A/N

And now we get to the real deal. Enjoy <3

✿✿✿

'Hello. Thank you for returning my sketchbook. I don't have much, so these are some coupons for the autbody shop I work at. I hope they come in handy.

Say hi to Wisp!

- Sincerely, Nya'

Her handwriting was messy, but he still cherished it. He kept the note in his drawer, safely sealed away from Wisp's jaws.

Her name was Nya, after all. He felt so stupid. Did he really call her by the wrong name to her face? He cringed at the memory.

But it didn't take long before his worries returned.

"I mean, I don't know her, technically speaking. Judging my infatuation based solely on looks and outer demeanor is kinda superficial of me, don't you think?" Jay said to Wisp, who continued to snore through his speech in a deep nap.

Cole turned away from his design to shoot him a glare. He took off his headphones with a scowl. "Dude, I'm trying to work here. Did you swallow a dictionary or something?"

Jay groaned, burying his face in his pillow. "I'm sorry, I'm just confused."

He drew another line on his paper, though lowered the volume of his music. "You don't have to marry her, just test the waters and see if you actually like her."

"Yeah..." He sighed, then cut his breath sort to continue his rambling. "Should I bring Wisp?"

"To an autobody shop?"

"I don't know, she likes Wisp! Maybe she'll break the ice."

He set his headphones aside, properly that time, then flopped down onto the couch between Jay and Wisp. He grasped both of Jay's shoulders, keeping his grip firm. "The Jay Walker I know would talk her ears off with stupid jokes until she fell for him."

"I've went over it with Zane before, the success rate of that strategy has not been great."

"Who cares about Zane and his statistics degree?"

"Cyrus Borg and his daughter—"

He shook his shoulders. "Jay," he said. "Just be yourself. Go there and get it over with. It's like ripping off an old bandaid, you've gotta get it done eventually. Worst case scenario, you don't click and you get a cool new paint job on your motorbike."

"I guess..." He sighed. "Wanna take it for a ride afterward? After the storm and all."

"I never thought you'd ask."

✿✿✿

Hot coffee poured into the cup as the thunderstorm roared outside the window. It was times like these where she wished she could just stay at home snuggled up in bed and forget about the world. Alas, duty called, and she had to go.

She put the travel cup in her bag, but not before taking a sip of the coffee itself. She tried to enjoy a sweet moment of silence before leaving for work, but the sound of furious typing made it impossible.

So, she decided to investigate. She stepped behind Lloyd, who was sitting at the dinner table and glaring at his (well, her) laptop. She took a peek at his screen, and her face softened.

"You know, you have time to decide. Go easy on yourself," she said, ruffling his blond locks.

He groaned. "I already feel bad enough for taking a gap year, I've gotta decide what to do with my life somehow."

"Taking internet quizzes isn't the best option, ya know?"

"Mum wants me to be a historian and dad says to study business... Is it bad that I hate both?"

She held back a few choice words, not letting Lloyd see her expression. "If they didn't bother raising you, they don't get to decide your major."

"Ouch."

"It's not like you're doing nothing. Wu says you're the best waiter he's ever had," she said with an added chuckle. "You're our golden child. Wu's right about that too."

"Thanks," was all he could muster to say.

Satisfied, she walked away to grab her umbrella, but that time, his gaze followed her.

"You're dressed up more nicely than usual."

She rolled her eyes. "Thanks for the compliment."

"Are you meeting with Sparky?"

"He has a name, first of all," she said, then bit her tongue. "Which I forgot to ask for..."

"Does Kai know?"

"Kai doesn't need to know anything because there is nothing to know about."

"You could use some brotherly advice from him. I mean, he's engaged."

"Because his advice worked so well in getting you a prom date."

"Hey, just because Harumi was a backstabber doesn't mean he can't help," he said. "And, I mean, he is engaged."

"One of Ninjago's greatest miracles." She grabbed her keys. "I love Kai, but I don't want anyone in the family knowing about this."

A smirk grew on his face. "I thought it was nothing."

She groaned. "Goodbye, Lloyd."

"How will you make it work with the Stiix thing?"

All frustration faded, replaced by a frown and a quiet tone. "I don't know."

