tomorrow. They just had some errands to run. Don't worry about it. Let's just watch a movie to pass the time okay? This is one of my old favorites."
"Is it really?" Lloyd asked curiosly.
Cole shook his head and pushed the blanket to the floor slowly. "I don't think Jay's even seen porn before." The black ninja laughed.
"Have you watched porn before?" The blond boy asked.
The black haired boy shrugged. "Never had the chance." He admitted easily.
The younger boy turned to his lover who shrugged with a small shake of his head and suddenly had a sinking feeling in his gut when the nindroid finally agreed to watch the movie and Jay clicked the television on.
The image on the screen made Jay instantly fumble the remote.
"Oh my God! What is that?"
"Is that what sex looks like?"
"Is that thing an alien!?"
"Turn it off. Turn it off!"
"Turn off the fucking T.V. Jay!"
"I'm trying. I'm trying!" The blue ninja finally fished the controller from the floor and turned off the tape, slouching back onto the couch when he was done. "Alright guys, let's all agree right now to never do this again." Jay suggested.
"No arguments here." Kai agreed as Cole fished the blanket from the floor to envelope himself and Lloyd in for safety.
Zane glanced at all of his brothers in confusion before shrugging. "I don't know what this was but I'll agree if it makes you feel better." The white ninja stood but Kai grabbed him by his pants making the older blond turn to regard the fire ninja. "Are we not finished here?" He questioned.
Kai groaned. "I'll fucking do it!" He sat the android back down and turned to him intently. "Look, watching people have sex and stuff is creepy man. You gotta keep your weird fantasies in your head and leave the rest of us out of it. Just jack it in private to whatever goes on in that head of yours and we'll be all good."
Zane blinked, bewildered, and frowned. "Jack what Kai?" His blue eyes glanced over the others' flushed faces.
Kai groaned and buried his face in the green ninja's chest. Lloyd patted his lover's head addressing the nindroid. "He's talking about touching yourself like down there."
"Sexually," Cole clarified from further down on the piece of furniture.
"Oh I know all about sex. I've seen it."
Everyone turned to Jay at the nindroid's words who immediately denied his words. "I never had sex with Nya, I swear!"
Zane looked puzzled. "I never said you did, Jay."
Cole leaned over Lloyd with a bewildered expression. "Jay and Kai?!" He gaped.
Kai gripped his hair putting his reddened face in between his knees. "No. I had sex with Lloyd."
"What?!" Jay yelled.
Cole got up, scooted Lloyd over, and took the spot between the red and green ninja. "I'm just gonna sit right here. You what now?" He waved off Jay's freaking out expression.
Kai looked over at his leader with guilt in his brown eyes. "When Lloyd got older, he had some... Let's call them 'growing pains' and I helped him out. We just kind of went from there."
"You're gay?" Cole asked, not looking at any of the other boys.
Jay scoffed. "That's not the issue here. Lloyd's still technically a kid."
"I'm not a kid anymore and I'm not gonna stop sleeping with Kai. I-I like it." The green ninja confessed.
"Damn." Cole cursed, standing. "You do whatever you want." He conceded, eyes darting from the floor to ninjas, to the wall, to another ninja, to the door where he finally made his way to.
Jay looked at the two lovers and sighed. "I guess Sensei knows so whatever makes you guys happy... I'm gonna go get a beer." With that, the lightning ninja departed.
Zane smiled at the pair. "Did you still want to watch the movie?"
"No!"
"Oh hell no!"
Cole gave it his all, throwing his whole body into every punch and kick just how he was trained not to when sparring. His body burned with the exertion but he refused to let his training flag. Instead, the earth ninja merely shed his sweaty shirt and continued hammering down on the training mannequin. This was what he was born to do. Fighting was what his body was made for.
He kept at it for hours, denying thirst even as his sweat dripped onto the practice mats and denying his exhaustion even when his attacks missed the stationary dummy more than hit it. He panted, unsure of whether the heat overtaking his body was his fever coming back or from the workout. After a high kick routine, his legs gave out, dropping him unsuspectingly to the floor.
The earth ninja lay there, face to the mats for a long while before he finally flopped over onto his back. This was his destiny. Nothing else along the way really mattered. As long as Kai did not hurt Lloyd then they were doing their job in protecting the green ninja. As long as this didn't hurt the team dynamic then it was fine. Cole convinced himself that as long as everyone did their job, he did not care what else filled their free time, while staring at the ceiling boards. He did not know how long he had laid there on the floor but he felt better when he made peace with himself. He felt renewed when he decided he just wanted his friends to be happy. He felt like it was finally time to get some sleep.
"Yes Sensei. Thank you Sensei." Zane hung up the phone in the kitchen and turned to Jay and Kai. "He asked us to call when we sort everything out and to watch over Lloyd. He is still asleep?"
"Yeah... Look guys, I'm sorry about what I did. I didn't realize how pissed you guys would be. I just saw him and I liked him. I didn't think about what I was doing or how wrong it was. I can resist my gay urges, I swear. I won't touch anyone anymore. I just don't want Cole to be mad at me."
"Fuck Cole. I've never seen him act this way. If he doesn't like it, he'll just have to deal." Jay stated matter of factly. "We should check on Lloyd, it's almost ten." The three made their way through the Bounty talking quietly so they would not rouse any slumbering ninjas.
"Lloyd was up late last night." Zane observed.
"Yeah, crying mostly." Kai agreed morosely.
Jay nudged him. "He must have kicked you out of his bed four times last night." He said playfully. "Don't worry about it Kai. It'll all work out." He opened the door to the ninja's shared room expecting to see Lloyd fast asleep but not anticipating the sight of Cole sitting up on his black sheeted bed staring at the boy.
