A/N
Sorry this had to be a bit delayed, hope you enjoy! I don't have much news to share, so... the usual, I guess.
You'll get some lore this chapter, so if you have any predictions/ideas, let me know!
Enjoy <3
─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───
I arrive home defeated. Jay hasn't really been speaking; maybe it's for the best.
It's already gotten dark outside. It's still afternoon, but I suppose that's what comes along with winter.
I hear no sound coming from Misako's apartment across the hall. I guess Lloyd is in our apartment too.
Sure enough, our apartment is louder than usual. I unlock the door not to find only Kai and Lloyd, but also Zane and Cole, Kai's friends. They're all playing video games in front of the TV.
Well, kind of.
"Give me the controller!" Lloyd whines as he tries to wrestle Cole and steal it, but all Cole has to do is raise his hand to prevent him from reaching it. Eventually, he grabs Lloyd with one arm and throws him off the couch on top of a pile of pillows on the floor.
Kai laughs while Zane scolds Cole, but the moment their eyes land on me, the room is silent. All I can do is awkwardly stand there, feeling more vulnerable than I'd like to admit.
Their smiles eventually return. "Welcome home, Nya," Zane says first, getting up to politely greet me. I forgot just how tall he was; Jay is surprised as well.
Nevertheless, he's the least intimidating person I know (maybe aside from Jay). I shake his hand gladly, then raise an eyebrow at the others.
Cole waves at me while Kai simply maintains his smile before turning back to the game. Neat.
I feel a tug on my arm. I look at Lloyd curiously.
"Nya, tell them to let me play or else I'll put ketchup in their shampoo!" Lloyd complains once more. Jay looks at me inquisitively. So much for keeping him out of my life.
I kneel down to his level, grabbing his shoulder. "Are you staying the night?" I ask.
"Yeah, and mum wouldn't let me sleep at Brad's! And now they won't let me play."
My brow quirks up as I look at Kai. "Where's Misako?" I ask.
Kai shrugs, not turning away from the screen. I can't help but notice his movements on the controller becoming more tense. "Working again, I guess. Big day for the museum tomorrow according to her."
I sigh, looking at Lloyd. "Wanna sleep in my room? I can set you up with a movie. And... I think we have some spare popcorn."
That's all it takes for his face to light up. But, being Lloyd, he still has some requirements. "Can we watch a Starfarer movie?" he tells me. "And, can I watch it with you?"
There go my plans to sit and mope all day about the fact that I'm stuck with a ghost.
"Sure."
Lloyd is quick to turn to the others and stick out his tongue. "See, I get a date and you don't. That's what you get for not letting me play!"
I can feel my cheeks heating up from embarrassment. I bury my face in my hands and groan. I just want the whole ground to swallow me whole right now.
Jay is the first one to crack up, but the others soon burst in a fit of laughter as well.
"At least we've learned that you're prettier than the girls in his school," Cole says through his chuckles. I shoot a glare at him and he shuts up, luckily.
While Lloyd is waiting for me inside, I start to heat up the old popcorn. I can't help but notice that Jay isn't paying attention, however; much like the guys, his eyes are glued to the screen with pure glee.
"This is so cool! The graphics are so awesome!" he almost squeals in excitement; luckily, only I can hear him.
"Were you even alive when video games were a thing?" I whisper so the guys won't hear me.
"I'm not that ancient. I used to be really good at Galaxy Intruders in the arcade before I died, you know."
"Interesting," I say blankly as I pour the popcorn in a bowl. Not that I don't want to listen to him, but I can't be having an invisible conversation in front of the others, either.
His voice calms as his gaze lingers on the guys laughing and having fun. "Do you think I could play with them?" he mumbles.
"If you're thinking of possessing me again, that's not happening."
"No, no. Maybe just move the controller around, or—"
"Jay, they'll notice that. And Kai knows I suck at video games. You can't."
His face falls and my heart sinks at the same time. I never thought I would be saying this, but he's like a sad puppy when he frowns.
"I've always wanted to do that, you know," he says, returning next to me as I butter the popcorn. "I've never really had a group of guy friends."
I try to cheer him up, wiggling my eyebrows. "So you had many girl friends?"
But it doesn't work; his face falls even further, in fact. "Neither."
