Prompt | Something romantic

Part two to my one-shot: Create That New Beginning found in my spring challenge book Moments of Spring.

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Lloyd once told himself he would never love again. Of course, it was late at night and he was running on coffee and copious amounts of saltwater taffy but the words still stuck to him for months. Relationships had always seemed to tainted after Harumi. He loved that Nya and Jay were happy together but finding his soulmate was no longer a goal for him. At first, he was sad about that but now he accepted it. He didn't need someone. He was okay on his own.

But then Carter entered his life.

And suddenly, Lloyd didn't need someone, he wanted someone. That scared him more than anything.

Wanting was such a dangerous thing for Lloyd. It was a trap, it pulled him in with its allure and then clamps its jaws down, digging into his heart until it bled. Lloyd rarely got what he wanted. At least not in the long run. Sure, if he wants ramen for dinner the team either agrees or has a very large debate/argument about it that often involved a pillow fight, but if it's something deeper, more personal... well you saw how talking to his father went.

Yet here he was. Daydreaming like a wistful teenager as he twirled a maple seed in his fingers, watching as they fluttered from the tree above him like fairies.

Maybe, just maybe, he could want this.

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Lloyd huffed. His blonde hair fluttered in the wind as he looked onto the bright colourful lights of Ninjago City. He had so much homework to do and this patrol seemed to drag on forever! Lloyd began to think over his thesis in his head as he watched the cars run by, keeping an eye out for trouble, and didn't notice the soft feet touching down on the roof. 

It wasn't until the figure was right behind him that the hairs on his neck stood up. Lloyd's breath caught and his fingers tightened into a ball. He yanked on his mask and in one swoop he stood, fist swinging with the movement. There was a crunch as his knuckles connected with bone and a loud yell sounded.

"OW! What departed realm, dude!"

Lloyd almost fell off the roof in surprise when he realized that the person in front of him was not a horrible villain but rather a pink-clad ninja. He clutched at his face, red spots soaking through the bright fabric of his mask as his dark eyes glared at Lloyd.

"Who are you?" Lloyd blurted out. It was a fair question. If he's punched someone who seemingly wasn't trying to kill him then he should at least know who he is.

"Don't you know?" The tone was awfully teasing for a man who was just punched in the face. His brown eyes crinkled at the edges as he struck a ridiculous pose. "I'm the fuchsia ninja!"

Lloyd stared at him. "... what?"

"You haven't heard of me?" The fuchsia ninja raised an eyebrow. "I'm very surprised. I'm quite popular with little girls."

Lloyd gave him a deadpan look. "I'm clearly not a little girl."

He shrugged. "How would I know?"

"What are you doing here then? I don't think any of us have ever seen you." Lloyd's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Relax, green-bean, I just noticed that you were out here and thought I'd introduce myself." He delicately felt his nose. "Which didn't work out too well for me. You can apologize now."

Lloyd winced. The guy seemed friendly enough. Lloyd did remember Wu mentioning the ninja at least once. "Uh- sorry. You... surprised me." Lloyd's ears burned from embarrassment. The other ninja didn't appear offended. There was almost amusement in his eyes as he watched Lloyd.

"It's no problem, pretty-eyes," He said easily. "I guess I should've caught your attention before walking up to you. But in my defence, I'm usually very eye-catching." He waved a hand at his gi.

Lloyd was taken aback by the new nickname and shifted uncomfortably. "Yes... It's very bright."

"Now, I don't think we've been properly introduced." The other young man looked at him expectantly as he took a tissue from his pocket and slipped it under his mask to dab at his nose. The bleeding was starting to stop but it had thoroughly stained the ninja's mask. "I'm Carter, The Element of Surprise!"

"You're just going to tell me your name?" Lloyd asked incredulously.

"I think I can trust you." Carter said confidentially.

Lloyd's cheeks felt hot and he looked away. "Well... I guess you know who I am."

"Lloyd Garmadon? Son of Lord Garmadon, The Green Ninja, and hero of all Ninjago?" Carter shrugged one shoulder. "Eh, I know a little bit."

Lloyd rolled his eyes, nervously running a hand through his hair. "And what does the Element of Surprise do?"

"I do sports, chess, dabble a little in cooking," Carter teased. "One of my secret talents is origami." Lloyd shot him a look. "And a little bit of ninja stuff on the side."

"I never see you on missions. Do you stick to yourself mostly?" Lloyd asked curiously.

Carter nodded. "I try not to get too involved. I'm just the man in the shadows, you know?"

