*has now acquired a small army of jerboas, which is assisting me with the ominous chanting of "warm-fuzzies warm-fuzzies WARM-FUZZIES"*
It's bad. This and the next chapter are all just characters dithering around being cute and stuff. I wanted to combine them, but that would have been LONG. So. Driving up the dumb chapter count it is, I guess! Good thing I'm not about to run out of memes.
Also, thought I'd try something new this time around! I've had a couple talks with people commenting how confusing recent chapters are for someone who hasn't read the previous content, and I'll be the first to admit there is . . . a lot of previous content. And long spaces between updates. Even I lose track of the backstory.
So I thought I'd start including a sorta "previously, on Avatar:" kind of thing, where I summarize what previous developments will have bearing on this chapter. I don't know if that's weird or what though, let me know what you think.
So, relevant today:
-Cole, Lloyd, and Kai's various injuries from the last 10 or so chapters. Various other recent stuff too, like the ninjas' families being on the ship, a lot of slobber users in withdrawal, and Skylor asking the ninja to help her get the captured Technicians off her dad's island.
-Those Technicians were shifted to the island in Chapter 90, by the way, so the ninja could take their place and infiltrate Technician Base Zero.
-The katamari that the ninja have been collecting via email since Chapter 109, to compete with the Technicians'.
-Lloyd's hair that's been going for pretty much the entire fic, and was explained in Chapter 122.
-Cole and Lloyd's whole fiasco in Chapter 121.
Guest: Yo yo! Holy cow, four years?! That's amazing, thank you so much. And thank you for dropping in to let me know! Very cool of you. ^_^
OrchidHill: The elusive HAPPY JAY, yes! Please take extra care to acquaint yourself with this rare and remarkable specimen. Note that unlike most Jays, it is squishy.
For some reason I get so much amusement out of you calling Cole heinous, and I don't know why, but there it is. XD Didn't know his killjoyness was bugging so many people though. Huh.
He'd just now realized that he didn't have to go to the hospital to talk to Cole, he can literally just poke his head off the edge of the bed and he's there. He needed to take advantage of this immediately. :B
Glad to hear it! I am not done. :3
Fiiiyaaah: Thanks for the review! Yep, masters of secrecy, those two. :P Cole at least has an idea! He'll have to think it over a bit. And I know, I'm cool with both kinds of cake too! But at least in my experience regular cake has more room for variety. And yos, falcon!
Oct 30
8:26 AM
Status conditions: Cole; penetrating trauma to lower limb. Lloyd; gunshot wound, major bite wound, burn injuries. Kai; various bruises, fractures, and lacerations.
"Yeah, we've mostly finished cleaning up," the police chief was saying. "Yesterday was the first day in forever that we had pretty much no crimes in the whole city. Looking forward to some peace in Ninjago while we work through all these court cases."
"Awesome, thank you Chief," said Nya. She glanced over her shoulder as she ended the call. "Mr. Brookstone, we love having you here, but if you're eager to go home it looks like it's safe for you too."
"I'll talk to Cole," said Lou. As he limped off to find his son, Nya typed in an IP address she'd memorized by now, then gave an impressed whistle.
"Jayyyyyyy!" she shouted to the ship in general. "We're at eighty-nine percent!"
"No wayyyyy!" Jay hollered from a distant room.
Thanks to first Cole's injury, then a lot of angry people in withdrawal looking for an alternative to phoning, the ninjas' email inbox was full to bursting. Nya had to delete it down to below capacity almost every day. The katamari they were building in Dr. Borg's server farm was shaping up just as quickly as anything Silica might be pulling together.
"I think by now we could take over Ninjago City's library system . . . " muttered Nya, parsing through new katamari bundles. She raised her voice slightly. "Anyone have some fines they'd like expunged?" Chuckling at the lack of response, she continued browsing.
Meanwhile, Jay and Cole were trying to look casual. They were guarding the door to the training room while Sensei Wu put Lloyd through his paces.
