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Lloyd hasn't slept in 3 days. Or maybe it has been a week or more. He doesn't know, he hasn't been counting.
It's taking a toll on his body but Lloyd, being the stubborn Ninja he is, denies and ignores that the frequent headaches and fatigue were a sign of him falling sick.
His family notices it too and takes concern over it but he shrugged them off, telling them he is fine.
He can’t lead his team if he were sick. He can’t protect Ninjago if he is sick. Plus, he has been through worse. Like almost dying all the time.
That is until one fine day (literally a few seconds ago) while he was on a solo mission, he simply had passed out. From the fatigue or from the lack of blood where a huge wound was placed on his shoulder, he doesn't know.
The Green Ninja laid there, on the ground of Haroshi’s Labyrinth, unconscious until Pixal had finally located him.
A gentle touch and a shake woke him up. He wakes up groggily before hissing in pain, clutching onto his shoulder.
“Lloyd! Oh, thank The First Spinjitzu Master. What were you thinking, going on a mission, getting bitten by a wolf and running away without calling for backup all while you're having a fever!” Kai nagged at him as Jay and Cole helped him up. He could see Zane scanning him.
“What?” He slurs, shivering as he suddenly feels cold. Maybe the cold was radiating from Zane who was in front of him.
“You’re burning up, Lloyd. We need to take you back to the monastery to get your wound and fever treated,” Zane informed as Cole carried him on his back (which he had not realized he was on).
“What fever? I don’t have any fever, nuh uh. It's just cold because of winter… mhm,” he giggled deliriously and he could see his brothers’ unimpressed face.
“It’s summer, Lloyd,” Jay looks at him with concern but Lloyd shrugs uninterestedly.
“We’ll talk once you're not delirious and in denial,” Kai grumbled and patted his back as they walked back to where the Bounty was parked.
Lloyd didn't even realize he had fallen asleep on Cole’s back.
When he woke up again, he found himself in his room, half naked and surrounded with thick blankets while his shoulder was covered in bandages.
He shivers, pulling the blanket tightly around him as he blinks sleepily. He could make out noises from outside his room and silhouettes of his siblings from his door.
Nya and Cole had entered his room, sliding the door open with a tray of fruits, tea and soup in Nya’s hands and Cole had something in his hands, but his vision was too blurred to look at it properly.
“Hey green bean. How are you feeling?” Cole patted his hair as he gently put the thing— no, thermometer in his mouth, making Lloyd grumble.
“’m ‘ine. I ‘on’t hafe a fefer, ‘ole.” He shivers again, grabbing Cole’s arm to steal some of his body heat.
“He totally does have a fever,” Nya giggles as she sets the tray down on his nightstand and sits beside him.
“Zane made some soup for you, you better eat it and then eat your medication,” she looks at him sternly but he pouts stubbornly.
“Nuh uh,” Lloyd shook his head and the thermometer finally beeps after long painstaking seconds. Cole tuts as he takes it out from his mouth and shows it to him.
“You're about 39.1 degrees, Lloyd. Your fever is spiking up,” the older man shakes his head at the younger’s denial before getting up to get a cold wet towel for him.
“Temperature is just a number!” He yelled out to him before getting into a coughing fit. Nya shakes her head too and smacks him on his good arm. He whines in pain.
“Eat. Before I call Kai to force you to eat,” she folded her arms across her chest to look intimidating but Lloyd is too tired to even feel intimidated. His throat hurts.
“It’d be better so he can help with this cold. I’m cold, Nya.” His voice was hoarse from the coughing, not because he has a sore throat. Why was he coughing anyway? He isn’t sick.
Nya smiles a little, looking at Lloyd. As if he was a sick child, needing someone to care for him. But he was neither sick or a child.
“Alright, I’ll call him. But he might be a little late, he went out with Zane to stock up medical supplies,” she informs before patting his head softly as Cole emerged from wherever he was with a towel.
“Here, it’ll be a little cold,” Cole warns as he puts the towel onto his forehead, making him hiss.
“Sorry greenie.” He sat back at his previous place and Lloyd had the urge to cuddle the man right there and there just to get rid of the cold. Which is why he needs Kai, being the Master of Fire.
“Where’s Jay?” He mumbles as he scoots slightly closer to Cole. Why is he freezing cold anyway? He isn’t sick.
“He’s helping out with Pixal and Master Wu,” Nya replies while taking the bowl of soup.
“Come on, let’s eat and then we’ll let you rest.” Lloyd grumbled under his breath before trying to sit up but failed miserably. Why is he feeling weak? He isn’t sick.
Cole helped him up and he sat up ungraciously with a grunt, leaning his entire body weight against Cole. He sighs in content at the warmth the older was radiating.
