#kind of funny that i out him tight beside Zane

[bootychomper]

Today was my birthday party and I would like to show you guys the absolute fantastic cake me and my friends made, ladies and gentleman and whatever else. I would like to present to you:

The lego ninjago murder scene

@theotterdied

[grumpy-zane]

    A little sus - Reccordshipping crack one shot (Lou x Dareth)

    Cole had a sneaking suspicion after Kai mentioned that his and Dareth’s plans for coat thrifting were cancelled. He called his dad earlier that day and he seemed pressed for time. It was only ever so often he would keep conversation short whether it was because he wanted to catch the next transport to a different town for preforming or had an important meeting to attend to, but he would at least mention it before hanging up. Today he was without his confident, prideful edge.

     “What’s wrong Cole?” Zane asked from across the table. He had been watching Cole draw with hopes of learning, but so far he only managed to make a dozen perfect circles. 

     He blinked, slowly looking up before looking back at his drawing, “Zane, I think my dad is seeing someone.”

    Zane smiled, “That’s a good thing, correct?” though on second though, maybe Cole didn’t want a new mom in the picture.     “I mean sure, but,” He set the pencil down and let it roll, “I think Dareth might be setting him up, and I dunno how I feel about that.”     “What do you mean?”     Cole folded his arms, “Well to start, it’s Dareth, and I’m sorry Zane, but he can be a bit much. Kind of overbearing and pushy. When I was talking to dad over the phone, he didn’t carry himself the same way he normally does. Like, not confident, not commanding. What if Dareth pressured him into finding someone new?”

   His eyebrows rose as he thought about it, “That certainly seems like a possibility, but why would Dareth want to do that?”    “I don’t know, why does he do anything? What I do know is that I don’t like how this looks, and I’m going to get to the bottom of this. Are you with me?” Cole offered a hand.     Not that he had any plans for the evening, Pixal was busy beating people up in the city. “Of course!”

--

    Tapping into surveillance sped the process up tenfold, first with tracking the house cameras and then checking around for the location of a car license plate. They wound up outside of an old concert all lit up orange from the ground flood lights, a tall building designed to carry the acoustics on the inside.

    Zane began walking towards the doors but Cole pulled him back by the arm, “I don’t want my dad to know we’re here, I just want to check up on him.”     “But what if he need a quick escape from a situation?”     “Please, my dad isn’t afraid to push back when someone is stepping on his toes. Besides, if it’s something really bad, we can do that after we scope it out.” Cole nodded before looking at the trimmings. What better way to enter in stealth than through the upstairs window?

    While the exterior was without much change over the years, the interior had a multitude of renovations done over to modernize the look. Chairs filled the entirety of the stage seating both on the floor and in the balcony. The blue chairs near the stage were newer than the ones hard-bolted down to the frame near the ninjas’ sides. the building was vacant with only a few lights on around the stage where the two men were dancing.

    “It appears to be some sort of lesson.” Zane mused.

    Cole, however, felt suspicious once more. “That’s not just any dance Zane, that’s a very specific dance that my dad would do in the living room with my mom. It’s romantic, not used casually.” “Perhaps Dareth wanted to impress someone, and enlisted Lou’s help?”

    An echoed thud followed by a yelp halted their conversation. “let go let go-” Dareth winced, which Lou obliged.     “Are you okay?”     “Hah, I told you Lou I have tight ankles,” He sucked and let out, “I knew I should have done some stretches.” Lou sighed, “No no, this night isn’t going how I wanted it to at all.”     “huh?” He seemed to drop the pain act immediately- was he trying to get out of it? His shakiness getting up argued agaisnt it.     “The park, the dinner, this, none of it went how I wanted it. It was just supposed to be me and you but then there was the pigeon strike, the domino effect of broken dishes, and the sound systems are all locked out! Ugh, it’s terrible!” Lou threw an arm into the air.     Dareth frowned, “Aw come on, it’s not that bad. I thought it was funny, even though that poor waitress fell, that was bad.”     “You don’t understand. I just wanted to spend time with you again without strings, without condition.” He paced, “Like how it used to be. Time marches forward but, history is still important!”

    “Lou, back then it was conditional. I was working for you to make sure everything went according to plan for the team. I wasn’t tagging along because I wanted to- well I did but then.. You know, we grew apart, had different dreams. you got married and I.. well lets not talk about that.” He chuckled nervously and scratched his elbow. “Maybe if you wanted this to turn out well you shoulda asked me to set it up....”

