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finn-m-corvex · 1 year ago

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Falling Sleeves

I'm not super happy with the title, but that's okay! This is the second of the stories voted on by the poll, here in the afternoon just like I promised (for me, anyway). I had a lot of fun with this one, and for anyone that managed to read my hoodie headcanons before they got yeeted off the face of the earth there are a lot of little easter eggs in here :). Enjoy, everybody!

Words: 4.3k

No TWs! Unless you don't like bacon pancakes, in which case I'm sorry for your loss.

It was a very lazy morning in the monastery when Cole jolted awake, gasping for air as the sensation of falling washed over him. He grabbed at the sheets, twisting them up in his hands to try and ground himself as his hand went to scrabble at his shirt. The awful feeling was gone only a minute later, but the remnants of his nightmare still clawed at his chest as he struggled to take a deep breath. Finally settling down, Cole sat up and grabbed the hoodie sitting on his bedpost, frowning at the large splotches of paint across the front and throiwng it into the laundry bin.

He tred over the art supplies littering his floor from the night before, picking up his finished canvases and propping them up against his dresser one by one; it always helped him to put things in order after he had a bad dream. Staying up late last night to paint with Lloyd may not have been one of his smartest ideas, but it was the best way he could think to assure his little brother that yes, Cole was here and yes, he was alive.

Even though he very nearly wasn’t.

Almost as if it could hear him, his ribcage started aching under the bandages wrapped generously around his torso, and Cole grimaced when his shirt brushed against the smattering of bruises across his back. Zane had offered to stay with him and ice the bruises overnight, but Cole had declined since he didn’t want to burden his brother. Maybe he should’ve taken the nindroid up on his offer.

“Hoodies never hurt anybody,” Cole mumbled, opening his top drawer to grab one; it would do more than enough to hide the injuries. There were quite a few missing, but that was par for the course. Cole could’ve sworn he just did laundry the other day though.

Grabbing one of his favorites, a dark blue one with ‘KISS THE COLE’ in white letters across the front, Cole put it on as carefully as he could. He still managed to aggravate his injuries somehow, wincing, but they still felt better than they had around a week ago. Still, he should probably see somebody about changing the bandages at the very least.

Before he could think about leaving the room, Nya threw open his door, tossing something onto his bed and then flopping down on top of it. Cole raised an eyebrow at the hoodie she was wearing; it was one of his, a light blue one with various designs in hot pink across the front. He knew for a fact that he just ran that particular hoodie through the wash before the whole Oni debacle. At least he had located one of his missing garments.

“Nya?” he asked, and all she did was groan in response. Now that he was looking, he noticed how wet her hair was, and realized that she had shown up right after she had taken a shower. “Did you need something?”

“Can you help me with my hair?” Nya asked, muffled against his comforter. Eyebrows rising to his hairline, Cole smiled to himself, shaking his head as he walked back to his bed and sat at the top on his pillow

“Of course I can. Come on up here.”

Without hesitating Nya scrambled up to make herself comfortable, sitting between his legs and handing Cole her brush and hair products. Cole grabbed one of the spare rubberbands on his side table that he used for his own hair and got to work.

The time passed in silence, Cole working through her hair while Nya leaned against his propped up knee and scrolled through her feeds. In a way it was the most grounded Cole had felt since that awful day, his feet firmly on the ground of the present rather than dangling in the air of what could’ve been. Having his sister here brought him a sense of peace that he wasn’t sure he would feel for quite some time, and Cole had a suspicious feeling that it was the same case for her. Nya hadn’t asked him to do her hair in years after he taught her how to care for it as she was growing it out, and if he was being totally honest he had missed doing this with her.

Maybe that was why he took his time with it, even though he had the skills to make it happen much quicker.

“There,” he said quietly, putting the brush down and running his fingers through it to check for any hidden knots, listening to her hum of contentment. Nya snuggled closer, perfectly happy with her spot against his chest. “Do you want me to do anything special with it?”

“Can you braid it, please?” Nya asked, and Cole felt his heart swell with emotion.

“Always,” he replied easily, and he let his mind wander as he worked through the repetitive motions. Her hair really has gotten longer, he thought, and his heart ached when he looked for too long at the flowing black locks. They reminded him of his mom’s hair.

Mom.

