Thursday evening

Jay nervously paced up and down the footpath, waiting for Nya to arrive for their date.

Is this now our first or our second date? He had to keep his mind occupied by thinking about this and other very important questions, even if only to prevent himself from freaking out. And he had been doing it for the biggest part of the last three hours, since he had left work earlier this evening.

Luckily, he had not been too much affected by his upcoming date during the day. Sure, the blue-eyed young man was a high-strung and very emotional person and therefore got easily distracted. But whenever he was working on one of his inventions, he would get lost in his project and give it his undivided attention.

Even as a young boy, Jay had always loved inventing – although, as his friends would constantly remind him, his earlier attempts had usually not been very successful – and Cyrus Borg, the famous inventor and founder of Borg Industries, had been one of his childhood idols.

So, when he finished university about half a year ago, Jay was very excited about the opportunity to join Borg Industries and he very much enjoyed his position in the R&D department. Just two weeks ago, he had been assigned to work on one of Borg's latest ideas – and, according to the rumours in the company, one of the senior inventor's favourite projects – which had given him a huge boost of confidence in his own skills and his status within the team.

But right now, he just had other things - or rather another person - on his mind.

The 23-year old checked his watch for the umpteenth time since arriving at the restaurant about fifteen minutes ago. It was 7:50, so Nya still had ten minutes to arrive in time for their dinner reservation.

He was hoping she would be early though. Not only because he was excited to see her, but Jay really needed someone to speak to. The talkative young man had really missed his flatmate and their usual conversation this evening. Despite their rather different personalities and work schedules, he and Zane had become good friends over the past few months of being flatmates.

Usually, when the inventor/engineer got back to their shared apartment from his work at Borg Industries, the chef would still be at home and they would spend some time together, before Zane had to leave for his own work at the restaurant.

But today, when Jay had returned home, Zane had already left to meet his girlfriend for their own little Valentine's date. As he and Pixal both had to work tonight, they had arranged to spend the afternoon together. Zane wanted to meet Pixal after her last class today, to go for a walk in a park nearby, followed by hot chocolate in one of the small cafés in the area.

Despite his own nervousness, Jay couldn't help but feel truly happy and smile, when he thought about the new couple.

Tuesday night

Jay woke up with a start, when the door to their flat creaked and someone, his flatmate, entered the apartment. Jay sleepily checked the time on the tv, it was 1:30am. Great, he had fallen asleep on the sofa while watching tv – and while waiting for Zane to return from his shift at the restaurant.

Zane must have noticed the voices coming from the tv, for he came into the living room and looked at Jay in surprise. "Good evening, Jay. I am astonished to find you still awake at this time. Do you not have to get up early tomorrow morning?"

"Well, I wanted to wait for you, because... I wanted to find out how your night went, but... I fell asleep on the sofa I guess. That means I wasn't actually awake..." Jay grinned at his friend. "So, how was it?" He asked curiously.

"If you are referring to my work tonight, the customers seemed to be very pleased again with their meals." Zane replied. "But if you want to know how my... conversation with Pixal went, I can assure you that I was more than just pleased with the outcome."

"So that means...?"

Zane smiled happily. "When I confessed my affection to her, she told me that she reciprocates those feelings and... she has agreed to be my girlfriend."

Jay got up and embraced his friend. "Ah, that's wonderful!" He told him. "I'm so happy for bith of you."

"Thank you, my dear friend." Zane replied and, for the first time ever, returned the hug. "And... that also means that for once, you were right." He admitted.

Of course, on Wednesday morning when he had to get up early for work, Jay had kind of regretted staying up that late. But as he came to the kitchen, he was surprised to find Zane already up and even preparing a splendid cooked breakfast for Jay, to thank him for his support.

So yes, even though he had needed a lot of coffee to make it through the day, it had been worth it. And, as another plus, their friends had given him an excellent excuse to talk to Nya over the phone again yesterday...

But still, Jay would have been happy to have someone around to encourage him this afternoon.

He had tried to call his best friend, but this had only made things worse. Cole, who was planning on proposing to his girlfriend tonight, was even more tense than Jay – which was almost impossible, especially as Cole was usually a very calm and composed person. So, first the first time ever, Jay had found himself trying to calm down his friend - and getting more nervous himself at the same time.

He stopped to quickly check his reflection in one of the dark store windows next to the restaurant, running his hands through his short yet always slightly messy auburn hair.

