Make sure you drink water. Call me when you wake up. Love you little devil ♡

I stared at the post-it note stuck to my bedside table with bleary eyes. It was midday; the sun flooding through the open window and heating the small dorm. Violet was filing her sharp nails on her bed.
"You're up," she commented without looking at me, squinting her dark eyes at her fingertips. "Your little boy toy left. Didn't even say goodbye. I hope he was worth the night, because that's rude as hell."
I stared at her, eyes narrowed and mouth agape in confusion. My brain was sluggish, moving even slower than usual.
"What?" I asked, before noting in surprise that my throat was as dry as the desert. Violet's gaze jumped to me.
"Y'know," she said, eyeing me strangely. "The blond guy you bagged last night? Could've at least given me a warning."
"Oh," I said. I sat up and picked the crusty gunk from my eyes with a scrunched nose. "Sorry. Also, no. He wasn't- that was my boyfriend. He had to leave early."

"Ah," Violet said, feigning interest as she rounded her nails. "Well. He was cute."
I ran my hand through my hair and sighed through my nose. My hand held my cheek.
"Yeah..." I murmured with a tired smile as I stared at Lloyd's scratchy scrawl on the post-it note stuck under a glass of water. "He's adorable."
Violet hummed. Her nail sharpened into a claw.
"You going to the party tonight?" she asked before blowing at her hands. I pulled a face.
"Nah," I answered with a shake of my head. "I think I'll just have a quiet night. Maybe explore the campus a bit."
"That's kind of lame."
My brow twitched in confusion. Alright. Okay. How was I supposed to reply to that?
A knock at the door saved me from the agony of trying to find the right words. Ambrose popped his head in upon our calls of affirmation.

"Hello, ladies," he grinned in greeting. "How are we doing on this fine day?"
"Who are you?" Violet asked shortly.
"Ambrose, at your service except not really," he replied with a smile less pleasant than before. His blue eyes jumped back to me. "I'm guessing you didn't see the group chat?"
I blinked, brain blanking.
"We have a group chat?"
"Yes," he stressed, before opening the door wider and leaning against the frame. I reached for my phone. "The best dang group chat there ever is."
"Huh," I mused, finding the notifications from the group chat containing Ambrose, Chen and Kvasir. "So it is... wait, we're going out today?"
Violet huffed an audible sigh and plugged in her headphones.
"Yep," Ambrose answered, ignoring my roommate. "I'm going to show you guys around Nom so hurry it up! We're leaving in twenty."
"Shit, alright, hold on."

Ambrose dipped out the room so I could lazily grab some clothes to change into. Once ready to face the world, I said a quick goodbye to Violet and slipped from our dorm.
"You know Nom City?" I asked Ambrose as we began to walk down the hallway of my residence building.
"Yeah," he nodded. "I used to live here a couple of decades ago. Nice place, but they didn't really appreciate my flair back then."
"And now?"
"Well, now Nom's turned into a major artisan city," Ambrose chuckled. "They wished they could be as fly as me."
"Naturally," I said with an amused roll of my eyes.
"As all things should be," he said merrily.
Kvasir and Chen were waiting at the entrance to Gladys West Hall, content in their silence. Chen had an extra-tall takeaway cup of coffee. The semester hadn't even started yet.

"Where to first, mr. tour guide?" Chen asked as he looped his free arm through Amby's.
"City centre!" Ambrose declared, before leading our group across campus and out onto the streets of Nom.
"I heard Lloyd visssited lassst night," Kvasir mentioned as he slithered next to me. We ignored the staring and blatant whispering. "It mussst've been nice to sssee him again."
I glanced at the venomari out of the side of my eyes. It seemed as if I were growing on him.
"Yeah," I answered with a smile as I turned my gaze back to where Ambrose was marching his way down the street and dragging a chortling Chen along with him. "We're pretty useless. We could barely handle twenty-four hours without each other."
"You ssshould not dissss a potential ssstrength," Kvasir murmured. His tongue flicked from between his lips. I stared at him in wonder, unaware where he got this sudden wisdom from. "Love makesss the ssstrongesst alliesss."

