1The combination of the Jade Exchange AU and an Idol AU that no one asked for but I wrote anyway.
Kai combed his fingers through his hair, grateful that today was his day off from shooting. He could finally give his hair a break from all that hair gel and hair products whenever he had to act onscreen. Nya chuckled, slurping the leftover milk of her cereal from the bowl. "Even without any products, your hair is still a mess!" Kai picked up a can of hairspray and pretended to chuck it at his sister.
"Shut up, my hair is amazing," he told her teasingly. "Man, I'm so excited about today. It feels like it's been forever since we last had a whole day to ourselves. Too bad for Mom and Dad, though." Their parents, Maya and Ray, were still working that day. They had been asked to model for a blossoming clothing line for older adults. He walked over and collapsed on the couch his sister was on. "What should we do?"
"I dunno," Nya responded, downing the last of her milk. They stared off into space for a few moments.
"Wanna get some coffee?"
"Yeah, sure."
"Put the bowl in the sink, Nya."
"Lloyd, are you sure you want to go to the city by yourself?" Misako asked the Prince of Ninjago. He was smoothing out the shirt he had on, smiling at her.
"Mom, I'll be fine. I'll disguise myself. Here, I got fake earrings!" Lloyd held up the metal jewelry and put them on the cartilage of his left ear. "Of course, I'll need a bit more than that to look different. Maybe I should style my hair differently? Should I get eye color contacts?" he thought out loud. His mother chuckled, shaking her head.
"I see you're intent on seeing the city on your own." She used her fingers to style her son's hair into a different part that swept to the other side of his face. "Just promise me you'll be careful."
"I will, Mom."
"Although, please tell me," Misako began, taking a seat on the edge of Lloyd's bed. "Why are you planning to go to New Ninjago City in the first place?" Lloyd froze, a nervous smile fixed on his face.
"Uh, no reason. Just- sightseeing," the blond blurted out, rubbing his shoulder sheepishly. In reality, he wanted to buy whatever he saw that was related to Kai Smith, the greatest actor/model/musician in the whole world. Even if he found a flannel that looked remotely like the one Kai wore in a minor scene from one of the many films and shows he starred in or the catwalks he strutted down, Lloyd would buy it in a heartbeat.
The blond may have to admit that he had a bit of an obsession with the famous brunet. But how could he when the media named him Kai Smith's biggest and most dedicated fan? Yeah, no way.
Misako raised an eyebrow, a knowing look on her face. "Well, have fun with your sightseeing." She got up and gave him a hug. "Are you sure you don't at least want a bodyguard?"
"Mom, that would make it obvious about who I am."
"Right, right. Sorry."
Kai and Nya walked into New Ninjago City's most popular café, wearing dark sunglasses to conceal their identities. The brunet was happy that his hair changed constantly with all the roles he had played; he doubted anyone would know what his normal hairstyle looked like except, perhaps, his first and oldest fans that loved him from the very beginning of his career. Nya had changed from her usual "rock girl chic" to almost formal clothing, with a red dress shirt and black pants. After a few minutes of waiting in line, they placed their orders. Of course, they had planned pseudonyms to use.
"Ash," Kai said.
"Ana," Nya said. While they waited for their orders, Kai noticed a young blond standing by the window, holding several bags in his hands. He would not have drawn Kai's attention to him had it not been for the shirt he was wearing. It was merchandise from the movie Our Town Now in which he was one of the lead roles as a dead child.
The thing was- that shirt was incredibly rare as if had all the dead children from the town in the picture, sold out after an hour of being released.
"Hey, Ana," Kai emphasized. Nya smirked. "Call me over when they say our orders. I'm gonna talk to that kid over there."
"Sure. Be careful."
Kai approached the blond teen and waited for the other to notice him. He had piercings in the cartilage of his left ear and his hair... well, Kai could do it justice. (It did not look that great.) "Hey, nice shirt. Where'd you get it?" he asked, knowing exactly where the boy could have gotten it.
"Oh, thanks! I was stalking the Our Town Now shop website, waiting for the merchandise to drop. I refreshed that page so many times, I'm pretty sure one of my fingers is more buff than the rest. I bought so many things, I'm glad my closet is huge," the blond commented. "Name's Lloyd. What's yours?" For some reason, Kai noticed the blond flinching after he said his name but decided to ignore it.
"Ash. It's nice to meet you. Y'know, I really loved that movie. It was so cool," Kai introduced himself with his pseudonym and continued with the conversation. "There were a lot of hints with Adam being a ghost, yet it was like no one noticed them." Lloyd groaned.
"I know, right?! I kept screaming at my TV, 'I knew it! He was dead!' but my mom and dad were so shocked!" the blond complained, making the brunet chuckle. "Are you a fan of Kai Smith?" Lloyd's eyes shined as he asked the question. Laughing to himself, Kai decided to act as his Ash character right now.
"Well, duh. Why wouldn't I be?"
