Sleep Troubles
AN: Another AU Lego Ninjago Movie universe-I wanted a plausible reason for Garmadon to have to raise Lloyd himself so Dinogaby came up with this idea that Koko disappeared in battle a few months after Lloyd was born and Garmadon having frantically searched high and low for her, was not able to find her, after some time, fears the worse that she is gone forever, and takes it upon himself to raise little Lloyd in his new volcanic lair. He is building his shark army as well. I may write more in this AU and Koko would return, but for now, this was in my mind and had to be written. I'm a sucker for Lloyd/Garmadon stuff, especially a young Lloyd. Enjoy the fluff and craziness!
Lloyd was now 2 ½. He was a bundle of energy and hard even for the dark lord to keep up with. He recently started becoming resistant to taking his naps in the afternoon. All he wanted to do was to keep playing, but it was clear when he would get cranky that he still needed a nap. Garmadon had been able to bribe his son to take his nap thus far, but Lloyd was smart and was beginning to see through it.
One day when Garmadon was playing chase with Lloyd, hoping to tire him out, the tot fell down and scraped his knee. He had been getting tired and was rubbing his eyes, when he tripped and fell. He started crying.
Garmadon rushed over and knelt down next to his crying son.
"Luh-loyd-are you okay?" he asked, looking at his son's knee. There was a little scrape there, but it wasn't bleeding, and really shouldn't be making Lloyd cry like this, except that Garmadon knew he was tired. He picked his son up.
"Daddy will put a band aid on your knee, and then you'll be fine!" the warlord told his son to placate him. Garmadon always got a bit flustered when Lloyd cried. He either felt completely incapable or that his son could get him to do almost anything he wanted.
He carried Lloyd to the bathroom and with one of his free arms, grabbed the band aid box, and then set Lloyd on the counter, keeping two arms on him while the other two applied the band aid on his knee.
"There, see? All better," Garmadon told him. "No more tears."
Lloyd sniffled as he looked at the band aid on his knee. It had a shark on it.
Garmadon lifted him off the counter and set him on the floor, while he put away the band aid box. When he turned around, he saw his son yawn and rub his eyes. He was in need of a nap.
Surely all that activity wore him out, Garmadon thought. Without thinking, he said the forbidden word, "Alright son, you need to take your nap now."
Upon hearing the word 'nap', Lloyd looked up at his father in alarm, as his big, green eyes did that thing that Garmadon found hard to resist and made the dark lord want to give in right then and there.
Lloyd wrapped his small arms around his father's legs. "No nap!" he insisted, burying his head in his father's legs and shaking his head. He began to whine.
Garmadon instantly kicked himself. He was trying really hard not to use the word 'nap' as this was the result. He knelt down on one knee, so he could be eye level with his son.
"Luh-loyd, look at me," he said, putting his hand under Lloyd's chin. "You are tired, and you will feel better after a nap. Then you can play all you want!" Until bedtime at least.
Lloyd pulled his head away. "No! Me a big boy! No nap!" He stomped his foot for effect.
"I know you are," the warlord simpered and ruffled his son's hair to try to distract him from the whining. He thought for a moment. "Planning to conquer cities is hard and tiring work, so Daddy sometimes takes naps too, ya know," he reasoned.
Lloyd wouldn't be reasoned with (at this age he rarely was) and started to outright cry again and say 'no' over and over.
It was hopeless. There was nothing for it, but to just take his son to his room, and hope he could him to calm down. Sighing, the warlord picked Lloyd up, holding him against his shoulder and rubbing his back in an effort to soothe him. The generals they passed along the way looked briefly over at the pair but continued on. The warlord's son crying was something they had gotten used to.
They arrived in Lloyd's room, but the toddler was still crying. Garmadon suddenly had an idea. He shifted Lloyd to be in front of him.
"Luh-loyd," he sang, "I won't be able to read you a story if you can't stop crying," the warlord told him in the same voice.
Lloyd's crying reduced to sniffling and hiccupping. Garmadon was really hoping that his son's love of being read to would appeal to him enough to get him to cooperate.
"Sleep... wiff...daddy!" Lloyd demanded between hiccups.
Garmadon almost smiled at his son's cleverness at bargaining with him. But if it got him to take his nap, he didn't see the harm in it, at least this time.
"Fine, but you have to sleep. No talking or playing," he told Lloyd. "Now go pick a book," he continued, bopping him on the nose lightly and setting him down on the floor.
Lloyd toddled over to his bookshelf and picked out a book and came back to his father, who took him by the hand and they headed off to the warlord's room. With one of his free hands, he texted his generals that he was taking a nap with his son and don't disturb him for two hours unless there was an emergency. If they thought was strange, they didn't dare comment on it.
Garmadon hadn't really brought his son into his room since he was really little. He wasn't really thinking about how it wasn't childproofed yet, as he just wanted his son to take his nap.
When the toddler came into the room, he was in awe at all the neat looking things that he had never seen before and wanted to explore. He quickly let go of his dad's hand, but only made it a few steps before Garmadon picked him up, knowing his intentions.
"Hold on there, kiddo. We came in here to read and go to sleep," the dark lord reminded him.
He decided that he would change into something more comfortable, so he put Lloyd in the middle of the large bed and put the book next to him.
"Now, stay put while I change my clothes really quick," he told his son, pointing one hand at him.
He went over to his dresser and fumbled around looking for his volcano pj's. He wanted to hurry before Lloyd got bored and started getting into mischief, which wouldn't take long.
