#she would likely guess lloyd had something like nature

[zetsubobu]

I wanted to do some little opinion based lines from Nici regarding the others around her so here they are!

Jesse, sunni, olivia and meghan belong to @weekend-whip !

The core 4: they somehow always manage to draw all the attention towards them but not in a good way. Some of them seem genuinely sweet like jay or zane so I feel a bit bad for them. Kai makes me nervous but that's because of his blunt and outgoing personality and he's quite unpredictable to me. I don't know anything about cole besides the rumors so I can't say much about him

Nya: I see her always in the hallways of our school, carrying books or drinking boba with olivia. She seems quite friendly and has treated me nicely too. Especially her relationship with jay is quite adorable, I think they fit well together. I also like her fashion style a lot. I wish I could ask her where she buys her clothes but I'm a bit too shy for that

Lloyd: I can't help but be nervous around him. Likely because of who he is and I do feel bad about that since I do not wish to judge people I don't know. His eyes intrigue me though because I've never seen a color like this. He is definitely an elemental master because of his pupils, though I don't know which element. I should ask my mother about this

Jesse: I sometimes end up talking to him and he's quite enjoyable to be around. He handed me a flower once the first or second time we talked which was very kind of him. Truthfully that was the first time someone ever gifted me a flower so I remember it quite well. But that also created a question in my mind. Does he secretly carry around flowers all the time or does he magically make one? He's a magician if I remember correctly so it could be either

Sunni: I can tell by our eyes that we must be related somehow but I suspect she might not know that given how she greets and refers to me as a friend and not a relative. I don't know if I'm allowed to tell her that but regardless I think she's very sweet. I always feel comfortable around her and she's always kind enough to order for me whenever we are getting ice cream together

Meghan: she seems nice but she gives me the impression that she is someone that goes with the crowd by how she never ends up going against chen if he does something that displeases her. I think that's not because of him though but because of her friend. I can't exactly blame her for that, I likely would do the same if I were in her position

Olivia: for some reason everytime I see her it triggers my fight or flight response and I can't pinpoint why. Is it the way she behaves, is it the way she talks or just intuition? I usually end up avoiding her but I think she knows because she always makes eye contact with me

Chen: I end up avoiding him more than olivia in the end. But he's a bully so why wouldn't I? I am the exact type of person he would likely bully and I think it's a miracle that this hasn't happened yet. I think it's because he doesn't even know I exist

Viz: Sometimes I am a bit disappointed that I didn't inherit the full element but I also think that viz paleman was a great choice from my mother to pass her element onto. I sometimes end up visiting him in his casino and he once suggested teaching me how to play poker. Every now and then we play for a little bit but most of the time I end up losing. Can you blame me though? It's hard to play poker against someone whose face you can't read or even see at all

[mouwrites]

can you please do a Lloyd X half dragon and half Oni reader basically the reader mom is a Oni and the reader dad is a dragon the reader looks like a Oni with dragon wings and tail and the reader normally hides what she looks like because she is a bit insecure when the reader started to date Lloyd he could tell that the reader wasn't human so could the others suspicions where proven right after they see a photo of what the reader actually looks like and Lloyd just think that the reader is beautiful and that he doesn't know why the reader hides it and when he asks the reader why she hides what she actually looks like the reader says that she insecure and she scared about how people would react to it and Lloyd convert the reader by saying that he loves the reader no matter what and the reader shows Lloyd what she actually looks like and Lloyd just cuddles the reader and says that he loves her no matter what she is (both Lloyd and the reader are immortal the reader doesn't hide what she looks like in her community)

Here you go! :)

Word count: 817

Ninjago - Lloyd Finding Out You're a Dragon-Oni Hybrid

The smell of popcorn wafted through your apartment. You listened to the rapid popping from your living room, where you were busy setting out enough blankets and pillows to make a bed of thorns comfortable. Just about every square inch of the place was covered by a blanket, a pillow, or a plushie. You put your hands on your hips, admiring your work with a smile.

You rushed to the kitchen, just in time to pull the popcorn off the stove. You poured it into a big bucket, completing a set of three such containers already filled with popcorn. You sprinkled salt over the buckets, tasting a piece from each one to make sure it tasted okay. It was, of course, delicious. You had to stop yourself from eating more.

Popcorn popped, chilled sodas waiting on the counter, living room cozied up—everything was ready for the perfect movie night.

As if on cue, a knock sounded at your door. You hurried to open it, a broad smile already on your face to greet your friends. “Hi guys! Come on in, everything’s ready.”

“Oooh, I can smell the popcorn!” Cole shoved past his friends, eager to dig into the snacks already.

“Don’t eat it all before we even start the movie,” Kai warned, hurrying after him.

“Speaking of,” you said, “what movie did you pick out?”

“It was my turn,” Nya grinned proudly, holding up the DVD. “Naturally I chose Friday the 13th.” 

Jay shivered. “Which I’m not looking forward to.”

“Come on,” Nya cooed, putting her arm around him. “It’s not that scary. Besides, it’s halloween! We’ve gotta watch something spooky.”

You grinned at the couple, making your way to the kitchen. Waving everyone out, you ordered them to get comfortable and cue the movie up. You would bring the snacks in for them.

You were pouring sodas into cups with ice when you heard Jay yelp.

“No way!”

Suddenly, everyone stood up and crowded into the corner of the living room. You raised an eyebrow, wondering what they could be looking at. With a sinking feeling, you remembered what was in that corner. You knew exactly what they were buzzing about. It was a picture of you in your true form; your dragon-Oni form. The one you really didn't want them to know about.

Hastily putting down the soda can you were holding, you scurried over to them. You squeezed between your friends and seized the framed picture. “Cool cosplay, right?” You chuckled nervously, trying to salvage the situation. “The horns and wings are super realistic, huh? They’re fake, though. Fake. Yeah,” you floundered, shoving the picture under the TV stand.

Your efforts were to no effect. Jay dove for the photo and pulled it out again. Your shoulder slumped in defeat as they all gathered around him to look at the picture again.

“Why didn’t you tell us you were… a dragon? Or are you an Oni? I can’t tell.”

“It would appear that Y/n is some type of hybrid,” Zane guessed.

“Yeah,” you sighed. “Half dragon, half Oni.”

“Well, that would explain why you’re so tall,” Nya observed.

Lloyd took the picture from Jay’s hands. You felt your face redden as he scrutinized it. You couldn’t tell if he was horrified or disgusted or—

“You’re really beautiful,” he breathed, not looking up from the image. He looked up to meet your dumbfounded gaze, his cheeks dusted pink and a smile playing on his lips. “Is this your true form?”

You blinked. Nodded slowly despite your thorough confusion.

“Why don’t we ever see you like this?”

“I… I didn’t want to scare you guys. I feel like I’m sort of, er, scary when I’m… like that.”

“Scare us?” Lloyd looked back at the picture, still smiling. “You could never. Not when you’re this pretty.” 

Lloyd set the picture down and took your hand. “Can I see you in your true form?”

The way his eyes twinkled made it impossible to refuse. You were still a little nervous, but you shoved those feelings aside as you remembered his words. Encouraging looks from the rest of the group convinced you. “Alright,” you muttered reluctantly.

“Wow,” Lloyd said after a second. “Even more stunning in person.”

You smiled shyly. “You mean it?”

“I do.” He took your hands in his, pecking your ruddy cheek. “Shall we watch the movie now?���

You distributed the snacks before taking a place next to Lloyd. He pulled you so that you were leaning against him, his arms around you, your head just below his chin. You could barely focus on the movie from how happy you were. Not only had your friends reacted positively to your “scary” form, but Lloyd reacted positively. He thought you were beautiful. You smiled giddily as his words replayed over and over in your mind. Beautiful. Pretty. Perhaps you’d take this form more often around him.

Thank you for reading, lovelies!! And thank you anon for the request! Take care :) <33

(divider by saradika)

[sunflowerandstrawberryspice]

More Song the Ninjago Fandom is missing out on

Alright folks guess who's back with more songs for you AND a playlist with them!

I've been having fun with this and I love talking about why I associate certain songs with certain characters I love doing it and I really do wish I was able to do animatics myself. But any who here are more songs! (Song-artist)

AS ALWAYS MAJOR SPOILERS

Violet- Marianne Ross: This song is SOOOOO Lloyd thinking about Harumi (I will in fact ignore Crystalized existence again), like it's all about thinking about someone who hurt you deeply and still thinking of them even though they treated you poorly. Lyrics: "When I think of violet I think of you I see you tryin got make is cool" Harumi trying to justify herself to Lloyd. "My mind reminds me of a purple hue, matched the sight of another bruise" Do I have to say more? Like Lloyd clearly cared about Harumi and she emotionally and physically beat the shit outta him

Like a Villain- Bad Omens: This song could totally be used for Morro or Garmadon in my opinion, the song is about someone talking to a person who unknowingly or not pushed them past the edge of no return. Lyrics: "Look into my face then look again we're not the same we're different" For Garmadon this could be a representation of the Great Devourer taking over his mind and transforming him and for Morro this could his transformation from a starry eyes kid to a depressed and evil ghost. "You need a new clean slate with out the dents" This could be either of them addressing Wu cause lets be honest neither of them have an all to peachy relationship with him, Morro especially who saw Wu with this new set of Ninja who are happier than he ever was who Wu treated like family while pretending Morro never existed. "I know that you tried your hardest I know that you meant well but you pushed me to the edge and I slipped and then I fell" For Morro this could totally be Wu's intense training and the way he made Morro believe he'd be the green ninja only for that to be false which kinda drove him crazy, or it could be used for Garmadon on him and Wu's journey in Spinjitzu Brothers to find the tea to heal Garmadon while the journey was supposed to get something to heal Garmadon it ended up just making him feel worse about himself and his place in the world. There's a bunch more awesome lyrics but we'd be here all day if I explained all of them.

Fourth of July- Sufjan Stevens: This one is a teny tiny bit of a reach but hear me out. Zane and his father. So we know that Dr. Julien passes away sometime I believe before season three takes place and it's said he died of natural causes and I'm just saying this could make a pretty decent song since I feel like Zane and Dr. Julien's really sweet father son relationship gets over looked a bit probably since he died so early on and we didn't get to see Zane mourn much afterwards. Lyrics: "And I'm sorry I left but it was for the best" Could totally be used for when Dr. Julien turned off his memory switch and everything. I don't have many particular phrases since the song is almost like a back and forth, but there are a lot of bird references which also works well for Zane.

Icarus-Luvbug: Now this could work for a couple different Ninjago parents since it's mostly about losing a child but I think it would work best with either the FSM feeling bad for what happened to Garmadon (if you want to make him less awful that is cause in cannon his feels about Garmadon are... slightly concerning like sir you're not supposed to hate your own child) Garmadon feeling bad about how Lloyd had to "kill" the child part of himself to lead the ninja, or Maya after Nya merged with the sea and how she wanted to badly to be there for her only for her to end up gone.

Little Lion Man- Mumford & sons: Misako and Lloyd, just trust me okay? Like it's all about someone blaming themselves how someone turned out and in a better world we would have gotten Misako canonically feeling awful for how Lloyd's childhood went due to the fact she decided to dump him gods know where (Darkly's is a boarding school and Lloyd doesn't remember his mother when he meets her so I'm assuming he was probably somewhere else before there?) but instead I'll settle for fan interpretation and I feel like this song would make a great Misako animatic. "But it was not your fault but mine, and it was your heart on the line" and "Now learn from your mother or else spend you days biting your own neck" and "Tremble for yourself, my man, you know that you have seen this all before"

Sorry the list is a little shorter this time but honestly sometimes I don't have full explanations for songs I just have like general vibes, like my excuse is literally just: trust, with little to no explanation. Like:

The Archer- Taylor Swift: Lloyd, Cole or Sora

Don't meet your idols- Everybody's worried about Owen: Jay (cause his bio father was his idol ig?) or Nya (I have no clue man)

Your sister was right- Wilbur Soot: Jay

Punching Bag- The Front Bottoms: Kai

Runs in the Family-Amanda Palmer: Lloyd, Garmadon, Wu, Cole, Sora and honestly just most of them tbh

Friends- Sonic Sea Turtles: Cole, Lloyd, Jay and Garmadon

Idk y'all my brain is actually just one big Lego brick.

[myanxietydisorderhasanxiety]

MY CON EXPERIENCES!

So as someone who has been to multiple cons before, I feel like I have quite a bit to say on the topic. As an autistic person, I feel like I can add some nuance that not everyone experiences, but I’d like to specify I speak for myself ONLY on the autistic experience at cons. Autistic support needs vary widely across the community.

The first con I went to was a local con in 2020. It’s a smaller con, and my friend had invited me to go with her for her birthday. It was definitely a lot more muted of an atmosphere given the fact that we were in the midst of a pandemic, but I’d like to specify everyone I was with took any and all necessary health precautions. Being in that environment for the first time was unbelievable, even for as small and toned-down of a con as it was. It’s nerd culture EVERYWHERE. I was 17, it was my first experience going to any kind of fan event, and I’m sure anyone who’s been to cons before could probably tell I was new at con culture. Everyone we met was friendly and we saw lots of cool collectibles. I’ve been back to that con a few times now, and there was a lot more to see and do when restrictions lessened. I’ve also gotten more into cosplay since I started, so my con pictures have been UPGRADED in a major way.

The biggest (and best) con I’ve attended so far was FanExpo Philly 2023. The pictures above were all taken there, and it was overall just a really amazing experience. I’d never been to Philly, and I asked my cousin on a whim if she wanted to go to the con when I heard a particular guest would be there (10 points if you can guess who I’m talking about), and she said YES. So I took my first solo plane ride across the country and went to a huge con in a city I don’t know. And it was worth it ten times over.

Going to a con that big is overwhelming. There’s multiple show floors in a huge convention center, and the amount of people going to a con in such a major city is about 100 times more than my first con. It was also my cousin’s first con EVER, so it was really interesting to get to introduce her to con culture. (Spoiler alert: she loved it.) The con was bustling all three days, and certain lines were HOURS of waiting. My social anxiety was naturally still present, but there was a sense of camaraderie there that I can’t say I’ve felt anywhere else. We spent so long looking at all the different vendors and shopping in addition to meeting our favorite celebrities. (Seriously, cons are a fan’s paradise. I’m a sucker for Funko Pops for about 3 fandoms and I was SO HAPPY.)

Saturday we had a photo op with Michael J Fox & Christopher Lloyd, and that line was insanity. Definitely the biggest individual draw there especially for Gen X. We spent maybe 2 hours in line, and people didn’t really get snippy like they do at theme parks, we all just wound up talking (and yes, sometimes moaning and groaning about the wait) with people around us for the most part. When we got to the photo op, it was super quick due to the number of people, but my cousin whispered “we love you guys!” To Michael and Christopher and Michael turned around to say something to us. Unfortunately we didn’t hear it because it was so loud but he didn’t turn around for the previous guests we’d seen. I also handed an attendant a letter I’d written to Michael J Fox about what an inspiration he is for disabled people and how thankful I was for his advocacy work.

Sean Astin’s line was less crazy, still packed but less crazy. With him, we were allowed to hug or stand next to him, it was a little more casual, and he was cracking jokes and very friendly. When we went back up to the autograph table (me for a signed 8x10 and my cousin to get her Balrog Funko Pop signed) he was super friendly and just such a nice person. I told him my family said hi, and my mom had been a fan since the Goonies, and he said “next time bring your mom”. So when he came to my small local con in March 2024, that’s exactly what I did. He was just as nice and friendly the second time, and my mom enjoyed it too.

Sunday at FanExpo was my busiest day. We had multiple photo ops with the Stranger Things guests that had all gotten pushed to one day because of some visa issues for one of the guests (poor Joseph Quinn had to do THREE DAYS of stuff in one day). I was pretty nervous, I’m a HUGE Stranger Things fan, my first cosplay was actually season 3 Eleven. We got up to photo op 1 with Joseph and I asked if I could hug him for the photo and he went “of course you can!” Photo op 2 was with him and Grace van Dien, and I’d made friendship bracelets for both of them. She was an absolute angel (I WILL DEFEND GRACE VAN DIEN AGAINST THE HATERS!) and wore the bracelet for our picture and I saw it in the next picture too. Photo op 3 was just Joseph (I’d purchased multiple intending to do it on multiple days and have multiple cosplays). I wound up by myself in line while my cousin went to go get food (we were DYING). I met some of the nicest people in line (we’re Facebook and instagram friends now) and honestly I don’t know when social interaction has been easier. That photo op was the BEST one yet, and had the best story behind it, which if you want, I can share more details of. Suffice it to say, he is an absolute gem of a human being and deserves every bit of success he’s getting, and I’m really glad I got to meet him when he was only famous for Stranger Things. Anyone who thought I was cringy at the time for going to meet him is going to regret not meeting him when they could’ve, especially with Gladiator II and Fantastic Four coming out soon.

Something I’d like to mention in regards to Joseph Quinn, and any celebrities you meet at a con. You need to be respectful of their boundaries NO MATTER WHAT. THEY DO NOT OWE YOU ANYTHING BUT WHAT YOU PAID FOR, which is a picture or an autograph. They’re human beings and just because you paid for a photo op doesn’t mean you get to touch them in any way you want or put them in uncomfortable situations re: posing. I say this because a few weeks after I met him, at another FanExpo, a con-goer tried to touch him in an inappropriate way that was overtly sexual in nature (best approximation from witnesses is attempted groping). This is deplorable, and CONSENT IS KEY whenever you are having an interaction at a con. You can ask, but they don’t owe you hugs, poses, anything. CONSENT should always be the top priority when interacting with celebrities and other guests, no matter what. He was kind enough to give me a hug, but not ONCE did I expect or demand it, nor would I have hugged him if he hadn’t said yes. Paying for a photo op isn’t consent, being famous isn’t consent, cosplay isn’t consent. He was so lovely to myself and other guests and it’s heartbreaking anyone would do something so blatantly sexual and inappropriate.

Rant aside. I LOVE CONS. I love them so much. I’ve met some of my absolute heroes at cons and fan events, and it’s honestly such a wonderful experience overall, at least speaking for my personal experience. I encourage you if you’re curious, go to a con. Get single day admission even and just go get a photo with someone you think is cool. Chances are you’ll have a great time.

[letstalkaboutsebbaby]

New World Order - Lloyd Hansen x OFC

Chapter 2

Lilly let out a sigh as she entered her simple hotel room, sinking onto the bed. The meeting with Sophie had been nice, but now all she wanted was a soothing shower and to relax, reliving the moments she shared with Lloyd in her mind. She couldn't shake off the fear that she might never see him again, even though they hadn't discussed it. The way they conversed made her imagine endless strolls together through picturesque places.

With a sense of anticipation, she reached for her purse and retrieved the gift bag Lloyd had given her. Expecting to find a sculpture, since it’s a heavy package, she carefully unwrapped the bubble wrap. The sculpture inside, however, surprised her—it depicted a woman kissing her own shoulder. The tag revealed its title: 'Love for Oneself' by Charles Cumberworth, dated 1829.

The thoughtful gift reminded Lilly of her conversation with Lloyd about finally living life on her terms. It felt like he had listened to her unspoken thoughts. Taking out her phone and the card he had given her, she composed a text message. "Safe in the hotel. The gift is amazing, thank you. Lilly."

Meanwhile, Lloyd sat in his hotel room, sipping whisky as he relaxed in the room's imposing Eames Lounge Chair. The sound of his phone's notification caught his attention, and he retrieved it from his pocket. A smile lit up his face as he read Lilly's message. Quickly typing a reply, he sent, "Are you tired?"

Lilly glanced at his response and felt a flutter in her chest. "A bit... I need a shower and some rest, I guess," she admitted.

"Is dinner with me out of the question?" Lloyd inquired, his text carrying a hint of anticipation.

