Midnight Therapy and the Carrier Pigeon

Storm [Elements II]

Jay was a nice person to be around.

Yes, he does talk quite a substantial amount-I'm pretty sure he's talked as much as I have within the past month!-but it was surprisingly a nice change of pace. I never really realised how quiet the monastery was until the first night Jay arrived. When he had gone to bed and I stayed out to watch the stars, I realised how silent the world was.

I realised how much I missed hearing another person's voice.

Morning came, and Jay was told to cook. It was something that I primarily did, though now that Jay was here, the responsibility would be shared.

I was a bit anxious while waiting within the dining room instead of cooking. I was always pretty comfortable with cooking, primarily because I was almost always the one making food. Even if I didn't know the names of the dishes I made, dishes that always seemed weird compared to what Ninjago has, it still brought me comfort.

Eventually, Jay arrived with a trio of plates. I didn't remember Jay called the dish, but it consisted of fried potatoes, eggs, and some bacon. He set them all upon the table and chose to sit next to me. My father sat across from the both of us, and we all began to eat.

"You like cooking, (Y/n)?" Jay asked me.

"...Yeah," I nodded. "I don't really know what I cook, but I like cooking anyways."

"You don't know?" Jay asked. "That weird udon you made last night was really good!"

I held a tiny smile. It was spaghetti, or that was a Ninjago equivalent. In Ninjago, it was only found towards the far Eastern side of Ninjago and in certain stores that specialise in distant foods.

At least, that's what Morro told me when I first made spaghetti.

"You'll have to show me what you made!" Jay exclaimed. "My love of inventing also spreads to cooking! Maybe I could whip up something crazy good!"

I grinned. Maybe I would. It sounded like something fun.

Our breakfast passed without falter, and we moved on to training for the rest of the day. Lunch rolled by, Jay failed his test of the day, and soon it was dinner.

I wanted to try and make something Jay would be familiar with. I hardly ever cooked something different, as my father was completely alright with whatever I made so long as it was edible and nutritious. I wanted to try and test myself in my own way, too.

If Jay was promising to try something of mine, I might as well reciprocate.

I pulled out an old cookbook and found a recipe for something called yakisoba. I've had it quite a long while ago, though I've never had to make it myself. I grabbed a pan from a cabinet and slowly began collecting the necessary ingredients.

I haven't had the chance to follow a different recipe for quite a long while. A lot of the foods I cooked I had forged through trial and error. I would have dreams of dishes from a distant past, and there were weeks of my teen years where I would slave over trying to make the dish in real life. Some dishes, like spaghetti, existed in Ninjago, which made it easier to find recipes and branch off from there.

Other recipes, though, didn't exist in Ninjago. And as much as it was a pain to figure it out, I was always happy at the end result, whether it be from my own success or the compliments of others.

"Hey, what are you making?"

I jumped in place. The back of my head hit something above, and I ducked down as I hissed in pain.

"Aw, crap, sorry!" Jay was by me in an instant, hand on my opposite arm

I barely rubbed my head. "I- I'll be fine," I did my best to hold back tears as I offered a weak smile. "Not the first time..."