p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Morro had been talking with the blond kid—emLloyd, /emhe reminded himself—for a decent while in the boy's bedroom before he was dragged back out to… eat./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 he was here, sitting at a dining table, next to his emcousin/em Lloyd and the blond's mother. Would that make her his aunt? He found he did not particularly care./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"So, when the red-haired lady started to try to make conversation with him, Morro was less than excited./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"He hadn't talked to anyone in almost a decade, and now he had to speak emso. Much./em It was exhausting, to say the least./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Lloyd said you aren't from around here?" She popped a noodle version of a pastry into her mouth with chopsticks, and he attempted to replicate how she held them, also observing Lloyd./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""I guess you could say that." Morro mumbled, trying feebly to pick up one of the bits of food off the plate he had been given, but his hand was far to unsteady./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Lloyd nudged him and nodded his head towards his hands for Morro to look. He obliged and followed the blond's gaze to his hands. Lloyd gently tossed the chopsticks from his right hand to his left, easily recreating the same grip as before./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Morro copied the motion, finding it easier to slide the utensils into the proper position with his left hand./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""There you go," Lloyd whispered, attention going back to his own plate./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Morro silently thanked the older as he managed to pick up a morsel of food and bring it to his mouth. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"The texture was an odd but fitting mix between gritty and smooth, fitting nicely with the squishy consistency and bland but buttery flavor. He squished the noodle-pastry with his tongue, feeling the pasta tear, and more potent tastes coming with it./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"The orange haired lady was saying something, so he did his best to divert his attention back to her. He found it difficult, though, because the taste was so… so- so emdistracting. /emEventually, though, he managed to focus on what she was saying./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""…But you're always welcome to crash here." Crap. It seems he caught her mid-sentence, and he had no context to what the rest of the sentence was. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Though I must say, I've never really heard of you before today," The words hit Morro like a truck./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Wu hadn't even mentioned him to his aunt? Not telling his other students was a bit more understandable, but his own emfamily/em? Wu hadn't told his sister-in-law that he had a son./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Did Morro really not matter that much to Wu? Was he really that worthless? Why had hisems dad-/s/em Sensei kept him for as long as he did if he always thought he would amount to nothing?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Did Wu emever/em care about him? Had Morro ever done emanything/em good in the old man's eyes? Was he so strongterrible/strong that he wasn't even worth emmentioning?/em Did he-/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"A sudden stinging sensation on his face snapped him out of his thoughts briefly. He blinked his eyes, realizing they had gone unfocused, only to realize they were clouded with emtears./em/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"First Master, he was so emweak- /emHe was ucrying./u Morro emknew/em that the tears would burn his face, but here he was, eyes watering and tears streaming down his cheeks./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"First, no emwonder/em Wu hadn't even bothered to try and stop him. After all, who would want someone as weak as he was? He couldn't even go a full emday/em without weakening himself, he was so weak! Weak, why was he so emweak, weak weak weak weak weak weak weAK WEAK WEAK WEAK-/em/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Morro!" A hand was gripping his shaking arm tightly. When had he started shaking? How pathetic of hi- the hand squeezed his arm gently, catching his attention again./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Sorry… what were you talking about?" He managed to squeak out. The words caught on his dry throat, making it ache. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"He took his free hand (His left one. When did he put down the chopsticks? They were lying half-hazard on his plate, he must have dropped them.) and used it to try and wipe the tears off his face, only managing to smear them, making his skin hurt more, and they were already drying. Somewhere in the back of Morro's mind he took note that it was his cousin who held a vice grip on his wrist./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 looked Lloyd in his unnaturally vibrant green eyes and tried his damn best to not acknowledge the crushing worry in the blond's eyes./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""It doesn't matter. Are you okay? You- You were just crying." Morro clenches his jaw. He emhated this/em. Hated how emconcerned/em Lloyd looked, when the commander of wind hadn't done anything to earn it. He despised the feeling that all the attention was on him, that he was strongsuddenly/strong the top priority./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"He hated it because of how emunnatural /emit felt. How unfamiliar./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 says, trying to sound dismissive. His voice cracks. "Er, where's the bathroom?" Lloyd sighs, about to speak before the ginger haired lady cuts in./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""At the end of that hall," she says, pointing behind him. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Morro mutters a quick thanks, and dashes towards it as quick as he can. He hurriedly pulls open the door, and essentially slams it shut behind him. He twists the small lock on the knob until it catches./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"He digs his scuffed-up nails into his crossed arms, screwing his eyes shut. He had emjust/em met Lloyd and his mother, they were letting him, a practical stranger (He wasn't even related to them by blood, a voice at the back of his mind reminds him) sleep in their home, hell even giving him emfood,/em and he repays that by emuBreaking down?