Warning: swears, my headcanons, my humor, my (bad) grammar, mostly unedited
TW:

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Lloyd's birthday was always a special day, in both the good and the slightly worse way.

Thanks to Good Morning Ninjago, in Ninjago City everyone always knew if it was your birthday, which was a nice reminder. That is unless you were the second most hated person in the entire city, with your own father being at the top of that list.

Safe to say Lloyd had mixed feelings about this day.

But that's when his friends, his family comes in.

That's when you come in.

To make sure it's not all bad attention, with the stares, and fake good wishes, and prank 'presents' and stuff.

You were all guards, making sure this day was at least a little bit as magical as it should feel. And although not perfect, you were fairly successful.

All in all, weekend birthdays were the best, because it meant he got to spend the whole day with all the people he cared about the most, the people that cared about him the most. No mean stares or rude comments could break through the shield of love on those. None of you would let them.

Lloyd deserved this – a day full of nothing but love. And you were gonna deliver.

You loved his birthday. It meant you could spoil him rotten and get away with it, see him smile all day long, hear him laugh all day long. Be happy, all day long.

All your favourite pictures with this group were taken on birthdays.

All your favourite pictures of him were taken on his birthdays. And you could stare at those for hours without end...

Hey, it's not your fault he was so adorable when he was beaming with nothing but pure happiness! That genuine smile, the sparkling emerald eyes, the cutest blush on his cheeks...

And these moments were so rare too...

If you only could, if only you had the power to, you'd make sure to keep things like this forever. Get rid of all that's bad, and make sure you get to see that wide smile in person at all times.

But you couldn't.

...

That didn't stop you from trying though.

And, in the end, you always had this one special day to compensate for that, for all the not so successful attempts on any other, normal day.

You put extra care into every gift. Make sure it's special, make sure the birthday person will absolutely love it. You planned them weeks, sometimes months in advance.

Yes, you were scared of the slim possibility the gift was a total flop just moments before handing it over. But other than that, you were confident in your skills.

Not once have you failed. Why should you now?

You bit your lip, admittedly zoning out for a second while the others talked.

You were at the Mega Monster Amusement Park's restaurant, having a small break after a few rides, you were probably gonna go on a few more later. Everyone, including you, handed the gifts over earlier in the day, when you went to his house to pick him up for the fun you all planned for the day (and to eat the birthday cake, can't forget about that). Lloyd opened most of them.

All apart from yours, as you made him promise to do it only when it's just the two of you. (And also Koko in another room, can't ask that wholesome woman to just leave the house all together for such a stupid thing.)

Kai and Cole teased you about it.

You did not care. It was special. Super special. More special than any other time. Meant for his, and only his, eyes. Well, apart from yours, that is.

And here comes that nagging, annoying feeling again. What if you went a bit too far? This year's present was... different, in every way possible. You think he should like it, it's pretty modest, as you had figured he prefers, and deeply personal, which is a thing you're worried about. Is it perhaps too personal...? It's for sure a gift you don't see yourself giving to anyone else, which already makes it ten times as unique.

Almost completely lost in thoughts, your eyes drifted to the birthday boy himself, the smile on his face growing as your eyes met. You snapped back to reality, matching the huge grin with one of your own.

*****

"We're back!" Lloyd called out as you entered his home, Koko almost instantly peeking out from the kitchen, a huge smile on her face.

"Had fun?"

Already nodding, he glanced at you briefly, the smile growing ever so slightly. "Yeah. I'll tell you everything later?"

"Don't you dare not tell me everything later" The woman threatened, making you snicker. She looked directly at you, smiling softly, "Would you like another slice of cake, [Name]?"

You looked to the side sheepishly. "Uh, maybe in a bit?" You did want another slice, if not only to rub it in Cole's face, but you had a gift to open.

Koko gave a nod, retreating back into the kitchen. You and Lloyd made eye contact. You felt cold, anxiety taking over for a second. Welp, there was no coming back, you already bought it, you already handed it over, now all you could do is accept the future and embrace the consequences of your choice.

The two of you made your way to his room, the colourful box on the bed staring at you as soon as the door were opened. If anxiety levels keep rising like this your heartbeat might just become audible. It's just a gift you're giving to your bestest friend, there's nothing to be this stressed about...

"...Sooo," Lloyd broke the tense silence as you slowly walked into the room and sat on the bed facing each other. "I really enjoyed today—"

"Just get this over with" You couldn't help but deadpan. Just like a bandaid, as Cole would say.

Lloyd gave you a small apologetic smile, then gently took the box and put it right between you two. The box was not your first choice, you wanted to go with a regular fun bag, but since the insides were supposed to be a big ~mystery~ you decided otherwise and got a box and wrapped it like a goddamn Christmas present, with a golden bow on top.

Honestly, not your most controversial choice.

Sparing you one last curious look, he opened it. You pursed your lips as he looked inside.

