happy super belated birthday kiddo!
Kai stands at the entrance to the cafeteria. The bustle in the room is loud with kids meeting up with their friends, the snapping open of lunchboxes, and chairs and tables being squeaked across the floor.
Kai exhales. He hikes his backpack higher onto his back. Then he squares his shoulders and walks over to the table in the far corner of the room where only one person sits, despite the overcrowding at all the rest of the tables.
Lloyd Garmadon's eyes lift as Kai drops into the seat across from him, only to return to his plate again just as quickly. One by one, the rest of their secret ninja crew arrive. They send glances at each other, and at Lloyd, who has started to eat his food with laser-like focus.
It's only been a week since Master Wu gathered them all together for a "very important meeting". It's only been a week since he told them they were ready to take the next step in their team-building. It's only been a week since their eternally-masked leader took off his hood, only to reveal the son of Ninjago City's very own warlord hiding beneath it.
Needless to say, conversation is stilted.
A hand comes down on the table with a resounding smack. Chen, captain of the cheer team, leans over their table. "Hey, look, everyone," he says mockingly. "Garmadork has a dork squad now." He gives their table an obvious once-over, grin widening. "Aw, why are you sitting with him? Are your daddies super-villains too?"
"Hi, Chen," Lloyd says. "Nice insult. Much more original than your last one- what was it? The Bad Dad Lad?"
Chen's face twists up in a sneer. His hand snakes out and smacks Lloyd's water bottle over, instantly flooding his lunch. "Oops," he says, sounding not at all sorry. "I didn't see that there! Hope that wasn't all you had."
He saunters off, looking inordinately pleased with himself. Lloyd, on the other hand, stares for several long seconds at his ruined lunch. Kai expects him to look furious, or at the very least, upset, but there's only this sad sort of look on his face. Like he'd been expecting it to happen. It's so awful to look at that something in Kai snaps.
"Here, have some of mine," he says, shoving his bento forward. "I always take too much rice anyway."
Nya gives him a near-imperceptible nod from across the table; she's thinking the same thing. God, Kai loves his sister so much. "This is true," she says. "The day Kai doesn't bring home leftovers is the day he's been replaced by his evil clone."
Kai opens his mouth, intending to say just what he thought of that, when a quiet noise brings him back to the situation at hand. Lloyd looks at them both, mouth parting slightly. "Are you sure?" he asks, but he can't disguise the way he's already eying the bento up.
"Take it," Kai insists. "It's not doing me any good sitting here."
Kai can see Lloyd's hesitation wavering. A moment later, the other boy accepts it with a quiet, "thank you".
The other ninja are watching. Kai catches their eyes and mouths 'later' above Lloyd's head. After lunch wraps up, and Lloyd excuses himself to use the restroom, they all gather near the window.
"What happened at lunch-" Kai says without preamble- "it can't happen again." It's not like he was expecting them to protest, but something warms in his chest at how intensely they immediately nod. They must look like a pack of bobbleheads to anyone passing by.
"He was just so sad," Nya says. "It makes me want to punch something. Preferably Chen's face."
Jay backs a step away from her, laughing that nervous laugh of his. Cole hums. His ever-present headphones are hanging around his neck, which is how Kai knows just how seriously he's taking it. Headphone removal: truly the highest form of respect in the modern age. "We should do something for him," he says.
"Normal human teenager things?" asks Zane.
"Exactly!" says Kai. "He's an only child! I bet he's never had a blanket fort before!"
"We can make it at his house so he can keep it up longer," Cole says. "I've dropped off homework for him before. I still have his address in my phone."
"I'll take him out after school to the comic book shop so you guys have more time," Jay offers. He twists his hands in his ever-present orange scarf.
"And we'll get the snacks," Nya finishes. She sticks her hand out. The rest of them do too, and then there's a period of silence where they look at each other awkwardly. Wow, they really are lost without Lloyd.
Cole sighs. "Ninja go," he says.
"Ninja go!" Kai says. The game is afoot.
The walk to the comic books shop is literally the definition of awkward silence.
Jay and Lloyd walk three feet apart on the sidewalk. Their eyes meet fleetingly across the way before skittering away. People who pass them stare, and Jay ducks his head and meeps at each hateful glare sent his way.
"You don't have to do this," Lloyd mumbles.
Jay jumps. "Huh?"
Lloyd shoves his hands into his hoodie pocket. "I said," he says a bit louder, "you don't have to do this."