Now there was something he hadn’t thought about for a while. Actually, Cole thought about her at least once a day, but it had been some time since he had let himself get lost down memory lane, staring up at the old house on the end of the street that held every memory he had of his long-gone mother. He would linger there on the sidewalk, watching as the lights grew dimmer and dimmer as his memories became more recent, until finally the porchlight would flicker and flash before turning off entirely. Cole could never make himself stay for more than five minutes after the light went out, continuing to walk down the sidewalk to look at the bitter memories that followed.

“Your thoughts are too loud,” Nya joked, hugging his arm close to her. Cole snorted, not pausing in his movements.

“Really? How do you know that?”

“I’ve been with Jay for years,” Nya said, “it’s practically given me telepathy at this point. Now what are you thinking so hard about?”

He hummed to himself, debating on how much he wanted to tell her. “Your hair, it…it reminds me of Mom’s.”

Everything went quiet, but Cole wasn’t afraid of it becoming awkward. He knew that Nya was just gathering her thoughts, trying to think through her next steps as carefully as she could. “Is that a good thing?”

“Why wouldn’t it be?” Cole asked, genuinely curious, and Nya sighed.

“I-I don’t know. I guess I just don’t want to make you sad.”

“I’m not sad when I think about my mom, Nya,” Cole said patiently, tying the rubberband around the end of the braid. It wasn’t his prettiest work, but it would do for right now. “Honestly. It actually makes me pretty happy, she would’ve loved to meet you.”

She would’ve loved to meet all of them, really, and Cole knew that for a fact.

Part of him had spent the past week thinking about what would’ve happened if he had actually perished in the fall, if he would’ve gotten to see his mom again. Would he have been happy to see her? Or her to see him? Would she be disappointed that he had died the way he had, or would she just have been happy that it was a quick way to go? Would she have known his friends, or what happened between him and Dad?

Cole hoped that she didn’t know what happened between him and Dad.

“For what it’s worth, I would’ve liked to meet her too,” Nya said, and Cole kissed the back of her head as a response; he had to stay in the present, and not dwell on the what-if’s. He was here, and he was alive, and that was enough. They didn’t say anything after that, Cole pulling out his phone and looking through Chirp to pass the time while Nya continued to scroll through her various media; from what Cole could tell, she was currently looking at pictures of dragonflies, for whatever reason.

For as much as she liked to say that Jay was the only one with ADHD in their relationship, Cole would beg to differ.

He would be lying if he said he wasn’t enjoying himself despite the lack of social interaction. Both he and Nya were people who liked to spend time with people in the same space, sometimes talking but more than happy to just soak up the others’ presence in the room. Cole couldn’t remember the last time Nya and him had done this, laying down together on his bed and doing nothing but enjoying the other’s company.

Until he heard a large growl from Nya’s stomach.

The water ninja blushed, chuckling sheepishly. “Sorry, I guess I’m a little hungry.”

“Let’s go see if anyone’s making breakfast,” Cole suggested, even though neither of them made any movement to get up. He was extremely comfortable in his current position, except his bottomless pit for a stomach was also starting to rumble.

“C’mon Nya,” he chuckled, gently pushing her off and watching her flop onto the bed with a forced groan. Why did he have such dramatic siblings? “Do you want me to carry you?”

Nya held out her arms without hesitation, and Cole was quick to hook his arms under her shoulders and lift, feeling her legs wrap around him like a teddybear. He moved his arms to be around her waist instead, shivering from her warm breath ghosting over the side of his neck. She hummed contently, shuffling around before sighing.

“Jay’s right,” she said, “this is pretty comfy.”

“Why do you think I do it for him all the time?” Cole started walking towards the kitchen, already feeling Nya’s weight start to drag on his limbs. His ribs ached in protest, and his shoulders were screaming, but dammit his little sister wanted to be carried and he was going to carry her. The walk down the hall wasn’t very long, thankfully, but Cole could already feel sweat starting to gather on his back under his hoodie. Nya tapped her fingers along his back in a familiar rhythm, and Cole focused on the tip-tap-tip-tap that he knew so well from Jay. They really were made for each other.

Initially, he was planning on carrying Nya directly into the kitchen and dropping her off at the table, but Cole had to stop and gape at the scene in the living room.

