Transgender Jay : A Ninjago Story

36 - Fatigue

Morning was slow paced on the Bounty, considering that not a single individual had achieved a decent amount of sleep the previous night.

As they started waking up and milling around, there were the usual exchanges of greetings.

Zane almost laughed when Cole bumped into him in the corridor, and said 'good morning'. Instead, he just smiled tiredly and sighed.

"It's 12:13, Cole. It would be more accurate to say good afternoon." He joked, before heading outside onto the deck. Despite the bad night, Zane was still determined to get a few sunrise stretches done, though of course, not at sunrise.

He was most certainly coping the best out of all of them.

Cole stared after him in disbelief, shaking his head. Well, Zane was a nindroid after all. As a robot, he could hardly be effected by tiredness as much as real humans.

Kai was already in the kitchen when Cole ventured inside. They made brief and awkward eye contact, which ended with mutual dirty looks. He snatched a box of cereal, a bowl and the milk from the fridge, and marched out to put them all down in the bridge.

Tensions were still high. Cole hoped they would go down soon, but considering Kai's attitude lately, they probably wouldn't.

In his rush to get away from Kai, Cole realised that he'd forgotten a spoon, and painstakingly went back to the kitchen to get one.

Kai chuckled when he came back, and Cole glared at him.

"What's so funny, huh?" He spat.

"Forgetting a spoon. But stupid, innit?"

"... I've had maybe four hours sleep, a*shole. Give me a break."

"It's not like I've had the easiest night either Cole."

He turned properly to face Kai, who now had a distasteful expression curled across his face.

"... sure you have Kai. If you haven't noticed, a lot of the problems we're all facing right now are your damn fault, so you can shut your mouth about having a hard time."

He left quickly after that, and Kai wasn't fast enough to think of a comeback.

After Cole, Lloyd was the next to enter the bridge, huge bags under his eyes and a blanket wrapped around his shoulders.

"Hey Cole. I sure hope you're feeling better than me."

"Jeez Lloyd, I mean, I'm pretty bad right now, but did you sleep at all?"

"Maybe. I honestly don't know. I might've just laid there awake all night... it's a bit fuzzy really."

"You sure you should be up and about? You look a few seconds from collapsing..."

Lloyd shrugged.

"I should probably go back to bed, but..." he looked around to make sure they were alone, "... I'm worried that Kai's gonna give Jay crap today... and I wanna stick up for him."

Cole nodded.

"Me too."

Lloyd stretched his arms and yawned.

"Is Kai in the kitchen?"

"How could you tell?"

"You walked in here looking like you were using all your mental strength to not hit somebody."

"Hmph. Accurate."

"... I just, I don't understand. Kai and Nya grew up together, how did he end up like this when she didn't? I... I almost feel sorry for him. But I don't. He's being a prick."

Cole started pouring himself his cereal, and a small smirk made its way to the corners of his mouth.

"... it was pretty awesome when Jay punched him, wasn't it."

"... totally. And Kai's face when Zane threatened him! Golden. I wish I could have taken a picture."

After pouring the milk, Cole started to eat, and Lloyd snatched a couple handfuls of cereal out of the packet.

"Is Jay still asleep?"

"When I got up he was, but it's been a little while now. Hopefully he's still sleeping though, he needs the rest."

———

Jay moodily trudged his way to the bathroom - towel under his arm - and knocked on the door to make sure nobody was inside. There was no answer, so he went right in, and noticed that the lock still hadn't been fixed, from when Lloyd kicked it in. Nobody really had time to even consider it though, did they?

After a night of little sleep, he felt groggy and gross, and knew that he wouldn't be able to feel comfortable until he had a shower.

Hopefully the other members of the Bounty would have the sense to either knock or listen for the rush of the water.

But, Jay pushed a small cabinet in front of the door anyway, paranoid that common sense wouldn't be enough.

The water took a small while to get warm, and he stripped off his clothes as it did, catching a glimpse of himself in the bathroom mirror and grimacing.

Though, through the unhappiness at his body, Jay realised that he hadn't written down any observations for, quite a while now. Even since the day everybody found out.

Which lead to another question. Where did his box go?

He didn't care much at that point. The secrets once held in it were all out. By he would like to have it back. He was sure that Lloyd wouldn't mind letting him keep it in his room.

Sighing and stepping into the shower, Jay closed his eyes.

Why did life have to be so complicated?

———

After his shower, Jay got dressed into new clothes, and headed to the kitchen to grab a bite to eat for breakfast, though, it was almost 1 o'clock in the afternoon at that point. It was more appropriate to say lunch.

Jay expected a normal trip to the culinary area, but, a certain somebody lingered against one of the sides, sending him a poisonous look as soon as he entered.

Kai.

Great.

Jay felt an uncomfortable thundering in his chest, that he tried to ignore as he opened cupboards and pulled various things out.

When Kai spoke, Jay almost jumped, shocked by the sudden noise, but he calmed himself soon enough.

"... If Zane hadn't stepped in, I would've beaten you to a pulp." He snarled. Jay didn't look at him, refusing to give him the satisfaction of eye contact.

"You keep telling yourself that." He sighed, rolling his eyes and silently settling for half a packet of digestive biscuits for lunch. There wasn't much else.

"I'm serious. I would've."

This time, Jay did turn to him, more frustrated and annoyed than anything else.

"... your form is sloppy, you're out of shape, and your ego is a big as ever. You should be glad Zane stopped you, because if he hadn't, I'd've given you worse than a bloody nose."

He swiftly left the room, carrying the half pack of biscuits under his arm. Kai said something after him that he didn't quite catch, but he didn't care.

When he reached the bridge, Cole and Lloyd were already there, and Sensei Wu too. They all looked deadly serious as they talked about something, and when they realised Jay's presence, it seemed that they wanted him to know too.

"... Jay. It's good you're here." Cole said, and Lloyd gave him a tired wave.

"... the chief of police has been in contact with me. We have been invited to go and question a few of the terrorists from the mall, they didn't get anything out of them, but perhaps, you can." Sensei explained, turning to the blue ninja expectantly.

Jay considered, then shoved the biscuits into his pocket.

"... sure thing. When do we leave?"