#I’ll post Lloyd’s tomorrow just you wait

[stealingyourspins]

This has since been changed but I desperately need everyone to see the original height scaling of my Ninjago Mermaid AU based only on the chosen sealife’s height…

Kai im so sorry.

[justtwotired]

Whispers of the night Lloyd Garmadon x F!reader

(Credits to artist are in the picture)

Lloyd is getting to the 100 in this one🤭^

(Reader too but let’s not mention that)

Tag list: @cipheress-to-k-pop @whore-of-many-hot-men @bodieohbo @anyth1ngfor0urmoony @luvlloyd @viannasthings

GUYS. Guys… please forgive me I am so so sorry for not posing, I just lost motivation and don’t feel like writing anymore so I stopped, and everytime I started I lost motivation at the first word so I didn’t write on… so now, I finished this one, and the next is coming tomorrow, inalready have that completely written and controlled for errors, so I hope that makes up for my absence, I’ll try to post another one next week<3

Part 1 - previous - next

Your pov:

The next time I saw Lloyd was New Year’s Eve, we didn’t have time between Christmas and today because he had been on a mission with the others.

I had asked my parents if I could celebrate with him and his family and they were all for it, excited even. Ace wasn’t that excited, but he allowed it anyway. (I probably wouldn’t have gone if he hadn’t agreed).

So, late in the afternoon, Lloyd picked me up with his elemental dragon. He landed on our property at the front of the house and waved at me with a grin, making me wave back.

“You’ve got everything right?” My mom asked me and I nodded with an excited smile. We stood at the front door, I had a bag with me, containing clothes and a few other necessities, she had already triple checked it.

“Yes, I got everything, I don’t need that much, mom,” I assured and she pulled me into a hug, holding me tight.

“Promise you’ll call after twelve?” She put me at arms length and a laugh escaped my lips.

“Mom, I promise, don’t worry, it’s not like I have never spent new years away from you guys,” I said and she sighed sadly.

“Oh I know, but this is the first time you celebrate it with a boyfriend- let me worry about you!” She fussed and my father chuckled and rested a hand on her shoulder.

“Y/n will be fine, honey,” he reassured and than looked at me. “Take care of yourself and call us if things don’t feel right,” he said, turning serious for a moment before smiling again, “now go to your boyfriend, he’s waiting,” he winked and I stood on my toes to kiss his cheek, before running off towards Lloyd.

I crashed into his open arms, hugging him close to me. Five days apart where five days to long and I had missed everything about him. From his goofy smile to his flirty comments.

He chuckled when he caught me and pressed a soft kiss into my hair. “Missed me?” He asked teasingly and I took a step back.

“I haven’t seen you for multiple days, of course I fucking missed you!” I pointed a finger at him and he smiled before dipping down and catching me in a sweet kiss.

I closed my eyes and rested one of my hands on his cheek. “Ready to go?” He asked after pulling away and I smiled, a bit red in the face.

“Ready to go,” I repeated and he climbed back onto the dragon after taking my bag and he then reached a hand out to me. I took it and he pulled me up to sit behind him. My arms curled around his waist and I pressed my face into his shoulder.

He took off and in less than ten minutes we arrived at the Monastery. The moment we landed, the door flew open and Nya came running out. I jumped off of Lloyds dragon and seconds later was crushed into a hug.

“Hello to you too?” I laughed confused and she quickly put me at arms length, giving me a wide eyed look.

“Do you know how hard it is to live with these idiots without you around?” She questioned, sounding absolutely exhausted, “of course you don’t, because you couldn’t come on our mission!” Nya yelled and Lloyd covered his ears.

“Do you mind?” He asked, a tat irritated, but she ignored him and let go of my shoulders to take my arm and drag me inside. Lloyd scoffed and quickly followed after us. “Hey- she can walk on her own Nya!” He called but she ignored him making me chuckle.

“It’s fine Lloyd, we’ll get some girl talk in, besides, we need to get ready,” I chuckled at his baffled stare. “I’ll see you later, promise!” I waved at him and he huffed but let us be anyway.

Nya took me to her room. I’d seen it once before when Kai was giving me a house-tour, but I’d never really stepped foot in it. It gave me the time to look around a bit. I smiled at the pictures in her room and my eyes glittered when I saw the swords displayed in her wall.

I snapped out of it when she closed the door behind her and I remembered why I was here.

“You got everything? I brought some of my own stuff,” I gestured to the duffle bag hanging around my shoulder and she glanced at it before smiling.

“Oh no, I’m all set, but do show me what you’ve got,” she said excitedly. “We’re going to look so fabulous,” she grinned and I saluted her.

I opened my bag and took a small separate bag from it, handing it to Nya who inspected the make-up haul. I had also thrown in some hair decorations and skin care products.

“You know, sometimes I forget you’re rich, and then there’s moments like this and I remember,” she said in amazement and looked up at me. “This shit is awesome, sit down, I’m doing your hair,” she gestured to her chair and I raised an eyebrow.

“You promised I could start on you first,” I pouted and she paused for a second and sighed in defeat.

“I curse my past self for agreeing to that,” she mumbled before taking a seat in the chair herself, making me grin wickedly.

“Are you two done yet?” There was a knock on the door as Lloyd’s voice sounded on the other side and Nya groaned.

“No!” She yelled back, “be patient, we need our time to get ready, I’m almost done with N/n, you can have her to yourself after, loverboy!” She assured and we heard Lloyd huff on the other side off the door.

I snorted at the nickname she had given him and was scolded by her for moving, so I quickly sat up again. Maybe I should start calling him loverboy, I’m sure he’d love that.

Even though we were teasing him, I couldn’t deny that I did kind of want to leave this chair to go and spend time with him, but I had to have one patience.

“Give me some time, Greenie, I’ll be out in a minute,” I chuckled, trying to sit as still as possible while Nya gently held my chin, applying my mascara. I’d already done her hair and makeup, and she was just finishing mine.

“All done,” she took a step back. “You look beautiful, now, we just need a picture and then Lloyd can have you all to himself,” she announced. I knew she was extending her time with me to annoy Lloyd but I didn’t remark on it and posed as she took out her phone to make a selfie of the two of us.

“You ready now?” Lloyd asked from the other side did the door and I unlocked and opened it.

“Yeah, yeah, we’re done,” I teased, poking a finger into his stomach, but he didn’t react and just blinked at me for a second, mouth slightly agape as his eyes roamed my face, making me look at Nya with a questioning look. “Is he alright?” I whispered and she chuckled into her hand.

“He’s flustered beyond words because of you’re beauty,” she elbowed me slightly and I looked back at Lloyd who snapped out of it and smiled, a bit flushed.

“You look gorgeous, love,” he said and kissed my forehead, making my heartbeat speed up and I saw his grin grow at that, making me narrow my eyes playfully.

“Alright, get your lovey-dovey shit out of here,” Nya shooed us away and Lloyd shot her a quick glare before leading me to his room.

“We have dinner in an hour and than it’s just a night full of games, jokes and laughing,” he promised and I beamed at him.

“Can’t wait,” I said softly and followed him into his room. “How was your mission,” I asked and he meekly shrugged, making me lightly frown, “was it bad?”

“No, not really” he mumbled, looking at the ground, “you just weren’t there,” he admitted with red cheeks and I let out a small, breathy laugh.

“You cheeseball,” I poked his shoulder and he looked down at me with a grin, before dipping down to catch me into a kiss, but my hand shot up to cover his mouth. “Lloyd, you’ll ruin my lipstick,” I warned and he let out a sad noise, making me shake my head.

Suddenly his tongue licked my hand making me jerk it back with a yelp. He laughed and I scrunched my nose, wiping the saliva of on his hoodie, making him roll his eyes.

“Is my tongue that dirty to you?” He asked and I grimaced, glaring up at him. “Doll, my tongue has been on many more places than your hand, but only now you find it disgusting?” He raised a brow and my face flushed.

Without my permission, my mind flew back to James teasing me on Christmas Eve, making me slightly scold myself as my brain shamelessly drifted off to a lot of other things.

Lloyd looked amused as he watched my flushed face and could definitely hear my racing heart. He rested his hand on the back of my neck, gently pulling me forward as he leaned towards me, his lips gracing the shell of my ear.

“What are you thinking about, doll?” He whispered and my blush spread even further, he pulled back to look into my widened eyes and he chuckled, the bastard.

“Nothing,” I quickly answered, my voice high pitched, making him raise his eyebrows and smirk.

“If you say so,” he said with a smug grin before planting a whisper of a kiss to my neck and going to leave the room. “I’ll go see if mom and Zane need any help in the kitchen,” he casually strolled off while I stood baffled in his room for a few more moments.

We never really talked about topics like this, and technically we didn’t really talk about it, but we both knew very well where my thoughts had led me too and he had not hesitated to act upon it.

I swallowed thickly before composing myself and heading to the kitchen aswel, where Koko embraced me into a tight hug.

“Y/n! I am so happy you could make it,” she beamed at me and I smiled.

“Thank you for inviting me, I love being here,” I said and her smile grew, it surprised me that it was even possible. “Can I help you with anything?” I offered and she nodded.

“Lloyd is setting the table, do you mind helping him?” She asked, gesturing to Lloyd who just entered the kitchen from the dining room, I quickly averted my gaze, “we are with quite a bunch of people and with this much food, setting the table takes a while,” she chuckled and I nodded.

“Yeah, of course,” I said and quickly went off to grab some of the bowls of food Zane had finished and were ready to be moved. He smiled at me in greeting before returning to cooking.

I followed Lloyd out to the dining room and put the food down on the table. I looked up at him to see him already looking at me, he winked when I caught his eyes, making me quickly divert my gaze again.

I heard him chuckle, making me shoot him a glare while he gave me an amused look back. I couldn’t help but let out a small laugh to before playfully rolling my eyes and returning to the kitchen.

Ten minutes later all the others had joined and Zane had finally finished the food. The moment he sat down, the others immediately started digging in, causing Koko to scold them about their manners, yet they all just laughed it off.

“Here,” I looked at my plate where Lloyd just placed a few pieces of chicken. “You already love chicken, now let me tell you, this’ll be the best you’ll ever have,” he promised and I chuckled at him, shooting him a sceptic look.

I put a piece of chicken in my mouth and my eyes closed in delight. It was indeed the best I had ever had, if only I could eat here everyday.

The meal went on and eventually Jay picked up a conversation with me and I happily listened to him babble in about their mission. Koko and Wu had left for the kitchen with the promise of dessert, there had not been disclosed what it was exactly.

Unexpectedly, I felt a hand rest on my thigh and I had to clench my teeth while my breath hitched. I felt my face grow warmer and tried to make out Jay’s words but they were all a blur at this point.

I shot a look at Lloyd who gave me as mischief one back before winking. I quickly looked back at Jay who didn’t notice anything, Nya besides him, however, wiggled her eyebrows at me, making me bite my lip in embarrassment.

She laughed, throwing her head back while I gave her a scolding frown.

“Hey? What’s so funny?” Jay asked his girlfriend confused while she tried to breath trough her chuckles.

“Yeah, sis,” Kai began, “do you have something to share with the class?” He asked, a raised eyebrow and she quickly waved them off.

“It’s nothing, it’s nothing, I promise,” she giggled and shot me a look while I just kept staring at my plate. Next to me Lloyd snickered, making me elbow him in the side.

“What ya doing with that hand there, Lloyd?” I felt Lloyd’s hand stiffen in its place on my thigh as his head shot to Cole.

“Im not doing anything!” He insisted quickly, yet his hand remained where it was. Cole, Nya and Kai laughed while Jay scoffed at them.

“Guys! Not at the dinner table!” He scolded. At this, Lloyd did pull his hand away in horror while I choked on my food.

“Jay!” Lloyd called out in shock while the others -except a rather confused Zane- where all dying of laughter.

“What is so funny here?” Wu entered the kitchen followed by Koko who carried a beautiful cake.

“Nothing,” multiple voices immediately answered as everyone stopped laughing and looked at their plates.

It was Cole breaking the silence, being a bit to excited to have a taste of that cake.

———

After dinner, the adults promised they’d clear the table, so me and the others headed outside, climbing onto the monastery roof to watch the fireworks in the distance.

I sat next to Lloyd and our hands were locked together, while I talked to Nya sitting on my left, I was telling her all the juicy gossip she was missing now that she had left school.

“Who’s up for a game of truth or dare?” Kai spoke up, making me and Nya frown and exchange looks.

“What kind of seventh grade sleepover is this?” Nya snorted making her brother let out an offended noise. “You know what’s fun? Truth or drink!” She said and Cole immediately protested

“Absolutely not, the evening just started, besides, Y/n is seventeen, she’s not allowed to drink,” he stated with his arms crossed and I huffed.

“Please, you think I never drank before?” I asked with a raised brow and he shook his head.

“Not happening, we are playing regular truth or dare,” he stated and Nya rolled her eyes while Jay cheered.

We played a few rounds, mostly truth was chosen, but when Kai chose dare, Nya dared him to jump into the pond, he refused so she pushed him off the roof.

Aren’t siblings just lovely?

“N/n, truth or dare?” Kai pointed at me as I sleepily rested my head on Lloyd shoulder, who was tracing figures on my hands.

“Truth, I guess,” I answered, “I am to tired to jump into the pond or whatever,” I smiled and he gave me a look before he seemed to think for a moment.

“Did you ever date someone before Lloyd?” He asked and Lloyd froze for a moment before hesitantly continuing.

“You want the whole list?” I joked, causing Nya to poke me in the side and I giggled, “just kidding,” I swatted her hand away before continuing. “When I was six, me and James had a relationship and it lasted a whole month,” I put up a finger in a matter of factly way.

“It’s the moment you think you like him but you’ve actually just found your best friend,” Cole clarified with a small smile, “I’m guessing,” he added and j nodded with a chuckle.

“Indeed,” I said before continuing, “and when I was fifteen, I had a boyfriend, but we broke up shortly after my sixteenth birthday because he had to move cities, we both didn’t want to do long distance because we where still young,” I explained, “Damon, that’s his name,” I added.

Lloyd was quiet and I wondered if he didn’t like me talking about my ex boyfriend, I would understand that of course.

“So, you two didn’t zekerste in bad terms?” Zane asked and I shook my head.

“No, not at all! We held contact for a while, but I haven’t spoken to him in months,” I revealed, “it didn’t take long for me to get over him, I don’t even think I ever really loved him, not now I know how that actually feels like,” I smiled up at Lloyd who gave me an excited smile back.

“You two cheesy little fuckers,” Kai whined, cause ing both Cole and Nya to calm him out on his behaviour around Skylor, making the others laugh at him.

Yeah, I liked celebrating here.

———

It was almost three when we sat alone in the garden. The others where playing video games on the X-box while Koko and Wu had already gone to bed.

Lloyd had asked if I wanted to go outside with him and I had agreed. There where sounds of fireworks in the distance, I could barely hear them, yet I bet Lloyd heard them perfectly well.

I felt my eyelids slowly grow heavier while my head rested on Lloyd’s shoulder and he was softly stroking my back.

“I think it’s time to go to bed, love,” he whispered and I groaned. I was incredibly comfortable here, curled up besides my boyfriend in a wonderful garden with faint firework sounds in the distance? Yes please.

“No,” I grumbled, “hmm, am comfortable,” I was almost worried he wouldn’t hear until I remembered my boyfriend is basically a Demi-god and could, in fact, hear me.

“It’s getting cold,” he whispered back, “and you’re almost falling asleep here, you still need to get ready for bed,” he said softly, lips close to my ear and he planted a kiss right above it.

I was silent for a moment before groaning. “Fine,” I tried getting up and stumbled a bit, causing him to chuckle and swoop me off my legs.

“My lady,” he said with a charming smile as he started to walk towards the door. I let out a tired chuckle and tried holding open my eyes to admire him but they fell close every so often, making me force them open again.

He stood still outside the living room door and quickly popped his head in. “We’re going to sleep,” he announced making a chorus of goodnight come from the room.

In his bedroom he gave me one of his shirts, making me squeal softly in excitement, he gave me an adoring smile before turning back to his closet to grab his own sleeping attire.

I pulled the shirt over my head and grabbed my sleeping shorts out of my bag. I felt like immediately getting into bed but he took my hand before I could.

I looked at him and really did my best not to stare as he was only wearing a pair of sweatpants. I blinked and my eyes traced the scars across his chest and maybe his abs too, making me turn pink.

“My eyes are up here, sweetheart,” he teased making me quickly look away while he lead me to the bathroom.

He dug up a spare toothbrush from the cabinet, put some toothpaste on it and handed it to me with a goofy smile. I tiredly took it, muttering a soft ‘thanks’ and started brushing my teeth.

I wobbled a bit on my feet, almost falling asleep right then and there and he wrapped his arm around my waist, keeping me on my feet while he brushed his teeth aswel. I heard him chuckle but didn’t comment on it.

After brushing our teeth, we headed back to his bedroom and I could finally get comfortable under the covers.

He pulled me into him, making us spoon and he hid his his face in my hair, making me hum in content.

“Love you, goodnight,” I whispered, or at least, I hope I said that, I’m not sure if it was coherent as I fell asleep seconds after hearing his ‘i love you’ he said back.

Lloyd POV:

I was almost asleep when I phone buzzed and illuminated the room when a message came in. I sighed and turned it around, deciding to ignore it, but with the second and third message I got curious.

I frowned when I saw it was an unknown number, though the questions flying around in my head where quickly answered.

Unknown

What is up Lloyd it’s the James

Send 03.08

I wondered why he would text me at such a time and why he would text me to begin with, but he was Y/n’s best friend so I didn’t mind.

Unknown

Yeah so as N/n best friend and best wignman I do have to live up to my name

Send 03.09

I wondered if he was drunk… because it wouldn’t surprise me.

Unknown

I was actually supposed to send this earlier so maybe the bitch is asleep but if she ain’t, Im very hapy to tell you that she is waiting to get laid

By you of course

Send 03.10

I paused my reading and looked down at the girl peacefully sleeping in my arms with probably the reddest face ever. I swallowed thickly, my heart hammering in my chest.

I looked back at the screen when I heard a new message come in.

Unknown

Yeah she will kill me if she finds out about this but we speaked about this christmas eev and yeah so I now evrything

I got your number frim hr phone btw, she dienst know so sshhhh

Send 03.12

I hesitated, what did I answer to this? Did I ignore it? It felt weird to ignore it, but I really did not know what to answer. Sure, I thought about it before but we had never even talked about it. I swallowed again and decided to just answer.

Me

She’s asleep

Thanks for the information?

03.14

Unknown

Damn to bad dude, but np np

03.14

I turned the sound of my phone off and put it away, resting my hand back on Y/n’s waist. My face still felt incredibly hot.

How could I sleep after this?

Your POV:

I groggily opened my eyes, being woken by the sun shining trough the cracks of the curtain. My head laid on Lloyd’s chest and my legs were tangled with his.

I moved my hands up to wipe the sleep from my eyes and I used my tongue to wet my dry lips. I lazily looked up at Lloyd who was staring up at the ceiling, having not noticed me waking up. His arm was wrapped around my waist, his thumb rubbed small circles in my side.

His shoulders leaned against the headboard of the bed as he sat up only half. It didn’t really look comfortable but whatever suited him I guess.

Tough it surprised me he didn’t notice me waking up, knowing him he’d definitely notice, seeing my heartbeat would change, plus he’d notice the movement.

“Morning, love,” I greeted and that was what grabbed his attention. He blinked for a moment and looked at me, a small smile appearing on his face.

“Goodmorning, beautiful,” his smile turned into a teasing grin as he assessed me and I narrowed my eyes.

“Are you poking fun at my morning hair?” I asked, raising my eyebrows and his just wiggled his and kissed my cheek. He then went to kiss my lips but I stopped him with my hand, making his lips hit my palm. “Stop, I have morning breath,” I said with a scrunched up nose and he rolled his eyes.

He reached up a hand and pulled away mine by the wrist. “I don’t care, give me a kiss,” he leaned down and I rolled my eyes but kissed him anyway. When we pulled away he scrunched his nose. “Ugh, morning breath,” he said and I looked at him in offence.

“Yeah, that was the end of your morning cuddles, bye, I’m going to get some breakfast,” I started getting up and he whined, grabbing my hand but shook it off.

“No, stay,” he pouted but I narrowed my eyes. “Please,” he begged and I rolled my eyes.

“Get up, loverboy, it’s time for breakfast,” I stated and he sighed but followed me out of the room anyway, quickly catching up to hold my hand, making me smile in content.

Little did I know about the scenarios plaguing him in his head.

[itsthestutterforme]

Lloyd’s Girl 2/2 (Lloyd Hansen x tech!reader)

Summary: You finally managed to crack the hard drive. Which meant that your business with Lloyd was officially over. He wasn’t letting you go with a fight, especially with Six roaming around.

Notes: GIF is not mine, all mistakes are my own, reader is Black, dark themes (stalking, murder, threats, cheating), sexual themes (oral sex- f and m receiving, fingering, slapping, p in v penetration, spit swallowing), minors DNI, there’s no Lloyd Hansen without smut am I right?

Prompt credit @tbgkaru-woh : “Is that it, or is it because you’re in love with me?”

**

You did what you promised to do. You decrypted the flash drive and Lloyd had access to everything behind the firewall. Every single black op that Dennis and Suzzane sanctioned off the books was captured and logged. Pictures, coordinates, files on the SEAL teams used. Everything. It was the biggest fuck you Fitzroy could have made.

The longer you searched through the information, the more files appeared. You left the sorting to the techs and passed out the second your head hit a pillow.

When you woke up, it was 7:32 p.m. and you made the realization that you fucked up your sleeping schedule. You let out a long breath before getting up and rummaging through your packed bag. You picked out something casual to mingle with the rest of Lloyd’s friends. If that’s what he would call them.

When you checked your phone, you saw that you had a missed call from Conrad. You called him back when you walked into the bathroom to shower. Conrad answered on the first ring. “Hey baby,” he greets. “Hi, how are you?”

Meanwhile Lloyd had called Dennis with an update. “Did you crack the drive?” Dennis asked. “Yes we did,” Lloyd starts. “Whoever did it, you make sure to keep them. They’re definitely an asset,” “Oh, I know. I called Y/N to have a go at it when my team couldn’t.”

“Smart move.. Y/N, huh?” Lloyd could practically hear the smile on Dennis’ face. “Don’t start. I’ll keep you posted for the asset retrieval,” “Copy that,” Lloyd hangs up, his ears perked when he heard your voice. He walks down the hall and slowly opened the door only to see that you were in the shower.

His face scrunched in visible disgust when he heard Conrad’s voice. You mindlessly went along with the conversations with hums and ‘oh really’s. Lloyd manspreads on the chair in the corner of the room and waited for you. You opened the door with your towel wrapped tightly under your arm and your phone up to your ear.

“I miss you,” Conrad says over the phone and your gaze fell to Lloyd in the chair. “Y/N?” Conrad says and you hummed in response. “Everything okay?” “Yeah everything’s fine, I’m just feeling a little tired.” Lloyd smiles menacingly at your lie. “Okay well I look forward to talking to you tomorrow,” Conrad says. “Me too. Bye,” “Bye,” you hang up and tossed the phone on the bed.

“‘I look forward to talking to you tomorrow’. God he’s so boring. Look at you, you’re bored with him.” Lloyd stands from the chair and stalks over to you. His eyes fell to a bead of water and trails from the back of your neck and down your chest. “Conrad is sweet and considerate and takes care of me,”

“And I don’t take care of you?” “You know what I mean,” “No, I don’t. Enlighten me.” “Life is more than just mind blowing sex, Lloyd.” “Since you think you know everything about me. Let me read you. Deep down, you’re just like me: addicted to the adrenaline of almost getting caught doing something you’re not supposed to be doing. Addicted to power,”

“Everyone is addicted to power, Lloyd.” “But not everyone is meant to have it,” “You’re all fun. And what happens when something is done being fun? You drop it. I refused to be dropped.” You tried to move away from him but he gripped your arm, hard. “You dropped me,” “Before you could drop me,” you released your arm from his grip.

He narrows his eyes at you and his chest heaved with angry breaths. “On your knees. Now. Don’t fucking test me,” you dropped to your knees and shrugged off the towel. “Get to it, kitten.” You unzipped his pants and took him out of his boxers. He licked his lips when you looked up at him, he pumped him and smeared his precum over his angry tip.

Sending a small lick to the tip, gently sucking on it and he looked down at you in annoyance. His mouth fell open when you took all of him in feeling the tip of his cock push your uvula to the side. Pulling back a little, you angled your head so the vein brushes against the roof of your mouth with every bob.

“F-fuck, I missed your mouth.” He groans, his hand found the back of your head. Licking the underside his cock, you massaged his balls. Moving your head a little faster, you hollowed your cheeks and sucked in when you pulled all the way back to his tip. He moved his hips into your mouth, both hands held the back of your head as he relentlessly fucked your face.

