#everything lloyd does is planned out and done after being well thought out

[lloydfrontera]

javier keeps expecting lloyd to come up w the plan first but like. sometimes that fails him and if he just says "hey there is no way i'm not fighting this threat what're you gonna do about it" he could just skip the "lloyd runs away, javier calls him a coward, lloyd doesn't see what's wrong w his actions, javier runs off to go fight the thing after giving his last words to lloyd to carry to the count and fam, lloyd reluctantly goes back to help javier" process.

ASKJDHKAJHDS

llojavi is just two idiots constantly going:

"i'm going to fight the thing" "don't fight the thing" "i am fighting the thing" "*sigh* fine i'll help you fight the thing, but i'll complain the entire time about it!"

at each other and i think that's beautiful <33

stubborn bastard/stubborn bastard supremacy fr

[thepeanutbutterwizard]

I love your VT au so much! Misako is one of my favourite characters so whenever someone gives her an actually good back story it makes my heart mushy /pos

I have a few like random ideas/thoughts, feel free to ignore them though:

does darkley's exist in this universe? and since it later became Wu's academy, would it become Garmadon's academy?

does everyone in ninjago find out Wu was bad this whole time and realise Garmadon is a good guy and like support him or is everyone terrified of him or something?

does lloyd like the ninja? considering they're like celebrities in this would he think they're super cool or would he think they're bad, either disliking them because he has different interests or would he be told they're working for someone bad?

does Lloyd still like comic books? also, does he introduce the gang to his favourite comics and stuff? I can just imagine a RGB sibling interaction like this:

L: so, I realise you two had literally no childhood. So I, your amazing younger brother, have come bearing gifts

K: no offence but we're a bit too old for kid stuff

N: Yeah, we've been ninja basically our whole lives. we don't really need this stuff. Thanks though

L: *reveals a pile of comic books, old kid show DVDs, action figures and plushies*

Kai and Nya proceed to spend the next week reading all the comics, watching all the shows and playing with the toys. Lloyd takes over their chores while they both heal their inner child

okay thats all! I love this AU, and all your posts are super cool! have a good day 🫶

Thank you!!! I'm glad you like it so much!!

As for your questions:

Darkleys I think will still exist, but instead of being a school where kids are taught to be evil, I think I'm gonna make it a boarding school for Ninjago's royalty/upper class. So a different type of evil school. Misako and Clouse both went when they were younger.

After his plans with the Great Devourer go awry, his Nindroid army is shut down, and the Emperor himself calls for an audience with Wu to yell at him for not catching Garmadon yet, Wu kinda snaps. He forges the Mega Weapon after holding off for a few weeks after finally getting all four Golden Weapons, and uses it to usurp the throne and take complete control of the city.

So by the time Wu is defeated, everyone knows that he was the true bad guy. And the cities thoughts on Garmadon after everything is said and done are very mixed.

Overall most of the city regard him as a hero, since he not only killed the GD with his bare hands but also evaporated an arm and almost died to use the Mega Weapon to stop Wu.

But there's a fair amount of superstition regarding Oni in Ninjago, most of it negative.

So there's also a fair amount of people who feel he should be monitored at the very least, locked up or even executed to ensure he can't do to the city what he did to the Great Devourer if he gets annoyed.

And there's a small-ish group who believe that he's the Green Ninja, and that him defeating Wu was the Prophecy being fulfilled. They are kind of a semi-rabid fan club for him.

At first Lloyd thinks the Ninja are awesome. He and Harumi (they're childhood friends and next door neighbors before the Great Devourer attack) liked to play games where they were the Ninja, and were even planning on dressing up as the Green Ninja (Harumi) and Lord Garmadon (Lloyd) for Day of the Departed.

Then the Great Devourer attacks New Ninjago City.

And Lloyd's Dad, who he thought was dead his whole life, comes back.

And he's stinking Lord Garmadon.

And soon the Ninja, the cool, real-life superheroes he and his best friend would pretend to be, are hunting him down, their minds magically manipulated by their teacher, Lloyd's own Uncle.

Right after Wu's defeat, Lloyd is still pretty spooked by the Ninja, but after a few months where everyone is recovering and then all the Tournament stuff, Lloyd warms up to the Ninja and they start to grow fond of him as well.

Lloyd still loves comic books, and is appalled when he finds out that Kai wasn't allowed to play any video games or read any comics or do anything actually fun, and he's borderline distressed when he first meets Nya and she had never heard of Starfarer in her life.

He sort of takes it upon himself as the one with the most normal childhood to be the 'authority' on how to be a normal kid and do normal kid things like MarioKart, eating junk food, pranking people, teenage rebellion (sure he's like 11, but he's watched a lot of teens on tv, and that counts, right?), and shapeshifting.

Lloyd actually did have the most normal childhood out of literally every member of the main cast up until the plot happens. It wasn't super normal, but it's still more normal than what anyone, teen or adult, went through.

[canadiancryptid]

Spy x Family Episodes 13-15: The Dog Saga

So, these ones were sorta one long saga, so I'll be putting my notes in one long post. These episodes removed any doubt in my mind that this was one of my favorite shows I've ever seen.

Hey, new intro! This is so cute, I love it.

But this one shot gives me thoughts. I have so many questions about her past, and I can't stop wondering.

Yor is so bad at cooking, but at least she tries. She's not great at the traditional motherly stuff, but she's still amazing in her own way.

Those pet shop dogs have more abs than I do. I'm not afraid of getting biten by them, I'd be afraid of getting punched. Jeez.

Well, okay, maybe not. Those teeth look like buzz saws, so I'm definitely still afraid of getting biten, too.

Anya trying to help her Papa with his spy stuff without him knowing she's trying to help is always amazing.

"I'm not sure if I'm changing or if its just the times, but a kid like this being a terrorist is a hard pill to swallow"

That just says so much about how much his family has changed him. He can't see things the way he used to.

This dog looks like a cross between a fluffly dog, a polar bear and an otter, and he has the voice of an elderly human man. I love him already.

And he can see the future. Fun.

WHY DO WE HAVE MORE BACKSTORY ABOUT THE DOG THAN WE DO ABOUT ANYA?

Also, how to you get future vision from trying to science the dogs to be smarter? How does that work? I would understand if it was based on knowledge, but he's predicting Lloyd's death before he ever met him.

Those dogs ARE smart! If you aren't afraid of an angry Yor, then you're dumb. They no better than to mess with her after she turned the last fuy into a living bouncy ball. Human bodies are not supposed to move like that.

Anya just saved the world by drawing on a wall with ketchup. And nobody knows it was her.

Anya is SMART. She knows how to get her way. She knows the agency will ho along with almost anything to keep her happy and keep operation stryx on track. Because she knows about it in the first place, she knows she can make empty threats to derail the mission as a final trump card. We know she wouldn't, she wants to keep her family the way it is. But they don't know what's going on in her 4-year-old brain.

THEY'RE TOO CUTE I JUST CAN'T!

I'm not okay my heart is a puddle on the floor I love them so much-

So, I feel like there HAS to be some big reveal eventually. There's no way that doesn't end up causing problems. And I refuse to believe the whole "just leave the family behind and go to the next mission" plan was ever ACTUALLY on the table, even if he thought it was.

I think it's gonna end with either Lloyd quiting/retiring from the agency, or with the whole family becoming a part of it. Yor is already well suited for most of that stuff, and Anya has proven she can do the whole mission thing... well, as well as a kid her age can. Still, there's no way the family breaks up. No possible way.

And after getting that little bit of backstory from Handler, I think she'd actually be pretty understanding of either option. Looking forward to seeing how everything plays out.

So far, my only real complaint is how little we've seen of Yor. I mean, we see her as a mother, and she's amazing, but her whole assasin thing is just... there? Like, we know she’s doing that in the background, and she’s done a lot of impressive things, but we almost never see her as an assasin. She's the only one really out of the loop with the whole Operation Stryx thing, and with everything focusing on Lloyd and Anya, she doesn't get nearly as much time to shine. I really like her, but it feels like the show has been doing a lot of telling without much showing. It's not like we haven't seen anything, but it would be nice for her to have a little more time to shine.

[arrieebooks]

Precious Weapon (7)

Pairing : Lloyd Hansen x F!OC (Elle) x Sierra Six (Court Gentry) x Glimpses of Denny Carmichael.

Summary : She gets into a life and death situation as the guys attempt to save her, whatever it takes. Six finally opens up to her. She makes a huge decision, affecting her mission. 

Warnings : Serious injuries. Bullet wounds. So much blood. Gore. Surgery. Stitches. Suffering. Pain. Hurt. More unrealistic healing. Coma. Tension. Death. Actual detailed murder. Detailed torture. Trauma. Ptsd. Fluff and comfort at the end. 

Word count : 19.6k words.

Author's note : Well, I think this is the best chapter I’ve ever written so far. It had angst, reunion, tension, fluff, a little violence, confessions, and comfort. This was perfect to me. Alsooo, the cover was really on point for this chapter. I scrolled for hours and hours just to find the perfect picture to portray this chapter. Lloyd's face in it looks like his gaze softened for her. Six is just quietly smiling at her and only for her.

***

She couldn't tell if she was already dead or not. 

Or if she was supposed to be in some kind of afterlife by now. 

It is a void of nothingness that she's in now. Pitch black. Dark. Blank. Dull. Absolutely nothing. 

She still feels some pain, though. It's just less than earlier. She's aware that she can't move an inch of her body. She's almost paralyzed. She can't wake up again even if she wanted to. She's…stuck.

In times like this, she can only think of somewhere she should be other than here.

She used to believe in an afterlife. In an eternity of paradise or an eternity of suffering. Heaven and hell. But it never came across her mind that she'd die one day. She thought she was completely invincible. 

Everything is muffled and suppressed to her. She could still hear Lloyd's and Six's voices but she has no idea what they're saying or doing to her.

She just wants this to end. To not feel. To not suffer anymore. To be somewhere else but here. 

She does not want to be stuck here forever, being in a dark and consuming void. 

She always wondered if she'll ever get to feel death like anyone else. Guess it's time for that now. 

***

It all happened way too fast. 

Six felt like he was having another nightmare. He never had a nightmare about her, though. 

Yet, this was real. Very real. He couldn't believe what he was seeing at first. 

She was dying on the floor, bleeding out of so many bullets. Her eyes were already closed, she passed out. It was impossible to save her. He knew it. He thought it was the end of her. 

But Lloyd didn't. He didn't want to give up. He remembered what he told her when she was shot last. She needed to get the bullets out of her first, then she could heal herself. 

So, he did everything he could within his unlimited resources and with the CIA. He had no doubt that Denny wanted his most valuable weapon and asset to not die either. 

He had flown in the best CIA surgeons from the closest country here, Singapore. They wouldn't ask questions about her condition and they'd get the job done. He requested for them to be all women. He didn't want some old man taking her shirt off and seeing her bare body. He knew she'd prefer it this way, too.

Six had carried her body all the way from the hospital to the car and back to the penthouse. Her blood was covered all over him but he was past caring. He really wanted this plan to work. He couldn't let her die. Not when they haven't even resolved their issues. Not when she hasn't even known his real name yet. She can't die hating him. 

When the surgeons and medical supplies arrived, he immediately placed her body on the surgery bed they had brought in. 

They're in one of the unused empty rooms in their penthouse and now it's used as a medical room. They never thought they needed one, for her or for them. 

The surgeons kept quiet and did their job right, despite lingering questions on how she could still be alive and breathing even after being shot so many times. Eight times. Eight bullets. 

She was shot eight times. By some miracle, it didn't hit any of her vital organs. She could still survive this. They had hope. 

*** 

The penthouse was finally quiet after the surgery was all done. 

Lloyd and Six went back to their rooms for a while to go clean up while the nurses watched over her. They were still full of blood. 

She was put in the hospital bed along with her own pillows and blanket. The nurses had cleaned her up after the surgery and changed her into her comfortable clothes. 

She's stable and calm, for now. Hasn't woken up yet, but they gave her some painkillers through her IV. Triple dosage, given her condition. 

Oddly enough, she hasn't healed yet. At all. They took all the bullet outs and gave her stitches. She's never had stitches before in her life. Never needed one.

But the doctor told them that she just needs more time to heal and rest. She won't be in a coma like this for long. 

Six stalks into the kitchen after he just freshly showered. He poured himself a coffee while Lloyd sat across from him in the kitchen island, browsing on his laptop.

The early morning sun glowed on both of them through the window. They've lost track of time. They didn't realize that the sun's already dawned. It's almost about eight am by now.

"It was a clusterfuck." he remarks dryly. He's so tired. They both are. They've only had a few hours of sleep last night and that was it. They don't even think that they'd be able to sleep tonight if she hasn't healed yet.

Six regarded him with a soft look. He knows he's stressed over this. "She'll be fine. She'll heal. As always." he says with an assuring tone. He needs this right now. Someone to tell him that everything's going to be okay. 

"She's not healing." Lloyd tells him, looking up from his laptop.

"She just needs more time. Trust her. She's the one who told us what her body's capable of." Six reassures him again. 

He looks down and eventually nods, leaning onto his chair. "Yeah, okay. Fine. So what are we going to do with the elephant in our basement?" Lloyd asks.

After the agents got the hostages out safely, they decided to keep the guy who was holding them there and brought him back here. He wasn't supposed to be here. It just happened. 

Six shrugs. "Why didn't you get rid of him back in the hospital?" he asks back.

He shakes his head. "I didn't have time to make that choice. I was trying to save her life first. She was my priority. Not that fucking dude who were hurting the innocent hostages there." he clarifies.

"One of your guys was supposed to kill him right there. We don't need him here right now." Six coldly said. He really doesn't have time to think about some stupid guy in their basement right now. 

"First, our guys only listen to our orders. They were the ones who brought him here because we didn't order them to kill him there. Besides, he's the brain of this shitshow. He's the reason Elle is in there right now." Lloyd points out. 

Six's facial expressions immediately changed. He's angry but he never shows it. He just keeps it to himself, especially when he's extremely angered. He prefers to contain himself so he won't make the situation even worse. 

"Did he know we were coming? Or that she was going to be there?" he asks more. He needs to make sure. 

Lloyd stares at him before contemplating. "Actually, probably not. But still. And maybe, by him, we could find out who his higher up is. The big boss. He must be hiding somewhere, puckering his asshole because of us." he answers.

He raises his brows. "You mean 'by him' means we're going to torture him?" Six asks. He knows what Lloyd is capable of and is good at.

Lloyd tips his head. "Well, I'll torture him. You just stay here. Check on her." he tells him.

Six frowns. "Are you sure? What if she wakes up?" he asks.

"Then you'll be there. That's what matters. For her." Lloyd says, getting up from his seat as he slowly walks away.

He still thinks that Six is the better man he deserves. Even after last night. 

Six simply nods. He doesn't exactly agree but he knows there's no point in arguing now. "Alright, fine. Don't fuck the guy up too much." He reminds him.

He stops walking before turning to him. His lips slowly tug into a smirk. "Six, I'm good at torturing. I know what I'm doing." Lloyd smugly says.

He knows. But right now, Lloyd's not exactly in a stable state. Not that he's ever been stable to begin with, yet this whole almost death situation with her has really fucked him up. He saw the panic and real horror in face when he was watching the surgeons operate on her. He was so scared that they'd screw up and she'd die instantly from it. Even before the surgery, he had made light threats to them to treat this as their most important surgery in their life. Technically, it was since she's the first patient to ever survive those many bullets and has healing abilities. 

Lloyd was terrified. For the very first time in his life. He almost lost her. He couldn't have that. He'd rather burn the entire human existence except for them, than not have her with him again.

"I'll call you when she wakes up." Six tells him and he nods approvingly before walking towards the elevator to go to the first floor.

They actually weren't even aware of a basement. The agents were. It's located somewhere below the hidden stairs inside the storage room. Pretty creepy for a basement in a penthouse. But it's doable for an urgent situation like this. They weren't expecting this. 

As soon as Lloyd stepped into the elevator, Six puts down his mug of coffee on the counter and sighs. He's not exactly sure he's the man she wants to see considering the little fight they had before all this but he still needs to see her. Awake or not. 

He wants to make it up to her. Fix all that. 

***

Six slowly and carefully enters her medical room with light footsteps. 

His eyes quickly study the room. She's still resting with two nurses on each side of her, sitting on a chair. The room is wide and spacious. Too many empty spaces. The morning sun shines way too bright on the room. It doesn't smell like blood anymore here. They've cleaned everything up and made it sterile for her. They got rid of the surgery bed too. 

One of the nurses noticed him and her face quickly turned tense. "Oh. Sorry. We didn't see you. Do you want us to leave?" she nervously asks. 

Lloyd gave them a bad impression when he was yelling at all of them to treat her quicker. So now they're intimidated. Six didn't say anything to them before this, he was really quiet earlier. He was just focusing on her and calming Lloyd. 

Six nods, going into the room even further. "Yeah, that'd be… great. You two can take a break. I made some coffee. Didn't really make breakfast but… we have some fruit, uh, up on the counter." he offers, not even knowing the words coming out of his mouth.

He has no idea why he just said that. He has never actually interacted decently with anyone other than Elle and Lloyd. He was a cold and plain person. Hated small talk and long conversations. She changed him. He's never realized just how much she has slowly molded him into a completely different person. A better one. 

The nurses both turned to him and rose from their seats. One of them smiled kindly at him and they both muttered ‘thank you’ before leaving the room. The door gently closed behind them.

Six stood beside her bed, his eyes observing her again. She looks peaceful like this. Her arms are resting against her stomach that's covered with her blanket. Her lips are so dry. Her whole face is pale. At least she looks comfortable and cozy in her own clothes and stuff. 

He takes a seat on the small chair next to her and places his hand on hers. He sighs softly, not exactly knowing what to say since she isn't awake to hear him. But if she's in a temporary coma somehow, then maybe she could still hear him. 

"You probably can't hear me. And I'm probably sounding crazy now talking to you like this but…I can't stop thinking about our last conversation. Our fight. It was so fucking stupid of me. I don't even normally curse a lot. You know that. You know me. But you don't know enough, I was wrong. You don't know a lot about me because I didn't let you. I was…afraid. If I eventually told you everything, you'd run away. There are some things that I don't want you to know. Some parts that would scare you away." Six bluntly confesses, flatly like usual. 

He's never said these many words to anyone before, especially expressing his actual feelings. He usually represses those feelings and eventually forgets about it. But she deserves this. Someone who's willing to get out of his own comfort zone and become a better man for her. 

She heard him. Every single word. She's in the bliss of a dream somewhere but…she could still discern what he's saying. She recognizes his voice despite not seeing him. She knows this isn't a dream. Six isn't in her dream right now. She's practically high off all the painkillers they gave her so she's having weird dreams. 

She still can't move though. She's trying to, yet nothing is working. She's paralyzed because her body isn't healing yet. She is aware of everything now, because of hearing his voice. Earlier she thought that she was only dreaming and nothing was happening around her. She knows she isn't dead now. She's alive. Because he's here. 

Six gulps, looking down at their hands as he slowly intertwined his fingers with hers. Her fingers are always softer compared to his. Smaller, too. His mind plays a quick flashback when she used to put their hands together to compare their hand sizes while they're in bed. She'd always giggle softly whenever she sees the huge comparison. Then her smile would linger as she continued to watch their hands. While he would always just look at her the whole time. Whenever she laughs, he does too. 

He's happy only when she is. He has a purpose now — keeping her safe and happy. His fucking life finally mattered. It wasn't just a mission anymore. She was his purpose. Still is. 

Suddenly, her soft fingers twitch against his. That took almost every muscle in her body to just move her fingers. She really tried to move and wake up. But she can't. Not now. It's not her time yet. She needs some time to heal first.

Six looks up at her, surprised and relieved.

"You can hear me." he breathes out, leaning forward onto her. "Elle, if you do hear me, my name's — Court. It's Court, baby." he whispers as softly as possible. He finally told her his real name. He thought he'd never do it. 

He knows she won't magically wake up. Or immediately answer him back. Though, he'd really love to hear his name coming out of her beautiful lips. His real name. This is the first time in decades that he's ever said his name out loud to anyone. 

Elle heard that too. She wants to smile right now if she can. Or wake up from this coma and jump into his arms. She just wants to wake up. 

"It's okay. I'm going to stay here until you wake up. I'm not leaving your side. So when you wake up, you won't be alone. You'll have me." Six murmurs gently, planting a soft kiss on her hand. 

His tone is not exactly sweet or soothing, it's just plain and flat. But he means it. He has never said anything like this before. He's never cared enough for someone to say and feel all these things. She's the only person that did this to him and he let her. She's his first, technically. 

She made him so different and he's grateful for that.

***

Lloyd stared and tilted his head to the side while contemplating on the man tortured in front of him. He's done a number on him. 

"Aw, you poor fuck. The pain will go away as long as you tell me who your boss is." Lloyd tells him again to his face, crouching down to be eye-level with him. 

Truth is, it will. Because he's going to kill him as soon as he talks. But he isn't. He hasn't talked at all. He has kept his worthless mouth shut this whole entire time Lloyd's been torturing him. Even though from the looks of it, he looks like he's already on the brink of death. 

All of his fingernails are already gone. He has six broken fingers. His face is all beaten up as a result of Lloyd's fist and it's all bruised up and bleeding to the point that his eyes are barely open. He could've done more, but he didn't have the time to buy some supplies for it. So he had to work with what he had. 

The basement is dark. Two agents are guarding the door. Lloyd has been spending a few hours down here and he hasn't even had the time to drink or eat anything. His face is full of sweat. His hands are all mixed with blood. He knows it's also been hours since she hasn't woken up either. So he prefers to be down here than wait for her miserably. 

Lloyd slaps his face again and he winces. "Hey, come on. Can you not speak English or something? Do I need to get google translate here? Just fucking talk. Anything. Are you actually deaf?" he tries again.

The man keeps looking down and finally, he shakes his head in denial. 

Lloyd's lips turn into a smirk. "Oh. So you can hear me. Then, talk." he urges again.

He glares up at him. "No." he mutters.

Lloyd scowls. "I—are you fucking kidding me? I have spent hours here. And that's all I get? A no? Not even a full answer. Jesus. I don't get paid enough for this shit." he rambles before turning away from the man. 

