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"So let me get this straight," Morro stated while opening the apartment door, and kicking his shoes off. "You got detention for smoking, but not really?"
"I did not smoke! You KNOW that I don't smoke" Lloyd threw his hands up in defense while taking his own shoes off and sliding them next to the door. "You've seen me nearly hack up a lung when I accidentally inhaled too much of uncle Wu's incense that one time"
"Good times." Morro said under his breath.
"Hey!"
Huffing, Morro added "Relax, I know you didn't actually smoke."
At that Lloyd's shoulders did seem to lose a bit of tension.
And for good measure Morro tacked on "Frankly, I think that if anyone ever offered you a cigarette you'd burst into tears."
"Wha- I would NOT!" Lloyd sputtered.
"Uh huh." Morro shook his head in a patronising manner. "And you TOTALLY wouldn't feel so guilty over the thought of it that you'd tell your mom."
"I would NOT! That's ridiculous." Lloyd denied, face red in embarrassment.
The older boy just rolled his eyes at Lloyd and decided to change the subject back to their original topic.
The original topic being why Morro had to pick up his cousin early from school in the first place.
"Alright. Just tell me why the school THINKS you were smoking."
With a bored expression, Lloyd started to speak. "Because I'm evil-"
Rolling his eyes for what had to be the tenth time since getting the call to pick the kid up, Morro cut him off.
"The reason other than their normal prejudice. Why specifically on this day did they think that you were smoking on school grounds?"
Silence.
"Well?" Morro asked impatiently. He had plans- and dealing with Ninjago's Lloyd-phobia was not one of them.
Looking down, Lloyd mumbled something that didn't quite reach Morro's ears.
"What?" Morro prodded.
Blowing a frustrated breath, Lloyd looked up still not meeting his cousin's eyes. "I said, I was eating a lollipop."
Well that explains absolutely nothing.
"Come again?" Morro questioned.
Crossing his arms, Lloyd added "I was eating a lollipop and one of the teachers walked by me and thought it was a cigarette."
And wow. Okay. That was a pretty big leap even for Ninjago City High school; and where Lloyd was concerned, that was saying something.
With Morro's momentarily stunned silence, Lloyd continued to ramble on.
"Don't ask me how he got to that conclusion- other than the obvious of it being me."
Yep, that checks out.
"Seriously, there was zero smoke! I would have understood if I had been using my dragon breathing-" Lloyd stopped abruptly, seeming to realize what he'd just said. "Which I've NEVER done at school. So don't tell my mom or uncle Wu-"
Aaanndd make that eleven times he's rolled his eyes since the phone call.
Sighing, Morro said "Yeah, yeah. Don't snitch to aunt Koko or Wu. When have I ever?"
Lloyd seemed to think it over for a second before nodding his satisfaction.
"So what happened after the teacher caught you?" Morro asked.
"I tried to explain that it was just a lollipop, but um..." Lloyd once again stopped short of his answer.
"But he didn't listen because you're you?" Morro hazard a guess.
"No- yes. Sort of?" Lloyd stuttered out, now sporting an even bigger blush then earlier. "He asked to see the lollipop to prove it... but um, I had already..."
"Eaten it. You had already eaten the candy off, didn't you?" Morro supplied whilst pinching the bridge of his noise.
Lloyd nodded, face still a bright shade of red. "I had already eaten the candy off, yeah."
Feeling exasperated in a way that only his little cousin could manage, Morro questioned "And then?"
"He dragged me to the Principal's office, and after the usual lecture Principal Kelly threatened to suspend me if they found me 'participating in such unacceptable behavior again.'" Lloyd finished in what was actually a pretty good impression of his haughty principal.
At least from the five minutes Morro was forced to spend in the guy's company
"Only you. This kind of thing could only happen to YOU." Morro told his cousin after a beat.
"Are you mad that you had to come get me?" Lloyd asked, wringing his hands nervous nervously. "I know it's not fair to have you deal with my problems."
Of course that's what the kid's upset about. Not at the actual school staff for being their normal Lloyd Garmadon-phobic selves. But that he may have inconvenienced his cousin.