Laying your tongue flat out, you could hear his breathing pick up. Pulling him closer by the back of his thighs, you deep throated him. Strings of his cum painted your throat and he cursed above you when you continued to suck him well passed his orgasm.

His knees buckled and you smiled against him before finally pulling away. You wiped away your saliva with the back of your hand. “Look at you. Does Conrad know how much of a slut you are for me?” He lifted your chin and you stood back on your feet. He sat down on the bed and pulled you in his lap all in one motion.

“Hm? Does he?” You shook your head no, moaning when he separated your lips with his thumb. You sucked his thumb and nipped at it. “Do you miss me?” “Y-yes,” he gripped your throat and gave it a squeeze. You subconsciously grinded your pussy against his hardening cock and he pulls away from your throat to slap you across the face.

You slowly met his gaze, your cheek tingling a little from the impact. “You think after the shit you pulled that you get to come quickly?” He condescends. You open your mouth to say something and without warning he shoved two fingers inside of you.

His free hand found your throat again and he thrusted his fingers deep inside you, curling upwards on the way out. “Lloyd,” you moaned. “He doesn’t even make you cum, does he?” He taunts, relishing in the wet sounds of your pussy suctioning his fingers. “Answer me,” your eyes roll back when he adds a third finger and rubs your clit with his thumb.

“Fuck,” you whimpered, trying not to rock your hips otherwise you could get slapped again. You close your eyes in an attempt to focus on cumming but he stops. “Answer the fucking question, slut.” “No he doesn’t. I-I have to fake it. Oh!” “I don’t know what’s more pathetic. Him being a mediocre husband or you still staying with him,” His skilled fingers continued thrusting and curling. You gasped, digging your nails into his arms.

Your body tensed as you neared your orgasm. Then everything just stops. “You don’t deserve it,” he lifted you off his lap by your throat and tossed you on your back. He stands from the bed and pulls off his boxers. Kicking off his shoes, he looks at you with dark eyes. You rub your legs together when he slowly unbuttoned his dress shirt. He stands before you in all of his ripped, lean glory.

His hard cock hits his stomach and you pressed your legs closed to subside the throbbing. “Open,” you loosely spread your legs and he pounced on you, spreading your legs into a split and licked your pussy like a man starved. When your hand slides into his hair, he slapped your hands harder than he slapped your face.

“I’m sorry!” You croaked, tears brimming in your eyes. Your legs shook as he sucks at your sensitive nub harshly. Shifting your hips a little, Lloyd pulls away from you and slaps your bare thigh. He grips your chin and leaned in close so your noses were touching. “You don’t ever ghost me like that again. Got it?”

“I’m sor-“ he cuts you off with a kiss. You weren’t expecting the kiss to be that passionate. You hesitantly held his face, worried that he would slap you again. When he doesn’t, you deepened the kiss and pulled him closer by the neck.

Pulling away from your lips, he left kisses down your neck and your chest. He took your boobs into his hands and gave them a squeeze. He watches your back arch into his hands when he rubs your nipples with his thumbs. Lying on his stomach, he lifts your legs on his shoulders and went to work.

“Oh Lloyd,” you met his gaze when he kitten licks your clit, sending you closer and closer to your orgasm with each lick. Your body shook and tensed as you finally hit your peak. Fireworks went off behind your eyes when they fluttered closed. Your body went limp but Lloyd continued to lick and suck at you. You turned away from his mouth before he keeps you in place.

Your legs trembled on his shoulders and sent a lingering suck to your clit. Your second orgasm came over you quicker and stronger than the first one. Hitting his arms frantically to let you go before you passed out of exhaustion, he smiles against you.

Meeting his gaze once again, he teases you by sending a lick every few seconds to ignite the nerves in your puffy folds. He leans over your twitching form proudly. You could smell your slick in his breath when he says, “Open.” You opened your mouth and he send a slob of spit into the back of your throat. At which you swallowed without blinking.

“Good kitten. Now flip over.”

**

You were sound asleep, burying your face into Lloyd’s neck as he held you close to his chest. He had his eyes closed but he wasn’t asleep. Lloyd had been relishing in the passed two hours. You being here made him start thinking. He didn’t just want you. He needed you. And now that he has you, he isn’t letting you go again.

He’ll need to have a little chat with his brother, Conrad. He had two options: accept that you were Lloyd’s and move on or having a bullet between the eyes. A knock came to your door and Lloyd open his eyes. “Lloyd?” Suzzane says through the door.

“What?” “Six is here and he already took out one of your perimeter teams,” she explains. “Shit,” he pulls away from you gently so you wouldn’t wake up. He puts on his clothes and meets Suzzane outside. “Well you’re not subtle,” she adds. “I really don’t give a shit,”

A part of the building was shot by a small rocket and you had woken up to the building shaking. You sighed when you realized Lloyd was gone but the spot was still warm which meant he had just left. You scrambled to put on your clothes and comfortable shoes.

You opened the door and pulled your twists into a low ponytail. “And you, I want you posted outside Y/N’s room. Protect her with your life,” you heard Lloyd say. “What’s going on?” You spoke, making your presence known. Lloyd’s eyes snapped to you as he loaded his rifle. “Six is here, cupcake. I need you to stay here where it’s safe.”

“If Six is here, there is no place that’s safe. We need to get out of here now. You’re not going to die cleaning someone else’s mess, Lloyd.” He whispered something to his armed men and they all filed out of the room. “Who says I’m going to die?” He jokes. “I’m serious,”

“These two people took out multiple heavily armed mercenary teams. Give them the respect they’re due and leave.” “I can’t do that, cupcake.” “Why? Because of your pride? This is why women have a longer life expectancy,” he took a hand gun from his holster and gave it to you. “I’ll be back before you know it. Just keep the bed warm for me.” “No chance,”

“I had a feeling you’d say that,” he says with a chuckle before giving you a kiss and leaving the room. You watched everything through the monitors. There were too many explosions to keep track but you still managed to track Lloyd’s dress shirt through the screens.

He had jumped into the pond to swim after Six and a young girl. “Damn it, Lloyd.” You took the gun into your hand and cocked it. You ran out the front door and sprinted towards the maze. Suzzane entering the maze caught your attention.

You waited a few paces before following her. Little did you know that Dani was following the two of you. Suzzane had followed the grunts of the Lloyd and Six and the sound of water splashing.

Six had Lloyd in a headlock, leaving his abdomen exposed for a clean shot. Suzzane lifted her gun to shoot at Lloyd and you shot her from behind. She falls forward and drops her gun, bleeding out fairly quick. “Y/N!” Lloyd grunts from the lack of air and points behind you.

You saw the barrel of a gun and wrapped your hand around it to gain control. You gripped the arm attached to the gun and tucked the persons forearm under your armpit, essentially trapping her from using the gun. You elbowed her in the face twice before bending your knees and throwing her over your shoulder.

Stepping on her wrist, she eventually lets go of the gun and you kicked it away. You looked up to see that Lloyd still couldn’t get out of Six’s chokehold. “Hey!” You applied a small amount of pressure to Dani’s throat. “I can guarantee you that I can crush her trachea a lot quicker than you choke him out. Let him go.”

“What happened to Claire?” He asks. “She left her outside of the maze. She’s fine, I don’t hurt kids.” You could sense his hesitation but his grip on Lloyd loosens a bit. “Look, you can keep the asset. I never liked Dennis, and I don’t care. I just want Lloyd,” you applied more pressure to her throat, causing her to choke.

“Alright,” Six announced, releasing Lloyd. You lifted your foot from her neck and she gasped for hair as she held her neck instinctively. You lowered your gun as Six slowly moved towards Dani with his hands up. You didn’t trust him but you clicked the safety on anyway.

You walked towards Lloyd who was leaning against a broken pillar. “I got you,” you took his arm and walked him through the other side of the maze. “You remembered what I taught you,” he looked at you proudly. “And I told you we should have left,” you walked into the driveway and opened the passenger door to one of the SUVs.

Thankfully the security guys leave the keys in the middle console for a quick exit. You hopped into the drivers seat and did a three point turn out of the driveway. “Will you still love me if I only have eight fingers?” He asks, showing his bleeding left hand.

You roll your eyes at him. “You’re mad at me,” “No shit, I’m mad at you, Lloyd. You could have died.” You snap. “You killed a federal agent for me. Why?” You waited a moment before answering, “Because you’re my husband’s brother and I really don’t want to plan another funeral.” “Wrong,”

You could feel his gaze on you as he anticipates the answer he’s searching for. “Because we all went college together,” you evade. “Is that it, or is it because you’re in love with me?” Your breath caught in your throat and Lloyd noticed. You shifted in your seat and rested your right hand on the steering wheel.

“So what happens next?” He asks. “I take you to the hospital,” “And then?” “We go our separate ways,” “Wrong,” “Then what do you suggest?” “They’ll probably pin Suzzane’s death on me so I’ll have to go off grid for a while. Come with me,”

Well shit. You weren’t expecting him to say that.

Should I do a part 3?

[neenaatyvm]

It still blows my mind that a single post by Tom, with no other info and no other cast member announced caused 60k people, some from outside the UK, to queue up for tickets to a play. For a story they can probably watch in their local community theatre! Even I as a Tom fan was not aware he had that kind of pull.

It must have been (and still is) SO. MUCH. PRESSURE. for everyone in the cast and crew and jamie lloyd to fucking deliver with this play brcause the hype was insane. I was very worried about how critics would react, given Tom's track record with that. But after seeing how much people loved the preview shows... it's like, okay people are having a great time and the cast also seem to be having a great time so critics can say whatever they damn well please as far as I'm concerned.

Sorry just picking this up from yesterday. I honestly was so shocked to get through to the ticketing site after being put 38k in the waiting room for the pre-release and the only tickets left were the pricey ones. My bank account took a hit that day, all I’ll say 😭

I tried again just for the craic when the general release went out and damn near was 55k deep in that queue. Like it’s crazy - having all those people queuing for the pre-release and then the general release off the back of an IG story!

But the previews are now all done. Opening night tomorrow, and tbh I’m same as you, the audience have thoroughly been enjoying this production so far (I know they’re majority Tom fans, but they’ve literally had a standing ovation at the end of each show). You can tell how much the cast are loving it each time they come together for the curtain call. Whatever happens with critics, at the end of the day they’re more than delivering for the paying public 😌

[fanfalc-616]

Time For Amnesia

Chapter Nine: Ice, Electricity, And Painful Injuries

(Previous Chapter Here)

Uhhh ok so I was working on the new chapter and I realized I never even posted chapter nine (on tumblr anyway it’s on ao3-). But uh yeah here it is,,, I’ll post ten (which I finally completed!!) tomorrow.

Also yes this is my new format for all fanfics hsjshdh

Eventually, Nya comes in, looking concerned.

“It’s getting late.” She notes, choosing not to comment on however she feels about how he’s been acting.

Kai nods. “Where am I sleeping?” A sudden thought strikes him. “I- I don’t sleep with… them, do I?”

Nya seems uncomfortable. “We agreed that that would be a bad idea, and before you got together, you used to stay in a different room- the room you woke up in. And-“

“Alright, I’ll just go there and go to bed.” Kai gets up from his spot on the floor.

After pausing for a moment, Nya nods. “Do you need me to show you where it is, or-“

He shakes his head. “I remember.” Without waiting for a response, he heads off to the room, silently grateful for the fact that he’s not going to have to spend the night with the others.

He’s only just sat down when there’s a knock.

Groaning, he gets up and walks over to the entryway, opening the door.

Cole stands there with a small, slight forced smile, holding a set of striped red pajamas. “These are for you.”

Eyeing him warily, Kai takes them. “Uh, th- thanks.” He stutters out, trying to ignore the way his mind flashes back to how he watched him make out with Zane.

“Are you okay? Your face is really red.”

Shit.

“Yeah I’m fine everything’s fine you should go now bye.” Kai blurts out in a rush. As soon as the words have left his mouth, he slams the door shut in his face.

Well, that solved absolutely nothing.

He has enough emotions going on- these people are crazy, and he doesn’t want to have to get to know them or have anything to do with them!

So why is his heart racing? Why does he feel like this?! He doesn’t want to like these assholes, he wants to be able to threaten to skewer them and actually mean it!

With a quiet grumble, he starts getting changed- but he almost drops the pajama shirt when he looks down at his torso.

Since when did he have a six-pack?! It’s not defined like a bodybuilder’s or anything, but he’s definitely got some strong muscles there.

Shaking his head, he goes back to putting on his pajamas. He must seriously work out a lot.

Well, if he’s a ninja savior of Ninjago, then he’s probably going to have to be in good shape.

Sighing, he turns off the light and gets on the bed. Curling up under the covers, he closes his eyes and tries to drift off.

If he’s lucky, maybe he’ll wake up back at home.

—————————

Kai wakes up in the red bed he went to sleep in.

Drat.

With a sigh, he gets up from the bed, and just as he does, the door opens.

Jay stands there, a nervous smile on his face. “I, uh… I guess your internal clock still works. But, uh, it’s breakfast time, so-“

With a groan, Kai walks over to him. “Alright, let’s go eat.” He grumbles.

He pretends not to notice how Jay tries to hold his hand, and after a moment, he stops trying to take it, and Kai ignores how that sparks guilt inside of him. It’s fine, he doesn’t care. He shouldn’t feel bad, he doesn’t even know him!

They’ve only just reached the dining room when an alarm starts blaring. Kai immediately feels himself switch into a fight-or-flight mode, trying to figure out what the hell is going on.

Then Nya’s voice comes on over the comms. “Everyone to the bridge! Now!”

Jay tenses up. “C’mon!” Without waiting for a response, he takes off running, leaving Kai to chase him down the halls.

When they arrive at the bridge, everyone else is already there.

Zane immediately starts talking. “There appears to be a genetically engineered snake being used to terrorize New Ninjago City. From what we can tell, it was created by-“

“Cut to the chase!” Nya interrupts.

Lloyd shakes his head. “No, we have comms, we can get an explanation on the way. Let’s go!”

There’s hardly a pause before they all race out of the room- but Lloyd peeks back around the corner to look at him. “You- you just wait here, okay?”

Kai doesn’t get a chance to respond before the blond runs off, leaving him alone.

What the hell just happened?

Still trying to process things, he decides to go into the living room and see if he can watch what’s going on in the news. Whatever’s going on, it seems like a big deal.

So he walks in and turns on the TV, waiting for an explanation to be given.

He watches as a reporter- Gayle Gossip, she said her name was- shows some weird ice snake thing attacking the city. Listening carefully, he can just make out some words that the ninja are saying as they try to stop it.

“- weakness to heat-“

“-Zane, fall back-“

“MOVE!”

Kai stares in horror as he watches Nya get thrown from her vehicle and tossed into a building.

Something in him screams at him to move, and he listens to it, getting up from the couch and scrambling off to wherever the hell his instinct is taking him.

He finds himself in some kind of little launchpad like area for vehicles, and finds himself gravitating towards a red motorcycle.

Oh, what is he doing? He’s not seriously going to try and fight the ice snake, is he?

Yeah. Yeah, he is. Because no one messes with his little sister.

Kai starts up the bike and continues to trust his instincts, just doing whatever feels right.

Which is how he ends up screaming his head off while he falls from the sky on the motorcycle.

The bike falls out from under him, and Kai finds himself flailing about, still screaming.

Until he feels himself get grabbed, and a loud grunt escapes him as he scrambles for purchase on whatever he just fell onto.

He blinks a few times as he realizes that he’s on a- on a dragon what the hell-

Clinging to the rider of the dragon, he feels his eyes widen as he recognizes them.

“Zane?”

The robot looks back at him. “Kai?” He seems shocked. “You were supposed to wait on the ship!”

Before the brunet gets the chance to respond, the tail of the ice snake is suddenly striking towards them, and Zane has the dragon dip, trying to avoid it.

But it’s a rocky move, and they still get hit, the dragon literally disappearing under them.

Kai hits the ground with a loud thudding noise, but luckily enough, he doesn’t seem to be too badly hurt.

He gets to his feet, and Zane quickly runs up to him, getting in close.

Kai’s about to brush him off, but he’s caught off guard by his eyes. His bright blue eyes that glow, and the deep concern behind them as they stare into his own.

“You’re not hurt, are you?” His voice is gentle, full of concern and softness.

Kai swallows, but doesn’t answer, still captivated by the glowing blue irises that seem to stare through to his soul.

“Kai? Please, are you okay?”

He nods shakily, unsure why he’s so affected by something as minor as eye contact.

“I’m going to scan you.” Zane decides, setting a hand on his shoulder. His eyes flicker a little as he looks Kai up and down, a thin band of light emitting from them and falling over Kai’s figure.

And that’s when he snaps out of it.

Stepping away, he shoves Zane back, putting his arms out in front of him in defense. “Woah there, I did not agree to be scanned! So keep that little light show to yourself!”

The robot blinks a few times as he steps back, holding his hands up in a placating gesture. “My apologies, I was only trying to-“

The snake’s tail slams into a building, sending wreckage flying everywhere. With a mumbled complaint that Kai can’t quite make out, Zane pulls him aside. “Stay out of trouble. I’ll return when the fight is over.”

Without waiting for a response, he runs off, leaving Kai alone.

He stands there for a few moments, looking around the torn up alley and listening to the nearby noises of combat. Something inside him is itching to go follow, and after a moment of consideration, he runs off towards the battle.

As soon as he gets close, he’s forced to dodge and duck behind some debris to avoid getting frozen by an icy blast. So it’s an ice creature, then?

… fire melts ice, right? Maybe if Kai can get close, he-

“Kai?! What are you doing here?!” Jay shouts, grabbing his arm and pulling him out of the way of an attack.

“I’m helping!” Kai defends himself as the ginger uses a blast of lightning to shatter a large chunk of ice that had been flying towards them.

“No! No, you are not! I’m going to have to protect you instead of actually concentrating on the fight! Why didn’t you stay on the ship?!” Jay glares, grabbing Kai by the wrist and pulling him along.

“So I could come help!” The two of them narrowly miss getting impaled by flying concrete as they duck behind a still-intact building.

Jay looks downright furious- an expression that almost looks cute on his baby-ish face. “We have just covered that you are not helping! Not. Helping. Not helping at all!”

Kai feels his face flush some at the scrunched up nose and the way his cheeks puff out. Still, he manages to defend himself. “It’s ice and I have fire powers!”

Grabbing him again, Jay drags him around as they avoid getting impaled by debris created by the snake. “If this snake doesn’t kill you, I will! And if it does, I’ll resurrect you and kill you again!”

Kai arches an eyebrow at the statement. “Aren’t you supposed to be in love with me?” He complains.

Jay gives him a look. “It’s because I love you that I threaten to kill you. Because apparently threatening is your love language.”

“Huh?”

“You do it all the ti- LOOK OUT!” Jay tackles him, sending a blast of lightning at the the tail of the snake that’s crashing down-

Everything goes bright white, and pain wracks his body, making him cry out. They manage to avoid getting crushed, but only just, and the two of them end up sprawled on the ground.

Kai feels himself twitch some, all of his hair on end. Groaning, he glances over at Jay, who’s getting to his feet.

The ginger’s eyes widen as he looks at Kai. “Shit, I- are you okay?! I didn’t mean to shock you!”

He got shocked? Hmm. That would explain the excruciating pain.

With a groan, he forces himself to sit up. “ ‘m doin’ g-great.” He gets out, ignoring his blurry vision as he struggles to his feet.

“Kai-“

Jay is cut off when the snake is suddenly whipping back through, hitting the ginger clear across the alley- and the only reason he stopped there is because of a wall.

Kai winces as he watches Jay get slammed into the concrete. That can’t feel good.

Then again, he’s not exactly in peak condition either.

He struggles to get up a few times before resolving to just lay there. Jay will come get him in a minute, and even though it’s concrete, the ground feels awfully comfortable…

Even as his vision grows more and more blurred, he manages to make out several sets of combat boots, and then someone is picking him up, dragging him away.

Kai lets them, closing his eyes. It’s probably just Cole… yeah, Cole wears black, and is definitely strong enough to carry him around. That would make sense.

The world starts to fade, and Kai doesn’t bother trying to hold onto it.

Everything hurts, and it would be so much easier to ignore it and drift away…

And that’s exactly what he does.

[lloydskywalkers]

*sweats* yeAH i know the one gbdfjgh. It’s very much a Halloween-centered piece so I was incredibly sad tumblr decided to end its life the one time i actually hit a deadline i’d set for myself, but it’s been kind of just...marinating in my docs folder since then. I might post it formally on FFN eventually, but in the meantime, i’ll post it on here below the cut!

“Guys, you will never guess what’s running around Ninjago City."

Jay’s announcement is met with a distinct lack of reaction, which is pretty disappointing, because it’s the kind you drop for a dramatic pause and reaction. And he did — try to, at least.

However, instead of reacting properly, like anyone in their right minds would, his team is woefully un-reactive. Nya continues to snore into the couch, her face pressed against the couch pillow in a way that’s gonna leave a spectacular mark later, and Cole’s too busy referee-ing Lloyd and Kai, who are in the middle of their sixth round of Dance Dance Ninja Revolution, which Jay can’t really blame him for, because they chose a Rihanna song this round and they’re getting a little too into it.

“How did you get that bonus and I didn’t!”

“You gotta pop your hip on that last move, like this—"

“What, and crack my spine in half?”

“I mean, your bones are pretty fragile.”

“Fragile?!”

“Yeah, ‘cause you’re so old.”

“I’ll crack your spine, you tiny brat—"

Zane is the only one to actually acknowledge him, even if it’s a slight cock of his head from where he’s video-chatting Pixal, making him the only one of these terrible people Jay actually likes right now, unless Kai manages to make a comeback and beat out Lloyd, in which case he’ll celebrate with him.

But it’s looking unlikely.

“Are you talking about the vampire rumors?” Zane asks.

Jay’s expression sours. Never mind, he retracts his appreciation of Zane now. Way to steal his thunder.

Kai snorts from where he’s waving his arms in a butchered kind of Macarena. “Seriously, Jay? Those rumors crop up every year. There’s no vampire.”

Jay glares at him, mentally switching his loyalties to Lloyd, as it looks like he’s going to wipe the floor with Kai anyways, because he’s just snatched that one difficult bonus Kai usually wins where you hair-flip like a diva.

“This is for real, though,” Jay argues. “It was reported on the police scanner. Someone’s running around biting people!”

“Maybe they’re just into that,” Nya yawns, burrowing her face further into the couch pillows. “Don’t be so judgmental, Jay.”

Jay colors, and Kai chokes. Lloyd gives a triumphant crow of victory, doubling his score at the last minute, leaving Kai solidly in the dust. Kai makes a sour face, collapsing on the couch and crossing his arms.

“You cheated.”

“Not my fault you got distracted,” Lloyd shrugs. He turns to Jay, wiping the sheen of sweat from his forehead and looking curious. “Wait, they’re really reporting that someone’s out there biting people?”

“Or something,” Jay says, quickly seizing on the attention. “Something bloodthirsty that goes around biting people’s necks, which obviously has to be a vampire.”

“It says here it steals their wallets, too,” Zane remarks, scrolling through the news article.

“A wallet-stealing vampire,” Jay amends.

The others look decidedly unimpressed, which is rather insulting and extremely disappointing. Geez, you fight one giant stone titan and a few mythical, apocalypse-bringing monsters and suddenly no one’s impressed by anything anymore.

“Sounds like petty crime, not our thing,” Kai yawns. “Besides, vampires don’t exist.”

Jay sputters. “Are you kidding me?” he exclaims. “They totally exist!”

Cole raises an eyebrow at him. “You know those vampire books are fiction, right?”

Jay presses his lips together tightly. “Are you telling me,” he says, stiffly. “That after everything — everything we’ve seen — which includes and is not limited to warriors made up of tiny snakes, a walking eldritch horror that’s actually another realm, and living skeletons — you don’t believe vampires can exist?”

“Well, yeah,” Kai says, simply. “Because those other things are real. Vampires aren’t.”

“You didn’t even think the Serpentine were real!” Jay accuses, because Kai’s opinion is clearly trash here, and he obviously should’ve started by attacking Cole, or Nya.

“Jay, chill,” Lloyd says, rolling his eyes. “Whatever it is, it’s not a vampire, unless someone stumbled off the set of a B-movie horror film. They don’t exist, Jay."

Jay opens his mouth, prepared to fire back, because of all the people to argue with him, Lloyd has no right at all, he’s a walking eldritch mutant himself — when Lloyd suddenly continues.

“It’s clearly a werewolf, if anything.”

Jay stops, his mouth half-open. He blinks. “Wait,” he narrows his eyes at him. “You don’t believe in vampires, but you’re game for werewolves?”

“Yeah,” Lloyd shrugs. “Werewolves make sense.”

“And vampires don’t?!”

Lloyd shrugs. “I mean, after Akita and the Formlings, you know?” He pauses, eyes widening as he contemplates something. “Wait. Is Akita technically a werewolf?”

