Challenge: Lloyd and Garmadon doing some father-son stuff, set between Season 2 and Rebooted.
The little store was plastered with so many posters it was almost hard to tell where the floor met the wall and so colorful most newcomers were a little more than uncomfortable. Some might even label all who entered "Nerds." But seasoned costumer Lloyd Garmadon was at home among the towering shelfs of comic books and squished worn arm chairs and obnoxious bright flyers.
He stood by one particularly tall and rickety shelf next to an older man with pure gray hair. Not the usual type to enter. The man was holding a new plastic wrapped comic with a knight in sleek white armor. In great big bold black letters, the title shouted "Knights in space, ride with Flyn Alpha as he travels the stars in search of—" The rest was covered by a hand.
Lloyd leaned closer to it and looked with a seasoned eye. He tapped the shiny cover with a long finger. "I would recommend this one." He tapped again for emphasis and his dad's unsure look was rather endearing—he tried not to grin. "for starters, you know, since you've never read one before. Or..." He skimmed the shelf and reached for a thin older looking one under a label that very proudly announced "Used but VINTAGE!"
Lloyd held it out for inspection, "You might be more comfortable with the slang." Garmadon scratched his gray head a little wearily. "If you say so son." Lloyd grinned and pulled two more down, "I do!"
The two walked to check-out, where a man with a bushy graying red beard and long silver reddened hair held back by a headband sat reading a stack of comics similar to the few Lloyd had picked. Lloyd looked to his father, "Have you really never seen a cash-register?" Garmadon shrugged, "Never in all my long life."
They payed for their things and got several compliments on good taste and chatted a little, Lloyd came there quite a lot. They left and Garmadon was less worried about having to read what they had just gotten.
Lloyd looked back, "The reason I love this place so much is because he never throws stuff in a bin for you to rummage through or only stocks up on new stuff. Theres a good variety and everything is top quality, like these." He handed his father the plastic bag. Garmadon took it but had no reply, he had never been to another comic store to compare it too.
They kept walking. Down the gray cracked side walk and across the sloping black pavement to the other side. Up the comparably nicer walk and continued to walk. They were quiet. So much had changed since the two of them had just been together. Walking. Garmadon looked to his son, little Lloyd had grown up and he hadn't been there. Lloyd looked to him and he tried to smile, Lloyd did too—the silence was tangible.
Garmadon scrambled for something to say in his mind and finally caught on to an acceptable question at least. "So, has my son started to think about girls yet?" Lloyd's face burned "Father!" Garmadon chuckled and this smile was real. "Just checking. I was about your age when I started to—" And then he stopped, his voice trailing off and his feet faltering. "No, you look so much older then you are, forgive me." Lloyd's blush faded. "Don't worry about it. My mind matured very quickly after my physical change and all we've been through since."
Garmadon stopped all together and his son turned to look at him squinting in the bright morning light. His father was pale and the lines in his face looked deeper. The silence was heavy again but this time Lloyd could feel the guilt hanging around Garmadon. His gray head bowed, and he sighed. "Ahh, I am to blame for all of it."
Lloyd stepped near him and tried to give a reassuring look, "No. Thank—father, you are to thank. Without all of the trouble would you be back with us? Would you be standing right here, with me?" Garmadon still looked crestfallen. "Ahh. I shall... stop worrying about it for you son. For your sake."
Lloyd nodded earnestly and smiled his first genuine smile on this entire outing. "Thank you. Now, have you ever eaten pizza before?" Garmadon looked slightly amused and a little wary. "No." Lloyd pulled him along. "Come on! I know the best place to get it!"
Garmadon let himself get pulled along. He may have been gone for most of the boys life but at least he was here now.