"You know what? Have it your way. I'm just going to keep you in here for days to fucking rot until you finally talk. If not, then I'll kill you. And it won't be an easy and painless death. Mark my fucking words." Lloyd threatens him, casually with a pissed off tone. 

He walks away from him and gestures to the agents to keep torturing until whenever they want to stop. He doesn't give a shit anymore. He shouldn't have spent all his time down here. He should've gone upstairs to check on her instead. 

Which he'll do. 

*** 

Blood from his knuckles keeps dripping on the floor of the elevator to their penthouse as Lloyd walks into the living room. 

Two of her nurses are sitting on his couch, chattering about something stupid while laughing together.  

"What the fuck are you doing here?" Lloyd asks them, frowning at them. 

They both immediately get up from the couch, looking down before one of them tries to open her mouth but he raises a hand at them.

He shakes his head. "No, no excuses. Just get the doctor to come in here. Now." he demands and they nod their heads, stepping away from him. 

Lloyd walks towards her medical room and still makes sure to open the door slowly while entering the room.

Six knows it’s him because of his footsteps so he doesn’t turn around. He remains in his current position. His hands and arms are still rested against the bed as he holds her hand tightly. His eyes are still glued to her face. He’s been observing her for the past few hours and she hasn’t moved a single muscle yet.

“Hey. Is she healing yet?” Lloyd asks him, going further into the room as he stands beside him.

Six looks up at him. “I haven’t checked.” He mutters before gently removing his hands from her and standing up from his chair. 

He takes a quick glance at Lloyd and stares down at his bloody knuckles. 

Lloyd nods. “Yeah. I’ve wasted my time and breath on torturing some stupid fuck that won’t even talk at all. They usually talk after I take off a few of their fingernails. But this, I fucked up his entire face and broke all of his fingernails. I only got a no. That’s it.” He grumbles casually, not even considering if she could hear him or not. 

Six frowns, looking back at her for a while just to make sure she hasn’t woken up yet. “I think she could hear you. She heard me talking earlier. Her fingers moved against mine.” he tells him. 

He raises his brows. “Oh. Well maybe she could hear you earlier, not now. She doesn’t need to know about our little problem. Not now or when she wakes up.” Lloyd makes it clear.

He nods, agreeing. “Yeah. Okay.” Six mutters before turning to her and lowering himself to her. His hands gently brush on her clothes as he carefully lifts her shirt up a little to check her wounds. 

Her entire torso is filled with the surgery scars everywhere. She was being shot like a fucking shooting range. She has never had a ton of scars like this before and not for a long period of time. She always heals almost immediately after every incident. Her body is changing. Not weaker, but stronger. It’s still getting used to all the pain she’s getting constantly. Almost after every mission she took, she’d always get hurt. It was never her fault, it was mostly part of the plan. They all knew she could take the pain no matter what. 

Lloyd leans forward while his eyes search her body and there’s only one scar that has healed, on her lower abdomen. “This is weird. She’s never taken this long to heal before. And it’s already been, like, five hours since the surgery?” 

Six pulls her shirt down to cover her again. “Is there some other medication that they could give her to make the process quicker?” he asks softly, turning to him. 

He thinks about it for a moment before shaking his head and crossing his arms against his chest. “No. I don’t think so.”

“Maybe once she wakes up, then she’ll heal quicker? Can they wake her up?” Six suggested. 

Lloyd shrugs, feeling helpless and hopeless for the very first time. “I don’t know. Maybe they could reduce some of the anesthesia they gave her but she was unconscious before the surgery. And it would take a little long for the drugs to wear off on her.” he explains.

Six nods, having a glint of hope. He steps forward to him. “But it’s worth a try. Right?”

Lloyd would never deny his request. He actually listens to the man. And he knows he’s right. It’s worth a shot and right now, it’s their only shot they got. 

“Yeah, okay. I'll tell the doctor when she gets here.” Lloyd says before pausing, “I just think… that she'd be a little different after she wakes up, no? I mean, she just survived a near death situation. She almost died.” he states.

Six looks at him with a tired look. He's exhausted and now he has to think about the possibility of her not being herself once she wakes up because of the trauma. He thought that she'd change after working for the CIA for too long just like he did and Lloyd did. This is too soon for her to change. He doesn't want her to change. Ever. 

He vaguely nods. “I know. But we'll be there for her. Always.” Six reminds him.

Lloyd simply nods his head. He says nothing. He'd do the same for her. He just doesn't know how to be there for her like Six. He's still not good with comfort or with feelings or with her. He has no idea how to give comfort when he has never received one in his life. Six has never received comfort either in his life until her, that is. He's just always there for her in a way that he'd do anything she asks of him. 

Lloyd is just scared, deep inside, that he'd fuck it up somehow. 

***

She's fragile as of now. Sensitive. Frail. 

She was in deep sleep dreaming of clouds and lakes. But then she woke up. To reality. To real life. To the miserable world.

Her whole body felt numb at first before all the pain came back to her. She needed to heal herself. Manually. With a single chant from her lips. 

Except, she can't even move and she's extremely weak. Her eyes are open, she's aware that she's already back at the penthouse but it's some kind of makeshift hospital room in here that they made for her. 

And there's no one here. Just her. 

She tries to move her head to the side and she sees the floor to ceiling window beside her. Her eyes examine the skies and the city underneath. From the looks of it, it's somewhere during the afternoon. Maybe about 3 or 4pm, she guesses. Her memories start to come back to her and she remembers everything. She also remembered when it all happened, it was 4am. She's already calculated twelve hours since she's been unconscious like this. 

Lloyd and Six aren't here because the doctor told them that it would probably take some time until the drugs finally wear off on her and until she'd finally wake up. They had no clue when exactly she would wake up because her condition was different from any other patients they've treated before. 

So the guys went out for late lunch downstairs in a restaurant they both barely like but they didn't want to risk going out too long or too far. She could wake up anytime. 

And, she did. Now she's confused. She can't do anything or move or get up or even talk.

Yet, she could still hear. She hears footsteps. Low chattering. More chattering. A few beating heartbeats. Some whispers. She can discern that they're quite a few people here. The agents, the nurses and the doctors are all here to safeguard her from any threats and keep her safe in case she wakes up. 

But, she can't hear Lloyd or Six. She memorized their footsteps and their heartbeats and their voices in all sorts of frequency. And there's nothing here. They're not here. 

She isn't aware of who the people are outside. She has no idea who it might be. She guesses they're the agents but then she also hears plenty of women's voices while all the agents are men. 

It's not supposed to be a threat but she doesn't know what has happened for the past twelve hours that she's been in a coma. This might be a hostage situation and the men she's hearing are not the agents. She needs to be careful about this. She needs to move first, though. 

Gathering all the strength she currently has now, she starts to move both of her hands slowly but sure. She groans softly after successfully lifting her hands. Her lips tugged into a faint smile at that. She could also feel how dry her lips are. 

It sort-of enrages her how long she's been out for. How weak she was. How she couldn't have just healed herself back there. She could've, potentially. But her body was just in shock of all the pain at once and it certainly wasn't used to it. 

She moves her legs and groans again before eventually shifting them to the side so she could get out of this depressing hospital bed. 

But, just as she was about to completely move her entire body to the side and attempt to sit up, she groaned loudly from the wrenching pain all over her torso. None of her wounds have healed yet and she could feel her skin slowly ripping off. It's one of her stitches and because she's forced herself to move so quickly, it's ripped off now. 

Even so, she still wants to try to fight the pain off and get the hell out of here.

Her palm presses onto the unhealed wound and she looks down at it, seeing blood already covering her favorite shirt. 

“Shit.” Elle mutters before forcing her entire body to slide out of the bed and ending up falling onto the cold floor, quietly.

She groans out of pain again as she tries to stifle her sounds by covering her mouth with her hand. She still doesn't know who's out there right now. She needs to be cautious, just like what she should've done back at the hospital. 

The floor is stained with her blood now as she braces her hands on the floor before trying to stand up. Even with all the pain she's feeling now, the worst pain she's ever felt in her life, she's still thinking about Six. She heard him. What he said to her when she was in her coma. He told her his real name. He confessed to her. Finally opened up to her.

Her mind snaps her back to reality. One of her hands comes up to the bed for support before she fully stands up with excruciating pain inside of her. She puts one foot in front of the other and starts walking towards the door, hobbling. 

She looks at the door and opens it with her mind. Hearing the approaching footsteps, she immediately chants a small spell and the two of the agents who were guarding her room collapses on the floor. 

Looking down, she finally recognizes them and quickly regrets it but they deserved a little nap anyway. She only knocked them down unconscious. 

She walks over their bodies and goes into their living room. The nurses look over to her and gasps in shock as they see the agents unconscious on the floor behind her. They all raised their hands in surrender. 

"We're just nurses. To help you. We didn't know you'd be awake so soon." One of them says to her. 

She frowns confusedly, trying to process the information. "Nurses? Why would I ever need—oh god. I was in a fucking surgery?" Elle snaps out loud. 

They all nod their heads, not daring to say anything else that might make her snap and blow their heads off all of a sudden.

"What—where's Lloyd and Six? Where are they?" She asks, raising her voice. 

"Downstairs. T–they went out for lunch." One of the nurses replies, stammering their words. 

She tilts her head to the side. "Are you sure you're not lying to me? I'll know if you lie." she calmly asks, stepping forward to them with blood actively dripping on the floor. 

They shake their heads in fear while looking down at the blood stained floor.

"We can help you. You're bleeding a lot." The nurse offered her.

"No. I'm good. I just need to see them." Elle breathes out, holding in the pain as her hand goes up to her wound to press on it harder.

"We have doctors for you here. They're on the first floor. We can get them for you." The nurse tries to offer again.

She shakes her head. "They won't be able to help me. I'm the only one that can heal myself." she grits out.

Suddenly, one of the agents comes out of the bathroom right beside the gym and everyone startles. He quickly rushes towards her after seeing the bodies of his teammates on the floor and is quick to grab a gun from his pocket. 

He points it to her from behind and pushes the gun onto the back of her head. She doesn't even flinch or raise her hands. 

"What the fuck did you do, you bitch?" he asks, shuddering of fear. She could just smell the fear on him and she smirks. 

She rolls her eyes. "Get me Lloyd and Six and I'll think of not turning the gun around to you." Elle threatens, calmly and casually. Almost what Lloyd does. He taught her right.

He scoffs, pressing the gun harder. "Fuck you. I ain't getting you shit. You're just a spoiled slut that gets away with anything. You can't kill me. I'm with the CIA." he confidently says. 

Her smirk widens before she slowly turns around and his shaky hands continue to point the gun at her head. 

She sighs. "You know, I don't really give a shit that you're with the CIA or whoever you work for. I can still kill you no matter what. I do get away with anything." she calmly tells him in a soft voice but it's still threatening because she'd actually do it. 

It's really out of place for her to say things like this. Especially, acknowledging her privilege of immunity from the agency just because she is their most valuable weapon and asset. She never wanted that. She still wanted to do the right thing no matter what. But as of now, she couldn't really give less of a fuck killing this lousy agent.

He scoffs again and shakes his head in disbelief. She took that as a challenge. 

Without any effort, she takes the gun out of his hands and bends it with only one hand. He widens his eyes before she throws the gun somewhere far. She harshly pushes him onto the floor as he collapses, hitting his head hard. He's not dead, but he might have a concussion or two. 

Before she could even turn back around, she hears the elevator ding and she raises her hand, in case she'd have to snap some necks. 

It eventually opens and reveals a worried Lloyd and Six, stepping out of the elevator. They barely even ate earlier. They kept thinking of her. They came back as quickly as they could. They certainly weren't expecting this fucking sight.

There are three bodies on the floor of the agents. All the nurses are raising their hands in surrender and fear. And on top of all that, she is here. Alive and breathing but bleeding out. She might've just killed half of their agents but they don't care. Nothing matters anymore. Except for her. 

Her eyes met both of them and she was so happy that she was speechless for a moment. But, they were too. Her eyelashes fluttered as her lips slowly curved into a relieved smile. She breathes out a relaxed breath, before looking down to the continuous bleeding on her wound.

Six is frozen in his tracks. Lloyd is too and he almost smiles at the sight of her finally awake and standing in front of him. But their nice little moment quickly diminishes as soon as they both look down at all the blood coming out of her. 

Their faces dropped into worry and Six immediately rushed to her first, carrying her into his arms like she weighed nothing. Her head rests against his chest to relax more. Her eyes stare up into his and he regards her with that knowing soft look only reserved for her. She had missed how he looked at her. He had just missed her. 

He knits his eyebrows together in concern. "Hey, you okay?" Six softly whispers with that tone he only uses for her. 

Her lips faintly form into a wider smile and she leans closer to his face. "I will be, Court." she barely says, only him being able to hear it. But he heard it. 

He wishes he could smile if his girl wasn't actively bleeding out and almost dying if she doesn't heal soon. He wished this was a different circumstance. He's always wanted that with her, always thought of it. A different reality, a different time, a perfect place. They deserve that. 

Lloyd frowns instead, glancing at the nurses just standing there. "What the fuck are waiting for? Call the doctors. Go!" He orders them and they do as they're told, running to the elevator. 

After the penthouse is almost empty — considering the three unconscious bodies on the floor but they're ignoring them. They're irrelevant to this moment now. Their moment. 

Lloyd calmly walks to her and she turns his head to him. His face is almost apologetic like he just did the most heinous crime to her. He just left her for a second. She's not blaming him. She doesn't expect them to stay with her for the whole day and not eat or even drink. 

He lets his hand brush her hair away from her face. "We didn't know that you'd be awake so soon. We shouldn't have left you to these idiots. I'm sorry." Lloyd actually genuinely apologizes to her. 

She nods, giving him a crooked, tired smile. "It's okay. I'm just glad that you're—" Her words slowly cut off as she faints in Six's arms. She's lost too much blood and used her energy while she was still weak. 

Six and Lloyd immediately looked up at each other in sync. Their slight happiness was fading quickly as their mind spirals into fear and doubt. She just woke up and she's back into a potential coma again. They shouldn't have left her for a damn second. If only they were here when she woke up, this would've never happened. She would've been able to heal properly. 

"Fuck, bring her back to the room." Lloyd softly demands him as Six simply nods, slowly turning around with her body in his arms. 

Six makes sure to be as gentle as possible while walking over the unconscious bodies on their floor. He's a little proud of her. 

***

It was all starting to get better after her body had finally fully healed itself and she woke up again. 

They had given her some meds through her new IV that might've boosted her body's immunity within the span of a few minutes. All her wounds are completely squeaky clean without a single scratch and the pain is gone for her.

Though, she does still have a lot of blood from earlier. It never cleans magically. 

There are a few doctors and nurses hovering over her at each side while she slowly regains consciousness. She felt cramped and suffocated with so many people staring at her, practically gawking curiously. 

But among all of the people in the room, she was only searching for Lloyd and Six. She wanted to see them right away. She needs them. 

Six was the first to appear as he walked past the crowd before Lloyd followed him. They stood together and took a quick glance at her. She was so glad and relieved. She could finally breathe at the sight of them.

Lloyd looked back at them. "Alright, now that she's all healed up, I think it's safe to say that you can all go back. I'll send the chopper here after this." he announced to everyone and they all agreed before leaving the room.

The door closed behind the last person from outside. Six looks down at her and his lips slowly turn into a small, relaxed smile. He's so glad to see her like this, alive and well. His hand comes up to rest on her cheek and she leans into his touch like always. She had missed his touch. She knows it's only been a few minutes after their little reunion, but they didn't exactly get a proper one earlier. They don't say anything to each other now, but their eyes are already communicating. They're both just as glad to see each other. 

"What time is it now?" Elle softly asks them. The only thing she manages to say. The fucking time. 

Lloyd frowns confusedly at her, tilting his head to the side. He blinks at her like he's offended and he scoffs gently. "Seriously? We just got you back, Elle. We've been through hell for the past twelve hours, racing to bring you back from the dead. You weren't healing after the surgery and we almost thought that you'd be in a long term coma or some shit. We were fucking scared. I was scared." he bluntly confesses to her, not caring about anything anymore. 

Even Six is surprised. He knew how much she meant to him, but he never took him as someone to confess his feelings out loud. He'd sometimes talk bullshit about it because he never actually admits his actual feelings. This was different. This was real. He could see it. 

She widens her eyes at him and her face drops into sympathy. "I didn't know you'd felt that way. About me. Guess it only takes an almost death situation for you to realize everything." she softly says, giving him a tired smile. 

He shakes his head. "Don't joke about that. I mean it." Lloyd warns. 

She continues to smile at him. "Okay, okay. I wasn't technically joking. But, thank you. For saving my life. I mean it." Elle thanks him, attempting to reach out to his hand. 

He hesitates first then looks down at her hand before delicately holding it. "I did in a fucking heartbeat. We weren't just going to let you die there." Lloyd tells her. 

She nods without hesitation. "I know." she quietly murmurs, glancing between both of them. "Okay, how soon can I get out of this miserable death bed?" 

Six quietly chuckles, his thumb caresses her cheek before planting a soft kiss on her forehead. She looks up at him with a smile. Lloyd scoffs gently, relieved that she's already back to herself. 

"Now. Do you need anything?" Lloyd immediately asks. 

She hums, meeting his eyes. "Yeah. A shower and a lot of food. Also, for the place to be just us. I could hear too many footsteps and whispers." she requests.

He nods right away, giving a quick kiss on her hand before releasing it. "I'll arrange all that. Six, help her walk to her room. I'll be back." Lloyd tells him while walking away from them and exiting the room.

Elle stares up at Six. "I’ve missed you." she finally admits.

Six chuckles quietly. "Me too. Wanna get out of here?" he asks her directly. 

She nods. "Carry me." she softly says.

"Always." Six instantly replies. 

He's already grabbing her arms gently to place them around his neck before slowly lifting her entire body from the bed like she weighs nothing. She looks into his eyes, resting her head onto his chest. 

"Thank you," she softly whispers as he brings her out of the room, carrying her as tenderly as possible. 

*** 

The sun was already setting when she got out of her bathroom after her long shower with clean clothes. 

She saw her body in the shower earlier with absolutely no scars left. Though, there was still pain when she pressed her fingers onto the previous wounds that were no longer there. 

Her body was still healing slowly. She needs more time to recover. Mentally and physically. 

Six had been waiting for her in her room, quietly sitting down at the couch in front of her bed. He had nothing to do, so he'd been watching the news on her TV about the incident last night. They were saying that it was just some thugs that wanted to rob the hospital for drugs. The media knows nothing. Either they don't know what actually happened or they're just trying to hide all of it. 

But he couldn't care less about all that and the politics of it. He only cared about one thing at this very moment. Her, alive and standing right in front of him. She's put on some shorts and her usual pink shirt that she always wears here. Her hair is still wet from her shower. Her face is moistened and glowing after her daily skincare.

Elle slowly walks to him with a smile on her lips as he quietly watches her every moment. "You know, we could always watch something more entertaining. Like, tv shows? Reality tv shows? Ooh or some comedy show?" she remarks.

Six lets out a soft chuckle. "I just wanted to see what they have to say." he says in a low voice. 

She scoffs. "Well, it's horseshit right? They know what actually happened but they're hiding it because it's bad press for the local police that they let some thugs escape from their prison. So they feed false information to everyone else in the city. Tell them what they want to hear instead." she easily and casually explains like it's an everyday thing for her. 

He's stunned by how detailed her explanation was and she said all that in a second. He's glad to see her back on her feet and back to being herself. 

Six simply nods, understanding every single word that she just said. He scoots over from the seat and pats the empty space next to him for her. She goes to sit beside him with a small smile still lingering on her lips. Leaning onto him, he puts his arm around her shoulder as she settled comfortably against him. 

"So, I heard Lloyd's cooking." Six informs her, trying to hide the smile off of his lips.

She immediately grimaces. "Uh-oh. I hope the kitchen will still be in good shape after this." she jokes but not really.

He snickers gently. "Yeah, he wanted to make a nice, romantic gesture for you." he seriously tells her. 

She snorts in disbelief. "What? Really? Lloyd, being romantic? That's impossible." she says, skeptically. 

He shrugs lightly. "Well, guess you changed him. You did the impossible." Six murmurs before slowly meeting her eyes.

Elle looks up at him with her innocent, curious eyes. "Did I change you?" she asks in a soft whisper.

He nods slowly. "You did." Six simply responds, without any hesitation.

Her smile widens, her eyes in awe at him. "Court," she whispers before lifting herself to press her lips against his and kisses him tenderly. He kisses her as slowly as ever, savoring the taste of her lips like he hasn't kissed her in ages. 

Court lets his free hand cup her jaw, his fingers stroking her skin. "I love that. When you say my real name." he mumbles against her lips. 

Her lips stretched into a smile against his mouth. "Yeah? I'll say it more often, then. I'll say it whenever you want." she murmurs.  

He shakes his head. "Don't tell Lloyd. Not yet. It'll be kind-of like… our thing." he mutters against her mouth. 

She pulls away from his lips, resting her hands on his chest as she smiles again. "Of course. It's precious, you know. Me being the only one who knows your actual name." she states. 

"You are precious, Elle." Six tells her in a serious tone. 

She giggles softly and he wishes he could bottle up all of her pretty sounds, or have it ingrained forever in his brain. He never wants to forget her. He always wants to remember her. Just like this. Full of life, bubbly and gracious. The only good thing in his life. The only one who takes care of him and knows him for who he really is. 

"Should we check on Lloyd if he's burned our kitchen yet?" Elle jokingly asks. 

He nods. "Absolutely. Wouldn't want that." Court agrees with her with a small smile on the corner of his lips. 

***

Lloyd ended up ordering a bunch of take outs from four different restaurants. 

He did cook, though. But he isn't confident enough that it'd be as good as he thought it would. He followed a recipe on the internet. But he doesn't trust that shit. 

He used to cook for himself back when he was living alone in one of his fancy flats in Monaco or France or Italy. It never was perfect but he didn't have anyone else to judge it. He only ate it for himself. 