Jay and Nya were having dinner at a small and casual tapas place called El Gran Devorador. It was close to the Ninjago Tech campus and very popular among the students. Jay was therefore dressed a lot less formally compared to their dinner at Garmadon's three nights ago. He had chosen a plain sky blue button-up shirt and black trousers, without a jacket or tie tonight. Of course, due to the cold weather, he was wearing his favourite navy parka. But unfortunately, he had left his gloves at home, so his hands were rather cold, despite keeping them in his pockets.

Sure, Jay would have liked to to impress Nya by taking her to a fancier place, but this had been kind of a very last minute arrangement. All restaurants in Ninjago City were of course fully booked on this special evening and they had been very lucky to get a table here at all, thanks to Zane. Wanting to return the favour to his flatmate, the chef had spent the best part of yesterday morning on the phone, asking his friends and fellow chefs for any late cancellation.
And, if Jay was honest with himself, a posh environment didn't really suit him anyway, it always made him feel rather uncomfortable and just not like himself. Also, he was pretty sure that Nya didn't mind either. After all, she knew about his background and had even witnessed some of his greatest invention failures – and she had still agreed to go out with him. And, according to Zane, the food at this place could easily match that at some of the finest (and a lot more expensive) Spanish restaurants.

When Jay turned around, he saw a petite person in a bright red winter coat and black knitted mittens approaching him. Nya raised her hand and waved at him, wearing a lovely smile on her face. The slightly flushed cheeks as well as the flat shoes suggested that she had walked the short way from her accommodation on campus.

Jay greeted his date with a gentle hug and gave her a quick peck on the cheek. They then entered the busy restaurant and removed their coats – and when he saw Nya's outfit, Jay almost forgot to remove the small box from the pocket of his parka.

He couldn't help but stare I awe at the young woman. She was in a short sky blue dress and black leggings, so the colours of her outfit perfectly matched his own.

"Wow." He told her. "You-you look fantastic."

Nya beamed at him. "Thank you. You look great as well. I especially like your shirt, it's my favourite colour - as you can probably tell." She winked at him.

Their waiter led them to a small round table, luckily in a more private corner, where they sat down opposite each other.

Jay opened his menu. This time, Zane had given him some advice about the menu in advance and had even recommended a few items to try – and had also pointed out others to better avoid.

As suggested by his friend, Jay ordered a bottle of cava for the two of them and together they chose a selection of different vegetarian tapas to share.

While they were waiting for their food to arrive, they enjoyed their drink. As Nya told him about her day at medical school, Jay could feel himself relax and he decided that now would be a good time to give Nya her Valentine's gift.

"So... uhm... speaking of today... well, what I mean is that it's Valentine's Day, so I have a little present for you..." He handed her a small square box with a red ribbon. "I hope you like them." He said nervously.

Nya opened the box and squealed with excitement. "Mystake's chocolates. They are my favourites!" She called. "Thank you so much." She examined the label. "I thought I knew all her flavours, but I haven't seen these ones before..."

Jay was relieved that she enjoyed her gift. "These are special dessert flavours, they don't come in any of the mixed boxes and you can only get them from the counter at her shop." He explained. "I thought, because... well, you liked the dessert at Garmadon's so much, you know? And these are the tiramisu ones, I asked the lady to add a few more of them."

Nya blushed. "I can't believe that you would make all this effort to get me a present... Oh, I have to taste one now. Would you like one as well?"

Jay shook his head. "No, thank you. They are just for you, I hope you like them!"

"Mmh, they are amazing. I love them." She replied. "And I do have something for you as well." The black-haired woman opened her handbag and took a little cellophane bag from it.

"I remembered that you always loved to eat the homemade cookies at our home. So...I got the recipe from my foster mum and made these for you. But... I'm afraid they are not as good as hers."

"Thank you. They look great and I am sure they will be delicious." He assured her. "Now I can't believe that you would do so much for me..."

But before Jay could also try his present as well, their dinner arrived, comprising of several small dishes, including different types of meatless croquetas, berenjenas fritas, espinacas con garbanzos, and, of course, Jay's favourite type of tapa: tortilla de patata.

"It was a great idea to come here." Nya remarked, while picking a black olive from its little terracotta bowl. "I've never been here before, although it is so close to the campus. But I'll definitely come back."

