Cole flopped onto his back. His muscles were tense and restless from pretending to be asleep as his friends changed. It was not as though he hadn't thought of that himself. With everyone else taken, all that was left was him and Zane. When he met Sensei Wu, Cole had not thought about how little time ninja had to meet that special someone. Cole merely knew that being here and fufilling his destiny was what he was meant to do. His chances at love were about the same here as anywhere else he decided. His conclusion, he had about a zero point zero chance in all of Ninjago to find someone to love. He may as well end up with an android made specifically to be a ninja, the only thing Cole really felt he was good at.
He could hear muffled voices from the hall. Kai and Jay, unless he missed his guess. He closed his eyes, trying to rest though his body denied his willing it to sleep. "Mshirll ecane ouffa um soos. Cole imf dying nym feep." The obscured voice sounded like Kai's. Why was Kai talking about him dying?
Cole rolled off of his bunk easily into a crouching position and silently stalked towards the makeshift patch in the wall covering the peep hole. Jay's response was much clearer from this vantage point. "Like I said, who cares about Cole? If you and the kid are happy then he will just have to deal with it. No one was asking for his permission anyway, I certainly don't remember having to run my relationship with Nya by him first. Why should you and Lloyd be any different?"
"I still hope he wasn't bluffing. I don't want things to get weird between us." Kai confessed quietly.
Jay cackled. "Dude things are already weird. I can't see how things can get much weirder. A nindroid watched you plow your ten year old boyfriend and we are supposed to teach him about sex cause it's been a century since Sensei got laid. What part of that isn't weird?"
"Well I- just go put some clothes on before Cole freaks out about you going around in your birthday suit." Kai retorted playfully like he normally would.
The earth ninja stumbled away from the wall in a panic just as the door opened to expose him in an awkward position to the dripping team nindroid. "Cole? What are you doing?" Zane inquired looking puzzled and surprised to see the darker featured boy.
Jay peeked past the blond while the black haired boy was still trying to regain his balance from when his limbs had temporarily turned dumb. The lightning ninja smirked, "Either he's trying to communicate with his dad in his native language or Cole might be under Serpentine control again." He sniggered.
Cole threw both of his arms up into the air, blurting out the first excuse that came to mind. "No- I was just stretching. My limbs were too sore to fall asleep." The leader hazarded, hoping the two boys wearing nothing more than towels would buy into the excuse.
Jay pushed past Zane and made his way to his dresser. "Whatever man. We're just here to put some clothes on unless that offends you." The blue loving ninja dropped his towel with a cocky sway of the hips that made Cole gawk at the boy's strange antics. Jay peeked at the black clad boy over his shoulder and smirked before making a show of picking out what clothes he was going to wear. "Nope, can't wear these shorts, someone might get scared of them."
"Why would someone be afraid of clothing?" Zane asked innocently and Cole grimaced after turning to see the nindroid toweling his body dry. Even if the blond boy was an android, it was still a full sight to see. His creator was very thorough in his designs.
Jay spun around to face Cole in all of his naked glory. "I don't know, Zane. What do you think Cole? Why would a couple of gay guys offend someone?" The blue ninja questioned his friend with a malicous tinge to his voice.
Cole kept his dark eyes on the piercing green ones of his brother. He vaguely knew that the auburn headed boy's hands propped on his hips made a perfect arrow down to the man's pride and joy. Near black orbs in a sea of white stayed far above the equator though.
It was an unspoken rule for a long time between the brothers that some things were not to be made a big deal of. Male nudity was one of those things. Even accidental touches in more intimate areas were ignored due to the boys' constant close proximity. They sparred together, ate together, changed together, showered together, watched TV together, and sometimes even bunked together if the need arose. If one's hand brushed against another's thigh then it was considered a calculated risk associated with their tight quarters. Likewise, seeing eachother naked was not an uncommon happenstance.
