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Jay‘s not asking for forbidden knowledge, alright? He‘s really not. But he gets it anyway, because that‘s just how the cookie crumbles, as Nya would say.
Imagine this. It‘s like, 3am, or something. It‘s probably 3am, because it‘s always 3am when this crap happens. He‘s sitting on the couch they got on sale for the rebuilt monastery. Some game blares from the tinny speakers of the age-old TV, and all that matters right now is that Jay‘s beating Cole at it.
Cole‘s also there, obviously. Dozing off on Jay‘s shoulder, which is why there‘s so little resistance to Jay wrecking him digitally.
More frequently than they‘d like to admit, the two of them stay up like this. They just got a lot on their minds, is all! Maybe Jay needs someone to vent to about lamps who‘s not Nya. And maybe Cole needs someone to reassure him about his humanity and many near death experiences.
Cole was just talking about that last one, actually! “… and all I had was the car key. So there I am, dark Oni cloud stuff seeping in through the windows, and all I had was the car key.”
Jay’s listening with approximately one and a half ears, with the last half dedicated to not miss-inputing his combos. “And then? You did show up in the car later.”
“And then I remembered it got stuck in traffic that morning. And if it’s still in the city, the key can call it over.”
“Seriously?” Jay’s character flies across the screen. Bye bye, health bar. “I never thought traffic jams could save a life.”
“They sure can.” Cole yawns. Putting a hand up to cover his mouth instead of on the controller grants Jay another advantage, one he ruthlessly takes advantage of. Jay wins the round, but Cole shrugs.
He sits on the victory screen, taking in how short the victory fanfare’s loop really is. “Wait, didn’t you have to go outside to get in the car? Or did you crash it through the front door?”
“Who do you take me for? Some sort of… wall smasher?” Cole can’t come up with better quips at 3am, yet Jay laughs anyway. “I went outside.”
“And you didn’t get petrified.”
“Nah. I held my breath.”
Gears turn in Jay’s head. Something along the lines of only Oni can get through without being petrified. Okay. “The entire time?” And… wasn’t the dark cloud inside the building, too? Since Cole was on the ground floor? And Jay had seen Cole fall, up close and personal. How’d Cole get back inside in the first place? Does air conditioning dispel dark magic stuffs? Did Cole beat Zane’s record in breath-holding, set when Zane still thought he needed to breathe?
“Not the entire time, but close enough. Remember how cold I said it was when it first grabbed me? It felt like I’d shoved Zane’s arm in my mouth. Still held on long enough to get in the car, though, and then I was golden.” As if his words didn’t somehow shatter Jay’s perception of reality, Cole starts up the next round of the game by selecting a different character.
“And you, you breathed it in? The dark cloud? And you’re.. fine. You’re fine?” Jay’s cursor spins in circles on-screen. Cole shoots him a look.
“Yeah? Are you gonna keep playing or not?” Jay confirms his character choice. He selects the stage, even. He’s processing.
Internally, Jay compiles a list. ‘People who breathed in the dark cloud and didn’t get petrified.’ Number 1, Lord Garmadon. Half-Oni. Immune. Number 2, Lloyd Garmadon. Quarter-Oni. Immune. Number 3, Pixal. Nindroid. Probably Immune. Number 4, Cole, human ????
Whatever semblance of sleepiness he’d amassed until now bl ows away as his mind r uns in overdrive. Okay. Okay!!!
Jay snaps back to reality. He lost the round within fourty seconds.
“Everything alright up there?” Cole asks, playfully knocking him upside the head.
He watches his character pout at his loss for exactly five seconds. “Only oni can breathe in there, you know.”
“I know.”
“And you managed to breathe in there.” Jay’s character falls off the stage from a flubbed combo in the next round.
Cole waves dismissively. “It was pretty difficult. And I held my breath for most of it.”
“This doesn’t… bother you? Concern you, or anything?”
“Nah. Why should it?”
Jay remembers when stuff like this did concern Cole. Remembers many a 3am of Cole staring at his own hands, trying desparately to hold onto the controller. Jay let him win, those nights. To prove Cole still could. If Cole disappeared the next morning, at least the highscore board would remember.
Is that it? Is that why? Some sort of… existential burn-out? Man, Jay gets it. Jay refuses to think about his biological parents ever again. Even that one time Kai and Nya actually met his mom.
“Alright then.” Jay takes a deep breath. Savoring the non-evil magic air. “Alright.”
If Cole’s fine with it, Jay’s not telling anyone. Cole’s never telling anyone what Jay confides at 3am, either, it’s Bro Code, or something.
Good thing it is 3am, because Jay’s hoping he’s forgotten this by morning.