Chapter Text
he had no intention of ever seeing brad again. the two of them had a rough history that neither party really shared with others, and seeing their childhood enemy wasn’t really high on their bucket list. lloyd had gone many years without processing the trauma brad actually gave him, and he wasn't going to stop what he was doing to try and get through it. it wasn't high on his priority list.
then, of course, brad became a target of their latest villain. his name had quite literally been posted as the next one on their list, with lloyd being the final victim – someone was going around killing his entire graduating class.
brad was the one who had figured it out, naturally, and he had gone to the ninja for protection; without knowing it was lloyd that wore the green ninja mask. when wu realised what they were dealing with, he forced lloyd to be his protective detail. lloyd was told he needed to ‘forge new bonds from the ashes of past enemies’, which kai then translated to ‘ninja shouldn't hold grudges’. lloyd would agree with this if it weren't someone who so vehemently hated him.
lloyd met him in his gi at the apartment zane rented for this purpose, and took a good, hard look at his childhood bully before entering the room through a window. his black hair was split in the middle, cutting off at his eyebrows, and held up in a spiky ponytail in the back. he wore glasses now, and they framed his face well; high cheekbones, a hooked nose, and low-set black eyes. he was more or less skinny, and his hands were those of a pianist. his fingernails were painted black and were well maintained, just like his assortment of rings that lined his fingers. his clothing was simple: a white button up and black slacks. he was on his phone, likely texting, but lloyd got the feeling he was trying to impress whoever his assigned bodyguard was. is. he knew his attitude would change once he got a chance to speak.
he caught himself staring, and he cleared his throat. “hey. brad, right?”
brad stopped texting, and his phone was slipped into his pocket. he stood straight, shoulders raised, and stuck a formal hand out to greet him. everything about him was stiff. “yeah, that's me,” he chuckled lightly. “thanks for, like, helping me out here. it’s… a scary situation, but i’m trying to keep calm, y’know?”
he looked to the hand, up to brad’s awkward smile, and then back down to the hand. he took it. fsm, this room reeks of awkward tension. “of course,” lloyd replied, “you're brave for that. i know a lot of people who would move to stiix the second anything like that happens to them.” (obviously, he was lying. he was only trying to pad the silence.)
brad nods once, as if this were a common truth, then turns to offer him a seat. “well, uh, thanks. do you want to sit down? i figured we could watch a movie or something. not like there's much to do.”
he knew he had nothing better to do. he also knew there was no way brad didn't recognise his voice, or eyes, or freckles along his nose bridge. looking at him made his heart skip a beat. “no. i have to -- i gotta patrol the building and hallways real quick. make sure everything's in order, you know?”
he could see the cringe coming a mile away, even if well hidden behind a turn of the head. they were skirting around the tension in the room as if mentioning it at all would kill them. “yeah, for sure. just… hurry back, please. can't keep my mind off of it for too long.” his following laugh was one of the fakest he had ever heard.
and as he turned the knob to leave only minutes later, he could feel the stare on his back.
when he returned, brad was watching the news on the couch. admittedly, lloyd had found nothing on his trek through the apartment complex, and took a few extra irresponsible minutes to steady himself before coming back in. he texted kai, asking if it was at all possible to switch with him, and was given a resounding no. he texted jay, asking if he could bribe him to come down here, and was told to shove it. wu, once again, had meddled in something that left him…
he never thought seeing brad would trigger an overt awareness of his heartbeat, or the stillness of his gaze. he thought it would be more argumentative and physical, both of which he could easily deal with. the breathlessness of it all took him by surprise. he never felt this way with any of the other – well, villains who hurt him and came back. his father just made his heart hurt with indecisiveness.
“are you just going to sit there and stare at me?” brad asked quietly, breaking through his wall of mindless worry. he braced himself. “you know, i spent the entire time you were gone worrying over how this… bodyguard-ship would go, with the two of us pretending we don't know each other.”
brad turned to look at lloyd, who had frozen in his spot at one of the windows. the bustling cityscape behind him churned out honking horns and constant light, illuminating his body as if he were a deer in headlights. their eyes locked, and neither could look away.
