blemish (n.)
plural noun: blemishes
1. a small mark or flaw which spoils the appearance of something
ˑ༄ؘ ۪۪۫۫ ▹▫◃ ۪۪۫۫ ༄ؘ ˑ
[lowercase intended]
that day began just as normal, except for the discovery of a huge bruise on jays head. no one was really surprised since everyone knew how clumsy the master of lightning could be at times, but a few minutes later all eyes were on cole who had the same bruise as jay on his head, just mirrored.
"what happened, cole? had a bad encounter with that hell of a chicken?" kai asked, visibly confused by the similarity in shape and size of both blemishes.
"uh... actually-" cole wanted to respond, but jay quickly interrupted him: "fridge! it was the fridge!!" and laughed nervously.
"what?" the earth elemental began, earning a jab to the ribs from jay: "ouch-! ah, yeah, you're right. it was the fridge" he continues, holding his ribs and glancing to the other ninjas.
"I mean, it's probably not like the fridge attacked you two?" nya asked making kai scoff: "well, I never knew you would be just as clumsy as jay, cole. can't believe you fell for that trick..."
"hey! that hurt" jay pouted: "I'd consider this as straight-up bullying..." but before he could finish his sentence cole stopped him again: "wait a second, what trick?" kai winced a bit, a tense smile on his face:
"well, I might or might not have moved the fridge a few inches to the left. definitely not just so you guys would bump into it, no no, of course not...!"
"hey!! I stubbed my pinky on that damn fridge because of you! that's not funny" lloyd said, as he came into the room, holding a tray with breakfast and tea.
as the others started to argue, jay and cole silently looked at each other surprised:
"he really moved the fridge?" cole whispered, a concerned look on his face which slowly faded when jay whispered back: "well, better for us, I guess! now we have a perfect and rational explanation for those stupid bruises!"
when everything quietened down and they finished breakfast, it was time to train. everyone assembled in the open space of the monastery where the ninjas would usually train their fighting and elemental skills. just as they were about to begin, an alarm started blaring. everybody hurried to the secret high-tech base under the building. p.i.x.a.l. quickly briefed them on the mission and master wu decided it would be best if cole, kai and zane went to battle the mechanic and his henchmen which were currently invading multiple cinemas all over ninjago.
on their way to the first location, kai started to speak over the intercom:
"so, cole. what really happened that resulted in that bruise of yours?"
"what do you mean?" the other responded, baffled by the sudden question: "I told you, it was because of the fridge!" he continued, hoping that his answer was believable enough.
"I want to know the truth, cole" kai demanded, an impatient undertone in his voice.
"I told you it was just the-" but the fire elemental cut him right off: "I know it was definitely not because of the goddamn fridge, stop lying"
"well, how would you know, anyway? it's not like you were there when it happened" cole scoffs, slightly irritated at kais behaviour.
"I sense that you're heart rate is accelerating, cole" zane chimed in: "you're increased sweating and the galvanic skin response also indicate that you are, in fact, lying" he continued.
"oh, shut up zane" cole responded, now clearly irritated.
"just as zane said, your hips - or more like your body - don't lie. and I'm starting to feel like I'm right" kai said, and cole could almost hear the grin in his voice.
"now you're quoting shakira? seriously, what's wrong with you, kai?"
"that's funny because I thought you were the one acting weird today. come one, what did you and jay whisper about when we were arguing about my awesome prank with the fridge?"
"it's nothing, really!"
kai sighs, now visibly troubled by coles stubbornness: "I literally saw you yesterday, cole. with jay. in the kitchen."
"and? that just means you admit the fridge thing!!" cole answers.
"he has got a point, you know?" zane says as he considers interrupting his two friends. the three of them almost arrived at their destination and he certainly had no time for their bickering while fighting the notorious mechanic.
"we'll continue this later, cole. don't think I'm gonna forget about it so easily! this conversation is just postponed until we defeat that tin can" kai says, putting an end to their little argument.
the fight did not last long, but in the end, the mechanic escaped, leaving his underlings behind. as the commissioner led the handcuffed henchmen into their police truck, he turns to the three ninjas: "thanks for your help, we wouldn't have been able to catch them without you"
kai smiles: "always here to help, commissioner! now let's get home, shall we?" he says while already going in the direction of their vehicles.
zane and cole quickly followed, saying goodbye to the police officers and making their way home.