"No," Lilly replied, her heart rate increasing.

"I don't want to tire you out. We can meet at your hotel's restaurant if you prefer," Lloyd suggested.

"Yeah, that would be nice," Lilly agreed, excitement tingling in her veins and her thoughts racing as she stood to take a shower. She couldn't deny the flutter of excitement mixed with apprehension that danced in her stomach. Part of her felt a bit overwhelmed by the sudden turn of events, going from a chance encounter at the Louvre to a dinner date with a captivating stranger.

As she stood in front of the mirror, Lilly debated what to wear. She wanted to strike the right balance between casual elegance and not trying too hard. Finally settling on a white boho dress that accentuated her features without being too revealing, she styled her hair in loose waves and added a touch of makeup to enhance her natural beauty.

While she got ready, her mind wandered to Lloyd. She couldn't shake off the intrigue he sparked in her—the way he spoke, his confident demeanor, and the mysterious aura that surrounded him. Despite her nerves, Lilly couldn't deny the thrill of going out with someone who seemed to embody adventure and intrigue.

Meanwhile, in his luxurious hotel room, Lloyd took his time preparing for the evening. He wasn't one to rush, especially when it came to moments like these. He wanted everything to be just right, knowing that tonight could be the start of something intriguing with Lilly.

As he dressed in  that exuded sophistication, Lloyd's mind wandered to Lilly. He found himself drawn to her sweetness, her genuine curiosity about life, and the way she blushed at his playful remarks. There was something refreshing about her, something that made him want to unravel the layers and discover more.

Deep down, Lloyd knew he wasn't the typical romantic partner. His life was often filled with danger and unpredictability, but there was a part of him that yearned for a connection, even if just for one night. He wanted to see where this evening would lead, to explore the possibilities that sparked between them at the museum.

With a final glance in the mirror, Lloyd adjusted his appearance, ensuring every detail was impeccable. He couldn't deny the anticipation building within him. Tonight, he decided, would be a night to remember, for both of them.

Lilly is still in her room, putting on her shoes when there's a knock at the door. Lloyd had mentioned he would be at the hotel at eight, so she still has ten minutes to spare. Expecting to find the cleaning lady, she is surprised when she opens the door and finds the handsome man standing there.

"Hey! Hello..." she stammers, caught off guard by his early arrival.

"You look amazing," Lloyd says, his eyes scanning her from top to toe appreciatively.

She smiles in return. "You look very good too. I didn't think you would come up here... the room is a mess, I'm sorry."

"It's okay," he reassures her. "I came a bit earlier and couldn't wait to see you. But I can wait downstairs, it's fine."

"Oh, nonsense, please, just don't mind the mess. I didn't have time to clean up properly," Lilly insists, gesturing for him to come in. Lloyd steps into the room, glancing around casually. "I like a bit of chaos. Makes things interesting," he comments with a charming smile.

Lilly smiles back, feeling a rush of nervous energy mixed with excitement. "I'll just be a minute, then we can go."

"Take your time," Lloyd says, settling into a chair by the window. As Lilly disappears into the bathroom, he takes out his phone, typing a quick message for one of his men.

"I hope you don't mind a change of plans. The restaurant downstairs looks a bit crowded. How about we try a quieter place? I know just the spot."

He sends the message and leans back, his mind already mapping out the evening's itinerary. This deviation from the original plan is intentional, a subtle move to gauge Lilly's adaptability and to create a more intimate setting for their first dinner together.

“Is it close to here?” Lilly says from the bathroom.

Lloyd hears Lilly's voice and replies, "It's not too far, but don't worry, I know you must be tired. I've arranged for a car to take us there." Lilly asks, "Is this outfit alright? I can change..."

Lloyd reassures her, "Don't you dare change, gorgeous. You look amazing."

"Thanks. You look very good, too... I’m ready if you are?" she responds.

"Ok, let's go then," Lloyd agrees.

They head to the elevator, where Lloyd compliments Lilly, saying she smells delicious, which makes her blush.

After leaving the elevator, they pass by the restaurant, and Lilly notices that it's almost empty, with only 2 or 3 tables occupied. However, she doesn't pay much attention to it and continues following Lloyd to the hotel's entrance. As they step outside, he nods to an older man who quickly opens the door of a big SUV for them to enter.

"So, what are the plans for tomorrow?" Lloyd asks as they settle into the car.

"Monet! I'll go see his house, the gardens, and his tomb..." 

"So you'll be out all day?" Lloyd inquires.

"I think so, at least until 6 pm I guess," she replies.

"I'm glad you'll have a good day. I'll be working, but if you're free at night, we can meet again," Lloyd suggests.

"Yeah, that would be nice. Will you tell me where we're going now?" Lilly asks curiously. "Do you have something against boats?" Lloyd asks casually as they enter the elevator.

"No, not at all," Lilly replies, a hint of curiosity in her voice.

"Then we'll have dinner at the Seine river," Lloyd announces with a smile.

"Really?" Lilly's eyes light up with excitement at the unexpected suggestion.

"It's a beautiful spot. I thought we could finish the day with something special," Lloyd explains, his tone warm and inviting. The SUV glides smoothly through the Parisian streets, heading towards the Seine river where a delightful dinner awaits. As they arrive and step out, Lloyd offers his hand for Lilly to hold. When she does, he smiles warmly and kisses her forehead.

After enjoying dinner, filled with conversation and laughter, Lloyd signals for champagne from the waiter. As the champagne arrives, he stands up, taking Lilly's hand and leading her to a private area.

Raising his glass, Lloyd makes a toast, "Cheers to you, beautiful girl."

"Not to us?" Lilly whispers, a hint of playfulness in her tone.

"If you want it to be 'us'..." Lloyd's words trail off, his eyes locking with hers.

"Oh my god, am I being childish? Sorry..." Lilly blushes slightly, feeling a mix of excitement and nervousness.

"Hey, come here," Lloyd says softly, sliding a hand around her waist and pulling her closer. "Can I kiss you, gorgeous?"

"Yes," Lilly replies, her heart fluttering with anticipation.

Their lips meet in a gentle yet passionate kiss. Lilly's hand glides over Lloyd's chest through his shirt, and he pulls her closer. 

”I knew you would taste delicious" he says with his lips still touching hers. “My heart is racing a bit too fast…” she says, Lloyd's playful chuckle fills the quiet space between them and he gives her a peck on the lips, making Lilly playfully protest, "Don’t laugh, it’s your fault!"

With a soft smile, Lloyd teases back, "I’m sorry, little starlight, I can’t be blamed for this. You made me lose a day of work only to leave me, and I’m not complaining."

Curious, Lilly questions, "How is that my fault?"

Leaning in closer, their eyes locked in a gentle dance of emotions, Lloyd confides, "I went to the Louvre for work, but then I saw you…" His voice trails off, a hint of admiration and fondness lingering in his words.

As they share this moment, the evening air carries a sense of affection, and Lilly's heart beats even faster.

"Would you come to my hotel?" Lloyd's voice was a soft murmur against the evening breeze.

"I can’t. I need to get up early tomorrow and I’ll have to change and grab my things," Lilly replied, her tone tinged with a hint of regret.

"Are you trying to drive me crazy?" Lloyd teased, a playful smile dancing in his eyes.

"Well, it wasn’t in my plans to find a handsome stranger…" Lilly's laughter was light and infectious.

"Now that you have, you should be more responsible," Lloyd countered, a hint of mischief in his voice.

She laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck. "You can stay with me if you’re okay with waking up early."

"Yeah?" Lloyd's eyes sparkled.

"Yeah," Lilly confirmed, a smile tugging at her lips.

As they left the cruise, the anticipation between them palpable, Lloyd's driver was already waiting to take them to his hotel. Lilly hadn't expected him to be staying at the Grand Hôtel Du Palais Royal, much less that he would stop at the reception to get her an extra key. She stood there, momentarily dumbfounded, until they entered the elevator.

"Why... you didn’t have to... I don’t need a key…" Lilly's words trailed off, surprised by his action..

"Tomorrow I’ll be working till late, and I’m not sure when I’ll get back, but maybe you can wait for me here? I’m sure you’ll be back from your Monet tour way before me," Lloyd suggested, his tone inviting.

"It would feel strange to come here without you," Lilly admitted.

He slid his hand to the back of her neck and kissed her again, whispering softly into her lips.

"Keep the key. I have some hours to make you feel more inclined to it."

As the elevator doors opened and they entered his suite, Lloyd took off his shirt as he headed towards the bedroom, telling her he'd be right back. Lilly watched him go, her heart racing at the sight of his back. "I'm in trouble," she murmured to herself as she sat down on the couch.

When Lloyd returned to the living area, he asked if she wanted something from the mini-fridge, but she declined, lost in her thoughts and the anticipation of the night ahead.

A/N: As always, I would love to hear from you guys. The next chapter is almost done so I hope I'll be able to post it tomorrow :)

[abbatoirablaze]

Welcome To The Dollhouse, Losing Your Sponsor

Word Count: 1.9k

Warnings: smut, unprotected sex, aggressive sex, hair pulling, pain, angst, slapping/punching, manipulation, forced sex/noncon.

“WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS?”

“Ransom!” Angel moaned, already thrown over the edge of her own orgasm.  Her core fluttered wildly around his cock as her eyes rolled back into her head, “FUCK!  RIGHT THERE!  RIGHT THERE!  YES!” 

“Hey buddy!” Ransom smirked as he thrust into Angel’s core yet again.  His hips drove forward, splitting the young woman on the playboy’s cock.  His pace was brutalizing and had been for the better part of ten minutes.  With one hand, he gripped the hair on the back of her head firmly, forcing her to look at just how much of his cock she could take.  With the other, he was gripping her thigh so hard it was impossible to not leave bruises in the morning, “FUCK!  This tight little cunt is perfect!  Know why you keep comin’ back to her, even after the missus told you not to!”

“Hey Angel…”

Her eyes snapped to the door. Ransom was standing there, smug as ever, his broad frame slunk against the open door.  She tried to ignore him while she finished the paper that she’d been writing for one of her classes, but the longer she ignored him the more he pouted.

“You know…it’s rude to ignore guests,” he pointed out before sighing, “but I guess you would know that, wouldn’t you?  I suppose Hansen’s taught you at least a lesson or two about having some sort of class.”

“R-Ransom…”

He smiled at how her name fell from his lips, “that’s right, sweetheart…that’s my name…don’t wear it out.  Or do…god I loved the way your voice screamed out my name last time I was here with you…it was invigorating.”

“What are you doing here?” she asked without concern as she closed her laptop and looked at him from her spot at her desk, “Is Lloyd with you?”

“Old dog had to pay some attention to the M.R.S before he came down to play with his little chew toy…” Ransom smirked, shrugging his shoulders, “he ditched me when we landed, so I figured I’d keep you some company in the meantime.”

“Mrs?” she asked softly, her own voice betraying her over the simple word, “L-Lloyd’s not married.  What on earth are you talking about?”

Ransom chuckled, “of course he is.  He’s been married for a while, princess.  A long while.  She’s an agent for the FBI and he keeps her off our track…you know, til the government wants something done beneath the table…”

Angel’s bottom lip warbled, and before she could stop it, she felt tears working their way up to her eyes.  Turning away from him she went to reach for a Kleenex, “oh…I just thought…”

“What?” Ransom scoffed, sauntering into the room.  He kicked the door closed behind himself as he crossed his arms over his chest once more, “you just thought that you were the only pussy Hansen’s been pounding?  Please…you’re not even the only one in this country!”

“I-“

“Hansen’s been married for the better part of a decade, sweetheart,” Ransom scoffed as he neared her.  She whimpered, feeling his presence behind her, his aura intimidating and cold, while his cologne had the opposite effect.  Despite his callous nature and cold comments, she found herself wanting to bury her body against his to find some warmth, “you think he was gonna just leave his wife for a prime piece of pussy like you?  Granted, that tight little snatch would be worth the fight.  His wife hasn’t got a thing on you.  No…he’ll just keep you financially tied up and then come fuck you whenever he wants to.  You know…until you’ve aged too much beyond what’s acceptable.  Then he’ll just throw you away with all the other aging, loose whores that exist.”

She whipped around so fast that Ransom hadn’t been able to catch her in time.  Her own rage overflowing from the taunts of the man in front of her made her slap him hard across the face.  When she realized what she had done her throat went dry and she was gasping wordlessly at the playboy. 

Ransom’s face was stoic as he turned back to her.  With one hand he reached towards his own face and wiped at his jaw, “oh, you vicious little bitch…I was being nice in telling you what your little lover boy was doing…offering you my shoulder to cry on, and then my cock to impale yourself on so you could fuck your worries away…but to slap me?”

“No, Ransom…wai-“ But he’d already reached for her, and had slammed her face first against the wall.  She could already feel the bruise that was going to be on her cheek for hitting the wall so hard.  She went to move, but he pushed her against the wall again.  His body rushed to cover hers and she whimpered in pain from his weight crushing her, “Ransom-“

“Don’t fucking speak!” he spat, gripping at the base of her skull and pulling her back by her hair until her neck was straining, “look at me.  Look at me, you fucking bitch!”

Her eyes met his, the tears falling freely down her face as she looked at him the best that she could, “I was going to be nice…I was going to give you little presents and trinkets and call you a beautiful little slut while we waited for Hansen and you fucked me because you’re a sad little whore who’s upset about not being the only whore of his.  I took a real liking to you the last time we fucked, you know?  You’re probably my favorite little whore of his…but now…I’m going to fucking ruin you for him.”

Lloyd’s jaw cracked as he sat down on her bed. Lloyd didn’t bother looking at her as he removed his shoes, and pulled off the expensive, torn shirt that had been destroyed in his scuffle with Drysdale, “what did I tell you about fucking other guys, huh?  When I sponsored you, when I paid for your little sister to stay with you, what deal did we fucking make?  Huh, Angel?”

She was on the floor, tears streaming down her cheeks.

“I ASKED YOU A QUESTION!” he spat angrily, kicking at the air beside her.  She flinched, backing herself into the corner of the room.  He frowned when he noticed the bruises on her face and body, “GOD DAMN IT, ANGEL!  ANSWER ME!” 

“Y-you let him fuck me before,” she said quietly, not daring to look at him, “you-“

“I WAS THERE!  I WAS WITH YOU WHEN IT HAPPENED!” he growled, raising his voice at her.  His jaw twitched and he reached up, hitting it with his palm so that it would crack back into place, “I know what you fucking did with him, Angel…”

“I-I didn’t want to…”

“Yeah…” he scoffed, “that’s not what it looked like when I burst in.  You were moaning like a god damned porn star while he fucked the brain right out of you!”

She looked to the floor, where Ransom was passed out beside her, snoring softly.  Lloyd had knocked him out with a heavy lamp in their scuffle.

“He-he told me that you were married,” she said slowly, daring to look up at him.  The tears that were in her eyes told Lloyd that news affected her in more ways than  one, “is-is it true?”

“Angel…”

“You’re married…”

“It’s not as simple as that,” he sighed, looking away from her.  The shame of his wife had slipped up and he felt guilty about everything that had happened, “Suzanne is-we’ve been separated for years…but every once in a while…”

“Don’t say it…” she begged, looking away from him as her own shame flooded her, “I-I don’t want to hear what you’re going to say next.  If it’s what I think-if what Ransom said was true-”

“I fucked her, okay!” he claimed, daring to look back at her, “but I had to, Angel…”

“Oh yeah?” she scoffed, “what is the excuse, huh?  You just fell and slipped into her gaping pussy?  Your cock was just magnetized to go into her?  It was an accident?”

“Tread lightly with your next words, Angel…”

“Or what?” she scoffed, shaking her head at him, “y-you told me I was the only one, but Drysdale told me that you’ve got girls everywhere.  You told me you loved me last time you were here.  You said-“

“I know what I said,” he growled at her as he shot up from his spot and rushed her.  His hands slammed against the wall on either side of her head, the distance between them almost nonexistent as he glared at her, “just like I know how I feel.  And you said you felt the same after Drysdale left last time…you said that despite him, you only wanted me!  You only wanted to be with me!  But here I am, crawling back to you like some lovesick teenager after all I just fucking went through, and you’re fucking Drysdale.”

“Lloyd-“

“NO,” he spat, standing up.  He shuddered as he turned away from her and went to the opposite wall.  His hands slammed down on the wall once more and he turned to her, “I TOLD YOU I FUCKING LOVED YOU, JENNIFER!  I TOLD YOU THAT I WAS GOING TO BUY YOU OUT AND FINALLY TAKE YOU HOME…AND I WAS!  I WAS GOING TO BRING YOU HOME TODAY!  THAT’S WHAT YOU DON’T SEEM TO UNDERSTAND!”

“You FUCKED YOUR WIFE!”

“It was the only way she’d sign the divorce papers!”

Angel froze.

“Wh-what?”

“It was the only way she’d sign the god damned divorce papers Jennifer,” he repeated, this time much sadder as he fell back onto the bed. He shuddered once more, “she said she wanted to fuck me one last time.  If I did it, she’d leave you alone.  She’d leave us alone.  That she’d just sign the fucking papers and let me disappear with you.  But I didn’t think you’d go behind my back and fuck Ransom, Jennifer.”

“Don’t call me that.”

He scoffed, “what?  Don’t call you by your name?  You didn’t seem to have a fucking problem with it the last time we made love and I promised to pull you out of this shit hole!”

“That’s not my name.”

“Oh yeah, I forgot,” he scoffed once again, “you gave up your name when you came here to protect you and your sister.  You became Angel…fucking ironic now.  All you are is a washed up whore with nothing else to her name other than a couple of fucking gifts I’ve given you and an almost finished degree.  You should have called yourself Martyr…or the god damned whore of Babylon.”

“Get out.”

“What?” he asked, his brow raising at her demand.

“Get out,” she repeated, tears filling her eyes once more, “get out and don’t ever come back, Lloyd…I-I don’t want you in my life…not if you’re going to condemn me like that for a mistake…especially one that I didn’t even want!  He fucking forced himself on me, Lloyd!  But you’re acting like I wanted to have sex with him again.  I DIDN’T!”  

Lloyd stared at her in disbelief, “you don’t mean that Angel…y-you don’t want me to leave?”

“Yeah, I do,” she sniffled, standing up and walking out of her corner “and I don’t want you to come back…ever!  We’re done.  You’re not my sponsor anymore.”

“What the hell are you going to do without me?” Lloyd asked, still in shock from the woman he loved telling him to get out, “What are you-“

“I’ll find a way,” she said, shrugging her shoulders, “I’m the god damn whore of Babylon according to you…remember?  Don’t fucking worry about the aging whore, anymore, Lloyd.  Because I don’t need you.”

[justabooknerdposts]

would love to see the beginning of the Rachel/Annabeth friendship in TLO. Annabeth helping her decorate the cave

Rachel POV:

“Want a hand?”

Rachel jumped when a voice spoke at the mouth of the cave.  Her surprise didn’t change when she realized it was Annabeth standing there.  The other girl’s expression was a little sheepish, her shoulders slightly hunched. 

Rachel wasn’t sure she’d heard Annabeth right.  Her own voice came out sounding a bit disbelieving when she said, “You want to help me?”

Annabeth shrugged.  “I know you’re getting set up in here and thought maybe you could use some help.”

Rachel raised her eyebrows.  “From you?”

Annabeth winced.  “Never mind.  It’s fine.  I’ll go.” 

“No,” Rachel said as Annabeth turned to the door.  “You don’t have to.”  When Annabeth looked back at her, Rachel added, “You can stay.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.  It’s fine.”  Rachel waved a hand at the hastily assembled furniture sitting around the cave that Apollo had designated as “supremely worthy of my Oracle.”  She had plans to paint the cave walls, but at the moment everything was dark, dingy, and a bit of a mess.  “I could actually use some help getting this all together.”

