Work Text:
Lloyd sniffled, holding back the tears as his lower lip trembled. Each step he took hurt, his right ankle throbbed, his knees hurt from the countless falls he endured, and his hands were scuffed and they burned with the amount of times he caught himself before falling. He wouldn't cry though, not when he was walking down the Monastery hall with all the ninja in their respective rooms changing for yet another mission he wouldn't be allowed to tag along on.
He went into his room, opening some drawers before he grabbed pieces of blank paper and the crayons he had salvaged after Master Wu told him to throw every childish thing he owned away after that stupid aging tea happened.
Lloyd patiently waited inside his room for the ninja to leave before he even left his room and sat in their common area. He put his stuff on the small table, sat down on the floor quickly grabbed some colors, and got to work on the blank paper.
Lloyd didn't know what he wanted to draw, so he let his mind wander as he continued.
He didn't notice the way Nya had snuck into the room too, taking a seat beside Lloyd and leaning forward to see whatever he was drawing.
"Is that Lord Garmadon?" Lloyd felt the tip of his crayons break as he flinched, not expecting her to be so close and so silent to the point he wouldn't hear her.
Nya gave him a warm smile, and he suddenly remembered the fire on his hands and his knees, his ankle suddenly becoming aware of its pain. God how he hated training with Wu.
"No." Lloyd pulled the paper, crumbled it, and as soon as he threw it aside he felt his chest squeeze at his stupid actions. He didn't mean it, but he also didn't want to look so weak in front of his favorite person(right beside Kai of course.)
"Hey, let me see your hand real quick." Lloyd didn't have time to hide his hands before he felt soft careful hands grab his right hand, pulling it closer to Nya. She inspected his hand, and her brows knitted together as she held his hand in her oddly soft yet cold hands.
"Do they hurt?" Lloyd scoffed, rolled his eyes, and tried to pull his hand away. He failed and she simply held his hand in a grip that didn't hurt. Her thumb rubbed over the raw skin, and Lloyd felt the tears from earlier suddenly spring to his eyes as he felt the pain hit him. He wasn't used to so much, so he was overwhelmed. "Come on, I'll hell bandage these up." Lloyd looked at her, trying to see if there were any hidden secrets or lies she wasn't speaking. But he didn't see anything, her voice was soft, and her touch was softer than anything she ever felt.
It felt so comforting.
"Okay." He wasn't weak. He wasn't, he just needed some assistance... that... didn't make him weak.
Nya held Lloyd's wrist instead of his hand, pulling him down towards the small room dedicated to treating injuries. He followed closer to her heel, his head ducked low. She opened the door, sliding it back closed just as easily. Lloyd was sitting on a bed, and he hated the way his feet dangled farther up than he would have liked.
"Give me your hands," Nya held some wrapped bandage in her hand along with some rubbing alcohol. He hated the rubbing alcohol, it stung worse than his raw hands.
Lloyd showed both his hands, the skin gone from some places, red in some spots. And just the smallest specks of blood on the palm. Nya sighed heavily, putting the stuff down and quickly getting to work on mending Lloyd's injuries up.
"Anything else?" Lloyd looked down at his hands, they were feeling better. "My knees and my right ankle hurts a lot." He knew he was showing weakness, but he preferred the weakness over his current pain.
Nya rolled Lloyd's pants up, just above the knee to quickly mend his knee too. His ankle was last and when she touched his ankle he winced, holding on to the side of the bed as he nearly cried right then and there. He was a teenager. He shouldn't be crying over such small stuff...
Oh, but the pain.
"Totally sprained, it's swelling and it hurts to the touch." Nya thought for a moment before she got up and quickly left to grab something. Lloyd got the moment to look down and see the way his ankle did look a bit swollen, purple where he knew it hurt most. He would have to either sit out of training for a while, or he'd be forced to train either way, to ensure the pain to become a true ninja. To become the Green Ninja.
Nya came back with a... brace?
"It's a brace, but Zane and I made it in case any of the Ninjas were to sprain their ankles again, but it hasn't happened in a while so I doubt they'll need it in the next month." Nya knelt back to Lloyd's ankle, quickly getting to work and putting the brace on. At first, it hurt, but Lloyd quickly felt a sudden cold hit his ankle and the pain dwelled down to a small thrumming in his leg. Nya finished up quickly. "You won't be able to do training for a while, but this will help with the pain and at least prevent walking from hurting any further." Lloyd looked down at the brace, there had to be something in it that made it cold to the point the pain had finally dulled.
"Cool..." He whispered out, early amazed at such a work.
Nya smiled widely. "Now come on. I think you were in the middle of the drawing." Lloyd went to get off the bed when arms wrapped around his body and he was lifted into the air, settling against Nya's back, though he must weigh more and was taller, nearly Nya's height. She still gave him a piggyback ride as if he was still a kid.
The sudden action made his chest warm with the thought of being a kid again.
She carried him back to the common room, and Lloyd quickly tried to draw, but he struggled a bit, and he was starting to get frustrated. Before he knew it, tears were falling down his face and staining the paper and his drawing. He let the crayon slip from his hand, and he wiped the tears streaming down his face harshly with the back of his hands. "Hey, hey, I'm right here. What's going on?" Lloyd couldn't help the choked sob that broke out, the sudden question throwing him off balance.
FSM. He was weak.
"I-i can't... stupid-" Lloyd covered his face with his hands, crying into nothing his his wrists as his bandaged hands did little to soak tears. "I can't draw!" His throat burned, his eyes felt already raw, and his chest stuttered with every breath he tried to take in.
A hand rubbed circles on his back, and he felt his body begin to relax nearly immediately, the breaths still stuttered as he tried to take a deep breath in.
"Don't worry, it's okay. Just let it all out, you're still a kid." Lloyd broke. The sobs came out louder and he moved, his arms wrapping around Nya's body and letting his head rest on her shoulder as he cried. He felt so light, and he didn't even feel close to done with crying.
Nya had wrapped her arms around Lloyd, holding the boy close as his cries dimmed to sniffles, and then even breathing. She checked to make sure he was asleep before she moved and managed to get him on the couch, she got up and grabbed a simple green blanket kept away in storage here in case anyone fell asleep on the couch in here and didn't move. She covered Lloyd with the blanket, fixing his legs so that he didn't hurt his ankle further.
She couldn't help but brush away strands of hair from his face before wiping away stray tears and softly patting his cheek before she turned to pick up his crayons and the still blank papers.
Nya grabbed the crumbled piece up, she had the curiosity to want to open it. But she wouldn't invade Lloyd's privacy. So she carried the stuff to his room, hiding it in the drawer where she knew he kept most of the stuff secret from prying eyes.
Catching sight of the paper he was working on before the breakdown, she could see her name scribbled on top of a figure with black hair and red clothing. And then Lloyd sitting on a bed with what Nya guessed was bandages being put on.
She smiled, putting the paper back in as neatly as possible.
She'd cherish and protect this kid with everything she had.