Cole is back in Yang's temple, he looks down at his ghostly hands. He tries to remember what he's doing here, but comes up blank. Best leave and try to find the bounty. When he gets to the doors they open easily, but when he tries to walk out it is like there is an invisible forcefield holding him inside.
He frowns and tries a window, getting the same result. That's not good.
Cole wanders through the temple opening every door and cupboard looking for anyone to explain what was going on, but it seems to be empty, deserted. He is alone.
Fear slowly escalates the longer he searches, until he finds a mirror. He looks into it in disbelief, seeing a reflection of Master Yang staring back at him.
Cole wakes again, It was just a dream… but why am I dreaming about Yang?
His thoughts are distracted by a weight on his arm, he opens his eyes to see a messy mop of brown hair fallen asleep on top of it. As much as he wants to let Jay sleep, it hurts. Cole wriggles, trying to see if he can free his arm without waking Jay, but is unsuccessful with Jay stirring at the movement and slowly lifting his head.
"Maybe use a pillow next time?" teases Cole as he stretches out his arm, and clenches his fist a couple times trying to shake out the pins and needles.
"Huh?" Jay drearily glances between the spot on the bed he had just been leaning on and Cole. After a moment his sleepy brain catches up to what is going on and his cheeks flush with embarrassment. "I'm so sorry! I wasn't planning on falling asleep, I was meant to be watching you… I didn't hurt you did I?"
Cole chuckles, "it's fine, just some pins and needles. I can't really get mad at you for sleeping when it's my fault you've been so tired." He's still not quite used to the sound of his own voice, but he doesn't miss the scratchy echo.
Jay lets out a small sigh of relief. "But, um, how are you feeling?" Jay looks at him nervously.
Cole thinks about it for a moment, moving his arms and legs, testing them. "My body feels a lot better. A bit sore, but nothing I can't manage."
"And your head?"
Cole shuts his eyes, trying to tune out the thumping pain in his temple. "Um, can I have more pain meds yet?" That was probably what woke him up, the meds wearing out.
Jay checks the time on his phone. "Sure can." He passes Cole the box and some water. Cole pushes himself into a seated position and sits up against the wall. It was easier to take the meds sitting up, and he was sick of lying down. Again he eyes up the water with mild concern, but it is easier this time, and he even manages to drink a bit without freaking out.
After that is taken care of they sit in silence for a bit, Cole waiting for the meds to take effect, Jay swinging his feet, and nervously playing with his hands, looking like there was something he wanted to talk about.
"Just spit it out already." says Cole, lacking the mental energy to play investigator.
"What?" says Jay with a hint of confusion.
"Your nervous energy is contagious, what is it, is my head going to explode?"
"What no! Why would it explode?"
Cole shrugs. "I dunno, I'm not an expert on glowing head scars!"
Jay sighs, frowning as he stares at Cole's forehead. "I should have been there… we should have been there. You shouldn't have had to do that on your own. Fight an evil Wu and what like, six brainwashed students? Please don't ever go rogue, you could probably take down the entire team if you had to, like hot damn."
Oh, so that was what the nervous energy was about, he was trying to apologise. Cole shrugs. "It sounds like you had your hands full with those, um, ghosts? What exactly did I release?"
"Possessed wax sculptures of our previous enemies. Or was it statues? Wait, you released them?"
"Yang tricked me, I brought him the yin blade, I released the spirits of our enemies, then he took it from me so he could open the rift."
"Huh. Well Ronin helped me beat up Samukai in the junkyard. Everyone else had their own battles, even Dareth."
"Wait what, Dareth?"
"Yeah, I guess Kozu held a grudge for the whole helmet thing? Anyway, what I'm trying to say is no one even noticed you were missing, we should have come sooner. I-I'm sorry."
Cole could see the deep regret lining Jay's face. "Hey, look at me, you didn't do anything wrong, ok? It was part of the curse, or part of being a ghost, it was getting harder for you all to notice me, to remember me. It, well, you couldn't control it. Ok?"