To Rachel’s surprise, the two of them worked together well.  They had different design aesthetics—Rachel’s had more of the chaos of Jackson Pollock, while Annabeth’s favored the clean lines and natural elements of Frank Lloyd Wright.  But between the two of them, they managed to create a nice vibe in the design of the cave.

After about half an hour, as Rachel was adjusting an armchair, trying to find a good angle with the coffee table, Annabeth blurted out, “I’m sorry.”

Rachel raised her head.  “What?”

“I’m sorry.”  Annabeth’s ears were flaming red.  “I was a complete jerk to you.”

Rachel studied her for a moment, then said, “Yeah, you kind of were.”

Annabeth looked down, lips pursed, but she didn’t say anything.

Then Rachel added, “But I get it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.”  Rachel shrugged.  “I swooped in out of nowhere and tried to steal your guy.  Or, at least, that’s probably what it looked like, right?”

Annabeth crossed her arms, studying Rachel for a moment.  Then she said, “I guess.  I mean, that’s probably what it looked like to you.  About how I was looking at the situation.  But…” she morosely kicked a loose stone.  It skittered across the cave floor.  “It wasn’t just because I had a crush on Percy.”  When Rachel gave her a skeptical look, Annabeth shook her head.  “It wasn’t.  I mean, that was definitely a part of it.  But it’s also…” she paused, then gave a frustrated huff, as if she were searching for words.  “Percy is my person.  He’s been my best friend for years now and he’s the person I trust most in the entire world.  When I thought that he was going to run off to the mortal world and leave all this mythological mess—which it totally was at the time���behind, I just…panicked.”  Annabeth’s shoulders slumped and she sighed.  “And none of that was your fault.  So, I’m sorry.”

Rachel didn’t say anything for several moments as she processed Annabeth’s words.  Honestly, the apology, not to mention the rest of the explanation, had taken her completely by surprise.  She had spent just enough time with Annabeth Chase to guess exactly how hard it had been for her to admit all of that.  And that was something Rachel could respect.  So, she simply said, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome?”

Rachel laughed.  “I appreciate the apology.  And I appreciate you sharing the other stuff with me, too.  Now,” she put her hands on her hips, “can we please just move forward and you can help me figure out where in the heck to put this life-size statue of Apollo so that I don’t have to look at it all of the time?”

Annabeth gave a relieved laugh, even as she nodded and turned to study the statue.  “I’m assuming this was his idea?”

“Of course.  And I couldn’t exactly say no.  I’m definitely going to make a loin cloth or something for it, though.”

“Yeah, you don’t need to stare at a naked sun god all day every day.”  Annabeth critically scrutinized the cave, then pointed.  “What about that niche there?  Near the back.  It’ll look like you’ve made him this special shrine or something, but you can also hang a curtain over it to hide it when he’s not here.”

“And there’s the design skills I was hoping for.”  Rachel smiled and Annabeth returned it.  “Now, how are we supposed to move this damn thing?  It weighs possibly a literal ton.”

Annabeth frowned, but just as if she were thinking, not as if she were annoyed.  Then, a mischievous glint came into her eyes and she gave Rachel an evil grin.  “You know what?  I think that sounds like a great job for Percy and Tyson.  Should we go ask them?”

“And let him think we’ve been talking about him?”  Rachel slowly grinned.  “Yeah, let’s go.”

As they left the cave, Rachel suspected that, much to her surprise, she had just made a new friend.

[residentdormouse]

Ten Lines Tag

Rules: Pick any ten of your fics, scroll to the midpoint, pick a line (or three or more) then share it. Tag others if you want.

Tagged by: @mrsmungus, @themaradaniels

Presumptuous of you all to think I have ten fics 😂😅😬 (I have 3, and one is a whole grand total of 512 words 😖). So I guess, here's what I got??

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Something Like a Spiral

Fandom: the Stand (2020)

Pairings: Glen Bateman/OC, (Canon Fran Goldsmith/Stu Redman & Implied Lloyd Henreid/Randall Flagg)

Rating: M - canon typical violence, language (I say fuck a lot y'all), some smut scenes (marked in chapter to avoid if not preferred reading), drugs (so much vaping)

Words: 101,101 / Completed Work / 33 Chapters

Excerpt from Chapter 14: Popcorn Glass

He knelt in front of her, holding her head upright, hand on her cheek. "Come on, Hayden, I need you to wake up… Please..."

She moved into his hand and he felt her take a deep breath. As her face began to drift into a relaxed position, the static began to fade.

Glen barely had time to feel the relief when he heard two quick claps behind him. Standing in the doorway, Stan had a concerned look on his face, cigarette dangling out of his mouth. It would have been comical if the situation were different.

"Did it work?" Hayden's voice jumped in, tone indicating she was unaware of preceedings.

In a matter of seconds, he was in front of her, pulling her up, holding her tightly against him. As her arms curled around his back, head resting on his shoulder, he felt himself relax as well.

Thinking himself in control of his emotions, Glen took a step back. All it took was one look at her confused face, just one and he fell back to instincts once more. In seconds, he pulled her close, lips meeting hers. The desperate nature behind it was reminiscent of their interactions on the road. Slowly, he regained himself and his hands made their way to sit on her shoulders, pulling back to give her a look over once more.

Oblivious to any previous danger, she let out a breathy laugh, but his expression stayed set with concern. "I'm not complaining about the wake up, but--"

"Are you alright?"

Another chuckle was made at the notion that she wouldn't be, but it stopped once she spotted the red stain on his shirt. Right where her face had been. Her hand shot up to her nose and pulled back with fresh blood. She realized now.

"Fuck me, what happened...?"

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Just Keep Diving Down

Fandom: the Stand (2020)

Pairings: Glen Bateman/OC, Nick Andros/OC, Harold Lauder/OC, Lloyd Henreid/OC (Canon Fran Goldsmith/Stu Redman & Implied Lloyd Henreid/Randall Flagg)

Rating: M - canon typical violence, language (I say fuck a lot y'all), some smut scenes (marked in chapter to avoid if not preferred reading), drugs (so much vaping), major character death (there is some happiness to be found at the end of it all)

Words: 166, 017 / Work in Progress / 33 Chapters (of 36)

Excerpt from Chapter 24: Come On Pretty Monster

That luck was short lived as Hayden threw the door open and reached the control panel. She really didn’t know what else she should have expected. Even if she did have her key card, it would be no use, any pull she had was bound to be removed sometime ago. And now with this damn thing weighing around her neck impeding her ability to do anything beyond normal physical means…

"There might have been a way with magic, but I can't—" And then it hit her. She couldn’t. Her magic was shot. Didn't mean they couldn't use magic at all. "Do you trust me?"

"Do I really need to answer that?"

While Glen’s smile, his subdued attempt at humor, the conviction he had for her, it was all appreciated but, the response wasn’t exactly what she was looking for. Their faith in each other had been established some time ago.

"You, no. Lloyd, yes."

Wide eyes looked back at her as Lloyd was thrown on the spot. His hesitance was highlighted, and indicated he was astutely aware of where this type of question usually led. Nowhere good. And he was terrified of what it was about to put on him.

"Shit, when you say it like that…"

All that was needed to stress the urgency was the sound of a body smashing alongside the nearby wall, a reminder of what was happening around them to prompt a more direct answer.

"Fuck, yes! I trust you, okay!"

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Even in Death

Fandom: Stranger Things

Pairings: none

Rating: G/T - some swearing

Words: 512 / one-shot

Excerpt:

Wavy brown hair popped up from behind the preset barrier. Lights flickered around them, and they could only watch as the table between them hovered slightly and crashed back down to the ground.

“Did you think they could protect you?”

The voice came from Eddie, but it was distorted. Warped in a way only he would be able to imagine. A character only he could create.

“You are all that’s left. Their fate lies on you. Do you flee?”

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Tagging: @asirensrage, @chickensarentcheap, @imagine-you, @anniesocsandgeneralstore and open tag to anybody who would like to gush about their works! Please @ me!!

[just-my-fandom]

I like the hc on being for the Ninjas dating another ninjas sister who’s their soulmate, Could do one where reader (Lloyd’s older sister) Has been dating cole for a bit in secret and Lloyd and Garmadon find out and become overprotective ( I am so sorry I just love the overprotective dad and/or brother trope)

Boo (Cole Brookstone x Garmadon! Reader)

A/N; I stuck with the powers the reader has in this headcannon. I’m currently only writing for Ninjago, the Umbrella Academy, and Stranger Things, so send them in.

Summary; When the Ninja join the Tournament of Elements, Cole and the reader are forced to fight one another. Cole risking himself already raises suspicion to Lloyd and Garmadon, but it isn’t until they confront the reader before they find out the truth.

Also side note, Rest In Peace to Kirby Morrow who voiced Cole.

“THIS whole thing is so stupid,” You drop your tray onto the table seated with four men, settling next to your father and sensei, Garmadon,

“Hey, their foods great though,” Kai speaks up from across you, seated between Cole and your younger brother, Lloyd,

“Take it,” You mutter, pushing your tray to the hot head before resting your elbows on the table,

“You can’t be skipping meals, Y/N,” Garmadon states, dragging the tray back in front of you so you glanced and glared at him, “You never know when you’ll have to fight,”

“Hopefully never,” You spit, Garmadon raising his eyebrows at your tone, “Come on, dad. We’ve already had four rounds and none of us had to fight. Face it, Chen just wants us here for his enjoyment. He doesn’t want to lose any of us,”

“Me and you are seeing a completely different story here, Y/N/N,” Jay peers over the booth across from you, eyes squinting, “I want to fight. You just know you’ll loose,”

“Want happened to encouragement on the team?” Lloyd asks, looking up at Jay,

“Ehem!” A sharp cough through the speakers above cause everyone’s gaze to shift, “Ehem! Ladies and gents, it’s time for round five!”

“Oh come on,” Kai pouts at his food, poking at the chicken and dumplings,

“Would the following Masters please make their way to their assigned arena; Speed, Gravity, Nature, Mind-,”

“I told you,” You glare up at Jay.

“And our last two, Earth and Natural Occurances!”

Your eyes snap over to Cole, who nearly dropped his fork at the mention of his element, “Remember!” Chen laughs, “Only one can remain,”

“IM not fighting you, Cole!” You turn to stare at the black ninja, arms out in alarm before they raise to your hair, “Oh, God, what if he knows? What if he set this up on purpose and tells my dad-,”

“No one knows, Y/N,” Cole instantly steps up to put his hands at your wrists, pulling them down from your hair, “We just gotta do what Chen tells us to do, and we’ll both make it out,”

“Only one remains,” You remind, “One of us has to take the fall,”

“Easy,” Cole shrugs, your brows pinching, “You grab the blade as soon as it starts. You continue on,”

“No,” You shake your head, “That’s not how this works. Give yourself up instantly and they’ll know,”

“Well I’m not letting you take that fall, princess,” Cole pulls back, when Garmadon knocks and hastily steps in,

“You two ready?”

“IM not fighting you,” You repeat your earlier statement, hands clenched as you and Cole stood feet apart in the arena, every elemental master watching above.

“We can draw it out until they call it a tie,” Cole reassures, not loud enough to where Chen could hear, “Quick- attack me, but not too hard,”

You clench your jaw, throwing a hand out so a small tornado formed and threw itself at your secret boyfriend, knocking him off his feet and into the stone wall behind him,

You flinch behind your mask, stomping a foot down so the earth cracked, where Cole jumps to the side, tossing a wall of rocks in your direction.

“I’m bored!” You hear Chen whine, “Release the Condrai Crushers!”

Your eyes snap to the side, yelping when three vehicles roll out of the tunnels in the wall, one zooming straight for you.

You feel Coles arm loop around your waist, tugging you to the side before his back presses to yours, watching the vehicles surround you. “I got your back,”

“I got yours,” You murmur, hand grazing his before you lunge forward, throwing your arms up so the earth raised into a ramp, the first vehicle leaping off said ramp and ramming into the stone wall,

Cole dodges the next vechile, lunging towards the third to drop a pile of rocks over top of the driver, causing him, too, to crash into the wall.

You huff out a relieved breath and high five Cole, grasping his hand with a smile beneath your mask,

“Enough!” Chen shrieks, so you released Coles hand and turned to Chen, “I know what you’re trying to do. And if neither of you will win, you will both loose!”

You watch in alarm as the ground began to drop in small holes, your feet moving backwards and into Cole, his hands at your hips in alert,

You jump to the side when the floor gives out beneath you, stumbling as you are left surrounded by darkness, eyes looking up at the blade at the top of the post,

“Chen’s right!” Cole calls, as you look to him, “One of us has to be win!”

“And it’ll be you!” You shout back, finger pointed, “Get the blade, Cole. I’ll be fine!”

Cole rushes up the post as you look down at your wobbling knees, Cole jumping down onto a stone still intact, tossing the blade so it hit flat against your chest, your hands stumbling to catch it.

“Winner!” Chen calls, as your eyes snap up to Cole, shocked, “Loser!”

“Cole-!” You lunge forward onto the next stone, barely catching yourself as the floor gave out beneath Cole, dropping him into the darkness below,

You clench your jaw and glare up at Chen, chucking the blade across the arena so it slid off the stones, into the pit beneath.

“YOU seemed really distressed during that battle,”

Your eyes flick up from your food, your fork jabbed into the noodles you received. Garmadon raises an eyebrow, and you look back down at your plate.

“What, am I not allowed to care about my friend?”

“Not with how touchy Cole had been,” Lloyd sits down, eyes squinted, “What’s going on between you two? We both know if you had to go up against Kai or Jay you would have been fine with them giving themselves up,”

“Nothing is going on between us, Lloyd,” You snap, gaze hard, “Coles my best friend. We don’t know what happens when we loose, I didn’t want him to get hurt,”

“Y/N, I read you like an open book,” Your fathers tone softens, leaning forward, “Why didn’t you just tell me sooner?”

“Tell you what?” Kai cuts, and you drop your fork, pushing your plate forward,

“Why can’t you just leave me alone?” You ask, harshly, Garmadon frowning, “Nothing is going on between Cole and I. And if there was I wouldn’t tell you because I know how you both get,” You gaze shifts to Lloyd, before you slide out of the booth, hands clenched to stop the earthquake at the tips of your fingers.

“I got her,” Garmadon states, Lloyd and Kai sharing glances as Garmadon followed his oldest daughter.

YOUR hand wipes away the blue in your eye, hearing your fathers footsteps behind you, “Why are you following me?”

“How long?” Garmadon avoids, your arms crossing as you stopped, turning to face him with your head ducked,

“Almost a year,” You murmur, lifting your gaze to his,

“And why I am just now finding out?”

“Because you know how you are,” You squint, “Every boyfriend I had you scared away, and now that boys know who my brother is? They won’t even talk to me,” You hiss, shoulders dropping, “Cole is the only one who I seem to be able to control my powers around. I’m scared that without him here I’m going to accidentally kill someone with my powers,”

“You’ve trained,” Garmadon responds, your eyes rolling.

“Yeah, but I have your anger from when you were Lord Garmadon,”

You miss Garmadons flinch, but hear his sigh, “I just wished you told me,”

“I told mom,” You shrug, “She seems to enjoy the fact that I keep my relationship to myself. Guess that’s out of the box,”

“I won’t say anything to your teammates if that’s what you’re worried about,” Garmadon reassures, watching your fists release, as your brows,

“Thanks, dad,” You murmur, Garmadon smiling as he nods his head towards the dining area, hands behind his back.

“COLE!”

The Master of Earth turns away from helping Garmadon to his feet, stumbling back upon another figure ramming into him, mind quick to realize it was you,

“Whoa,” Cole laughs, weakly, eyes glancing at Garmadon before his arms wrap at your waist, “Dont worry. I’m fine,”

“You’re such an ass,” You lean back to hit his chest, hands then sliding to hold his face, “Dont do that again,”

“No promises,” Cole murmurs, looking over at Lloyd’s alarmed- “I knew it!”

Your hands drop as Lloyd points an accusing finger, Garmadon chuckling, “I knew something was going on between you two!”

“You’re just now realizing that?” Kai asks, so you spun to look at him, alarmed, “Oh don’t give me that look. You guys suck at keeping quiet at night,”

“Do what?” Garmadons smile drops into a scowl, your eyes widening as you take Coles hand,

“This is our cue to leave. We’ll meet you at the docks, guys,”

Lloyd crosses his arms, eyes squinting to his father, “Did you know about this?”

“Why do you sound like the father here?” Garmadon questions, side glancing his son, “Of course I knew. But go easy of them,”

“What?” Lloyd slacks, “Why?”

“An instinct,” Garmadons hands link behind his back, stepping forward to follow after you, “I have a feeling they’re good for each other,”

[rosiehunterwolf]

stuck with you (through bright and blue)

Prompts: Protective

Word Count: 4,400

Characters: The squad

Timeline: Pre-movie movie!verse

Trigger Warnings: Manipulation, Toxic Friendship

Summary: Kai only wants two things: to protect Lloyd, and to give him the best birthday ever. Unfortunately, Lloyd seems hell-bent on making that as difficult as possible. Kai’s always prided himself on achieving the impossible, but dealing with human emotions is much more complicated than beating up Garmadon’s generals or shooting enemies with fire, as he quickly learns. Movie!verse

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Tumblr work under the cut

“Woah, it looks like a massacre in here.”

At the sound of Cole’s voice, Kai, Jay, Lloyd, and Zane looked up from the map they had sprawled out across the table. Red pen was everywhere, circling different buildings and connecting them with lines.

“We’re having trouble finding a venue for Lloyd’s party,” Zane explained.

Nya rolled her eyes. “It’s not that hard! Just pick somewhere!” She held a hand out, shaking her phone. “We have five days until his birthday. Most places require at least that many to book a reservation. If we don’t decide today, we’ll have nowhere to go.”

“We can’t just pick anywhere,” Kai insisted. “It has to be perfect!”

“Why don’t we just go to the arcade?”

“It’s always so busy there.”

“It’s a Wednesday night! How many people are going to be there?”

“Trust me,” Jay said, “It’s still busy. It always is.”

Cole peered at the map. “Why’d you cross off the movie theater? Isn’t there a new Starfarer movie Lloyd’s been wanting to see?”

Kai shook his head. “Tickets sold out in like five hours. By the time school was over and we got over there, they were all gone.”

Jay frowned, running his fingers along one of the major streets. “What’s your favorite restaurant, Lloyd?”

“A restaurant? Are you serious?” Cole laughed. “We’d get kicked out in ten minutes.”

“Why can’t we just do it at my place?” Lloyd murmured. “I don’t need anything big deal.”

Kai frowned. “Your apartment isn’t that big, Lloyd. And I don’t want to bother your mom with all the decorations and stuff.”

Lloyd shrugged, looking down. “It doesn’t need to be big.”

“If you really want something simple,” Nya said, “why don’t we just do it at the warehouse? It’ll just be us, but there’s lots of space.”

Zane nodded. “That space would suffice. We would just have to ask Master Wu.”

“That is, if you’re certain that’s what you want.” Nya looked at Lloyd closely. “You sure you don’t want to do anything else?”

Lloyd nodded.

“Positive, bud?” Kai pushed. “Because it’s your birthday. We don’t mind at all.”

“I’m fine,” Lloyd insisted, getting to his feet. “It’s just another day on the calendar. Don’t make such a big fuss.”

The ninja fell silent.

“Lloyd,” Nya murmured, “it is a big deal to us.”

“Sorry. I’m just tired. And I’ve got homework. I should go.”

“Lloyd, wait-”

The green ninja pulled away from Kai’s outstretched hand. “I’m fine, Kai. I just have to go. Call me if you need anything.”

