Tw: little gore, stitching up, smidge of horny

Something brushed my cheek. I hummed, teetering on the edge of consciousness.

"Sunshine," Lloyd whispered, gently rousing me from my slumber. He nudged me with his nose again. "I need your help."
I peeled back my heavy eyelids and set him with a blurry, discombobulated stare. I could barely see him in the dark of my room. He was nothing more than a pale, fuzzy blob of a face.
"Yeah..." I sighed as I sat up. I rubbed my eyes and blinked hard, trying to focus my vision. "M' up. Wha's wrong?"
"I, uh..." Lloyd trailed off, glancing down at the towel clutched tight to his hip. His other hand was holding onto his bicep. "I can't patch myself up alone."
"'Kay," I said with a yawn. My feet kicked back my covers and I stumbled upright, leading the way down the hall to the bathroom. "How bad is it?"
"'Bout a seven out of ten," Lloyd replied with a shrug. He winced at the action. I made a thoughtful sound in my throat before rolling my stiff neck.

The ninja were on a high stakes mission with some high-time downtown black market criminals who raised a pretty penny selling stolen goods. They'd been on the ninja's radar for some time, but the criminals were as slippery as they were morally inept. Every time the team managed to spot the group, they'd cause a major distraction and slip away before any arrests could be made.
It was driving them mad.
Then, just the other day, the police finally got a tip off from an inside man. We were all a little baffled when the commissioner of police got in contact with Wu about teaming up with the ninja, as the old man wasn't adverse with promoting his dislike of the team - nevertheless, the secret ninja force was on it.
They left at three in the afternoon to bring them in.

It was now four-thirty in the morning.
Needless to say, it took a lot longer than expected.

Lloyd dutifully took his seat on the toilet lid, clutching his injuries tightly. I stared at him blankly for a few seconds.
"Oh, my god," I muttered to myself as I manually forced my sleepy body to move. "I am not awake at all."
Lloyd replied with a small, weary chuckle.
Shuffling over to where we kept the first aid kit under the sink, I grabbed it out and stumbled back to Lloyd. He watched as I set it down and started rummaging through the contents.
"Stitches?" I began to query before getting cut off by a loud yawn. Despite the discomfort on Lloyd's face, his lips still twitched into a tiny smile.
"Not on my arm," he replied. "Just my hip. That one's pretty deep."
I hummed in acknowledgment before twisting around and grabbing the small emergency towel. I held it out before his hand over his bicep.
"Ready?"
Lloyd gave a nod. He released his bloodied glove and I swooped in to stop the bleeding with the towel.

"What happened to your medical wraps?" I murmured. Usually he kept them on him and would hastily wrap any injuries he had before heading home.
"The others were worse off," Lloyd replied nonchalantly as he worked his dirty glove off single-handedly. "They needed it more than I did."
"Who, the team?" I asked in alarm, eyes flickering up to Lloyd's unmasked face. My hands froze on the gauge wrap I was currently unreeling. "Are they alright?"
"Not them," he corrected with a tired smile. He leant his head back against the wall and closed his green eyes. "The traders."
My hands fell to my lap.
"You gave up your medical wrap for the guys you were fighting?"
Lloyd shrugged. I watched his exhausted, dirtied, sweaty face for a long, few seconds before resuming my job. He really did astound me sometimes. All the time.
After removing the towel, I was quick to disinfect the injury and slap on some honey healing ointment that Nya once recommended. While I wrapped his arm firmly and securely, Lloyd opened his eyes again.
"This is our last day together," he murmured.

My hands faltered. He tilted his head to look down at me.
I really didn't need the reminder.
"Y/n?" Lloyd whispered.
"Stop," I said hoarsely. "I don't- I don't want to think about it."
My hand shook and it janked the wrap. I whispered a curse to myself before undoing the previous loop to try again.
When I tied off the end and made sure the bandage wouldn't slip, Lloyd's free hand landed on my head.
I paused.
His warm palm gently caressed down the side of my face before lifting my downwards chin. My gaze hesitantly found his, red in barely-constrained emotion. It was if everything he was feeling was swimming in his eyes.
"Do you want to know why I want to marry you so badly?" he murmured, voice barely audible.