Jay seizes the opportunity. “If she counts as one, then Oni count as vampires,” he argues.

Lloyd frowns at him. “What? No. That doesn’t even make any sense.”

“Oh yeah?” Jay counters. “Then explain why they both have fangs. And glowing eyes. And drink blood.”

“I don’t drink blood!” Lloyd exclaims, indignantly. “And neither do Oni!”

“How would you know?” Jay challenges. “You’re just a tiny little quarter Oni.”

Lloyd glares at him. “A quarter Oni with teeth that can bite you—"

“Okay, okay!” Cole says hastily, shouldering between them. “No one’s biting anyone, geez. I’m taking this opportunity to declare it time for bed.”

“Aw, but I didn’t get to trash Kai yet,” Nya yawns, waving absently at the still-scrolling game on the television. Zane quickly turns it off.

“We can trash each other tomorrow, after six a.m. practice,” Cole huffs. Everyone groans in unison at the reminder.

“We should start getting skip days,” Kai grumbles into the pillow. “Like, mandated days we get to just sleep in instead.”

“You would use that every day,” Zane sighs, tugging him up. Jay watches as they slowly pack up, preparing to head off to bed.

Unbelievable.

“Wait, so we’re just gonna let this thing run loose?” he exclaims, waving his arms in the air. “Ignore our civic duty for sleep?”

Cole pinches the bridge of his nose between his fingers. “Jay, there’s one article about it, and these kinds of things crop up every year,” he sighs. “It’s just some Halloween pranksters using it as an excuse for petty crime. The police can handle it, okay?”

“But a vampire,” Jay bemoans. “What if it’s real?”

“Or werewolf,” Lloyd corrects. Jay would elbow him for that, but — aha. Lloyd has that spark in his eyes, the one that means trouble. Jay’s hooked at least one person then, even if it’s for the totally wrong reason.

“Whatever it is, according to reports, it will still be here tomorrow,” Zane says. “Halloween isn’t for another day, and it usually strikes then. If it means that much to you, we can look for it then.”

Jay squints skeptically at him. Kai and Cole are both wearing expressions that say they will not be helping with that particular excursion, and Nya’s already halfway into her room, clearly writing him off as well. Hmph.

“But by then, we won’t have a sighting to follow,” Lloyd says, hesitantly.

“Good,” Kai grumbles, apparently done with the conversation. “Then we can forget about make-believe monsters.”

Jay is pleased to find that he and Lloyd are still just as effective at giving people the stink-eye in perfect unison as they’ve always been.

“Drop it, guys,” Cole warns, his dark eyes tired. “You can argue over this in the morning. When we’re all dead tired at dawn practice.”

Jay scowls, but he nods. He knows a lost cause when he sees one.

However, he also knows when a cause isn’t lost. He trades looks with Lloyd from the corner of his eyes, and Lloyd gives him a tiny, imperceptible nod. Halfway into their bedroom, Kai suddenly turns on them.

“And you guys better not sneak out to hunt it down by yourselves,” he says, his eyes narrowed. “The police have it covered. There’s no such things as vampires or werewolves, but if I wake up at three a.m. tonight and find out you guys snuck out, you’re gonna wish one had already killed you.”

“Geez, overreact much?” Jay mutters.

Lloyd rolls his eyes. “We’re not gonna sneak out just to chase down a few rumors, Kai,” he scoffs. “We’re not stupid.”

Kai eyes them both. Jay can almost see him mentally scrolling through Lloyd and Jay’s Best Hits, Screwing-Up Edition, in his brain, and he doesn’t like it. Like Kai has room to talk about dumb decisions.

Kai finally shakes his head, sighing as he heads for his bed. “I swear,” he mutters to himself. “If I have to fish you out of a river later…”

“You won’t!” Lloyd promises cheerfully. “Word of honor.”

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

As it turns out, Lloyd’s word of honor is garbage. But so is Jay’s, so he’s not gonna judge.

“Okay, the reports said it was last sighted over in the east sector in the sewer tunnels, so I vote we start here,” Jay tells him in a hushed voice, as they plot their path from one of the city rooftops, the dim streetlights blinking down below. “There’s a bunch of bars and stuff around, so if I was looking to steal someone’s wallet by biting them, I’d go here. Down for a stakeout?”

“I’m game,” Lloyd says, slightly muffled through his mouth of—

Jay blinks at him incredulously. “Are you eating our garlic bread right now?”

Lloyd freezes, shifting guiltily and quickly swallowing. “No-o?”

“Lloyd!” Jay hisses. “We need that for the vampire!”

“Then you should’ve gotten actual garlic,” Lloyd hisses back. “I got hungry, and we’re carrying around garlic bread! Can you blame me?”

“Hmph.” Jay glares at him, then snatches the bag Lloyd had been hiding behind him. Lloyd makes a face.

“S’not like we need it anyways,” he mutters. “Garlic doesn’t work against werewolves.”

“It’s not a werewolf,” Jay retorts. “And even if it was, it’s not like we have any silver.” He frowns. “Wait, doesn’t silver work against vampires too? Maybe I should’ve gotten us some…”

“Got it covered,” Lloyd says, pulling a small ziplock bag from his sweatshirt pocket. They’ve opted to wear civilian clothes tonight, as one, they’re trying to be inconspicuous, and two, it’ll make it a lot more difficult for Kai to claim that they were out breaking their promise if they aren’t in very distinctive, undeniable gis.

“I snatched a pair of Nya’s earrings earlier,” Lloyd continues. “Sterling silver counts, right? ‘Cause they even have these little bits on the back you can stab people with.”

Jay blinks rapidly. “You snatched her—"

Well, actually, on second thought, it’s not the worst thing they’ve ever stolen from each other. And it’s definitely not the worst purpose for such a theft, either.

“Okay, nice, we got silver,” Jay says instead, trying not to think about what Nya’s reaction to finding out her earrings were used as lethal injections for a vampire is going to be.

“The better prepared, the lower the chances of dying horribly,” Lloyd says, cheerfully.

“Please don’t phrase it that way.”

“You literally said that exact same thing to me last week, on the Metallonia mission—"

“You must’ve had water in your ears,” Jay waves him off, knowing full well he did say that but having zero intent of admitting it. “Anyways, it’s just one vampire. We can handle this, easy.”

“Or one werewolf,” Lloyd says, pointedly.

Jay takes a very long breath, then lets it out. If it were Kai or Cole, maybe he’d pick the fight. But it’s Lloyd, and he’s risking Unholy Big Brother Wrath as it is.

“Fine,” he half-surrenders. “If it’s a werewolf, we can handle that too. But it’s not, because it’s clearly a vampire.”

“That’s what it wants you to think,” Lloyd grouses.

Jay rolls his eyes, shoving the rest of their supplies back in his ratty old backpack. He cranes his head over the edge of building rooftop, watching the evening crowds just beginning to flood into the bars.

“Now what?” Lloyd whispers, materializing next to him.

Jay, with his reflexes as sharp and well-honed as they are, does not nearly jump off the roof at Lloyd’s sudden appearance. He doesn’t squeak, either, the look Lloyd is giving him is just — Lloyd being a terrible gremlin.

“Now,” Jay clears his throat instead, taking on an air of expertise, because he is an expert. “We wait.”

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

In the excitement, Jay has, tragically, forgotten how absolutely boring stakeouts are.

Really, he should’ve brought a board game or something.

“—somethin’ strange, in your neighborhood. Who you gonna call.”

Jay punches his hand in the air without enthusiasm where he lies on his back, yawning, “Ghostbusters.”

“Dun dun, dun dun, du-du-dun—" Lloyd continues humming the bridge, staring up at the sky where he’s got his arms beneath his head, sprawled out next to Jay.

“You know, I still swear I heard the ghosts playing this back at Styx,” Jay murmurs.

Lloyd’s humming halts, and he snorts. “Maybe they had a sense of humor.”

“Heh. Yeah.” Jay frowns. “So wait, this is your favorite holiday song? The song about ghosts? Really?”

Lloyd nods. “I ain’t afraid of no ghost,” he sings.

Jay makes a face at him, then shrugs. Well, he guesses he doesn’t have room to judge people’s coping mechanisms. He still deals with spiders by blowing the entire room up. “That’s one way to deal with it, I guess.”

“I like the irony,” Lloyd continues, with a lopsided grin. “Also, like, do any of us deal with our issues?”

“Ye—" Jay pauses, considering. Huh. He knows they’ve all been putting off therapy, but sometimes they, like…cry all over each other? At three in the morning? That counts, right?

He supposes that doesn’t quite equate.

“I stress-baked eight batches of brownies with Cole one night and ate half of them after the Oni thing?” he offers weakly.

Lloyd stuff a fist over his mouth, holding back a laugh. “I ate a whole container of frosting with Nya after the SOG thing.”

“That’s where it all went?” Jay snaps his head up, his eyes accusing. “Lloyd, that was our only cream cheese frosting! I was going to use that for a meltdown!”

“Oops,” Lloyd says, unapologetically. Jay digs his foot into his side, and Lloyd jerks away, giggling.

“You, I’d expect, but Nya…” Jay grumbles, processing this betrayal. “That’s like, cliché teenage heartbreak coping there.”

“Well, I mean,” Lloyd says, his smile suddenly painfully forced. “Kinda…was. A bit.”

Jay frowns. “Wha — oh.”

Oops. Too late, Jay realizes that he has accidentally stumbled into a mine zone. He should know better, seriously — Lloyd probably does not want to talk about teenage heartbreak right now. Or any time…soon, considering his last and only romantic excursion kind of…stabbed him in the back and got crushed by a building. Amongst other things.

“So!” Jay quickly says, trying to cut through the sudden awkwardness and turn the conversation to something better. “How is, uh, your life going, in that…area…?”

Never mind, Jay’s mind screeches at him. Abort, abort, this is going somewhere worse—! Maybe if he’s lucky the vampire will just come attack them now. That would probably go better.

Lloyd’s expression screws up, like Jay’s forced him to eat a lemon, or a ghost pepper, or like, swallow pure Venomari venom. “You mean my love life?” he spits, as if the word love is a personal insult.

“Not necessarily,” Jay says quickly. “I mean, no, but also…yes?”

“Nonexistent as usual, which is probably the best I can hope for,” Lloyd mutters, kicking at the ground.

Jay bites his cheek in sympathy. His poor baby brother. His voice finally stops cracking and he immediately decides to swear off love for life.

“Look,” Jay says tentatively, feeling like he should at least try to impart some wisdom on his kid brother. “Have you thought about like, I dunno, trying to meet new people? Just like, you know, being open to, uh, the idea of trusting someone…like that?”

“Yeah,” Lloyd grinds his teeth. “I’ve also thought about getting ‘love is a joke’ tattooed on my wrist as a nice reminder because that’s about how well it tends to go for me.”

Jay cringes. “Aha,” he breathes. That is — that is bad. Yikes, that’s…bad bad, maybe they should book a therapist. One of these days. Probably sooner than later, going by that statement.

Lloyd sighs, suddenly deflating. “I dunno, Jay. I just…maybe someday? I don’t really wanna think about it.” The edge of his mouth twists wistfully. “It’d be nice to just be a kid again, so I could stuff my face with candy instead.”

“Hey,” Jay says, elbowing him. “Who says you can’t stuff your face with candy now? We can totally hit up the store on the way home, you know. Zane can’t stop us if he’s not here.”

Lloyd cracks a grin, and Jay is infinitely pleased with himself. “After we catch the werewolf?” Lloyd asks.

Jay glares at him. “After we catch the vampire, and I prove all you heathens wrong,” he grinds out. Lloyd snickers.

“You’re fighting a losing—"

A piercing scream rings out from the streets below, and Lloyd and Jay jolt to their feet in well-experienced unison. Jay sweeps his eyes across the street below, his head whipping widely back and forth as he tries to spot—

“There!” Lloyd calls, already sliding down the fire escape. Jay follows his arm, and spots a disheveled man now crumpled in the street, other partygoers crowding around him. Lloyd’s hand is pointing just beyond, though, locked on the shadowed, dark figure fleeing into the alleyway.

Jay grins viciously at him. Lloyd grins back.

Normally, they’d have Zane at their backs, insisting on safety and such nonsense, but tonight it’s just Lloyd and Jay, who gold-medal at being an awful combination of adrenaline junkies. So by the time they’ve finished hurling themselves off the building and surfing down a couple of unfortunate clotheslines, they land in perfect synch just behind the fleeing figure. They immediately break into a sprint, following their quarry down the dark alleyways and gaining rapidly.

One of the few perks to being the smallest on the team — Jay and Lloyd are fast.

The figure jolts, finally realizing it’s being pursued, and suddenly takes a hard left. Jay yelps as he almost overbalances, his momentum nearly toppling him before Lloyd catches his arm, yanking him upright. They follow where the figure’s fled into an abandoned tunnel, one of the ones Jay recognizes leads to the sewer.

“Why in here?!” he gasps between breathes, as their feet splash through dirty rainwater the deeper they go. Ugh, he hates these tunnels — they’re too small and close and dark.

Lloyd doesn’t grace him with a reply, simply lifting his hand up in an eerie, makeshift green flashlight that lights up the tunnels around them.

“They went that way!” He hurls the bright globe of energy down the tunnel, throwing green shadows up all around, and illuminating their prey far ahead.

Darn it, Jay curses to himself. He forgot vampires are supposed to be fast, too. They need a way better plan then just running after it.

“Trap, we need a trap,” Jay pants. “What do they do in Scooby-Doo to catch the vampire?”

Lloyd glances at him incredulously as he runs beside him, his hair dyed a white-green in the eerie light where it bounces around his head. “Scooby-Doo?!” he exclaims. “There aren’t any vampires in Scooby-Doo!”

“Uh, yeah there are,” Jay argues, ducking under a rusted pipe. He almost has to pause to swipe his own hair out of the way before he gets blinded by falling curls. Mental note, book a haircut later. “Remember that movie with the bands and stuff?”

“Oh. Right,” Lloyd huffs, sliding through a puddle of water. “Forgot about that. Don’t they die or something?”

“I don’t know, that’s why I’m asking you! Come up with a plan, you’re leader!”

“Not right now, I’m not!”

“You can’t do that — you’re our designated team captain, live up to your role!”

“Only in big crisis situations!”

“This is a crisis!”

“Fine! Here’s me leading — I order you to come up with a plan.”

“Oh for — what kind of Green Ninja even are you, huh?”

“Oh yeah, static for brai—agh!”

Their argument is cut short as the floor suddenly decides to take the day off, and drops neatly out from beneath their feet. Jay screams, Lloyd shrieking beside him as they both go tumbling down the sloping sewer tunnel, sliding through broken rock and upturned stone. The sharp slope finally evens out, leaving them to roll to a graceless stop in a heap of limbs and freezing rainwater.

“Ew,” Jay scowls, swiping at his hair as he kneels, supporting himself on one hand. “Sewers are the worst.”

“Ge’off me,” Lloyd wheezes, hitting his shoulder. Jay belatedly realizes that he’s got one elbow and a knee digging into Lloyd’s middle, and pulls back quickly.

“Whoops,” he says, cheerfully. “Hey, no broken bones, at least!”

Lloyd just makes a face, straightening his hoodie. He pushes himself to his feet, offering a hand to Jay and hauling him up. Jay brings a crackle of lightning up in his fingers, squinting around the tunnel they’ve fallen into. Lloyd finally remembers to pull out their actual flashlight, and shines it warily around the tunnel, lighting up the old, molding stone around them.

“D’you think they fell, too?” Lloyd questions, taking a hesitant step forward as he brandishes the flashlight like a weapon.

Jay shrugs. “Vampires aren’t normally clumsy,” he says, starting down the tunnel. “But who knows.”

Lloyd pauses for a moment, reluctant, then quickly hurries to catch up, falling into step beside him.

“Ninja aren’t normally clumsy either,” he huffs.

Jay snorts. “Have you seen us?”

Lloyd eyes him. “I control your training schedule, you know.”

“A heinous abuse of power which never should have been given to you,” Jay sniffs.

Lloyd’s eyes narrow. “I’ll stick you on stair sprints. Endless. Stair sprints.”

“You wouldn’t dare,” Jay retorts. “You’re too chicken to do that. Too soft.”

“I am not!” Lloyd says, offended. “I’ll make you run a gazillion stair sprints, watch me.”

“Oh yeah? Whatcha gonna do when I start tearing up on you, Mr. Marshmallow Heart?”

“My heart is not a marshmallow,” Lloyd grinds out. “It’s—"

“More like cotton candy,” Jay nods. “‘Cause you hit it with one tear and it melts all over the place.”

“I will trip you face-first into sewer water,” Lloyd threatens. “And stop using candy metaphors. I’m starving, and you won’t let me eat the garlic bread.”

“That’s ‘cause we need it for the vampire!” Jay huffs.

“Werewolf.”

Jay throws his hands up.  “Do you need glasses or something? Because tell me, please, if that looked anything like a were—"

Jay cuts off abruptly as he and Lloyd freeze. Directly across from them, a mere ten feet away in the connecting tunnel, the hooded figure they’ve been chasing freezes as well. For a beat, the three stare at each other, the only sound the steady drip-drip of the sewer tunnels around them.

Then—

“It’s the vampire! Grab it!” Jay yells.

He and Lloyd dart forward just as the vampire makes to run, turning for the tunnel. Jay side-steps, using the wall to push himself up and flip neatly over the vampire’s head, landing in the tunnel before them and neatly cutting them off. “Gotcha,” he grins.

The vampire’s eyes widen from beneath their hood, and they backtrack, only to nearly run into Lloyd, who points the flashlight threateningly at them.

“Stand down,” he orders. Jay rolls his eyes. Oh, now he decides to sound like a leader.

The vampire makes a hissing noise of frustration, shaking their head. Lloyd goes to move forward, a familiar green glinting at the edges of his fingertips—

When the vampire suddenly snaps into action, rushing at Lloyd. Before Jay can blink, they snap a leg up to kick the flashlight from Lloyd’s grasp, snag him with their forearm, bare two glinting teeth, and—

Snap. Lloyd gasps sharply, his eyes going wide as the vampire bites right into the juncture of his neck and shoulder.

Jay shrieks. “Lloy—!”

His scream cuts off, trailing into a gaping wheeze.

Jay is not entirely sure what — no, he’s not sure why what happen next happens. Maybe Lloyd panics. Maybe he forgets he’s a god-powered elemental with the capability of blasting people to heck with his hands for a second. Maybe both his Oni and dragon instincts decide to suddenly kick in and overpower the human. Or maybe he’s just so ticked at getting bit in the neck that his childish side comes out with a vengeance.

Either way, not even half a second after the vampire bites him, Lloyd snaps out his own too-sharp teeth and bites right back, firmly chomping down on the forearm pinning him in place.

The vampire gives a muffled scream, releasing Lloyd as they stumble backward, frantically clutching their arm. Jay takes this chance to send a bright bolt of lightning after them, just barely missing as they turn and flee, skittering away down the tunnels. Any other time Jay would give chase, but he’s got a slightly more pressing concern right now, and by that he means a big fat bad concern, because his brother is currently sporting a bleeding neck and trying to hack his own lung up.

“Oh god, the vampire bit you, Lloyd, the vampire bit you,” Jay babbles frantically, dancing around Lloyd as he doubles over, coughing and spitting frantically.

“—freaking — gross—"

“But —but then you bit the vampire,” Jay pauses, eyebrows furrowing. “So does that like — negate it?”

“—need hand sanitizer in m’a mouth—"

“Or does the vampire turn into an Oni?” Jay rubs his head. “Wait, wait no — you both swap, because you bit each other, so—"

“—tastes like battery acid—"

“Either way your neck is bleeding and why didn’t you just use your powers!” Jay shrieks at him.

“I panicked, okay?!” Lloyd cries in defense, wiping his mouth as he sticks his tongue out, clearly trying to rid himself of the taste. “Ugh — gimme that garlic bread, this is awful—"

“No way,” Jay snatches his bag away. “We definitely need it now.” His eyes narrow down on the two sluggishly bleeding marks on Lloyd’s neck, that he should really be patching up, actually, but first—

“Besides, garlic could be toxic for you right now! Since you might be turning into a…a vampire.”

Lloyd turns two smoldering, angry red eyes on him, and Jay swallows. Oh FSM, he’s already turning into a vampire, his eyes are red—

Oh wait, right, Lloyd’s eyes are red anyways.

“I am not turning into a vampire!” Lloyd hisses. He winces, clapping a hand over his neck. “I probably have like, rabies or something though,” he says, half-panicked.

“I don’t think vampires have rabies,” Jay tries to assure him, finally shaking himself into action, pulling his jacket off and pressing one of the sleeves against Lloyd’s bleeding neck. Lloyd jerks away on instinct, before letting Jay examine it.

“I can’t turn into a vampire,” Lloyd says, an edge of fear in his voice. “Kai’ll kill me if I turn into a vampire.”

“That’s your main concern?” Jay exclaims, swiping blood away — the bite doesn’t look too deep, and it seems like it won’t need stitches, or anything. He suddenly pauses, considering Lloyd’s words. “Okay, I will admit you have a valid point there,” he concedes.

Lloyd nods tightly, then makes a face before spitting again.

“So gross.”

Jay watches him, then speaks up hesitantly. “I mean…you have to admit that it’s definitely a vampire now, right, haha? Like, not to say I told you so, but—”

Lloyd turns his head, ever so slowly, his eyes narrowing into slits as he does.

“I will kill you.”

“Duly noted.”

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

In a noble sacrifice of true brotherly love, Jay lets Lloyd get his weird mutant blood all over his hoodie as he uses it as a makeshift bandage.

“Rude,” Lloyd mutters, sounding wounded.

“Weird mutant blood is cool,” Jay assures him. “You Oni-dragon-hybrid, you.”

“I don’t even get any of the cool stuff, like shapeshifting or wings.”

“Yeah, that is a pretty lame tradeoff,” Jay admits. He pats his hoodie where it’s wrapped around Lloyd’s neck once more, nodding. “There. We’ll just…dump an entire bottle of sanitizer on it when we get home.”

“Can’t wait,” Lloyd sighs. His eyebrows furrow into determination. “After we catch this thing, though. It’s personal now.”

“Agreed,” Jay says. “But we definitely need a plan this time, ‘cause like, the biting thing worked, but it worst-case-scenario worked, you know? We need something a little less primitive, like, say, um…”

“Like this?”

Jay turns to Lloyd where he’s bent over one of the canal drains. He lifts the object he’s fished out, revealing a soaked but intact fishing net, likely abandoned from one of the boats.

A grin spreads across Jay’s face. “I have a plan now,” he says.

“Good,” Lloyd breathes in relief.

“You’re bait.”

Relief successfully obliterated. “Wait—"

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

Jay’s wristwatch glows a dim 3:30 in the morning by the time their vampire finally takes the bait.

Said bait is very put out at being bait, granted, and is doing a frankly awful job at it, if anyone asked him, but he supposes that’s the best he can ask out of Lloyd when he’s been denying him their garlic bread the whole night.

“Oh no,” Lloyd intones dully, kicking through the tunnel water half-heartedly. “I’ve lost my way, whatever am I going to do with all this money in my wallet.”

“Boo,” Jay hisses at him, where he’s perched atop of a broken sewer pipe. Lloyd pauses his melodramatics to glare at him.

“I’d like to see you do better.”

“Oh no, you’re a much better damsel in distress than I am,” Jay assures him.

Lloyd looks furious. “Listen—"

He might’ve finished, but then the vampire jumps him from the shadows, and they both go tumbling as Lloyd’s voice turns to a shriek.

“Don’t die!” Jay hollers as he jumps down onto the vampire, startling a shriek out of them as he desperately tries to yank them off of Lloyd. “Roll, roll, get out of teeth range!”

“I’m trying!” Lloyd yelps, twisting himself free from the vampire’s grasp. The vampire makes to grab him, but Jay is already pouncing, tossing the net out so they run smack into it and go flailing to the floor, twisting themselves further and further into the rope webbing.

“Oh, thank FSM,” Lloyd mutters into the ground, where he’s yet to move. Jay ignores him, giving a cheer of triumph as he finishes knotting off the net.

“We got it!” he gasps, stepping back and surveying their struggling captive. “We caught the vampire!” He turns to Lloyd, grinning brightly in victory.

“Everyone else is gonna eat their words.” Lloyd nods, and Jay holds his hand out, slapping it against Lloyd’s before knocking their fists together.

Who’s stupid now, Kai? he thinks triumphantly.

Striding forward, he places his hands on his hips, smirking down at the vampire where it writhes against the net they’ve caught it in. He bends over, yanking their hood down.

“No use struggling. We got you now, you malevolent creature of the ni — ight, wait.” Jay blinks rapidly, staring at their quarry. “You’re….not a vampire?”

“No, you ssstupid human.”

Oh. Oh. Jay is incredibly, massively, thoroughly disappointed to realize that the figure on the ground glaring daggers at him, is not, in fact, a vampire. Not unless vampires come in Serpentine flavors.