---

When they went back to school on Monday, their teachers loaded them with assignments, and Kai didn’t have a spare minute to talk to Lloyd in their shared classes. He couldn’t even talk at lunch because Lloyd had to make up a test. He kept his eyes peeled for his friend every time he was in the hallways, but if there was one thing Lloyd was good at, it was not being seen.

At the end of the school day, Nya texted him to meet up near their lockers. He got there and found her huddled around her locker with Cole, Jay, and Zane.

Kai walked over to them. “What’s going on? Where’s Lloyd?”

“He said he’d catch up with us later, which is why now is the perfect time for party preparation,” Jay said, gesturing towards Nya, who had a fiercely determined look on her face and was tightly clutching a clipboard. “Apparently she’s been waiting her whole life for this.”

“Alright.” Nya looked up from her clipboard. “I’ve already got streamers and gift wrap at home. What about you guys?”

“I’ve got a banner ordered with his name on it,” Cole said. “And of course, the shark tablecloths-”

Jay blinked. “Sharks?”

“Yeah. He loves sharks.”

“No, no, no, you’ve got it all wrong! We’re getting the dragon ones! He loves dragons!”

“Well, yeah, duh, but he’d obviously like the shark one better.”

“Are you kidding? Sharks would remind him of his dad’s mechs!” “Yeah, well, dragons remind him of his mech, which also reminds him of fighting his dad.”

“Totally not the same, plus dragons are way cooler-”

“Okay, we’re going with the Starfarer ones, then,” Nya grumbled. “What about balloons? Who’s covering-”

“I have balloons,” Zane interrupted. “Two hundred and seventy-five of them.”

They gawked at him.

“Zane… why do you have so many balloons just lying around?” Jay asked.

“They are new! In the package! I can blow them up for Lloyd’s birthday party-”

“Shhhhh!” Four pairs of hands immediately pushed over his mouth, silencing him, even though they were the only ones in the very empty hallway.

“No one can find out,” Cole insisted. “This is Lloyd’s special day. We’re not about to let anyone ruin it.”

“Okay, so Zane’s got the balloons.” Nya ticked another item off the list. “What about the cake? I have most of the ingredients to make one at home, but I’m completely lacking the baking skills.”

Cole nodded. “I can bake a cake. What’s his favorite kind?”

“Lloyd likes that Funfetti one,” Kai murmured.

Cole’s nose wrinkled. “I’m not baking a box mix. I can get him the rainbow sprinkles, though, and make a homemade one.”

“Okay, sounds good. Jay, could you pick up some confetti before his birthday? And Zane, we need some fun paper plates.”

“Zane, you should get shark ones.”

“No, dragons!” “Zane will pick out whichever plates he likes,” Nya snapped.

“What about gifts?” Jay asked. “What are you guys getting?”

“I’m not telling you,” Nya yelped. “I have the best gift ever and I don’t want you stealing any ideas.”

“I’ve been setting aside pieces of my allowance for a month,” Cole grinned. “It’s gonna be sweet.”

Jay blinked at him expectantly, and Cole smirked. “I’m not telling you, either, blabbermouth.”

“Blabbermouth?” he yelped. “I can keep secrets perfectly fine, thank you.”

“Oh yeah? What about that time you nearly gave away all of our ninja identities?”

“Or-” Zane added, “when he and Lloyd were working on those surprise mech upgrades and he accidentally said something in front of Kai and Nya?”

“Oh, remember when he spoiled the finale of Cole’s favorite show?” Nya grinned. “Cole was pissed.”

“Okay, okay, so there were a few times,” Jay spluttered. “But those were a while ago! I have many more secrets that I have kept than I haven’t.”

Cole crossed his arms, smirking. “Name one.”

“Well, there was that one time, where I- hey!” He stopped, glaring at Cole. “You’re trying to trick me into telling you a secret!”

“And it very nearly worked. So no. You can’t know.”

Nya shrugged. “Sorry, Jay. He’s right. When you have a secret, you get nervous. And when you’re nervous, you talk. A lot. It would only be a matter of time before you spilled everything to Lloyd.”

“Fine,” Jay muttered. “Keep your secrets.”

Kai jumped slightly as Nya elbowed him, and she frowned. “You okay? You’ve been really quiet.”

Kai shrugged, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “Is it just me, or… did Lloyd seem like he doesn’t really want a birthday party?”

The others went quiet.

“We’re not going to not give him a party,” Nya insisted. “You know how he gets. He never wants anyone to make a fuss.” Her brow furrowed. “It’s like he still can’t get it into his skull that we care about him.”

“I mean, of course I want to, it’s just… we can’t force him to do anything he doesn’t want.” Kai bit his lip. “It’s been a rough past few months for him. I just want him to be happy.”

“We all do,” Cole agreed. “Lloyd deserves a night just about him, for once.”

Zane frowned. “But how are we supposed to give him the party that he wants if he won’t tell us what he wants?”

“Let me try to talk to him,” Kai said. “He might open up more if it’s just one of us there.”

---

Lloyd, in fact, did not want to talk.

He was more open during their classes the next day, and held casual conversation with him, but forcefully avoided the topic of his birthday whenever Kai brought it up.

He huffed with frustration. What kind of kid didn’t want to celebrate their birthday? He wished Lloyd would just tell him what was going on.

He wasn’t going to, though, so naturally, the next best thing was to follow him.

He wouldn’t call it spying- just finding another way of obtaining information when Lloyd refused to give it himself. Besides, he was doing this to help Lloyd, not to hurt him.

Kai jerked himself out of his thoughts as Lloyd nearly slipped from his view. He gritted his teeth, refocusing on him. Lloyd wasn’t an easy person to follow, either.

When he finally caught up to him, keeping a reasonable distance, of course, Lloyd was hovering near his locker. An unfamiliar, dark-haired kid was leaning against it, laughing at something as Lloyd smiled uneasily. Kai edged closer, his frown deepening.

“Where’s the spike head? And the rest of your gang?”

“Kai?” Lloyd shifted. “I dunno. He probably had homework and stuff to do.”

The guy shrugged. “I kind of found him annoying, anyway. You realize no one could ever get to you when your friends were around, right?”

“I guess that’s… kind of the point.”

“You can’t spend your whole life letting them protect you. If you block out any person who hurts you, you block out anyone who could potentially be a friend, too.” The guy smiled in a way that made Kai wanted to chuck himself between Lloyd and the guy.

“That’s… that’s the thing. No one wants to be nice to me.”

“Spare me the sob story,” the guy rolled his eyes. “I know your dad sucks, but at least you have one.”

Lloyd flinched. “Sorry.”

The guy laughed, putting a hand on his shoulder and shoving him. “Stop being so jumpy, will ya? No wonder kids pick on you, you’re as harmless as a flea.”

“What am I supposed to do?” Lloyd blinked. “I can’t hit them back, or I’ll be in more trouble than I already am.”

“You don’t need to hit them, just show them you’re not a total coward! Maybe if you actually listen to them instead of cringing away, things might change.”

“Listen to them? Are you saying they’re right?”

“What does it matter if they’re right? Look, Lloyd, you’ve already got it hard enough as it is, and you’re making everything more difficult. You’d be so much cooler if you actually hung out with important people and not the outcast-losers you’ve stationed yourself with.”

For the first time since the conversation had started, Lloyd appeared indignant. “They’re not- I mean, you’re not-”

The guy laughed. “See? You can’t even get a word out. You’re so pathetic. You don’t even need the fact that you’re Garmadon’s son to get picked on, you already got it all set up for the torment-”

Kai wasn’t aware of himself pushing forward, he just was, and suddenly he was gripping the guy by the collar of his shirt, a pair of wide, brown eyes staring fearfully up into his.

“Who do you think you are and what the hell are you doing?”

“I… um, I…” the guy swallowed, his throat running dry.

“You treating my best friend like a piece of shit?” Kai shook him. “Are you?”

“I’m sorry!” The guy squirmed. “I didn’t really mean it, we were just joking around, he says that kind of stuff to me all the time!”

“Really? Lloyd. Says that. You sure we’re talking about the same person? Because I do not take nicely to liars.”

The guy squirmed harder. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry! Just please let me go, I’ll never bother you again!” Kai shot him the fiercest glare he could muster. “You better not.” He stepped back, dropping the kid, and he took off like a bullet.

Turning back to Lloyd, he saw his friend was staring at the fleeing boy with wide, disbelieving eyes, but it quickly dissipated to anger as he turned to Kai. “What the heck did you do that for?”

Kai’s eyes widened. “I was protecting you? From a bully?” Lloyd’s eyes flashed, and Kai actually took a step back. “I don’t need you to protect me! I can fight my own battles!”

Before Kai could even say anything, Lloyd was storming down the hallway and disappearing around the corner.

Kai just stood there for a moment, in shock. What was that all about? Hadn’t he done the same thing for Lloyd a dozen times? Why would defending him ever be bad?

A buzz in his pocket interrupted his thoughts. Kai pulled out his phone to see a new message in the chat from his sister.

irondragonfangirl: how r things going with lloyd

MasterofFiyaaaaa: honestly? i think i made it worse

irondragonfangirl: well u better find a way to fix it soon because his bday’s TOMORROW

MasterofFiyaaaaa: yeah i’ll find a way through to him

MasterofFiyaaaaa: i just hope he listens

irondragonfangirl: don’t worry

irondragonfangirl: he will

irondragonfangirl: just make sure u remember to listen to him too

irondragonfangirl: i have a feeling we haven’t been doing that enough

irondragonfangirl: i feel terrible

MasterofFiyaaaaa: yeah me too

MasterofFiyaaaaa: we’ll make it up to him though

MasterofFiyaaaaa: right?

irondragonfangirl: sure as long as cole doesn’t burn this cake

irondragonfangirl: seriously y did we let him bake it

irondragonfangirl: if i dont respond in the next hour just assume his house burnt down and im dead

MasterofFiyaaaaa: can i have your motorcycle if you die

irondragonfangirl: shut up

---

Kai spent an hour looking for Lloyd after their confrontation, but he couldn’t find him anywhere, and Lloyd, unsurprisingly, hadn’t answered any of the twenty-some texts Kai had sent him, either. Eventually, he had to give up looking for him and resigned to speaking to him at school tomorrow.

His birthday.

In the first class they had together, Lloyd avoided looking at him, and Kai felt an ache in his chest. Today was his birthday. He knew things weren’t going to turn out like he had imagined, but he wanted them to at least be better than this.

Swallowing back his nerves, Kai walked over to him, where he was doodling something in his notebook.

Kai cleared his throat. “Um. Lloyd?”

Lloyd looked up, an expression flashing across his face that Kai couldn’t read, but he didn’t immediately leave or turn away from him, which Kai took as a good sign.

“Happy birthday, dude.”

Lloyd smiled tentatively back. “Thanks.”

Things didn’t go immediately back to normal after that- there was still a tension between them, and Lloyd wasn’t saying much more than a couple sentences at a time, firmly avoiding the topic of the previous day- but at least it was back to a level where Kai didn’t feel absolutely horrible for ruining his day. Lunch, at least, got a smile out of him- as well as a bunch of embarrassed blushing as Nya stabbed a candle into his brownie (they couldn’t actually light it, lighters weren’t allowed on campus) and they insisted on singing to him so off-key that Cole looked like he wanted to punch them.

When the last bell finally rang, Kai headed over to Lloyd’s locker, hoping they could talk now that there weren’t other kids around, but he wasn’t there.

Kai relented, pulling out his phone.

MasterofFiyaaaaa: Lloyd? i know youre upset but can we plz talk?

He held his breath, staring at the screen intensely, as if that would make Lloyd respond.

While he was waiting, a message from a group chat popped up.

irondragonfangirl: what’s taking so long jay, we need those decorations

jaybird123: eta 5 mins

jaybird123: i literally just left class how’d you get there so fast

jaybird123: wait you didn’t use the tunnels did you

irondragonfangirl: no me and cole are bringing the CAKE remember?

irondragonfangirl: im not taking that through the tunnel

irondragonfangirl: we didnt spend 3 hrs on that for it to get squished

irondragonfangirl: i told the nurse i wasn’t feeling well so i could go home early

irondragonfangirl: why didnt YOU take them

jaybird123: i couldn’t exactly discreetly smuggle all these decorations into my locker

jaybird123: mmm cake. is it good?

irondragonfangirl: don’t even THINK about it, that’s not until Lloyd gets here

jaybird123: but im hungryyyy

jaybird123: do i need to pick up anything for dinner?

rock’n’cole: nah it’s cool, we just found out lloyd’s favorite chinese restaurant, the Bamboo Dragon, delivers so we’re gonna order from there

jaybird123: my mouth is watering already

ZaneJulien:0xD;): Jay, you shouldn’t text while driving.

jaybird123: tell nya to get off my case then!

irondragonfangirl: exCUSE me zane you are supposed to be putting up those balloons right now why are YOU on your phone

ZaneJulien:0xD;): Why are you texting me? We are in the same room.

irondragonfangirl: why are YOU texting ME

rock’n’cole: would you guys just stop being dumb and come help me

irondragonfangirl: great now you got cole in on it too

rock’n’cole: would you two just GET OFF YOUR PHONES

Kai was interrupted from whatever turn the conversation was going to take next when he finally got another notification.

thegreendragon: ok. you know where i’ll be

Kai blinked, turning towards the doors and pushing through them, walking out onto the school lawn. The main feature was the football stadium, although there were other things as well- large trees, garden patches for the science classes, picnic tables for eating lunch outside, if the weather permitted. And- although the students were too old for recess, now- there was still a small swing set- a simple, rusty thing, with only two swings, but it served its purpose. Sitting on one of them, gently rocking, was Lloyd.

Kai made his way over, sitting down beside him in the other swing.

“So, uh… can we talk? About yesterday?”

Lloyd nodded, and Kai titled his head at him, trying to gauge his thoughts. “Who was that kid?”

Lloyd breathed out slowly. “His name is Brad. He was my best- and only- friend in elementary school, but we were separated when I moved away. Brad’s family just recently moved to Ninjago City, and I… I was hoping to reconnect with him.”

Kai ignored the twinge of jealousy at the words “best friends.” Lloyd was allowed to have other people than him in his life, and things had obviously changed since then, anyway.

“I’m sorry, Lloyd. I didn’t mean to interrupt anything, but from what I saw… Brad was being a jerk to you.”

Lloyd shifted uncomfortably. “Yeah, I… he’s changed since we were kids. The efforts at rekindling our friendship honestly aren’t going so well. That’s… that’s why I was in a bad mood. I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you. You were only trying to do something nice for me.” “Don’t worry about me. But this Brad kid… anyone who treats you like that doesn’t deserve to be your friend.”

“I know, I just…” Lloyd sighed, running his fingers through his hair. “I was so eager to make a friend other than you guys…” His eyes widened as he processed his own words. “Not there’s anything wrong with you guys, it’s just- I just wanted to actually earn someone who wasn’t friends with me because of a shared occupation.”

Kai elbowed him. “Hey. This whole ninja thing may be what got us introduced to each other, but we’re not friends with you because you’re one of the ninja. We’re your friends because we love you as a person. As Lloyd, not the green ninja.”

Lloyd sniffed, giving him a soft smile. “Thanks, Kai. I’m glad I have you to protect me.”

“You don’t need protection, but you’re stuck with me as a best friend, so you’re going to get it, anyway.”

Lloyd laughed. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

His phone buzzed, and he quickly checked it.

irondragonfangirl: the party’s all set up, now the only thing missing is lloyd. did you get to talk to him?

MasterofFiyaaaaa: yeah, we’re cool now. on our way

Kai turned back to Lloyd. “C’mon, green machine. Let’s go enjoy your birthday.”

Lloyd blinked at him. “Huh?”

“Your party, remember? The one Nya and the guys have spent the whole week planning? Or is there some other celebration I don’t know about?”

Lloyd shook his head. “No, no, it’s just- I thought I messed it all up.”

“Don’t worry, we got it under control.”

“Really?”

“This is our teammates you’re talking about! Stubborn as mules. They’re not giving up on you that easily.”

“I… thank you. Thank you guys.”

“You can tell them yourself. We’re going to this party, and we’re going to have fun!”

---

Kai had to admit, he was impressed with what the others had been able to pull off in such a short amount of time.

It was nothing huge or extravagant, but it was a nice little party, and Lloyd seemed to like it better like that, anyway.

They were barely through the doors of the warehouse when Jay was launching himself into Lloyd’s arms, pulling him into a tight hug, the others close behind.

“Happy birthday!” they cheered.

Lloyd hugged them back, laughing. “Thanks, guys, I didn’t- I didn’t expect all this!”

“Are you kidding?” Nya put her hands on her hips, grinning. “We’re pulling out all the stops for our baby bro.”

Lloyd’s smile briefly flickered to a scowl. “I’m not a baby.”

“To us, you always will be,” Kai said, slinging an arm around his shoulders and ruffling his hair. Lloyd squirmed away, although he was unable to hide the grin on his face.

“Wow, this place really looks different.” Lloyd gazed around at the warehouse with wide eyes. They had pushed aside training equipment to make room for tables and chairs, and green and gold streamers decorated the walls, adorned by multicolored balloons. Someone had plugged a gaming console into the TV, as well as a DVD player next to a box of DVDs- which must’ve been Jay’s, he was the only person Kai knew, apart from Master Wu, who even had DVDs anymore- because Kai still hadn’t been able to convince Master Wu to buy them Netflix on the warehouse’s TV, getting the TV there in the first place had been hard enough as it was. On the far end was a buffet table, filled with rice, chicken, dumplings, and other Chinese staples from the Bamboo Dragon- as well as a beautiful, heavily frosted cake in the center of it all. It was decorated with rainbow sprinkles, making it completely and uniquely Lloyd.

Lloyd’s eyes were on the cake too, his eyes wide. “Cole! It looks amazing! I never knew you were so good at making cakes!”

Cole shrugged, trying to hide his smile. “I’ve had some experience.”

“Hey! What makes you think Cole made it?” Nya sniffed.

Cole blinked. “I did.”

“Well, I helped.”

Cole snorted. “Don’t know if you could call it that. From my point of view, it seems like I was doing most of the work while you were busy texting your boo.”

Both Nya and Jay turned scarlet.

“I was not,” Nya spluttered. “I was making preparations for Lloyd’s party!” “Yeah, yeah, whatever you have to tell yourself.”

“Let’s not jump to conclusions too hastily,” Jay said, turning to walk over to the cake. “The true judge of quality will be how good it tastes.”

Nya stuck an arm in front of him. “Not so fast, mister! Dinner first.”

After laughing, playing games, and eating, they insisted on opening presents. Lloyd was all smiles and gratitude with each one, which ended up sparking a debate between the others about whose gift he liked best.

“He totally loved my gift!” “Nuh-uh! Did you see the way he smiled a little differently on mine?”

“Jay, you literally gave him a book. Why would he be excited about that?”

“Not just any book! A first edition Starfarer collector’s comic from when my parents were kids, and in mint condition, too!”

“Why would you want some dusty old comic when you could have the newest Starfarer video game?” Kai argued. “It took forever for me to find one of these, they were sold out everywhere.”

“Starfarer this, Starfarer that,” Cole sighed. “I don’t understand how he could possibly need any more Starfarer things. The record I engraved for him is way more personable and unique.”

“You guys are thinking about this all wrong! You should’ve gotten him a katana like me, something that he actually needs and uses.”

“Statistically, Lloyd spends more time drawing than any other hobby,” Zane said. “Which means my gift of an art book and new set of pencils is logically the best fit.”

“Clearly you guys all have it wrong in the head-”

“Guys, relax,” Lloyd laughed. “I loved all your gifts equally.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“Jay… it means exactly what you think it means.”

“You can’t even pick one gift?”

Lloyd shook his head. “No way. These are all amazing. Thank you, guys. Really.” His gaze met Kai’s for a long beat. “For everything.”