Jay looks at him with scepticism. "But…"
"No buts!" Cole pats the bed next to him, and Jay goes to sit next to him, side by side, backs against the wall. Cole reaches out to hold Jay's hand, delighted when it doesn't feel like it's burning. He closes his eyes and slowly leans onto Jay, resting his aching head on Jay's shoulder. Oh how he missed this. Comforting touch, the warmth of his friends.
"It doesn't hurt?" asks Jay gently.
"Not really." mumbles Cole. "Still a bit sensitive."
They sit like that for a minute, Cole feeling some of Jay's nervous energy fade away, heart rate settling into a more relaxed pace.
"Thank you." says Cole. For he hadn't actually said that yet had he?
"For what?" asks Jay, not wanting to assume.
"For keeping your secret." Jay tenses slightly. "If I knew, I would have stopped, and if I stopped… I might not have lasted long enough to be here right now."
"You're my best friend Cole. I'd do anything for you."
"I know, but you shouldn't have had to do that! I feel super guilty, I should never have used you like that, I know it was wrong but, it helped, so thank you. Thank you." Tears made their way down his face, you wouldn't think one would miss crying, but the relief at fully feeling his emotions was cathartic.
Jay squeezes Cole's hand gently, and leans his head to rest on top of Cole's head. "I'd do it again, if I had to. You're worth it, just I'd much prefer if you didn't become a ghost again ok?"
Cole nods slightly.
There was something else Cole had been thinking of. "Can I ask you something?"
"I think you just did." Jay answers sarcastically.
"Do you like living on the Bounty? Like, it's a flying pirate ship."
Jay lets out a small sigh, and pauses before answering. "The bounty has been home for a long time. Misfortune's Keep was different. The engines sounded different, it smelt different. I um, don't love it when we fly through the night, the turbulence can get me… well, being on the water ain't so bad. Nadakhan never landed. Most of the time it's fine, I'll manage."
"But if you could choose between the monastery and the Bounty?"
"Oh monastery 1000%" Jay answers instantly, not a moment of hesitation. "But it's not exactly habitable right now. Rebuilding it would take a lot of work."
"It's not quite the monastery, but what about Yang's temple?"
"What? Isn't it haunted?"
"When the curse was broken, it was made all new again. I don't think we have to worry about ghosts anymore."
Jay pauses, thinking it over. "But would you be ok living there? I don't want to swap my trauma for yours…"
"I think I need to go back." says Cole, wondering if his dreams mean anything, wondering if they would continue, wondering if it had something to do with his new scar.
"If you're sure." says Jay with mild concern. "I'll talk it over with the others."
Cole nods, then pulls away from Jay, and shuffles to the edge of the bed.
"Hey, what are you doing, should you really be getting up just yet?"
"I can't stay in bed forever." says Cole with determination. He needed to get out of this room. He sees Jay about to try and talk him out of it so adds, "I need to pee."
"Oh, oh right." Jay jumps up off the bed, making it look so easy. "Do you need a hand? Not with the… that obviously, but with the getting there?"
"Maybe?" chuckles Cole. "The last time I tried to get up I ended up flat on my face."
Jay hovers nervously as Cole shifts his weight off the bed. His legs still feel a bit like Jelly, and his head throbs at the movement, but he manages to stay upright. He focuses on using his arms still gripping the bed to stabilise himself, when he feels strength flowing through him and they start to glow orange.
"What the hell is that?!"
Jay's volume is too loud, Cole releases the bed in panic, shaking his arms slightly, trying to dispel whatever it was. Thankfully as his focus fades, so does the glowing, but unfortunately as he had released the bed, he overbalances and starts to fall.
Two blue clad arms wrap around his middle, righting him before he could topple over. "Cole, you ok?"
Cole leans on Jay, steadying his feet before he fully collapses. "Yeah, I'm fine. It just surprised me."
Jay tentatively releases his support, Cole not needing it anymore. "Was it just me or were your arms glowing?"