"Yes, the place has a great atmosphere and the food is great." Jay agreed. "But it wasn't my idea, we have to thank Zane for it. He knows the owner, which is why he was able to arrange this super-last-minute reservation for us..."

"Oh, I will. I guess I will see him around more often at our place now anyway..." Nya said with a smile. "It was really cute when he came to collect my roommate for their date this afternoon. He gave her a beautiful bouquet of purple and white roses. Pix loves purple, so she was absolutely delighted."

I am going to buy ink and white roses to make her some blue flowers for our next date then. The passionate inventor/engineer thought. [*]

"They are such a lovely couple." The young woman continued. "I have never seen Pixal this elated before. She's normally more the analytical and even reserved type of person, but she's been very emotional for the past three days. But in a good way."

"Yes, it's the same with Zane. I've only known him for a couple of months, but during this time, he has never been happier." Jay told her. "Hard to believe how much convincing it took to get them to just talk to each other about their feelings..."

"You and Zane seem to be really great friends; tell me, how exactly did you meet him?" Nya enquired.

"We actually haven't known each other for very long. When I started the job with Borg Industries after college, I was looking for a shared place. And Zane was looking for a new flatmate at the same time, so I'd say it worked out pretty well for both of us."

"And how is your work going? You didn't get to tell me about your new project last time."

Being very interested – and skilled – in technology herself, Nya was always curious about the latest developments in this area.

"Ah, this project is sooo cool." Jay excitedly told her. "We are developing a completely new virtual reality experience."

"Oh, wow, so you are one of the engineers assigned to Digiverse?" Nya sounded rather impressed about this fact. But Jay was even more impressed that she knew of the project. He had only found out about it when he had started working on it two weeks ago.

"How-how do you know about the Digiverse?"

"Oh, Pixal has briefly mentioned it. Cyrus showed her some of his ideas during one of her recent visits. She said that he was very enthusiastic about this project." She smiled. "I bet the two of you get on really well, what with your shared love for inventing."

"How come Pixal knows him?" Jay wondered.

"Cyrus is her uncle, her full name is Pixal Borg."

"He is whaaaaat?" Jay gasped. "This is just... wow! Why didn't you tell me this before? And why didn't Zane tell me? Oh, I can't believe nobody has told me. This is sooo exciting..."

Jay suddenly stopped. He blushed and looked down in embarrassment. "I guess that's why..." He mumbled. "Sorry about that."

"Hey, you don't have to apologise for being passionate about what you do. I-we all know how much you admire Dr Borg and his work."

"Yes, but if I had known about this before our dinner, I am sure that I would have wanted to talk to her about her uncle's work and that really would have ruined everyone's evening..."

And worst of all, I would have spent less precious time talking to you. I guess I must thank Zane for not telling me.

"That's true. But don't worry, she would never tell anyone whom she has just met. I only found out after about three months of being her roommate. Apparently, people have pretended to be her friend, just because of her family background..."

"That's really sad to hear."

"I know. Pixal loves her family very much, but she still wants to live her own life, without using their name or their money. I mean, she wouldn't need to share a dorm room or have a job, but she wants to. And she even enjoys working part–time at the restaurant."

"That is very impressive." Jay commented.

"And what is even more impressive is how she is able to work late hours and still excel in her classes. Sometimes I think she can't be human..."

"Then she and Zane really make the perfect couple." Jay laughed.

The two young adults finished their main course, accompanied by some light and cheerful conversation.

When Nya went to the bathroom, Jay was curious if he had received any news from his best friend, so he took his phone from his pocket and checked for new messages.
There were two.

The first message wished him a 'Happy Valentine's Day love from mum and dad xx', followed by a gentle reminder to call again soon.

He replied, wishing them the same and promising to call the next day. Jay hadn't spoken to his parents since the previous weekend, so he would hopefully have a lot of exciting news to tell them.

Speaking of exciting news, the second message was from Cole, as Jay had hoped. His friend had sent a photo of himself and Seliel. The pink-haired woman was presenting her left hand with a beautiful ring to the camera. A message accompanied the picture: 'She said yes! You better start working on your best man's speech'.

When Nya returned to their table, she found her date looking at his phone with a wide grin on his face.

"Whatcha got there?" She asked. "Something great, based on your expession."

"I just got the most wonderful Valentine's message." He told her.