An awkward silence falls between us. Even as we walk towards my room, he doesn't say another word. I figure that it's my turn to speak.
"Since we're stuck together till Monday... I have an idea that you'll like," I say, stopping in front of my door. "But... without getting too much in the way of my usual routine."
The smile I'm so used to by now returns, and my heart can't help but flutter. "I'm fine with that," he says. "Thank you."
Lloyd is already waiting for me on my bed, getting comfortable under my thick blanket. He's already unplugged my laptop from my desk, ready to start searching for the movie. Luckily, his favourites are pretty old, so they're most of them are either free or easy to pirate, even for him.
"You have to show me how this works at some point," Jay tells me, floating around the laptop as Lloyd is furiously typing. "And I mean, wow. This is some sci-fi stuff."
I roll my eyes as Lloyd starts the movie. Not having much of an appetite, I give him the entire bowl of popcorn, something that Jay was also looking at hungrily. Ghosts may not get hungry, but I can tell he's missed the taste. Maybe I can ask Mystaké to make him ghost food that he can eat or something.
What am I even thinking of, he's not a dog! Nor a permanent roommate!
I drape the blanket over me as well, holding onto my pillow as the movie begins. I've seen it a thousand times this year alone, but it's not like Lloyd ever gets bored of it, anyway.
Jay is also watching with a gaze I can only describe as intense. He's just paying attention, though, I guess that's his way of showing it.
However, for a ghost that can float around my general radius, I can't say that I expected him to sit right next to me on the bed. Even if Lloyd can't see him, I still feel sandwiched between the two.
I can tell Jay isn't doing it intentionally, so... I just let him be. Maybe I'll fall asleep and he can watch over Lloyd till he sleeps too. Yeah. Maybe just a nap for now.
"Fear? Fear isn't a word where I come from!" says Cliff Gordon—Fritz Donnegan, I mean—and Lloyd and Jay quote him as well. I can't help but smile, though I can't say I'm not annoyed. I was this close to relaxing.
"Man, I didn't expect you'd still be watching Starfarer all these decades later—I used to love it when I was alive. I had bought every comic out there," Jay tells me.
Seeing as Lloyd is too occupied by the movie to pay me any mind, I respond to him in a whisper. "This is the first film, right?"
"Yeah! It came out a year before I was born." His nose scrunched up in annoyance. "The third film was about to come out, but no, I just had to die."
I raise an eyebrow. "You're being awfully casual about it."
"I mean, it's been a long time since then. You just learn to kinda... accept it, I guess."
I'm ready to respond when I feel something bump on my arm.
I look down at Lloyd and smile, ruffling his hair. I'm not sure he's completely asleep, but his eyes are certainly struggling to stay open.
I put the laptop aside, then nudge him gently. He groans, pushing me away.
Jay laughs behind me again. I roll my eyes, and he lifts up the blanket to help me settle him in.
Of course, the moment he properly lays down, Lloyd decides to hog the entire blanket, pulling it away from me completely. I sigh.
I put the laptop to my desk, opening it to resume the film. Jay likes it, at least, it'll keep him occupied instead of wandering around my room all night.
Even though the film's old, Cliff Gordon's face gets plenty of zoom-ins. During those, when I'm able to properly see his face, I get a weird feeling. Even in black and white, his features are familiar in a way I can't quite place. They're mostly sharp, but there just is something in his gaze, the shape of his nose, even in his hair that doesn't sit right with me. It's something I've never noticed before.
Jay is watching the movie without a care in the world. I know that Cliff was around his twenties when he made the film, but...
He does have a resemblance of sorts to Jay. It's wild to say it, I know, but seeing them side by side, my mind is forced to connect the dots. Then again, Jay would have said something, right?
I finally notice a familiar hand waving in front of my face. "Ninjago to Nya?"
I blink, looking at him intensely. There's that thing again, where his features blur the more I look at him. I wish I could just stare at him for hours without having to worry about that.
That sounded weird. I just want to connect the dots. Maybe I'm imagining things.
"I said you can stop the movie," he says. "I've watched it a million times already—and while I never get bored of it, you look tired."
