#which i planned on taking the face off of? turns out his painting of nya never had a face to begin with

[jays-supersonic-dynamo]

amnesia was her name. she had beautiful eyes.

#my art #fanart #ninjago #lego ninjago #ninjago dragons rising #jay walker #jay ninjago #jaya #hellooooo chat more experimentin #the power of the lemon demon song about an amnesiac who falls in love… unmatched #also funfact the ‘nya’ here is based off of jays paintings at the beginning of crystallized #which i planned on taking the face off of? turns out his painting of nya never had a face to begin with #much to think about

[kittydemon9000]

The Beginning of Heatstroke, aka Red's Villain Origin

* crashes down from the ceiling * I HAVE FINALLY FINISHED ONE OF MY 5+ CURRENT WRITING PROJECTS! BEHOLD, A WRITTEN VERSION OF THE 'Red's Villain Origin AU', also known as RVO / Heatstroke AU

To summarize the AU for SPBNR for those that don't now it: 

“Who'd be the biggest conspiracy theorist out of the M!Ninja? The one who drinks 5 hour energy at 3am and spits off the craziest theories and then actually gets it right but nobody gives the theory any merit because the rest of the theories are too crazy?”

The answer: Red / M!Kai

Red: Okay hear me out: Smith is actually an alternative version of one of us sent here from another dimension.

The other M!Ninja: You’re just saying that because Smith’s cool and you want him to be your counterpart

Based on the M!ninja making red cork boards trying to figure out ‘What Is Up With Smith’: Red gets increasingly accurate and nobody will believe him (all pre shogun reveal) and he eventually snaps and takes up a secret villain persona to fight Shogun like 'if they won't believe me I'll do it myself' and it gets awkward when he accidentally does too much damage and catches not only Shogun's attention like planned, but also the rest of the Ninjaforce, and now he has to keep his own identity a secret

So, without further ado, I present... Heatstroke

------------

Red blamed the 5-hour energy coffee blend at 3:00am for this.

It was no surprise that between ‘Operation: What’s Going on with Smith’ & the sudden appearance of Shogun that the resident Bounty red-stringed ‘joke’ cork-board doubled in size and seriousness. It also was no surprise that Red had a corner all to himself and that his theories were… in the words of the others, ‘wildly inaccurate and implausible’.

But this time, he was sure he’d gotten it right.

Smith is Shogun sent here from another continent/planet/dimension with the goal of protecting Ninjago City.

The latest string of laughs and scoffs at his theory was the last straw. He’d show them. He’d prove it!

Which was why he was currently standing on the roof of a noodle house, awkwardly adjusting the spare motorcycle helmet he’d ‘borrowed’ from Nya and painted black and orangey-yellow (red had seemed too obvious). He’d exchanged his Ninjaforce outfit for a soot-burned cross between a bomber jacket and a leather jacket. Down his back jutted a row of flames like the spines of a monster, courtesy of one of Nya & Jay’s unfinished inventions Red had modified- surely nothing bad would come of that!

For tonight, the Red Ninja was off-duty. For tonight, it was Heatstroke’s turn.

He fiddled with one of the weapons he’d ‘lent out’ from Master Wu. It resembled a small arm canon, like a smaller version of the Ultimate Weapon. The plaque under its post had read ‘Elemental Focuser’, which, in cryptic Wu speak, probably translated to ‘you can use an elemental power like something out of Avatar: The Last Airbender’. So far he’d only figured out how to activate a focused jet of fire. Well, at least it was on brand. He hoped it would help him catch Shogun’s attention so he could unmask him.

He’d tried confronting Smith at school, of course. But there were only so many ways of saying ‘are you the new vigilante helping the ninjas’, and Smith has a genuine talent for dancing around the topic. Red could confront him with the name Shogun to get a proper reaction, but that would mean explaining how he knew the name and outing himself as the Red Ninja.

So fake villainy really was the only way.

His plan was to use the Elemental Focuser to cause some minor petty damage, just enough to attract the new vigilante. Perhaps set a trash can on fire, block an alleyway with rocks (if he figured out how to change the setting from fire to earth), small things that could easily be repaired.

Of course, plans were never actually stuck to. One way or another, something was always improvised.

Red’s improvisation just happened to involve him accidentally setting the entire alleyway on fire.

He’d only been aiming for one dumpster, honest! And maybe he’d spotted a couple fliers for a SoG meeting on the ground and happened to burn those too. And a newspaper article blaming Lloyd for the recent Garmadon attack, again. And an article about those ‘Damn Ninja Menaces’ by a S. Sonah Sameson. And-

Okay, so maybe Red had aimed the fire at a few small targets. But just a few! And with good reason and good care, but…

Well, fire liked to burn. Give it enough kindle and it’ll continue to grow, stretching like reaching branches towards each other to join in a massive bonfire. 

So now the entire alleyway was on fire, and Red was panicking. 

He’d luckily chosen an abandoned part of town near the beaches where Shogun sightings seemed most frequent, but with the stupid Elemental Focuser not switching from fire mode to water mode or ice mode or something that didn’t have the potential to burn Ninjago City to the ground, Red had no way of stopping the flames.

And more flames meant more destruction which meant a bigger audience.

Which was why his previously muted comm suddenly flared to life, the only warning Red had before Nya’s water strider mech slid around the corner.

Red scrambled onto a roof as the mech drove past, spraying water at the bonfire to dose it. His sigh of relief was just as quickly dosed as Lloyd’s voice came over the comms; “Status, Grey?”

“Flames are out,” Nya replied. “Pursing the joker that set it ablaze.”

Uh oh. Red took off across the roof, leaping from building to building. Tiles creaked, pebbled and dust scattering underfoot. The sounds of the mech’s engine roaring behind him echoed through alleyways below to create the illusion the mech was everywhere at once. 

As the chase grew on, more mechs started to join in. Red ducked into a narrow avenue to avoid Zane’s tank, then under a cafe overhang to throw off Jay and Lloyd. His heart hammered in his chest and he groaned, filling the inside of the motorcycle helmet with steam. Saying this was going ‘bad’ would be the understatement of the century. 

What had he been thinking? Oh wait: he hadn’t. Seriously? ‘Oh I’ll just pretend to be a villain real quick, that should get Shogun’s attention and not the attention of literally my entire team of fellow ninjas!’ Stupid, impulsive, this was why everyone was always calling the red ninja the ‘hothead’ when he really tried not to be- Lloyd’s voice over the comms snapped him from his thoughts. “I can’t catch them! It’s like they know our every move!��

Red winced as he climbed up a banister and leapt from balcony to balcony. Sorry, Lloyd. 

He didn’t miss how the others asked Nya where Red was. And how she made up excuses the others bought so easily- granted, he’d told those excuses to his sister before setting his plan into motion, but still, ouch. They acted like he was simply being at best too busy and at worst lazy and selfish.

He just wanted them to know the truth! Why couldn’t they at least try to believe him when-

Of course, that was when Shogun dropped out of the sky and tackled him.

Red shouted with surprise as he tumbled down from the second floor, slamming into a few softer bags of garbage to break his fall before rolling and slamming into the unforgiving concrete. A crack formed in his vision as the visor of his motorbike helmet smacked into the concrete ground. One of the fire jets on his back sputtered and sparked, sending a thin wisp of smoke into the air.

Shogun pinned his wrists to the ground and growled. “Who are you?”

Red tried to break free, agony turning his muscles and bones to fire with the movement after his fall, but the vigilante was too strong. Damn, how often did this guy train?

“Who am I?” Red said, a nervous tinge to his voice. He quickly smoothed it over with faked confidence. “Who are you? Who are all of us, really?”

Shogun narrowed his eyes behind his hood. “Did Garmadon send you? Or someone else?”

Red sputtered. Really, the nerve! Garmadon? The thought turned his insides to disgusting mud. “Nobody sent me!”

“Then why are you here?” Shogun spat.

“Why am I here?” Why was he here again? Oh right, the bright idea on how to reveal that Shogun was Smith. “It’s, uh… a valid reason! That I don’t have to tell you!” He tried for a villainous laugh. Stay in character, don’t blow your cover, you got this!

Shogun was unimpressed. “Nearly burning down my home was a valid reason?”

“Well, I wasn’t trying to set everything on- wait, WHAT?” Uh oh. “You LIVE here?”

Now it was Shogun’s turn to look uncomfortable, though the expression was quickly wiped from his face. “Nothing wrong with this district.” 

Red nodded. “‘Course not. Uh, sorry about that… wasn’t my intention, I swear.”

Shoot, he could hear Jay’s jet getting closer. He had to get out of here, but Shogun, annoyingly, didn’t seem to be in the mood to simply let him go. “Then what is your intention?”

“Well, for starters, it’s getting out of here. This really isn’t going to plan and I’d rather just be home right now, or even inventing a time machine like in that book ‘Hands of Time’ to slap my past self in the face for even thinking about this stupid idea in the first place-“

Jay wasn’t the only one that could ramble under pressure, it seemed.

Shogun leaned closer. “What idea?”

Red shrugged as best he could with how he was pinned to the ground. “Well, for starters, I just wanted to prove to my friends that you’re Smith, and things just kinda escalated from-”

The words were out of his mouth before he realized what he said. 

Shogun lurched back, letting go of him. His eyes betrayed a kaleidoscope of emotions; surprise, worry, suspicious, hurt, fear, realization. 

“…Kai?”

Well, f!ck.

“I-“

Red was about to badly attempt to bullsh!t his way out of his identity reveal before it suddenly dawned on him that Shogun had not denied his theory. 

Which meant Shogun was Smith.

And it also meant Smith instantly recognized him as Kai, which, considering his disguise, was aptly concerning. Sure, he was the first one in his group of friends people would think to do something this extreme but give him some credit! Zane was a regular detective, he’d do the same if it meant answers! Or, well, at least something similar. And Nya could be an adrenaline seeker. And Lloyd- well, maybe not Lloyd. Or Jay, either. Cole had his head just enough on his shoulders that he probably wouldn’t do this either.

But come on, instantly guessing it?

Well, at least Smith/Shogun didn’t know Kai was the Red Ninja. That would be a catastrophe.

Right. Back to the current catastrophe at hand.

Shogun- Smith- still had a look as if he’d been slapped, and Red hated it. He hadn’t meant to hurt his friend. Shogun… Shogun hadn’t wanted them to find out his identity. And then Red had gone and done it, just to prove that he could be the smart one, or a leader, or the protector so they didn’t get hurt, or literally anything but just the ‘hotheaded one’. 

…And he’d done it in the most hotheaded, impulsive way possible.

He really was an idiot.

The cracked helmet hid the look on his face, a twisted mess of distraught and shame. But it didn’t help hide how he took stumbled to his feet and away from Smith, nervous that any second he’d spill another mistake and mess up again, like how he always freaking messed up on everything. Don’t pick this fight, interject there instead, no, not there, idiot, there, FMS why are you so useless-

Focus, focus.

Lloyd’s voice, sharp in the intercom and full of static from his tumble, snapped him from his thoughts. “Anyone got eyes on the arsonist?”

Red caught Smith’s eye as he raised his hand to his own communicator. He was so screwed, so busted, so doomed… Smith would report it, and the others would know, and they’d think he was just messing around in an alleyway with some stolen devices and weapons out of curiosity or rage, - and-

“None yet, still looking.”

…What?

Smith stared at him, gaze searching. He looked shaken, more so than Red- who’d just taken a fall from a second story, mind you, it was a miracle he wasn’t more injured than a couple small scrapes and some future bruises-, yet everything from the set of his jaw to the softening of his furrowed brows suggested a change in emotions. Well, not quite change; more like repress and replace.

“You wanted to prove yourself, didn’t you.”

Red flushed, hand instinctually clamping into a tight fist at his side. The still-working fire jets on his back ignited without him pressing any buttons; faulty activation from the fall or something. 

Palms up and hands raised, Smith silently asked to defuse the situation. “Didn’t mean it as an insult. This wasn’t about venting some anger, was it.”

Red’s lack of response only confirmed it. Smith continued. “I won’t say anything about this if you don’t tell anyone my identity. Deal? I know finding it out was important to you, but-“

“Deal,” Red interrupted. Guilt ate away at his core, like a wave of water dousing a candle. “Smith, I-“ He swallowed hard and stared at the alley floor. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to… to…”

Smith’s hand was suddenly on his shoulder and he flinched before relaxing as Smith didn’t move further, nor did the grip tighten. “I’m a little hurt, you’re right. But I’m not mad. And I won’t tell the others, so you can relax. But you better get out of here and get yourself an alibi. We can talk at school or something.”

Wow, he was handling this rather calmly. Red was struck by the sudden memory of- what did Jay call the word? Right. Compartmentalizing. That… wasn’t healthy. But at the roar of Lloyd’s mech somewhere nearby, he didn’t comment further. Instead, he shot Smith a grateful nod and ran down the alley, sticking to the shadows and blind spots of the flying mechs and the tight alleyways where the land mechs couldn’t reach him. 

When he got home, miraculously without further incident (though Shogun leading the others on a wild goose chase over the comms certainly helped there), he ditched the outfit in a bag hidden beneath a loose floorboard in the shed. He’d return the weapon to Master Wu’s ship later, and… well, hope Nya never searched for the missing supplies. There wasn’t a way of fixing it without involving her or Jay, and neither was an option.

Heatstroke was back off duty, and so was the Red Ninja.

For now, he could just be Kai Smith. And there wasn’t any issue with that.

…

Right?

—————

yooOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

THIS IS AMAZING REHJJGFHDESFXJVZ

and ah yes, good ol trauma and compartmentalizing, we love to see it

#We love ourselves some good ol aus #same people but not really #Spbnr #spbnr aus

[grumpy-zane]

((Idk what to title this. DOTD stuff/Royal Blacksmith HC lore.

WARNING: this is long.))

Dareth ran the tablecloth up and down the counter, scrubbing out the spots that had ring stains to the beat of the song cracking from the radio. It was still too early in the evening to open up shop, but he didn't mind the wait. It gave him a lot of time to double check everything and re-count inventory. He flicked off the radio and on the TV, leaning on the counter to catch the news.

Nothing important was happening today, unless you counted traffic jams as a lethal city attack, and it was the perfect weather to hit the beach according to the news. No doubt Gayle was trying to find something to talk about, but, "Not a single story to get a scoop out of today, miss reporter," he spoke to the screen. Eyeing the window, he contemplated going out for an hour to catch some rays. Not that he needed it immediately, but he had notice that his tan was starting to fade as of late.

Knocking against the door pulled him from his thoughts. "We're not open yet, come back in three hours!" Dareth called, hoping his voice carried though the thick wood.

"Not a patron!" A prideful voice muffled back.

"Lou?" He stood up and answered the door. "Lou! Good to see ya, how have you been?"

"Well I've been just wonderful," he smiled and stepped inside, taking a seat at the bar while Dareth returned to his position, "I stopped by to talk to you about Day of the Departed plans."

"You know me, always room in my schedule for that. That's a few months away though, right?"

"Yes, but its always good to plan these things far in advance. Anyway, the other day when I was going through the archives, It hit me that I never let Cole experience how the Royal Blacksmiths formed."

Dareth lowered the TV volume, "Wait, I thought Cole didn't want to be a Blacksmith?"

"No, of course not! But its family history that I think he and his friends should know.. on top of a performance of course! That’s why I've come to you! We need the Jade Palace rented out." Lou beamed.

Bewilderment struck across his face, "Lou. You can't just rent out the Jade Palace- sure the city rebuilt it and turned it into a memorial.. museum.. actually I haven't been inside. But! Isn't that a little 'out there' in terms of.. you know.."

He laughed, "That’s why I came to you! You know how to make the impossible work out! And it's perfect too! 'The Royal Blacksmiths perform at the Jade Palace: a Historical Unraveling', I can see the headline now." He looked up, picturing the scenario in his mind.

Dareth folded his arms and thought about it. No doubt he'd have to talk to a rabbit hole of people just to pull it off, at least Lou came to him about it now rather than one week in advanced. "I'll see what I can do," he sighed.

"Haha, yes! I knew I could count on you!" He jumped up and headed towards the door, "I'll give you more details once I flesh them out. This is going to be so much fun!" The door shut in excitement.

---------

"You said your dad planned something?" Jay popped a few pieces of candy in his mouth, "something about the palace?"

"Yeah," he reached over and dug into the bag, grabbing out a taffy. "He said he had something special for the team- more importantly me, but he extended the invitation. He said something about Blacksmith history, I just hope he doesn’t drone on and on." Cole rolled his eyes.

"It sounds like you didn't have a very good experience with this in the past?"

He shrugged, "My dad was never a 'when I was your age' person, but he was a 'your great great whatever' person when it came to performing. I didn't like listening to it, so I never payed much attention."

The two climbed the front stairway just as people were departing. so much for making the show, but at least they weren’t absurdly late and didn’t leave Lou waiting half an hour. Kai and Nya looked away from the entry way and waved at the two, drawing the attention of Dareth was was hovering around the side walls. He whistled, Lou snapping away from the conversation of the quartet and smiling. “Cole! Jay! there you two are!”

“Hey dad-” the two hugged, “sorry we missed the performance. Crime never rests.”

“Yeah, luckily Pixal and Zane took over for us.” Jay chirped, “So, a story? Will it be in the form of a song?”

