Like I said earlier, school has been killer lately so I'm way further behind on everything than I'd like, but here's an extra long chapter to make up for the wait! It's um, really extra long. Like, a lot longer than I'd...meant it to be, I think it's clocking in at like 12K words?
(I can't write short stuff you guys I just can't T-T)
Anyways, we're finally getting to season 2, yay! I'm so excited for this season, there's so much I wanna get into haHA. In the meantime though, this is more of an interlude type thing? Kind of an in-between season one and two, "these poor kids had to sleep somewhere" interlude type of thing. Obviously I'm taking liberties with canon but I like to dream.
A huge thanks as always to everyone who's reviewed! I was blown away by the feedback for last chapter, I'd been working on it for a while but you guys were just so kind and great about it, it really means the world :'D. I'm hoping to get to the replies I've missed soon, but please know that I appreciate every single one of you!
(Seriously, ask my sister what a moron I look like smiling when I read them.)
Chapter 10: The Ninja Deal with the Unimaginable Terrors of Finances, and Nya Just Wants a Shower
HE WAS MY KID FIRST Group Chat
Kai: ok listen i am a patient guy
Nya: who told you that
Nya: they lied
Kai: I AM A PATIENT GUY
Kai: but if ur planning on sleeping the whole night with jay over there
Kai: im gonna fry him
Nya: would you chill?!
Nya: i'm just sitting by him!
Nya: i'm gonna move when we go to sleep!
Nya: we're all crammed together kai its not like that!
Kai: lol ur like bright red right now
Nya: KAI
Kai wakes up with a pounding headache and a whole mouthful of sand, which isn't even the weirdest thing to happen to him this week.
It's still gross.
"Pleh." He grimaces, sticking his tongue out as he scrubs at his eyes, which have crusted over sometime in the night with sleep — again, gross. The ground beneath him is no more comfortable than it was when he was trying to fall asleep last night, even with Nya and Zane's half-hearted attempts to line the ground with blankets, and his back feels like a bunch of kids in soccer cleats used it as a dance floor (that might just be the Devourer's fault, though). He groans, trying to sit up.
A warm weight around his middle shifts as he does, making a muffled sound of displeasure. Kai blinks in confusion. Oh yeah, he remembers, staring at the small, huddled figure half-draped around him. He's been using a demon spawn for a blanket, right.
Kai feels the corners of his mouth twitch up as he watches Lloyd where he's half-sprawled, half-curled up against him, one arm slung over Kai and clutching him like he's his own personal teddy bear or something. Lloyd's wearing his old hoodie (which Kai doesn't even want to know where he got it from, the jacket's so ratty that Nya should've thrown it out with the rest of his old clothes by now) over his gi, the hood tugged up over his head so his hair sticks out awkwardly in little blond tufts. Despite the grumbling, Lloyd looks like he's still solidly out for the count, snoring quietly. He must've been muttering in his sleep.
Kai make a face, weighing his options. His first instinct is to get Lloyd off him by cheerfully dumping sand over his face, like he would the others — but Nya's just waking up to his left, so that's out. Plus, his kid still looks like he needs a good three days of sleep, dark circles turning bruise-like under eyes that are way too young to be sporting that kind of exhaustion.
(Kai's just…not gonna acknowledge the fact that he's started calling Lloyd his kid.)
His second instinct is to appeal to Nya, who's finally rousing herself enough to sit up, giving a quiet moan and rubbing her head as she does. Her expression melts into amusement as she catches sight of Kai, who's still awkwardly propped up on his elbows and desperately trying to decide how to get the fifty pounds of newly-adopted brother off him without waking him up.
"S'what you get for stealing him," Nya grumbles, but she takes pity on him, grabbing the blanket she'd been using and balling it up. "Here," she murmurs, carefully pulling Lloyd's arm away, maneuvering the blanket between them. Lloyd briefly makes a face of distress, but he curls around the blanket, relaxing as he slips back under.
"Thanks," Kai mutters as she gives him a hand up, pulling him to his feet. Nya shakes her head, and Kai winces at the darkening bruise just starting to show up across her forehead. Nya frowns at him, then runs a hand over it.
"It's not as bad as it looks," she tells him as they duck out of their makeshift tent. "Promise."
"Get Zane or Sensei to look at it anyways, will you?"
Nya rolls her eyes, but she doesn't argue like she normally would. Kai feels a flicker of relief in his chest as she nods. He'd come way too close to losing her yesterday, way too many times. A little irritation is a small price to pay for knowing she's okay.
The others must've already left the tent while Kai was still sleeping, but he quickly spots them gathered a few paces away, against one of the rocky outcroppings that lie just outside the city. The Ultradragon rests just off to their left, its heads lounging lazily on the sand, four pairs of eyes following Kai and Nya as they walk by. He flashes them a smile he actually feels, letting Flame nose him as he drifts past. His dragon's head gives an exhaling snort in return, a warm burst of air ruffling Kai's hair.
Oh man, he's missed his dragon.
"Hey, watch it," he grins, shoving Flame's head away playfully. "My hair's messed up enough as it is."
"An improvement, actually," Nya says under her breath. Kai elbows her, making an expression of mock offense as she giggles. He gives Flame one last pat on the head before following his sister to the others, who are huddled around the small fire Sensei's got going.
"Look who's alive after all," Jay grins at them from where he's leaning back against the outcropping, though his voice is hushed. "About time you joined us."
"Zip it, sparkplug." Kai stops, frowning. "Is Cole alive?"
Jay winces, glancing down to where Cole is slumped fully against his side, snoring quietly into Jay's elbow. "Ah, he kinda drifted off in the middle of talking," he says, looking a little concerned. "I'm just letting him sleep it out."
"That was not your original plan," Zane says pointedly, and Jay makes a face at him.
"I'm a good friend, how dare you suggest I'd do otherwise."
Kai snorts in unison with Zane as he takes a seat by him, crossing his legs as he tries to get comfortable on the desert sand. Zane offers him one of Sensei's delicately patterned teacups, which Kai takes carefully, highly aware of Sensei's eyes on him. Geez, you chuck his prized teapot into the mouth of a giant murder snake one time—
The rest of Kai's internal pout dies off as he catches a whiff of what Zane's given him.
"Oh sweet, is this coffee?" His eyes light up. Zane nods, taking a careful sip of his own, and Jay finger-guns at him.
"Cole and I picked it up from the city earlier this morning," he says. He shoots Sensei Wu a covertly shrewd glance from the corners of his eyes. "Tea is fine and all, but coffee is necessary."
Sensei Wu merely flicks his eyes upwards, pulling his own cup of tea closer to him.
"I hear you," Nya agrees with Jay, snatching the cup from Kai's hands — wait, hey!
"No you don't, that's mine!" Kai snaps, straining to reach Nya as she darts away, taking a seat across the low-burning campfire next to Jay. She flashes him a bright, unapologetic smile, taking a long sip of his coffee. Kai glares at her, his fingers itching to light themselves on fire (if they could). Who does she think she is, the brotherly goodness of his heart doesn't extend this far—
"Here," Zane sighs, shoving another teacup into Kai's hands. He looks wearily resigned, as if he's still expecting Kai to vault over the campfire and start strangling Nya for the coffee, which is…fair, Kai will admit.
Hmph. He's gonna be mature about it just to spite Zane, then.
"Thank you, Zane," Kai says politely, sipping at the coffee while glaring at Nya. "At least some of you have a soul — hngh." Kai cuts off, choking at the unexpectedly bitter taste. "How strong did you make this?" he sputters.