My chest swelled with a deep inhale before I nodded. Lloyd smiled softly.
"Regardless how long I've been alive, it's already felt as if I lived a thousand lifetimes with what I have to do and face. I'm so tired all the time," he said quietly. His thumb traced the line of my jaw. "But with you, it's like I'm allowed to be normal. Just a little. You don't look at me like how everybody else does. You don't expect me to carry the world. I get to just be me."
I felt my throat squeeze as my heart thundered. I sunk more into Lloyd's hold.
"I want to marry you so badly because there's nothing I want more than to have a mundane life with you," he said. I had to place a hand over my face to keep my expressions in check. "I'm sorry that I keep asking you. I'm sorry if it makes you uncomfortable."
"What?" I spluttered, ripping my hand away and sending him an incredulous look. "Lloyd, no! I think it's wonderful. I love that you love the idea of being married, I feel like it's a bit of a dying ceremony with people our age. I'm not uncomfortable by you asking, not at all... I'm glad it's me who you're asking - even if I do keep turning you down."

Lloyd sighed contently.
"There's no-one else I'd rather be pestering."
That one got a snort out of me.
"Oh, the things I deal with," I mused with a slight grin as I rocked back on my heels to assess Lloyd's second injury. He huffed in amusement before it turned into a hiss of pain as I slowly removed his gripping hand from his thigh.
"Ouch," I said sympathetically. It looked deep.
"They got me good," Lloyd grunted.
"You got them better," I countered. He snapped a short laugh, but I still gave a concerned look. "Do you need the tea of healing now?"
"It's fine." He waved it off. "Just please do it quick."
I exhaled heavily through my nose before grabbing the disinfectant pads and gingerly cleaning the stab wound. Lloyd gripped my shoulder.
The stitches and wrapping were finished even faster. Lloyd slumped in relief, having been so tense in an effort to be completely motionless.

"All done," I said, dropping a quick kiss to his knee before standing. "Have a shower. I'll put the kettle on for the tea."
"'Kay..." he mumbled. I faltered, watching as Lloyd rested with his head against the wall. His face was tarnished with dirt and dried sweat, yet my heart ached that too soon, I wouldn't be waking up to assist Lloyd with his injuries (even though he really should've been doing that with his team).
I shuffled closer and pressed a soft kiss to his parted lips. His eyelids fluttered. I pulled back and brushed a lock of blond hair from his temple, smiling affectionately. Lloyd's lidded, foggy red eyes watched me.
"Call if you need anything," I offered with a final stroke of his cheek.
His hand caught mine before I could slip away.
"I need you," he whispered.
My eyes widened.
"Please," Lloyd continued, begging with his eyes. "I don't want to spend a second away from you. Not after leaving you alone all afternoon yesterday."

My throat had gone dry in shock.
I need you.
The way it was contextualised made it sound so innocent, yet the words themselves invoked a different fire. I could barely wrap my head around which version Lloyd intended.
Whatever version, however, would still be granted with the same response.
"O- okay," I agreed shakily, though not reluctantly. I cleared my throat and tried not to notice how hot my face had gone.
Lloyd gave a grateful smile before hobbling upright. He began undoing his belts and buckles of his gi and I was slow to assist, hands moving as if they were being dragged through tar.
A certain type of heaviness had settled overhead, though it seemed I was the only one aware of it. The heaviness wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but it was certainly new.
I eased the gi's sleeve over his bandage. Lloyd watched as I made extra sure to not bump his injury.
"Who's going to take care of me like how you do?" Lloyd asked absentmindedly.
"I could ask the same question," I admitted quietly. The gi dropped to the floor in a heap.

My eyes followed the lines of scars on his front, before trailing up the large one that travelled across his torso. They finally landed on Lloyd's gaze.
We stared for a long, few heartbeats before I turned around to hurriedly yank the shower on. I heard Lloyd shoving off the rest of his clothes behind me and I waited on bated breath as he wrapped his bandages in plastic film to keep them from getting wet.
I swallowed sharply when he passed behind me to step into the warm shower.
I stared at the wall.
"Are you coming in?" Lloyd eventually asked over the heavy spray. His voice seemed a tad timid.
"Uh." My brain short circuited. I stared blankly at the light switch and tried my best to conjure up even the barest of vocabulary. "Y- yes."
Silence. I didn't dare breathe. I could almost picture Lloyd's still figure while the water plastered his hair flat against his head, motionless in surprise at my answer.