“Of course. But, just to make things clear, you did like mine the most, right? You’re just saying you liked them equally, so that you didn’t make the others feel bad?”

Lloyd smacked his forehead as the others burst into protest again, and Kai shot him a sharp-edged grin. “I can do this all night.”

Eventually, Lloyd got them to stop bickering- the mention of cake got them all quiet pretty quickly- and after divvying it up, they went over to the couch and played the video game Kai had gotten him. He quickly lost track of time, but time didn’t matter. Even if it meant they would be tired for school the next day, seeing Lloyd like this- half sprawled over his teammates, brow scrunched in concentration as he mashed buttons on his controller, hints of frosting on his lips as he tried and failed miserably to bite back his laughter- it was worth it. He looked happier than Kai had seen him in weeks.

For that, he could even contain himself from bragging about how Lloyd obviously liked his gift best.

[lloydskywalkers]

any port in a storm

Pixal and Lloyd and the evolving nature of friendship, as highlighted by the regular burning down of your city. 

(desperately trying to break through writer’s block and classes again, this was supposed to be under 2k and it is...very much not hdfjkgh but! i’ve been meaning to write for Pixal and Lloyd for a while so here are a whole bunch of feelings about the two of them and s8)

Pixal meets — truly meets — Lloyd Garmadon shortly after his brother’s been blown to pieces.

She says truly, because if you ask her, Pixal will tell you she met Lloyd Garmadon at exactly 8:48 in the evening outside his father’s monastery, moments before a horde of nindroids led there by Pixal herself descended upon them.

But Lloyd argues that since they said about two words total to each other, it doesn’t really count as meeting, and by the time Pixal’s spending the better part of her day with him running high and low around Ninjago City, she’s learned that it’s easier not to press the point.

Lloyd can be stubborn, like that.

She’d first learned that when she’d met him, just after they’d lost Zane. That loss hadn’t lasted long, especially for Pixal, but the immediate aftermath of it had been devastating. She’d watched with blank eyes as the team had fractured, splitting at the seams as they all fled their separate ways, too heartsore and dizzy with grief to do much otherwise.

All of them had fled, save Lloyd. She hadn’t paid him much attention before that point, the surprisingly small bearer of the Golden Power. Of course, he wasn’t the bearer of that power anymore, but his eyes alone had shown the experience of it. There’d been a brief, lost look that had crossed his face as the others had mentioned leaving, before it had been swept under a mask of stubborn, determined blankness. He wouldn’t be leaving. Someone had to stay behind and watch out for things, he’d claimed, even as the loss had bled through his voice.

Pixal hadn’t quite grasped the concept of empathy at that point, but she’d felt something dangerously close to it.

At any rate, the only interaction they’d had alone was brief. In fact, the only one Pixal can truly remember — and her memory never fails — is the quick exchange they’d had in the hospital lobby directly after the battle. The hospital was for Mr. Borg, and for the ninja’s minor injuries.

There was nothing any hospital on earth could do for Zane.

Pixal had found herself next to Lloyd in the waiting room, trying to distract herself from those thoughts while Lloyd stared at the stark white tiling with dull eyes.

“They never mentioned what your power was,” she’d asked him, almost absently. Collecting data, processing information — anything she could do to distract from the crushing grief.

“Oh.” Lloyd had blinked, startling back into awareness. He’d suddenly looked painfully young. “It’s, ah, I guess it’s just green, now.”

It had been Pixal’s turn to blink. ���Green.”

“Yeah.” Lloyd had bit his lip, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly, two habits he’ll never quite lose. “I mean — it’s more than that, but it’s like — energy, I guess, is the best way to put it?”

“Interesting,” Pixal had remarked.

“Yeah.”

They’d stared at each other in silence after that, before they’d both been called off to other errands — and then they were having Zane’s funeral and then Pixal was making realizations she never got to tell anyone, and that had been that in her early introductions to Lloyd Garmadon. Quiet, awkward, and possessing an incredible power he hardly even knew the name of.

Looking back, Pixal figures her introduction hadn’t gone much better.

They’d continued as passing acquaintances as time went on, separated by danger and the confines of Zane’s head, and Pixal had figured that’s all they’d ever be. But then their Sensei goes missing and, despite Pixal’s increasing disappearances on Zane as she rebuilds her own body, she’s been given the role of watching out for Ninjago city along with Lloyd.

She quickly learns that quiet is not a term fit for Lloyd Garmadon when you’re trapped alone with him.

************

“How is there not a single station playing actual music?” Lloyd seethes, flicking through the channels almost manically. “It’s two am, who’s gonna be listening to your stupid commercial for toothpaste now, are you kidding me?”

“Statistically speaking, this is the prime time for long-distance driving near Ninjago City,” Pixal supplies, her voice a hint scratchy where it comes through the his car’s radio speakers. “Or, if you factor in the construction in the east district, there could still be traffic from late-night bars.”

Lloyd groans, thunking his head against the steering wheel as another ad screeches through the small space. “Wonderful.”

“Your vocal tones suggest you find it otherwise.”

“Dont trust ‘em, my vocal tones are traitors.” As if to solidify his point, Lloyd’s voice cracks in the middle of his sentence, shooting up an octave higher. Lloyd goes bright red, and thunks his head against the steering wheel again.

Taking pity on him, Pixal aims for reassurance. “It is normal for your voice to break, Lloyd. It shouldn’t last too long.” She pauses, momentarily scanning through another article. “On second thought, this one suggests it could also take two to three years for your voice to stabilize.”

Lloyd gives a strangled moan. “End me.”

“Unfortunately, that would defeat the purpose of why I’m here in the first place.”

Lloyd tilts his head, cracking an eye open as he glances at the camera feed he knows she’s watching him from. “Unfortunately, huh,” he muses. “So you’re saying if Zane hadn’t made you promise to look out for me, you would end me?”

“That — no, that is not — of course I wouldn’t end you,” Pixal backtracks. An odd feeling flickers through her, almost as if she’s lost her place, floundering.

Or embarrassed might be more accurate, she thinks wryly. She briefly considers projecting a a glaring face at Lloyd from the monitor. This is his fault. She rarely stuttered before Lloyd started teasing her at all hours of the morning.

“I mean, you wouldn’t be the first,” Lloyd continues, conversationally. “And if we’re being honest, I’d definitely rather you be the one to off me, instead of like, random bad guy number eighty-five—”

“I know you think you are funny,” Pixal cuts over him. “But casually planning for your death is something Kai listed I was not to let you do. Also, it is not nearly as funny as you think it is.”

“Ouch,” Lloyd mutters, though he looks chastised. “Never mind, you just took me out in one sentence.”

Chastised might be the wrong term.

Pixal studies him through the monitor, then sighs. “I am, however, honored you think highly enough of me to offer the right to murder you,” she gives in.

She’s rewarded as Lloyd breaks into a bright grin.

He still looks painfully young these days, but it’s less obvious. His voice is pitching lower and he wears his hair different, and he’s gained a whip-like tendency to quip at people, as Pixal’s experienced firsthand. Kai calls it sass in grumbling but fond tones, and Nya calls it snark somewhere between the fourth book series she’s sent for Pixal to try.

The ninja have been kind like that, sharing the interests they have in an attempt to make her feel…well, more human, she supposes. Less confined to a voice in a computer. Of course, Pixal isn’t confined to a voice in a computer anymore, but they don’t know that yet. She’ll tell them someday soon, she promises herself. Any day now.

In the meantime, it’s easy enough to keep up with Lloyd by lurking in his car radio, as he spends half his time in there anyways.

************

“You’d think we’d have found their hideout by now,” Lloyd notes, as they wait in a darkened alleyway again. It gives them an excellent view of the major highways, so if the rumored biker gang does show up, they won’t miss it.

If they show up being the key point.

“Whoever their leader is, they certainly know how to keep a low profile,” Pixal answers, closing out another dead end police report in frustration.

“It’s weird,” Lloyd says, propping the notebook he’s sketching in on his knee as he squints at the paper. “Normally the boss types aren’t this quiet. They like to show off, y’know? Make a big scene, dramatic speeches and all.”

“Are you referring to the villains, or yourselves?”

“Touché,” Lloyd snorts. “But still, you gotta admit it’s weird they haven’t even made any demands. What’s their end game here, elaborate advertising for motorcycle design?”

“I would hope not,” Pixal says. “Their color coordination is lacking.”

Lloyd fights back a smile, his pencil scratching as he shifts his notebook again. “I don’t know, I kinda like the punk look.”

“I noticed that, when you tried to redecorate the car.”

“Hey, skulls are cool.”

“They are also conspicuous, especially when they come in acid green colors.”

“Everyone’s a critic,” Lloyd sighs, making a face as he scrubs the eraser across the paper. Pixal tries to tilt the camera further, to see what he’s drawing tonight, but the angle he’s holding it at remains just out of sight.

She could probably guess what he’s drawing, if she tried. The notebook is one they’ve been steadily working their way through on these late-night patrols, the pages filled with little hangman games and Lloyd’s sketches of animals and his teammates. He’s drawn her a few times from memory, and she’s been tempted to ask him to draw her in the new Samurai X armor more than once.

Soon, she tells herself.

“What are you drawing?” she finally asks, curiosity getting the better of her.

Lloyd’s cheeks tinge pink, and he quickly plasters the notebook to his chest, hiding it entirely from view. “Nothing.”

Pixal waits, letting the silence fill with her judgement. “Lloyd, I have seen your drawings before.”

He doesn’t reply, and Pixal tries again. “It gets boring, being stuck with the car monitors for eyes.”

“I know you can hack other cameras,” Lloyd mutters, but he sighs, relenting as he turns the notebook over. Pixal’s eyes rake over the detailed sketch — it’s a comical little thing of her and Lloyd, jammed together on a tiny lifeboat in the middle of a darkening ocean. She can spot the smudges where he’s redrawn her head several times, and the numerous attempts he’s made at his own hair. Pixal studies Lloyd’s portrayal of himself, which is noticeably lacking in facial features. While Lloyd draws the others plenty, it’s a rare occasion that he draws himself, and she can’t help but be curious.

“I thought you were drawing the others again,” she admits.

“They’re on the ship,” Lloyd says, absently. “I’ll draw them when they remember to pull us back in.”

There’s nothing bitter in his tone to suggest it has any bearing on their actual lives, but the lost expressions Lloyd ends up giving their tiny caricatures feel familiar nonetheless.

“Zane has assured me they will be back as soon as they can,” Pixal speaks ups quietly.

Lloyd finally looks up fully, and flashes the monitor a smile. “I know,” he says. “So we better have this thing busted by the time they do, or they’ll never let us run a city on our own again.”

“If only we were truly running the city,” Pixal grumbles. “I could do a better job in two days than the current leaders could do in a year.”

“I’d vote for you,” Lloyd says, sincerely.

It’s a sweet gesture, but Pixal is unable to resist. “You don’t know how to vote.”

“Yes I do, it’s not hard!”

“Really? Then why are you not currently registered in the Ninjago voting system?”

Lloyd makes a strangled noise. “That’s a thing?”

She’s unable to keep the smugness from her voice. “I make my point.” Lloyd scowls, and scribbles a mustache on his drawing of her in revenge.

Pixal thinks it looks nice nonetheless.

************

She can’t really hold it against Lloyd for talking as much as he does, considering she does the same. It gets dull, sitting on patrol for hours on end, and there are only so many hours of light reading they can do before the silence begins to drive them both insane.

Pixal finds herself talking about more useless things with Lloyd than she has in her existence, pointless conversations in circles with each other. She also finds she doesn’t entirely mind. She’s become quite good at quipping back and forth with him, at least. It’s different than the kind of talk she has with Zane, lacking in the depth of feeling with the love they share. Her exchanges with Lloyd are lighter, though that’s not to say they’re less sincere.

For example, Zane hasn’t tried to teach her how to redesign a gi in poor lighting in the early hours of the morning because he’s bored out of his mind, that’s for sure.

“I’m teaching you how to sew,” Lloyd corrects, wincing as he accidentally stabs himself with the needle. “And I’m not redesigning the whole thing, I’m just adding some designs to spice it up.”

“I did not know you were allowed to wear colors other than green,” Pixal comments.

Lloyd pauses, squinting at the monitor. “You’re teasing me,” he finally says. “You’re making fun of how much green this gi has in it.”

“I would never,” Pixal replies, her tone flat and even. “The intricacies of your human humor evade me—”

“Human humor, nice—”

“—unlike the unusually bright shade of green you’ve chosen will fail to evade any eyes of your enemies.”

“I knew you were making fun of me!” Lloyd accuses, then flinches as he stabs his finger again trying to point at her. “And bright colors are our thing. Being subtle is, uh…not. Usually.”

Pixal is losing the battle to laugh at his expression by the minute. “I am shocked.”

Lloyd glares at the monitor, shifting his sewing to rest on his knees as he slouches in the car seat. “How’d you even get so good at sarcasm, anyways,” he mutters. “Zane still doesn’t get it half the time.”

“Perhaps it is part of my glowing personality,” Pixal says. Lloyd gives a huff of laughter, relenting.

“Fair enough,” he says, shifting in his seat again. “Fine, you win. The green is probably too bright, but that’s not the point. I’m gonna show you how to do a backstitch."

Pixal falls quiet, letting Lloyd gesture with the needle as he explains. There are a hundred, a thousand tutorials she could pull up online, digitized knowledge instantly learned on all the countless types of stitches she could use, sorted and categorized in neat columns of use and effectiveness. All of them more detailed, more easily understood than Lloyd’s absent rambling and unsteady hands as he struggles with the end of a knot.

Not one of them will care whether or not Pixal learns the odd way Zane likes to loop his stitches, or will quietly add which stitches knit skin back together quickest.

So Pixal ignores her programming, and does her best to follow Lloyd’s rambling instructions, watching as his scarred fingers tug another thread of dull gold through the green mess of fabric, the city quiet around them.

“You never did tell me where you learned how to sew,” Pixal says, as Lloyd starts up a new thread of black on the other side of the gi. “Was that something the others taught you in training?”

“They’d have to know how to be able to teach it,” Lloyd snickers. “And, uh, no. I taught myself to back at Darkley’s.”

“Oh,” Pixal falters. She’s heard about Darkley’s, both from Zane and the legal reports she’s read online. Neither gave a positive impression of the place. Her mind is suddenly filled with images of a younger Lloyd trying to give himself stitches, and her heart twists.

Lloyd starts, seemingly having picked up on her train of thought. “I mean, I did it for fun, mostly. I like sewing,” he explains. “It’s useful. You can pull things back together, and fix ‘em.”

Pixal is quiet, but she hopes Lloyd takes her silence as agreement with his motive. She likes to think he knows her well enough for that, by now.

************

Pixal finds, somewhere during their fourth month alone, that she’s glad the team elected to stick her and Lloyd together. Not because she doesn’t want to be with Zane — there’s never a moment she doesn’t miss him, and with every day that passes her resolve to keep her secret from him grows weaker, as the longing for actual connection grows stronger.

But there are conversations she can have with Lloyd that she can never have with Zane, and the dangerous thing about spending time with Lloyd, Pixal finds, is that they’re more similar than she’s realized.

“Sometimes I think I’m jealous,” Lloyd whispers to her one night. It’s one of the bad ones, the ones where their enemies struck too sudden to stop, and the mission ends in the hospital. “I think I’m jealous of Zane, and I hate myself for it.”

Pixal is quiet, trying to pick apart the tone of his voice in the words he’s just spoken, and factors in the victims they’ve just left behind at the hospital. She finds herself no closer to an answer.

“Is it the metal skin part?” she finally asks, though she knows that’s wrong. “The, what was it, technical immortality?”

“No,” Lloyd shakes his head. “I’m not afraid of dying,” he says emphatically, his fingers fluttering at over the steering wheel, tapping incessantly with unspent energy. “I don’t want to, but that’s — it’s not what I’m scared of. I’m more scared of how I go out.”

He swallows, and his fingers move to dance over the woven bracelet on his wrist instead, twisting at the tiny beads and tracing senseless designs in constant, steady movement. It’s a motion he does often, and it had puzzled Pixal at first. She’d decided to write it off as an odd tick, a way to spend excess energy.

Now, she recognizes the desperate kind of reassurance that movement gives. She understands too well the need to remind yourself that you can move — that your body will obey you and you alone.

Pixal thinks back to the other factors in tonight’s accident, of the way the drugged man’s eyes had cleared when they’d finally turned him over to the police, the way he’d sworn he’d never do such a thing in his right mind. She thinks of the way the first victim had thrown themselves over their companion.

That victim hadn’t made it to the hospital.

“Ah,” Pixal says, quietly.

She’s silent again, and she thinks back to when she’d met him, the very first time. She recalls the way her programming had rebelled against her in favor of the Overlord, corrupting her body and forcing it against her, twisting everything she was and wanted to be into something different.

She thinks back again, to the searing-hot anger, the terror, the despair as she was torn apart, piece by piece like a machine, burning out at the whims of another. Her end purposeless, her demise belonging to someone else, just like every other part of her.

She thinks of the last glimpse she’d caught of Zane, bright and beautiful as a supernova. Burning with the terrible brilliance of his own, determined choice. Terrible, because the death of something always is. Beautiful, because it was his own. Zane died, not a machine, not a weapon, not a tool of anyone or anything, but as himself. Zane died to save the ones he loves. Pixal could’ve died for spare parts.

Never again, she promises herself. If she goes out, she goes out on her own terms. This time, they choose the end of their own destiny themselves.

In hindsight, it’s the kind of promise they’re both too young to make, but neither of them have ever seen themselves as such, and promises like that are easy.

“Love can be terrible, sometimes,” Lloyd murmurs. Pixal watches him scrub at the blood on his uniform, and thinks how ironically well-timed it is that he finished the stitching on his new gi this morning. “Sometimes I forget how ugly it can be.”

************

The end of their nighttime stakeouts begins with a break-in at Mr. Borg’s tower. Lloyd argues that she should get to call it her father’s tower, if she wants, but the ninja aren’t the only ones Pixal’s hiding herself from.

And then Lloyd gets very tense at the thought of fathers very fast, and they never finish the conversation.

They stay at the edge of the bridge long after the parachute, emblazoned with the unmistakable visage of Lloyd’s father, disappears from sight. Pixal wonders if it’s burned into Lloyd’s eyes, like the way she’s read black spots linger in humans’ vision after they’ve looked at something too bright. The way Lloyd stares at the river, his shoulders tense and his teeth worrying at his lip, she thinks she might be right.

They’re waiting on the report from the commissioner —they’re waiting for anything, anyone who can offer them any explanation of what’s going on. Pixal’s reminded of how much she loathes this kind of waiting.

“It could be—” Lloyd begins, then breaks off, his voice wavering. He swallows, and Pixal can see the way his fists clench tightly from the cameras they’ve put in his car. There’s a fierce part of her that longs to reveal herself, to meet his eyes herself and offer some semblance of comfort. But there’s a time and place for things, and Pixal isn’t ready.

“It could be anything,” Lloyd finally continues, his voice small. “It could — it doesn’t mean anything. It could mean nothing, right?”

Pixal is silent, her mind racing. She’s run the calculations over and over in her head already, scouring the internet for anything related to the bikers. She’s been foolish, she realizes — they both have. Letting the gang go unnamed for so long, thinking nothing of it. Now, with the name flashing vibrant across Pixal’s vision, a part of her wants to let them go nameless just a bit longer.

Before she can answer, Lloyds phone goes off with a sharp ping, just as Pixal’s sensors alert her to the message from the commissioner. Lloyd snatches for his phone like it’s on fire, and Pixal’s already scanning the message frantically, as if she can salvage this if she’s fast enough, save Lloyd from this one pain.

Lloyd’s gotten much better at reading quickly though, these days.