/u/em/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Morro couldn't even keep it together for one night! No wonder he wasn't- He forced himself to let out the breath he was holding./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"emspan style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Yelling/span/emspan style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';" at himself internally was not a good form of punishment and got him nowhere. He racked his mind for a good way to discipline himself, struggling to think of something that would remain in his memory and keep him in check. Then it hit him./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Morro as in a bathroom, wasn't he? Bathrooms typically had running water. He was standing in front of a sink. (He ignored the mirror above it, he had been too scared to look at his reflection since… since he was cursed.)/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"He stared at the sink basin and the water knobs for a moment, trying to figure out as quickly as possible how it worked. After a few moments, he pulled an odd lever like thing up on the back of the spigot, and as he suspected, the drain stopper at the bottom of the basin pulled up as well, closing off the drain from anything going down it./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"He twisted the right knob all the way as it would go, water pouring out of the faucet at an ear drumming pace—emhe ignored the fear that pounded in his chest, he needed to teach himself a lesson—/emIn a matter of seconds./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"The basin was barely even a third full before Morro got impatient and plunged his left hand into it, water still thundering out of the metal faucet./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"The pain was instantaneous, shooting all the way up his arm, white hot burning enveloping his palm. Despite every fiber of his being embegging/em him to pull his hand back, he refused. He emcould not /emgo unpunished./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"He grit his teeth as the water flowed up to his wrist, his hand throbbing now. And yet Morro stuck it out, repeating the mantra in his head that he had messed up and this was his self-imposed consequence./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"His fingers had gone numb at this point, and spots danced at the edge of his vision. emFine,/em He decided emI'll stop more water from going in./em Morro twisted the knob off./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Morro? Are… Are you okay dude? You've been in there a while." Gods of the realms why did his older cousin have to sound so… solicitous./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"He ignored Lloyd, zoning out and telling himself that if he didn't want to have to do this again, he would have to do better and not breakdown so easily. He deserved this./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Morro startled when the door suddenly burst open, and he pulled his hand away from the sink quickly, splashing water everywhere. He let out a yelp of pain as he tripped over his own feet and landed awkwardly between the floor and the tub behind him./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Morro what happened!?" his head hurt. And his hand. Mostly his hand. Why did he push himself so far? Now he was going to have to-/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Morro!" right. He had to explain himself 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';""I can hear you, I'm not emdeaf./em" He snapped./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Then explain what happened to your hand!" Eurghhh, he had dug himself into a hole, hadn't he?/span/p
div style="mso-element: para-border-div; border: none; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in;"
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"This… was going to be not fun to explain./span/p
/div
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"And now he was here, sitting at a dining table, next to his emcousin/em Lloyd and the blond's mother. Would that make her his aunt? He found he did not particularly care./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"So, when the red-haired lady started to try to make conversation with him, Morro was less than excited./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"He hadn't talked to anyone in almost a decade, and now he had to speak emso. Much./em It was exhausting, to say the least./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Lloyd said you aren't from around here?" She popped a noodle version of a pastry into her mouth with chopsticks, and he attempted to replicate how she held them, also observing Lloyd./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""I guess you could say that." Morro mumbled, trying feebly to pick up one of the bits of food off the plate he had been given, but his hand was far to unsteady./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Lloyd nudged him and nodded his head towards his hands for Morro to look. He obliged and followed the blond's gaze to his hands. Lloyd gently tossed the chopsticks from his right hand to his left, easily recreating the same grip as before./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Morro copied the motion, finding it easier to slide the utensils into the proper position with his left hand./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""There you go," Lloyd whispered, attention going back to his own plate./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Morro silently thanked the older as he managed to pick up a morsel of food and bring it to his mouth. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"The texture was an odd but fitting mix between gritty and smooth, fitting nicely with the squishy consistency and bland but buttery flavor. He squished the noodle-pastry with his tongue, feeling the pasta tear, and more potent tastes coming with it./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"The orange haired lady was saying something, so he did his best to divert his attention back to her. He found it difficult, though, because the taste was so… so- so emdistracting. /emEventually, though, he managed to focus on what she was saying./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""…But you're always welcome to crash here." Crap. It seems he caught her mid-sentence, and he had no context to what the rest of the sentence was. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Though I must say, I've never really heard of you before today," The words hit Morro like a truck./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Wu hadn't even mentioned him to his aunt? Not telling his other students was a bit more understandable, but his own emfamily/em? Wu hadn't told his sister-in-law that he had a son./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Did Morro really not matter that much to Wu? Was he really that worthless? Why had hisems dad-/s/em Sensei kept him for as long as he did if he always thought he would amount to nothing?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Did Wu emever/em care about him? Had Morro ever done emanything/em good in the old man's eyes? Was he so strongterrible/strong that he wasn't even worth emmentioning?