“A Serpentine?” Lloyd blinks rapidly, looking as colossally disappointed as Jay is. “Aw man, we both lose, then.”

“A weird Serpentine,” Jay frowns, leaning closer. “This one’s got hair. Why do you have hair?”

The Serpentine — who is a she, from the looks of it — rolls her eyes. “I’m part human,” she hisses. “Ssso I do not look like other Ssserpentine. You humansss are just ssstupid enough to think I am a vampire.”

Jay opens his mouth, then shuts it. “Ah,” he says. He then brightens, glancing at Lloyd.  “Oh hey, you have that in common, then! Lloyd’s a freaky mutant anomaly of nature, just like you.”

“Hey!” Lloyd exclaims, looking offended. “A freaky mutant anomaly?”

“I mean it in love, Lloyd.”

“Would you let me out of thissss infuriating net.”

“Uh, yeah, no can do, pal,” Jay replies to the furious Serpentine. “We aren’t letting you off the hook just ‘cause you told us what you were. You’ve been running around and biting people in the neck and stealing their wallets.”

“You bit me,” Lloyd accuses, glaring hotly at her.

“You bit me back,” the Serpentine snarls at him.

“You bit me first!”

“Guys, guys, it’s not a contest,” Jay laughs, a little nervously. “Please. Calm your mutant anomaly selves.”

Lloyd looks as if he’s going to smack him — which he probably should, all honesty, Jay’s been pushing him — but the Serpentine just frowns.

“How issss he one?” she scoffs at Lloyd. “He looksss like a normal human. Maybe with rabiesss.”

Lloyd looks incredibly offended. “Like you can talk.” He shakes his head, sighing. “I’m…part Oni. And dragon. A bit.”

The Serpentine's mouth drops open, and the color leeches from her face. “O-Oni?” She stammers. She looks at the hastily bandaged wound on her arm in alarm. “Did you poissson me?”

“Wha—no!” Lloyd exclaims. “Oni aren’t poisonous!”

He pauses. So do Jay and the Serpentine, leaving the tunnel in silence for a beat.

“I don’t….think?” He turns to Jay, eyebrows furrowed in question.

Jay shrugs. He’s not the one with a bunch of inhuman relatives. “I mean, she hasn’t gone all, y’know — grey-skinned, purple-eyed, turned-to-stone, so?”

This does nothing whatsoever to quell the look of fear on the face of— Jay frowns. “Hey, what’s your name, by the way?”

“What, ssso you can tell the copsss?” their Serpentine hisses dully.

“Well, you’re a criminal, so,” Jay shrugs. “But look at it this way — I won’t call you Elvira Vampira, Terror of the Night, the whole way back instead.”

The Serpentine rolls her eyes, but she does look mildly threatened at being called Vampira for the rest of the evening.

“My name is Sssiri,” she finally admits, looking put out.

“Siri?” Lloyd blinks. “Like the phone voice?”

The Serpentine makes a face as if he’s called her the scum of the earth instead. “I hate that ssstupid company,” she hisses. “And their ssstupid phone voicesss. I hate them.”

“That’s nice,” Jay tells her. He exhales, placing his hands on his hips. He glances at Lloyd, who looks every bit as tired.

“Time to drag her to the police?”

“Time to drag her to the police,” Lloyd sighs, sounding disappointed, if not a bit vindictive.

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

The cops are nice, at least, and the guy whose wallet got snatched thanks them profusely, so the night doesn’t end up being a total bust. Everyone looks pretty relieved that there isn’t an actual vampire running around, though, which Jay feels a little resentful at, because he’s losing a bet here.

“Hey, cheer up,” Lloyd tells him, elbowing him lightly. “At least no one ever has to know about it.”

“True,” Jay admits. He gives a sigh of melancholy, watching as the cops lead a put-out Siri into the car. He glances at Lloyd, then grins wickedly.

“Hey!” he calls quickly, waving at Siri. He slaps a hand on Lloyd’s shoulder, shaking him. “You don’t have a boyfriend, do you? Because this guy here is a hundred percent single and looking to ack—"

Jay’s idea is immediately torpedoed by Lloyd viciously throttling him in front of the entire crime unit.

“Jay what the heck!” he whisper-shrieks, sounding on the verge of an aneurism.

“I’m trying — to get you — back in the game—" Jay croaks out.

“With a neck-biting criminal?!”

“I wouldn’t be oppossssed,” Siri remarks, cocking her head as she studies Lloyd.

Lloyd goes an odd purple-scarlet color, then immediately turns on heel, marching away and looking not a little bit like his father storming off to destroy a village.

“He’ll call you!” Jay mouths at Siri, before hurrying after Lloyd. “Well, I’d call that a mild success, at least.”

“I am not calling her,” Lloyd grinds out, as he stomps down the street.

“Oh, obviously,” Jay says. He snickers. “Can you imagine Kai’s reaction, though? He’d blow five blood vessels at once.”

Lloyd remains stubbornly stoic, glaring forward. Jay winces. Oops, crossed a line. Still too sensitive. Maybe he can try again in like…a year.

“Hey, on the bright side,” Jay tries. “We can eat the rest of the garlic bread now?”

Lloyd’s pace slows. Jay holds out half of the buttery loaf they have left. Lloyd eyes him for a second, but Jay can see his resolve quickly dying. Lloyd finally snatches it, sighing.

“Tha’ is a bright side,” he says, through a mouthful.

“Garlic bread solves half y’er problems,” Jay nods through his own bite, pleased to find that it’s still good, even if cold.

They walk in silence for a minute, quietly chewing at the rest of the bread. Then Lloyd speaks up.

“Like….can you imagine being a real vampire though? And you couldn’t eat garlic bread?”

“Oh yeah, that would suck.”

“Seriously. I wonder if it’s maybe like, a lactose intolerance thing, where they can have a little bit before breaking into vampire hives or something?”

“Or maybe it’s like a peanut allergy thing, where their throats swell up and they have to use like, vampire Epipens.”

“If I was a vampire, I’d risk it either way.”

“Oh yeah, same. Totally worth it.”

“Totally.”

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

The thing people tend to overlook about Jay is that, despite how loud he can be — and yeah, he’s admitting it, he can be a big enough person to recognize that he can get a bit worked-up sometimes — anyways, despite how everyone seems to think Jay has one default mode, he is, in fact, one of the best people on the team at sneaking. It’s one of the perks of being small — he’s learned to be light enough on his feet that even Zane can’t pick him up. And everyone expects him to come in all excited and loud anyways, so Jay’s got that advantage. No one expects him to be quiet.

And it is, of course, a trait he’s dutifully passed on to his little brother, who already has experience from sneaking around Darkley’s and lurking in Serpentine tombs, so by the time the alarm is an hour away from going off, Lloyd and Jay are safely back in bed, snoring quietly with the others, who are none the wiser.

Granted, Jay’s got the worst eye-bags ever in the morning, and Lloyd’s running a record for how long he can get around without actually opening his eyes — but Cole doesn’t say anything, and Zane isn’t looking at them suspiciously, so voila! They are off the hook.

Jay supposes he has the usual array of night terrors to thank for that. Always a good cover for sleeplessness, those.

He does have to drag Lloyd to the bathroom first so they can fix his gi collar high enough to hide the rather incriminating bite marks. Jay doesn’t even want to think about explaining those, because any plausible excuses he can come up with for them are just more likely to make Kai barbecue Jay on the spot.

“Good to see you this morning,” Cole tells him pointedly, as he joins the team around the breakfast table. Jay resists the urge to shoot him a gesture, and grabs for the coffee pot instead.

“Did you sleep alright?” Kai is asking Lloyd from across him, his eyebrows furrowed in concern. Jay can’t really blame him, seeing as Lloyd keeps falling asleep in his cereal, dark circles vivid beneath his eyes.

“Jus’ tired,” Lloyd yawns. “Didn’t sleep that well."

Kai pats him lightly on the shoulder, looking sympathetic. “Take a nap or something later,” he tells him. “For my sake.”

Lloyd nods, and Jay leans back in his seat, sipping contentedly at his coffee. As he said, no one suspects a thing. All’s well that ends well.

And then Zane turns the radio on.

“—the neck-biting thief was caught early this morning by the Ninjago City Police, with the aid of two accomplices—”

Jay goes pale.

“Huh, isn’t that what you guys were talking about last night?” Nya remarks.

Jay and Lloyd look at each other, their eyes wide. In a desperate grab for survival, Jay dives for the radio, fully prepared to hit it with a lightning bolt if it means turning it off before—

“—special thanks, of course, to the green and blue ninja, looking out for us as always.”

Jay finally smacks the radio off, plunging the kitchen into silence. There is a long, ominous pause of utter dread. Kai slowly turns to look at Lloyd.

“You went after them—"

“We didn’t!” Lloyd says quickly. “That’s not what we were doing!”

“Oh yeah?” Kai says, and uh oh, that’s a scary look. “You’d better have a heck of an excuse, then.”

“We do, we have a really good excuse,” Jay defends quickly. “We were out there for something way more important.”

“Oh?” Cole says, looking close to blowing a gasket. “And what was that, exactly?”

“Well,” Jay says, looking Kai dead in the eye. “We were trying to get Lloyd a hot date.”

Then, before anyone can react, Jay grabs a sputtering Lloyd by the hand and runs.

[thelittlestcheshire]

they say love is a journey (a in character ches playlist regarding elliot)

Started in May of 2020, this is a playlist I made to process Ches’s emotions throughout the entirety of her relationship with Elliot, because music has always been an important tool for her to process things that occur in her life, and I thought it’d be a fun little project to watch how things developed as the plot progressed. And now, I’m sharing it with all of you on the anniversary of their first kiss! I sort of divided it into three “acts” in order to post it because I thought that’d be easier, which you can find under the read more! Happy year of Chelliot, y'all! ( @elliotgdi )

act i: longing

bind your love (cher lloyd) [ooh, now i'm found, i'll never be lost. i'll stick with you no matter the cost. whatever comes we'll figure it out, i know that] // do i wanna know (arctic monkeys) [do i wanna know if this feelin' flows both ways? sad to see you go, was sorta hopin' that you'd stay. baby, we both know that the nights were mainly made for sayin' things that you can't say tomorrow day] // surrender (natalie taylor) [whenever you're ready, whenever you're ready. can we? can we surrender? i surrender] // chasing cars (snow patrol) [i don't quite know how to say how i feel. those three words are said too much. they're not enough] // daisy (zedd) [trust me, i won't give your heart away. why you running, running when you got it right here? oh, i would love you if you let me] // secret love song, pt. ii (little mix) [why can't i say that i'm in love? i wanna shout it from the rooftops/ i wish that it could be like that; why can't it be like that? 'cause i'm yours] // i found (amber run) [and i found love where it wasn't supposed to be, right in front of me, talk some sense to me] // ditmas (mumford & sons) [a broken house. another dry month waiting for the rain/ and i had been resisting this decay; i thought you'd do the same] // what do we got to lose (katherine mcnamara) [i've been lonely for so long i've sang the blues. oh but now your the only one that makes me feel brand new. i'm thinking, what do we got to lose?] // pray (bebe rexha) [i pray to god. he's like one too many drinks, and my intuition starts to sink] // afterglow (taylor swift) [i don't wanna lose, i don't wanna lose this with you. i need to say, hey it's all me; just don't go. meet me in the afterglow]

act ii: acceptance

i walk the line (halsey) [i find it very, very easy to be true. i find myself alone when each day is through. yes, i'll admit that i'm a fool for you] //  dreaming alone (against the current) [don’t lie, bright eyes, is it me that you see when you fall asleep? ‘cause i know it’s you i dream about every night, giving me a feeling like love in the summer; the way i’ve never felt with another] //  i need you to turn to (elton john) [and i wonder sometimes, and i know i'm unkind but i need you to turn to when i act so blind. and i need you to turn to when i lose control, you're my guardian angel who keeps out the cold] // cornelia street (taylor swift) [and baby, i get mystified by how this city screams your name. and baby, i'm so terrified of if you ever walk away i'd never walk cornelia street again] // aurora borealis (bohnes) [you're a million fireflies, you're my northern lights. my magic in the sky] // cosmic love (florence + the machine) [i took the stars from our eyes, and then i made a map and knew that somehow i could find my way back. then i heard your heart beating, you were in the darkness too, so i stayed in the darkness with you] // give me love (ed sheeran) [give me love like never before 'cause lately i've been craving more. and it's been a while but i still feel the same; maybe i should let you go. you know i'll fight my corner, and that tonight i'll call ya after my blood is drowning in alcohol] // only us (laura dreyfuss and ben platt) [so what if it's us? what if it's us and only us, and what came before won't count anymore or matter? can we try that?] // call it what you want (taylor swift) [my baby's fit like a daydream, walking with his head down; i'm the one he's walking to. so call it what you want, yeah, call it what you want to. my baby's fly like a jet stream, high above the whole scene, loves me like i'm brand new. so call it what you want, yeah, call it what you want to] // fly with me (jonas brothers) [if it's you and me forever, if it's you and me right now, that'd be alright (be alright). if we chase the stars to lose our shadow, peter pan and wendy turned out fine. so, won't you fly with me?] // all about us (he is we) [take my hand, i'll teach you to dance; i'll spin you around, won't let you fall down. would you let me lead? you can step on my feet. give it a try, it'll be alright] // {if you're wondering if i want you to} i want you to (weezer) [and i said girl, if you're wondering if i want you to (i want you to) i want you to (i want you to). i swear it's true (swear it's true), without you, my heart is blue]

act ii: he loves you too

the only exception (paramore) [i've got a tight grip on reality, but i can't let go of what's in front of me here. i know you're leaving in the morning when you wake up; leave me with some kind of proof it's not a dream.] // hearts don't break around here (ed sheeran) [oh my baby, lately i know that every night i'll kiss you, you'll say in my ear; "oh, we're in love, aren't we?" hands in your hair, fingers and thumbs, baby. i feel safe when you're holding me near, love the way that you conquer your fear. you know hearts don't break around here] // lover (taylor swift) [and there's a dazzling haze, a mysterious way about you, dear. have i known you twenty seconds or twenty years?] // sucker (jonas brothers) [i'm a sucker for you, you say the word and i'll go anywhere blindly. i'm a sucker for you, yeah, any road you take, you know that you'll find me] // never gonna give you up (rick astley) [never gonna give you up, never gonna let you down, never gonna run around and desert you. never gonna make you cry, never gonna say goodbye, never gonna tell a lie and hurt you] // perfect (ed sheeran) [baby, i'm dancing in the dark with you between my arms. barefoot on the grass, listening to our favourite song. i have faith in what i see; now i know i have met an angel in person and she looks perfect. i don't deserve this, you look perfect tonight] // nothing else matters (little mix) [i told ya, don't let me down, i know you never did, and i don't want ya, don't want ya to start now. i got the lock, gave you the key; look at us now, still you and me. man, we come, we come so far] // love me like that (katherine mcnamara) [i can feel my body drowning but there's no use catching my breath 'cause these seconds turn to hours when we're tangled up in this bed. and it comes in waves, when you love me; couldn't stay away, when you love me like, when you love me like that] // when the lights go out - piano version (gabrielle aplin) [the nights where i blow up with no excuse; the way that you show up and pull me through. no pretty lies, just the ugly truth, and you feel the same way, too. being with you is easy, easy as breathing. only you can see me when the lights go out] // i get to love you (ruelle) [they say love is a journey, i promise that i'll never leave. when it's too heavy to carry, remember this moment with me. i get to love you, i get to love you. i get to love you]

[samwritesforyou]

can the sinner get a happy ending?

Fandom: Code Geass

Summary: nunnally decides to clear lelouch’s name and lelouch - conveniently - around that time decides to visit his sister in disguise, because he just misses her so much. but what happens when he learns that people for some reason can’t remember him as a bloody emperor?

A/N: this fic is turning out to be longer than 15k already, so i will post only one part here, as of.. a “prologue”, or just a feel for you to what this story might bring with it. the rest i will upload on ao3! im really proud of this work :D enjoy!

also... im finally coming back to my favourite formatting of this “description” part for the fics, finally :D its been a mess last four fics, sorry! also sorry to everyone who doest follow me for code geass content, i will write different things too, dont worry!

Warnings: mention of a panic attack, no serious proof-reading

Wordcount: 4k (Prologue)

“Nunnally, I do not agree with this,” Suzaku said firmly, looking the empress straight in the eye, brows furrowed together.

“Suzaku-kun, I understand why you’re upset, but this will not harm the people in any capacity. I do this for my brother,” she stated just as strongly, not daring to shift her gaze elsewhere from his emerald pearls.

“But that doesn’t matter, using this power is just wrong!” he was almost yelling now, clutching his hand in the fist.

Whenever someone was talking about geass or even thought about using it, he always had severe reaction to that topic, probably due to all the trauma and suffering that it caused.

Kururugi has never had a fight with Nunnally yet, they had a calm relationship full of mutual love and trust. Despite her being Lelouch’s sister, she was never like him in any sense. And Suzaku feared the day once he’ll start to see the similarities. Despite loving his friend beyond any measure, his actions and thinking was oftentimes just.. extreme, to say the least. Extreme and dangerous, he was never supposed to gain the power he got ahold of. That’s what was going through Japanese’s mind as they were arguing with Nunnally.

She looked at him wide eyed and he could almost be able to see how the wall of trust they’d built together cracked ever so lightly, as the young empress lowered her gaze and sighed.

“Zero, this is an order. Tell Lloyd to have it ready by tomorrow,” there was such unfamiliar coldness in her tone that it made Suzaku stop in his tracks as she turned around in the wheelchair and started to drive away from him.

It was unfamiliar from her, yet.. so familiar from Lelouch.

There was hardly a day when he didn’t think of him. Either cursing him or praying to him to come back.

He didn’t wear a mask right now, because they were talking in the empress’ private rooms where no servants had access to, so he could be himself around here, yet.. yet she addressed him as Zero.

Suzaku’s green eyes shifted slowly, now looking at his feet.

He was clothed in the purple costume with gold lines, purple gloves and a white puff scarf tucked into the shirt. He hated it. He hated all of it. Every single fibre. 

He fell to his knees, breath catching in his throat and he felt the familiar dizziness coming into motion.

He was having a panic attack.

It wasn’t anything new to him and Suzaku found out that the best way to fight it is to let it flow. Let it consume him and shiver uncontrollably, salty tears falling from his eyes onto the red carpet as he bowed his head to the floor.

He was alone possibly in the whole floor so there would be no one watching. No one acknowledging how much pain this human being has to endure, when his only wish is to die.. and when he can’t possibly even do that.

When he finally felt the convulsions stop and dizziness drifted away he sat up on the ground, lifting a hand to his face with a sigh that echoed through the richly decorated halls.

“What a fucking day,” man whispered to himself, slowly getting up and taking the mask of Zero, putting it on, feeling the material close surely around his head so no one could possible guess his true identity anymore.

The stare that nobody could see was deprived of any emotion. Now he was just a faceless person with a mission from the empress.

He went straight to Lloyd’s engineering wing, passing the painting of himself in the white suit as the pilot of the Lancelot, a piece of black cloth at the side of the golden frame, meaning that he’s still being mourned by the genius technician.

“Nunnally vi Britannia demands for the device to be ready by tomorrow,” he said sternly, never adjusting his cape as Lelouch always did - a waste of time and a touch that’s soaked with pretentiousness.

“Of course, Zero, your wish is my command! It’s almost ready anyways,” engineer answered, sitting alone by the table where he continued to work on some cables and connections to various pieces of metal.

He was offered to gain at least a dozen of good workers that could help him in his experiments but earl declined, saying that there’s nothing much to invent without his beautiful pilot and no grandiose war going on between Britannia and Japan anymore.

Suzaku just curtly nodded at that, staying watching him for a moment longer than necessary, just wishing he could reveal to him who he really is and that his pilot is still alive and well and could try some of his new knightmares if he ever makes some.

“Lloyd-san, it’s break time!” suddenly rung a high pitched voice through the empty working space as Cecile came closer to both of them with a little tray rattling with silverware and some food on the surface.

“Oh, Zero, I didn’t notice you come in,” she said sheepishly and smiled, pulling the tray towards him a little in an offering.

“Don’t you want to stay and have lunch with us?” she asked in her sweet voice, the one she uses when she wants to make the good impression, but Suzaku just sighed.

These two were the only people who didn’t really judge him. Even when they didn’t know his true identity, it almost seemed like they were friends like they were before. He liked spending time here, but possibly couldn’t keep them company in eating, since.. he couldn’t really take off his helmet.

“Cecile-san, you know that I mustn’t reveal my identity, hence I can’t keep you company at lunch. Only if I sat by the table without taking a single bite,” he said, a soft smile finally breaking to his lips, making the corners of his mouth go up just a little bit.

“Oh!” she exclaimed, finally realising why this offer wouldn’t work out, but then she said “oh” again and quickly made a beeline towards the main doors, locking them.

“But what if! I locked the main entrance so nobody could come in while we’re eating,” she started enthusiastically and then made another small run towards the light switch, looking with hope at her boss and then the masked man, “and we would also eat in pitch darkness, so you could finally enjoy something with acquaintances, like a normal person?” she smiled and then blinked comically, correcting herself and laughing nervously, “I’m not saying that you’re not normal, of course, I’m just. I realise that it must be hard to be wearing a mask all the time, mustn’t it?” she finished carefully, biting her lower lip.

“Cecile-kun, you’re making Zero intrigued, I think!” Lloyd barked a loud laugh, looking over at his ex-subordinate, “What do you say, Zero? I promise you no peeking!” he teased and got closer to him, wiggling his brows.

Suzaku couldn’t help himself but felt his smile growing wider at that suggestion. There really was no risk, right?

Did Cecile want to try it for a while now? Because it seems like a thought of plan, after all.

*If I keep shielding myself from others I might as well go insane sooner or later.. What’s the harm in one, pitch black lunch, right?..*

Suzaku thought to himself and then nodded.

“Okay, why not?” he said, making Cecile excitedly jump in the air and Lloyd lean deeper into his chair with a pleased hum.

“Alright! On the count of three I’ll turn off the lights and then.. hopefully make it to you guys without any problem!” she explained and on the count of three she really turned off the lights.

Suzaku wasn’t rushing in taking off his helmet, at first waiting for Cecile to make it safely to their little table. It.. was really dark. 

“Cecile-san, please be careful,” he said, now being kind of nervous for his friend.

“I’m okayyy!” in the end of the sentence she yelped, because her outstretched arm collided with Zero’s mask, making a low thud, “I.. suppose I made it to the table, right?” she laughed and Suzaku gave out a chuckle as well, carefully putting her hand aside, so she could find the chair to sit on in this ridiculous darkness.

“Okay, so.. I’ll just warn you that I won’t be speaking while we’re eating, because I have a voice modifier inside that distorts my original voice,” Kururugi explained carefully, waiting for their reactions.

“Ahhh, so you can’t be tracked even by voice recognition, that’s very smart!” mused Lloyd, already, what it seemed, with a mouthful of food, “Or you’re someone who we know, so you don’t want to be recognised! But that’s less probable than the first point,” he concluded to himself, now apparently drinking something.

“I won’t comment on that, Lloyd-san,” Suzaku said and then sighed, “Itadakimasu.”

And with that, the only sound in the room despite the munching on the food was the noise of Zero’s mask unzipping and being put near him on the ground.

Japanese inhaled sharply, filling his chest with some fresh air, even though they were inside.

He finally scratched his nose and then rubbed his eyes, using all of the time he has without a mask. Being without it in public was a really rare occasion, so he felt ecstatic, thinking that.. maybe one day his life might get better.

Once he took a big bite of some veggie balls that were on the plate in front of him, he already wanted to say how delicious it is, especially compared to first things she ever cooked for them, but then stopped himself, instead just gulping down the food.

He noticed that the other two were silent as well, probably honouring the fact that one of this trio cannot talk. How nice of them, truly.

During the whole process he was careful of sounds to be able to in time put a mask back on if needed, but nothing really happened. He only heard some clicking, as if someone was taking glasses on and off two times, but other than that, nothing. It was probably Lloyd messing around anyways.

He sighed with relief when he finished, reluctant to put the mask back on. Despite of being in the dark for so long, his eyes didn’t adjust and he still couldn’t see anything, probably because the place was really devoid of all light at the moment.

Then he shook his head to himself, thinking that revealing his identity would be too risky at the current situation, so he put the mack back on, making a clicking sound in the dark.

“I’ll turn the light back on,” Suzaku said and luckily didn’t collide with anything on his way there.

Once the light was back on, the trio grunted in unison, their eyes certainly not being able to absorb this all at once.

He didn’t sit back down to the portable table but just stood next to it, looking at Cecile.

“Thank you for the meal, it was very delicious,” he said, smiling at her.

“I’m glad it was,” when she lifted her dark blue eyes at him, it looked like she’s been crying, so he got instantly worried.