That's part of the reason why he secretly enjoys living with Elle and Six. He doesn't have to be so alone anymore. It was pathetic. He got that huge place to stay and a lot of money to spend, but he had no one to share it with. Now, he has. 

"It smells amazing!" Elle compliments as she and Six carefully walk into the kitchen.

Lloyd's serious expression quickly turned into a softened gaze for her as he turns his head to her. "Yep. There's some take outs laid out on the table already. All of your favorites." he casually tells her. 

Her lips tug into a warm smile while she steps closer to him and wraps her arm around his shoulder, on her tiptoes. She looks up at him before planting a soft kiss on his cheek. 

"That's sweet of you. You've done a lot for me already." she remarks while Six stands behind them, watching them quietly. He enjoys this. Just observing their little happy moments. 

Lloyd looks down at her with a relaxed face. "There isn't a single fucking thing I won't do for you. I'd bring you back from the dead a billion times over. I'd dig you out from the grave myself. And if you're still dead, well then, I'll sacrifice myself for you." he swears with his life, even though he was joking in the end. He'd do everything in his power to keep her alive over and over again. Even if it would take his own life doing so. 

Elle laughs softly. "Don't make promises you can't keep, Hansen. Also, if I was really dead, don't try to do anything. I'll accept my fate anyhow." she lightly says.

He grimaces at the thought and frowns. "Fuck off, no. I'm not letting you fucking die. Ever. Not on some stupid CIA mission." Lloyd sternly states. 

She sighs, defeated. "Okay, fine. Well then I'm also doing the same for you. Whatever you say won't matter." she says stubbornly.

Six lets out a small laugh from behind before approaching them. "What about me?" he jokingly asks. 

She looks over to him. "You too. Both of you. I'd bring you back from the dead any day. I won't give up until I know you're alive." 

"Good. Being alive is good. I'd like to stay alive for now." Six murmurs softly, tucking a strand of hair under her ear.

Back then, almost two decades ago, he didn't. He knew taking the choice of killing for the CIA would have so many risks everyday. He was willing to take that risk because he was willing to die for it, he didn't care what happened to him. He had nothing to lose. Now, he has. 

Elle steps away from them. "Alright. I'm gonna go eat because I am starving like crazy." she admits as they both chuckle at her. 

*** 

She ate all the food like she hadn't eaten for decades. 

It took a lot of energy from her body earlier and she was extremely weak, too. She had no sort of fuel except for the IV. She had only relied on her body's immunity and strength.

It kind-of worries her how her outer wounds have healed but her inner ones haven't. She could still feel the slight pain and discomfort every time she moved the muscles in her stomach too much. It feels as if she had a normal body and just had surgery like a normal person and now is trying to recover from the scar. 

It's stupid, actually. She's always wanted to feel normal pain like a normal person would've and now here she is. Well, almost. This isn't exactly the real pain she's feeling. She's just feeling the reduced pain of it. Yet, it still feels as painful as ever. 

She just needs to be careful about this. She's sure she'll heal before she has to tell them. 

"Do you want more food? I could still order it in time before it closes." Lloyd genuinely asks her, seeing as she's just ate everything including his food that he made. 

She left some for them, of course. But they didn't eat much since they already had their late lunch a few hours ago. 

She glances at him before wiping food at the corner of her mouth with a napkin. "No, I'm good. I'm full. Actually, if you guys don't mind, I'd like to sleep early tonight." Elle announces with an unsure tone. 

Lloyd and Six exchange confused and hesitant looks. She's never slept early before because she hated that — claiming that sleeping early made her feel like a grandma. She's always liked to make use of her time at night. Either that was reading, watching movies, listening to music on her headphones or spending time with them. They had thought she was already herself earlier but they were clearly wrong. They knew something would change in her because of what happened, and they're seeing it now. 

Something is off with her and they've just noticed it now. They could just see it in her eyes and hear it in her tone. She's lying about wanting to sleep earlier. She's never lied before.

"Are you sure you're okay? That you're all healed up?" Lloyd asks her, his eyebrows knitting in concern. 

She frowns at him, leaning back onto her seat. "Of course I am. You saw it. All my wounds are healed." She lies to them, again.

Six turns his body to her and leans closer. "Elle, it's okay if you're not okay yet. You went through hell and back. You're not always required to be okay." he assures her.

Elle looks at him as her expression suddenly drops into a saddened look. "I know. But, I kinda am. I'm the weapon, right? I always heal and I'm invincible. Pain isn't supposed to happen to me. Not like this." she admits, her voice cracks at the end of her last sentence.

Lloyd frowns before realizing what's happening to her. "You're still feeling pain? Why didn't you tell us before?" he directly asks her, not wasting any time.

She turns to him with an exhausted look. Her face looks numb, like she's trying her best to numb all the pain she's feeling now. 

"I'm sure I'll be all healed up tomorrow. Don't worry about me." She tried to assure them, with a hesitant tone and a crooked smile. 

She was smarter than this. She could've lied better, to make it more believable. But she wasn't… isn't herself now. She went through hell and back and once she was all healed, everyone just expected her to be okay again like usual, like every other mission where she gets hurt. Because she's invincible and nothing can truly hurt her — not true. She knows she can't go back from this anymore. It's too late. 

Lloyd shakes his head in disbelief. "No. I'm not accepting that. Just let us help you—"

A sudden sound of loud gunshot rings through her ears painfully and she flinches from her seat, instinctively covering her ears with her hands. She widened her eyes in fear, not wanting to see what's happening. She's so scared that she'd thought it would all happen again. 

Six and Lloyd immediately snapped their heads because of the sound, rising from their seats. Though, for them, it sounds normal in their ears. They've heard it almost everyday. And their ears aren't as sensitive as hers. 

"What the fuck was that?" Lloyd asks him, walking towards Six as they stand between her. They guess it's their elephant in the basement and something happened with the agents. But they're not going to say that out loud. 

She's still on her seat, frozen. Not being able to move or even react or talk. Her lips shake in fear as her eyes slowly form into tears. Her hands are still covering her ears as hard as possible to muffle the sounds but it's no use. 

Six looks down at her instead. His face drops into concern and sympathy. For the first time in his life, he feels pity and fear at the same time and he can't do anything about it. He's helpless. 

"Elle," he tries but he knows he won't be able to help her. Nothing can make her feel better anymore. She can't come back from this life. Violence. Murder. It's inescapable. He would know. He went through it all at such a young age.

Removing her hands from her ears, she finally stares up at him with wet, glassy eyes through her lashes. A tear rolls down her cheek. Her wide, beautiful eyes meet his and for a split second, for a mere moment, he lets himself admire her beauty. She's too fucking pretty for this. She doesn't deserve to cry like this. She's too perfect for all of it. There's no amount of apology in the world that would bring her back to her normal self.

But then, her sadness quickly turned into rage. He saw the shift in her eyes. "Who are you keeping in the basement?" she bitterly asks him. She didn't just heard the gunshot, but she also heard a person down there.

Six looks at her confused, even though he knows what she's actually talking about. He stays quiet instead.

Lloyd stammers. "Uh… well, we… okay, I don't know what's happening there but it's not entirely on me. I didn't order them to kill him. I swear." he hesitantly responds.

She turns to him with a scowl. "Was it one of the guys from the hospital? The one who shot me?" she quickly asks, finally using her smart brain to connect the dots.

He shakes his head. "No, the ones who shot you are already—" he stops himself before saying the actual word but she gestures for him to continue. 

Lloyd frowns confusedly, hesitating. "Well, they're dead. Six killed them there. The agents caught the guy holding the hostages and took him here. I mean, it was chaos when we brought you here so we didn't really have the time to—" 

She nods, surprising both men. "No, it's fine. You don't have to justify it or whatever. I get it. Well, if he isn't already dead by now, then I want him dead." Elle declares what she wants, her tone is stern and her accent slips into something foreign at the end. 

He and Six quickly look at each other, exchanging confused and worried looks. She's never said anything like this before, let alone think about wanting someone dead. More than two weeks ago, she was a mess when she found out what Lloyd had done for her, the whole bloodbath. This wasn't like her at all. But, her eyes are assuring them that this is exactly what she wants. She is so different now. It's scary. 

Six looks at her before kneeling down onto his knees in front of her, his arms resting on each side of her chair. Her eyes dart down to him and she's still looking at him with the same ruthless and tired look she gave Lloyd.

"Are you sure you want that?" Court softly asks her in that soothing voice she loves.

She gulps and for a second, her gaze softens at the sight of him like this, on his knees just for her. Nodding her head, she glances at both of them. 

"I just want this to end. I don't want a rotting alive body in our fucking basement. He's not worth the headache for us. I just want to move on, okay?" Elle clarifies in a serious tone, not letting a single crack in her voice. 

They both stayed silent for a moment, contemplating on it seriously. She does make a point, though. The poor fuck isn't even talking and he won't ever. So it's pointless keeping him in the basement. 

"I'll order the agents to do it." Lloyd tells her after a long pause. 

She shakes her head. "No. I want to do it. It's not like I haven't killed anyone before." she firmly tells them in a demanding tone she's never used before. 

They won't ever refuse her request or demand — they'd do anything she asks of them. But, she's never wanted something like this before. Lloyd looks at Six for approval and he subtly nods at him. This is what she wants. Maybe this way, she'll feel better after all this. It'll all be okay again, they think.

He sighs exasperatingly. "Okay, alright, fine. Let's go." Lloyd eventually agrees as she immediately gets up from her seat way too carelessly and she trips over her feet.

Six instinctively catches her before she completely falls, with both of his hands on her arms. "Hey, careful." he murmurs. 

Elle glances at him up-close and nods. Lloyd starts to walk past them as they follow from behind. 

*** 

The basement reeked of blood and gunpowder, which felt familiar to her nose. It twisted something in her stomach. 

She needed to be strong for this. No time for her trauma. She could get past this, she'd been through way too much trauma already. She's not new to it anymore. She's used to it. 

Lloyd guided them down the stairs to the basement before she finally saw the guy strapped onto the chair, all beaten up and looking like on the brink of death. His face is filled with blood and bruises that she can't even see his face at all. There's a bullet wound on his thigh that has blood spurting out of it. All of his fingernails are gone, shattered somewhere on the floor. All of his fingers are already crooked and broken.

She'd never seen someone tortured so badly like this. It was a damn sight. But, she didn't flinch or gasp for a second. Instead, she slowly walked over to him. Six wanted to stop her from getting too close but he stopped himself doing so. He's reminding himself that this is what she wants even though he's always wanted to avoid her from all this. 

"Hey, don't use your bare hands for this. Here," Lloyd softly tells her, handing her a pocket knife from his pocket.

She grimaces, holding the knife like it's some weird object. "Do you just carry this all around?" she asks him.

He frowns. "No. I usually carry a gun. But I'm not going to have you use a gun now. Not after what happened." Lloyd clarifies. 

She hesitantly nods. "Yeah, okay." she softly says before gripping the knife correctly and aiming it onto the man.

The man is barely moving and breathing. He can't even properly see her through all the bruises and cuts on his face. She could hear his weak heartbeat and it's only a matter of time that he'd die on his own. She's just trying to end his suffering. It's a good deed, actually. If he was released, he would've been killed by his boss anyway. Probably way worse than what she'd do now. 

She lunges the knife forward, grimacing in disgust but before it even hits the man's heart, she drops the knife onto the floor making a loud clattering noise. She just couldn't do it. She steps backward and bumps into Lloyd's chest as she immediately turns around, looking up at him with wide, distressed eyes. 

She looks like she's about to cry again. He doesn't know what to do with her. He's not sure he'll be able to comfort her like she wants him to. 

Wordlessly, she buries her head against his chest as she sobs quietly, smelling his strong signature perfume on his thick shirt. His hands hesitantly hover around her for a second. Finally, he rests one of his hands on her head and his other hand wraps around her back. It's sort-of awkward for him since he's never hugged anyone before in his whole life. He's done all sorts of physical things with someone except for a hug. 

She's so relieved that he's holding her like this when she needs him the most. Her hands slowly wrap around his waist and she hugs him tighter. "I can't do it. Please, kill him," she begs him, her voice muffled against his chest. 

Lloyd lightly nods against her and moves her away a few inches apart before his eyes glances at Six, who's already standing beside the man strapped to the chair. They both exchange agreeing looks. He quietly picks up the pocket knife from the floor and without hesitation, he slits the man's throat from behind with a smooth line. He doesn't make a single sound. Heavy amount of blood spills all over his body. Six keeps his hands clean and away from all the blood. He usually doesn't mind it, but this time it's different. 

Six immediately walks to them, shoving the knife inside his pocket before he places a hand on her back. "Hey, come on. Let's get out of here." he tells them softly.

She knows the man's already dead. She heard his heartbeat stop. She's glad it's over now, at least.

*** 

They've finally got her to relax. 

She's cozily laying down on the couch, leaning her head against Six's chest while her legs rests on Lloyd's thighs as he's carefully massaging her legs. 

She's watching a movie. A stupid rom-com. The guys both hate every minute of it. But at least, it's getting her to laugh a little.

Because after all the violence she's just witnessed today, she deserves something to cheer up again. 

"Hey, would you like some popcorn? Or ice cream, your favorite flavor?" Lloyd softly offers her.

Elle slowly turns her head to him, ignoring the movie for a second. "No, I'm good. I'm not hungry anymore." she replies. 

He frowns. "Oh. Okay." he simply says, not wanting to urge her on why that is because he knows the answer already. She's still sick after seeing all that. 

Lloyd pulls her legs to stretch longer while his fingers gently massage them. "So, I've got some news." he announces as Six and her look over to him curiously. "A few new field agents are going to arrive tomorrow. More trained and much more experience. I'm also flying out some extra security for us. They're trusted mercenaries. And for all that, I bought one whole floor below us."

"You're still going to keep the previous ones? The assholes?" she asks, calmly.

He nods. "Yeah. As much as I hate it, yeah. They're good in the field regardless and I do believe that we need as many agents as we can get. But, I won't let them anywhere near you anymore. They don't fucking respect you." Lloyd sharply states, defending her.  

"They don't listen to me. They only listen to you and Six." Elle tells him as a matter of fact. 

He tips his head. "Well, then they should start listening to you. You're the weapon. The most valuable asset in the entire fucking CIA." he declares.

She scoffs gently, chuckling. "Don't say it that way. Like I'm all that. I haven't even officially joined the CIA yet. I've only ever done missions for my own city. I'm just a foreign asset."

Lloyd rolls his eyes playfully. "Do you have any idea how powerful you are? How much Denny values you so much that he'd be willing to do anything for you just like we do? You have all of us wrapped around your little finger, honey. And that's a good thing. Dangerous, but good." he casually tells her even though she wasn't supposed to know. Six simply nods, agreeing with him.

It's true. She has had no clue about it until now. Denny likes her and that's rare — he hates all his assets. She obeys every single order and never asks too many questions. She does all the missions perfectly, never has disappointed him and she's really damn smart for her age. She's his best asset and he's proud that he assigned this mission to Lloyd and Six in the first place. 

She furrows her brows. "Wait, really? But he doesn't even talk to me." 

"It doesn't matter. He sees so much potential in you. You know, we both went to college together and are practically fucking inseparable ever since. I've never seen him so fixated on something before. You're special." Lloyd points out, genuinely.

She groans, rolling her eyes. "I've heard that way too many times." Elle grumbles, throwing her head back against Six's chest as he chuckles softly and their eyes meet. 

Six touches her cheek, leaning down onto her lips as he gently kisses her upside down. She giggles against his mouth before they both pull away slowly. Her cheeks blushed at his sudden action. Their eyes continue to stare at each other in silence. 

Lloyd grimaces. "Why do you guys always kiss in unnecessary situations?" he asks them.

Her lips curve into a warm smile. "Because we like it. It's a show of affection and comfort. And I know you don't like all that so—"

He cuts her off by abruptly pulling her by her hands and connecting his lips against hers in an awkward position. Six helps her sit up, holding her lower back with both of his hands while he watches them.

She breaks the kiss, frowning. "You could've just said so if you wanted to kiss me too, you know." 

Lloyd looks down at her, amused as a smirk forms on his lips. She hates that smug asshole smirk of his but she can't deny that it makes him look even sexier all the time. It highlights his whole perfect face and that sharp jaw of his. And his fucking trash stache. She doesn't fully hate it, but it makes him look even more like an asshole than he already is.

"Yeah, but where's the fun in that?" he teases as she suppresses a smile on her lips, shaking her head. 

She lightly throws her weight against Six again and leans back onto him. His arms wrap around her shoulder as her eyes stay on Lloyd's, now quietly staring at each other. She looks away for a second to look at the night view behind him. The city lights luminate on them. The traffic seems to diminish. It's seemingly quiet for a Saturday night. The people must've rather stayed at home after the whole hostage situation at the hospital. 

Then, her mind drifts on everything that has happened and she can't stop thinking about it. She won't. She'd remember it for ages. 

In the deepest part of her heart, she wishes and hopes that this doesn't happen ever again. She can't go through that same pain anymore and the same chaos which forced her to become something else. But, she's not stupid. She knew that one day, someday, something like this would happen. She almost predicted it. She just wished that after all of this is done, she'll still be herself and she could still hope for a better life somewhere. 

She sits up from Six and stretches her arms. Her eyes glance between them. "So, I'm gonna go to bed. It's late and I'm tired. But, can I not sleep alone tonight?" 

Lloyd nods. "Sure. You can sleep with me. Or Six. You know, doesn't really matter. Anything works for me. You can choose whoever." he ends up rambling because he didn't want to seem forceful. 

Elle chuckles softly before crawling into his lap. Her hands wrap around his neck and she smiles up at him. "Honestly, I'll feel way safer sleeping with both of you. In my room." she tells the truth. 

Six regards her with a soften look, reminding himself how grateful he is that she's alive. He's more relaxed now than ever, despite just killing a man down in the basement, a few hours ago. He's always separated himself from all the murder. He kills and kills but then he goes back to being his normal self. He's not himself when he's doing his job. And that's a good thing. He's still capable of being a normal person. He hasn't completely lost it yet.

Mostly though, she helps him through all this. She keeps him going. Just by her existing and being with him. Alive and happy. He's really just glad to be here. 

"Your bed's a little small. No offense." Lloyd points out as he squints his eyes and slides his hands to casually rest on her ass.

She rolls her eyes, shifting her weight against his lap and he has to bite back a groan. "Really? I thought we'd all fit just fine. You know, with what he did, two weeks ago?" She reminds him and he's gone speechless.

Six laughs softly and she turns her head to him. "She's right." he mutters. 

Lloyd whips his head to him and frowns. "Seriously? You always take her side." he accuses.

"Well, because she's always right." Six plainly argues.

"Not always." he grumbles, knowing damn well she is but he's not going down without an argument.

He shakes his head. "Yes, always, Lloyd. Just accept the fact and move on. She's getting sleepy." Six points out, always noticing the small tiny details of her. 

Her sleepy eyes turn to him and she smiles faintly. "You know me so well." she mumbles. 

He nods. "Get ready for bed. We will too." 

"Okay," she agrees, climbing off of Lloyd's lap but he grabs her arm gently to stop her halfway.

His eyebrows knit in concern and his eyes search her face. "Hey, are you still in pain?" Lloyd asks, just remembering what she had said during dinner.

She casually looks at him and shakes her head. "Not really anymore, no. I'll be so much better tomorrow." she assures him.

He nodded in relief. "Great. Just making sure. Or you know, for when—" 

She cuts him off with a loud, hearty laugh. "Or for when you get a hard-on for me while sleeping next to me? Yeah, Lloyd, I'm all healed up for that." she fucks with him. But it is true. She is healed for that.

Six leans comfortably against the couch. He laughs softly with her and tucks her hair under her ear, silently agreeing with her. He knows Lloyd as much as she does. Maybe too well.  

Lloyd's lips stretch into an easy smile for her, shaking his head. "I didn't exactly say that, honey. You did." he denies it, knowing damn well he was thinking exactly that. He always gets a hard-on for her, no matter what the situation is. She has too much of an effect on him.

This time, she actually notices the sweet pet name he's been giving her. 

She smiles wider and frowns. "Honey? You've called me that two times now. That's a little more affectionate than your usual. Careful, Hansen, you're getting too soft on me." Elle teases, leaning down onto him as her index finger presses his heart. 

He leans back and smiles again. "Maybe. But maybe, you're also starting to like it." Lloyd teases her back and he's right. 

She laughs again, leaning close to his face and taps his nose. "Yeah, maybe. We're both changing, Lloyd. All of us, actually." she murmurs softly before shifting her eyes towards Six. 

He agrees with her. Lloyd, too. They won't admit that out loud though. They weren't even aware that change was possible for people in their line of work, where violence has always followed them, no matter what. In truth, they never wanted to change who they were before her because it made them better at their job. But now, it's all different and she's worth changing for.   

She's worth everything to them. 

***

After her daily skincare routine, she wore her favorite pajama set. It's a pink, matching tank top with shorts. It's her comfiest one. 

She turned all the lights off in the penthouse already. She does it almost every night. She likes it dark better, anyway. It doesn't blind her eyes in the middle of the night. 

Her room is also dark with a little light from her small lamp and the TV playing some reality tv show. Most of the time, she keeps it on while she sleeps so she can't hear any other noises from outside. It's comforting for her. 

She slides into her bed and her thick blanket, tugging herself in at the middle. Her head sits up on her pillow while waiting for them. 

She tries to pay attention to whatever reality show is on. It's about dating stuff. People from different countries and ages meet. Too much drama for her liking. 

She rolls her eyes at the show and rolls over to the side, facing the door from a far distance. Her eyes begin to betray her as she gets sleepier every second she waits. 

But, just as she was about to fall asleep accidentally, she finally hears their exact footsteps approaching her room at the same time. The door gently and carefully opens quietly. She barely even hears it. 

Six is the one to first enter the room, stepping aside for Lloyd to come in as well before he closes the door behind him. They both slowly walk to her while she watches their every moment. 

She places her hand behind her pillow as her lips faintly smile. "Hey, I've been waiting for you. Was just about to fall asleep." she whispers weakly. 