She can pinpoint the moment he reaches the last paragraph, because his breath hitches. There’s a long, pressing pause of silence, Lloyd’s hands trembling as they clutch weakly at his phone. Then it’s punctured by a reedy, wheezing gasp, and Pixal’s suddenly wishing she’d revealed herself after all.

Instead, all she has is her voice as Lloyd crumples, crouching over in visible distress. Pixal’s mind races, recalling everything Zane’s ever told her about his team, the way their panic manifests in different shades. Lloyd’s is quiet but desperate, rapid breathes that stutter as his eyes slide more and more into a frightening kind of blankness.

“Lloyd, please, listen to my voice,” she begs, trying to reach him in the only way she can. “Please, you have to breathe—”

“He’s gone,” Lloyd rasps, unhearing of her words. “He’s s’posed to be gone, it’s supposed to be over, I’m supposed to be done—”

Pixal fights back the sense of overwhelming helplessness. She knows loss. She knows how to finish his sentence. He’s supposed to be done grieving, done mourning, done clinging to false scraps of hope that his father isn’t lost forever only to be met with heartbreak.

And now, to be met with the possibility of something so much worse.

“We’ll stop them,” she tells him, unflinching. “We won’t let it happen.”

Lloyd’s eyes are a vivid green where they stare at her through the monitor, almost ghostly in the misting light reflecting from the river.

He’s silent, but Pixal is, too.

Pixal remembers the way her head had spun when she’d first picked up the traces of Zane in the system, how the world had rushed then steadied, flooding with color as she’d realized he might not be lost after all. She remembers the surging, overwhelming flood of joy, that someone she’d thought she lost might live after all. She remembers being so happy, at even the smallest chance to get him back, because the voice was Zane’s, without a doubt.

She watches the color seep from Lloyd’s expression as his shoulders shudder, the words from the commissioner’s message almost echoing through the air. Watches the terror as the both of them fill the silence.

Will we?  

The radio scratches, as if echoing Pixal’s anxiety. Love can be terrible, sometimes. She’s underestimated how it also be so cruel.

************

She’s also, apparently, underestimated how the universe on the whole could be so cruel.

She should’ve revealed herself to them from day one. That way, when Harumi’s corrupted programming suddenly ravages through her like an electric shock, she could be reassured they’d at least be familiar with the person they were fighting.

Instead, she doesn’t even get to scream. Pixal’s only able to force out a desperate, broken warning before she’s lost again, drowning in her own body as she’s forced under. Furious panic grips her as she screams without lungs, bashing herself against the overwhelming helplessness that’s taken over her.

Not again, not again, not again—

Her limbs creak and jolt against her will, lashing out at the people she cares most about, and Pixal can’t even rage back in her own voice. She’s sworn, she’s promised herself she’d never let anyone do this to her again — she’s sworn she’d die before she let someone reach into her head and snatch control away, and yet here she is, frozen as her body’s used to target her friends.

If she could cry, she might.

There’s not much more to say than that. She breaks free, her body her own once again, but by then it’s too late.

************

If Pixal had the same gift of foresight that Zane did, maybe she would have seen it coming. Maybe she’d have remembered how similar her and Lloyd are, and that this kind of pained desperation always yields impulsiveness and mistakes.

She doesn’t, though. She barely even manages to do what she’s trying to, which is convincing Lloyd to join the others while they celebrate their victory. Their off-key singing is something he normally wouldn’t hesitate to join in on, she thinks, and she hates Harumi a little more.

Maybe she’ll try his mother next. The expression on Lloyd’s face screams unapproachable, and remains fixedly sullen.

Almost to her surprise, he meets her eyes as she draws near— it’s odd, being able to meet his back — and his own eyes are dark, from despair over Harumi or despair over his father, Pixal isn’t sure. She’s thinking it might be both, when his eyebrows crease, and a flicker of concern cuts through them instead.

“You good?”

It takes her a moment to realize why he’s asking, but the answer is obvious. Her head tilts downward, and she watches as her fingers curl and uncurl. Her movements, her choices. She lets out an even breath.

“As I can be,” she replies. Lloyd nods, and his eyes are understanding. His lips twist in a scowl.

“She shouldn’t have done that to you. That was a low blow.”

Pixal’s mouth curves into a humorless smile. “That it was. She’s rather good at those, isn’t she.”

Lloyd’s eyes shadow again, and he looks away, crossing his arms. “This isn’t supposed to be about me,” he mutters.

“Yes, it is,” Pixal counters. “It is why I came over here, in the first place. She hurt—”

“All of us, and who’s fault is that,” Lloyd snaps, his arms crossing tighter.

“I would hope you know it’s hers,” she says, holding firm.

Lloyd looks away again, biting his lip, and Pixal shifts anxiously, rolling her wrists. The sensation of control sliding away still haunts her, worse than it had the first time. She should be better than this, she tells herself hotly. She’s lived without a body long enough that losing it so briefly shouldn’t effect her this much.

Curse her programming, she thinks, tapping agitatedly at the banister. She knew she should have reinforce it sooner.

“Hey, um.” Lloyd is looking at her again, hesitant. He twists at his bracelet, and his eyes lose a fraction of that darkness. “Kai made this for me, after Morro,” he says. “I kept shredding the sleeves of my uniform, so he told me to mess with this instead, when I needed to remember that…that I was in control.”

He shrugs, hesitant. “We could make you one too, if you wanted. It helps, having something.”

Pixal lets out a steady breath, despite not actually needing to. The action is grounding, she’s found. “I would like that.”

Lloyd gives her a ghost of a smile in return. “Soon as this is over, then.”

There’s a heavy weight to his words, and Pixal’s eyes narrow.

“Lloyd,” she says. He looks at her, his eyes dark. “Don’t do anything foolish.”

He’s quiet, not meeting her eyes, and this is where Pixal should stop him. This is when she should see the end of the road they’ve been on since they started this, and force him to turn before it’s too late.

“I know what I’m doing.”

She doesn’t.

************

Lloyd is battered and bleeding by the time they drag him onto the ship, a gruesome portrait of cruelty. Pixal is frozen as she watches him writhe in Kai’s hold, his screams cracked and wet as he thrashes erratically like a broken thing.

Nya is already barking orders before they’ve even gotten Lloyd fully on the ship, and Zane is running scans with a horrified, wavering focus. Pixal follows Cole as he carries Lloyd to the medbay with a blank numbness, the rush of wind streaming past the Bounty sails thunderously loud in her ears.

This isn’t Lloyd, she thinks, staring at his crumpled form. Lloyd isn’t this battered, broken shell of a person. Lloyd isn’t hazy eyes that fail to recognize them and frantic murmuring through bloody lips. Lloyd is bright-eyed and gentle and would rather die before he screams the way he does when Cole moves him to the table.

Lloyd is her friend, and this is where that promise they made has led them. She knows why Lloyd set out for the prison, hot on the collapse of his own star. She also knows he wouldn’t have chosen to burn out like this.

Cole calls out for Zane, his voice ringing in panic as Lloyd screeches in pain again. Pixal thinks of quiet words in the safety of his car, and she feels sick. This is the ugliness of love, the terrible, hideous side of it.

And Lloyd would hate it, if he could see himself, if he were any semblance of lucid. He’d hate to know just how much better he was at breaking himself than Morro ever was.

Zane is gentle as he pushes past her, but Pixal can feel the tremble in his hands. He’s every bit as rattled as she is, if not more so — Zane’s heart is larger and softer than hers has ever been, and he cares about each and every one of them with a painful intensity. It’s a cruel thing, to have to pull those same people back together with your own hands.

Kai’s eyes are streaming as he clutches at Lloyd’s wrists, pinning him in place. Zane’s hands waver again over one of the jagged wounds near Lloyd’s ribcage, the green of his uniform already dyed dark in blood, soaking over the careful stitches Pixal watched him put in himself.

Pixal finally finds her footing, reminding herself of the solid wood beneath her feet. She recalls the steady, smooth stitch Lloyd’s scarred fingers traced out for her.

“Here.” She takes the needle from Zane’s hands, squeezing his briefly before letting go. “I can do it.”

She sets the needle against Lloyd’s skin and wonders what kind of stitch it’d take to pull your heart back together.  

************

Pixal cannot cry. It’s one of the features Mr. Borg spent hours debating, weighing the pros and cons of giving her the ability before he was truly sure how rust-proof she was. He’d never gotten the chance to, as the Overlord had interrupted him, then Pixal had lost any body to give the ability to cry to, which had eliminated the need entirely.

She cannot cry, but she can hurt, and the rain that streams through her hair, dripping down her forehead spotting raindrops on her cheeks, could be tears if she pretended.

She doesn’t, though, because tears are a waste of water and overall useless in the grand scheme of things. She doubts they’d have helped her fare any better in the battle with Colossi, either.

Tears won’t bring anyone back.

Lloyd cries anyways. She can’t see him, but she can hear it in his voice, the way it wavers and breaks over the radio, nasally tones pronounced.

He’s barely able to gasp a few coordinates to her before he cuts the radio off abruptly. Pixal’s spent enough time with him to envision his scarred fingers snapping it off with a particular desperation, green sparking from his hands in distress.

She reminds herself those sparks are gone, now, bled away into nothing like the vivid green of Lloyd’s eyes had. The thought makes her sadder than she’d expected. She had a joke, about his eyes, she had wanted to make. Now that she has a body, and her own set of glowing green eyes, she’d — there was something he would’ve laughed at, she thought —

It doesn’t matter, now. Neither of them are likely to laugh anytime soon.

The coordinates blink brightly in her vision, and she’s almost surprised she managed to key them in. She’s running on autopilot, she supposes. It could be ironic — she’s been so desperate for control, it’s been so important that she’s the one feeling. Now, she’d give anything not to feel at all.

She lets out a shaky breath, dispelling the mist in her vision left from the rain. She leans forward, just over the edge of the building she’s crouched on, and her loose hair falls forward, silvery and synthetic and horribly tangled. Irritated, she reaches for another hair tie, and her hands falter around her wrist.

Lloyd had promised her a bracelet there. But he’d promised Kai would make the bracelet, hadn’t he, and Kai couldn’t make the bracelet if he was dead, could he.

Pixal blinks, her breath hitching. She’s been so numb to the pain of Zane’s loss, it hasn’t yet occurred to her that she’s losing Kai, too. And Jay, and Cole, and—

She sucks in the same shuddery kind of breath she’s seen Lloyd do, and carefully fists her hand in the area of her uniform above her chest. Her fingers dig in tightly, clutching in a hopeless attempt to feel some sort of comfort she knows she’ll never find.

But perhaps, for these few seconds, she can pretend the action is holding her together.

************

“It was inevitable,” Pixal tells Lloyd blankly, as he rasps out his third apology in the dark cover of their small hideout. “That one of us would fall, eventually. It had nothing to do with you.”

Lloyd swallows thickly. “It could’ve — it should’ve been—”

He doesn’t finish, but he doesn’t need to. Pixal’s hand shoots out, clamping tightly around his wrist, and there’s a beat of gratitude that she doesn’t need to rely on her voice alone anymore.

“Don’t.” Her voice is strung tighter than the tension in their shoulders. “You cannot change anything. You can’t, Lloyd, and you should not wish to — to change it that way.”

Lloyd jerks his hand free, wiping miserably at his eyes. He sets it back down within her reach, though, and if Pixal were any different, she’d take it.

But Pixal isn’t that different from Lloyd at all in the end, and neither of them reach for the other’s hand, no matter how desperately they crave the contact. Fear is more familiar, and it’s easier to give into it than it is the clawing need for comfort in your chest, after all.

“Still,” Lloyd finally whispers. “Still.”

Pixal swallows. She doesn’t disagree. If one of them had to fall, she knows she gladly would have taken it upon herself. She knows the others care for her, certainly, but she also knows her place in the grand scheme of things. They were six before she came along, and even now she’s kept far too many secrets to be fully counted among them.

She listens to Lloyd’s quiet, cracked voice, and she wonders if he’s thinking that they were five before he came along, younger than Pixal got to know him as.

Now they’re three, hollow and heartbroken. Though counting herself as one whole feels like cheating, right now.

Pixal squeezes her eyes shut, and wonders what it’s like to cry. Perhaps it helps, though Lloyd doesn’t look any less miserable.

************

“I was thinking,” Lloyd tells her, during one of the precious few quiet moments they have while trying to overthrow Garmadon and Harumi. Pixal’s turning the tiny tea flower he’d given her over in her hands, a part of her mind already marking articles about flower-pressing, another part wondering if it’s already too late to save the blossom. “About that promise we made, before all this.”

Pixal finally tucks the flower into the pocket of her uniform, pressed close to her chest. If anything, it can be a reminder of the lives that are safe — the life that’s coming back to her, if she has to drag him back from another realm herself. “And?”

Lloyd’s hands twist together. “Maybe we should focus more on staying alive.”

Pixal coughs out a laugh, breathless and startled. Lloyd wrinkles his nose at her, but his eyes are amused, even with their light lost. “I mean, the emphasis would be on keeping everyone else alive, but it’s kinda hard to do that if we’re dead, so…yeah. Priorities.”

“Staying alive should always be a priority,” Pixal corrects him, but she tugs the edge of his armor out of place with a smile.

“Why didn’t you teach me how to graffiti?” she nods at the designs on the green leather. “Or was this another Darkley’s tradition.”

“This is a refined art, called whatever I had on me that showed up on dark green,” Lloyd grumbles, fixing his armor. “I’ll teach it to you when we get out of this.”

“Another reason why staying alive would be a more productive focus,” Pixal points out. “I’ve heard teaching is easier when you’re alive.”

“And I’ve heard you’re a real riot,” Lloyd mutters. “It’s a promise, okay? I promise to teach you how to do cool armor design if you promise not to disappear into another realm on me.”

Pixal nods, adjusting her own armor tighter as screams ring out from a street nearby. “A promise, then.”

She keeps both the promise and the flower, the tiny blossom dried and faded by the time she’s escaped from the prison, heart racing with leftover adrenaline as Zane sweeps her into his arms. She clutches back every bit as tight, listening to his breathless laughter as cheers rise from the streets behind them, the smoke drifting across the early morning sky above them pale against the lightening blue. Pixal buries her face in his shoulder and breathes, tucking the moment away in her heart where it won’t fade. There’s a future stretching out before her, and she’s got the limbs to walk her path on her own, but all she wants right now is the steady ground beneath her feet and the bright laughter of what she’s managed to keep.  

Lloyd meets them shortly after, his own promise kept as he tears his gaze from his father, handing him off to the authorities before sprinting for the others. Pixal barely snags a moment alone with him, and even then no one’s particularly keen on letting him out of their sights.

He meets her eyes as they pick their way through the wrecked streets, the city more alive around them than it’s been in weeks. In the dark of the early morning, Pixal’s eyes glow a bright green, reflecting oddly in the windows they pass. It’s always been her preferred color, in contrast to Zane’s bright blue. Lloyd glances at her, his own eerily green eyes glowing back. He bites his lip, but it’s to hold back real laughter this time.

“My eyes were green first,” she tells him.

“Sue me,” he shoots back, before Kai’s throwing an arm over his shoulders again, tucking Lloyd neatly in between him and Nya. Pixal smothers a laugh at the look on his face, and tightens her own arm further where it’s linked firmly in Zane’s.  

It’s going to be an easy promise to keep, she thinks.  

[soryualeksi]

Continuation of the Rays stuff I translated Part 1 of the other day. This time, we have the TOS protags (or most of them, I think Regal wasn't playable back then??) and some Zelos&Colette wholesomeness. Which makes me happy because it's one of my favourite dynamics. :3 (No, seriously, it warms my black little heart sooo much... ;_;)

Chapter 7 - Wandering Spirit of the Great Tree 8: A Sense of Unease (PART 2)

Sheena: Martel dropped her ring!?

Genis: That's happened before, right...? Yuan lost his or something...

Presea: Martel... is clumsy...

Colette: Let's find it for her! The ring is really important to Martel, isn't it?

Raine: Well, I think we can certainly keep an eye out for it while we go on patrol. I'm sure we'll be able to find it, but don't let it distract you from noticing if the Imperial Guard approaches, alright?

Zelos: Hah~~ You're all such good-natured people~~ Well then, let's try to find it.

Lloyd: Then Genis will team up with Presea, Sheena with the Professor and Zelos with Colette.

Colette: Huh? And you, Lloyd?

Lloyd: I'm getting to that... There's something that's been bothering me about Ratatosk, so I'll stay here and keep in touch with you guys while I investigate.

Raine: ... you're right. See, it's important to use your head once in a while!

Lloyd: It's not just once in a while! I have a lot of stuff on my mind, too, you know!

Raine: Hihi... You're right. I'm sorry. Well then, all of you contact Lloyd every twenty minutes. That's a good idea.

Colette: Martel's ring probably has the same design as the one Yuan picked up earlier, right?

Zelos: ... yeah. I guess it does. Say, Colette. Is it alright with you to go with me?

Colette: What?

Zelos: No... I just thought you might feel more comfortable with Lloyd.

Colette: I feel safe with you, Zelos. I mean, we're both Chosens, after all.

Zelos: ... even if I* was trying to hurt you in our original world?

Colette: Huh?

Zelos: ... sorry. It's nothing.

Colette: Zelos, you wouldn't do that, right?

Zelos: ...

Colette: Could it be... because I'm a nuisance?

Zelos: ... Hah?

Colette: Because I can think of so many things... Like when I asked you to do the shopping and messed it up, or when you had to save me from bumping into someone...

Zelos: Haha... That's not you being a nuisance!

Colette: But if you really wanted to hurt me, you must have had a reason, right?

Colette: Because you're not someone who would do cruel things for no reason--

Zelos: Ah... Forgive me. It was just a manner of speaking. Forget about it.

Colette: ... that's a lie.

Zelos: ... huh?

Colette: You didn't say "ore-sama" earlier, Zelos. Something to do with me is bothering you, isn't it?

Colette: Tell me. I can help you. And if I can't help you, I'm sure Lloyd and the Professor can!

Zelos: Ah... You're for real, huh...

Colette: Zelos?

Zelos: I... Man, I had great timing with getting exoflected when I did... I can't even imagine what will happen next...

Colette: Hm? What do you mean?

Zelos: Colette, can I ask you a favour?

Colette: Y-Yeah.

Zelos: I would like you to help me, please.

Zelos: If you share your courage with me, I can tell you and everyone what I've been hiding from you.

Colette: Of course. Zelos, give me your hands.

Zelos: Like this?

Colette: Alright, sooo... O Goddess Martel. Please bestow your divine protection upon Zelos.

Colette: And may he share in the courage of Lloyd and me and Sheena and Professor Raine and Genis and Presea and Regal and Kratos.

Colette: ... and done! Do you feel a little braver?

Zelos: ... yeah. Thank you, Colette.

---

* That's where he says 俺 "ore" instead of his usual 俺さま "ore-sama". So normally, Zelos talks of himself as "the magnificent me", pretty much, so when he didn't and was like "naaah I'm just bullshitting, Colette" she was like "no you weren't, you talked like an actual person for once".

