#did i need to touch on eb's fit? no. but i wanted to bc she probably looks very hot >:(((

[mairitess]

ebbs and flows pt. 1 // jaya

a/n: i wrote this bc i got back into ninjago and i needed to write something for them bc i'm not caught up enough to be able to read the current fics + also on ao3 in capital letters

words: 1.5k

tags: angst, fluff, post-skybound, post s10 ninjago: masters of spinjitzu, jaya, no beta we die like kings, they r so traumatized after nadakhan, minor violence mentions from skybound, kiss kiss rated t just in case

preview:

she might’ve missed it, if she weren’t so keyed up already. “you’re my yang, nya.”

memory was clever in a cruel way. sometimes nya practically forgot what she and jay had endured, had survived. other times, though it had been years since, nadakhan’s grip was still around her wrist. memory was kind when it ebbed, cruel when it flowed. and the master of water, unfortunately, was far too familiar with ebbs and flows.

it started when she and jay were on a date downtown, a rare luxury given their line of work. they’d compulsively started window shopping, ducking into quirky stores, stealing kisses in the alleyways between. ninjago city hadn’t been quiet in so long.

“has this shop always been here?” jay asked, pointing at the large antiques sign hanging from the side of the building. “i feel like we’re always around here. why haven’t i seen it?”

nya smirked and nodded towards the restaurant next door. “maybe because you’ve been too focused on downing chen’s hand-pulled noodles to pay attention to anything else around here.”

“hey!” jay reached for her in fun, and nya twisted away, bolting to the antiques store. her laughter echoed down the street, and jay’s breath caught in his throat. no one laughed as brightly, as freely as her. his soft smile grew. no one made her laugh as brightly, as freely as him.

he was grinning wildly when he walked into the shop, nya waiting for him inside. “what?”

jay enveloped her into a hug, his arms snug around her. “i love you.”

“i love you too, jay. now look around with me! i wanna see if there’s anything interesting.” jay caught a quick kiss before pulling away, and nya’s cheeks were warm as they wandered through the store, hand in hand.

—

she saw the lamp first — not the same one, but far too close for comfort. it was rusted and dented like it had been thrown around in the wash, but the lamp’s handle curved at the bottom, whereas nadakhan’s stayed flush to the rest of the body. still, nya froze.

“nya? did you find anything?”

jay’s voice felt so distant and hazy, as if she was hearing him underwater. “honey?”

she felt his hands on either side of her face, and nya realized he was standing right in front of her. “you’re crying, nya.” he leaned in closer to look at her more directly as he wiped the tears from her cheeks. “what’s wrong?”

he followed her gaze to the shelf behind him, to the lamp sitting all on its lonesome. jay sighed then turned back to nya, resting his forehead against hers.

“look at me, nya.”

she felt like she was ripping her vigilance away as she did.

“that’s not his, i promise. and neither of us are going to touch it. we’re safe, okay? he’s gone.” 

nya didn’t remember leaving the antiques shop, or going home, or anything else that happened between seeing the lamp and ending up in jay’s bed. she was spooned against him, so jay couldn’t see she was keeping her eyes open for as long as she could — every time she blinked, she saw nadakhan and that lamp. she could feel herself dying in jay’s arms again, on the floor of nadakhan’s stolen makeshift palace. she could feel her last words trying to snake their way out, but her energy draining before jay could hear them.

jay’s arms tightened around her waist, and she jerked away from them, tearing out from his grasp. she turned, and he was staring at her, worry lines stretching across his forehead.

“do you want to talk about it?” he asked. nya was quiet, though she cuddled closer to fit her head under his chin. jay slowed his breathing, taking deeper breaths in and out — he hoped she’d match him, even if subconsciously.

he was starting to fall asleep when he heard her mumble into his chest. “you couldn’t say his name.”