    He stopped and turned to face him, “You really left because you were chasing a dream?”

    Dareth rubbed his neck, “I.. left because you didn’t want me anymore- by that I mean you had Lily and you had lost touch with me and.. you know, we weren’t friends anymore we were just.. there, working, y’know?” This wasn’t something he had thought about in awhile, one of those topics that he would shove down before it interrupted his sleep, “I know I blew up and I apologized for that, and you apologized to me but.. it hurt. It hurt a lot.”

    Maybe it was silly, they had only met because he was desperate to be in the spotlight anyway, then he became a temporary manager for a few years. it wasn’t supposed to be anything more than that, was it? He considered Lou a friend, but really he shouldn’t have gotten that far. It was behind them both, so why did it haunt him?

    He felt a hand on his arm and finally stopped squeezing his neck, looking up at Lou who was staring intensely. “Did you consider me more than a friend?”

    His face felt a brief flash of heat. Dareth shrugged, “What can I say? you had your looks.”

    “Do you?”

    “Do I what?”

    “Consider me more than a friend now?”

    Dareth erupted in laughter, thinking it a joke, “Well if you’re in the market to buy,” He slapped Lou on the shoulder and squeezed it, but stopped immediately seeing the look he was giving back. “You’re serious?”

    Lou gave a nod.

    “Wait, was this uh, supposed to be a primer for a date?”

    “Well more like the date itself..”

    Dareth stared, “Lou Brookstone. Rule number one, if it’s a date, you ask ‘hey do you want to go on a date?’ first. Rule number two, if you want to be in a relationship with me, you let me plan out the dates. And rule number three,” He shoved his finger in Lou’s shoulder, “would you like to go on one next week Wednesday also how do you think Cole will feel about this?”

    Zane looked at Cole who looked ready to scream.

[that-is-where-they-wait]

That is Where They Wait Ch 14: The Letter

previous / next all chapters AO3 FFN

[so funny story I actually posted this on FFN and ao3 forever ago but not here. oops. but posting here is a hassle, in my defense. hope everyone is doing okay? also check the notes for some Haha Funny Jokes because I don't want to add them to the. actual post.]

Perhaps the way to answer the present is with the past.

The metal of the hinge was cool under his finger, intricate design branching onto the actual door. It should've been smooth, but instead it was rough and red.

Rust.

Kai frowned. Rusty metal was usually brittle — but the door hadn't come down, even when he and Karlof rammed into it repeatedly. That plan of ripping at its hinges and hoping it came down was starting to look flimsy.

Ech. Well, they had to keep trying and hope for the best. It wasn't like they could stay in the small, dark room much longer. Kai had cobbled together a makeshift flame with pieces of rope and cloth from his gi, but it would definitely not last much longer.

Plus, he was getting really antsy, and it'd be just plain stupid to be so isolated when they weren't safe. When he'd asked about Lloyd and found out he was, in fact, both inside the mansion and unaccounted for, he had been about ready to knock Karlof's helmet off of his head.

… In hindsight, maybe he'd been a little forceful.

But hey, in return, he'd informed Karlof about everything they knew on the mansion and the spirit so far. So he didn't feel too bad about it.

"Psst." He went over to where he'd left Karlof and poked. "We gotta go."

No response.

Ohhhh, perfect. The guy had to go and fall asleep on him. They'd already spent so much time staying put! He was itching to get moving again, and Lloyd and Skylor were still out there, who knew where! Not to mention, if the others woke up and noticed him missing … (It occurred to him, a little belatedly, that they might blame Jay for that. Another twinge of guilt. But he could apologize for that when they went back.)

But it had been an exhausting trek just to get here. Karlof had endured that, and no sleep to recharge afterwards …

Kai sighed, seating himself next to him. Yeah, they weren't going anywhere until Karlof finished his beauty sleep. But then there came the issue of having nothing to distract himself with. Already he could just feel himself tiredly debating whether to indulge the pessimistic trains of thought forming in his head in all their bleak glory.

Abruptly, something slammed against him. Okay, so it didn't slam into him, but it definitely felt that way, because oof! It was heavy. Kai squirmed briefly, but a moment later, he realized he shouldn't even bother. Instead, he hissed an irritated puff of air through his teeth and tried to pull an overly-cuddly Karlof off of him. Why in the name of the First Spinjitzu Master was he—

An exposed part of his bandaged arm made contact with Karlof's for a second, before Kai drew it away and grimaced at how cold it was.

