AND SCORE! Kai just nearly avoided slamming the controller down on the couch from excitement. The numbers on the screen depicting the high scores sat with him, once again reigning 1st place, much to a certain others despair.
Awee come on! I spent days on that.. Jay whined, getting a snort from Kai.
Who even told him I beat his score? I know for a fact he didn't check it himself.
Mmm guilty as charged. Lloyd snickered, no doubt receiving a glare from Jay, if that was possible in the space they were in.
This reminds me of the time Lloyd assisted in that one lesson Master Wu taught us about rumors, Cole remarked. Kai rolled his eyes as he remembered.
Still a bit salty about that, even if it was years ago. I'll get you back on that someday.
Like you said, it's been years. If you were going to get me back for it you would have done it by now.
Touché. Kai felt the beginnings of another headache, so he turned the game off for the time being, satisfied with where he left off as he stretched, pulling his arms forward as he entwined his fingers to flew them out to get rid of the cramping in them.
I just realized, why does everything feel so hot? Kai blinked in confusion at this.
Huh? Everything feels normal temperature to me-
Jay, remember, master of fire, we've been on this topic before.
Oh yeaaaah he doesn't just have an external oven temperature, right, whoops. He sighed at this.
Jay, sometimes you can be even more idiotic than usual.
Hey! Sorry that wasn't my first thought! Besides, no one else here can tell me they didn't question the abnormal heat too though.
I did but I wasn't going to make it public since I came to a logical conclusion it was his element Jay. Cole taunted, leaving Jay in silence.
The chiming of a bell ringing in the room caught Kai's attention away from the bickering. He tilted his head before standing up, looking at the small system they had in each room to alert of the presence of someone at the Monastery gates. Strange... Pixal and Master Wu would have just let themselves in...
Maybe it's the mail man? Jay inquired.
Perhaps... Regardless it's optimal to investigate, Zane replied. Kai just shook his head before heading for the courtyard, making sure to slip his geta on before walking outside.
The breeze was a welcome sensation as he exited the Monastery, the cooling sensation allowing him to relax as he took in a breath before heading for the giant gates. He grasped onto the giant handle of one of the gates before pulling it open, peering around. He was met almost face to face with a familiar sight, red hair pulled into a lax ponytail as amber eyes met his brown ones, before a smile appeared on the others face.
"Ah, so he did answer!"
"S-Skylor?" He stuttered in confusion, looking at her almost dumbfound. She chuckled in response.
"No, I'm actually Neuro and I'm using mind tricks on you," She wiggled her fingers at him with a grin on her face. This caused him to snort, temporarily ignoring the confusion riddling his mind from his friends.
"What are you doing here?"
"Do you not want me here or something?" He internally facepalmed, realizing his tone had probably sounded accusatory, most likely due to his exhaustion.
"I- no, I'm just surprised you dropped by. Usually we don't get unannounced visits from you... Unless.." He squinted his eyes as he examined her, piecing it together.
"Master Wu asked you to drop by, didn't he?" A smirk appeared on her face.
"Yep! Although even if he hadn't I would have come over anyways, now are you gonna keep standing there or let a lady in?" Her voice was teasing as she put a hand on her hip. He blinked at her, before flinching, opening the door enough as he moved out of the way, allowing Skylor to waltz in.
"Why thank you~" As she spoke, Kai noticed she had a bag in her offhand, which sparked more curiousity as he closed the gates. He did, however chuckle a bit, helping escort her inside.
He had been directing her to the living room, but she had insisted on the kitchen much to his confusion. He didn't object, though, leading to him currently leaning on the counter while she rummaged the bag she had brought. He watched her intently, but he only noticed how much he was watching her when Jay's voice broke his thoughts.
So you have a surprise visit from your girlfriend eh? That made him flinch as his face flushed in surprise, before it hardened in embarrassment.
Oh shut up, you know we aren't dating.
As soon as I suggested that your heart sped up though~
And that didn't happen to you before you met Nya? I garuntee you when your parents asked you if any girls you hung out with were your girlfriend you had the exact same reaction.
Kai does have a point Jay, the heart rate fluxuations are not limited to love, they can also happen with friends and family, embarrassment and the like, and as this group has experienced many times as well, in high stress situations. This prompted a groan from Jay.
Jee, Zane, I didn't know that at aaalll. He was shook out of the conversation by suddenly being poked on the shoulder, Skylor having a raised brow.
"Earth to Kai, you ok?" He looked at her in slight confusion, before he scoffed, leaning forward.
"Of course, if I weren't I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be in such a fine mood right now," He remarked, waving his hand around as he spoke.
"Mmm, that contradicts what Wu and Pixal have told me, about you getting almost no sleep and barely eating anything?" He flinched at that, grimacing.