Six gives her a quick smile before going around to the other side of her bed. He's usually behind her because she likes to be the little spoon. She likes to be cuddled like this. But that's not the only reason. Sometimes, when they're in the mood for it, it'd be easier to just put it in while they fall asleep. She likes to be fucked to sleep. It's her form of comfort. Which is fucked up, but it does help her sleep. 

He slowly gets onto the bed with her, pulling her blanket a little to fit himself in too. His hand wraps around her torso and the other rests under his pillow. He pulls her in closer until her body pressed against his without leaving any space or barrier. It's how they always sleep. 

Lloyd sits on her bed first before laying down right beside her, awkwardly. This is sort-of the first time they've intimately slept together on a bed since yesterday was a bit of a blur for him. She came into his room when he was half asleep so he barely remembers anything. But, there was also that one time around four weeks ago, when they had to share her bed together in her house. Except, that was different since that wasn't because they wanted to. It was forced. 

They're doing this now because they actually want it. 

She frowns at the huge space between them. "Come closer, Lloyd. You're acting like we've never touched each other or anything." she complains.

He scoffs lightly. "Fine." Lloyd mutters, scotting closer to her but when he stops, it's still not close enough because they're barely touching. 

She groans softly before grabbing his hand and pulling him closer to her until his body bumped against her side. She smiles up at him and he just accepts his fate. 

"Not much oxygen here." Lloyd grumbles but she just ignores him.

His eyes drift to her TV that's still playing the reality show and he's been wondering what it was ever since he came in here. "What the fuck are you watching?" he asks.

She looks over to it and laughs softly. "I'm not even watching it. But it's either this or the shitty news or the horror movies."

Lloyd frowns, turning to her again. "Do you even need to keep it on? You could just turn it off like everyone else's does." he suggests.

She hums in response. "Yes, I do. It blocks out the outside sounds while I'm sleeping. It calms me better." she tells him.

"Oh. Okay, then we'll keep it on. For you. Even though both of us do prefer sleeping in silence." Lloyd softly says, based on what they do for a living, silence is so much better for sleeping. Violence is loud and they're used to waking up because of it. 

"It's fine with me." Six plainly adds.

"Does she usually keep it on with you, Six?" Lloyd asks him, his eyes meeting his.

He nods. "She does. Every night. I'm already starting to get used to it." Six respond. 

She involuntarily yawns softly. "Sorry, guys. I'm extremely sleepy and tired. I'm gonna sleep. You guys can continue to talk if you want. It's a way better noise to fall asleep on rather than that stupid show." she weakly murmurs.

Six kisses her temple before she shifts a little to get more comfortable and leans back against him. 

"Good night," she whispers and she's really close to saying his real name but she doesn't. She wants to keep it as their special thing.

"Night." he whispers in her ear, his fingers tracing her arm to comfort her more.

Lloyd leans down onto her, brushing her hair aside from her face and tucking it behind her ear. "Get a lot of sleep. Sleep in if you want. It's Sunday tomorrow." he softly tells her. 

She nods, looking up at him with her heavy eyelids. "Thank you. For saving me. Lloyd…" She trails off gently before her eyes start to finally close and she drifts to sleep.

Six and Lloyd both glance quickly at each other, continuing to stay silent for a few minutes. They carefully look down at her after hearing her soft snores. It's cute when she does this. Six likes hearing her snores when they sleep together. 

"Yeah, she's asleep." Lloyd confirms, as quietly as possible.

Six nods, glancing at him. "So, what'd you do with the body? Not many options here considering we're in a crowded city." he softly whispers. 

He looked at him, relaxed. "Oh, I asked the agents to get rid of it. They chopped the body into small pieces and burned it. I was going to just dump it somewhere. The local police, perhaps. You know, because it was their fault he escaped in the first place." he explains, so casually like it didn't even matter. 

Well, it didn't. He never thinks his victims or his targets matter. They're just a tiny mark in his life. Bound to get rid of and killed. He looks down on them. He does that because they're horrible people, way worse than him. They don't deserve to live.

"But, she wouldn't have liked that." Six finishes his sentence for him. He knew him too well. 

He nods. "Yes. Exactly. By the way, I haven't told you this yet. I don't know if it's true but it probably is. I think… Denny has a crush on her. See, I would know that. I've known him since forever and he never once called a girl he's never met special. I wouldn't blame him. He's right." Lloyd shares his thoughts and feelings. He's practically gossiping now. 

Six grimaces a little. "That's a little weird. He's her boss." he mumbles. 

"Well, yeah, I know that. Don't worry, I'm not gonna let him know that we're, you know, with her." he tells her. 

He nods. "Good. Maybe, we should sort-of avoid her from him? It's a little off that he likes her. She's too pure for him." Six suggests to him. 

Lloyd furrows his brows. "And she's not too pure for us?" 

"Not really. But Denny's worse than us." Six states, as a matter of fact. He knew how bad his boss was. 

Even though that's his only true friend, Lloyd doesn't deny it. He agrees with him. He is worse than both of them combined. He might not be the one on the field, but he's the one orchestrating everything behind his desk. He's behind every single thing that goes down in the CIA. He has no more remorse anymore. Not like Lloyd and Six. They still have some of it, at least.

"Yeah, you're right. Anyway, nothing would happen because he's not here." Lloyd assures him in an assuring tone.

Six looks at him for assurance and it's all there on his face. He knows he'd always protect her from anything or someone. It's not only that, though. He doesn't want to share her with anyone else. He can't. He'd kill anyone who'd dare to even think about touching her. He only wants her for himself. Just like this. Pure and precious. 

She's not just a pretty little thing for him to fuck and take care of, she's his partner. In everything. He never thought of having a partner because the idea of it made him disgusted. To have someone by his side in every single situation, share a home with them, share a bed, share food, share his ideas, share his own personal space. He used to hate it with all his heart and now he finds himself wanting all that with her.

It's almost the same with Six. He never wanted a partner because he preferred to be alone. He lived and worked alone better. Less obstacles and complications. He liked to be quiet more because he never trusted anyone enough to talk about what he's thinking and feeling. But all of that changed when he met her.

She's precious in so many ways that they'd be willing to bend their own rules for her. 

***

The next morning it dawned and it wasn't very sunny as usual. The rain poured violently and heavily. It was the first time in months. 

The lightning struck and rumbled loudly every minute, waking up the whole city. It's still very early.

Lloyd snuck out of bed early to start briefing their new team of agents and security. Six stayed in bed with her.  

She wanted to sleep in. She wished she could. But with all the nightmares she kept having, it was nearly impossible.

Every nightmare was the same. She was stuck in that hospital, getting shot at as many times as she remembered. She was floating in her own pool of blood, helpless and paralyzed. She felt every single pain of it. She was stuck in a loop the whole time. She couldn't wake up from it. 

Not until the loud sound of the lightning, that is. Which she's secretly grateful for.

She flinches and startles from the sound, finally waking up from her nightmare. She opens her eyes to see that she's back home again. She's alive. And she's with Six, sleeping beside her. He's already woken up after he heard her. 

Six sweetly shushes her, shifting to lay on his back as he places his arm around her.  Her head uses his chest as a pillow and buries her face on his shirt. She just wants to lay like this but not go back to sleep. 

"Go back to sleep. Sleep in." he whispers, planting a soft kiss on her forehead. 

"Why don't you ever sleep in too?" she sleepily mumbles, her eyes still half-open.

He chuckles softly. "My body can't sleep long. It knows I have to be on alert every time." Six truthfully tells her, gently as possible because she just woke up.

She hums weakly. "Well, just sleep. You don't have to be on alert here." she murmurs. 

Six faintly smiles. "Yeah, no can do. You just sleep and I'll stay here. Promise won't move a single muscle to not wake you." 

Except, she can't go back to sleep even if she wanted to. The nightmares are going to definitely come back again. She doesn't want to risk that. She'd rather be here in the real world with real people. It's funny, actually, considering how one month ago, she'd always rather choose to sleep in so she could escape the real world. It wasn't a good life that she had before this. 

She hums, turning her body around to him. "Not really sleepy anymore. Could we just stay here?" she asks softly.

He looks down at her and nods. "Of course. We could stay as long as you like." 

Her eyes searched her room and just noticed that the other man beside her was gone. "Where's Lloyd?" she asks him.

Six frowns confusedly at first, then realizes something. "Oh, I thought you were sort-of awake when he told you he was leaving to go meet the new team." 

She would've heard him if she wasn't stuck in a neverending nightmare loop. 

She subtly nods, leaning her chin on his chest. "Oh. Okay. Well, I wasn't. Um, so, what's the agenda for the next few days? Do we just start going on missions again? The same ones?" 

He shrugs. "That's up to you. You know that. You don't have to force yourself, though. If you want to keep going or if you want to do this differently." Six softly responds. 

Elle contemplates on it, her eyes drifting away from him for a moment. She knew what he was talking about. Frying the bigger fish. The real deal. The big mission. The part where she doesn't just call the local police on them. She gets rid of them instead. Permanently. No trace. No evidence. There'll probably still be a body, but it won't ever trace back to her. She won't use her hands for it. She'll use her mind and powers. It'll be a mystery murder that the police won't be able to solve for decades. 

In a way, it'll make this mission way quicker and probably less collateral, too. She wouldn't have to get hurt again like yesterday. They can't try to kill her if they're already dead. She does want to do things differently now. Better. She can't make the same mistake she kept on doing. Hesitating. Being merciful. Terrified of them. She could make things easier for her and the team if she agreed on this. 

Her eyes meet him again after staring at the window. "I want to try. If I could." she whispers, almost innocently like she isn't talking about murder at all. 

Six gulps, his eyes gazes openly at her and he brushes her hair away from her face. "We could try it slowly. We don't have to rush. This is your first." he gently tells her.

Her eyebrows furrow, curiously. "My first kill?" she asks.

His hand strokes her back to calm her. "Well, not exactly. It'll be your first kill for the CIA. I'm probably not supposed to warn you on this but… once this is all over, you'll start your missions in other countries, where you have to do it. You can't avoid that." Six explains, as softly as possible. 

She hums, nodding. "I know. I mean, now I know. I knew the risks of agreeing to be their asset. But at least, I could still alter a few things." Elle says. 

Six nods slowly, regarding her with a softened look as he smiles a little. "Yeah, you could." he whispers to her. 

"What time is it now?" she asks him, her voice still sleepy. 

He turns his head to her nightstand beside him, glancing quickly at the small digital clock. 

Six turns his attention back to her. "7.52 am. It's still early. You could still sleep if you want. There's not much to do today."

She sighs softly, shaking her head. She's so tired of hiding the truth of what she has endured. She's done it her whole life. She has had to act like nothing's happened after suffering through the abuse from her parents. She had no one to tell. No one would've believed her. No one could've done anything about it, anyway. But she'd feel so much better if she had someone to tell. No one was ever really there for her. 

Now, she does. And there's nothing that she'd say that they wouldn't believe. They trust her. With their life. 

She slowly sits up from him and he looks up at her curiously, trying to figure out what she's doing. "I don't want to go back to sleep again because I had a nightmare. About yesterday. I was stuck in a sort-of loop. I just kept lying there in my own blood, unable to move or anything. I wasn't going to tell you this because I've never told anyone about the nightmares. I've had it ever since my parents started experimenting on me, then it continued after they left me, and the last one was about what I did in that lab. That's why I took those painkillers. To stop the nightmares." Elle finally told the truth about everything. It does feel a little better for her, to not repress it anymore. 

He knew what she meant by her parents experimenting on her. They abused her during her whole childhood. She was just a child. Just like he was, too. His dad did it to him and his brother. Eventually, he had to do what he had to. It was either his abusive dad or his brother. He picked the latter. He doesn't regret it, he's glad he picked up that gun. He fought back and survived through it. 

She didn't. She just accepted what was done to her and did nothing to fight back. Absolutely nothing. She was helpless. She didn't have the heart to hurt her parents even though they've never had a single ounce of remorse hurting her. 

Six sits up from the bed too and cups her face, forcing her gently to look directly into his eyes. "You're not alone anymore. You don't have to hide it. I'm here. Always." He makes a real promise he's going to keep. He might not be here for her forever but, at least for now, he is. 

She slowly nods, staring up at him with those sad, pretty eyes he's already so familiar with. He hates to see her sad like this. It's like she can't even catch a break. It's another trauma after another. It just doesn't stop. And it won't stop, especially after she just decided to start killing for the agency. The worst mistake anyone could ever make. But he couldn't stop her. He doesn't want to control her. It's her decision. 

Six wraps his arm around her and a small smile quirks on his lips. "What do you need now? Do you want to stay here and watch some shitty reality show while we do something else?" he suggests, joking about the last part. Just to get her to smile again. 

Her eyes light up and she slowly smiles. "Something else? And what could that be, Court?" she whispers, his real name coming off from her pretty lips. 

"I knew I could get you to smile again." Court murmurs softly before leaning down onto her, his other free hand cupping her cheek. His lips meet hers and he kisses her delicately and slowly. He pulls away after a second. He doesn't want to devour her entire mouth at 7 in the morning. Not after what she just confessed to him. 

"When do you think Lloyd's gonna be back?" she asks him. 

He shrugs. "He should be back anytime soon. He went out around 4am." Six informs her, plainly.

Her eyebrows lift in surprise. "Wow. 4am just to get them all here?" 

Six nods. "Yep. Just for you." he states.

She giggles, leaning her head on his shoulder as she lightly kisses his skin, where there are huge, evident scar tissues all over. She thinks it's beautiful. It's a sign of survival. She's never gotten to keep any scar of hers. She could kiss his scars away, but she knows he won't want her to. 

"You should talk more with Lloyd. You haven't been with him without me. You guys deserve a one-on-one." Six suggests, all of a sudden. 

She looks up at him with a small pout. "I don't even know what to say. We're fine." Elle confirms. 

His palm brushes her hair before touching her cheek gently. "You don't have to talk if you don't want to. Just like what we've always done. We just… be together."

She'd always listen to him, no matter what.

"I know. Okay, then. I'll try." she says.

"Meanwhile, we'll just wait. We can do anything you want." he tells her. 

"Let's just watch some shitty reality show, yeah." she suggests, nodding. 

Six chuckles. "Sure. But I won't be paying attention." he warns her.

She hums in response, giving his lips a quick peck before grabbing the remote from her nightstand. Turning the tv back on, she clicks the button to the channels.

They continue to just lay there on bed, enjoying this nice and peaceful moment. Without any problems or interruptions. This was rare. 

***

Lloyd was so fucking exhausted and frustrated. 

He'd been working all morning. He hasn't even eaten or drunk anything. He didn't even get the chance to sleep back in with her. 

He had to greet the new team, then guided them to their new place and briefed them on their new mission. Protecting the weapon. Helping with their mission. 

Thankfully, they were all attentive and obedient towards him. They knew he was the boss around here and who was the one that called the shots. They also knew not to piss him off. He's dangerous, according to the stories they've heard.

After that all was done, he finally went his way to go back up to their penthouse. 

He needed a drink. Maybe, some food too.

He wasn't sure if she and Six are already awake or not. It was too early and it's Sunday so he assumed that they're still cuddling in bed, sound asleep. 

He felt a small tiny emotion of envy. He wished that he could do all that with her.

Just stay in bed with her as long as he likes without a single care in the world. Take all his time with her. Spend his day with her only and without all the missions and shit. 

Of course, that was impossible. It's just a passing thought of his. A big 'what if'. An unrealistic hope. A dream. 

He couldn't have her like he wanted. She's not only his. She belongs to the agency now. To the missions she's dedicated herself to. She's not fully his to take. 

Lloyd stepped out of the elevator as usual, walking into their living room without even looking around. He expected them to be asleep. 

Elle turned her head to him while she sat on the middle of their couch with a bowl of cereal in her hands. She'd been watching some random movie from the channels as she waited for Six to shower in his room. Though, she hasn't showered. She figured she'd do it later since it's still early. She's still in her pajamas from yesterday. 

Her lips slowly tug into a wide, cheery smile. "Morning. You're back!" she exclaims as she's about to get up from the couch to hug him. 

Lloyd whipped his head around to her and his entire face finally relaxed. He walked over to the couch. "Woah, careful. Don't jump on me. You're still healing, sweetheart. I don't want you hurting yourself." he seriously says.

She leans back on the couch and smiles relaxedly. "I love it when you call me that. Even when you weren't so affectionate about it back then. I still loved it." she admits.

He sits beside her and gives her a small smile. His face softens as their eyes meet closely. "Yeah, I don't just call anyone that." Lloyd calmly confesses. 

She frowns, scrunching her nose. "You sure I'm the only one?" she teases.

He rolls his eyes. "Of course you are. There's no one else like you. Literally." 

Elle giggles softly, leaning her arm behind the couch. "Cereal?" she offers him, pointing toward the bowl on her lap.

Lloyd grimaces, shaking his head. "I don't like that one. It's too healthy and unsweet. It has too much nuts and grains and granola and whatever the fuck is in there." he complains. 

She furrows her brows. "What? I thought you liked this one. You bought a dozen of them every time you went to the shops." 

He frowns. "Yeah, because you love them. I stocked our entire cupboard with this shit just for you. You hate normal cereals." Lloyd casually admits. 

"Because they're way too sweet." she quickly responds while staring into his eyes in admiration and shocked. She was never expecting him to do that. It's a small tiny gesture but for someone like Lloyd, it's rare. He'd never willingly do something for someone just because he wants to. He only understands orders and threats. He doesn't do romantic gestures for even the slightest.

Lloyd leans closer to her and studies her face up and down. "You should know by now that I'd do anything for you. Don't be surprised by that, honey." he remarks.

She smiles brightly. "Call me that again."

He cups her face and tips her head up to him. His lips pressed onto hers softly, giving her a quick peck. Her soft skin brushes his harsh stache. "Honey," he murmurs against her lips.

She pulls away from him for an inch to properly look into his eyes. "I wanted to talk to you about something important." She breaks the news.

Lloyd lets out a sigh, not being able to figure out if it's something good or bad. Her face seems unreadable. She's not happy or anxious either. "What is it?" he asks her. 

She turns away from him to place the bowl of cereal on their coffee table as he watches her every movement. She comes back to him, scooting closer while her soft hands find his calloused hands. Her fingers intertwine with his thick fingers before her eyes stare up at him, innocently.

Elle takes a deep breath. "I want to start getting rid of the corruptors. I have to start somewhere anyway, right? The CIA would probably assign me to these kinds of missions in the future. It's better to be experienced for it. I want to do my first with you, Lloyd. You could teach me properly. You could guide me. You could help me more." she finally tells him, a little excited but also feeling a little nervous that he'd reject her. 

Lloyd pauses for a bit, processing all the information at once. He certainly wasn't expecting this at 8 in the morning. He wasn't going to force her or press her more after he told her to think about it during Friday. A lot has happened ever since. He actually thought she was just going to decline it. And he'd be fine with it. It's her decision and he won't try to change it. Even now that she actually decided to do it. He's still going to accept and support it anyway.

His hand squeezes her small ones, gazing at her openly as his eyebrows knit lightly. "I told you already. Whatever you ask me of, I'd do in a fucking heartbeat for you, without any hesitation. You don't even have to ask sometimes. I know what you really want. I know you." Lloyd gently tells her in the softest tone he's ever used before. He's starting to get soft on her. 

Her lips stretch into a smile, nodding. "You do, yeah." she mumbles softly.

He nods. "And, I know you want something right this second," he predicted.

She widens her eyes in surprise as she laughs softly. "Well, yeah. You're right. I need a favor." she admits.

Lloyd's lips curve into a smirk. "Name it, sweetheart. The sky's the fucking limit." 

Her cheeks blushes and her smile grows until her small dimples are showing. "I just need your phone." she requests.

Wordlessly, Lloyd immediately grabbed his phone out of his pants pocket and handed it to her, without any questions asked. 

***

She'd been pacing back and forth on their balcony with Lloyd's phone in her hands. 

None of them have ever even gone in here. It's just an empty balcony. There's no chairs or tables or anything else. They never wanted to go out here mainly because they'd have to hear the sound of traffic and the smell of pollution.

But right now, it's very quiet down there and it just stopped raining. 

She made a plan to call Denny herself, personally. Tell him about her decision. Ask him his strategies and his future plans for her. So that's why she borrowed Lloyd's phone earlier. 

Lloyd and Six are still having breakfast in the kitchen island, having a small casual discussion about her. She's not going to eavesdrop on them, she prefers to focus on what she's about to say after this. It needs to be right. She's never talked to this man personally. 

Finally, she gathers the courage to click on his contacts and her finger accidentally presses the video call option. She curses under her breath and before she could even undo it, the call connects almost immediately. 

Denny would never ignore or delay a call from Lloyd. He's loyal to him that way. He'd cancel any important meeting just to pick up the call from him. It could be important but it also couldn't. It doesn't really matter to him. What matters is he's calling and he'd answer anytime, no matter the time or place. 

The image of Denny shows up on the phone screen and she widens her eyes. He's still in bed sitting up against the headboard, wearing a black tank top as the night lights luminate on him. He's in a hotel somewhere in Berlin, one of the CIA's stations. It's late at night. He was still very much awake when his phone rang. 

He squints his eyes at his phone, to make sure that he's seeing right. He's not seeing Lloyd. He's seeing Elle on his screen, also still in her pajamas as she looks at him, stunned and not sure what to say. 

She stammers nervously. "I—I am so sorry. I didn't know it was going to be a video call. Um, hi, it's Elle. I don't know what time it is there so I'm sorry if I woke you up—" she softly rambles. 

Denny cuts her off. "No, it's fine. I couldn't sleep anyway. How are you feeling?" He quickly asks about her well-being first.

She nods assuringly. "Yeah, I'm better now. I'm all healed up. Thank you for that, by the way. I knew you had something to do with all of it." She thanked him. 

"I couldn't lose my most valuable asset and weapon." Denny formally tells her, sternly. He almost sounds like Lloyd when he's working. 

She smiles politely at him. "I'm sorry for calling all of a sudden like this. I borrowed Lloyd's phone because I needed to talk to you in private." Elle admits to him.

He nods. "I'm all ears." he firmly says.

She clears his throat, looking away for a while. "Right, so, uh, you know that thing that you discussed with Lloyd on Friday? The one about me frying the bigger fish." She refreshes his memory. 