… Oh.

The way Karlof's arm was draped on him, Kai couldn't reach his face with his hand. He settled for a drawn-out groan instead. Just because he was the human toaster … and now he couldn't move!

Oh well. If nothing else, he could totally hold it over Karlof's head later. Blackmail material or something. But what was he supposed to do now?

A bleary yawn escaped his mouth.

There was one idea.

Nope, he thought to himself immediately. No way, José, someone had to stay awake, and he'd already bailed out on that once. But the door was locked, and the whole day and the effects of staying up so long were finally catching up to him …

Kai tried to debate the point a little longer, but as it turned out, he was pretty tired. Too tired to properly argue with himself, and before he could, he'd already fallen asleep.

The tiny flame winked out and left the room engulfed in black.

Lloyd wrapped up a summary of the search he'd just gotten back from.

Considering that depressingly little had changed since the last time they'd looked, it didn't take very long. The ever-encroaching cocktail of panic and despair clawed at his guts and his chest, made his throat tight, and he could feel it radiating off of Jay and Cole near him, optimistic as they tried to remain. At least Skylor had gotten some work in on fixing her bow while they'd been gone, although she hopefully wouldn't be needing it anytime soon.

The light trickling from the windows had become thin, silvery moonlight and long, fragmented shadows streaking across the floor and cutting into each other. Cole glanced at everyone in the room and declared that it was probably about time they slept; both searches had taken quite a while, even with how much of the mansion was still closed off to them. It didn't seem likely that much more would happen that day.

Zane took in everything they said solemnly, then pulled something out from beside him.

"It's disheartening to know that the two of them are still missing. But perhaps I can offer something else to think about before we rest for tonight?"

On closer inspection, it appeared to be a faded eggplant-colored satchel.

"I found this on the mantle while you were investigating in the tunnels. I didn't want to look through it without you …"

"Can I?" Lloyd reached out, opening the bag and peering into it for a moment. Then, as the rest of them watched, he stuck his hand in and, one by one, set its contents onto the floor for better examination.

On the carpet, there currently sat a small black inkwell, a quill stand, a bound book, a faded set of folded purple clothes, an assortment of large and small weapons, and a few loose pieces of parchment with writing on them. Maybe it all belonged to the person that owned the place, ages ago?

Evidently, they were all wondering a similar thing.

Lloyd set aside the empty bag and stared at the various items he'd placed down. "Hm. They were carrying weapons …"

"Whose stuff is all this?" Skylor finally voiced the question.

"It likely dates back to the Serpentine war," Zane said. "The antiquity of all the items would fit."

"Well, then, we should find out, shouldn't we?" Jay grabbed the book, slowly teasing open the binding and riffling through the pages. Lloyd caught a glimpse of inky letters over paper lightly yellowed with time; all things considered, it was pretty well-preserved.

"Careful, Jay, that looks heavy. Wouldn't wanna pull a muscle lifting that thing." Cole's mouth twitched up in a smirk, Jay briefly peering over the book with narrow eyes.

"… I mishandle an empty packing crate one time."

"Yeah, well," Lloyd huffed. "You nearly dropped it right on my foot. I still get splinters from that crate when I'm not watching my step."

"Thanks, Lloyd!" Jay looked supremely offended. "I didn't ask!" Still a little sullen from the disappointing results of the day, Lloyd didn't bother sassing him back. He scoffed when he noticed Jay looking helplessly at Zane — they all knew full well that never worked, so when the nindroid minutely shook his head there was hardly any surprise.

"Silly zaptrap," Cole shook his head and tsked. "Once is all it takes on this team. You of all people should know better."

Jay hmphed and nearly went back to skimming the book he'd picked up, but his head popped up curiously when Skylor spoke.

"Isn't it kind of late? If we're going to look at anything, maybe we should read one of the loose sheets instead. I feel like trying to get into something that long when we need to sleep isn't the best idea. I want to stay in-the-know, but I'm not sure how much longer I can pay attention to anything right now …" She shrugged, looking a little self-conscious. "Sorry."

Oh, right. It was usually Lloyd's job to be one of the voices of reason.