And now my heart is warmed. Because they're too wholesome. ;_;

[vortexbeyondthestars]

decided to post some of my ideas for a ninjago/atla au besties. tell me whatcha think

under read more cus its kinda long lmao

some background first…

here, the first spinjitzu master is smth that doesn’t actually exist in avatar bc i couldn’t for the life of me figure out what to make him so now he’s like… he’s basically the child of all the original benders: the badgermoles, the sky bison, the dragons, and the moon spirit combined. he was born of their powers, and he was the first avatar, kinda like this au’s version of raava i guess?? so this au’s version of vaatu is the overlord, and like in ninjago, they have this never-ending rivalry. and the overlord is an avatar, too, but more of a dark one. it only cares about corruption and evil.

the first bending master, as he’s called in this au, manages to banish the overlord into the spirit realm, but he knew that one day, it would return. so he creates a land called ninjago and fills it with people of all kinds, each corner of the world having one type of bending. he gave the humans bending, but only one type for each person.

he didn’t want a repeat of the overlord.

so then he has two sons: wu and garmadon. he hemmed and hawed over what elements to give to them, but eventually he chose. wu gets airbending, the element of life and serene and calm. garmadon gets firebending, rough and harsh and the element of destruction. his fire is violet and incredibly hot.

everything goes fine, and the first bending master manages to keep balance of the world as its avatar. except the overlord does indeed return.

garmadon gets corrupted by its spirit and is bitten by the great devourer. he becomes obsessed with power and wanted to be the avatar more than anything in life. he believes that his father was holding his powers back because he didn’t trust him. and he believes that his father was going to hand over his power to wu after he died. and he couldn’t have that.

wu notices his downward spiral and suggests that he take a trip to visit the mortals. maybe that would help him realize that there is reason for their father being the only avatar in the world.

so garmadon goes down into the mortal plane. and meets fire lord chen and his second in command clouse.

fire lord chen is quite interested in an old legend of what is called the serpentine: ancient tribes of snake people said to have been born from the hatred and despair of the overlord, led by the toughest and the greatest, the great devourer. chen wants to bring these serpentine back, and at first garmadon agrees to help him, if only to get revenge on his father.

but he snaps out of it, because he realizes that its the great devourer’s fault in the first place that he’s like this. he betrays chen and clouse and warns wu of their plan, but without telling him whose plan it is. together, the brothers manage to gather together an alliance of the greatest bending masters in the world. garmadon wants their father to help, but wu gives some unfortunate news.

the first bending master is near his deathbed. he is very, very ill, and he is thousands of years old at this point. he wants rest.

so, naturally, garmadon is conflicted about this. he’s ecstatic bc he thinks that he can gain the powers of the avatar once his father passes, but also he’s sad, because, well, thats still his dad after all.

but anyway, the bending alliance manages to defeat the serpentine and seal them away in the spirit realm, like the first bending master had done to the overlord. this… turns out to be a bad idea.

fire lord chen and clouse both manage to shift the blame away from them, and since garmy was the only one who knew they caused the plan, he lets it happen. because he still is a bit evil.

something happens that gives him hope, though: he meets misako, who might be the love of his life. (also in this au that weird love triangle shit don’t happen) they get married, and for a while, garmadon seems perfectly sane. but.

the first bending master dies.

lloyd is born almost right after.

no one makes the connection, though, thankfully, but it is enough for garmadon to lose whatever sanity he had left. he completely goes insane.

he races back to their family monastery believing that he can and will gain the powers of the avatar, somehow, but he doesn’t. and that is too much for him to take. all of this… all of this… waiting… for nothing?

garmadon stares at himself in the mirror. he looks down at his hand, at the bite mark blemishing his skin, and grabs a ceremonial knife. he laughs to himself and places his hand on the mirror, slowly raising his knife towards it… he thinks he can stop all this pain in one easy swoop.

garmadon, sneering at himself: maybe… maybe this will fix it… if i just cut off the damn thing…

first bending master, in the mirror: i would not recommend it, son.

garmadon, face falling: why are you here?

first bending master: i came to speak with you. and to try and help you.

garmadon, snarling: don’t pretend like you care about me! i know what you really think. you think i’m a monster.

first bending master: i think you’re conflicted. the part of you that wants to be the avatar so badly you are willing to kill for it… that part of you clashes with the real you. the one that wants everyone you care about to be safe. your brother, your friends, your wife… your son.

garmadon: *laughs and turns around* why should i care about them, father? they don’t care about me! not my brother, not my wife, not my so-called friends, and certainly not you! the only one who does care about me is my son, and thats only because he doesn’t know any better. he’ll leave one day too.

first bending master, solemnly: you are wrong. i do care about you. i always did. i love you, garmadon. i do.

garmadon shakes, his hand gripping the knife tighter. his mouths trembles, and eventually turns into a scowl. he whirls around to face the mirror and slams his knife into it, shattering it into pieces.

he gets worse from there on. he begins to attack people left and right, villages and cities, even going so far as to consider breaking the serpentine free. he doesn’t get that far, though, because his brother interrupts him.

wu is very concerned, bc, well, garmy was a bit weird but never straight up insane like he is now. so he heads over to his family’s old monastery. there, he finds garmadon, seething and stewing. garmadon doesn’t take his arrival well.

garmadon: ugh! for once, can’t you just leave me alone?!

wu: no, i cannot. this isn’t you, brother! you must snap out of it!

garmadon: this is me! this has been me for my entire life, wu! i can’t change it now, and i can’t even be the avatar. what’s the point?

wu: the point is that father trusted us to take care of ninjago once he passed on. we have a duty.

garmadon: father was a fool, and father was selfish! i am remaking the world in my own image, an image that won’t let anyone have the kind of power that he did, except for those who are worthy!

wu: that’s crazy! you can’t just pick and choose who gets to be the most powerful bender in the world!

garmadon: isn’t that what father did, though, when he died? who is the new avatar, wu?! tell me!!

wu: i don’t know. and neither will you, if you keep this up.

garmadon: *laughs* are you threatening me?

wu: i am.

garmadon: fine. you want to take control of ninjago over me? fine. fine. fine. i challenge you to an agni kai! the battle that was always meant to be.

wu: very well.

garmadon: for the record… i’m sorry it had to end this way, brother.

wu, sadly: no. you aren’t.

cue final agni kai type fight, light vs darkness. fire vs air. obviously, wu wins, and manages to chain garmadon up so he can’t attack anymore. garmadon then has a complete psychotic breakdown like azula, complete with the spitting fire and sobbing hysterically while wu watches sadly.

wu banishes garmadon to the spirit realm, because he doesn’t think there’s anything else he can do.

ninjago is saved.

or so he thinks.

see, chen and clouse are still around. as are the serpentine, biding their time in the spirit realm. they meet garmy and decide that they should work together. garmadon, so torn up by hatred and despair, agrees to help them, if he gets to destroy his brother.

meanwhile, everything is going good.

lloyd is the avatar, obviously, but he’s only like. thirteen when he finds out. he’s an airbender avatar and lived with koko (bc its my au and i get to pick the mom i use) in one of the air temples (idk which one tho). he’s raised believing that he’s just a random kid who happens to serve the avatar, kinda like kyoshi.

that avatar he believes he serves is none other than morro, the adopted son of airbender sage wu. morro is four years older than lloyd, and he was just revealed to be the airbending avatar. morro, of course, is thrilled. but he also gets an incredibly big ego over it, believing that he is better than other people bc he is the avatar. the reason he was thought to be the avatar was because he appeared to waterbend at one point, but it is later revealed to have been simple airbending that pushed the water.

but morro doesn’t realize or know this until its too late. and when he does… its a shitshow.

basically, lloyd and morro are sent to meet with fire lord chen and his daughter skylor, along with wu, koko, and some of the other air sages. skylor is a chi blocker, an incredibly talented one who has mastered all of the different bending fighting styles even tho she herself is a nonbender.

ok so clouse is obviously there. he recognizes lloyd via koko and is fucking pissed. he’s like my ex-boyfriend rival’s son is here?? what the hell?? so he keeps a close on eye on lloyd bc he doesn’t like him. morro, meanwhile, is treated like a king at the palace bc chen wants to get into the avatar’s good graces.

and uh. well, as it turns out, morro isn’t the avatar…

they’re attacked by the serpentine, bitter at the bending masters for having locked them underground. morro is excellent at fighting, but lloyd has more adrenaline.

and lloyd firebends.

cue shock and horror and anger from all sides.

wu is the most horrified of all. the son of his brother… the man he banished… is the avatar?

so yeah thats the background AT LEAST. i dont really know what happens after that but lloyd runs away or something. i will write more i promise!!!

[blursed-ninjago-ideas]

Villain vibes au

Ok but Vania being just as evil as the rest of the gang but knowing when she’s gone too far

Vania killing her dad off after realizing what’s been happening to Mr.sparkles and the people under the mountain

Chompy eats vangelis’s remains

Vania doesn’t want the Skull of Hazza D’ur it’s creepy and clearly led to her father’s decline.

She orders said skull to be burnt and disposed of

Vania’s position as queen is precarious though so kidnapping the master of earth’s kid should seal her position

So she kidnaps Cole as bargaining material and they have a shot gun wedding

Cole gets treated nicely by Vania and grows a backbone though at least

Zane goes on a rescue mission to rescue Cole because Zane maybe a tyrannical dictator but Cole is one of the few people he actually cares for

You've been sitting on this for awhile haven't you? Lol, thank you for your patience. I do appreciate it.

First of all, Vania is better than her father, but still evil. She doesn't fully free the Geckles and Munce. She technically does "free them" and they are so grateful to her for it, so grateful in fact that they don't realize that she's still abusing them.

They have been promoted from slaves to an abused workforce.

They can go home and get breaks and maybe a few sick days, but they are still expected to preform backbreaking labor for twelve hours a day for far too little compensation. (But they didn't have any compensation before, so they should be grateful for Vania's mercy and compassion.)

So she becomes the "savior" villain. Someone that weaponizes gratitude. They preform good deeds to get people indebted to them and distracted from their true nature. (I'm thinking "Castle" by Hasley)

So to the rest of this:

You're assuming everyone else isn't coming to rescue Cole? Nya is ready to call this a Declaration of War and lay waste to all of Shintaro. (Lloyd is vibrating with excitement. He's never destroyed an entire kingdom before!)

They get there and Cole is really trying to keep the peace.

Cole: "What? Kai's the only one that gets to date his kidnapper?" Nya: "That's different, Skylor didn't kidnap Kai, her men did, without her approval might I add." Zane: "Also you married yours, that's more than dating."

Oh no, then they figure out that Shintaro has that large cache of vengestone and Nya is even more ready to destroy the place since it's such a threat to her rule and family now. I guess Shintaro has been the major provider of the weapons that had actually hurt the the Elemental Regime (I think I like that name).

Zane and Nya aren't fools and made sure they still had plenty of ways to protect themselves and maintain their rule without needing to rely on their powers, Jay likes his shiny big weapons, Kai was always a fan of fighting without his powers just for fun, and Lloyd still has oni powers that aren't dampened by vengestone. So they always managed when people came at them with vengestone, but it certainly made things harder and sometimes they got injured. It's something Nya would like to avoid happening.

So tense stand off and a long negotiation. Cole's marriage is decided to be treated as a political alliance. The Elemental Regime promises to not invade or attack Shintaro and leave it as an independent nation in exchange for them halting all vengestone mining and the end of it's sale.

Vengestone is now outlawed in Ninjago and Shintaro. (Although Zane has his own reserve, because you never know what kind of enemies it could be useful against.)

Calming Lloyd down takes some time. He was really looking forward to destroying the place and is ready to throw a tantrum when he finds out he won’t get to. Kai is invaluable here. He's able to talk Lloyd down into play fighting with Chompy and going on a small contained rampage that Vania gets to direct. She decides to kill a few birds with one stone and sends them into the mines to tear things down and terrorize the Geckles and Munce. She then comes to their "rescue" and heroically negotiates a peace with them.

Both above and below the mountain, she looks like an amazing leader that saved her people (for the second time the Geckles and Munce).

I guess Cole lives in Shitaro now? At least part time?

-Ivy

[girlactionfigure]

In "Long Walk to Freedom", Nelson Mandela said:

"No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite."

~~~~~

His tombstone has no name.

He was called "a man of a great many ethics, and very intense about his human rights beliefs, causes he could never put down."

Before his journey, however, he did and said things he would later regret.

He was born in 1943, two days after July 4th.

Growing up in a conservative environment on military bases in Georgia and South Carolina, he admitted he was a "white racist" and a homophobic.

“I spent most of my life putting others down,” he said.

He was part of the crowd shouting, "2 - 4 - 6 - 8, we don't want to integrate."

He said he "idolized the Confederate flag . . . [it was] a symbol of the past and the way things were and they should still be. Not necessarily slavery, but the white of white—the right of white oppression.”

He also subscribed to the myth that “to be gay it meant that I had to wear a woman’s dress, I had to molest little children, and I had to go in bathrooms and watch people.”

“I had a low self-image of myself. So if I could have someone who was lower than I was, the Black American… even . . . Jewish people in general . . . as long as I could put someone else down, then I wasn’t the lowest person on the totem pole. So I spent most of my life putting others down.”

“I’d use the word queer and fag*ot and put gays down,” he admitted.

~~~~~

"He followed his father’s footsteps into the Air Force in 1963 at the age of 19 and served three tours in Vietnam," according to writer David Roza in June 2021's Task and Purpose military news.

Despite the beliefs he grew up with, he became a hero.

He earned a Bronze Star for killing two Viet Cong soldiers attacking his post while he was on sentry duty, according to the Washington Post. He later earned a Purple Heart for being wounded after stepping on a Viet Cong land mine.

At that time, he still was wary of anyone different than him and still believed in the stereotypes he grew up with.

In the military, outside in the world, however, he started questioning his previous beliefs and those stereotypes.

He became friends with a Vietnamese interpreter and learned about other cultures. 

He then became friends with a Black colleague. 

After getting to know his Black friend, he told himself, “‘he’s different, he’s not like the rest.’ And then I met another Black who was different, not like the rest, and then another one who was different, not like the rest. Until I began to look around and see so many different individuals.”

He also started learning about himself.

"Over time, his bias against homosexuals began to fade, along with his bias against African-Americans, who he found himself serving alongside and taking orders from during his time in the Air Force," wrote Roza.

“One stereotype after another stereotype started to crumble,” he told The New York Times.

Learning about others led him to learn more about himself.

He realized he went to Vietnam to prove he was masculine, he said, but instead he became something more.

He found the courage to be himself.

He said he always knew, but had continued to deny it.

“In September 1975, a stunning issue of TIME magazine hit the newsstands,” according to writer Kay Tobin Lahusen. “On the cover was the photo of a young man wearing his Air Force uniform."

“I am a homosexual” read the title in bold under the airman’s uniformed portrait.

"His name tag said 'Matlovich'."

Leonard Matlovich. 

The Peace Page has previously shared stories of Leonard Matlovich, but this story includes some rare insights, including words from Matlovich himself.

~~~~~

When Matlovich appeared in Time, “It marked the first time the young gay movement had made the cover of a major newsweekly,” according to author Randy Shilts in his 1993 book "Conduct Unbecoming", about discrimination against lesbians and gays in the military. “To a movement still struggling for legitimacy, the event was a major turning point.”

“Even the most hardened homophobe had to take pause when he reviewed Matlovich’s record,” Shilts wrote. “Credentials such as a Bronze Star, a Purple Heart, and twelve years of outstanding service meant something that civilians could barely imagine.”

Matlovich's media appearances had a big effect on America,” according to David Addlestone, a lawyer with the American Civil Liberties Union. "He was a patriotic, conservative middle-class war hero. He destroyed the popular myth of homosexuality."

Matlovich, the LGBTQ rights pioneer, was the first gay service member to purposely out himself to the military to fight their ban on gays, and perhaps the best-known openly gay man in the United States of America in the 1970s next to Harvey Milk.

He was “inspired and guided by gay rights pioneer Frank Kameny, who had been looking for a test court case to challenge the military’s ban on homosexuals," according to Making Gay History.

“He … was the epitome of a perfect soldier, one of those people that stuck his neck out, and he was proud to be the person to challenge that law,” Jeff Dupre, a longtime friend of Matlovich, told NPR in 2015.

He “was the kind of serviceman the air force prided itself on,” according to writer Naveena Kottoor.

When he finally came out, at the age of 30, he was  warned that he would be throwing “away 13 years of military service and a pension", according to Addlestone.

When “an Air Force attorney asked him if he would sign a document pledging to ‘never practice homosexuality again’ in exchange for being allowed to remain in the Air Force,” he refused.

He replied that “he couldn't live a lie" any longer.

In October of 1975 - despite his exemplary military record, tours of duty in Vietnam, and high performance evaluations - Leonard Matlovich was ruled unfit for service and discharged, according to Back 2 Stonewall.

“In 1980 he finally won reinstatement, which he declined; the Air Force upgraded him to an honorable discharge,” according to "Gay Alternatives".

~~~~~

“Throughout American history, LGBTQ+ citizens have fought to defend our rights and freedoms -- from the Founding of our nation to the Civil War, from the trenches of two World Wars to Korea and Vietnam, and from Afghanistan to Iraq,” said Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III in the Opening Remarks at DOD Pride Month Event, June 9, 2021.

“They fought for our country even when our country wouldn’t fight for them . . . Even as some were forced to hide who they were… or to hang up their uniforms.”

~~~~~

Matlovich’s case inspired other enlisted gay and lesbian people to fight for their right to serve, including Navy officer Vernon E. “Copy” Berg, according to Making Gay History.

“Matlovich’s LGBTQ activism did not end with his court case. He lent his voice and influence to several battles against homophobia: Anita Bryant’s anti-gay crusade; California Proposition 6, which sought to ban gay and lesbian teachers from public schools.”

In June 1987, Matlovich was one of 64 demonstrators arrested protesting the White House’s AIDS policies,” according to the Washington Post.

“He also contributed to the founding of Affirmation, an affinity group for LGBTQ Mormons, and forced Northwest Airlines to end its discriminatory policy regarding passengers with AIDS.”

“Matlovich [is also] lovingly memorialized on the AIDS Quilt."

In June 2019, Matlovich was one of the inaugural 50 American “pioneers, trailblazers, and heroes” inducted on the National LGBTQ Wall of Honor within the Stonewall National Monument (SNM) in New York City’s Stonewall Inn, the first U.S. national monument dedicated to LGBTQ rights and history, and the wall’s unveiling was timed to take place during the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots.

~~~~~

Matlovich said that his fight was inspired by Dr, Martin Luther King, Jr. whose portrait he had in his home.

"He explicitly gave credit to the black Civil Rights Movement, and Martin Luther King Jr. specifically, for giving him more courage to understand that gays were a minority group and they had not just the right, but the obligation to fight for their own rights," said Michael Bedwell, Matlovich's best friend and estate executor.

Dr. Martin Luther King said, "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere", which his widow Coretta Scott King reminded everyone of, when she spoke out for gay rights.

In an interview with Studs Terkel, Matlovich said, "the debt I owe to Black Americans, and probably the debt that America owes to Black Americans, probably will never be repaid. Because they have shown us that through perseverance and determination, the laws can be changed, and attitudes can be changed.”

It inspired him to be a race relations counselor, easing racial tensions in the service. 

"He was brilliant at it," said Bedwell.  "At his discharge hearing, one of his supervisors that was African-American testified he was one of best race relations instructors they had."

Some of his strongest supporters were Black.

"Out of the 20-some witnesses that came on my behalf, there were three white witnesses and about 19 Black," Matlovich said. "And it seemed—to me, it was a little shameful to me that, I remember back in my white racist days, that the very individuals who I put down came to my aid when I needed it the most. I guess people can forgive and forget, and people can change . . . You’re never too old to change and to become enlightened and to change."

~~~~~

Matlovich said the most difficult part of his journey was having to tell his parents, especially his father.

“He cried when he first heard about it. It’s, it’s hard to have a child that’s gay in America today because they are so discriminated against.”

But, in the end, he supported his son, saying, “If he can take it. I can.”

The picture attached to this story from Making Gay History is 19-year-old Leonard Matlovich, center, at his Air Force induction, May 1963. At right is his father, Air Force veteran Leonard C. Matlovich. Credit: Courtesy of the Matlovich Family.

~~~~~

“Just to love and be loved, I think is very, very beautiful,” Matlovich said. “And that parents growing up today will give our little children guns, and we are very proud of them when they play Cowboys and Indians and run around. But when they show emotions and, and love. . . people get uptight, and they’re so afraid that their child may, may love. It’s very sad.”

