Requested by: NinjaMelissa, lovestarr

Request: Kai/Lloyd

Warnings: Yaoi

Kai awoke to the feeling of something tickling his nose. He slowly opened his eyelids, seeing Lloyd curled up in his arms against his chest, his blond hair being what woke him up. He grinned, giving the top of his boyfriend's head a long kiss, before moving down and giving Lloyd another kiss on the cheek.

"Good morning," he murmured against his soft skin, causing Lloyd to stir. "And Merry Christmas."

Ruby red eyes opened to stare at Kai in tired disbelief. "It's Christmas already?" he asked sleepily, giving a big yawn. "It feels like it was only just yesterday that we were celebrating Halloween." He sat up in the bed, stretching out his arms and back. "You think the others are up yet?"

Kai looked over at the clock on the bedside table. It read 7:38. "Maybe. We can go check." He pushed the blankets to the end of the bed, dangling his legs over the side as he, too, stretched his limbs out.

"Carry me."

The brunet turned and raised an eyebrow at Lloyd, who looked at him with a cheeky grin. "Come again?" Kai asked, more amused than confused.

"I'm too tired to walk," he explained. "I want you to carry me out." Just as Kai was about to protest, Lloyd flopped back down on the bed dramatically. "I guess I'll just have to die in this cold room without you."

Kai shook his head, finding it odd that the Green Ninja himself was feeling too lazy to walk out of their bedroom into the living room, which was literally the next room out, on his own. He got up and walked over to Lloyd's side of the bed and picked him up, cradling him in his arms.

"You are such a lazy boyfriend," he grumbled, keeping a playful tone in his voice.

"Maybe, but I'm your lazy boyfriend," Lloyd protested. He leaned his head in to kiss Kai's collarbone beneath the fabric of his pyjamas. "And I don't think you could've chosen better."

He rolled his eyes, nudging the bedroom door open and entering the living room. Looking around, he didn't see anyone, but he definitely heard someone singing quietly to themselves in the small kitchen. Kai tiptoed quietly to the counter, leaning in to see who it was.

Zane suddenly popped his head up from below, smiling when he saw Lloyd curled up in Kai's arms. "Merry Christmas to you both," he greeted. "I was making preparations for breakfast this morning. Is there anything special you would like?"

"Anything you make is great, Zane," said Lloyd. "As long as you don't make anything that tastes like Cole's cooking, I think we'll be just fine."

"Of course." Zane looked up at the clock on the wall. "The others will be up soon. Until then, you will have to wait a while."

Kai carried Lloyd to the couch and sat down, letting the blond's head rest on his lap. He brought his hand up to gently comb his fingers through the blond locks, listening as Lloyd hummed his approval. "So, are you excited to see what I got you for Christmas?" he asked.

"Yeah," Lloyd murmured. "But this year Christmas just feels weird, you know? Like I said before, it doesn't even feel like Christmas. Also..." He trailed off, a thoughtful frown upon his face.

"What?"

"It's the first Christmas where my dad isn't evil," he said. "Every year before now I was so used to not being with my family, not having a gift to give anyone, not having anyone giving me a gift... Now that it's actually happening, I just don't know how to feel."

Kai's eyebrows knitted together in disbelief. "You've never spent Christmas with anyone?" Even though he had been in the same situation when his parents passed away, Kai still had Nya to celebrate Christmas with, and didn't exactly know how to react to what Lloyd just said.

"Well, I guess maybe when I was really little," Lloyd admitted. "With my mom, I mean. But I can't remember much about it. I don't even remember if my dad was ever there. I guess I can understand it if he wasn't; he wouldn't want to go into one of his sudden evil breakdowns."

"Evil breakdowns?" Kai was only becoming more confused by the minute.

"I don't understand it either, but he apparently just got really unstable sometimes, and had to leave my mom for a while. She says that when it happened it always made her feel kinda sorry for him." He shrugged. "But, yeah... This is the first time I'm spending Christmas with my family."

Kai stopped stroking Lloyd's hair for a moment. "Wow... I never knew. I'm really sorry about that, Lloyd."

"It's fine," he assured. "I mean, I have you guys now, my dad's good again, and back with my mom, and...I have you." He took the hand stroking his hair into his and gave it a reassuring squeeze. "I'll be fine. In fact, I don't think I could be any better."

"If you say so." Kai got up from the couch and went over to the Christmas tree, bending down to pick up one of the presents and bringing it over to Lloyd. "I got this for you."

Lloyd sat up and smiled at him. "You didn't have to get me anything, you know."

"Yeah I did, don't deny it." He put the gift in Lloyd's lap, looking at him eagerly. "Open it up."

Lloyd nodded, tugging on the bright red bow, and looked at the label. "To Lloyd, Love Kai", it read. Simple and probably the default option for the label, but it still made him happy to see it. He ripped the wrapping paper to find a small leather book inside.

"It's a photo album," Kai said, looking away as he blushed. "I know it isn't much, but..."

Lloyd opened it to see the pictures inside. The very first one was of him and Kai, the latter having his arms wrapped tightly around the former, loving smiles on both of their faces. Lloyd flipped through the photos, getting a bit teary-eyed when he saw the pictures of them together, whether they were with the team or just the two of them on their own.

"I love it," he said, feeling his throat tighten with emotion. He put it off to the side and flung his arms around Kai's neck. "Thank you so much, Kai."

Kai returned the hug, giving Lloyd several kisses on the cheek. "You're welcome. Merry Christmas, Lloyd."

Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays, everyone! I hope you all have an awesome day, whatever you celebrate!

(Oh, and just for future reference, Skylor's name is in fact spelled with an 'O'. Please be sure this gets around. Thanks.)

Thank you to NinjaMelissa and lovestarr for requesting this pairing! Stay tuned!