Ugh, this took forever. Who knows where the inspiration came from? And totally up for prompts {hint hint}
Warning: internal homophobia, minor anxiety attacks, self-harm, brief eating disorder.
Pairing: SLASH. Greenwind.
To Lloyd, it was just an ordinary day.
The Preeminent was finally gone, after everything it had done to them (Lloyd still felt bad whenever he saw Cole's scar, even though the former ghost constantly assured him it was not his fault) and they could finally be at peace.
Wow he sounded like a ghost.
Lloyd chuckled as he hit the off button on the alarm clock, and headed down towards breakfast. The smell of fresh eggs and toast was calling his name.
"Hey there shortstop," Kai greeted immediately. There was a fond smile on his face as he ruffled the other's hair, just like when he was actually a kid.
The green ninja sat next to him with a smile, but it turned downward when Jay suddenly shouted.
"No way! Cole cooked this?!" He yelled at Zane accusingly. "I'm not going to eat whatever he cooks! How in the world did you let him cook?! He'll poison us!"
Said teen only stared at the ground, not saying a word before Zane spoke quietly. "Nya and I both tested the food, and it is actually quite delicious."
Jay raised and eyebrow before looking at the eggs. "He didn't use whitewash instead of milk and vinegar instead of cooking oil right?" Zane shook his head, as Jay tentatively ate the food.
"Oh god, I'm sorry," he said to Cole. The Earth elemental still looked hurt. Lloyd coughed after finishing his plate. This was quite awkward, and he kinda wanted to get out of it as soon as possible.
"I think I'll go out for a bit." The four nodded, as he closed the door behind him.
Lloyd took a breath as he was out in the streets, wearing civilian clothes and easily passing as just a normal person.
He passed by a few kids running around, frowning as he saw their tattered clothes. Street kids. He took in a breath. Just... calm down. Breathe. Count backward from ten like Kai told you.
Ten.
Nine.
Eight.
Seven.
Six.
His breath only went faster. Street kids. Orphans. Morro. Morro. Morro. Morro. Morro. Morro. MORRO...
"Whoa... calm down..."
That voice... that voice. Lloyd was hyperventilating, he couldn't draw in enough air.
"Oh god—LLOYD!" The green ninja saw Kai running up to him. Did he follow Lloyd?! Was he stalking him in case something like this happened? Kai pulled the other into an alleyway so they didn't attract any attention. "Okay, okay, calm down, here," he placed Lloyd's hand to his own chest, taking exaggerated slow breaths. "Follow my breathing, okay?" The fire elemental said.
Lloyd got his breathing back to normal, looking at his best friend. "I heard him," he whispered quietly. Kai was about to open his mouth and speak—
"Well, that's because I'm here," an airy but slightly raspy voice said. Lloyd turned and saw him.
Morro stood there (how dare he stand in the presence of the green ninja after all he did?!) giving a weak smile. Lloyd realized the wind elemental wasn't looking directly into his eyes. Good. Like he deserved to do such.
"Morro," Kai's teeth gritted.
Lloyd took a slow breath, releasing his grip on Kai and moving towards Morro. The teen flinched and took a step back when Lloyd tried to touch his shoulder, to see if he was real.
"I can't touch you," he said immediately.
Not "don't touch me" or "keep your hands off me."
Kai raised an eyebrow. "Is this some "Hotarubi no Mori e" thing?"
The former ghost looked at him blankly, as Kai sighed and shrugged. "Whatever," he muttered, shooting a fireball at the male before making a break for it. He looked over his side to see Lloyd staying there. "Lloyd! Come on!"
The blond payed no attention, as he looked at Morro. "Hey... I just... I guess I wanted to say... I'm sorry."
Morro took a quick glance up at Lloyd, before instantly curling up and scraping his nails along his skin to draw blood. "Bad!" He scolded himself. "You piece of dirt!" Lloyd watched as Morro continued to abuse himself, even throwing in some choice words.
"Why are you so bad?" Lloyd asked softly, crouching down to meet him. Morro flinched again, digging his nails in deeper.
"I'm bad. I'm terrible. I'm tainted," Morro whispered. Lloyd looked at his arms, covered with scars. Blood caked his shirt and pants. He wasn't in a good condition.
"I don't understand." There was a bad feeling in his gut. No, not the I'm next to my enemy feeling. Something else. He took out his phone and dialed Nya's number. She'd take it the best.
"Hey? Lloyd?"
"Hey," Lloyd gulped, standing up. "Um... we sorta gotta problem? It would be best to explain in person. Can you come to my location? Please? And uh, civilian clothes, no ruckus." He already knew about the tracker all the ninja wore in case someone got kidnapped, plus Lloyd didn't really know exactly where he was.