"You're right," I said, dropping my gaze back the street around us. The team all loved one another like family despite their occasional mishaps, and look how strong they were. Look how strong their love made me.
I inhaled peacefully and took in the sights. The cute little cottages lining the street seemed to date back a few decades or so, and had aged charmingly well. I could picture one of those little cottages, nestled in the forest a step away from the monastery.
Just Lloyd and I.
I wanted to ask Kvasir about his one time love, but it seemed cheap if I asked him now. It needed to be the right time, the perfect setting, just in case it was a sensitive topic. The way the snake handled it seemed like it was.
"Yes! It's still here!"
I was pulled from my thoughts at Ambrose's cheer. The elemental master pulled forward and stopped at the base of a large, brick building. Spray painted on it was the phrase 'king amby's jurisdiction before death.' Around it had pink flowers, paint having dripped and dried until it looked like the fragile petals were crying rosewood tears.

"Nice," Chen grinned, before taking out his phone to snap a photo. Ambrose pulled some poses. It turned into a mini photo shoot.
After that, Ambrose showed us more cool parts of the city. I soaked up the sights in wonder. This city was so different than home.
Ninjago City's massive, so it's split into districts. There's business, culture-heavy, arts, fashion, all spread across the city's geography in their own little sectors.
Nom City, on the other hand, is very small in comparison to the capitol. It was still an impressive size by all means, but whereas NC had the luxury of neatly splitting off the districts, Nom's districts were all mashed together in a chaotic collage of focuses. There was one street that shot through the middle that held all the festivals and best shops, but other than that...
Nom was just a small city pretending to be a big one.
And somehow, that made me like it.

"When I lived here, I had to go undercover," Ambrose mentioned. "I always did, just in case somebody recognised me."
"Really?" I asked. He nodded.
"I wanted to keep the whole immortal being guy thing on the D.L, so I'd move every twenty years or so."
"Did anyone ever find you out?" Kvasir asked.
"One," Ambrose nodded. "But I just told her that I looked a lot like my father and that I get it all the time. I left that night."
"Why did you want to keep it on the down low?" I queried. Ambrose's steps faltered. His blue eyes widened.
"Uh..." he began awkwardly. He dropped his gaze to the side, hiding. "Well, people... people used to really hate elemental masters. Not so much anymore, though. That generation has largely passed on, and the new generations really love the ninja, so..."

That was news to me.
"Why... why did people hate elemental masters?" I asked.
Ambrose hummed, finding the words as we dawdled on a near-empty side street.
"Society didn't like things that were more powerful than them," he began, voice a tad more quiet than usual. "Humanity has this weird obsession about being on top. Sharks attacked a man, so he made a harpoon. A man was mauled by a bear, so he made a rifle. Not exactly that, but the same kind of mentality, y'know? They didn't like that we lived longer than them. They didn't like that we had powers they couldn't have.
"Nobody died," Ambrose continued. "Not that I know of. But there was definitely this invisible line set that separated humans from elemental masters. They were livid in their hatred. We didn't know what to do, so we... disappeared."
I watched his face with wide eyes. His expression didn't betray any emotion.

"This was happening for about a century before I was born," Ambrose added. "So it was a pretty old feud. After we vanished, they seemed to just... forget we existed. We were nothing but mythology."
I stared at him in shock. I had no idea that something like this could've ever have happened. Sure, there were lots of things about elemental masters in mythology books, but I thought that they were just there because they couldn't comprehend their powers thousands of years ago. Not this.
"My kind did not forget," Kvasir murmured, making my baffled gaze turn to the serpentine. "We were not asss sssurprisssed when the ninja arrived. We had been waiting for the resssurgence of the elemental masstersss for a while."
"Wow," Chen breathed. "I had no idea."
I made a sound of detached agreement. Why was I now just finding out? Shouldn't history books mention this? If it was only about two centuries ago, shouldn't there be more traces of this feud?