"Uh…pretty strong, I guess," Jay shrugs. "Needed the caffeine." Nya, who is slowly moving into ex-sister territory this morning at an alarming rate, takes a long, steady sip of hers, locking eyes with Kai's as she does. Kai makes a face. Just because he hasn't stripped his tastebuds by regularly drinking gasoline doesn't mean she's superior.
"We don't have any sugar or creamer, unfortunately," Zane says, looking apologetic. "We were a little…short on funds this morning."
"S'fine," Kai waves him off, even as he internally winces at the mention of money. He can see the reminder echoed in Jay and Nya's posture, though, so he changes the subject. "Guess that means Lloyd won't be having any."
Sensei makes an odd choking sound, and Jay actually pales.
"No," he declares, firmly. "We are never letting that kid even have a sip of coffee. He's enough of a hell spawn as it—"
Nya elbows him harshly in the side, and Jay cuts off in a wheeze. He gives her a wounded look, and Nya cuts her eyes meaningfully toward Sensei. Kai stifles a snicker as Jay's eyes go wide.
"Um, that is to say — I obviously wasn't referring to your nephew as a hell spawn, Sensei, that'd be super rude, I was just — Lloyd is uh, you know — giving him coffee would be—"
"I'm well aware of what my nephew is like," Wu says wryly, but there's a hint of a smile on his mouth. "Though I agree that giving him coffee would likely be a bad idea."
"Giving any young child coffee would be a bad idea," Zane says, sounding mildly scandalized. "At that stage of development, high doses of caffeine are unadvised—"
"We get it, Zane," Jay says tightly, his cheeks still flushed. Kai doesn't hold back the snickers this time, and Jay glares at him.
"Oh hush, you'll wake Cole up," Nya chastises, shaking her head. They quiet, heads turning to Cole where he's somehow still snoring soundly against Jay's side.
Jay's expression softens. "Poor dirtclod," he murmurs, tugging a throw blanket that looks suspiciously like Sensei Wu's higher up his shoulder. "He's been way more stressed out than he's been letting on lately."
Kai sobers at that. He's picked up on that one. They've all been stressed out in the past few weeks, but Cole seems to have taken the whole thing personally, like "I'm-gonna-shoulder-all-responsibility-in-an-incredibly-unhealthy-way" kind of personally. Maybe it's a leader thing, Kai muses.
Or it's just older brother instincts kicking in overdrive, because Kai knows a little too much about that kind of stress and what it looks like.
"He should cut himself a break," he says, quietly.
Jay nods, biting his lip. "It's been bad enough with the Fangblades, and then everything with his dad really wore him down..." He sighs. "I know you can't always tell, but he has a really bad habit of worrying a lot about us. More than he needs to, really."
"Seems to be a popular habit," Nya murmurs, throwing a glance at Kai. He ruffles, but he doesn't say anything, taking another sip of his coffee instead. He's too tired to pick another fight with Nya right now, that's all. It's not like he's admitting she's right, or anything.
"You should all cut yourselves a break." Sensei's voice cuts across the heavy silence, and they all turn to look at him. He sighs, adjusting the brim of his hat as he swirls his tea. "Any blame, however unwarranted, is misplaced. As your teacher, any failure should fall on me. You've all gone above and beyond this past week, far surpassing my expectations. You should be proud."
Kai opens his mouth, then closes it, feeling his cheeks heat. Jay looks down, a tiny smile on his face as the skin between his freckles turns pink. It's harder to tell on Zane, but he looks more at ease with Sensei's words, his posture less stiff and robotic than before. Nya gives them a fond smile.
"That goes for you as well, Nya."
Nya blinks rapidly, her head snapping around. "But Sensei Wu, I didn't—"
"You played an instrumental role in fighting against the Devourer, from what I've heard," Sensei tells her. "And more importantly, you protected your friends. Your actions were every bit as valuable as a ninja's."
"I — thank you, Sensei Wu." Nya ducks her head, but Kai catches the happily satisfied smile spreading across her face. Good, he thinks, grinning himself. With everything she's done — on her own, too — Nya needs more credit.
"I've also been told that you kept a sharp eye on my nephew," Wu says, his voice lighter. "I'm sure that couldn't have been easy, but I cannot thank you enough."
"Oh, that's nothing," Nya says, perking up. "Lloyd was a big help, actually. You'd have been impressed."
Sensei Wu looks a little too much like he was expecting that reply, merely smiling. Kai discreetly narrows his eyes at Nya, aware of the parts of Lloyd's help she's keeping quiet about. The parts she'd told him about last night as they'd been falling asleep, the Lloyd's-already-got-powers-apparently parts. She shoots him a look from the corners of her eyes, just barely shaking her head.
Later, she's saying. Kai wonders if she's trying to put off the fallout of what that means.
"Speaking of," Jay speaks up, yawning as he reaches for the coffee pot over the fire. Zane swats his hand away, and Jay makes a face, leaning back. "Where is the little pun— uh, the kid this morning anyways?"
"He was still out when I left the tent," Kai says, glancing back. "He seemed pretty — oh, never mind. Speak of the devil."
Nya gives him a look for that one, but Kai ignores her, grinning as Lloyd totters across the sand to them. He's still wearing his old hoodie, the sleeves falling over his hands as he wipes blearily at his eyes. He stops just at Kai's side as if drawn instinctively, flopping cross-legged in the sand beside him.
Kai shoots Nya a vicious grin.
Lloyd yawns, blinking groggily at them all. "Wha's that smell?" he asks, his gaze finding the coffee pot with a dangerous sort of interest in his eyes.
"Poison," Kai says flatly, yanking Lloyd's hand away from the pot. "Toxic grown-up sludge — it'll turn you into boring adult like us if you drink it."
"Oh," Lloyd says, his face scrunching up as his hand falls back into his lap. "Never mind."
Jay snorts, and Nya shakes her head. "It is kinda gross," she admits beneath her breath.
"Here." Sensei leans forward, handing Lloyd a cup that was previously hidden behind him. Lloyd takes it, eyeing its contents with vague suspicion.
"It's only tea," Sensei Wu assures him, with a hint of amusement. "You'll like it."
Lloyd eyes his uncle, then looks back at the cup and shrugs, taking a tentative sip. He wrinkles his nose briefly. "Needs sugar," he states imperiously, then takes another sip.
"Please tell me there's no caffeine in that tea," Jay whispers loudly at Sensei Wu. Wu simply gives him a benign smile, sipping neatly at his own cup.
"Just drink your own coffee, Jay," Nya tells him, reaching for his cup. "Before I drink it for you."
"Wha- hey, no! This is mine!" Jay yelps, yanking his cup out of Nya's reach. Kai and Lloyd watch blankly as the two tussle, and Zane winces as Jay's elbow collides with the side Cole's head.
"Oh shi— ow! Nya!"
"Wha'sgoin'on," Cole slurs, his head snapping up as Nya continues to keep a hand clamped over Jay's mouth. Cole ignores the two, staring around the circle for a minute, his eyes bleary and confused.
"So we didn't all die?" he finally gets out.
Jay wrestles free of Nya just far enough that he can awkwardly pat Cole on the shoulder. "Nope," he says, lips popping over the p sound. "You're still stuck with us. Sorry."
"Worth a shot," Cole grumbles, but he smiles slightly as he does. "Do I smell coffee?"
"Here," Zane says, handing the teacup he'd been hiding over to Cole, eyeing the others shrewdly as he does. "I made sure to save some for you."
"You're the best, Zane," Cole breathes, practically inhaling the coffee.
Jay bristles. "Hey, I let you use me as a pillow—"
"Now that we are all awake," Sensei Wu cuts over them. "I believe that it is time we start making plans for the future."
That puts a damper on the atmosphere. Jay and Cole's bickering dies off as they all fall quiet, Lloyd shifting uncomfortably.