"Very good," said the Sensei, stroking his beard. "I think you would be safe to walk through downtown a little, as long as you stop to rest as soon as you need to."
"I would, Uncle Wu. I'd be careful, I promise." Lloyd appeared in the doorway, grinning. "I'm cleared to go!"
"Good!" said Cole. "Now let us give you the strategy."
"Aw come on guys, it doesn't have to be a big deal—"
"But it's gonna be one anyway!" said Cole, and took him by the arm. "Strategy. Now."
"Guuuuyyyyyys—"
"You're outnumbered!" said Jay, taking his other arm. Then he recalculated and took Cole's instead, because holding Lloyd's arm while on crutches wasn't working out so well for him.
"Dammit," Cole muttered, but nodded his thanks.
They dragged Lloyd off to the spare room and plied him with strategy, speaking in half-whispers. Lloyd was planning to go get his hair cut today, but he'd wanted to keep it on the down-low. Even though the others still didn't know why he'd grown it out so much, there would still have been a big scene if they knew Lloyd was cutting it, if only due to the sheer stubbornness he'd been displaying up until now. He didn't want to risk questions about why he'd suddenly changed his mind, or anything else that might make him lose nerve before the process.
"Okay, so this is the good barber," said Cole, jabbing at a map. "You go down Huxley and make a left on—" He broke off, rolling his eyes. "Well, you know the city, what am I saying?"
"I'll find it," conceded Lloyd, smiling patiently.
"Okay, so these are the photos," said Jay. "Perfect angles. Look at this, we even got one from the back, are we good or what?"
"The barber's gonna think I'm a head case," groaned Lloyd.
"He can think what he wants!" said Cole. "Now you listen to me, squirt. Don't you dare beat around the bush. This is important to you, and you've gotta make that clear. Come right out and tell him this is for personal reasons and you really, really want him to get it just right. Okay?"
"That's dumb . . . " mumbled Lloyd, frowning at his feet.
"Lloyd, so help me. Do it. You took it this far, don't blow it right at the end by letting the barber cut corners."
"Yeah," said Jay. "Please don't come home with your hair in a cube."
Cole and Lloyd both groaned woefully, and Cole tried to shove him. He bit back another oath as he nearly knocked himself over instead.
"Ugh." He half-glowered as Lloyd caught his arm, steadying him. "Anyway. Do I gotta come with you to enforce things or what?"
"Oh geez, no," said Lloyd. "Please."
"You sure you don't want someone for, like . . . " Jay hesitated to say "moral support," Lloyd looked embarrassed enough already. "I dunno, someone to keep you chatting in the meantime? Keep you distracted?"
"I'll chat with the barber." Lloyd was starting to sound a little impatient. "Guys, I've got this, it's fine. You don't have to make a big deal about it. It's just a haircut."
He got a pair of flat looks.
"Well, it doesn't have to be a big deal anymore," he said, reddening. "I'm over it. Moved on. Just a haircut." He pocketed the pictures and loped firmly for the door. "Thanks again guys, see you later!"
Cole and Jay looked after him as he went.
"You think he's actually gonna do it?" said Jay at length. "Or do you think he's gonna, you know. Lose nerve."
"I'm not betting either way." Cole sighed, adjusting one crutch under his arm. "I just wish he'd let one of us come along to distract him. Five hundred ken says he'll end up crying."
"I think I might cry," said Jay. "Can you imagine, this was the last time in our lives we saw him fluffy?" Suddenly his eyes widened. "Oh shoot! Oh no! I forgot to pet him one last time!"
"Jayyyyyyy. Don't be weird."
"Do you think I could still catch him?!"
"I mean, sure, if you want him to—"
Jay had already bolted from the room. Cole stumbled slightly.
"If you want him to kill you," he finished, and sighed. "Fizzims, Jay."
Jay didn't even die, and Lloyd successfully snuck off the ship. In the meantime the others dropped Lou off at his home. He'd been hesitant to leave when Cole was still in such poor shape, but Cole insisted he'd be fine. Jay thought he heard things getting a little tense between them as they discussed the matter, but he didn't pry.