“Are you okay?!” he asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

“I am, thank you, it’s just the sudden light,” she laughed weakly in response, placing her gentle palm on top of his hand, squeezing a little.

Suzaku then pulled away and nodded, still with a warm aftertaste of being treated like an actual friend or an acquaintance.

“I’ll get going then. See you tomorrow, Lloyd-san,” Zero turned away on his heels and made his way from the engineering lab.

“Cecile-kun, the tears weren’t from the lighting, were they?” once they were alone, Lloyd looked at her with a pleased grin, swiftly putting his hand into her pocket and taking night vision glasses out of there, waving them in the air in front of her, “Who is he?”

“I’m sorry, Lloyd-san, but I’m afraid I can’t tell you,” she said with a warm smile, a single tear falling down her cheek, “but he is a good person. We can definitely trust him.”

.

.

Life went at significantly slower pace in the countryside than in the city. Nobody was busy.. there actually was *nobody*. Only him and C.C.

The perfect solitude life for two sinners who wanted to make their wishes come true.

Lelouch was just in the middle of harvesting some plants from their little farm, taking breaks every so often because his physique didn’t improve even in conditions like this.

The strew hat oh his head protected him from the angry sun that was shining though the eternity of summer in these lands.

“C.C., can you please get me a container for these? I think it’s better to grow them inside, they’re dying out there on all this heat,” ex-emperor barged into their house with two plants in his hands, taken out of the ground with the roots, waiting for help from the green haired companion he had by his side.

“Uh-huh, sure,” she put away the knitting equipment and lowered her bare legs from the table she was resting on, getting up to her feet, making a beeline for the back room, where the junk of all sorts was stored. For situations like this.

She looked around the whole room, noticing old Zero suit just hanging by the wall, some markers and scissors peeking out of the pockets. She sighed and lowered her olive eyes, finally finding what her partner has asked her for.

With two brown-ish pots in hands she went back and put them on the floor in from of the skinny man, returning to the back room once again to get some fresh soil for the poor plants.

Then she came back for the second time, plopping next to the bag with terra, tearing it open and pouring the soil into the pots.

Lelouch was looking at her this whole time, as if exploring every millimetre of her pale skin. He did it often now. Paying more attention to the details and that made him even the better deduction master than he’s been before.

Sherlock Holmes was onto something, truly.

He could now finally put the plants into their new home now, patting the ground with his elegant fingers, making sure they’re steady in it. 

Then he placed them next to the dining table and wanted to go out again.

“Lelouch,” simply said C.C., taking her knitting needles in hands alongside the purple yarn which for the most part was being dragged behind her as she followed him outside.

“Hm?” was the only answer she got, as Lelouch continued taking care of the garden, completely immersed in the activity.

Or maybe his mind was thousand miles away..

“I miss you,” she stated, still knitting, kind of furiously, even though her face was unchanging.

“What? I’m right here,” he chuckled, his hands firmly in the ground, making sure that the plants have enough space to grow and expand.

“No. The old you, the one who was always in motion, who didn’t let life stop him, the one who made me feel like life is a game worth winning,” she said, her hands slowing down in the tempo of her activity, “I feel like you’re losing yourself too.”

He didn’t say anything for a long moment after that, working like some gardener, brows furrowed together.

“But we won, C.C. This might not be the life that you nor I want to live, but that’s a small price to pay for the world to stay in peace, don’t you think?” he finally met her eyes, lifting his amethysts from the greenery.

“What about Nunnally? Don’t you wanna see her?” there was no hesitation in her voice as the man got up from his knees and pointed a finger at her in a warning manner.

“I told you to never say her name aloud..” he whispered, no signs of anger on his face, only sadness pooling in his dark, beautiful eyes.

“So you just want to forget her? Or what? What’s your plan?” she stood on her tiptoes now to get closer to his face, talking in the same semi-whispering way, not willing to step down.

This kind of rivalry was the thing that kept these two going in the most dire times when they just wanted to fuck it all and return to the old swing of things.

“I have no plan,” said Lelouch so closely to her lips that at some point of his phrase they touched and he then pulled away, making his way back to the house.

“Hm. What a sore loser,” she mused with a smile on her face, following him and plopping herself on the couch, knitting away.

For the rest of the day they didn’t exchange a single word.

.

.

Suzaku was dreading today. The day started already badly from the beginning. 

He woke up with a headache and outside was pouring rain, attacking large windows in his private rooms, sound echoing through the space that lacked furniture.

Despite having amazing athletic skills, the curly haired boy was still very skinny for his height and his depression often made him feel like he doesn’t even need or deserve to eat anything.

He sat on the bed, white shirt loose on his shoulders, shuddering to himself.

It was so dark. And lonely. Everyday was the same. Lonely, lonely, lonely. Alone. Echo drifting through the void of his existence, springing off the rich, gold decorated walls which mean absolutely nothing to him.

He hated to reside in the royal palace but he would hate even more to be somewhere alone.

Here he at least has Nunnally... someone who knows completely and unconditionally who he is.

His first plan of action each morning is to wake her up, let her dress and then go together to the dining hall and have breakfast. Only after that they would proceed to go on official side of the business.

When he came to her room and saw an empty bed his heart sunk uncomfortably fast and Kururugi rushed to it, seeing a note neatly folded on the sheets.

*I’m sorry I didn’t tell you beforehand, but I will be in my office earlier today. Have something to eat and then bring me the finalised Product. We’ll hold the ceremony in the evening.” 

It said and he slowly slid his fingers over the letters, face growing grim. 

The product.. she meant the geass button. His stomach curled up and he started to feel nauseous.

If any doctor would see Suzaku right now, they would probably tell him to take a vacation at least for a month and rest for the eternity of it.

There was no professional to stop him, though, so he just stepped hard on all of his emotions, knitting his brows together, putting the Zero mask on.

He marched from the private empress wing and saw quite a lot of commotion, probably because of the speech that Nunally will be giving later.

A lot of people started coming up to him, saying “Zero please do this and that” and Kururugi just waved them all away, for once without any capacity left to feel guilty that he can’t help with preparations.

Soon enough young man found himself in the technician part of the palace where everything was more silent. Way easier to bear the silence here than in his room, he noticed.

“Ah, Zero, welcome!” mused Lloyd, greeting his with open arms, “Everything is ready! Still don’t understand why would the empress need such a device that never brought nothing good but I guess it is not my business to ask, am I right?” he smirked and looked at the masked person, hands on hips.

“It indeed isn’t,” said Suzaku in the low tone, just being fed up with this day. He’d much rather take off his mask and tell the whole world that his death was a lie instead of even touching the device that can inflict such a power. Power that he despises.

But he can’t do that. He can’t do that because he is a slave. He always will be. Lelouch was right. He just lets people to spit on him over and over, in the end not changing a single thing in the grand scheme of things.

Suzaku wasn’t the greatest politician, despite his dad rooting heavily in politics, and so japanese were actually still being oppressed. He just didn’t know how to solve it. He wasn’t as great of a leader as Lelouch was, as the real Zero was. 

He’s just a mere replacement that can’t even do his job right. 

So he will take the geass button that Nunnally requested from his friend that doesn’t even know who he is, he will ignore Cecile-san as she comes in just seconds before he leaves and waves enthusiastically at him, he will continue in his heavy steps all the way to the palace, he will shrug off every single interviewer that wants to have a discussion with Zero, leader of a nation, he will knock on empress’ office where she is ready for the speech to give to the whole population. And he will bow down before her, getting on one knee, giving her the power he hates. She will just curtly nod at him and then put the device carefully in her lap, just out of reach of the camera. He will stand beside her as Zero, and there will be silence before the broadcast.

He is just a servant. Merely that.

“Nunnally,” he said, devoid of any emotion left, “you still won’t tell me which order are you going to give?” he was looking straight into the tv screen in front of them, as the countdown showed still two minutes left before the beginning of the stream.

“No,” she said seriously, looking at the same direction, tensing up.

“So it will work on me and I won’t even know, huh,” his tone was now softer and quieter, accepting the fact that his most loved person alive is essentially doing what he hated the most.

“No. I got that checked up, Suzaku,” in her voice could be heard a small smile, probably a sad one, as she continued “Apparently the order that my brother gave you was so powerful that you’re immune to any different type of geass,” she said with a deep sigh, “so you’ll hear it and won’t be affected. I wanted it to be a surprise.”

He couldn’t answer her anything on that because the timer was already up and the political duo went live to the millions of people that were watching, all around the globe.

The topic of the speech was supposed to be about more liberation rights for Japan, so that created a lot of so-called “hype” amongst the citizens, britannians as well as japanese. The maximum amount of people were watching and they will all obey the empress. That was the plan.

“Nunnally vi Britannia commands you,” with hearing these words Suzaku got goosebumps, his hands squeezing the handles of her wheelchair as much as he could to prevent himself from doing anything that he might regret later, “please, everyone who is watching this or hearing this, forget about the fact that the 99th Emperor of the Holy Britannian Empire was Lelouch vi Britannia. From now on, you will all remember him as just a person without a face, someone who wanted to rule the entire world, but it wasn’t him. It wasn’t Lelouch,” she said, after pressing the button.

Even a normal person could feel a literal surge of some energy coming out of the room they were in and Suzaku widened his eyes as he heard the order.

His mouth hung open as he was trying to make sense of what she just said.

Nunnally cleared Lelouch’s name. 

Nunnally... cleared Lelouch’s name. 

Kururugi couldn’t focus on anything that the empress proceeded to talk about after that, staring blankly at the wall and for the first time he was genuinely glad that he was wearing a mask, so that nobody could see his shocked expression.

A/N: this fic can be now found on ao3! i wont be updating it here on tumblr because that would be just too many chapters and that's just... too much work fdsjfjsf

[nekojitachan]

I just read armies for the third time and every time I reread is just as fuckin amazing as the last time... Also I saw an ask once mentioning a collection about Aaron visiting Andrew in London, just wondering if you have any plans of posting again? I'm just so weak for my minyard boys. Hope you're good! Love your writing please never leave us ❤️

Ah... I went looking for the link to the story but I’ve been unable to find it yet (I know I would have used something to tag it, but that’s not working). I do have it saved, but not the link (on a side note, I found a twinyard prompt that I’ve forgotten about). So here it is again (until I either add it to Armies properly or do an Armies side stories post on AO3):

*******

Abram smiled at Ashley as he leaned gingerly against the top of one of her monitors with his chin resting on top of his folded arms. “So, I sent you the file last night, and let me tell you, it was rather difficult reining in Andrew while I corrected the few grammar mistakes – he wanted to make a couple comments on the paper.” That had surprised Abram, his husband’s interest on the topic, but Kimberly had picked an interesting book for once.

Ashley laughed as she leaned back in her chair and toyed with her long, dark brown braid. “I appreciate your efforts since I can only imagine what he’d have put in there.” She shuddered a little which made Abram smile in shared horror. “She’s doing better?”

“Yes, I imagine soon enough you’ll have to come up with something else when I ask for a favor.” Ashley smiled at that, a mixture of pride for her younger sister and delight in thinking up a new ‘price’ for Abram when he needed certain things done; he didn’t mind because Ashley was a minor miracle worker and usually asked for small, easily to do things in return such as proofing her sister’s uni papers or bringing back certain items from their travels.

“I’m sure I’m up to the challenge,” Ashley said as she tapped away on her keyboard. “As is, I’ve just sent you my part of our latest bargain. The email contains all the information you need in regards to the reservations I made for your dinners and a private appointment at Barts Pathology Museum.” She gave him a pleased smile as she once again toyed with her braid. “Anything else?”

“Don’t let the place descend into chaos while we’re away, yes?” Abram asked as he stood up and gave her a jaunty salute.

“I’ll do my best!” Ashley called out as he walked away, voice bright with laughter. Maddy and Rita (who was back in the office while she did some research before her next mission) wished him a nice ‘holiday’ as he left the office to meet up with his husband.

Andrew was standing out in the hallway with Lloyd and Kathryn Ambrose, one of the higher-ups who handled the EMEA region. Despite Lloyd’s occasional grumbling about the woman (he tended to grumble about anyone ranked above him), Abram never had a problem with Kathryn, who always treated him and Andrew with polite respect. “Hello, Abram,” she greeted him.

“Hello, Kathryn. Everything all right?”

“Yes, I was just talking to Lloyd and Andrew about how there’s a potential situation in Hungary. I know you’re about to go on holiday, but I just wanted to give you a head’s up that we may need to send the two of you there once you’re back.”

Lloyd nodded as he motioned to Andrew and then Abram. “Bit of a special request, but some people feel that you two could help out the agents already there.”

It wasn’t as if they could say ‘no’ when it was their jobs; Abram shared a look with Andrew who gave a slight nod after a moment. In a way, it might be better for them since someone else would be taking the lead on the mission and they would be providing support, would be more in the background. Though it meant that they’d have to do a bit of research before they left even though they were supposed to be on break.

“Send us all of the necessary information,” Abram said as he went to stand next to his husband.

“Though we’ll need an extra day or two to prepare,” Andrew argued as he stared down Lloyd.

“Of course. I’ll have Maddy put together the intel and send it to you by tomorrow.” Lloyd knew better than to fight with Andrew by then, especially with Kathryn right there (and when she appeared pleased by their agreement). That dealt with, they said their ‘goodbyes’ and left.

It wasn’t as if Andrew’s brother and sister-in-law would want to see them the entire time they were in London – they were visiting for a medical conference, after all, so they should have plenty of time to go over the material. If anything, the extra day or two they’d won from Lloyd would be spent by themselves to ‘recover’ from the visit.

Abram had the suspicion that they would need the days to recover, considering how Andrew was already on edge from the approaching visit, which was why he’d done everything he could to ensure that Aaron and Katelyn had an enjoyable (and busy) time once they arrived. He’d enlisted Ashley’s help on the matter, since he didn’t want the family too involved with Andrew’s brother ‘just in case’.

The Minyards were due to arrive the next day, and were staying at some hotel in central London where the conference was being held (along with a couple of ‘minders’ from the family), but had agreed to meet up with Andrew and Abram during their free time. Nicky and Erik would come to visit in a couple days for a mini-reunion, so there were dinners arranged and Abram had planned for an excursion or two for the couple to enjoy (by themselves).

Things between the brothers had improved since the wedding in South Carolina last year, had been tense phone calls at first before the two had moved on (somewhat) from the past, but Aaron and Andrew spending time together like this was a big step that Abram wasn’t certain that they were ready for just yet. Still, it was what it was, and in a few days Aaron would return to the States and soon after that Andrew would have an excuse to vent any disappointment by killing someone (more than likely).

“What idiocy are you contemplating now?” Andrew asked as he drove them home.

“Hmm, just that you’ll probably have to wait a week or so to commit therapeutic homicide, hon,” Abram confessed, and laughed when his husband heaved a weary sigh.

“Should have had the damn judge say ‘until insanity do you part’, could have gotten out of this marriage ages ago,” Andrew grumbled even as he held out his hand for Abram to entwine their fingers together.

“You like my mental instability,” Abram insisted as he smiled. “Keeps things interesting.”

Andrew did the sighing thing again but didn’t disagree.

Stuart and Davis were in the townhouse when they arrived, which drew a displeased frown from Andrew when he caught sight of Abram’s uncle standing in the kitchen with a purring King in his arms. Davis grinned while he held up his hands in a placating manner. “Just dropping off a few things and checking in on the kids.”

Abram patted his husband on the back before he went to hug his uncle, mindful of King who was handed over when they stepped apart. “You look tired, is everything all right?” Jamie had told him that Stuart was traveling a lot lately when they’d last talked; Abram had checked a few documents for the family to ensure that everything was on the up and up in the contracts.

“Too much drinking with Camillo last night,” Stuart complained. “Looking forward to being home for a bit.” He gave Abram an exhausted smile as he scratched King’s chin. “I know you’re busy the next few days, but if you’ve some time, call me and we’ll have some tea, yeah?”

Abram nodded in agreement. “That’s doable.” They should be able to meet up while Aaron and Katelyn were busy with the conference.

“Good. There’s some chocolates and jenever for you, and Ravi will show up with the cars when you need one, just call.” Stuart waved to Andrew as he left, and Davis bent over to give a meowing Sir a stroke along the back on the way out.

“Couldn’t he have brought some damn whisky?” Andrew complained as he headed straight to the boxes of chocolates out on the island while Abram shook his head and set King down on the floor.

“Your life’s so hard,” Abram remarked as he picked up the bottles of gin-like liquor and stored them away in the cabinet (he had a feeling he’d need them soon enough). “So, we eating in tonight or going out?”

“In, since we’ll be going out the next few nights,” Andrew said between bites of sweets.

That decided, Abram checked the fridge and cabinets before he settled on a spicy chicken and rice dish to make later, and worked on a few more documents for Jamie in-between calls with his cousin and Nicky while Andrew read a book. They went out to sit by the fish pond for a little while before he started on dinner, a mug of tea in his hands and a glass of whisky in Andrew’s, an enjoyable half an hour where Andrew made his usual threats over the poor fish and Abram slumped down enough to rest his head against his husband’s broad shoulder, content to sit there next to him and enjoy the peace and quiet.

Then he was given a shove to the knee and told to go cook something that wouldn’t poison the both of them.

Abram bit back a smile as he called his husband a prat for the umpteenth time, affection a warm tingle in his chest.

Andrew sat at the island and texted with Nicky while he made their dinner, and had a glass of wine waiting for him once it was done (and stole the damn naan once Abram sat down). It was nights like these which Abram treasured the most during all the years they’d been together, when they ‘bickered’ during dinner then curled up together in the living room (since it was late spring it wasn’t too warm yet for a fire) to watch a few episodes of a baking show they both enjoyed (easy to follow with their schedule) then head upstairs after a few hours.

They were tired, but not too tired. Looks were exchanged and clothes were shed before they sprawled out on opposite ends of the bed, where Abram spent a moment enjoying the sight of Andrew’s stocky yet muscular body (save for the slightest pouch of fat on his belly which he adored) before he gasped as his husband stroked his half-tumescent cock then leaned in to nuzzle it and-

He much enjoyed it when Andrew performed oral sex, but he also much enjoyed it when he could reduce Andrew to a shuddering mess with his mouth and hands, so it was the best of both worlds when they both blew each other. It didn’t take long until they both were shivering messes sprawled out on the bed, and then the bastard dragged him off to the shower to wash off before they tucked in beneath the blankets for a restful night’s sleep.

Mostly.

Andrew was up first, which was a rare occasion; Abram resisted the temptation to follow his husband out of the bed but decided to give him a bit of peace (half an hour) before he got up as well. He found Andrew working out and only put in a mile or two on the treadmill before he went to wash off then began work on a batch of chocolate chip and hazelnut hotcakes. It was right as he finished the last one that Andrew joined him, fresh from his own shower.

“I guess you won’t be fish bait just yet, babe,” the prat remarked as he rested his chin on Abram’s left shoulder and wrapped his right arm around Abram’s waist.

“If it wouldn’t be so traumatic to the cats and Nicky, I’d file for divorce,” Abram teased as he added the last hotcake to the huge stack next to the stove.

Andrew clicked his tongue before he snatched up the plate. “You’ve never had it so good and you know it.”

Yes, Abram did indeed ‘know it’, but there was no need to say it, was there? “Did you hit your head with a weight or what?” he asked instead, and rolled his eyes when Andrew made a rude gesture his way. “I’ve merely decided to wait for you to die from clogged arteries or diabetes instead, it’s much easier than dealing with solicitors and the such, hon.”

“What was that?” Andrew waited until he was seated at the island and his precious carbs set down to reach for his phone. “I’m making note of this so when we’re either divorced or you mysteriously disappear one day, there’s no problem with me taking custody of the cats and Bren – yet another cruel comment bordering on abuse.” He made a show of typing on his phone before he set it down then got up to fetch the whipped cream and syrup for his hotcakes. “How I suffer for this relationship.”

“Yeah, yeah, be sure to tell Nicky – oh, wait, I’ll do it for you.” Abram grinned when Andrew’s shoulders hunched upward at that remark. “I’m sure he’ll be ever so helpful with recommendations on how to save our marriage.”

Andrew gave him a long, level look for several seconds (which was impressive, considering the stack of hotcakes before him) before he spoke. “He’ll torment you just as much as me, you know.”

Ah, a flaw in an otherwise perfect plan. “Uhm… I’ll be off with Stuart?”

“You think the pest won’t rat you out to the family?”

Dammit, there was that – Stuart had actually calmed down on the whole ‘Andrew is bad’ front and all. “He’ll still be worse with you,” Abram argued as he set about making some scrambled eggs for himself.

“Right. Idiot.” Still, Andrew appeared smug as he finally cut into his stack of sugary carbs, so Abram felt pleased as he prepared his own breakfast. Once it was done, he sat down and rolled his eyes at how most of the hotcakes were already gone.

Andrew checked his phone while they ate and reported that Maddy had sent the intel for the Hungary mission, which they’d start parsing through later. Abram had just enough time to wash the dishes and go change before they left for the airport in the Aston Martin sedan which Navi had dropped off for them to use to pick up Aaron and Katelyn since neither of the sports cars in the garage would handle four people and luggage. Since Andrew didn’t trust anyone but the two of them or Bren (who made sure the cars didn’t sit idle too long) driving the sports cars, they didn’t want to have them out of the garage for the few days that Aaron and Katelyn were in town, so Ravi would drop off and pick up the sedans whenever Andrew needed one to drive his brother around town rather than let them sit in the driveway overnight.

Abram waited until they were past the worst of the traffic to speak up. “Aaron’s into general practice and Katelyn’s pediatrics?” He hadn’t paid much attention when Andrew spoke about his brother, other than to note that they were getting along (finally).

“Yes.” Andrew tapped his fingers against the steering wheel then sighed. “They both work at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston. Guess it balances out us a bit, right?” He glanced aside at Abram with a slight quirk to the corner of his mouth. “We kill people, they heal them.”

“We don’t kill everyone,” Abram argued. “There’s some missions where people live.” He smiled when Andrew snorted in dissent. “Whatever.”

“Whatever indeed.” Andrew’s eyes narrowed at the hatchback driving much too slow in front of them. “I’m about to kill someone right now.”

Someone was probably going to get multiple vehicle violations in the mail within the next few days, Abram suspected, but for once the threat wasn’t directed toward himself so he merely settled a little lower in the comfortable leather seat and used his phone to check the traffic ahead.

They reached Heathrow shortly after Aaron texted to say that he and Katelyn had cleared Customs and retrieved their luggage, and so drove to Arrivals to pick them up. For some reason the two had declared that they didn’t have to go into the airport to greet them, so Andrew drove the sedan to the general arrival area where the two should be waiting and found them by spotting Aaron’s familiar visage.

The couple appeared surprised by the Aston Martin as it pulled up to the curb and when both Andrew and Abram exited the vehicle, with Katelyn breaking into a grin while Aaron shook his head. “It’s so good to see you!” the young woman exclaimed as she made an abortive motion as if to give Andrew a hug then thought better of it. “Thank you so much for coming to pick us up.”

“Ah, yeah, you didn’t have to do that,” Aaron said in a much more subdued manner; he was dressed in worn jeans and a MUSC long-sleeved t-shirt, while Katelyn wore leggings and a brightly colored PSU sweatshirt. “We could have taken a cab or something.”

“But the hotel room won’t be ready for a few hours,” Abram said while Andrew grabbed the luggage to put into the car’s boot. “I thought that’s why-“

“Ignore him,” Katelyn insisted as she nudged her husband in the side. “He’s grumpy because of the long flight.” She gave Abram a grateful smile while Aaron huffed and went to help his brother with the luggage. “We appreciate everything you’re doing for us.”

“Uhm, it’s nothing, really.” Abram motioned toward the car and fumbled for the door handle so he could open it for her. “Let’s get going.”

“Okay.”

Katelyn smiled as he closed the door once she was inside, yet Aaron gave Abram a displeased look over the hood of the car before he slid inside. Abram frowned over the reaction then shrugged as he returned to his seat up front.

“This your car?” Aaron asked once they drove away from the airport. “Seems a bit too normal for you, a bit proper and all.”

Abram bit into his bottom lip to hold back a chuckle as Andrew revved the 560 horse power engine to easily bypass the traffic as they merged onto the highway. “It’s not bad for a loaner, but I much prefer the Vantage S Roadster or the Maclaren 720S. They’re not meant for four people,” Andrew stated in a bored tone, “unless you want to ride on the roof.” He gave a look at his brother through the rear-view mirror. “That an option?”

His brother was quiet for several seconds before he made a disgusted noise. “Like rubbing it in that you’ve got money now, don’t you?”

“Aaron,” Katelyn protested in a quiet, unhappy voice.

“I wasn’t the one to bring it up,” Andrew pointed out as his hands tightened around the steering wheel.

That seemed to deflate Aaron’s bad attitude as he slumped back in the seat and was quiet for the rest of the drive to the townhouse. After about ten minutes, Abram spoke out in Chinese. “Perhaps we can be assigned to Hungary a little early.”

