#also I did not fact check the whole mucus/slime spheal. If I’m wrong no I’m not /j

[prime-pulse]

Mayhaps some more Uncle Clouse content if you want? Or maybe the Snake Fam finding out about Skylor’s powers?

I can NEVER say no to writing some snake family content !!

"You're getting slower." Clouse remarked as he set down a bucket of fish— which he and Garmadon had caught from the nearby river for dinner that night— on the kitchen island, wringing the river water out of his hair onto the floor.

"Being kept up all night by a four year old," Garmadon yawned as he followed Clouse into the kitchen, stretching his arms above his head, "Will do that to you, you know."

"More like a lack of training." Clouse remarked, rolling his eyes and beginning to get straight to work on washing and preparing the fish from the bucket. Garmadon offered a light snicker, walking toward the counter to begin setting up the cutting boards and knives the two would need.

Things had died down in the last few years, nobody in the Garmadon or Chen family's backs since a few months after Lloyd had been born. It had been nice to live quietly, and relatively comfortably, in the middle of nowhere— no bustling big city and no nosy neighbors to pry in on dark magic use or one of the household member's hands becoming more Oni-like by the day; nobody to criticize the patriarch's nonsensical traps around the house or to send building-code violations to the city about them all. The only real struggle was dealing with two growing children who were getting more and more antsy about being cooped up in the monastery day after day.

"Ohh, salmon!" A tiny voice remarked, followed by the sound of quick steps into the kitchen. Garmadon turned his attention to see Skylor peering up at the bucket of fish on the island, a grin on his face.

"And plenty of it, too." He proudly remarked, stabbing his knife into the cutting board before walking over to Skylor, hoisting her up in his arms so she could get a better look at the fish, "You want to help your Uncle Clouse wash them?" He remarked, earning a scoff from Clouse as he dropped one of the fish into the sink.

"No, he says I can’t clean the gills right. I’m better at helping de-bone." Skylor said after a moment of thought, studying the fish in the bucket, "It's more fun to do that, anyway! Fish are covered in— slime and stuff!"

"Mucus." Clouse corrected as he began to scrub away at the mucus on the salmon in his hands.

"Yeah, slime." Garmadon nodded with a grin, Skylor giggling to herself as Clouse turned around, holding the salmon by the tail with his eyebrow raised.

"Slime and mucus are two vastly different things," He said with a sneer, "Slime is slippery, and usually only produced by things like algae or plants--" He continued as he slapped the fish down onto his cutting board, Skylor and Garmadon exchanging amused looks, "Mucus, on the other hand, is sticky, and usually produced to keep skin moisturized where it usually wouldn’t be—"

Skylor raised her hand, Garmadon then nodding to her with a serious expression, "Skylor has a question."

"But fish are... In the water all the time, so are frogs, why would they need to be covered in slime?"

"Mucus, my dear," Clouse corrected again as he drew his knife, beginning to prepare the fish, "You know how your fingers get pruned when you’re in the water too long, and you’re itchy afterward? Water is wet, but it takes the moisture from your skin if you’re in it too long. We don’t make mucus all over our bodies, so we have things like... Lotion, and moisturizer. To help."

"You read a lot." Garmadon remarked after a moment, Skylor snorting and covering her mouth as she giggled. Clouse only turned to glare at Garmadon before returning to the fish.

"Someone here ought to. You would all be lost without me." He hummed, Garmadon mimicking him behind his back, much to the amusement of Skylor.

"Lost, but having fun!" Garmadon quipped with a charming smile, "Like calling mucus slime, how it ought to be called."

At this point Skylor broke out into laughter, Clouse driving his knife into the cutting board before turning around to begin lecturing Garmadon on the difference between slime and mucus in detail, which only caused Skylor to begin laughing even harder.

But suddenly, Garmadon felt something cold— /very/ cold, a familiar cold in his arms. Before he could glance down, the bucket containing the rest of the fish— the metal bucket— shattered like glass all over the island, leaving behind thin purple smoke and a cold aura. And just like that, the laughter and conversation stopped, and the cold disappeared from what was being held in Garmadon's arms.

Clouse's first instinct was to look to Garmadon, but Garmadon cut him off before he could speak. "That wasn't me. I’d know if that was me. Id be able to—" He shook his head before looking down at Skylor, who looked more bewildered than the both of them. She was flexing her tiny hands in confusion— before she began to look fearful, turning her head to look between the others for answers.

"... I... I see." Was all Clouse said after a moment, quickly scanning both Skylor and Garmadon to see if any of the metal had hit them. After confirming they were clear, he nodded, looking... A bit dazed, if anything. "I'll go get Master Chen— and Misako." He said after another moment, shaking his hands as if they had water on them before ducking out of the room.

"What... Did I do that? Was that...?" Skylor began, Garmadon shuffling away from the metal... Shards on the ground and island.

"We... I..." Garmadon searched for words, but found he had none. "Your father can... Do you remember what your father said about me, me and your mother, being elementals?"

"... Kind'of...?"

"How we told you about your mom's power? How she could copy anyone’s power she touched?" Garmadon looked toward her, a bit lost on what to do. He’d never had to give a child a serious talk before, he was still new to the whole 'dad' thing himself. He felt awkward.

"Can... Can I do that?"

Before Garmadon could answer, the sound of Chen yammering excitedly filled the hall outside the kitchen, followed by his own quick footsteps and Clouse's worried muttering.

"... We're about to find out for sure. Assuming that I didn’t do that on accident."