(Original publication date: 3rd of March, 2024, on Archive of Our Own)

The next morning, Lloyd woke up in an unfamiliar place- oh wait, he remembered, he was staying with Wu now... and Morro. And today was gonna be terrible- Lloyd had to attend his stupid cousin's party.

Lloyd decided to (pretend to) sleep until someone tried to wake him up. He only lasted like that for five minutes at most, however, because Wu knocked on the door and didn't even wait for a response before entering. The old man looked at his nephew's face to see if he was awake and smiled when he found his answer to be in the affirmative.

"Good morning, Lloyd. I'm going out for some duties and will return tomorrow at about this time. Enjoy the party with Morro." Lloyd had to think of a quick response in order to avoid the party.

"Uncle, how can you trust Morro to be at home alone and host a huge party? He's definitely gonna be drinking!" he blurted out. Upon seeing Wu's expression change in response, Lloyd suddenly regretted saying the first thing that came to mind.

"Lloyd, I know what happens here when I am gone, for I am not a fool. When I give Morro an order, he obeys it, and now you must obey my order when I tell you to stay here and attend the party. There will be no drinking, and I am sure of it." Wu's tone was strict yet calm. "Goodbye, Lloyd." He left the room. Lloyd decided to get up and eat breakfast. He was glad Wu left, for he wouldn't allow his nephew to eat cereal without milk. Lloyd hated soggy cereal. As he ate his breakfast, he heard Morro's voice from behind him.

"Hey, Lloyd!" He turned around to find Morro, approaching him. "Let me make some things clear. I'm sure you know that all the guests are from your school, too." This was the first time in years that Lloyd and Morro were going to the same school. When Lloyd had reached third grade, Morro went to middle school. By the time Lloyd started attending middle school Morro went to highschool. Now that Lloyd was a freshman and Morro was a senior, they were in the same school again.

"And everyone in our school hates you," Morro continued. "So I don't want people to know that we're related. I need you to stay in your room until most of the guests have came. Then nobody will notice you're here. And keep a low profile. Is that clear?" Lloyd nodded. Morro then proceeded to clean the house.

After a couple of hours, the doorbell rang. Lloyd went inside his room as per instructions. He heard Morro greeting someone, and a familiar voice spoke back. Chen. That meant Kai was probably here too. Now Lloyd really wanted to keep a low profile. Sure enough, Lloyd heard Chen's partner in crime laughing at something Morro said.

I wonder how'd they react if they found out I'm his cousin, Lloyd thought.

Lloyd spent most of his time lying in his bed. There wasn't much physical activity to do since he had damaged his liver. He needed to rest.

Lloyd was playing Mario Kart 7 on his 3ds when he noticed that there were many different voices speaking now, their speech intangible. That meant he could come out now. But he didn't want to. Suddenly, someone opened the door.

Lloyd forgot to lock it.

Standing outside the room was a boy about Lloyd's age. He had black hair and bushy eyebrows, and looked a bit muscular.

"Sorry," the intruder said. "Wrong room."

Why isn't he running away from me? Lloyd thought. He didn't recall seeing him in middle school, and Lloyd himself had only been to high school on the first day, so he probably doesn't know he was the son of Garmadon.

"No problem," Lloyd replied. "Can you close the door when you leave?"

"Sure. But can you show me where Morro's room is first?" Lloyd didn't want to get recognised by other people. But this person was the first not to disrespect him in a while. So he took a scarf and covered his mouth with it.

"Follow me." Upon reaching Morro's room, the black-haired boy discovered that nobody was in there. "Huh, I can't find him anywhere." He turned to Lloyd. "Are you his brother?"

"His cousin."

"Cool."

An awkward silence came between them.

"Do you wanna play Wii with me?" Lloyd was astonished. Someone was asking him. To play.

"Sure."

This kid had never heard of Garmadon, had he?

The played for a while. They didn't speak much until the black-haired boy finally made a statement.

"So I didn't get your name."

Oh. Lloyd wasn't sure what to do. Should he tell him his real name? Maybe he knew who Garmadon was and simply couldn't recognise his son. But lying would lead to further consequences...

"Lloyd."

"My name's Cole."

"Nice to meet you, Cole."

Lloyd didn't want to get his hopes up, but maybe, just maybe he had just made a friend.

Hey guys! I was so desperate to finish this chapter that I started writing it at school. I changed Wu's, Lloyd's and Morro's names to William, Larry and Martin respectively :P at some point I wrote Morro instead of Martin lol