"Do what?" Jay says nervously. He wrings his hands in his scarf. "I'm not doing anything?"
Lloyd looks pointedly at his hands. He huffs, dipping his head so his bangs cover his eyes, "Make yourself be nice to me, or whatever it is that you and the rest of them are trying to do. I have eyes, Jay," he says, when Jay opens his mouth to protest. He glances up at him through his curtain of hair, and something in his face softens. "It's okay. I'm used to it."
Jay doesn't know what to say to that. But something comes over him, and before he can talk himself out of it he's bridging the gap to walk right beside Lloyd. Lloyd looks up sharply.
"We want to be nice to you," he says softly. "You're part of our team, aren't you?"
Lloyd snorts. "Some might go as far to call me the leader," he says, but there's this quiet, sort of pleased look on his face. It's enough for Jay to stick by his side, even as they move towards the busier part of the city and the glares and angry whispers increase.
It takes them about fifteen minutes to get to the comic book shop. Jay swings the door open, inhaling that paper-ink-and-smelly-teenager scent he's become intimately familiar with. Lloyd follows more hesitantly, blinking at the racks upon racks of books, merch, and everything in between. His eyes widen when they land on the display case right in front of them.
"No way!" he says, springing forward. "I didn't know this came out!"
"What?" asks Jay, jumping sideways to see. "Is that the new edition of Starfarer? Wait, you like Starfarer too?"
Lloyd is already flipping through the chapter, eyes scanning the pages. "It was my favorite as a kid!" he says excitedly. 'I didn't know they were still making it. The library only has through chapter sixteen."
"I think there's forty-two now," Jay offers. Lloyd gives him a look that's halfway between horrified and delighted. Jay can't help but grin back. He goes to say something else, but a sharp exhale nearby interrupts their moment.
Two men are standing across the room, muttering and glaring alternatively at them. No, at Lloyd. One scowls at them and leaves, heading towards the front desk.
"We should go," Lloyd says. With great reluctance, he sets the comic back down and pats it into place. "I don't want you getting in trouble for me."
It's like that one tumblr post- and Jay will deny to the end that he has a tumblr- that's like: 'if somebody is more uncomfortable than me I am suddenly able to Do The Thing'. "No, we just got here," he says. "We can't leave yet."
Lloyd looks obviously torn. Jay sees the manager heading their way and makes the decision for him. Seizing his hand, he pulls Lloyd deeper into the store. They speed-walk through the isles, ending up near the back.
"They shouldn't do that to you," he says.
Lloyd shrugs, eyes cast off to one side. "It's not like it's anything new."
"Still," Jay says, feeling his ears heat up. The adrenaline of the moment has worn off, and now he's feeling the embarrassment from his spontaneity. "It's not cool."
Lloyd stares at him for several long seconds. Jay squirms. Lloyd looks like he wants to say something, but then his eyes slide past Jay and land on something behind him.
Lloyd's entire face lights up. "I thought they discontinued this years ago!" He starts pawing through the container, making little mumbling comments and noises underneath his breath.
Jay takes out his phone and surreptitiously sends a text to the group.
bluejay: okay we are keeping him!
kaiguy: was that ever even an option?
The woman who opens the door for Cole and Zane looks… tired, for lack of a better way to put it. Her hair is done up in a messy bun and there are dark circles under her eyes as she regards the pair of them warily.
"Mrs. Garmadon?" asks Zane.
"Ms. Ito," says the woman. Her expression flattens the longer they stay silent. "Look, if you're looking to hassle me or Lloyd, it's been a long day and-"
We're some of Lloyd's friends from school," Cole blurts out. He freezes the moment the words leave his mouth- interrupting someone? Idiot, Mom taught you better than this- but the words themselves don't feel false in his mouth. They feel right, an unshakable truth like the laws of gravitation and motion, steady as the earth beneath his feet. He spares a look at Zane and finds the other nodding his agreement.
Lloyd's mom, however, looks like she's been slapped in the face. 'Friends?" she echoes, almost like she doesn't believe them. Which, as Cole reflects, shouldn't be that surprising. He's seen the bullying at school firsthand. A wave of regret knocks into him for all the times he's stayed silent and watched- not participating, just not stepping in. Never again, he swears to himself.
While Cole's been having this epiphany, Zane's been barreling on ahead without him. "Lloyd was harassed this morning in school," he says primly. "We want to build a structure of blankets for him in your apartment."
