A blue Spouse (Ninjago Royalty AU)

CHAPTER 43: The 'blue thing'

Not the best chapter but bear with me please, I'm paving the way for some more sexiness... *wink, wink*

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Jay's face tightened as his eyebrows squeezed together. The beautiful vibrant orbs turned into narrow slits, almost disappearing in the creases of his face as he concentrated in the book in front of him. His brain trying to distinguish the different characters at the same time it worked on remembering their sounds. His extended silence grabbed the attention of the boy sitting by his side.

"Which is the troublesome part?" Zane asked.

Jay pointed at a certain word. Zane explained to him how to pronounce it and Jay commanded his brain to retain that information as he went from the top of the sentence again. His lips trembled before speaking the words.

"Chocolate cake is... de-delicious."

Zane nodded with a gentle smile. A sudden "Hell, yeah!" burst out nearby. Both guys raised their heads to the third boy doing planks a few steps away on top of the grass.

"I'd say it is... the best kind of cake actually!" Although panting, Cole didn't stop his exercise, but rather turned his face at them and winked at Jay, the royal guest snorted with amusement. Zane shook his head but his eyes were filled with love as he looked at his lover.

It had been a couple of days since Zane had started giving Jay reading lessons. In the former doctor's words —Jay was a very fast learner. He already knew the shape of some characters and few words his dad would use for his plans, which helped speed up the process. But actually remembering the sound of all those symbols and connecting them into words to create a whole sentence proved to be harder than what Jay had anticipated. Thankfully, Zane was the most patient of the teachers. Jay was also relieved that the eloquent boy hadn't given him any complex stuff to read right away, and instead, opted for handmade notebooks he himself had written when Cole and Lloyd went through the same process years ago. Zane really did have a caring and attentive soul.

Jay was so happy that Cole and Zane seemed to be doing as fine as usual. Their altercation from days ago had been short but intense. At that moment, Jay had deemed impossible they all could go back to being friends, what with Zane losing his temper and Cole's foul mouth. But it had taken them no time to acknowledge their mistakes and forgive each other.

Jay's mind couldn't stop going back and through all that mess. It felt so distant even though it had only been a week since Kai and he had made amends —since the whole family had found the light and climbed out of the abyss. Looking at it now, thinking about his night in that cell, it didn't even seem possible. Jay had misunderstood and underestimated all these guys. As non-conventional as their relationships were, their bond was one of the strongest Jay had ever seen. Each member was deeply rooted in the other's hearts and they would all do their best to protect and strengthen their union with every new obstacle.

"Do you need help with that next one?"

"Huh?" Jay blinked. Zane's words only started to register in his brain as he looked at the boy. His gentle expression never wearing off. Jay's eyes returned to the page before him, how much time had he been spacing out? "Uh, no, thank you. I just... I got distracted. I'm sorry."

"It's okay, dear. We can stop for now if you're feeling tired."

"Bet all that food talk... won't let him concentrate," Cole huffed and puffed, the noiret had switched his exercise and held himself on one arm, body lifting and lowering. His chest never touching the ground as his strong muscles tested the resistance of the short sleeves of the shirt.