Lou left in good enough spirits. He hugged Cole goodbye and offered the ninja a homemade pumpkin roll from his freezer, which they tried to graciously refuse for all of three seconds. Then they snapped it up like they were starving.
Lou was a decent baker, it turned out. With hungry teens all over the ship, nobody could even wait for the roll to defrost. They sawed off slices still half-frozen and microwaved them into warm, gooey deliciousness.
"Lloyd better get his hair cut fast," Jay muttered to himself, going for his third piece. As he finished prying it off, he heard some shuffling in the hallway. Cole came stumbling into the kitchen, on his way to the living room. He caught his balance and hissed grouchily at nothing in particular.
"Oh hey." Jay waved a slice of the pumpkin roll. "You want some?"
Cole looked at the offering and seemed about to accept, but then stopped and shook his head.
"I'm good thanks," he said, crutching onwards.
Jay quirked an eyebrow, puzzled. That had clearly not been Cole's initial impulse. And since when did Cole willingly pass up sweets?
"You mean you're gonna just leave me to eat this whole thing all by myself?" he called down the hallway. "But I'm lonely!"
Instead of an answer, there was a frustrated yelp, then a thud and some clattering. Jay set down the slice of pumpkin roll and went over to assess the damage.
"You okay?"
"Great," said Cole acerbically. He was sprawled on the floor, his crutches scattered at some length. "Just amazing."
"Hey, no judgie," said Jay.
"Whaddaya mean, no judges? How do I get my scores?" Cole sat up and grabbed for his nearest crutch. "I'm never getting to the professional klutz leagues at this rate."
Jay again raised an eyebrow. Cole wasn't joking. Or, well . . . he was . . . but the tone was all wrong. Jay would know, it was right within his own realm of expertise. That particular brand of "See, I'm being a good sport, I'm being funny, I'm making a big show of coping and I hate it"—he sounded bitter.
He searched for words, bewildered. Meanwhile Cole cast about for his other crutch, then gritted his teeth when he realized it had slid out of reach. He looked around helplessly for a moment, then opted to slowly, carefully heave himself up, balancing his weight on one crutch and one leg. No use; now he had no way of safely stooping to retrieve the other crutch. Without thinking Jay scooped it up off the floor and handed it to him.
Too late he realized this might have been the wrong move. He saw Cole's head go down, heard his next inhale sharpen.
"Thanks," he said a little too flatly, and turned to continue down the hall.
He was angry. Now that Jay thought back, suddenly he noticed a pattern. Cole's mood had seemed to decline steadily since yesterday, and most of today he'd actually seemed pretty weird—all along he'd been angry, and trying to hide it. Oh.
"It bugs you, huh?" he blurted, before he could start second-guessing himself. He wanted to help. The Sensei's words were still warm in his chest, and he wanted to live up to them. Be the one to help his teammates out.
"I dunno," said Cole. "Maybe staple a fencepost through your shin and tell me how you enjoy it afterwards."
Jay said nothing. Cole set his jaw, knowing he'd crossed a line, but made to move doggedly onwards.
"Cole, c'mon," said Jay. "Talk to me. It'll help."
"No it won't."
"Cole . . . "
"What do you want, Jay?" Cole exploded. "You want me to fall apart and cry about how pathetic I am now? Is that it? Would that make you happy?"
Jay backed up and raised his hands, startled. Cole also seemed to catch himself and instantly regret it. He slumped his full weight onto his crutches, groaning.
"Sorry, Sparky. I just . . . sorry."
Jay couldn't reply for a moment. Cole, also not volunteering anything, limped off to the living room and shut the door. After a second Jay shook his head, coming to, and barged after him.
"HEY." He threw open the door. Cole was in the middle of maneuvering himself onto the sofa, and started so hard he dropped the crutches again.
