On a String

Chapter 9

In a tone soft with wonderment, Kai repeated the word. "Safe,"

Cole felt pained to realize that it had probably been a long time since Kai had last felt like that. "Yeah, you're safe," he murmured, while gently rubbing Kai's unscarred shoulder.

It was a pleasant surprise when Kai didn't move away or stiffen at the touch.

After several more minutes, Kai's muffled sobs began to subside and his breathing became more regular. But he still made no move to pull away, so Cole continued to hold him, understanding that after a month of pain and loss he needed all the support he could get.

The red Ninja might have stopped shaking, but he was still tense, so the Earth Ninja decided that getting rid of that anxiety was his top priority.

But there was one slight problem...

How was he going to do that?

How was he meant to make Kai fully calm down?

("Haha, you don't even know what they are. Coz you don't have any," Kai gave a good natured grin.)

The answer came easily. Make him laugh.

"Did you know that Lloyd developed a crush on a waitress while you were gone?" Cole asked.

The brown spikes next to Cole's face dipped as Kai shook his head. "No," he replied, the sound muffled by Cole's gi.

"Oh, it was so hilarious. We went out for dinner on night about a week ago and we had this really nice waitress serving our table. She was blonde and I reckon she had a slight addiction to eyeliner. You could see the whites of her eyes, but only because there was a black ring around them. But despite that, she was real friendly and chatty. Heck, Even Jay admitted that she was cute when we got home, although Nya hit him with her handbag for that comment,"

Cole shifted position slightly, noticing with no small amount of delight that some of Kai's tension had disappeared during his rambling. The grip on his gi had definitely slackened. "Anyway, during dinner, Lloyd would not stop staring at her. And when she gave him the kiddie's ice cream he had this huge blush. It was so funny,"

"Does he still like her?"

Cole chuckled. "Nope, the wedding ring on her finger changed his mind. Poor little guy was heartbroken. First girl he likes is already married,"

The spikes bobbed again, and a few more seconds passed before Kai slowly pulled out of the hug, leaning back against the wall. His eyes were puffy, but Cole was sure he was happier than he had been before. Some of the color had returned to his face, as well.

But despite these changes, Cole knew that his friend wasn't ready to be left alone- or left with anyone else, he realized. Kai still didn't trust the rest of the team, which meant that Cole was the only one who could do anything with him.

So... where to from here? Cole looked up at the clock on the wall. "Hey, I've got lunch duty now. Wanna help me cook?"

The Bounty's living room was silent.

As in; graveyard silent.

The silence of death.