Chapter Text
In Lloyd's room of the monastery, any mirror was often covered by a towel or blanket, and today was no different. But this wasn't helping.
Every time the ninja moved, he felt his chest beneath his hoodie or the scars scattered across his body and nausea overtook him. Every part of his body was taunting him.
So, he did what any rational teen would do, he went on the internet and ordered various hair dyes, bleaches and equipment. Maybe it would help, maybe it wouldn't, but it would force him to shower.
"Lloyd, your parcels arrived. Come get them because I am not carrying them all up to you." Skylor teased. Or well, Lloyd hoped she was teasing because otherwise he'd feel even worse.
The poor boy dragged himself off the mattress, bringing his duvet with him, wrapped tightly around his body as soft armour. When he finally exited the room, he was greeted by Skylor and Morro, talking about something or other. Since when had they had shared interests?
"Oh jeez, Lloyd. Looking gross, I like it. The grease brings out your eyes." Morro smirked, just as bad as Kai most of the time.
"Thanks." Was all Lloyd could muster as he dragged his feet towards the front hall, where he saw his boxes all piled up. Perfect.
The teen, too unbothered to even try picking more than two up, began to carefully kick the tower of cardboard down the hall towards his bedroom. He didn't need to grab anything on the way; he was a ninja, most of his belongings functioned as cool box openers.
"Apply to unwashed hair, leave for thirty minutes, rinse until the water runs clear, condition and let dry." Lloyd read the instructions to his empty bathroom. He'd decided he didn't care for his depression pyjamas enough to not want them stained with hair dye, so he didn't change and on a bathroom stool there were fresh clothes for him to wear once be was dry. The thought of being dressed and getting ready with his new hair actually made him quite excited. But first, he'd have to dye his hair.
The ninja began to gently detangle his overgrown blonde mop, chucking at how it fell long past his shoulders. It was hard to notice how long it was when it was always tied up and tangled. Maybe he should give his hair a trim too? He decided to do that after it was all dyed and clean, for the sake of conveniences.
And so, now wearing the sligthtly too big gloves the box included, the blonde began to mix the colour and developer in a pink bowl he'd bought with a matching hair dye brush (because sue him, he loved when things go together perfectly.) As the paste formed and slowly began to go off-white, he carefully began to paint the mixture onto his head.
As he set the thirty minute timer, Lloyd decided he may as well start cleaning up his room. The sight of the piled up plates, week old mugs and strewn about clothing made him feel that weight on his shoulders again. He wanted a clean slate and that meant a clean room.
The plates and mugs were easy to bring to the kitchen and clean. No one was even in there at that moment. Granted, it was too soon after lunch for anyone to be hungry and far too early to begin cooking dinner so nobody had much use for the kitchen. Although, being there did remind him he needed to eat something of nutritional value soon. He'd get some food after getting dressed.
In his room, his clean clothes got put in their respective places and his old clothes thrown into his little hamper. Once he was out of his pyjamas he'd put everything in to wash but for now he just took in how much better his room looked already. And then, his timer beeped.
Despite his dysphoria, cleaning away the weeks of sweat and grime gave Lloyd a new lease on life. His body felt right again, as if his skin finally fit. It felt even better when he saw his new colour in his bathroom mirror as his hair dried.
Finally, Lloyd decided it was time to get trimming. He grabbed a few hair bands and began to cut at his hair with a pair of old kitchen scissors he had for whatever reason. The strands fell around him, covering the floor. As they fell, a weight lifted from Lloyd's shoulder.
Now, the longest parts of his hair stopped above his shoulders and swooped up in angel wings. the top half of his hair was now tied into a little bun as his shorter front strands framed his face.
In his fresh clothes and his new hair, Lloyd felt right again.
On his way back from the laundry room, Lloyd passed the games room, where seemingly everyone (sans Wu and his mother) was congregated.
Kai and Jay were on the floor wrestling, with some game controllers discarded on the floor near them. Morro and Harumi were egging them on while Zane tried calming them, with Skylor simply holding the third controller and changing the game and Cole and Nya attempting to throw popcorn into each other's mouths.
The sight of his family warmed his heart, and he made a mental note to join them once he put his clothes to wash and got some food.
Ideally, Lloyd would eat a full meal but right now he just needed something that wasn't sweets or crisps. So he made himself a sandwich with cheese, lettuce and tomato and got some tea. With his cup and plate, Lloyd entered the games room. "Hey, everybody."
"Lloyd!" The group cheered, now that their young friend was finally out of his room. As everyone got a good look of him, they all stared with open mouths.
The first to speak was Cole, "I love the pink, LLloyd. It suits you!"
The group all shared similar sentiments, causing Lloyd to grin widely. "Thanks guys."
He sat down and began to eat as the group continued their gaming and goofing. About an hour later, Zane exited to the kitchen and Lloyd followed to put his cup and plate away.
"Lloyd?"
"Hm?" The pink haired ninja began to clean his used dishes.
"I'm glad to see you out of your room... I've missed you, we all have. And we love you. Please talk to us if you need anything, okay?"
Lloyd blinked back tears as he remembered how hopeless he'd felt just a few hours ago. "Thank you... I love you too."
The pair shared an embrace and Lloyd knew it would all be okay. And that dying his hair really did help.