"We no longer have a home aboard the Bounty," Wu says, with a quiet note of regret. "And while the tradeoff of your lives was more than worth it, it does leave us in a bind."
"Basically, we're homeless," Kai mutters. Lloyd glances up at that, his expression twisting into an anxious sort of frown.
"W-we're gonna live on the streets?" he asks, his voice small. The rest of them cringe, and Kai immediately wants to take back that phrasing. Lloyd's unspoken again isn't exactly subtle, and the reminder of how they'd found him is even less so.
"No," Sensei Wu says firmly, before anyone else can speak up. "I promise, we will find another home as soon as possible. Our funds are not quite that low."
There's an audible sigh of relief from everyone. Kai lets the breath he was holding go — he'd been pretty sure they had zero funds.
"We will, however, need to find temporary lodging in the meantime," Sensei muses. Jay and Cole glance at each other. "But let me worry about that," he adds quickly. "I have another task for the rest of you to focus on. It would be wise to salvage what's left in the wreckage of the Bounty while we still can."
"Uh, yeah," Cole says, lifting his cup to his face and avoiding Sensei's eyes. "What's left on the Bounty."
Kai exchanges looks with Zane, swallowing. Jay shifts awkwardly, and Nya makes an imperceptible gesture at Lloyd — though Kai's pretty sure Lloyd already gets it. No one wants to be the one to let Sensei know exactly how much stuff they'd tossed off the ship as food for the Devourer.
"Well," Zane speaks up, coming to their rescue as always. "We should prepare to head out, then. It's already getting late in the morning, and we should try to avoid the worst of the afternoon sun in the desert."
"Good thinking, Zane." Nya stands up, sending Jay, who'd been leaning on her shoulder, thumping to the ground with an oof. "Wanna help me try and get the Samurai X mech working enough that we can carry stuff with it?"
Zane nods, moving to follow Nya as Jay quickly scrambles after them. "Hey, hey I can help too—"
Cole sighs, shaking his head and leaning forward to help Sensei with the campfire. Kai grins, then makes to stand himself, tugging Lloyd's hood over his head as he does.
"C'mon kiddo, you can help me take the tent down," he says as he straightens, wincing as he does. Oof. He knows that this is what he gets for going overboard fighting the Devourer yesterday, but geez, isn't he supposed to be young and limber and stuff?
"You always give me the boring work," Lloyd complains, yanking his hood back down and slouching behind Kai.
"Because you're always whining," Kai replies, flippantly. "That's what bratty little whiners get."
Lloyd kicks up sand at Kai in response. "M'not a brat," Lloyd grouses, glaring at Kai. "Just because you guys all have sticks up your—"
Lloyd goes abruptly quiet, cutting off what hopefully wasn't about to be a curse. He stops completely, feet trailing to a halt in the sand, eyes going wide as dinner plates. Kai follows his gaze up, then smiles.
"They're pretty cool, huh," he grins, watching in amusement as Lloyd stares in awe at the Ultradragon. Good to know the kid's impressed by something. "You can get closer, they won't bite."
Lloyd gives him a wide-eyed glance, then takes a step closer, still looking like, well, a kid seeing a four-headed dragon up close for the first time.
"It's really a dregon," Lloyd breathes, his voice amazed. "They're amazing."
"Yeah," Kai grins. "They really are, huh-"
Wait, what did the kid say just now?
"What did you call it?" Kai squints at him.
"A dregon…? Duh." Lloyd rolls his eyes.
Kai stares at him. "No, that's a dragon," he says, stretching the ah sound out for emphasis.
"Yeah, that's what I said," Lloyd frowns, starting to look annoyed. "A dregon!"
"No, you're butchering it!" Kai says, incredulously. "It's a dra-gon, not a dre-gon!"
"What's the difference?!"
"Do you seriously not hear—" Kai cuts off in a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. Lloyd's got that look on his face, the one that means he's about to be a stubborn brat about something, and Kai isn't in the mood for this. "Okay, okay, fine. Keep calling it a dregon, whatever." He's not Nya. If Lloyd wants to call it a dregon, fine. Maybe it's just a weird accent or something.
"Weirdo," Lloyd says under his breath, then turns his attention back to the Ultradragon before Kai can grab him by the hair. "I never thought I'd ever see a dregon," Lloyd says reverently, finally stepping in reach of Ultra. Flame's head is the first to crane toward him, dark crimson eyes meeting Lloyd's deep red ones. Lloyd hesitates, a brief flicker of uncertainty crossing his face as his hand wavers.
Flame's head darts forward, jaw snapping open as he licks a solid stripe across Lloyd's hair.
Kai bursts into snickers as Lloyd shrieks, swatting at Flame's head even as he dissolves into giggles. Flame snorts, a thin plume of smoke enveloping Lloyd as he coughs, waving at the air. Shard and Rocky's heads dip down as well, surrounding Lloyd as Wisp corners him from behind. Lloyd spins in a dizzying circle, trying to pay rapt attention to every head at once.
"Kai, look, Kai, they're so cool, can I hug them-"
Wisp takes the invitation before Kai can reply, nosing Lloyd's middle until he wraps his arms around Wisp's gleaming scales, looking delighted.
Flame noses against Lloyd's forehead, and Lloyd turns his attention to Kai's dragon, grinning widely as he traces the patterning of scales across his snout. Flame nuzzles Lloyd, looking equally in love with the brat. Kai narrows his eyes. Traitor dragon. It took Kai at least a week to warm up to Lloyd, and his dumb dragon goes and falls in love in five seconds?
C'mon, Flame, we've got a reputation to keep here, Kai grumbles to himself.
Lloyd looks like he's ascended from this realm and currently found himself in heaven, though, so Kai figures he'll let it go. Besides, Lloyd's gotta get familiar with them fast if he doesn't wanna get tossed off when they fly out to the wreckage of the Bounty.
"Wait, what?" Lloyd turns to him.
"We're gonna head back out to the desert, see if we can scrounge up whatever survived on the Bounty," Kai says. "Sensei said we should all go, so you're coming."
Lloyd looks up at Ultra, then back at Kai, a terrifying kind of light sparking in his eyes. "So does that mean….that we're…"
Kai nods, knowing full well he's got the same kind of spark in his own eyes. "I did promise you I'd show you some cool tricks a while back, didn't I?" He grins. "Hope you got used to heights on the Bounty."
Lloyd looks like Kai's just told him he's been gifted a life-time's supply of sweets, and no, Kai does not feel a surge of supreme satisfaction at this.
Take that, Nya.
Kai changed the chat name to Will Trade Soul for Shower
Nya: oh man same
Nya: i want a 3 year shower after this
Kai: u need one
Kai: i can still see guts drying in ur hair
Nya: you see WHAT
Nya: KAI I SWEAR TO FSM
Kai: jk its probably just dirt or something
Nya: or blood hopefully
Kai: ?!
Kai: hopefully?!
Kai: u said u didn't get hurt!
Nya: i was pulling a kai
Kai: ur grounded
Nya: don't try me
"This is the best day of my liiiiiife!"
Lloyd's exhilarated shriek echoes across the desert, followed closely by Kai's wild laughter. Nya shields her eyes with a hand, squinting up at them as they race by, Ultra careful to keep their wings from upsetting the others on the ship. Nya's lips curl in a small smile as she watches them. Kai has Lloyd tucked against him, arms wrapped around him tightly, but he's let go enough that Lloyd can lean forward, just grasping the ridge of scales that run up Wisp's head. Lloyd's got a smile as bright as the sun itself on, his eyes blown wide as his hair whips wildly in a disastrous mop of tangles around his face. Kai doesn't look much better, his carefully spiked hair thrown into utter disarray by the wind, but the megawatt grin on his face is clear sign that he isn't worrying about his hair for once.
