p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Lloyd was certainly not expecting to see cousin whom his Uncle Wu had mentioned emonce./em And he certainly wasn't expecting for him to beat them in a fight, then blow up at Sensei./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanHe had emmost definitely/em not expected to be asking his mother to let Morro stay at least the night at their apartment. Hey, Lloyd could tell just by looking at him that he was sleeping on the streets, and he couldn't let himself sleep thinking the black-haired teen would be out there if he could do something./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"And now here he was, trying to explain to his mother who Morro was (Which was difficult, considering he didn't really emknow/em his cousin.)/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Mom, he's my cousin,"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Then why have we never met him?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Because he ran away from Wu a while ago, but now he's back."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""So why can't he stay with Wu?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Because, Mom, He's not on good terms with Wu. Please can he stay with us? At least for the night?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"To be completely fair, he understood his mother's reluctance. Morro was a stranger. But Lloyd had the feeling that something embad/em would happen if he were to let him go. His mother sighed, giving him a weak smile./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Alright, but you're responsible for him. And you're taking him to school with you tomorrow, because I seriously doubt anyone will question him if you stay near him." Lloyd nodded, already ducking towards the door to let Morro in from standing in the hallway./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"He found the raven-haired teen leaned against the wall next to the door, nervously glancing at the window, where streams of water were racing down, obscuring the view of the city./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""It gets like that every time it rains," Lloyd said, chuckling a little bit. His eyes drifted towards the odd green streak in his cousin's hair, wondering how it came to be- Hadn't he been off in the forest? He realized Morro hadn't responded yet./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Uhm… hey, you good?" Still, no response. The blond cautiously waved a hand in front of his face and placing a hand on his shoulder./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Morro?" The teen in question nearly seemed to jump out of his skin, quickly turning around to face Lloyd./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""What do you want?" Morro's voice was high pitched, and it cracked halfway through his question. Lloyd ignored how the former's eyes kept darting anxiously towards the window./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""You can come in, now," Lloyd felt… awkward. He grabbed Morro's wrist (Who flinched a little at the initial contact) and gently pulled him inside after seeing the brunet wasn't coming in himself./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Mom, I'm gonna get him set up on the air mattress in my room, Okay?" He called out, grabbing the deflated air mattress from the cabinet./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Alright sweetie!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"He told Morro to sit on his bed while he filled the air mattress up./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""How does it work?" the teen asked./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Uhm, I blow air into it, and it gets bigger. Then, I put the cap onto the little spigot thing or whatever, and it stays blown up."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Oh. That must take a lot of breath."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Yeah… I guess it does." Lloyd admitted with a shrug./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Give." Morro reached out his hand, opening and closing his palm rapidly. Lloyd mentally rolled his eyes but handed over the flop of fabric regardless./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"He watched as Morro simply held it, caught off guard when he noticed the mattress was swiftly inflating while his cousin did practically nothing./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""How did you… do that?" Lloyd asked as the former inserted the small cap into the hole. Morro shrugged./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Dunno." The raven-haired teen yawned, then flopped forward, landing face first on the air mattress./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Lloyd wasn't sure how to talk to Morro… Wu had never told him much about him, only that he had adopted the boy when he was really young, and but Morro had run away before Lloyd had even been born, because the two had had a falling out./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"It struck him as odd that Morro was probably twice his age, but he didn't quite look it. If anything, Morro looked emyounger/em than Lloyd. Again, Odd, but it's whatever./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Maybe a good way to get to know his estranged cousin would be to talk to him. So, Lloyd did./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Sooo… You're Morro, the kid Sensei Wu adopted, My cousin?" First Master, he was emreally/em bad at this./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Yep… wait, Cousin?" Morro had sat up, and was facing Lloyd, a look of confusion smeared across his face./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Yeah? I'm Lloyd Garmadon, son of Lord Garmadon, who is the brother of Sensei."