—

everyone else knew about nadakhan from the murals on the wall in the courtyard, but they would never remember him, especially not the way jay and nya did. but honestly, that made it somewhat easier for nya. she could pretend everything was okay with them.

but jay was there. and it felt so careless and insensitive for him to pretend, too, when he was with her. a small part of her knew it wasn’t fair to be upset at him for that — while she was dying, he watched, and maybe that was worse. but still.

nya hadn’t spoken to jay when they were alone in days. she still came to his bed each night, but they would lie in silence, and every evening she would get further and further away from him in sleep. at this point, they were on opposite sides of the bed, and her back was to him. if he just reached out, he could hold her, but he was scared she’d jerk away again if he did, and that would hurt more than anything before. when they woke up each morning, he’d ask her if she wanted to talk about it. she’d stay silent, though sometimes she’d shake her head. then jay would say he’d talk about it whenever she was ready. it was their new routine.

she started to have nightmares the day after they’d first seen the lamp. he tried to hold her close, whisper “i love you” to her over and over again as she shook and sobbed, but she’d end up pushing him away as soon as she got up. one night, he tried not touching her at all, and her nightmare subsided easily. so he opted to just lie awake until it went away, waiting for her to still. then she’d wake up in the morning, and they’d do their routine all over again.

weeks passed, and nya had caught a cold. jay would’ve stayed home with her, but their recent villain needed all hands on deck. misako and wu promised to take care of her while jay was away, though they figured some sort of fight had transpired between the two lovers. 

usually when they had to split the team, jay and nya would kiss each other good luck. but jay stood in the doorway, quietly watching her sleep. he toyed with the yin symbol hanging around his neck. his partner, his love, was starting to feel more distant than a stranger, and every day more like a ghost. but he needed her to go to him. he was nervous about touching her and making any nightmares worse, so he opted to leave a note instead.

nya, my yang, i’ll be back soon. i love you.

—

nya could not tell him — she would not tell him. guilt slashed at her chest every morning she woke up, her throat dry and caked tears streaking from the corners of her eyes. but she had to tell misako and wu when she woke them up screaming in the middle of the night, the first time anyone else had heard her nightmares.

“nya?” misako rushed in first to see nya shot up in bed, gasping for air. misako put the back of her hand on nya’s forehead. “you’re burning.”

there was a small tub of water and a washcloth on the side table next to her bed, and misako wet and wrung the towel before leaning nya back gently and placing the rag on her forehead. nya’s eyes were still wide open, and she didn’t have to look to ask —

“where’s jay?”

wu walked in, staff in hand. “jay is with the other ninjas. they needed more help. i thought you knew…” he trailed off, seeing the note next to her. nya grabbed it, and as she read it, started crying harder.

“i’ve been so horrible to jay,” she said, stuttering. “and i can’t even tell him what’s wrong.”

misako held nya’s hand, squeezing it lightly. “then maybe it’ll help if you tell us first.”

—

every time nya fell asleep, she’d find herself in her almost-wedding to nadakhan. then she would get shot, and she’d lie on the floor. when she was first getting these nightmares, she could feel jay holding her again, just as he did the first time. but that made the dreams a little too real — she needed some sense they were just dreams. she would kick him away, and he’d disappear, and she could breathe again. eventually, she stopped imagining jay holding her, and as she lay on the floor, she knew it wasn’t real because it was playing out differently from what was real, and she was able to move on.

but how could she tell jay, that now, whenever he hugged her, she felt like she was dying?

xx

part 2 here

[ebonyforged]

@riddlethat​: 💋 at pandora's. could just see him there if you want, but p.i. eddie is there on a job. younger eddie, probably not. || 𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐋𝐈𝐅𝐄 𝐑𝐏 𝐌𝐄𝐌𝐄 (accepting!, though they're not likely to end up this long lol)

Even when you have connections with the secretary of a cheeky P.I. with an... elaborate past, making you mostly exempt from paying for his services, there’s other things a girl needs to get through the day. Nightly motel fees, food, booze, what little savings she has in the form of crumpled up bills isn’t enough to make her stay in Gotham comfortable. She could rely on the same things she did back in Limbo City some seven years ago, put her body to use by combining business and pleasure, but Gotham hasn’t proven as satisfying a place to feed into carnal desires. The novelty of the city has already worn off, its true colors hard to ignore ( a harsh, dark place — but inside Limbo? lots of blues and purples. sometimes the walls flash green, and a rippling voice laughs. ).