Nya feels the smile grow full. She should scold Kai for slacking off, but he looks so happy right now, she doesn't really have the heart to. He looks carefree, in a way he hasn't since the whole Green Ninja thing started — he looks like Kai again. Liker her dumb big brother, who's still a big dumb kid.
Who had better be keeping an extra tight grip on Lloyd, she thinks, her heart jumping as Ultra swoops far enough to the left that the dragon nearly turns upside down. They'd had enough of a scare on the way over to the wreckage of the Bounty, all of them crammed on the poor Ultradragon's back, when Lloyd had decided that crawling as far forward as he could onto Rocky's neck before anybody could notice was a great idea. It wouldn't have been as much of a problem if Rocky hadn't grown as excited as Lloyd had, and in his enthusiasm, nearly given Lloyd an up-and-close tour of the desert by dropping him straight from the sky toward it.
"Demon spawn," she mutters under her breath as she tears her attention from the sky, returning back to the splintered wood around her. She's not usually one to give into Kai's less-than-appropriate nickname — especially since the other guys are joining in now, and poor Lloyd needs someone on his side — but it's getting harder to deny that it kinda fits the bill.
(Granted, you could just as easily call Kai a demon spawn and it'd be spot-on, but Nya digresses.)
"Good to know we're already teaching him about the value of responsibility and teamwork," Cole sighs from off to her left, watching as Ultra streaks by again, Lloyd's giddy laughter a cross between cute and downright terrifying.
"Ah, I'm sure he'll get it when Sensei Wu emerges," Nya says, grimacing briefly as she pulls at a giant wooden plank that's crushing what used to be her room. "He can only look for his tea supples so long down there."
"Speak for yourself," Cole grumbles as he steps up beside her, and Nya watches in envy as he effortlessly hauls the wooden plank up, tossing it down to the desert ground below. There's an awful creak from beneath them, and Cole and Nya freeze. What's left of the Bounty is turned entirely on its side, half the rooms still somewhat intact and others open and splintered in the sun — but stable is something it decidedly is not.
The creaking finally quiets, the remains of the ship beneath them holding strong, and both Cole and Nya sigh in relief. She shoots him a look, and Cole gives a guilty little shrug.
"Alright, alright, I'll be more careful," he says sheepishly, bending down to pick up another fallen beam with an exaggerated gentleness this time.
Nya rolls her eyes and bends down herself, trying to pry open what used to be her closet. Her fingernails catch on the jagged wood, but she's finally successful, pulling the remains of the door away. She breathes an almost immediate sigh of relief, grinning. At least most of her tools survived — and her old trunk is there too, which means her blueprints did as well. Hopefully most of her clothes were as lucky, too…
"Hey, Nya."
Nya pauses in her attempts to haul her trunk out, blowing a strand of hair away from her face as she cranes her head to look back at Cole. "What?"
The grin on his face immediately sets off six different alarms in her head, and Nya tenses. Cole waves a thin photograph in his hand, his smile turning devious. "This was your room here, right?"
Nya doesn't need to get any closer to know what picture he's holding. Her stomach drops as the trunk she's holding does, and she makes a dash for it.
"Wanna explain why you've got picture of Jay stashed under your—"
"Finish that sentence and I'll murder you, Brookstone!" Nya hisses, grabbing for the picture and missing as Cole snatches it out of her reach, laughing. Nya spares a panicked glance to make sure Jay's still on the other side of the ship with Zane, then returns her glare to Cole, who's grinning like the big dumb child he is — how'd she ever think he was the mature one of the group—
"Chill out, Nya," Cole snickers. "I just think it's interesting, you know? And hey, is this a heart drawn right here—"
Cole's snickering cuts off as Nya plows into him, tackling his arm and grabbing for the picture with a viciousness alike to Lloyd fighting for the last piece of candy.
"I'll saw your arm off with a spoon—"
"Ow, hey, I need that arm, stoppit—!"
Unfortunately, the moment their fight turns for the less dignified is the moment Kai and Lloyd finally return from slacking off like the terrible teammates they are, so Nya's just gotten a good handful of Cole's hair — an impressive task, really, with how tall the stupid dirtclod is — when Lloyd's cheer of "kick his butt, Nya!" reaches them.
"Tsk," Kai scolds as he pries the two apart, shaking his head. "C'mon, you guys, we're supposed to be teaching Lloyd to be responsible. What kind of example are you setting here?"
That diffuses the tension between Cole and Nya faster than she can blink. They both stand slowly, staring at Kai with murder in their eyes. Nya feels an itch for the Samurai X Mech.
"You're the actual worst," Cole says. Nya's too angry to get anything out other than an indignant sputter, her hands already reaching for the metaphorical spoon she'd mentioned to attack Kai with. Her brother's life is only saved by the appearance of Lloyd, who steps between them neatly, practically bouncing on his toes with excitement.
"Nya," he pipes up, his eyes still shining like a lightbulb. "Nya, you gotta ride Ultra, you gotta, it's not like with the Devourer, it's fun—"
Nya looks at Kai again, but she can't muster up any real anger this time — just amused exasperation, as if to mentally communicate him falling off Ultra once wasn't enough, huh, you had to instill even more of an adrenaline junkie death wish in him?
"I rode Ultra earlier with you guys, remember?" Nya tells Lloyd, trying in vain to smooth down the unruly cowlick his hair decided to adopt somewhere in the skies.
"Yeah, but that was with the others, and they're all boring," Lloyd says, matter-of-factly. Cole blinks rapidly, looking offended.
"I'm not boring!"
Lloyd evaluates him. "Not as boring as Zane, I guess," he admits.
"Lloyd," Nya chastises, half-pained. "Remember what we're working on? Not being so rude?"
"Oh yeah," Lloyd says, his brow furrowing. "Um. You're not boring, just, uh, way too slow and careful. Is that better?"
"Take what you can get," Kai snickers, clapping Cole on the back. Cole shrugs him off with a defeated sigh.
"How close are we to being done here, anyways? I've already got all my stuff." Kai shoots Nya a triumphant grin. "Guess what? All my hair gel made it."
Nya makes a point of running a hand over her face. "Great," she says. "We live to suffer another day of your awful sense of style."
"How dare you—"
"Have you all finished up, then?"
They snap to attention at Sensei's voice, save Lloyd, who kind of just grins at his uncle while trying to grab something from Nya's bag—
"Oh no you don't," Nya hisses, jerking her bag away from Lloyd's grasp and stuffing the picture of Jay deeper into it. Lloyd pouts.
"I think so," Cole answers for them, casting one last look around what used to be Nya's room. "I've got all my stuff packed up. Nya?"
"Yeah," she replies, quickly stuffing the rest of her tools into her trunk and patting the top. "This should be it."
Sensei Wu nods. "The others have finished up as well," he says. He sighs, head dipping beneath his hat as a weary look crosses his face. "I'm afraid I haven't had as much luck as I'd hoped in finding us a place to stay, however."
"Oh?" Nya tries not to look as despairing at that as she feels. She gets that there's not a lot of options for them right now, and she'd rather be alive than like, crushed, so she's thankful and all, but she'd really been hoping they wouldn't have to sleep outside again. She wants a shower.
Sensei Wu shakes his head. "The agent I spoke with isn't able to meet with us until Monday," he says. "And on such short notice, there is little else I can think of. I suppose I could always ask her, but…"
He trails off, looking very much like he'd rather not ask her to house his mismatched handful of students, whoever 'her' is.
"So we're out of luck then," Kai says, sounding as miserable as Nya is, though he's obviously trying to hide it. Nya bites her lip, reminded uncannily of the days they spent alone together, trying to scrounge up enough that they wouldn't lose their house and end up homeless. Ah, the irony.