"But hey," Ambrose said with an easygoing smile. "That's in the past, right? I think there's a cake pop cart up ahead. We should check it out!"
I respected his want to change the subject. I readily agreed, pulling Kvasir forward and ignoring the visible recoil the shopkeeper did when he spotted him.
"You'll love these," I guaranteed, staring at the small balls of cake on a stick in awe. "They're delicious."
"I'll take your word for it."
Ten minutes layers and cake pops eaten, my phone began to ring. It was Nya. My day just got a million times better.
"Hey!" I greeted with a big smile as I accepted the FaceTime call.
"Heya, water gun buddy," Nya grinned. "We all wanted to say hi." She switched the camera and showed Kai holding Jay in an armlock and seemed to be sloppily eating the lightning master's chocolate pudding, much to his crying dismay. "OI! Say hi!"
The two glanced up before saying a quick greeting and resuming their chaotic routine. Nya sighed and turned the phone back to her.
"What are you doing today?" she asked just as Zane peeked over her shoulder.

"Ambrose's taking us for a little tour around Nom," I replied. "Hi, Zane," I greeted amusedly when the nindroid began to wave from behind Nya.
Ambrose and Kvasir were engaged in a conversation ahead of me. Chen walked beside me, listening in.
"That sounds nice," Nya commented. "Our morning has been completely hectic."
"When is it not?"
"True," she agreed. "Oh, we need a report back from Kvasir. Can you pass that on for me? How's he doing?"
"Sure can," I nodded. "So far so good. Nobody's pulled anything from what I know. People are mainly just uncomfortable, but I don't think he's letting it get to him."
"Resilient," Nya murmured. I agreed with a nod.
"Where's Lloyd?" I asked. Nya rolled her grey eyes.
"One-tracked minded, as always," she muttered to herself. I puffed out my cheeks in defence, but remained quiet. She was right, anyway. "He's on a mission."

"... by himself?" I timidly asked. I hated it when Lloyd went on missions by himself. He didn't have any back up, or anyone to watch his six. It made me want to leap in and be the one to aid him myself.
"Yeah," Nya nodded. "He should be back soon." She caught sight of my pale expression and heaved a sigh. "I'll text you when he gets back."
"Thank you!" I chimed, flushing at how easily she could read me. Must I always wear my heart on my sleeve? It's getting embarrassing. "Where's Cole?"
"In Ignacia," Nya replied. "He's helping Naomi settle in today."
"Oh, right." I must remember to text Naomi and see how she's going. Back to our routine of hours-long calls, just like how it was before I moved back to Ninjago City.
A muffled beep from Nya's side caught me off before I could continue our conversation.
"We got a mission," Kai yelled. I giggled at the muffled grunt Jay made, probably from abruptly being dropped onto the ground.
"Sorry, Y/n," Nya grimaced. "I wanted to talk longer. I'll talk to you later!"
"Okay!" I smiled. "Good luck."
Jay shoved his smug face into the camera.
"We don't need lu-"

He was cut off by Nya hanging up. I could already picture him whining to his girlfriend about making him seem lame.
I giggled at the thought before running to catch up with the boys.
We strolled around the city some more, taking in more and more sights. We only stopped when our stomachs demanded sustenance. We stopped at a cute little bakery and indulged on baked treats.
I ordered tea before realising that I was beginning to become too influenced by the Sensei brothers. Sigh.
The boys chatted on about something I wasn't paying attention to, mind wandering as I snacked on my muffin. It was still delightfully warm.
I found myself mindlessly thumbing the dragon pendant Lloyd had given me for Christmas that hung around my neck. I only realised what I was doing when Chen piped up.
"What's that?" he asked, peering at my fumbling fingers. I blinked, realised what I was doing, and pulled my hand away. "From Lloyd?"