/em Did he-/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"A sudden stinging sensation on his face snapped him out of his thoughts briefly. He blinked his eyes, realizing they had gone unfocused, only to realize they were clouded with emtears./em/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"First Master, he was so emweak- /emHe was ucrying./u Morro emknew/em that the tears would burn his face, but here he was, eyes watering and tears streaming down his cheeks./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"First, no emwonder/em Wu hadn't even bothered to try and stop him. After all, who would want someone as weak as he was? He couldn't even go a full emday/em without weakening himself, he was so weak! Weak, why was he so emweak, weak weak weak weak weak weak weAK WEAK WEAK WEAK-/em/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Morro!" A hand was gripping his shaking arm tightly. When had he started shaking? How pathetic of hi- the hand squeezed his arm gently, catching his attention again./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Sorry… what were you talking about?" He managed to squeak out. The words caught on his dry throat, making it ache. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"He took his free hand (His left one. When did he put down the chopsticks? They were lying half-hazard on his plate, he must have dropped them.) and used it to try and wipe the tears off his face, only managing to smear them, making his skin hurt more, and they were already drying. Somewhere in the back of Morro's mind he took note that it was his cousin who held a vice grip on his wrist./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 looked Lloyd in his unnaturally vibrant green eyes and tried his damn best to not acknowledge the crushing worry in the blond's eyes./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""It doesn't matter. Are you okay? You- You were just crying." Morro clenches his jaw. He emhated this/em. Hated how emconcerned/em Lloyd looked, when the commander of wind hadn't done anything to earn it. He despised the feeling that all the attention was on him, that he was strongsuddenly/strong the top priority./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"He hated it because of how emunnatural /emit felt. How unfamiliar./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 says, trying to sound dismissive. His voice cracks. "Er, where's the bathroom?" Lloyd sighs, about to speak before the ginger haired lady cuts in./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""At the end of that hall," she says, pointing behind him. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Morro mutters a quick thanks, and dashes towards it as quick as he can. He hurriedly pulls open the door, and essentially slams it shut behind him. He twists the small lock on the knob until it catches./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"He digs his scuffed-up nails into his crossed arms, screwing his eyes shut. He had emjust/em met Lloyd and his mother, they were letting him, a practical stranger (He wasn't even related to them by blood, a voice at the back of his mind reminds him) sleep in their home, hell even giving him emfood,/em and he repays that by emuBreaking down?/u/em/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Morro couldn't even keep it together for one night! No wonder he wasn't- He forced himself to let out the breath he was holding./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"emspan style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Yelling/span/emspan style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';" at himself internally was not a good form of punishment and got him nowhere. He racked his mind for a good way to discipline himself, struggling to think of something that would remain in his memory and keep him in check. Then it hit him./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Morro as in a bathroom, wasn't he? Bathrooms typically had running water. He was standing in front of a sink. (He ignored the mirror above it, he had been too scared to look at his reflection since… since he was cursed.)/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"He stared at the sink basin and the water knobs for a moment, trying to figure out as quickly as possible how it worked. After a few moments, he pulled an odd lever like thing up on the back of the spigot, and as he suspected, the drain stopper at the bottom of the basin pulled up as well, closing off the drain from anything going down it./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"He twisted the right knob all the way as it would go, water pouring out of the faucet at an ear drumming pace—emhe ignored the fear that pounded in his chest, he needed to teach himself a lesson—/emIn a matter of seconds./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"The basin was barely even a third full before Morro got impatient and plunged his left hand into it, water still thundering out of the metal faucet./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"The pain was instantaneous, shooting all the way up his arm, white hot burning enveloping his palm. Despite every fiber of his being embegging/em him to pull his hand back, he refused. He emcould not /emgo unpunished./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"He grit his teeth as the water flowed up to his wrist, his hand throbbing now. And yet Morro stuck it out, repeating the mantra in his head that he had messed up and this was his self-imposed consequence./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"His fingers had gone numb at this point, and spots danced at the edge of his vision. emFine,/em He decided emI'll stop more water from going in./em Morro twisted the knob off./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Morro? Are… Are you okay dude? You've been in there a while." Gods of the realms why did his older cousin have to sound so… solicitous./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"He ignored Lloyd, zoning out and telling himself that if he didn't want to have to do this again, he would have to do better and not breakdown so easily. He deserved this./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"Morro startled when the door suddenly burst open, and he pulled his hand away from the sink quickly, splashing water everywhere. He let out a yelp of pain as he tripped over his own feet and landed awkwardly between the floor and the tub behind him./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Morro what happened!?" his head hurt. And his hand. Mostly his hand. Why did he push himself so far? Now he was going to have to-/span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Morro!" right. He had to explain himself 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';""I can hear you, I'm not emdeaf./em" He snapped./span/p
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';""Then explain what happened to your hand!" Eurghhh, he had dug himself into a hole, hadn't he?/span/p
div style="mso-element: para-border-div; border: none; border-bottom: solid windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in;"
p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: .5in; border: none; mso-border-bottom-alt: solid windowtext .75pt; padding: 0in; mso-padding-alt: 0in 0in 1.0pt 0in;"span style="font-size: 15.0pt; line-height: 107%; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS';"This… was going to be not fun to explain./span/p
/div