"We-ell, actually…"
Heads turn to Cole, who's biting his lip, looking conflicted. "My um, my dad does have a house near the city."
Kai's eyebrows shoot up. Nya blinks — she'd almost forgotten the dark-haired man she'd spoken with in the city among the chaos, but he had seemed to care an awful lot about Cole. Which he should, obviously, Cole's amazing, but there's that weirdly protective look in Kai's eyes, so maybe Nya's missing out on some of the story here.
"He doesn't have anyone else living with him," Cole continues, sounding a bit more confident. "So he'd probably have room, if he…said yes."
Sensei Wu looks Cole carefully in the eyes, his gaze questioning. "And this would be no trouble to him?" he says. "Or you?"
Cole shrugs. "I mean, it's worth a try," he says, with a half-hearted, weary smile. "S'not like we have anywhere else to go. I've been meaning to check in on him anyways, so…fingers crossed?"
Sensei Wu nods. "Try to contact him then, if you can," he says. "We will prepare to head back to the city." His brow crinkles, gaze narrowing in on the dirt-streaked, tear-ridden gis they've been in for the last few days now. "And change your clothes while you're at it," he says. "I doubt Cole's father would appreciate anyone tracking the remains of the Great Devourer over his house."
Nya, who had since managed to repress the fact that they hadn't been able to get rid of all that, has to bite back a gag at the reminder that it's still in her hair. Thanks a lot, Sensei.
Cole looks down at his gi, his face falling. "Ah, yeah," he says. "Will do."
"I'll go wrangle Jay and Zane," Kai says, patting Cole on the shoulder. "Make sure we look halfway presentable."
Cole snorts, but mutters a thanks. Nya casts a glance at her own outfit, grimacing. Oh well, she's been meaning to redesign the Samurai X armor anyways. Hm. She's still got that old kimono, right? Or that red wrap dress she'd been saving…either way, she's gonna need to do something about her hair eventually.
Shaking her concern off — and any more thoughts about the Devourer and guts — Nya turns her attention to Lloyd, narrowing her eyes. Now there's a real problem. His hair is a catastrophic mess of snarled blond curls, and there's sand and dirt streaked across his face, but she can at least deal with that. The filthy, dirt-stained gi, on the other hand…
"You gotta change too, mister," she says, poking Lloyd's shoulder.
Lloyd looks at her in consternation. "What's wrong with this?" he demands, gesturing at his gi. Nya stares pointedly at the rather large, charred hole he's just managed to reveal with the gesture. Lloyd cringes.
"Everything is wrong with it, Lloyd, it's disgusting." Nya injects a little more authority into her voice, hoping Lloyd'll comply without throwing a fit for once. "You're not wearing that to Mr. Brookstone's, he won't let you in the house. Besides, it's kind of risky wearing it around anyways."
Nya pauses. She hasn't even entertained the thought that the rest of Ninjago might know what the Green Ninja means — she'd been so caught up with what it meant for Lloyd and Garmadon. But if someone who did know were to see a tiny kid wandering around in the green gi…
Nya glares at the gi. Lloyd avoids her gaze, and very much not making any move to concede to her. Nya huffs. "Come on, Lloyd, I'm not gonna ask again, change into something else—"
Lloyd murmurs something inaudible under his breath.
Nya frowns. "What was that?"
"I don't have anything else," Lloyd mumbles a bit louder, his face red in embarrassment.
"…what?" Nya repeats, confused.
"I don't have any other clothes!" Lloyd bursts out, looking like he wants to crawl under the floorboards. "My hoodie was the only other thing I had, and you said I couldn't wear it anymore!"
Oh. So Nya's just an idiot.
Lloyd's turned bright red by this point, looking terribly embarrassed, but Nya's the one that feels stupid. Of course Lloyd doesn't have any other clothes. He was barely even able to eat before he came to live with them, much less afford any new clothes. She feels the odd churn of guilt, anger and pity in her stomach that she's coming to associate with hearing anything about Lloyd's life before them. She's banned the hoodie until she can fix the tears in it, and half of her has been debating straight-up tossing it out because it's so dirty, but — that was all he'd had on the streets to keep warm. No wonder he doesn't want to give it up.
Nya bites her lip. Why didn't she notice this before? The poor kid's been wearing the gi so much she hadn't even thought—
Well, she shakes herself. No time like the present.
"Okay," she says, blowing her breath out.
Lloyd looks up at her hesitantly. "Okay?"
"Okay, we're gonna go shopping later," Nya says, firmly. "Soon as we're back on our feet, we'll get you an entire wardrobe." Lloyd blinks at her, the flush fading from his cheeks as his eyes go wide. Nya claps her hands together. "But for now—"
She turns. "Kai!" she yells across the splintered deck to where she can see the spikes of his hair just sticking up from below, where he's harassing Zane about his outfit. He pokes his head up, giving her a questioning look.
"You got any spare clothes down there?" she calls. "Preferably older ones?" Kai's brow furrows in confusion. He glances briefly between her and Lloyd, and realization dawns.
"Yeah, I oughtta be able to find something!" he calls back. "Our room didn't get too wrecked, lemme check."
"Ask the others too," Nya instructs him. "Anything that's too small, or that they can spare."
Lloyd blinks rapidly, sputtering. "Wait, no, you guys don't have to-"
"Yo guys!" Kai's voice echoes across the wreckage. "Anyone got old clothes they can share with short stack over here? Lookin' at you, Jay, you're a shrimp—"
"Hey, rude!"
Nya shakes her head, but she's grinning as the others clamor back and forth across what used to be their home. Her guys and their dumb antics. Her smile grows tight, and for a brief second, she's hit with an overwhelming wave of relief that they're all still here — that they all made it through.
She doesn't know what she would have done, if any of them hadn't.
She glances back at Lloyd, who's still got a look on his face that clearly says he doesn't understand what's happening here. Nya pats him on the shoulder. "We'll take care of you, green bean," she tells him. "It's our job."
The guys are more than eager to pitch their old clothes in, and they step up so enthusiastically Nya isn't sure whether she should start crying in pride or rescue Lloyd before the guys get into a tug-of-war with him over what primary color he's gonna wear the most.
"C'mon, Lloyd, blue's a much better look on you—"
"Are you kidding me? Red's obviously his color, it matches his eyes—"
Lloyd just stares at the t-shirt Cole's pressing on him with wide, suspiciously watery eyes, already holding the other clothes tightly against his chest.
Nya is again assaulted with the rather painfully unpleasant idea that this is the first time Lloyd's ever had someone give him something like this, if anything, with no strings attached. She grits her teeth. If she ever gets within five feet of Darkley's, boy is she gonna have a field day. She's been building up a lot of pent-up stress lately, and she didn't even get to hit Pythor a second time before he got eaten, so she's gotta take it out somewhere.
(Hm. Not to pull a Kai, but there is always Garmadon, she supposes…)
The end result is, admittedly, a headache. Lloyd ends up with one of Zane's tight-knit, long-sleeved white shirts and one of Cole's old graphic t-shirts pulled over on top it. To Jay's chagrin, his shorts are the only ones that stand a chance of fitting Lloyd, so he ends up with bright blue gym shorts that are only rolled up three or four times. Kai tops the outfit off by handing Lloyd a red hoodie that Nya immediately recognizes.
"It's an old one, so don't worry about getting it dirty, it's yours," Kai tells him, as he helps roll the sleeves up over Lloyd's much smaller wrists. "It's no big deal."
That's a lie, and Nya knows it, because Kai's had that hoodie since she can remember — it's important to him in the way the worn leather necklace that belonged to their father is, the way Nya's bracelet is, so the fact that he's giving it to Lloyd and telling him to keep it—
Sap! Nya jabs at him in her mind, even though she's the one getting her heart strangled all over again.
