Assassin's Joy

Video Games and Pizza and Cake

Zane finished putting Cole's arm in the cast, looking him up and down for other injuries.

"What is your name?" Zane asked him.

"Cole."

"I am Zane. It's nice to meet you."

Wu stroked his beard. "Zane, I believe that we found Cole for a reason. If he is willing, he will join the team."

"Sure."

"Wonderful. Follow me, I'll take you to meet Jay. Zane, could you make dinner?"

"Of course, Sensei." Zane did a bow before going to the kitchen.

Wu took Cole to the living room, where Jay was, playing a video game. "Jay, turn that off."

"Come on, Sensei! You said I could play!"

"I have someone you need to meet."

Jay paused the game and looked at him. He saw Cole and grinned. "Hi! I'm Jay."

"I'm Cole." Cole looked Jay up and down, his heart skipping a beat. Jay was really cute.

"It's nice to meet you, Cole! Do you wanna play with me?"

Cole looked at the TV then shrugged. "Sure, but you're going to have to show me how."

"You haven't played before?"

"No." He sat next to Jay, taking the controller that Jay handed him. "I've been living on the streets pretty much my whole life."

"Oh. Well, I think you're going to love this!"

Too soon, Zane stopped them for dinner. Cole had gotten a hang of the game and its controls very quickly, so he was able to match Jay's skill within the hour he'd been playing. 

They sat around the table, everyone getting to have a good amount of food without fighting for it.

Cole tried to rack his brain if this was normal. He barely remembered his life before the streets and Assassin's Joy. Really the only thing he remembered was his father's face and him leaving Cole alone in that park, never to come back.

He had waited there for days, hoping his father would come get him, but he never did. Cole never saw him again, minus a few times on billboards once Lou had gotten back into the Royal Blacksmiths.

He scarfed down his food, both very hungry and unsure if it would get taken away from him if he took too long to eat.

"Whoa, slow down," Jay said before he took a bite and moaned at how good it tasted.

Cole swallowed. "Sorry. I haven't had a proper meal in ages."

"Where are you from?"

"Oh, I lived in Ninjago City for a while, but ran away a while ago. I saw the temple up top here and was hoping to get some food and a place to stay for tonight. I'll be out of your hair tomorrow, promise."

"No, no. You'll stay. You already agreed to training under me."

"Oh yeah."

Wu chuckled. "You should shower before bed. You may borrow some of Zane's clothes until we get you your own clothes."

"Yes, sir."

"Please, call me Sensei."

Cole nodded, smiling. "Yes, Sensei."

Cole sat in the living room, playing the game that Jay had introduced him to the day before. Zane played with him while Jay sat on the floor fiddling with something mechanical. 

This, admittedly, was the most fun Cole's had in years. Sure, he did things that brought him a small amount of joy and pleasure, but it never lasted long. Video games, as Jay referred what they were playing, were a lot of fun that stuck around. 

He ran out of lives and groaned, dropping the controller onto his lap. "Man, this game's hard."

"You're still new at it. You'll get it eventually."

Cole shrugged and crossed his arms. "Maybe. I'm going to get something to eat."

Jay stood up. "I'll come with you. I could use a snack."

The two waved at Zane then walked to the kitchen. Cole liked being able to eat whenever he wanted to and whatever he wanted.

"Oh, how about this. I'll take you out for lunch then we train when we get home, yeah?" Jay offered, bouncing on his heels.

"Sure. Anywhere you're thinking of?"

"There's a pizzeria not too far away from here then we can get cake. I haven't had cake in a while and it sounds good."

"Cake?" It sounded familiar, like Cole's had it before, but he couldn't remember.

"Have you had it before?"

"I don't know."

"Well, you're going to like it."

"You think?"

Jay nodded. "I think so, yeah."

The two ninja-in-training arrived at the pizzeria and got in line.

"This is my favorite place. It's cheap, like, two bucks a slice, and it's good quality."

"I think I've had pizza once or twice. There was always mold on it."

Jay scrunched his nose. "Ew. Well, there won't be mold on this."

"That's not a normal thing?"

"No. Were you eating it out of the trash?"

"I ate everything out of the trash," Cole replied simply. "Mr. Chen's Noodle House was one of my favorites cause they always threw out huge bags of stale food."

Jay stared at him, his heart sinking. "We've led very different lives."

"I guess so."

It was finally time for them to order. Jay ordered two slices of pepperoni pizza and they sat down with their plates of the greasy food.

Cole watched Jay eat it with his hands and hesitantly copied him. He took a small bite and chewed it before swallowing. His eyes widened and he ate the rest of it in three big bites.

Jay chuckled. "You were hungry, huh?"

Cole nodded, licking the grease off his fingers. "It's so much better like this."

"I bet. Once I'm done, we'll get cake. There's a bakery a few blocks away that's pretty good."

"Take your time."

Jay ate quickly, but not as fast as Cole had. He wiped his hands with a brown paper napkin and threw his trash away. "Let's go!"

"Lead the way, Jay."

The two went to the bakery. Jay bought two slices of cake, one chocolate, one vanilla. He let Cole decide which one he wanted, to which Cole choose the chocolate slice. They sat on a bench just outside.

Cole dug his fork into the sweet treat and put it in his mouth. His eyes sparkled brighter than Jay's ever seen them and his mouth formed an 'o' shape. The treat quite literally left him speechless. 

"You like that?"

Cole nodded quickly, taking another bite. Jay chuckled, finding Cole's awe to be adorable, er, endearing.