AN: This one is written for the prompt "fears," focuses on Jay (without actually including him, whoops), and takes place between seasons six and seven.
"Do you guys think Jay's been acting... Weird lately?" Lloyd asked quietly the moment Jay and Nya were out the door and on their way to the restaurant they had a reservation at for the evening.
"Jay always acts weird. He's Jay," Kai stated, laughing at his own comment.
Zane frowned. "I believe Lloyd has a point. Jay's behavior has changed substantially recently, and only some of it may be properly accounted for by the fact that he and Nya have re-entered a relationship."
"You think so?" Cole wondered, then he nodded pensively. "I guess I could see it. I mean, he does keep watching those Fritz Donnegan videos over and over, way more than he usually would."
"That's not so weird," Lloyd argued. "Fritz Donnegan is amazing. I'm talking more about the way he keeps twitching when we suggest playing video games."
"Is it the video games, or the fact that I keep beating him soundly at that new 'Genie-In-A-Bottle' game?" Cole pointed out. "It's like he isn't even paying attention to the game, he loses so badly."
Kai hummed thoughtfully. "He has been acting kind of weird. Remember how he freaked out when we brought that thief to Kryptarium Prison to get locked up? Jay was on edge the whole time, but Nya wasn't too happy either, so maybe they'd just watched a movie about a prison riot or something."
"Jay has recently visited his parents approximately two-hundred-and-seven-point-five-five percent more frequently," Zane offered. "I feel that is a significant factor."
"Maybe he just misses them more right now?" Lloyd suggested. "What's really weird is how he keeps bribing me into doing his chores for him."
"He is doing what?" Zane asked, eyebrows furrowing.
"Okay, you didn't hear it from me, but Jay's been paying me to do the chores Wu assigns him," Lloyd said all in a rush. "But not all the time! Just mopping the kitchen, mopping the deck, mostly a lot of mopping, to be honest."
"It's possible he just doesn't like mopping," Cole pointed out, frowning. "Of course, he never used to mind it."
"So he's watching a lot of Fritz Donnegan, he's twitching when Cole beats him at 'Genie-In-A-Bottle,' he doesn't like Kryptarium prison, he's going back to the junkyard a lot, and he refuses to mop. That... That doesn't mean anything to me," Kai admitted.
"I have run the list you just reported through my database for possible connections, and I found nothing," Zane added.
"I might have one more thing," Cole said slowly.
Lloyd, Kai, and Zane looked at him inquisitively.
"You know how the remote stopped working out of nowhere?" Cole said, wincing. "Well, Jay and I were watching TV, and this celebrity wedding came on, and a whole bunch of electricity sparked out of Jay's hands into the remote and it short-circuited."
"Do you remember what celebrities were getting married?" Lloyd asked. "That might be important."
Cole shook his head. "Nah. All I remember is somebody spilling punch on the bride's dress and everybody losing it over it, because the punch was this neon green color. Could that have anything to do with it?"
"I don't think so," Kai responded.
"Then I've got nothing, unless the fact that he's stopped joking about wanting that awesome eyepatch means anything," Cole sighed.
"I've got nothing too," Lloyd added.
Kai nodded. "Ditto here."
"I know of nothing that could have caused this eclectic batch of desires and fears," Zane agreed.
"We could ask him about it," Lloyd suggested.
"And have him refuse to answer, like how he and Nya both refuse to answer when any of us ask them why they're back together?" Kai pointed out. He shook his head. "Jay's fine. He's just nervous and on-edge because he and Nya are finally dating again and he doesn't want to screw up, I bet. He's not actually afraid of any of the things we mentioned."