There were four things, all apart from one (another issue of one of the comic series he reads) more controversial than the other. Aero, the mint one – this one only being controversial due to the fact you left chocolate to melt in a closed box for a whole day; sure, it was freshly taken out of the refrigerator and you bought it only yesterday and checked the expiration date, but melted chocolate was... a special kind of ick. (Albeit it was still eatable and still very tasty.) Then, there was a flower – a pink rose, mostly controversial for the same reason as the chocolate – because you left it there, with no light, and the only thing maybe keeping it alive being the wet paper towel you wrapped the stem in.

And then there was a smaller black box with golden and silver patterns. The source of your anxiety.

You stared at the blond before you, having to stop yourself from grinning once you saw his cheeks and the tips of his ears turn bright pink, almost perfectly matching the flower you gifted.

Cute.

You'd be internally giggling and kicking your feet if you weren't still so fucking anxious about the smaller box that was yet to be opened.

Lloyd quickly glanced up at you, almost instantly looking away as, with you staring so much, your eyes met. He shifted in his spot, the (probably) subconscious movement reminding you of how he used to be around you, all shy and awkward.

He didn't change too much actually, just became more comfortable and open with you, which brought you an insane amount of self fulfilment and joy.

...

Gods, you felt your face heat up. You need to stop fawning already.

Having taken a second to compose himself, the blond wordlessly reached for the small box. You forced yourself to look away, the curious sparkling eyes mixed with the still present blush were gonna kill you with their cuteness.

At least that'd be a pleasant death...

In the corner of your eye, you saw him take the top off, pausing at what was uncovered.

Two rings, one gold with a sun and the other silver with a moon. They came together, they were also clearly made as a perfect match, a complement to one another.

It took a second, but the realization soon hit him. This was just like the—

The blush on his face deepened and a high pitched noise left his throat, making you look. He looked at you, then away, anywhere but you before covering his red face, mainly eyes, with the free hand while gently pushing the box into the duvet with the other.

You felt your throat dry out. "D-do you like i-it...?" You stuttered a little, nervously playing with your hoodie's strings. The only answer you got was another adorable noise.

Your heart beat so fast you were going to die.

Too damn cute...!!

There was a moment of silence as you waited for him to maybe actually answer. Eventually, he asked in a thin, almost strained, voice, "...W-why...?"

You paused, blinking owlishly. "Hm? Why... what?" Pursing his lips, Lloyd slowly picked up the box, his hand was shaking. "Oh, well..." You looked away, "I d-dunno, it just kinda... made me think of you..." He peeked at you from between his fingers, as you looked you saw his eyes (or eye) were glassy, as if he was about to start crying.

You just stared at each other. It was tense, in that weird way it almost gave you butterflies.

And then—

A sob.

You inhaled sharply, watching him let go of the box and cover his face fully, leaning back until he fell onto the bed fully, quietly sobbing.

Well shit.

You broke him!!

"H-hey!!" You quickly scooted closer, feeling a pit in your stomach. "Hey?? I— um..." You pursed your lips, admittedly panicking a little bit, your hand hovering over his shoulder with uncertainty. "I-It's a bit much, huh? I'm sorry, I didn't mean—"

"No!!" You jumped, taken off guard when he cut you off with a panicked scream, uncovering his face and grabbing your hand with one of his. You frowned seeing the tears slipping from his panicked eyes, face still bright red. Sniffling, Lloyd used his other hand to wipe his tears while his brows furrowed in what should be a stern look, it came off more pleading though, "Don't take that back. Not if you r-really mean it"

You stared silently.

After another beat he sighed shakily, fresh tears gathering in his eyes making you frown deepen. You opened your mouth, taking a breath before speaking, but you didn't get a chance as you got pulled into a tight hug. "Thank you..." He said quietly, voice cracking. He held you even closer, nuzzling into the top of your head. "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank—"

"Lloyd..." You cut in softly, returning the hug.

He inhaled and held it in for a moment before releasing all the air in another big sigh, this one more content. "I'm so happy right now, you can't even imagine..."

A smile blossomed on your face. "Yeah?"

"Yeah"

"Well, good, that was the plan"

He let out a short laugh. Now you did get butterflies.

"Oh, by the way, I want the moon one" You quickly declared, getting a hum in agreement. The two of you stayed like this for a while, perfectly content with staying like this forever.

You couldn't though.

You sighed with disappointment as you realized, "We need to put the rose in water" A hum of acknowledged, Lloyd didn't move though. "And put the Aero into the fridge" Another hum, still no movement. "...and I wanna eat that cake..." You mumbled at last. The blondie sighed, unwrapping his arms from your body so you both could sit up.

Love for cake won this round.

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Can you tell how much I've fallen in love w the idea of promise rings?

also NORMALIZE GIFTING FLOWERS TO BOIZ PLZ