Bite Me! | lavashipping

4 | Silence of the Night Owls

The following week was filled with silent glances and repetitive questions but the longer they went without any more medical emergencies, the more everyone's hyper-awarness washed away. Things went back to their usual state then, Kai and Cole were allowed to stop 'taking it slow' and resumed training regularly and going to missions with the others.

While Kai reverted to his usual self almost instantly, his behaviour still seemed odd to Cole. As if there was always something else on his mind. His attention remained the same, he didn't zone out, he was barely quiet and kept offering his own comments related and unrelated to the discussions going on but somehow, Cole was convinced he was only halfway there with them no matter what.

Maybe it was just the lack of sleep.

It was ridiculous, really, no matter how tired he got, he could not sleep at night at all. As if there was something blocking him. It was impossible and frustrating and frankly quite tiring. His meditation session turned into naps, which made him feel guilty but it was the last thing keeping him alive, otherwise he would have turned into a walking zombie already.

Kai must have noticed, for he kept bringing him various teas in the evening, which were not helpful but Cole did not say anything as he enjoyed the small gestures. Jay made sure to point out the dark circles under his eyes, trying to get him to open up to no avail. To be fair, there was nothing particularly bothering Cole. He was just cranky because of the lack of sleep and the lack of sleep lacked any explanation. If at least his hunts for midnight snacks were more fruitful.

The concern reminded him how great it is to be surrounded by people who genuinely cared about him but it was getting on his nerves when there were not any solutions to anything.

Odds were this was another thing to come and go. Just a sleep slump, soon he will go back to normal, that was how these minor inexplainable issues worked.

During another one of those sleepless nights, Cold ventured into the kitchen in another desperate search for a midnight snack, so he could at least make something out of the waste of time and make his rumbling stomach shut up. If only it was more straightforward, nothing he found seemed satisfying enough but he had no idea what to look for.

"Are you telling me magnolia didn't work?" He didn't need to turn to see who came in.

"Sorry, did I wake you up?" However, staring into the cupboards proved useless as well.

"No." Instead of Kai's hair was a bird's nest, a tell-tale sign they were on the same page. "I went out of my way to ask Wu for teas to sleep and they don't work on me or on you, what's the point?" As if his hair was not already messy enough, Kai ran a hand through it in his frustration.

So maybe it was not special attention. Somehow the thought did not move Cole significantly, although he was not thrilled about drinking leftovers from Kai's desperate attempts to help himself.

Kai slumped over the kitchen counter, the dim light making his frown even darker. He watched as Cole idly opened and closed some more cupboards before asking, "Midnight snacking?"

"I'm trying to," Cole sighed, officially giving up. "There's just nothing."

"What? There's plenty of food! I think I saw some rice pudding in the fridge and there should be those biscuits you like in one of the cupboards, I tried to hide them so Lloyd wouldn't eat them all by himself."

He tapped his fingers against the counter but the sound got quickly irritating. The silence of the monastery made everything ten times louder. "I don't think I feel like sweets."

Kai fought back a smile, probably even an urge to make a joke. Instead, he offered, "I mean I did save some of those fancy jerky from Jay and Greenie if you want."