I forced a blink before slowly slipping the oversized green shirt over my head and depositing it on the ground next to his gi.
I stared at them in shock - was I really about to step into the shower with Lloyd, completely bare? This was nothing like the onsen. The onsen, you don't see a thing. Showers, though.
You can see everything.
I slid off my knickers and dropped them onto the floor. The glass of the shower had completely fogged up, but I could still see the basic outline of Lloyd's pale figure.
I swayed on my feet as I ran the scenario through my head once more. Was this what I really wanted?
The answer was an irrefutable 'yes.'
"Hey," I said gently, rapping my knuckles against the door of the shower. "I'm coming in."
The door popped open a smidge. A wet hand held out his palm for mine. Any words I could possibly say died in my mouth as I stared at the invitation.
I placed my hand in his. I was slowly tugged forth.

It definitely wasn't the heat of the water that made my face red. Lloyd smiled gently at me, but his eyes didn't dare dip lower. Nor did mine, despite a little gremlin in the back of my head insisting that I should.
"Nervous?" he asked. His words were almost drowned out by the water.
"You're not?"
"A little." Lloyd shrugged. Rivulets ran down the shapes of his face. "But it's you, so I think being nervous isn't necessary for me."
"You make it sound so easy."
"We can play tic-tac-toe until you're comfortable?"
I snorted and blinked water from my lashes. "Seriously?"
Lloyd held up his palms. "Seriously."
An easy grin made its way onto my face and my agitation was receding with each second he spoke. I seriously needed to learn how he knew exactly what to do or say.
"Alright, dragon boy. You're on."
I won the first round, to which Lloyd declared a 'best out of three!' He then went on to win the other two and cheered for his victory before coughing out the water that landed in his mouth.

"Feeling better?" Lloyd asked as he finally grabbed some soap and began wiping the grit from his face.
"Yeah," I replied warmly. "You always know how to calm me down."
"We go hand in hand, clearly."
"Dang," I said in mock surprise. "It's almost as if fate put us in each other's paths."
Lloyd snickered before putting his face into the spray. He turned to washing his hair.
"What are you most excited about for college?" he asked.
"The breaks, so I can see you again."
He sent me a look out the side of his eyes.
"Fine... the clubs, I guess?" I answered unsurely. "It'll be interesting to find out what clubs there are. Living on campus is definitely going to be a new experience, as well as having a roommate that isn't you."
Lloyd washed out the shampoo from his hair.
"It's going to be weird," I continued, and he cocked his head to the side to show that he was listening. "It's going to feel like... I dunno, normal? Mundane?"
"There's beauty in the mundane," he murmured, and I watched owlishly as water dripped from his lips. I forced my gaze away.
"I- I know," I said. "But... it's going to be weird going back to a life without you. A- and the team."

"It's going to be weird not having you around," Lloyd agreed quietly. His red eyes dropped to mine. I swallowed when his hand lifted to brush my wet hair back from my face and held my cheek.
"I know," I said.
"It's going to be agony," he whispered.
"B- but, hey," I stammered when Lloyd began to incline his head towards me. "We got- we got phones 'n stu-"
My words were silenced by the brush of a kiss. My heart jumped out of my ears.
"It's not gonna be the same," he murmured against my lips. A shuttering breath rushed from my mouth and it was swallowed by Lloyd as he caught me in another kiss. My wet skin prickled with anticipation and it felt as if fire licked upon my very nerves. An airy feeling settled in my head.
"We're going to waste all the hot water," I whispered, half-dizzy on intoxication from his touch.
Lloyd sighed. His forehead dropped against mine. Water dribbled all around us, with warmth that guided us into dreamy serenity.

I brushed Lloyd's cheek with a swipe of the back of my hand before turning around and stepping out of the shower.
"Make sure you scrub under your armpits," I sang. Lloyd tsk'd a tired laugh.
After drying myself off and slipping back into Lloyd's oversized shirt that doubled as my favourite pyjamas, I retreated to the kitchen to prepare the healing tea.
While the kettle boiled, I leant against the bench and mindlessly fiddled with the dragon pendant that sat against my throat. Something had been nagging me since Lloyd told Garmadon about his dream of the city in ruins and me dying on the rooftop - the old man had been strangely distant. It bothered me more than the contents of the dream did.
Clearly, he knew more about it than he was letting on.
Misako seemed much the same as per her usual upbeat, yet strict personality. But again, Misako was good at concealing her worries and fears. She had to be, considering how society treats her for being married to Garmadon. Whether she was also in on what had the Sensei so worried, I was unsure of.