He laughed and rested a hand on Cole’s shoulder, leading the two up through the entrance. “No, no, I’m afraid not. The boys want to call it early tonight, so it’s going to just be me.” Lou nodded to the rest of his group, the three calling their goodnights and goodbyes. “So, you said two of you aren’t showing up, what about Lloyd?”

Jay and Cole exchanged glanced, then repeated the motion with Kai and Nya.Usually everyone would be here, but the S.O.G. no doubt made him rethink things in regards to his father. “I’ll keep a look out for him,” Dareth waved a hand and smirked, “I already got the low-down and I’ll get him up to speed. You guys enjoy the tour.”

--

The interior was much like it was before the destruction, though more antique fitted for the occasion, no doubt. Glass cases displayed attire and relics of an older time; worn armor stood tall on wooden racks, faded paintings hung beneath special lights, weapons held vertically reflected the gold trimmings surrounding them, and masks hung from the walls. Lou proudly walked past the displays to a dark lit wall, “As all of you know who the Royal Blacksmiths are, I won’t e going over that. Instead, I want to start from the very beginning.” He flicked on a light, illuminating the wall with a portrait through a lamp. “Before there were Blacksmiths, there were entertainers. This group of four traveled through Ninjago by foot, performing tricks no one had seen before! Their acts drew the attention of the Royal Family, who’s prince was delighted by their performances! So much so, that he invited them to perform at the palace.”

Cole tried not to sigh, feeling deja vu from this spiel. Taking a look around, it seemed like no one else was feeling the same. Whether that was for better or worse...

“Mr. Compère, You’re needed!” Lou jumped with the rest of the group, the masked man wrapped his arm around the Blacksmith, his attire making him look out of place, hailing from a lost time.

“M-Mr. Compère?” He sputtered.

“Yes, the King wants to see what we can do!” He was promptly pulled away, the person stopping to look back at the stunned Ninja. “You best be making your way to the stage if you don’t want to miss the performance.” He held up a finger to the lips of the mask, dispersing away into smoke.

Jay gawked, “Did you just SEE THAT?!”

“Who was that?” Kai asked, Cole pushing everyone aside.

“I dunno, but I don’t like the sound of what he has planned. Come on!”

Grand pillars held up the octagonal roof, the rafters danging dozens of lights of varying color, each held at a height that pointed down to the stage. The squad shoved open the doors, weapons brandished ready to fight when they were once again dumbstruck. On the far side the king sat, his green robes draping over his armored body. The Jade undertones in the trimming angled in a way that drew attention to his pale face, his dark eyes watching intently at the four masked men who stood in a circle with their backs on the inside. Among the four, one rose up an instrument: a lyre, intricately carved in ancient Ninjagian. The notes that escaped it echoed in the large room, the lights flickering as the air reacted to the music. The other three drew comically long blades, lifting them to the air and spinning around in a dance.

“The King and his son watched as their performance spelled out the story of a bard, One of which caught in plans that would prove to be quite fatal,” Lou’s voice spoke from the upper floor. As if on queue, one of the masked figured drove their sword into the other, shocking the royalty as the other two dropped to the floor dramatically. The bard only paused, returning to his playing once again. Another masked person stabbed their sword through, followed by the third, but the playing did not cease. This frightened the assailants, the person turning and gliding towards them, scaring them off stage. “It was such a grand display of endurance, that the King thought it would be foolish to simply send them away without compensation. Thus, he dubbed the ensemble, ‘The Royal Blacksmiths’, entertainers of the Royal Family.”

Cole lead the way around the lower balcony, the lights above blowing out suddenly before flickering back on. The stage had dramatically changed, one of that reflect a circus. The ringleader faced the four who had taken a seat next to the railing. Kai blinked, “Hey is that-”

“Ladies, and Gentlefolk, Tonight’s performance is none other than The Wondrous, Illustrious, Roooyaall Blacksmiths!” He brown cape flew as he lifted an arm to them, the curtains flying open as a large tiger leapt forward. One of the blacksmiths, wearing a black suit and white face paint with red accents, jogged across the ring, leading the large cat around the obstacles and through the tubes. From the other side, another Blacksmith ran out, performing flips through the same obstacle course and landing on a rolling board. A third leapt over the back curtain, landing in the hold of the rolling one who lifted them elegantly. The fourth emerged in a cloud of smoke, holding an arm out to the Ringleader who promptly through his hat and cane.

“Cole, That’s your dad!” Jay giddily squealed, pointing at the center circle.

“What?!”

Lou gently bowed, spinning the cane around and throwing it into the air, catching it and tossing it up again even higher. “No more was the need to act plays and stories, the people wanted to see something extraordinary, and so it was!” Lou shouted, barely turning around in time to see the tiger leap from the back curtains again.

“Dad look out-!” Cole leapt up from his seat, gripping the railing as the tiger fell into the hat and disappeared completely. Lou caught the cane and tossed it up again, winking at his son as he whipped the hat directly at him. It spun back around just out of reach and out of the light. The wheeling blacksmith sped up their circles, tossing the other into the air and catching the cane. The other landed next to Lou, striking a pose as the third slid out from the curtain on the other side. Lou kept his hands raised, marching in place as the cane was tossed up again. He grabbed it just as the last smith found his place behind the three, sparks exploding from the end of the cane like fireworks. The hat finally came back around which he promptly caught, lowering it to the ground and letting a small house cat step out of it.

“But it was so, that the life of excitement wasn’t something everyone could handle. Generations of building up elaborate stunts were daunting to the eyes of a junior, and so he chose a different approach,” Lou spoke as the quartet began humming various pitches. “He thought no one should bear to hear such noises that left ears ringing, Instead he came up with a new plan! One that involved singing!” He held the last word on a high note.

The tiger let out a low grumble, its purring distracting everyone to look at the side wall. “Oh nuts,” Dareth, the ringleader, smiled sheepishly, gently scratching the large cat under the chin.

Lou cleared his throat, “And so here we are now, carrying out the tradition to entertain no matter the form, display, or song. I hope you all enjoyed the performances, you especially, Cole.” He smiled up at his son.

Jay barged into the conversation, “That. Was. Awesome!”

“How did you pull it all off??” Nya asked, beaming.

“I would have never guessed that it was that deep,” Kai mirrored their excitement, “who knew?”

Cole leapt down from the balcony and approached his father, “You did all of this, just for me?”

“Of course, Cole, It’s family history!.. and I wanted to let you know that, not everyone in our historical line wanted to do what their fore-fathers did. I’m proud of you, that you’re a ninja, It gives me a lot to write and sing about!” He gripped Cole’s shoulder and laughed, pulling him into a half hug.

The other ninja had leapt down, asking the others as the group of performers congregated in the pit. It was a shame that Zane, Pixal, and Lloyd missed it, but Cole was sure that Kai had recorded at least part of it on his phone for his social media followers. The earth ninja eyed around at the general happiness, content with it, and leaned against his dad. “Happy Day of the Departed, dad.”

He squeezed him back, chuckling, “Happy Day of the departed.”

#ninjago #Lou #Dareth #cole #jay #nya #kai #the royal blacksmiths

[enigmalynne]

Quarantine Kitchen - an SPN FanFic featuring Crowley

Title – Quarantine Kitchen Pairings – Crowley, Sam, Dean Word Count – 2,467 Warnings - None Square filled – Crowley Prompt: A villain’s plans are thwarted by a virus rampaging the globe. Now that they must remain inside and their plans have been ruined, they’re forced to pick up a hobby.

Crowley stormed into his chambers, the fury rolling off him.

“Somebody find Pestilence. Search every hospital and clinic on this God-forsaken planet and find that bloody horseman. Only he has the power to create a disease that would shut everything down and force everyone to remain in their homes,” he bellowed. Demons around him cowered. Crowley looks around at the many demons who weren’t moving. “What are you waiting for? Go!”

“Sire, it… according to the news reports, it wasn’t Pestilence that did it,” one of the demons stuttered out. Crowley turned his narrowed eyes to the cowering demon who stepped forward to speak.

“What the bloody hell are you on about?” he asked. “Who else could have possibly done this if it wasn’t Pestilence?”

“Well,” the demon said, feeling a little braver. “The news reports are saying it came from China.”

“China!?”

“Yes, sir… It’s related to China and a bat, or a monkey or something,” the demon explained, looking around to the others for support. Another demon nodded.

“Yeah, and it’s all over the world. Not just here,” the other demon said. Crowley turned and faced them, pointing at the demon.

“You’re telling me that some wanker in China played with a bat or a monkey, and he caused this disease? And it’s all over the world? Is everyone shut down??” Crowley raged. The demons took a step back, fearing for their lives, as they nodded.

“Pretty much, yeah,” one of them said. Crowley’s eyes narrowed.

“Show me.”

A few hours later, Crowley sat at his ornate desk in dejection. Not only did he learn about how bad this coronavirus was, he realized just how checked out with national news he had become during his battles with the Winchester brothers.

“Their hoarding toilet paper and bleach,” he said, reading articles on his computer. The demon sitting next to him nodded.

“They are telling people they can only leave their homes to get food if they can’t get it delivered. Thousands of people have already died from this,” the demon said. Crowley scowled as he continued scanning the news page.

“Why didn’t we think of something like this?” he muttered under his breath. The demon beside him began to respond, causing Crowley to throw a hand up. “It was a rhetorical question! How long are we supposed to be secluded in our homes?”

“We... I don’t know?” the demon responded timidly. Crowley turned narrowed eyes toward him. “There hasn’t been a time defined yet. Just that we are to quarantine until further notice to keep ourselves safe from catching the virus ourselves.”

“Bollocks.”

One month turned into two, then four, then six. Crowley was starting to go stir crazy with being restricted to only his chambers. He’d already been through his Netflix queue, a streaming service his subjects set up for him. He’s read everything in his library. The internet was boring for a man like him, video games left him disinterested, and killing his demons was leaving him less and less satisfied.

“Why not pick up a hobby?” one of his most loyal subjects, Nya, asked him.

“A hobby,” Crowley deadpanned. Nya nodded.

“Sure. There are all kinds of things we could try our hands at,” she suggested with a shrug. Crowley turned to her with a raised brow.

“What do you suggest?” he questioned her.

“Well, there’s painting or writing. If you want to do something more challenging, you could try your hand at sewing your own clothing,” Nya said with a smirk. Crowley glared at her with fire in his eyes. “Didn’t think so. What about baking bread?”

“Baking bread?”

“Yeah,” Nya said. “It’s a big thing right now topside. Bread and other baked goods are pretty scarce because of all the hoarding, so more and more people are trying their hand at making it themselves.”

“Bread,” Crowley said again. Nya nodded.

“We’re running out of people for you to kill, Sire. Let’s try it.”

“Fine. Let’s go.”

It was a challenge for Nya and Crowley at first. Gathering the ingredients to bake their first loaf of bread was a challenge since shelves at the stores were empty. Thankfully, Nya was able to track down things like flour and yeast. After they had all their ingredients, the two went into the top-of-the-line kitchen Crowley had installed and got to work.

Following the instructions Nya printed off the internet, Crowley went through the steps of making a loaf of banana bread. As it baked in the oven, Nya put together a Sourdough starter.

“The hell is that?” Crowley asked her.

“It’s the starter for sourdough,” she replied. Crowley lifted a brow.

“Sourdough needs a starter? It isn’t a car, my dear,” he replied. Nya smirked at him as she stirred the flour and warm water with a fork.

“It’s so cute you think you know anything about baking,” Nya said. “I’ll take care of the starter, and in 7 days we’ll be ready to make our sourdough.”

“No, you don’t get to dismiss me, bint,” Crowley snarked. “You’re the one who got me into this baking mess. You explain this.” Nya laughed, the sound light and easy as it echoed in the kitchen. The sound startled the King of Hell, though he didn’t show it.

“Alright, alright. Don’t get your panties in a twist,” she replied. She then went on to explain why they needed a starter and the science behind the baking. Crowley listened curiously, his attitude shifting slightly.

“Where did you learn to bake?” he asked suddenly, interrupting her explanations. Nya’s smile shifted to something more nostalgic.

“Before. A long time ago, before crossroad deals and hell,” she said, turning and putting the jar of sourdough starter in a cabinet next to the refrigerator. “It was something I did when my family was still very young and very new. It makes the time go by very quickly.”

Just then, a timer rang out, and Nya turned to the oven. Crowley watched as Nya picked up the oven mitts, opened the oven door, and removed the pan of banana bread. The smell that came from the browned bread was intoxicating, and Crowley’s mouth instantly started watering.

Nya took the loaf out of the pan and sliced two thick pieces of bread, setting each on a plate. She placed a fork on one before handing it to Crowley, a brow quirked. He took it eagerly.

“Bon appetite,” Nya said, digging into her piece. The light moan that came from Crowley as he chewed his first bite brought warmth to Nya’s chest.

“Okay,” Crowley said. “Maybe there is something to this baking thing.”

While the two waited for the sourdough starter to prepare, Nya showed Crowley how to bake some of her other favorite things: muffins, brownies, easy loaves of bread, cookies, and various types of scones (which was a big hit for the British demon). It was the day before the starter would be ready when Crowley came in with a request.

“Can you show me how to make a pie?” he questioned. Nya looked at him in surprise as she tied on her apron.

“A pie?” she asked. Crowley nodded a little self-consciously.

“Yeah,” he said. “Do you know how to make one?” Nya nodded with a smile.

“Yeah, I know how to make one. I’m just curious why you want to make one. We have plenty of sweets already,” she said, waving a hand at the mountains of pastry boxes that littered the kitchen counters. Crowley bristled and lifted his chin, but Nya spoke before he could speak.

“What kind of pie do you want to try?” she asked.

“Apple,” he said instantly. Nya nodded. She pulled out a notepad and started writing down a list of items they needed, then handed it to Crowley.

“Get me those items, and we can make an apple pie,” she said with a smirk. Crowley nodded and shouted for one of his lesser demons, sending him on a shopping trip.

An hour and a half later, the two were eating slices of homemade apple pie while a second was baking in the oven. The kitchen soon filled with the scent of apples, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Crowley had his eyes closed as he chewed a bite of the pie. Nya turned and saw him, freezing in her actions.

“Hey!” she snapped. Crowley startled, eyes opening wide in fear.

“I told you to wait for the whipped cream!” she snarked. Nya started stirring the whip inside the metal bowl she had in her hand again while glaring at Crowley. His expression turned sheepish as he finished chewing and swallowed the bite of the pie.

“I’m sorry, love,” Crowley purred. “It just smelled so good, and I made it makes it taste so much better.”

Nya smirked at him in understanding, setting the bowl down between them. She scooped a dollop of the whipped cream, dropping it on top of his piece of the pie. She smirked before doing the same to her piece.

“Now try it,” she said, picking up her fork. Crowley scooped up a bit of the white cream then stabbed a large section of the apple pie. The cool cream against the warm apples and flaky crust melted in his mouth, and a slight moan escaped him.

“I get why Squirrel loves his pies so much if all of them taste like this,” Crowley groaned out, digging into another bite. Nya’s smile turned to understand.

“I thought that’s why we did this pie,” she said softly. Crowley shot the woman a look, and she gave him a shrug.

“You have a sweet spot for them; I get it. Your secret’s safe with me,” she said, just as the timer started to go off. She stuffed another bite of her slice of pie into her mouth before turning to stop the timer and grab the oven mitts. She pulled the pie out, admiring the lattice pattern she walked Crowley through making.

“Besides,” she started, showing Crowley the pie. “Look what we get out of it.” Crowley looked over the pie as Nya slid the third one into the oven and set the timer. Crowley smiled, feeling proud of himself in a completely different way.

“Okay! Today’s the day, Crowley!” Nya said. “Ready to make some sourdough?”

“Just tell me what the steps are,” he said, tying his apron around his waist. The two moved fluidly in the kitchen together, Nya giving him instructions and Crowley doing everything smoothly.

“Now squish the mixture together with your hands,” Nya said. Crowley gave her a disgusted look causing her to laugh. “Just get your hands dirty, big man.”

“Let it sit for 30 minutes for autolyze, and then we let it rise. While that’s happening, we can make something else if you want,” Nya said as Crowley washed his hands. He dried his hands with a dish towel, tossing it over his shoulder when he finished.

“Let’s make another batch of the dough. Then, we can make some more scones, and perhaps some clotted cream,” he suggested. Nya nodded as the two got to work. Four hours later, there were orange and cranberry scones cooling on some racks in the corner with icing drizzled on them, the cream was in the fridge, and they were moving back to the bread. Crowley and Nya had their dough separated for two loafs each.

“You can set it in any different way you like. You can make it a round loaf or an oval one or set it for any design you like,” Nya said. Crowley made one of his loaves into a round one inside a Dutch oven, scoured through the center; the other put in a loaf pan. Nya chose to make individual loaves with hers.

Roughly an hour later, the first loaf was out of the oven and ready for tasting. Crowley sliced the first loaf, steam rising from the bread filling the kitchen with a delicious scent. He handed a slice to Nya, and they both took bites of the bread. Crowley’s eyes lit up at the taste of the bread.

“This is amazing,” he said. Nya nodded.

“And you made it yourself,” she said with a smile.

The two spent the rest of the day cooking their sourdough. By the end of the day, they had loaves, buns, and rolls that were all made from the sourdough starter Nya had made. She showed Crowley how to feed the starter so it would continue to grow, and he could make more bread later.

“We need to get rid of some of this stuff; we’re getting a little full in here,” Nya said, taking a bite of a scone as she looked around the kitchen. Crowley looked around himself, a smile forming on his face.