Looking around, he was certain that last sentence didn't pertain to just Skylor, though. The banter was being tossed rather lazily and there was a sluggishness to everyone's movements, even Zane's. As for himself, the temptation to just plonk onto the next piece of bedding he picked up while cleaning up the aftermath of the pillow-and-assorted-accessories fight and sleep on it right there had been overwhelming.

"It's quite alright," Zane reassured her. "You have a point, at that. Perhaps something like this would suffice for tonight?" He held up a messily rolled piece of paper, and pulled it open. Lloyd eyed it and nodded; seemed interesting enough. Most likely, they could learn a thing or two, discuss, and then go to bed without too much further ado.

"Looks good to me," Cole said. "Let's see about this person, then."

Zane's eyes fell to the paper for a few seconds before freezing, glowing ever so faintly brighter, and doing a funny skip between Lloyd and the paper before settling back on the paper. Lloyd frowned, unsure he liked the new furrow in Zane's brow.

"What is it, buddy?"

Zane coughed awkwardly. Amazing how even nindroids did that when they were nervous.

"This appears to be a letter addressed to Garmadon."

Lloyd's eyes widened, breath hitching. Abruptly his heart felt less like it was beating and more like it was trying to break itself out of his chest.

Dad.

It had been, safe to say, a little while since he'd thought about his father. The same father he'd gone through hell and back to finally have by his side, only to banish and then drown for good.

He'd kept himself good and busy, helping the team move base to the abandoned Temple of Airjitzu. Warded off the lingering pain from remembering, during the Day of the Departed, pretty well with dusting and heavy lifting and organizing what needed to be packed.

Lloyd had always done his best to draw strength from his father's memory. Like he'd told his mother during Day of the Departed: "Sometimes it feels like he's still with me."

It sure didn't feel like he was with Lloyd now.

"Lloyd?"

He blinked.

"Lloyd, you good?"

He looked over. Cole and the others were all watching him with concern, trying to gauge his reaction.

Quietly, he took a deep breath. He was supposed to have gotten past this. It wasn't supposed to still sting so much when he'd moved onto something healthier, more bittersweet than the more raw, consuming pain he'd known for a while.

Maybe the mansion's atmosphere was digging deeper than he'd thought, ripping open old wounds on top of slashing new ones.

"Yeah." Then, to ensure they couldn't press him about it, "Are you sure, Zane? Lemme see." Zane obliged, handing him the letter. Lloyd took it and held it up to the firelight, careful not to wrinkle the aged parchment, and skimmed it silently, feeling everyone's eyes still on him.

Having caught his reaction to Garmadon's name, they were probably a little surprised when he chuckled.

"What is it?" Skylor tilted her head. "What did they say?"

"It's just the first paragraph. Listen to this!" Clearing his throat, all too glad to focus on the letter, he read it, the ninja going from attentive listening to confused snickering as he did.

"My dearest friend, Garmadon, it seems fitting to start with the most important subject here—thanks a lot for letting me blunder into that whole mess, you absolute withered honeysuckle. I was delayed two whole days trying to firstly explain how I accidentally deposed a chieftess, and then restore some semblance of normalcy to the village. I don't," Lloyd had to catch his breath, barely managing to stop snickering long enough to finish the sentence, "I don't even know why we're still friends." "What in the world is this talking about?" Cole wheezed.

"Absolute withered honeysuckle," Jay mimicked, cracking up himself.

"Well. They were friends, we've learned that much," Skylor stated, desperately trying to regain a straight face.

"Absolute chums, from the sound of it. Just the best of buddies. Like you and me, huh, Cole?"

"If this whole 'accidentally deposed a chieftess' stuff is anything to go by," Cole said, still laughing, "they were even better."

"I wonder what they got up to if this was forty years ago." Zane set about tidying up the remaining letters and the bound book earlier held by Jay, probably figuring he might as well get it over with while they were all distracted. "Or who this was, to be so evidently close to Garmadon."

"Uh, am I the only one wondering what a honeysuckle is?"

Metaphorical crickets, much to Jay's chagrin.

"Just me? Okay."

A sigh. "They're flowers, Jay."

As the room got quiet enough to hear the crackling fireplace again, Lloyd went back to skimming the letter. The little smile that had lingered on his face fell flat again as he took in the words.

"What's the holdup?" Jay complained after a moment.

"Honestly, with the way this is written, if I read it verbatim you'd probably fall asleep," Lloyd muttered over the page. "Shut up and let me summarize."