Coles holds his arms out in front of him. "They did that once before, when I was fighting Yang. I thought it was a ghost thing… I wonder if I can…" He focuses on his arms, trying to activate them on purpose. He feels strength, like when he uses his powers to lift a car, and glowing orange lines make their way to his hands.
"Whoa!" says Jay, sounding impressed.
Cole takes a deep breath, letting them fade, he didn't need super strength to go to the bathroom. "That could take some getting used to." he mutters. "I think it's linked to my elemental powers?"
"So, glowing isn't always bad?" says Jay hopefully, one eyebrow raised. "Your scar might also be linked?"
Cole frowns. "When my arms glow they feel stronger, when my head glows it hurts."
Jay lets out a small sigh. "Remember yesterday your arms hurt too? Give it time, and come on, didn't you have somewhere to be?"
Cole manages to make his own way to the bathroom, with Jay hovering nearby the entire time. He had not missed these particular bodily functions, but at least there were no painful surprises.
When he returned to the corridor Jay was still lingering. "Do you want something to eat?"
"Will you let me have cake?"
Jay chuckles. "Zane's gone to fetch some ingredients, you need to wait just a bit longer for cake."
They make their way to the kitchen where Jay fetches him some food. He is presented with an apple, peanut butter toast and a glass of milk. Slightly more interesting than the meal Lloyd had made him. Typically he would put honey, or jam, or even chocolate spread with the peanut butter. He picks it up sceptically and takes a bite. It tastes absolutely amazing. Rich and creamy, nutty flavour filling his mouth.
Next he tries the apple. It is both sour and sweet, making his mouth pucker a little, it reminds him of the super sour lollies he would enjoy as a kid.
And finally the milk. He could swear Jay must have sweetened it with something, plain milk doesn't taste this good, right? He examines the milk as he swirls the glass, seeing if he can see sugar crystals sticking to the side.
"Everything alright?" asks Jay, while munching on his own toast.
Cole frowns, putting down the glass. "Yeah, everything tastes really good."
"You don't sound pleased?" says Jay with confusion.
Cole sighs. "Plain milk and peanut butter toast isn't supposed to taste this good!"
Jay snorts, spraying out some crumbs. "That's what has you concerned? Oh boo hoo! Everything tastes amazing! Dude, I'm glad some of your sensory overload is enjoyable."
Cole frowns. "But, my touch is mostly back to normal?"
"You do realise I'm still whispering right?" Cole blinks, he had not. "Also, you might need these if you try to go outside." Jay hands him a pair of sunglasses.
Cole takes them, squinting at them, and then realises he had been constantly squinting since he left the infirmary… He slides them onto his face and feels his eyes relax, things were a little dark, but better than before. He lets out a sigh as he continues to pick at the unnaturally flavourful meal.
"Hmm, if you are using them inside, you might want to leave outside until tomorrow, or at least when it's a bit darker."
Cole shifts uncomfortably in the chair. Were chairs always this hard? Were his clothes always this scratchy?
"This is so dumb." he grumbles, while scratching at his sleeve, face flushing with embarrassment.
Jay grimaces, sympathetically. "Yeah, it must be pretty frustrating? We think it's just because you could barely feel anything as a ghost. Your brain turned up the volume on all your senses to try and compensate, and now it just needs to readjust. I'm sure you'll be back to normal in no time."
After the meal Cole convinces Jay to go take a proper nap, one where he wasn't cutting off circulation to anyone else's limbs, and goes to the game room to hang with (be babysat by) Kai.
"Hey, good to see you on your own two feet!" exclaims Kai as Cole enters. It was suddenly quite obvious that Jay had in fact been whispering. Cole winces slightly at the volume.
Kai notices, "Sorry, too loud?"
"A little." Cole admits while sitting down. The couch was at least marginally more comfortable than the kitchen chair.
"Want to go a round?" asks Kai, holding out a controller to Cole.
Cole takes it, noticing how easy it was to hold, not slipping through his fingers. Oh how he had come to loathe buttons, and the fine control needed to operate them, it had been a long time since he had played any video games because of this. He had tried it a couple of times when he was possessing Jay, but it wasn't the same without sound, or friends to play with.