"I can't imagine that would be easy," Lloyd replied with a pointed look.

"I snuck up on you, didn't I?"

Lloyd scowled. Unfortunately, that was true.

"Well, it was nice meeting you, Mr. Green Ninja." Carter straightened, glancing at a wristwatch on his arm. The sleek black metal stuck out on the flamingo fabric. "Maybe I'll see you around when I'm taking pudding from the team's fridge."

"That was you?" Lloyd exclaimed. "Cole and Jay argued about that for a month!"

Carter snickered. "Yeah, that was funny." The boy turned, giving Lloyd one last look over his shoulder before hopping off the roof and disappearing into the night.

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Lloyd didn't think he'd ever see Carter again. The young man didn't seem like the type to hang around for very long but he was pleasantly surprised when he went to his next patrol and the pink-covered guy was already there.

"Hey, stranger." Carter turned to him, his brown eyes were narrowed slightly, wrinkled forming on the sides of his eyes. Even though Lloyd couldn't see his face he could tell he was smiling. Well... smirking.

"What are you doing here?" Lloyd said in confusion. 

"I just wanted to check on the city." Carter lied smoothly but Lloyd wasn't so easily fooled. He gave the other young man a look. "And have some dumplings on the way." Lloyd continued to stare. "And I wanted to see you. Is that what you wanted to hear? Wanted to feel special?" Carter teased.

Lloyd was thankful for his mask as it covered his blazing cheeks. Something about Carter made his stomach squirm and his fingers tingle. "Please," Lloyd snorted to cover the butterflies in his stomach. "I hear that all the time."

"Right, because you're the golden boy." Carter raised an eyebrow. "Almost forgot about that."

Lloyd rolled his eyes. He cast his gaze to the street and remembered what he was there to do. "Well, enjoy your dumplings," Lloyd said, he moved to swing to the next skyscraper when Carter stopped him.

"Hey, wait a minute! We were having a nice conversation! Even some banter!"

"Yeah, well, banter is done for today. I have a job to do. I can't just go off doing whatever I want." The added 'unlike some people' was left unsaid. Lloyd hadn't meant for it to be a barb but it came out as one. He winced, squeezing his eyes shut. "Sorry, I didn't mean-"

Carter waved him off. "Don't worry about it. I get it, you're busy, you're stressed, you're all busy-busy, goody, goody while I'm more chill and laid back." He elbowed Lloyd to goad him.

Lloyd looked away. He knew he was a little high-strung lately and maybe too much of a people pleaser but he couldn't help it. The world had high expectations for him and his personal bar was even higher. Something heavy smothered the butterflies.

"Hey, man, I'm just joking." Carter's voice was almost apologetic.

"Yeah, I know." Lloyd put on some forced cheerfulness. "I really should go back to-"

"Tell you what," Carter interrupted him again. Lloyd let out a frustrated sigh as the boy wrapped a pink-sleeved arm over his shoulders. "The city is okay right now. No supervillains, no supernatural monsters, just a few petty crimes that the police can take care of. So, while you still have some extra time before you do your ninja stuff or whatever, you and I can go see that dumpling stall and have a little snack."

Lloyd blinked in surprise. Was Carter asking him on a date or was he trying to trick him into paying for his food? Carter looked at him expectantly. "Why?" he said at last.

"Why what?"

"Why are you here? Why do you want to have dinner with me?" Lloyd made large, exaggerated hand movements. "You were never interested in me or any of my team before, why now?"

Carter almost looked amused, his eyes twinkling in the evening light. "Well, if I'm being perfectly honest I was originally going to nab your katana to sell it to an auction." Lloyd bristled, his hands immediately flew to his blade. "But then you punched me in the face and suddenly I was interested in why the poster boy of Ninjago would be so quick to hit an innocent civilian." Carter batted his eyelashes.

Lloyd's frown deepened. "Hardly innocent. You just admitted you were trying to steal from me."

"You have to relax, LG!" Carter laughed. "You can trust me, I swear. Your uncle knows me if that helps and I'm an elemental master! I've helped out in battles before!"

"What battles?" Lloyd asked incredulously.

"I've mostly stayed on the sidelines. Picking off a serpentine or two. The serpentine that you released, let me remind you. Maybe I'm the one who should be more cautious." Carter quirked an eyebrow.

Lloyd ground his teeth together. The reminder of one of his many, many mistakes made his heart stab and his stomach roll. He pushed it away to glare at Carter. The fuchsia ninja simply watched him with the mirth as if he enjoyed seeing him all wound up. Well, Lloyd wouldn't give him the satisfaction.