She closed the door, finishing the rest of her routine outside the apartment. She buttoned up her coat, laced up her shoes, and finally, she put on the cherry on top: an orange scarf.

The memory was clear in her mind: It was the first time Skylor was spending Christmas with the Smiths (and Garmadons, since Wu and Lloyd were also present). It was obvious that Kai had accidentally gotten her and Skylor's presents mixed up. And since Skylor, unaware of his mistake, loved the present meant for her, Kai begged her to keep his blunder a secret. Begrudgingly, and solely for Skylor's sake, she kept the orange scarf, as unflattering as the colour was on her.

She had to buy a new one eventually, she reminded herself again.

She rushed down the stairs, weary of the storm becoming even stronger. At the very least, she thought, I won't get that soaked.

✿✿✿

She was right about there not being many customers, luckily for her. The storm was raging strong as ever, though, and she wondered whether he would even make it. She guessed not.

Her job was far from done. She still had a client's car to work on, one that had been brought in yesterday. They were a frequent customer, and paid quite well. She had plenty of time to work on the finishing touches, at the very least.

He isn't going to show up, she thought after about an hour passed, and she got to work. Part of her lamented her clothes, now replaced by the greasy overalls that normally didn't bother her. She was partially at fault in her eyes for dressing nicely to go to a job such as hers, but it didn't matter. She enjoyed the work more than anything at the very least.

Maybe it was for the best. Even if her small, tiny, insignificant liking towards him were to mean anything, it wouldn't matter. She had other things in life, and she couldn't make it work that way.

Perhaps she could. It wasn't anything tragic. But would he be willing to accept it?

She heard the rolling of wheels screeching against the floor. She jolted up, almost hitting her head on the hood of the car. Her back hurt from leaning inside, but she shrugged off the pain to look at the new customer.

Soaking wet and rolling the motorbike with him as he walked, Sparky himself made an appearance. "Hi," he said, equally flushed and short of breath. Only his hair remained somewhat dry, for he didn't take off his helmet until he was inside.

"Did you really drive through that storm?" was the first sentence to come out of her mouth.

"Yes? I'm sorry I'm late."

She blinked. "O-kay. How about you go inside to warm up? My boss turned the heating on before he left."

There was a light tremble in his lips while he spoke. "Y-yeah. Good idea."

✿✿✿

For the next half hour or so, they sat in utter silence. She offered him coffee, which he denied, so he simply sat on one of the cheap folding chairs in the garage, watching her with great attention as she checked each and every part of the motorbike. Occasionally, their gazes would lock and their hearts would skip a beat. She would look away, hoping her face wasn't covered in grease or anything, while he would fidget with his hands in an awkward rhythm.

"I don't see much of a point in a paint job with all this rain..." she said. "But I don't see anything wrong with the bike either. Though I don't recognise the model... What is it?"

He looked genuinely surprised at her question. "Oh, it's an old one from Shintaro. Me and my Pa fixed it up in our junkyard a few years ago and added some new parts." His smile became wider. "I did the paint job."

"You picked a nice colour," she said, trailing her fingers across the blue paint.

"Really? What's your favourite?"

"Colour? Uh..." She had never thought about it. "Blue."

His face lit up, and something told her she made the right choice.

"But you built all this? It looks professional," she continued.

"I grew up in a junkyard." His gaze spelled guilt, but he continued nevertheless. "My parents are great at building and fixing stuff. My Ma focus more on appliances but my Pa's always loved vehicles."

"The skill runs in the genes, I guess."

"Yeah! I studied electrical engineering here in the city, so... I guess they influenced me."

Part of him wanted her to realise the same thing he did, that maybe they went to the same university and just didn't notice. She didn't.

"And you're a delivery guy?" was her response. She was immediately filled with regret. "I'm sorry, that sounded bad... But you'd think you'd find a job easily with your skills."

She sat down on the other chair, staring at him from across the small, round table. Oddly enough, even with the wild rain in the background, the atmosphere was quite... nice.

He leaned back on his chair, fearing he smelled like a wet dog after his trip through the storm. "I mean, you know how it is... Good salaries, bad workplace. All the overtime and pressure and gossip and ugh—" He kept himself from having one of his usual freak-outs. "It was too much. But I have an interview with my dream job soon!"

