I do not own Ninjago. Warnings for a really boring chapter and some 'underage' drinking.
Kai sent a tentative smile across the table to his sister. She looked troubled, about what he expected in this circumstance, and he was not even sure where to begin. It did not really matter because, like always, Nya knew exactly what she wanted to say long before he even sorted out his feelings.
"How could you? Lloyd! And you didn't even tell me. We used to be so close and you didn't tell me you liked him, let alone that you were dating." The corners of Kai's mouth quirked up a bit. He was relieved his sister was not really upset. He thought the whole 'liking boys' thing would throw her off more but maybe he dodged the bullet on that one.
"I like Lloyd and we're dating." He said with a joking severity. "Honestly, I thought you'd be more upset. Dad would of-"
"Dad's not here anymore. There's no telling what he would have done." Nya said sweetly, taking her brother's hand in both of hers and holding it loosely on the table. "All we can do now is live our lives cause you know he wouldn't of wanted us to stop just because he's not around. If this is how you choose to live it-" She let the words hang in silence. His words. They were the same as what he told her when their father disappeared, when he was afraid she would never be the same again.
Kai smiled and pulled his hand away from hers. "Not fair." He conceded. "You didn't tell me about Jay..." He whispered under his breath.
"Yes I did." Nya declared defensively.
"I know." The brunet groaned. "I just wanted to have something to call you out on. Why you gotta be so good all the time? Little miss perfect, who gets kidnapped and needs me to save her." Kai picked up a left over piece of celery to fiddle with so he did not have to look at the only person who was constant in his life.
Nya sighed, aggravated already. "That was just once." She reasoned like getting abducted by skeletons was normal. Well, it did seem to be turning out that way since they got tangled up with the ninja.
Chocolate eyes rose to meet ones hued like coffee without milk. "Oh yeah? And how about that time you twisted your ankle carrying pumice stone back to the shop? I had to physically carry you home that night."
"Okay, so that happened." Nya aknowledged.
"What about the time you-"
"Okay. Okay. You win. But this isn't about me. Why wouldn't you tell me? I thought I knew everything about you then I miss this huge part of your life." The girl's brows furrowed in disappointment over sadly downcast eyes. Her slumped shoulders could make anyone's heart ache. She looked broken. Too bad she used this tactic on Kai too much growing up. He was largely immune to the guilt trips now.
Still, it seemed he had not gotten of the hook for not coming out to his sister. "I should have told you I'm gay. I get it. I won't-"
"Gay!" She shrieked shrilly as an exposition to a great guffaw. "Come on Kai! Give me some credit. I'm your sister, of course I knew you were gay." Her laughter filled the room but instead of embarrassing the boy, it served more to annoy him endlessly.
"Yeah right. How'd you know." He snapped across the table.
Nya clicked her mouth shut with giggles still making her body bounce. Her hands were clamped over her laughter red face for a moment for her to stifle her humor. "I didn't know it was some big secret. You never showed interest to any girls back home then when you rescued me, you still kept following the ninja like a lost puppy. I thought I'd have to fight you for Jay at first then... I really thought you liked Cole. I mean you eat his food no matter how terrible it is and you never really make fun of him. You always did what he said without question and I mean he's-"
"He is the leader, Nya." Kai cut in severely. "With out him- with out the ninja- I might of never seen you again. Besides, Cole and Jay are straight. Obviously."
"But that doesn't mean you don't like them." Nya pointed out in the way only an annoying younger sibling could.
"I'm. With. Lloyd." Kai bit out in agitation.
"Because he was the only option."
Kai growled. "No. Because I love him. The others had their chance, now screw 'em. I've found the one I want to be with." Nya smiled but her eyes seemed sad. "What?" He huffed.
She shook her head with a smile that might as well have been a frown painted across her feminine features. "I'm sorry I took your first choice. I didn't think about it when I saw him. I just- I really like Jay."
Kai diffused seeing the unaldultered love cloaking his sister's glistening eyes. "Don't worry about it. I don't want him anyway. I got everything I want with Lloyd. And he likes me." Kai smiled. Lloyd and him had tread into dangerous territory today and come out unscathed. They loved each other and that was that. Contentedness over swept the fiery boy. He really had Lloyd.
