Chapter Text
Even though it was halfway through winter break, Cole still woke up confused as to where he was. He would take only a quick glance around the room to remember he was staying at the Smith residence. The boy groaned and fell back, trying to go back to sleep when his phone went off with a message. Grumbling, he picked it up and turned his phone on, seeing the message from Jay.
yo, wanna hang out? i'm feelin better :D
Cole grinned. He knew that this kind of hangout would involve going outside. Looking over to his side, he knew Kai would want to tag along. For once, Cole didn't really mind that. Kai might be able to keep him and Jay warm.
yeah sure. I'm staying over at Kai's tho. want him to join us? or should I even ask?
t(- n -)t
haha you're a mess
shut up coel but yea please bring him wth. see you both at teh park?
oh my god, let us eat first. I literally just woke up
o srry
no you're not
Before Jay could respond back, Cole turned his phone off and got up to use the bathroom. He tiptoed so he wouldn't wake Kai up. Apparently, he was somewhat of a light sleeper. He once got up in the middle of the night and ran to Nya's room when he heard her whimpering. In the process of doing so, he accidentally stepped on Cole and woke the boy up. When he returned to his bed, Kai apologized and said he heard his sister was having a nightmare and had to make sure she was okay. That was the second night and Cole still questioned as to what superhuman ability Kai had to be able to know what was happening to his sister two rooms away.
Must be an older brother complex of such.
After he finished relieving himself, Cole quietly walked to the kitchen when he smelled the scent of breakfast being made. He leaned over to watch from the entrance and watched Ray make scrambled eggs while Maya drank freshly brewed tea. Even though he thought he was being silent, the adults noticed him and waved him inside. "Good morning, Cole," the woman greeted, patting his arm as he passed her to sit down.
"Good morning," Cole echoed. He still felt nervous when he was around Kai's parents. They were both incredibly kind people, but they gave off a certain aura that could tell nations just how powerful they were and not to be toyed with. Ray was like a fire, wild and uncontrollable that will bite at any chance. Maya was like the ocean, calm for the most on the surface, but still dangerous and unpredictable. Ray approached him with a plate of scrambled eggs with chopped vegetables and toast.
"What do you want to drink?" the man asked, already picking up three oranges and juggled them. Laughing, Cole answered with, "Orange juice." Frowning, Cole picked at his food before taking a bite and almost melted. It was such a simple meal and yet it was heavenly. It was like when Zane cooked, just indescribable.
"I have to thank you again for letting me stay with you guys," Cole said after swallowing.
"Oh, stop already with all these 'thank you's, we don't need to hear that. We already know, Cole," Maya said with a smile. Ray made a noise of agreement as he squeezed the oranges. The woman put her cup of tea down. "Well, since you're here and we're alone, Ray and I want to get to know you more. Tell us about yourself, Cole." Blushing, the boy nodded.
"Okay, well... uh, I live with my dad. He's a Royal Blacksmith-"
"Sorry, I don't want to interrupt, but what is a Royal Blacksmith? I've never heard such a thing," Ray said, grunting when he accidentally made a spill. Cole smiled to himself, remembering when Kai had said something similar at Jay's sleepover.
"My dad's a dancer and that's his group name." After the two adults nodded and shared a noise of understanding, Cole continued. "Well, I'm a decent artist. I, uh, love cake. A lot. Um, I've been best friends with Jay and Zane since kindergarten. My dad tried to get me to enroll in the Marty Oppenheimer School of Performing Arts, but I can't sing or dance, so yeah. Uh, I sometimes babysit. And I guess I can get sort of possessive and protective at times, but I don't mean harm when I do. Uh, I dunno. I guess I'm kind of boring," he finished, just as Ray placed a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice in front of him.
"Well, I find you quite interesting, Cole," Ray said, sitting down next to the boy.
"So do I," Maya responded, swallowing the last of her tea. Cole smiled and continued to eat. Several minutes later, Kai came downstairs with Nya holding his hand. She was rubbing her eyes tiredly and hugged her father's legs. "What, I don't get a hug?" Giggling, Kai approached his mother and squeezed his arms around her tightly. "Thank you. You kids want to eat now?"
"Yeah," Nya muttered and sat down. Almost as a relief, Kai sat by his sister instead of Cole. The boy ate the rest of his meal completely relaxed.
"Hey Kai, Jay wants to hang out. Wanna come with?" Cole finally mentioned the conversation with Jay. Instantly, Kai nodded.
"I wanna come with, too!" Nya whined. The boy smiled.
"Of course. But," Cole continued, "knowing Jay, we'll probably play outside. As long as you're both okay with playing in the snow." For the past several days, it had been snowing nonstop. It was still snowing but much more lightly. Although she frowned, Nya nodded. So did Kai. "Sweet. I'll tell Jay when we'll be at the park." The children ate the rest of their breakfasts in peace.
"I'm cold!" Nya announced for the umpteenth time while tightening the scarf around her face. She was skipping ahead of her brother and his friend, excited to be playing outside with the big kids at the park. She liked Jay, he was really funny. She knew her brother liked Jay, too. She hoped he liked her and Kai back.
"So am I," Cole agreed, hugging himself as his teeth chattered slightly. "Aren't you, Kai?" The boy was wearing his hoodie and beanie again, but he also had on gloves and a proper pair of boots. "Kai, you probably should have brought some snow pants, man." The brunet stopped walking.