"I … okay."

Lloyd squinted at the words. "This is an awful lot to take in. What's a … Shhh … Shuuuuravansha?"

"A what?" A confused chorus met his ears; evidently the rest of the room only knew about as much as he did.

"Maybe the word comes from the local language," Cole suggested. "I did hear a lot of the villagers speaking something I didn't recognize."

"Probably. Zane, you wouldn't happen to have that language in your databases or anything, would you?" Jay asked.

"I'm afraid not," Zane said apologetically. "What is the rest of the sentence, Lloyd? Perhaps the proper context will make it easier to guess."

"'I spoke with the Shuravansha and revised the contingency plans based on the information I got from them, as well as reports from you and our spies on the Serpentine's movement.' How do you even say that?"

"I guess the jury stays out on that one," Cole replied. "But I don't think that's a person. It says 'the Shuravansha'. I don't call Jay 'the Jay'; it'd be weird."

"So a group of some sort?" Jay suggested. "The word 'the' implies more than one."

"But it could be a title," Skylor pointed out. "Like 'the chief' or 'the sensei'."

"Either way, it reveals little about the nature of this Shuravansha," Zane said. "All that sentence gave us is that they had information about the Serpentine relevant to the author of this letter."

"Whatever it is, it's probably important," Lloyd muttered, rubbing his eyes and going back to the letter. "But maybe we'll find more clues about them later."

"Then we should remember it," Skylor muttered. "How do you spell that?"

He spelled it out and kept reading. The room went back to quiet anticipation, until Lloyd sputtered, squinted at something on the page, then looked up at them.

"What the heck, Cole?"

"Huh?" All eyes were now on a flabbergasted Cole. "Wh-what'd I do?!"

"I, it's not you, it's just — since when was the last master of earth a traitor?"

"Whoa whoa whoa, what?" Jay piped up. "That's kinda a heavy accusation to just bandy around!"

"What is this coming from, Lloyd?" Zane asked.

"It literally says right there, 'Earth went traitor on us'! There's only one way to read that!"

Skylor was scribbling like mad.

"Wha—well, don't look at me!" Cole said. "I don't know anything about this!"

"Maybe that's not all there is to it." It was difficult to see Skylor's eyes behind the shades. "My father turned the Anacondrai and the other tribes against humans to start the whole war in the first place. Then he turned the elemental masters against themselves."

"Maybe that was the case here too. Is there anything else about the master of earth, Lloyd?" Zane spoke up.

"Full sentence is 'The Constrictai among them can burrow, and ever since Earth, the weasel, went traitor on us, we lost our best protection against that tactic.' So they're really still talking about the Serpentine."

"Hmm."

"Mmmaybe we should go back to the rest of the letter?" Jay said tentatively.

"I dunno. I kinda wanna hear about this." Cole curiously poked his head closer, wanting to get a look at the letter. Lloyd drew back and immediately felt bad when Cole regarded him a moment before scooting back, hiding a yawn behind his hand.

Right. It was late.

"I mean, there isn't anything else in the letter about them … just the one sentence."

"Fine. What's the rest of it say, then? We really don't have the rest of the night here."

He had a point. Lloyd was pretty ready to be done with the letter and get some rest, by now.

"Wait a sec," Jay said. "'Went traitor on us.' Who's 'us'?"

"Oh." Cole's eyes widened. "Oh my god, you actually have a point. Yeah, that sounds an awful lot like … they called him 'Earth', not his name."

"How do you know that's not his name? Maybe his mom had a weird taste in names."

"... I'm pretty sure that wasn't his name, Jay."

"The word 'us' does seem to suggest camaraderie," Zane mused. "Given that and their knowledge of elemental power, perhaps they were acquainted with the elemental masters, or worked alongside them in some manner."

"That makes sense," Lloyd agreed, not looking up from the paper he held. "Or maybe they even were a master!"

"There's nothing to confirm it yet …" Skylor pointed out. "I'll just write down that they probably knew about the elemental masters. I think that's a safe conclusion."

"Fair enough," Zane said. "I think we should hear the rest of the letter now, before it gets much later. Lloyd?"

"Okay, so. Basically, my dad sent this person, whoever they are, info about Serpentine movement in the area. There were more loose gangs causing trouble than anything, they were just harder to predict because they weren't associated with the Anacondrai commanders. But according to them, the Southern Woodlands were in too strategic a location to risk—"

"Southern Woodlands?" Jay interrupted.