Denny frowns at first, before realizing what she's saying. He clears his throat. "Ah, yes. Well, it's pretty simple. You want to get rid of the corruption easier, so you eliminate the source. This mission will be done sooner than later for all of you." he informs her.

Her eyes stare at him on the screen. "And then, I'll go to Langley to train for the CIA?" she innocently asks him.  

He shakes his head. "No. Not anymore. You're an asset now. You don't want to be an official agent. That way, you'll just be stuck doing missions in the states. Is that what you want?" Denny carefully asks her. 

She stammers again. "I don't… know. I mean, I haven't thought of it. So, if I just stick to being an asset, what's going to happen?" she asks. 

He straightens up and the screen moves a little. "First, you could travel the world whilst doing the missions. And you definitely won't be riding commercials. You'll get paid way more. You'll always be safe and protected. You can choose your missions. If you don't want to do a certain one, just tell me. You'll be valued more because you're my most important asset. I can't ever afford to lose you." Denny explains to her.

She nods. "Right. Because if I keep being an asset, you'll be the one handling me. But if I'm an official agent, I'll answer to someone else?" she confusedly asks him with furrowed brows. 

Denny nods at her. "Yes, exactly. You decide, then." he leaves her to make a decision. 

She hums in approval. "Well, it's an easy answer. I want to be an asset." Elle replies with a proud smile on her lips.

His lips almost stretch into a tiny smile for her. It's been a long time since he's ever smiled for anyone. "That's good to hear, then. When do you want to start your big mission, the one in the city?" he asks her.

She contemplates on it for a while. "Can I take a few days off and then start again next week?" she asks him for something that a foreign asset has never had the privilege to ask before. She didn't know that. She doesn't know how privileged she is. 

He nods without hesitation. "Sure. Of course. Whatever you need." Denny immediately responds before he pauses, "Also, try to get my number from this phone so you could contact me on your own phone. I am curious, though, how did you manage to get Lloyd to hand over his phone to you? He's always so sensitive over his own personal belongings." 

Elle breaks into a small chuckle. "Well, I mean… I just asked him and he gave it to me right away." she innocently answers.

Denny raises his eyebrows in surprise. "Really? Just like that? Well, you must be really precious to him as well, then." he remarks, calmly. 

She stammers confusedly. "Uh, yeah, I guess." she hesitantly says, not sure if she was even allowed to say that. She doesn't know if he knows they're sharing her. She isn't sure she's supposed to tell him that either. 

He sighs, looking over at his nightstand. "Right, well, it's late. For me. So I'm going to bed. We'll be in touch soon. Take care, Elle." Denny ends the conversation.

She nods obediently. "Yeah, you too. Bye." she waves at him before she presses the end call button. The phone screen goes back to the homescreen. 

That was probably the first time he's ever called a foreign asset by their name. In truth, he doesn't just see her as an asset. She's so much more than that to him. She's his strongest and most precious weapon. There is no other weapon like her. He's seen her through surveillance cameras on how she's blown up and destroyed things just with her mind. She has so much more potential to live up to. She just needs to be taught and molded by him. 

Elle thinks nothing of it. She's just glad that he's allowing her to take a few days off after everything. 

***

Sliding the glass door to get back inside the penthouse, she steps into their living room and closes the door behind her.

The men are still sitting beside each other, a cup of coffee in their hands as they snapped their heads to her. 

She walks over to them with no expression. Six frowns, trying to figure her out. Lloyd's face relaxes at the sight of her.

"Did it go okay?" Lloyd asks her, slowly.

She nods, handing him his phone and he just places it on the counter while his eyes are focused on her instead. Like it didn't even matter. She could've found a lot of nasty things on his phone but yet, he gave it to her within a heartbeat. He trusts her. Something that he's never done before with anyone. 

She stands beside Lloyd. "I asked for a few days off." Elle casually replies, her eyes meeting Six.

Six grimaces. "Oh. How did that go?" he carefully asks. 

She blinks confusedly. "What do you mean? He approved it. Why wouldn't he?" 

Lloyd widens his eyes in surprise. "He did?" he asks her. 

Six lifts his eyebrows. "Really?" he asks her, in disbelief.

She nods at both of them before frowning confusedly. "Why are you guys reacting this way?" she innocently asks.  

"Because foreign assets aren't even supposed to take a day off. No matter what happened on the last mission." Lloyd explains to her. He knew the real reason Denny approved of her taking a break. He'd do anything for her.

She knits her eyebrows lightly before tilting her head to the side. "Well, maybe he just felt bad for me? I'm sure no one's gone through the same thing I did yesterday and still lives." she assumes, looking at the bright side a little. She hasn't suspected a thing.

Six simply nods, remembering what Lloyd had told him last night in bed. She shouldn't have to know that he has some fucked-up crush on her. They'll just keep her in the dark on this one, for her own sake. Lloyd nods as well, humming to assure her. 

"Yeah, you might be right." Lloyd mumbles.

She chuckles. "I am right." she remarks while walking towards the kitchen counter which is right in front of the guys. 

She stops by at the fridge, quickly taking a cold water bottle from their water stock. They buy more than a dozen of these almost everyday because tap water isn't clean in this country — they didn't know that before and she laughed at their faces when they first tried to drink the tap water. 

Her eyes stare down at the bottle before casually flicking the cap off with her mind. The plastic cap falls to the ground. The guys aren't even fazed by that anymore. They've seen her do this a couple of times when she's too lazy to open it herself. 

She goes to stand behind the counter while she tips her head up as she gulps the water. She places the bottle down after drinking half of it. Resting her hands on her hips, she glances at both of them. They both look up at her in sync.

She clears her throat. "So, I think I'm going back to my house for a while. Not to stay in though, just sometimes visiting. Maybe we could stay there some nights when we don't have a mission. It'll be like a little escape. I know I said I'd say goodbye to my old life but it's just… it's been more than three weeks that I haven't been there and I feel bad. My dogs probably miss me already." she truthfully tells them.

Six simply nods, understanding her completely. He'll always support her. He'd never question her or doubt her. She is always right in his eyes. She can never do any wrong. She is a saint to him. Pure. Kind-hearted. Gentle. The most beautiful thing on earth. He feels lucky just to get to be in her presence. To sleep with her. To enjoy her. To get taken care of by her. To get touched by her. To get kissed by her soft, beautiful lips. To have her smile at him like he's the best thing that happened to her — he is. 

"It's okay to miss home, Elle. It's not a crime. We'll be glad to stay with you there. It's only ten minutes away. We have a car for a reason." Lloyd assures her, softly.

Her lips tug into a smile for both of them as her hands come down to rest on the counter. "Thank you. And, it's not really my home. You guys are my home. A place doesn't just make a home, the people inside of it do." she says, happily and her words just made both of them realize something. 

"You're right." Six says out loud, with the most gentle tone possible. A warm smile slowly touches his lips. He'd never smile for anyone like this. This is a real smile. Natural. Genuine. She's the only reason he ever truly actually smiles. And he means it. She is right. He's never had an actual home before that was safe and comfortable enough. He actually trusts the people he lives with now. 

Lloyd's blue eyes gazes at her openly and she stares directly into his eyes from their fair distance. They keep their eye contact for a while and she catches a look from him. She finally notices how he's been looking at her this whole time as her lips part in realization. He's never looked at anyone like he looked at her. It's like he changes his entire facial expression whenever he looks at her. It's so different from him. Distinct. Dissimilar. He doesn't even realize how he's looking at her sometimes. He's too busy admiring her to notice. 

His whole face changes into something soft and delicate for her and it brings her comfort to know that he has gone soft for her. His eyebrows knit lightly, paying more attention to her. His eyes only focus on her and nothing else as he quietly looks up and down her face to observe her beauty. He studies her bare, sleepyhead face and her slightly messy hair. He doesn't mind it. He'd give anything to see her every morning like this. It'd be much better if he could see it in his own bed for once. But he'll wait. He'll be patient. Just for her. 

He subtly nods, his eyes softening for her and she catches it again. "You are right about always being right, honey." Lloyd admits as a small sincere smile creeps up on his lips. She breaks into a soft giggle at her official favorite nickname from him. He's grateful that he finally has a home with someone he wants.

Home was a luxury they couldn't have before. They each were always moving from one safehouse to another within a few days. Nothing was ever constant. Danger always followed them. They never had anyone else beside themselves. It was consuming and painful. 

This isn't exactly a home because it is technically sort-of a safehouse as well but it's the closest they'll ever get to it. They have her. She's their home. Their only one. They'd go anywhere with her and it'd still feel like home. 

[honestmouse20]

I am Back from vacation! Thought on new ninjago season under the cut :)

First off, I just wanna say that I watched it at 6am in my hotel room with headphones while my friend slept next to me lol. So I watched it all again yesterday too. Turns out I'd missed a Lot.

I really loved the pacing in this! Each character to me felt like they all had something to do and it all went towards the plot. Wildfyre learned to slow down and let herself heal, Kai and Nya both learned the paitence and tecnique to do Rising Dragon. Lloyd OFC got a Lot to do with his visions and panic attacks! I really liked how they handled his mental health in this one. Cole being back didn't feel forced! he was there bc Bonzal was essential to Ras' plan. Sora got a ton of development and I do wonder if they'll have her learn spinjitzu in part 2. And of course, Arin. Boy is Going Through it. It's a nice parallel to Lloyd also having a rough time. While Lloyd is haunted by possible futures, Arin is terrified of not being Good Enough to contribute to the team Or to make his parents proud.

This post would be hella long if i rambled about everything i loved in this season But I wanna highlight Some of my favs!

Cole and Geo Constantly holding hands and leaning on eachother (and geo's flashback to s1 being changed so they're holidng hands More)

Bonzle's whole arc and how she's a person now! Hella trans implications and also just a really sweet story when they show that she Does have agency and her creator Does recongnize and care for her

Sora and Arin's dymanic continues to be Really Good! I like how the initial excitement for being a ninja has worn off and they're starting to struggle.

Speaking of Arin, I stg that scene of him and Ras fighitng in the last couple episodes makes me think we're gonna get a dark Arin arc. Maybe he won't Stay evil (I don't want him to be a villan but they Could go that way if they want) but seeing Lloyd's reaction to his student turning sides would be very angsty and Very good

Also Lloyd in this was So good! Even tho he's trying very hard to be a Master and the keeper of the monastary, he's struggling and these visions are only making it harder on him. I'm sure we havn't seen the end of these visions and I'm sorta hoping they'll come to some big breaking point for him in part 2. Where he'll have to drag himself back up and Never Quit despite everything falling apart just like the visions said it would

Once again this show made me like kai again lol. HIs relationship with Nya and Wildfyre is So good and you really can see the similarities in how he interacts with them!

lloyd's power confirmed to be life????

why is no one talking abobut that ? did i read it wrong???

Onto some things i didn't Quite like but definatly didn't hate!

Ras' master is like 90 percent gonna be the Overlord. I'm aprehensive on this bc he's not really my favorite villan. Plus like he was Just the villan in crystalized so i feel like it's too soon for him to come back. once again gonna give this show the benefit of the doubt bc they've done a lto of stuff Really Really well. I'm just sorta hoping it's Not the overlord. Plus the powers were golden and that's Not the overlord's colors

what is timeline?????

i thought the shorts were two years after s1 and that s2 was gonna be between the shorts and s1???? but now the shorts are at the Beginning of the season and ryu is a teenage dragon? how long has passed? If it's been a couple years since season 1, it's a little less believable that arin and sora havn't progressed much fruther in their training. also no one Acts like it's been years?? But if it's Not a couple of years and Ryu just Grew up like that it's still a bit iffy. Ik they probably won't tell us exact times but I hope it's implied or Something bc im hella confused

so, tldr: This half of the season was Fantastic! From the animation being Incredible and the relationships between the characters being super interesting and realistic, this season was a ride from start to finish! I'm excited, and a bit scared, to see what part 2 brings!

[maxwell-grant]

You have done an (excelent) post on how to reinvent Batman as a Pulp Hero. Do you think you could do one to Superman as well? Or do you think it is impossible to do this with the progenitor of the Super Hero genre without transforming him in a totaly diferent character?

Well, you saying it as impossible only makes it seem ever more tempting of a challenge, but yes, it is a bit harder. I'm gonna link my Batman post here as a reference point.

Partially because Batman's a franchise I've thought extensively about for a long time in regards to what I like about it or how I'd like to approach if given the opportunity, which is not something I can really say for Superman until more recently the Big Blue to start orbiting my brain. I don't have years worth of redesigns or fan concepts saved on my galleries and files to comb through to pick and choose here, and my experience with Superman as a character is considerably different, in some aspects more deeply personal, and not really something I'd like to go into in this blog, at least not now.

Part of the reason why it's harder is also because Batman and Superman have very different relationships with their pulp inspirations. Batman was, ostensibly, a pulp character adapted to comics, a dime-a-dozen Shadow knock-off who picked up and played up diverging traits from other characters and gradually ran with them to gradually forge a unique identity. Superman right from the start was rooted in a much stronger conceptual underpinning: the Sci-Fi Superman and Alien Menace who, instead of being a tragic monster or a tyrannical villain, becomes a costumed adventurer and social crusader. Even the name Super-Man was taken from an early story of Siegel and Shuster about a telepathic villain who ends the story lamenting that he should have used his powers for the good of mankind instead of selfishness. I hesitate to call what Siegel and Shuster were doing “subversive” because that term's picked up a real negative connotation, and it's not like Siegel and Shuster were out to upend their influences (they were pulp aficionados themselves), but rather putting a more positive, new spin on them.

Which is why it also becomes a bit harder to do what I did with Batman and align Superman with some of his pulp-esque inspirations, like John Carter, Flash Gordon or Hugo Danner, without just making it "Superman but he's John Carter", "Superman but it's Flash Gordon", and "Iron Munro / Superman but everything sucks" respectively. It's harder to create a character that wouldn't feel reduntant and derivative at best, and actively contradictory to Superman at worst.

I guess if I had to come up with a "Pulp Hero Superman" take I liked, well first of all I'd have to take steps to distance it from the likes of Tom Strong or Al Ewing's Doc Thunder, those two are as good as it gets in regards to Pulp Supermen. I stipulated for Batman a "No Guns, No Murder, No Service" policy partially to distance my takes on Batman from all the "Pulp Batmen" that just add guns and murder and take Batman back to the barest of basics. Likewise, I'm adding a "No Depowered Science Hero" rule here, which means it's a take that's likely going to veer off a lot more into fantasy and probably enough tampering with Clark's character that it does risk becoming a different character.

Frankly I don't think I'm gonna succeed at doing these without just making it a new character entirely, because with Batman you can get away with just upending the character's aesthetic and setting and even origin and still keep it recognizably Bruce Wayne (in fact Batman does that all the time), which isn't really the case with Superman, who needs those to remain recognizably Superman as he goes through internal changes and character shifts. I guess what I'm gonna do here is more taking the building blocks of Superman/Clark Kent and see a couple new ways I can rearrange them to create a Pulp Superman

Perhaps something we can do is to scale back or recontextualize the "superhero" parts without diminishing Superman's role as a superpowered fantasy character.

One way we can start is by picking on that connection between Superman and the sci-fi supermen/alien monsters of pulps I mentioned earlier and play it up further, to create a Superman who's deeply, deeply alien in a way that no mild-mannered disguise or colorful outfit can really disguise, something so dramatically powerful and alien, that instead you could get tales about the kinds of ensuing changes and ripple effects this has on the world upon the The Super-Man's arrival. And for that I'm gonna have to quote @davidmann95's concept for Joshua Viers' absolutely stunning Superman redesign on the left side of the image above

The red, the goldish-orange and white, the alienness, the angelic, sculpted feeling, the halo, that innocently curious expression: it’s genuinely beautiful. Superman as a redeeming science-angel from beyond our understanding, as much past the uncanny valley of limited human comprehension as a Lovecraftian monster but tuned to the opposite key - you could spend an endless procession of human lifetimes trying and failing to understand this being, but all you’ll ever know for sure is that it is beyond you, and it knows you, and it loves you.

Superdoomsday from Earth 45, healed and transformed into the savior it was originally envisioned as? Some descendant of his, or a future of the man himself? An alien who picked up on a broadcast of Superman from Earth, and so inspired reshaped itself in his image to spread his ‘gospel’ to the stars?

Alternatively, to come back to Earth a little, many, many pulp characters and series were built off the antics and personalities of real people, celebrities getting their own magazines or serials or fictionalized takes on them, so perhaps one way to make a "pulp" take on Superman would be to emphasize a bit more of Superman's real-world roots, trends that inspired his creation directly or indirectly at the time. The Jewish strongman Sigmund Breibart and Shuster's interest in fitness culture, Harold Lloyd's comic persona, the rising "strongman" film genre in the early 20th century, actors Clark Gable and Kent Taylor that supposedly named his secret identity, Clark Kent being a socially-awkward journalist based of Siegel's own school experiences.

Maybe one start to an authentic Pulp Superman, who would still be Superman, would be to just ask the question "What if Superman was a real person and/or a celebrity, and they started making pulp magazines and serials dedicated to him? What would those look like?". You wouldn't even have to restrict it to just a story set in the 1930s, in fact you could even play around with the rise of new mediums over the decades.

This third one is a little closer to some plans I have for my own take on a Superman character, not necessarily what I would do with Superman proper but one of my ideas for a Superman analogue. Superman's a character I'll always associate strongly with childhood and childhood fantasy, and to tap into that I would emphasize the other end of the fiction that influenced Siegel and Shuster: comic strips, in their case specifically Little Nemo and Popeye.

In my case I would bring additional influences from some of the comic strips I personally grew up reading like Monica's Gang and Calvin and Hobbes, and I already talked a bit about Captain Fray in terms of how he’s a Superman character despite being a villain. I guess you could call this one "What if Superman was a public domain comic strip character, stripped of the importance of being the founding figure of a super popular genre or extended universe, and also was kind of ugly?".

He's not "Sloth from the Goonies" ugly, I swear I didn't actually have Sloth in mind when typing out this idea, I've never watched that film nor did I know until now that he actually spends the film in a Superman shirt. That's not really what I'm going for. Visually I was thinking of modeling my take on Superman heavily after Hugo from Street Fighter and his inspiration Andre the Giant, to really emphasize the “circus strongman / freak wrestler” aspect of Superman’s inspiration, particularly in regards to how Hugo’s SFIII version strikes a really great balance in making Hugo ugly and both comedic and fearsome in battle, as well as lovable and even a little dopey (without being outright stupid, like his IV self) in his victory animations and endings.

He's still Superman, he still goes on fantastical adventures to help people, he's still a deeply loving and compassionate soul whose face beams with joy and affection and who's got wonderful eyes and a great smile. It's just that this smile has a couple of mismatched stick-out teeth or some missing ones, and he's got a crooked smile some people take as smug or malicious, he’s got a strongman’s gut instead of a bodybuilder’s abs, his nose is a little busted (maybe he’s had too many crash landings), and his hair is a little wild or greasy, and he doesn't exactly have very good people skills because of how others usually react to him and, y'know, he doesn't get the kind of publicity Superman would get despite doing ostensibly the same things. He’s not deformed, he’s incredibly intelligent and capable, but in comparison to how superheroes are usually allowed to look, he might as well be Bizarro in the public eye.

It becomes a running gag that people tend to assume some nearby fireman or cop was the one who rescued the hundred orphans out of a burning building single-handedly, meanwhile he's getting accosted off-panel by police officers who think he set the building on fire, or think they can bully this weird man dressed funny. He goes to rescue old people in peril and occasionally they yell at him that they don't have any money. He doesn't get asked to lead superhero meetings or teams even though many in the community advocate for just how much he does for the world, he gets censored out of tv broadcasts or group shots (even his face is sometimes pixelated when they do show him), people invite him on talk shows and don't really let him talk or assume they got the wrong guy. He goes to rescue a woman dangling off a building, and then he gets attacked by like three different superhero teams who assume he must have kidnapped the poor damsel. He was the first superhero, he is the strongest of them all still, but he never really gets credit for it, it nor does he even want to. None of this at all stops him or deters him, except for some occasionally funny reactions.

This never really changes for him, he doesn't really earn people's approval nor does he have to, instead the stories, outside of the gags and adventures you’d expect from a comic strip, veer more towards others learning to be less judgmental and him learning ways to better approach people. He isn't any lesser than Superman just because he doesn't look like most people would want him to look and he doesn't have to look like Superman. Really I think we could use more superheroes that don’t look all so uniformly pretty.

Again, probably not a take that would work for Clark proper, but it’s one way I would take a shot at doing Superman with my own

I have other stuff in the works for this character but I'd like to keep them to better work on them for now, but yeah, these are three of my shots at developing a Pulp Superman.

Alternatively here's a fourth idea that's more pulp than all of these: Join up Nicholas Cage with Panos Cosmatos again, or whatever weird indie director he decides to pair up with next, and let them do whatever the hell they want with Superman. Give us Mandy Superman. Superman vs The Color Out of Space. Superman vs Five Nights at Freddy's. Superman’s quest to find THE LAST PIG OF KRYPTON. Anything goes.

[nonbinarykai]

Okay you know what, I’ve held this back far enough

Why I hate canon Kailor sm

Tw:// misogyny ment, incest ment

Im not gonna tag Kailor on this for obvious reasons plus this is kinda a long post, I don’t mind fanon Kailor mostly because tbh I don’t think it’s really a big thing and most I have seen of it is fine. Don’t read this if you like Kailor and don’t want to hear it bashed

Okay listen, s4 is my favorite season out of all ninjago, but if theres one thing I hate about it the most is Kailor. This ship has always been really annoying to me throughout the show, and I’ve hinted towards that in my blog. But why?

1. It’s basically jaya redone

Kailor brings nothing new or interesting to the table because honestly? It’s literally just the same dynamic as jaya. Socially awkward guy simps for usually unimpressed girl until she eventually caves in and they start dating.

Not only has this already been done before with jaya, but is also completely out of character for Kai to do.

While I admit seeing Kai as a flustered dork is kinda funny, once you realize the context of the situation that they’re in it’s pretty clear that Kai would never actually do this.

