Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Good news the tea that was thrown at him is temporary, Cole should return to normal in a few days,” Cyrus announced as he and PIXAL came back in with the results of the tests he just ran on the earth ninja.

“Days?! Can’t you fix it now?” Jay exclaimed as Cole ran over to him and wrapped his arms around his small waist and pressed his face into the crook of his neck, a loud purr emitting from his chest. Causing the shorter ninja to blush.

There was a robbery in the downtown sector of the city and of course, the ninja was sent to deal with it, but during their fight, one of the robbers pulled out a bottle and threw it at the ninja pursuing them, which so happened to be Cole. He was coated in a grey mist and coughed like he was choking when he breathed the stuff in, Jay stayed behind to help what he could while the rest ran ahead. When the mist cleared, Cole was wheezing while on the ground, Jay went to rubbing and patting his back in what little he knew how to help when he saw something nestled in Cole’s wild black mop of hair, and they were moving. “Cole?”

His breathing had returned to normal but when he went to look up at him Jay’s breath caught in his throat when he saw Cole’s grey eyes now had slits for pupils and the two things in Cole’s hair were cat ears, and in the corner of his eye he could see a matching tail slightly moving. “Jay?”

“Don’t worry Cole, we’ll get this figured out-,” he went to pull out his communicator when he felt strong arms grab him and drag him to the ground with a yelp. Cole’s arms wrapped around his stomach as he nuzzled his face into the back of Jay’s neck, “C-Cole!”

He then heard the loud rumbling coming from his best friend, was he purring? He tried to squirm out of his hold but he couldn’t. Damn him and his superstrength! Luckily he didn’t drop his communicator and called for his team. Zane picked up, “Jay? Is Cole alright?”

“Um, how do I put this…”

The team had caught the robbers and they were hauled off to jail, and when they went back to where Jay and Cole were, to say they were surprised and amused would be an understatement with Jay being held like a teddybear, and Cole refusing to let go. Until it came to trying to get Cole to move to get him checked up.

The raven had to be pried off of his teammate and to say he wasn’t happy was nothing, with how he was hissing like a cat while trying to get back to Jay’s side even trying to swat at the others. He at least calmed down when Jay approached and told him he’ll be right there when he comes back, but still confused as to why it was him in particular that he seemed to want. The raven left but kept looking over his shoulder and hesitating to let Jay out of sight.

After the news, they left Borg towers and went back to the monastery, Cole carried Jay to his room, much to the lightning ninja’s embarrassment, and much to the teasing from the others. So here they are now. With Jay now being held in Cole’s lap on the earth master’s bed. The blue ninja huffed, board but thought as Cole hadn't said a word since he said the blue ninja’s name, he glanced over his shoulder and saw Cole’s closed eyes, he looked so content, with soft purrs rumbling from his chest. His bright blue eyes then flickered up to the twitching ears on top of Cole’s head, could he feel them?

Reaching up he gently brushed the tip of his finger against it, it was so soft, and it twitched again, giggling lightly this time he scratched at the ear, making it twitch more and the purring become louder. He could feel Cole’s smile on the back of his neck, and he could see the happy wagging of his tail. The freckled ninja got an idea, would Cole, as he is now, play with cat toys, or be affected by catnip? He chuckled at the thought, of Cole hopping after a wind-up mouse toy or getting high off the herb, he’ll ask Kai when he sees him if he could get some since as of now he couldn’t move.

He stopped with the petting and glanced at the time on the clock, reading 5:58, Zane should be making dinner. He let out a yawn as his eyes started to feel heavy, despite not really doing anything since Cole was hit with the tea. He should ask someone to bring him his handhelds or phone when someone came to check up on them or brought food. He settled back into Cole’s hold, the now half-cat nuzzling him again and readjusting his grip. He closed his eyes, the sound of purring lulling him to sleep, just hearing Cole whispering, “My mate,” before it all went black.

+++

Chapter Text

“Jay…Jay?”

Who was calling his name? Couldn’t they see he was trying to sleep? He groaned as he buried his face deeper into the warm pillow that rumbled in his ear, wait?

“Jay!” He felt his shoulder being grabbed and shaken, finally getting the blue ninja to open his eyes. He turned away from his rumbling pillow to see Kai standing by the bed with a tray of food in one hand, and from what he could tell, there were two plates on it. “Kai?”

“Who else sleeping beauty? Food’s ready by the way.” He sat the tray down on the bedside table, “Get Cole to eat too, yell if you need anything.” With that the red ninja left the room, leaving the still bleary-eyed ninja confused as he attempted to sit up, ’Get Cole to eat? Why do I-?’

His thoughts cut off as he felt an arm tighten around his waist, looking down he saw a familiar muscular arm holding him, and looking over he saw his best friend sleeping with a peaceful expression, his face flushed a bit. However, he took notice of the cat ears on his head and the tail that was twitching by his leg.

Oh right.

Cole was a cat hybrid thing for a few days. He groaned as he rubbed his tired eyes and gazed at the food, his stomach rumbling in hunger at the sight. Maybe he could... He attempted to scoot closer to the edge of the bed and reach for the tray, only to hear a displeased sound coming from Cole, almost like a growl. He turned to look only for the raven’s other arm to also wrap around the redhead and bring him back to his chest, making the lighting master yelp in surprise, “Cole!”

