I only come out at night

===

“What?! Since when weren't you into Halloween?”

“Since the day I was created, Cole.”

Zane had just been reading a book to pass the time, the rare quiet within the monastery one he had been eagerly awaiting. Ninja work didn't lend much free time, and normally, neither did holidays; festivities could only do so much to hold back crime. He had books to read up on, and he hadn't thought that anyone would need him for anything, busy with their own things. It wasn't as if many children would have come all the way up to the monastery to get candy.

The brisk autumn air whistled above the monastery, the scent of pumpkins, crisp apples, and cavity-inducing sweets drifting into the bedroom that Cole was currently pouting in.

No wonder he was going as a werewolf; those eyes belonged to a puppy.

“Come on- you should at least try trick-or-treating,” Cole argued. “You shouldn't be such a stick in the mud. Live a little.”

“Trick-or-treating is meant for children and teenagers,” Zane responded, the corners of his mouth twitching as he attempted to keep the smile from his stern expression. “I doubt Fritz or Spitz would enjoy you taking their candy… or Wyldfyre for that matter. And you know I enjoy reading; it is my form of living.” His expression softened further. “This is your chance to spend some time with Geo and your kids.”

Cole sighed, shoulders drooping a bit. “I know… but… well…” His warm, honey-colored eyes met Zane's own, mixed emotions within their silky depths. “It just wouldn't feel right to do it without you, I guess. It's been a while since we got to do anything together.”

Zane wished he didn't feel a flutter in his stomach at that.

“I… suppose. I just don't wish to impose. Fritz and Spitz-”

“They like you. They just need to get used to you. It'll be easier if you do more… childish things, I guess.”

The nindroid sighed a little, before he looked over at the other. He was now using his begging eyes, becoming more puppy-dog-like by the second. It now reminded Zane of the small moment when he had actually been a pup. It made his core squeeze.

Why did he have to be so adorable?

“... Alright…”

“Yes!” Cole lit up, and impatiently waited for Zane to bookmark his page and set his book down before dragging him away by the hand.

■■■

“I feel… incredibly silly.”

Zane stood before a mirror, looking at his costume with an unreadable expression. Cole had insisted that he not use his hologram and instead wore physical clothing. The costume he had been given was that of a scarecrow, which he didn't really understand. The straw was thankfully stuffed between layers, but it didn't make the costume any less itchy.

“It's the Halloween spirit!” Nya said with a grin. “Don't worry about it; everyone else is dressed in costumes as ridiculous as yours, so you'll adjust.” She looked into the mirror as she adjusted her witch hat, humming in satisfaction after a moment.

“... I suppose,” Zane conceded with a sigh. He itched at his arm a little. “I wish it was a little more comfortable.” He hoped that he would be able to get over it; they would be going out soon.

Nya eyed him for a moment before frowning. “Sorry, Zane. I didn't know you were coming with; we could've made you a better costume if we had known ahead of time-”

The scarecrow placed a gentle hand on her exposed shoulder, shaking his head. “I didn't think I would be coming. It's not your fault… Cole just has a way of convincing me of things at the last minute.”

She smirked a little at that, as if knowingly, and looked ready to tease him. But Kai beat her to it.

“Dude, you're so weak,” the vampire said from the next mirror over, fixing up his fangs.

“Kai!”

“What? It's true!” He worried over his hair now, tongue sticking out a little. “He's had feelings for Cole for a long time. It's a curse that they're not together now.” Kai hummed in satisfaction when he finally got the edges just right. Then he turned to Zane and Nya.

“I believe this is inappropriate to talk about,” Zane refuted, steeling himself from the nasty feelings curling within him. “Geo makes Cole quite happy, and if Cole and I had been together, he may never have experienced this relationship of theirs. We should focus on how Cole feels, not me.” He fiddled with the buttons of his purposely-mucked shirt before flattening against himself. “Does this look… presentable?”