Once his dad had his back turned, Lloyd looked around the bed and stood up. It was hard to get his balance and he fell down, resulting in a slight bounce. He giggled and stood up and gave a little jump. He soon started bouncing and laughing, drawing Garmadon's attention.
"What is going on over there?" he asked as he was trying to button up the top of his pj's quickly. He turned around to see his son jumping on the bed. He sighed and shook his head.
"Luh-loyd, I told you, no playing," Garmadon scolded him mildly. He took off his helmet, revealing his own blonde hair, and put it on the nightstand. He got into bed and then picked up Lloyd, settling him on his lap, and grabbed the book. He hoped the reading would start calming his son down, which this time, thankfully, it did.
After reading, the warlord turned out the lights and lay down, drawing Lloyd close to his chest. He then wrapped three arms around his son to keep him secure. With his fourth arm, he started stroking his son's hair-he loved the baby soft feel of it.
"Now, you need to settle down and go to sleep, son," he said in a low, quiet voice. The toddler yawned and feeling cozy against his dad, soon closed his eyes and fell asleep.
Garmadon watched him for a while, while still lightly touching his hair. When Koko was pregnant, he wondered if their child would have his blonde hair or Koko's red hair. He was the only part of Koko that he had left. He could definitely see her fire in his son at times. He sighed. How he missed her! So many times, he wished she was here with him and Lloyd, but he was doing his best to raise his son.
It was nice to slow down and have moments like these with Lloyd. He looked so peaceful when he was asleep but could be quite a handful sometimes when awake. Hard to believe, but he loved him so much. He then lightly kissed the top of his son's head.
Soon, the warlord's eyes felt heavy and they closed, and before he knew it, he drifted off to sleep himself.
Lloyd woke first and blinking the sleep out of his eyes looked around as he sat up. He saw that his father was sprawled out on his back, all four arms outstretched, still fast asleep and snoring lightly.
He crawled over to him. "Daddy, wake up!" he called. Garmadon grumbled something like 'five more minutes' and then just rolled over on his other side and continued sleeping.
The tot frowned. He saw his dad's helmet on the nightstand next to the bed. He made his way over to the edge of the bed, where he slid off backwards, landing on his padded behind. He came over to the nightstand and grabbed the helmet and put it on. It was way too big for him.
Lloyd pretended to be his dad by giving an imitation evil laugh in his toddler high pitched voice and pointing to some imaginary person as he said, "you fiwered!"
Next Lloyd opened what he could reach of his father's dresser drawers and took out the clothes, throwing them all over the floor. Adjusting the helmet so he could see, he headed over to look at the shiny things on the wall. They were actually some of Garmadon's weapons, which thankfully, Lloyd couldn't reach. He saw a chair and thought he could stand on that. Making his way over to the chair, he caught sight of some items that looked interesting on his father's desk.
Forgetting about the shiny things, he climbed up on the chair, lifting up the helmet a little, and saw papers, pens, and various other desk items.
Lloyd grabbed a pen and scribbled all over the papers (that were marked important) and then upon discovering a stamp, stamped the rest all over. Then he sent them all scattering to the floor with a giggle. He then noticed a shiny, bright-looking object. The toddler was immediately drawn to it, and as he reached for it, the helmet slid down over his eyes, and he knocked it onto the floor and it broke with a loud crash.
"Uh-oh," Lloyd exclaimed as he peeked out from under the helmet, looking down at the broken pieces with orange stuff oozing out onto the floor.
Garmadon woke up with a start upon hearing the sound of something breaking, and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes, trying to get re-oriented to his surroundings. He sat up and didn't see his son in the bed and felt immediately panicked. He looked over just in time to see Lloyd, wearing his helmet of all things, heading towards...oh no! His now broken lava lamp with real lava that was all over the floor! How did he get to that?
"Luh-loyd!" Adrenaline kicked in, and the strong protective instinct was in high gear as Garmadon quickly leap out of the bed, and doing a slick ninja move, he slid along the floor, grabbed Lloyd, and stood up all in one, quick smooth motion, holding his son close for dear life.
Lloyd giggled in delight. To him it was just fun. "Again, again!" he told his dad.
Garmadon shifted Lloyd to a better hold in his arms. He checked him over just to make sure he hadn't actually touched the lava or got cut by the broken glass, but he looked fine. That was too close! Thankfully, because of the type of floor he had, it hadn't caught fire either. Living in a volcano made him take extra precautions to fire proof his lair.
Crisis averted, the warlord was able start calming down. "Luh-loyd, that is very dangerous stuff not to be touched!" he lectured him, not that Lloyd would really understand that. He should have put that away before going to sleep, but he completely forgot about it. He was just glad he got there in time, as he shuddered to think about what could have happened. He would have to clean it up.
Garmadon looked at his helmet still on his son's head. It would have been really comical in any other situation.
It was then that he also noticed the state of the rest of his room: clothes all over the floor, his important papers strewn all over that his son had apparently drawn on and or stamped, ruining them. Maybe he really should consider childproofing the room, either that, or not let his son in his room again until he was at least seven.
"Oh, Luh-loyd, what am I going to do with you?" the dark lord grumbled at his son.
"Daddy no wake up," Lloyd answered, as if that explained everything. Then he wrapped his arms around his dad's neck and added, "Love you."
Garmadon's heart melted at that. It really wasn't all Lloyd's fault after all. He then took the helmet off his son and put it back on his own head.
"Right back at you, buddy. Come on, let's get you changed; you're soaked, you little rascal," he told him in an affectionate tone.
END