Kai and Jay were playing one of the Fist to Face games, the second edition maybe, both of them remarkably quiet with their brows furrowed in concentration. Lloyd was nestled into Kai’s side, which is probably why the fire ninja was sitting down instead of jumping around, and the green ninja’s eyes flicked from the TV to his phone; he must’ve been going through his Chirp. Jay had his weighted blanket across his legs, his headphones settled around his neck and hair still messy from sleep. Cole resisted the sudden urge to run his fingers through his best friend’s curls, instead staying stone-still in the doorway,

All three of them were wearing his hoodies.

Was that where all of his hoodies had gone?!

Cole couldn’t even bring himself to be mad about it, especially when how large Lloyd’s black one with a green skull was on him, or how Kai had the hood of his maroon one with a flaming guitar pulled over his head to make his hair look ridiculous, or the way Jay was constantly pushing up the sleeves to his elbows and scrunching up the blue water designs that Cole had painted on with Nya one day.

Instead of saying anything, Cole just walked to the couch, gently dropping Nya into the spot between Kai and Jay. Almost no time had passed before she had thrown her legs over Kai’s lap and into Lloyd’s, putting her head into Jay’s lap just as the blue ninja grabbed a pillow to put under her head. The scene now looked even more bizarre with a fourth hoodie thrown into the mix, but Cole only shook his head and walked into the kitchen.

Only to be greeted by both Zane and Pixal wearing one of his hoodies each.

Someone had some explaining to do.

Zane was mixing up some pancake batter, quietly singing to himself as he was careful to not spill anything on Cole’s Christmas hoodie, the only white one in his collection. Pixal grabbed some bacon out of their fridge, absentmindedly fiddling with the sleeves of the royal purple hoodie that he had gotten on his last trip to the local Goodwill. Could he have a single hoodie for even a week before they got stolen?

Noticing him standing there, Zane turned around and gave him a smile. “Good morning, Cole. How are you?”

Staring, Cole finally snapped to his senses once Pixal started looking at him too. “Oh, I’m okay. Didn’t sleep super well though. How are you?”

Pixal frowned. “Perhaps you should go back and get some rest.”

“I’ll be okay, really,” Cole insisted, leaning against the doorframe and stuffing his hands into his pockets to try and hide their trembling from carrying his sister. He was pretty sure that Zane already noticed. “You guys making pancakes?”

“Yes,” Zane said, mixing it up some more. “Jay requested that we try mixing bacon in the batter this time.”

His stomach growled at the mention of bacon, and Cole had to admit that his best friend was a genius and a godsend. “That sounds amazing.”

“We shall see,” Pixal said, eyeing up the bacon with a look of apprehension. “I would trust Jay with my life, but you must admit that he has a less-than-stellar streak when it comes to making dishes.”

“Maybe, but I promise that you’ll like it more than you think you will, Pix,” Cole said, and he hoped to the First Master that he was right. He hated breaking promises. The nindroids shared a look of skepticism before turning back to their respective tasks, Pixal starting to fry up the bacon while Zane mixed another bowl of batter. Cole smelled the meat cooking and had to hold back from letting out a moan at the heavenly scent, instead watching from the doorway as quietly as he could.

“Did you need anything else, Cole?” Zane asked, startling Cole. He had spaced up pretty hard after smelling the bacon. “A drink, perhaps? Breakfast will not be ready for a while.”

“Why are you both wearing my hoodies?” Cole blurted out, and he winced internally at how blunt it was. At least it got his point across.

Zane paused, looking down at his torso in confusion before glancing at Pixal. Pixal did the same thing, eyebrows raising when she saw that yes, her and Zane were both wearing the earth ninja’s hoodies.

“I-I did not realize,” Zane said, meeting Cole’s eyes with a sheepish expression. “Is it a problem? I would be more than happy to change if it is bothering you-”

“No! No, Zane,” Cole hurried to say, seeing the way his brother and sister’s faces were falling with the thought of having to take off the hoodies. There was something deeper going on here. “Please keep wearing them, I was just curious. I don’t mind, seriously.”

“Really?”

“Really,” Cole assured, walking up and giving his brother a big hug. The smell of fresh snow wafted up into his nose as Zane hugged back, and Cole’s chest filled with warmth at how grounding his brother’s embrace was. It always had been and always would be.