"now that we're alone again, let's continue our conversation, cole" kai suddenly got serious, the usual joking tone in his voice disappearing as he started talking over the intercom.
"kai, you don't understand it's literally just a bruise! stop making such a huge fuss about it" cole answered, irritated by the topic.
"It would be best to tell kai the truth, cole. keeping secrets from each other is not very ninja-like" zane adds.
"okay, fine! we both looked into the fridge simultaneously and then hit our heads. who would've known that jay's head is so firm? now you know the truth, stop pestering me!" cole exclaimed, now seriously upset at his friends' demeanour.
"okay, okay! chill, cole. I just wanted to tease you a bit, jesus christ" kai replied.
"well that did not go as well as you anticipated it to, hm?" cole said agitatedly.
the rest of the way home there was an uncomfortable silence, and even after arriving at the monastery, everyone could sense a certain tenseness between the master of fire and the master of earth that went on up until the evening. by now the other ninjas were all confused and worried about the two since cole and kai usually argued rarely, maybe once or twice every four months. on the next day, nya decided to speak to kai:
"uh... kai? is everything alright with you and cole?" she said carefully, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm just bothered that he won't tell me the truth! I know that he and jay did not get their bruises because of the damn fridge" he groans: "I confronted him when we were on the mission trying to make him stop lying about it. I saw what happened and I probably just don't like him keeping secrets from me. I know that such a trifle should not drive a wedge between us but it's just really hard for me knowing that he still rather chooses to lie than telling me the truth."
nyas look softened at kais confession: "I'm sure he has his reasons. why don't you go talk to him? tell him what you just told me, I'm sure he does not want something like this to separate you two too. he will understand."
kai had already thought about that yesterday, but could not muster up the courage to do it. now that he told his sister, he felt a burst of confidence in him. cole was currently in the kitchen, baking a cake and thinking about their argument, too. he wanted to apologize to kai for being so harsh on him and for not being truthful. it was time to tell the team about him and jay. he already spoke to the lightning elemental who had agreed that it was time. just as he was taking the cake out of the oven, kai walked in. their eyes met and cole decided to speak first:
"hello, kai" he greeted, placing the still steaming cake on the kitchen table.
"hi..." he responded. after taking a deep breath, he says: "I... uh... I came here to talk to you, cole"
cole looked up: "really? actually... I wanted to talk to you too" he continues: "I... I wanted to apologize for being so harsh yesterday"
"No, no! I'm sorry. I was pushing you to tell the truth. I shouldn't have done that. It was just... we know each other for quite long now but it still bothers me when someone I have known for a long time tries to keep secrets from me." kai explains, kneading his hands and avoiding eye contact. cole was quite astonished at the sudden revelation:
"oh... well uh, jay and I have been wanting to tell everyone what really happened anyway... but I still have one question: did you, uh, really see what happened?" cole looked at his friend self-consciously.
kai gulped: "no... I did not. I just... I just wanted to know the truth, you know? Now... now I feel horrible about it. I just wanted you to be truthful but then I started to lie... I'm really sorry, cole"
the other then stood before kai and says: "it's alright" cole smiles: "no big deal! I understand that you don't like being lied to. now, let's go outside to the others, hm? we can eat the cake later, it's your favourite"
kai grins: "thank you cole"
when everyone gathered outside, jay and cole quickly stepped forward, nervously smiling and fidgeting around a bit:
"uh... you guys might wonder why jay and I have gathered you all here today" cole starts, looking at everyone in the circle and then at jay.
"yeah, right. so, the thing is that..." he looks at the ground "that cole and I are in a relationship, a romantic relationship" and smiles softly. cole now reaches out for jays hand to hold it and says: "and the bruises resulted in us hitting our heads when... um... when trying to kiss" and laughs "but that was pretty embarrassing so we thought we'd blame the fridge..."
for a moment, no one said anything, but then lloyd started snickering silently.
"hey, that's not funny!" cole said, but quickly started laughing too as the others joined in. his eyes met kais again, who had started smiling and grinning as well.
"all the attraction, the tension!!" he yells as coles eyes widen in realization: "don't you see, baby, this is perfection!!"
- 1,748 words