"Garmadon, did you eat?"

"…Yes."

Wu frowned. "You said that about breakfast, too. I was trying to get you to take it upon yourself to eat something and give you another chance at independence, but I know for a fact you didn't eat lunch. I really don't want to have to force you, brother…"

Garmadon frowned. But you don't understand. I don't CARE if I don't eat. I don't care if I starve.

Ochre is gone.

He looked away, staring at the couch's back.

"Brother, why won't you eat?"

Ochre is gone, and it's all my fault. Who knows what they've done to him—ARE doing to him. I said I would never leave him…and look what happened. I failed. Again.

Why am I so good at failing those I care about?

DO I even care? How can I fail so much if I actually cared?

"Garmadon, you have to eat."

He still didn't look at him. He really didn't care about food.

"…How long have you been laying here?"

Garmadon shrugged.

"Have you been laying here all morning?"

"I don't know…maybe."

"Why?"

Because I have nothing better to do.

"Can you please get some lunch?"

"No. I'm not hungry."

"…I'm sorry, but you have to eat."

"No."

"Why not?"

Garmadon's jaw clenched. Ochre is gone. Can't you see that?
Wu stood there for a moment. "Brother…please eat something."

"No."

There was more silence.

Wu finally sighed. "Fine…but I expect you to at least eat supper. We'll take it slow and work our way up, alright?"

What are you even talking about? Garmadon picked at his glove, staring at nothing.

Wu hesitated, then finally left, sighing again.

Garmadon listened to the door close. He bit his lip.

Ochre is gone.

Why was he even here? He wasn't even doing anything. He had no reason for being here, other than the fact Wu wanted him to stay.

But why? Why did Wu insist that he stay?

Did…could it be possible he actually cared? And didn't just want something?

He frowned, blinking. That wasn't possible. No. Not after everything he'd done.

It wasn't possible.

He wants something. He has to.

"Garmadon?"

He jerked, startling, and glanced at Wu.

Wu frowned. "Are you still laying here?"

"…Um. Yes." Garmadon looked away.

Wu hesitated, staring at him. "Have you not moved all day?"

"…No." I have no reason to.

"Brother…what's going on? Are you sick?" Wu walked over to him, reaching a hand towards—

Garmadon flinched, jerking back.

Wu sighed, taking his hand back. "Do you feel alright?"

"I'm fine."

"…Alright. But you need to eat. It's suppertime."

Garmadon stared at him for a moment, then went back to looking at the couch. "I'm not hungry."

"But you didn't eat breakfast or lunch. How can you possibly not be hungry?"

He shrugged.

"Garmadon…you can't just not eat. Eating is vital for living."

Exactly why I DON'T want to eat…

Wu stood there for a moment. Then abruptly left.

Garmadon blinked, sitting up, and watched him leave the room. Was…he mad at him? Maybe he should eat something…

Garmadon swallowed uneasily. But I don't want to. Ochre is gone. Everyone is gone. And I can't take anything else, I've already overstayed my welcome and I already ate that stuff yesterday and had some water and that tea—

He sucked in a sharp breath. It would be fine.

He laid back down, blinking again. He lay his hands on his chest, staring at the ceiling.

It would be fine.

Garmadon let out a quiet sigh, staring forlornly.

Ochre is gone.

And I'll never see him again. Unless…

No. That was a dumb idea.

"Garmadon?"

He stiffened.

Wu and Misako came around the couch.

Garmadon half sat up, now having the feeling he was in trouble. "What…?"

"You need to eat." Wu gave him a hard look.

Misako nodded, frowning worriedly. "Yes…please eat something."

"And, I've decided you should eat with the rest of us this time."

The rest…? Garmadon felt a panic come over him. He swallowed uneasily. "I…I'm fine…"

"No. You are not." Wu gestured for him to get up. "Come on, you need to eat. And you should eat with the rest of us anyway—you are my brother, after all."

Garmadon frowned. Why does that matter? I cheated you, disowned Lloyd and almost killed him, and lied to you and Misako.

"Garmadon…please don't make me force you."

He sat up slowly. "…I can eat later." With the ninja, his—Lloyd—no, no, he couldn't do that. That would end horribly. And Kai would probably kill him.

Which also made him wonder why the red ninja hadn't made any threats in awhile…

Wu suddenly grabbed his arm—

Garmadon jerked back with a startled yelp, flinching.

Wu pulled him off the couch. "I'm sorry, brother, but you do have to eat…" He winced apologetically, and then started shoving him towards the kitchen.

Garmadon reluctantly obeyed, realizing there wasn't much he could do.

Wu let go of his arm.

