Jay was the most requested POV for this chapter. I've written a double date for these two couples in another story before (but in a very different context) so I hope there's not too much repetition...

Date Night

Jay quietly muttered a little curse as yet another red light further reduced his chances of making it on time to the restaurant.

Of course, his motorcycle just had had to decide to not cooperate tonight.

The blue bike had outright refused to start when he had wanted to leave and it had taken the auburn haired young man almost ten minutes to find and fix the loose wire at the ignition, all in his semi-formal black pants and (probably not anymore) freshly laundered and ironed white shirt.

Luckily, Jay usually was an over punctual person, meaning he still should arrive not much too late, but still... he just hated any kind of being late.

On the plus side, this unexpected challenge had taken his mind of what he had to do this evening. When he had suggested going on a double date with Zane and PIXAL, Nya had not only given a positive reply but it had also come surprisingly fast, meaning that she had probably been at her work. And it was now his job to find more about the nature of this work.

Jay was not looking forward to this part of the date at all. He really didn't want to betray his girlfriend's trust, at least not more than he already did by keeping his Ninja identity a secret from her. And this was difficult enough, for Jay Walker was absolutely horrible at not telling things.

The engineering student was really glad to have his teammate with him tonight, hopefully the Nindroid would turn out to be a better spy than him.

At two minutes past eight, Jay parked his motorbike behind the restaurant. Running towards the front door, he took off his helmet and tried to somehow fix his hair with his hands. When he entered the small sushi bar, the young waitress greeted him with a friendly smile.

"Good evening, Mr Walker." She recognised him as a regular guest. "Miss Smith and your friends are already here."

She led Jay to a booth, where Zane, Nya and PIXAL, a pretty silver-haired android the blue Ninja had briefly met a few times when he had collected Nya from the autobody shop, were already sitting at the table and chatting to each other.

"Jay." His girlfriend smiled at him. "I was just starting to get worried."

"Sorry I am late." He apologised as he sat down next to her. "My bike wouldn't start... again."

"Oh no. But at least you're here now. Did you manage to fix it?" Nya ran her hands through his tousled auburn locks as she pressed a soft kiss on his lips.

"I did." He nodded. "It was just a loose wire."

"Shame." The raven haired girl winked at him. "Otherwise you could have brought it over to the autobody shop tomorrow and let me check it for you."

"I might still do that if you don't mind, it keeps giving me trouble all the time." Jay was well able to service his bike himself, but he couldn't pass out on an opportunity to spend time with his girlfriend – and he had just been given a chance to visit the Samurai's secret headquarters without even asking for it.

When Jay glimpsed at his teammate and could see the Master of Ice give him an approving nod, he could feel some of the tension fall off of him.

Sensei Wu would most certainly not agree with this strategy, but maybe he could just put off any more Ninja duties until tomorrow and just enjoy the evening with his friends.

-

"Why did you choose this place?" Zane enquired curiously.

"Oh, Jay and I have been here a few times already." Nya replied. "It's not the fanciest place in the city, but in my opinion, they make the best and freshest sushi in all of Ninjago."

"And that means a lot, coming from her." Jay added. "Nya loves sushi."

"I have never tried it." PIXAL told the others. "I do not need to eat, so I do not tend to eat out very often, unless my teammates invite me to go with them."

"I do not need to eat regular food either, but I actually enjoy trying as many different flavours and types of food as I can." Zane stated. "And I enjoy cooking them as well."

"Zane is an amazing chef." Jay chimed in. "He has convinced Sens- uhm, Mr Wu, our boss, to start serving a light lunch at the tea shop. It's become hugely popular, so we might have to extend this to a dinner menu soon."

"Oh, please." Although he couldn't blush, Zane looked flustered by his friend's compliment. "I am sure this is not my achievement alone."

"It totally is." Jay said firmly. It's definitely not our horrible service. He thought. I stopped counting long ago how many tea cups I've broken. Wu would have never hired me, Kai or Cole if it wasn't to cover up our Ninja activities...

"I am surprised that you are working at a small tea shop then." PIXAL remarked. "You could try to be a real chef at a restaurant."

If only she knew...