"Jay, would you just—"
"No, would you just chill?" Jay marched over and flopped himself authoritatively over the back of the sofa, leveling a stern finger at Cole's nose. "So you're the resident tough guy, I get it. You build your entire identity around being the meathead and throwing cars and stuff. And now instead you're barely able to walk and you won't be doing backflips for like . . . maybe even a pretty long time. It sucks! I get it. But this is just how our lives go, Cole. We all get injured sometimes. We all get knocked out of commission for a while. You don't hold it against us when we're injured or sick or blind, do you? And we're not gonna hold it against you. I know it's rough going, I know it feels like forever till you get better, but you're gonna. You're gonna get better, and we're gonna be there for you the whole time. You've done it for us so many times, so don't act like it's the end of the world if it's our turn to do it for you."
Jay folded his arms across his chest, mildly out of breath and very pleased with his oratory accomplishments. He waited for Cole to say he felt better, but instead Cole didn't say anything at all.
"Cole?" He prodded one toe against Cole's head. "Are you gonna make me say all of that again?"
Cole still didn't answer. He was staring at the floor with a strange expression on his face.
"Cole . . . ?" Jay squinted at him, trying to rake through his memory for something that could get Cole this upset. Suddenly it slashed through his mind: that horrible suffocating moment before Cole and Lloyd had reconciled, before Lloyd had broken down, that one second when Cole was angry with him about his injury—
They still don't know if I'll ever walk right again. My ninja career could be shot, kid! Over!
"Cole," he breathed, feeling like his lungs had been yanked out. "Did they—did they say you weren't gonna heal?"
"They don't know," said Cole, still not looking up.
"Oh my gosh." Jay scrambled upright, feeling like the world's worst idiot. Sure there had been a really emotional aftermath, but how had he forgotten a comment that serious?! Here he'd thought he was helping snap Cole out of his pity party over a temporary setback, and instead he'd been making him feel worse, dangling a promise that was quite possibly out of Cole's reach.
"Don't tell the kid," said Cole, watching his fingers knit and unknit. "He thinks I'm gonna be fine, and I want to keep it that way. He blames himself too much as it is."
Jay studied his face, wondering at the hard light in Cole's eyes.
"Are you mad at him?" he ventured.
"No." Cole sighed as he said it, but it still sounded sincere. "No. It really wasn't his fault. It was the fault of the jerk who tried to shoot me in the first place. Heck, if we're looking for people to blame, we can blame Silica and Nash and CapsLock and whoever else is ordering around the Technicians. We can blame whoever invented that pile-driver thing, we can blame Sensei Wu for recruiting us, we can blame my mom and dad for ever having me—if Lloyd wants blame, he's gonna have to share with an awful lot of people." He half-smiled, but then shifted uneasily, looking away from Jay a little more than he already had been. "I mean, I . . . I do sometimes wish he'd moved fast enough. I wish that a lot, even. But I'm not mad at him."
Jay looked at him in silence for a while. He thought he knew his teammates pretty well. He would have told you he could read when any one of them was lying. But right now? He honestly could not tell. Cole probably couldn't tell himself.
"You need to talk to him about that," he said at last.
"Someday," said Cole. "Right now he's still barely recovering himself. From the whole thing with his dad, I mean. The leg seems to be doing pretty good."
Thaaaaaat was bitterness again. Right there. Lloyd had been injured several days after Cole, and arguably his condition had been more severe. He was already much closer to full recovery. Jay could imagine he'd find that pretty frustrating himself; it must be downright humiliating for a lunk like Cole. To say nothing of the fear that his entire career might be over—
"Look, Cole," Jay blurted. He swallowed, trying to slow down before he said something else stupid. "Cole, listen to me. First thing you gotta know, let's get this straight: we are not gonna kick you off the team for this. Not ever."
"You won't have to, probably," said Cole softly. "If I can't keep up anymore, what are you gonna do? Keep me around to keep the ship dusted?"
"We don't keep you around just to use you—" began Jay.