Garmadon rubbed the spot, but…it hadn't actually hurt. Though it was also his robotic arm, he supposed…of which he couldn't really feel anything anyway. But either way…

He frowned. He wasn't sure why he was suddenly pondering this. Maybe it was because of Ichor…

He flinched, shutting his eye for a moment, trying to ground himself—

"Zane made rice, dumplings, and some noodles. He said he was going for a 'Chen's Noodle House vibe' or something."

Garmadon blinked. Chen's Noodle House? Was that even still around?

"Is it still called Chen's Noodle House?" Misako asked. "Didn't Skylor take over?"

"Well, yes…but I'm fairly sure it's still called that." Wu shrugged. "You'd have to ask the ninja, they would know about that sort of thing. Maybe ask Kai."

She nodded, chuckling. "Yes, I suppose Kai would be the unofficial expert."

Wu smiled.

Why is Kai the unofficial expert? He felt like he should know this, but apparently not. He was usually missing something. Important or otherwise.

Wu suddenly took the lead, entering the kitchen. "You both, scoot over."

Garmadon came in cautiously, taking a brief glance around. All the ninja but Zane sat at the table, and said ninja was setting food down on it. Wu was waving Jay and Cole over, who looked confused.

Until there was suddenly an awkward, hostile silence when they noticed him.

Garmadon's gaze snapped back to the floor, avoiding their gazes.

"My brother is joining us for supper tonight. Cole and Jay, move over." Wu waved at them again.

Jay stumbled off of the bench, tripping over himself and it.

Cole stood as well, awkwardly backing away—but not before taking his plate with him.

The other ninja also shifted awkwardly, some standing.

"Wait, why is he here?" Kai crossed his arms, glaring at Garmadon.

"Because he's my brother, and he's joining us for dinner tonight." Wu sent him warning look. He turned to Garmadon, gesturing to the now empty bench. He pointed at the far end, the left, where he usually sat when no one was in the kitchen. "You can sit here. Is that alright?"

Garmadon shifted uncomfortably, then nodded.

Wu smiled. "Good." He turned back to the ninja. "Now, you all sit down and don't fuss."

They glanced at each other awkwardly.

Jay went around to the other side, sending Garmadon a terrified look.

"Cole and Jay, why can't you sit here?" Wu glared at them, then gestured for Garmadon to sit.

Garmadon hesitated, noting the hostile glares still being sent his way. But then he took a slow breath, and carefully sat down, staring at the table—or, the plate, actually.

"Because he's creepy!" Jay smacked a hand over his mouth, chuckling awkwardly. "I-I, I mean…I—"

"You can't all sit on that bench."

Garmadon glanced up, seeing that all of the ninja were on the other side now. Except for Cole, who still stood where he'd gotten up.

Wu turned to Zane. "Fine, I'll assign. Zane, you will sit by Garmadon. P.I.X.A.L., you're next to him—"

P.I.X.A.L. paused, having just entered the kitchen. "What?"

"—Cole, you're by me here." Wu pointed to the end of the bench. "And Kai, you're next to Lloyd."

"What? Why?" Kai scowled.

Lloyd looked away. "Gee, thanks…"

Kai stuttered awkwardly. "Er, no, that's not what I—"

"I don't want you glaring at my brother the whole time." Wu narrowed his eyes, pointing to the spot next to Lloyd.

Kai frowned from where he stood right across from Garmadon. Then he reluctantly sat next to Lloyd, crossing his arms on the table and sending another glare at him.

Garmadon avoided it, staring down at his plate again.

"Good." Wu nodded, then sat down at the far end.

Zane set the last of the food on the table.

Cole and P.I.X.A.L sat down. Everyone else sat down on the other side, sending glances at Garmadon. Misako sat down on the chair at the other end, across from Wu, and by Garmadon.

There was an awkward silence as Zane starting serving the food. When he was done, he sat down next to Garmadon.

Garmadon shifted awkwardly. He really didn't want to be here. He glanced at the microwave clock, not bothering to eat. He really didn't want to eat. But Misako was also watching him, waiting.

And he could feel the ninja's occasional glances still, and Kai's hostile glare. And Wu's stare.

He fiddled with his glove uncomfortably, looking down at the food in front of him.

"Garmadon…please eat," Wu finally said.

The ninja's gazes were on him again. Questioning and hostile.

Garmadon looked away, glancing at the clock. It's only been five minutes? This was going to be awhile…

"Garmadon."

He bit his lip, staring at his plate. There was some rice, noodles, and a few dumplings. He reluctantly picked up the chopsticks—why they were using chopsticks instead of forks, he didn't know. He stirred the rice a little, keeping his head down.

Wu sighed, going back to his own food.

The ninja stared at him for a moment longer, then also went back to their own food. Though he still felt Kai's occasional glare.

Ochre is gone.

He frowned, staring at the rice as he moved it around slowly. He would never see him again.