Not to mention the state of the media after the 'green ninja's kiss with a mysterious ally fighter on the rooftop.' It was absolute chaos. I hadn't even touched Twitter and I was far too afraid of what I'd find.
So much stress, such little body to contain it.
At least the headlines made me sound cool.
By the time the tea had finished stewing, Lloyd had limped into the kitchen, wearing new clothes and smelling freshly clean.
I glanced over when I noticed him enter and felt my heart blossom at the sight of him. Stress, yes, but wasn't it oh-so-worth it when the payoff was a relationship with Lloyd?
"Drink up," I said, handing him the steaming mug of garbage-smelling magic leaf juice. He took a sip without even a grimace at the stench.
"You can go back to sleep," Lloyd offered as he leant on the bench beside me.
"No point," I said with a shrug, staring out the kitchen window at the ever so slowly lightening sky. "We have to go in two hours."
"Sorry."

I looked up at him. Lloyd was slowly swirling the tea with a frown.
"I'm not," I said. His green eyes flitted to mine. "You could never bother me."
A smile parted Lloyd's lips. He nudged my shoulder with an affectionate bump.
"Cheeseball," he teased.
"C'mon," I said when Lloyd finished his tea. I lead him to the couch and plopped down. "Tell me all about it."
Lloyd sat and eased his sore leg up into a comfortable position. I shuffled closer with an eager grin.
"Okay," Lloyd began, beginning the tale of his mission as if it were an adventurous legend, which in some ways, I guess he was. "It was four in the afternoon, and we had spread out across the surrounding rooftops of this downtown warehouse..."
By the time he had finished recounting his mission, the sun was beginning to peak past the distant wailing alps. I sighed with a sad smile.

"You're going to have to tell me all about your missions when I'm in college."
"Of course," Lloyd agreed. "As long as you tell me everything about your days."
"Pinky promise," I declared, and our pact was sealed with a shake of our fingers. "You better not find another girl to patch you up while I'm gone."
"Who on earth could ever compare to you?" he countered with a quirk of his brow. "Besides, I'll just ask Zane to kiss my booboos better."
I fell into a snicker. I could already picture the nindroid's bland denial.
"I'm sure he'd be more than happy to," I replied. "Right after singing your praises and kissing your feet."
"You think so?"
My response was a dry stare. Lloyd chuckled. His head fell to my shoulder and his arms enveloped my waist in a loose hold.
"It's going to be too long before I see you again," Lloyd sighed against my neck.
"I know," I mumbled, bringing my hands through his damp hair. "I wish you could come with me."
"I wish you could stay... why did Borg build his university all the way in Nom? He lives in Ninjago City!"

I giggled at the ludicrousness of it. I'd been wondering the same thing.
Lloyd turned his head to press a kiss to my neck and my laugh pitched in surprise. He pressed another, and then another, until I was shifting on the spot. My lashes fluttered.
"Lloyd-"
"I need to- I need to mark you before you leave."
My mouth ran dry. A heavy breath released through my teeth. He nosed my neck and I felt my heart rate shoot to the ceiling.
"Is- is it y- your instincts?" I asked breathlessly. I inwardly cursed myself for stuttering, but I could barely even comprehend how to properly breathe.
"Yeah," Lloyd exhaled. The warmth of the word slipped against my neck.
"We really g-" I paused to swallow, "- gotta figure out what you are."
"I know," he murmured. Lloyd's knuckles gently brushed up the side of my neck and landed beneath my chin. His touch urged me to tilt my head away, to which I did without restraint.
The sun was slowly rising.
I was slowly being guided against the armrest of the couch.

"You're so beautiful," Lloyd said in unreserved, breathy awe. My cheeks burnt darker and I glanced up at him, only to find a sight that had every bit of air escaping my body.
The morning sun had finally slipped through the window and draped across Lloyd, illuminating him in a heavenly gold. The warmth slid through his hair and rested against his skin and held him in a halo.
The sun's light glinted prettily against his eyes, which had been shot through with a hint of dark purple.
The last time they were purple, he'd...
My thoughts were cut off by Lloyd delving an open-mouthed kiss against my skin. My breath caught in my throat and I quickly decided that it didn't matter if Lloyd's eyes were purple or not, because all that I could focus on was the feeling of him moving against me, with me, providing a rhythm and throwing me off balance all at the same time.
A choked breath escaped me when the flat of his pierced tongue dragged up my neck. It sent me spiralling in a confused frenzy of feelings and emotions and heat and I had to grab onto Lloyd's arms to keep me grounded.
Lloyd hissed through his teeth. I yanked my hand away from his arm, where I had accidentally pressed against his injury.