“Who sent this?” Sam asked. Dean showed him the card.

“Crowley,” he replied, looking over the giant basket of baked goods. There were muffins and scones, bread and rolls, brownies and cookies. “Said he was going crazy during the quarantine and found a hobby. Needed to clear out some space.”

“And he… made all of this?” Sam asked, looking over the pastries. Dean shrugged.

“I guess? Wait, is that a pie?!” he responded, snatching the apple pie from the basket. Sure enough, there in the mix was an apple pie. Dean wasted no time ripping off the plastic wrap. He brought the pie to his face and inhaled deeply, groaning out his pleasure.

“You’re not gonna eat that, are you?” Sam questioned. Dean looked at him incredulously.

“Damn right, I am, Sammy. It’s pie,” Dean said, turning to get a fork. Sam raised a brow at his back.

“From CROWLEY!” he shouted.

“He’s not going to kill us by sending us a care package, have a little faith. Read the card,” Dean shouted from the kitchen. Sam sighed, picking up the card and reading.

Moose and Squirrel –

I’ve discovered a new hobby thanks to this bloody mess China has given us. The more I learn, the more I make, and it seems I’ve made too much. Perhaps this can be a temporary truce until we can leave our homes again.

Cheers – Crowley

“I don’t know who taught him to bake, but his pie is amazing,” Dean said with a mouth full. He plopped down in a chair, kicking his feet up on the table next to the basket. Sam shook his head, tossing the card on the table with a sigh. The scones did look good, he thought. He grabbed one that looked like it had orange zest in it and took a tentative bite.

“Wow,” he muttered, looking at his brother. Dean nodded.

“I know,” Dean said.

“So, what do you want to learn next?” Nya asked. Crowley just smiled.

#spnmixedbingo #spn crack #spn fanfic #spn fanfiction #supernatural #spn crowley #crowley #Dean #dean winchester #sam winchester #Sam #sam and dean #Baking #Quarantine #quarantine kitchen #Alton Brown Inspired This One #I wanna Bake Sourdough Now #review #I need a beta

[lloydshoulddyehishair]

Paint Fight | Ninjago Calendar, June

Summary: In which Jay starts a paint fight with his friends because why not.

Sometimes Lloyd asked himself what he had done to deserve everything life threw at him.

As if it wasn’t enough to have his first love turn out to be a manipulative psychopath and have his dad resurrected from the dead as a soulless shell of who he once was, Cloud Kingdom had decided to top it of and throw a demon-invasion and a near-death experience at him.

And Lloyd Garmadon definitely wouldn’t be Lloyd Garmadon if he didn’t isolate himself from everyone close to him after a, yet another, traumatic event.

It was like a routine at this point. Everytime they got back from an adventure Lloyd would usually lock himself up in his room for a few days and then come back like nothing ever happened. He knew it wasn’t healthy - ignoring your emotions and stuffing them into a little box, hoping that they’ll never make it to the light of day, that no one would ever notice how much he really struggled. But there really wasn’t any other alternative for him, it was the only way he knew to cope and the others had stopped trying to get him to talk a long time ago.

Or at least so he thought, because right now the leader's door was being opened and revealed frizzy red hair and nervous blue eyes staring at him.

“Hey Lloyd, uhm, could I ask you something?”

“If this is about my Starfarer Video Game you can just take it-”

“N, no, no!”, his smaller friend interrupted him and sat down on his bed, playing with his fingers in an anxious manner, avoiding his gaze.

"You know, you've been isolating yourself and- I mean I totally get that, I get why, but- I miss doing stuff with y'all.", Lloyd blinked, trying to process what Jay was telling him. Jay usually wasn’t one to reach out like that, normally he’d keep to himself and just spend even more time with Cole and Nya, while being sad about the fact that he missed the others.

“But if you don’t want to, that’s fine of course! Don’t feel pressured, especially since you’re still recovering.”, the blond winced.

If there was one thing he hated most in the world it was his friends’ pity.

“It’s fine. I’ll join y’all.”, the redheads eyes lit up as that stupid grin - that was just  so jay - appeared on his face. 

“Great, I already got something planned!”

------

Surprisingly Lloyd wishes he had never agreed to Jay's offer. 

It wasn't that he didn't like spending time with his family, it was just that he didn't really know how to talk to them anymore. As a matter of fact it seemed like no one really did. The silence between them as they cleaned the dust off of the walls, like Jay had told them to, was almost suffocating.

“Why are we even doing this?”, Kai spoke up as he rolled his eyes in frustration. “Has Jay turned into Sensei Wu now and makes us do chores?”, Lloyd couldn’t help but chuckle.

Zane eyed them with a tiny smirk before continuing the task. “Well, I personally find cleaning to be very calming.”

“If that’s the case I’ll gladly have you clean my room!”, Jay called out as he stumbled outside with multiple buckets of paint, which sooner than later found themselves tumbling to the floor. “Now that didn’t go to plan.”, he muttered. “Ayways! Everyone come get their bucket!”

The others started walking up to him, taking the bucket of their respective colour.

“I don’t mean to sound like I’m judging or something but what exactly is your plan?”

“Oh Lloyd, isn’t it obvious? We’re going to paint the walls!”

All eyes fell on Jay in absolute disbelief.

“Sensei Wu will kill us! We can’t just paint the walls!”

“Going after our reputation this monastery won’t stand for long anyways. I give it 6 months before it is destroyed again.”, Nya sighed as she went to grab a paintbrush out of a bag Jay had brought with him.

Cole winced. He was more than familiar with the fate their homes usually faced. “I mean, you’re not wrong but still, you know? I don’t think Sensei is going to be too pleased.”

“Good thing he isn’t supposed to be back before tomorrow, so we got enough time to plan our escape.”, the Blue Ninja grinned, giving everyone a brush to paint with.

Maybe he didn’t regret this too much after all.

------

“Nya, if I was a worm, would you still love me?”

“I swear if you don’t shut your mouth-”

------

“Should I go inside and get us some ice cream?”, Zane asked, interrupting the silence that had once again fallen between them after they had started their paintings on the walls.

Cole’s eyes practically begged his friend to do what he had just offered. “Please, it’s so hot!”

“It’s not, it’s… rather mild, I guess.”

“Kai, no offence but you are literally the Master of Fire.”, Lloyd smirked slightly. “But yes Zane, it would be really nice if you could do that.”, he gave his nindroid friend one more smile before he stepped inside, making his way to the kitchen.

“You know, Cole, I think paint is fairly cold.”

“What are you hinting at, Bluebell-”, next thing they knew chaos erupted.

Cole watched the blue paint dripping from his face to the ground with a shocked expression.

“Any cooler?”, the Master of Lightning grinned at him.

“I’ll show you ‘cooler’!”, Cole yelled out, grabbing his own bucket and running after his best friend.

“Nya, save me!”, she couldn’t help but laugh at her boyfriend’ childishness.

“Coming!”, she calls, grabbing a bucket, as did her brother.

Sometimes Lloyd loved his family for being so stupid.

------

And sometimes Lloyd hated himself for being stupid.

You would think that after near-death experience number 37 and just barely getting away with a concussion and multiple bruises that he would start to pay more attention to his surroundings and be more careful.

You would also think wrong because as it turns out “careful” was something that just didn’t suit the blond.

And before he knew it he slipped on a puddle of paint and landed head first on the ground.

A pained moan escaped his mouth as his vision darkened for a second, everything started spinning.

Lloyd didn’t even get to sit up before Kai was already crouching down next to him, eyeing him in worry and grabbing his arm.

“Gosh Lloyd, you need to watch out, you’re still hurt!”, the younger tried to rid himself of his brother's grip, in vain. He rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Kai, I'm okay! Can you please just-"

"You need to be more careful! I always tell you that and you never listen! When will you start listening to me? When it’s too late?", suddenly everything around Lloyd seemed to come to an halt.

He knew Kai meant well, he always did, but he hated it more than anything when his brothers babyed him.

"Kai, I absolutely do not want your pity.", he spoke more harshly than he wanted to, pulling away from the brunette and standing up again.

“I’m not pitying you, I’m watching out for you-”

“Well you’re most certainly not doing a good job at it then.”, Lloyd had regretted many things in his life so far, releasing the Serpentine, banishing his father to the Departed Realm, but this - this was probably one of the actions he regretted most in his life so far.

Kai’s eyes widened in shock.

“This isn’t fair.”

“Life hasn’t been fair to us for a long while now Kai and you know tha-”, the teens sentence died in his throat as a loud noise interrupted them.

The elder gasped as he put his hand on his - now pink stained - hair. “Hey, watch the hair!”

"Where the hell did you get that from?!", Lloyd yells, hiding himself behind his big brother

Nya simply grinned, pointing the paint-gun in their direction once again.

"I have my ways."

------

“I say we all team up on Jay!”, Cole calls out across the yard.

“What?! 5 against 1? That’s unfair!”, 

“Fair?”, Lloyd yells as he grabbed another bucket filled with red paint. “Fair isn’t a word where I come from!”, he screams, running after Jay, eventually cornering him with the help of the others.

“Oh come on guys.”, the lightning ninja laughs nervously. “It doesn’t have to end like this.”

“It started with you, it will end with you.”, Kai smirks.

They were ready to empty their paint buckets over his head, that was until they heard someone clear their throat behind them.

In shock they turned around, just to meet stern yellow eyes.

“What’s the matter of this.”

“Sensei Wu! I thought you weren’t supposed to be back until-”

“Tomorrow, yes.”, the old sensei cut Nya off. “But my trip was cut short, so I went home just to be greeted by-”, he looked around himself, at the stained floor, puddles of now half dried paint and empty metal buckets. “-this.”

“I promise Sensei, we will clean everything up!”, the blond reassured his uncle.

“Lloyd?”, he looked at the others in disbelief. “You let my nephew join in on this? You know he is still recovering! As are you Cole!”

“I swear Sensei, I’m feeling way better-”

“No. I don’t want to hear it. Starting tomorrow you will clean this mess up and we will start training again. Every day you will have-”

Jay gasped. “Sensei, no! Please!”

“-Sunrise training.”, this six groaned in unison. “Except for Cole and Lloyd, you’ll join when I tell you to, until then you’ll stay in bed.”

“Yes, Sensei.”, they bowed slightly, waiting for Wu to leave.

Just as Sensei stepped inside the monastery, Zane stepped back outside in the yard, ice cream in hand. His face as he tried to understand what had caused the chaos and the stains on his friends’ clothes made them all start to laugh.

Maybe today hadn’t been as bad as Lloyd thought it would be.

------

Once again the part-human found himself alone, this time though not in his room but watching the sunset on the stairs in front of the monastery and eating the ice cream Zane had brought them. His thoughts remained the same however. Guilt was slowly starting to consume his mind, especially after the short interaction he had shared with Kai during the paint fight. 

He smiled slightly. The childish fight was probably the most fun he had had since everything with the Sons of Garmadon started to unravel. 

He didn’t like to think about it. It made him sad, thinking about how broken and alone he had felt, still did at sometimes.

He also didn’t like to think about all the sleepless nights he had spent, wondering why his friends had to die. Of course they hadn’t actually been dead, but sometimes - just sometimes - Lloyd was scared that if he closed his eyes for too long that they would slip away again.

Out of the corner of his eye he saw a red figure approaching and sitting down next to him, interrupting his thoughts.

He said nothing, did nothing, simply staring ahead - waiting for Lloyd to make the first move. 

“You know.”, the blond said, staring forward, just like his brother did. “I didn’t want to snap at you like that. Earlier today, I mean.”, he sighed as he placed his chin in his palm. "None of it was your fault..", Kai winced. 

"I know you didn't want to.", he felt a hand being put on his shoulder. "I just wish you wouldn't always throw yourself into danger. I know it's hypocritical of me to say this but-", the elder paused and took his hand. "You need to start thinking things through.", Lloyd laughed. 

"You're one to talk." 

Kai's face softened. "I know, I haven't been the best example but that's why I want you to be better, you know?”

Lloyd just nodded, leaning his head against his brother's shoulder.

“I don’t want to someday wait for you to come back from a mission and have you-”, he let out a heavy sigh as he squeezed the smaller’s shoulder. “Never return.”

“I get that, I feel the same about you guys.”

“I’d sure hope so. I mean who else could you have paint fights with if not for us.”, the Master of Fire chuckles slightly before standing up again. “But we should probably head inside before Sensei beats our asses, especially yours.”, he pauses as he runs his hand through his messed up hair. “Also should probably wash that out.”

“I don’t know.”,the younger grins as he walks towards the monastery. “Pink suits you.”

“Please, Zane has already claimed pink, thanks to you.”, Kai laughs. “Maybe I’ll go orange.”

“Don’t give me ideas because I absolutely will dye your hair in your sleep.”

“Oh, I don’t think so, Green Machine!”, he calls out sprinting towards him, making Lloyd run from him in a laughing fit.

Yeah, today was definitely not as bad as he had thought it would be.

#ninjago #ninjago calendar 2021 june #ninjago fanfiction #ninjago lloyd #ninjago kai #saga writes

[crystalgirl259]

The Flame and the Dragon Ch17

Chapter 17: The Reason

"Would you hold still?!" Kai snapped, pulling the cloth soaked with medical herbs from the kitchen away.

"That stings!" Cole argued as he moved his clawed hand to cover the wound and prevent Kai from touching it but hissed every time his claws grazed the surface of the wound. Kai snorted feeling his blood boil in rage. He'd had to drag the man back to the castle and wake up some of the servants to get the things he needed. Then he had to drag Cole to the kitchen and force him to sit on the table. Shade all but exploded when the two entered the kitchen covered in leaves, dirt, and blood, all of which were scattered all over the room.

Then he practically buried Kai and Cole with questions when he saw the wound on the man's chest, despite Cole's insistence that it was only a scratch and that he was fine.

He only managed to free himself of the other noirette's badgering by pointing to Kai. The brunette was digging through the cabinets for anything he could use. Shade all but exploded. Now, Kai had to put up with the Dragon Lord acting like a child while he tried to remove his coat and the remains of his shirt to nurse his wounds. His already thinning patience was on the verge of snapping.

"If you'd hold still, and let me clean the damn thing, it wouldn't hurt as much!"

"If you hadn't run away, this never would've happened!" Cole yelled in a voice bitter with sarcasm before he deliberately scolded. "Do you have any idea how stupid that was? How much danger you were in! You were only lucky you were on your way back to the castle, or I wouldn't have been able to save you!" He shouted. Kai growled and threw down the washcloth.

"If you hadn't started blasting things and scaring me, I never would've left!" The teen countered, if for nothing more than to wipe the smirk off the man's face. "You scared the shit out of me!"

"You shouldn't have been in the West Wing in the first place! You were specifically told what it was, by several people I might add, and I never permitted you to enter my room! How would you feel if someone entered your room without permission? And don't lie to me because we both know you've would've reacted the same way!" Cole retorted. Kai felt his ego bruise at that comment and opened his mouth to protest but bit back the words and exhaled.

"You're right." He said with no emotion. Cole was stunned and clearly not expecting such a response.

"I beg your pardon?"

"I said you are right." He repeated in a more civil voice. He was tired of this blame game. "I shouldn't have gone into your room without your permission and I'm sorry." He said and his apology was sincere, but when he looked up again, his fierce eyes bore into Cole's. The dragon hybrid sat frozen by the intensity. "But I'm not the only one at fault here! You should learn to control your temper!" He scolded. Instantly, Cole opened his mouth to counter but immediately realized he had no answer.

He felt his pride deflate when he realized the boy was right. He had lost his temper, but he refused to take all the blame for this.

"I'm the only one with a temper or at fault here! You should learn to listen and do what you're told!"

"I already know that!" Kai snapped, collapsing into a chair. "I'm too impulsive; it's one of my faults but, to be honest, if you weren't always hiding maybe I wouldn't be so curious." He mumbled out loud, dumping more yarrow on the cloth. "I've been here almost a month and the only thing I know about you is that you have a temper, you're a control freak and you can throw energy."

"Haven't you ever heard 'curiosity killed the cat'?" Cole snorted but chuckled lightly.

"Yeah, I have." Kai chuckled. "As a kid, I always heard the story of Bluebeard; everyone always said it was supposed to show how curiosity only causes trouble." He chuckled then smiled. "But I always thought that if that were true and the girl obeyed her husband, he would've killed her anyway, and start the process all over again, but because of her curiosity, not only did she find out the truth, she and her brothers managed to kill the guy and save a lot of other girls from suffering the same fate." He burst out laughing at the memory.

Cole just stared as he listened intensely.

"No one could answer that one, not even Mom and Dad said curiosity was a double-edged sword; it helps us learn new things and make discoveries but if we let it get the better of us, we set ourselves up for trouble and I always let mine get the best of me."

"Obviously," Cole added before his voice took a stricter tone. "Next time you want to ease your curiosity, you should try asking."

"So if I asked you, you would have let me into your room even if it was for the sake of getting to know you better?" He asked with a raised eyebrow, his voice a mixture of sarcasm and teasing.

"Hell no!" Cole blurted out fiercely. He realized his mistake when the smirk on Kai's face widened. Again his pride was dented. "I see your point." He mumbled with as much dignity as he could muster.

"And you say I'm impulsive." Kai teased.

"You are." He countered, leaning closer to him. Since he was sitting at the table, their eyes were level with each other. "You're reckless, that's why you get into trouble and you never have the control to hold your tongue when the time calls for it, and you always put others or your pride before your own safety; there's a time and place when your own safety should be more important than defending your pride."