He then realized Misako was still watching him, obviously waiting for him to actually eat.

Garmadon hesitated, then took a small bite.

She gave a small nod, then went back to her food.

He continued to slowly take bites, little by little—but most of the time he was just picking at it, stirring, and moving it around his plate.

"Hey, Cole!"

He looked up.

Jay was reaching over the table, trying to steal his dumpling back from Cole, who stuffed it into his mouth.

Wu shook his head at them.

Nya rolled her eyes. "Cole, why do you always do that?"

"Because I'm hungry."

Jay huffed, crossing his arms. "For my food, only, it seems."

"Yours tastes better." Cole looked over the table, then took the last of the noodles.

"Wait, I wanted some of those!" Jay panicked, trying to steal the noodles from Cole.

"Hey!" Cole, now alarmed, tried to pull his plate away, just barely getting it out of reach of Jay's fingers.

Jay opened his mouth—

"Stop fighting over food." Wu glared at the both of them.

There was immediately silence.

Jay reluctantly sat back down, arms crossed.

Cole happily ate the rest of the noodles.

There was awkward silence again for the rest of the meal.

When everyone was done eating, they stood, and the ninja started helping Zane clean up—per Wu's request, anyway.

Garmadon stayed where he was, still picking at his food as he watched everyone else. He'd barely eaten any of it.

The ninja and P.I.X.A.L. finally left once everything was put away and cleaned up.

Garmadon started to stand—

"Brother, you have to eat." Wu walked over, tea in hand. He pointed to the glass in front of him. "And drink your water."

Garmadon sat back down, frowning.

"Please, eat. You haven't had anything all day."

He reluctantly took another bite.

Wu nodded. "Thank you." He sat down in Misako's spot, sipping his tea again.

Misako stood off to the side, watching.

Garmadon slowly stirred his noodles, watching as they caught the fork and got tangled up. His mind felt tangled. There was something wrong with him.

They stayed like that for about ten minutes, watching. Garmadon continued to very slowly eat, but was mostly moving food around.

"Garmadon, why won't you just eat?"

He glanced up at Wu, then back down to his plate. "I don't want to."

Wu blinked. "Why not?"

He shrugged.

Wu sighed. "We can't sit here forever, just to make sure you'll actually eat something."

"Then don't." Garmadon winced. He really needed to keep his mouth shut.

"Brother, this is ridiculous. Please, eat. You're acting like a young child."

I know. And this IS ridiculous. Just LEAVE ME ALONE and you wouldn't have to deal with me. Garmadon winced again. What was up with him? I don't even have the venom…or maybe I really am just a monster. Like Ichor says.

"Please, eat."

Garmadon took another small bite.

Eventually, he'd managed to eat about a quarter of what was on his plate. Garmadon stared at it, then set his chopsticks down.

"You're not done yet." Wu looked up from his tea.

"I'm not hungry…"

"But you've barely eaten any of it."

He shrugged, staring down at his gloved hand, picking at it again. It had become a nervous habit of his, he'd realized. Probably had been for a while, now. He'd just never really thought about it.

"Garmadon…" Wu rubbed his forehead.

Misako sighed.

"Please, eat some more." Wu looked at him again.

"No. I'm not hungry."

"Please, brother?"
"No."

"But you're hurting yourself by not eating."

So? He tried hard not to scowl and keep a neutral face. Ochre is gone.

"Can't you eat just a little bit more?"

"No."

Wu and Misako exchanged a glance.

"At least we got him to eat…" Misako murmured.

Wu sighed. "I suppose… Alright, Garmadon. You may go…but I expect you to be here for every meal from now on. And I'll come and get you if you're not."

Garmadon did scowl at that, though he looked away to try and hide it.

Wu stood. "But please, drink your water first. I don't want you to get dehydrated again."

Garmadon hesitated. But he could leave sooner if he drank it…and so he took the cup, downing the water quick. He stood, then glanced at his plate. "Should I—"

Wu held up a hand. "Don't worry, the ninja will take of it."

Garmadon frowned, then nodded, walking out. He walked slowly back to the living room, listening as Wu and Misako started talking when they thought he was far enough away. He couldn't make out what they were saying, other than his name and something about food.

He sighed.

The guilt still haunted him. He shouldn't be taking so much. And he could do nothing to repay anyone, either.

He ran a hand down his face, sucking in a breath.

Everything seemed hopeless.

Ochre is gone. He failed him.

Garmadon entered the living room, looking around.

How long can I endure this? With Ochre gone…how long could he keep going with life?

He'd given up. He could feel it in his bones. Before it was just his mind…but with Ochre…and now that he was gone…it felt like a weight had been placed on him. Crushing.

I've given up.

He laid down on the couch, staring at the ceiling.

I've given up…