“Don’t tempt me,” Andrew replied, but there was the slightest bit of humor in his deep voice and his grip relaxed.

It looked as if Aaron wanted to say something when they reached the townhouse, but Katelyn managed to step on his foot before she walked away from the car. “It’s lovely,” she said in a bright manner as they entered the building.

“Ah, thank you.” Abram was a little unnerved by how cheerful she was about everything, despite being used to Nicky’s exuberant nature; why was she with a dour person like Aaron? “Would you like something to drink? Tea or coffee?”

“Tea?” Aaron muttered as he glanced around. “Can he be any more British?” That seemed to be directed at Andrew.

Katelyn’s smile appeared a little strained at the comment, and then Sir came trotting along, probably attracted to the sound of their voices. “Aw, would look at… him?” she asked as she glanced at Abram, who nodded. “Aw, such a pretty boy,” she cooed as she bent down to pet Sir, who began to purr at the attention. “And coffee, if it’s not too much trouble. We’re trying to stay awake until tonight, we heard it’s best for jet-lag.”

Abram made a quick escape to the kitchen and left it to Andrew to show his family around the first floor of the townhouse. He heard Katelyn’s excited voice as the coffee brewed, and the three returned as he poured the hot beverage in four mugs; it didn’t come as a surprise when Andrew headed straight for the cabinet which contained the whisky.

“The place really is lovely,” Katelyn exclaimed as she leaned against the island as she looked around at everything. “I especially like the backyard. We keep talking about getting a townhouse one day, but we’re so busy with work right now that an apartment is easier to maintain.”

“It won’t be anything like this,” Aaron muttered, but he gave Andrew a slight, grateful smile when whisky was added to his mug. “We’re saving up enough money that we’ll get something nice for Charleston.”

“Just another year or two!” Katelyn gave a slight laugh as she leaned against her husband with an arm wrapped around his waist. “And by that point, we should be able to enjoy the new home! You know what they say about residents and long hours.”

Aaron grimaced at that. “I didn’t think anything could make me feel as tired as Day’s obnoxious practices when we reached the semi-finals, but a twenty-hour shift will do it.”

Abram perked up a little at the mention of Exy, at least until his husband gave him a ‘gentle’ kick in the right ankle. “So lots of long days, huh?” he asked as he got up to fetch a tin of biscuits to go along with the coffee, which he made sure to set close to Andrew. “I’m sure you have stories to tell, yes?”

He might not know how to deal with ‘normal’ people like Aaron and Katelyn after being raised by criminals and murderers, but he knew how to get people talking, especially after going to work for Lloyd. Especially after seeing the flashes of envy in Aaron’s eyes (an emotion so unfamiliar in Andrew’s) since picking the couple up from the airport.

It didn’t take much prodding for the two (especially Aaron) to reminisce about stories during their years as interns and residents, about the patients they’d treated while on the long training shifts and their fellow students. For a while it appeared that Aaron tried to disturb them by recounting the most gruesome stories that he could, but gave up when neither Abram nor Andrew were bothered (that and it seemed as if Katelyn did some kicking of her own).

If only Aaron had a clue what his brother had been up to the last few years, but all he’d been told was that Abram’s family was in ‘shipping and trading’ and that the two of them currently worked for the government.

Abram noticed that Andrew avoided looking at Katelyn directly when she talked, his gaze often cast at the mug held behind his hands, and figured that his husband still had some issues in regards to Aaron’s relationship. He also noticed that Aaron focused his attention on his brother rather than look at him, especially once it was clear that Abram wasn’t the ‘squeamish’ sort.

Andrew wasn’t the only one with his issues, it seemed.

Katelyn was in the middle of talking about some child who’d eaten too much raw pizza dough when her phone chimed. “Oh,” she said when she read the message. “We can check in now.”

Andrew stood up while Abram gathered the mugs. “It won’t take long to get to the hotel,” Andrew said as he walked away (probably for a cigarette before the drive into the city), and Aaron excused himself for a moment, which left Abram and Katelyn alone in the kitchen. He went to put the mugs in the dishwasher and was surprised when Katelyn came over with the tin of biscuits.

“Uhm, we really appreciate all of this,” she said in a quiet voice. “I know you don’t have to drive us around or have dinner with us and stuff, that it probably would have been enough for Andrew and Aaron to just meet up for coffee or something.” She gave Abram a wry smile when he held up one of the mugs. “He might not show it, but it means a lot to Aaron that Andrew’s willing to spend so much time with him after everything, and he’s… he’s trying, honest.”

Abram was beginning to see why Aaron had fought his brother so much (according to Nicky) for this woman, with her cheerful disposition, intelligence and obvious love for the man. “Well, he is a Minyard,” Abram said once the dishes were put away. “I know what to expect.”

She giggled a little and nodded. “Yes, and while they’re wonderful men, they’re stubborn as well. Very stubborn.”

“Ah….” Abram made a show of holding up his hands and shaking his head in a clear sign of not wanting to incriminate himself (at least, not when there was a chance of Andrew walking in at any moment).

Katelyn giggled some more and gave him a sympathetic look. “Right, not trying to get you in trouble, but I understand. I can’t always say that we’ve gotten along,” she rolled her eyes in an exaggerated manner at that, “but I’m happy that Andrew found someone.”

“Thank you.” Figuring it was best to change the subject before his husband returned, Abram motioned to the young woman’s purse. “So, there’s a couple of dinners we arranged and a friend of ours lined up a tour we think you and Aaron might enjoy, but do you want or need to do any shopping while you’re in town? Anything to take back home?” There’d been times when some friends of Nicky’s had come for a visit and needed souvenirs and the such. “I’ve a good friend who works at Harrods who can be of assistance.”

“Oh, that would be wonderful!” Katelyn beamed at the offer and went on about a shopping list she’d been given by her coworkers and her mother, as well as a couple items she’d hoped to find before she left; both Andrew and Aaron rolled their eyes as she talked while Abram sent a text to Liliya to arrange an afternoon when the two could meet up – maybe even have Nicky join in since he’d probably enjoy the excursion and got along well with Liliya.

Tension seemed to leave Andrew’s shoulders once the couple was dropped off at their hotel, and it was a quiet ride back to the townhouse. Abram made them some spiked tea and tugged Andrew out to sit by the pond, content to be alone with his husband once again. “That wasn’t too bad, was it? Katelyn seems nice.”

For once, he didn’t think the frown directed at the pond had anything to do with Andrew’s ‘dislike’ with the fish. “She’s still annoying as ever,” Andrew proclaimed before drinking his tea.

“Really?” Abram sighed as he leaned against Andrew. “How long are you going to hold this grudge? I mean, it’s just been… what, almost ten years? Something like that?” Couldn’t he just accept the poor woman already?

“Forgiven Ally for Calais yet?” Andrew asked as he stole Abram’s tea, the bastard.

“Never mind,” Abram sighed as he slumped down on the bench. “It’s going to be a few awkward dinners, how wonderful. At least I’m not driving.” He had a feeling that there would be at least a bottle or two of wine consumed at dinner.

“I put up with your insane family all the time, you can put up with Aaron and the cheerleader tramp for a few nights,” Andrew told him in that ‘agree with me or else’ tone that always made Abram want to grit his teeth.

“I don’t mind the cheerleader ‘tramp’, I just have to put up with some weird, twisted copy of you.” Abram scoffed as he thought about Aaron. “Does he really think he’s getting anywhere with those feeble scowls and insults? After I’ve lived with you this long?”

There was a slight twitch to Andrew’s full lips before he finished Abram’s tea. “It is rather amusing to see him try, isn’t it?”

“Prat,” Abram said as he rested his head on Andrew’s shoulder. “Why do I bother with you?”

“Someone has to remind you to feed the damn fish, babe.”

“More like make sure you don’t try to fry them up one day, hon.” Abram hummed in happiness as his husband tugged on a lock of his hair then closed his eyes so he could enjoy Andrew’s presence and the sound of falling water. It was quiet for at least a few minutes before Andrew tugged on his hair again, harder that time. “Ow, what?”

“Come on, it looks like it’s going to rain and I’m not about to have you get soaked then pass out on me during a mission again.”

“One time,” Abram moaned as he stood up. “One fucking time. Are you ever going to let that go, either?” he asked, even though he suspected he knew the answer already.

“No,” Andrew said in a succinct manner as he gave him a slight push toward the townhouse. “Idiot.”

Abram wondered if he could get Katelyn alone during her visit and commiserate over living with a Minyard (former Minyard, in his case, he supposed) for a good hour or two, perhaps see if she had any advice which may come in handy (other than ‘render him unconscious for a bit of peace and quiet’).

*******

[kodoku-roxi]

personal stuff

And everything will be alright!! I’m happy.

I just got out of quarantine 2 days ago, I didn't have anything serious, f*ck yeah!

Dad and grandpa are fine too, my grandmom just got out of the hospital and is home now, she feels perfect.

Ok, Content Warning!!!! death mentions and sadness :(

But I live in a house with some selfish people, if I died, I wouldn't mind!!!..... I really don't like them, you know.. the only regret I would have is that I would hurt everything I love.... all these drawings and projects that I didn't finish, my mother, whom I would have seriously hurt if I died, and my boyfriend, who,,,, I don't know why,, loves me, and he would have been hurt too if I died. Let's not forget about my sons! with whom I would have left my 7 children if I had died??? yes, Mr. E and his bike would have gone to my bf because he paid 65% of the price of that set... but my sons? there are 6 miniature bikes! I know they would have become simple toys if I died.. and I don't want that. They are everything to me. I don't want to lose or hurt them. But everything will be fine, I'll be fine, my mom is fine.

Ok, the warning is over! 

You can't imagine how happy I am. I promised myself that if I went through all this shit I would draw that "meet the artist" lol it would be the third year I want to do this, XD man, I have so much to draw. But as I promised, first time, I'll draw Mr. E and baby Wu, because I promised that. BUT because I'm very happy, uuuh asdfghjkl you know I started creating designs for robots, androids.. nindorids 0-0 you know.. how about... mm 6~6 you give me a ninja, you tell me if you want a robot or android and I'll draw it! 0w0 What do you say?! You know what. Let me do this officially. Tomorrow I will post this announcement, but only for peeps and followers. Without "ninjago" in tags. You can now write in the ask box what ninja you want me to draw for you. (Cole, Lloyd, Kai, Nya, Jay.. wait, Zane is already a nindroid.. f*ck. It doesn't matter, Zane too, as an android as a robot, doesn't matter!)

Content Warning!!! I started to be stupid!

Sorry for my English. I'm still on the ground, but I'll be fine, Long Live Our Hope. Oh, and, yeahh, you shouldn't write encouraging messages or that you love my art, don't do that, please, just write the request, ok?

Don't think it's the first time I think I'm going to die, and that's why I'm sentimental and stuff, no, no, no. It's the first time I've had something to fight for. Tomorrow I won't be like that, it's just a moment, I'm just tired now, my warm-calm-forgiving side was activated by constant, constant (more than usual) fatigue and stress. Tomorrow I will be as the world usually knows me.

Have a nice day~ LLOH (Yes, I'll start saying that again!) 

[grumpy-zane]

((Had a ninjago fan season idea that takes place after s13 and semi centers around Kai ninjago. This seasons theme: Vacation gone wrong! I have segmented it into episodes for convenience. I uh, may or may not dedicate some time to drawing content for this thing, so I apologize in advance. ((also it is. a long post.

Episode 1 - Answering machine going off and its’ Ronins voice over the machine: 'Looks like I’m gonna run late.. ugh this whole thing is falling apart isn't it. But we'll make it work. I got you a ferry to take you there, one of the cruise ships. It was the least I could do for now... I'll meet you there, I promise.'     >Cuts to Dareth on the boat, taking him and the rest of the people to ‘Aves Isle’.    >While everyone is getting off, Dareth helps a naga lady with carrying some of her stuff because Dareth ninjago.    >Naga ladys' name is 'Olive', she is a semi native. She starts talking about the islands' history. 'there used to be a temple but we don't know what happened to it, but it sunk into the ground.    >two investigate the area because Dareth has time to wait on Ronin.    >Upon finding whats’ left of the area and entering, the atmosphere changes and inflicts a weird curse or whatever.    >Dareth starts getting progressively more pushy Episode 2 - After s13 Wu wants to do more adventures so the bounty is just flying wherever the wind takes it I guess w/e {{Also realized I didn’t write much for Wu this entire rest of the story so I am assuming he’s having a grand ol’ time being on vacation}}    >wow it is night time, the bounty is flying in    >The crew ask where they are and Zane starts to go on his normal informative spiel before getting cut off.    >Oh there’s a thing on the radar. What the heck is that thing flying towards us OH GOD THAT’S A BIG ANGRY DRAGON    >Bounty has two smaller 'runner' boats? I guess? marketing. Two of the ninja hop on those and fly off.    >Zane and Jay distract the dragon so the bounty can safely land but it turns out there are two dragons and Jay gets taken down first. Yay soft landing.    >Bounty makes it safely over the fences that are on the island    >Zane gets taken out.    >Cuts back to Dareth and Olive still rooting around. activates something and wow a lava fountain. the ground is glowing in weird markings!    >Dareth snaps at Olive and she wells up and runs away and Dareth snaps out of it temporarily like 'oh crud why did I do that I didn't mean to be so bossy' and goes after her    >Olive gets overtaken and now: pointy.    >Dareth tries to stop her but she jumps into the portal lava whatever? hole?? not sure.    >He, of course, jumps in after.    >Fire Dareth.    >Random golden-looking platform chained to the bottom of the hole they are in. ominous voice: hey how about you get these locks free and we'll rebuild the temple? nice.    >Temple platform rises    >Zane gets tossed into an area? park? fenced in something or another??    >oh hi Jay    >oh community service sorting trash from recyclables? can do.

Episode 3 - The remaining ninja visit the two who are in 'time out' before deciding to have a look around the island.    >They take a nice walk down the beach Cole reminisces about the time Kai was extremely afraid of water    >Kai frowns as a laugh track is played. Claims he has gotten better at it but screams when Nya splashes him.    >Zane and Jay are done with service and its like 'okay how about we try to get out again?’    >Zane suggests doing it in the broad daylight since the dragons went out at night and may be nocturnal    >they try    >they get taken out again    >another round of community service    >sees another aircraft fall out of the sky    >guard: wow more property damage.    >sundown. lloyd notices that something strange is happening with some of the residents randomly getting more nippy and then not. strange. (Ninja get into an arguments with the locals or whatever)    >Stop by community service area    >Jay is now frustrated    >rest recuperate at where they parked the bounty    >Nya: well nothing is really going on here we can probably leave once the two are done breaking the law     >Ronin shows up to the area and is greeted sourly by Jay ninjago

Episode 4 - The ninja are ready to leave when they notice a weird ominous structure that wasn't there before.    >Crew investigate    >oh its hot. you can go in, Kai ninjago    >kai enters    >oh frick fire dareth    >kai ninjago, walking out and is krispy: there is a problem.    >three get out of service    >ronin asks if the little runner ships are 'truly' important    >hekcin steals their engine or whatever    >regroup at the bouty    >Kai: hey uhh, Dareth is peeved haha, I don't get it though he and I hang out every now and then.    >Ronin, internally: oh god he's really mad I didn't follow plans to a T-    >the ninja exchange awkward glances of guilt    >decide it'd be best to talk to him tomorrow, or try to. Also, more people are randomly getting upsetti, Jay is still frustrated.

Episode 5 - jay still has a bad attitude. lloyd is also starting to get upset. Cole tries to diffuse the situation but it causes the two to point their noses up at each other in silent anger. great.    >Kai enters in the temple again, which is even more built than it was before.   >Dareth being snarky   >kai apologizes and tells him he wasn't aware of it, and that he thought the two were good friends, reminding him of the times they hung out outside of mission things.   >Dareth calms down a bit   >finds a reason to be mad again.   >Ronin shows up   >'ronin?'   >''Told you I'd meet you here, what didn't you believe me? not really much of a vacation. How about we get some fresh air?"   >Dareth approaches   >oh no he's really hot.   >cheek caress with the robotic arm. gae.   >two head out. Room is no longer unbearably hot. good!   >squad enters in. goes into one of the inner chambers   >oh look the towns people overtaken by rage are building. nice.   >oh no jay and lloyd are fighting again.   >grabs attention of workers.   >the ninja get their butts handed to themselves, and lose Jay and lloyd in the process. nice   >cuts to Ronin and Dareth walking on the beach.   >Ronin smooth talking, normal Ronin behvior   >Flames and whatever fade from Dareth and he snaps out of it completely and immediately starts pouring out how he feels bad about being rude to Olive and whatever the bad guy is and what the plans of the temple are.   >Ronin: maybe we should tell the ninja. I don't want us to get involved anymore.

Episode 6 - Ronin informs the ninja of what's up.   >Nya: oh no we gotta stop this !   >Dareth: I want to help.   >Ronin: no we are on vacation we shouldn't have to; leave it up to them.   >Dareth: no I started this, this is my fault, I have to make it up to Olive and everyone <:(   >Ronin: :/   >Zane: we should focus on. not making the locals angry because that seems to draw them towards the temple.   >Ninja proceed to do good deeds, while part of them break off to do research   >learn about the bad guy dunn dun dunn!

episode 7 - Kai ninjago somehow is the one keeping the most level head out of everyone here and things get tense again. is it potentially out of character? Well he's mad that lloyd and jay are overtaken but he's doing a good job at self control.   >cuts to lloyd and Jay   >lloyd: this is dumb! why are we helping!? We're supposed to be stopping this!   >Jay: we're helping because YOU dragged us into this with your plan!   >argue. great   >bad guy laughing or whatever, oh the voice has a physical form that's manifesting from the heat of the temple. 'Good, soon I will be reborn and reclaim the island!'   >Olive inform him that Dareth has broken the spell   >bad guy furious and confused but is also like 'whatever we have a lot more important things to worry about'   >Nya and Zane are stepping on each others' toes.   >ronin and Dareth relay what they learned.   >kai sitting in the bounty looking disheveled   >'Human pinata makes the kids happy'. Horrifying.   >story about how the bad guy was dispersed after 'other beings' landed on the island and taught he locals the importance of peace and not war or whatever. It was probably some Oni and dragons chillin.   >Cole: oh! I mean we have two 'other beings' and those are the dragons, but they seem really angry and territorial   >Kai: maybe they want something and just haven't gotten it? ((Id have to mention one of the festivals known as the 'laughing dragon' festival or whatever but it's fallen into obscurity due to the dragons not being happy. Mention that sometime during episode 3))   >investigation time part 3.   >learn that there's a fruit that the dragons like, but the recipee was lost on how to make the disk for them   >well gang, time to get cooking! thank goodness Zane is on our-   >just kidding Zane and Nya are gone now because they got too angry at each other and went to 'get space' but they're probably at the temple now.

Episode 8 - Gotta do the cookin by the book!   >the ingredients are gathered.   >Dareth insists that they used a very speicific brand of exctact.   >Cole has no idea how to cook well   >Kai starts putting things together.   >Cole: when did you learn to cook?   >Kai: Well I had to take care of my sister buutt.. I dunno I think being the master of fire, cooking comes easy. ;)   >Cole: if there's any way I can help just let me know.   >kai: oh, yeah, bust open those things.   >Cole literally smashes open the fruit sending bits everywhere   >good ol happy comedic moment.   >first try   >Cole: . looks. uh. strange.   >Ronin: I am afraid to taste it.   >Dareth: oh I'm sure it can’t be- -face scrunch-   >Kai: <:)   >Dareth: well... I swallowed it.. at least..   >cuts to temple again   >bad guy is like 'we need more people how come everyone stopped coming?? someone needs to go out and start beating people up >:('   >Olive reports that the ninja were gathering ingredients for something or another   >Bad guy is like 'okay send some people there and stop them'

episode 9 - after the 5th attempt it's much more palatable so they make a larger batch and stick it in a boat all fancied up and now have to deliver it   >oh god angry people   >why are they looking at us hhh   >fite   >Kai: we legit cannot let any of this spill otherwise I'm going to scream.   >only way to get it away from the people is to go by ocean   >Ronin: we'll do what we can but you gotta do this kai. You're tough.   >kai: ahaha I still don't like water but!   >boat on water   >gets to the part outside of the gate   >oddly silent.   >kai proceeds to put it on the beach and starts calling out for the dragons and starts making noise or whatever. "im gonna kick your sand! haha! what are you going to do about it??'   >Dragons emerge, ready to fight   >sees the offering. Kai: it's okay it's okay, this is for you.   >backs away from the boat   >lets the dragons have it.   >the smaller one is curious about him and approaches him after   >good ol’ kai dragon interaction. yay confidence!

Episode 10 - wow I sure do hate this sorting plant by now, thinks Ronin ninjago.   >tossed in the sorting plant Cole: this isn't too bad. Dareth: yeah I thought we were going to be burned by the stake, haha! Ronin: oh you'll hate it soon enough.   >Dareth and cole exchange glances. Cole: oh I know, how about we do a song, get a beat going? I'm sure kai has things under control! Dareth: good idea! Keep the spirits high, huh?   >Olive informs that the offering made it out into the ocean   >bad guy says 'no fear the ocean probably will swallow it', both unaware that kai was on the boat.   >temple is nearing completion.   >the angry ninja attempt yet again, to try to make a plan to stop him.   >everyone has a different idea   >they don't work together and go do their own plans.   >lloyd tries to go after him directly   >jay attempts to use his powers to get the workers to stop and go after him   >nya yells at jay   >Zane attempts to take out Olive, with mild success, kicks her out of the temple.   >olive decides to visit in on the captives   >glares at Dareth   >Dareth proceeds to apologize profusely   >Olive is stunned and snaps out of it, sorta. moment of clarity   >apologizes for stopping their plan about the dragons. gives more detail about the situation inside the temple before getting ready to head back.   >ronin. heckin. kidnaps her w/e He wants answers, and also doesn't want her relaying the information she gathered back to the bad guy. Dareth: oh my GOD did you KILL her?? Ronin: :B no messengers.

Episode 11 - The dragons fly overhead and do their little dance and show and yaay, the people are happy!   >people working on the temple stop and notice in awe and decide to go outside to have a look.   >bad guy takes notice and a n g r y, number of the workers stop and go enjoy the show. Some even going to their work areas and getting snacks and things like a festival. Bad guy: where is my messenger?! How did this happen?! steppin out. that's it, I'll deal with this personally.   >bad guy stands on his temple top whatever. Starts blasting fire balls.   >kai ninjago shooting fireballs back to deflect Locals: wow firework show!   >even more stop their progress.   >lloyd notices   >the rest of the ninja notice. lloyd: woah kai ninjago..! Nya: I don't know how long he can last doing that.. Zane: the power comes from the temple.. Jay: so we have to sink the temple!   >sink time   >as the temple starts to submerge again the fire balls become weaker   >bad guy adverts his attention to the ninja and decide to try to take them out   >Kai ninjago shows up and they have a fire bending battle not ripped from avatar at all Jay: kai you gotta get outta there the temple is collapsing! Kai: I will give me a minute!   >This is sparta kicks the dude into the portal thingy lava(?) and gets the heck outta there before everything falls in again.   >yaay, we won!   >mini celebration that's more like we gotta recover

Episode 12 - partially filler episode? w/e   >actual festival held   >good ol relaxing for real this time.   >Dareth: that was fun!   >Ronin: so much for a vacation, seems like trouble is always following you around.   >Dareth: thank god I have you to protect me from it all, huh?   >Ronin: wow gay   >Dareth: also why did you run late?   >Ronin: weeeeeell... that's a long story. B) I'll tell you on the flight back.   >Olive: how did you find the recipe for the thing?   >kai: I didn't I just... I mean, Well, when you have flare like me you tend to know how to make a good dish B)   >Cole: he guessed and messed up 5 times.   >Olive: oh-    >kai: >:( c o l e   >the ninja can actually leave now   >FFIV victory fanfare

[blursed-ninjago-ideas]

More sensei loyd maybe? (Sorry i just reeeeeally love this idea)

i can’t fucking find the post bc tumblr is shit but this takes place in my next gen au bc why not  --- Kyle sat on the bed, his face buried in his knees. 

“Sensei... I think Kyle needs you...” Astro says. Lloyd nods. “I’ll go try to talk to him. Why don’t you go prepare some tea for us and wait for me?” “Can I make myself coffee? I like it more than tea...”

“There’s some chocolate milk in the fridge, you can have that. You won’t be able to sleep if you have coffee. Now, go, Astro.” “Yes, Sensei.” Astro leaves as Lloyd steps into Kyle’s room. “Hey, Kyle...” He says softly, walking over to his bed. “Would you like to talk?” Kyle stays quiet, not moving. Lloyd nods.  “I see... Alright....” “...Can I...really talk to you?” Kyle asks, looking up. “You’re not gonna judge me or anything...right?” “Of course not. But I’m not going to force you either. If you want me to leave you alone, just say so.” 

