lloyd

"Do you ever wonder if the First Spirits look anything like us?"

"What?"

"You know, did Adira have black hair? A father that insisted on her dancing career?"

"Well, if genes work out—"

"Oh, shut it, Lloyd. Hey, pass me the bread please."

Lloyd zoned out as soon as he gave Cole the bread, and began picking at his own meal. They'd returned in the early hours of the morning when the rest of the task force were either asleep or somewhere else, and caught a few hours of sleep. He was still half reliant on the coffee maker in the communal kitchen where a constant stream of SOG agents were refilling their to-go cups.

"I don't think it's healthy, you know? For them to drink so much coffee." Lloyd mused over his plate and began separating the different food groups like he'd been doing since he was a kid.

"Who are you, Annabella?" Cole swallowed a large mouthful of beef and patted Lloyd on the back. "We've got to get to the meeting now, come on."

"I'm just saying," Lloyd insisted, casting his peas a disgusted look before scraping them into the compost. "Hey, did you see that last episode of Starfarer? They're still producing episodes even with...you know."

"Ah, no, you see Lloyd, I was busy fighting my greatest fear that was supposed to be mythological. Now I have its child that I have to take care of because your grandfather was weird and chained dra—dra—dragons."

"Woah," Lloyd blinked slowly. "That seemed like a lot of built-up stuff. Cupcake?"

Cole took the chocolate cupcake from Lloyd with a small apology for his blow up. "Sorry, these past couple of days have been annoying to say the least. And I am, actually scared of dragons. So scared." he shuddered at just the thought and they entered the War Room.

"Who made these? They're really good."

"I did," Astra said with a groan from across the table. "Coffee."

She took Lloyd's cup without asking and chugged half of the hot, bitter liquid down before looking mildly energised. He shrugged and drank from the second cup he'd brought with him, stretching in his chair languidly as all the other seats filled up. When his father walked in, the room stilled to silence. The SOG agents snapped to attention to their leader, emotionless in their all-black fighting gear.

"Well? What have you got for me?"

Lloyd frowned at his father's appearance - was he wearing sunglasses? Maybe something had happened to his eyes. And as far as he'd known, his father never drank coffee. In fact, in his sparse visits, he'd always refused the cheap instant coffee and taken tea. It was one of his few similarities with his Uncle Wu, and it looked like Lloyd wasn't the only one who had found his behaviour suspicious.

Astra's deep purple eyes were narrowed at their father, her hands wrapped in day-old bandages like Lloyd's (which they really needed to change, ew). Lloyd found her gaze with an urgent look, glancing back to their father. She nodded slightly, mouthing later without any swearing, which was nice. Maybe it was all the painkillers Kade had needed to give her. Lloyd considered convincing Kade to keep Astra tolerable for the near future when his father began talking.

"The Emperor's Ball was not exactly an astounding success," Nya started, smiling at Oni Squad happily despite her sordid words.. Lloyd waved hello to Jay, Zane, Pixal, Annabella, Zander and Rema, who was looking a little pale with her new metal arm in a supporting sling.

"Rema got her arm chopped off, we nearly died, Harumi nearly killed Pixal, and we nearly lost her and Zane," Jay summarised blithely.

Harumi. Of course she'd be there, idiot, Lloyd realised. Wait, she nearly killed Pixal?

"We had a bit more success than that. You know that the Venomari showed up and caused a bit of trouble, but most of the mess we got into had to do with the guardian dragons. Four Golden Weapons for you, sir." Astra said with a lazy smile. "Oh, and one successful operation."

"We also have two possible new allies in the Master of Smoke, and the uh, Phantom Ninja?" Jay read off a post-it skeptically. "They helped us get the Fangblade map and want protection in exchange for them working with us. They also have a lot of intelligence to offer since they used to be spies, I think."

"Give them the donkey test then send me their results." the Lord instructed. The donkey test? Lloyd had never heard of it before. "I want our researchers on the Golden Weapons now, Misako too."

"But she's researching the dragon eggs—" Kai butted in indignantly. "They're important too!"

"At the moment, finding a way to defeat my brother, keep the Weapons out of his hands and prevent the rising of a destructive snake is more important, Forge." Garmadon snapped bluntly. That was definitely part of his father that he recognised.