“No!”

He wrapped his arms around Jay’s back and pinned his arms to where he could hardly move them with Jay’s face squished into his chest. The freckled man could hear a light growling coming from Cole’s chest and his heart was racing, like he was scared. Did he think he was going to leave him?

“Cole, buddy, you need to let go!” His voice was muffled but he was at least able to turn his head to breathe properly which was saturated in Cole’s musky scent, his face bright red. “Kai brought us food, and we need to eat.”

The raven’s grip seemed to tighten but not to where it was hurting the shorter man. “It’s literally right there! Let me get it!”

Another growl.

“Please!”

Grey-slitted eyes glanced down to see Jay staring up at him with his big blue eyes, he took a sniff and could indeed smell food, he snuck a glance and saw the food that was innocently sitting on the table by the bed, which resulted in his stomach making a similar sound to Jay’s. Reluctantly, he let go.

Jay could feel the hesitation when Cole released him, but at least now he could get the food. He scooted to the edge of the bed and got the tray with the still-warm food and two bottles of water. He went right back to sitting by his best friend, not wanting him to react in a way that would cause him to spill the food all over the bed. He sat the tray down but picked up his plate and began to eat, but Cole just stared at his plate. It wasn’t until Jay was done did he notice Cole hadn’t touched his plate.

“You okay buddy?”

He saw Cole glance at him, but he watched as the earth master attempted to pick up the chopsticks, only to fumble and drop them on the plate with a clatter, when he tried again the same thing happened, and again, and again. Jay held back a laugh at his friend's attempts but stopped thinking it was amusing after the fifth time. Something was wrong, “You can’t hold them?”

The raven frowned, almost like a pout, as he tried again and then once again fell.

Was this because of the tea?

Jay sighed, no longer wanting to see his friend having any more pitiful attempts at trying to pick up chopsticks, he snatched them up before Cole could try again, “I’ll do it.” He couldn't let his friend go hungry. He picked up one of the vegetables and held it up to the taller man who looked at it like a confused puppy. Jay rolled his eyes, guess that tea really scrambled his brain and motor skills too, “Go ‘Ah’!” He commanded as he showed him by opening his mouth wide.

The transformed man did so after watching Jay, and FSM he had fangs now! Granted they were small, but Jay knew the other didn’t have those this morning. Letting out a surprised sigh, he took the chopstick to Cole’s moth and dropped it in, where the other immediately chomped down and chewed. The lightning master chuckled when he heard the happy moan come from the other and his new tail was twitching away. When he saw the raven swallow and open his mouth again, Jay placed another piece in his mouth, and wash, rinse, and repeat until the entire plate was empty. Both of their drinks remained untouched.

Jay sighed as he put the plates back on the tray and sat them on the table. Sneaking a glance at the clock he saw it read ‘7:30 pm’. His eyes scanned the room, there was a few articles of clothing laying on the floor, and on the desk, he could see an opened sketchbook with some pencils and markers scattered by it. By then he could also see a stack of CDs and a music player with headphones sitting on top.

“Hey Cole, do you-? Hey!” The man in question and head bumped him and nuzzled himself into the blue ninja’s neck, the loud purring rumbling in his ears again. This again? Why was Cole so clingy like this? And why was he getting heavier?!

“Ah!” Jay yelped as Cole’s full weight came down on him, forcing him to lay and not move, “Cole!”

The raven-haired man didn’t respond but just nuzzled his face into Jay’s chest. Huh looks like it’s kinda reversed from earlier. He groaned loudly as he let his head hit the pillow behind him, this was going to be a long few days, wasn’t it-?OW!

He looked down and saw the other pawing at his chest only to feel another sharp pain, wait did he get claws too?!

He winced as Cole continued to knead his chest, maybe he could get some gloves for HIM!

Jay was about to yell out for someone to come to the room but was beaten when there was a knock at the door, “Jay, Cole? Are you done?”

“Yeah, come in-ow!”

The door opened and showed the metallic ice ninja who looked at the two in concern, but a hint of a smile could be seen at the corner of his lips when his eyes saw the raven on top of the redhead. “It appears that you are having fun,” he mused with a chuckle.

Jay retorted with a sarcastic laugh, “Haha, very funny Zane. Look can you maybe find some gloves for Cole, his claws keep DIGGING-!”

Zane blinked as he walked over to look at Cole’s hand on Jay’s chest he could see the cat-like claws and how they kept kneading into the lightning user's chest. The nindroid frowned, “I’ll be right back.”As he turned to walk out, he picked up the tray with the eaten food and left.

Jay winced again and tried to squirm out from under the other, but was only able to get one arm free, which was something compared to nothing at all and placed his hand on top of Cole’s in an attempt to stop him. Cole’s eyes opened and looked into Jay’s, confusion clear on his face, he tried to give him a smile and a gentle voice, since he really didn’t want to try and upset him while like this and remembering how he acted when they were separated, “Hey buddy, you know that kinda hurts, so could you maybe, not?”

“Hurts?”