"S- sorry-!" I hurried before gasping when his grip caught my wrist and pushed it back against the arm of the couch. He sucked down hard and I felt my entire skeleton jump without moving. He made a rumbling sound in the back of his throat that sounded like music to my ears. My eyes were tempted to roll into the back of my head.
Lloyd trailed kisses along my jaw and across my cheek, leaving a line of burning that blossomed against my skin. The heat curled and caressed, lifting me into him, close enough to feel his heart against my own. It wound us together like ribbon, moulding and bending and linking us forevermore.
My free hand caught his hair and tugged him up so I could find his mouth and engage him with a kiss. The building warmth exploded, spinning like a tornado within my chest and lighting my body on fire.
I was either soaring or falling, but my head was too muddled and focused on Lloyd to comprehend what I was precisely feeling. I could've broken off an arm and I still wouldn't notice.

My lips parted into the kiss and he eagerly copied pace, sliding in closer and letting the heat transform into a blistering blaze of heavenly glory. It rolled and tumbled and left me clawing for purchase as I tried to keep my head from drowning.
Oh, but drowning in him was so nice. I was fully prepared to give up mental coherency until every single thought and feeling was solely based on Lloyd. The price of my sanity was one I was willing to pay.
But the burning need for oxygen made us raise our heads above the waves. Lloyd lifted his head and we each stared as we regained our breath, desperately pushing air into our empty lungs.
His eyes had gone full purple, and they were pretty in a way words failed to describe. He was gorgeous beyond language, not a single adjective could hope to elude to the way they seemed to glow in the morning sun.
Dare say, they were more enthralling than the red.

"There," Lloyd hummed, contently brushing his thumb over a spot on my neck that made me jump.
"Did you leave actual marks?" I panted.
His thumb paused. He blinked sheepishly.
"Are you mad?"
I exhaled heavily but shook my head.
"No." It would've been nice for him to have used his fangs, though-
Oh, my god, Y/n, get a grip.
With a smile, Lloyd rested his forehead against mine while his chest heaved, panting to keep up with his demanding lungs, much like I was.
My hand brushed through his soft hair absentmindedly, dragging my fingertips across his scalp. He sighed through his nose at the bliss.
My fingers bumped into a small knob.
I blinked, brow furrowing as I felt around the bump on the side of his head - I hadn't noticed that before. Did he hit his head? But he didn't seem to be in pain. I swore that there wasn't a bump before.
Lloyd pressed a lazy kiss to my bottom lip, breathing in a somewhat more sane pace. I was too preoccupied with this worrying discovery to pay it much attention.

I tugged my caught hand and he readily released me from his grip, using that hand to instead cradle the side of my face like porcelain. I took the chance to explore the rest of his scalp with my other hand, just to make sure that there weren't any-

I stilled. I'd found another. Identical. On the exact opposite side of his head.

Oh, man.

"Lloyd," I breathed. He hummed from the back of his throat in acknowledgment, still dragging his lips across mine. "H- hey."
He made another hum, pulling up to nuzzle his nose against mine instead while waiting for me to reply. His purple eyes, dark and lidded, watched me intently through the fog.
"I think you're growing horns."
The fog disappeared. His eyes sharpened.
"What?"
"Feel," I said, tapping the spots where the little knobs had grown from his head - I knew that there wasn't anything there before! I'd ran my hands through his hair too many times to have not noticed them.
Lloyd lifted his hand to his head, replacing mine. Confused panic swelled in his eyes.
"What the h-"
"It's cute!" I hurried to reassure. "It's little baby horns, it's super cute!"
Lloyd sent me a bewildered look. He sat up and my hand dropped to my chest.
"I'm- I'm growing horns."
"Cute horns," I corrected, following him upright. "Really cute horns."

Lloyd dropped his head onto the back of the couch.
"My life is so weird," he breathed.

🍃🍂🍁🍂🍃

It was a long drive to Nom City.

Fourteen hours, to be precise. We traveled from the northernmost tip of land to the southernmost mountains. The chilliness of the air rose with each hour.
Dad was driving, having taken a few days off from work to advance in the road trip that was dropping me off at college. Mum was in shotgun, flicking through some old CDs that was stored in the glovebox.
Lloyd sat beside me and slept, catching up on lost sleep. I rested my head on his uninjured arm and I'd occasionally reach up to check his head.
The horns had disappeared when the purple of his eyes faded, which proved my theory of Lloyd's instincts answering to his emotive state.
Did he. Did he grow horns when he's horny?
I smiled to myself at my joke. When Lloyd's less reserved about the horn situation, I'll tease him about it. If only to make up for the herd of hickeys he left on my neck, hidden by concealer that I had wisely bought after the first time.