Taking Morro's silence for answer, Lloyd continued. "I just really didn't want to call my mom and have her get in trouble for leaving work again because of this. Sorry." The younger boy finished, looking for all the world like he'd committed a heinous crime instead of being sent to the principal's office.
Great. Just great. Lloyd once again being eaten alive with guilt over this kind of crap is far worse than Morro missing any previous plans that he'd made; not that he'd ever admit to that out loud of course.
So, with a deep breath and a steady stream of happy thoughts- like slashing the teacher's tires, or slipping the principal's address to his crazy uncle, Morro gave what he hoped was nonchalant shrug and said to Lloyd. "Nah, it's fine. I was out anyway."
"...Really?" Lloyd asked doubtfully.
The question was hesitant, but he asked it with a less guilty, more hopeful look. An expression that overall looked more at home on Lloyd's face.
That was a start.
"Yeah, I was already on that side of town." Not completely true. The opposite really, but Lloyd doesn't need to know that. "So don't worry about it. Got it?"
"If you're sure?" Lloyd said, still hesitant. "I can pay you back for gas money-"
Morro bit back a groan of frustration, and said in a tone that even his stubborn cousin knew meant the argument was done. "Yes. I'm sure."
Lloyd simply nodded his head, eyes wide with suprise. "Okay..."
They both just stood there for a second, halfway between the apartment's small kitchen and living room. Lloyd, awkwardly shuffling his feet, and Morro with his hands on his hips, determined to act like he didn't nearly have an emotional outburst on behalf of his cousin's shitty deal at life.
Just when Morro was about to pull out his phone and text Bansha he was on his way, Lloyd spoke up excitedly.
"I forgot to tell you, I just got the new copy of Fist To Face 3 yesterday! I'm only on the first levels but so far it's awesome!" Lloyd told him. Gone was the mopey demeanor and guilty eyes, now Lloyd looked exactly like what he is, just a kid.
"I was actually going to text you after class to see if you wanted to come over to check it out- that was before the whole lollipop fiasco though." Lloyd continued to animatedly tell his cousin. "But you're here now! Do you want to play it?" Lloyd was practically vibrating with excitement by the time he finished.
Morro fully intended to tell his cousin that he'd have to take a rain check. That he already has plans that he was beginning to run late for.
...But the more he watched Lloyd bounce in place, big smile plastered on his face, it become harder to turn the offer down.
Just a half hour ago the kid had that look like he'd been told that he was the cause of all the world's problems (wouldn't be the first time) and that he fully accepted it.
Now though... he looked like this was the best thing that has happened all week. All because he wanted to play video games with his older cousin.
Aww hell. Not even Morro, for all he portrays it is that big of an asshole as to say no to playing a few levels of a game with his little cousin. Not after the day the kid's already had.
Besides, him and his friends can always graffiti that loser's pawnshop another time.
"Yeah, sounds good." Answered Morro. "As long as don't mind me wiping the floor with you."
"In your dreams." Lloyd said with a laugh, before walking the rest of the way into the living room to set up the game.
Morro had just grabbed his phone out of his pocket and had texted Bansha that there was a change of plans, that he had a family thing come up and to relay it to the others, when Lloyd turned around seeming to have just remembered something.
"Wait, you said that you were already out when I called you. Do you have something you need to do? We can do this some other time." Lloyd asked, expression morphing into a mixture of worried and self conscious, where moments ago it had been excitement.
Lloyd may be a good enough actor to keep the whole of Ninjago from discovering his 'extra curricular activities', but Morro's not some random guy on the street corner whose only ever heard the name Lloyd Garmadon in passing. He's know this kid since he was a snotty toddler.
So Morro knows that if he said 'Yes, I do actually have something else I need to be doing. We'll play some other time.' That Lloyd would nod his understanding with a friendly smile that no matter how many times he's used it, it never quite reaches his eyes.
And okay, any other day of the week he'd do just that without batting an eye (probably). Because yeah, he's a bit of an asshole- that's just who he is. His family knows this. Lloyd knows this, they're all used to his prickly personality and love him anyway. It wouldn't be anything new.