Kai stuttered weakly in defence, frowning at such quick dismissal. Lloyd knew he really liked the dragons (most, out of everyone here), but had not expected him to become a foster mother for the eggs.

"You said Harumi captured Pixal?" Lloyd tried to make his voice unwavering and casual, avoiding eye contact with everyone but his father. Staring into his own reflection, all he saw was a tired teenager who wanted this over and done with. Dull green eyes and eye bags blinked back at him morosely.

The android shuddered, and Lloyd instantly regretted asking her as she soldiered on. "Harumi captured me. I do not wish to expose the details of what else she did."

Her hand brushed against the side of her original-form neck, pale. Lloyd tried not to push her further for details on Harumi. Their texts? Confusing. Mostly his own. She kept leaving him on read, stringing him on a long chase that was so annoying but also exciting all the same.

"Are you sure it was her?" Everyone looked at him like he was mad, and he struggled to maintain decorum. They didn't know her like he did. They didn't know her fears, her loves, the way she braided her hair whenever she was nervous or how her limo always had his favourite types of candy.

They didn't know her like he did.

Then again, he hadn't known this side of her. Lloyd pushed the thought away, disgusted with himself.

Kai was the only one who responded, already fuming. "Lloyd, are you crazy? You've seen what she's done. She nearly killed my dad — she took my mum, she's helping Wu, I nearly killed Troya because of her." He shuddered, dark green eyes flashing in anger. "Nothing has changed. We didn't like her before, and we like her even less now."

Why we. We is so wrong, it's them. Them against me.

"But—but there's no way she's willingly on Wu's side. You've seen how clever he is, he must have blackmailed her or something." Lloyd insisted, but he knew his argument was weak.

Kai pounced on the opportunity immediately. "That's the thing, Lloyd. I don't care whether she was blackmailed into it or not. She still made the choice in the end. My family nearly died because of her, and no one messes with the Smiths and stays alive. She hurt me in more ways than you can imagine. And I'm going to make sure that she feels everything that I felt."

The fire elemental's hair lit along with his anger, "She's a cold hearted monster. I don't let those kinds of people stay alive."

Lloyd forced himself to laugh and roll his eyes. "I'm with you, Kai, don't worry. She is...she is a monster."

But the memory of her sobbing into his shoulder the day after the mayor and wife died overwhelmed Lloyd.

"I can't do this," she'd cried, days after that kiss. The stupid kiss which had intoxicated him and replayed the memory a thousand times over. "I can't, I can't."

"No. I know you," Lloyd had smiled, hugging her tighter. "You're stubborn and you're amazing and you're all a guy would ever want."

"You're perfect." he'd said, brushing her lips with a kiss. "To me."

That was before she'd assumed the identity of the Quiet One.

At the beginning of this mess.

"Also," Lloyd started again with a wince as all heads swiveled to him impatiently, "Can I talk to you, er, dad? Lord? Afterwards? With Mum and Astra."

His father gave him an assessing stare from behind the aviator sunglasses. "Sure. Whatever."

The meeting moved on quickly as they ran over reports that day on casualties, scouting intelligence, coronation information, and whispers of a rebellion on the street.

"The people of Ninjago City aren't all dumb," an agent was arguing. Impala, Lloyd vaguely remembered their name. "I believe the rumours. A rebellion would be helpful to our cause."

"And our cause is exactly what?" his father countered, rolling his shoulders. "Their agenda is to take down parties of power. We are parties of power. We have an elemental task force. We control the underground and the areas my brother can't be bothered to oversee."

"If we joined forces, maybe we could change it! Or at least manipulate their needs to help us." Impala argued heatedly. "Look at it this way, what if we let them go unchecked? They start taking ground and territory from us, recruiting our potential agents? We either need to keep an eye on them by having them as allies, or wipe them out."

"Or we do the inbetween," Lloyd suggested slowly, "Reach out to them, and make sure they know we have semi-similar goals. After that, well, it's up to them. If they don't agree, we just have to make sure they stay out of our way nonviolently."

He shrugged, and murmurs of agreement followed. His father looked mildly impressed and irritated all at the same time. They went over a few more matters that didn't concern Lloyd or any of the elementals, so he chose to doodle on a sticky note someone had left stuck to the edge of the table. By the time the meeting finished, it was covered in delicate sunflowers in blue ink.