Zane, Cole thinks, internally slapping his palm against his forehead.
But Lloyd's mom looks so grateful that Cole feels suddenly sick. This woman has two complete strangers standing on her doorstep, practically demanding to be let in so they can destroy her house with pillows and blankets and loud teenagers. She shouldn't look like they've just saved her dog from a house fire.
"It's really nothing," he grits out. "We just wanted to do something for him."
He's staring at the load of blankets in his arms, so he doesn't see Lloyd's mom move. Suddenly, there are hands taking the pile from him. Her face appears in front of his. "It's not nothing," she says softly. She doesn't elaborate, but neither of them need her to. "Come on in. I'll show you where everything is."
"Vegetable or Sriracha?'
"Does he like spicy things?"
Kai looks down at the two bags of chips in his hands. "Both," he decides. "Both is good."
Both their phones go off at the same time: Kai's the default BorgPhone ringtone he's never figured out how to change, Nya's the Wilhelm Scream. Nya digs hers out first. "It's Jay."
Kai juggles the chips with the rest of the snacks in his arms. 'were almost done here' Jay has texted. 'well be at his house in like 20. r u guys done yet?'
Beneath it, Cole has responded with the OK emoji and Zane with twelve smiley emojis, none of them the same.
Kai pockets his phone. "Guess that's our cue to go."
They pay quickly and rush over to Lloyd's house, using the address Cole had texted them all earlier.
Kai hands off his bags to Zane, switching his shoes. "Let's see what you've done!" He catches sight of the fort from the corner of his eye and his jaw drops. "Woah."
"Right?" Cole smirks.
Kai's too focused on the mass of colors and fabric swallowing up the living room, otherwise he would pick a fight. He crawls through the entrance, a sheet hanging loose between two cushions.
The fort is nearly tall enough to stand up in. Cole and Zane have slung sheets from the lamp to the couch to a coat rack, using tape, clips and pillows to secure the blankets down. A music stand supports the entire thing in the center. Kai didn't know that Lloyd took music, though maybe he should have expected it because, hello, Asian? It seems like not knowing is a depressingly common thread running through all that they've been learning.
Kai squares his shoulders. Nope. Now's not the time for beating himself up. He's just gonna do better, be better, from here on out.
"Bring the snacks in already!" he hollers, sticking his head out the hole. "Lloyd's gonna be here any minute!"
Cole raises his eyebrow judgmentally, even as he passes him the bags of chips. Nya has no such restraint and throws dried squid at his face.
"Lloyd just texted to say he's on his way," Lloyd's mom tells them from the kitchen entrance. Kai thinks her expression is a mix of fear and awe, which is always a good reaction to one of Kai's ideas.
Kai can hear them now, feet thudding softly on the wood of the hallway through the thin walls. They're laughing at something- presumably a meme on Jay's phone. The dork has thousands of them. Someone bangs against the door and then it swings open.
"Hey, Mom," Lloyd says, and Kai doesn't think he's ever heard him this happy. The blond is switching his shoes, completely unaware of the spectacle behind him. "Sorry that I'm late, we lost track of-"
He turns around and freezes.
"Surprise!" Kai shouts. Behind Lloyd, Jay starts cheering. Nya salutes him from her position sprawled on the couch and Cole and Zane wave at him from beside the fort.
Lloyd's mouth drops open. "What?" he splutters. "Wait, what's going on? What is all this?"
"Can't we do something nice for our bro just 'cause we feel like it?" Kai crawls out and goes to him, slinging his arm across his shoulders.
"Guys," Lloyd says.
To Kai's horror, his eyes are wet around the corners. Shoot, did they mess up? "Don't cry!" he yelps, voice cracking embarrassingly at the end. "We'll pick it all up, don't worry!"
"No, no," Lloyd says hurriedly. "You did this for me?" he asks, awe in his voice. He glances around the room. "All of you?"
"Of course," Zane says. "You are our friend."
"We realized we've been a little lacking in that department," Nya chimes in. "So here's us, making up for it! We're nowhere near done yet either," she warns. "Constant vigilance!"
Lloyd discreetly wipes his eyes. "Thanks," he says. "I love a good threatening in my own living room."
And for a moment, they all stay put in their places, grinning widely from Lloyd to each other. Lloyd's mom smiles softly, unseen, from where she stands in the kitchen.
Kai grins. The moment breaks. "Well, don't just stand there. C'mon! You've got to see what Cole and Zane did inside."