"Yeah," I nodded, dropping my hands to bring my tea up to my lips.
"He sure likes getting you shiny things," Ambrose noted. "The ring, the sword, the necklace. Almost like a magpie."
"More like a dragon," Chen snorted. My lips smiled over the rim of the tea cup, ready to take a sip, before I paused.

Like a dragon.

My eyes widened. My heart stopped.

Like a dragon.

The purring, the marking, the fangs.
My smile dropped.

Like a dragon.

The horns, the possessiveness.
I inhaled.

Like a dragon.

Dragon.

Dragon.

"Oh, my god," I breathed. The teacup slipped from my fingers and shattered against the table. The others jumped. "Oh, my god."
"Y/n?" Ambrose asked in concern as I stared into space, brain running a mile a minute and being shocked blank at the same time. "Are you okay?"
It made so much sense. But how could that be? How was that possible?
Neuro said that he was part beast before, but-
Neuro!
I frantically pawed for my phone, ignoring the wetness of the tea that had spilled onto my shorts.
"Hey, Y/n!" Chen exclaimed, snapping his fingers in front of my face. "Snap out of it! What's going on with you-?"
I slapped his hand away and stood, breath shirt and staticky as I desperately scrolled for the master of the mind's number. When Lloyd was putting the elemental masters' numbers into my phone, I thought he was just being pedantic. I would never thank him as much as I would do at that point.

There!
I turned on my heel after pressing call, pacing down the street of people. Ambrose scrambled to chase after me with a call of my name.
It made so much sense! Everything he did that wasn't normal, it all pointed to dragons. How could I have not seen it before? How could this be?
"Hello, Y/n."
"Neuro!" I gasped in relief before lowering my voice. "Is Lloyd part dragon?"
Neuro fell silent. I couldn't tell if it was because of my correct guess or if he was as baffled about it as I was. Behind me, Ambrose stopped short in shock.
"I- I cannot say-" Neuro reluctantly stammered.
"But that's totally a yes, right? That's a yes," I hurried. "Because it all makes sense, I've seen the way Bentley acts, I've seen the way that real dragon in that cave last year acted. The growling, the purring, the fangs - it makes sense! He's part dra-!"
"Y/n." The way Neuro said my name made me halt. "Young one, there are many things I wish I could tell you, but it is simply not my position to do so."
"It's just a yes or no," I desperately insisted. I needed to know. There was no way that I was wrong, but I had to have clarification.

"Child," he snapped, making me bite my lip in guilt. "You must let fate run its course."
My shoulders drooped. He really wasn't going to tell me. He was just like everyone else. I was never allowed to know anything.
Neuro's sigh traveled through the line.
"You must not tell Lloyd of this," Neuro said seriously. "Even if you were right, it could drastically alter the course that fate has set for us."
"So everyone else is allowed to know except for us," I said quietly. "I should've expected this."
Neuro didn't speak. He remained wordless for a few beats. Ambrose hovered unsurely.
"I wish I could have given you a different answer," he finally said before hanging up. I stayed still, processing, before letting my hand drop to my side.
Even if you were right.
So I wasn't?
But I had to be - it made sense.

But what about his changing eyes? Dragons couldn't change their eye colours. Even if they could, why purple? It should be green or yellow or gold, like Bentley. Not purple. Where did purple come from?
Sure, Garmadon's dragon was purple and black, but that couldn't mean anything, right? Could it?
I dropped my face into my hands. Maybe I just jumped to conclusions.

Yet, even still, part of me battled that I was right.

🍃🍂🍁🍂🍃

The booming of that night's party interrupted my book.