"Like in the woods, when that thing tried to kill you?" Kai asked as he raised an eyebrow in an accosting tone. "I don't care what happens to me if someone I care about is in danger! If I can help them I will!"

"You care about me?" Cole smirked and a blush painted Kai's face before he growled back.

"That's not the point!"

"I know what you meant." He chuckled as he shook his head with a small smile. "But I stand by what I told you before, if you keep focusing on everyone else's happiness and let your pride get the better of you, you'll never be happy." He said and the statement didn't anger Kai as much as it did the first time, but he still felt his irritation spike as a result. He opened his mouth to protest but Cole cut him off. "Everyone else who goes out of their way to try and make you happy will constantly worry about you because they know you'll always put everyone else before yourself." The hybrid said and any protest or angry words died in his throat.

He never looked at it that way before but it was as if the last piece of an extremely difficult puzzle had suddenly been put into place.

Nya had told him something similar before she and Lloyd had left. Everyone else in the palace had been sick with worry over him since he arrived, worse after his and Cole's fight. The teen put the medical supplies down and lowered his head.

"Why did you let me stay here?" He asked in a low voice, unsure if he wanted an answer.

"I don't understand." Cole blinked. Kai raised his head and glared at him.

"When I asked you to let me stay in Nya and Lloyd's place, why did you say yes? You said so yourself, I'm nothing but trouble?"

"I never said that." Cole corrected.

"That doesn't answer my question." Kai glared. Now it was Cole's turn to smile, a smile that curled at the corners.

"You really want to know why I let you stay here?" He asked and Kai nodded.

"Because you fascinated me the second I saw you." He replied and he raised his claws and spoke in a passionate, free-flowing voice as if he no longer had to keep something secret. Kai was clearly not expecting such an answer.

"What?"

"I'd never seen or met anyone like you; you found my castle all on your own, you were willing to sacrifice everything for your family and when you saw my true form for the first time, not only were you not afraid of me, you knew who I was! I didn't believe it when my staff called your arrival here a miracle, but everything about you astounded me." Cole paused for a moment, taking in the stunned expression on Kai's face. "Every time you saw me, you showed no fear and you refused to obey or respect me unless it was earned and you defy my every order; you countered every rule, regulation, or demand I made with one of your own and you had an answer for each one."

He paused for a moment and looked around the kitchen, not surprised to see the staff had left.

"You treat everyone in the castle-like people, where anyone else would've fled in terror, you let them pamper you even though you hate being waited on, you treat this place as if it were your home, and you put your own needs on hold for the sake of someone else." He sighed and Kai blinked again, but Cole was unsure if he was truly confused or if he disbelieved Cole meant what he was saying. "I agreed to keep you here for the reason that everything about you fascinates me from your beauty, intelligence, spirit, fiery temper, fierce independence, courage, heart... need I go on?" Cole smirked at the crimson blush spreading rapidly across Kai's face when he realized Cole was serious.

"I-I..."

"You're like a desert rose, Kai, something so unique and powerful that it can grow in the wildest of places." He smiled warmly. "You're like one giant puzzle and no matter how hard I try, I can't figure you out, but mark my words, I plan to." He promised. Kai just sat there for a moment, too stunned to speak. His mind was still trying to process what he was just told, completely ignoring the blush he knew was blazing across his face. When his mind finally put everything into perspective, he smiled a small smile and laughed.

"Funny, back home everyone but my siblings considered me everything from odd and peculiar to weird and bizarre for the way I am, and yet here, everyone seems to like me for that reason."

"Then those ignorant, backward fools need to get their asses out of the past and accept the end of aristocracy; I've been trapped in this castle for over a hundred years and I know full well things are much different." Cole laughed. Kai couldn't help but laugh in agreement. He flashed a small smile before turning back to the cloth soaked in yarrow medicine.

"Now hold still and let me finish cleaning this, it'll sting a bit." He warned before pressing the liquid-drenched cloth to the wound. Cole bit his lip, a hiss making his pain evident but he held still while the boy gently worked.

"Just a little longer, I promise." Kai comforted him, throwing away the dirty rag and grabbing another one. Once the wound was clean, he screwed the yarrow jar shut and took out a cotton-padded patch large enough to cover the entire wound. He grabbed one of the thick aloe leaves, cut it open, and squeezed the clear gelatin onto the patch before carefully spreading it all over. Cole watched patiently as he emptied the entire leaf until it curled.

Once that was done, Kai carefully lifted the patch from the bottom and pressed it to the wound.

Cole hissed, but this time, he only felt slight discomfort.

"Don't worry," Kai said, wiping off his hands. "It's aloe, it's more soothing than yarrow and it'll stop the itch and it's also a very powerful disinfectant." He explained, pressing his hand to the patch gently. "Now, I just need you to remove your coat so I can bandage it." He said and Cole shrugged the garment off his shoulders, revealing his entire upper body. Kai bit back a blush as the naked flesh was revealed to him. Kai quickly grabbed the bandages and carefully began wrapping them around Cole's waist.

"You're a good nurse," Cole commented, noticing how skilled the teen was.

"Thank you." He replied as he forced down another blush.

"Where'd you learn this, if you don't mind me asking?"

"My mom and dad taught me," Kai replied. "Our family was well known for their knowledge of herbs and since we traveled a lot when I was younger, we had to make sure we knew what to do in case one of us got hurt before we reached the next town or doctor, but most of the time, it was just me and Dad always teased me, saying that was why the yarrow stung; it was both a healer and a punishment for misbehaving."

"Sounds like the two of you were close."

"When I was little, he would always buy me the most beautiful and bizarre things wherever we went and he'd tell me stories about them." Kai smiled. "My favorites were always the ones about how our family descended from a powerful line of warriors from Japan."

"He sounds like a good man." Cole laughed. "My father was like that, he always told me our family was chosen by the legendary dragon to protect this kingdom from corruption and prejudice, and obviously, this castle's theme was modeled around that myth."

"I noticed," Kai replied as he tied the bandage tightly. Once he was finished, he frowned and turned away again. Cole looked concerned until he noticed another blush forming on the boy's cheeks. "Thank you, by the way." The teen finally spoke.

"Hmm?"

"Thank you, for saving me." He clarified. Now it was Cole's turn to blush, but he hid it by coughing in his hand.

"You're welcome, and thank you... for coming back." He added.

"I made a promise and I intend to keep it."

"Oh, is that all?" Cole replied, sounding a little disappointed.

"No, that's not all." Kai giggled a bit. "Honestly, I like it here; it's nice to be away from that town for a while and I'd feel bad if I left everyone without saying goodbye, and besides, I want to get to know you too." He added. Cole just smiled and gently ran his claws through Kai's hair before scooping him into his arms like a bride. The teenager yelped at the sudden movement.

"H-Hey! W-Wait a minute!" The teen protested.

"Don't think this means you're off the hook, you're still in big trouble for going in my room," Cole smirked and laughed. Kai snorted and crossed his arms. He hated being carried. The few staff members watching backed away as Cole flew through the hallway with his captive in his arms. The four creatures stood frozen, their eyes bulged and their mouths dropped in identical masks of shock.

"Um..." Jay mouthed, pointing to where the two men just were. "Did they just—"

"Uh-huh." Ronin nodded.

"And then they—" Tox continued.

"Yup." Echo finished. This was certainly an interesting turn of events...

#ninjago #The Flame and the Dragon #beauty and the beast #ninjago kai #ninjago nya #ninjago cole #ninjago lloyd #ninjago zane #ninjago ronin #ninjago tox #ninjago jay #ninjago echo #lavashipping

[pluto-art]

Syncytium - Chapter 1

Title: Syncytium Words: 3,311 Rating: T Summary: Teacher AU. Takes place in a fictional universe in which Professor Ronald Pinkus and Dr. Brian T. Globetrotter (played by Pinky and Brain, respectively) are college professors at an esteemed school for mice that focuses on science and the arts. Mainly told from Brain's point of view; sometimes from Pinky's. He's too egotistical for his own good. Pinky is too happy-go-lucky for his own good. The two clash. High jinks ensue. Dr. Globetrotter gets more than he bargained for. Way more than he bargained for...

Fan fiction link: https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13712482/1/Syncytium

This was 100% inspired by the drawings I did of Brain and Pinky as professors. It’s planned to be a multi-chapter story, and I already have the major points of the entire story outlined. Here be chapter one. Enjoy.

Syncytium - n. a single cell or cytoplasmic mass containing several nuclei, formed by fusion of cells or by division of nuclei.

\/\/\/\/\/\/

January 17, 1994 - 4:35 AM

Darkness.

All around them was dark, it's impenetrable cloak cut only by the crimson beat of the emergency lights.

No one could see them. No one could hear them. No one even knew they were there. But if they could see them, by way of those steady emergency flashes, they'd make out an aging mouse struggling to carry his blue-eyed comrade to safety, light reflecting off his broken glasses. And if they could hear them, all they'd pick up, aside from a distant alarm, would be a heavy, breathless panting.

Brian paused in his efforts to set down the taller, much lankier mouse on the concrete below, an arm coming 'round to support his friend's head. Heavy lids threatened to close their curtains on a pair of periwinkle eyes, their owner barely managing to stay awake.

"Pinky... Pinky, wake up!"

Nothing.

"Pinky!"

He tapped his cheek sharply.

Slowly, surely, the other mouse awakened.

"Brain...?"

"Yes, Pinky. I'm here. I'm here."

"Brain...," Pinky whispered, a paw coming up to grasp his arm tightly before his head fell back into Brain's palm.

"It's all right," cooed Brian. "It's all right, Pinky. I've got you. Shhh. Shhh. I've got you. Shhhhhh shhh shhh shhh..."

\/\/\/\/\/\/

September 10th, 1993 - 7:30 AM

Darkness.

"Sh sh sh! Quiet! Everyone calm down! Quiet!"

A pencil sharpened. A ruler placed just so on a dated, mahogany table. Half-moon violet glasses were pushed square up against a pair of pink, deadpan eyes by a delicate, nail-bitten finger.

"Good evening, class," droned Dr. Brian T. Globetrotter. "Today we shall be delving into the fascinating subject of cellular mitosis..."

Sunlight, warm and bright and quite the opposite of the teacher it poured the morning's blessing onto, shone through the dark, wooden blinds of the university classroom, the better to illuminate the scene. Rows and rows of mahogany benches, arranged in a stadium format, and each with a polished table set in front of it, could barely be seen thanks to the sheer number of students adorning every bit of space available. It wasn't cramped, per say, but it was filled. Not a seat was left, and not for reason of enthusiasm. The countenance of those in attendance told all: no one was here because they wanted to be, but because they needed to be. Required classes were always the least interesting, and the occasional passed note or whispered joke barely managed to keep the atmosphere animated, provided one was even able to communicate such messages without getting caught. It was common knowledge that this particular professor had no room for flippancy. Detentions were a standard affair. Not being spoken to or called upon was considered a kindness.

Said teacher continued his sunrise spiel, seemingly oblivious to the complete lack of interest permeating the room as he droned on and on about the fascinating life of the cell.

Fascinating, indeed. If he at all harbored any excitement about the subject his profile certainly failed to project it, his demure expression reflected on the faces of practically every student in the room. Only one outlier remained: a golden-furred girl mouse, glasses a little askew, cheek resting against her paw as she sighed dreamily. An equally amber-tinted mouse beside her rolled his eyes in exasperation.

"The intricacies of such a seemingly primitive topic are much more complex and absorbing than might first be assumed, and although I don't expect any of you to give a Heterocephalus Glaber's crotch about an ounce of it, we are henceforth going to engage in the undoubtedly invaluable study regardless."

Somewhere in the back, a student scribbled "Heterocephalus Glaber's crotch" on a page of his journal labeled "The Globular List of Insults", sniggering to his freckled companion.

"Please turn your attention to page seventy-five of your textbooks. We will begin with the genesis of the process, in which a single cell divides into..."

But whatever that cell was going to divide into had to be put on hold, for at that moment the classroom door flung open to reveal a completely new fascination entirely.

"Oh, thank you, Mrs. Judson!" blurted out the newcomer, one foot in the door and the other still sticking outside the classroom, a loaded box of paraphernalia nestled precariously in his arms. "I'll never forget this! I promise to pay you back with a whoooooole bouquet of flowers! Nya-ha-ha-ha!"

In he tumbled, paraphernalia and all, right onto Brian T. Globetrotter's desk, knocking an ink pen, two calculators, and his name sign off the table in the process.

"Whoops! Eheh. Sorry! I'll get that for you!" offered the mouse, hastening to clean up his mess, albeit rather haphazardly.

"Wha-... What are you doing here?! I am in the middle of a very important session!" growled Globetrotter.

"Oh, yes, and I'm sure it's a very lovely session, too! But... if you don't mind my asking...," and he got right up to the other's ear and whispered: "Isn't this, ummm, my room?"

"Wha-? Puh... It most certainly is not! This is my classroom and you're intruding!" Globetrotter spluttered, poking a finger into the newcomer's chest for greater emphasis.

Three rows up, a student typed furiously on his phone: New teacher about to get ROASTED by Mr. B.

"Well, how do you figure that one?" the other mouse questioned.

"Maybe you should read the fine print?!"

And with the starkest finality he could muster, he picked up his name sign and slammed it down in front of the other mouse, turning it so that the name BRIAN T. GLOBETROTTER on the front flashed out proud as anything. The new teacher didn't seem at all perturbed by such harsh behavior. Indeed, he put his face right up to the sign, tipped down his own pair of half-moon glasses, and carefully read each word, muttering them to himself softly.

"Oh! Well, that's different then, isn't it?" he declared, straightening up to smile brightly at his fellow colleague. "But, umm, you might want to change the name there, don't you think? I mean, it says "globe trotter", but I don't see you trotting around any globes. No. Not at all. More like globe sitter. Ha-ha-ha!"

Globetrotter stared at the newcomer, mouth agape. It was all he could do at the moment, taken aback by the sheer audacity of this... figure and the pure chaos he had caused. Half the room was already in hysterics, for his buck-toothed make and slight slur, coupled with a lightly pronounced Cockney accent, made his proclamation of "sitter" sound like a different word entirely.

Everything about this mouse was... off. Compared to Globetrotter he was exceptionally tall and lanky, all the more exacerbated by the fact that Brian was quite a short mouse to begin with; he had to crane his neck to look up at him. His laugh was prominent, and his eyes were an astonishing robin's egg blue. Never in his lifetime had Globetrotter ever seen a mouse with eyes that color; he hazarded to guess they were contacts. He wore a lab coat, but only out of necessity, it seemed, for it clashed with the rest of his outfit: a pink polo-style shirt with some band's logo slapped on the front, striped corduroy pants that sported every color of the rainbow, and what looked to be black and white bowling shoes. It was as if a Goofy cartoon had vomited all over him. The heavy cardboard box he'd unceremoniously deposited on Globetrotter's table seemed to carry all assortment of bits and bobs - a globe, several petri dishes, a bag of chips, a baseball cap, some notepads and pens, a small keyboard, a roll of Gouda, some tape, a framed photograph, a book on Regis Philbin, two VHS tapes of The Honeymooners, and not one... but three Bunsen Burners, as if he had packed them in a feeble attempt to complete the look of someone who was supposedly intelligent. Every eye in the room had turned towards him as he entered, and every eye had stayed on him since. Golden-haired girl had actually dropped her pencil, grabbed her brother by the shirt sleeve, and clutched at her heart, a light whisper of, "Oh my gosh, he's hot...," fluttering past her lips. Her brother facepalmed. To complete the effect, he carried under his arm a pad hosting a number of rather childish stickers, which Globetrotter grabbed from him.

"Shut up!" he snapped at his students, who were still chuckling. They all quieted down at once. "Dr. Ronald Pinkus, Professor of Trozology," Globetrotter read aloud, disgust painting every syllable. "What in the bloody hell is 'Trozology'?"

"Oh, well, it's very simple, really. It's-," Ronald began, but at that moment, a wee mouse popped in, her eyes nearly covered by a pudgy blue tam o' shanter.

"Excuse me? Mr. Pinkus?" she squeaked, thick Scottish accent nearly muffled by the gray scarf swathed about her.

"Please, call me Pinky!" Ronald squeaked back.

The girl smiled and giggled.

"Pinky. Mrs. Judson told me to tell you that you're actually in two ten, not three nineteen."

"Hm? Ohhhhhh!" the one named Pinky exclaimed, peeking at the front of Globetrotter's classroom door. A giant number '319' was painted on its front. "That does explain things, doesn't it?"

"Yes. Now, would you kindly disencumber my desk and plant your quixotic accoutrements elsewhere?" Globetrotter fronted, already pushing Pinky's possessions towards him, and would have thrust it clear off the desk had it not been for Pinky's quick reflexes. He grabbed his loaded box, that ridiculous grin still plastered on his face.

"Thank you, Mr. Brain! And thank you, Ms... errrr...?"

"Flaversham. Olivia Flaversham," piped the girl, beaming from head to toe.

"Thank you, Olivia!"

And he waved at her, as best he could anyway, nearly losing the box as Olivia waved back and skipped off. Shifting his grip so as to take better hold of his possessions, Pinky turned to Globetrotter, panting a little.

"Oh, I'm so sorry for barging in on your class, Mr. Brain. It won't happen again!"

"It's Brian. And see to it that you don't," retorted Globetrotter, flicking stray dust off his precious desk. "You may leave at your earliest convenience, which I hope will be immediately."