"How long until the motel?" I asked over the 80s song currently spilling from the speakers.
"'Nother couple of hours," dad replied. "Lloyd still asleep?"
"Yeah."
Dad's eyes flickered to the rearview mirror. He frowned.
"Poor kid."
"Softy," Mum murmured, to which Jamie squeezed her knee in retaliation. She yelped a laugh and slapped him away.
"You know there's a shooting range half an hour out of Nom?" Dad asked. I perked up.
"There is?"
"Yeah," he nodded, watching the road as he merged into another lane on the highway. "It's part of another base. They'll let you use it. Don't want you getting rusty."
If only they had a monastery down in Nom, too. Maybe then I wouldn't have to teach myself with the list Garmadon and Lloyd wrote out for me.

We were doing the bulk of the drive on Sunday, stay the night at a motel and drive the rest of the way to Borg Institute of Technology on Monday morning.
Lloyd slept most of the drive.
Dad didn't really like the idea of us sharing a bed, but he didn't outwardly complain, which was a major improvement than how he would've acted six months ago.
And then, Monday lunchtime, we arrived at the campus.
"This place is huge," Lloyd murmured when we stepped out of the car. Whereas some of the more traditional universities had old, historical buildings from their birth way back when, BIT was fairly new, and the campus clearly reflected the man's genius. Everything was modern and advanced. It was like stepping into a science fiction novel.
"This place is crazy," I whispered. "It looks so much more intimidating than the pictures online."
Lloyd nudged my shoulder with a charming smile.
"Scarier than a ghost?"
"Absolutely."
He snickered.

The courtyard was crawling with students and parents. For each student was two suitcases, and it was a mirage of colourful bags and pillows and the like as people found their halls that would be their temporary home for the next three or more years. We were in the midst of absolute chaos.
"Let's drop your stuff off and have a look around," mum suggested. She pulled out a folder of paper and flicked through. "You're in Gladys West Hall. It should be to the north-west of the main courtyard."
Following the instructions, we found our way to the hall that would house me. We dropped off my stuff after being shown to my dorm by an overly-perky guide.
My roommate had yet to arrive.
"Really?" Lloyd chuckled when I grabbed the green ninja plush and tossed it onto the bed I wanted. "You brought that?"
"Yes. Shut up." It's so I wouldn't feel so alone at night.
Dad rolled his eyes at the sight in amusement.
"We're going to head to the cafe for lunch," he said. "Do you kids want to have a look around the campus before joining?"
I glanced at Lloyd. He shrugged, unfussed.
"Sure," I nodded. I wanted to find Ambrose and Chen, anyway.
And Kvasir.

My heart sunk at the thought of the venomari serpentine who clearly didn't like me. College with him was going to be interesting.

"I think there's the student lounge up ahead," Lloyd said. He sent a side long look at me. "You guys get a whole lounge outside of your dorms?"
"Borg goes all out," I murmured.
A group of students laughing caught our attention. Their jeering eyes were on Lloyd. He dropped his head.
"Great," he muttered. "Sorry. I shouldn't have come."
"Don't be stupid," I said with a frown. I grabbed his hand and tightly wove my fingers through his. "I'd be devastated if you didn't come today. You're my favourite person in the world, Lloyd Garmadon."
His green eyes jumped to mine. A small smile curled his lips.
"You're my favourite person in the world, too, Y/n L/n," he replied.
We passed by a team of art students painting a mural on the side of one of the buildings. It was of the big fight the green ninja had against Lord Garmadon almost four years ago.
A large crowd was watching them paint.
The green ninja was painted in brilliant emeralds and gold and looked every bit as the word heroic could encompass. Lord Garmadon looked more monster than what he actually was.

A million eyes were on Lloyd.

"They got your eye colour wrong," I whispered, leaning into Lloyd's side. "Why can't anybody get it right?"
He snorted. The tension lifted from his shoulders.
"C'mon," Lloyd said with a calm smirk and a nod of his head. "Let's find your buildings."
"Alrighty!" I chirped, bouncing beside him with a hug to his arm.
Half way through our self-guided tour, a body leapt atop me and sent me stumbling with a startled squawk.
"Garmagirl!" Ambrose cheered delightedly. My eyes brightened.
"Don't call her that," Chen said dryly, approaching us in a way that was far more socially acceptable. Ambrose stuck out his tongue and blew a raspberry at his boyfriend. Chen grabbed it. Ambrose yelped.
"Hey!" I greeted the boys happily, finally content that I knew somebody other than Lloyd and my parents. "Did you guys find your halls?"
"Yep," Chen nodded. "I'm in Albert, Amby's in Franklin."