Violet was gone, Ambrose and Chen were going to the party and Kvasir, like me, was having a night in. It was an evening solely for myself.
I sighed and tried to reimmerse myself in my book. It was a romance, of course, because I am a hopeless romantic, and the relationship was slowly building.
I needed to know what happened. To put the book down would be to commit a crime.
A new song from the party started. This one was even worse.
"Ugh," I groaned, dropping myself back onto my bed. This sucked. I just wanted to get lost in my book and find out what happens!
I pushed aside my takeaway dinner with a pout. The booming music continued.
I could join the party, but I didn't wanna.

My phone buzzed with a text. I lifted my phone.

Watergirl:
Lloyd's home 🗿
Sent 7.48pm

My chest lightened. Just as I was about to reply with my thanks for keeping me updated (and also ask what was up with that emoji), my phone began to ring. I pressed answer without hesitation.
"Lloyd!" I gasped in delight.
"Y/n!" Lloyd greeted with just as much enthusiasm as I had. "How's my princess doing?"
"Better now that I'm talking to you," I gushed, rolling onto my back with a giddy smile. "I was really sad before."
"Did something get between you and your book?"
"Yes!" I cried. "You know me so well. How are you doing? How was your mission?"
"I'm- urgh - I'm good."
"Oh, yeah," I said dryly, mood taking a total one-eighty at his grunt of pain. "You sound one hundred percent. What happened?"
"Nothing you need to worry about," Lloyd reassured, which made me roll my eyes. How many times did I have to tell him that I would always worry? "Dad's patching me up right now."
"Hi, Y/n!" Garmadon greeted from where he was probably milling about the med bay. "When are you visiting? I miss my favourite student."

Lloyd made an affronted sound. I giggled.
"Hey, dad," I replied with a goofy grin. "I'll be back as soon as I'm able, you can count on that."
"Make sure to keep up with your training! We didn't write that schedule for nothing."
I glanced over at the large binder with a grimace.
"Ha-ha, yup!" I merrily said whilst crying inside. "So, what's the verdict, doc?"
"Just a couple of bruises and a split lip," Lloyd replied. "I told you, it's nothing you need to worry about. I'll be all fine in a couple of days."
"Nooo," I whined forlornly, somber in my sadness. "Not your perfectly kissable lips!"
"That's my cue to leave," Garmadon said. "Bye!"
"Bye-bye!" I called.
"You get on with my father better than I do," Lloyd mentioned dryly. I snickered, enamouring myself by brushing my thumb of the book's edge.
"Har-har," I said sarcastically. "Shouldn't you be overjoyed? Considering that I have to live with you and your family, and everything."

"You make it sound like it's a chore," Lloyd chastised. "Which, granted, it may seem like one at the best of times, but I'm still at the liberty of saying 'hey.'"
I huffed. "I couldn't think of a better family to live with."
Tell him. Tell him now.
I sat up, fluffy mood gone. My feet dug into the duvet unsurely. Should I tell Lloyd what I might have just uncovered?
"Lloyd, I..."
'Even if you were right, it could drastically alter the course that fate has set for us.'
I faltered. The words died on my lips.
"Yes?" Lloyd asked.
"... I miss you."
I chickened out. I can't risk it. What if something terrible happens?
I'm growing paranoid.

Lloyd's responding chuckle was warm and it covered me in a feeling of euphoria. There was nothing quite like it.
"I miss you, too."
I decided to tackle another point that the day had risen.
"Did people really used to hate elemental masters?" I asked. I bunched my shirt in with a fist. Lloyd quietened in surprise.
"What brought this on?"
So he did know about it. Well, of course he did, he is one. But still.
"I dunno," I murmured. I stared as my feet made my cover bulge and swell from underneath. "I was talking to Ambrose today... he mentioned it."
"Hm," Lloyd hummed. "Yeah, they did. But it was before my time and nobody really likes to talk about it. Chances are, I know about the same amount as you."
"Oh." That didn't satisfy my curiosity at all. "What if... what if something like that happens again?"

