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"Give him flowers. Everyone loves flowers."
"He's a liar! Don't listen to him! Guys love hair gel, believe me."
"That's just you, Kai."
"Guys, guys, you're looking at this all wrong. You gotta dress to impress. Make him want you. Wait. Where are you taking him?"
"Might I suggest? From what I've pulled from various sites on first date tips, both men and women seem to appreciate heart shaped chocolates."
"That's so cliche, Zane! Unless you're taking him to a bakery. Jay, what the heck man, where are you asking this guy out?"
"Why don't you just, I dunno, like, do some fancy trick with your lightning?"
"Or, you could just ask him out like a normal person."
"Perhaps, a serenade? I believe that option would be perfect since we know him to enjoy music."
"Flowers with a card!"
"Still, with the flowers, Lloyd?!"
Jay's head was spinning.
From every angle, his friends were spitballing ideas that were either too cheesy or too idiotic on how to ask Cole out.
It wasn't too long ago when Jay had accidentally let it slip that he was having it bad for Cole. Thank FSM Cole wasn't in the room when it all happened.
Kai went crazy, boasting to Lloyd about how he was right all along, while the green ninja sat still, unphased by Kai's actions.
Nya was nodding silently, a little knowing smirk on her face.
Zane, who happened to walk in with a bowl of just boiled pasta, anxiously tried to catch up on what had just happened.
Meanwhile, Cole was helping out Wu and Pixal, far in Ninjago City.
Since then, the rest of the team would not stop bugging Jay about any progress on his relationship with Cole.
Kai was simply aching for them to take it a step up from a friendship. Lloyd and Nya were deliberately trying to help Jay be more confident with his emotions whenever he was around Cole. Zane tried to stay out of it as much as possible, not wanting to interfere with their relationship as it was already. However, the constant gossiping from Kai, Nya, and Lloyd had pushed him into providing Jay with a couple other helpful tips.
One day, Cole had asked if Jay had wanted to pick up a three layer, triple chocolate cake with him from the bakery for Zane.
Said that he needed another set of eyes to keep tabs on him and keep him in check from taking a bite of the cake. And that Jay would be the perfect company.
At first, Jay refused, the fear of doing something stupid in front of Cole lingering in his thoughts. While he always did stupid things in front of Cole, these times felt different. To him, it felt like Cole was silently watching and judging his every move, in an attempt to figure out if he was good enough.
So while Jay said 'no', Nya said otherwise and pushed Jay in Cole's direction.
Another time, Cole had walked into Jay's room where the blue and green ninja were playing a couple rounds of Go Fish.
As soon as Cole stepped into the room, Jay, who was on a winning streak, lost all focus, suddenly losing to Lloyd every single time.
Cole laughed, calling Jay's fluster of embarrassment hilarious and adorable.
There was another time when Kai, Jay, and Cole were all out in the middle of the Monastery for training. Kai was sitting out the next round, thus setting Jay up against Cole.
For once, Jay actually felt like he could take Cole on without the distraction of Cole slipping into his head get to him.
He slipped into a fighting stance and immediately after, the spar commenced.
"Too slow, Sparkplug," Cole joked.
"No way! I'm the fastest one on the team!"
Cole shrugged and dodged a swing from Jay's nunchucks. "Exceptional aim," he commented.
"You try it then," Jay tossed back with a quick smile before swinging his leg and wiping Cole clean off his feet.
The ninja in black yelped, falling with a thud, his back against the ground. His hammer was still curled in his hands when Jay swung a nunchuck forward. Cole held up his weapon, the nunchuck twirling itself around the handle, caught.
With a smirk, Cole threw his arms high above his head, sending Jay flying over him and onto the ground. Cole leapt onto his feet, tossing his hammer over his shoulder, hand on his hip and sporting a confident grin.
Within seconds, Jay was back up. And Cole, drowning in his own cockiness, was caught by surprise when Jay was speeding towards him with his nunchucks twirling overhead.
He swung his nunchucks at Cole's war hammer, caught it and pulled it away from him onto the other side of the Monastery fighting grounds.
Cole gaped. Before he could react, Jay swung his nunchucks in his direction once more.
However, with quick instincts, Cole caught it firmly in his hands.
Now, one end of the nunchucks lay firmly in Cole's grasp, and the other in Jay's.
Jay chuckled. "Heh."
Kai stood up and cupped his hands around his mouth.
"Woo! Things are getting real steamy now!"
Jay's face went red. He forgot Kai was here.
With a sly grin, Cole tugged his end and pulled Jay closer.
And Cole stared.
For what felt like an eternity, they only stood, neither of them moving an inch as they just stared into each other's eyes.
Jay's knees gave in helplessly, drowning in Cole's luscious grey eyes, tuning everything else out. In all honesty, he actually lost track of where he was and what he was doing.
Then, in one quick motion, Cole had Jay pinned against the floor, hanging onto his nunchucks.
"I win!"
Jay would not and never forget the wholesome expression on Cole's face that day.
"So… what are you gonna do?"
The lightning user shook his head violently, eyes sweeping around the room.
"What?"
Kai's face fell. "Dude, we've been standing here all day listing off ways for you to ask Cole out. What's it gonna be?"
"Uh…"
In the end, Jay called it off, though thanking his friends for their help.
It was all on him now.
He had been waiting for this moment for so long now, giving up on it would only cause him to put it off later and later.
