I awoke to the smell of bacon. It was going to be a good day.

I blinked several times, adjusting to the bright light trying to push past the cracks in the window blinds. One of the greatest advantages of being dead is the freedom to wake up every morning whenever you want. Well, sure everyone has a season of work— mine's a year out of every five— but still, after waking up five days out of every week to a blaring alarm clock and angry sea monster, any other sort of morning is luxurious by comparison.

After lying in the soft (noticeably empty) bed for a few minutes more, my nose led me out of my room and into the kitchen. Eager to get to the source of the tantalizing scent, I didn't bother taking the time to put my lab coat back on. I really only wore it out of habit, anyhow: I had yet to find any inspiration for something to invent, and I hadn't even touched the science equipment in the closet.

As I meandered into the kitchen, my roommate, standing at the stove, came into sight. I studied him as he shifted two pans on the stove. He looked up at me.

"Ah, good morning, Dr. Julien. Hope I didn't wake you up."

"You did, and I sure am glad: I want a piece of that before it's all gobbled up," I said teasingly, pointing a finger to the sizzling food. After a moment's pause, I added, "Also, you might want to consider buying a few more garments than that. I'm not so sure the title of 'Sensei' is enough to uphold a professional reputation."

Garmadon looked down at his attire (or really, lack thereof). "I thought you said you couldn't change physical appearances in the Departed Realm!?"

I raised my eyebrows and motioned down to my t-shirt and leggings. He coughed.

"Right… clothes don't count, then. Got it. Where do you go to get clothes in this place, anyway?"

Before I could answer his question, the sound of footsteps and a thump woke me up. I turned to see Morro in the doorway, holding his hand to his head, which he had presumably just hit on the wall. I felt badly about it, but I actually had to try not to laugh. He just looked so unconcerned about everything. The boy rubbed his eyes, as if trying to wipe away the dark, sleepless markings underneath them.

"Morro!" Garmadon exclaimed, sounding surprised. "I thought you said you weren't a morning person?"

"I'm not," he said, sounding half drunk and half sleep-deprived. "I'm a mourning person— with a U." He paused, then cracked a crooked smirk and pointed finger guns at us. "Also, the smell of bacon and eggs woke me up. Gimme."

Garmadon and I exchanged surprised glances while the teenager sleepily walked over to the table and sat down at one of the setups that the Sensei had so generously arranged.

"Does he always make puns?" I mouthed to my companion. I doubted he understood the exact words I used, but his shrug confirmed that this was new for him, as well. I decided it was possible that sleep deprivation affected Morro more quickly than it did for other people— in which case I was going to have a lot of fun with him in the early mornings.

"Do you want one piece of bacon with your eggs, or two?" Garmadon asked, flipping the fresh breakfast onto several plates next to him. A toaster next to him dinged.

"Five," replied Morro, without missing a beat. He folded his arms on the table and let his head fall into them, as a ninja in a boring lecture about Ninjago history might. (Or so Zane had told me— of course, my boy had always been alert and attentive.)

"I'll have two, please," I said. Garmadon divided the food up so each of our plates had a serving of scrambled eggs, buttered toast, and two pieces of bacon. I made a mental note to let my roommate do the cooking whenever possible. While I loved good food, my son certainly didn't get any of his culinary talent from me.

"Food's ready," Garmadon said while placing the delicious-looking dishes on the table, waking Morro out of his half-slumber. The sleepy boy looked up and mumbled something about not enough bacon, but started to eat with a ravenous appetite.

"Are you all right, Morro?" I asked. "You look dead inside."

He looked up at me with a glare that could kill a man, if he weren't already dead. "Hey, morbid jokes are my thing, Doctor Frankenstein."

I chuckled at the nickname and dug into my breakfast while Garmadon angrily reprimanded the boy. I could only remember one time when I had enjoyed such a magnificent meal so early in the day, and that was back in Ninjago with my son.

"It seems that your cooking skills are on par with your fighting skills!" I exclaimed, drawing the Sensei away from his lecture to Morro about manners.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that," he said, still a little gruff about Morro. "Fighting can't be the only thing someone is good at, or all they'll do is get themselves into fights."

I'm not even sure he'd intended the remark to be directed at the black-haired boy, but the Master of Wind quickly grew defensive.

"Hey, I'm better at stuff other than fighting!"

"What stuff?" asked Garmadon.

"Lots of stuff," the boy huffed quickly.

"Name something."

"I'm good at…" the boy trailed off and furrowed his brow, trying to come up with something. He remembered something and snapped his fingers proudly. "Kite-flying. I'm very good at flying kites."

"Well now, that's kind of cheating, considering you're the master of—"

"Really?" I asked, with fake disbelief in my voice. I'd suddenly gotten an idea.

"Oh, yea," Morro bragged. "When I was little, Sensei Wu gave me a kite and I started flying it around without any string. I was so good at it, that it convinced him I could be the green ninja." He seemed legitimately proud of his kite-flying skills.

"Hm. I'm not sure I can believe that," I said, shoving another forkful of eggs into my mouth to cover up a smile.

"What? I'm the best kite-flyer around! Do you even know how to fly a kite?"

Actually, I'd spent a good few years flying kites with Zane when he was still a little kid. It was one of the first things I taught him how to do.

"Oh, I've had some experience," I replied.

"Well, I bet I'm better than you," Morro boasted. I grinned in response.

"I was hoping you'd say that," I said, a little mischievously. "It just so happens that I've got a few spare kites in the closet. I can fetch them after breakfast."

Morro's face contorted into a confident smile. "Fine. You and me. At the park. Five o' clock. I need to practice my wind skills first."

Garmadon looked up, distracted. "We have a park?"

"It's on," I replied to the feisty teenager, feeling something that loosely resembled the giddy confidence of youth. "At five o' clock."

The smiling teen reached his arm across the table and extended his hand to me. I was confused for a moment, and then reached out and shook it firmly. It was a promise to a challenge. A battle. A duel.

With kites.

—

(A/N: First off, just in case anyone was confused, no, Garmadon is NOT naked. XD And if anyone didn't catch why he's so underdressed in the first place: shortly after the last time we saw him, Lloyd was wearing his robes. And since I'm not sure Lloyd's smol green ninja suit fits his dad… I wondered… what exactly was Garmadon wearing? XP Anyway, the part where Dr. Julien talks about the breakfast with Zane may or may not be a reference to Dear Dad, one of my favorite fanfictions by Order of the Aether [a fantastic writer who has more tenacity and probably more talent than me whom you should all go check out right now]. Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! More to come soon, hopefully ^^)