“Yeah, but Zane is bringing some gloves for you okay?” Thinking about it now, Cole could get hurt if he tried to scratch himself with those things, he was surprised that he wasn’t bleeding where he kept having the claws dug into his chest.

“Hurt mate?”

‘Mate?’ Wait why are Cole’s eyes watering?

A sob came from the raven as he buried his face into the crook of Jay’s neck, catching the other by surprise, as he kept repeating, “Sorry!” FSM what is happening?

He heard the door open and he let out a breath when he saw Zane, who was looking over the scene in utter confusion, “Jay?”

“I don’t know! I was getting him to stop and told him it hurt, because it did, and now this!”

There was a louder sob, making him wince since he was right next to his ear, but also the new wave of wetness that was coating the side of his neck. Using his free hand he patted Cole’s back, “Cole, it’s okay. I know it was an accident. I’m not mad.”

Cole sniffed as he pulled away, “Not mad?” His face was blotchy and wet with tears and his pupils were blown a bit, Jay shook his head as he took his hand and cupped the side of Cole’s face. “Course not, you just need to be more careful. Okay?”

The transformed raven nodded and pressed his face into Jay’s neck again, still sniffling, but no longer bawling. Jay turned his head to look at Zane who gave him a concerned look, “You got the gloves right?”

The white ninja nodded as he held up a pair of thick work gloves and walked to the bed, Cole’s ears twitched at the sound and his tail started to swing irritably as he turned to look at the ice ninja stepping closer. His eyes narrowed as he tightened his grip on Jay, watching every move the other was making, “Cole, it’s just Zane, he brought some gloves for you.”

Not getting too close to Jay Zane held out the gloves to the cat hybrid who looked at them warily, he glanced at Jay who nodded at him, and he quickly snatched them from the other's hands with a light growl.

Zane sighed as he took a step back, he couldn’t understand why Cole was acting so hostile to everyone but Jay. Maybe they can get answers for that when the earth ninja returns to normal in 3-5 days if he remembers this at all. While the raven was looking over the gloves he sat Jay’s phone on the table close to the lightning user, assuming it must be boring for him to just be held with nothing else to do. “I will be leaving now. Yell if you need anything.”

Jay reached over and grabbed his phone, thank the FSM now he won't be bored out of his mind, “Thanks, Zane.”

The nindroid nodded and left, shutting the door behind him, and leaving the two alone. Jay turned his head to see Cole still inspecting the gloves but was now also glancing at his hands, specifically his claws. Okay, so he was going to assume he needed help again.

“Cole?”

“Hm?” He looked up with his head tilted.

Why did he look cute? No Jay focus! “Let me help you.”

The raven glanced down at the gloves before adjusting himself, now straddling the redhead, but at least he was able to sit up, and gave them to the other. “Okay,” he sat one of the gloves down and took one of Cole’s hands, and with some coaxing and help the glove was on. They did the same thing with the other and Cole kept staring at his hands. The gloves were a tan color made of thick material, and while Jay was slipping them on he could hardly feel the claws through them. That should solve that problem then. “See, better. Right?”

Grey eyes darted back up, his ears up and alert, but they quickly relaxed as he got, once again, another single-word response. “Yeah.”

A yawn erupted from Jay’s throat as his eyes began to feel heavy again. Seriously, he just woke up from a nap an hour or so ago. “Sleep.”

“Huh? Wha-!” Cole laid down again, this time to the side of Jay rather than on top of him, bringing Jay with him. “Again Cole!”

A loud purring came from Cole’s chest as he moved to tuck his head under the smaller man’s chin, a smile graced his face as he hugged him close. The blue ninja tiredly sighed and wrapped his arms around Cole, one of his hands landing in the mop of inky black hair by the ears on top of his head. With a slight smile, he scratched at the base of one, increasing the purrs that came from the transformed man, and he felt something wrap around his leg, glancing down he saw it was Cole’s tail. He kept this up, yawning on occasion as he soon heard the earth master’s breathing even out, dead asleep.

What a day. He knew earlier this week he remembered wishing to himself that he wanted to spend more time with Cole, but this was not at all what he had in mind. He continued to tiredly run his fingers through the raven’s hair, why did it have to be in love with his best friend?

Chapter Text

Day 1

How does he respond to this? How does one respond to waking up to this? He wasn’t upset or mad, he was honestly impressed. Although with how Cole was acting the day before he didn’t think he would be currently capable of making this! He was sat out on a massive bed on the floor with just layers and mountains of blankets and pillows surrounding and filling the space, and it was bigger than Cole’s bed. How does it even fit in here?!

The blue ninja huffed as he leaned back into the pile of pillows behind him, his lap currently filled with Cole’s head, he was awake, he was just purring and pawing at the blankets below them, the gloves still on his hands. Jay was running his fingers through the raven’s hair when he checked the time on his phone, not knowing the time when he woke up in this bed rather than the one he fell asleep in. It was around 10 am. It wasn’t too long ago that Nya dropped off their food, giggling a bit when she saw them, but Jay could see Cole glaring at her more fiercely than Zane or Kai. He doesn’t think she really noticed. He felt Cole squeeze his waist and nearly break him in half until she left, and even then he didn’t let go. Jay ate while still being held by Cole, no level of trying to reason with him worked and had to feed him again since he wouldn’t let go. It took thirty minutes to pry him off so here he was now. He opened his phone with his free hand and tried to find something to do, but he’s played all of his games to the fullest and there wasn’t anything interesting to watch when he looked. He groaned in boredom as he threw his head back onto the pillows. He was about to call it quits and take another nap, man he’s been sleeping a lot when the door busted open revealing the green ninja. Cole jumped with a surprised yelp, his back arched and the fur on his ears and tail standing up, okay that made Jay laugh a little. “Jay!”

