WARNING: Implied Internal Homophobia/Implied Lavashipping and brief kissing! (Also Forced Eating because I'm a terrible person.)


Lloyd enjoyed the quiet. Jay's thoughts weren't noisy anymore, they stayed in one place. His own. He never talked. Soundless wasn't the correct word to describe him. Speechless, maybe. It was other's thoughts that stole his voice.

No, he wasn't stupid. Lloyd stole his intelligence.

"Hey, Jay." One of the school students said to admire him. "Nice haircut."

Jay just nodded and smiled, and hid behind Cole. Lloyd wondered if he was supposed to be their savior or something, or maybe it was something else. It didn't matter. Kai was close to him too, like a lost puppy. Again, Cole didn't mind. His headphones sung words

He didn't know if Cole trusted him or not. Lloyd was very much untrustworthy.

"What's the plan for your dad's latest attack, Garma-dunce?" He'd forgotten that he was pinned to a locker, face-to-face with Chen the Cheerleader. School bully. Yay cliches. He took a glance at Chen's features, they weren't as flawless as Kai's, but it'll do. "Did you not hear me? I said-"

"If you get any closer, I might just kiss you." Lloyd was not stupid neither was Jay. Doesn't matter in the end. Chen's face softened before returning to their original form, his heterochromia-which was Lloyd's fault-only made him look more attractive. Though the blonde knew that he could shapeshift into a girl at any given time, he chose not to. Chen wasn't his type. "You're handsome, you know that right?"

"Quit trying me, Lloyd." It was the first time Chen has used his first name since they were eleven. Lloyd reached his free hand to Chen's face and pulled Chen to his lips. It only lasted a second before Chen pushed him back. "Dude, disgusting!"

"You taste like grape chapstick, I like it." The other smiled. Chen spat into a trashcan and wiped his mouth. Lloyd wasn't lying about his lips, they tasted sweet hints of cherry. He definitely did well. "Do you want another one? We have all day."

"You are the most disgusting thing to ever exist in this entire city, and that's saying something!" Chen stepped back. He took a moment to gather his thoughts before swing swinging a fist. Something caught it.

"That is enough." Cole wore a smiley-face t-shirt. Cole liked smiley-faces. Chen huffed and pointed to Lloyd as he walked away. Lloyd cocked his head.

"D-disgusting! You're disgusting!"

"I thought you were supposed to be in class." Lloyd joked. Cole wasn't buying it. He needed to loosen up, have some fun for once. The latter hated him.

"And I thought you knew how to defend yourself," Cole said. "I know what you did to Kai and Jay." Pulling Lloyd close. Lloyd touched Cole's wrist. He was going to need a backfire. "You are not going to use that trick of yours on me, you hear?"

"Loud and clear. You're a smart cookie aren't you?"

"I knew I shouldn't have trusted you, you broke my friends."

"Sure."

The two parted ways. Did Cole mind at all? Lloyd didn't think so. Cole was weird like that. Strength was weird. Lloyd was bleeding again. Weird.

School was going just wonderful.

When he got to his bathroom, Lloyd washed his face. His mouth produced black liquid whenever something went wrong (or right, it depended on the situation). Lloyd groaned, Cole knew something he shouldn't have. Cole was probably going to be worse than Kai. He was getting in the way.

Cole wasn't someone to mess with, sure he had a calm nature, a gentle giant if you will, but he put his friends first. He and Lloyd weren't friends, to begin with. They only acted the part around the others. They put on a smile when they were around. Lloyd's ink would be rendered useless against the earth.

Cole, Zane, and Jay were Book Club buddies in 9th grade. Maybe he'd already read about Oni Blood. Lloyd stared at himself in the mirror, that blood isn't going away anytime soon. Cole liked to listen to music and read, going to the library every day after school when they weren't saving the day. Being creepy wasn't enough.


Lloyd realized that he can catch glimpses of Cole's memories, that was a neat new trick. And he swore to his grandfather again, Cole's life was living hell. He understood why Cole acted tough and resilient. The earth master was terrified. Emotional trauma sucked.

He didn't know Cole was so very emotional. Insecure. Sensitive. He questioned his value a lot. He was somehow still mourning over himself. The lack of his father's attacks was suspicious.

Somewhere in his memories, there was a trigger word.

Ninjago's Public Library was beautiful, two swan-themed fountains, college students studying and laughing, hipsters drinking coffee and enjoying books. Lloyd stared back at those who dared to look at him, he had fangs now, which was great. He felt displaced. Something was happening to him, and Lloyd was afraid of what. Different lately. But something new was something good.

He found Cole on the third floor of the library, the Teen section, reading as he should be. He was the only other person there. Lloyd could see a distant memory from a couple of years ago. Cole was twelve back then. He's seventeen now.

"Don't touch me! You can't just kiss someone like that! You've got dirty hands, boys aren't supposed like boys. Gross." A much older boy shoved him into a closet, there were dressed for a party. Cole waved his hands out for help, his arm was broken. He cried at the pain.

"Stop crying! He's got germs, avoid 'em like the plague." They kicked him. Cole was surrounded, helpless, lost. Earlier that week, he had made the mistake of answering a question on his opinion of girls. Cole told them he liked boys. They treated him like an animal for that. His arm was still broken.

Cole winced and closed his book. The memory hurt. Lloyd hid behind a bookshelf. Cole was frustrated. Angry. Upset. Something was wrong. Lloyd doesn't like wrong things.

"Leave me alone, stalker," Cole warned. Lloyd learned not to mess with him. His agenda said otherwise. Cole was getting in the way. Lloyd knew things about Cole, bad things. "I told you to not use your tricks on me."

