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Nya was in the Bounty’s bridge, working on an update for her Samurai X mech.
Absently, she wished that she could work on this update somewhere else, somewhere closer to the others, but then she remembered why she’s keeping this secret from them and how loud they all can be, and reconsidered.
Her concentration was broken by the squeak of an old door opening that she had long grown accustomed to. Nya looked up to see Lloyd approaching her.
What does the brat want? Why was he coming to annoy her rather than one of his preferred targets, the Ninja?
She put her white pencil down, already knowing whatever was coming was going to steal her focus and would prevent her from working on her current project any more.
“Lloyd, you aren’t coming to prank me, are you?” she asked, watching for his reaction. The blond startled, which…wasn’t what she had been expecting.
“No! I haven’t come to prank you, Kai's a much better target anyways,” he told her. That was both good and bad; good for her, bad for her brother.
“Then what are you here for?” First Master, does she have to play twenty questions?
Her question only made Lloyd more nervous which, in turn, made her more suspicious.
“I— I was wondering if you could help me reach the bandages?” he asked.
Nya resisted the urge to sigh (she had some tact, after all).
“Sure, brat,” she agreed, before she got up from her chair and crossed the room to the door that led into the rest of the Bounty. Lloyd had come through it earlier. The blond ran to catch up with her, after realising a moment late that she had agreed to help him.
The walk was quiet, neither of them had anything to say. The walk from the bridge to the infirmary was the longest to get anywhere in the Bounty, as it was located at the very back of the ship.
She might be leading the way, but every so often Nya glanced over her shoulder to check that Lloyd was still following her. Each time she did, she got a proper look at the kid. Lloyd’s lip had dried blood on it, and she spotted a bruise peeking over his collar. Her heart twisted painfully in her chest and a seed of guilt bloomed when she saw the bruise.
Once they reached the infirmary, Nya crossed the room to the overhead cabinet and pulled out a roll of bandages and a box of strip bandages. The blond had asked her to reach the bandages but she would bet good money that he needs both.
Okay Nya, you’ve got two choices here. One: hand the stuff to him and leave him to deal with it by himself. Or, two: give in to this strange almost-instinct feeling and help him.
In the end, the feeling wins out and she goes with choice number two. The feeling is similar to anger but…softer, and more protective. This had to be the ‘older brother instinct’ (or sister, in this context) Kai mentioned.
“Sit there,” she gestured with an armful of medical supplies to the nearest cot.
Lloyd’s surprise was so intense she could nearly taste it in the air. Her heart twisted once again when she realises he had been expecting her to pick choice number one. Her stomach sank into her toes when she remembered that she nearly had.
“Why?” he asked as he took a seat on the cot.
“Because I can do this neater and tighter than you can and I don’t want to have to wash sheets with bloodstains,” Nya tells him.
Why is she still being mean to him? He's a kid.
“No,” She looked up sharply at him at that. “I mean— why are you still here? Why are you helping me?” he asked.
Oh. Oh.
“Lloyd,” And she tried not to feel bad that this was the first time she had ever used the blond’s name to his face. “I’m helping you because I want to,” she told him.
He didn’t say anything to dispute that, the only sound he made was a small ‘oh’ sound. It didn’t sound like he believed her.
Nya kept working on bandaging his arm as she thought. As she cut the bandage off to be able to tie it, she realised that she has long stopped referring to him as a brat.
“I’m helping you because, as much as you try to deny it, you’re a kid and as the honourary older sister I’m compelled to help my little brother,” she explained.
Nya was growing to realise how much she hated seeing that shocked look still on Lloyd’s face. It didn’t do anything to lessen the resentment at both her own and the ninja’s past (and up until very recently, current) treatment of the kid.
“I’m your little brother?” he asked as she finished tying the bandage in place.
Nya caught the unsure note in his voice and realised she had to be really careful with what she said next. This was unstable territory they were in.
“If you want to be,” she told him.
“You really want me as be your little brother?” Lloyd continued disbelievingly, as if he hadn’t heard her.
Nya knew better than to stare at him during this conversation — it’ll only make things worse — so she busied herself with reorganising the supplies in a random cupboard which allowed her to turn a little to face Lloyd who was still sitting on that cot.
“I do,” she nodded as she spoke, to make it crystal clear to him she was being truthful.
She was focused on reorganising the heat packs by size but still managed to hear Lloyd’s sharp gasp of air.
There was a rustling of clothes against plastic then footfalls. By the time she turned to see what had happened, it was to see the blond all but bolting out of the infirmary.
She had the urge to go after him but, really, that wouldn’t help either of them.
It was later in the day, nearly dinner time, when Lloyd found her again. This time she had been in her room, putting freshly dry clothes away.
“Sorry I ran away earlier,” Lloyd said, bypassing any greeting. He was standing in the doorway, neither properly in nor out of her room.
“It’s fine,” A pyjama shirt was put away. “I get it: it was a lot all at once,” she said.
“You aren’t mad?”
“No. I’m not,” A pair of pants were folded and put away. “I’m glad that you came to apologise, even if it wasn’t necessary,”
“Were you being serious earlier, what you said about me being your little brother?” he asked, seemingly not having heard her for the second time that day.
“I was and still am,” Nya told him.
“Oh…okay,” Lloyd trailed off.
A moment passes, two, and then—
“Thank you,” It was said so quietly, had the room not been so quiet she might have missed it.
“Of course, Greenie,” The use of Kai’s nickname for him was probably not the best choice given how Lloyd had startled upon hearing her say it…actually, maybe it was. Lloyd seemed to be happy that she had used it.
Before she even had time to think, Lloyd had crossed the room and wrapped his arms around her.
He was hugging her.