“Yeah?” His eyes then trailed to Lloyd’s arms which were clearly holding a few things, mostly cat toys. A small grin spread across his face, “You read my mind.”

The two looked at Cole with matching mischievous grins, and the raven just looked at them with confusion as he finished petting down his raised fur.

^^^

A loud crash and hiss shook the monastery. Zane rushed into the living room to see what happened only to see Cole rubbing his head and glaring at the red dot on the wall as it was going in a circle. Taunting him.

The nindroid looked at the other side of the room to see Jay, Lloyd, and now Kai snickering as Kai teased the raven with the laser pointer.

Cole growled as he tried to snatch the dot again and again on the wall, thinking he caught it only to see it gone when he went to look. He growled again, teeth bared at the dot and his tail switching angrily before pouncing again, making the trio laugh.

Zane frowned and walked over to the three, “What are you doing?”

“Oh hey Zane, just messing with Cole,” Kai Said nonchalantly as waved the light to the couch, having Cole pounce right after it.

The nindroid crossed his arms with a scolding look, “You know you shouldn’t mess with Cole while he is like this.”

“Oh come on Zane,” Jay whined as he looked at the ice ninja, “This is the first time he’s let me go without watching me like a hawk since yesterday. Besides, he looks to be having fun,” he pointed at the hybrid who was pawing at the light with a frown. Zane swiped the light from Kai’s hand, earning a ‘Hey!’ from the fire master, and turned it off. Leaving Cole confused on the floor as to where the red dot disappeared to.

“Cole is not a cat, and I doubt he’d appreciate being treated as such. Not to forget he could get hurt with this.”

Kai and Lloyd whined at ice ninja, “But Zane.”

“No you two.” He took a deep breath, “I know you bought other toys Lloyd, and although I do not condone it, Cole does not need to be holding Jay without a break, so if these distract him a little bit then okay. However, you are not allowed to let him get hurt. Understand.”

“Yes mom,” Lloyd sighed, earning a chuckle from the two older ninjas. Only for Jay to get cut off with a yelp when he felt Cole pick him up from behind again, “No not again!”

The raven was making his way down the hall but froze when he heard the sound of a rigging bell, it made his ears twitch and tingle. Turning around he saw the green one holding a small mouse with a metal shine on the tail. His pupils narrowed into slits as he gently sets Jay onto the floor, his eyes honed in on the mouse.

Lloyd watched Cole cautiously as he held the plush mouse and shook it a little, he could see Cole’s ears twitching at the sound. “That’s right Cole. You want the mouse?”

The cat hybrid watched the toy as he stalked closer, once he was in arms reach he went to snatch it only for it to be taken away, his eyes narrowed at the blond, “Okay Cole, there!” He tossed it to the other side of the room, and Cole darted, flipping over the couch to see where it landed. Finding it on the floor he batted it across the room, the jingling sound following it.

His tail danced mischievously as he watched it like a predator watches prey before pouncing.

Jay sighed as he walked back to the others, yes he was in love with Cole, and he loved being held by him and sleeping in the same space, but he was already feeling smothered. He knew that the cuddling would return once Cole got tired of playing, but he needed a rest, and besides, this made adorable entertainment…and blackmail.

He was so recording this.

***

“Oh FSM it’s everywhere!”

“We were gone for a minute!”

“Zane’s going to kill us!”

There, now in the middle of the living room was a very high Cole that was rolling around on the floor that was covered in green herbs. His pupils were blown up as he had a wide grin on his face, rubbing against the herbs on the floor and breathing the scent in deeply, giggling at the tingly feeling that invaded his mind.

Lloyd picked up the small bag that barely had any left in it as the rest of it was on the floor. “Shit.”

“Guys what is that sme-” Zane paused as he saw the sight before him, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I leave you alone for 10 minutes-”

“It was an accident!”

“We didn’t know he’d find it!”

“We weren’t gone that long!”

The nindroid let out another tired sigh, “Okay. Let’s get him to his room.”

“Shouldn’t we hose him down? Get that stuff off of him?” Kai asked as he and Zane walked over and lifted the high ninja off the ground, who was a giggly mess.

Zane shook his head “I don’t believe it would be wise to let Cole be around water in his current condition. It may be best to wait until the effects wear off. He may also react very negatively to the water while under the influence like this.”

Cole dragged his feet as he leaned his head against Kai’s but his eyes landed on Jay, “Mate!”

“Huh?” The two looked over, following Cole’s line of sight to Jay whose face was bright red as he avoided everyone’s gaze, “Mate?” Kai asked, a teasing smile easily forming on his face.

“What does that mean?” Lloyd asked. Zane looked at their little brother and explained simply, “It’s like a partner, but the term mate is often used for animals.”