“Dad said it’s better to talk about my feelings than to bury them...” “Alright. How do you feel?” “I feel... angry. And sad. I miss him...” Lloyd nods. “I understand... When I lost my father, I felt like that too... I wanted to just... break stuff and cry.” “Is that... normal?” “Yes.” Lloyd smiles. “It’s hard for everyone to lose a loved one, especially one you were very close to. Feeling angry is a very normal part of grief. Feeling sad is too. Why would you think otherwise?” “I don’t know...” “I see.”  Kyle puts his head down again. “I want to talk to him again...” “You know, Kyle. There’s an old Ninjago legend that if you leave a gift at a grave, the person will find it and take it with them to the departed realm.” “Really?” “Yeah. And, if you talk to them while giving them the gift, they will hear you. If you’re lucky enough, you might even get a note saying ‘thank you’ back. Maybe tomorrow I can take you and Astro to the city so you can find something your dad would like to give to him?” “You... you would do that?” “Of course. Your father was my brother, too ya know.” “I don’t know what he would like though....” “You can think about it tomorrow. Get some sleep, okay? You need the rest.”  Lloyd smiles and walks out of the room. Maybe I can get Kai some gummy worms, he thinks, laughing. He would LOVE those. 

[aweebwrites]

Time Out

Warning: kinda s11 spoilery. I mean, it has a few themes you'll find in the first episode or two but nothing into detail. Just the setting.

____________

"You almost sawed my bike in half you asshole." Cryptor growled once the major villain of the week was taken care of.

"What? You mean that two wheeled deathtrap?" Kozu countered with a fanged sneer as Cryptor glared up at him, something the nindroid never expected to do.

Ever. The former General was fucking tall.

"And your four wheeler scrap heap is any better? It looks like you just thought: hey! Let's see how many buzz saws I can add to this piece of shit while still calling it a vehicle!" Cryptor snapped, parking his bike in its slot in the Ninja's base beneath the Monastery.

"Like your so called bike is any better! Why are weapons to the vehicle with no intention to use them!" Kozu growled back, hopping out of his Land Shredder as the ninja came in moments later, panting in exhaustion. "Unlike yourself I have personally built my Land Shredder from the ground up as do all soldiers. It is built to attack and defend." He justified and Cryptor scoffed.

"Have those two really been arguing the whole way back?" Lloyd says, blinking at them as they slid out of the Land Bounty.

"Yep." Cole says, popping the p.

"Ugh. I'm too tired and sore to make a crack at them." Jay groaned, arching his back so it popped.

"Ditto." Kai sighed, leaning against the massive wheel of the Land Bounty.

"Someone has to stop them before they end up fighting again." Nya pointed out, resting a hand on her hip.

"Well, Cryptor would be more likely to win if he goes for Kozu's hair." Zane pointed out and they all recalled last time he did that then winced.

"It wasn't me but I felt that in my scalp." Cole says with a grimace.

"I say let em fight it out. It'll be good for them." Kai says, heading toward the elevator.

"Are you sure? You know how easily riled up Cryptor is." Jay pointed out.

"And I know how stubborn Kozu can get." Lloyd added. "It's a recipe for disaster." He warned.

"If you wanna part them, then go ahead. I know I need a nice, long soak in the hot tub." Kai says with a stretch as the others murmured their agreement, piling into the elevator.

Lloyd looked at the two still arguing then back at his friends.

"Wait for me!" He called out, rushing over to the elevator once it began to close.

"... Stealth! Anyone could spot that scrap heap from a mile away!" Cryptor growled at Kozu who growls back.

"Oh? And your fancy little bike is so invisible during broad daylight." Kozu says sarcastically crossing his upper arms while setting his lower arms on his hips.

"At least it's not a heaping pile of parts!" Cryptor snapped, taking a threatening step closer and Kozu does the same, both of them glaring at each other down.

"Keep talking brother, and you will see just who becomes a pile of parts." Kozu growled low.

"Is that a threat?" Cryptor asked with narrowed eyes, pulling out his red bladed katanas.

"Can't compute?" Kozu mocked, pulling out his own swords strapped to his back in all four arms.

"That's enough." Pixal interrupted, walking between them and pushing them back. "You, are acting like children." She says, shooting them both a glare.

"If any one here acts like a child, it's this overgrown one." Cryptor says, gesturing to Kozu who growled louder, only to be cut off by Pixal holding a hand up towards him.

"Since you both want to act like children, you will both be punished like them. Both of you upstairs. Couch. Neither of you are to move until you get over this silly little spat." She says sternly, shooting them both firm looks.

Kozu rose his brow at the daring Nindroid. It was… Respectable of her to not even show an ounce of fear in the face of two former generals.

"Couch. Now." She reiterated more firmly and both Cryptor and Kozu shot each other a glare before stepping down. "Drop the weapons and go." She ordered them and Kozu looked to her blankly.

"We are weapons." Cryptor says for them both and Pixal shot him a glare.

Cryptor sighed then dropped his sword, Kozu following suit as well, all four swords clattering to the ground. Cryptor then turned away, walking towards the elevator, Kozu following behind them.

"I'll be watching." She warns once they were both in opposite ends of the elevator.

Both rolled their eyes at that, ignoring Pixal's 'I saw that!'. The short elevator ride was uneventful aside from the board they shot each other before stepping out. They headed over to the couch and sat down at opposite ends like the children they were acting like.

After a moment, Kozu couldn't help but relax into the couch, his body tense from the just as tense fight they had previously. This baddie he was called in to help with had the power of short distance teleportation and a very heavy hit. He blocked a blow from the bastard with his bare arms and felt it rattle through his entire body. He had to take a moment to make sure he wasn't actually damaged. Finally able to unwind after the tense and close battle, he couldn't help the little purr that began rumbling in his chest. His wasn't the only purr that caught his ears.

Both Kozu and Cryptor looked at each other wide eyed, their purrs stopping abruptly. They both lifted a finger to point at each other in shock.

"You can do that?"

"You purr too?" Both said at the same time and they blinked at each other.

Huh. It appears they're more like each other than one would think. Cryptor leaned back against the couch.

"Fuck, today was fucked up." He higher, running his fingers through his hair. "... I could have taken that hit you know." He gruffed after a moment.

"We did not know that for sure." Kozu hums, allowing himself to relax into the couch, throwing his upper arms over the back of the couch.

"I'm made of titanium. Virtually indestructible. I can handle myself." Cryptor huffed, annoyed and upset that these idiots always risk themselves for him.

"Virtually is a far cry from total indestructibility." Kozu pointed out, allowing his eyes to slide shut. "Accept it and move on." He adds and Cryptor shot him a glare then sighed.

He glanced across at the Stone Warrior once he began to rumble with purrs again. The sound had Cryptor releasing locked gears as he relaxed even more. The couch suddenly felt really cozy… His purrs also mingled in the mix, a higher and shorter pitch comparing to Kozu's longer, deeper rumbles. His eye lid began to droop as exhaustion began to droop as exhaustion settled in. He hadn't had the best night's sleep last night- or the night before and who knows how much more after that? His head nodded as he began to drift… He jolted awake once he felt his head bump into something- Kozu's arm. The soldier gave an amused huff then pulled the startled Cryptor closer so he was half laying against him, head resting on his broad expanse of a chest. Cryptor… Tried not to feel a little jealous. Kozu increased the volume of his purr, running his fingers through Cryptor's hair as said Nindroid melts against him, purring in content as he closed his eye.

"... My brothers are often like this when tired. I suppose the soldier does not fall far from the general." Kozu spoke after a moment and Cryptor only hums.

Kozu could talk as long as he wanted, as long as he kept petting his hair. That thought hat Cryptor curious. He looked up at the Stone Soldier then reached up and ran his fingers through his mass of hair. Kozu's reaction was instantaneous. He leans into the touch with a deeper, more pleased purr. Huh. He disliked thinking of that part of his past but, it looks like the general doesn't fall far from the general either. Kozu took his hand from his hair and set it against his own chest.

"Sleep. You are tired." Kozu rumbled and Cryptor rose a brow, long spotting the duller shine of his eyes.

Kettle calling the pot huh. He was too tired to argue anyway. He closed his eye again, ears taking in their mixed purrs, the sound luring him to sleep. Kozu watched idly. He hadn't been very pleased to accept that he was replaced with Cryptor himself. In fact, for the longest while, he was nothing but hostile to the Nindroid who returned the sentiment. But then as he was slowly called into their tougher missions, he watched the Nindroid. He was… A curious entity. An entity he began to see as just as much his brother as his stone siblings. The Overlord, his father was a car point in both of their lives neither of them wished to even think of. He was independent and wasn't relying on him but he understood what it was like, what he had gone through. Even though they never spoke words of it, it made being himself, the Kozu without the lives of the remaining Stone Soldiers balancing on his hands easier. He became an escape. This place became an escape. He sighs softly to himself, closing his eyes and taking him his mechanical brother's purrs. He'd rather not get into that right now. He relaxed, his own purrs deepening and lengthening.

He could use a nap…

______

When the others returned from the hot tub, it was to the utterly adorable sight of the two cuddling on the couch, purring up a storm.

"Awww…" Jay whispered.

"Who would have thought Kai would be right." Lloyd says, impressed.

"He wasn't." Pixal says, stepping out of the elevator. "I had to put them in time out." She says and Kai snorted.

A low, annoyed growl came from the large Stone figure whom was still asleep and they all took an unconscious step back.

"I came to warn you of that. Let them rest." Pixal says, ushering them away.

"Well, at least they aren't fighting." Kai says then looked back with a grin.

"Yeah. Nice to see them getting along." Lloyd smiled then headed to his room with the others.

____________

(Dabs. I've been posting a lot of Kozu content lately but this isn't an actual full on post. It's just a smol drabble I wanted to post. I have another to post either later or tomorrow and the actual fic of today later on. I hope you liked it @sayijo!)

[mononoke-no-ko]

Info on "Code Geass: Lelouch of the Re;surrection"

Official announcements, interviews, spoilers from live events, and summary of Resurrection opening film from the recent bonus DVD. I’ll list them chronologically.

12/26/2018

⬛ Official twitter (1,2)

“Staff, as an official announcement, informs that Lelouch will appear in “Lelouch of the Resurrection”. Additionally we also confirm that Jun Fukuyama will take part in the movie.”

“Though we’ve announced that Lelouch will appear, please see “Lelouch of the Resurrection” by all means and find it out yourself as to how he will appear, in theaters starting from 2/9.”

⬛ 2nd Lelouch Birthday Event (1,2)

Koujiro: “It won't be anything predictable like 'In Resurrection, Lelouch will only come out for a bit at the end'. Geass has never failed to surprise you right? Please anticipate. It will betray your prediction but it won't betray your expectation!"

Q: This may be a difficult question to answer, but on the website and at the top of official twitter page, Resurrection is written as “depicts the story after R2″, while on the news sites and the likes it’s written as “story after the theatrical trilogy”. I think the story is quite different between the TV series and the movie version, so which statement is correct?  Koujiro: This is probably the first time I talk about this. It is quite a difficult topic, but... Code Geass is a world with parallels, right? Like the previously mentioned Private Tutor manga, for example. Do you know the meaning of R in R2? It stands for ‘route’. R2 is supposed to mean ‘route 2’. Then, what about ‘route 1’? MC: Is it the first season of TV series? Koujiro: No it isn’t. ‘Route 1’, as some people may already know, is the phantom Stage 26* that was included in the Bluray BOX’s benefits. It was a story that was written for late-night slot, while Route 2 is the current story that was written when we moved to the evening slot. Both TV series and movie version follow the story of ‘route 2’, so Resurrection is written as continuation of R2. Both of them are Code Geass. Whether it’s continuation of TV series or movie version, please watch it if you can to find out.” * it's this https://rainfall.dreamwidth.org/107694.html

12/29/2018

⬛ Taniguchi interview from VOICE the movie January 2019 issue.  

Q. The content of "Lelouch of the Resurrection", can we think of it to be exactly like the title suggest?  A. People really will get angry if the content is completely different from the title (laugh). However, different people see things differently. Some will think the content is just like the title, others will think it isn't. It depends on how you perceive it, as for me the content is just like the title. 

Q. Please give everyone a message about the new work.  A. First of all, the new work was made as an extension of the theatrical trilogy. Hence compare to the TV series, there will be subtle differences in characters relationship etc, I hope everyone can understand. I hope viewers who haven't watched the theatrical trilogy can take this opportunity to watch it. After that you can speculate and analogize to some extent about what happened to the world in the work and in what way the characters change. 

01/10/2019

⬛ Cast comment.

Sakurai Takahiro (Suzaku VA) "After going through the three compilation movies, finally it's the long awaited new work. Lelouch who enjoys resurrection, in what kind of form/fashion he will appear... We'll be waiting for everyone at the theaters!"

Arai Satomi (Sayoko VA) "Those who've known Lelouch and Code Geass for a long time must be wondering "What will Lelouch do this time?". He's done a lot of things that go beyond our imagination. We’ve been betrayed many times, in a good way. Though there were many painful times too. And so this time as well, as you know it, Lelouch betrays us. But surely you're looking forward to it right? Lelouch, it's the revival you know!"

01/12/2019

⬛ Summary of Resurrection’s opening scene (1,2,3).

Opening celebration of Cafe Zero 2 owned by Tamaki.

Ougi has given up his position as Japan PM.

According to the narration it is “Year 2 of 光和 / Kouwa (Harmonious Light), one year since evil emperor Lelouch was defeated by Zero” and “it will be evaluated by future generations as ‘miraculous tomorrow’ where there was no war or terrorism for the past year”.

Lloyd, Cecile, and a survivor from Glaston Knights seem to be investigating something 

Nunnally and Zerozaku were visiting a refugee camp on a desert, there’s a talk about proposing to Britannia parliament to take in the refugees, but Nunnally has no authority/right to decide on politics/government.

Britannia is now a principality country.

Zilkstan’s army corps suddenly appeared, Suzaku was about to face them with Mahoroba*, but it’s a KMF that's used for ceremonies so it’s not armed. If the float system is also removed then it will be cut off from the mechanics, but since it’s the only thing that can be used immediately he used it anyway to buy some time.

Suzaku was putting up a good fight even with just a sword and a harken but he got caught in a trap that Shario said was staged according to “the prophecy of older sister”, and both were caught in a light flash.

The film ended with the scene where Nunnally is besieged.

* It’s the name Shinkiro’s successor as explained in my post here.

01/13/2019

⬛  Q&A session from Oudou cheering screening event at Akihabara Film Festival.

Q: I’ve seen the opening film, and there it’s said “Principality of Britannia”. What happens to Britannia’s political system after Zero Requiem? Koujiro: Even though Lelouch destroyed Britannia once, Schneizel is sort of alive, and among Britannia’s former nobles there are also capable people, so these people gather and run the country. Because Nunnally has used FLEIJA in the past, and such people must not be involved in politics, she stays away from politics.

Koujiro: There are two Mahoroba units. One is the unit used for ceremonies which weaponry all have been removed on purpose. Because, wouldn’t it be scary for someone crazy strong like Zero to have the latest KMF with the latest weapon? That’s why the weapons are all removed. To spoil just one thing, there’s a scene that will make you think that Suzaku is indeed amazing, even though he’s caught, it’s not because his KMF has no weapons or anything like that.  

From another fan account of this event:

The public have never seen Zero’s battles, they don’t know about him being good at strategy or not, good at piloting KMF or not, and only know about Zero having done a lot of righteous deeds, so they don’t realize the change from Lelouch!Zero to Suzaku!Zero.

Characters from spin-offs will appear in Resurrection. 

That’s all for now. If there’s more new info in the future, I’ll probably update and reblog this post, and put some notification on my twitter page.

[gwenbrightly]

Maybe

Cross posted from ffnet. Hello everyone! Welcome to the fic that was supposed to be my Valentines Day special… But… I'm not great with deadlines, so it's a few days late. "Maybe" is centered around Kai and Skylor, and takes place between s4 and s5. I've taken some liberties here with how Master Chen's Noodle House operates, and a few other things, but I really hope you enjoy my first attempt at writing Kailor! It was definitely interesting, trying to find the right balance between awkward dorkiness and adorable fluff, but I had a lot of fun writing this, as random as it turned out! Enjoy!

________________________________________________________________

Skylor stared balefully at her watch, silently willing the meeting she was currently in the middle of to reach its end before she got driven insane. The past month had been an exhausting, chaotic mess for her, and she was ready for it to be over. Following her father's banishment to the cursed realm, she had begun fighting to rebuild his noodle empire in a much less criminally inclined way. There had been little time to relax; she'd barely been able to appreciate the fact that she was living on her own terms for the first time in her life before being thrust into the process of orchestrating the many changes that needed to be made. Countless hours had been dedicated to debating and discussing, interviewing and observing, adjusting and questioning. All in the hopes of giving those associated with the many branches of the popular restaurant a chance at a new beginning. And it was nice, to have a purpose. But there were times where she debated whether or not she was actually making any headway.

"But if we reconfigure our employee rights policy as you have proposed, production may be negatively effected, which will most certainly lead to a significant decrease in profit..." A representative from one of the noodle factories pointed out, not at all pleased with the adjustments the redhead had just described. Sometimes she wondered if the individual in question wanted her to fail. She could've sworn she heard someone grunt in agreement. The bespectacled young women across the table from her glanced up from her Borg tablet in concern. Skylor shook her head. Best not to let this situation get out of hand.

"I am aware of that, Mr. Millers. I've already told you multiple times that I am more than prepared to deal with the consequences of any adjustments we make as long as it allows us to give Master Chen's Noodle House the positive reputation it deserves. So, really, I'm not sure why you've brought this up again." She said with a sigh. How much longer before she could retreat to the safety of her apartment? 10, 15 more minutes?

"Miss Chen has made great progress over the past few weeks. Just think of how popular the puffy potstickers have become since she decided to put them back on the menu." June, her recently hired assistant manager added quietly. Yes, she had made the right decision in selecting this girl to join her tightly knit team of employees, even if she was rather soft spoken.

"I am merely... concerned that these changes have not been thought out sufficiently. This business has existed for decades... It would be a shame if someone were to... Run it into the ground with unrealistic dreams..." The man replied in an oily tone, giving her a very fake smile. Skylor frowned. Such behavior was only going to make the meeting more tedious. It was official. He definitely wouldn't mind seeing her slip up.

"First of all, the lack of pay and deplorable working conditions seen in many of our more rural factories could be considered illegal, as I'm sure you know, and second of all, don't think I'm oblivious to what you are insinuating. I had hoped that your expertise and years of experience would be beneficial in reforming my father's business, but if you continue to undermine my judgement and fight me at every turn, I will be forced to ask you to leave." She informed Mr. Millers with a pointed stare. He deflated slightly but didn't seem overly thrilled to have been called out on his behavior.

"...As you wish, Ms. Chen..." For now.

"Good." Skylor declared forcefully, sharing an exasperated look with June, " I propose that we begin implementing adjustments as planned, then. To start with, all workers will now be entitled to a 15 minute break every three hours, and a half an hour break after five. Shifts will be no longer than nine hours, and we are increasing pay to minimum wage. All in favor?" She and June raised their hands immediately. The head delivery truck driver, quality control specialist, and several faculty members hailing from various locations, joined them, eventually, leaving a disgruntled Mr. Millers and one additional factory representative as the only opposers.

"That's eight for and two against. Sorry, Mr. Millers, but it looks like majority wins in this case." Skylor's assistant declared, hurriedly typing the results of the vote for posterity. She didn't appear even remotely apologetic about this turn of events.

"Thank you, everyone, for being so flexible. I know we've experienced a lot of changes lately, but I truly believe they will help make Master Chen's more successful in the long run. Now, is there anything else we need to discuss? I know many of you have families to get home to, so I'd prefer not to drag this meeting out any more than we have to, especially on a Saturday." Skylor commented with a relieved smile. Almost finished...

"I vote we call it quits. Today's supposed to be date night with the wife." Offered the truck driver. The others nodded their assent. Even those who were dissatisfied with the outcome of the meeting were ready to depart.

"Okay, then. Enjoy the rest of your weekend. I'll see all of you next week, alright?" The redhead called as conference room exploded into a flurry of chairs being pushed forward and paperwork being packed away.

"Phew. Glad that's over." June told her, watching everyone leave.

"Yep. We survived another run in with the infamous Mr. Millers."

"He sure is determined to throw you to the sharks... I don't know how you do it..."

"It isn't easy, but I'm sure he'll come around. Eventually. Or he'll just straight up quit. But it helps to have such a good team on my side." Skylor replied, elbowing her, "You've been a great help in getting everything organized. I really appreciate all your hard work. And June? Tell Chad I say hello... I can see his car in the parking lot." The assistant manager's cheeks flushed.

"Oh. O-of course. See you tomorrow... Please try to relax a little. I don't wanna end up having to run this place all by myself if you overwork yourself to death..."

"No promises, but I'll try. Now get yourself outta here – don't need keep that boyfriend of yours waiting, right? " The young woman told her friend, practically shoving her out the door.

"Okay, okay. I'm going. Bye!"

"Bye." At least one of them had something enjoyable to do with the remainder of the afternoon.

"Miss Chen? A-are you leaving? There's a customer who's been asking for you for the past half an hour…" The waitress who had suddenly appeared by her side informed her. Skylor cursed her luck. It looked like relaxation would have to wait.

"Where?" She asked, exhaling deeply.

"The corner booth over by the window. You can't miss him…" The waitress replied, pointing. Better get this over with, then, she thought, wandering towards the table she'd been directed to. The master of amber took her time, reluctant to engage in another potentially frustrating conversation.

"Hello? Someone said you wanted to see me… is there a problem?" She inquired, drawing closer.

"Oh, there's no problem," The person replied casually, turning so she could see their face, "I just wanted to talk to the prettiest restaurant owner in all of Ninjago City, that all." And then recognition dawned on her.

"Kai?" Skylor gasped in surprise.

"The one and only. Do you have time to talk for bit?" The spiky haired ninja smiled widely.

"Uh... Sure, definitely. It's been awhile... How have you been since the tournament?" She commented, eagerly slipping onto the bench opposite his.

"Oh, you know, the usual. Trying to keep Cole and Jay from killing each other. Making sure Lloyd actually sleeps at night and isn't living entirely off of peach rings. Solving minor problems for civilians. You hear about that bank robbery last week? Yeah, that was us." Kai told her with a shrug. The redhead's eyes widened.

"Wow, really? Sounds like you've been busy, then."

"Yeah. That's why I wasn't able to visit sooner – though I really wanted to... Especially since Master Wu's decided he wants to try his hand at tea making. He's got all of us helping him remodel Garmadon's old monastery so he can use it as a teashop." She wished he had been able to drop by before now, but she'd take what she could get.

"Oh. That's... That's an interesting decision. How is Lloyd taking it?" He looked a touch guilty, probably worried about his honorary brother. She'd gotten the impression that they were an extremely close-knit family. What would it be like to be part of something like that? Skylor wondered.

"It's hard to tell. He says he's just happy to have his team back together again... We're hoping he really is cool with it, but… getting him to talk about his feelings is like pulling teeth sometimes..."

"Yeesh. Sounds about right from what I've seen of him."

"Basically… But enough about me and my crazy family drama, even if I do admit to being a little worried about the kid. How has life been treating you these days?" Kai questioned (after all, he had come to see her, and she clearly needed to de-stress).

"It's been… hectic, to say the least. You wouldn't believe the number of sketchy business agreements my father made while he was still… around… I've been trying to undo most of them, but it takes time… and, well… there are people who are definitely not gung-ho about all the changes I'm making…" Skylor disclosed with a weary sigh. The master of fire reached across the table and clasped her hands.

"That sucks. I'm sure it'll get better soon, though. You have a that crazy way of winning people over with minimal effort. Few can resist your powers of persuasion." Was it just her, or was the room suddenly much hotter than it had been before?

"Thanks, but not everyone feels the way you do… I just hope it blows over soon. These weekend meetings – that's where I was when you got here – they're killing me… I've barely had time to sleep, let alone enjoy the city…"

"Sounds like you need to get away more… D-do you wanna… Go do something with me to get your mind off of everything?" Kai offered. Skylor froze for a second.

"A-are you asking me out? Like on a date?" She found herself saying, immediately cursing herself for being so forward. This… Dynamic between the two of them was difficult to define. They'd grown incredibly close while on her father's island, but then… she just wasn't quite sure where they stood now…

"Er… Maybe…? I-if you want it to be? I mean, we never did get to play tourist, so…? What I'm saying is… I enjoy you and I… I'd love to spend more time together…and… " The spiky haired young man rambled, smiling awkwardly. His cheeks were noticeably rosier than before. Oh. Yes, she would most certainly be interested in doing so.

"Okay, then… I'd love to go on a maybe date with you, Kai. Thanks for asking." She decided, smirking. His face brightened.

"Great! This is great! So… Uh, when are you free?"