"Yes! He's just so great at everything! I was, like, twelve when I saw the first R-rated movie he was in, Angels. My mom almost didn't let me watch it but I had to! Kai was in it and that meant the movie was at least good! By the way, loved it!" Lloyd ranted, waving his arms frantically. "He's so handsome, too! I will buy every piece of clothing from any fashion line he modeled for! And his voice! Oh my god, he has such a beautiful voice! And guitar, too?!" the blond groaned. Kai was thankful he had his shades on.
He may have just discovered and met one of his first and oldest fans. And this one was the obsessive kind.
"Ash and Ana!" the barista called out. Another added, "Lloyd!" Kai smirked at the blond.
"Thank you, ma'am," Kai and Nya said in sync. Lloyd bowed his head in thanks. The three of them walked outside. They were ready to part ways when Lloyd stopped, turned, and began to walk alongside Kai.
"Hey, you don't mind if I join you two for a while?" the blond asked nervously. Kai shared a look with Nya, once again giving thanks for his dark sunglasses.
"Sure, why not? We're not doing much today, just drinkin' coffee and probably gonna go to the park later," the brunet responded. The blond smiled and started to skip lightly.
"Okay then, here's the real question to prove your faithfulness to Kai," the incognito actor began, dramatically throwing his arms around. Lloyd, sitting on a park bench, nodded vigorously, a determined look on his face.
"Anything for my husbando!" Nya snorted and almost choked on her coffee. This kid was a riot. (She was probably younger than the blond but she could call him whatever she wanted; she had once played the role of a forty-year-old woman in a fourteen-year-old girl's body for a mystery play. Nya earned the right to call anyone a child.)
"What is Kai's normal hairstyle?" Kai asked with several pauses for effect. Lloyd scoffed.
"That's so easy. It's pretty spiky, but the best way I can describe it is how yours looks right now," the blond answered, crossing his legs with a proud look on his face. Kai snapped his fingers in fake defeat and grinned.
"You're impressive, kid. No one knows about that except for the older fans and me and Nya," Kai commented.
"Heh, thanks." The blond rubbed his neck shyly. "Well, I should probably start heading to the closest mall from here to see how many things I can buy," he said, standing up and tossing his cup in a recycling bin. Nya pulled out her phone and began to type away. "Hopefully I see you two another time! Bye!"
"Bye Lloyd!" Kai called back.
"Wait, before you leave," Nya said, grabbing the attention of both males. "Lloyd, how do you have so much money to buy the amount of merchandise you want to own?" She smirked when she saw the anxious look on his face.
"Oh, you know... my parents really do bring it in," the blond chuckled nervously.
"Sure, yeah. Well, see you another time..." Nya paused, "... Your Highness." Kai gasped, perhaps a bit too over-the-top.
"Well, if I had known my biggest fan was spending the day with me pretending to be an average civilian, I would have been a bit more respectful to you," the brunet teased, finally pushing down his sunglasses to reveal his iconic amber eyes. He winked at the gaping blond.
"You-you're- I'm- what the- but how- love of-" the prince stuttered, not believing what he was seeing. He pointed to the girl. "So you're- both of you- what?" Nya chuckled.
"Well, our names are pretty well known. And our faces. But it's easy to disguise yourself with a fake name and our skill as actors," Nya explained, adding a pose at the end of her sentence. She nudged her brother's side. "C'mon, I wanna go home."
"Sure, sis. Bye, Lloyd! It was really nice meeting you!" Kai waved over his shoulder, he and Nya walking away from the blond.
"Wait!" Lloyd shrieked and searched his pockets. "I need my phone! And a pen! Found my phone! Can I have a picture with you?" He ran up to the brunet, leaning far too close into his face. Used to such behaviors, Kai grinned.
"Sure, why not? Don't worry about the pen. I have one on me." He grabbed the prince's phone and turned his head to the right. "Smile, Lloyd!" The blond hugged the brunet around his waist and grinned widely. Kai took the picture. He was proud of it. It was beautiful, especially the lighting. "I'm going to assume you want me to autograph something of yours?" The blond nodded.
"Yeah, I'm not doing that. I'm gonna head home, bro. See you there," Nya said, leaving the two boys by themselves. Kai grinned and gave his sister's back the bird.
"Typical. So, what is it?" the brunet asked. Lloyd swallowed several times.
This entire morning, he had been hanging out with the most talented person in the world and he did not even know it! Frantically, Lloyd said the first thing that came to his mind:
"Please sign my arm."
"... What?"
"Please sign my arm." Lloyd held his left arm out. Even though Kai made a face, he complied.
"Don't do anything stupid with this, okay?" Lloyd nodded.
"Yeah, sure."
The next day, the media announced that the Prince of Ninjago had a tattoo that looked exactly like Kai Smith's signature.
Thanks for reading this mess!
Also, I have a poll on my profile that I need as many people to vote on as possible. It's for my fanfic "Everyone Loves" so go, go, go and vote on it!