By the time they're ready to go, Lloyd looks like a multi-colored disaster of over-sized red, blue, black, and white, mismatched and ill-fitting and very obviously barely held together by the neat pinning Zane's done. But the small, genuine smile Lloyd's got on as he tugs Kai's hoodie sleeve up makes it work, in Nya's opinion.
It's not like the rest of them look all that much better, she thinks ruefully, watching as Zane tries to get Kai's hair to stick up right for the eighth time.
Will Trade Soul for Shower Group Chat
Kai: really hope cole's dad has an extra phone charger
Nya: thats what u get for letting lloyd play games on it last night
Kai: excuse me for being a caring brother
Kai: where am i supposed to find an outlet anyways
Kai: the sand?
Nya: jay can zap it for you
Nya: it worked for cole's
Kai: …isnt cole's phone exploded
Nya: aw man you saw that
As it turns out, Mr. Brookstone actually doesn't mind the idea of his son bringing home five filthy, homeless ninja and their debatably-sane Sensei for dinner, which Kai figures either says something about how much Cole's dad loves him, or how weird Cole's dad is.
Not that the two can't go hand in hand, of course, but still.
They make a sorry troupe on the whole as they trudge toward the Brookstone household, the Ultradragon having found itself a nice place in the desert and stubbornly refused to accompany them until they found somewhere big enough for it to rest. This is a good thing, Kai reminds himself, even as his feet ache from walking across the still-under-construction streets of the city. They're trying to draw as little attention as possible right now, and the Ultradragon is probably more likely to knock another building over than it is to help them out much.
Still, Kai thinks, watching Lloyd stumble on an upturned sidewalk, Zane catching him before he can face-plant on the concrete. It would've been nice to get a break.
Cole's house is fairly far out from the main hub of Ninjago City, so unlike a lot of the houses closer in, it seems to have survived the worst of the Devourer's attack. It's good to know that their attempts to keep it corralled did something, Kai thinks bitterly. The amount of destroyed buildings, ruined homes and businesses they had to pass on the way in — it makes Kai's stomach turn, and he's suddenly glad he hadn't had anything to eat this morning after all.
Next time, Kai swears to himself through hot eyes, watching another misplaced family try to salvage what's left of their home. Next time, they'll do better. They'll train harder, get themselves together quicker, they'll make their elemental powers so strong that no one in Ninjago will ever have to face something like this again, just because they weren't prepared enough to face something like the Devourer.
The depressing part of Kai's brain tells him that it's a promise that's asking to be broken, and another part of his brain, that sounds suspiciously like Zane, reminds him that he's just a kid, and kids don't tend to stand the best chances against this sort of—
Kai shoves the thought back. He's not some little kid, he thinks hotly. No excuses.
Lloyd, however, very much is a little kid, and Kai winces as he stumbles again, looking dead on his feet. Kai blows his breath out, pulling himself together as they trudge up the path leading to Cole's father's house. Focus on what he can do now, he reminds himself. He's got his own family to take care of, first.
The door slams open before Cole can even take the first step up, and Mr. Brookstone surges out, walking cane abandoned. His eyes are wild as they catch on Cole, wide with some painful, overwhelming sense of relief.
"You had to keep me waiting," Mr. Brookstone scolds wetly, as he pulls Cole to him tightly. "Couldn't be bothered to let me know you were fine earlier, could you."
Cole stiffens in his father's embrace, his eyes going wide. "I didn't mean — dad, I'm sorry—"
Mr. Brookstone shakes his head. "Never mind that," he says gruffly, pulling back from Cole and dashing surreptitiously at his eyes. "You're back safe, that's all I can ask for." Cole's shoulders ease out, his expression crashing into its own sort of relief. Mr. Brookstone turns his attention to the rest of them, giving Sensei Wu a formal bow in greeting,
"That you for your generosity," Sensei Wu tells him, his voice sincere. "We appreciate your willingness to help us, especially in these times."
Mr. Brookstone waves him off, shaking his head. "Of course," he says, flippantly. "Anyone who's a friend of my son is always welcome. And I suppose I owe you thanks too, for training him well enough to stay alive," he finishes wryly.
Sensei gives him a crooked smile. "Cole does a good deal of that work himself," he says, evenly. "It is easy to teach someone as hard-working as he is."
Cole turns a bit red, and Jay snickers. Mr. Brookstone just nods, then turns his attention back to the other ninja. His mouth pulls into a smile as his eyes land on Nya.
"I should thank you as well, young lady," he says. "For keeping good on your promise."
Kai turns to her in surprise, frowning. When had Nya had the time to chat with Cole's dad? She hadn't really talked much with them during that ridiculous excuse for a dance competition…
"I had help," Nya shrugs, but she's got a smug little smile on. Kai refrains form rolling his eyes. FSM knows she's gonna lord it over them that she saved them for months. It's like she's forgetting she was the one who spent a good ten minutes two inches away from falling into the Devourer's mouth.
Cole opens his mouth to say something, when Jay's stomach suddenly growls loudly. They all turn to him, Cole's eyebrows pulling into an expression of exasperation.
Jay folds his arms across his chest, looking unrepentant. "Excuse me for being starving," he says, haughtily. "It's not like we haven't eaten in two days or anything."
Sensei runs a weary hand over his face, but Mr. Brookstone just laughs. "Come on in, then," he says. "I've already got soup on, I figured that might be the case."
There's a noticeable change in the atmosphere as they all turn to him, their eyes practically gleaming at the mention of food.
"That," Sensei Wu says. "Is very much appreciated."
To Kai's relief, Cole's dad is a way better cook than Cole is. It could be that Kai's just so hungry that even Cole's cooking would taste good at this point, but Mr. Brookstone's soup tastes amazing either way. Kai has to remember to breath in between spoonfuls, and gets more than one sharp elbow in the side from Nya, accompanied by a hissed remember your manners.
What a mother hen, Kai thinks in amusement. Manners can take a backseat in the face of giant snake-developed starvation.
"This is great, dad," Cole finally says between spoonfuls, breaking the silence around the table they're gathered at. "I hope it wasn't too much trouble to make."
"Of course not," Mr. Brookstone says, shaking his head at Cole. He eyes the rest of them. "I'm just glad I made enough…"
"About time someone did," Jay mumbles through a mouthful of soup. Zane elbows him, looking scandalized.
"We are very thankful for your kindness, Mr. Brookstone," Zane says, polite to the bitter end. Good ol' Zane will always have them covered in that area. "Both in sharing your food and your home."
"Like I said, it's no trouble Zane," Mr. Brookstone says, his eyes crinkling as he smiles. "It's good to see you all again." His gaze shifts, landing on their side of the table. "Though I do see some new faces." He gives Lloyd a friendly smile. "And who's this, Cole? I don't think you brought him with you last time."
"Oh," Cole says, quickly. "He's, uh—"
"I'm Lloyd," Lloyd pipes up, through a mouthful of soup. Then, before anyone's gesture can stop him— "Lloyd Garmadon."
Leave it to Lloyd to do things the hard way, Kai thinks in despairing exasperation, resisting the urge to slap his hand over his face. At least he didn't tell him he was the legendary Green Ninja while he was at it.
The table goes abruptly quiet. The four ninja glance between each other, then turn in unison to look at Mr. Brookstone. Sensei Wu merely takes a long sip of tea, watching Cole's father carefully. Mr. Brookstone straightens, blinding rapidly. "Garmadon — as in his…son?"
Lloyd nods, oblivious to the thickening tension in the room. "Tha's my dad," he mumbles, shoveling another mouthful of soup in his mouth. "But he's running off all the time, so I live with the ninja."