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Oh. Okay." Silence stretched on for a moment, Morro's gaze drifting to the wall behind Lloyd, and the latter was racking his brain on something to say./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""How old are you? I'm sixteen and a half." Morro's face scrunched up, and Lloyd worried for a moment that he wouldn't answer until-/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Like, fifteen, I think? Yeah, probably." He supposed it made some sense that Morro wouldn't be ementirely/em certain of his age. A thought tugged at the back of his mind, that Morro couldn't empossibly/em be fifteen, because Wu had said he'd gone missing before Lloyd had ever come into the picture, but again he brushed it off./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Wait, then how old were you when you left?" Worry laced Lloyd's voice as he questioned Morro. If Morro was only fifteen now, then when he had left, the boy must have been much younger./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Around seven or so. What's with all the questions?" Morro retorted defensively./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Sorry… Wu just never told me, well, emanything/em about you, so I just wanted to, I guess get to know you some. I can stop if you want?" Morro scoffed, muttered something under his breath, before huffing and replying to Lloyd./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""It's… Fine, I suppose." Lloyd could hear the reluctance in the youngers voice./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Okay… Do you have a favorite color?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Green. But not like, highlighter green, more like sage green. Sage green, but instead of leaning more towards yellow, its closer to blue. Like seafoam green, but leaning a little more towards cyan, and then toned town to be a colder version of sage green. emThat/em kind of green." It didn't escape Lloyd's notice how Morro had begun to smile as he described the color, looking slightly more at peace while he rambled "Anyways… You?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Ah, well I can't describe it as well as you, but I also like the color green. More of a light green towards the cooler end of the scale, plenty vibrant. About the same color as this jacket," Lloyd gently tugged on his sleeve as he added the last part, sheepishly trying his best to be as descriptive as Morro./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""What about pronouns?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""…What makes a noun more professional than another?" Morro asked in turn, his confusion evident. Lloyd barked out a laugh./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Pronouns are used to refer to stuff. Like 'We, I, Us, Me, My, Ours, His, Hers, Theirs, Its,' Stuff like that. In this case, I'm asking if you want me to refer to you as He slash him, they slash Them, or She slash Her. There's also Neos, but there's way too many of those to list simply." Morro pursed his lips, taking in the info Lloyd had just fed him./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Er, He him, I guess. Never been asked emthat/em before. And you?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Understandable, most people don't ask, but I find it's better to check rather than assume someone's preference. I use He/him too."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Lloyd paused for a moment, trying to think up another question to ask Morro, when the brunet asked one of his own./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Did he ever talk about me? At… at all?" Lloyd didn't respond for a minute. Morro just sounded so… emsad/em and lost… He knew the only answer he had for the teen wouldn't make him feel any better, but a sad truth is better than a hurtful lie./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Once." Lloyd admitted "After a particularly nasty run in with… my dad, Master Wu said he had been worried about us. Jay had said something like emAww, we're his favorites!/em And Wu said emWhat makes you think that?/em And Kai told him emWell, we're your favorites because we're the only ones he's got!/em/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""And then Uncle looked rather sad, and he had a wistful look on his face, and he told them emI had a student before you six/em And Nya asked him what he meant- And he said emHis name was Morro. He was my student and… my son. He was unhappy with my teachings and ran away, I haven't seen him since./em" Lloyd finished, leaving out the part where Wu said how it had been quite a long time ago. (Lloyd was going to investigate that oddity on his own, later.)/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"He looked at Morro. His mouth was open just a bit, and he looked near tears. Noticing Lloyd's gaze, the boy shut his eyes and rubbed his face up and down./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Whatever." Morro avoided looking at Lloyd, seemingly opting for the nearby desk instead. The tension was so thick you could likely cut it with a knife. Words would have to do for substitute./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""You a leftie or a righty?" Lloyd blurted. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""emWhat?/em" Morro sputtered./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Do you write with your left hand—" The blond held up his left palm and shook it slightly— "or you're right one?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Oh. I don't know; I can't." It was Lloyd's turn to be confused./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""What do you mean you 'can't'? Can't emwrite?/em" Morro nodded, and Lloyd felt appalled. "Nobody ever taught you?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Wu was always too busy training me to teach me how, and I never learned beforehand." Morro informed him flatly. It was clear the taller did not wish to continue the topic./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Alright. My mom said I got to take you with me to school tomorrow, so just a warning that might come up again. Oh, and as a heads-up, everyone there uhates/u me." Morro snickered./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Understandable."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Morro!" Lloyd whined, laughing all the same./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""emDinner time!"