A/N WA One-Word Prompt Challenge - My word - Roads
Hardly any vehicles came this way, except for the odd tricycle, signifying the quirky mail man was making a delivery. In fact, that belligerent man was literally the only person to travel here on a daily basis. Come hell or high water, he would endeavour to complete his mail delivery for the occupants of the monastery.
Jay thought that the mail man's attitude could use some serious adjusting, from time to time. Some times, he was just too cheerful, like on the day he delivered the last will and testament of Cliff Gordon, hand delivering it to Jay, the master of lightning. "Hey why so sad, you're rich?"
He gave a small laugh at that thought, it was all such a distant memory now.
It was hilarious really, the new monastery, a so called place of peace and sanctuary, set in the middle of nowhere. How ironic, that now, this place was anything but peaceful. Even in the dead of night, it sounded like it was home to a pack of wild beasts.
Since their Sensei had acquired the place many years prior, he had adapted it himself. Making it into a dojo of sorts. Now, it was a sanctuary for training students in spinjitzu, an ancient form of martial art, created by the first spinjitzu master.
Jay, the auburn haired ninja of lightning, nervously rubbed the back of his head. He stared out at the dusty track from the expansive kitchen window, reflecting, reminiscing of past times and journeys of enlightenment. All of these experiences gained, had shaped them as a team, turning them into the so called heroes they were seen as.
He continued to stare out of the window, a contemplative oblivion, a world of his own.
"Dude, JAY?" Cole shouted from the door way, trying in vain to get his brother's attention.
Kai, had grown restless, he barged past and placed his used cereal bowl in the sink, flicking Jay's ear when he got close enough.
"Boo!" Kai whispered into jay's ear, making the usually overly talkative ninja jump on the spot.
"Sheesh Kai," Jay turned on his heels, heart racing as he stared into the warm amber eyes of his girlfriends brother. "A little warning would have been nice."
Kai smirked, putting the finishing touches on his overly spiky hair. "Hey, we'd been trying to get your attention, honestly."
"Sure," Jay cocked his head. "I guess I was miles away." He suddenly became aware that he probably still looked a little bedraggled, compared to his gathered brethren.
"Honestly." Kai shrugged, grabbing a carton of juice.
For starters, he hadn't brushed and styled his hair. It was the same bed messed up style that he had ignored, because he had other things on his mind. Things that seemed far more important than primping and preening himself as much as his brothers had done. He observed them, all four seemed to look like they were going out for a night on the town, except for the fact it was morning, mid December and it was cold outside. "Really, so how long were you guys standing there?" He asked, head cocked after getting over the initial jump scare.
"A few minutes," Cole frowned. "You okay, everything alright?" He asked, noting how quiet his usually talkative best friend was being this morning.
"Yeah, I'm fine. A little tired, ya know, the norm." Jay nodded slowly. "So, where you guys off to?"
"Shopping trip, before all the stressed holiday shoppers come out then an afternoon trip to the Cinema to see the new action movie, maybe a bite to eat. You coming with?"
"What do you mean maybe? A meal is obligatory!" Lloyd interjected, nudging Cole in the ribs.
"Okay fine, a definite meal, happy now?"
Of course, Jay remembered. This shopping trip had been a spur of the moment thing too, planned literally a few nights before, as was customary for his brothers in arms. This was often the case in their line of work. Things would and could come up at the most inopportune time, putting pay to their well thought out plans. In fact numerous times they'd had to cancel their plans because something major had happened.
"Actually, I'm staying put." Jay replied, feigning a yawn as his spiky haired brother cast him a suspicious glare. "I'm tired, didn't get much sleep last night."
"Right," Kai said, cocking his head. Completely disbelieving what his motormouth brother was saying. "You sure it's not because Nya's ill?"
"Again?" Cole added, one bushy eyebrow raised. "Seems like she's only ill in the mor..."
Jay cut him off with a sharp look, the colour falling from his face. Of course his best friend knew, he couldn't exactly keep this huge secret from him. "Wh-what, n-no, of course not." He stammered, blushing. "Someone's gotta stay behind, watch for any suspicious activity?"
It was an excuse, a lame one, but one that they'd hopefully buy into and get off of his back for the time being.
"Dude, come on," Cole whined, tugging on Kai's shoulder impatiently. "Nya's gonna be fine and we'll be back in a few short hours. She'll have Jay here in case she takes a turn for the worse."
Still, the spiky haired master of fire cast Jay a look of contempt. "Hmm, you keep your hands to yourself right?"
"Dude come on, they're both adults," Cole said, hand on Kai's shoulder whilst winking at Jay. "Both consenting adults," he reiterated, hoping to get Kai of Jay's back long enough that they could get out and start on their Christmas shopping.
"Kai, we gotta be there when the stores open otherwise we'll be gnarled up in people traffic."
"Yeah, Lloyd's right, if we don't go soon, we'll have to queue up."