But now Cole was having trouble facing his straight as a board friend that had established the rules with him. After nearly a month of bumping into eachother in exhaustion, the two had silently agreed not to mention how strange it was that they would occasionally lean on eachother for support. Since Zane had such peculiar mannerisms, it had been just Cole and Jay against the android at first but soon they accepted the blond into their pact through a nonexistent initiation. After that, acting like Kai and Lloyd were the weird ones for thinking watching sports with another dude's thigh rubbing against their own was a disgusting prospect eventually brought them all into the understanding. But now, Cole could not bear the thought of either accidentally or purposefully checking out his brother's junk.
When the black ninja never gave an answer, his opposite spoke with his bewildered blue eyes widening. "Homosexuality makes you uncomfortable./?" The statement was lost somewhere in a strange limbo between an accusation and a question. Ashamed charcoal eyes flicked back over to the android who had arleady donned his underwear and a white T-shirt but had stopped somewhere in the middle of putting on his pants. It was odd seeing such a methodical person frozen in the process of putting on pants. One leg was securely enveloped within a tube of severely bleached blue jean fabric while the other was hovering over the opening to the other leg of the pants. Zane was crouched in such a way that Cole would have believed it if Wu told him it was a ninjitsu position the android had picked up before the Sensei could introduce it to the other ninja.
Zane was a reassuring sight to the ninja leader. Seeing the android mostly dressed gave the earth endowed boy enough ground to steady himself. He closed his dark eyes with his newfound control and took a slow calming breath. "I am not uncomfortable with gays. I said before, I am fine with Kai and Lloyd as long as it does not get in the way of the green ninja's safety." Dark chocolate eyes locked with unreal icy blue ones.
The android's face was stoic and calculating. At one point, Cole might have been unnerved by Zane's unemotional tendancies but now the rocky ninja knew his friend was just storing, sorting, and figuring the new infortmation with whatever else he had gathering dust in his mind. The black clad boy was so thoroughly distracted by his blond brother that he did not even notice the other ninja in the room sneaking up behind him, naked. "Gotchya!" Jay cried out next to an ear almost completely hidden in locks of black hair. "Does this make you uncomfortable Mr. Stony Face?" Cole figured the rambunctious young man was referring to having wet naked arms wrapped around his shoulders and an equally unclothed body pressed against his back without warning.
Cole figured he was right to answer the question first with an indignant squawk. The surprised grunt showed every bit how he was feeling: surprised, annoyed, and a little disturbed by the other's actions. "Jay!" The earth ninja fussed at the lightning.
Jay's hold was strong enough that even the stronger ninja could not break out of it. Cole could feel the junk yard brat nuzzling the back of his neck to add to his discomfort as the unclothed boy proclaimed, "Aw, I'm just showin' how much I love ya bro. Hold still, I'm almost finished."
"Finished what!?" The leader of the ninja barked in a panic.
In his frenzied state Cole did not notice Zane's approach until it was too late and the android's arms were wrapped around him entraping him as surely as Jay's and ensuring his fate to remain in their hold until the other two released him. "I love you too. I am glad we all have eachother as a family." The blond announced and the black haired boy could feel his other friend stifling chuckles against the nape of his neck.
"But couldn't you have at least put your pants on first?" Cole spluttered noting that the white ninja had shuffled over with his jeans around his ankles. Jay shook with what the dark haired boy would describe as maniacal laughter. "Oh shut it Jay, you started this." Despite how unlikely his escape was, the black ninja still pushed against his captors' arms.
"What in spinjutsu is going on here?" Cole craned his head around the nindroid to stare pleadingly at Lloyd who was safely stationed in the doorway, away from the lovefest taking place midroom. The green ninja was shaking a bit with suppressed laughter while simultaneously appearing shocked and hesitant to approach the cluster. "You know what? I don't think I want to know."