There was a loud crash from the living room followed by shouting, and Cole sighed. “I better go check on them. Good luck with breakfast, you two.”

“I do not need luck,” Pixal said good-naturedly, accepting the earth ninja’s quick embrace with a small smile, “but I do need the eggs, if you would be so kind?”

“Anything for you, Pix,” Cole said, going to the fridge and taking out the carton, leaving it on the counter next to the stove for her. The sounds from the living room died down, but Cole still thought that it would be in everyone’s best interest if he checked in, just to be on the safe side.

He didn’t need to worry, as the sounds were just coming from the TV; it looked like his brothers had gotten bored with the game and had put a movie on instead. Belatedly, Cole realized that it was one of his favorite movies, and one that he normally would’ve had to beg and trade chores for. This was suspicious.

Jay had leaned over to rest his head on Kai’s shoulder, his fingers threaded through Nya’s now undone braid (there went all of his hard work) and blue eyes drooping downwards. Kai looked like he was the only one invested in the movie, as Nya and Lloyd both looked like they had started dozing together on the couch. Cole did his best to sit down on Jay’s other side without waking anyone up, leaning against the arm of the couch and bringing one of his legs up to sit on Kai’s thigh and box Nya in. He was more than prepared for Jay to switch sides, the blue ninja plopping his head back onto Cole’s chest and throwing his arms up and over the ravenette’s shoulders. The three of them looked like dominoes that had been knocked over, and Cole smiled as his arms settled around Jay’s torso without even having to think about it.

“Hey Rocky,” Jay murmured, making a pleased sound when Cole leaned down to kiss his forehead. “How are you?”

“I’m good, Bluebell,” Cole replied easily, ignoring the throbbing of his ribs in favor of holding his best friend. “You?”

“Sleepy, but Zane said no coffee this morning,” Jay’s jaw cracked in a huge yawn that had Cole snickering. Jay had definitely been consuming too much of the stuff recently to keep working through the night, so he wasn’t surprised that the nindroid had finally put his foot down.

“Yikes, guess that’s pretty bad for you guys, huh?”

Jay shrugged. “It’s fine, just means more naps with you, right?”

“You know it, Sparky.” Cole said. He asked Kai for one of the pillows at the other end of the couch for his back, and to his surprise Lloyd was the one who tossed it to him. Guess Greenbean wasn’t so asleep after all.

Mulling the same question he had asked Zane and Pixal over in his head, Cole’s curiosity eventually won out, and he finally fluffed up the pillow enough just when Jay grabbed his hand and tugged it to his hair. Cole shook his own head fondly, starting to run his hand through his brother’s curly locks and scratching his scalp.

“Is there any reason why all four of you are wearing my hoodies?” he asked innocently, twirling one of Jay’s curls around his finger. All four of them turned to look at him, and then down at what they were wearing, and Cole watched as each of his siblings’ faces flushed at how easily they had been caught red-handed; Cole knew that they didn’t commit any crimes though.

Jay started playing with the fingers on his other hand that had been splayed across his chest. “We-we missed you.”

Missed him? He had been there the whole time!

“I was just in the bedroom,” Cole said, confused. What was this about?

“Except it wasn’t that long ago when you weren’t,” Lloyd said quietly, and oh.

Oh.

They were scared. Scared of waking up and walking into the living room or the kitchen or even his bedroom and finding all of it empty. Cole felt the tears sting at his eyes, but he was quick to blink them back in favor of pressing another kiss to Jay’s head and nudging Kai’s leg with his foot to reach Lloyd. “Hey now, I’m here. I’m okay. Nothing to worry about, see?”

“Everything to worry about is more like it,” Jay grumbled, and Cole tugged the hood over the blue ninja’s head with a small smile.

“You’re awfully grouchy today,” Cole commented. “Are you feeling okay?”

“Didn’t get good sleep,” Jay murmured. “I was lonely.”

“But you had Nya?” Cole said, once again very confused.

“I didn’t want Nya, I wanted you.” Jay snuggled closer, Nya making a combined noise of protest and offense as he shifted. Cole was worried that she was going to douse them both, but the water ninja just turned over on her other side.

“I told you to go sleep with him instead,” Nya grumbled, only awake for a minute or so before she was snoring away. “So ti’s your own damn fault you didn’t sleep.