Reminder: Kai JUST found out his dead friend is alive and is forced to recognsizle with friends in order to get him back

Usually when Kai is presented in a situation like this, what he normally does is set himself dead first on the task at hand and usually ignores any distractions. He’s mostly distance and seemingly uncaring

((note this is after Zane died and Kai ran away from the ninja because of cole and jays bickering, knowing him he wouldn’t be the most excited to be back. His arc should have revolved around coming to terms with lost friendships due to death or distance but that never happens)).

What Kai DOESNT do is immediately fall head over heels for a girl he JUST meet to the point where even when he sees his DEAD FRIEND ALIVE AND WELL he completely ignores that for a girl he meet less then a week ago

This is something JAY would do, not KAI, Kai is a loyal friend who do anything to save his friends, he cherishes them and would fight god to help them with anything they need, he doesn’t forget them for someone new

It also does skylor unjustice as well, but we’ll get there when we get there

2. It adds nothing to the characters and is otherwise never mention again

You know how bad you fuck up a relationship if the best aspect of it is how it’s rarely on screen

Even considering the fact Kailor is just jayas dynamic, the connection between skylor and Kai feels completely non existent or one sided

Most of Kailor revolves around Kai simping for skylor

They have no common interests, common goals, they rarely actually talk outside of lloyds plan to overthrow chen

The whole relationship feels forced every time it’s brought up because of how disconnected they both are to eachother, Kai only likes skylor because she’s hot and that’s it, nothing else about her is actually interesting to Kai in anyway ((again sort out of character for him in this situation))

Skylor and Kai don’t form any genuine bond with eachother, it feels hallow and empty

Let’s compare this to lava, wait no that would be to easy, let’s compare this to pixane

Pixal and Zane both genuinely like and respect eachother, they both share bonds outside of being robots, they both care about eachother enough to know when they’re uncomfortable or need help

Kailor is barely mentioned past s4 and most of it in s4 is Kai being a creep

Oh yeah let’s get to that

3. It’s really really creepy

Im sorry I don’t find incest jokes funny ninjago, it’s just really uncomfortable and creepy

Hopefully this goes without saying but Kai thinking skylor is hot, figuring out they might be related and no longer finding her hot, and then finding out they aren’t and thinking she’s hot is really weird and creepy

Not to mention scenes like, Kai looking into her room without her knowledge or consent

Or Kai fighting people for her when it’s not necessary

Or him trying to impress her everytime he sees her

This isn’t cute or funny, it’s gross, privacy invading, and overall just very creepy and uncomfortable and most definitely not healthy

Again, this is REALLY out of character for Kai, Kai knows when to back off and respect people’s privacy

Literally the season before this he didn’t get involved in the love triangle probably because he knew that would make Nya’s situation worse

So for him to suddenly become this privacy evading perv is so grossly out of character for him and makes the whole relationship feel off and unhealthy

And finally

4. The whole thing is misogynistic

During this entire thing skylor doesn’t get a choice in the show once, she follows the commands of her dad before Kai tells her not to like her dad and follows his lead.

She doesn’t come to disliking her dad by her own thought, she was told to by Kai

She doesn’t get to do anything that SHE actually wants to do until LITERALLY the VERY END

She’s told by guys around her what she should do constantly, even without her being a love interest that’s just screams misogynistic to me ((Afab speaking anyways))

Everything about her character, down to the way she talks, who she’s allied with, and even sometimes how she looks is determined by male characters

Conclusion

If canon ships were shrek movies then kailor is easily shrek the third, a constant tired unfunny mess that caused everyone to think that these ships were shit ((to be fair Jaya is kinda bad to but at least it tired to get better))

There’s nothing redeeming about it to me, every time it’s viewed in a romantic setting it makes me groan or upset

What’s even more frustrating is how people constantly say lava can’t be canon because of it

Im going to go on a side tangent so you can just skip this part as it doesn’t add any actual substance to my argument

But it’s so frustrating to see people say that

Cole and Kai have had a much healthier relationship and would be a lot better for there characters

But no, this stupid misogynistic creepy ship where one side isn’t even consententing to it half the time is the one that has to stay canon because “it’s what the creators intended”

Lava isn’t the superior possibly canon relationship because it’s gay, it’s superior because it’s closer to a healthy working relationship in show then kailor has been ((fanon lava and kailor doesn’t count here because they’re isn’t any better fanon ship, Im just talking about in show))

But no it can’t be canon and it’s unfair for people to want it to be canon because tommy created this rlly shitty straight relationship for Kai instead

TLDR; fuck kailor

[mx-julien]

i didn't think of Zane as the the group strategist until Seabound, when everyone began asking him for advice. and honestly? i love it.

it makes a lot of sense, since he has access to a lot of files and algorithms, not to mention data on the other ninja. he's also (probably) less likely to be biased in decision-making, though we know he's prone to curiosity streaks [ref: kept original Prime Empire hard drive just to study it, ran off into the woods because he saw a falcon dancing, and is always the one to read the wall writing(twice! in the cave of the constrictai when he was pink and in aspheera's tomb)] and tends to volunteer to be sacrificed when he knows it's logistically sound [ref: end of rebooted, giant beetle's stomach, and being transported by aspheera]. however, he's knowledgeable, good at it, and doesn't have a ridiculous sense of pride.

he and Lloyd work well together, too. they're both relatively level-headed and they even out each other's faults

Zane is bad at explaining what on earth his crazy plans are (ref: tick tock (kind of?), finale of rebooted, and infiltrating the SoG) and Lloyd likes to lay everything out beforehand

Lloyd is pretty bad at judging people's trustworthiness and Zane is pretty ok at it (but this is relative to Lloyd, so it's not like that's difficult; ref: thinking that he could just use slitheraa (the old hypnobrai leader) and that no one would usurp him, befriending Pythor, misako in general, thinking Chen would let them get Zane back, attempting to form an alliance of all the elemental masters when they're literally competing against each other, krux, harumi, clutch powers, kind of by Akita b/c he thought she was a wolf and just ended up ranting to her, and assuming vania was evil, so pretty much every season - god bless him, he needs a break)

Zane is prone to just running off, whereas Lloyd always tries to keep everyone together (ref: running away to see the falcon, in tick tock when he just lets the others stay behind when they promise to catch up, after rebooted when Lloyd is literally the only person keeping them together, infiltrating the SoG, using the scroll of forbidden spinjitzu)

Zane's also, just in general, easy to get along with (not to say that Lloyd isn't it's just that the others are leas agreeable with him on average), so the other ninja usually don't argue with him like they do with each other

don't mind me i'm just thinking of group meetings with Z and L at the front and asking the others to chime in as needed. wu pours people's tea but doesn't get up because he's an old man. kai picks fights with people but lovingly and we allow it because he's the dark horse strategist who just randomly comes up with amazing plans. jay is invention and materials and ideas person and will randomly add coffee shops and bakeries to their routes because somehow he's the only one who remembers that they'll need water and food and access to restrooms. pixal does software and understands data transfer scarily well, plus she can generally see through bs reasoning that might fool the others. nya is very good at machines and can pretty much design and build you anything; with her, jay, and pixal on the job they can get practically anything done in 24 hours. cole is arts specialist and knows random local things, in addition to being better versed in human emotions. i'm convinced that Wu knows more than he lets on, but just keeps it to himself for better or worse.

woah i'm going to have to write something on this later because if this idea was a bug, then it just bit me

EDIT: I did!

[vortexbeyondthestars]

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

under read more cus its kinda long lmao

some background first…

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

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

he didn’t want a repeat of the overlord.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

the first bending master dies.

lloyd is born almost right after.

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

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

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

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

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

garmadon, face falling: why are you here?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

garmadon: *laughs* are you threatening me?

wu: i am.

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

wu: very well.

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

wu, sadly: no. you aren’t.

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

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

ninjago is saved.

or so he thinks.

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

meanwhile, everything is going good.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

and lloyd firebends.

cue shock and horror and anger from all sides.

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

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

[itsthenovelteafactor]

Vanya and the Phantom

I asked and y’all answered (special thanks to @schizoidwire and @the-aro-ace-arrow-ace  and all the people who responded to my earlier post for encouraging me!), so it is time for how The Phantom of the Opera song introduction can be read as a look into Vanya’s self-narrative and also foreshadows future events in a really subtle and interesting way. 

I’m channeling my inner Elliot and going into full conspiracy mode. This is gonna be a long one, y’all. 

Part One: In Which I Expose Myself as a Former Theater Kid

So, for those who aren’t familiar with The Phantom of the Opera, it was originally a novel by French writer Gaston Leroux back in 1909. In 1986, Andrew Lloyd Webber rewrote it as a musical. For purposes of my analysis here, I am just going to be discussing the musical because 1) the score used in the opening scene is from it and 2) I’ve never read the book. (If anyone out there has read the book and wants to weigh in, please do!) 

It’s a very aesthetic show, and draws on a lot of gothic themes and imagery. The plot follows an opera house, and specifically a young chorus girl named Christine Daaé. I’m not going to explain the whole show plot in detail because wikipedia exists, but I will do a quick overview here and point out some things as they relate to things I’ll be discussing later. Also there will be a test after and it will NOT be multiple choice.

The show begins when the opera house is sold to new owners who 1) just want to make money and 2) do not respect the opera house’s resident ghost (who isn’t really a ghost, but we’ll get to that later.) When the Phantom makes his presence known, and freaks out the resident prima donna singer (who will be relevant later) Carlotta, who says she won’t sing under these conditions. It is then that Christine appears. She’s quiet and humble and has always lived in the background, but is incredibly talented. The woman who runs the chorus (also owner of the opera house’s resident braincell) suggests Christine sing the part. She does, and is amazing. Everyone is blown away, and she’s catapulted into instant fame and success. 

We later learn that Christine has been studying under the Phantom, who appears to her in mirrors. She calls him the Angel of Music, and thinks that he was sent to teach her by her recently deceased father. He isn’t. He’s actually pretty malicious, and is obsessed with Christine, wants to control her voice, and doesn’t like her dating anyone. Which is a bit awkward when her childhood friend shows up and promptly falls in love with her. 

Anyways, Carlotta is jealous of the attention Christine has been getting and threatens to leave prompting the new owners to cut Christine from the program. The Phantom doesn’t like it at all, sends a bunch of letters, things escalate, people are murdered, and the whole first act ends with the chandelier falling from the ceiling and crashing onto the stage (which is done with really cool effects, oftentimes beginning the show hanging over the audience. It’s a BIG MOMENT and one of the most iconic ones from the show. This will also be relevant later.)

Act two takes place a few months later, wherein no one has seen the Phantom. Shock of all shocks, though, he’s not dead. He’s been writing an opera and he wants Christine to star in it. More stuff happens, you learn the backstory of the Phantom (which is pretty sad, ngl, but in no way makes him less of a creep) and the story ends with the Phantom kidnapping Christine and giving her an ultimatum: stay with him forever, or he kills Raoul (aka childhood friend/romantic interest guy). She agrees to stay with him and he’s so moved by her compassion that he lets them both go and disappears forever. 

Part Two: Casting the Characters

That’s interesting, Rosie (note sarcasm) but you said this was about The Umbrella Academy? I did, in fact. So, we meet Vanya when she’s playing a medley of songs from The Phantom of the Opera. Since it’s primarily the melodies and not one of the orchestral pieces from her performance later (I don’t think), we can assume she’s just playing it for herself (which is nice! good on you, Vanya). 

Maybe she’s never seen the play and just likes the score, but for purposes here, let’s assume she’s familiar with it. 

You can tell a lot about a person by the stories they connect with (for example, I like TUA because I like fun sibling dynamics, found family, music, and being sad). And I think that it makes sense that The Phantom of the Opera would be a story that resonates with Vanya. The overlooked chorus girl finds power in music, and, after years in the background, is finally given a chance to show how special she is. 

So, yeah. I don’t think it’s outside the realm of possibility that Vanya sees herself as Christine. There are some discrepancies, sure, but this is Vanya’s self-narrative, which we learn pretty much immediately is unreliable. (Love her, but it’s true.) And if Vanya is Christine, then we can try and tap into her perspective to look at some other characters. 

Anyways remember Carlotta (the prima donna opera singer who always got the spotlight and tried to destroy everything good that happened to Christine because she felt threatened that someone might be as good/better than her whose entire personality and role in the story I just summarized, rendering my plot recap useless)? Carlotta is how Vanya views Allison. (Kind of all her siblings, but her relationship with Allison is the most important here.)

Think about the scene in the cabin? 

“You couldn’t risk me threatening your place in the house! You couldn’t handle the fact that Dad might find me special!” - Vanya, having a mental breakdown.

This always struck me as an interesting accusation to throw, since prior to this moment, I don’t think there was any indication that Allison had ever felt threatened by Vanya. She excluded her, sure, and wasn’t super friendly at times, but the idea that Allison has been pulling strings to keep Vanya out of her spotlight is new. But that is exactly the role Carlotta plays in Phantom. 

Fun fact! At one point in the musical, the Phantom enchants Carlotta so that she loses her voice right before coming on stage. 

Part Three: The Phantom of the Opera is there

So based on everything I’ve said so far, the most straightforward reading is then, that Leonard Peabody/Harold Jenkins (who for purposes here I’ll call Leonard) is the stand in for the Phantom, which works... really well. Both in helping to understand Vanya and also because it foreshadows the twist of season one in a really cool way.

So, the Phantom appears to Christine first not as an enemy, but as a friend and teacher, who encourages her to be more confident in her abilities. He trains her to develop her singing ability. While the teacher-student dynamic is actually inverted initially with Vanya and Leonard, from the get go, he is showering her with compliments, encouraging her to be confident in her abilities, and, at least on the surface, supporting her in a way she hasn’t been supported before (he’s a trash human but an expert manipulator). 

But, in the play, the Phantom is also very possessive over Christine and her power (er, I mean voice). He also is perfectly willing to kill and/or hurt people who he views as standing in the way of Christine and her success (see the aforementioned Carlotta incident). Which is exactly what Leonard does to Vanya. He kills the first chair violinist to help her get it, and orchestrates a whole master plan to get her to reveal her powers on his terms. 

Even the part where he starts “training” her to use her powers kind of resembles the second act of the play. The Phantom wrote a play for Christine and she’s going to star in it, whether she wants to or not. 

(One could even make the argument of the parallels between Christine believing the Phantom was sent by her father to teach her and Leonard showing up because of his revenge scheme against Vanya’s father, but I honestly don’t have much support for that.) 

Part Three: Two Conflicting Narratives

So, as you might’ve noticed, I sort of have two different threads of analysis going on right now. 1) The Phantom of the Opera parallel is part of Vanya’s self-narrative and in it she mischaracterizes Allison, making her more suspicious of her motivations and 2) Leonard Peabody is clearly the Phantom and doesn’t bother being subtle about it. I hope that I’ve been convincing (or at least intriguing) for you to get to this point, because here is where they come together.

Vanya has this parallel going, but she doesn’t see Leonard as the Phantom. In the beginning at least, he’s her Raoul. If I had to guess, I’d say Reginald Hargreeves is the Phantom in Vanya’s self-narrative (says he’ll train her but wants to manipulate her and keep her locked away for himself, strict teacher who doesn’t really care about her well being, wearing a mask to appear more normal/human... she wouldn’t exactly be wrong). Leonard, on the other hand, is Vanya’s supporter. He validates her, and believes in her, and taker her side when Carlotta and the opera house owners (er, the rest of the Hargreeves children) gang up on her and conspire to keep her out. 

This is all building to, of course, the final confrontation. The Phantom says Christine has to pick one or the other. When Allison comes to talk to Vanya, Vanya feels as if she’s been given an ultimatum and lashes out.

And that’s where everything (including this parallel) starts to crumble. 

(I honestly don’t know a lot about the other characters and how they fit in. I suppose we could have Five = Raoul if we ignore romance plot and focus on the childhood friend that hasn’t been seen in a while angle? And maybe also Pogo = Madame Giry. Vanya doesn’t really have any friends to be Meg.) 

Part Four: It’s All About the Moon

So that is kind of the gist of The Phantom of the Opera as a window into Vanya’s self-narrative theory, but there are a couple of other loosely related ideas I thought I might as well bring up since this thing is already ridiculously long. 

Remember how I mentioned the chandelier is like, THE scene from The Phantom of the Opera back in part one, and said it’d be relevant later? Bringing that back now, because I’m going to pull a Luther and connect everything to the moon. 

So, to get the obvious out of the way, the moon exploding and the chandelier coming crashing to the stage are similar because something falls, breaks into a bunch of pieces, destroys a bunch of stuff, and creates a powerful and memorable image to close off before an act/season break (the next installment of which begins with a time jump). 

Additionally, it’s worth mentioning that The Phantom of the Opera is told out of order. The opening scene shows a grown up Raoul at an auction for the items left behind after the opera house closes, and it switches to the past as the remains of the chandelier rise upwards to the ceiling, Phantom’s theme swelling (it’s a really cool moment, tbh). Following the prologue of The Umbrella Academy, we switch to the present with two images: Vanya alone on the stage, and then Luther alone on the moon. Which has a kind of symmetry that might mean nothing, but is still kind of cool. 

(Also the item that Raoul buys from the auction is a music box with a monkey crashing symbols on top of it. Which might mean nothing.) 

Part Five: How is she STILL talking about this? (AKA Conclusion)

To be honest, this is more a very tangled “things I noticed and thought were interesting” discussion than a formal essay with any clear thesis. While there is a chance that this was all coincidental and I’ve gone full Pepe Sylvia, the music selection in The Umbrella Academy is one of the things that they seem to be really deliberate about. 

I would love to chat with anyone about this theory, so feel free to reach out in the notes or message me! My inbox is always open. Much love, and thank you for reading, if you got this far! ❤️

[purplerose244]

Thoughts journal Ninjago season 13!! 🖤🖤 (4/4)

Here we are, at the end of just another season of Ninjago! And I've gotta say, until now it has been very good, I think I'm liking this season better than Prime Empire and Secrets of the Forbidden Spinjitzu. I liked them too, but this one feels more complete and deep, also LILLY GOT A BACKSTORY HECK YEAH 😍😍

Prime Empire had one really great ending, so I'm very curious how this season will conclude! Spinjitzu burst? Some last minute plot twist? Cole and Vania confirmed...? 🙄

Here we go!!

THE DARKEST HOUR

So I'm guessing the guys aren't doing too good at the moment 😅

I know this is kind of a tense situation, but honestly Kai looking so confused at having to lead cracks me up 😂 "Do I have to say it? Is that what being in charge means?"

Lloyd: YOU

Jay: SHALL

Kai: NOT

Zane: BE GRANTED THE PERMISSION TO TRAVERSE BEYOND THIS POINT

I have no words, that was such an obvious reference in full Zane style so in character, I have tears. Beautiful 🤣🤣

Also they all look SO COOL 💚💙❤🤍

My ninja babies fighting together screaming NINJA-GOO!! Really this season feels like we're back in the old days, so cool! And they are so in sync, Kai lifting Lloyd up and Zane pushing others away and I LOVE THE FIGHTING ANIMATIONS 🤩

Poor Skull dude, he's trying to do his big bad guy monologue and he keeps getting interrupted 😂

It was cute that both tribes immediately refused to surrender, not sure if it was for pride or they actually care about their new ninja friends, but it was nice

Aahh, near death life experiences, the best way to elicit teamwork 👍 Nice scene, nice cute scene

Nnnnnyyyggg, Lloyd, that's the sacrifice look right there 😱 At least they just turned themselves in peacefully after reuniting the tribes... aaand of course he was lying, I hate that Skull dude 👿👿

THE ASCENT

Back to team Cole! Back to the Upply! 🖤 Quick guys, we're only three episodes left!! NEED TO GO BIG!!

Heeeeeyy, Wu back in business! I kinda missed him a bit taking control of the situation, it used to be him because he was the master. It really is a jump into the past this season! 🤩🤩

Sure let's go with the explosive cart, not like Cole and the other ninja haven't been piloting a falling apart rocket back to Earth before 🤷‍♀️

A Mech on rolleskates, why not? Does Cole even know how to go on those though? He was already out of the Tournament of Elements during Chen's Thunder Blade so I don't really know...

Lolz the monster was actually waiting staring at the wall, guess you don't get much fun in this mine 😅

COOL FIGHTING SEQUENCE COOL FIGHTING SEQUENCE COOL FIGHTING SEQUENCE 🖤🖤🖤

And a poor old couple of civilians traumatized. They need to be trained by the people of Ninjago City on how to deal with weird appearances 💪

I guess we're doing this 😅 Gonna be honest, this is the first very evident sweet look I see from these two. I like Vania, a lot, but another classic love interest? Uuuuhhh, Idk, Imma see the rest of the season and see what happens 🤷‍♀️

A baby dragon on a giant spider, one of my favorite things ever on one thing I fear... I'll let it pass just because Adam is a good boy 🕷🕷🕷

GO VANIA GO GIRL LET HIM KNOW WHO IS THE BOSS HERE!!! 💛💛💛

THE UPPLY STRIKES BACK!

I really like these DnD guys, they've grown on me, let's see what they have in store! 😁

Munce and Geckles under chains, ninja in a cage, the Skull dude has the control, we're back when we started... sucks to be a ninja sometimes 😅

Omg I'm loving that this dude is trying so hard to be menacing and he keeps getting ignored 😂😂 Aww cute, you think you're the first that wants to destroy the ninja? Such a special little snowflake 😘 Evil monologue, we've been going for 13 seasons now with various specials and a movie, we heard it already 🤷‍♀️

Also the reveal, and he's all "Your friend Cole is dead" and Lloyd "That's what they all say, buddy" 👌👌

Poor Cole just wants justice for his mom HELP EMOTIONAL AGAIN

I'm all for Cole's personal team, they should do missions together, like Jay's team in Skybound!... that technically never happened, BUT STILL COOL 🖤💙🖤💙

Oh boy oh boy oh boy got the swords, confrontation ready, BRING IT!! Ninja team is all in for this!! ❤💚💙🤍🌊

REVOLUTION!!!! 💪💪💪💪

Swords aren't usually Cole's weapon of choice... BUT DANG IT HE CAN SWING THEM, HOLY GARMADON!!! THIS IS THE FIGHTING SCENES I WANT!!! 😍😍

How is this the episode prior the finale? It already feels like the finale! What else is going to happen?