Kai sighed a little before he nodded. “Yep! Just like a scarecrow,” he hummed, a note of irritation being heard. Then he brightened up, a smirk playing his features. “You could totally scare the shit out of the kids! There's a corn maze not far from here, and you'd be perfect for-”

“I'm not looking to get paid to scare children, Kai,” Zane said more exasperatedly, rolling his eyes. He smiled at the way his friend deflated at the blatant rejection of the idea. Then he turned toward the door, making his way out to meet with Cole, Geo, and the kids.

“That looks fantastic!” Geo was busy gushing, circling around his proud-looking boyfriend. “Did you go back to the Land of Lost Things to get this stuff?”

Cole wore a torn-apart shirt, dirtied and clawed, showing quite a lot of skin. The pants were far more modest, but certainly beaten, and the socks looked as if mice had chewed on them, holes all over. He hadn't bothered to wear shoes, and Zane was certain he'd end up with sore, bruised feet before the night was over.

He had put in some fake teeth, too, fangs peeking out over his bottom lip. Bruise marks had been painted on his skin, as well as some well-drawn scratch marks. His beard had been accentuated and thickened with some make-up, too, as well as on his arms and legs, making him look even more hairy than he already was. He wore a wolf headband, too, most-likely given to him from one of the kids. The nindroid could tell he had thrived with the artistic portions.

“Yep! Maybe added a few holes to them, too,” Cole boasted, as if wearing mauled clothes was anything to be proud of. Zane couldn't help but smile.

Fritz and Spitz were to the side, potentially scheming based on how they were whispering to one another. Zane made a mental note to keep an eye on them

===

I like the one shot so far, but I can't figure out what to do with it. The mentioned haunted maze might come up again... maybe. I had written this in like one night and I haven't touched it since. Please tell me what you think or what you think I could do with this.

Also, just because I want to write this down before I forget:

Cole: Werewolf

Zane: Scarecrow

Kai: Vampire

Nya: Witch

Geo: Sheet ghost

Fritz and Spitz: Dressed as each other

Wyldfyre: Doesn't dress up

Divider created by drawloverlala!

“Cole?”

He jumped about a foot off the couch before whipping around to look over at Zane, who was standing in front of the couch beside him. “Fuck- Zane! You nearly gave me a heart attack,” he huffed gruffly, gripping his chest. He swore he saw Zane snicker a little. “Did you need anything else, besides a laugh?”

At that, Zane's expression returned to his resting face. “Not exactly. I… wanted to hear about your progress,” he started hesitantly. He sat down on the couch now, looking at him with those sharp eyes.

Cole groaned, having to look away from the other in shame. “Zip. Everything I do just makes it worse…” He tossed the controller to the side before combing through his hair. “… I tried to apologize to Nya, but I couldn't get anywhere near her before Kai started barking at me. I try to apologize to him, and he thinks it's just so I can get to Nya. I go over to Jay to try to talk to him, and he thinks it's just to get to Nya. Nya doesn't look like she believes me in the slightest…”

He swallows, feeling his throat grow tight, and he wipes at his nose, trying not to break. Not in front of Zane. “I… I didn't know what to do… I figured space might help?”

He feels a cold hand place itself on his back gently, and he can't help but lean into it, just a tiny bit. “Perhaps space is a good option for now, even if I know it is difficult for you,” Zane said softly, his fingers carefully stroking the skin.

They stayed there for a moment, just taking in each other's presence, before the ice master perked. “Would you like it if we played this game together? Perhaps it will help you relax.”

Cole scoffed, feeling his heart lift. “I doubt it; you always cheat,” he teased.

“I do not!” They laughed as Cole hooked up another controller and handed it to him.

For the first time in a few days, he felt content. It was great being able to play a game against someone that wasn't a computer. Though, with how Zane's brain worked, it might be about the same, seeing as he effortlessly pressed each button and came up with combos that Cole hadn't known existed. He didn't care. This was nice.

After many rounds of failed attempts to block Zane's vision - just to beat him one time - he huffs in defeat. “Okay, you win.”

“I thought ninja never quit,” Zane teased him, a smirk on his face.

“I'm not a ninja right now. I'm a guy that keeps getting beat by a cheater!”

“I don't cheat. This game was made for children.”