/em Lloyd's mother's voice called out from beyond the door. Lloyd stood up and motioned for Morro to follow./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"He might just be imagining it, but Morro seemed a little less emtense/em than before. A little more open, too, if the joking had been a sign. It wasn't much, but Lloyd would take it./span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"span style="mso-tab-count: 1;" /spanHe had emmost definitely/em not expected to be asking his mother to let Morro stay at least the night at their apartment. Hey, Lloyd could tell just by looking at him that he was sleeping on the streets, and he couldn't let himself sleep thinking the black-haired teen would be out there if he could do something./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"And now here he was, trying to explain to his mother who Morro was (Which was difficult, considering he didn't really emknow/em his cousin.)/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Mom, he's my cousin,"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Then why have we never met him?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Because he ran away from Wu a while ago, but now he's back."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""So why can't he stay with Wu?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Because, Mom, He's not on good terms with Wu. Please can he stay with us? At least for the night?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"To be completely fair, he understood his mother's reluctance. Morro was a stranger. But Lloyd had the feeling that something embad/em would happen if he were to let him go. His mother sighed, giving him a weak smile./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Alright, but you're responsible for him. And you're taking him to school with you tomorrow, because I seriously doubt anyone will question him if you stay near him." Lloyd nodded, already ducking towards the door to let Morro in from standing in the hallway./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"He found the raven-haired teen leaned against the wall next to the door, nervously glancing at the window, where streams of water were racing down, obscuring the view of the city./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""It gets like that every time it rains," Lloyd said, chuckling a little bit. His eyes drifted towards the odd green streak in his cousin's hair, wondering how it came to be- Hadn't he been off in the forest? He realized Morro hadn't responded yet./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Uhm… hey, you good?" Still, no response. The blond cautiously waved a hand in front of his face and placing a hand on his shoulder./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Morro?" The teen in question nearly seemed to jump out of his skin, quickly turning around to face Lloyd./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""What do you want?" Morro's voice was high pitched, and it cracked halfway through his question. Lloyd ignored how the former's eyes kept darting anxiously towards the window./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""You can come in, now," Lloyd felt… awkward. He grabbed Morro's wrist (Who flinched a little at the initial contact) and gently pulled him inside after seeing the brunet wasn't coming in himself./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Mom, I'm gonna get him set up on the air mattress in my room, Okay?" He called out, grabbing the deflated air mattress from the cabinet./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Alright sweetie!"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"He told Morro to sit on his bed while he filled the air mattress up./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""How does it work?" the teen asked./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Uhm, I blow air into it, and it gets bigger. Then, I put the cap onto the little spigot thing or whatever, and it stays blown up."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Oh. That must take a lot of breath."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Yeah… I guess it does." Lloyd admitted with a shrug./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Give." Morro reached out his hand, opening and closing his palm rapidly. Lloyd mentally rolled his eyes but handed over the flop of fabric regardless./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"He watched as Morro simply held it, caught off guard when he noticed the mattress was swiftly inflating while his cousin did practically nothing./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""How did you… do that?" Lloyd asked as the former inserted the small cap into the hole. Morro shrugged./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Dunno." The raven-haired teen yawned, then flopped forward, landing face first on the air mattress./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Lloyd wasn't sure how to talk to Morro… Wu had never told him much about him, only that he had adopted the boy when he was really young, and but Morro had run away before Lloyd had even been born, because the two had had a falling out./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"It struck him as odd that Morro was probably twice his age, but he didn't quite look it. If anything, Morro looked emyounger/em than Lloyd. Again, Odd, but it's whatever./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Maybe a good way to get to know his estranged cousin would be to talk to him. So, Lloyd did./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Sooo… You're Morro, the kid Sensei Wu adopted, My cousin?" First Master, he was emreally/em bad at this./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Yep… wait, Cousin?" Morro had sat up, and was facing Lloyd, a look of confusion smeared across his face./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Yeah? I'm Lloyd Garmadon, son of Lord Garmadon, who is the brother of Sensei."