Nya moved into a comfortable position and blew the soup to slightly cool it down before feeding it to him. He furrowed his brows and glared at her.
Lloyd was about to take the bowl from her instead when his shoulder shoots in pain, making him yelp.
“See? It’s better if I feed you,” Nya chuckles and moves the spoon like an airplane, like a parent trying to feed a child.
“Here comes the airplane!” Cole laughs loudly while Lloyd looks at her unimpressed before slurping the soup out of the spoon.
After a while and to Lloyd’s dismay, his body heaters left him alone to rest after forcing him to eat his medication.
He snuggled deep into his blanket as he violently coughs before wincing in pain. Okay, maybe he does have a small, slight cough. Nothing he can handle though.
Groaning to himself, he rubs his face as he looks around for his hoodie but sighs in defeat when he sees it way too far from him.
He wanted to call for someone to help him (because he was injured and NOT sick) but he didn't need to when he saw a silhouette of someone outside his door. He was hoping it was Kai. His body warmth was on another level and he desperately needed it.
“Lloyd? How are you doing, buddy?” Instead of who he was expecting, Jay entered the room with concern but that's okay. He needs to get all the heat he can get.
“‘m fine. Need help, hoodie,” he pointed to where his favourite green hoodie was laying and the Blue Ninja hums, getting it for him.
“What's your temperature like? Having sore throat huh? I could hear you all the way from the basement,” Jay says as he helps him get into his hoodie but it didn't help that much as he thought it would.
“Cole said it was 39.1? Dunno. But I’m not sick, I just have a slight sore throat, I’ve been through worse,” he shrugs with his good shoulder.
“39.1?! Lloyd, just accept the fact that you are sick,” Jay sighs and shakes his head but Lloyd glares at him.
“I’m not sick,” he mumbles stubbornly and looks away. Jay sighs again and ruffles his hair before leaving him to let him rest.
By the time he woke up again, it was in the evening. He mumbles gibberish to himself before trying to get up, wanting to go to the bathroom.
But he fell off his bed with a yelp and laid on the floor dumbfoundedly. He sighs as he rubs his face, not even bothering to get up.
Footsteps could be heard from outside his room and he heard his door sliding open. He looked up to see who it was.
Surprisingly, it was Pixal and Zane. The two nindroids looked at each other before looking at him in concern, helping him up.
“How did you manage to get onto the floor, Lloyd?” Pixal asked as she supported him on one side while Zane on the other.
“Were you trying to go somewhere? You're still unwell, I heard your fever went up,” Zane commented but Lloyd whined loudly.
“I’m fine! I don't have a fever, just an injured shoulder. I just wanted to go to the bathroom,” he grumbled hoarsely. Why is his voice so deep and scratchy? Oh, it might be because of the coughing.
Pixal and Zane exchanged a look that Lloyd ignored and tried to walk away from them but failing miserably as he almost fell to the floor again, if it weren't for the two nindroids catching him in time.
“Lloyd, I advise you to let us help you,” Pixal says worryingly. The (very sick) man sighed in defeat before nodding.
“Fine, you can help me. But I’m not sick!” He slurs and hangs his head as he lets them drag him to the bathroom.
Staring at his own face in the mirror, he sighs as he takes a closer look at his features. He looked pale and his slightly glowing green eyes looked dimmer than usual.
Narrowing his eyes at his reflection, he turned on the sink to wash his face.
After doing his business, the couple forced him into bed again despite his whining about missing out on morning training. It wasn't even morning, it was going to be nighttime.
He could hear the conversation between the two when they thought he had fallen asleep when in reality, he was too much in pain to move.
“Do you think he’ll be okay? It seems like he is very much delirious and in denial about being sick.” He heard Pixal say as they both walked out of his room.
After that, he couldn't hear anything else as he accidentally fell asleep again.
In the middle of the night, a warm hand pressed against his forehead and he melted into it, trying to bring the body close to him.
A chuckle was heard and a thermometer was poking against his lip which he obediently opened to let the person take his temperature. He was too sleepy to protest.
The thermometer beeps after a few seconds and the person hummed.
“39.6, it’s getting higher… Lloyd? Wake up green bean. Let’s eat and get some medication in you then you can sleep again,” a voice whispers softly to him and he recognises it as Kai’s.
“Kai?” He mumbles sleepily as he blinks open his eyes. “What time is it?”
Kai smiled and looked at the digital clock that was placed on his nightstand.
“2 am. You need to take medicine, c’mon.” With that, he ruffled his hair and Lloyd dragged himself out of bed with the help of Kai. He was still feeling weak, if not, weaker than before.