Lloyd made a sound of thought.
"I guess we'll just have to keep saving the world."
I stilled at his sure-fire words. My stunned expression fell into a soft smile. He made it sound so easy.
"It's not as if it would be any different than when I'm just me," he added offhandedly. My heart took a sudden chilly dip at the realisation. "So as long as I have you, then everything will be fine."
Oh, goddammit, he always knew just what to say. It wasn't fair.
"You don't need to worry about that," I vowed, tugging on a lock of my hair. "You can't get rid of me easily. I'm like mould."
Lloyd snorted. "You are nothing like mould."
"Pretty sure I am."
"No."
I spun over onto my stomach. My body bounced on the mattress.
"Yes," I said. A smile grew over my lips. "Hey, Lloyd."
"Yeah?"
"Your body is made up of seventy percent water," I said nonchalantly, before pausing for dramatic effect. "And I'm thirsty."

Lloyd didn't immediately reply. My smile curled into a shit-eating grin at his prolonged silence. It was just too good-
"You should probably get some water," Lloyd mentioned. He quickly fell into a ramble. "Dehydration is very serious. Once you're dehydrated, you don't even feel thirsty, so it's important that you're regularly taking a glass of water so your body doesn't..."
I stared at my pillow with a blank expression as Lloyd droned on and on about the importance of keeping hydrated.
"Am I haunted house?" I suddenly asked, making him pause in confusion. "'Cause you're gonna scream when you're in me."
He was rendered speechless once again. My hopes soared.

"I don't get it."
I groaned. This was just a waste of spectacular pick-up lines.

🍃🍂🍁🍂🍃

Things had been sailing fairly smoothly with Kvasir, given the circumstances.

So far, there hadn't been any radicals trying to put Kvasir down (both figuratively and literally). There were no extremists creating social media groups to bad mouth him and the rest of the serpentine race. No degrading graffiti messages. No unwelcome gifts at his dorm.
Mine, however...
"Ew," Violet said, stepping back from the entrance that she was just about to leave from. I glanced up from where I had my nose stuck in a book about dragons. I was trying to figure out any more similarities between Lloyd and dragons, but half of the stuff in the book didn't even make sense. It was a load of bologna.
But the drawings were cute so I kept reading.
"What is it?" I called, setting down the book I had retrieved from the library.
"You have a... gift," Violet said with her nose scrunched in disgust. Curious, I padded over, before abruptly slapping my hand over my nose in revulsion.

"Oh, gross," I gagged, staring through stinging eyes at the decomposing rat lying on the ground in front of our entrance. In its mouth was a slip of paper with 'snake lover' written on it. The stench was astoundingly awful.
"Merry Christmas," Violet said sarcastically. I hummed in agreement, face still scrunched. The smell wouldn't leave for days.
After carefully disposing of the dead rat and washing my hands six times, I made my way to the student services centre and made my report. Then I immediately knocked on Chen's dorm room door. I was fuming and he was the first person my brain went to when I knew that I needed to vent.
The door opened.
"Somebody left a dead rat on my doorstep and-"
I stopped myself short when I realised that the man who opened the door wasn't Chen.
Instead, it was-

"Dylan?" I said in surprise, eyes wide. I double checked the number, but this was definitely the right dorm. He must be Chen's roommate. What a tiny world.
"Y/n!" Dylan exclaimed in surprise before falling into a blush. He turned his head away. "U- uh, hey. What's up?"
I blinked, still processing.
"I- uh. I was hoping that I could talk to Chen?" I asked, suddenly incredibly aware of the awkward tension that had begun to settle over us. Dylan, still blushing, nodded.
"H- he's out with his boyfriend at the moment," he stammered. "But he should be back soon, i- if you want to wait."
A smarter woman wouldn't wait in a dorm room all alone with a strange man while waiting on her friend.
I replied with a nod.
I am not a smarter woman. But it was okay, anyway, because even if Dylan did try to pull something sleazy, I could just kick him in the balls and make an escape. I had the training for it, if it ever comes down to it.

