Lava | Ninjago

🜂 | finishing touches

At first, it was nothing uncommon. Holding hands when they needed to, patting each other's backs and shoulders in support, hugging when excited or when they needed comfort. Common stuff. Completely normal. Yet, slowly and surely it became to escalate. It wasn't occasional anymore. It was all the time. For example, holding hands under the table was a thing reserved for bad days until it wasn't. They just did it whenever they had the chance, simply, because it felt nice and it became sort of a tradition.

And in secret need to have closer to Cole, Kai offered to give him a massage. Once because he complained about back pain after some not-so-pretty fight, all of the times after that it was purely out of the unexplainable need to touch him.

And they hugged. A lot. Like whenever they had the opportunity kind of a lot. Whenever they reunited – even if they got separated to go to the town while the other stayed at the monastery. Or whenever there was good news, not great or wonderful news, just good news, like when Zane was cooking dinner. After that, they started hugging without any reason. They could, why not do it? It felt nice and neither one of them was able of denying it.

After Cole caught him in the middle of his hair routine, weekly self-care days also appeared on a regular schedule. Sure, it was nice to spend time together and catch up or maybe not talk at all when they didn't feel like it, but also feeling Cole's fingers brush through his hair was the most relaxing thing ever. That was their secret and it just made it better.

Probably the first and the most frequent thing was leaning on the other's shoulder. That one was constant. Didn't know what to do with your hands? Just put it on the other's shoulder. Tired of standing still? Just lean on the other's shoulder. Want to make the other shut up so you can speak? the answer is right there. It was automatic and every time Kai caught himself doing it, the seed got a boost in its growth.

Whenever the seed grew too much and Kai wasn't able to handle it anymore, he allowed himself to let it out. Only in his room, behind the locked doors, making sure no one would catch him. Because if someone did, how would he explain it? There was no explanation. Hence, why he needed to get new pillows all the time.

☾

Comfort. Cole was radiating an unbelievable amount of comfort. Something about him made Kai feel safe and he couldn't get enough of it because it was one of the nicest feelings. Maybe it was his sweet smile, maybe it were the kind words he knew exactly when to use, maybe it was the way he pretended to be strong no matter what and even though Kai knew it wasn't always real, it reassured people around him.

There were times when Kai remembered the whole ordeal with Aspheera and had to make sure his powers were still intact. Fire defined him and who would Kai be without fire? Nobody. He would be a nobody. Just the mere thought made his throat tighten and his breath hitch.

Losing his powers was one of the worst experiences because it made him feel completely useless and he hated his entire being. It was a huge relief when he managed to light that fire but it was also super exhausting. Kai could feel himself wobble on the line of consciousness but that didn't manage to rob him of the feeling when Cole held him in his arms.

To this day he replays that moment in his head over and over and he would like to imagine it was that moment when he realised what he felt towards Cole, but it wasn't. However, if anything, from that moment on, he knew nobody could equal Cole in some shape or form. Cole was one of a kind.

Kai fell asleep several times with a smile on his lips when he thought about it. He was a wreck back then and it wasn't the part of life he liked to think about but that one tiny memory was an exception. The way he was proud of him was touching, it was so heart-warming, it got him close to tears. He was proud of him, he helped the people and his powers were back. He was a wreck.