The green ninja’s face looked as if it was processing the information, but the other three continued, they made it to Cole’s door. By then they heard, “Wait like dating?!”

Kai cackled as he opened the door, his eyes widening at the bed on the floor, “Jay?”

The blue ninja shook his head, “Don’t ask me, went to sleep on Cole’s bed, and the next morning woke up on that.”

The fire and ice ninja’s shared a glance before carrying Cole into the floor bed, where the raven immediately wallered on the bed, but whined when he couldn’t smell more of the nice plant from earlier. The two ninjas quickly stepped out of the bed, with Zane observing it, “It appears that he made a nest.”

“A nest? He’s not a bird Zane,” Jay quipped earning a glare from the ice user, who quickly shut up.

“They tend to be made as protection or comfort for animals’ families, or just their partner.”

“Damn Jay, Cole treating you good?” Kai teased as he leaned towards the blue ninja who shielded away with a glare but heated cheeks. This was only temporary, he probably won’t even remember when it’s over.

“So are you two dating or?” Lloyd asked, and Jay’s face turned an even brighter red, “No! We-” Jay felt a hand on his wrist and he knew exactly who it was, “You’ve gotta be, AH!” Jay was pulled down into the bedding, being wrapped in Cole’s embrace as he rubbed his face next to Jay’s, a loud purring echoing the room, but snickers could be heard. He glared up at his friends, Cole’s legs and tail also wrapped around him, no way could he escape, “Well, I guess we can just leave you love birds alone then,” Kai laughed while Lloyd lightly giggled.

Zane was obviously trying to hold back a laugh, “I’ll bring you both food when Nya returns from the shops. Call if you need anything.”

They left, Jay could still hear their laughter through the door, and his face’s flush wouldn’t dim. But he leaned into Cole’s hold, a distraction, enjoying the warmth, but wincing at the smell that was now getting onto him. Great they’ll both need a bath! He huffed, but this mind drifted to what Zane said. Cole, kept calling him his mate, why? They weren’t dating, if anything Cole has no idea he has feelings for him, so why. Unless…

Another red face as he connected a dot, did Cole have feelings for him that were coming out due to the cat side not filtering? Why else would he be acting like this towards him and only him? Oh FSM!

He was almost shaking, if Cole really felt something for him then why hadn’t he yet? Then again why hasn’t Jay confessed? Hypocritical.

He sighed, maybe once this whole ordeal was over he could ask, and maybe make a date out of it.

His heart raced in his chest at the idea, no Jay don’t get ahead of yourself maybe-what was that?!

Something wet just slid across the back of his neck, he put a hand back there and felt the warm liquid, only to see another lick. Was-was Cole licking him?!

“Cole what are you doing?!”

“Clean mate,” and he was licked again making him shiver at the feeling. He tried to squirm away but he was locked in place, all he could do was whine as Cole was attempting to lick him clean like a cat to another. There was no way in the cursed realm was he calling for help, he wasn’t going to get more relentless teasing from the others. So he just let his crush lick him as if it was cleaning him while Cole's tail wagged contently.

He may love this man, but he was never going to let this go. 

.

.

.

Cole just licked his face!

Chapter Text

Day 2

“Cole! You need a bath!”

“No!”

Jay growled as he continued to try and pull Cole into the bathroom, it was the second day of this mess and the both of them reeked! No thanks to the catnip that Cole rolled in! Not to mention neither has had a shower since the day of the incident and Jay mostly just wanted some clean clothes.

“Cole stop being a baby!” Kai yelled as he was trying to push Cole through the door, but the raven’s strong grip held onto the frame like a lifeline.

“It’s just a little water!”

“NO!”

Zane frowned at the scene only for Nya to perk, “Oh!” She waved her hand and a glob of water formed, she ducked around the boys and placed the water onto Cole’s hand, causing his hand to slip. The three yelped as Cole fell through with Jay still pulling and Kai still pushing on the taller man. The blue ninja winced as he landed next to the tub, the ledge digging into his back with Cole laying on top of him and Kai on top of Cole. “Ow…”

Kai groaned as he got up, “Nya, warn us next time!”

The water ninja giggled, “Sorry, but if I said anything Cole could've actually escaped.”

A growl could be heard, and their heads jerked to see Cole slowly getting up, his pupils now slits, ears pulled back, and fur on end. His fangs were bared as he glared at the others, he looked like he was about to pounce, “Oh shit!”

Kai slammed the door shut right as Cole jumped, hitting the door with a loud thud. Growling could be heard along with scratching at the door, “Out!”

“No can do! You stink!”

“It is not like you're one to talk Kai,” Lloyd snarked next to the brunet, “Hey!”

Jay blinked as he stared at Cole pawing at the door with growls, “Wait did we just lock Jay in there with him?” He heard Nya ask from the other side of the door.

He sighed, “I’m fine!” He stood up, rubbing at his back where it met the tub, someone had to actually bathe Cole, no way could he do it on his own with how his mind was. Especially when he was fighting tooth and nail just to not get into the bathroom.

“Do you need any assistance?” Zane asked through the door

A loud hiss came from the raven, as he scratched at the door, marking it with his claws. Jay winced and shook his head, “I got it.”