"That's probably what this forest is called. The villagers called it that on our way here."

"Yeah, I think I remember hearing that from someone," Cole said.

"Anyway. Like I was saying." Lloyd coughed pointedly and continued. "The Woodlands were too risky to leave unprotected because the thick plant life would give the Serpentine a naturally-sheltered base to recover and hide in. And they didn't have a lot of time left because … wait." The loopy handwriting in thick black ink cut off abruptly near the middle of the page, the last sentence never to be finished. "It just cuts off mid-sentence."

"Why did I ever think I'd have an easy time of this." Skylor sounded disappointed. "There wouldn't happen to be a name or anything at the bottom, would there?"

Lloyd shook his head. Of course there wasn't; that'd be too easy for them, now, wouldn't it?

"So why didn't they have time, exactly?" Jay said.

"An abrupt end of that nature would suggest some kind of interruption, would it not?" Zane said. "They never had the chance to finish writing this letter."

"If this is from the same era as everything else we've been seeing, then there was a war on. I imagine that'd do it," Cole said.

"Okay, but there's no signs of a fight in this room," Jay pointed out.

"... Ah. That is. Also true."

If he were a little less tired, Lloyd would've chuckled at Cole being caught off-guard without even a witty defense.

"I wonder what they were expecting not to have a lot of time for …" Lloyd wondered. "There's no signs of a fight here, but it's super messy everywhere else, especially downstairs. Maybe something happened there."

"And maybe it's related to the spirit." Cole ran a hand through his thick, messy hair, eyes dark. "There's no way something like that came out of nowhere."

"Given what we know, it is still impossible to gauge exactly what took place in this mansion," Zane said. "It does seem likely that the Serpentine activity this person mentioned had something to do with it, though. The only way to know for sure would be to find more information"

"So we don't know that, either," Jay muttered. "Write that down as a solid 'maybe', I guess."

Skylor nodded. "Anything else I should put down?"

Lloyd shook his head, and Skylor gratefully flipped the notepad closed and set it aside. Her words had actually begun to slur together with tiredness, so even if there were, he wasn't about to put her through writing it.

"Well, if that's all, then." Cole yawned, again. "Let's call it a day. How long's it been?"

"My internal clock is completely frozen," Zane sighed. "And PIXAL says she can't start it up without any connection to the outside world. But according to my timer, it's been approximately 15 hours since Jay woke me and Cole up to inform us Kai was missing."

Yep. Definitely time to wind down.

The mood dipped briefly at the mention of Kai, but Cole determinedly moved on to the topic of keeping watch, and whether they should do it tonight.

Eventually they decided that it definitely needed to stay, but split it up into two equal shifts. Two of them weren't even options to be considered. Lloyd offered to take shift, but given that he'd gotten out of a tough scrape with the spirit earlier and gone on both search expeditions, everyone else refused to let him, arguing he needed the rest. That left just Cole and Jay, but Cole, having gone through the mansion both times, was tired too. Jay would have to keep watch first.

Then came sleeping arrangements, which also worked themselves out quickly enough. Zane, for whatever reason, stayed in a corner to recharge, Skylor was on one bed, and whoever wasn't on shift would be sharing a bed with Lloyd.

"Alright, Jay, don't do anything stupid this time," Cole ribbed Jay, who was shifting around burnt kindling and trying to keep the little bit of fire left alive.

Jay stuck his tongue out.

"You have sooo much faith in me. Come on, I've learned my lesson here."

"Your timer's working, right? Make sure to wake me in … four hours?"

"Four and a half," Jay corrected him. "And yeah, I will."

"Cool. Night." And with that, Cole left him to his current task: striking a match onto a pile of kindling and hoping for a fire big enough to last.

Soon enough, everyone had bid each other goodnight and settled down.

Lloyd pulled his blanket a little closer to himself, still feeling a residual chill seep into his bones. With nothing to keep preoccupied with, ugly thoughts about the mansion, the horrors of its obscure history, their current conditions, his own utter incompetence, the way he'd just let Karlof get lost, Kai came creeping in far too readily. He tried to push them away.

Not now. Couldn't think about all of those things now or he'd never rest. Even tired, falling asleep was a challenge with sore limbs and unceasing nerves scratching away at him and a bitter resentment towards it all beginning to sink into his bones.