"Sure thing—oh Kai just got here. Wait a minute..." there was silence on the phone. "Lloyd... are you... with Morro?"
"Um... can you just come, please?" He asked again, then shutting it off.
It took exactly five minutes for the ninja to get there. Lloyd could see the weapons hidden in their clothes, ready to attack. What they didn't expect was Lloyd next to Morro—who was crying?
"We should help him. He doesn't look like he's going to attack. He's hurt. Really badly," Lloyd added. The five looked between each other worriedly, but decided if Lloyd could handle it, so could they.
"I think Wu would be pretty happy to see him again," Kai offered. He and Cole immediately lifted the thin teen into the car, and Morro pressed himself against the door when Lloyd sat next to him.
"I can't touch you. Don't touch me," he muttered, hugging himself, before he gave up and leaned against the window, closing his eyes. Lloyd just gave him a look as they sped back to the docked Bounty.
Morro was unconscious when they got back, so Nya and Zane did the best they could to clean him up. Nya used her girl expertise to clip Morro's horror-movie nails so he couldn't harm himself, wrapping his arms as well. Zane hooked him up to an I.V. to get some kind of nutrition in him.
"He doesn't appear to have many physical injuries other than the marks on his arm, but his glucose levels are very low, as he's malnourished and underweight," Zane informed. "In other words, he needs to have some food in him."
"How much does he weigh?" Cole suddenly asked, appearing.
Zane clicked his tongue. "One hundred and eight, exactly."
"One hundred and eight pounds?!" Nya exclaimed. Zane nodded sadly to her. "How the hell is he still alive?!"
"Can't die, idiots." Everyone looked as Morro woke up slowly, eyes fluttering open as he groaned. The way too light teen shifted on the bed. "Turn off that light, it's blinding. The Cursed Realm is pretty dark ya know."
Kai crossed his arms. "How come you're not in the Departed Realm?"
"For me to know and you to find out," Morro replied, decidingly getting up and ripping out the I.V. tube Zane had inserted in his arm. The nindriod tried to say something, but Morro merely walked past, grabbing a bandage to cover it. "Well, thanks for the new clothes, really appreciate it. Seeya."
Lloyd blinked. Was Morro seriously being...
"A jerk?" Kai finished his thought. "Jeez, at least that's sorta better than the whiny kid."
"But, earlier..." Lloyd was absolutely stumped. What the heck was going on?
"Anyway, we trapped him in, he ain't getting outta here," Cole smirked, giving Jay a high five.
There was a sudden groan as Morro wandered back in, crossing his arms. "Mind to tell me why you ninja have electric fences for doors? I've been zapped at least three times now and it hurts."
Lloyd took the opportunity to grab Morro's wrist and take off the bandage. The pain didn't even faze him, as Morro looked up, tears glistening his eyes. "I've tainted you, I'm so sorry..." he whispered. His head hung. "Punish me." The other didn't say anything, but was mildly concerned, so he washed his hands, satisfying Morro.
The entire team seemed to soften. "Okay, Hey, Morro eat this," Lloyd said, handing him something Nya had whipped up in the kitchen.
Morro flinched and backed away. "No I... I can't eat that. J-just... leave me alone," he turned and fled the scene, leaving everyone puzzled.
The next few days went nearly the same. Morro acting like a jerk before Lloyd got close to him, in which he would shrink back and avoid anyone's touch.
He wasn't eating, which was concerning Zane.
"Is he suffering from anorexia? It appears he hasn't eaten anything but a protein bar today," the nindriod observed, "his spine and ribs are visible. And his weight has dropped to one hundred and six pounds and five ounces."
Morro rolled his eyes and looked at Zane. "I already told you, ever since reviving I get this immortal gold card."
"There's a but there," Jay added, but Morro deliberately ignored him, cleaning up the meals with—plastic gloves?
"Anorexic and germaphobic," Nya decided, whispering so Morro couldn't hear.
Lloyd sighed, looking over to the raven-haired. He caught Morro looking at him, before turning away and hitting himself. "I don't think that's it. There's something else going on."
Suddenly, Morro let out a shriek of pain and his eyes rolled to the back of his head and he collapsed. Cole caught him, thankfully close enough as he hoisted the other to the medbay, and onto the cot. Zane put in an I.V. as Nya added some pain medication in the bag.
They were lucky it only took an hour before Morro woke up again. He was still drowsy and blinked slowly before looking at the ninja. "Wha...?" He asked blearily.
"You might feel a little weird and not remember some of this, okay? But you passed out," Jay informed.
"'M'kay," Morro closed his eyes before taking a slow breath, then looked at Lloyd. "'M sorr'. Didn' mean too." His pronunciation was terrible and his "t"s were soft, but he was drugged, so what could they expect?