I nod, doing as he says. I also take the chance to lock my bedroom door. The guys are still doing their own thing in the living room, but I don't want to risk someone entering either.
"Jay," I say as I sit back down. I bite back my tongue; I want to ease into the subject. "... How was your previous life?" I end up asking.
His face falls slightly, his smile becomes just a bit more strained. "Normal, I guess. It was just me and my mum. We lived in Stiix, I was homeschooled... Just stuff." His face lit up in a way that was clearly fake. "Oh! And when I was a kid, I used to love building stuff with the scraps around the port. I built my own toy trains using all that trash."
"Impressive," I say. Unlike his, my smile is genuine; I miss having that kind of excitement about things. I haven't felt it since what happened. "So no father in the picture?"
The way his expression changes makes me want to dig up a hole for myself. Nice job Nya, very subtle.
He floats down and sits on the floor, tapping his fingers on the carpet. "Never knew him. Mum never really mentioned him, either."
"I see." That's helpful information, I guess. But I'm not jumping to any conclusions. "I just... I don't know. You're just so young and—"
He chuckles, but I can feel the pain behind it. "I mean, everyone dies at some point. I just got to die young." He winks at me playfully. "At least I make for a handsome ghost that way."
I shake my head, and he laughs at my fake annoyance. It's endearing when he does that; even when it's about his own death.
"It's still unfair," I say as my gaze travels to picture of my parents on the wall. When I was young, I had drawn little hearts on the glass; I've still kept it that way. "Dying young, I mean. Why should they be taken away from you so early?"
He decides to float up on the desk to be closer to me. His gaze follows mine to the photo, and he shrugs. "I don't know. It just happens, I guess."
"It doesn't just happen."
"My mum used to tell me that the universe doesn't care—it's just about how you choose to look at it." He smiles. "And I choose to look at the positives."
"What's even positive about death?"
"You'll figure out something," he tells me. "The power of positive thinking."
I raise an eyebrow. "Did you die by laughing too hard or something?"
His eyes widen as if he's about to tell a funny story. "I wish. It was more painful than that."
"Oh."
"Yeah."
I'm really tempted to ask more, but I don't want to pressure him; he'll tell me in time.
Even though I'll most likely never see him again after two days... Is it bad that I'll miss him already? He's an annoyance, sure, but a welcome one.
"Tell me more about yourself," I say. "What do you look like?"
"I thought you could see me."
I frown. "I can... kind of see you. I can't see you that clearly after a few minutes each time."
"Then that's weird," he says. "You already know about my blue eyes, I'm kinda pale, have reddish brown hair, and... Oh! I have freckles. They're not really visible with the whole ghost thing, though. I don't know if my notch is visible as well."
Indeed, the notch on his eyebrow is clearly visible. It looks cool if I'm being honest, though it's not as drastic of a scar as Kai's is.
"Talk about being unique," I say. Literally unique if I'm right about his father...
Still floating, he suddenly inches his face closer to mine. He tilts his head slightly, his eyebrows creasing together as he inspects my face. I don't know how to react.
He points at my upper cheek. "You have a beauty mark, I'd say that's pretty unique!"
My eyes widen slightly, and I look away. Still, I feel a smile slowly creeping up my lips.
He gasps loudly, squeezing my cheeks with his hands. Even though I can't feel his touch, I still find myself getting a weird, tingly feeling inside.
"You have dimples!" he exclaims as if it's some sort of super important revelation. "See, you're unique too!"
I roll my chair back and mouth a 'thanks'. Luckily, he realises and starts to back away as well, even shyer than I am.
"Nya?" I hear a little voice say. "Who are you talking to?"
I turn to Lloyd, who's yawning as he looks at me from the bed. Quickly thinking, I climb next to him, getting under the little amount of blanket that I have.
"No one. Just reciting some history homework," I tell him gently, guiding him back to sleep.
He hugs my pillow as he chuckles quietly. "Nerd."
"Wonder where he got that name-calling from," Jay wonders playfully behind me.
I shoot him a glare and rest myself. "Watch it, nerd."
"Will do, nerd," he retreats to the corner of the room as not to bother me, searching around my desk. "Goodnight, Nya."
"Goodnight," I whisper.
For this one night, it's just me and my group of nerds.
For once, I don't mind it.