SON'S OF LILY

Oh with a title like this, it's a given that I will not survive. Oh boy, here goes, the FINALE!

Chaos, chaos, beautiful dragon of death and distraction, also gently reminder that Mino is also a very good boy 💕 Are the skeletons connected to the skull? Are they gonna stop reform when Cole defeats the Skull Sorcerer?

The swords are not actually magical? Huh, first weapon in this show that turns out to be a fluke, apart maybe the Dragon Armor of the Firstborne... that one stayed intact at least 😅

HERE COMES THE VALKIRIES!!! *classic related music plays*

THIS. FIGHTING. SCENES. ARE. SO. FREAKING. GOOD 😍 Also wow sensei, full kamikaze with a dragon? I guess the sacrifice gene really runs into that family 😅

COLE NO DON'T HURT ROCK BABY 😭

"Always." KIRBY STOP MAKING ME CRY WITH YOUR AMAZING VOICE ACTING SKILLS ALSO HOLY HOOLA GANG

THAT'S LIKE A SPINJITZU WITH THE TRUE POTENTIAL OMG HECK YEAH SHINE COLE SHINE!!! 🖤🖤🖤

A bit red, could mistake it for Kai's, but it's an orange earth lava burst so I understand

Cole: okay guys, done my part

Cole: wake me up when next season is out

LOOK AT VANIA BECOMING THE QUEEN WITH THAT BEAUTIFUL ATTIRE AND USING COLE'S MOTHER QUOTE BECAUSE SHE LEARNED SO MUCH FROM COLE AWWW 💛

Okay, since there weren't evident references to Nexo Knights this season, can I pretend Fungus shooting fireworks is one? Merlok used to do that almost at every season finale... IMMA PRETEND 🙃

She is so adorable, I really love her. Wished we've seen more of her bond with her father, it felt a little easy her giving up on him. Idk, Sky and Chen didn't have that much of a bond but she struggled a lot! But she is super cool and cute, I ADORE her 💕

This sounds like a pretty good experience for Lloyd who FINALLY spent a season without being scarred for life!!! He even met a princess who didn't plan his death!!! Montgomery things are getting better 💚

Well, that surprised me, I guess Cole and Vania like each other but not heavily? Just a very light mood, like they care a lot but no other step further. I'm very happy about this choice, you can see it as a couple if you want, but you can also say they are just good friends. Nice 👍

Oh no, Wu got his midlife crisis, SOMEBODY STOPS HIM 😱

Wherever the wind will take them okay, wherever the producers will decide to torture them 😗

Overall, great finale! 😁

FINAL THOUGHTS

I think I enjoyed Prime Empire's finale more than this one, but this season with all of its episodes was absolutely AMAZING 🖤

The Skull Sorcerer wasn't necessarily a bad villain, but the story kinda went into another direction in my opinion so his part wasn't fundamental. Which isn't a bad thing for me, it's actually new and exciting see the attention to the story instead of the villain, and I did enjoy how they made fun of how cliche he was being 😂

Vania was GREAT. Wished we had more time with her father to really establish what kind of bond they had, but overall I loved her, new best girl acquired 💛💛💛

FREAKING ROCK MOM!! FREAKING LILLY!! I'm so emotional just thinking about this family, omg, THIS is the content I want for Ninjago! Impactful, that makes sense, connected to the heart that makes you so much closer to a character! Finally the Rock family is getting more complex 🖤

I think this season really gave Cole justice, we got her mom's story, we've got him leading a team again, we've got him with a cool new power! 😍😍

For the other ninja it was okay, I really liked the shenanigans with the tribes and the cultures were really fun to explore. Was kinda like a side quest and for me didn't bring that much to the main story, but it was fun and it's fair, Cole had all the attention he deserved 👌

FIGHTING ANIMATION OMG HECK FREAKING YEAH 10/NINJA-GOOOO ❤💚💙🖤🤍🌊

Beautiful designs for the characters, in particular the Shintaro citizens, and also wonderful backgrounds and sceneries, that I thought were starting to lack but here seems much nicer to look at 🤩

What can I say? Ninjago still knows how to mess with my heart, and I'm so very happy about it. I think the so wanted Cole season was definitely worth it 🖤🖤🖤

Now, I heard voices about a possible Nya season... ABSOLUTELY YES, YES TO EVERYTHING, QUEEN GETTING HER OWN SEASON YES YES YES!!! 😍😍😍🌊🌊🌊 Besides that apparently Maya will come back, which is a dream coming true, if they give Nya the same attention they gave to Cole this season, I will be happy 😊

[fatesdeepdive]

Entry 36: Chucking Infants into Pocket Dimensions

Before we go on to Conquest, I’m going to do the Birthright Paralogues. They all fit into a theme, in case you couldn’t tell, one that will cause three-four Supports per update to be centered on a new character.

So, between entries 20 and 21, Corrin and Kaze got married. That unlocked two new Paralogues. Now, for no reason in particular, let’s talk about how Paralogues worked in Fire Emblem Awakening. Halfway through Awakening, you learn that Marth, the mysterious masked swordsman who has been helping you out throughout the game, is actually a future version of Chrom’s daughter Lucina, who traveled back in time to stop her father’s murder. After the time travel sub plot is introduced, you can begin unlocking Paralogues by having the Shepherds marry one another. In each Paralogue, you meet one of Lucina’s companions, also a child of one of the Shepherds. In Awakening, the name and personality of the child was determined by the mother, but the father determined their stats, giving which units you pair up meaning. Now, the time travel children storyline wasn’t perfect, few things in Awakening were, but it at least made sense in the game. Awakening’s story revolved around two things: time travel and the bonds between units. And the child units fit in with that story and those themes, as well as giving important gameplay ramifications to the dating sim elements. Now that I’m done talking about the Fire Emblem game that heavily, heavily inspired the direction of Fates, let’s play the Paralogue that unlocks when Corrin gets married.

Paralogue 2: Dragon Blood

The chapter begins by showing us Kana, a mini version of Corrin with Kaze’s hair color, who talks about how his mother is going to visit today. Kana is attacked by spooky ghost men and Corrin, his mother, runs in to save him.

So, Corrin is a mother now. How, you might ask, considering the fact that she and Kaze got married mid-battle yesterday? Well, it’s simple. As the narration that played when Corrin and Kaze got married stated, Corrin and Kaze chucked their infant son into a pocket dimension immediately after he was born. And, because time flows differently in the pocket dimensions, he’s like twelve now. They also must have left Corrin there for nine months, unless pregnancies happen overnight in this world.

Now, this raises a few questions. Why weren’t these pocket dimensions ever mentioned or used in the story of Birthright? Why didn’t Corrin and Kaze stay with Kana to raise him? Who thought this was a good idea? And, sadly, none of these questions will ever be answered.

Kana transforms into a Feral Dragon and the battle begins. This battle features the gang picking off enemies in a large field. There are Dragon Veins to raise and lower the river levels, which may have made the map interesting, but I didn’t use them. Kana is a green unit during this chapter, but spent it stationary at the top of the map. On turn eight, two capturable bosses, a pair of idiot berserkers named Lloyd and Llewyn showed up; I captured one of them and killed the other.

Corrin gives Kana a dragonstone, Kana whines until Corrin takes him with her, and the chapter ends without me ever being given a reason to care about Kana.

Now, let’s go back to what I said about Awakening. In Awakening, the child characters worked because they were tied into the story. In this game, they’re tacked on in the laziest, most nonsensical way. I get why they exist, Awakening was a success and this game tried to replicate everything it did, but it just doesn’t work. In Awakening, the player has a reason to collect the children, to reassemble Lucina’s lost team. But, without that reason or any story significance, I am left apathetic at best and annoyed at worst towards these units. It especially hurts that this chapter gave me little characterization for Kana beyond “cute child soldier”.

Kana

Kana, Corrin’s child. Their gender is always the opposite of Corrins; because Kana actually has different Supports based on gender, I shall use the names Mana and Fana instead. Design wise, they where Corrin’s outfit, but with a blue scarf that looks like a collar. Both forms of Kana have terrible haircuts for different reasons. Kana’s personal skill, Draconic Heir, heals them if they have a dragonstone equipped; this makes Kana more dragonstone based than Corrin, who has an overpowered sword. My main problem with Kana is their personality, or lack there of. Kana is characterized as...cute. Cute and needy. Which is both boring, and again, kinda messed up. Worse, like Corrin, the game seemingly forgets their animalistic dragon form after this chapter, which is a waste.

Now, let’s talk about how child Supports work. All children have one Support with their father (or mother in Shigure and Mana’s case) and one with their mother. Because their mother is not set, the mother conversation is vague and rewritten with slight variations. I am not going to read the same Support ten times for each child, and will instead just read the Corrin version.

Support Fana/Corrin

C: Corrin finds Kana carrying boxes so she can earn money. Corrin asks what Kana needs money for and Kanna refuses to tell.

B: Kana buys Corrin a ring as a gift.

A: Corrin gives Kana a ring as a gift.

Review: I already didn’t like Kana and damn did this Support not help things.

Support: Kana/Mother

Odd thing I need to note about this one; Fana has a unique Support with Corrin but Mana just has the generic mother Support. It’s weird. I assume during planning the writers were told to have each child have one Support with Corrin, one with their mother, and one with their father, resulting in a Corrin Support that could only be used for one Kana. Still, it’s odd.

C: Kana picks their mother flowers. Their mother likes them, but explains to Kana that picking flowers kills them. Something Kana did realize, because child soldier.

B: Kana shows their mother pretty flowers.

A: The mother shows Kana the collection of flowers they've picked over time.

Review: The problem with Kana is that Kana is just cute. No other personality traits beyond “child”. This Support is fine, but it’s also dull and doesn’t make Kana a deeper character. Also, Corrin being a parent is weird because Corrin’s whole personality centers on them being naive, but Corrin as a parent acts calm and responsible.

Support: Mana/Father

C: Mana complains about Corrin always treating him like a child, when he wants to help her out more. His father tells him the thing he does to make Corrin happy. Kana suggests they have a contest on who can do the most things for Corrin.

B: Mana ties with his father in the contest.

A: Corrin tells Mana to stop doing chores and play with his friends who I haven't recruited yet. His father explains that Corrin just wants him to enjoy his childhood while he can. Mana insists his father relax to.

Review: I switched between Silas, Kaze, and Jakob while reading this one and had no problem following it, which goes to show that parents have all the personality of tofu in these ones. That said, Corrin wanting Mana to have a happy childhood is nice. Perhaps an attempt by her to ensure he doesn’t have a lonely upbringing like she did.

Mana and Shigure, Azura’s son, can also have a sibling Support. Not with each other, I mean, with other children.

Support: Kana/Sibling

C: Mana and his sibling start patrolling the camp.

B: Mana and his sibling continue patrolling the camp.

A: Mana asks his sibling to teach him to be stronger.

Review: I fell asleep while reading this one, causing this update to be a day late.

Now that I think about it, Man isn’t twins with his sibling. Mana is explicitly called younger in the B-Rank. Which means Corrin was pregnant for like two years between battles. Azura too, for Shigure to have siblings. Also, why were the kids placed in different Outrealms? Wouldn’t it make more sense to keep all of them, or at the very least the royal siblings and cousins, together?

Wait a minute. Did I just get through an entire update without a bad S-Rank Support? Is this what happiness feels like?

[thepeanutbutterwizard]

Ninjago/Avatar au Pt6

The second half of Book 2 (hopefully)

(Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5)

So Garm finally reads the letter from Wu. It starts off as a normal pseudo-journal entry, but after it mentions finding the Garms old armor, but no body, it turns into more of a normal letter. Wu says that he’s missed his brother since he was banished, and that he hopes that they’ll be able to see eachother again soon if Garm is alive, and ends with Wu saying that he normally burns the letters he writes to Garm, so that no-one else finds them, but that he feels hopeful that this one could actually get to him. It’s touching stuff.

Lloyd picks up earthbending almost immediately, unlike Aang. The element Lloyd is going to struggle to learn is fire (if you don’t count his airbending being self-taught. He picked up airbending really, really fast, but bc he’s been making stuff up and trying to do what Maya did with her waterbending [Maya’s had decades to hone her style tho, not just three-ish years, but he’s like someone learning ballet only from YouTube, for only a couple of months] since there are no more airbenders [or so they think, bc none of them saw Morro airbend at the North Pole]), and I’ll get into why that is when it comes up. They haven’t had Garm start to teach Lloyd any firebending bc they’re trying to go in the order as much as they can, but Garm has finally convinced Kai to learn more than just the basics, and he picks it up really quickly.

Meanwhile, Morro is taking care of an injured Wu (and accidentally making him suffer through poorly-made tea). Now, Morro is onboard with Wu wanting to leave the Fire Nation behind; unlike Zuko, Morro isn’t trying to win back the favor of some distant parent, the only family he’s ever known is Wu, and he’s not about to abandon Wu for a bunch of people who would probably kill him as soon as they could no matter what he did for them, and Harumi made it clear that no-one in the Fire Nation is going to be extending them any mercy.

Once Wu wakes up, Morro does yell at him for doing something as stupid as taking a hit from a well-trained firebender to protect a stranger (Wu hadn’t gotten around to telling Morro ‘hey, you know that guy with the big burn scar who’s traveling with the Avatar? That’s my dead-but-not-really-dead older brother. Pls stop trying to stab him’, and Morro wasn’t there when Garm revealed his identity in the North Pole), until Wu tells him that Garm is his brother. This leads to Morro yelling out ‘You mean to tell me that the Avatar is my cousin?!?!’ And that how Wu learns that Lloyd is Garms son (’wait, what?’ ‘Have you really gone this long without noticing that the Avatar calls your brother his dad?’ ‘I’ve had a lot on my mind, give me a break!’), and now he thinks that Garm and Maya are married with three kids, one of whom is the Avatar.

They make their way to Ba Sing Se, with the help of the White Lotus. Wu isn’t the leader of them (he isn’t super old in this au, imagine what he looked like in S9, with the mustache), but he is a fairly respected member. I still haven’t come up with a Jet character who would work, and I am open to suggestions. If I do find a good character, they will definitely throw hands with Morro (mb Shade? Just cut out the romance subplot in S1 and pick a couple of EM’s to be the other freedom fighters?). And yes, Wu does get his tea shop in the upper ring (Steep Wisdom), and Morro tries to be happy and supportive, but even though he is fine leaving the Fire Nation with Wu, it does still feel like he wasted years of his life, both in chasing the Avatar and just trying to prove himself to everyone back in the Palace, so he’s pretty grumpy.

Now back to Team Avatar: at Maya and Garms insistence the kids have been picking out their little mini-vacations. They know that they only have a limited amount of time before the comet arrives, but Garm and Maya want these kids to be able to be, y’know, kids, at least a little bit, in spite of the fact that they’re growing up in a war-torn world. Kai want’s to check out that glacier-spring place by the desert, it’s kinda underwhelming, but they get fruity drinks out of it. This whole time Kai and Cole have been getting closer to each other. Kai feels a little guilty, like he’s betraying Zane’s memory, but talking to Maya and Garm about it does help him start to feel better, and it helps his over-protectiveness start to abate a little.

Jay wants to pick a really cool mini-vacation to impress Nya, and he asks the people who are in the glacier place if there’s any place around those parts, and ends up learning that about a year ago some lady showed up saying something about a huge spirit library in the desert that she was looking for. They never saw her again after that, and figure that she must have died out in the desert. When pressed (and payed) one of the artistically inclined staff members roughly recreated the sketch of the library, and vaguely remembered the area on the map she said she was going to search, and with that Jay has his mini-vacation picked out.

They set off and find the library. Cole chooses to stay outside with Ultra (who can’t fit inside) bc he thinks they’ll be safer if the only earthbender stays outside incase something goes wrong, and if they need to get out of there fast he’d only slow them down with his legs. Everybody else heads into the library and meet Wan Chi Tong (did I spell that right? I’m too lazy to check), who agrees to let them use the library if they 1) don’t intend to use the contents of the library against anyone else and 2) contribute something to his library.

Lloyd and Nya both use their wanted posters (they both thought they were awesome [Lloyd bc he’s 13 and Nya bc you can’t convince me that Nya wouldn’t be thrilled to have a wanted poster bc she’s been fucking with a tyrannical regime] and incredibly accurate considering the art had to have been done by someone using other people’s descriptions, and they totally intend on framing and hanging at least a few of their posters up in their rooms when all this is over), Kai has a copy of a poem that Zane wrote for him, Garm has his brothers letter (he doesn’t want to give it up, but he has nothing else), Jay has a blueprint from one of his inventions, and Maya has a copy of a story in a series that Koko had brought back to the South Pole over the years. Wan Chi Tong comments that about a year ago a researcher had arrived and had offered him another part of the the same series. He mentions that they should be careful, as she never left, and has been primarily researching the Avatar.

Everyone has an idea of who this mysterious researcher could be (except Jay), but they decide to be cautious all the same, just incase she isn’t who they think she is. They all start discreetly searching for anything that could be used to help them fight the Fire Nation, and they end up finding and empty placard saying something about ‘the Darkest Day in Fire Nation History’, but when they go to check part of the section on Fire Nation (that library was enormous, y’all cannot tell me that Zhao was able to destroy absolutely everything that the library had on the Fire Nation. It could only have been the last few decades/mb centuries of Fire Nation history), as well as a campsite that was full of scrolls having to do with the Avatar and different bending techniques (and a few misc scrolls about random things like cooking, engineering, etc). As they’re poking around the campsite, who else comes around the corner but Koko!

She has her nose buried in a scroll as she’s walking, so she doesn’t notice them all until Lloyd happily calls out ‘Mom!’, and goes in for a hug. Koko drops the scroll and has a happy reunion with her son and husband, as well as with Maya, Kai, and Nya, and she and Jay are introduced to each other. Koko explains that she’s been able to stay in the library so long was bc she managed to get the fox assistants to like her enough to start bringing her food and water. She also explains that she’s been doing nonstop research into the Avatar State, the Air Nomads and airbending, and the Fire Nation (though she’s really quiet about that part so they don’t catch Wan Chi Tongs attention and ire) and shows them that planetarium thing and that she discovered the eclipse. (How did she make it out to the library without a flying companion or something? SHe’s just that much of a badass.)

Koko had been saving up supplies and charting a course out of the desert, and planning to leave the library as soon as she could, but now that they’ve showed up with Ultra she can just grab her things and go. Someone, probably Jay, gets a little too vocal about how they have a chance to beat the Fire Nation, and cue Wan Chi Tong sinking the library and trying to add them to his ‘collection of specimen’. Garm and Koko are a dynamic duo, with Garm distraction the angry spirit while Koko gathers all of her scrolls and supplies together while Maya gets the kids to the exit.

Meanwhile, Cole is holding up the library, and trying to help Ultra fend off the sandbenders that showed up to capture and sell the dragon. Cole is able to put up a bit more of a fight than Toph was (meaning that he was able to get one or two good hits in) bc being in the desert doesn’t impair his vision (the sand does tank his mobility just as much as it would anyone with prosthetic legs tho), but he isn’t able to stop them or even hold them off long enough for everyone else to get out. Cole, despite being initially afraid of the large dragon, had quickly grown to be one of Ultras favorite people in their group (like, third favorite. Kai will never admit that he’s jealous), and is pretty upset that he wasn’t able to save him. More on Ultra later.

So Lloyd is really upset about losing his companion, just as much as Aang was. He doesn’t act out (for lack of a better word) as intensely as Aang, since Ultra wasn’t the last thing he had left of his people like Appa was for Aang, but Lloyd is still rightfully pissed off. He takes off shakily on his glider, leaving everyone behind before trying to search for Ultra and the sandbenders, ignoring his families protests. Koko starts working on getting them out of the desert using the route she had plotted out (using the sun and shadows to orient them and get started in the right direction), and starts planing out how long her food and water (she had the good sense to bring those from the library) will last between all of them. The answer is: not long enough.

Kai (and mb Jay too) is the one who has the bright idea to drink the cactus juice, bc while Kai, like Sokka, (and Jay tbh) is smart enough to know that drinking a strange liquid out of an unfamiliar plant is a bad idea,but the fact that it is a stupid idea doesn’t stop him. Wait, y’know what? Jay definitely tries the cactus juice, but instead of acting as out-of-it and inebriated as Kai does, he acts like he does in S9, weirdly chill and disconnected from reality. He’s still tripping balls, but he’s reacting to it differently from Kai. Cole just ends up carrying Kai piggy-back, even though the sand makes it harder for him to move (he’s crushing, and he’s the only one [adults included] whose physically strong enough to carry him for long periods of time) (also Kai awkwardly and drunkenly flirts with him. Everyone pretends not to notice for Coles sake) and everyone else takes turns holding onto Jays wrist and leading him through the desert or else he would have wandered off and died.

Lloyd gets back to them, landing hard in the sand, holding back tears bc even though he’s upset and could use a good cry he knows that they need to conserve as much water as they can. He’s got his family there to comfort him (even if Kai and Jay are kinda incapacitated atm), which does help him a bit, but he’s still rightfully upset. They find the abandoned sandbender skipper thing, find the vulturewasp hive, and come across the sandbenders. Cole is able to pinpoint the sandbender (no idea who this guy would be, Ninjago character wise) who lead the others to take Ultra via his voice bc Cole a) was trained in a myriad of performing arts thanks to his father, primarily singing b) has perfect pitch and c) never forgets a voice bc of that.

Lloyd goes full Avatar State, but is comforted and calmed down by his parents while everyone else books it. The sandbenders tell them that they sold Ultra to some guys who were going to take him to Ba Sing Se, and then they take them out of the desert (with the sandbenders getting the Death Glare from all of Team Avatar the whole way. Koko totally punches the sandbender who lead the others to steal Ultra once they’re out of the desert.)

They make their way to Ba Sing Se on foot, with Lloyd trying to get a handle on his emotions (and worrying everyone in the process), and they run into a family with an expecting mother/wife (I am also taking suggestions for who these characters could be. I’m pretty tired while typing this so I can’t think of anyone) and try and get on a ferry to Ba Sing Se. Cole, whose father is well known and wealthy, uses that fact, his double amputee status (he ‘accidentally’ slips out of one of his prosthetics. Kai catches him before he hits the ground), and his acting skills to get them tickets without passports.