"Right-o, Brain!" Pinky saluted, and with that... he trotted off, slipping a little under the weight of the box, and doing his best to close the door behind him with his long, pink tail.

For five whole seconds Globetrotter stared at the closed door, as if attempting to retrieve what little bearings he had left. Despite the poisonous nature of their teacher, many of the students couldn't help but exchange excited mutters, babbling in haste about what had just transpired. Already, Globetrotter, with his exceptional hearing, could catch such questions as, "Did you see how many burners he had?", "Do you think he's single?", and, worst of all, "Is his class full?".

In a rare move, no one was punished for such comments. If anything, for the rest of the class, Globetrotter aimed to be a bit more... amiable than usual, which only fueled the chatter. The session was a long one - three hours, to be exact - and it was with great relief that the bell rang, for if there was anything more "exciting" than cellular mitosis, it was gossip.

"Homework is due on the twenty-first. I want a count of three-thousand words at least and no exceptions!" Globetrotter rattled as the entire class practically flew out of the room in a flurry.

Many paired up with friends; some hitched up their bags and backpacks, running in haste to their next class. Three of the girls, two mice and a shrew, banded together, all a-flutter.

"Oh. My gosh. Did you see that guy? Ugh. My heart is still beating a mile a minute," one of them crooned. It was the golden-furred gal, whiskers shining as she licked her fingers and smoothed them out one-by-one.

"Gosh, Maisy, you're so superficial. One minute it's Globetrotter. Now it's this Pinky guy," mused a mouse to her left, a pair of goggles resting atop her blonde hair. "You need to pick a side."

"I am! I'm picking the cuter of the two," Maisy stated, as if this was the most obvious thing in the world.

"He looked like Pee-wee Herman walked into Dexter's Lab or something..."

"Dexter's Lab is more fun," voiced Tillie the shrew, who adjusted the tightness of the little cloth draped over her head. "What did Globetrotter mean by giving us only five pages of homework? Usually it's at least ten..."

"I have a theory for that," said the goggle-adorned mouse, biting her fingernails.

"Would you stop doing that?" Maisy bit, slapping at the other mouse's wrist playfully. "It's so gross."

"What? They get gnarly. You know I don't wear gloves when I work."

"You should."

Goggle-mouse sighed.

"Anyway, you wanna hear my theory?"

"I do," piped the shrew.

"Yeah, sure. Go ahead," droned Maisy, not at all enthused.

"Okay. So... my theory is that he's jealous. He doesn't want this Pinky guy to suddenly snatch up all his students, so he's trying to be extra nice to us to get us to stay."

Maisy snorted at this.

"As if we could leave. It's a required class."

"Yeah, but we could always drop it and take it next semester at a different time with a different teacher."

"But why would anybody go through the trouble of that?" said Tillie. "We'd all rather get it over with sooner than later."

"Exactly," "Goggles" said as they turned a corner, heading for the cafeteria. "Anyway, I'll see you guys later."

"Where are you going?" Maisy asked.

"It's Wednesday. I have Engineering on Wednesdays. Duh. Bye, guys!"

And off she went.

"Bye, Gadget!" Maisy waved, then said, under her breath, "She's so weird."

"Yeah, but we love her," Tillie said.

"Yeah, I know," smiled Maisy, as they walked into the cafeteria together.

Running past them went little tammie-headed girl. She practically flew past the throng of students milling in and trudging down the hallways, deftly weaving in and out of them like a snake in the grass. It was a wonder she didn't bump into anyone even once.

Down the maze of hallways she flew, finally stopping at a dividing lane to peer down a path at a familiar figure.

"Mr. Pinky!" she called out, desperately trying to catch her breath as she sprinted up to him.

Pinky smiled down at her, one paw resting on a handle on a door labeled 'Professor Ronald Pinkus, PhD Trozology, 210", his other arm still balancing the heavy box.

"I forgot to give you this!" Olivia panted, stretching out a sweaty hand to proffer him a little white note.

He took it, not without some difficulty, and tucked it into his box.

"Thank you, Olivia! Here..."

And he extracted from the box the bag of chips and handed it to her. She took it, puzzled.

"Tuppence for your trouble," he said, winking at her.

"Thank you, Sir! Good-bye!" Olivia waved, practically glowing as she ran back down the hallway, ripping open the bag and popping a chip in her mouth in the process.

Grinning sweetly, Dr. Ronald Pinkus opened the door and stepped inside.

It was dark, and it took a moment for him to find the light. When he finally flipped a switch, it revealed to him his new abode. It wasn't the most spacious area. In fact, as compared to Dr. Brain's (or... was it Brian's?) classroom this one was visibly a tad more... cramped. Only twenty seats lay stacked in a corner, their blue paint a little chipped and their legs a mite bent. They looked more like middle-school chairs than the nicer seats found throughout most of the school. The light was dim - perhaps a little too much so. He'd need to fix that. There was a fairly solid-looking desk, at least, as well as a small waste bin, some pencils, a large chalkboard behind the desk, and one of those roll-around televisions in another corner. By all accounts, this room was trash as compared to the rest of the university, but where anyone else would have turned their nose up at it... Pinky beamed.

Setting his box down upon the desk, he hung his lab attire up on a nearby coat hanger and inhaled, breathing in the smell of old glue, old chalk, and a very slight tinge of old bubblegum. The glue smell tickled his nose and he giggled. He rather liked that scent. It reminded him of something. Something sweet...

Quietly, he relieved the poor box of its contents, placing everything in the best places he figured they should go, and set the empty box down in a corner.

"There you go, old box. Sorry for all the trouble!" he apologized. The box said nothing.

He turned back to his desk, smiling at a job well done. The three Bunsen Burners stood proudly on one corner of the desk, looking very professional indeed. The notepads and pens looked quite nice on the desk, along with the roll of tape, and there was even a little shelf under the roll-away tv that he was able to put his Honeymooners tapes on! It was perfect. Well, almost.

From his lab coat, he pulled out a handkerchief, which he carried with him to an empty bathroom across the hall. Wetting it and wringing it out, he stepped back into his classroom, shut the door behind him, and carefully, gently, wiped down the picture frame, a smile kissing his lips as he did so. Four little figures beamed up at him: two older mice, himself as a child, and, curiously, a spool of thread, which he was hugging in the photo. Having cleaned the little glass and frame, Pinky brought it up to his face... and kissed it... before setting it back down on his desk, right there in front, where he could always look at it.

There was only one thing left to attend to: the note that Olivia had given him. He picked it up from the desk, unfolded it, and read:

Mr. Pinky,

My sincere apologies for directing you to the wrong classroom. I hope that old bat didn't give you too much trouble. Please, alert me if you need anything.

- Mrs. Judson

Pinky grinned, chuckling a little as he set the note back down on the table and stepped out from behind the desk.

He sighed happily and looked around the room, gaze glistening.

"I made it, Mum. I made it."

#pinky and the brain #pinky #brain #fan fiction

[the-gray-ghosty]

LLoyd dyes his hair/sibling fluff

so I have seen the idea where LLoyd dyes his hair, and decided i’d write about it but with some sibling fluff added in. (Mostly Lloyd, Nya, and Skylar.) Enjoy!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Skylar’s POV~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“What colors do you want?” Skylar asks Lloyd, looking at all of the options of hair dye.

“I think that sky blue is pretty,” Nya says, pointing at the light blue dye on the shelf,  

“But you can do whatever you want.” Nya says with a kind smile. 

Lloyd picks up the blue she brought up and puts it in the basket Skylar is holding. He then grabs a green bottle from the shelf and looks at it. 

“I like this one, it's bright.” Lloyd says as he looks at the girls. “What do you think?” 

“I think it's great!” Skylar says as she puts it in the basket. She loves the color green on Lloyd, and is glad he is also going for blue. It will look pretty damn cool. 

“Now we need gloves and a shower cap. I'll get the cap, you guys want to go find the gloves?” Skylar asks the two ninjas. They both nod and walk away. Skylar laughs to herself as she sees the clock on the wall of the convenience store they are at. It reads 12:34am. Nya and Skylar were having a sleepover when they had both woken up to screaming coming from Lloyd's room. They rushed in and found him having a terrible nightmare. Nya woke him up and tried to calm him down, for he often has mental breakdowns after nightmares this bad. After they calmed him down Nya whispered to her how they should distract him and Skylar mentioned hair-dying. That's how they ended up here. She wasn’t upset though. She would do Anything for Lloyd, especially after he saved her (and carried her halfway across Ninjago) during their fight with the colossus. 

She turns the corner to see Lloyd and Nya physically wrestling for a bag. It’s a  neon pink shower cap. Lloyd looks up from where he is laying on the ground and quickly jumps up, muttering something about stupid pink shower caps. 

“You gotta help me Skylar,” he says breathlessly while Nya stands in triumph behind him. 

“Nya wants me to wear a pink shower cap and I really don't want to.” he starts to smile, then laughs. Skylar knows that he really doesn't care, it's more for fun and his pride. 

“Awwww I think you would look beautiful in it Lloyd, and that's 2 out of 3 votes so sorry bud.” she says with a shit-eating grin. Lloyd laughs and puts the cap in the basket.  They walk up to the counter, passing the candy aisle. Skylar pretends to not notice when Lloyd gets a handful of candy bars into the basket, smiling like a little kid. He kinda is a little kid, she thinks sadly, remembering the tea. 

The dude at the counter looks half asleep, and surprised they are there, which is weird because Lloyd and Nya fighting for the cap was definitely not quiet. 

They walk out into the dark street with their bags, and Skylar slightly shivers from the crisp air. Lloyd hands her his sweatshirt, which she realizes isn't his sweatshirt as she puts it on. 

“Is this Coles?” she asks, pointing to the symbol of earth on the back. 

“Yea, I took it from him.” Lloyd says with a smug grin. 

“He has very comfy hoodies.” Nya adds on. “I steal his sweatpants too.”

Both laugh at that, and  Skylar giggles. 

Lloyd and Nya create their power dragons and Skylar jumps on the dragon with Lloyd, and they fly for about 15 minutes up to the monastery.

~~~~~~~~time skip~~~~~~~~~~~~nobody’s POV~~~~~~~~~~~~

After they sneaked back into the monastery they settled in Nya’s bedroom/bathroom. They all know Nya has the biggest bathroom so that’s where it would be best to dye Lloyd’s hair. 

“I'm so excited!” Lloyd exclaims happily while setting up the dyes on the counter. He adds-

“I’ve always wanted to dye my hair!” and Nya rubs his golden locks and snorts.

“What do you think Kai’s reaction will be? And Wu, and everyone else?” she asks the two others smiling. Lloyd and Skylar start laughing, both imagining everyone’s reactions. 

Nya then claps her hands together and dramatically exclaims;

“Well Lloyd, you ready to become beautiful?” 

“I'm already beautiful, but hell yea!” Skylar snorts at that response from the green ninja. 

Skylar squeezes each bottle of dye (green and blue) into their seperate bowls while Nya makes Lloyd sit in the big chair in front of the mirror and she starts sectioning off his hair. 

“I guess after this the boys won't be able to call you Rapunzel anymore.”

 Nya laughs at Skylar’s comment and shakes her head. 

“The boys and their dumb nicknames, I swear.” she mutters, snickering. 

Skylar turns on Nya’s music speaker and turns on auto-play for some background sound, then walks over and helps Nya section off Lloyd's hair. 

~~~~~~~~~~time skip~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Too late to turn back now, green-bean.” Nya states excitedly as she starts dying his hair. Nya was painting with the green dye while Skylar was painting with the blue dye. They had bought gloves and rubber bands at the store also, the bands were around sections telling each girl where to dye what color. 

Lloyd slightly clears his throat and starts talking to the girls;

“To be honest, I'm really excited. I have been wanting a change for a while, and this is so fun! It's also...it's really nice of you guys to do this for me. I know it's really late, and...thanks.”

“Aww Lloyd you are so sweet! I would give you a hug but my hands are kind of covered in blue so you will get hugged later.'' Skylar says with a laugh. Nya nods in harmony. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~time skip~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Ready to rinse it out?” 

“Hell yes!” Lloyd cries as he jumps up off the chair and runs over to the bathtub, where he turns on the water. It's been an hour of sitting, waiting for the dye to sink in. Nya walks over and scrubs the back of his head. There is soooo much dye coming out of his hair, running into the tub. 

“FSM this better not stain my bathtub.” Nya mutters. Lloyd chitters at that. 

After about 15 minutes of Lloyd rinsing off his hair, he sits back into the chair and Skylar grabs the blow dryer.

Skylar combs and dries his hair, and Nya sits on the counter and watches. Lloyd is faced away from the mirror because he insisted it had to be a surprise.

“Whether it's a good surprise or a bad surprise, I don't know” he says with a laugh and a huge smile on his face. 

It’s now about 3:30am, and it's a surprise none of the other ninjas have woken up. They aren't really being that quiet, Lloyd thinks, listening to the Katy Perry coming out of the speaker. 

“And...we’re done!” Skylar exclaims as Nya and Lloyd cheer. 

“Are you ready to see your hair?” 

“Heck yes!” Lloyd declared and spun the chair around. 

“WOAH THIS IS SO AWESOME!!” Lloyd jumps up and runs his hands through his now green and blue hair. 

“I LOVE IT!!” he cries out as he snatches both Skylar and Nya in a hug. 

“Thank you both, you are amazing; the best sisters I could ever ask for.” Skylar beams with happiness at that comment, and Nya giggles. 

“Well I don't know about any of you, but I am dead tired,” Nya starts to say, watching Lloyd play with his new colored hair. 

“Do you guys wanna hit the sack?” 

Skylar nods and turns off the lights in the bathroom. 

“We can clean up tomorrow.'' Lloyd tittered at that and started walking to the door. 

Nya jumps up. “Wait, why don't you sleep in here with us?” 

Lloyd turns to face her as Skylar adds; 

“Yes we have a mattress in the closet, here let me-” she jumps up and runs into the closet, pulling out a foam mattress and some blankets. Lloyd absolutely beams. 

“Thanks guys, this means so much” he states as he lays down on the make-shift bed, knowing that he wont have any more nightmares tonight. 

“Honestly though I can’t wait for everyone's reactions, we will have to make a plan tomorrow to show them.'' Skylar says while giggling. “Goodnight guys.” She hears 2 responses and falls asleep. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~morning, 9am~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~~~~~~Lloyd’s POV~~~~~~~

Lloyd wakes up to giggling and realizes he isn't in his own bed. He panics, then remembers what happened last night. He rolls over and sees his sisters laying on Nya’s bed watching TV. 

“Morning girls! He cheerfully exclaims as they both jump, neither had noticed he was awake. 

Nya sits up and smiles at the boy with colored hair. 

“I'm sooooo excited to show the team!” Nya says quickly, and Skylar and Lloyd both laugh in agreement. 

“We need to make a plan, are they all awake yet?” he asks the girls.

“Yes, they are all awake. Zane came up and asked us if you wanted to play videogames with them but we refused. We told him you were still sleeping.'' Skylar tells Lloyd as he stands up and stretches. 

“They are all in the video game room, even Wu.-” Skylar gasps. “What if Nya and I went down and watched them play, totally normal right? Then you come down and just sit down next to us, like nothing is wrong? You know how they get with videogames, we should see how long it takes them to notice!” Lloyd snorts and starts laughing at this idea. 

“Hell yes, that is what we are doing.” 

Both Nya and Skylar have huge grins on their faces as they walk downstairs and sit on the farthest away couch from the couch the other ninja are on in the gaming room. A couple of the guys say good morning, (Cole, Zane and Jay) but none of the others really notice they are there.

That's when chaos starts. When Lloyd walks in.

It was fine when he first walked in, saying good morning. He walks in front of the other boy’s couch and goes to sit with Nya. Cole is the first to notice. He doubles back, staring at Lloyd, then bursts out laughing. Zane and Jay turn to see what he is laughing at and see it. Zane isn't fazed, just says;

“Cool look!” While Jay on the other hand jumps up and runs to Lloyd, grabbing a handful of his now green/blue hair, saying

“OH MY GoSH THIS IS SO COOL! WHEN DID YOU DO THIS???” to which Nya responds with;

“Last night.” with a smug grin and Skylar nods. 

Wu had just put a hand on his forehead and looked either disappointed or trying not to smile. Actually, Lloyd thought, he looked both. 

That’s when Kai ran over, and saw. He looks like he’s about to pass out. That's what makes Lloyd lose it. The look on Kai’s face of confusion. He is laughing so hard there are tears in his eyes and the girls are giggling as well.

After the chaos slows down, Lloyd answers the big questions; 

“We did it last night, around 3am I think.” he responds, looking at Nya for confirmation, she nods, saying that yes it was around 3am. That's when Jay noticed something. 

“Wait, green and blue? That's my color! Does that mean I'm your favorite brother?” Kai then jumps up and retorts; “Obviously I'm his favorite brother.”  The two start bickering, but not meanly, more like brotherly-arguing. 

Lloyd steps in and stops the argument by saying

“Actually if the blue stands for anyone here it's Nya.” Nya beams and looks at the boys with a look that says “Ha Ha Ha I Win!” Lloyd snickers.  

Lloyd gets many more nicknames from his brothers after dying his hair, but he loves how colorful it is. And a few months after it wore out, he went to his sisters for help dying it again, this time pink.