The first thing he had to decide was where and what the date was going to be. He never actually settled on that.
Maybe he could take Cole out someplace to eat. But everything he wanted to make it the perfect date was too expensive.
Or maybe he could take Cole out to the carnival. After all, it was coming to town this weekend.
Or maybe he could take him to a music store.
He didn't know! In fact he was scared.
All of this was too hard and too much.
His friends had tried to help but it only served to make things worse.
After, he sought advice from Pixal, but she just gave the same things he had heard from the others earlier. Chocolates, flowers, gizmos, dressing fancy.
Jay couldn't think. Only for the fact that if he were currently in the middle of a multiple choice test, the answer would have definitely been None of the Above.
He already asked everyone for advice, but somehow, all of it had gone down the drain. Nothing was working the way it should be.
Unfortunately for him, there was one more person he hadn't gone to for help.
Someone who would most likely be of more help than the rest of the team.
Someone who knew his crush better than anyone else.
Someone who was his last resort.
Knock.
"Yeah?"
Taking that as an excuse to come in, Jay poked his head through the small crack, blue eyes on Cole's slumped figure on the bed, trapped inside a book. He didn't even have to look up to know that it was Jay at his door frame.
"Sup, dude?"
Jay took a deep breath, fully stepping inside and shutting the door behind him gently. "Listen, so…"
Cole looked up from his book.
"Do you…" Jay shut his eyes painfully, "have any advice on dating or whatever? Like, asking a guy out?"
Intrigued, Cole closed his book and tossed it to the side of his bed, swinging his feet off the edge. "Depends on what you're asking, I guess."
Jay nodded. Of course. And of course, Cole would no doubt be of much help on this topic specifically.
"Well, if I wanted to ask someone out, what should I do?" Jay asked, trying to keep the question as vague as possible, but not too vague.
Cole laughed, scooting over to make room for Jay on the bed and patting his hand on the empty space. Reluctantly, Jay sat down besides Cole, hands nervously fidgeting with each other.
Cole shifted in bed, sitting criss cross. "Okay, let's start with the basics." Jay looked to him wide eyed. "First off, what's this person like? What are their favorite things?"
Jay bit his lip. "Well, they're kind. No doubt strong, both physically and mentally. Heh. They like a lot of things. Maybe cake and soft rock music." Cole nodded, looking deep in thought.
A smile lit up his face and he pointed to Jay. "Alright. Next question. Why do you like them? What's got you falling for this mystery person?"
"This… okay. I dunno, I mean, FSM, he's gorgeous. Both in looks and personality I guess?" Cole leaned in tentatively. So this mystery person was a guy. Got it. Had Jay not realized he dropped a hint by stating the mystery person's pronoun?
"I guess I just appreciate him a lot? He's always there for me, even when I don't ask for it. He keeps me grounded without even knowing it. -"
"Do you know if he might like you back?" Cole butted in.
Terrified that Cole was onto him, Jay hid his head between his shoulders before he continued.
"No. I don't know if he feels the same way I do about him, which is kind of hard because I don't want to accidentally hurt his feelings or make things awkward, y'know?"
Jay stopped. He swallowed. It took him this long to realize that he might have just given away the guy of his dreams.
"Crap…"
Cole raised a brow. "What is it?"
Jay panicked. He dared himself to look Cole in the eyes. And he did just that.
Blue eyes on grey, wavering.
"I don't want it to ruin our friendship," he said confidently.
Wrong move.
Jay's insides caught fire.
He waited.
He waited for Cole to say something.
He waited for Cole to do something.
Or at least, for Cole to turn him down.
But what came out instead was, "Sounds like a really nice guy."
Jay blinked. Huh?
"This is just my own assumption but, from everything you've told me about this mystery man, I'd say… it doesn't really matter how you ask him out. Whoever this guy is, they sure sound like a big, crazy, romantic gesture isn't completely necessary."
Jay opened his mouth to speak but found his throat dry.
Cole nudged him in the shoulder gently, cracking a grin. "And I bet that if you told them how you feel, you wouldn't have to worry anyways."
At last, Jay found the confidence to speak. "W-Why's that?"
"Because I bet they feel the same way too."
No way.
No way.
"Seriously?" Jay choked out, leaning closer to Cole.
Cole rolled his shoulders, eyes falling to the bed sheet. "This isn't making you uncomfortable or anything… is it?"
Jay's eyes widened. "No! No, never. Cole- I… you like me?"
Cole squinted. "You mean… you haven't noticed?"
"Noticed what?"
"I thought my hints were fairly obvious," Cole stated, eyebrows tight in a frown.
Jay lifted a finger, opening his mouth.
Then he remembered…
"Thanks for coming with me. I needed to get away from Kai for a bit. Luckily, you're the only one I want to be with."
"Go Fish? Man, I love this game! You now what they say, Jay. There are plenty of fish in the sea."
"Nice try, Sparkplug…" Cole leaned forward, whispering into Jay's ear so that only he could hear. "Maybe next time, go a little rougher."
Jay's cheeks reddened, his body turning to mush. Had Cole really said all that? Most of all, had he honestly not been paying any attention? "Oh." Was all he said.
"Oh," Cole mimicked, adoring how pure Jay looked when he was scrambling to piece things out.
"Um, heh… guess I really gotta stay in the moment, y'know?"
Cole snorted, moving to inch his lips closer to Jay's ear. "But, yeah. I'd like that date."