One Simple Touch

Summary: Cole isn't taking being a ghost well, and Jay comes along to show him that it isn't that bad. Established Cole/Jay

Warnings: Some strong language.

A/N: I'm in the middle of writing a long Ninjago story for Camp NaNoWriMo, so of course I go and procrastinate on it by writing this. Welp. I've been into this fandom for over a month now, and this idea has been swirling around my head for a good bit, so what the hey. Have some cute Cole/Jay feels.

Enjoy! :)

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Cold. The only sensation Cole could currently feel was cold. An endless chill starting in his core and radiating outward, wrapping itself around him until it blocked out all others. He didn't fear it, no, what he feared was how he was already beginning to forget what anything other than the cold felt like, and it had been less than a day...

Trembling, he curled up on his bed, the wind outside the bounty howling by and helping to ease some of his grief. This wasn't what his life was supposed to become. Not in his wildest nightmares would he ever have imagined becoming this...a ghost. A ghost with no death, but no future life. A ghost who could only feel the bitter chill of those long past.

He pressed his hand into the mattress, seeing the fabric give, but there was no texture of cotton sheets, only a tingling hint of pressure like touching things with a numb hand. There, but not. He clenched his fingers into the cloth, squeezing his eyes shut, desperate for something, anything. He had to...he had to feel because...because what would happen to his life now...now that Jay...

"Cole?"

Deep gray eyes snapped up to stare at the figure in the doorway. Of course it would be him, the one person in the entire world he didn't want to see. Why couldn't he have figured out how to work the lock earlier? He could have wallowed in his self-agony all day, alone. Could he have this conversation now? The one he had been avoiding since walking out of that damned cursed mansion hours ago?

At Jay's pleading look, he relented, as he knew he would. One of the reasons he had tried to stay away from him all day. He scooted backwards until he felt the tingle of the ancient wooden boards, and watched as Jay stepped over to sit in front of him. Cole stared down at his lap, legs curled to his chest, and watched the strange green mist that made up his new form contort and twist about. Even without looking, he knew Jay was now smiling softly at him.

"I caught Nya trying to sneak down here to see you," the lightning wielder started, kicking one leg out. "I told her I'd take care of it, and she gave me a knowing smile. Leave it to her to piece things together so quickly, right?"

Cole snorted, running a hand up and through his black locks, still pointedly staring down.

"I know you're hurting," Jay continued, voice now more somber. "You're being pretty obvious about it, and I want you to know I understand why. Hell, if you weren't I'd be totally surprised. I would be totally flipping out right now! Ah. But...Cole...you do know you aren't the only one, right?"

The newly undead chanced a glance up, only to find Jay with a sober look on his usually so playful face. He untwisted his legs to properly face him then, letting out a breath of unneeded air. Add breathing to things he was going to miss. He winced at the macabre thought, seeing Jay tilt his head curiously at him.

Finally he nodded slowly. "Yeah, no, I get it. I know what you're going to say, and you know what? It won't help. Sure, you're stuck without me now, but so what? You get to continue, get to live, and I...I can't even figure out how to open a damn door anymore. I had to have Kai let me in here to begin with, Kai, and that was the single most demeaning moment of my entire life. I hate being like this, so god damn much..."

"Really?" came the miffed response. Jay stood up, placing one hand on his hip as his mismatched brows slanted. "You had to ask a friend for help, so what? You know what friends do for each other, Cole? They help each other out during hard times! It's part of being friends!"

"But-"

"No, let me say this!" Jay cut in, hands now waving in the air. "And you know the best part about it? They won't judge you because they fucking care about you. You're going to take a lot of time to adjust to this, and we're willing to help! If you lock us out of your life over this, you'll regret it forever, and we'll regret letting ourselves lose a wonderful friend, a brother. And I'll...I'll regret losing the best thing that ever happened to me. So I don't ever want to hear you talk like that again, okay?"

Cole gaped by the explosive reply, and his fingers gripped at the sheets again. "Jay, I can't pretend to be okay with dragging you guys down like this. I-"

"Dragging us down?" Jay let out a short hysterical laugh. "Please! You'll never be a burden, Cole. We'll never see you that way. We never have, never will, it's not happening. A ninja never quits, and like hell if we'll quit trying to help you. Don't you remember all the times we've gone out of our way to help one of our own? Whether saving Zane or now Lloyd, we'll never be a burden on each other. We're family."

Cole swallowed, feeling the true scope of Jay's emotions wash over him, catching the slight hint of frustrated tears building up in the other's sapphire eyes. Internally he swore at himself. Of course Jay was right, he usually was with this sort of thing. He was being childish, stubborn. How could he ever hope to take this thing on alone? He didn't want to now.

He smiled, hoping to calm the tense man down. "Alright, I get it. I'm sorry. I guess I just needed a moment to pity myself. Again, sorry. This has just been one hell of a day and I keep hoping to wake up, wanting it to be a dream, and then we can continue with our plan to tell everyone, and all the rest of this crazy mess we found ourselves in."

Jay's shoulders slumped and he sat back on the bed, a smile reforming on his lips. "I know. We were going to come up with the best plan, ugh! Why does this crazy shit always have to happen to us right when things are looking so good?"

"Because we're ninja. Lousy hours." Cole laughed, the knot that had built up in his chest releasing. Relief came over him and he scooted closer to the other. "Do you still want this though, us? It's not like I'm going to make the best boyfriend now. Sort of hard considering I can't really touch anything."

"Duh. I'm offended you would think otherwise," Jay stated with an added bit of sarcasm. He held his hand out again, letting it rest in the air. "Not even turning into a ghost could rid you of me, sorry."

Cole stared at the hand, before hesitantly hovering one of his own over it. "Yeah, didn't think that plan would work. Um, are you sure about this? What if I feel all ectoplasmy? Or cold? Or-"

Jay let his hand fall, landing just about where it would go if Cole was corporeal. Cole shivered, the tingling sensation stronger than before. He took a deep un-breath, and focused on that spot. Come on, you know you can do this. You've seen other ghosts do it countless times. Focus.

The tingling suddenly became almost electrical, and then there he was, holding Jay's hand, and nothing before it could ever compare. His face broke out into a joyous grin, Jay's matching him. Carefully, trying not to break whatever mind set he was in, Cole laced their fingers together, relishing in the contact.

"See? One step forward." Jay stood again, pulling Cole with him. "Now let's go let everyone know you're no longer in the middle of an existential crisis. They'll be pretty relieved."

"Sure we can't stay down here?" Cole asked, sliding a thumb up and down Jay's skin. Soft, broken only by the occasional callous from his nunchucks. Perfect. "I'm rather starting to like the peace and quiet."

Jay rolled his eyes, sliding his hand away. "As much as I'm enjoying this, we do still have our little green ninja to save, so the quicker we put everyone's fears at rest, the better. Plus..." A light dusting of color fell over his cheeks. "I think I'm ready to tell them. Hiding like this is starting to become such a chore..."

"Works for me. What did you so eloquently quote earlier? 'We're family'? What do we have to be worried about?"

"Don't throw my positivity back at me, thank-you-so-very-much," Jay replied with a cute pout, already heading for the stairs. "Now hurry up before I chicken out and take you up on that offer of hiding away down here."

Cole laughed and quickly followed after him. Sure, being a ghost sucked, but with someone as amazing as Jay around? He would make it through this, all because of the help of that powerful simple touch.

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