“Hey, it's a difficult game made for children!” He threw a pillow at his face for good measure.

Divider by firefly-graphics

“You've never celebrated Christmas?!”

Zane winced at the sudden exclamation from Jay, who was still staring at him with his jaw dropped. He suddenly wished he had never said anything, all of his fellow ninja - including Wu and Lloyd - now looking at him. He was already strange enough; he didn't think that not having celebrated a holiday would make him that much stranger.

“Wh-What- What about Hanukkah? Kwanzaa?” Jay listed, looking near desperate.

“Uh… no?”

The lightning ninja stormed over and gripped his shoulders, a dark look in his mismatched eyes. “What the hell is wrong with your parents-”

“Dude, stop,” Cole finally stepped in, separating the two. “You're freaking him out.”

“Well… it is weird,” Kai admitted, Zane's heart sinking at the honesty. “Like, what kind of family doesn't celebrate the holidays? Even Nya and I managed every year, and we were flat broke!”

The ice ninja tapped his fingers awkwardly as the three argued for his sake, desperately trying to remember if maybe he had celebrated one of those holidays. It bugged him that he didn't know. Why couldn't he remember anything before a few months ago? He had an excellent memory!

After a few minutes, Jay finally sighed. “Okay, okay.” He looked over at the platinum blonde, a faint frown still on his face. “We're gonna make this the best first Christmas we can for you,” he started. “But first, let's watch a few Christmas movies; it'll getcha in the spirit of things!” A smile rose to his face, encouraging Zane's lips to mirror it.

Jay had quite the infectious smile, really.

So, with little Lloyd in tow, they headed to the living space. Cole and Kai went to grab  more seating, while Jay went off to grab some blankets and pillows, leaving Zane with Lloyd and… oh, Wu went off somewhere. It was just Zane and Lloyd.

The air felt stuffy between the two. It wasn't like they were the closest. Really, Zane should be more used to being the odd one out. But Lloyd made an effort to break the ice.

“Are you telling the truth?” he asked, eyeing the much taller student suspiciously.

“... Why would I lie about such a trivial subject?”

“Pity.” Lloyd looked him up and down for a moment before looking away. “But I guess your childhood could have sucked.”

Zane frowned at that, and didn't say much else, allowing the green ninja to suck at his candy cane.

Cole and Kai had managed to find a couple of beanbags, one of which Lloyd immediately jumped into. Nya would most likely take the other whenever she got back from her shopping trip. The folded chairs they had also grabbed were placed against the wall for now.

Jay was busy carefully taking his large pile of soft things down the hall, tapping his foot around in search of any tripping hazards. Zane took some from the pile, enough for the blue clad ninja to be able to see. With a quick thanks, he led the other over to the couch and plopped them down. Then he got busy working on making the seating arrangements more comfortable.

Cole gestured for Zane to follow him, and he was led to the kitchen. “Usually, we would have had more festive snacks to eat from, but this was kind of short notice,” he admitted sheepishly. He opened up a cabinet and pulled out a few popcorn packets. “Can you grab the M&M's? Ooh, and maybe a few candy canes, too?”

The ice ninja did as he was told, returning to his side with all of the requested candies when the microwave beeped. The earth ninja poured the first bag of popcorn into a bowl, then grabbed a handful of the M&M's, mixing it into the snack food. The candy cane he grabbed was crushed and sprinkled in, too.

“Won't the candy cane be a choking hazard?” Zane worried, though was quite pleased with the additions.

“Nah, it'll be fine.” That did little to soothe him. “Help me make a few more bowls, and we'll join the others.”

By the time they had finished and walked back to the living space, balancing a few bowls on their arms, Jay had finished comfy-ifying the couch, and Kai and Lloyd had picked out a few movies.

“What, needed supervision while you were in the kitchen?” Jay teased Cole, snickering at the embarrassment shown on his face.

“Can you seriously stop? I'm plenty capable of cooking on my own! I just wanted to show Zane a good snack.”

“Uh-huh…”

The two bickered while Zane set his bowls down on the coffee table that had been pushed in for just this occasion. Looking around, it was starting to feel a little home-y in here… it made him smile a little. It made him excited to see more of this holiday and its traditions.

