Chapter Text
It had been a good day, no snakes, no ghosts, no nothing.
It had been a good day, until it wasn’t.
Kai had seen Lloyd outside earlier, he had been standing, looking out at the setting sun. Kai figured he was just taking advantage of their moment of peace. So he let him be.
But it had been hours by now, the sun no longer visible, the sky having gone dark.
Lloyd was still outside.
Kai was worried to say the least. Something was up with him, and he was determined to get to the bottom of it.
He suppressed a shiver as he stepped out into the cold of the night, walking over to his brother.
Lloyd stood unmoving, frozen in place.
“Hey, you alright Greenie?”
He placed a hand on Lloyd’s shoulder, who remained still.
“Lloyd?”
Nothing.
His worry spiked as he rushed to Lloyd’s front.
Lloyd’s face was blank, eyes fogged over, void of any emotion.
Startled, Kai attempted to snap him out of whatever trance had taken hold of his little brother, “Woah woah, hey, Lloyd,” he lightly tapped his cheek with his hand, “Come back to me bud, what’s wrong?”
Lloyd blinked, shaking his head. The fog that clouded his eyes dissipated ever so slightly.
“Please, talk to me.”
“It’s windy.”
Oh.
“It’s windy Kai. I don’t like it.”
His voice was wobbly, his expression forming into that of pure distress, tears threatening to spill.
“I-I don’t, I can’t- I don’t want to be here but I just-“
Kai cut him off, putting an end to his panicked rambling, “Let’s just get you inside alright? You’re freezing.”
Lloyd shakily nodded as Kai wrapped an arm around his shoulders to lead him in. It worked for a few steps, till Lloyd collapsed, tears streaming down his face as he sobbed.
Kai was quick to action, bracing Lloyd’s fall with himself, immediately pulling him into a hug, running a hand through his hair in an attempt at comfort. “Ssh ssh, hey, you’re okay.”
Lloyd attempted to speak through his cries, breaths coming in quicker than he could send out, “I-I don’t get it!”
“Woah, breathe,” he took Lloyd’s hand, placing it on his chest, demonstrating, “In and out, follow me. In,” he took a breath, “and out.”
After Lloyd had successfully controlled his breathing, Kai continued, “what don’t you get?”
“I can still fe-feel him sometimes, l-like he’s still i-in my head. He’s gone Kai! He’s gone! So why am I still so scared?!” Lloyd’s trembling had gotten worse, and it wasn’t just due to the cold.
Kai was uncharacteristically soft as he spoke, “you went through a horrible thing Lloyd, nobody deserves to go through that, especially not you. It’s totally normal to still be scared, even after the threat itself is gone. You need time to heal, don’t be so hard on yourself.”
Lloyd lifted his head from Kai’s shoulder, his voice coming out in a whisper, “can we go in now?”
“Of course buddy. C’mon.”
In true Lloyd nature, he had apologized the moment they got inside. “I’m sorry you had to deal with that. I’m all messed up.”
Kai sighed, “we’ve been over this haven’t we? No apologizing. I want to help you, and you’re not messed up.”
Lloyd swallowed, “okay.”
They stood in silence for a moment, before Lloyd spoke again, “I’m gonna go lay down I think,” he looked over to Kai, “thank you.”
“Let me know if you need anything else, alright?”
Lloyd walked away.
Not much else had come from it, besides the overwhelming guilt that plagued Kai for awhile after.
How had none of them noticed? Hell, they should’ve just assumed he’d have some sort of baggage, he was possessed for first master’s sake!
Lloyd didn’t sleep that night. Neither did Kai.