"Say the word and I can be ready in five minutes?"

"Really?"

"Sure. Just lemme grab my purse. That should give you plenty of time to figure out what we're doing…" Skylor said, untangling her hands from Kai's and heading for her office. So, her weekend wouldn't be as tedious as she'd been expecting after all.

______________________________________________________________

"You know, it's gonna be a little hard for me to get out of your car with my eyes shut…" The redhead complained a bit later as she felt the vehicle come to a stop. She could hear the sound of Kai's laughter from the driver's seat.

"Don't worry. I'll make sure you don't face plant."

"That's such a comfort, Kai. Really, I feel much better knowing you're there to catch me..." Skylor replied, resisting the urge to peek. He ignored her sass in favor of exiting the car and slipping around to the passenger side.

"Here," The master of fire said, grabbing her hand and helping her step onto the asphalt outside.

"So, you gonna tell me where we are?" She asked, ready to be permitted to open her eyes again.

"Nope. Not yet. I want it to be a surprise." Her companion informed her. Kai gently gripped her elbow to keep her from losing her way. He was certainly taking this seriously given how spur of the moment it had been. It was kind of adorable.

"It's just a little further." Together, they wandered towards the unknown destination.

"I'm trusting you that when I finally get to open my eyes , I won't be standing in the middle of a sewage system or something." Joked Skylor as the master of fire's pace slowed.

"Geez, I'm not that mean… and I'll have you know that Ninjago City's sewers are actually a very interesting place to explore." He started defensively, "Though, on second thought, we'd probably both rather not run into any Serpentine right now, so. Guess I can't really judge too much…"

"I was kidding, dork. But yeah, maybe save that for another time?"

"Well, uh… We're here, so, you can look now." Kai stated awkwardly.

"Whoah. S' bright out here…" The girl blinked furiously. He slung an arm around her shoulders.

"Well, you see, that's what you get for spending all day inside that restaurant of yours dealing with prickly business men. No time to enjoy the sun." She seriously contemplated whipping him in the face with her ponytail, but ultimately chose not to. Looking around, she caught sight of the rather large sign just in front of them.

"I'm sure it has nothing to do with the fact that I've been pretty much blind since we left the restaurant… The Ninjago City Zoo, huh?"

"I-is this okay? It was the first thing I thought of, and-" The master of fire inquired nervously.

"It's totally fine. I've been meaning to come here, anyway. It'll be way more fun when I've got someone to enjoy it with." She assured him with a smile. Kai returned the smile in relief.

"Shall we?" They linked arms and pressed forward, joining the surprisingly short line of people waiting to get in.

Entrance fee paid, the two soon found themselves standing near a large map with arrows pointing to the various attractions and areas within the park.

"So. There's a peacock on the loose. Should I be concerned?" Skylor observed, attention temporarily drawn away from their discussion of which route to take. Kai glanced where she was looking. A very self satisfied bird was currently strutting about, fanning its brilliant feathers for all to see. Several children followed it in fascination. He snapped a picture on his phone to show the others later.

"Nah, it's pretty common for one to be wandering around like that. They're super tame. You're not, like, allergic or anything, right?" She shook her head.

"Nope. It's just… My father tried to keep one as a pet when I was little, and I guess I've never really…"

"Tried?" Her eyes lit up at the question.

"Well, we only had it for a few weeks. It absolutely hated Clouse – I don't know what he did to anger it – but it was always chasing him down the hallways screeching and stuff? Let me tell you, those things may be beautiful to look at, but they make the worst noises imaginable. It was hilarious to watch, though. He'd just be minding his own business, and that stupid bird would come flying at him like he'd murdered its young." The redhead explained, giggling as she remembered the man's plight.

"Seriously? That's priceless?" Kai declared, laughing with her.

"Yeah, and you should've seen how many times he complained about it, too. He was always like, Master, your pet just tried to make me into a pincushion again. Why do you insist on putting up with such a ridiculous creature? Don't you have a button to make it go away? And my father would just go on and on about how glorious its feathers were and how it was worth more than all of Clouse's hair dye collection."

"Wait-Clouse dyed his hair?" Kai wheezed.

"Ooh, now I'm giving away all my dark family secrets. Better watch out, or I'll start spilling the secret recipe for puffy pot stickers or something…" She teased.

"So, what happened to it?"

"Darn thing ended up being released into the wild. Father couldn't bring himself to get rid of it completely, you know, just in case he ended up needing a way to mess with Clouse again… I think it's still on the island somewhere. Used to see it every once in awhile when I went hiking and stuff."

"That has to be one of the coolest stories I've heard in a long time." The master of fire asserted.

"It's… something, alright." Skylor admitted, "Where to first?"

"Have you ever seen a camel?"

As it turned out, while Master Chen's island had contained a variety of exotic creatures, Skylor had in fact, never been near a camel before. So, of course, the spiky haired ninja was more than happy to change that.

"C'mon Skylor, I have a great idea." He informed her, dragging her down the pathway, at breakneck speed, dodging other people as they went.

"Could we maybe slow down a bit?" She panted.

"Sorry, no can do. We don't wanna be late for feeding time. You'll be missing out on a pretty cool opportunity if we do."

"Wait… What?"

They arrived at the exhibit just as the zookeeper began explaining procedures for meal time interaction.

"If you just hold out your hand like this," The zookeeper demonstrated, pressing some treats into their hands. Apparently Skylor was going to be getting up close and personal with the large mammal.

"Nice and steady, Brenda, here, probably won't spit on you."

"Probably." The redhead commented, bemused.

"Yeah, these are her favorite treats."

"What am I even doing right now?" She pondered, turning to Kai.

"Having fun. Duh."

"You won't be saying that if the camel spits on you." Skylor pointed out.

"The chances of that happening are like, super slim. In all the times I've been here before, it's never even come close to being a problem. And besides, I'll still look awesome, even if I do end up with spit in my hair." He insisted cockily.

"Whatever you say, fire boy." She said, finally following the zookeeper's instructions. Hand held out, she watched as the camel approached her. Luckily, Brenda was only interested in daintily consuming the offering of food that was being presented to her, and refrained from salivating on anyone. She nudged the redhead's shoulder playfully when she was finished, looking for more food.

"Sorry," Skylor told the creature, "That's all I got. Go bug Kai. He still has some."

"See? She's just a big softie…" The master of fire stated, letting the camel nibble on the treats he held.

"Yeah, kinda like someone else I know." She replied with an innocent smirk. He raised an eyebrow.

"No clue who that could be..."

"Course' not. Thank you for letting us participate in this. It was surprisingly fun." The girl commented to the zookeeper as they made their departure.

"Okay, you get to choose where we're going this time." Kai stated, linking arms with her.

"You sure you wanna trust me with that? I might make you visit your brethren the porcupines."

" First it was hedgehogs, and now this? Why does everyone always want to compare me to prickly animals?" He groaned in mock irritation, continuing to wander down the trail.

"Well, I mean, you could always restyle your hair?" She suggested.

"Never! I like it the way it is."

"Who am I to stand in your way, then? C'mon, the lions should be just up ahead." They walked in companionable silence, enjoying the nice weather and the distraction from their chaotic lives. Several hours were spent exploring the zoo. Kai showed her all the best places to stand in order to get the perfect view of the animals. Skylor's phone quickly filled with pictures. Good natured teasing was shot back any forth. The sun had begun to set by the time they'd seen everything there was to see. An afternoon well spent, for both of them.

________________________________________________________________"Hey Sky?" Kai called softly, shaking the sleeping redheads shoulder, "Skylor? We're here."

"Wuh?" She asked blearily, running at her eyes. The day's events had clearly wiped her out.

"We're just outside your apartment. You fell asleep pretty much as soon as I pulled out of the parking lot."

"Oh." She was home already?

"Yeah. But that's okay… I mean, we did do an awful lot of walking, and I know you were already tired before we even left Master Chen's, so…" He assured her.

"Hey, Kai?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks. For today, I mean. It was… It was nice to get away for awhile. With you."

"It was" He agreed, wishing the moment could last longer.

"Let's try not to wait so long between visits next time, okay? I-I missed you…" The girl admitted. Next time?

"I missed you, too… I'll do my best to drop by more often." Promised the master of fire. Skylor shot him a weary grin.

"Well. Good. I, uh… I'll text you?"

"Sounds like a plan."

"Goodbye," She said, giving him a side hug. It only lasted for a second, but it was full of warmth.

"Bye. I… I hope things with your restaurant calm down soon…" Kai stated.

"Me too. Good luck with the tea business. Maybe I'll drop by sometime."

"I'd like that." Reluctantly climbing from the vehicle, Skylor gave one last wave before heading inside. Although it would end up being awhile before either of them were ready (or able) to commit to anything official, this day would always be locked in their memories as one of the best moments in the beginnings of their relationship. Their lives would be busy, and filled with danger, but, eventually, they would find their way. Almost as soon as the redhead had left, the master of fire's phone began to vibrate. How on earth did his sister have such perfect timing?

_______________________________________________________________

Nya: So, how was ur DATE with Skylor?!

Kai: #1, it wasn't even anything official. #2, how on earth did u know what I was up to? Stalker.

Nya: It wasn't even that hard to figure out. Ur so hopelessly in love that I couldn't help but notice.

Kai: What? U know that doesn't answer my question – right?

Nya: Fine. Green bean and I checked the tracking device on ur phone.

Nya: We got bored. And there's only ONE reason u'd visit the noodle place. It doesn't take a genius.

Kai: Invasion of privacy, much?

Nya: I call sibling rights.

Kai: Whatever, dorks.

Kai: And for the record, it went great.

Nya: ASDJDHFHSJA! Details?

Kai: Patience, sis. Tell u when I get back.

Nya: Better drive fast then. I'm waiting.

Kai: Kay. I'll make sure to completely ignore every speed limit posting I see.

Nya: Fine. Fair point. Don't get urself arrested. I'm not bailing u out.

Kai: Sure thing. Imma be home soon.

Nya: Love u.

Kai: love u 2.

[lloydskywalkers]

hyacinth (in yellow)

I’ve got three papers due but you know what, who works on finals when you can write angst, haHA good life choices.

This is half inspired by @lloydisacutie‘s post about needing more content with Cole comforting Lloyd (I highly agree), and half inspired by a really niCE but stabs-me-in-the-heart idea @floydgarmadork had about Lloyd after season 7. So technically it’s Lloyd and Cole angst, just after Hands of Time.

Lloyd doesn’t even want to be leader.

That’s all he can really focus on right now, the half-grudging sulk as he kicks at the dirt. They’re all scattered around in the aftermath of the battle with the Krux and Acronix, weary and sweat-stained like they always are after this kind of thing. But they won today, so it’s a happy kind of weariness, and the atmosphere is light enough that Lloyd can get away with pouting about it. It’s childish of him, maybe, but it makes Kai laugh. Makes the others simply grin and roll their eyes, in the fond sort of way Lloyd’s grown used to, the way that assures him that he’s their little brother.

And that’s why he does it — because sulking over that is safe.

Because if he focuses on that, the ugly churning in his stomach won’t solidify into anything that lets his family know what a horrible person he is.

“They came back,” Nya tells him when she catches him aside for a brief moment, looking like the world’s flipped itself upside down and she’s all the better for it. “They’re alive, they didn’t — they didn’t even mean to leave us, they were forced, they just wanted to come back to us—“

Lloyd smiles, and smiles and smiles and smiles, and tries to pretend that the happiness isn’t starting to feel a little like poison.

He watches Kai and Nya’s backs as they leave, shoulder to shoulder with their parents as Kai’s mother exclaims over his hair. His stomach sinks as they go, an empty feeling different than the stress that’s been wearing him down the past few days.

“They’ll be back tomorrow,” Cole tells him, and Lloyd feels his hand land on his shoulder, heavy and grounding.

He exhales, cheeks puffing up as he blows his breath out. “I know,” he says. And he does. There’s no doubt in his mind that Kai and Nya will return to the temple as soon as they’ve had time to catch up with their parents, if not sooner.

But Lloyd’s never been one to believe himself that easily.

“Let’s go home, huh?” Cole says. Lloyd gives him a tight nod, and he balances the Time Blade between his arm and side, the weight of it unusually heavy.

“Yeah,” he says, heavily. “Let’s go home.”

*********

Lloyd is happy for Kai and Nya — he is. He’s so happy for them that his cheeks nearly split from smiling so much, because they look so happy, Kai and Nya and their parents. The world’s finally done something right by them for once, because if anyone on earth deserves to be that happy, it’s them.

And it makes sense. Kai and Nya are Kai and Nya, so steady and constant and just good that of course their parents are the same. Of course their parents were forced at sword-point to leave them. Of course everything they ever did was to come back to their kids. Of course the universe deemed them fortunate enough to all find each other again, whole and together and happy—

Lloyd swallows, and it feels a bit like acid. He doesn’t even know where his own mom is right now. He doesn’t know where his uncle is, either.

He knows where his dad is. He doesn’t want to think about that one.

He sighs, grinding the heel of his palm against his eye as he pulls open the kitchen cabinet, sifting through the boxes. It’s just — where did Uncle Wu leave the good tea, he better not have taken it with him — it’s just that…well, Lloyd doesn’t really know what’s bothering him. That’s a lie, he does, but he’s just being stupid about it and it’s not worth getting this worked up over anyways.

Kai and Nya are Lloyd’s family, but they’re his family in a way that his blood family kind of isn’t. They were the only family that didn’t leave him, the only ones that stuck around through the worst of it.

And now they’ve got their real family back.

And he knows, he knows Kai and Nya are as true as anyone could ask for, and they’d never go back on a promise, but Lloyd—

Lloyd’s too familiar with the sharp sting of being abandoned that his stupid brain’s decided it’s just gonna jump the fence and start heading down that path already.

Stop it, he tells himself angrily, fingers tightening on the cabinet handle. That’s not what’s happening. Kai and Nya aren’t going to leave, he’s being ridiculous. They’re just excited to have their family back, that’s all. Lloyd can’t blame them.

Their real family, a family that protects them, that doesn’t nearly get them killed every other day, that isn’t a big fat burden that stole the title one of them wanted, a family that isn’t broken anymore, so they should probably cut the broken part away now—

Lloyd’s hands are white-knuckled on the cabinet handle, the fragile metal starting to creak. Oh, he’s terrible, he’s awful, he’s a horrible person, what kind of brother watches two of the people he loves most in the world get what they’ve lost back and feels like this.

Lloyd swallows the hot wave of panic back. His chest feels a little like it’s getting used as a pincushion, except instead of needles someone’s sticking white-knives in there and grinding them deep. There’s an ugly emotion building in his throat, scraping like sandpaper — he’s felt it before, the envious kind of longing, felt it in Morro—

The handle snaps beneath his fingers, and the cabinet door clatters to the floor, steaming as the vibrant green lines shot through it slowly fade, hissing in the darkened kitchen. Lloyd stares at it blankly, a painful lump forming in his throat, built from churning frustration and the urge to scream like he’s a child again.

“Shit,” he murmurs instead.

“That better not have been a swear, Lloyd Montgomery.”

Lloyd jerks around so violently he nearly snaps his neck, his power shooting through his fingertips like lightning before he can process that it’s Cole’s voice, not an enemy’s.

“Don’t do that,” he hisses through a relieved breath, his heart rate easing out the slightest bit. “And geez, the middle name? I can swear if I want.”

“Nope. Not allowed.”

Lloyd glares at him. Cole gives him an unapologetic shrug, stepping carefully over the fallen cabinet door. Lloyd makes a face, biting his lip.

“Don’t worry about it,” Cole says, as if reading his mind. “I’ve done worse. You should’ve seen the mast on the Bounty one time.”

“I did,” Lloyd says. “I helped you fix it.”

“Oh yeah,” Cole huffs out a laugh. “I forgot about that.”

Lloyd nods, not entirely trusting his voice. They stand there in silence for a beat, Lloyd staring at the floor and Cole staring at Lloyd, and Lloyd staring harder at the floor so he doesn’t have to return the gaze.

“What’cha doing up so late?” Cole finally asks, glancing around the dim-lit kitchen. His eyes stop meaningfully on the tiny glowing numbers of the microwave clock, and Lloyd winces.

“I — wanted tea,” he says, haltingly. “It’s…Uncle Wu’d give it to me whenever I felt…wrong.”

He immediately regrets answering, biting down on his tongue. So much for avoiding reminders.

“Oh,” Cole says, either missing his falter entirely or ignoring it for Lloyd’s sake. If it’s the second, Cole’s sneaking his way to favorite brother of the night. “You’re looking in the wrong cabinet.”

Cole squeezes by Lloyd, reaching up to one of the highest cabinets, the one Lloyd can’t reach (yet). “Here,” he says, rummaging briefly before pulling out a familiar box. “I dunno what he did with the nicer kind, but there’s this at least.”

“Thanks,” Lloyd says, taking the box from him. He grimaces briefly. Ginger. He’d been looking for peppermint.

“You know, it’s kinda nice outside, this time of night,” Cole says. He’s looking out the window, but Lloyd can still feel him watching. “Nice time for thinking. Or talking.”

The statement is pointed, and Lloyd’s shoulders hitch. “Yeah, yeah,” he sighs. “Let’s talk.”

Cole gives him a crooked smile, then glances at the tea still clutched tightly in his hand. “You want help making that? I can—"

“No,” Lloyd cuts over him quickly, shaking his head. “I got this. Wait…wait for me outside, I’ll bring you some.”

Cole eyes him carefully, and Lloyd tries to ignore the silent screaming in his head saying leave, please leave. It’s not that Cole’s doing anything wrong, or that he even wants Cole to leave, but it’s — making tea was one of the few things Lloyd had with Uncle Wu, and doing it now, right after he’d—

“I’ll be on the east edge,” Cole says quietly, and his footsteps fade. Lloyd lets out a shuddery breath of relief, and suddenly his nose is running, his vision blurring over as his eyes burn.

Stupid ginger tea, he thinks, sniffing furiously as he wipes his eyes, pulling the carefully packaged packet open. He wanted peppermint.

*********

The east edge of the self-deemed Airjitzu Island (which is a lame title for a giant rock floating in the sky, really, but Lloyd’s too tired to argue the point at the moment) just overlooks one of the sloping valleys of Ninjago, the tops of a mountain range Zane could name barely visible in the distance. In the morning, it’s got a spectacular view of the sunrise, one Lloyd gets in trouble for looking at too much during dawn exercises.

At night, though, the east edge holds an almost kind of terror, a sheer drop into darkness broken only by the star-flecked sky above them. Lloyd can just glimpse the dull street lights that line a highway below, but other than that the island drops off into total darkness.

Naturally, Lloyd and Cole are most comfortable with their feet dangling off the edge.

“Here,” Lloyd says, handing Cole the teacup as he takes a careful seat next to him. “I put a little cream and sugar in it — a little sugar, I swear,” he huffs at Cole’s look.

Cole grins slightly, then takes a large sip. Lloyd watches the way his eyes widen briefly in panic, before realization hits and his shoulders slump in relief.

“I let it cool down a bit before I brought it out,” Lloyd explains. “I figured you might still be…getting used to it. Drinking and eating, temperatures and stuff.”

Cole’s head droops a bit, but he gives him a rueful, sad sort of smile that isn’t even really a smile in the first place. “Speaking from experience, huh.”

Lloyd’s shoulders tense, and he shakes his head. “It’s not the same, really,” he murmurs.

And it’s not. Lloyd’s experience with Morro is miles different than Cole’s experience with being a ghost. Lloyd only went a few weeks without eating much — Cole couldn’t eat or drink anything for months.

Plus, Lloyd was just stupid when he finally got free of Morro. He’d eaten so much so fast that he’d made himself violently sick, which is probably what Cole is thinking of right now. But it’s not like Lloyd was unfamiliar with the sharp pains of going hungry in the first place, and he should’ve known better. Cole’s experience is different.

With Morro, Lloyd felt too much. As a ghost, Cole felt nothing.

“So,” Cole sighs, cupping his tea between his hands.

“So,” Lloyd echoes, watching him with an edge of nervousness.

“This sucks.”

Lloyd blinks rapidly. The bitterness in his statement is as surprising as the fact that Cole’s saying it in the first place.

“W-what?”

Cole looks at him, his eyes tired. “You know what,” he says, sipping at his tea. “Parents.”

“Oh,” Lloyd breaths out.

“Yeah. It sucks.” Cole exhales, his voice hollow. “I wanna be happy for them, but it — it sucks.”

Lloyd looks down, kicking his legs out over the darkness. Something in his chest eases out even as the ugly feeling tightens. Maybe…maybe he isn’t the only one feeling like he’s swallowed poison today.

“It’s just — it’s not fair,” Cole continues, tightly. “They get both their parents back, and I’m never gonna see her again—“

Cole cuts off, swallowing harshly. Lloyd watches wide-eyed as he turns away briefly, swiping at his eyes.

“Sorry,” Cole mutters.

Lloyd quickly shakes his head, his hand reaching for Cole’s shoulder before hesitating. “No, no, don’t — it’s fine,” he says. He pauses, faltering. Cole isn’t…super open about the painful stuff. Not with Lloyd. It’s annoying, in a way, because Lloyd knows it’s only because Cole sees him as his baby brother, and he’s sure there’s some ‘gotta be rock strong’ mentality going on with his kind of protectiveness, but Lloyd cares about Cole. A lot.

He wants to know about his mother, whoever she was, quiet as Cole is about her.

But he’d never force anything out of him, so Lloyd’s hand drops back into his lap, and he bites his lip.

“I get it,” Lloyd speaks up, quietly. “I…feel the same way, I guess. It’s not fair. I mean, it’s never been fair before, so I dunno why I was expecting it to be — but I guess I was.”

His hands tighten, and Lloyd feels the ugly hot pit in his stomach rising again.

“I’m jealous,” Lloyd admits bitterly, glaring at his hands. “I know I shouldn’t be, I know it’s terrible but I’m — I’m jealous, Cole, what’s wrong with me?”

He looks up at his brother desperately, trying to fight back the burning in his eyes again. Cole’s eyes widen briefly, and his expression cracks into what might be heartbreak as he sets a hand on Lloyd’s shoulder.

“You—“ he shakes his head. “You lost your dad. You just lost your uncle. There’s nothing wrong with you. Grieving doesn’t make you a bad person, Lloyd.”

“I’m not grieving, though!” Lloyd says, jerking from his hold as the panic spikes again. “I-I’m angry, I’m angry and jealous and stupid and — and—“

“That’s part of grieving too,” Cole says, and his voice is so gentle Lloyd wants to start crying on the spot. “Trust me, I know.”

Lloyd makes a strangled sound, and he squeezes his eyes shut, shoulders strung tight. He kicks his leg out angrily this time, as if to force the emotion out that way.

“It’s not just that,” he gets out through gritted teeth, ignoring every impulse to shut up, to keep the awful fear buried far, far down where no one can ever see it. “It’s— they have their real family now. So—“

Lloyd’s chest seizes, and he’s horrified to find a sob building in his throat.

No, no, he tells himself furiously. You’re the leader now. Leaders don’t cry.

He doesn’t cry.

Crying will chase Cole away, just like it did his mom, just like it did the kids at Darkley’s. He’ll leave him alone just like his dad did, just like Uncle Wu did, just like the hollow sinking feeling as he watched Kai and Nya’s backs walk away from them—

“I can’t,” Lloyd gasps, his fingers so tight around the cup it’s a marvel it hasn’t shattered. “I can’t, Cole, I can’t go back to being alone again, I can’t—”

Cole has an arm around him before Lloyd can realize he’s moved, one arm wrapping around his shoulders and the other hand pushing against his back until Lloyd’s face is pressed against his shoulder, the familiar smell of grass and cotton and cocoa grounding him.

“I can’t either,” Cole whispers, and Lloyd feels his grip tighten. “I can’t either.”

Lloyd lets out a shuddering breath, his fingers fisting in the back of Cole’s shirt, tea forgotten. His chest feels like it’s turning in on itself, trapping his heart in a vice-like hold, but he swallows it down, blinks back the burn.

He does not cry.

“That’s not happening though,” Cole continues fiercely, his own voice a bit raw. “You’re not getting left alone. I promise, I swear. They’ll come back, Lloyd. They wouldn’t just leave us.”

“Everyone leaves eventually,” Lloyd croaks, miserably. “Sometimes you don’t get a choice.”

Cole takes a breath, and Lloyd feels his shoulders tremor as he goes quiet.

“We’re different,” he says, his voice quiet but firm. “We’re not them, Lloyd. We’ve got a choice. And we’ll choose right.”

Lloyd stares into the dark fabric of Cole’s t-shirt. His eyes ache, but they’re dry.

This is the last time, he tells himself, as he buries his face in Cole’s shoulder. The last time he lets himself break down like this. He’s leader now.

Tomorrow, Kai and Nya will be back, and Lloyd’s going to the best, happiest little brother for them that ever walked the earth.

He’s going to be strong, just like Cole.