"You have never spoken about your feelings before. It must be a lot for you to take in so suddenly." They clarified.
The blond young man relaxed against the door with a sigh. "How would you know?"
"I've watched you together." The older man explained though Lloyd already knew the answer.
"Why?" The green ninja questioned.
"I wanted to understand and feel what you feel." Zane confessed slowly like he did not quite understand the craving himself.
Lloyd's eyes explored the animatron's face. The older blond had no tells for Lloyd to identify. How could he possibly know what the ice ninja was talking about? "I thought you were going with Cole?" Lloyd asked hesitantly. Maybe Zane was malfunctioning. There was no way he was programmed to watch people go at it. That was just sick.
"Cole needed to use the facilities." Zane explained easily.
Lloyd tried to laugh but the noise got caught in his throat coming out as a stunted miserable thing. Realization walked up and slapped Lloyd across the face for being stupid. "You want to feel human right?" The other blond nodded eagerly. Lloyd smiled. "I think I've got an idea." The youngest ninja whispered conspiratorially. He felt a rush. The familiar itch to do something bad over came him. Lloyd grinned. "Come with me."
Lloyd lazily dragged his tongue over the slick hole grimacing at the bitter taste within. He burped drawing Zane's half lidded eyes to him.
"This shit is terrible! How does Jay drink this crap?" Lloyd tossed his empty off the side of the ship and leant down from his seat on the railing to grab another beer from the box resting on the deck.
Zane shrugged, examining his own beverage with interest before gulping down the rest and following Lloyd's example, dropping the bottle to the distant ground below. He watched the glass fall but it was too far to see the thing shatter. "I suppose the same way you do."
"Huh?" Lloyd's face scrunched up in confusion, not understanding why Zane had just said those particular words without any prompting.
Zane arched a brow at the younger man, grabbing another drink as well. "You asked me how Jay drinks these." The android shook his beer in front of the boy making the liquid slosh around inside. The ice ninja easily popped the top off of his bottle and took a swig, not seeming to care about the taste at all. "I must admit, I do feel different."
Lloyd chuckled unscrewing the cap of his own, taking a sip, and shaking the taste off. "Still tastes like crap." The boy asserted.
"I'm not sure what that tastes like." Zane said making a face at the idea.
Lloyd laughed. "It tastes like Cole's cooking!" He exclaimed before his uncontrollable laughter overtook him.
Zane chuckled. "I cannot say this tastes just like Cole's cooking but they do bear certain similarities. Makes me wonder why Jay complains so much when it's Cole's turn to make dinner, since he chooses to buy and drink this." Zane methodically drained his second bottle and threw the empty down with an excited smile. Maybe the android could see the things break on the ground.
Lloyd leaned over to watch but saw nothing. He leaned forward a bit more until a firm arm barred his way. "Wha?" He slurred slightly.
"You were about to fall." Zane explained.
Lloyd glared down at the ground far below as though it was at fault and felt the strong wind ruffle his hair. The storm was less than a hundred yards away. The ninja could see it like a wall of precipitation around the city. Thunder roared in the distance making the boy jump to sit up straight on the railing.
Zane laughed, well into his third beer. Lloyd stared at the other boy dumbly. He could almost be a normal guy like this. The boy could forget that his friend was a robot in essence. "That's it!" The green ninja proclaimed flailing his arms about with his excitement.
Zane chuckled, steadying the younger boy. "What's it?" He inquired with a big grin despite the fact the he dropped his beverage off the side of the ship only half empty.
Lloyd grasped the android's shirt with both hands and leaned forward just to make sure his friend heard his genius idea. "If we get ya drunk, you'll be normal!" The green ninja trembled with his excitement at the thought. Then Cole will definitely like Zane cause Zane would be normal, like them.
Zane looked confused still though. "Would being drunk not make me... Not normal?" Blue eyes looked off into the distance trying to figure out either his friend's reasoning or his own.
Lloyd leaned forward again, ready to explain. "I have ta pee." The boy announced instead. He forgot all about his marvelous plan in favor of swinging his feet onto the security of the slightly rocking deck. He pointed back to the android. "You- look good like this. Don't change a thing." He giggled and made his way downstairs to take a piss. The boy merely waved off the android's agreement.