"But I don't wanna be around if I'm useless," said Cole. "How do you think that's gonna feel? Having to watch you guys go out on missions and meanwhile I'm just sitting here doing nothing. I don't know if I'm gonna want to get that shoved in my face every day."
Good grief. Cole had been mulling over this kind of content the past day or two? And it made him mildly grumpy? Jay felt like he was on the brink of panicking, and it wasn't even his life.
"Dangit Cole—" He swallowed, willing his eyes not to sting. "What part of 'don't leave us' do you not get?"
"It's not like I want to," said Cole softly. He hadn't lifted his head once during this entire conversation. Jay swallowed again and forcibly pulled himself together.
"Cole, look." He really wanted to hug him right now, but he got the feeling Cole would resent it, the hypocrite. "Maybe—maybe we're just panicking over nothing. They didn't say for sure you wouldn't heal, right?"
Cole shrugged.
"Okay, we're gonna pull out all the stops," said Jay. "No more screwing around. As soon as Lloyd gets back, we're landing this thing and we're getting you in contact with the ground. Then we're taking Skylor's offer to spend some time on her island."
"We can't just leave Kai," said Cole. "He's still gonna be healing for days down with the Serpentine."
"Kai can suck it up!" retorted Jay. "He'll understand. He'd want us to do whatever we can to make sure you heal right, and right now you need to be around your element as much as possible. Nice, lush, nearly-untouched jungle. Undisturbed earth, marshes, sand, rocks, plants, none of those weird city vibrations you're always talking about. Kai can join us once he's done healing. It'll be fine!"
Cole didn't respond. Despairing, Jay shook his arm.
"C'mon buddy, get it together. You're gonna get better. Ninja never quit, right?"
Still no answer.
"Not a rhetorical question, Dirtclod!"
"Yeah," said Cole listlessly. "Sure."
Jay gritted his teeth. Cole was definitely going to resent a hug right now, damn him. He clearly wasn't in the mood for pep talks either. As much as Jay was a proponent of talking, even he could tell that Cole probably just needed some space right now. He had always had a loner streak, crawling around on isolated mountains and breaking all the rules about hiking with a buddy and stuff.
"All right, pal," he sighed eventually. "You sit here and mope it out if you need to. I'm gonna talk to Nya and Sensei about getting us to Chen's Island. Hang tough, all right?"
Cole didn't reply again. Reluctantly Jay left him. He glanced back one last time before shutting the living room door, and for a second he felt like he didn't recognize him. Since when did Cole look that tired, that resigned? He suddenly looked so much older. Like . . . like a grown-up. Oh.
Jay stood in the hallway and glared intensely at the wall for a moment, because there was nothing else concrete to glare at. Stupid Technicians, stupid hospital, stupid passage of time. Give him his freaking brother back. Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Jay got in contact with everyone. He connived with Sensei and Nya, he checked in with Skylor and Kai. Everyone agreed it would be good to get Cole to a nice uncharted island, pronto. They arranged for tomorrow.
After some time, Jay heard Cole crutching around the ship again. He ran into him in the kitchen, sawing himself a slice of pumpkin roll.
"We're going tomorrow," announced Jay. "And you're gonna like it."
"Okay," said Cole mildly. "Sounds good."
He still sounded a little sober, but not as depressed as he had back in the living room. And he was eating again, that was a good sign. Jay bounced on the balls of his feet, considering.
"You wanna train or something?" he said. "You can at least do arm weights, right?"
"No. I asked, they said I should lay off even the upper-body stuff because I still tense my legs to do it." Cole sounded disgusted.
"Ohhh, come on. Not even a little arm wrestling?" coaxed Jay.
"Whatever, nah." Cole stabbed the pumpkin roll grumpily. "I don't even wanna know. I've been lying in a stupid hospital bed so long my muscles are toast, I think you could beat me by now."
"Oh wowwww, yeah, that is pathetic," said Jay flatly. "Thanks."
Cole started to sigh in annoyance, but abruptly it bubbled into a laugh instead. Jay perked up, heartened.