He, Astra, his mother, and his father lingered behind as everyone chatted excitedly about new missions or the training ahead of them.

The Lord removed his sunglasses, tossing them onto the table with a long sigh. Lloyd's eyes widened at the sight of his gaunt face and eye bags. He still carried a sneer but it looked forced and tired.

His comment slipped out of his mouth before he thought properly, "Woah. You look like—"

"Crap." he and Astra chorused together. Misako hid a smile behind her hand, and Astra grinned at Lloyd without any menace. Okay she's definitely on painkillers.

"Thank you," Monty drawled, sinking back into his chair. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Before we left for the Golden Weapons, I was researching the Oni and Dragon Gods in the library. I found out that Grandfather? I mean, the First Master, was Oni and Dragon." Lloyd was momentarily whisked back to the hours he'd spent in the library between training, eating, and Rumi. At one point he'd slept there for two days, piles of aged books and plates of buns to keep him going.

Where the treats had come from he had a slight suspicion, but Lloyd was focused on his father's face. Impassive, as normal, but a flicker of wonderment passed over his face. Even he didn't know the extent of their heritage.

"Ew. You're saying they're siblings and they—they," Astra mock vomited into the air beside her.

Lloyd shook his head hurriedly, "At first, I thought that. Then I realised that the First Master was more like a creation between the two. An experiment."

From what he'd gleamed, the books argued with each other but settled only on a few similar points. If he had more time, maybe he could make sense of the rest of it. The SOG library was packed with information about nearly every topic you could imagine.

"Their little brother is an experiment." Lloyd said quietly. "One of the few agreements they had. Both drawn to power. They gave him Ninjago as a playground to worldbuild and let loose his powers."

The room was in silence as they imagined being a god - but being a test, a trial, a study. Sent away to a planet, creating something you were proud of and dying. Leaving behind two kids, a messy history and a doomed future. At least, that was what Lloyd was thinking.

"So, father, you're a quarter Oni, a quarter Dragon. Maybe a little more Oni." Lloyd amended his statement, flicking green eyes to his mother's pursed face. She nodded along with his explanation and gave him a proud smile that made his chest puff slightly. Maths and science were not really his forte. He hated studying for History tests but found the topic interesting.

"We're an eighth Oni, and an eighth Dragon, then," Astra summarised, her lips curving as she stared at her hands. "Interesting."

"But that's not all," Lloyd interrupted her. "I came across a few stories that said Oni could shapeshift, and that Dragons could travel between realms."

"If you're suggesting the possibility that you and Astra could travel realms, alone, even with Dragon blood, you're being ridiculous. I'm not letting you risk yourselves. Too mortal. Too useful as weapons." Monty remarked dismissively. "Even I can't realm travel without outside help."

He cares about us. A little, at least. Even if it's as weapons.

Lloyd could tell Astra was thinking the same thing, her brow furrowed as she stared at the floor resolutely.

"The shapeshifting though," he mused dramatically, and then in a cloud of dark purple smoke, the Lord transformed into a penguin.

Astra choked on thin air and Lloyd broke out laughing at the sight of him waddling around, somehow managing to make a penguin look threatening. It bared its teeth threateningly towards Misako, and she folded into a giggling mess. Lloyd acknowledged his father's comedy routine by just nodding his head. Monty was a charismatic man, but a dangerous one. Very dangerous.

"I could do that?" Astra whispered, her eyes dark with desire. "Shapeshift?"

"Maybe."

"And Lloyd could too?"

"Also maybe. Might be a bit harder for him due to the...nature of his powers, but I suppose that's where it balances. Easier for you to shift, easier for him to realm travel."

"Er, why would I need to realm travel?"

"So you can tell my father to take responsibility for once? Tell the Gods that their grandchild is fucking things up down here? Maybe some uncle and aunt intervention?" his father spat, clenching his hands and exhaling. "Right. Sorry. Just wound up about Wu."

The Lord spun around in his chair, muttering darkly. "Why couldn't he just listen to me when we were kids. Idiot." he turned back around with a weak form of his normal smirk. "Who wants to learn how to shapeshift?"

Astra stood with a smile that could only mean trouble. "I do." She looked quickly to Lloyd and Misako.

"I do as well," he said slowly, and his mother nodded.