Mr. Brookstone's mouth opens slightly, then closes, as if he's not quite sure what to say. Nya meets Kai's eyes. They both look at Mr. Brookstone, scooting slightly closer to Lloyd as they do, expressions set. Their unspoken message is fairly clear, Kai thinks.
Cole just watches his father, biting his lip anxiously. He looks like he's about to speak up, but Mr. Brookstone nods, clearing his throat before Cole can say a word. He leans back in his seat, carefully stirring another spoonful of sugar into his coffee.
"Well," Mr. Brookstone says, his voice surprisingly at ease. "Like my boy Cole, you're never really bound to your father's career, are you?" He smiles slightly at Cole, who's gaping at him. "That's not a bad thing, either."
Cole blinks, then quickly looks down at his food. He completely fails to hide the bright smile slowly growing on his lips, though.
Lloyd nods sagely. "Yeah," he says. "I wouldn't wanna hang out with snakes and skeletons as much as he does, anyways. And his helmet's kinda ugly too. I like my gi better."
The table erupts in muffled snorts, Kai shoving a hand over his mouth to hide his grin. Lord Garmadon's helmet is kinda ugly, isn't it. Burn points to the demon spawn, Kai's gonna have a model little brother at this rate.
Sensei Wu shakes his head wearily, taking another sip of tea. "Family is family," he sighs. "Fortunately, this one here has moderately better taste in fashion."
"Moderately," Mr. Brookstone mutters under his breath. "Is a generous term."
Cole looks insulted at this. "I wasn't that bad," he grumbles. Then, realizing his mistake, he goes pale. "Wait, dad, please don't—"
Kai exchanges gleeful looks with Jay, and they both turn to Mr. Brookstone. "You wouldn't happen to have any pictures of this moderately terrible fashion, would you?" Jay says, wickedly.
Cole gives him a look that could kill. "Don't you dare—"
"Actually, I was just cleaning out the attic other day,"Mr. Brookstone says easily. "I found a lot of your baby pictures, Cole, you know, and the ones from your toddler ballet classes?"
Jay looks like Christmas has come early. Cole looks like he wants to absorb himself into the table, and Kai would feel sorry for him if he wasn't as invested in humiliating his brother as Jay is.
"Oh, we would love to see those," Nya says, her smile all teeth as she grins at Cole. For some reason, her eyes scream revenge.
Cole sighs miserably, burying his face in his hands. "I hate all of you," he mutters.
Nya changed the chat name to SHOWER ACHIEVED
Kai changed the chat name to Return of the Sexy Smith Sibling Hair
Nya: are you serious
Nya: what was wrong with mine!
Kai: not enough pizazz
Nya: you don't even know what that is
Nya changed the chat name to Kai Has a Potato Face
Kai: how dare u
Kai changed the chat name to Technically Nya Kissed a Serpentine
Nya: I WILL MURDER YOU THIS IS NOT A JOKE
Kai changed the chat name to Live Fast Die Young Homeless Ninja Do It Well
Nya: …that's not even better
Kai: if u werent so picky it would be
Lloyd isn't one to admit defeat, ever, in the face of any know-it-all adult, but he's actually getting pretty tired.
Not as tired as yesterday, of course! Yesterday was the most tired he's ever been in his life, and that includes that one time he accidentally fell asleep standing up in the Jamanakai library because he didn't have anywhere else to go and he hadn't slept since he'd gotten kicked out of Darkley's.
Ugh. Lloyd shivers. Oh man, he's really glad Uncle Wu and the ninja came through, because being homeless again would have been terrible.
Despite how lame Lloyd's always calling the ninja, 'cause old habits die hard, Cole's dad is actually pretty cool, as it turns out. Not as cool as Lloyd's dad, obviously, but he's got a really neat music collection and he makes good soup. He also shows them all sorts of embarrassing pictures of Cole, which is funny.
Cole gets all sputtery and red-faced, but Lloyd can tell that he doesn't really mind all that much. He mostly just looks happy that his dad is talking about him at all. There's a relaxed sort of smile Lloyd hasn't seen Cole wear lately, and he looks a lot less stressed as he tells his dad about their adventures. He kinda looks younger too, flushing as his dad ruffles his hair before heading off to make another pot of tea.
Lloyd watches him retreat, fiddling with the end of Kai's hoodie that he's wearing. He wonders if this is how his dad would act, if he wasn't all cursed and evil and doomed to darkness and stuff. If this is how their house would look, with patterned curtains and old record players and fancy clocks, the worn table and the painted wallpaper with pictures hanging up neatly everywhere.
Huh, Lloyd muses, squinting at the picture on the wall of Cole and his dad again. He hasn't seen any trace of Cole's mom. Maybe he's like Lloyd, and she left before he could remember her?
Whatever the case, Lloyd isn't gonna ask. Nya's been stressing the importance of politeness all day, and Lloyd wants to stay on her good side. He's got more important stuff to focus on right now anyways, he reminds himself, glancing back down at the colorful Monopoly money lined up in front of him and Kai.
Sensei Wu is talking with Mr. Brookstone about boring adult stuff in the kitchen right now, so they can slack off as much as they want to. Lloyd was a little worried that they might try to send him to bed early, or do some boring ninja training after dinner, but Cole pulled out a bunch of board games and they all ended up on the living room floor instead. Zane even made caramel popcorn for them to eat, and on top of getting to stay up late? Tonight is a wild success in Lloyd's opinion, even if they did have to pick some boring game like Monopoly.
"—four, five, six — oh come on, are you kidding me?" Kai groans, staring at where his game piece landed. "This is the third time we've landed here!"
"Luck of the roll," Jay says smugly, hand already outstretched. "Pay up."
Kai makes a face at Jay, but his shoulders droop in defeat. "C'mon, Lloyd," he says. "I guess we don't have a choice."
Lloyd glares at Jay, but he slaps the money in Kai's outstretched hand anyways, watching as he hands it off to Jay with mild grumbling.
Lloyd wrinkles his nose. If he's being honest — (and he's trying to be honest more often, because that's what good guys do, even if Nya tells him that being as honest as he is can be rude, for whatever dumb reason) — Kai is terrible at Monopoly, and Lloyd probably could've done better if he'd just played by himself. But Lloyd is also trying to be nicer, and in the battle of niceness versus honesty Lloyd is….ten percent sure that niceness should win out?
Look, he's still learning, he can be excused for this one.
Either way, even if Kai is terrible, Lloyd still wants to be on his team anyways. Because that's what brothers do, if Lloyd knows anything about brothers (he doesn't, but it's what he imagines brothers are supposed to do — he's watched the ninja enough). Brothers stick with each other even if they suck really, really badly at Monopoly, and they help them beat at least Cole by stealing money from the pile when Zane isn't looking.
…Lloyd's had to steal a lot, though, and he's starting to push his luck. He's pretty good with slight of hand, but he's not that good, and Zane's got scary good eyes when it comes to zeroing in on people cheating. He sighs, watching as Kai has to hand more money over to Cole this time. Geez. Kai's good at a lot of things, but definitely not Monopoly. Maybe Lloyd should take over rolling the dice.
He glances over to where Nya is sitting with her much larger pile of money, collecting her latest steal from Zane. He would have been on her team, but the competition she's got going on with Jay is a little too intense for even Lloyd — he doesn't wanna get murdered over something as dumb as Monopoly.
"Well well, what have we here," Jay's telling Nya, in a voice that sounds way more creepy than any of the threats he's ever yelled at bad guys. "Park Place is mine now. Looks like your greedy reign is coming to an end, Nya."
"Not likely," Nya tosses back, her eyes narrowed. "You're about to pass through my carefully constructed block of apartments, remember? Your money is mine."
