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Love is such a weird concept.
People say "I love you" to people who they truly love. People like family. People say "I like you" to their crushes. Some people just say that they have feelings... and some people seem to have no feeling at all.
Lloyd was getting to the age where society expects you to get with someone. Find a lover, all that stuff. Which was weird to Lloyd because of Tomorrow's Tea, he looked around the age of the ninja, but he knew that he should be at least three years younger than he looked, but mentally he was young, but not chronologically correct-type young. It was so confusing. But he was sure that he was around the mental age where you start to look around.
But he didn't know what he was supposed to look for.
What was so appealing to people that made them chase after people for love? Why did people take things further up the steps? What feelings are you supposed to feel when you're in love? This was a foreign concept to Lloyd. Maybe Zane would have answers. Nindroids have a lot of answers, plus he had Pixal, so he could ask what he saw in her.
=
"Zane?" He found the master of ice working on a mech in the Samurai X cave. Pixel was with him.
"Hello, Lloyd," he greeted, "how are you? Do you require any assistance?"
"Um, I... I just wanted to ask you something."
"Of course! Fire away."
"I want to know what people find so attractive in other people. What makes them want to date and kiss and stuff." He felt his face heating up with the awkward questions.
The nindroid thought for a few moments. "Well, Jay and Nya have always had a bit of a connection. Kai was a more of a 'that girl is pretty' type of guy... and Pixal and I..."
"We are compatible," Pixal said from above, smiling down at Zane who smiled back.
"Yes, but what do people find so attractive in the first place?"
"Look-wise?" Zane pouted in thought. "I'm not sure. I think that depends on the person."
"Do you want to play Perfect Match?" Pixal offered.
Shaking his head, Lloyd replied, "no, thanks. Um, thank you, Zane."
=
Lloyd found Cole in the kitchen, attempting to cook. It didn't smell half-bad, actually.
"Cole?"
"Yeah?"
"What do people find attractive in other people?"
The master of earth thought for a moment. "Well, personality is a good factor. You don't want many red flags hanging around... You want someone kind... someone who's like a friend on a special level- I mean, they do put the word 'friend' in girlfriend."
"But why do people start liking that person in the first place?"
"Looks play a big role in this loving game," he replied, "a lot of people only play the game for the looks."
"So like Kai?"
"Well, he and Skylor managed to pull through, I think. He did like her because of whatever he could see under her hood, but they sort of, I dunno, worked it out-?" He shrugged before adding, "maybe you're too young to understand this."
"But what did Kai find attractive in Skylor?"
"I don't know, why don't you go ask him?"
Nodding, the green ninja set out to find Kai.
=
He didn't find Kai, but he decided that maybe a trip to visit Skylor would be nice. It meant noodles, after all.
He walked in and was met with the familiar friendly face of Skylor. "Hello, Lloyd, how can I help you today?"
"Um," Lloyd looked at the menu, "just a bowl of spicy noodles please." He stood a moment looking over Skylor, seeing what Kai could possibly find attractive in her. She had bright red hair, so I guess Kai liked that, being the red ninja and all. Her eyebrows were a bit wonky, and was it ironic that the master of Amber's eyes were amber colored? He guess she was nice-looking, but she was also pretty awesome when it came to girls he knew, the top being Nya.
She gave him a look. "You okay, you're zoning out, Lloyd."
Heat rushed to his face. "Oh, sorry, just caught up on stuff." He took a seat towards the back to keep people from interrupting him while he ate. There wasn't much to worry about, most people just got takeout, so there were only a few booths taken.
Skylor served his noodles herself. "Mind if I take a seat? Business is kind of slow anyway."
"Yeah, sure," Lloyd replied, smiling. A moment later it fell, and he asked the big question on his mind. "What do you find attractive in Kai?"
Her cheeks dusted pink. "If you can tell, our relationship is a bit complicated."
"Hehe,Yeah, I can tell."
"It's more of a 'I got your back' kind of thing. I wouldn't call it a relationship. Why?"
"Oh, just wondering." He slowly ate his noodles. Sighing, he said, "I just don't seem to like anyone."
"Well, that's okay. You don't have to. Society makes it seem like you have to do this and that by a certain age, like, get into a relationship by the time you're twenty, get married by twenty-five, start a family by thirty."
"We kind of don't have time for all of that."
"Which is why Kai and I have kept things on the back burner." The redhead thought for a moment. "I never really dated around before Kai. It's not like my father didn't let me, but I was focused more on making him happy than myself. Biggest mistake of my life."
"Oh. Yeah..."
"What do I fine attractive in him?" She laughed and said, "I have no idea! He's so full of himself and a fool, but I dunno, it just happened." She shrugged, smiling.
"So maybe it will work out like that for me?" Lloyd said.
"Maybe, but you don't have to be hung up on if it will or won't. Take your time with stuff like this."
==
Lloyd was on his phone scrolling around on insta when he stumbled across a post that was colorful circles with dialogues. One was rainbow and said something like "I don't really like guys, so I must be lesbian." And then another panel was that one only with pastel red and pink colors saying, "I don't really like girls either..." Cracks were appearing in it as it read a media article about something called Asexuality, saying how the label fit.
After seeing that, Lloyd went on google to learn about the term. He knew the basics. Gay. Lesbian. Bisexual and Trans, but that's about it. The ninja were all seemingly straight folks, but Jay may have mentioned once or twice that men are hot to him.
"Asexuality is the lack of feeling sexual attraction." He thought back. 'but girls are pretty, I guess, but I don't feel attracted because of their body... oh, wait...' He continued reading the article and everything started to fall into place. The key fit. The pieces clicked together. By the time he was finished with his research and taking a quiz, he was pretty sure that he was asexual. Everything suddenly felt a lot better.