"Oh, you did?" Did she sound disappointed? Maybe even a tiny bit jealous?

"Oh, no-nothing like that." He reassured her.

"Here." He handed Nya the phone. "My best friend got engaged to his girlfriend."

"They look lovely. And very happy." She commented.

"They are great. Cole was my roommate at university. He and Seliel have been dating since they met during their first week of college." I would love to introduce you to them.

"Do you not want to send a reply?"

Jay topped up their glasses, while Nya moved her chair around the table, so she was sitting next to Jay. The both smiled and held their glasses filled with the delicious sparkling drink in the camera. Because he had the glass in his right hand, Jay had to put his left arm around her to take the picture.

She didn't seem to mind though, as she snuggled even closer into his side.

"Please send me the picture as well." She asked.

"Sure." And I am for sure going to save it.

'Congratulations, also from Nya.' Jay wrote.

'Nya? I thought your date's name was Pixal.' Cole's response came almost immediately.

'Let's talk tomorrow. Don't you have better things to do than sending messages to your friends?'

'Good idea.' Jay wasn't sure which part of the message Cole was referring to, probably both. He just wanted to put his phone away, when it buzzed again.

'Will she be your +1 at the wedding?' Jay was sure that Seliel had typed this question. He saw Nya already looking at the dessert menu, so replied quickly and put the phone away.

'I hope so.' He wrote.

After their dessert - crema catalana and some of Nya's delicious cookies, Jay asked for the bill and they were soon on their way out.

But neither of them wanted to end their evening as of yet. "May I walk you home?" Jay asked carefully. When he had suggested to pick her up before the date, she had kindly yet firmly rejected his offer. But this time, Nya just smiled and took his hand.

"I'd love that." She said.

They walked across the still busy campus. Using her free hand, Nya pointed out some of the different buildings for Jay, who had studied at a different university. As they passed by the School of Chemistry, Nya suddenly remembered something.

"Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, my brother says hi. I told him about our date."

Jay stopped and let go of Nya's hand. He was glad that it was dark, so she couldn't see his face turning rather pale.

"Ah, thanks. Please say hi to him for me as well." He asked uncomfortably. "Did-did he say anything else?"

Sure, Jay was happy that Nya had mentioned him and their date to the undoubtedly most important person in her life, but... Kai knew about the crush Jay used to have on her – well, pretty much everyone had known about it – and he might have told his sister...

Whenever they had to work on one of their science projects, they always met at Kai's home rather than at Jay's. Kai and Nya's foster mum would always make her amazing chocolate chip cookies for them and Jay was more than happy to avoid bringing his friends home to the junkyard. But the best part of it was to see Kai's sister.

Nya was pretty and funny and interested in their work. She even sometimes made helpful suggestions. Wayyy more helpful than Kai's ideas...

"Well, he did mention something - is that true that... you used to like me when we were at school?" She asked.

Jay sighed. "It is." He admitted, in a surprisingly calm voice.

"Then why did you never say anything?"

"I guess I was just scared. Mainly because I was worried about Kai's reaction..." They both laughed.

"But I was generally very shy around girls back then." Jay added. "When I had my first girlfriend in college, I was so nervous that I threw up when I tried to ask her out the first time."

"You certainly have improved since then." Nya chuckled.

"Well, I've had a bit of practice. Not too much though. I've dated a few girls, but... it just never worked out."
So far. But I'm going to change that.

Nya thought for just a short moment, before she spoke again.

"This might sound strange, but I am actually really glad that you didn't ask me out back then. I probably would have said no. I mean, I liked you. As my older brother's friend. But I wasn't really interested in dating back then. According to Kai, I was the only person in the whole school who didn't know about your crush on me..."

At least she is honest... Jay thought, but then he saw her smiling fondly at him.

"And this is exactly why I am glad that you didn't ask me. Because if I had rejected your then, you probably wouldn't have asked my again now... and we would have missed a great opportunity."

If you see it that way, I should be grateful that I used to be such an idiot.

"Although..." Nya looked him in the eyes and pouted.

Great, I've messed up again. I guess I am still an idiot.

"I haven't got that dance you've promised me." She pretended to pout.

"Well, this date isn't over yet." He replied. "May I have this dance?"