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Oh. Okay." Silence stretched on for a moment, Morro's gaze drifting to the wall behind Lloyd, and the latter was racking his brain on something to say./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""How old are you? I'm sixteen and a half." Morro's face scrunched up, and Lloyd worried for a moment that he wouldn't answer until-/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Like, fifteen, I think? Yeah, probably." He supposed it made some sense that Morro wouldn't be ementirely/em certain of his age. A thought tugged at the back of his mind, that Morro couldn't empossibly/em be fifteen, because Wu had said he'd gone missing before Lloyd had ever come into the picture, but again he brushed it off./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Wait, then how old were you when you left?" Worry laced Lloyd's voice as he questioned Morro. If Morro was only fifteen now, then when he had left, the boy must have been much younger./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Around seven or so. What's with all the questions?" Morro retorted defensively./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Sorry… Wu just never told me, well, emanything/em about you, so I just wanted to, I guess get to know you some. I can stop if you want?" Morro scoffed, muttered something under his breath, before huffing and replying to Lloyd./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""It's… Fine, I suppose." Lloyd could hear the reluctance in the youngers voice./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Okay… Do you have a favorite color?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Green. But not like, highlighter green, more like sage green. Sage green, but instead of leaning more towards yellow, its closer to blue. Like seafoam green, but leaning a little more towards cyan, and then toned town to be a colder version of sage green. emThat/em kind of green." It didn't escape Lloyd's notice how Morro had begun to smile as he described the color, looking slightly more at peace while he rambled "Anyways… You?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Ah, well I can't describe it as well as you, but I also like the color green. More of a light green towards the cooler end of the scale, plenty vibrant. About the same color as this jacket," Lloyd gently tugged on his sleeve as he added the last part, sheepishly trying his best to be as descriptive as Morro./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""What about pronouns?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""…What makes a noun more professional than another?" Morro asked in turn, his confusion evident. Lloyd barked out a laugh./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Pronouns are used to refer to stuff. Like 'We, I, Us, Me, My, Ours, His, Hers, Theirs, Its,' Stuff like that. In this case, I'm asking if you want me to refer to you as He slash him, they slash Them, or She slash Her. There's also Neos, but there's way too many of those to list simply." Morro pursed his lips, taking in the info Lloyd had just fed him./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Er, He him, I guess. Never been asked emthat/em before. And you?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Understandable, most people don't ask, but I find it's better to check rather than assume someone's preference. I use He/him too."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Lloyd paused for a moment, trying to think up another question to ask Morro, when the brunet asked one of his own./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Did he ever talk about me? At… at all?" Lloyd didn't respond for a minute. Morro just sounded so… emsad/em and lost… He knew the only answer he had for the teen wouldn't make him feel any better, but a sad truth is better than a hurtful lie./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Once." Lloyd admitted "After a particularly nasty run in with… my dad, Master Wu said he had been worried about us. Jay had said something like emAww, we're his favorites!/em And Wu said emWhat makes you think that?/em And Kai told him emWell, we're your favorites because we're the only ones he's got!/em/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""And then Uncle looked rather sad, and he had a wistful look on his face, and he told them emI had a student before you six/em And Nya asked him what he meant- And he said emHis name was Morro. He was my student and… my son. He was unhappy with my teachings and ran away, I haven't seen him since./em" Lloyd finished, leaving out the part where Wu said how it had been quite a long time ago. (Lloyd was going to investigate that oddity on his own, later.)/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"He looked at Morro. His mouth was open just a bit, and he looked near tears. Noticing Lloyd's gaze, the boy shut his eyes and rubbed his face up and down./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Whatever." Morro avoided looking at Lloyd, seemingly opting for the nearby desk instead. The tension was so thick you could likely cut it with a knife. Words would have to do for substitute./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""You a leftie or a righty?" Lloyd blurted. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""emWhat?/em" Morro sputtered./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Do you write with your left hand—" The blond held up his left palm and shook it slightly— "or you're right one?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Oh. I don't know; I can't." It was Lloyd's turn to be confused./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""What do you mean you 'can't'? Can't emwrite?/em" Morro nodded, and Lloyd felt appalled. "Nobody ever taught you?"/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Wu was always too busy training me to teach me how, and I never learned beforehand." Morro informed him flatly. It was clear the taller did not wish to continue the topic./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Alright. My mom said I got to take you with me to school tomorrow, so just a warning that might come up again. Oh, and as a heads-up, everyone there uhates/u me." Morro snickered./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Understandable."/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Morro!" Lloyd whined, laughing all the same./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""emDinner time!"/em Lloyd's mother's voice called out from beyond the door. Lloyd stood up and motioned for Morro to follow./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"He might just be imagining it, but Morro seemed a little less emtense/em than before. A little more open, too, if the joking had been a sign. It wasn't much, but Lloyd would take it./span/p