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skierisa · 1 day ago

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Runaway - Lloyd x Valerie (oc) chapter 1

disclaimer: this is inspired by my 90s au, which does have a main story line, however I decided to tell it in a non linear way as I make things up (yeah not a smart move, I know). if you wish to know more about my ninjago 90s au before reading this, you can check the tag #n90sau in my blog! I may or may not come back here to correct spelling mistakes!

Valerie is an oc I shipp with Lloyd, you can check her character sheet for the og universe here! the only things that change in this au is that she isn't an assassin or a gang member and neither a werewolf, just a regular punk teen in the 90s.

also, i think it's my first time writing in english (not counting any translation i did), so i'm sorry for the spelling and gramatical errors! i also tend to mix british and american spelling. sorry again.

special thanks to @prii-arts for helping me with some of the writing!

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summary: Lloyd and Valerie are running away after having arguments with their parents, both arguments somewhat related to their partner. However, they discover living like adults isn't easy, and Lloyd has been having a ton of nightmares lately...

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It had been a while none of them said something, either asking each other if they were fine or asking something about the fights. Some music played on his car's radio, it was a random Sex Pistol's song Lloyd didn't know the name of. Or maybe he did, but he was too busy focusing on the road ahead swollen by the dark of the night to think about it. Besides the car lights, the only thing illuminating their way to –what they have been calling– “whatever” was the silver shine of the full moon above them.

He was afraid of looking at the passenger's seat for a few moments now. Not because he might crash into something, no, they were in the middle of the desert, afterall. The thing is, Valerie was sitting there, quiet. Too quiet. As someone who always had something to say about anything, even when she shouldn't, she was too quiet, just hugging her legs under a ball gown, gazing at the shining stars in the dark sky. A quiet Valerie was never a good thing. Whenever she was like this, there would be a cold and heavy thing in the air.

It was understandable if she still was angry, though. Lloyd was waiting for her inside his car when the yelling started. It was muffled and he could only see them through the living room's window. They always gestured as they spoke, but this time, both of their movements were quick, stiff and violent. He had to hold himself back from going in there whenever the mother's hands came too close to hitting his girlfriend –by accident or not. When it was over, Valerie stomped out the front door with a bag full of clothes in one hand and a guitar case in the other, turning back to yell as if she was holding back tears that she wouldn't be back. Once in the car, she gave a brief explanation of the obvious: “we fought”. It was over something stupid again, but she refused to elaborate more than that, saying she would rather talk about it later, when she would be less exasperated.

So he didn't ask anything about it for the past hour until that moment, even if bothered by her poorly filled silence. Lloyd finally realized he had been so distracted with all the thoughts about that night that he didn't notice the song had changed long ago.

“What?” Valerie finally asked, not moving her head from the window view.

Quickly, he turned his head to the road again.

“Nothing”.

“You're starring".

“No, I'm not. I'm driving, how could I?”

“Because you are. Well… were” She turned her face to him, finally, staring at him with her sky blue eyes and bored expression.

Valerie crossed her legs and raised her head, now staring at the ceiling of the car. She let her arms lazily fall on her lap; on her wrist, along with some bracelets, there was a corsage of blue and yellow flowers he gave her earlier that night. “Do you wanna talk about it?”

"... I mean, I don't want to force you, or anything.” He shrugged. “But it's okay if you don't, really.”

“Thanks…” She sighed, looking back to the window, frowning a bit. However, she quickly looked at him, one brow raised. “Do you… wanna talk about yours, then?"

Lloyd breathed deeply, holding it as he pondered the idea.

While her fight was a mystery to him, his… could be perceived as worse, somehow. Thinking about it made Lloyd feel some anger flourish in his chest; just thinking about how they could be so wrong on so many levels about her would make his blood boil in his veins. Sure, his parents were right about one thing amongst all the annoying assumptions, but he was completely sure Valerie would never do what his ex did… She wouldn't, right?

“No” he finally answered, letting out his breath. "Not now, at least".

Valerie stayed quiet for a few seconds.

“Alrighty, then…" she mumbled.

“By the way, Val, um… do you perhaps know where we're going?”

She blinked her eyes slowly, raising her thin brows in shock.

“I thought you did".

“Why did you think that?”

“‘Cause you simply started driving!” She exclaimed, waving her hands to the road.

“I thought you would come up with something!” He started laughing, nervously and loudly.

Valerie puffed, grabbing a piece of her bangs and squeezing it in frustration. But she couldn't help but also laugh at the situation, cracking in mere seconds of hearing his laugh.

“Shit, we can't even run away properly…” she tried speaking amidst the laugh.

“It's… It's okay” he breathed, containing his laugh but still smiling. “But we can't keep on going like this".