"Do I ever." says Cole enthusiastically, watching Kai lower the volume on the TV before unpausing the game, cancelling the level and then picking one that was multiplayer.
They work together fighting off zombies, Cole is out of practice, fingers feeling sluggish as they remember how to operate the controller. It takes more focus than he remembers, forcing his muscles to fire in just the right order. He frequently slips, pressing the wrong thing, using the wrong move, going the wrong way…
"Come on Cole…" he mutters to himself.
They eventually make it to the boss zombie, thanks mostly to Kai, but the boss needs both of them to pull off a combo attack. Cole is so focused on getting it right, on fighting, on unleashing his power at the right time, that he doesn't notice his arms start to glow until he hears the sound of plastic breaking.
Sharp shards stick into his hands, and he drops the broken controller in surprise, letting out a gasp.
"What the?" Kai's eyes dart between the screen and Cole, realising the game is a bust he hits pause and gives Cole his full attention. "Dude, are you ok?" The controller was a mangled mess on the floor, and Cole was shaking his arm which had glowing orange lines snaking around it, a small trickle of blood running down one finger.
The glowing goes away and Cole lets out a sigh, leaning back into the couch. "Sorry… I think I broke it."
"Yeah, no shit. But are you ok? What was that?"
Cole shrugs. "I'm still trying to figure that out. A new way of using my powers I guess?" He sticks the bleeding finger in his mouth, the scratch was small.
"It kinda looked like lava."
Cole pulls the finger out again, probably doesn't even need a band aid. "Heh, lava arm. I like that." He looks down at the controller on the floor. He couldn't even play video games without messing it up. He couldn't sleep without having weird dreams. Food tasted wrong, everything felt wrong thanks to his sensory overload, ugh. He was so over it. So fucking over it.
A drop of water falls onto his clenched fists and he realises he must be crying. A warm hand rests on his shoulder and he flinches away, not expecting it.
"Sorry." says Kai, pulling back his hand. "It's just a controller, I'm sure we've got a few spares."
Cole slips off his glasses and rubs his sleeve over his eye. "I know. I'm fine." he mumbles.
"It's ok to not be fine."
Cole clenches his fists once more. "I know I should be grateful to have my body back, and I am… but I just… this wasn't what I expected." Cole lets out a deep sigh, squinting, so he puts his sunnies back on. "This is meant to be great, I'm meant to be so happy to have my real body back, but it's just… I can't even…" He lets out a frustrated grunt while gesturing to the controller. He can't even find the words to describe this petty frustration.
Kai scoots up next to him on the couch, leaving a small gap, wanting to provide comfort, but not wanting to make things worse with unwelcome touch. "It'll be ok, you just need a bit of time." Cole takes the opportunity to lean over onto Kai, similarly to how he was leaning on Jay before.
Kai slowly wraps an arm around Cole's shoulders. "Is this ok?" he asks gently.
"Yeah, you just startled me before."
"It doesn't burn?"
Cole shakes his head. "You're warmer than Jay, but it doesn't burn."
Kai lets out a sigh of relief. "I was so worried, I've never seen you in so much pain…"
"Yeah, well, good thing Wu had that tea."
"Why don't we watch a movie?" asks Kai.
"Sure… whatever." Movies were one of the few things he could still do properly as a ghost. He must have watched every movie on the bounty a dozen times to fill the time the others were sleeping. But if it meant he could stay here, being held by Kai, well, it was fine with him.
His head was throbbing again, the meds from Jay not lasting particularly long. It would be nice to just lay here for a bit.
Kai switches over the input on the TV, and just plays whatever is already in the disc drive, as he didn't want to get up and disturb Cole. The volume is so low he can barely hear anything, so he switches on subtitles.
About 10min later, Kai's arm is going numb, so he repositions, leaning into the corner of the couch, and repositions Cole so he is leaning more on his chest than his shoulder.
About 20min into the movie Kai realises Cole is fast asleep. He gives a small sigh, knowing he is trapped, but at least he has a movie to watch.