“Of course dear, whatever you say.” Jay’s hand tangled in her hair, a lovesick grin on his face that used to make Cole’s stomach turn, but now he understood it. Sighing, he cuddled closer to Cole’s chest and nudged his ribs. “But we’re all staying right here until I fill my cuddle quota.”

“Really? Is there such a thing as a filled Jay cuddle quota?” Cole quipped, and Jay made a fake sound of annoyance, shutting his eyes and beginning to doze. He heard sizzling from the kitchen and took a whiff, smelling the pancakes as they started cooking. Breakfast would be ready soon.

Kai yawned, stretching his arms above his head and popping his shoulders. “This movie isn’t that bad, actually.”

“That’s what I keep telling you guys!” Cole said as loudly as he dared, not trying to wake Jay up right after he fell asleep. “We should watch it more often.”

“Now I don’t know about that,” Kai ruffled Lloyd’s hair, smiling so Cole knew that he was joking, even if Cole could tell already. “Are you comfortable over there?”

Cole yawned as he thought about it. Sure, his ribs were protesting a tiny bit, and the bruises on his torso definitely weren’t being done any favors, but he couldn’t think of anywhere he would rather be than right here with his family. “Never better.”

And those words had never been truer than when Zane and Pixal brought out the food a few minutes later, the smell quickly rousing Jay and Nya as they started fighting over who would have the first bite. They both looked absolutely betrayed when Zane gave the first bite to Pixal, and Jay was only placated when Zane told him that it was to make sure if Pixal actually liked bacon pancakes or not.

Pixal pushed the food around in her mouth with a concentrating look on her face, finally swallowing. Her face cleared, and all six of them watched as her face lit up in delight. “It’s delicious!”

Jay gave a victorious whoop, and now suddenly there were three people clambering for the first plate. Cole was prepared to patiently wait his turn like always, maybe cracking a joke about how the kids had to be fed first, but to his surprise Zane handed him the first plate. He couldn’t remember the last time he had gotten first plate.

“Thanks, Zane!” he called to the ice ninja as he went back to the kitchen to grab more plates. The tears came stinging at his eyes once again, and Cole pushed them away just as quickly as the first time.

He playfully growled at Jay, who was immediately in his space and trying to snatch his food. “Jay! Get your own!”

“I normally get the first plate!”

“Well you didn’t this time! If you want food so bad then go get your own!”

“But I’m all cozy,” Jay whined, and Cole felt his heart squeezing when he saw the blue ninja pouting. Dammit, Jay knew not to break out the puppy dog eyes with him.

Just as Cole was about to cave, Zane the savior came back with plenty more plates, and Cole watched as Jay dug into his pancakes with the ferocity of a starving animal. He was glad, honestly; it took a couple days after the Oni invasion for Jay to start eating properly again, but Cole was always keeping a close eye to be on the safe side. It was his job as Jay’s best friend and older brother.

And soon enough everything was as it should have been: Kai and Lloyd bickering over the syrup while Zane and Pixal watched from the other side of the couch, Nya snatching pieces of Jay’s pancakes while he wasn’t looking while Jay failed to snatch any of Cole’s. The scene was so familiar, so soothing, and before he could stop them the tears started falling down his face.

He could’ve missed this. He would’ve missed this. And for what? To tell his mom something that he was sure she already knew?

“Hey,” Jay whispered, and Cole jumped when he felt the blue ninja’s thumb swipe across his cheek, “everything okay? Why are you crying?”

Cole let his fork clatter to the plate, reaching up and wiping away the tears with his sleeve. He looked over to see everyone looking at him with concern, Zane and Kai on the verge of getting up with the others close behind. Giving them a watery smile, Cole bumped against Jay’s side.

“I’m okay,” he said honestly, because even though he was feeling a lot right now everything he was feeling was so so good, “I just love you guys, you know that? I love you guys so much.”

“We love you too, brother,” Zane said softly, Kai and Lloyd echoing his sentiment. Cole was waiting to hear Jay say it too when a body collided with his, and his arms came up to hug Jay on instinct. The blue ninja’s own tears were leaking into his hoodie, and Cole freed one of his arms to catch Nya as she came barreling into him too. Both of their movements made his injuries burn with pain, but he didn’t care. He didn’t care.

Because First Master, it felt so good to be home.

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