"Yeah, and we know how much you hate queuing, Kai!" Lloyd stated, nodding with Cole's logic trying to get his spiky haired brother to make a move, least to stop staring at Jay long enough to get out the door.
"Are you sure you don't wanna come with?" Kai asked one more time, leaning on the work surface with his arms across his breast. "We might throw in a visit to the games store, I know how you've been wanting that new shoot em up game."
"Haa, you've been wanting it too Kai, come on, don't lie? Honestly, using Jay as an excuse for your addiction to games is lame, man, real lame!"
"Hey whatever," Kai shrugged, casting a smug grin to his brothers in arms who stood behind him, gathering their belongings for the jaunt into the nearest city. "I was just trying ta get him to leave this place for a day out with us," he said, looking at his brother in blue on last time. "Jay, you sure you don't wanna come with?"
"Nah, I'm fine. I'll stay here. Got other stuff to do, general upgrading of security settings and the computers' mainframe, ya know, things you don't like me talking about?"
Kai had pretty much lost interest as soon as Jay had mentioned tech, his eyes somewhat glazing over as he scooped up his wallet. "Suit yourself Zaptrap, just no funny business with my sister," he warned, turning his back on Jay. "We'll be back later, pizza tonight yeah?"
"Y-yeah sure, pizza, sounds great." Jay nodded apprehensively, looking somewhat excited at the prospect of having a boys night in, gaming, pizza and beers. "I'll do a general tidy up when I'm done with the control panel."
He watched them leave the joint bunk room, wiping his brow with the back of his hand with a audible sigh when they finally left.
The master of lightning waited until the voices of his brothers were all but a distant noise, then listened out for the sounds of the elemental dragons being summoned forth. He paused as he collected a few of the breakfast items, placing them down on the wooden work surface. "Hmm, no surprise there." He said quietly to himself.
His brothers were taking the elemental vehicles this time and rather than using the roads, they chose cross country instead. Perhaps it seemed a more manly thing to do, and he knew why they had forgone the idea of using dragons, Jay figured the flying beasts might create too much attention and between them, they were trying to avoid that.
Heroes of Ninjago, not self proclaimed.
In recent times, they had been famous and very sought after. All the young ninja had a fan following, Kai being the most popular because he sent frequent updates to his followers. Typically, the master of fire, Kai had refrained in recent months because his popularity landed him in trouble with some rather rambunctious fan girls outside of a hospital.
Jay took a quick glance out of the window from the dark wood kitchen. Fumbling around for a tray as he watched them drive off into the distance, creating a dust cloud as they traversed the dry terrain. He opened the lower cupboards and groped blindly for a tray and crockery items to place atop. His fingers touching something that felt flat, eyes looking down, he found what he was looking for.
Tray, plates and other such utensils.
Now moving on to the food cupboards, he searched high and low for the newest shopping delivery that Zane had put away in date and alphabetical order, tins, and dry foods all stacked impeccably, not a thing out of place because the OCD nindroid liked to have tings in order, at least in one room of this place.
Jay smirked at the tidy shelves, he tried his hardest not to disrupt the flow either as he took what he needed, placing the rest back without making a mess. He was looking for specific breakfast items, something his Ma had taught him, when he was sick as a youngster. A special diet that had consisted of such bland foods, and to consume them would make it almost impossible for the recipient of such food stuffs to regurgitate.
He figured it wouldn't hurt to try, it had be better than nothing.
Grabbing a new pack of rice cakes, Jay took three out and placed them on a plate, putting them back in place in the cupboard. A pot of apple sauce from the refrigerator and some freshly prepared hot toast. He refrained from placing butter or jelly on it, as he would've done, had he been making it for himself. Next was fluids, he grabbed the only available ice cubes from the freezer and placed them into a water filled sports cup.
Looking at the bland foods on the tray, Jay gave a half smile as he hoisted it up. Least when he used the kitchen here, he left it in the state he found it in, as he'd been taught. Yeah, Edna, his Ma had always told him to tidy up as he cooked, it was easier and it often worked better; especially if there were lengthy cooking times involved. Besides, he thought to himself as he put the remaining packets away; the monastery didn't have a permanent dishwasher.
Before he switched off the lights in the kitchen, he grabbed the smaller packs of biscuits that he'd been advised to buy. Placing them carefully within his robes, Jay made his way into the dark wood corridor to Nya's room. Tapping the door once to alert the occupant who it was, Jay slowly opened the door to see her dozing on her bed. "Morning Nya," he smiled at her when their eyes met.
"How are you feeling?" He asked nervously. Closing her bedroom door behind himself, though there was no need, they were the only ones here. "I bought you some water, and various food stuffs that are meant to be good for sickness."
Nya smiled at him in sympathy. "It's self induced remember?" She sat up and took the tray of food, kissing his cheek as a sign of gratitude.