“you're lloyd garmadon, right? son of lord garmadon, grandson to the..,” his voice got awfully quiet, and his eyes shone with undeniable emotion. “to the first spinjitzu master.”
and fsm, how was he supposed to respond to that? brad tudabone, former bad boy, now victim of the latest shitty ninjago villain, calling him (the green ninja) out from his seat on the cheap black couch. he hesitantly nodded. he knew brad would start monologuing here. he knew that deep inside him, just like he would know if kai was about to throw fire. it was instinctual.
“first master, you're quiet. i always thought that when i eventually met you again, you would tell me i was a horrible person back then, but that i could, like, be reformed now. and i would tell you all these things about myself, and you would say, ‘wow, brad. i never thought you’d be the type.’ and we'd get coffee, or something.” brad got up and moved to stand in front of him, meeting his eyes in a trial of persistence. lloyd couldn't back up any further, and he couldn't speak, either. he knew his pulse was higher than it had any business being.
“but now that i’m here, in front of you, and you're…” brad trails off, and with renewed meaning, continues a few seconds later. “the green ninja, i see that whatever i envisioned will never come to fruition. ‘the embodiment of good meets his childhood bully’, right? that's the current headline. so, i…” his fists curl, and his voice is now softer. “i guess i should tell you that i never hated you. i never… i never really thought what i was doing was right. and i never thought i'd be able to say these things to you now.”
a long silence grew between them, and lloyd had to look to the side to keep himself from running away. no one has ever had this effect on him. by all means, lloyd had always held brad in the same regard he held most other things: a lingering respect for people or things he thought were above him, even after years of being told they're not. brad hating him had become a staple – something he could look back on as a truth when reminiscing about his meager childhood.
“you..,” lloyd started, swallowing. brad ate up every syllable. “then what were you – why did you–?”
“i was jealous of you,” he interrupted, as if the topic were horrifically embarrassing for him. “i know. it was so dumb. even at a school for kids like - like me, i was jealous of you for being so intrinsically good. you tried so desperately to be bad, but we could all tell you weren't. we… i have to work to be good, every day, and you just. are.” lloyd opened his mouth, held it open, closed it. “that's… that's what separated our two groups. you tried to be something i had no other choice but to be. and, um, for what it's worth, i really am truly sorry for how i treated you.”
lloyd didn't know how to unpack that. a can of worms inside a can of worms, with the only thing he can really pick out being his sorry. the sorry he had hoped for his entire life but never really thought he'd get. brad… never hated him, and was sorry for the things he did as a child. a weight felt like it was lifted off his shoulders.
“you… you're sorry?” lloyd repeated, and brad nodded. brad grabbed his hand, holding it tenderly, even if he was wearing gloves. his eyes shot down to the movement. “that's… there's so much to…”
“it's okay,” brad interrupted. “it's… a lot. i get it. i just, like, dumped that on you. it just needed to be said, and you…” his thumb ran over lloyd’s gloved palm as he rambled. “you don't need to forgive me. you don't ever have to talk to me again after this. i just. thought you should know.” a blush made its way onto brad’s face, and lloyd looked up just in time to see it. brad was looking into his eyes as if in a cliché romcom.
“i… thank you. for telling me,” he whispered. brad nodded. “i forgive you. it's been a very, very long time, and you –” he looks brad up and down, stopping awkwardly in different places, “– you seem to have, uh. changed.” it was his turn to blush incriminatingly. brad’s hands squeezed the glove.
“yeah,” he said, with a hint of amusement in his tone. “i have.”
the two stared for a few moments before brad broke away. he cleared his throat. “um… yeah, that's. that's about all i had to tell you. but if you'd like to, uh, reconnect, i’d love to go for a coffee when this is all over.”
“sure,” lloyd replied, watching brad’s expressions change rapidly. “coffee sounds great, tudabone.”
a smile. “i look forward to it, garmadon.”