Growing up and realizing he was gay, he said in an interview with the New York Times in 1975:

"I cried. I wept, hoping it would change. I believed absolutely that homosexuality was terrible and degrading."

In the interview with Terkel, he said:

“Jesus said that you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. And I believe that truth is who you are and what you are. And once you know those things, you are set free. And once you can accept who you are and what you are, then you can love others. You can’t love others until you love yourself, and as long as you hate yourself you’re gonna hate others.”

In his last public speech before he died, Matlovich tearfully said, “I want you to look at the flag, our rainbow flag, and I want you to look at it with pride in your heart, because we too have a dream. And what is our dream? Ours is more than an American dream. It's a universal dream. Because in South Africa, we're black and white, and in Northern Ireland, we're Protestant and Catholic, and in Israel we're Jew and Muslim. And our mission is to reach out and teach people to love, and not to hate. "

~~~~~

Matlovich said, “I knew, for example, that when Americans went to the Vietnam Memorial to remember and honor those who gave their lives fighting that horrible war, it never occurred to them that some of those who were the strongest, bravest and most heroic were also gay.”

He was buried with full military honors at the Congressional Cemetery in Washington, D.C. The inscription on his tombstone, which he wrote himself and is meant to be a memorial to all gay veterans, has no name. 

It simply reads:

"A Gay Vietnam Veteran"

and the words . . .

"When I was in the military, they gave me a medal for killing two men and a discharge for loving one."

~~~~~

“It’s a crazy mixed up world we live in," he said,  "when we’re rewarded for killing and hating, and punished for loving."

~ jsr

The Jon S. Randal Peace Page

[darkhymns-fic]

Rescue Mission in a Shadowy Wood

Lloyd and Colette leave for Gaoracchia Forest together to rescue a lost dog, but the creepy place seems to be even creepier when it's just themselves...

Fandom: Tales of Symphonia Characters/Pairing: Lloyd Irving/Colette Brunel Rating: G Mirror Link: AO3 Notes: Written for Colloyd Week, Day 2: Sidequest! This isn't referencing any specific sidequest in-game, but just making one myself because I've actually had this silly idea in my head for a while. Fair warning that a certain point of this fic might have a claustrophobia trigger? It's mainly emphasizing an action that happens in battle actually and is mostly brief, but just to be safe. (I'm sorry, Lloyd) :'D

--

It all started with a lost doggy.

“Tiggy!” Colette called out, walking in-between the thick roots that snaked across the forest floor, completely unmindful to the chill that whistled through the boughs overhead. “Where are you?” Her shout reverberated against the trees, echoed back at her like a wandering ghost in search of something precious.

Such a sound would usually send a shiver down one’s spine, but Colette happened to enjoy the acoustics, calling out another “Hellooo Tiggyyyy!” When she heard her own voice come back to her, warbly and almost breathless, she giggled against her hand. “It sounds so silly! Don’t you think so, Lloyd? …Lloyd?”

The usual red she was used to seeing was nowhere near her, and so she had to look farther down the path that led out to Mizuho. Only a little bit away, but right there, in the middle of the path, Lloyd was standing, rubbing an arm as he gazed up at the curled trees that lined the road.

“…Huh? Uh, y-yeah, yeah! Definitely…um…”

Though just a few steps back, he was looking wistfully from the path they came through. The sunlight was just out of reach, gliding along the ground before being abruptly stopped by the shadows of Gaoracchia Forest’s trees.

From where he stood, he looked towards Colette as if he were a lost doggy himself, making her heart flutter in her chest.

“Oh! Are you scared, Lloyd?”

“No way!” Lloyd answered instantly – with maybe a little squeak to this voice. “I mean… nah. I go through these kinds of woods all the time!” He then flinched when he heard a particularly weird-sounding bird call from above them, complemented by the rustling of leaves. “Just…not usually at night…”

“It’s okay to be scared!” Colette walked back to him, taking a hand of his gently. “You’re still thinking about Zelos’ stories?”

A grumble as he instinctively tightened his fingers around hers. “…Maybe…”

It was natural for their group to go off on strange little tangents on their journey all the time, and Tethe’alla provided a whole new place for them to explore. From the sprawling roadways of Meltokio, to the steep cliffs that had made up Mt. Fooji, and now here, in a forest that could have been like Iselia’s woods if the trees didn’t continually block out the sun, or that the pathways didn’t keep being blocked by vines that refused to budge.

“It was really creepy, wasn’t it?” Colette said, gently tugging Lloyd along as they walked deeper into a place that few people dared to tread through. “But also very sad too. All those poor ghosts…”

“Geez, Colette, if you thought it was scary, you sure don’t act like it!” Lloyd’s foot stumbled against one such root – which he was sure hadn’t been right there before! – and had to rely on Colette’s grip to keep himself balanced. “You just clapped when he finished telling!”

“Hm, but he told it very well! Don’t you think?”

Going by how both he and Genis had run away in fear after hearing it, he sighed. “Guess so…”

“But I’m happy you wanted to come here with me, Lloyd. It’d be hard to search through this forest for Tiggy by myself.”

“Well, I couldn’t let you go alone.” And also, Colette had already been rushing for the forest once she heard about the Mizuho shopkeeper’s little dog that had wandered in here, so Lloyd didn’t exactly have much time to wait behind. “But we probably should have told the others we’d be gone, too.”

“I’m sorry,” Colette voiced, and in her tone was complete sincerity. Still, she directed her gaze forward, through the darkness. “But I don’t want to leave a poor doggy out here all alone.”

“I know.” For a moment, Lloyd’s fear of the forest was forgotten. He held back Colette’s hand tightly, giving her a wide grin and a thumbs up once he caught her attention. “Well, four eyes are better than two! So don’t worry. We’ll definitely find Tiggy no matter what!” Lloyd felt proud then, and brave! He stood up tall, keeping Colette’s hands in his. “That’s just math!”

Her smile back was full of hope at the idea. “Thank you, Lloyd. I’m sorry to always be so much trouble.”

“You’re not! Besides, we’ve gone through this forest so we can do it again-”

Lloyd expected a lot of things, especially in this forest. He expected another creepy noise just at his ear, like a whisper which he swore he had heard a few times now, or the cold wind suddenly blowing and biting at his neck, or even maybe just some scary-looking rabbit to jump out at him – which would at least be familiar to him and something he could fight against.

He didn’t expect the horrific, high-pitched screaming that seemed to echo all around them, from every tree on the path, until it felt like they were surrounded by the sound completely.

Lloyd immediately jumped, tripped over another root, then brought Colette in a protective, but very much shaking hug, looking all around them. “W-w-what was that?!”

Colette blinked, her hair just brushing underneath Lloyd’s chin. She could feel the rapid beating of his heart through his jacket, the warmth of his arms around her back. She almost didn’t want to answer to break this nice moment…

“Hm, was it Tiggy?” At that, she got excited. “Maybe he heard us!”

“That…was not Tiggy! No way was that Tiggy! It sounded like… like a person!” Lloyd slowly panned his head around them, at the trees overhead that seemed to somehow shift in closer, their boughs reaching out like broken arms. “The thief from the story…?” Lloyd shook his head. “No way. That story was fake! …Wasn’t it…?”

“Hm, if it’s not Tiggy, then maybe whoever screamed is with him.” Colette reluctantly pressed her hands against Lloyd’s chest. She didn’t really want to leave this place of warmth in Lloyd’s arms, the safe way he made her feel just then, but when a doggy was in trouble… she couldn’t sit back! “They’re probably both lost. We need to hurry and find them!”

Even though Lloyd’s face looked very pale, and that he couldn’t seem to stop shivering (maybe he was also cold?), he nodded, then took a deep breath. “You’re right… Okay! Let’s go! I even got the Sorcerer’s Ring to help out if any weird plants get in the way!” Such a ring was over his finger, having changed it to give light instead of fire. “It’s a good thing I never gave this back, huh.”

She was always so happy to have Lloyd’s full support. With more confidence than before, Colette headed once again down the path, deeper into the forest. “It sounded like it came from this way!”

“Yeah! Right.. right behind you!”

The blood-curdling scream hadn’t happened again (to Lloyd’s immense relief) but the forest sounds grew louder the more they went in. The creaking of the branches in the wind, the snap of the leaves as they stepped over them on the path, and loud calls from birds that Lloyd couldn’t exactly place… The problem was, it was easy to get lost inside, and soon enough, both found themselves passing by the same fallen tree log to their right for the fifth time in a row.

“I could try to fly up and look around?” Colette suggested, knowing their predicament was not exactly in the best light. “The branches are a little thick but maybe…”

“Wait, don’t leave!” Lloyd instantly squeaked before clearing his throat and smiling like nothing was wrong at all. “I- I mean, with the way this forest is, it’s probably harder to see from up there. Also, we should stick together!” If Lloyd at least had his Rheaird, he could have flown up with her, but he had left it in the wingpack with the others…

“Ah, you’re right! Then maybe we can-” At that, Colette stopped, tilted her head, then turned to her left, looking down past a thick underbrush that deviated off the road.

“Colette? What’s wrong?” Lloyd asked, hands on the hilts of his swords, momentarily forgetting he was scared out of his mind.

“I hear a doggy whine...” She turned to Lloyd with wide eyes, fists clenched near her chest. “I hear Tiggy! He’s frightened, Lloyd!”

Before he could even get a word out, Colette had rushed off, straight into the darkness and in-between two closely-knitted trees.

“Wait! Colette!” He dashed after her in the same direction, trying his very best to ignore Zelos’ stories so that he could stop shaking and run faster! But catching up to Colette proved to be a bit more difficult than he anticipated…

The thing was, when it came to doggies, no matter how big or small, whether nameless or not, Colette could hardly focus on anything else. He watched as she expertly dodged any forest debris on the ground, her clumsiness suddenly vanishing. “Tiggy!” she called out, using her hands to throw out her voice more. “Tiggy! Please come home!”

“T-Tiggy!” Lloyd called out too, a little tired with how much he had to run just to be on Colette’s same pace. Shadows kept dancing at the corner of his eyes, and never was he able to catch their shape as he turned his head. But, surely it was nothing? They’ve already fought weird monsters in this place before… He had no reason to be scared!

And then, at a certain point, Colette no longer wanted to just run. It must have been by instinct, for she summoned her wings with barely a flinch, using them to flutter behind her and float over the dips in the forest floor, over any roots that were too high up.

Colette kept flying faster and faster, until Lloyd nearly lost his breath. Which was odd because he was quite used to running around! But Colette moved so fast! Her dedication to dogs was truly admirable “Hold on! I can’t…fly…”

“Ah, sorry!” Even in her pursuit, she slowed down just a bit, looking back to Lloyd. “But, I think I’m getting closer to him now!”

“Would a dog really run this far out?” he asked, unsure of the answer to his question. Even Noishe wouldn’t wander this far in… But then again, Noishe wouldn’t get close to such a forest in the first place.

“Ah, I see him!” And it was times like these that Lloyd wondered if Colette also had angelic sight along with her hearing! “Tiggy!”

All he could last see was the flutter of her pink wings, quickly swallowed up by the dark as she turned a corner. At the last second, creeping vines and brush covered up the way she had just vanished through.

“No! Colette!” Lloyd’s first instinct was to whack at the vines with his swords, yet the steel bounced off the brush as if it were made of stone. It only took him a moment to remember what he should do instead. With shaking hands and trying to hold one of his swords underneath his arm, Lloyd activated his Sorcerer’s Ring to point the sunlight at the thick leaves. “Come on, hurry up!”

Of course, it didn’t exactly work right away. (It never did!!) First, he held the ring at the wrong angle somehow, and then the ring just wouldn’t turn on, and then the ring had run out of the necessary sunlight, so Lloyd had to go back a-ways to a meager spot where the sunlight beamed through and absorb it through the ring like he was a flower reaching for the sun.

“This thing is so stupid!” he grumbled, then marched back to the vines that were in his way. This time, he directed the ring at the exact right spot, and the leaves retreated into the shadows, giving him room to move through. “That took forever…”

But he had no time to keep complaining! Running as fast as he could, swords unsheathed, he stumbled right into the dark, seeing only the outlines of overhanging trees, the breaks of blue sky overhead… and then pink light.

“Lloyd! Hi!” she waved at him cheerfully from a distance. “Look, I found Tiggy!”

And there she was, with the missing dog cradled in her arms. Paws were hanging upward as she held him facing up, a tongue lolling out of his mouth with happy panting. The two-colored fur coat, of white and gentle brown, let Lloyd know that this was the right dog!

That, and they were both surrounded by a group of monsters that looked quite ready to charge at them.

Even from their distance in the darkness, Lloyd could still see her smile apologetically. “It’s a bit hard to fight them while carrying Tiggy though…”

Lloyd only had a quick second to see what monsters they were dealing with; a couple of those weird looking pumpkin trees, a ghost that looked a bit lonely ( and he was sure it wasn’t the thief’s ghost from Zelos’ story so he could deal with it!) one of the horned animal-skull spellcasters that always spoke so loud, and what Professor Sage had termed a Coffin Master, and with the way they hunched over in their dark shroud where only pinpricks of red light could be seen, they looked as if they would be squashed by the quite literal coffin they were lugging around.

This one was closer to Colette, and was slowly lumbering towards her.

“Watch out!” With a well-timed Demon Fang, he got the Coffin Master to stagger, getting its attention. Lloyd felt his fear leave him. Sure, these things were still really creepy, but if he could fight them, then it wasn’t an issue!

Colette took the opportunity to fly just to the side, closer to Lloyd, then depositing Tiggy back on the ground behind them. “Now just stay right there!” she told it happily as she got out her chakrams. Already the monsters were surrounding them. They’d have to fight their way through to escape!

“I got your back, okay, Colette?” Lloyd said, moving close to her as he held out his swords. “Let’s get rid of these guys and get Tiggy out of here!”

“Okay!” Colette smiled as she was already throwing out a chakram at the spellcaster’s head before he could finish his chant. Lloyd rushed straight at the pumpkin trees that were waddling towards them. It would be harder without the others, but they had this now!

“I wish we didn’t have to hurt them still,” Colette softly spoke, all as she threw a Pow Hammer right at the ghost and making it dizzy from the contact. “Those pumpkins are really cute.”

“Colette, I don’t get how you find these cute! They keep making those weird faces at us!” And Lloyd had carved plenty of pumpkins for the holidays back at Iselia… and even he had never been able to make as scary of faces in his pumpkins as these ones did. He parried one that lobbed one of the massive gourds at him.

“It’s the way they walked! Didn’t you notice?” A flash of Angel Feathers, and the lonely ghost vanished from the angelic magic to be lonely no more.

“It’s kinda hard to…” Another thrust, and finally the last pumpkin tree fell over. But that was when he noticed the lumbering Coffin Master again, heading once more towards Tiggy who had wandered to the left just a bit, sniffing at an errant clump of grass.

“Tiggy, no!” Lloyd rushed over to stand in-between both monster and unaware dog, preparing a strong attack to keep it protected!

He only noticed too late how the Coffin Master turned around – but not to run off.

“Hunting Bea-!” Lloyd’s voice was quickly cut off once a weird tail-like appendage burst out from the coffin that had opened so suddenly, wrapping around his torso. “Ack!”

“Lloyd?” Colette could barely have time to turn, busy trying to ward off the last spellcaster who kept trying to pull off at least one successful magic arte.

Lloyd couldn’t even shout, the air already leaving his body once the tail lifted him off the ground, then dragged him closer and closer to a dark void that was…“Wait wait wait Colette help let me go LET ME GO-”

“Huh?”

“COLETTE!” Lloyd’s voice vanished once he was pulled into the coffin, the lid locking tight with a loud click!

Finally able to defeat the spellcaster who fell to the ground with a loud, “NooOOooo..!” Colette turned around, only to find Lloyd was gone, a few remaining pumpkin trees, and maybe a zombie, in his place. “Lloyd? Where are you? Are you okay?” Maybe he had gotten so scared that he ran away…

That is, until she heard the muffled screaming. It sounded familiar! And it wasn’t too far away!

She turned her head to see the coffin on one monster’s back shake. “Are you in there?”

Another scream, followed by desperate knocking against the lid so much that it shook from its hinges.

“Oh good! I thought you’d gotten lost too!” That was a big relief to her. With a nod, she readied herself for one last thing she’d been preparing for. “Don’t worry! I’ll get you out!”

The coffin kept shaking and screaming. Maybe he couldn’t hear her…

Meanwhile, the dog was still sniffing around and scratching at an occasional itch, but luckily the monsters were no longer paying attention to it. Colette quickly whispered the ritual prayer that she had repeated many times before, her wings lifting her and lighting up the dark forest, all as the remaining monsters headed for her. “Cast thy purifying light upon these corrupt souls… Judgment!”

A dazzling brilliance of magic illuminated the area, making the shadow-soaked plants curl up, and making the dog’s eyes blink a little in surprise. Beams of light rained from above to strike at the mob of monsters, including the one with the coffin on his back.

Once all fell, the coffin fell too – and with the force of its impact to the ground, busted the lid open.

“-OUT LET ME OUT!” Lloyd fell to the grass in mid-shout, panting heavily, still clutching his swords with shaking hands. He looked like he was trying to get something off of him until he realized he was free and no longer confined. His face was entirely pale as he looked around in barely concealed shock. “Wh-wha…I … man…” He dropped his swords, blinked once more, then dropped backwards in a heap.

“Lloyd!” Colette rushed up to him, and so did Tiggy, who caught up to him first and was now curiously sniffing his cheek. “Are you okay? Are you hurt?”

“Not… not physically…” Lloyd heaved out, still trying to catch his breath. “I’m… probably gonna have nightmares for weeks and… not want to be in small spaces for a while… but…that’s okay…”

Colette looked at him with guilt, reaching for one of his hands and clutching it tight. “I’m sorry. I made you come with me…”

“Colette… don’t think that.” He looked to her and to Tiggy who was now pawing at his shoulder like he was holding a secret treat from him. “We found Tiggy. That’s what’s important. I’ll.. be okay!” With his free hand, he held up a shaking thumbs up. “See? No….no problem…”

Still, she worried. His face was as white as Genis’ hair, so much so that she felt compelled to brush her hand against his cheek. At least he still felt warm. “Lloyd, you were so brave for protecting Tiggy.” The mentioned dog was now sniffing her hand along with his face, the feel of his wet nose making her giggle. “I think he knows it too.”

Lloyd’s grin was a little shaky, but it was real. “We can’t let any dog get hurt, can we?” She felt his face press into her hand, though maybe that was just because he was tired. “That’s what I learned from you… and what I admire about you so much, Colette.”

The words sent a flutter through her chest. Even in this dark forest where creepy denizens of the world lived in, she had never felt as warm and as bright as right now. If only she could keep staying in this moment, with both Lloyd and doggy by her side…

A strange cawing echoed above them, and she felt Lloyd flinch. “Er, think we can leave this place actually?” He sat up, though kept close to her as much as he could.

“Oh, of course!” And as she helped him up, making sure to carry Tiggy in her arms so he wouldn’t get lost again, both made their way out of the area and stepped around fallen monsters. “Sheena gave me directions around here earlier, so we shouldn’t get lost!”

“That’s good…” Lloyd still breathed a little heavily, but he held her hand, slightly leaning against her as they walked. “Also, I… think I know where that scream from earlier came from,” he said with a shudder. “We should probably walk a little faster..”

“Yep!” And though Lloyd didn’t expand much further about the scream (maybe when they were with their friends again, she could gently ask him about it) they made their way through the darkness until the break in the forest trees showed them open skies and fresh air.

She was happy that Lloyd would follow her, even into the darkest woods imaginable - but next time, she’d make sure they’d go somewhere with a little more sunlight.