"I like working with my team." Zane replied. "My friends are like brothers to me. And Master Wu lets me choose and create all meals completely by myself, an opportunity I would most likely not have working at a big restaurant."

"I understand." PIXAL nodded. "I also prefer to have a lot of responsibilities and be part of a nice team at our small business, rather than be just one of many workers at a large garage."

"I doubt you could ever be just one of many." Zane smiled at her. "You are unique."

Nya leaned against her boyfriend. "Looks like they're getting on very well." She whispered to him. "I am so happy to see PIX like this, she is usually pretty uncomfortable around strangers."

"Really?" Jay was surprised. "She doesn't look shy to me at all..."

"Unfortunately, she's not always been treated very nicely." Nya explained. "A lot of people just see as a machine rather than as a person. That's why she doesn't like going out on her own. And she does a lot of our office work, although she's probably the best mechanic of us all."

"I see." Jay nodded. "Zane also prefers to work in the kitchen than to serve the customers. And he doesn't even look like a robot..."

"Yes, PIXAL was very impressed when I showed her a photo of Zane and told her he is an android."

Jay chuckled. "Well, when Zane saw a picture of her, he was definitely very impressed by her looks as well..."

"Awww." Nya cooed. "That's so cute." But then she raised an eyebrow, giving him a quizzical look. "How come you've shown him a picture of my friend?" She wanted to know.

"Uhm..." Jay could feel his face heat up. Crap. This was a question he could not answer truthfully... "I-we we're.... uh... washing the dishes, and I was talking about you, and your job, and then I also mentioned your friends and that one of them was also a droid, and..."

"Aw, don't be embarrassed." Nya gave him a loving smile. "I've talked about you to my friends as well. Just ask PIXAL..."

"This is correct." The female android stated. "Nya has mentioned her boyfriend at work seventy-eight times this week alone."

"Thanks." Nya mumbled, blushing.

"You are welcome." PIXAL smiled politely, as Jay placed a kiss on Nya's red cheek.

"What about we order?" He suggested, hoping to move away from this conversation.

"Yeah, good idea." His girlfriend agreed, just as eager to switch topics.

"Of course." PIXAL said. She looked at the menu. "Could you please recommend something to me?"

"We've actually never tried the à la carte menu." Nya admitted. "We usually sit over there at the counter. They have a belt, where you can simply take a few plates with very small portions of whatever looks good to you."

"Just a few?" Jay smirked at her.

"Well, I do love sushi, so maybe I've had more than just a few..." Nya said. "But if you have never tried sushi, why don't we just share a mixed platter? They have seafood and veggie ones."

"That sounds good." PIXAL nodded in agreement. "Thank you."

-

"Mmh, these are nice." The female robot remarked as the group of four were enjoying their food. Although she had never used them before, PIXAL had immediately learned how to eat with chopsticks (much to Jay's dismay who was still struggling with them) and had just elegantly tried a small cucumber roll.

"Try on of those." Nya suggested, pointing at the pieces of maguro nigiri on the platter. "They are my favourite ones."

"Just make sure you don't take the last one..." Jay grinned.

"C'mon, I'm not that bad." Nya pretended to be offended. She then laughed. "You are a lot worse when it comes to your pudding cups..."

"Am not." He pouted.

"Yes, you are." She insisted. "And it's cute."

"I am n-" Before he could finish his sentence, Nya cupped his face with her hands and pressed her lips against his. "Yes, you are." She repeated. "You are both worse than me and cute. And I love you for it."

"I love you too." He smiled, gently tucking a strand of black hair behind her ear.

"If you like this one and are interested in trying other seafood dishes, would you allow me to cook a meal for you?" His teammate's voice reached Jay's ear, bringing him back to the present.

"I would like that a lot." He heard PIXAL's answer as he reached for his glass of water. "And I would also be interested in trying one of your famous lunch creations."

"Your autobody shop is not too far away from Steep Wisdom." Zane replied. "Why don't you come over to the tea shop during your lunch break?" He suggested, making Jay almost spit out his drink in surprise.

This was the first time the blue Ninja had ever witnessed his Nindroid brother make a mistake: Completely enthralled by his new friend, Zane had just invited a Samurai to the Ninja's secret headquarters.