She took a sip of her coffee, now cold. "Oh?"

"BorgCorp. I have a friend who works there as a statistician and he loves his job. It's a good company, just hard to get into."

"Best of luck," she said with a genuine smile. Her gaze momentarily looked at the clock, and how it was getting late, but... The storm was still raging, so he couldn't leave, and customers were completely absent... She could use the company for a little while longer.

"The question is..." He leaned forward with a cheeky smile, catching her off-guard. "Why are you working at an autbody shop? You seem way smarter than changing some tires."

"I've worked in a lot of companies before, but they're mostly the same in the field. I was just a glorified secretary in every internship." She shuddered at the thought of another dumb boss making her remember his coffee order. "They just don't respect you as easily sometimes."

She thought about mentioning her own opportunity. But she shook off the thought. She didn't want to ruin it that fast.

Just from his eyes she could tell that his concern was genuine. "I'm sorry. At least you can get by though, right? Your apartment looked nice."

A chuckle escaped her lips. "Thanks."

"What does your boyfriend do for a living?" It sounded smoother in his head.

She raised an eyebrow, and his stomach dropped. Her smile was awkward, almost flustered. "My what?"

"Your... The blond guy," he said, feeling his own face heating up. "I assumed—"

She stared at him. Then roared with laughter. He tried to awkwardly laugh along.

Her nose scrunched up in playful disgust. "Lloyd? No, he's like my brother," she said. "And way too young. I used to babysit him."

Oh. Well, that certainly eased his nerves. His posture relaxed. "Sorry for assuming."

"Don't worry about it. He's taking a gap year after high school now, we just agreed to live together since it's closer to Wu's Teas—er, the place he works at."

"Smart."

She excused herself. He waited patiently, checking everything while she was gone. He didn't smell that bad from the rain, and his hair wasn't the nest it usually was after a nap. He made sure everything was just right.

When she returned, she was holding a sandwich and a scarf. She cut the former in half and offered him a piece.

"I don't think the storm is going away any time soon, so... might as well."

"Oh, wow, thank you," he said. Was that her lunch? Was he robbing her of her sandwich? He didn't overthink it that time.

"Here."

He looked up and almost choked on his bite. The orange scarf was loose in her grip.

"It suits you more than me, trust me," she reassured him. "With all the blue you're wearing and your eyes, orange would really make you pop. Colour theory." She added a wink in the end, making his heart flutter.

"I couldn't—"

"You've been trembling like a fish on a boat since you came here. Keep it, really."

She moved closer and he was sure she would put it on him. Of course, she only ended up giving it to him. It has her scent, he thought as he was putting it on, but caught himself before delving in too deep in his thoughts again.

"It suits you," she said. He frowned. "You okay?"

He sighed. "No... I mean, you've given me all these things and all I've done is hit you in the head with a dog toy."

She shrugged. "You brought me noodles."

"You know what I mean." He lifted his head up to face her. "What type of coffee do you drink?"

"Plain black. Not much a sweet tooth."

He nodded slowly. "I'll keep that in mind." He looked out at the road, then back at her with worry. "Do you need a ride home or..."

"No, it's okay. It'll have stopped by the time my shift ends." A smirk grew on her face. "Plus, you're not the only one with a motorbike."

He laughed. But when one question was answered, two more popped up. "Oh, right... I forgot to ask you. Why Sam?"

"Sam?"

"You know, I called you Sam... The sketchbook?"

Her eyes widened like a bug's, her face flush from embarrassment. "Oh. It's an old signature from when I was in middle school. It stands for 'Samurai X'."

He jumped up from his seat. "You had a superhero persona too?"

She smiled shyly. "I guess you could say that..."

"That's so cool! For mine I just kept my real name, but I liked to have the subtitle 'The Lightning Ninja'."

At least she wasn't the only one. She laughed at the ridiculousness of it all, but she still couldn't help but wonder. "So, what is your real name, then?"

"Oh, uh..." He reached his hand toward hers. "Jay."

She shook it. "Nya."

It took a few more hours until he left, even when the rain had ended long ago.

As she was cleaning up, alone and nearing the end of her shift, she smiled to herself.

Maybe blue was her favourite colour, after all.