“Do you have a map, or anything?”

“No, sorry”.

She sighed melancholically.

“... Okay, we might need to spend the night in your car, then" She crossed her arms.

“We could also ask for directions to some motel, y'know…”

She turned her head to him.

“To whom, Lloyd?” She pointed outside with her hand.

Oh. That's true. We're in a desert. “I don't know".

“Now I'm thinking that staying over with my brother wouldn't be a bad idea…"

“I'm not turning back” He stated, giving her a quick look before turning to the dark road again.

“Didn't ask you to! Just really regretting not doing it". Valerie looked away. “Sorry, it's just that we've been here for an hour now, I bet you're tired too… Anyway, it was my idea running away, so let me come up with something…”

Finding a motel was their main option, especially because they had no idea where to go, and Ignacia or Ninjago City weren't an option, since they were trying to leave those places behind forever. They needed somewhere to restart, but where? Not Stix, definitely not Stix. She had heard good things about the Kingdom of Shintaro by that time, maybe that could be an option. The idea of living in Jamanakai Village didn't sound like the end of the world, but they might still need to go back to the city to find jobs and to buy some things.

But she was thinking too much ahead. She had time to think about this later, but it wouldn't be so long until it was the time to actually think about it. Okay, okay, okay, think, Val! She reminded herself. It was the highway, probably wouldn't take long before they found something like a convenience store or a diner to ask for directions. Not exactly directions, more like a recommendation of where they could sleep that night, be it a camping spot or a straight up motel. She was hoping for a diner, because her stomach had been growling for the past hours since the dance ended.

“Do you think it'll take long before we find a diner?” She finally asked as she played with the flowers on her corsage.

“Did you forget to eat again?” Lloyd raised an eyebrow.

"... Maybe" She crossed her arms again, looking to the side.

“Dunno” he sighed. “Probably not long. I mean, how long have we been…”

“Oh, look over there!” She bent onward, pointing to the colourful billboard of a dinner.

He parked the car, and if she wasn't on hills, he was sure Valerie would've probably run inside the place. However, she quickly made her way towards him, taking his warm hand with a sweet smile on her face while he adjusted his suit. On the lapel, there was a green rose made of sattin she gave him earlier.

“So, did you come up with anything?” Lloyd asked as he chewed a piece of his burger.

They decided to eat inside the car while listening to some songs in a cassette they found lost in there. His car was a secondhand from the 80s, so who knows to whom it belonged to. It had mostly city pop songs, and each time it changed Valerie would sing along while jamming to it. Whoever it belonged to, the playlist wasn't bad.

“Nope”. She covered her mouth as she chewed, looking away squinting her eyes. “I mean– Yeah, I did come up with a few ideas, but none are good".

“Tell me anyway, they can't all be bad. I can give you some ideas too".

Valerie took a long sip of her soda cup.

“Okay, so, I heard good stuff about Shintaro. We could go there, maybe?” She raised an eyebrow, gesturing with the hand holding the cup.

“Kinda too far away from here… Maybe someday, but not now.”

“Hm, suppose you're right… I thought about Stix, but…”

“The only job there is fishing” Both said at the same time, nodding.

Lloyd sighed.

"There's also Jamanakai Village" Valerie mentioned.

“Not a bad idea. But we might need to go to the city to buy… Well, anything".

“That's why I wasn't considering it that much…” Valerie hugged her knees again.

“What else?” He asked, taking some of their shared fries.

“Stay around here until we think of something better”.

He stayed quiet for a few seconds, looking around. With another sigh, he said: “I don't think we have any other option. But hey, it isn't bad. As long as we find a place to stay, we might be able to keep our jobs in the city…”

“Yes, it's easier… But I really didn't want to stay" She took another sip. "Especially because they are part time. We need cash if we're living on our own now".

“We don't have the option to go so far away, y'know… Nor have the experience for full time jobs. I mean, would you hire a seventeen year old full time?”.

“No, but it doesn't make it less disappointing, though”. Valerie frowned, putting her cup down. Seconds ago there seemed to be many doors for many different futures, but now all of those have closed.

He furrowed his brows in worry, looking at her eyes; they were more shiny. Was she really holding back tears again? Of course she is, he thought to himself. Her gaze met his and it was like the shine disappeared in a second, giving up space for a grin.

“But it's okay, seriously” she bent over towards him. “I'm happy to be with you at least". She whispered.

Slowly, he leaned over closing his eyes and kissed her, not caring if her dark red lipstick would get on his lips.

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criticism is welcomed! I really want to better my writing in english, specially because I know I can write better than this. This was also the first time I wrote Valerie in a super long time, so I really hope you liked her!

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