Work Text:
Nya was just having some time for herself reading in her room when Jay stormed in. “Nya, I’ve got something for you,” he said, his eyes sparkling. Nya chuckled and put her book away. It was great to see Jay this cheerful after everything they’d been through. But after the oni had been defeated they finally were able to relax, and it showed.
Of course there were still many nights when her boyfriend - actually, more than just her boyfriend, her partner, her ying - came into her room to find comfort, and nights when she searched him for comfort. But now, six weeks after they’d won, he finally seemed to relax more and more.
“You know, you can still knock on the door,” she told him as she got up. “Okay, so… you know it was my turn to do grocery shopping today, right? And I found something really great for the two of us! Look! It’s a Build your own toaster set,” he said, showing her a cardboard box with the image of a toaster and the words “Build your own Toaster” written on it.
“I mean, of course there’ll probably be the right parts on my parent’s junkyard, but we can always modify it later, and it was on sale, too. And with how often our toaster breaks we can really use this.”
Nya felt warmth around her heart. This was the Jay she’d met so many years ago, the excited - though pretty anxious - engineer who never stopped rambling. She’d thought this side of him had been lost a long time ago, but obviously it was still there, now that they could finally relax. It was nice, having some normalcy for once.
Of course there had been times when they’d have something resembling this, but the last time Nya could remember was years ago. She wasn’t even sure when that had been.
Maybe after Chen's island when they’d been building the tea farm? The other ninja might also name time after Morro had been defeated, but that had been a difficult time for Nya, and then Nadakhan had happened, and after that things had become even more complicated, even though she had finally figured out her feelings.
Of course there had been the six weeks after Lloyd had defeated Garmadon and before the Oni had attacked, but she wouldn’t call that time normalcy either. They had used that time to rebuild the monastery and the little bit mental health any of them still had.
So this was probably the first time in over two years that Nya was actually able to relax and just be a somewhat normal person with a loving partner and a crazy and chaotic family, and she was actually enjoying it very much.
And of course she was very happy to build a toaster with Jay.
“Yes! Of course I want to build a toaster with you, that’s a great idea,” she said with a huge smile and hugged him.
Jay laughed. “Who knew that you would be so excited because of a simple toaster?”, he joked, giving her a kiss on the cheek. “Well, I guess it’s a date.”
Shortly after they were situated in one of the living rooms with their Build you toaster kit and a few tools listed as needed in the manual. They were the only ones currently here as Cole was visiting his dad, Zane was on a date with Pixal and Kai had decided to “kidnap Lloyd and force him to have some fun” (Kai’s words during breakfast), whatever that meant, and Master Wu had gone out as well.
So Jay and Nya had the monastery for themselves while they were building their toaster.
“Okay, first we gotta put the heating elements on the base plate,” Jay said, reading the manual, and soon they were both completely engrossed in building that toaster. The hours flew by while they were working with each other and talking, both about the toaster and other things.
“I haven’t built anything myself for way too long,” Jay noted at one point. “Last thing I remember is designing the dragon Cole and Wu used to trick the dragon hunters, but I only did the design on that one. Tuning the bounty probably doesn’t count, as you and Pixal did most of that.”
“Why did you stop building so much? I did notice that you stopped doing that a while ago. When we first met you were tinkering on something all the time?” Nya asked. “I think this part goes there.”
Jay fastened the screw on mentioned part after putting it where Nya pointed to. “Honestly I’m not sure. Maybe because my mental health got really bad, and you and Zane started to do more and more and I… I just felt like I wasn’t needed for that kind of stuff anymore. So I just focussed on other things,” Jay admitted.
“And now it’s becoming more and more Pixal’s thing, and I don’t want to take away from her, as she probably already feels insecure over her part of the team, so… It just feels right to take a step back, even though I do miss it.”
Nya thought for a while, searching for another part needed for the toaster. “I doubt Pixal would mind your help with those things, Jay. But even if you don’t build things for the team anymore you really shouldn’t let anything stop you. We could build things together more often, this is so much fun,” she said, interrupting her search for the screw they needed to put her hand on Jay’s for a moment.