As he was admiring the once shabby living space, Nya came in, arms full of paper bags. She grunted a bit with the effort of carrying them, but refused to put them down until she got to a table set aside for mostly decoration. She breathed out a sigh of relief as soon as she was done.

Though it was rather cold outside, she wasn't nearly as bundled up as Kai usually was. Her coat was unzipped, her scarf laying across her shoulders and down her torso instead of wrapped around her neck, and her hat was stuffed inside of one of her pockets. 

“Ooh, what didja get?” Kai started toward her until the end of a broomstick was jabbed towards his throat.

“Christmas presents,” Nya answered, more nonchalantly than her actions. “No peeking.” She proceeded to swing the broom at all of them. “That includes all of you.”

“Can I still help you?” Zane asked. “You looked to have been struggling with them, and there are many.”

She looked at all of the bags she had dropped on the table and she sighed. “Fine…”

“Ooh, good one, Zane!” Jay whispered with a gleeful smile. “You gotta tell us if you see anything good.”

That left him rather confused. Did Jay think he was trying to trick Nya? Or ignore her warning? He shook his head a little, incredulous, before making his way over to the ravenette and taking about half of the bags. He may not be as strong as Cole or even Nya, but he did know how to properly balance everything.

Zane followed Nya to her room, pushing her door open for her and allowing her to enter. Although the ninja all slept in the same quarters, Nya was the only one who had been allowed her own room. Wu had thought it necessary, not wanting to cause any trouble. Plus, he was set in his ways; unless married, men and women stayed in separate quarters.

“Where would you like me to set the bags?”

“Just in that corner is fine.” Nya took her scarf and coat off before she rustled around in the bags she had set down, pulling out a pair of plush socks. She noticed Zane's curious glance and chuckled. “They’re for Lloyd,” she explained, going through the bag again to bring out a bag of candy. “He's lucky he's getting anything, with how rude he's been all year. But I can't let the kid of a sucky Christmas, so I'm gonna stuff some candy into them for him to find.”

The ice student smiled. “That is incredibly thoughtful, Nya,” he complimented. “... Are presents a large part of this tradition?”

Nya's brow shot up in surprise, whipping her head over to look at Zane. Then she calmed down. “Right; Kai texted me. It's your first Christmas,” she breathed, weakly grinning. “Yeah- well, it's… It's not really what Christmas is supposed to be about, but… it makes the holiday more merry. The best gifts are the ones that tell you that people actually respect you or pay attention to you and your interests.”

He nodded, brow furrowing a little. The sense of panic he was beginning to feel… he hadn't gotten anyone anything yet, and it seemed like this holiday was very big. Stores would most certainly be busy, and might not have anything worthy of getting his friends. What if he wasn't able to get them anything? What if he didn't get them something that spoke to them? What if-

His train of thought was interrupted when he felt a hand on his shoulder. “Calm down,” Nya spoke, firm. “Don't worry about those gifts. You've still got a few weeks, and even if you don't get anyone anything, I'm sure everyone will understand. I mean, this is your first Christmas! You don't have to prepare gifts until you have a better grasp on this whole thing-”

“But I must!” Zane interrupted suddenly. “It would be rude not to. Plus, all of my friends mean a lot to me; I mustn't let them down.”

Nya stared at him for a long moment, before shrugging. “Alright… but don't get too up in your head about it, okay?”

“I won't.”

“Good. Now, let's go see if that movie is ready. I need a break.”

Zane led the way out, now more determined to understand Christmas than ever. It would be a good way of letting his friends know he understood. He was ready for this new challenge.

When the two entered the living room, everyone had settled down. Wu was say on a folding chair behind the couch, Jay and Cole were sitting on the couch, and Lloyd was still on the beanbag he had claimed earlier. Nya made her way over to the other beanbag, plopping down with a heavy sigh.

“Ready, Z?” Kai asked from beside him, holding a DVD case as he stared at the ice student expectantly. When he received a nod, he smirked and popped the DVD into the player.