Lloyd closed his eyes regardless, trying to empty his mind. He could faintly hear Jay's breathing under the familiar crackle of the flames that were only too reminiscent of their missing piece.

Shadows twisted and danced on the walls.

Exhaustion won out eventually.

[krisseycrystal]

rated: g+

original story: The Diamondback

prompt: “Hostage Video” + Nayden

requested by: @moominquartz

so the light of my life requested “Hostage Video” with one of my own personal OC’s for a WIP I haven’t even...I mean I’ve shown it only to the writing squad discord server i’m part of, but that’s like, it. so...these OC’s haven’t seen the light of day before

but i guess now they are for this modern-day detective au-ish thing i’ve concocted. funny how that works.

if you read, i hope you enjoy!!

- o - o - o -

Temblor [Read on AO3]

- o - o - o -

There is no coffee in the world kind and dark enough to set Kaimana Lee’s head on straight and wake him up to deal with the slumped over idiot half-asleep on his doorstep with one of those long, fancy smartphones cradled in his lap. 

“Kid,” he grumbles and shoves his toes into the bunched-up leg. When that doesn’t get the teen to rise, he tries his arm. “Hey. Kid.”

As if struck instead of poked, the messy mop of black hair shoots upright. He blinks blearily up at Kaimana, before jumping to his feet. His hands latch around the cell phone, before one jerks away to rub at a sleepy brown eye. “Kaimana Lee?” the kid mumbles. His voice far younger and groggier than Kaimana was actually expecting for one with such heavy and broody eyes.

Kaimana pulls out the toothpick from his mouth and looks the kid up and down. “Who’s askin’?” 

“Boaz Diggory.” Betting by the sudden light taking fire in his hearth-eyed gaze, he thinks the kid is finally awake. Boaz looks down at the phone in his hand. “It’s eleven fifteen.”

“And?” Kaimana turns. The kid backpedals out of his way, but as soon as his front door is open, he hugs close to his heels.

“Your office hours say--”

“--that website hasn’t been updated in years, kid.” The door slams shut behind them with more force than necessary. Kaimana brushes past the Boaz and the empty secretary's desk gathering dust, striding straight for the foggy-glass door at the back. “What the hell do you want?”

“I need your help.”

Kaimana stops with one hand on the tarnished doorknob and turns to give the kid his best hard, duh look. “Yeah. I gathered that,” he gruffs and returns the toothpick to its place between his teeth. “Get to the part where you tell me what for.”

Boaz’s frown is more like what he was expecting; it matches the stiff look in his eyes that reminds Kaimana of an unyielding boulder. But he does hold out the phone.

Kaimana takes it slowly, with one last glance at the kid’s face. He opens his office door.

“What’s the password?”

“February 12, 2003,” Boaz rattles off, crossing his arms over his chest. His eyes rake over the messy library of books lined up against the wall, haphazard and unorganized. “Uh, with a zero in front of the two and just the ‘03.”

“Got it.” Kaimana sticks one leg up on the corner of his desk, back hunched over as his eyes zero in on the unlocked screen. “Birthday?”

“If you assume that’s my phone.”

Kaimana glances at the kid. “So what’s this, then? A video?”

Boaz had just sat down; he stands up just as quickly once Kaimana mentions it. With one final look at the kid’s tense form, his thumb taps over the screen. It takes a moment for the feed to come into focus, but once he sees the steel folding chair and the kid chained and blindfolded into it, ice settles in his gut. There’s a pair of overly large ear-muffs wrapped around the back of a head of black hair. 

“Y…you’ll want to turn up the volume,” Boaz says and for the first time since he marched inside Kaimana’s office, he sounds small.

Kaimana turns over the phone, but after a moment of aimless searching, Boaz takes the device from him and presses along its thin side. A crescendo of beeps later, and a low and distorted voice rings out.

“--to see anything happen to him, would you? Then let’s make a deal, Mr. Diggory. If you’d like to see your son alive and in one piece, we suggest you get paying. One million should do the trick. But if that’s too much, don’t worry. We’ll give you one week.”

“How considerate,” Kaimana grumbles.

Boaz’s fists clench at his sides.

“We’ll be in touch soon regarding a drop-off location. And if you even think about going to the cops, we’ll--”

Kaimana drops the phone onto the desk. He looks at Boaz. “But you thought hiring a private investigator would be fine?”  

Boaz glares by way of answer.