Jay wasn't a great dancer like Cole who would catch everyone's attention as soon as he entered – or conquered – any dance floor. But his old-fashioned parents had insisted that their only son would learn at least the basics. So, Jay expertly put his right hand on Nya's left shoulder blade and took her right hand with his left, while Nya put his left hand on his right arm.

"What is your favourite dance?" Jay asked.

Please tell me it's something slow and not complicated. Like a Slow Waltz...

She grinned. "The Viennese Waltz."

Of course, she had to choose something way more challenging. But he still wanted to keep his promise.

"Alright. But I may have to hold you a bit closer for this one."

Instead of replying, Nya simply took a step towards him herself.

1,2,3. 1,2,3. Jay silently counted in his mind. 1,2,3. 1,2,3...

Nya still was the great dancer as he remembered her, so she easily followed his rather clumsy lead. But after stepping on her feet a couple of times, Jay slowly became more comfortable as he started to remember the movements. He steadily increased the pace and even managed to reverse their direction a few times.

They whirled around the Justus von Liebig square in front of the Chemistry Department, until they were both out of breath from both dancing and laughing.

They finally stopped and Jay gave her a little bow. "Thank you very much, Miss Smith."

"No, thank you, Mr Walker." Nya replied.

They continued their walk towards the dorms, holding hands again. When they arrived at the entrance to the building housing Nya and Pixal's room, Jay gave her a short peck on the cheek. "Good night Nya."

"Good night Jay. Thank you for the wonderful evening."

"Then... would you like to repeat it?" He asked, his heart pounding in his chest. "Like, maybe, on Saturday? What about cinema?"

"I'd love to." She replied. "There's a new Starfarers movie just out, it's supposed to be really good. Didn't you read the comics when we were at school?"

"I still do." Jay blushed.

"And if you want, we could have a small dinner beforehand?" Nya proposed. "But, just so you know, it will be my turn to invite you this time."

Jay was sure that he would lose any argument with the strong and self-confident young woman, but as Nya was still a student, he didn't want her to pay for dinner at a restaurant and the movie...

"There's a cinema close to my place, so you could come over and we just get some take-out instead of going to a restaurant..." He suggested.

Would she consider it inappropriate if he invited her over to his apartment on just their second date? – Or will it be the third date? We really need to discuss this, and rather sooner than later before this question drives me nuts...

But Nya just smiled at him. "That would be great. I had a wonderful time during our dinner, but the way back has been my favourite part of the evening."

"For me too." Jay agreed. Unfortunately, he really had to get home now, if he didn't want to have another overly tired day at work tomorrow. "So, I'll see you on Saturday? Around seven?" He asked.

"Sounds great, I can't wait."

Me neither. Jay thought.

He leaned towards her to peck her cheek again, but Nya quickly turned her head so that he kissed her right on the lips instead.

This move took him completely by surprise, so Jay's reaction was to simply pull away and give her a surprised – shocked – look.

"I am sorry, I didn't mean to make you do anything you didn't want to." Nya told him, with a heavy blush on her cheeks. "I-I guess I just got the wrong impression..." Visibly embarrassed and upset, she opened her purse and looked for her keys to the building. "I better go now..."

"No, wait." Jay exclaimed. "I-I didn't... I mean... you-you just surprised me." He cupped her hot face with his cold hands and gently lifted it up, so that she was looking him straight in the eyes. "I was the one who messed up." He stated firmly. "And I don't want you to think I didn't want it. Or that I am awful at this..."

He drew her in for a deep kiss. And Nya's reaction was much better than his, as she immediately kissed him back.

"No, you're not." She told him, when they reluctantly parted again, after a rather long, passionate kiss.

"What?"

Nya smiled. "You're not a bad kisser at all. And I think I've just changed my mind about the best part of the evening..."

Jay was on his way home, happily recalling the events of the evening and thinking about what would happen to them next. He had only met Nya again three days ago, but he was sure that they both would do anything to make this work.

After their first date – Jay simply decided that to him it had been a date – Nya had been the one to contact him. He needed a good reason to call her first this time.

Suddenly, he realised that he had forgotten to give her his address for their next meeting on Saturday. Jay smiled.

Yes, I guess that's a very good reason. He thought.

-----
[* Unfortunately, blue roses don't exist naturally, although there are some 'blue' hybrids (but they look more purple or even pink-ish to me...). But you really can create lovely blue flowers from white ones by adding blue ink or food colouring to the water in their vase :D.]