Yes, it’s definitely Gotham that’s the cause of her reduced libido.

Thankfully Ebony has a very particular set of skills and what some might call a severe lack of inhibitions. The first few odd jobs didn’t stick, but they did lead her to another place, where her value has become very apparent very quickly. 

The red lights remind her of home.

It’s a nice routine, when uninterrupted. Rhythmic knocks echo down the long, filthy hall. Another worker ( a colleague, she supposes ) at the front opens the door if the code is right and she gets to lean back against the wall by the entrance, the one that leads to the real party, and wait for the patrons to get to her. If they take too long, she nudges another on the other side of the curtain to cover both their stations, so she can go break up whatever fight or fuck is happening just outside the club. There’s rules, even here.

There are also measures taken to make sure it’s clear to all that Ebony is not part of the fun. Ironically, she’s more covered up than she normally would be, not a hint of cleavage or collarbones in sight beneath the sleek, black suit that’s not her own. Pandora herself advised her to go for a different look than her usual for privacy’s sake, and while Gotham isn’t her main dwelling, she still took the advice. On nights when she works, her piercings are left back at the motel and she comes bare-faced, with a cheap but nice pair of shades to really complete the look. It does its job, and when it doesn’t she does her best to respond with a swift punishment that doesn’t leave the offending party moaning at her touch.

The footsteps usually tell her how many people to expect, so she pays close attention to them. The entire night, the only ones that have her straighten herself against the wall, straining to hear, are familiar ones. Ebony struggles to place them, until she recognizes the familiar tap of a cane that accompanies each other step. A second later, she spots green at the end of the hall. Her heart flutters.

Ebony stays right where she is, lounged against the wall with her hands in her pockets. It’s not her admirable work ethic that keeps her there. No, she wants to see how long it’ll take for him to spot her, wants to know if he’ll casually stroll in like many of the regulars do.

It’s quite apparent when he does, the way his eyes widen and his jaw goes slightly slack. She wants to say something sly, like ‘you found me this time’ or ‘I didn’t come to rescue you, promise’ but looking at the gears turning in his head is far more fun. Ebony lets him stand there in his baffled state for as long as possible.

Pandora interrupts them before she can decide to say anything, pushing past the curtains with the kind of purpose that tells her she’s expecting Eddie. Her moment to speak up may have passed, but she gets to watch Pandora approach him with open arms and pull him into a brief embrace. She doesn’t register the odd look on Eddie’s face and can’t see how Ebony smirks at him from behind her back. Her amusement is apparent.

“Eddie, it’s been too long!” And oh, isn’t that interesting? Her smirk widens, positively sly. Pandora pulls back from the greeting and notices how Eddie’s eyes briefly linger behind her. She twists around to look at Ebony, whose smile quickly settles back into something more polite, and waves her hand. “Oh, don’t worry, she’s very professional. Not a local, so not the type to care about our little reunion here. We’re all business tonight, anyway.” Oddly, a part of her relaxes at those words. She hadn’t stopped to consider how she might feel about doing her job knowing Eddie is just a few rooms away, indulging. She won’t let herself think about it now, either.

She turns to beckon him inside and Ebony acknowledges her boss with a nod. While Pandora flicks the curtain aside before Ebony can even offer, she makes sure to make a proper show of it for Eddie, pulling the velvety fabric aside while she dips into an elaborate bow. Her eyes may be hidden, but her smile says it all;

We’ll be talking about this tomorrow.

Later, some thirty minutes after they’ve gone, Ebony has to abandon her post to help deal with a commotion inside. An argument, or a strike taken just a step too far, it’s hardly her business as long as she shows the offending party the door. When she drags a man from the floor by his hair, streaks of red on her face and knuckles, she spots Eddie and Pandora leaving her office. With the floor around her somewhat cleared, their eyes meet, and it’s all too easy for Ebony to smile, push her sunglasses up into her hair, and wink.

The way the man in her grasp shudders and begs her to ‘hit me again’ does sully the moment, somewhat.