"Kai's gonna kill me." Jay mumbled miserably, sitting on the edge of her bed. He watched her eat, taking tiny morsels of the rice cakes and dry toast, before sipping the water and taking a controlled breath to control the feelings of nausea.
"It was a joint decision Jay, and we'll face him together."
"It's not that, it's the fact that we're not married, or even engaged." Jay smiled, it was a half smile. Her naivety at how irrational Kai could be was sometimes downright annoying, other times ridiculously sweet. This time though, Jay knew he was going to be in for a world of pain at keeping this secret for so long. How many excuses he had to come up with at such short notice, how often he had to cover for Nya's repeated absence during sunrise exercise.
"We could ask him together?" She suggested.
Jay sighed, quirking a brow. "And what will that make me? He'll see me even less as someone who can provide."
"Well what do you suggest?" She said, shrugging her shoulders.
"Ha, eloping for a few days? Take a drive, see where the roads take us?" He looked at her with a cheesy grin, and his face dropped. "I-I was joking, there's no way he'd let me live if I did that."
Jay!"
"Haa, he'd have to catch me first."
"Gosh, ya know you're painting my brother out to be a bit of a bully, Jay."
"Well you can hardly blame me. I mean, he's not making this easy. I've asked him numerous times if I could take you out, or be considered as decent boyfriend material and each time, he's shot me down in flames."
Nya smirked at the pun, Kai was the master of fire.
"Anyway. "Jay cleared his throat. "The Doctor said arrowroot or uhm, ginger was supposed to be good for digestion. For sickness." He said, pulling a small packet from his inner robes. "They don't have a strong flavour but they'll help you keep your food and fluids down."
Nya nodded, taking the offered confectionery before taking a tentative bite of the ginger biscuit. "You know, I love you but I don't understand your logic sometimes."
"What?" He said, laughing softly.
"We did this together." She pointed at her lower stomach, the swollen bump indicative of their physical union. "You and me and yet you think that you're going to have to take him on, on your own?"
"Because he'll want me to take responsibility, to provide for you."
"And I'm sure if I gave you the chance to do that, then you'd do it without being asked. You're always trying to take responsibility for me, always have, since we became friends, you've always been there."
Her hands settled on his. He was shaking slightly in her grasp but she held him firm, placing his hand atop the small but very noticeable bump.
"How far along are we?"
She smiled at that. At least he was choosing to share in this impending parenthood, rather than passing it all across to her. "Nearly four months."
"I made up an excuse for the next scan too." Jay mumbled quietly, rubbing slow circles on her tummy. "Ya know, in case you want to wait to find out if baby is a boy or girl? Personally, I'm hoping for either and healthy at that."
"That maybe I could say, I was taking you on a date?"
"That would work, I guess." Nya nodded, placing the rice cake down. "I was thinking we could maybe tell everyone on Christmas eve?"
The colour fell from his face again. "Next week?" Jay nodded apprehensively. That would be another potential week of covering for her, unless of course, Jay plucked up the courage first, and confronted Kai sooner. "We-we could tell them tonight?"
He looked at her, that tell tale sign as her hand shot to her mouth again. Jay quickly reached for the metal pail and passed it in time for her to empty the meagre contents of her stomach yet again. He held her slightly longer hair free from her face, to avoid any nasty splash backs. "The doctor said it should pass when you get past the four month mark. It should taper off."
Passing a clean damp cloth for her mouth, he gave a sympathetic smile again before standing to stretch out.
This was a journey he hadn't planned on taking so early on. He stood there momentarily, looking out of her bedroom window. Wondering how it had come to this. He lived here, with his brothers in arms, his girlfriend, whom he loved as much as she loved him. Never once expecting that they would be parents before they would turn 21.
"Are you okay Nya?" He asked turning to look back at her.
She grumbled, head in the bucket.
Pinching his brows, he envisioned a metaphorical roads. One route showing a winding road that was lain with potholes and faded road markings, nothing but misery for both if he took that route. The other, seemed so straight and narrow, but it was bright, refreshing and quite possibly the right one to take.
Turning to face her again. "Nya, I think," He took a deep breath in. "I think I should tell Kai when he gets back today. I really don't think we can keep up the premise anymore. You being ill, every morning."
"I can hide it." She countered.
"No," Jay shook his head slowly. "You're physically changing," he replied, pointing at the obvious swollen parts that pregnancy brought about. "Even Cole's noticed, and it's only a matter of time before the rest of the guys do too."
"But you know what Kai's like, especially when he's been shopping?"
"Kai is all bark and no bite." Jay laughed softly. "I can stand up to him, just never needed to before."
"Well, I'll be by your side. We'll stand strong together."
Jay almost gagged with the cheesy sentimentality but nodded with her. "Even if I did get his sister pregnant, he's got something else to look forward to?"
"Which is?"
"He's going to be an uncle, and he'll have gained another brother...in law."
Yup, it's a JAYA one shot, enjoy.