"All right Jay, okay," said Cole. He looked irritated, but there was a trace of a smile as well. Jay smirked and considered that good enough for now.
Just about that moment there was a distant scream from Nya. Cole and Jay both started violently, even though it didn't sound like an "actual danger" scream.
"You guys!" Nya hollered from outside. "Lloyd's cut his hair!"
Cole and Jay looked at each other for a moment.
"So do we, like, pretend to be surprised?" said Jay.
"Sure," said Cole. "Let's go with that."
Lloyd fled before anyone else could get a look at him. He was itchy from hair scraps, he said, he needed to go shower. Then when he got out, Nya kidnapped him and wouldn't let anyone else into her room until she'd finished fussing Lloyd's hair back into shape, fluffing and combing and drying like a six-year-old with a new salon kit. Lloyd was vocally miserable.
While all this was going down, Zane came into the kitchen and told Jay and Cole off for standing around eating hacked-off bits of pumpkin roll instead of a nutritious lunch. So it came to pass that the three of them were sitting in the mess hall eating everything sandwiches when Nya reappeared.
"I still can't believe it," she said. "He's finally lopped off his hair!"
"I'll believe it when I see it," said Cole.
"Well, you're about to see it," said Nya. "Brace yourselves."
"I'm bracing," laughed Jay.
"Ta-da!" Nya stepped aside and motioned dramatically. Jay, unable to contain his curiosity any longer, bounced to his feet and approached the door.
"Geeeeeeeez, Nya . . . " Lloyd crept reluctantly into the doorframe, already blushing. "Can we not make a scene out of this?"
"Holy cow, he's really cut it!" said Cole, while Jay took a good hard look and suddenly jumped back with a yell, throwing up his arms as if to shield himself.
"Is it that bad of a haircut?" asked Lloyd wearily.
"Haircut?! Forget the haircut! What is that on your face?!" Jay pointed.
"Those are his eyes," said Zane mildly.
"Ohhhhhh." Jay leaned closer, squinting. "You're right! Forgot he had those."
"Rrrgh." Lloyd glared at him as the others laughed. Jay only gave him a wink and a meaningful smile before punching his shoulder lightly.
"Lighten up squirt, I'm kidding. It's a good haircut! You know, it looks just like it used to before you grew it out."
"Yeah, just like it!" said Cole, taking an overly casual bite of his lunch. "Doncha guys think?"
"Exactly!" said Nya. "Uncanny. What did you do, show the barber pictures or something?"
Cole choked on his sandwich.
Zane had made extras for Lloyd and Nya, so they finished up lunch together. Lloyd was subjected to ceaseless torment.
"I think the acoustics in the room are different," said Cole. "Less padding."
"Yeah, I swear it echoes now!" said Nya.
"I keep freaking out, who's this stranger at our table?!" said Jay.
"Guys." Lloyd rolled his eyes. "Okay. I got a haircut. It's not a big deal, can we please move on?"
That bought him about ten seconds of peace.
"Would you like me to make you another sandwich, Lloyd?" said Zane.
"Aw, I'm good thanks."
"Are you sure? You look like you need more sustenance. You seem light-headed."
"Zane!" Lloyd looked betrayed, while the others whooped.
"No, listen to the Nindroid, you're definitely a lot lighter now."
"We might have to move you into a lower boxing class. I mean, you had a wig going there."
"Speaking of, I sure hope you donated that hair to one of those wig charities."
"Believe it or not, it wasn't long enough," muttered Lloyd, moving to get up. He paused mid-motion when he realized the others were staring at him like a quartet of cats around a gerbil.
"Wait," said Jay. "Did you actually ask?"
Lloyd looked around, searching for some way to extricate himself, then sighed, slumping. No other answer was needed.
A while later Jay heard Lloyd pattering down the hallway—he could tell because of the semi-limp. A little while later he heard Cole's voice.
"Hey, short stack. Geared up? Where you going?"
Curious (and . . . maybe a little tense), Jay popped to his feet and poked his head out into the hall as well. Lloyd glanced at him in acknowledgement, but shrugged and continued.