"We're not in the same dorm," Ambrose lamented with a sincere pout. "So we're just gonna have to visit each other every day!"
"I pity your roommates," Lloyd said.
"Do you know where Kvasir is?" I asked. I took a quick peek around our surroundings, but there was no sign of the telltale serpentine.
"He must still be in the headmistress' office," Ambrose shrugged. "She'll text me when they're finished."
I stared at him.
"You got the headmistress' phone number?"
"Of course I did," Ambrose said smugly.
"It's the school phone network," Chen said after clapping a hand over Ambrose's mouth. "It's an app you can download on your phone. Every teacher's contact details are on it, as well as a map of the school and our digital textbooks. The teachers have access to student's numbers for easy contact."
Boooooorgg!!!!
"Neat," I said, head reeling at how advanced this college was. Was I at the right school? I am in way out of my league.

After fooling around with Chen and Ambrose for another half hour, Ambrose got a text from the headmistress to retrieve Kvasir and show him around. Apparently, it was now common knowledge amongst the student body that a serpentine would be joining us. I just hoped that everyone would play nice and that this year would be smooth sailing.
While the boys went off to join Kvasir, Lloyd and I regrouped with my parents and showed them around the places we'd been to.
We avoided the mural.
It was late afternoon by the time my parents left after giving me an everlasting group hug. I promised that I'd call every night and visit on the long weekends. Lloyd grabbed his bag from the car, taking the old fashioned way home - on dragon.
"You doing okay?" Lloyd asked after I watched my parents drive away.
I sighed heavily.
"Yeah," I said with a smile his way. "This is all part of growing up, right?"
Lloyd tucked a lock of my hair behind my ear.
"Right," he murmured. "And you are very short."
"I will kick out your kneecaps."
"I'd like to see you try."

I stared hard at Lloyd, and he stared unflinchingly back.
"I'm going to miss you and your stupid quips so much." I broke first, face turning into a sad frown.
"I don't even know what quips means."
"Stop it, Lloyd," I said with a wail, dropping my head into his chest. "You're breaking my heart."
He chuckled, pressing a kiss to the top of my head before pulling away.
"There's someplace I want to show you," he said, looping his fingers through mine and leading me with him. This time, my frown was one of confusion.
"What?" I asked. "Wait, how do you know where anything is?"
Lloyd sheepishly shrugged. "One day I had to sort out some disputes in Jamanakai and decided to scout out Nom. I found a really nice place, not too far from campus grounds."
I stared at the side of his face for a few beats before letting my curiosity settle down. Lloyd took me straight through the campus courts, right out to the back of the grounds, where we found a forest full of massive trees.

"Whoa," I said, craning my head back to see the tip. These pines were three times the sizes of trees back in Ninjago City's local forests.
"The trees provide shelter for the campus from the bitter winds of the Birchwood Forests, but can also provide a good cover for a particular dragon," Lloyd grinned.
"Oh!" I gasped. "That's great!"
"But that's not the best part," Lloyd rushed, holding up his palms to keep me from assuming that he was finished. "Follow me."
Lloyd ducked into the vegetation, following a path that only he could see. I hurried along behind him, doing my best to keep up while smacking away leaves with the palm of my hand.
We broke out into a field of nothing.
Well, it wasn't exactly nothing, but it certainly felt like it was empty aside from the miles of golden, swaying wheat. The sun was setting against the horizon.
"Oh," I breathed, staring at the scenery. The lack of civilisation was so refreshing after the endless hustling of the campus. "Lloyd, it's beautiful."

"I thought that this could be a nice place for us to meet up," Lloyd suggested. "Do some training. Maybe some dates."
My eyes lit up.
"That sounds perfect," I said with a smile. "There's so much room here for me to kick your ass!"
"In your dreams, sunshine," Lloyd smirked. He glanced at the setting sun again and sighed through his nose. "I've gotta go."
My teasing expression faded into a look of heartbreak.
"Do you have to?"
Lloyd smiled sadly and I found myself memorising the way the dull gold of the sun illuminated his blond freckles. He brought me into a hug.
"I've got a team that needs me."
I grabbed the front of his shirt in loose fists, as if that would be enough to keep him from leaving.
"I need you," I pathetically mumbled. He exhaled through his nose and pressed a kiss to my forehead.
"I need you, too," he whispered. "But right now, fate's got other plans for us. It'll go by fast, you'll see."