Lloyd looked at the others, motioning for them to leave. "Are you sorry for possessing me? It's fine, you were basically controlled by the Preeminent."
Morro shook his head, regretting it the second it throbbed. "Sorr' for bein' s-so dirty," he drew out. "Mus be...disgustin' ta be aroun' me." Tears were evident in his eyes again. He tried to slap himself again, or to make marks on his arm before Lloyd stopped him.
"I don't understand. Why are you doing this to yourself."
The teen gave a soft sigh, feeling a bit of the drowsiness go away. He looked at Lloyd. "'Cause you're so beautiful."
Lloyd was flustered. Wait, what? Out of all the answers he mentally prepared himself for, this was so not one of them.
"You're so pretty... an...and perfect, and I haveta remind myself that thinking you're beautiful is bad, 'cause we're enemies and more importantly I'm a boy and so are you. I can't hurt you, can't taint you. I can't. Haveta remind myself liking boys is bad, that's what the kids always said anyway... I'm disgusting. Ugly," he used the fa word the made Lloyd flinch. "And-and you're the green ninja, so you deserve a perfect girlfriend and all and I'm just so dirty I can't..." Morro was crying at this point, clearly upset of what he had just revealed to Lloyd.
"Hey, Shh..." Lloyd tried.
"N-no! The ninja, what if they heard?! They're gonna throw me out...well, I deserve it...why?" Morro started to yell at himself, and the ninja rushed in. Zane froze when Morro yelled that word again at himself, not caring who hear. "Just get rid of me already...please."
"Internalized homophobia," the ice elemental recited. Zane looked sadly at Morro, the poor guy.
Kai's fists clenched immediately making the connection. "You IDIOT WORTHLESS JERK! HOW DARE YOU! YOU THINK THE GREEN NINJA WOULD EVER RETURN YOUR FEELINGS AFTER WHAT YOU DID?! YOU ARE DIRTY AND DISGUSTING IF YOU THINK THAT YOU CAN JUST LIKE LLOYD!"
The air around them grew cold as Morro stared at the wall, trying to make himself invisible but remembering he couldn't. "I know that..." he said miserably. "I'm... I'm trying to get rid of them... but they just won't go away."
"You can't just get rid of feelings," Cole spoke quietly.
Jay sighed. "Well this is awkward." He dragged the ninja out of the room quickly, leaving Lloyd and Morro alone.
Morro closed his eyes. "Just say it already. 'I hate you.' Whatever. Get it over with and done."
"I..I..I..." Lloyd tried. He didn't want to say he hated Morro, the poor guy had gone through enough. I don't like you back, but the words were stuck in his throat. He needed to say them, but his brain wouldn't let him. "I...can't... I can't say that to you."
"It's alright, you should just get it off your chest and I won't ever be a bother to you again. Heck, you can just let me leave and I'll never see you again, promise." Lloyd hated how broken and self-loathing Moro looked.
Why? Why are you feeling this way? He's you're enemy!
Lloyd's fists clenched, and immediately Morro covered his face with an arm, awaiting the immense pain that would follow with the hit. The blond released his tension, prying Morro's arm away from his face. Tears were evident in the other's eyes, running down his face.
"Never, in my life, had I truly hated a person. Never had I wanted to hurt them," he said softly.
Morro hiccuped. "I...can't..."
"I don't care what the kids on the street or anyone else said about you Morro. Liking guys isn't a crime, it's just being human, okay? Nobody's going to judge you. Kai's my best friend and pretty protective, he's just being the normal hothead he is." Morro gave a weak laugh, before Lloyd smiled. "And by the way, I don't even like girls. Never had the greatest experience with them. Gee, I was raised with other boys at Darkley's and then stuffed on a ship with four—well—technically three other hormonal guys," his voice dropped lower, "I swear Cole and Jay were together for about a month with how close they were."
"S-so you're like me?" Morro asked quietly.
Lloyd gave a half-smile and nodded. "I figured it out when I had a crush on one of the boys at Darkley's, Brad, but yeah. My mom was never really in my life, I barely knew anything about girls, so..."
That was all it took for Morro to reach over and kiss him.
The contact was quick, and in a blink it was gone. Morro fumbled with the sheets nervously, avoiding Lloyd's gaze. "Sorry...I just thought at least...you wouldn't be completely disgusted by me."
"Hey...look...I'm not quite sure about my feelings for you, give me some time to work stuff out, but meanwhile," Lloyd reached over and kissed Morro quickly again, "I kinda like that."
Morro blinked. "But I..."
Lloyd smiled, taking Morro's hand softly.
"You can."
Needed to write Greenwind, it was killing me.
And yes, if you didn't blink you saw bits of Bruise and Forgiven in the end there. I shipped Forgiven so hard until Morro came along and decided to fight his way tooth and claw up to being my favorite Ninjago character.