"To visit Kai. Sensei says it's okay, and we're leaving for Skylor's island tomorrow, so I wanted to visit him while I could." He waved a hand at his head, rolling his eyes. "Get this over with asap."
Cole chuckled.
"Sorry for giving you a hard time, squirt. You know we've gotta."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. No more than I expected." Lloyd gave him a dry grin, already turning away.
"No fooling, though. It really does look just like it used to," said Cole. Jay felt his heart squeeze at the gentleness in his voice, especially contrasted against the hint of bitterness this morning. Clearly that wasn't on Cole's mind now.
"Yeah," said Lloyd. "Yeah, that's good."
There was something a little evasive about his tone. Cole also seemed to catch it.
"'That's good'?" he said. "What, did they get it wrong?"
"No, no!"
Cole pinned Lloyd down with an accusatory silence. Lloyd squirmed, looked longingly down his escape route, but finally groaned in resignation.
"I, uh . . . haven't really seen it yet."
"Wait, this whole time? Didn't the barber at least show you?!"
"I only pretended to look," mumbled Lloyd.
"Ohhhh, for real kid? What if they'd messed it up?"
"Sounds like they didn't."
"Well, it's your hair, you should be the judge." Cole crutched resolutely away and opened the door to the hallway bathroom. "Here, lay your eyes on it. What if you need to get it fixed before we leave?"
"I'm not going back to get it fixed," groaned Lloyd. He looked wearily at Cole for a minute, still holding the bathroom door open, then sighed. "Fine, whatever. It's not a big deal."
Jay edged a little further out into the hallway, eager to see Lloyd's reaction. Lloyd kept a deliberately stoic face as he marched up to the bathroom door and faced the mirror on the opposite wall, but you could tell for a second there he had a hard time maintaining it.
"Huh," he said. For a second his eyes zigzagged over his reflection, bewildered, but then he shrugged and tilted his head this way and that, off-handedly checking the sides of the cut.
"Huh," he said again. "Yeah, it's g—"
Out of nowhere a sob rattled up from his lungs, and he stumbled back from the sink. Cole let go of the door, startled.
"Lloyd?!"
"Nothing, it's good, nothing!" Lloyd was scrabbling to pull himself together, scrubbing at his eyes. "It's perfect, it's great, I just wasn't ready, I'm okay, I'm okay, I'm okay—"
He was trying to make a break for it, but when Cole caught at his arm he changed tack and sank against him, burying his face in his shoulder. Jay caught some muffled scraps of "I'm sorry, I'm sorry."
"No, shhhh, don't be," murmured Cole. "I gotcha."
"Ughhhhhh. 'm stupid." Lloyd wriggled free after a second, sniffling. "Sorry. I just—wow." He laughed weakly. "Thought I was ready for that."
"Eh, first-time shock. Try again."
Lloyd nodded and turned on the mirror again. He grimaced at the state of his face, but still managed to eye his hair stolidly while mopping away with one sleeve. You could see his expression gradually smoothing out as he adjusted, came to terms. Cole ruffled the top of his hair fondly.
"You know, if I remember your dad right, if he was here he'd be giving you a harder time about the new look than the rest of us put together."
"Yeah." Lloyd gave a half-cough, half-laugh. His smile lingered as he eyed Cole sheepishly. "Uhh . . . hey, thanks. For everything."
"Don't mention it, kid."
It took them a stupidly long time after that to realize, but Lloyd never talked in his sleep again.
A/N: And even less happens in the next chapter, but by grab I'm not undoing all that time I spent writing by going back to shorten everything I wrote. My time grows short. Besides. I like fluff.
And while I'm here, thank you to everyone who is still reading! I know this fic has been dragging out for . . . quite a while, and I appreciate your patience in sticking to it. ^_^'' Let me know if you have any opinions about the "previously on" thing at the beginning of chapters, if it's weird or dumb or you do or don't plan to use it.