I sunk pitifully into the somber atmosphere, staring at the horizon line of swaying grass. I didn't want our last moments together to be sad.
"I'm not into watching sunsets," I whispered against his shirt as I watched the pink sky, "but I'd love to see you go down."
"What?"
I shook my head. "Useless." Why did I even bother using all my good pick up lines on him if he doesn't even understand them?
"I have something for you," Lloyd began and continued before I could protest against gifts - I didn't need anything other than Lloyd himself. He stepped away and brought out a sketch pad and an old pencil case from his bag. "It's a little used, but they were mine. Whenever you're stressed out, take a break and sketch some landscapes."
I swallowed, willing myself through sheer mental force to not cry as I gingerly took the sketch pad from him. A small fraction of pages had drawings already on them, from landscapes of hidden beauties within Ninjago's geography, to portraits of members of the team, a page of Kashu and Meowthra, Bentley and a couple of the other dragons, the senseis, some the monks, the front of the monastery, the garden, the city.
And on the last used page was a self-portrait of Lloyd.

It was filled with everything I'd miss from home.

"It's perfect," I said, voice breaking and barely audible. I hugged the sketch pad to my chest. "You're perfect. Thank you."
Lloyd held up his hand.
"Also this."
My face dropped.
"Lloyd, I don't need a pocket taser-"
"Just carry it, please? For me?"
I stared at the small plastic device in his grip with a disgruntled expression. I took it with a sigh.
"... fine."
Lloyd watched me with a soft look in his red eyes for a few seconds before dipping in to press a purposeful kiss to my lips. He pulled away far sooner than what I'd like (I would've preferred to have kept him in this meadow with me for forever. Or at least another ten minutes) and summoned Bentley.
The dragon crooned and nudged my arm.
"I'll miss you, too, baby," I whispered, kissing his snout. He whined. My gaze slid to Lloyd.
"You're going to have to call," I said shakily. I swallowed sharply. "Every night."
"Every night," Lloyd agreed with a nod. "And I'll be down to visit you every chance I get."

I knew that those chances would be few and far in between.
"I'll be up every holiday I get," I promised. My face crumpled as the reality of it set in. He was leaving - no, I had left - and the nights where I'd be able to cuddle in close to him are long gone, at least until the foreseeable future.
It was such a long time to be without him.
I hated it.
"I love you," Lloyd said, and it sounded as if he poured every once of emotion he had into those three words. So I did the same.
"I love you," I gasped through a choking throat. I wanted to hug him again, but I knew that if I did, I wouldn't let him go.
Lloyd leapt onto the saddle. A longing stare was shared. With a last nudge of farewell, Bentley turned and took off towards the sky.

Hugging the sketch pad and pencil case close, I inhaled a shaky breath before turning around and heading back towards the campus. It was dinner time. More importantly, it was time to meet my hallmates.
The walk back to West Hall seemed longer alone than it did when I was walking with Lloyd. It was completely dark by the time I hesitantly stepped inside the unfamiliar building.
"Hey, are you Y/n L/n?" asked the perky guide from before. I nodded. "Oh, good! Here's your dorm key. Don't lose it, or you'll have to pay twenty dollars for a new one!"
I sent the perky girl a strained smile.
"Got it," I said.
I hooked the new key onto my key ring as I walked up the stairs to the bottom floor of dorm rooms. I caught sight of the green ninja keyring that Naomi got me and felt my heart clench for both my boyfriend and my best friend.
I already missed them so much. I was already starting to feel homesick.

I opened the door to my dorm with a downturned face before jolting to a stop in surprise.
My roommate had arrived. A girl with black hair, pulled back into a ponytail and dip-dyed a rich, dark purple. Her skin was pale - paler than Lloyd's, and the heavy make-up was applied flawlessly. I could already see me asking her how she made her eyeliner so symmetrical.
Her grey eyes turned to me at my entrance, though she didn't seem surprised to see me.
"You must be Y/n," the girl said with a tight smile. I noticed that she had a snakebite piercing on her top lip.
I am so out of my league.
"U- uh, yeah," I replied shakily.
"Perfect," the girl said, and her eyebrow did a tick. "I've been waiting to meet you."
"You have?"
"Of course!" she said with a giggle. "You're my roomie for the next year, after all."
The look in her eyes almost seemed predatory, dangerous. It had me on edge.
Or maybe I'm just paranoid.
"Oh, duh," I said with an uneasy smile. "What's your name?"

The unusual girl smiled.

"My name's Violet."