"Excellent!" Monty clapped his hands together, rejuvenated as he slipped his sunglasses back on. "Follow me."

But as Lloyd did, he couldn't help but see the cloud of Oni-ness transforming his father. Something he hadn't known he could do. Misako hadn't known. Astra hadn't known. Lloyd hadn't know.

Secrets, his mind hissed. Ever so dangerous.

He had too many of them.

o o o

"Try again."

Lloyd scowled at the floor and pushed his sweaty blonde hair out of his eyes, taking in a deep breath. He tried to imagine himself as a dog. 'The easiest animal, Lloyd! Think of that annoying Newfie Kai has.' his father had crowed, turned into a black labrador and then back.

"I can't do it!" Lloyd threw his green hood to the ground and groaned. "I can't do it."

"Nonsense," his father rolled his eyes. "Just do it. If you want to, imagine your little drawings. Draw each part of the dog or something."

Lloyd blanched at his words. How had he known about his drawings? He'd made the patterns long ago, but now he knew them off by heart. In battle, Lloyd drew simplified versions of different symbols of energy into the air to change it. If he wanted the raw form of his power, it was easy enough.

The patterns had helped a lot. But would they help shapeshifting?

Lloyd had practiced his art for a long time as a hobby, so it was natural as he swept invisible charcoal across the air in the crude shape of Ryu. In his mind, though, it was intricate. Every detail from his coal-black fur to his playful eyes, Lloyd could see the huge dog perfectly.

He moved his body in tune with the drawing, following each stroke with careful precision. This time, Lloyd used his elemental powers to shift. He drew down the last part of Ryu's tail and then something changed. A green mist surrounded him, then morphed into the now-familiar cloud of shifting magic swirled around Lloyd, a chill cloaking his body.

"I did it!" Lloyd cheered, though something felt off. Surely he should be on all fours? Feel furry?

"Lloyd," Astra smothered a snort, "I don't think you did it completely right."

"What? What do you mean?" Lloyd glanced down to his body and frowned. "Oh. I didn't do it at all."

"No, just, uh," Astra gestured to the top of her head and behind her.

Lloyd copied her movements and shrieked when his fingers brushed over something. "I have dog ears? I have a TAIL!"

His twin couldn't hold it in any longer and collapsed in a fit of laughter, gasping for air. "Shoulda—seen—your—face."

"Fine, you do it then." Lloyd crossed his arms, and felt his tail wag behind him. As much as he willed it to disappear, the tail he'd imagined so carefully was still there.

Astra stood from the ground and glanced at their parents, who were whispering conspiratively. Garmadon waved them on with a badly hidden smile, "Go on."

Her technique was different to Lloyds - sharper, but equally as fluid as she moved into a series of movements without using her powers. She finished without shifting at all.

"Try using your powers," Lloyd encouraged her, self consciously patting his new ears.

Astra sent a flat glare and shook her head. "I'll just do it another time." her pride appeared unabashed, but from the way she stormed out of the training room trailing purple mist, she was definitely not happy.

"She struggles with using her powers. Perhaps—"

"Excuse me, I don't struggle with using my powers, I just, um," Astra nearly tripped as she poked her head back in with a painful wince, "Kade promised to heal me when he was finished helping Obi with Cole and—you know what, I'm just gonna go."

"Well, you should go too, pup," the Lord smirked. Lloyd shot him a scowl and checked for his ears and tail again. "Ninjago can't save itself."

"I'm not a puppy," Lloyd said hotly, striding out with his cheeks burning in embarrassment. "Stop laughing!"

"Should we get you a dog bowl with Lloy—"

"LA LA LA LA LA LA—"

—

A/N: garmadon family bonding moments <333 im rewatching s8 as i watch this lloyds hair is so much better. Also im doing 'research' yes yes yes. Except my sons of garmadon are cooler (jk. Not really. maybe) HA ROCKY DANGERBUFF JUST APPEARED- sorry its been so long but summer's hereeeee

This chapter's song is 'cause for concern' by love joy

This chapter's Q is: if you could make cole sing any song, what song would you pick?

My A: either the weekend whip or something embarrassing like the chicken song OR actually sugar crush at the top of his lungs and high pitched.

-dommie out

p.s | love morro? love harvey? check out safe and sound on my page for a sod oneshot for more content :D