And we get best girl Pixal back! She helps Team Avatar help the pregnant family go through the Serpents Pass, and it goes pretty similar to cannon, except instead of a situation where Sokka is overprotective of Suki, Jay picks up on how much Pixal likes Nya, and sees that Nya, his crush, reciprocates those feelings, and gets a bit passive-aggressive w/everyone, but Pixal especially. It doesn’t last long, bc Jay is a hormonal teenager who realizes he’s being a dick fairly quickly, but it does help fizzle his crush on Nya a bit (sorry again to any hardcore Jaya shippers who were hoping for that in this au, but it’s really not my cup of tea).

They also help deliver the couples baby, but Maya and Koko are the ones helping take care of that. Team Avatar get to the outer wall, just to see a huge Fire Nation drill heading closer and closer to the wall, ready to start tearing through it...

[ninja-go-to-therapy]

Again and Again (and again)

Summary: Zane gives Cole a massage. Neither of them are completely sure how it ends like it does.

Shoutout to the guys that I literally watched this happen to

Warnings: implied sexual content

1527 words

Cole honestly had no idea how he got into these situations.

Well, okay, that was a lie. Obviously he knew how he got into these situations, but he just didn’t understand. He wasn’t complaining or anything, he was just genuinely confused.

It hadn’t even started off oddly.

He and the others were chilling on the couch after a hard day of training. He had no idea where Lloyd or Nya had gone, but he wasn’t particularly worried about that. What he was worried about was that he was sore as hell.

Cole only mentioned his soreness to start a conversation, really. He hadn’t expected Zane to reply with an offer. A very tempting offer, too.

“I could massage it for you, if you wish,” Zane said, and well, Cole didn’t think anything could go wrong with that. Just bros being bros, nothing gay weird about that.

And so that was how he had ended up in this position, laying facedown on the couch while Kai and Jay played video games off to the side, Zane above him. He trusted Zane not to like, he didn’t know, screw up anything. How wrong could one massage go?

“Oh, wow, you’re good at this,” Cole mumbled a moment after Zane started, because yeah, Zane was good at this. It was one of the most relaxing things Cole had felt in a long time. That wasn’t really saying much, because having his ass handed to him during fights wasn’t exactly a magical feeling, but the point was, Zane was good.

Oh, wait, Zane was really good. This felt amazing, actually. He closed his eyes, just letting the soothing feeling of it all take him under for a second. Maybe he shouldn’t have stopped paying attention, because what happened next was the absolute most mortifying thing he’d done in his entire life. 

He moaned. Like, a full on, loud, embarrassing-as-fuck moan.

That wasn’t supposed to happen.

Cole had never been more certain that he was on fire. He could feel the heat in his cheeks, and he kind of wished it was real fire, so that he wouldn’t have to be in this situation anymore. 

Zane, of course, had stopped above him, and the other two were looking at them as well.

What he expected to happen: the guys laughed, Zane hurriedly apologized, Cole awkwardly ran off to his room where he could die of embarrassment.

It didn’t quite go like that.

What did happen? Well, for starters, Zane absolutely did not hurriedly apologize.

Now, Zane had always understood humans perfectly well. He’d thought himself to be one for long enough, so naturally he knew plenty. Some things, however, he was realizing he hadn’t ever really explored.

This happened to be one.

He was no stranger to the idea of pleasure in that sort of sense, and he knew it often came from far more than sex, but it hadn’t ever fully… registered.

He wanted to hear Cole make that sound again and again and again. 

Zane had barely finished getting that thought through his head before he was returning to his previous position, a hint rougher than he’d been before. While before it had been about simply helping Cole out, now it was about something more.

Cole choked out a gasp, his face burning red. What was Zane doing? It didn’t feel bad, it felt great, actually, but Kai and Jay were right there, and he’d just made that pitiful sound a moment ago, what was going on?

Cole had to bite on his hand to keep himself from letting out another pathetic sounding moan. It was the most mortifying position he’d ever been put in, but he didn’t want it to stop.

He snuck a glance at his other two teammates. They were both watching. Jay looked like he was ready to die laughing, while Kai looked morbidly curious. 

In any case, the video game was all but forgotten.

“Is it bad that I kind of want a massage now?” Jay asked after a moment of silence between the group.

Cole did his best to glare at his friend, but as it turned out, it was difficult to do so when you were being… stimulated… like… that. Wow, he didn’t like that wording.

“Is it bad that I want to know if Cole’s into the feeling or if he’s just into Zane?” Kai followed up.

That right there was enough to get Cole to turn his face into the couch to hide his embarrassment, because the answer happened to be both.

“Hey Zane,” Kai grinned, “can I have a turn next? I wanna see how Cole responds.”

“Fuck off, Kai,” Cole said, his voice muffled by the couch.

“Forget that, I want a turn being massaged,” Jay said.

“That can be arranged,” Kai purred into his boyfriend’s ear. Jay all but squawked, blushing.

Cole couldn’t see this, of course, but he knew his friend well enough to know that he’d be as red as a tomato.

Not that it was a competition, but Cole definitely had it worse.

“We’ll be in my room,” Kai said, taking Jay and leaving faster than the time he’d heard about that drugstore hair gel sale.

Cole was just starting to relax again, nearly forgetting why he was so embarrassed in the first place, when out of nowhere, Zane switched tactics entirely. Cole didn’t know quite what he was doing, but he knew it felt amazing.

“Zane, ah~ why are you—hnng, why…?”

He regretted saying anything at all the second the words got out of his mouth.

It was just too surreal. He knew he liked Zane, liked him a lot, but to be living through any sort of scenario where this sort of thing was happening was just insane.

Zane, personally, couldn’t decide whether to panic or whether to ignore. On the one hand, this could be crossing a line. While Cole hadn’t said to stop, he hadn’t specifically given consent, either. Of course, he would stop the very moment Cole expressed any type of discomfort, but so far, he hadn’t seemed to.

On the other hand… he’d had feelings for Cole for a long time. This may have been his one and only chance to be able to pretend, even for a moment, that they could be together. He wanted to live in this moment for as long as possible. 

Still, he wasn’t just going to not say anything.

“I apologize,” he said, removing his hands. “I do not know what came over me…”

“Oh God, please don’t stop,” Cole all but whined. 

And, well, that was enough to convince him.

The action in itself wasn’t dirty, Zane knew this. It really was just a massage. Or at least, it had started off that way. But to have Cole shivering under his touch like this… it was mesmerizing.

Perhaps… his feelings were replicated? Maybe Cole actually felt the same way? Could it be possible?

Cole could barely think through it all. All he really knew was that he never wanted this to stop. 

Somewhere along the line, it did stop. Cole was disappointed, but didn’t say anything, simply rolling over to get up.

He was met with the nindroid just above him, looking at him more deeply than anyone ever had before.

“Can I kiss you?” Zane asked, and Cole didn’t want to even blink for fear of ruining the moment. Instead of answering, he pulled Zane into a kiss himself.

Now, Zane had kissed people before. But this, this, this was the most magical feeling he’d ever had in his entire life. He never wanted it to stop.

They parted. Cole was breathing deeply, and for a moment, all was still.

It was Zane who pulled him back in. He couldn’t help himself, he just never wanted to go. He’d been waiting for this moment for so long, he was going to savor it all he could.

At some point, unbeknownst to either of them, Nya and Lloyd entered the monastery.

“That was fun, but I’m tired,” Lloyd said as the pair walked in, planning to see what the others were up to.

They were hearing weird sounds, and were just about to burst into the living room to make sure everything was okay, but just before they could…

“Harder!”

Nya’s jaw dropped. Immediately she covered her little brother’s ears, practically dragging him the opposite direction.

Nope nope nope, he did not need to be hearing that.

“I think we should go back out.” She said.

Lloyd nodded, his eyes wide with what could only be described as horror.

As they were leaving, it somehow got worse.

“Kai, baby, oh God!”

Lloyd and Nya couldn’t get outside fast enough. Both were thoroughly disgusted, yet not entirely surprised. It wasn’t the first time Nya had heard Jay and Kai getting up to some nasty stuff, but Cole and Zane was a new one.

At least, she assumed it had been Cole and Zane. She was well aware of Cole’s crush on the ice elemental, and wouldn’t be surprised if Zane reciprocated those feelings. 

Still, she and Lloyd were going right back out. Immediately.

[gwenbrightly]

Of Milk and Cookies chapter 17:

*chanting* Brad chapter Brad chapter Brad chapter

Hi, hello, yes, this is Gwen with a brand new chapter of Of Milk and Cookies! I hope you enjoy!

Lloyd awoke to the all too familiar sensation of having absolutely no idea where he was. Over the past few months, he’d stayed more places than he could count on both hands, and the chaotic travel regime often messed with his head. Of course, it wasn’t very long before the memories of his frantic flight to the Ninjago City Hospital came flooding back to him and the slight panic dissipated. It must have been close to 2 in the morning by the time Kai and the others had managed to get the guest room in the teacher’s wing ready for him the previous night, and then Jay had tried to convince him to stay awake so they could catch up, but his exhaustion ultimately won out. Still, he had to admit that being here with his siblings nearby already felt so much better than being off preparing to meet with another stuffy town leader or dignitary. Why had he ever agreed to that stupid victory tour? The sound of his stomach growling prevented Lloyd from continuing this train of thought. Better find something to eat. He stepped out into the hallway, bracing himself for the chaotic whirlwind of energy that usually accompanied his fellow ninja. However, he was met with silence. Glancing about, he quickly located a note that had been taped to his door.

Lloyd, we decided to let you sleep in. We’ll be down in the cafeteria waiting for you whenever you decide to wake up.

- Kai

“Guess I’ll have to navigate on my own…” Lloyd muttered. The time alone would give him some time to process the fact that this was his first time visiting his old school in its current rendition. Had Nya already been home from the hospital, it would’ve been easier to pretend as though the school hadn’t been the very one his mother had left him at when he was barely more than a toddler. The one that had been the source of so much pain for him before he’d ultimately been kicked out. Hopefully the name change and inclusion of the ninja as teachers had been cause for some improvements, but Lloyd still had plenty of reservations.

He wandered down the hallway, trying to remember exactly where the exit to the teacher’s wing was. After a few wrong turns, he finally ended up at a door that appeared to lead to the courtyard. Lloyd stepped outside. It looked similar to the last time he’d visited, during that disastrous run in with the evil clones, except it was brighter, happier. The students who populated the courtyard were playing nice, relatively non violent games, or visiting quietly with each other. It was surprisingly peaceful. In the distance, he could see the freshly painted sign that marked the entrance. Much more welcoming than before. He turned to the left, heading for the cafeteria, trying not to let too many memories take hold of him as he wandered about. He cringed a little as he passed the tree he’d fallen out of and broken his wrist while trying to hide from Gene and the others. Even his favorite hiding place hadn’t been enough to save him that day. Lloyd shook his head. No use dwelling on the past.

“Um, excuse me,” a small voice piped up from behind him, “but you’re about to step on my hydrangeas.”

The Green Ninja froze and looked down. Sure enough, there was a pot of hydrangeas just waiting to be planted along the edge of the walkway.

“Oh. Sorry! I was just…” he turned to apologize, but his breath caught in his throat when he recognized the small form behind him.

“Brad?!” Lloyd choked out at the same time as Brad exclaimed, “Lloyd?!”

They stared at each other for a moment. Lloyd hadn’t even considered that being here meant he could easily run into one of his old classmates. He had no idea how to respond to this sudden reunion. Sure, they had parted ways amicably last time, but a lot had changed since then. Lloyd had changed, even if it was mostly his appearance.

“I…” he began awkwardly. Brad seemed no better prepared to process this turn of events.

“What are you doing here?” he asked with the delicacy of a cat coughing up a hairball.

“Nya.” Answered Lloyd, whose brain was suddenly only capable of one word responses.

“Oh. Right. Mr. Cole said she was fine and that Mr. Jay was just being a drama queen when he said she might die, but he didn’t mention anything about you…” Brad offered flushing slightly.

“I, uh, got here really late last night.” Lloyd explained. The smaller boy nodded.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

They both just kind of stood there, not saying anything, for what felt like an eternity. Had they really already run out of things to say?

“Do… do you have anywhere you need to be?” Brad asked, finally. Lloyd shrugged.

“Breakfast. Eventually. Why?”

Brad returned his shrug.

“Dunno. Guess I was thinking maybe we could climb the tree. For old times sake?” he suggested, looking surprisingly vulnerable. Lloyd wasn’t entirely sure what the boy was really going for with this idea, but something inside of him desperately wanted to temporarily ignore the call of food. To pretend he was just a normal kid with a normal life, instead of an ageless war hero. And so, he decided that a few minutes hanging from the branches of a tree wouldn’t hurt anything.

“Okay.” Said Lloyd, surprising Brad.

The branches were much easier to reach now that Lloyd was taller. One of the few good things to come from that change, he supposed. He followed Brad up into the canopy of the tree, where the leaves created a delicate wall separating them from the outside world. They each claimed a branch, and sat, staring at each other.

“So. It’s been awhile.” Brad spoke first. Lloyd appreciated his efforts.

“It has,” he agreed.

“You’re way taller now.” Observed Brad. Lloyd had to keep himself from rolling his eyes. He’d resigned himself to the comments about his height a long time ago, but the reminder still stung more than it should have.

“I am.”

“Do you have any idea how weird it is to be the shortest in class now?” Brad asked abruptly.

“You… you’re- you’re the shortest?” Lloyd snorted. It was strange how easily their interaction had spiraled into something more familiar, less awkward.

“Yep,” the dark hair boy bemoaned, “Even Sally’s taller than me now. Mr. Zane says that’ll change when I hit pooburty, but I’m not so sure I believe him.”

“I mean, Zane’s pretty much right about everything, so don’t give up hope yet, I guess?” Lloyd offered, smiling lopsidedly at his mispronunciation of puberty (a word that had been explained to him following the tea incident).

“I won’t.” Brad decided. He plucked a leaf and watched it flutter to the ground below. They fell into another, more comfortable, silence.

“So.” Lloyd said after awhile, trying to strike up another conversation.

“So. I… I should probably thank you. And apologize.” Brad stated, sounding more serious than before. Lloyd frowned and asked, “For what?”.

“Thank you for what you did when you visited last time – showing all of us that we didn’t have to be bad like everyone expected us to,” Brad told him, “and I wanna apologize because you should never have had to put up with everything I’ve done to you. I know it wasn’t- I wasn’t nice to you at all. And that sucks because you were my friend, and friends shouldn’t be so horrible to each other.” He finished, looking sad. Lloyd had never expected to get closure from anyone who had been a part of his experience at Darkley’s, not really. All the hurt and fear had started to dull after so many months away, and he had been fine with that. It was easier to just try to move on and forget. So the apology struck him harder than he would have expected. He brushed a quick hand over his eyes (which were suddenly damper than they should have been) and scrambled to find the right words.

“Oh. I didn’t even know if that would work, but I’m glad it did. Everyone deserves to be shown their inner light. And yeah, it does suck that things were like that, I’m not gonna lie. But it’s not like we were taught any better. It’s a learning curve – that whole being nice to other people thing.”

“I… it’s changed a lot for me. I never… I never thought I’d want to do better. But I do. I wanna be the kind of person you are – to help people and make them happy. And my dad, um, finally got arrested. So I’ll be living with my grandparents after the term is over. They’re really excited to have me. It feels so good to be wanted.” Brad told him, brightening. The boy had rarely mentioned his parents, but Lloyd had always known they weren’t really… present in his life. Or good people. It warmed his heart to see Brad flourishing like this.

“Well, congratulations on your new life, then!” Lloyd said, genuinely happy for his… friend. Yes, they were still friends, deep down. Beneath the regret of past mistakes. Beneath the awkwardness of one of them having grown up a bit more quickly than planned.

“Lloyd? I’m really glad we bumped into each other. I wasn’t sure this was a good idea but… it was.” Brad said with a grin, clearly appreciating Lloyd’s encouragement. They had both needed this conversation.

“Me too, Brad. It’s been… nice.” Lloyd agreed. The others were probably looking for him by now, but he couldn’t bring himself to care. They would, as always, find him eventually with those ninja senses of theirs. And they would, of course, be eager to catch up with him themselves, and he them. For now, however, Lloyd was content to stay here in this tree, an old friend by his side.

[lori-the-dragon-ninja]

Back Home, part 1

Ninjago AU where Scales does manage to kidnap Lloyd in s1, but it doesn’t go the way he planned

Lloyd ends up being raised by Firstbourne and other dragons

words 1067

Lloyd was playing video games as he waited for the ninja to come back from their day jobs that helped them pay off the rent of their apartment. He missed their old home – Destiny's Bounty – already. He was doing really well too, that was however until he saw something weird in the TV's reflection.

Was this-? Oh no. He turned around towards the window to see a large blue serpent staring at him, knocking on the glass.

“Hello little boy.”, he called with a smug smirk.

The Green Ninja screamed as he ran towards the door, “Help me!”

“The Door is locked.“, the sound of the automated voice got on his nerves.

“I know! I want it to open!“

He could feel his entire body shaking as Scales broke through the window and started getting closer to him.

“What do you want with me?“

“You seem to be the only thing your father cares about,“, Lloyd was still trying to open the door as the serpent got closer to him, sharing his evil plan, “but with you as my hostage? He'll have no other choice but to let me lead the serpentine!“

Scales was now centimetres away from his face. “Let's train.“, he hissed.

He heard his uncle's voice behind the door. “Hello? What's going on in there?“

“Hel-”, just as he was about to scream Scales grabbed him and dragged him towards the window. He tied his hands and gagged him so quickly Lloyd barely even noticed it was happening. The blonde looked back at the window as they went down from the building and into the sewers.

---------------

He wasn't sure what would happen to him. What if his dad didn't do the exchange? No, his dad loved him, he would give up anything for him. But would he let him go back to the ninja? What would his dad do once he had him? Would he keep him locked up forever and use him as an advantage against the ninja? No, his dad wouldn't do that.

But- but Lloyd had to get out of here. He just had to wait for the right opportunity to come.

---------------

The young ninja was thinking of an escape plan. But to no avail. Every plan he could think of was either going to get him into more trouble or just way too ridiculous. Because the young ninja was sure that jumping up high enough to land on Scale's head and knocking him out in the process wasn't very- realistic to say the least.

Just as he was starting to give up he heard more voices.

“Ha, you got him!”

“I knew this plan would work!”

“No you didn't, you were the one who complained that it wouldn't work!”

So the other Serpentine Generals were here as well. Just great.

“Shut your mouths and get on with the rest of the plan, you fool!”, Scales shouted and Lloyd felt the snakes grip weaken. He was going to hand him over to the other generals. Now was his chance.

As Scales pushed him towards the other snakes Lloyd jump-kicked one in the face and ran. Did it actually work? Looks like the tiny amount of training he had gotten paid off after all.

The snakes immediately started chasing him but Lloyd managed to outrun them. It took him a long time to lose them but thanks to his small height he managed to hide from them pretty easily.

He decided to wait for a while – just to make sure the Serpentine were actually gone – and then to go home. There was one problem with that though.

He had no idea where he was.

---------------

Lloyd had been walking for hours. He got out of the sewers but he was still just as lost as before. They took a lot of turns when coming here. He didn't even see the city anymore but he thought it was better to just keep going.

He'd run into someone eventually, right?

---------------

He managed to find some fruit and berries along the way and had to stop for water at rivers. Maybe it would be the best if he chose one direction and just went that way?

Yeah. In the end it wasn't like he could get even more lost than he already is.

---------------

He didn't know how long he had been walking. Right now he was surrounded by just rocks. He’d never seen this part of Ninjago before. He was tired and cold and starving. Maybe this was a good place to take a break and get some sleep. It was getting dark anyways.

He woke up to something tickling him. It felt like getting sniffed by a dog. Wait, what?

He opened his eyes and screamed in horror as he saw a giant creature right in front of him. It looked like a… like a dragon?

“Uhh, hey there big guy. Big gal? What are- what are you doing?”

The beast just kept sniffing him.

“Um, you’re sniffing be because I'm dirty, right? You don't want to eat me? I-I'm not food. I'm sure I taste horrible! I just- I-“

The dragon looked gentle. It didn't seem like it wanted to hurt Lloyd. It looked more curious than hungry.

Lloyd tried to get away from it anyways. Even if it wasn't trying to eat him, it could still crush him, even accidentally. Just as he was about to run off the dragon grabbed him by the fabric of his Gi and flew off with him.

The young boy got scared as the dragon flew high up towards the clouds and started spinning. There was a bright light. It felt like everything was moving so fast. The dragon stopped spinning for a moment but it didn't last long until it spun again, another flash of light and then all of a sudden everything was calm.

Lloyd opened his eyes, the dragon was still holding him but it was flying slowly now. He was very dizzy but he saw that they were in some kind of a desert filled with rocks. As they were flying over what looked like a dormant volcano the dragon dived into the crater and landed inside the volcano, safely lowering the young boy to the ground and releasing him.

The blonde froze as he saw dozens of dragons inside, all staring at him.

It was like the ground was suddenly lightly shaking, followed by thumping.

From a corner of the volcano another dragon emerged. This one was bigger. Way bigger.

It was red and black with huge horns and fangs longer than Lloyd’s entire body. It’s orange-ish red eyes stared right at him. It slowly got closer to the child that was now frozen in fear. The young ninja expected it to eat him or burn him to a crisp but instead it carefully sniffed him – exactly like the other dragon had done before – rubbed its snout against him and made a low grumbling sound. It actually sounded a lot like purring. Lloyd gathered up the courage in his body to reach out his hand and slowly pet it. The large dragon just bowed down its head and closed its eyes.

And that’s how Lloyd met Firstbourne.

So Lloyd is now very far from home, nobody knows where he is and the dragons seem to be very fond of him. I will try to write part two as soon as possible! I think that the story I have in plan is very interesting, there will be happy moments, angst, I’m looking forward to writing it!

A huge thank you to @lloydshoulddyehishair for being the beta reader/co-writer