#ninjago #lloyd garmadon #nya smith #skylar #lego ninjago #lego ninjago: masters of spinjitzu #funny #sorry its so long

[pennywisethedancingclownofderry]

Happy Holidays @give-me-food-and-ninjago !

I was your secret santa partner! I'm sorry that I wasn't able to find the time to familiarise myself with your oc's and I wasn't able to find a way to stick Morro in there anywhere so I hope this will suffice! It's under the cut! (Nevermind I can't figure out how to cut it off sorry everyone)

Thankyou to @coco-jaguar for hosting the event and affording everyone this wonderful opportunity!

Cole peered in through the glass, grimacing when he was forced to wipe away the misting of breath that condensed against the tank’s visage.

“Are you satisfied with your purchase?” Pixal’s voice was cool, yet it held a trace of amusement as the nindroid watched the gecko’s movements alongside him.

“Yeah I am! Look at the little guy!”

The ‘little guy’ in question was currently sleeping inside the faux cave that served as a shelter for the reptile.

“So, what will his name be?” Cole turned to face the android, forehead creased.

“I don’t know really, haven’t thought about it.”

Despite the lack of forethought alluded to in the previous statement, the gecko hadn’t really been a spur of the moment purchase, though it may have seemed like that to the other residents aboard the Destiny’s Bounty. Cole had been considering getting a pet for months and had spent many a late night on his phone, researching pet enclosures and care, hurriedly shoving the phone under a pillow when he heard footsteps patrolling outside the bedroom door.

Luckily, the assorted ninja no longer shared a bedroom, meaning that he didn’t necessarily have to run his plan by the others. However, that wasn’t to say that he had kept his newest acquisition strictly a secret, it wasn’t long after he’d decided on a pet that suited him that a certain curly-haired motor mouth had caught him comparing the prices of tanks on his phone.

‘Pets R’ Us’ was offering a tank for about $90, however ‘Petz Mart’ was offering one of similar specifications, except that it was priced at $150. The only difference? ‘Petz Mart’ had a warranty that lasted about a year longer than its competitor.

A weight landed on his shoulder and Cole jumped as his assailant offered his opinion. “I think you should go with ‘Petz Mart’, can’t beat a longer warranty!” Cole flinched around, staring at his friend’s freckled visage. Jay’s grin split nearly from ear to ear as he watched the earth ninja sputter and choke on his own spit.

“Sooooo, what are you doing? Looking for “Rocky 2 point-“

Cole slammed his hand against the lightning ninja's much maligned 'mouth of lightning' with a hiss. “Shut up!” he glanced about the empty kitchen, concerned that more busybodies would suddenly make themselves known.

He glanced back at his friend and was grateful to find that, as opposed to being offended, Jay seemed to be nothing other than amused. Cole could feel him smirking behind his callused palm and one gingery eyebrow ascended higher and higher up his forehead.

Jay then did the predictable, and utterly disgusting. Licking up the earth ninja’s sweaty palm, the broad grin stretched to near nightmarish lengths, painting his face in a sadistically humourous light.

Cole retrieved his hand with a noise of deep disgust, eyebrows scrunching together.

Jay noticed this movement and couldn’t help but quip, “I’m just saying! I didn’t think you needed any more pets than that lovely pair of caterpillars on your face!”

Said caterpillars then attempted to take their relationship to greater lengths as they pressed further together.

Jay laughed, noticing Cole’s glare. “Oh come on! It’s a joke! What are you doing anyway?” he inquired, not very subtly changing the subject.

Cole sighed. “I’ll tell you if you promise to keep that big mouth of yours shut!”

Jay responded, for once, nonverbally, by miming zipping his lips shut and then, somehow, throwing away the zipper.

“I want to get a pet, okay? I’ve been looking into it lately and a gecko seems like a good fit to me! They sleep a lot and-“

Now it was Jay's turn to physically silence the other. “Okay! Okay? I get it, I don’t need the whole rant.”

Cole turned his eyes downward, “Well isn’t that ironic?”

Jay chose to ignore, or simply didn’t hear the thinly veiled insult. “Sooooooo. . . What are you going to call it?”

Cole blinked back at him. “I don’t know, not yet at least. I’ll figure it out when I meet them.”

And so, Cole’s hypothetical pet remained unnamed, yet even when he did first lay eyes upon the miniscule reptile, still he had no idea what to name him.

Kai was the next to learn about the new acquisition to the ninja family and as he came across the gecko he came up with what he considered to be the most creative and cutting edge among pet names.

“Scales!” he claimed. “Scales is a great name for a lizard!”

Cole frowned, nowadays that seemed to be his default expression. “But we already know a Scales and I don’t think we know him well enough to go naming pets after him!”

Kai nodded, giving his version of what was considered to be understanding. “How about . . . Godzilla, then?”

Cole fixed him with the coldest glare he thought possible. “No.” He stated, steely tone leaving no room for argument.

Zane was the next to come across the gecko, exploring his friend’s room in the hunt for dirty washing.

“Why don’t you name him something with cultural or personal siignificance? Like after the first Spinjitzu master or your father?”

Yet again Cole shook his head. He couldn’t really see any reason to name a lizard after the first Spinjitzu master.

Besides, 'Lou' seemed a stupid name for a gecko.

Nya's take on the situation was just as unhelpful as she attempted to list the unnamed gecko’s physical features as a way of selecting a name for him.

“Spots?” She drummed her callused fingers across the bedside stand Cole had selected to hold the tank.

Cole didn’t even bother to lift his face from where he had mashed it into his pillows, which were luckily softer than those afforded to him on Chen’s island.

“No.”

Nya hummed, peering into the tank.

“Webby?”

Cole frowned. “Webby?” he repeated.

Nya turned and began pointing with her right hand at the junction between finger and thumb on the left.

“You know, like the webbing between your digits.” To emphasise the point the water ninja began to enthusiastically waggle the fingers on both her hands.

Okay, she was definitely doing jazz hands at this point.

Cole groaned. “He’s a leopard gecko, he doesn’t have webbed feet!” he snapped.

Instead of being offended, Nya grinned. “Sorry, not everyone’s a lizard expert, you know?”

She looked back at the tank, peering intently at the gecko, who stared straight back.

Eventually the water ninja was the one to lose the staring contest. Straightening, Nya turned once more to the earth ninja.

“Scales?”

“Your brother already suggested that.”

Nya’s grin flickered as a look of disgust crossed over her features.

“Well, that’s one great mind I don’t want to think alike with.”

Lloyd didn’t so much as offer advice on naming the gecko, but rather sat on Cole’s bed with a book of baby names. The earth ninja had no idea why he had such a thing. When asked Lloyd offered little to no explanation. Stating that he’d bought it for personal reasons.

Of course Cole could respect such a thing, and as such he didn’t question the green ninja any more.

“Aberforth?”

“No.”

“Abraham?”

“No.”

“Adam?”

“No.”

“Then what do you want to call it?”

Cole couldn’t honestly answer. He could only hope that the next person he asked would be more helpful.

“Sensei Wu?”

The old man didn’t offer any verbal answer, instead fixing his aging eyes on his hopeful student.

“I’m trying to find the right name for my pet.”

“Hmmm.”

“And no one’s really offered any good advice for what I should name him.”

“Hmmm.”

Cole blinked. “You’re not going to help me either, are you?”

The elderly teacher’s lips curled upward into a fond smile. “No, Cole. But I believe in this situation it is best not to offer one’s own opinion but to allow the other to formulate their own.”

Cole hummed in response, fixing his eyes on the aging boards of the land bounty.

The two sat in silence for hours, the elder deep in meditation as his student pondered his gecko. Eventually, Cole looked up to meet his sensei’s eyes.

“Ferdinand.” He mumbled, eyes fixed on the teacher's face. “Ferdinand sounds right.”

A small smile began to form on the teacher’s face. “And is that the name you think fits your pet?”

Cole smiled as he thought back to the gecko. “Yeah. Yeah, I think it is.”

Cole peered through the pristine glass of the tank.

“Ferdinand?”

The gecko’s eyes blinked from inside the tank.

Cole smiled. “Ferdinand it is then.”

#ninjago #ninjago secret santa 2019

[dragonnadder]

Quicksilver and Pyrite

Before I begin, I should introduce. This is the first chapter of an AU Ninjago fanfiction I started post-TLNM, and plan to continue for some time. It’s been up on Wattpad for a while, but as I’m not friends with as many Ninjago fans there as here, I decided to try sharing here to see what y’all think. This also takes place after this one-shot I wrote. 

Chapter 1 - Gilded Solstice, Part 1

Zane was the first one awake. He blinked his optical sensors open and performed a brief self-scan, making sure nothing was out of place. Satisfied, he climbed out of his bed (unnecessary, he knew, but comforting nonetheless), and wandered onto the deck of the Destiny's Bounty, floating at about two hundred meters in the air and roughly a kilometer from New Ninjago City. After climbing up on top of the poop deck, he sat down and watched the clear night sky slowly fade into the sunrise of the first day of the Gilded Solstice.

Cole was next up. He burst out from under his covers and sat on the edge of his bed, panting. His dreams were bothering him again, and meditating before bed hadn't helped. He tried another breathing exercise, but his heartbeat refused to still. If he even still had a heart - he was still a ghost. Visiting Yang's temple had done nothing for him, only given him more nightmares of their last visit. With a quiet growl, he stormed out through the bedroom walls and ran a few laps around the main deck. When his legs refused to carry him any longer, he collapsed on the ground, winded but clearer of mind. After flopping onto his back, the earth ninja noticed Zane sitting on the rooftop and watching his exertion. Sighing quietly, Cole quickly made his way up to his teammate, who looked down at him with a mild smile.

Lloyd woke up to a faint banging sound under the floorboards. A glance at the other beds revealed everyone but Kai having gotten up already. Jay and Nya's beds seemed hardly touched, which was concerning. With a small exhale, he stood up and let out a small laugh/groan as he put weight on his left leg, which was asleep. Ah, First Master, he cursed quietly, half limping to Kai's bedside and shaking the older ninja awake. He stirred and got up, one hand brushing loose strands of hair out of his face. "Lloyd? What's going on?"

"It's morning. I'm gonna go look for Jay and Nya, and I think the other two are above." A yell, a clang, and a peal of laughter interrupted him, followed by indistinct chatter. "That's probably them. Care to join me?"

"Sure," Kai blearily responded, pushing himself up. A red coloring tinged the fire ninja's cheeks as he sat up and closed his eyes for a moment.

"You okay, Kai?" Lloyd asked. "Your face is red."

"Hmm? Oh, no, I'm... I'm fine." He stretches and tried to stand, but collapsed with a wince.

"You are the opposite of fine. Come on, I'll help you down." Lloyd pulled his teammate back up and supported him as they walked out of the room and down the stairs. "What happened between you and Jay?" he asked as the tingling in his leg faded and he could stand straighter. "Ever since you guys came back from that trip last week, there's been a weird vibe between the two of you."

"Nothing happened," he insisted, a small shiver running through him. "We're just-" He broke off in a fit of coughing.

"You're sick, Kai. Something happened, and now you're sick. You need to take it easy for once."

"What! I can't do that! I have three interviews scheduled for today! My fans need to be updated! I have to do things!"

"You can have Jay or Zane set you up with one of those facecon apps if it's so vital for you to contact them. But you're not heading into the city. You need to recover."

Kai continued protesting as the two headed down the corridor and stopped in front of the entrance to the mech dock the two techies had set aside for their projects. Lloyd pushed the trapdoor open, knelt, and looked around at the odd chaos the two had caused.

By some technomagical ingenuity, the inside of the mech dock was bigger than the entire ship seemed able to contain. Six color-coded mechanical beasts were arranged roughly equidistant from one another around the room. Each seemed designed after a different creature, all of which had capabilities of flight. Five of them - the red, green, black, and both blues - were sitting relatively peacefully around the hangar doors in the center room, albeit occasionally sparking from exposed wires and with various pieces of scrap metal sitting around and on them. The white mech, however, was a different story.

Seemingly designed to look like Zane's falcon, the mech was plated in silver and white with glowing blue eyes. Jay was sitting on the bird's shoulders (or whatever they were called, Lloyd certainly didn't know), yelling at the mech and waving a socket wrench wildly. His hair was vaguely poofy from being untended-to and probably awake the entire night. Nya was sitting on the ground nearby with a discarded welder and a few bits of metal, laughing.

Kai leaned over his shoulder and made a small sound of disbelief, and, before Lloyd realized what he was doing, pushed him aside and began to climb down the ladder. His grip failed him a few rings down, however, and he fell down the rest of the way, hitting the floor with a muffled whump. Lloyd quickly hurried down after him.

Jay had heard Kai's fall, and dropped his gear immediately. He slid down the back of the bird mech, which shuffled its feet and snapped its beak, and rushed over to him, Nya close behind him. He hardly noticed Lloyd coming down the ladder, all his attention focused on Kai. With Nya's help, he turned him over onto his back and checked him over for injuries, of which none were noticeable.

"Is he okay?" Lloyd asked, having come over at some point, and Jay gave a panicked laugh.

"Okay? Of course he's okay! Anyone would be okay after falling thirty feet off a ladder!" He continued ranting for a few moments more, but stopped as he felt Kai stir under his hands.

"Jay-Jay, stop panicking," his muffled voice said slowly. "It's... not helping."

"First Master, Kai! You scared me half to death!"

There was a pause.

"You scared both of us almost entirely to death," was the fire ninja's response as he slowly sat back up.

Jay laughed and hugged Kai, and Lloyd and Nya glanced between the two, obviously confused.

"Weird vibe, I'm telling you," he overheard him say to her.

"Jay, get off, now," Kai said after a few moments. He released his stranglehold and backed off as he stood.

"Where're Cole and Zane?" Jay asked after noting their absence. "I don't feel like explaining these mechs more than once."

"They're above, most likely," Lloyd replied. "I think they're-"

"Speak of the devil," Nya interrupted, gesturing to the ladder. The two missing ninja were climbing down and walking over to the other four.

"'Morning!" Zane said cheerfully. "We heard a bit of a commotion and decided to come down. Hopefully you haven't forgotten about the Gilded Solstice celebrations?"

"The... Oh, First Master," Jay groaned, putting his face in his hands. He felt someone - Kai, probably - put a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"We completely forgot. The mechs aren't quite finished yet, but almost all the wiring and coding's complete. Maybe you boys could help us finish up?" Nya asked.

Cole responded, "You're gonna have to catch us up a bit first, Nya. We got a lot of work to do, and I'd rather not screw it up."

Kai's mech was a streamlined firebird in red and orange whose form could be ignited with a press of a button. He was quick to point out that he could also light them up with his own powers, and was eager to test it out before being shouted down by the other ninja, for obvious reasons.

The darker blue mech was Jay's, in the form of a dragonfly/firefly fusion. The wings and abdomen of the bug would be able to light up in glowing lightning blue and course with electricity when complete. At the moment, they were just semitransparent reinforced glass or tough cloth.

Nya's mech was also a bird, designed after the legendary sigmarus, a water-elemental form of a phoenix. Painted in every shade of turquoise and ocean blue, it would be a sight to see out in the sky.

Next to Zane's falcon stood Cole's mech, a brown, copper, and bronze dragon with striking similarity to his first dragon, Rocky. Its onboard AI had been designed to mimic Rocky as much as Jay could remember, with a bit of unknowing input from Cole himself.

The final mech belonged to Lloyd. It was a serpentine, wingless dragon in various hues of green and accented with gold, a nod to his former place as the Golden Ninja. The dragon's eyes whirred to life and it looked at its blonde owner with a slightly tilted head. He waved back, nervous, and the mech responded with a small puff of warm air and a slow blink.

The six ninja set to work quickly, fixing, adjusting, and testing the mechs. Zane shouted out the time every so often, to their annoyance - the celebrations would begin at sunset, which, as Zane reminded them, was at 8:43 in the evening. About an hour before noon, Kai took one of the skimmers Cyrus Borg had built for them a little while before and headed out to the city to grab lunch for the group. By the time he got back with noodles from Skylor's noodle place, the others were about to give up and go make food themselves.

After a short lunch break, Jay and Nya were satisfied enough with their progress that the group took their mechs out for a test flight. One by one, they dropped out of the mech bay and sailed into the open sky. Although the mechs still had a few kinks to work out, Nya was happy with how far they'd gotten. They might even be able to decorate the mechs before the Solstice festivities began. They'd definitely have time to deck the ship, though.

With a bit of struggle, the ninja managed to split into two groups to continue preparing. Zane, Jay, and Lloyd stayed and continued working on the mechs, while Nya, Kai, and Cole went up and started finding decorations for the Destiny's Bounty.

As they dug around in the storage rooms, Kai was struck by the sheer amount of tea supplies. Sensei Wu had obviously been prepared for many long journeys before he was sent into the time rift. He sifted through one small container, crushing some of the leaves together on his fingers and smelling them. They smelled vaguely like peppermint and lemon.

"I found a stash of lanterns," he heard Nya announce. "We could string these up on the railings, and on the roof of the pilot's cabin."

"That could look good on the sails, too. Kai, mind lighting these up for us once we get above?"

He lifted his head and nodded. "No problem."

"We can't put lanterns on the sails, it'll impede their function and we wouldn't be able to go anywhere."

"Maybe you're right at that."

Nya scoffed. "Maybe."

"What've you got there, Kai?" Cole asked, kneeling next to him.

"Sensei's tea leaves."

"He had a lot of them."

"You could say that again."

There was a brief pause as the three remembered their old Sensei.