Zane turned to the couch to see it was already packed - Kai having dove into the last available spot - and decided to sit on the floor in front of the couch.

So, obviously, this takes place before Zane finds out that he's a robot. We would've skipped over that at some point, after Zane understands what he likes about Christmas. Then a massive time skip to Dragons Rising, where he would help Geo, Bonzle, Fritz, and Spitz with their own Christmas. While they would have celebrated their own Christmas in the Land of Lost Things, or maybe even a whole other holiday (I'm sorry, this is the only holiday I have ever celebrated during December, and I'm not well-versed in the others), Zane wants to show them how special it can really be.

Zane's favorite thing about the holidays was just the fact that he got to be with his friends, and it's usually somewhat peaceful the day of the holiday. It's cheesy, but I truly don't think he would be all that into getting gifts. He enjoys giving them, yeah, but that's just not the best part about the holidays for him.

Divider by firefly-graphics

Zane considered himself a kind person.

Rarely did he find himself upset or angry. A little stubborn and impatient, sure, but that was just human. If there was a mess someone else “forgot” to pick up, he would wordlessly clean it up for them. If someone backhandedly complimented him, or accidentally insulted him, he wouldn't say anything. Hell- there was even less of a chance that he'd actually spit back if someone was openly rude to him. He was no doormat, just quiet.

So - at first - he didn't understand why he felt the way he did whenever Cole and Geo were together. Especially if they were being overly affectionate with one another.

Cole and Geo gazing at one another with near heart eyes? A burning sensation in his chest. Cole and Geo holding hands? His metaphorical heart would drop into his metaphorical stomach. Cole and Geo kissing? He felt nauseous.

Of course, he had figured out he had had romantic feelings for Cole a long time ago. Who wouldn’t? He was strong, ambitious - if a little lazy at times, caring - especially towards children, sweet… He always seemed to understand how Zane was feeling and what to say to attempt making him feel better. 

But he had put those feelings to bed years ago, sometime around when everyone thought he liked Vania. He hadn't felt any of these feelings when he thought they were together. Nothing burned or ached when he had seen them being somewhat affectionate.

So, yeah… he had realized his feelings for Cole had maybe not been as put to rest as he thought they had… If anything, they seemed to be far stronger now. Even if he had been sleeping for five years, it still had felt like so long since he had seen Cole, and the immense relief and happiness he had felt when he got back was… well, there was no word strong enough to describe it.

Zane didn't know why he felt anything less than happy for him when he told him about Geo, about how much he… loved Geo.

Geo was nice. He was quiet at first, but had started to become as rambunctious as Cole. He was stubborn, based on how hard he tended to fight for his and Cole's family, being beside his partner every step of the way. He was supportive in that aspect, too. He clearly cared about Cole and his well-being, and had a good read on him. He and Cole had a shared interest in art, his interest being sculpting and land art while Cole focused on drawing and doodling. The two also seemed to share being physically affectionate with the ones they loved.

It was all a little heartbreaking, to know that the one he liked would never feel the same. He had silently shed tears a few times over the week he was told, during the night when no one would find out. But he should be over it by now. He rarely lingered on feelings for long, finding that it made working diligently far more difficult.

But the feelings just wouldn't leave.

Why should he feel jealous? He hadn't allowed Cole to know about these feelings, too scared to find out what would happen after, no matter how ridiculous every conclusion he came to felt. He should feel happy that Cole had found someone he wanted to spend the rest of his life with- he was one of his best friends!

The inner turmoil Zane felt was beginning to make his metaphorical skin itch. He felt close to bursting, and not in a good way. He had to take more breaks than he normally would have, and people were starting to notice, namely Nya. He didn't need to pile his problems onto hers; the poor woman was still trying to figure out how to get Jay back. And Zane was too focused on his own emotions to help her come up with anything.

How selfish could he be?

Zane needed to get over this. He had to help his friends and students with their problems and forget about his own. He hated how focused he was on himself. Why was this so hard for him to get over?

Yep, that's just the entire first section. Whoa, Vania mention for no reason lmao