“Try not to have too much fun love birds,” Kai ribbed only for him to yelp in pain, “What?!”

“Would you stop?” Nya questioned.

Jay shook his head again as he stood and slowly approached Cole who was pawing at the door with a harsh glare. He and Nya broke up over a month ago, she was the one who initiated it, she said that she could tell that something was going on with him and that he wasn’t in love with her anymore, he was surprised that she wasn’t upset about it. She knew he couldn’t break up with her, he didn’t have the heart to do it to her, so she did it for him. He thought he could still love her as he did but his heart drifted over to his best friend, and Nya could read him like an open book.

“Come on Cole,” he tried to be gentle but a growl could be heard.

Okay, slowly, he raised his hand up, grey eyes watching cautiously as the hand settled into the long locks of hair between his ears. Jay’s slender fingers kneaded into the pleasure spots he learned about nearly making the hybrid fall over. ”Cole the sooner we get this done, the sooner we can go back to bed,” he attempted to reason, which he has figured that if Cole was a real cat he would be the one that would sleep all day and night with occasional bouts of energy.

The raven whined as he pressed his face into Jay’s hand, looking up at him with big eyes, FSM he was so cute!

He got onto his knees and held the earth master’s face, “Please, for your…your…mate?” It was so weird to say that. Although he guessed it worked as Cole’s pupils grew wide and his tail swished around happily, “For mate?”

The blue ninja’s face was bright red as he smiled, “Yeah, and maybe we can make you a cake if you’re good?”

“CAKE?!” The taller man stood, taking Jay with him as he looked like a kid who was let loose in a candy store, his fangs showed as the hybrid grinned widely. “Yeah, but you have to be good, okay? No fighting back.”

That made him pout but he sighed, “For mate and cake.”

That had to have been the longest sentence he’s spoken since all of this started!

“Okay.”

+++

Jay ran the bath water first, In no way in the cursed realm was he going to do a shower, and he was sure Cole would somehow slip. He had to help Cole take off his clothes after watching him struggle to remove his shirt, he didn’t untie a sash from the back, and it got stuck. Jay removed his own shirt knowing it was going to get soaked anyway. He assisted Cole in, who gripped onto his hand every step of the way and it grew tighter when he was actually in the water, his tail going rigid at the liquid.

Cole whined, but Jay quickly petted his ears to soothe him. Washed his hair, scrubbing and scratching at his scalp while, humming to keep him calm, it came to the point that Cole was purring and leaning into the touch, which turned into a hiss when he rinsed off the soap from his hair and water got onto his face. He helped with most of the body and had Cole do the rest, too embarrassed, but at least Cole could do that.

He sighed with relief when it was done and drained the dirty water, his best friend no longer smelling like catnip but rather of forest trees and nature, if what the soap bottles said were true. Jay was honestly wanting to just hop in for a quick shower, however, it seemed that Cole had different ideas.

***

Jay now sat in the tub, his knees drawn to his chest with his face a burning bright red, and Cole gently used his claws to comb through his curly hair. This was embarrassing…

Cole refused to let him take a shower, one thing led to another and here he was sitting in the tub as Cole, who was still naked, washed his hair as Jay had done to him earlier. The hybrid refused to let him do it himself, and knowing he couldn't win, like seriously he can just pick him up no problem, what makes him think he has a fighting chance to avoid this? It could be worse, Cole could’ve sat in the tub and held him in his lap while he did this. FSM what was his life?

Although he was surprised by how gentle Cole was being, and despite his embarrassment, he leaned into the touch, it was relaxing. Could Cole always be this gentle?

However, before he could allow himself to fall into complete bliss, his embarrassment almost vanished, and he was rudely brought back by a splash of cold water. He sputtered and spat out the water as he turned to glare at the raven, who just smiled innocently, but in those eyes, he could see the mischief, he knew what he was doing.

With a smirk Jay splashed him with the water in the tub, making Cole shriek in surprise and frown at the other. Jay laughed, and Cole’s hair was almost dry.

+++

The room was no longer dry as the bathroom had water splashed everywhere, and both men in the bathroom were soaked, but at least now they were clean and now giggling. There was a knock at the door, “Are you two done yet? Your clothes are out here,” it was Lloyd.

Jay glanced around the room seeing the water dripping even from the ceiling, “Uh yeah, give us a minute!”

He quickly got up and got some fresh towels from under the sink, throwing one at a confused Cole as the blue ninja wrapped the towel around him and went to the door, opening it enough to take the clothes but not for the green ninja to see inside.

They had to be fast so the others won’t see the mess they made, wait if he had to help Cole get clothes off does that mean he needs help getting them on?

***

The answer was yes. Yes, he did.

After getting the bathroom mostly, dry, after getting dressed he saw that Cole was struggling, but at least he got further than last time. Still struggling with the shirt though. He helped him and they left, Jay hoping no one would question why the bathroom was damp. He hollered that they were done before dragging Cole back into his room, the hybrid immediately taking the lead and dragging the blue ninja into the nest. Pushing his face into his toned chest and purring.

Jay just let it happen, use to this being the norm until Cole is normal again, but he really does love being this close to him. He yawned, the after-bath sleepies getting to him, who cares if it was 11 AM, he’ll take a nap.

