Chapter Text
Maybe it's selfish, but there's a part of Lloyd that really wishes he hadn't used the Tomorrow's Tea.
Of course, he didn't really have much of a choice in the first place. It had all happened so fast. And even if he had had time to consider the exact implications of what he was doing, it probably wouldn't have made it any less confusing anyway. Suddenly being so grown-up caught him completely off-guard.
Supposedly, his body's new age is approximately sixteen years old.
The thing is, he doesn't feel sixteen years old. Which makes sense, of course—he's never been sixteen before. This isn't how you're supposed to get there.
Tomorrow's Tea isn't really a very well-known substance. Lloyd wonders if anything like this has ever happened. If it's ever been used on kids. If they had to grow up in the blink of an eye and skip over a massive chunk of their childhoods. Did they feel this disoriented? It's like his body is way too big for his age and...hey, wait a minute.
Lloyd blinks.
Do Littles feel like this?
Most people are classified as Neutral. But there are three other main classifications that some people are born as: Caregivers, Littles, and Switches.
Actually, Lloyd doesn't think he even knows any Littles. As far as he knows, everyone on the team but Cole, who's classified as a Caregiver, is Neutral, like him. It's not like a Little could be a ninja. Most Littles have adult headspaces too, but from what he's heard it's sometimes hard to control which one you're in, and harmful, even, if you try to stay in an adult headspace all the time.
That would be really dangerous.
Luckily, no one on his team is a Little, and classifications don't change. This does seem like a very similar feeling—being in a body that's older than your mental age—but Lloyd was classified as a Neutral, so whatever this is will go away eventually. Once he gets used to being sixteen—and gets his head around the fact that he's skipped over half his childhood—he'll be fine.
Lloyd sighs, running his hand through his hair. This sucks. Even the parts he did get to experience weren't exactly the greatest.
He'd never realized how utterly alone he was before moving in with the ninja. He'd have gotten in so much trouble at Darkly's if he ever woke anyone up after having a bad dream. They probably would have kicked him out.
(Not that he hadn't been kicked out multiple times before, but that's beside the point.)
He really hadn't meant to wake Cole up that time, during one of the first nights he spent with them. He was so scared he was going to be mad and that he would be on his own again, but Cole hadn't been mad at all.
"I'm a Caregiver," he'd explained, which had surprised Lloyd. He'd never met a Caregiver...or, at least, a Caregiver that was open about their status. "It's in my nature to take care of people. I'm not going to leave you alone, bud, I promise."
For the first time in possibly his entire life, Lloyd had felt...safe.
He had kind of hoped that, living with the ninja, he'd get to be a real kid for a bit, despite the whole prophecy thing.
That's so ironic now he almost laughs.
But Lloyd is far too tired to laugh right now. Instead, he just lays down in bed, even though he doesn't think he's going to be able to fall asleep.
Maybe it's selfish that he spends the next three hours wallowing in self pity, but he's too tired to care about that either.
***
It's the end of the world.
Well, okay, that might be being a little dramatic. Lloyd is—fine. Really.
He's never heard of classifications changing before. They aren't supposed to. Lloyd has been Neutral his entire life, so whatever this weird, fuzzy, vulnerable, little feeling is cannot possibly be regression. Maybe there's something wrong with him. Maybe he's been poisoned? Maybe he's sick?
He doesn't feel sick, though, he just feels...little.
And all the Little websites that he's scrolled through over the past hour seem to describe exactly what he was experiencing to a tee.
…Speaking of tea.
At first he thought it was just because of the Tomorrow's Tea. After all, only a few weeks ago he'd physically been nine years old. Of course it's going to take some adjusting to get used to his new approximately-sixteen-year-old body. He's knows that. He's been telling that to himself this entire time.
But that was weeks ago, and it hasn't gotten any better. If anything, it's gotten worse. He doesn't feel adjusted. Actually, Lloyd doesn't even feel like he's nine at all. He's younger than that.
This...thing...keeps happening, and nothing about it makes sense.
Lloyd can't be the green ninja if he's a Little! If anyone ever found out, it would be all over the news. Nobody would trust a Little to protect them. Littles aren't even able to take care of themselves, let alone an entire city! They need...
Lloyd blinks back the panicked tears welling in his eyes. Littles need Caregivers.
Even though he can't possibly be one anyway, Caregivers are genetically predispositioned to be good at taking care of people.
It would be really bad if this thing happened during a mission and nobody knew. He should probably at least tell someone, because it really doesn't seem like it's going to go away.
Cole's a Caregiver, right? Maybe he'll know what to do.
Lloyd swallows, sets his phone on his nightstand, and walks down the hallway to Cole's room. He hesitates before he knocks, half-closed fist hovering before the door. Maybe it's too late right now? Maybe he should wait until the morning or something. Or maybe he should wait until...next week. Or next month. He could give it more time to see if it'll go away on its own. He doesn't want to bother Cole or anything. Maybe...maybe he just...
The door opens before Lloyd can finish his thought process. "Oh," says Cole, surprised. "Hey, Lloyd. Is everything okay?"
"Um," says Lloyd.
He has no idea where to start. His head is swimming with confusion and he's overwhelmed and this doesn't make any sense.
"Um. I...I feel...I feel weird."
"Weird how?"
"Uh, I..." Lloyd bites his lip. What the heck is he supposed to say? 'Hi I think I may be the first person in the history of everything to ever have their classification change'? That sounds so stupid. He knows very well that that's impossible, and since he's obviously not a Little, or even just little anymore, Cole can't do anything about it. "A-actually," he sputters, "I was...sl-...I was sleepwalking. Yeah. And, uh...it was kind of disorienting but I'm fine now."
"Oh." Cole doesn't look like he believes him. "Are you sure there's nothing else that's wrong?"
"Yep," says Lloyd. "Everything's fine. Goodnight, Cole."
"Wait, hang on a minute, can I just talk to y-"
Lloyd darts back down the hall to his room and locks the door behind him.
Well. That, uh...
That went well.