"One, not a man right now, in neither gender nor physical body." Cole's face warmed despite the cold breeze. He had momentarily forgotten about the other boy(?) being genderfluid. He'd have to get into the habit of asking for Kai's pronouns, like Skylor in fifth grade when she kept insisting she was a girl until the school finally changed her name and the letter identifying what she has in between her legs. "Two... you have to wear special pants to play in the snow?"
"I mean, you can wear regular jeans, but then they'd get wet and so would your legs. Snow pants, they'd be the only thing that gets wet. Unless you have crappy socks," the darker boy explained. "So, um, what are your pronouns right now?" Before Kai could respond, they all heard someone shouting and saw that person waving both arms from on top of the slide of the playground in the park.
"Hey, you guys!" Jay called out, grabbing his friends' attention. He went down the slide and ran up to the others. He high-fived Nya when she held up her hand. He did the same to his friends, although his hand did seem to linger on Kai's. Even more notable was that the taller brunet did not pull away when their hands stayed together for a bit too long. Cole could see Jay's face redden. He rolled his eyes. The freckled brunet shook his head suddenly and hesitated before pulling his hand away from Kai's. "C'mon, let's do something before snow somehow gets to my underwear!" Jay ran to the playground, Nya chasing after him. He screamed when the younger girl caught up to him and tried to trip him, almost succeeding each time. Kai laughed loudly, Cole nervously joining in. The brunet grinned at the other boy.
"To answer, they/them," Kai said before running after Nya and Jay. Cole swallowed before joining the others. It was a good thing he was already outside because he needed to chill, like seriously.
"My pants are wet!" Nya screeched.
"I told you!" Cole shouted.
Jay shivered but was happy to be inside. He was even more ecstatic when Kai invited him over to stay at his house. It was so warm, it was amazing. Especially when his fingers felt like they were turning blue from how cold they were. He just wished Zane could have been there with them. The blond loved winter the most out of all of them. If Zane had been with them, he could have helped them make ten snowpeople instead of just four.
"Jay, look! I painted a sakura tree!" Nya showed the brunet her drawing. It was incredibly detailed, down to the smallest of cherry blossoms falling from the tree.
"Wow, that's so nice! Cole, better make a run for your money," he teased his friend, who only stuck his tongue out in annoyance.
"Jay, look! I made this!" Kai showed off the knife they had made with Ray. The freckled boy gasped and grabbed the knife.
"Whoa, this is so pretty! How can you make something like this?" Jay praised. Kai beamed with happiness.
"Practice, really. Thanks a lot. It took a long time to get it right," Kai said. "So you like it?" Jay was sure he could see Kai's cheeks darken a bit. He was sure his own cheeks were incredibly red by now.
"Y-Yeah, definitely! Y'know, I wanna invent my own things. I'm thinking about making a contraption where I can fly in the air like a bird! Maybe I can try to make my own robot servant, too!" the freckled brunet began to ramble. Although they seemed slightly confused, Kai nodded and smiled at the other's enthusiasm.
"Sure, dream on, Jay," Cole said. Before Jay could say anything, Ray and Maya entered the living room where all the children gathered. They were each holding two mugs of hot chocolate.
"Here you go. To keep you all warm," Maya said, handing Kai and Jay the mugs she held, Ray giving his to Nya and Cole. They all thanked the adults.
"Mommy, Daddy, look! Do you like my tree?" Nya showed off her painting. Ray sat down beside his daughter and laughed.
"That's amazing! Now I know for sure the two of you are my kids! You're both good with your hands!" he cackled before tickling Nya's sides. She screeched in laughter. Jay and Cole laughed as well, making sure not to spill their drinks. Ray paused his tickle attack to look at the freckled boy. "Oh, Jay! When do you need to return home? It's getting dark soon."
"Uh, I guess I'll leave in 'bout half an hour if that's okay with you."
"Of course it is. You're like family to us. So are you, Cole. Also Zane, so tell him that when y'all see him the next time," Maya said with a motherly smile. Jay grinned widely and Cole smiled shyly. This is what he wanted for a family. He sighed sadly. He missed his mom more than anything. He finished the rest of his hot chocolate.
"Bye, you guys!" Jay waved from his parents' jalopy as it drove away. Kai, Nya, and Cole waved back until they could no longer see the brunet. Kai yawned.
"I think I'm gonna go to bed, I'm tired. Goodnight," Kai said, kissing the top of Nya's head and gently punching Cole's arm. Shivering, both of them followed the darker brunet inside. While Nya followed her brother upstairs, Cole headed into the living room and gathered the empty mugs and took them to the kitchen. He began to wash them when he felt someone behind him.
"Oh no, Cole. Don't worry about that. I'll finish this up while you go to bed, alright?" Maya said warmly, patting his shoulder. Before the boy could insist on continuing the task himself, Maya grabbed the remaining mugs that were still filthy and scrubbed them clean. "Cole, I must thank you." Confused, he raised an eyebrow.
"Why?" Maya shut the water off and leaned against the counter.
"Thank you for being Kai's friend. We've had some... well, issues in the past with that part of Kai's life. It's difficult to talk about, much less think about. I just..." Suddenly, Maya hugged the young boy tightly. Although initially surprised, Cole returned the hug. "Thank you so much, Cole."
"Of... of course."
He grimaced at the cold hitting his feet. He looked down at his blankets on the floor. The cold was slowly getting to him. Maybe he could...
Cole sighed before lifting the covers and laid down on Kai's bed. Somehow, he found the other's soft snores and mumbling relaxing. He hoped Kai wouldn't mind him sleeping here in their bed. Sighing, he closed his eyes.