“Yeah… You’re right,” Jay said, looking like he was a bit lost in thoughts. “As usual,” Nya gave back with a grin, making him chuckle. “As usual. And… I guess we do have the time for those things now. No impending doom, no world ending villain… It’s almost like a dream.”
They continued talking about others things after that, Jay telling Nya about some inventions he made when he was still living with his parents, and they only noticed how time flew by when they were suddenly interrupted by Zane and Pixal returning from their date. “Hello Jay and Nya. May I ask what you are doing?” Zane asked as they were just put in the crumb tray.
Jay flinched. “Can you please not sneak up on us? We’re building a toaster, obviously,” he said, and Nya couldn’t help but laugh, even though she was equally startled. They’d been very deeply in their work.
“Yeah, obviously, why do you even need to ask?” Nya joined in, well knowing that the nindroid didn’t always understand sarcasm. Sometimes it was fun to tease him though, and Nya was in an excellent mood.
“Why do you build a toaster? You could just buy one, and if my data is correct there already is one toaster in the kitchen,” Pixal inquired.
“Where would be the fun in just buying one? Also, that toaster in the kitchen has broken down three times since we got it, that’s why we needed a new one,” Jay explained.
“Alright. Don’t let us interrupt you,” Zane said, and he and Pixal left the room while Jay and Nya continued building the toaster.
The next ones to come back were Kai and Lloyd - and they came just the moment Nya and Jay took a break to eat something, stretch their legs and get some cuddles in. They were pretty far along now, and Nya was sure they’d finish that toaster today.
So, Kai and Lloyd walked into the room to utter chaos, with an almost finished toaster on the ground and Nya and Jay on the couch cuddling.
“We’re back,” Kai called out and then blinked. “What… what is going on here?”
Lloyd walked in right after him, looking at least more relaxed as in the morning, actually smiling, which had become a rare sight.
“Why is there a toaster on the floor?” The green ninja asked.
“Hey Kai, hey Lloyd, had a good kidnapping?” Jay asked nonchalantly while Nya didn't even bother to move.
“Yeah, hey guys. Why shouldn't there be a toaster on the floor?” She asked innocently.
“It was fun,” Lloyd said. “We went to Mega Monster Amusement Park. They have a new rollercoaster.”
“Oooh, and you went without us? You could have invited us. I *love* that park,” Jay complained, causing Nya to laugh.
“And? Did you manage an entire visit without anything attacking the park?” She asked.
Kai shrugged. “You can come along next time. Thought it would be good just to spend some time without the rest of the team. No attacks today - might be a first, actually.”
He ruffled Lloyd's hair, and the teenager's smile widened a bit. Kai and Lloyd had always been close, and Nya had gladly welcomed not being Kai’s youngest sibling anymore.
The three of them were a family even more than the rest of the team, and Kai was just as protective over the green ninja as he was over Nya, though most of the time neither of them needed it.
“Well, glad you had fun. I mean, not that we didn't have fun. We had lot's of fun, and we're not even finished yet, just taking a break,” Jay rambled.
“Why are you building a toaster?” Lloyd asked curiously. “I know our toaster tends to not work properly, but we could have just bought a new one.”
Nya grinned. “Because Jay thought it would be a great date. We used to build things together all the time after all,” she explained.
“Yeah, and I found this build your own toaster kit on sale, so, boom. Got it. Best date ever,” Jay agreed, leaning his head against her shoulder.
“Okay, that makes sense. Well, I’m quite tired, so… good night, and have fun,” Lloyd said and left.
“Good night, Lloyd,” Nya called after him. “Yeah, sleep well,” Jay also called out to their leader as Lloyd left.
Kai blinked at his sister and her boyfriend. “I guess… I’ll leave you alone as well. I do not need to watch you cuddling,” he pointed out and left as well.
“And we don’t want to be watched by you, brother, so shoo shoo away,” Nya said playfully, though she stretched, ready to resume work. “Come on, Jay, we still got a toaster to finish.”
And that they did, working on the toaster until it was functioning. That build your own toaster kit had been a great idea, and Nya and Jay both agreed that they should do things like that more often for dates.