Chen's side of the room was full of memorabilia he brought from home, like little minecraft and other video game figures. Makes sense, considering that Chen's going into video game development.
"You're into music?" I asked when I took a look at Dylan's side of the room. It was covered in band posters and a couple of guitars stood at the end of his bed.
"O- oh, yeah," Dylan replied sheepishly. "I'm taking a music course here. Do you... know how to play?"
I shook my head with a smile. "I'm a lover of music by listening, not playing."
"Ah," Dylan said. He took a seat on his bed. An awkward silence fell. "You like the green ninja then, huh?"
I felt my entire body get submerged in ice. Was- was Dylan a spy for-? I should've listened to my brain when it told me to not accompany a stranger in a room alone- was I going to have to fight him-?

"Your keyring." Dylan nodded to my set of keys threaded through my fingers. I glanced down at them. "You've got a green ninja keychain."
"O- oh!" I stammered. Relief swept me off my metaphorical feet. "R- right, uh. Yeah. I do."
"I'm guessing he's your favourite."
What Lloyd wouldn't give to listen in on this conversation.
"Yep," I said plainly.
"My favourite is the red ninja."
Of course. What Kai wouldn't give to listen in on this conversation.
"That's nice," I said. "Do you write songs?"
"Nah." Dylan shook his head. "I'm not that good with words. I write chords. Sometimes I'll slap a bit of Edgar Allen Poe over the top."
I brightened. "I love Poe!"
Dylan paused, seemingly taken aback. His cheeks flushed.
"Really?" he asked. "I- I haven't really met anyone who likes Poe."
"No way!" I stressed, leaning forward in earnest. "I love the way he writes. It's so..."
"Deliberately carefree?" Dylan tried, cocking his head to the side. His brown hair shifted as he went, face pulled into a thoughtful look. "Systematically effortless?"

"Yes," I declared in effort. I hadn't met someone who appreciated the poet as much as I before. "Wha- what about Robert Frost? Surely you've heard of Robert Frost?"
"Obviously," Dylan gushed. "Frost is a master of words."
"I agree!" I pitched, beaming wide. Dylan chuckled a little at my enthusiasm. "There's just a way that his words make you feel. It's indescribable. It's magic."
"And it makes you question the world around you," Dylan added on, tapping his hand on his knee in exhilaration. "What about Mary Frye? 'Do Not Stand at My Grave and Weep' is still one of my favourites. I have a rock ballad written up for that one - well, written in my head. I haven't had the time to write it down properly yet."

"That's so cool," I crooned, dropping my head backwards. I lifted myself back up to stare Dylan in the eyes. "You're gonna have to let me know when you've finished it."
A crooked smile pulled at his lips. His brown eyes softened.
"You'll be the first to know."
My breath caught. Fuck. Fuck. Did he think I was flirting? Divert, divert.
"U- uh," I stammered, dropping my gaze away from the boy opposite me. "I'm gonna have to introduce my boyfriend to more poetry."
"He isn't a big reader?"
"Not really," I replied with a shrug. "Definitely not before me."
"What was before you?" Dylan asked. His question made me blunder - what did that mean? Was he asking about Lloyd's previous girlfriends, of which, much like me, was the resounding number of zero? Or was he asking about how Lloyd acted before we started dating?

"Um..." I decided to take the shot and go for the latter. "I didn't get into a relationship with him expecting or wanting him to change. I liked him as he was. As he still is. He just reads a little bit more, now."
Liar. Lloyd's changed so much. So have you.
But that's growth, not sacrifices of selves solely for the benefit of the partner instead of themselves.
Dylan slowly nodded.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to pry," he murmured. "I just find it interesting when people don't benefit hours to reading, since it's something I spend a lot of my time doing. It's intriguing to know what they do otherwise."
"He's a busy guy," I said plainly. He made a sound of acknowledgment.

