Jaya Week Challenge 2023

Day 1: Hobby

S1|SFW|Fluff

He twisted the screwdriver further into the screw. He fiddled with it, trying his best not to look up. In the end, he did.

She had long abandoned their little project, instead looking around the little shed. She studied the Starfarer posters on the wall, spun around in her chair, even scrutinised a few of his previous inventions.

He cleared his throat. "Uh, Nya, we're supposed to be getting parts for the Bounty."

She flashed him a smile he couldn't resist. "I know, but it isn't every day that you enter the lair of the Jay Walker." She grabbed the screwdriver and scrap metal from his hands, holding them up like a microphone and notepad respectively. "A glimpse into the Blue Ninja's humble abode... Followed up by an interview with his parents at seven."

As if on cue, the door burst open to reveal his mother on the other side. He scooted his chair away from hers, almost bumping into a workbench. Neither Nya nor his mother noticed.

"Didja find what you were looking for?" his mother said, placing the tray she was holding between them. She turned to Nya. "I didn't know what kind of iced tea ya liked, so I made jasmine."

"It's just fine. Thank you, Mrs Walker."

She pinched her cheek. "Just call me Edna." She looked at Jay, crossing her arms. "Aren't you gonna come inside? It's not everyday that Nya is here with us, and I've got an apple pie baking in the oven."

"Uh, Ma, we just came for parts..."

Nya elbowed him. She flashed Edna a grin. "We'd love to."

Edna shook her head. "Oh, if you insist. I'll call you when it's ready."

He waited until she left to speak, but when he opened his mouth, he noticed Nya's sour face staring at him back.

Her voice was slightly lowered. "I thought you weren't embarrassed of them anymore," she said, looking away with a small pout. It would have been a bad time to say that it looked a little cute in his eyes.

He shook his head. "I'm not!"

"Then why don't you want us to spend some time with them?" Her face fell a little and his heart sank. "Is it me?"

"Of course not!" He shrank back, rubbing the back of his neck. "I just... haven't really told them about us yet." He gestured back and forth between them. She tilted her head.

She brought her chair closer to his, tilting her head. "How come?"

"I... I don't know, it just didn't really come up and I didn't want them asking a million questions and I didn't know if you wanted to tell them yet."

She frowned. "Of course I want to, I trust them."

Between Lloyd's teasing, Kai's slight annoyance, and Zane's blatant remarks, he preferred his parents any day. In hindsight, he should have told them first. He thought they would have already guessed that the moment he brought Nya over. Apparently not.

"We don't have to go inside."

She crossed her arms. "It's rude not to," she said. "Besides, I still haven't seen your room yet."

And that was what worried him the most. He tried to reassure himself that she was happy with who he was, that she did like him back, that she had kissed him many times since then... Quite frankly, he was waiting for his alarm clock to sound in his head, for him to wake up from the most pleasant dream in the world.

But it was real. He knew it was. And he was afraid of turning it into a nightmare.

"It's just a childhood room, nothing important to see..." he ended up saying.