Slumping against the older man to steal his warmth, his brother dragged him into the kitchen where a bowl of porridge was placed on the table with a glass of water and some medicine for him.
He also could see Cole and Master Wu who were sitting at the table too, eating some of the porridge.
“Is Lloyd okay?” Master Wu asks in concern and Cole chuckles while shaking his head, letting Kai explain.
“He injured his shoulder during his mission and has a very, very high fever right now. But he is in denial about being sick,” Kai sighs loudly and Lloyd flipped him off with all the strength he has.
“Hey!” Kai exclaimed offendedly as Lloyd sat down, leaning against Cole and hugging his arm for warmth while the older patted his thigh.
“I’ll help to feed you,” Kai says as he sits on the other side of Lloyd and he hums sleepily, his eyes threatening to close soon.
“He’ll have to skip training, missions and patrols for the whole week, until he recovers from his fever and his injury.” Master Wu informs them before leaving to his room, to get some sleep.
Cole and Kai were left alone with Lloyd and they helped him to eat before helping him into bed after finishing his porridge and his medicine.
As they were about to leave, Lloyd gently tugged on their arms.
“Cold…” He mumbles and the two older men smile in adoration before joining him in bed too. He snuggled comfortably against them, the warmth radiating from them, especially Kai's, was helping him with the cold.
But for some reason despite being sleepy a few moments ago, he couldn't seem to fall asleep again. He could hear Cole softly snoring behind him while Kai was on his phone.
Technically, it wasn't bedtime for the latter. He usually sleeps late just because he finds it fun to stay up.
Kai seemed to have noticed his restlessness since he was moving around a lot and turned to face him.
“What’s wrong, Lloyd?” Lloyd just shook his head in response.
“Can’t sleep,” he mumbles with a sigh. Kai hums in reply while the younger coughed.
“Why do you keep denying that you're sick when you clearly are? You need to rest, Lloyd.” Uh oh, Kai’s older brother's side has come out to lecture him.
Lloyd just shrugs.
His older brother raised an eyebrow, waiting for an answer and Lloyd knows he won’t stop bugging him until he gives him an answer.
“I can’t be Ninjago’s protector and lead the team if I’m sick, Kai. I’ve been through worse anyway, a slight fever won’t stop me and can’t stop me. What if some villain tries to steal someone’s powers? Or tries to kill one of us? Or tries to conquer the world? Or tries to attack the city? Or—” He was abruptly cut off from his rambling by Kai who rolled his eyes and held up a hand to stop him.
“Lloyd, it’s not even a slight fever and I don’t care if you have Oni and Dragon blood in you and you think you’re tough but you're still very much human, just like the rest of us. Well, except Pixal and Zane but they are more humane than other robots. But that’s not the point! The point is, you get sick like everyone else so stop being stubborn. You just have to accept the fact that you are sick instead of forcing yourself, especially your body, to do things you're not supposed to do when you’re unwell. Can you promise me that you’ll recover and acknowledge that you are in fact sick?” Lloyd blinks at him dumbfoundedly before nodding.
“I promise.”
The morning after, he continued to sleep peacefully— due to the medication that was given to him; even when Cole and Kai had struggled to pull away from his death grip. He’s usually a light sleeper so something like this would wake him up but it surprisingly didn't today.
He yawns as he slowly wakes up from his sleep, turning to see a tray of food, a thermometer and his medicine ready for him by his nightstand.
Trying to get up by himself with a weak body and a very injured shoulder was hard. But he managed without help.
The monastery seemed quiet and it usually never is unless they're out on missions or patrols.
Sighing to himself, he leaned against his headboard weakly as he took the thermometer to take his temperature. He waits a while and looks at it after it beeped.
“38.9.. at least it’s going down,” he mumbled to himself as he stared at the tray that was full of food.
But he doesn't feel like eating. He feels too weak and he has no appetite. He was contemplating on whether to skip his meal before remembering what he had promised to Kai.
He decides to eat it later instead, when he feels like eating and doesn't feel like he is going to vomit or pass out soon.
Putting back the thermometer onto his nightstand and slowly walking out of his room, he checked to see if anyone was home.
Well he doubts he is alone at home. They clearly wouldn't leave him all alone especially when he’s sick or injured and if it wasn't for missions and patrols, they wouldn't even leave his side.
Carefully making his way to the living room with the help of the walls, he threw a shuriken in the middle of the dart board, activating the mechanism and revealing a secret elevator behind the TV’s wall.
Lloyd knows he’s supposed to rest but he doesn't want to be alone, and he wants to make sure the Ninja was doing okay without him. Not because he wants to oversee their mission, no. Pixal and Master Wu are there to do so anyway. Well, at least that is what he tells himself as he goes down to the basement.