"How old even was he?" Kai eventually asked. "I don't remember him ever telling us, and since he's the First Spinjitzu Master's son, he must be pretty dang old."

"He mentioned to the three of us before you arrived that he was roughly a hundred and fifty, something along those lines," Cole responded.

"A hundred fifty!" Nya exclaimed, having joined the other two. "That's absurd. The average person lives for maybe eighty years, ninety if they push it. Even then, they're almost completely bald. Either something genetic in the First Master's lineage gave him really long life, or he was lying to us."

"Sensei wouldn't lie to us," Cole protested.

"Wouldn't he?" Kai challenged.

"What cause would he have to lie to us?"

"To keep us safe? To make sure we couldn't destroy him and the rest of the team if we decided to turn against him? He's already-"

"You'd turn against us? What kind of ninja are you?"

"Hypothetically speaking! Why would I want to betray you guys? You're my best friends!"

"Like that's stopped you from leaving us behind before!"

The argument raged on for the better part of a minute, until Nya interrupted with an explosive "Enough!"

Both boys turned to look at her.

"Your arguing isn't helping anyone, least of all yourselves. We have an entire ship to decorate before sunset, and you're bickering like drunkards in a barroom. We are a team, whether you like it or not, whether Wu lied to us or not, so you had better suck up the insults you're throwing at each other and help out or I swear to the First Spinjitzu Master I'll have you cleaning up the streets on your own after the celebrations are over."

Kai exchanged looks with Cole. "Understood, sis."

"Good. Now help me get these lanterns up on deck."

The team of three made quick work of hanging the red paper lanterns around the ship. Off the railings, on the roof's overhang, anywhere they would decoratively fit and not impede the function of the ship. Kai was, for once, careful not to light entire strings of lights on fire, instead focusing on the fires to make them small and concentrated, as Wu had tried to teach him from the start. Cole had found some red and gold ribbon, and climbed up the mast to decorate a bit further, while Nya fastened the lantern strings in place along the ship. The sun was just an hour or so from touching the horizon when the other group of three came up on deck and announced that they were done, and Zane brought out a meat pie for the team's dinner.

Roughly fifteen minutes before sunset, the ninja headed belowdecks to check out the mechs. After settling in and reconfirming their familiarity with the controls, the hangar doors opened, and one by one the team dropped down and flew toward the city.

The often-bustling and chaotic city was decorated similarly to the Bounty, in streams of gold and red. Glowing paper lanterns hung along rooftops and across roads, and depictions of all manner of creatures adorned every meter. Near the center of the city, merchants and food-sellers set up shop in several of the town squares and were hawking their wares as the people danced to the festive music and held cheerful conversation with friends, strangers, and out-of-towners alike. The parades hadn't begun yet, so the ninja landed on the flat roof of a tall nearby building and dismounted, telling the mechs to stay put until they were called.

"Shall we head down?" Lloyd asked with a grin, gesturing to the ground several stories below.

"Race you!" Kai responded, leaping off the building. Jay hurried to the edge, along with the other ninja, and saw him shooting fire out of his hands and feet to slow his fall. He grinned and vaulted over the side, magnetizing his hands and jumping between metal outcrops. Zane flew past him, surfing down an ice bridge forming before him, and Cole followed close behind on a flat slab of rock. Nya shot down nearby, starting a Cyclon-do spin to stop from splatting onto the ground. Behind all the rest, Lloyd swung down, carefully parkouring down the side of the building.

After regrouping on the ground, the team set off to Diamond Square, where the main festivities were taking place. They quickly split up, each heading to a different section of the square. Jay hurried to the food stalls and stared at the goods for sale. Melons and fruits sat next to cherry pies and caramels, and jerky and kebab sticks abounded. He noticed that Chen's Noodle House had set up a small shop a few stalls away, and waved as a break in the crowd appeared and he caught sight of Skylor, who grinned back. Seeing as he had little else to do, he headed over to talk.

"That's 35 back. Enjoy your meal!" she said to the last person in line, who thanked her and walked into the crowd. "'Evening, Jay. What brings you here?"

"We're waiting for the parades to start organizing," he said with an offhand shrug. "You taking part this year?"

She snorted a laugh. "Hardly. There's a chance next year, if I can get someone else to run the booth. Even then, I'd need to build a float or something of the kind, and I'm not sure how much time I have for that."

"Nya and I built our team flying mechs this year. We could probably build you one, too," Jay offered. "We could hold on to it when you're not using it, too, in case you don't have space."

The Master of Amber seemed lost for words, and perhaps the slightest bit confused. "That... that would be great," she finally got out, brushing a lock of red hair behind her ear. "Thanks, Jay."

"I'll send you a message later with details."

"Jay! Sky!" The two turned and saw Kai heading toward them.

"Kai!" she called back with a wave. "You guys are gonna be in the parade?"

"Yep! This guy-" he lightly punched Jay's shoulder "-and my sis built these awesome mechs for us."

"He told me. He also offered to build me a mech for next year's festivities," she said, favoring Jay with a small smile. "Maybe I'll join you then."

"That would be awesome," Kai agreed. "I'm gonna go find Cole."

"I think I saw him by the DJs," Jay told him, gesturing to a spot a short distance from the dancers. As he left, the music changed from cheerful and light to rock and roll.

"He's still a ghost, right?" Skylor asked, and he nodded. "Poor guy. How's he dealing with that?"

"He went to Sensei Yang's temple a few weeks back, before the whole Hands of Time thing. Thought it would help him turn back to human, but it didn't work. He's been having nightmares since then, too."

"Man."

"No kidding."

The two watched the crowd for a few minutes with a few insignificant comments about the festivities before a gong's chime quieted the city. Rising from the post he had been leaning against, Jay told Skylor, "That's our cue to prepare. See you in a bit?"

She smiled and waved him off, and he quickly headed to the building they had landed their mechs on. Zane was sitting on his falcon already, and waved a welcome to Jay as he climbed over the edge of the roof. His lightning bug (he internally chuckled at the pun) was still sitting in the same spot he had left it, luckily. It whirred to life and turned to look at him, and he patted its head before hoisting himself up in front of its wings, checking the panels and levers in its head.

The other ninja quickly appeared, and with a few last-minute power checks and décor adjustments, the group set off to where the parade was organizing.

"Ah! Ninja! We have a spot for you near the front if you'd like to walk, but it appears you've come prepared to fly. Would you like to do that instead?" An organizer dashed up toward them. Her auburn hair seemed disheveled, and she brushed a wavy lock out of her slightly flushed face as she spoke.

"We can fly if there's enough space on the roads," Lloyd responded, climbing down from his dragon, who snorted and nudged his head with its snout while Jay held back laughter at the friendliness of the dragon.

"There should be plenty if you don't all line up side by side."

"Awesome, thanks." Lloyd climbed back up and the team took off into the air, planning out some group maneuvers.

"I have a name for you now," Jay told his mech, who looked back at him and whirred curiously. "Storm. Whaddya think?" It made a sound of approval, and he grinned, patting its side.

"All right! Ninja are heading out first! Repeat, ninja are heading out!" a different organizer called, gesturing a go-ahead to the team. With a shared smile, the ninja zigzagged through the streets and entered Diamond Square as they activated their special abilities.

Kai's phoenix lit on fire as he flipped upside down and high-fived the crowd beneath him, while Nya's sigmarus seemed to ripple and glow slightly. Mech-Rocky breathed out a burst of stone and corkscrewed through the air, and Zane's falcon threw up snow clouds wherever its wings passed. Jay began channeling the lightning, lighting up Storm's transparent bits and glowing with an electric blue, and Lloyd's dragon grew semitransparent, crackling green energy wings as it swooped through the air. Jag felt a wild grin light up his face at how well the mechs were functioning, and whooped as he pulled Storm into a backwards loop.

The crowd cheered, clearly in awe of the mechs, and chattered excitedly. Jay spotted Skylor standing with Camille and Neuro on the far side of the square and waved a hello, which was quickly returned by all three. An effusive grin on his face, he guided Storm in a glowing loop around the square and down a side road, meeting back up with the other ninja as they went up and landed on a building overlooking the square to watch the rest of the parade.

A troupe of dancers had come after the six, and were currently spinning and leaping in flashes of orange and yellow as a small group of musicians played a sprightly accompaniment. After they vaulted through, two battle suits, one in gold and green, the other in black and violet with an extra set of arms, reenacted a scene of combat that Jay recognized as Lloyd and Lord Garmadon's combat some time ago. A glance over at his teammate confirmed his guess. Lloyd was watching them with a faint mixture of a frown and a laughing smile. Beyond them, Dareth and his trainees displayed their skills, to the ninjas' hilarity.

The parade continued for what must have been an hour at the least. As they neared the end, the center of the square opened up, and more festive music began playing as couples entered the opening and began a dance Jay thought he recognized.

"Should we head down and join them?" he asked, looking at his teammates. With the exception of Cole, they all agreed and quickly joined the circles of dancers.

Cole looked at his ghostly green-grey hands and sighed. Rocky lay down next to him, and he stroked his head with one hand. "If only going to Yang's temple had worked," he said quietly. "If only anything had worked. I miss going swimming with the others. And water balloon fights. Now I can't even touch a glass of water without going paranoid."

The dragon made a rumbling sound and nudged at his side, seeming to recognize Cole's... sadness? He wasn't sure what to call it.

"I can't age, I can't eat or drink, I can't even touch half the things around me. If I stay dry, I would just... exist, possibly forever. I don't want that, but I don't want to die without becoming solid again first." He leaned back against Rocky's side and exhaled a sigh. "Am I dead already? I don't need any of the essentials of living life, but I still feel. I still hurt, and I still laugh and sadden and all of that. Maybe I'm just an in-between. Not dead or alive, just... existing, here, now. Forever."

The two sat on the roof and watched the moon cross the three-quarters-down mark, surrounded by deactivated and sleeping mechs and seeming for all the world as sentinels of a forgotten age as the dances continued below.

As the stars turned in their endless cycle above him, Cole drifted through his thoughts aimlessly. A new vision overlaid the cityscape before him - crumbling ruins colored with rust and vines, dust swirling through abandoned roads. The patterns of the Diamond Square were chipped and faded, untouched in what must have been decades, perhaps centuries. The mechs around him were rusted and torn, never again to raise their heads and spread their wings for flight. The sky was clear and filled with stars in a way the living city, the old city, never could have seen. Despite the ruins all around him, a sense of serenity pervaded the air, albeit tinged with a bit of sadness. He was the only "living" creature in this new world, the guardian of a past unremembered and watcher of a future unknown.

Here was a world where he could fit in. Here was a world where he could walk through the city without being stared at and hidden from.

Here he was alone.

In both this future and the present, Cole was still as the ghostly traces of music rippled through his thoughts and the moon slowly set behind him, marking the end of the first - and last - night of the Gilded Solstice.

#ninjago #ninjago jay #ninjago kai #ninjago zane #ninjago cole #ninjago nya #ninjago lloyd #ninjago plasmashipping #plasmashipping #Fireshock #ninjago skylor #ninjago camille #ninjago neuro #ruby writes #writing #fanfiction #fanfic #ninjago fanfiction

[xcamay]

Hi everyone! First, let me apologize for the small delay..! To tell you the truth, I had 4pages for a Halloween fic (set in the Aqours as parents AU), but I finally changed my mind and started working on a new semi-Halloween-related fic yesterday, but it got late and I was tired and my baby cat Nola kept climbing on me to get my attention because she just wanted me to lie down in bed so she could sleep too ... And so I gave in, haha, and decided to write the last scene of this fic this morning. I really, really, really (...) really hope that you will enjoy this new AU just like I've been enjoying working on it for the past few weeks, and just like I enjoyed writing it yesterday! It's an AU that I hold very close to my heart, and I really wanted to share it with everyone so, now, I just have to pray that you will all like it a little ... :’3 Before I forget, I would like to thank @my-idol-you-chan and another friend (Entropy! I’m sorry I don’t remember your tumblr name :c) with all my heart for proofreading me, but mostly for giving me their opinion on that fic! (And for encouraging me to publish it, even if they don’t know that)

I'm kinda getting off the beaten track, as it's an AU with µ's and A-RISE. So ... No YouRiko this time, guys! :') I still love them dearly, don't worry. But I'm going to shower you with TsubaHono, EreAnju, NozoEli, RinPana, KotoUmi and NicoMaki as much as I can with it!

Warning → this is a specific AU which can have some OOC characters once in a while. I'm not fond of, um, OOCness, but it'll be needed for a few scenes sometimes here, and I'm pretty sure you'll understand why when you know what this AU is (I won't say it, I want you to discover it while reading hehe~). Oh and, despite that once-in-a-while OCCness, please know that I'll do my best to stick to all the girls' real personality! Maybe except Tsubasa, Erena and Anju, seeing as the anime didn't give many scenes with them and, so, very little detail ...

Thank you for your time, and I hope you’ll enjoy! And ... Happy Halloween, I hope you didn’t spook too many children and that you got a lot of sweets~

(Oh and! HAPPY BIRTHDAY RIN-CHAN♥)

October 31st, 07:02

“K-Kotori-chan, I-I’m sorry I’m late!”

“There there,” Kotori chuckles as she pats her panting co-worker’s –and new friend– head, “It’s all right, Hanayo-chan. We’re still on time, don’t worry.”

“B-but won’t our mentors be mad at us …?” Hanayo finally straightens up, and Kotori is surprised to see that the young woman’s cheeks have a rosy tint –did she run to get here?

“At worst, it’s the first time we aren’t here at 7AM sharp since we’ve started working here.” Kotori offers her a reassuring smile as they both walk toward the entrance of the building, “I bet we’ll be fine, Hanayo-chan.”

“Yeah …”

“And I can’t wait to see what’s planned today!” the amber-eyed girl cheerfully goes on, clapping her hands while displaying a wide smile, “I wonder what they do on Halloween, here!”

“I-I’m curious about that, too …” Hanayo lightly scratches her cheek, wincing a little, “I mean, they told us we can’t dress up for the occasion, so … Do they really do something?”

“We’re going to find out!” Kotori smiles but, as soon as they reach the doors, she stops and turns to look at her friend, the worry slightly distorting her features. “Hanayo-chan … Are you okay?”

That simple question catches the brunette off guard, who lets out a surprised ‘Eh?’.

“I mean, you still seem a little bit … Stressed.”

Hanayo instantly looks away, as if she were feeling very ashamed. She gulps and shakily sighs, “I … I never know what to expect here, even if it’s part of our job … But I do like it here, though!” Her expression is now a resolute one, which makes Kotori smile.

She knows how sensitive Hanayo is, and she clearly remembers their first day –the day they met– here, at the psychiatric hospital : before starting, they were in a room, which became their classroom day after day so their instructor could teach them the basics and some procedures ; and Kotori took a seat next to that nervous and shaking young girl. She was twisting her fingers, and sometimes went very pale during the doctors’ speech. Especially when they talked about the criminally-insane patients, who are kept in the forensic ward.

“That’s good Hanayo-chan. Let’s go, then?”

Partly reassured by Kotori’s ever-present smile, Hanayo nods her head and they both walk into the building, the excitement making their hearts flutter.

“Ah! Koizumi-san,” Hanayo holds a shriek back when she hears a voice calling for her, stopping dead in her tracks, frozen “Minami-san. You two are here,” the voice goes on, and the two friends turn on their heels.

In front of them stands a navy-haired woman, with amber eyes, clad in a white blouse, a cream-colored top and classic jeans : the doctor Sonoda Umi. As soon as Kotori sees her, her face brightens.

“Good morning, Umi-chan!”

Without a second thought, a bright red hue dusts the usually so composed doctor, who then stammers :

“R-right … G-g-good morning, Kotori-san …”

Some patients who are already walking down the corridor curiously look at them, others shoot them a weird look ; while Hanayo decides to stay silent, even if she does her best to fight her growing curiosity. She finds herself giving a polite and shy smile to every patient who happens to look at her.

“So, it’s Halloween today Umi-chan,” Kotori begins, her hands linked behind her back, “Will something special happen?”

“Unfortunately, no.” Umi shakes her head, furtively glancing around them, watching everything, “But we did plan activities related to Halloween. Speaking of, Koizumi-san,” Hanayo’s ears perk up at her name “Could you go see the patients who haven’t been checked on yet, and who have to take their medication today, and see if they want to come to this morning’s activity?”

“Y-yes, of course.”

“Here are the patients,” Umi hands her a notepad, before offering her an encouraging smile. “Um … K-Kotori-san and I are going to get everything ready, so we will wait for you.”

“H-hai!”

Pressing the notepad against her chest, Hanayo slightly bows before walking away. She doesn’t dare look back, or glance over her shoulder, fearing that if she does so, they will think she is too unsure and scared of doing that simple task all alone. And they certainly have already left, anyway. Gathering all her courage, Hanayo reads the first name on the sheet of paper … and she lets out a long and relieved sigh. Hoshizora Rin. Her firm favorite patient ; the one she gets along with very well, and the one who always makes her days brighter and brighter. She is well aware of the fact that she shouldn’t get emotionally involved with any patient –the therapists insisted on that point on her first day–, but she’s … She is human, right? So, she can’t really help it.

Before she knows it, Hanayo is already standing in front of the door leading to Rin’s room. After knocking twice, she slowly opens it, a smile illuminating her face. It grows wider the moment she sees the short-haired ginger sitting in her bed, loudly yawning, and rubbing the sleep off her eyes with a bent and closed fist –just like the paw of a cat.