"Uh..." He had nothing off the top of his head to counter that..
Did you really expect Master Wu to have not noticed that or mentioned it?? Cole sounding genuinely surprised.
"That's what I thought," Her eyes darkened as she gave him a once over, before returning to her bag.
"And, that is why I made this before I left," He looked at her with a raised brow, before watching her pull out some noodle containers from her family business, Chen's Noodle House. He froze when he saw them, getting a laugh from her.
"What? Don't want it?~" The smell hit his nose hard enough he almost flinched, immediately shaking his head.
"I-I didn't-" His stomach immediately interrupted with a rumble, causing his face to flush in embarrassment. "... Say that.." Skylor full on burst into laughter at this, the resonating laughter of his friends causing him to blush even more in embarrassment. He mumbled under his breath as he sat down, Skylor shooting him an amused look. He returned it with an unamused stare, causing her to snort again before putting one of the containers down in front of him, along with a pair of chopsticks.
"I made them right before I left so they're as fresh as they can be, considering the mass of steps you guys refuse to add alterior routes around to get up there with less effort," She smiled at her own comment.
"Hey, it's a decent workout if you aren't using the Destiny's Bounty... Master Wu also uses it as a lesson or punishment if someone lashes out for an unnecessary or unwarrented reason.." He trailed off, grabbing the chopsticks as he spoke.
Like setting an entire room on fire? Jay inquired.
Or lashing out at someone which starts a giant fight breaking one of the walls in the process? Cole added.
How about getting agitated over some trivial conversation that leads to a major back and forth violent attempt to get back at the person or persons who had said conversation? Nya chimed in. He was able to keep his face from falling in irritation, but that didn't stop it from happening internally.
I get it, was all he replied with, before opening the container. The smell of the noodles wafted upwards, his shoulders falling as he relished in the welcoming scent. Using the chopsticks he scooped up a decent amount, blowing on it before stuffing it in his mouth. The explosion of flavour assaulted his mouth, every spice used making itself known in a perfect blend. Skylor was watching him with a gentle smile as she sat down herself, taking her own container and beginning to eat as well.
"I presume it's good?" He nodded almost instantly.
"Come on, when is it not?? I can say this whole heartedly, your cooking is on the same level as Zanes, and with him being a ninjroid that's no small feat," He practically declared this before shoving another load of noodles into his mouth.
Ouch, not even my cooking? Nya fake-pouted, getting an internal eye roll.
You're my sister. No one beats your cooking period. That's just how it works.
Aweee, you'd never say this out loud.
Kind of can't just not say it when it'll just pop up in my head anyways, so not like it's something I can 'hide'.
Do you not have much control over your thoughts? Zane sounded confused..
No, no one really has full control over their own thoughts, and that'd go for you too, since I've seen you worried sick about Cole when he fell into that Oni made smoke stuff, seen you worried about me and Jay when Nya fully bonded with the ocean, overall worry for Master Wu and I know you worry about Pixal at least once a week, First Master forbade the amount of worrying I know you do when it comes to Lloyd, that got a confused squeak from the younger one while Zane just stuttered a bit.
It didn't take him long to dig through the entire noodle container, setting the chopsticks down with a sigh of satisfaction. He closed his eyes for a moment before opening them again, catching the strange look Skylor was giving him.
"Something wrong?" He raised a brow as he leaned back forward, resting his arms on the table as he looked at her in confusion.
"I dunno, was wondering if you could tell me," She kept the strange look on her face as she eyed him.
"I'm... confused, what?"
"I know you, and although you tend to zone out a lot, and I mean a lot, I have never seen you zone out this much before, like ever," She stood up, putting a hand on his shoulder as she examined him, making him tense a bit.
"I don't zone out that much.." He tried to argue, before;
Yes you do
Yes you do
Yes you do
Yes you do
Yes you do
The united response in his head caused him to wince, which Skylor unfortunately didn't miss.
"Something's up, and now that I can see that I won't be leaving until I know what," She stated, putting a hand on her hip as she looked at him.
"There isn't- well... it isn't important-..." He trailed off, rethinking a bit, keeping note of the residing grumble out of Cole in the back of his head.
"It isn't something... frankly because I doubt it'll be taken seriously considering my physical state..." That caught Skylor's attention, her expression softening.
"You wanna get somewhere more comfortable to tell me about it?" He looked back at her, noting her shift in tone.
"Uhm... I-... I guess.." He was going to fight telling her, but he didn't really want to keep it a 'secret' either, since it was his friends currently stuck in his head with no other way to communicate.. He stood up, making sure to dispose of the chopsticks and container along with Skylor's waste before guiding her to the living room, the entire time trying to figure out how to explain...