Kai froze up a moment but regained himself quickly and stalked quietly up to their leader. "I'm sorry if I offend you but I can't change how I feel and I never would have touched Lloyd if he didn't want it." He whispered obstinately.
Cole waved his words off as though he was barely listening. "I know you didn't. He said he likes you and Lloyd's never exactly been a pushover. I trust your judgement, the both of you." He said in hushed tones.
"Well- what did you say?" Kai asked, bewildered by the other boy's attitude. He had been so ready for a fight nothing short of one seemdd possible anymore.
Cole turned his tired eyes towards his comrades and gave them a small smile. "You have my blessing Kai. I hope the two of you are very happy together."
"Thanks man," Kai grunted out awkwardly.
Lloyd rolled over to glare at the older ninja. "Are you two almost finished? I'm trying to sleep here." The green clad boy fussed.
"Do you even know what time it is?" Jay mocked playfully.
"Uh- four AM?" The boy guessed sarcastically.
The red and blue ninja chuckled before Kai hopped into his lover's bed. "Close, it's ten and time to get up and eat some breakfast."
"Whatever." Lloyd mumbled, slipping away from the brunet as quickly as possible. Kai frowned at being abandoned so quickly but Jay just shrugged and gave his friend a reassuring smile. The other four followed the green ninja's lead which brought them to the kitchen, ending with them arguing over which breakfast cereal was the best.
It almost seemed like a normal morning for the group too quickly. The dark circles under Cole's eyes were easily dismissable since the boy often missed out on sleep. Lloyd's sluggish wit was common if the boy did not get quite enough sleep. And though Kai was just a bit jumpy but that was how he was when Nya was captured so it wasn't all that strange.
Lloyd shoved his spoon in his mouth before brandishing his box of choice claiming, "Oh yeah, well Cap'n Crunch out ranks all your suckers so you can just suck it!"
Cole groaned a bit. "As I've said before, Count Chocula just needs to bite all your guys and make them his marshmellow minions to win."
Kai grabbed the box next to his meal and held it up above the table like some sort of deity. "Well my parrot will just fly by and crap on all of your dudes' heads."
Jay knocked the box from the red ninja's grasp eliciting a whine from the boy before correcting him. "You're eating fruit loops you nut. That's Toucan Sam, he's a toucan, not a parrot."
"Still beats you're guy. Ooh follow the rainbow!" Kai mocked dancing around with his newly retrieved box, much to the other's amusment.
Zane frowned at his mascotless box of Cheerios declaring. "I do not see what any of this has to do with the nutritional value of the food."
Lloyd sighed. "You wouldn't. We need to get some Rice Krispies up in this joint. Snap, Crackle, and Pop would run these streets."
"No doubt." Jay grinned.
Zane looked from one to the other finding no answers. "But we are on a flying ship. There are no streets." He pointed out.
Cole, now finished eating, set to washing his bowl and putting up his cereal box while responding to the white ninja's confusion. "Not literally. It's a figure of speech."
"I see." Zane acknowledged as he and Jay followed the earth ninja's lead in cleaning their own dishes.
Lloyd leaned over to watch as Cole passed his bowl to the tall android so they could be stored away safely in the top cabinet. Kai raised an eyebrow at his lover's odd behavoir but said nothing until Jay turned back to the table to chastize the red and green ninja. "You two still aren't finished? I kind of expect the kid to eat slow but I expect more from the human vacuum cleaner."
Kai puffed out his cheeks in annoyance and shot a couple of Fruit Loops at the blue ninja's head. "Leave me alone, this is just my second bowl." Lloyd shook his head with a chuckle, slurping down the rsst of his milk.
Zane grabbed the remaining boxes of cereal, reading them both. "The recommended serving size is less than one of our bowls." He pointed out making Jay and Cole smile. Lloyd handed his now clean bowl to Cole who instantly passed it on to the other blond to be put up. Lloyd smiled making the other ninja give the dopey boy a wide berth.
After breakfast, the boys headed back to their room. Cole flopped back onto his bed sighing something about sleep. Jay and Zane headed off to the showers and as soon as Cole's breathing levelled out, Lloyd nudged his older partner excitedly. Kai turned to the blond, puzzled about why the green ninja would decide to elbow him when they were in the middle of changing their shirts. "What the hell man?" Kai asked.
Lloyd shushed him and stared at Cole for a moment before determining the other was still asleep. "Isn't it exciting? I didn't notice before but did you see how they were acting? Zane smiling at him and all."
"Zane's a friendly guy, he's almost always smiling."
"Cole handing over the bowls to him like it's normal to be spied on while you're jacking off by your friends."
"Cole's kind of short. It's just easier to make Zane put things up in the top cabinets. What are you getting at? They're just acting normal."
"Cole always tries to explain stuff to Zane and despite having absolutely no skill, Zane is still trying to teach Cole how to cook."
"So? They're friends..."
"They like eachother!" Lloyd concluded.
Kai shook his head. "Dude. I think you being evil for a while messed with your head. Those are just things normal friends do together." Even as he spoke, he did not sound so sure anymore.
"At least if they did, everyone could have someone." Lloyd grinned, watching the other boy slip on his shoes. "Cole and Zane, Jay and Nya... Me and... You..." The boy's green eyes darted away from the other ninja and he quickly stood. "Just a thought. It'd be pretty cool." He mused and quickly retreated from the room before the brunet could respond.
Kai finished with his shoe and collapsed back onto his bed. "That would be something Lloyd." He said quietly though the other was probably far gone by now. Why did he keep doing that? Kai chuckled. "Cole and Zane. That'd be something. Put the most emotionless guy on the team with the robot. What could possibly go wrong?"