“I take it this is your father’s phone. And this kid here’s your brother.”

“Sister.”

There’s a fire and fight waiting to happen in that voice. Kaimana watches Boaz: he sees the unspoken dare in the kid’s gaze and the tension in his form. He looks to the phone lying face-up beside his thigh, still paused on the image of the other kid in question. It’s hard to make out any identifying details other than they had been moving. Writhing. Trying to pull against their restraints unsuccessfully time and time again while the stranger had been talking. The footage is undoubtedly set on loop; the voice track had been recorded and overlaid afterward.

“Sister,” Kaimana repeats.

Boaz nods. “Her name is Nayden.”

Kaimana taps the screen and rolls the video back to the beginning. “Got it.” He runs a hand through his hair but a moment later regrets it. He had pulled it into a loose bun for a reason. He reaches back instead for a notepad and pencil. “Apparently, someone didn’t get the memo.”

“Yeah, well. That someone doesn’t fucking matter.”

A small smile quirks onto Kaimana’s face. “I take it you and your family have reason to believe the threat is real and not just a hoax?” 

“Are you calling me a liar?” 

There’s a moment--a strange instance--in which the fight and the fire reached its peak and burst--and with it, at the same time, Kaimana’s bookcases rattle. A small magazine that had been stuffed to lay on top of his incomplete collection of Zane Grey novels flutters to the carpet. Kaimana snaps around a hair too late; by the time he’s taking stock, everything is still again. Dust motes have been flung into the air, illuminated by the midday sun filtering in through the windows.  

Kaimana frowns and looks back at the kid.

Boaz’s eyes flick open, caught in the middle of a slow breathing routine. As he carefully exhales, his hands unclench.

“Okay,” Kaimana slowly says. “Where’re your parents?”

“That’s why I’m here.” In two quick strides, Boaz stands in front of the desk and turns the phone. He drags the tiny red marker on the bottom until Nayden’s head is turned as she’s jerking in her seat. He points at the pair of giant, bright yellow ear-muffs wrapped around her head. “I have good reason to believe my father arranged this entire thing.”

Kaimana freezes.

His frown deepens. He curls forward further, resting his forearm against his knee. His notepad dangles loosely from his fingers. “The video is addressed to him.”

“A ploy to throw off suspicion.”

“Are you sure?”

“I--” Boaz’s eyes flicker to the phone again. His mouth opens and shuts once, flapping uselessly, before he fists the hand that had been pointing at the earmuffs. “--I can’t tell you why. I just am, okay! I have my reasons.” 

“All right.” Kaimana rises to a stand and tosses his notepad onto his desk. “So then why don’t you take those reasons with you to the cops?” 

“It’s complicated.”

“Then what, exactly, are you hiring me for?”

“To find her!” 

There it is again: the small, unfelt tremor that shakes the room. The notepad and desk lamp rattle; Kaimana’s eyes snap to the short, violently swinging gold chain on the side of the lamp’s green porcelain shade. 

When he looks back to Boaz, the kid’s hands are fisted on either side of the phone. His head of black, messy hair is bowed.

“Please.” Boaz’s voice is as tight and bare as a whisper. “She’s all alone. She…”

Slowly, Kaimana’s eyes drift to the opposite wall. He doesn’t have much that he’s bothered to hang up, but his framed diploma and license that he nailed the same day he signed the lease to this small office are two small wooden-framed dots in the midst of all the cornflower blue paint. They hang slightly crooked, now, bothered by whatever strange force it is that has been bumping his room off-kelter.

Earthquakes?

After a long moment, Kaimana sighs. He bows his head and pinches his temples. “Damn it. Private investigators ain’t cheap, kid.”

Boaz’s head snaps up. His brown eyes are enormous on his pale, round face. Immediately, he jerks upright and wipes his sleeve over his face. “I know.”

“I take pay by the hour.”

“I know.”

“You’ve got the money?”

“I’ll get it to you.”

Somehow, that severe, hard look in those eyes is like a promise. Not for the first time, Kaimana feels a little unsettled by just how hard they seem to be. They are too much and trying too hard to be so strong for someone clearly still so young. If he’s bluffing about the money, he doesn’t give any tells.

Kaimana would be lying if he tried to say half the reason that gaze is so unnerving is because it reminds him too much of a damn mirror.

He grumbles and reluctantly picks up his notepad again. “Fine. Tell me everything you know.”