An hour later shouting woke him up. He hoped it wasn’t about the bathroom.

.

.

.

Zane came into the room with a glare.

It was.

Chapter Text

Day 3

Please let this be the last day! PLEASE LET THIS BE THE LAST DAY! Dr. Borg said it could be at least three days, but at most five, but he doesn't know if he could handle this anymore! Once again he was sitting in Cole’s lap in the nest he made, this time with the raven running his fingers through his curls. Jay just let it happen as he stared at his phone, not finding any videos interesting enough to watch but just mindlessly scrolling. He groaned as he leaned more weight against Cole who didn’t react and just continued petting his head. Should this be the other way around?

He heard a knock at the door, “Come in,” finally.

Nya peaked her head in, “Hey.”

He felt Cole’s hand stop fiddling with his hair and his strong arms wrapped around his chest and pulled him closer. He’s starting to think that he’s jealous when Nya’s around, he hasn’t acted as openly hostile to the others since the first day, but Nya, he didn’t get. Unless his theory about Cole liking him was true and he saw her as a ‘threat’. The thought kinda made him chuckle, he and Nya broke up a while ago, but they were still close. He gave her a wave, “Hey.”

“Still being held captive?” She chuckled as she looked over the scene before her.

Jay giggled, “Yeah, what’s up?”

Her eyes glanced over at the glaring earth ninja and smirked, “Got a cat idea.”

Electric blue glanced up at Cole who rested his chin on his head, eyes glaring daggers at the woman, “What ya got?”

***

Cole stared at the box that was sitting in front of him, Jay convinced the hybrid to have at least a walk around the monastery, claiming his legs were sore from sitting for so long. Once in the living room, Cole’s eyes landed on a large box. Nya said that PIXAL sent over parts and the box was rather large, reaching Cole’s knees. The man circled the box, and the two other ninjas watched as the hybrid moved, his tail swaying, and after a minute he climbed in. His knees were tucked to his chest, but he looked rather content to just sit there.

Jay giggled as he pulled out his phone and snapped some photos. He had so much blackmail on him, but he was adorable. He sighed as he sat next to the box and scratched behind Cole’s ears, earning the loud and familiar rumbling purr from his chest as he pushed his head against the ministrations.

Nya giggled from the side, secretly recording it, with Cole bumping his head against Jay, to send it to the others.

The day was starting to come to a close when the others returned seeing Cole still in the box, Lloyd and Kai brought out the toys again, no cat nip this time, and used those with the box for the transformed man to play with. Zane watched but at least Cole wasn’t getting hurt this time. Jay sat on the couch next to the nindroid, once again recording Cole pouncing around the box as the blond and brunette teased the raven. Jay just continued to relax in the seat, knowing that soon Cole was going to scoop him up again and carry him to his room for bed.

Jay lay next to the bigger man, giggling, trying desperately to stifle it to not alert the others, as Cole gently pressed his gloved fingers into his sides, hitting his ticklish spots. He tried to kick away but couldn’t. Cole chuckled, as he leaned over the redhead and pressed his forehead against Jay’s, finally stopping and resting his hands on both sides of Jay’s head.

The lightning ninja’s giggles ceased as his electric blue eyes looked into grey, “Cole?”

“Love you.”

Before Jay could respond, Cole’s lips met his, it was small and mostly a peck, but that didn’t stop the smaller ninja from looking at the other with wide eyes, his face turning into a bright shade of red, almost hiding his freckles. The hybrid smiled, “Pretty mate,” and pressed a kiss on Jay’s forehead before laying down on Jay’s chest with a content smile and a loud purr.

Jay on the other hand was internally screaming.

His hands slowly reached up to Cole’s hair. He felt an ear twitch against his hand and the tail curl up around his leg, his hands shook as he buried his hand into the sea of black hair, pressing Cole’s head a little tighter to his chest, but the hybrid didn’t respond. His breath shook.

FSM Cole was going to be the death of him. However, he smiled a small bit with his heart hammering in his chest, he closed his eyes and whispered, “I love you too.”

Chapter Text

The sun shone right onto Jay’s face, disrupting his sleep yet again. He groaned as his hands moved and felt Cole’s hair entangled in his fingers. He sighed as he slowly undid the knots that kept his fingers in place without hurting the man, only to pause when he felt something missing. Looking down he saw Cole’s mop of tangled black hair but there were no longer cat ears on top of his head. He blinked and craned his neck a little to look over the bigger man’s shoulder and where there was once a tail sticking out of his back, was no longer there.

He was back to normal.

“Oh thank the First Master!”

Cole shifted and groaned. Shit that was loud. The earth ninja’s grey eyes peeked open, but sleep was still evident. “Jay? What are you doing here?”

He pushed himself up, Jay immediately missed the warmth, as he rubbed his eyes but looked around, “And why are we in this…bed on the floor?”

Jay sat up, “Do you remember anything from the past few days?”

Cole yawned, “Uh past few days? I think-” He stopped as his eyes went wide. “Please tell me it was a dream that I became half-cat!”

Jay chuckled a little as he shook his head, “Nope.”

“Fuck my life,” Cole groaned as he buried his flushed face into his hands.