The door opened. Chen entered, before stopping in surprise at the sight of me sitting on his bed.
"Now, what gives me the pleasure?" he began, shutting the door behind him and grabbing an apple from the kitchenette. He leant against the bench and rested his free hand on his bicep.
"It's about Kvasir," I said, grateful that he was here so I could leave the painful conversation with Dylan. "Somebody left a dead rat at my door."
Chen pulled away the apple, having not gone beyond imprinting teeth marks into its flesh.
"Ew."
"I know," I agreed. "I've already reported, but I wanted to let you know in case something like that happens to you."
"Why didn't you just text the group chat?" he asked, taking his bite of the fruit.
"Because I wanted an excuse to not be in my dorm," I said dryly. "It stinks."
"Fair enough."

"Right," I said as I stood and brushed down my front. "I'm gonna hit up Ambrose's place. I'll see you later. Bye, Dylan."
The boys said their goodbyes. I slipped from the room and scouted out Ambrose's and Kvasir's dorm rooms to inform them. The serpentine couldn't meet my eyes in guilt when I told him, so I gave him a hug.
And then it turned awkward very fast so I dipped.
After that, I left the hall of residence. It was still early in the day, so I decided to take a stroll around campus and better acquaint myself with it. I passed the green ninja mural and avoided looking in the wrong shade of green eyes of him.
The student cafe was relatively unbusy, given the time of day. I ordered a takeaway tea and scanned the cork board of flyers of clubs to join.

Join today! Green Ninja Fan Club!!

Oh, man. Lloyd would get a kick outta this. I snapped a quick photo and sent it to him. His response was immediate.

🛹🥺💖
dont u dare
Sent 8.54am

Me:
im gonna
Delivered

🛹🥺💖
DONT U DARE
Sent 8.54am

I was totally gonna.

The rest of the week flew by uneventfully. Lloyd and I managed to survive the rest of the handful of days without succumbing and pulling him down to Nom to get out full of each other.
But he had a mission that spanned the entirety of the weekend, which made it impossible for him to visit anyway.
That made me sad.
So, I stuck my nose into books about dragons, trying to put two and two together, but nothing seemed to add up. Not beyond what I'd already concluded.
I really must've been jumping to conclusions. Only seeing what I wanted to.
It made me frustrated to be so close yet so, so far from figuring out what Lloyd's DNA was. I just wanted one less mystery, but it seemed that I didn't have the luxury of making that choice.

And then I had my first day of my course.

I was taking psychology, with a minor in a history & mythology course that made Misako damn near sob when she heard.
I was excited for what they held in store, for both my present day studies and my future once I graduated.
Psychology was what my mother did as a job, and it interested me profusely. Humans were so intriguing, and to be made even more aware of the inner workings of the clockwork puzzle that was a human being? Sign me up.
In the long run, I also fancied the idea of helping the ninja out with interrogating.
Words might deceive after all, but the body never lies. And if I could help, then I could be essential to the team.
Yeah. That'd be nice.
Ambrose was attending class with me, but unlike me, he wasn't actually a part of the course. He was there solely to play bodyguard which was... kinda weird, but hey, if it let Lloyd sleep at night, right?

I had barely sat down in my seat beside Ambrose when a couple of girls approached. They seemed friendly enough.
"Hi!" a black-haired girl greeted merrily as she took a seat beside me. There was still ten minutes before the class started, so I had the luxury to fraternise.
"Hey," I replied with a warm smile. The blonde girl beside her stuck her head around her friend after harshly whispering at her.
"You're garmagirl, right?" she asked outright. "You're Lloyd Garmadon's girlfriend."
Sigh. High school really never does end.
"It's Y/n," I corrected tersely. "But yes."
The blonde shot a pointed look at her friend before picking up her bag and changing rows. With an awkward smile, her friend followed.
"Your reputation precedes you," Ambrose smirked. "Garmagirl."

"Shut up," I groaned.