"They teased and hurt you because you liked boys," Lloyd said. Cole immediately pushed his chair and table back, it made an echoing noise. He threw off his headphones and grit his teeth. Lloyd could see a chipped tooth.

"Who told you that!?" He shouted. Lloyd shushed him, didn't he know that they weren't supposed to shout in a library? The Oni moved from his position to face Cole, he had a look of hurt and disappointment into one reaction. Cole was weird like that. "I swear, it's not like that.

"You swear a lot," Lloyd answered. Cole picked up a couple of textbooks from his book bag. "How's your relationship with Kai working out?"

They were hugging and kissing, laughing and smiling. Kai seemed happy as he and Cole held hands. They loved each other. Lloyd wanted that. To feel loved, adored, accepted.

"I-uh, what?" Cole asked, taken aback. Lloyd was getting deeper into his memories. Then a textbook flew past his head, then another. Cole was throwing things. "You ruin everything! Get out of my head!"

Lloyd was quick to dodge, catching a few books in the process. He reached into his pockets, that pen was there. Cole liked smiley-faces. They symbolized his happy place. Lloyd liked that.

Cole continued to throw pencils, papers, his sketchbooks. Lloyd gave a small smile, Cole needed to calm down. Cole's nervous. Cole was Kai's boyfriend. Cole was a lot of things. Cute.

"Don't lie to me, Cole. Stop your tough-guy act. I know you're scared." Lloyd was being creepy again. Lloyd was hugging Cole. Cole didn't like that. Cole hates him. "I know your scared to show your true colors because some kids called you 'dirty' when you went to a dance school."

Cole shuddered. Was that the trigger word? Dirty? Lloyd accidentally triggered something. That was his fault. He'd triggered another memory.

"If you don't eat this," A boy Cole's age held up a half-eaten burger from the trash can, it had flies surrounding it already, there were contents of discarded rotten ingredients. Cole's arm was still broken. Wow. "I'll make you drink from the toilet right after the janitor uses it." Cole scrunched his nose in disgust. Nobody liked that idea. "What? Too scared to get down and dirty?"

"No, no. I'll do it" Cole whispered. The boy looked to his friends, whose phones were out to record the whole thing. The burger was shoved into his mouth. He ate it. He ate the whole thing. Cole gagged, but he ate it nevertheless.

"I can't believe he ate that!" was followed by "He's disgusting! Dirty whiner!" Cole collapsed to the floor. He felt as if he was going to be sick. Food poisoning.

"So dirty. Cole just ate garbage!"

At the end of it all, Lloyd used his pen to draw a smiley-face on Cole's face with a heart. Cole grumbled and pushed him off. He wiped his cheek but the ink never smeared. Lloyd hit something he wasn't supposed to.

"Sorry." He mumbled. "Just don't touch me and I won't get you in trouble." The earth ninja was fearful. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have touched you."

Dirty was the trigger word. Good job, Lloyd. Cole left Lloyd bewildered. Cole's a nervous wreck. Personal issues. It didn't matter anyway.

'Insecure' and 'Disappointment' was written on his arms. Lloyd never wrote them. Only the smiley-face. That was a mistake. How could he be so stupid?

Cole's favorite song was blasting through his speakers. Cole left them there.

Lloyd felt an emotion. Regret.


The DJ didn't show up to school for a couple of days, but when he did. He was unrecognizable. Off his rocker. Lost his cool. Losing his mind. Emotions were terrible.

"Woah man," Nya had commented on his attire one morning, turning Kai around to join the conversation. Her brother was blind, she knew that now. "What are you wearing?"

"It's not that bad." Cole didn't wear any headphones. Cole doesn't listen to music anymore. That was Lloyd's fault. "Is it?"

"It is hot enough for you to sweat," Zane chimed in. Thanks for the robot. "There is no reason why you should be wearing winter clothing."

"I knew I looked ridiculous!" Cole hissed. He looked to Jay for confirmation. But Jay was busy counting on his fingers. Jay wasn't thinking today. "I'm not coming to school tomorrow, or the next, or the week after that. I should've stayed home while I had the chance-"

"Hey now, let's not jump to conclusions, Rockstar." Kai steadily shuffled over to Cole, feeling walls. Cole stepped back. "You look fine, nothing out of the ordinary from what I've seen you wear." Kai offered his hand, Cole never took it. "What happened to my boyfriend?"

"I'm sorry, I just...really don't feel comfortable with touching things right now," Cole said in a soft voice. Lloyd wondered if Cole was a germaphobe after that event. He didn't seem like it. "The sun hurts, people hurt, I hurt. I'm not touching you."

"Cole, are you feeling okay?" Nya frowned. Cole put up his hands in reassurance.

"Yeah," He eyed Lloyd. Brown eyes met red eyes. He looked petrified. "I'm perfectly fine, just jumpy. I'd better get to class."

Lloyd watched as his former pretend-friend apologize when he ran into one of the new students. He flinched when the boy went to pick up his belongs. Cole had been beaten before. Yes. That smiley-face wasn't worth it.

"It's okay, man." He heard the boy say.

"No, it's my fault. I shouldn't have been so close," Cole belittled himself. The boy reached out a hand for him to take. Cole shook his head. "No, don't touch me, I might get you in trouble."

Cole said the exact same thing to him. He understood why Cole acted so touch.

Going to the library was a mistake. Lloyd hated his mistakes. He was bleeding again, it tasted like metal and ink. He bit his tongue, fangs.

Lloyd understood why Cole was afraid of himself. Kai was his boyfriend. Cole felt dirty for loving him.

Cole's favorite song was depressing.

Rule Number Three:

Those that interfere with your plan...shut them down.


Lloyd sat on his bed and ran fingers through his hair, he had two more left. Lloyd hated the icy feeling of water. Ice was related to water. They were only going to get more suspicious of him.