“Lloyd! What are you doing down here, you’re supposed to be resting!” Pixal nagged at him while putting her hands on her hips, like a mother would do when scolding a child.
“I didn't want to be alone and I wanna check up on the Ninja,” he replied with a pout, almost falling onto the floor because of how weak he was.
Luckily, Master Wu was there to help him up and sat him down on a chair in front of the large monitor. He thanked him silently.
“Well I was about to go into your room actually, to change your wound’s dressing and to take your temperature,” the nindroid mumbled.
“I took my temperature before coming here, it's 38.9,” he informed and Pixal hummed before she went away to take a new set of bandages.
Master Wu silently helped him out of his hoodie as Lloyd stared at the monitor that had the Ninjas’ locations.
“Have you eaten, Lloyd?” His uncle asked softly and he shook his head in reply.
“Don’t have the appetite,” he mutters before coughing. Master Wu gently rubbed his back to ease the coughing.
“I take it that you didn't eat your medication too?” Lloyd smiled guiltily before shrugging with one shoulder.
“It’s bad to take medicine on an empty stomach anyway. I’ll eat when I don’t feel nauseous,” he hums assuringly at his uncle.
Master Wu sighs and nods his head, ruffling his already messy hair as Pixal returned with ointment and new bandages.
“It’ll hurt a little,” she warned as she removed the bloodied bandage from his shoulder and rubbed in the ointment, making him wince in pain.
“A little is an understatement,” he groaned and Pixal laughed as she bandaged him up.
“It’ll take probably a week or two for your shoulder to fully heal. But it’ll leave a scar, the wolf did bit you quite deep, luckily not deep enough to tear your entire arm apart,” she tells him and he nodded with a cough while slumping against the nindroid.
He was still feeling cold but at the same time, he was feeling warmer. The nindroid’s cool metal skin helped him with the hot feeling but not with the cold.
A blanket was covering him and he didn't notice his master had slipped away to get him his blanket. He smiles in thanks as he knew it would be too much trouble to put on his hoodie like how it was taking it off.
“So what are they doing?” He asked as he held onto the blanket tightly while still leaning on Pixal.
“They’re out on patrol. The Commissioner informed us that a few criminals, The Mechanic, Ultra Violet and Ronin, escaped,” Master Wu replied as Lloyd coughed loudly before wheezing.
“You should try to get some food in you so you can eat your medication. Shall I retrieve the soup from your room?” Pixal asked worriedly as she ran her fingers through his hair but he shook his head.
“Later.” The intercom beeped, signaling that one of the Ninja had turned it on.
“Hey Pix, we managed to capture UV and The Mechanic but Ronin is still on the loose. We’ll be back a little late and please get that sick kid to eat and rest,” Nya informed through the comms.
“Affirmative. Lloyd is here too, actually.” Lloyd gasped and looked at her in disbelief.
“Don’t rat me out!” He pouts and he could hear the other Ninja nagging at him over the comms.
“Lloyd! Get your sick ass back to bed!”
“Hey! You should be resting!”
“I swear to the First Spinjitzu Master if you're not in bed by the time we come back, I’ll whoop your ass.”
“Lloyd, it is not good for you to stress yourself while you're still sick. Please rest.”
“How did you even manage to get down to the basement by yourself? You could barely get up from bed!”
He could hear Master Wu chuckling in the background as he sulks like a child but never leaving Pixal’s side.
“Well, the good news is that his temperature went down. It’s now 38.9 but he has yet to eat. He’s feeling nauseous currently so we’ll make sure he eats once that feeling goes away,” Pixal assured their friends and Lloyd started to cough again.
“If that feeling ever goes away,” he mumbled hoarsely under his breath and it went unheard.
Sitting up with a grunt, he checks his temperature. It had been a week since he got sick and he could tell both his health and body was recovering.
Once the thermometer beeps in his mouth, he sighs happily when he finds out that he is of normal temperature again.
“You're finally recovered! But it's still no excuse to skip your sleep for a few days or even weeks,” Jay frowns at him as he laughs heartedly.
“Yeah, Lloyd. If you want to stay at home for the whole week and be stuck in bed while we nag at you daily to eat your medicine, you better get enough sleep,” Nya smiles as she poked him in the ribs.
“And try not to do something like getting bitten by a wolf and running away with lack of sleep?” Zane piped in, making everyone laugh.
“Fine, fine. I promise,” he nods assuringly while Kai ruffled his hair. Cole smiled as he patted his back.
“Good to have you back healthy again, green machine.”
“It’s good to be back.”