Bottom line, it wouldn't be the first time or the last Morro'd say no, and Lloyd would genuinely understand. His cousin obnoxiously nice like that.
But... today's not just any other random day of the week, is it?
"Nope. I already did everything I had to do. I was about to head home when you called." Morro told Lloyd with an easy shrug. "Now hurry it up so I can kick you butt, already." With that, Morro moved to plop down on to the couch in front of the TV and wait for Lloyd to finish setting up the game.
"Really?" Lloyd asked. The surprised delight in his tone all too obvious.
Morro's only response was a 'hurry up' gesture.
After all, there are way worse ways for Morro to spend his evening than playing video games with his squirt cousin.
"Okay, cool!" Lloyd said, smile firmly back in place as he rushed to finish setting up the game.
With the speed Lloyd was moving at, it didn't take long for him to announce that everything was ready to go. All that was left was for Lloyd to take a seat and press play.
Just as Lloyd was walking the short distance from the TV to couch, green and grey controllers in hand, Morro suddenly got an idea.
Grabbing the offered grey controller and donning what his friends had dubbed his 'evil smirk', Morro spoke up in a causal tone, "So does this mean I can't call you Sour Patch kid anymore?"
"Huh?" Lloyd asked, now seated on the other side of the couch turned his head and raised his eyebrows at his cousin's question.
Smirk still in place, Morro said, "Well, since you've never committed a crime with a Sour Patch kid, and now that you've done it with a lollipop I figured I should probably call you something related to that. Candy criminal, maybe?" And pressed Play.
Lloyd turned his head back towards his cousin so fast, and with so much force he nearly fell off of the couch. All while making a choking sound that if Morro had to guess, was some kind of mix between suprise and outrage. "Wha- no! You shouldn't! You should definitely NOT! And it wasn't a crime!"
Morro simply hummed in response to Lloyd's outraged statement, eyes not leaving the TV screen.
While Lloyd sat there and continued to stare at him in disbelief, Morro added "I don't know, you got to give credit where credit it's due."
"Don't you dare!" Lloyd argued, game seemingly forgotten for the moment. All according to plan. "You have plenty of nicknames for me already. You do not need one for- for THIS!"
"Dum Dum Delinquent." Morro mused, completely ignoring Lloyd's statement.
"Stop!"
"No? How bought Lolliperp? It's got a nice ring to it." Morro said, never taking his eyes away from the screen.
Lloyd was practically shrieking at this point. "I'm begging you to STOP-"
"If you insist." Morro said, right before he landed the winning shot on Lloyd's avatar, and leaned back against the couch satisfied.
Lloyd stopped and rapidly looked between Morro and the screen a few times, gaping like his pet goldfish, before settling his shocked gaze on Morro.
"You pressed play?!" Lloyd screeched. "And didn't tell me?!"
In place of an answer, Morro just sat back and gave Lloyd a look that very clearly meant 'duh'.
"You CHEATER!" Lloyd said to Morro, pointing his controller at him for emphasis. "You knew I wasn't ready!" He accused.
Morro shrugged again before saying in a solemn tone "Think of it as a valuable lesson: Never leave your guard down. That might just save your life some day; at least your avatar's life. You're welcome."
"You suck." Lloyd deadpaned.
"Maybe." Morro said with another smirk. "But all's fair in gaming and war. Now, if I were you I'd pay attention before I beat you senseless again." With that said, Morro moved his finger to hover over the pause button threateningly.
"Wait DON'T-" Lloyd started to say, eyes wide.
"Too late." Morro said, pressing the button with a satisfying click. "Oops, I slipped."
"You JERK." Lloyd said, scrambling for his controller just as their avatars collided on screen.
And that was how they spent the rest of the night.
The two of them trading quips, and laughs, and trash talk while occasionally elbowing the other. All previous problems regarding school and candy incidents forgotten. At least for now.
All in all, Morro had to say it was a good night. Much different than he thought his night would go, but definitely a good one.
And if Morro happened to picture Lloyd's principal and teachers on screen whenever he landed a particularly nasty hit, well that was for him to know.
The End.