“Good morning, Rin-chan,” she gently greets the patient, her tone of voice as soft as possible, as to not push her so early in the morning.

“Nyaaaw …” Another loud yawn and, at the sight of the nurse that she holds close to her heart, Rin starts kicking the cover on her legs, trying to get out of the bed as quickly as she can. “Kayo-chin, you’re here! Morning, nya!”

“Did you sleep well, Rin-chan?” she asks, letting the girl give her a quick hug –even if she knows that she shouldn’t.

“I did! I even had a dream about you, nya!”

“R-really?”

A soft and touched smile paints Hanayo’s lips as Rin, with her wild gestures, begins to relate everything in detail. It is about the two of them, some cats, a bridge over a river … Hanayo smiles and nods her head several times, still amazed at the fact that Rin has such a good memory.

“And you know, you know, the two cats who got to their feet –or should I say paws?–, they suddenly–“

“R-Rin-chan,” Hanayo carefully interrupts her, a warm and friendly smile on her face, “I have to check on other patients, you know …”

“Oh,” Rin pouts, disappointed, “… Oh but I know, nya! Can I go with you?”

“You should put your clothes on, first,” the nurse chuckles, stealing a glance at the notepad –next patient : Kousaka Honoka–, “And you have to go and take your medication, too.”

“Oh, right. Nya …”

“B-but we’ll see each other later!” Hanayo is quick to reassure her, causing Rin’s chartreuse eyes to glint, “S-Sonoda-san wants you to participate in a new group activity, and–“

“Will you be there, Kayo-chin?”

“I will. I didn’t attend a lot of group activities, so I’d love to–“

“Yay!” Rin cheers, bumping a fist in the air, “I’m going to get dressed, and I’ll see you there, nya!”

“D-don’t forget to take your medication!” Hanayo hurriedly says, earning a nod from the girl before she closes the bathroom door behind her.

Heaving a small sigh, the brunette leaves the room, knowing that she can trust Rin on putting her clothes on alone. She soon reaches a new door, but does not have time to knock that it’s already opening. She blinks, surprised, when she comes face to face with a girl who isn’t Kousaka Honoka.

“A-ah, good morning, Tsubasa-san,” Hanayo greets the chestnut-haired girl, quite unsettled. She is about to ask what she is doing in Honoka’s room, but then she remembers : these two are always together. So much that the staff and other patients nickname them ‘the lovebirds’. Director Nishikino even allowed the staff to not separate them and let them visit each other whenever they want to –‘They are each other’s medication, after all’, she once said.

“Hello,” Tsubasa says with a polite smile, “Honoka-chan is still sleeping, don’t wake her up, please.”

“But–“

As if she had anticipated what Hanayo was about to say, Tsubasa shakes her head and interrupts her, her voice gentle, “I’ll bring her her meds, and I’ll make sure she takes them, don’t worry. You can go on and see the others.”

Kira Tsubasa. As responsible and as caring as ever –especially when it comes to Honoka. She would do anything for her, and always makes sure that the smile she cherishes so much never vanishes from her joyful ginger’s face.

“Thank you very much, Tsubasa-san. Oh! Before I forget …”

“Mh?” Tsubasa lightly hums, stopping herself from taking a step forward.

“Sonoda-san is organizing something this morning. Would you like to come?” And she hastily adds, “With Honoka-chan, of course.”

“We will be here,” the emerald-eyed girl assures with a big smile –despite not spending much time with the lovebirds, Hanayo heard that they were fond of group activities, and especially the ones led by the doctors Sonoda, Ayase, Toudou and Nishikino.

Toujou Nozomi.

Hanayo gulps as she reads the patient’s name. To tell the truth … Toujou Nozomi scares her, a little. It isn’t the kind of fear that makes you freeze right on the spot, that makes your heart beat loudly in your chest –so loudly that it’s the only thing you hear–, no ; it’s mostly the kind of small and short-lived fear that you don’t know how to deal with, because you never know what to expect with her. And that, that stresses Hanayo out.

Toujou Nozomi suffers from borderline personality disorder, and she experiences bad mood swings.

Most of the time, she is a kind, considerate and happy woman, with that mysterious and spiritual aura around her. But last week put her through hell : because doctor Ayase Eli didn’t show up at work, as she caught a nasty strep throat. Her absence ravaged Nozomi’s heart and mind : she felt abandoned.

Luckily, today is supposed to be the day doctor Ayase comes back. And, hopefully, Nozomi will be fine again and will start taking her medication again. Indeed, she stopped taking it the first day Eli wasn’t here. As if it could punish her. And, more importantly, as if it could magically drag Eli here so they could see each other again. If it were possible, Nozomi would have been reassured, and they would have avoided that week full of mood swings, swearing, tears and screams.

“Please, be okay,” Hanayo whispers to herself, eyes closed, “Please, please, be okay, Nozomi-chan …”

“YOU ABANDONED ME!”

The holler startles Hanayo, who slightly jumps and freezes. Her purple eyes are widen open now, and they widen even more –if that’s even possible– the moment she sees the blonde-haired doctor in front of a closed door.

“A-Ayase-san …?”

Hanayo is surprised to see dark rings under those intense blue eyes. Doctor Ayase is still recovering, it seems.

“Hello, Hanayo.” Eli smiles at her, before wincing. “Eh, I guess Nozomi is still mad at me …”

“OF COURSE I AM! MORON!” Nozomi’s voice echoes in her room, but also in the corridor.

Eli lets out a weak chuckle, before looking at Hanayo again.

“Don’t worry, she’ll stop screaming in a few minutes.”

“I WON’T!”

“I’m taking care of her,” Eli says while ignoring the screaming patient on purpose, “I know what Umi planned. I’ll bring her, it’s just going to take me five minutes to be forgiven.” Another chuckle, and she knocks on the door. “Nozomi, just listen to me–“

As Hanayo walks away, a small and amused smile finds its way on her rosy lips –and even more when she hears Nozomi yelling again :

“ELICCHI, YOU DUMB IDIOT!”

The last patient on the list is not hard to find. Actually, even a newbie would be able to find such patient in a second before struggling to know who is in which room.

Yuuki Anju was admitted a few days ago and was placed in one of the two seclusion rooms, in which she has been staying ever since. Usually, every new patient ends up with a room, just like everyone else ; but Yuuki Anju completely withdrew into herself, which makes her … Literally out of reach. She does not speak, does not look at whoever enters the room to try to talk to her, and barely eats. The only time Hanayo heard the sound of Anju’s voice was the day she got admitted, against her will. Some security guards put restraints around her wrists and brought her here, while she was thrashing about, crying and yelling at them to let her go.

Just thinking about it saddens Hanayo.

And the young nurse already feels defeated : trying to interact with Yuuki Anju is a battle that she has already lost.

Standing in front of the door, Hanayo can’t help but glance through the square-like glass window on it –a distinctive feature of a seclusion room is that small window which allows the entire staff to know what’s going on inside. Today, just as usual, there is nothing alarming going on : Anju is here, sitting on the poor plain bed –the only furniture in this room–, tightly hugging her knees against her chest. Just as usual. She is motionless, her chin stuck between her knees and her gaze never leaves the tiled floor. Just as usual. She seems exhausted, and her lilac eyes are dull. Just as usual.

How heartbreaking …

Hanayo inhales sharply and, the moment she grabs the door handle, too many questions start flooding her mind : what is she going to say? A simple ‘hello’, and then wait for an answer which will never come? Or is she going to try to ask something interesting that will make Anju want to speak, for once? … Is she just going to give up a few seconds after passing the door, or will she succeed?

“… Good morning, Anju,” the brunette speaks once she has stepped in the room, a feeling of uneasiness creeping up and sending shivers down her spine –no answer–, “I, uh– I … I’m Koizumi Hanayo and–“

Still no answer.

“–Um, I’m a nurse here …”

The more she talks, the lower her voice becomes, slowly dying down. The lack of reply is not helping her, either. The lack of everything is discouraging : she wasn’t even able to elicit a single thing, not even a sound, a wince or a rictus. Nothing. And it has been like that since they threw her into that white room.

“I … I guess I’ll see you later …”

Hanayo discreetly sighs as she carefully closes the door behind her. What a failure … But at least, she got to check on her and she now knows that there is nothing out of the ordinary. As sad as it’s going to sound, Anju is still the same.

“Ah, Koizumi, I finally found you!” A voice suddenly breaks the young nurse’s train of thoughts. She looks up, only to see doctor Toudou’s piercing but intrigued azure eyes. “Did you talk to Anju?”

“Talking is a big word, Toudou-san,” Hanayo sighs while staring back at the ground, as if she were feeling guilty.

“… I see,” Erena says after a short pause, before she rests a sympathetic hand on the chestnut-haired girl’s shoulder. She slightly squeezes it. “Don’t let yourself get worked up, Koizumi. Let me take the helm, and go meet up with Minami and the others. They’re waiting for you.”

“All right.” Hanayo straightens up a little, and offers her superior a tiny and shaky smile. “Will you try to talk to her, Toudou-san?”

“Yes, I will. I’ve been trying since she got here, and I believe my efforts will pay off, some day.”

October 31st, 08:45

The way Kotori and Umi set up the room makes Hanayo smile the moment she shyly enters. There are six tables, all arranged to make a U-shape, which allows the patients to see and look at each other. Speaking of, all the patients she saw earlier are here : Rin, who excitedly waves at her ; Honoka, all dressed and smiling, her chair glued to the one Tsubasa is sitting on –there is absolutely no space between them. And, finally, Nozomi is also here, and she seems to feel better. Her kind and motherly smile is back, her turquoise eyes twinkle … She and Eli certainly made up, and it’s the best thing that could have happened to Hanayo today. Six other patients are here, and so there are two chairs left –maybe the others will be here soon.

Umi is quick to strike up a conversation, greeting everyone, before going on with a kind smile. At first, she asks what today’s date is, and earns a cute pout from Honoka who got the month wrong –but not the weather– (“Eeh, but I swear it’s December, it’s cold outside!”), before she agrees with Udo, a man in his thirties.

“Indeed Udo-san, it is October 31st.” She nods her head and smiles, “Which means that it’s also Halloween today.”

Rin calmly raises her hand, but her wide smile gives away her enthusiasm, “Can we have candy, then?”

Umi lightly chuckles, “No, no candy.”

“Aww,” Honoka and Rin both pout, eliciting a giggle from Tsubasa.

“But I heard that the doctors Nishikino and Toudou want to do a cooking workshop with everyone in the afternoon.”

With only one sentence, Umi was able to bring a wide smile on everyone’s face –and Kotori can’t help but silently admire her for that. She would have loved to compliment her mentor, but she knows that it would have flustered her to no end, and she wouldn’t have continued :

“I know that you all like to paint and draw, and that’s why I wanted you here today. A few weeks ago, the watercolor painting was a success, you all had fun with that, so I decided to do it again today. With the colors of Halloween, of course!” As she says this, Umi places in front of each patient two plastic cups filled with clean water, one fine brush, one watercolor paper and a plastic palette with orange, black, brown, dark green, red watercolor paints, helped by Kotori and Hanayo. “I can give you other papers if you need them, but I’ll leave you this one for now. Remember to be creative! I am eager to see what you’re going to do. You can paint something real like a flower or else, or just go with something abstract.”

A few more words, and she finally lets them begin.

Honoka immediately picks her brush before she leans toward Tsubasa, almost making their heads touch, whispering, “Say Tsubasa-chan, what can I paint?”

The emerald-eyed girl turns to look at her dearest friend, their noses ready to brush due to their proximity –and they don’t mind ; it even feels more than comfortable, for them–, “I don’t know. Isn’t there something you’d like to paint?”

Honoka glances at the paper, suddenly lost in thought. She only looks back at Tsubasa the moment the latter places her hand over hers, “It will come naturally, Honoka-chan.”

“… You!” the ginger suddenly exclaims, happily beaming.

“Me?”

“Yeah, you! I want to paint you Tsubasa-chan, because I love you!”

While Tsubasa’s sparkling eyes considerably soften and show all the love she has for Honoka, Hanayo’s heart melts as she hears their conversation.

“I love you too,” Tsubasa whispers back, resting her head against Honoka’s.

“I just don’t know how it’s going to look like when I finish it, but well …”

“Just do your best, Honoka-chan.” She smiles and combs her ginger locks, before focusing on her own blank watercolor paper.

“I will!”

A soft smile graces Hanayo’s features, but it soon disappears when she looks at Kotori, who is discreetly nodding toward Rin. Rin, who is completely engrossed in her painting –and she is progressing very fast. Sliding behind her chair, Hanayo ever-so-slightly leans over her shoulder. Her lavender eyes widen, and she feels her heart breaking. In the middle of Rin’s watercolor paper is an orangey cat, whose eyes have a lighter orange color, whose pupils are barely visible, whose dark brows are furrowed, whose mouth is open, black, and it seems like Rin did her best to leave two white triangles to represent the cat’s fangs. It seems like the cat is raging mad, and hissing.

“Say, Kayo-chin?”

Hanayo instantly freezes –Rin hasn’t even looked up from what she’s doing, wetting the paper under the cat’s head, plunging her brush into the orange spot on the palette, before letting the orange paint spread, slowly drawing the cat’s body–, and the nurse’s heart plummets in her stomach. She feels bad, very bad ; she feels as if she is invading Rin’s privacy.

“Wh-what is it, Rin-chan?”

“Will that thing stop, one day?” Rin asks, her eyes fixated on the cat she’s currently painting.

If it’s even possible, Hanayo’s heart breaks even more. Rin is the type of patient who is very conscious of her condition. She knows that has something, and she knows that it’s the reason why she is temporarily living here. She knows why she must go to the medication room every morning, and why she must take her daily medication.

She knows that she suffers from dissociative identity disorder. And, as surprising as it can be, one of her alters –and the main– is a cat. And it is haunting and hurting her.

“R-Rin-chan …” Hanayo whispers, sadness written all over her face, “Of course, it will stop …”

“Right nya!” Rin twists her upper body a little and offers her friend a rapturous smile, “That’s why I’m here!”

“Indeed …”

“Thank you Kayo-chin, nya. I wanted to hear it from you,” Rin admits, her smile never fading.

And, without adding anything, the short-haired girl focuses on her drawing again. Hanayo bites her lower lip and walks over Kotori, whose amber eyes are silently asking her if everything is okay. The brunette can barely nod, before being caught off guard by someone opening the door.

“Oh, Erena. What are you doing here?” Umi seems as surprised as the two new nurses.

“I’m sorry for bothering you, Umi–“ Erena offers her co-worker an apologetic smile, “–but can I borrow some things, please? I would like to try watercolor painting with one of my patients.”

“Yes, of course. Here, I have a few palettes ready,” Umi says as she hands one to her maroon-haired friend, “And you’ll need a brush like that and two cups. And the paper, of course.”

“Thank you.”

“Erena-san!” Honoka butts in with a chirpy voice, “Is it true that we’re going to do a cooking activity this afternoon?”

A kind smile immediately finds its way on Erena’s lips, and she nods, “Yes Honoka, it’s true. I hope you look forward to it!”

“Yeah!” The blue-eyed ginger grins and loops her right arm around Tsubasa’s shoulders, almost hitting her in the face with the tip of the brush she’s holding, “Count me in! And Tsubasa-chan too!”

“Oh, don’t worry Honoka, I knew you’d come,” Erena giggles, “I’ll see you all later then. Have fun!”

And, with all the tools in her arms, doctor Toudou leaves the room. Deep inside, Hanayo has a feeling that Erena found a new way to help Anju express herself –and she hopes, for once, that she is right.

October 31st, 10:00

The activity came to an end a few minutes ago, and Umi is now looking at all the drawings she retrieved before everyone left. Well, except Nozomi’s drawing, as she insisted on wanting to give it to Elicchi –Umi still caught a glimpse of it, and was strucked by how beautiful it was. Indeed, Nozomi drew a garden full of flowers –lilies, to be more precise–, and the colors she used just … perfectly blended. For once, the turquoise-eyed girl didn’t put what was going on in her mind down on paper. She drew her feelings –and positive feelings, this time.

That is the reason why Umi loves organizing drawing activities with all her patients : first, they can be very, very creative, and they often come up with adorable ideas. But, more importantly, she loves this kind of activity because the drawings always say a lot about their artist. And when her patients become artists, it helps her see and discover them in a new light. After all, the drawings reflect their soul. It is very common for the patients to draw what they feel –whether it be positive or negative–, but also their deepest secrets, their deepest insecurities, and their deepest fears.

Just like Rin’s drawing.

Umi winces a little as she looks at the furious orangey cat. She slowly puts it on the desk in front of her, and lets out a small sigh.

Thank goodness we’re here for them …

#alright here we go #it's like an introduction and a spin off (at the same time) of the au itself #i really hope you liked it! #and happy halloween again #and happy birthday rin-chan! we love you! #love live! #fanfic #µ's #a-rise #rinpana #kotoumi #tsubahono #nozoeli #ereanju #(nicomaki didn't happen in this fic but it will happen in the 'bigger' thing don't worry) #koizumi hanayo #minami kotori #sonoda umi #hoshizora rin #kira tsubasa #kousaka honoka #toujou nozomi #ayase eli #yuuki anju #toudou erena #... i'm kinda happy i can write about µ's and a-rise again #as much as i love youriko and aqours (but youriko even more :3) i miss µ's and a-rise #psychiatric hospital au