Jay leans forward over the Monopoly board, giving Nya what Lloyd thinks is a pretty decent evil grin. "That's only if I land on your pathetic apartments," he says. "And don't forget who owns the Water Works. Better watch that next roll."
"Don't get too cocky, Walker," Nya says, leaning forward as well, eyes flashing at Jay like he's her prey. "I'm about to own the Electric Company. Taking the Water Works back from your weak hold will be easy."
"Oh yeah—"
"I always forget they end up like this whenever we play Monopoly," Cole sighs, leaning back against the foot of the couch. He glances at his own shrinking pile of money. "Maybe we should've stuck with Candy Land, or something."
Lloyd's head snaps up. They have a game called Candy Land, and they're stuck playing dumb Monopoly? He grumbles to himself, glaring at the board. Why doesn't anyone here have any taste?
"Nya's always been a money miser," Kai says. "Combine that with her competitiveness and it's deadly."
Huh, Lloyd would've thought Kai was the competitive one. Maybe he's just so far behind that he resigned himself to defeat this time.
"She does have an unusually good mind for this," Zane admits, staring at his own pieces in bemusement. "Normally I fare better in these games."
"Just accept defeat and move on," Kai says. "Nya's already won this."
"I dunno," Cole mutters. "Remember when Jay took up couponing for a month so he could get his mom that blender? The store ended up owing him money. He's pretty terrifying at this himself."
"And Nya isn't terrifying?" Zane says, watching warily as Nya gives Jay a savage, sharp-toothed grin, the two still trading trash talk.
"Fair point," Cole winces. "I guess it's anyone's game."
"Except ours," Kai says, dully. "Sorry, green bean. Looks like we're going broke."
"No we're not," Lloyd whispers, slipping Kai the latest money he'd swiped from the pile. "Look, more money magically appeared."
Kai blinks at him, then breaks into muffled snickers, quickly sorting the money into their own tiny pile before the others can see. "Terrible," he says, shaking his head. "You're terrible."
"Hmph," Lloyd crosses his arms. "I wouldn't have to be if you weren't so terrible at this game."
"Ouch," Kai says. "Dagger to the heart there, demon spawn."
Lloyd's bottom lip juts out, and he frowns at Kai. "Y'know, if we're really brothers now, that means you're part demon spawn too," he huffs. Kai blinks, and Lloyd freezes.
He immediately wants to take the words back — because what if Kai says they're not really brothers? He knows Kai said all that stuff the other evening, and he's seemed super sincere about it ever since, but — but — no one's ever wanted Lloyd like that, and he just gave Kai a window to take it all back, so what if—
"What — that's not how it works," Kai sputters. "I balance out your demon-ness, if anything."
"Nah, Kai's a demon too," Nya says, having taken a break from her deadlock with Jay to drop in on their conversation. She grins at Lloyd. "Now you're even worse."
Kai starts sputtering even further, and Lloyd giggles quietly as he watches them dissolve into arguing. There's a warm little bubble in his chest, the kind that makes him feel weirdly light and giddy. It's kind of funny, because the kids at Darkley's used to call him all sorts of names — demon spawn is pretty tame, honestly — but whenever Kai and Nya do it, it feels a hundred times different. Like it's a good thing, a family-ish kind of thing, he thinks.
"Speaking of demon spawn, it is way past your bedtime," Nya frowns, looking at her watch. "Time for bed, bud." The smile slides off of Lloyd's face. There goes his happy feeling.
"Aw, c'mon, please?" he begs. "Just ten more minutes?"
"We already gave you two extra hours," Cole shakes his head. "Don't push your luck."
Lloyd sulks, glaring at the ground. "You guys are so lame," he mutters.
"Don't be a brat," Kai says, ruffling his hair. Lloyd makes a face. "We'll probably turn in pretty soon, anyways. You got pajamas?"
"Yeah," Lloyd sighs, standing up. He knows when he's lost a battle. "Cole gave me some stuff."
"Dad had some of my old clothes," Cole explains. "Should last us until we can go shopping."
"Nice," Kai says. He makes to stand up. "Here, I'll come with you and make sure—"
"No, no, I can go to bed myself," Lloyd says, trying to push Kai's shoulders back down. "You gotta win the game for us."
Jay snorts, and Kai winces. "I'll, uh, I'll try," he promises, half-heartedly.
"You better," Lloyd says, yawning. "I'm going, I'm going!" he yelps at Nya's look. "Goodnight, bunch of traitors."
"Goodnight, Lloyd," the others chorus cheerfully.
"Don't forget to brush your teeth!" Kai calls after him, and Lloyd grits his teeth. First he gets sent to bed earlier than the others, now he's gotta brush his teeth, too? So lame.
Out of spite, Lloyd barely brushes his teeth at all, and ends up swallowing most of the toothpaste on accident. After almost hacking a lung up, he finally trudges to the room the guys and him are sharing, crawling onto one of the air mattresses Cole's dad set up on the floor. He yawns again, pulling the covers up and staring up a the ceiling sleepily. Maybe he's a bit more tired than he'd thought—
"…need to get an early start tomorrow, anyways, if we're going house-hunting."
Lloyd perks up, head lifting from the mattress. He can hear the guys' voices from right outside the door, which means they're probably all standing in the hallway. Ha, Lloyd grins to himself. They must think he's asleep.
He edges closer to the door, straining to listen in. It doesn't sound like they're talking about anything too interesting, but Lloyd's not about to miss out on hearing something he's not supposed to.
"Dad's got the name of another agent for us, if the other one falls through," Cole is saying, his voice hushed. "We can meet with her tomorrow, she'll hopefully have something in our budget."
"I already have the calculations done," Zane says. "We will be prepared. I just hope we are able to find a good place quickly."
"Time is of the essence," Uncle Wu speaks up. "Shelter is not our only concern. My brother has the Golden Weapons now. Every day that passes draws us closer to the Final Battle."
Silence falls over the hallway. Lloyd clutches his blanket tighter, a weird thudding in his ears. He doesn't know if he wants to listen in on this conversation anymore.
"We need to start training Lloyd," Cole says, his voice heavy. "As soon as possible."
"He's nine," Nya's voice speaks up, strained and tight. "You can't just stick a weapon in his hands and expect him to hurt someone with it, especially not his own father. That's not right."
"He's gotta be able to defend himself," Jay says, sounding like he's imploring Nya. "We're gonna focus way more on teaching him to keep himself safe, obviously."
"We must also teach him to control his powers," Zane says, quietly. "If what you told us earlier is true, he's already manifested them. Leaving them unchecked will only put him in more danger."
Nya falls quiet. "He controlled them enough to save me," she mutters.
"I don't like it either, Nya." That's Kai, his voice sounding a lot more tired than it usually does. "But I don't think the powers of darkness are going to care that he's nine."
Silence falls over the hall again, heavier and more oppressive than before. Lloyd bites his lip.
"We will get no further worrying ourselves about this tonight," Uncle Wu speaks up again, sounding exhausted. "Get to bed now, you are all in need of rest. The future will still be there for us to worry about in the morning."
There's a scattered murmuring of yes, Sensei, and Lloyd quickly burrows back under the covers, shutting his eyes and forcing his breathing even. The door opens and he hears the guys start trodding in, carefully keeping their footsteps quiet as they settle down. The room finally falls into quiet, the only sound the tick of the Brookstone's clock and Jay's slight snuffling. Lloyd pulls his blanket higher over his head.
It'll be fine, he tells himself, his eyes screwed shut tightly. It'll all be fine. The ninja will make sure everything's fine.
Lloyd's never put much trust in anything, but he trusts Uncle Wu. He trusts the ninja.
He just wishes he could trust himself.