Jay huffed in annoyance about being stood up by his girlfriend all day. It was not particularly difficult work checking how the systems reacted to the different barometric pressures, humidity levels, and the slight charge caused by a nearby storm. It just would have been nice to have someone to talk to while he worked. Some entertainment. Who was he kidding? He just really wanted to be near Nya. Some alone time would have been nice. Maybe he could have slipped in a kiss or two as well.
Now the pouting boy was trudging through the ship to perform his other duties of the day. Dinner duty. He paused, hearing voices through the walls of the ship. Laughter drew him into the kitchen like flies to the dump. He walked in on Kai and Nya giggling by the counter focused on whatever it was they were doing. On the table were a few plates and some celery, looking pretty wilted after being out the whole day.
"Have you guys been in here since lunch?" The blue ninja asked, flabbergasted by the idea.
"Oh hey Jay-"
Nya dropped what she was doing with wide eyes. "Oh shoot! I was supposed to meet you wasn't I? I'm sorry, I forgot." The girl looked really upset about standing him up today.
Her brother chuckled and nudged her. "You forgot. You forget everything." He mocked suggestively making Jay feel like he was missing something only the siblings knew.
"Shut up Kai!" Nya snapped, agitated.
"It's okay." Jay assured her. "It was just boring ship stuff anyway."
Nya flashed Jay a sweet smiled and approached him with an alluring sway to her hips that was barely perceptible. "But I love working on the ship with you." She said, leering up at him through thick lashes with her big brown eyes. She was just so pretty, almost like a geisha but real.
The auburn haired boy was caught off gaurd as his girlfriend locked lips with him. They did not ordinarily kiss in front of the others, certainly not Kai. But Jay was not one to argue against kisses. His hands found her waist and he angled his head for more delicious surface contact between the two before the black haired girl broke it off.
"I'm sorry I missed it." She murmured. Hazel eyes followed the girl's as they separated.
Positively captivated, Jay had to clear his throat to respond. "Me too." He piped up weakly. Nya breathed out a small laugh with a small blush dusted cutely across her cheeks.
"Okay kids, break it up! That's enough of the PDA for now so cut it out before I barf in the wok." Jay gave a start when Kai popped their little love bubble. He really forgot the other ninja was in the room still. The sexy samurai gave him a smirk and brushed a quick kiss across his lips before turning and returning to her brother's side.
Jay followed along and wrapped his arms around the unsuspecting girl's middle nestling his chin on her shoulder comfortably to get a look at what the siblings were doing when he walked in. Spread across the counter were a multitude of uniformly chopped vegetables, a dozen different spices, some that Jay did not even recognize, and the basic utensils one used for cooking.
The fire ninja added some more vegetables to the pan on the fire. The two worked well in unison. Nya would prep the bite sized morsels with proper seasoning and pass them on to her brother to get lightly sautéed. For a moment, the blue ninja was content to just stand there watching the two but soon remembered that he was supposed to be cooking tonight.
"Anything I can do?" Jay asked feeling out of place.
Nya turned back to him and winked. "You can go set up the table for dinner. Then you can help me makes the sauces." Even if he wanted to argue, her gorgeous bright smile would have held the words in his throat. The enamored boy wound up just nodding with a sound of acquiescence and went about doing as he was told.
Wu limbered up his tight joints after sitting cross legged for so long. His body was so resistent to change after such a long period of stillness. As much as he would deny it, time really was not his friend. It was an ever changing force that he would never fight against but much of what it accomplished was not for the man's own good. Everyday, Wu was faced with the burdens and joys of time.
Lloyd was the evidence of both. The boy- no- the man was growing and changing faster than Wu had ever seen anyone do so. The old warrior was not sure if all of the recent developments could be contributed to being doused with the Tomorrow Tea. He had never heard of such a case but what troubled the wizened man the most about his nephew had nothing to do with magic.
Across the hall, coming down from the steps to the uppermost deck was Lloyd with Zane, both not entirely sure on their feet. The younger blond smiled and gave his uncle an unecessarily enthusiastic wave in greeting. That was what troubled the man. That smile, the way the boy's cheeks curved, and those twinkling green eyes. They were all features passed down from the boy's parents.