"Okay," Lloyd forced out before he could change his mind.

"Huh?"

"Let's go get those dumplings." Lloyd adjusted his katana so it was strapped better on his back and turned expectantly to his companion. "Just so you are aware, you are paying. And it better not be anything crappy. I want good authentic dumplings."

Carter looked surprised but he covered it well. "Alright, Pretty-Eyes," he gave him a satisfied look. "Just follow me." He paused with a sly look in his eye. "If you can keep up."

Considering how childish the ninja was and how often they raced it was pretty easy for Lloyd to keep up. No one can race like Zane, not even a blindingly pink ninja with a flirty attitude and eyes that you could fall into. Carter led him to one of the backstreets of downtown, it was mostly empty but lit up with beautiful lanterns, graffiti art covered the walls, and cute local shops lined the road. Lloyd hadn't been down one of these in a long time, not unless it was to catch a bad guy. It was nice to feel the warmth of simply walking down a street.

"Now, I'm not sure what common, bland dumplings you're used to but here is where you get the best dumplings in all of Ninjago," Carter said proudly.

Lloyd couldn't help but snort as his dramatics, allowing himself to be pulled along. He pulled down his hood when he got onto the street, tugging a sweater out of his pack and shrugging it on so it wasn't as obvious who he was. Carter noticed this and raised an eyebrow but he didn't say anything. In fact, the ninja shucked off his own mask and his gi, revealing the street clothes underneath. He then tied his bright gi around his waist like one would with a flannel top. Lloyd did a double-take when he saw the young man's face. Lloyd had filled in what the mask had covered but what he imagined was so different than what he saw.

He had rich tanned skin, wavy brown hair that stuck to his forehead from sweat. His face was gentle but still masculine and he had dimples that flashed whenever his lips moved. Quite honestly he was the most beautiful man Lloyd has ever met. The fluttery feeling was back and judging by how the insects launched themselves at the walls of his body, it wasn't going away anytime soon. Carter, in turn, was studying his face with what looked like mild interest. Lloyd used this as a reason why he shouldn't feel embarrassed that he had been staring.

"What?" Lloyd shifted, suddenly aware of the attention when Carter scrunched his brow thoughtfully.

"It's just..." Lloyd was surprised to see Carter hesitate before speaking. "You look so different from the media."

Lloyd gave a rueful smile. "Yeah, the black bags are usually covered up." He joked.

Carter frowned a little at his words, the expression was almost disapproving. Lloyd glanced at him curiously but Carter turned away before he could think more about it.

"Here we are, Golden Boy!" Carter's grin widened as Lloyd's eyes turned into saucers. A tantalizing aroma wafted their way and Lloyd had no choice but to follow it. Carter placed a hand on his shoulder and guided him towards a little stand in a corner. It was decorated with fairy lights and a red awning.

"There you are!" The middle-aged woman smiled when she saw him. A little boy popped up from behind the stand, his eyes widening. "CARTER!" She cheered.

Lloyd glanced questioning out at the boy but he ignored him, moving to hug the boy. "Hey, buddy!"

The woman clucked her tongue, raising an unimpressed brow at Carter. Carter looked a little sheepish, an expression that Lloyd never thought he'd see on the guy. "You're late." The woman said disapprovingly.

"Sorry Mama," Carter smiled cheekily.

Lloyd's eyebrows flew up. "Mama?" Carter opened his mouth to reply but he was interrupted.

"Carti! I got your favourite!" The boy tugged on his sleeve and rushed behind the stall to grab a paper bag. On it in red was a logo and the graphic showed a cherry blossom tree with heart-shaped flowers.

"Carti?" Carter coughed, his ears turning a pink colour.

"Who's this?" Mama directed her attention to Lloyd. She eyed him suspiciously.

"Mama, this is Lloyd. Lloyd meets my mama, Ann." Carter introduced them with a charming smile.

Ann looked Lloyd up and down, a frown pulling at the corners of her lips. "Lloyd, was it?" She said. Her voice was distant. Carter's grin tightened a little as Lloyd tilted his head.

"Yes," Lloyd responded easily.

"Hm." Ann didn't say anything, simply turning away and letting Carter's little brother run up with the bag of dumplings.

"Thanks, Evan." Carter ruffled his hair.

Lloyd tried not to squirm, a prickling sensation spurring on the back of his neck as Ann stared daggers into his back from the stall.

What could that be about?

TO BE CONTINUED  

NOTE*****
Did I spend too much time on this?

Yes.

Lucky