“It wasn’t that bad.”

“You try saying that when you’re the one jumping into walls over a red dot.”

That got a giggle from the lightning ninja, “Okay, but you know you would have done the same thing if it was one of the others.”

Another groan but this time Cole pulled his hands away from his face was still flushed, “Yeah you’re right. Especially if it was Kai.”

The two broke into laughter, “I bet he’d be the one asshole that’d knock a vase off the table while looking at you dead in the eye.”

Cole attempted to cover his mouth but continued to laugh, “He so would.” Only to realize he was still wearing those gloves. He took them off only to stop after removing just one. “Cole?”

His nails were still long and sharpened to a point, he couldn’t tear his eyes off of them until Jay reached and clasped his hands into his own, looking at the claw-like nails. “Maybe a side effect? We can probably cut them down now that you’re in the right frame of mind.”

Jay’s soft hands caressed his hand gently as he looked over each one, Cole’s face now flushing again. Oh FSM!

He pretty much confessed his feelings to him! Hell, he kissed him last night! Fuck!.. But he didn’t respond negatively? “Jay-?”

There was a knock at the door, FSM! Damn it, why?!

“It’s open.”

Lloyd opened the door with a tray in his hands and stopped when his eyes landed on the earth ninja, “Cole your back to normal!”

The raven smiled, “Yeah, I am.” He paused and frowned his face turning serious, “And I remember everything.”

The green ninja froze, “E-everything?”

“You and Kai owe me.”

Lloyd quickly put the tray down outside of the nest, “H-hey, come on, Jay was in on it too! And Nya was the one who brought in the box!”

“They didn’t have me headbutting walls, or got me higher than a kite with cat nip! Why did you even buy that?”

“Hehe, well~”

“You thought it’d be funny.”

“I mean yeah~”

Cole stood up, making the blond take a step back with a nervous chuckle, “You have till the count of three, One-”

Lloyd had bolted, yelling at Kai to run, “What why?”

“Cole’s normal again and he remembers!”

“Oh shit!”

And the sound of hurried footsteps could be heard followed by the slamming of a door.

Zane walked into the doorway ad looked in, “Ah, that explains it. But it is good to see you back to your normal self.”

Cole sighed and sat back down in the bed nest, “Yeah.”

“Here,” Jay handed a plate of food over to the other ninja who promptly dug in.

“I’ll see if Nya can get those two back and apologize.” He walked away leaving the two other ninjas alone to eat. 

“Glad to see I don’t have to feed you this time,” Jay chuckled as he watched the raven eat without much problem in comparison to the days before. Making the earth ninja pause and his face flush once again. Now being hit with every, very, intimate things he did. Holding him for hours on end, licking him, close cuddling, bathing him, and fuck he kissed him and confessed that he loved him! FUCK! He looked at the freckled man, as he continued to eat with a smile, that damn smile! 

He finished his breakfast in a rush, trying not to choke, and sat his plate to the side next to Jay’s while the blue ninja was leaning against the side of the nest stretching out his arms and back with a moan. “Welp, I’m gonna 

“Wait Jay, can we…talk about…what happened when I…?”

Jay looked at Cole’s embarrassed face, connecting what he was referring to. He was hoping it could be later, but maybe now would be better since most everyone was out of the monastery. He sat back down on his knees and faced the raven-haired man. “Yeah.”

“Look I wanna say I’m-”

“I feel the same way.”

Cole blinked, and his heart nearly stopped in his chest. “What?”

Jay’s own freckled face flushed, “I feel the same way.” He let out a nervous chuckle as he scratched his cheek, “Have for awhile, kinda one of the reasons me and Nya broke up.”

Cole swallowed thickly as he looked into Jay’s deep blue eyes, “One?”

“You know she’s dating Skylor now right?”

That’s right they were.

“Yeah, anyway, I’ve kinda had a crush on you for a while and well…here we are. Hehe.”

“So…what do we do now?”

“Well~,” Jay moved from his spot and leaned closer to the taller man, “Now that you’re in your right mind, do you wanna try and kiss me again?”

The earth ninja froze, his eyes big and face burning, he may no longer be a cat, but he was still cute like one. Cole looked hesitant to do anything, making the redhead giggled. He was sort of clueless, wasn’t he? So he placed his hands on Cole’s shoulders, making him lean forward, and pressed his lips onto Cole’s. The raven held onto Jay for balance and melted into the kiss easily, much more than the quick kiss the night before. Cole’s face was even more flushed when they pulled away as he looked at the man before him with a smile and love in his eyes. He smiled as he leaned back in for another kiss, Jay smiled into it only for them both to pull apart again, out of breath.

The sound of an opening door and shouting could be heard, “You are going to apologize!”

“But Nya-!”

“NO!”

The earth and lightning ninja looked at one another before laughing, “Cole get in here, Kai and Lloyd have to tell you something!”

They continued to laugh as they stood up together and walked out of the room, leaving the nest alone for now as they saw Kai and Lloyd being held by the water ninja, both whining.

“Do it now!”

Cole chuckled as he leaned against the wall of the hall while Jay stood next laughing.

While the two apologized, the new couple couldn’t help but think that maybe the whole tea-cat thing wasn’t such a bad thing after all.