Every time his nephew smiled, the old man only felt his heart ache with want. Within Lloyd was his brother and... Lloyd's mother. Two people Wu longed to see again though he could not seek out. Sometimes, the youngster would smirk like his father did as a young adult but others, he would grin in a way that made Wu feel like a child looking at his brother before... Those eyes just served to spur the fruitless illusion on. Then there were smaller smiles the boy would let slip when he was trying not to laugh that were just like ones Misako once wore. Wu wondered if his friends ever used those cherished expressions anymore. Wu did not dwell on the yearning of his heart. Instead, he directed a smile of his own to his clearly intoxicated nephew. It did not require much thought to deduce which ninja had suggested their behavior.
"Good evening Lloyd, Zane," the man acknowledged when the two young ninja approached him, clearly trying to hide their not quite sober state. Their intoxication was not too bad. The two were not so drunk that it was obvious but they smelt as though they had rolled around in puddles of alcohol before coming down for dinner. Wu was thankful the slighty unsteady ninja would be eating soon and decided not to comment on their drinking.
Lloyd grinned, just like his father might have after getting some sake into him. "Hey Uncle Wuw, you goin' on our date t'morrow? Ha date! It's not our date, it's Cole's date. You takin' Cole on his date t'morrow?" The young blond's brows creased as the boy tried to decipher his own question.
Zane just laughed. "I think he wants to know if you will be uh-comp-an-nying us to meet Cole's girlfriend." They were definitely drunk. The white ninja seemed to be having difficulties with any words that contained more than one syllable.
Wu just shook his head obligingly. "I'm afraid not. I've been tired lately and would appreciate the quiet." The two young ninja looked disappointed but their momentary let down was nothing in the face of their loopy state. "Ah, Cole. Just the ninja we were talking about." Wu greeted the rather troubled looking boy. Cole had always had a more distant personality when compared to the rest of his pupils. Even the years of people watching left Wu often wondering what might be taking place behind those focused eyes.
Cole's lips quirked into one of the boy's not quite a smile but still positive enough to be friendly expressions. Something certainly was bothering the Asian boy. "Hey Sensei, what's up?" Dark eyes flicked pointedly towards the kitchen before the boy's black brows drew down in consternation.
"I was just telling your brothers that I will not be accompanying you tomorrow. I hope this is not a problem." Wu leaned forward a bit trying to figure out why the black ninja looked so distracted.
Cole blinked and turned back to the old master. "What? Oh- Really? That's- too bad." Wu felt slightly let down that the young man was excited about his absence but he shoved the emotion aside, knowing it was his choice not to visit with the young adults. Cole's face scrunched up again. "What's that smell? Is it coming from the kitchen?" Of course the boy's heightened senses would have caught wind of the scent but Cole was not quite as experienced as his elder in placing its origin.
"I'm afraid not," Wu sighed with a glance at his rosy cheeked nephew.
"Then what is it?" Cole asked with his furrowed brow evening out as his training began to kick in. Wu was proud of the boy's progress, he had been a very focused student before Jay came into the monastery. Still, the black ninja's hard work paid off. He was a well honed warrior with a good head on his shoulders.
"What's what?" Lloyd giggled earning himself a calculating look from the earth ninja. The door to the kitchen swung open and Nya bounded out nearly colliding with Zane in the process. "Wha-! Zane? Oh good you guys are all here. Dinners ready. Come on."
Cole sniffed the air from the kitchen with a barely perceptible smile. "Now that's what I'm talking about. Smells good Nya." He complimented with a smirk and followed the young woman back into the kitchen.
Lloyd chuckled and nudged Wu before frowning and turning to poke at Zane instead who also seemed to not understand the cause of the boy's actions. "See? What I'd tell ya? This is totally gonna work." The green ninja declared striding forward into the eating area. The white ninja looked perplexed but followed along anyway with a much more relaxed gait than usual. Perhaps their experimentation might serve a purpose. Wu could remember many of his grandfather's lessons that his father did not allow his sons to be a part of.
So I wrote out this chapter and it was really long and felt like a run on sentence to me so I broke it up into two. When I edit the second half I will post it. I much preferred it to this one. XD Please let me know what you guys think of this anyway. I need inspiration for this story.