Jay swayed the whole group for emphasis, calling out. "We just love eachother SO much!" Cole was a captive participant to the rocking, unable to alter it in any noticable way. He did however shift his weight accordingly to balance out the group so they did have any unfortunate mishaps. Too bad Zane did not get the memo that Jay was insane because soon the trio went toppling over onto the partially dressed white ninja. "Wah-" Apparently the concept that this could have possibly been a bad idea was lost on the lightning powered boy.
Cole promptly bucked Jay off of his back, leaving the auburn haired boy to flop onto the ground as naked as the day he was born. The black ninja jumped away from Zane as if touching him had burned leaving the older blond to peer up at his short friend questioningly. The black haired ninja cleared his throat with a blush, "Never do that again." He ordered precisely. The was not much dignity to be had after an episode like that but he soaked up every bit he could before trudging out the door and past the youngster into the hall.
The other three glanced at each other before they busted into laughter. Their guffaws chased the black haired boy almost all the way to the deck of the vessel where he found the only ninja unaccounted for. "Couldn't sleep?" Kai startled his leader from his thoughts with the unexpected question.
Cole actually jerked in suprise making Kai arch a brow in bemusement. The black haired ninja calmed his features hoping his distressed expression might take hiw blush with it when it parted from his face. No such luck. "N-uh. No, I was having trouble with the noise and um..." What did he tell the others earlier when they caught him eavesdropping? "Stretching!" That was it.
Kai's face scrunched up like he really could smelly the fishiness of his friend's story. "You couldn't sleep because of stretching noises?"
Cole face palmed. He could not have actually said that. He winced at his stupidity. He really needed to get a grip or this would be grade school all over again. He was the calm and level headed earth ninja for cripe's sake. "The noise was keeping me up so I got up to stretch then the others- Nevermind. I just couldn't sleep."
"So you were awake when me and Lloyd were changing our clothes?" The fiery boy filled in the gaps.
Nearly black eyes met a hazel hued gaze. When had Cole lost his control? He blamed Jay. Yeah, Jay was the cause of all evil on the ship, along with Lloyd, Kai, and Zane. They were all the reason Cole couldn't keep his cool. All of them and their- He halted that line of thought deliberately in favor of squaring off with the red ninja. "Yes." He confessed calmly as though it was no fault of his that the other two had assumed he was slumbering.
Kai nodded as the word sunk in and his mind processed the information. His hazel eyes were not exactly focused on Cole as the boy thought. Kai never really was the best of them at multitasking. His words came out stilted and choppy at first. "You- heard- us talking." The hazel lenses crept back up to focus on their leader's eyes. There was that self assured clarity present that Kai was so good at. "So, is it true?" He asked making the black clad boy furrow his brow confusedly. "Do you like Zane?" Kai clarified.
Cole did not know what to say. In all of his pondering of the situation, he had not really thought of it like that. Did he like the mechanical boy? Cole had merely sulked about the fact that he was the last one picked for the game, not that he didn't want to play it with Zane. There was only one person the black ninja had entertained romantic thoughts about since he left home. He had never really considered how he felt about Zane. If they did not favor each other then why even bother with pursuing a romantic relationship? He could just put off his love life a bit longer. If he and Zane did not like each other then nothing would change for them.
"Of course not. As the leader I must be impartial to all of you to better direct you in battle."
"Oh can it with the good leader talk." Kai snarled. "Liking someone has nothing to do with ninjaing."
"You've been spending too much time with Jay." Cole observed the other's special use of verbs. "Look I- I've got a girl back at home." He lied. He finally had all of his skills functioning again, stoic face, even voice, and a steady gaze. Kai never really stood a chance against Cole if he decided to fib. Well, not unless if the fire ninja decided to call him out on his lie.
"Oh. Cool! Hey, we can all do like a triple date thing. Man it must be ages since you got to see her. We should go visit!" Kai said enthusiastically. How was it that such excited words made Cole feel such intense dread? Oh yeah, because he lied like an idiot and now he had to find a way out of this mess.