Work Text:
The freezing air bit at Lloyd’s face, his breath puffing out in quick, misty clouds as he sat hunched around the lantern. Its faint glow barely warded off the oppressive cold that surrounded them, the icy expanse of the Never-Realm stretching endlessly beyond their small camp. Akita, on the other hand, looked completely unbothered. She had grown up in this unforgiving environment, her body long since adapted to the harsh chill. She was curled up by the lantern, her eyes half-lidded with exhaustion, too tired even to shift into her wolf form.
Lloyd, however, was a shivering, shuddering mess. His teeth chattered so violently that it was hard to think, his arms wrapped tightly around himself in a desperate attempt to preserve what little warmth he had left. He hated the cold. Ninjago was warm most of the time—moderate, temperate, and nothing like this. All the running, fighting, and chaos back home usually kept his blood pumping, but here? It was like someone had dumped him straight into a glacier. The sharp shift from a massive battle in Ninjago to this stealth mission in the Never-Realm felt like whiplash.
“Cold. So cold. Why is it this cold?” Lloyd muttered under his breath, his words rapid and barely audible through the chattering of his teeth. “Who even lives like this? Oh, right. Akita. Of course. Because this is normal for her, sure.” He sniffled and shifted closer to the lantern, grimacing at how little it helped. “Can’t feel my fingers. Can’t feel my face. I’m basically a popsicle. Great. Just great. Should’ve brought extra socks. Should’ve brought a portable volcano or something. Anything.”
Akita’s ear twitched at the sound of his mumbling, and she cracked one eye open to glance at him. A faint smirk tugged at her lips, but she said nothing, content to let him stew in his complaints. Lloyd pulled his knees closer to his chest, rocking slightly in an attempt to keep himself moving.
“Never again. After this, I’m retiring to some tropical island. Sand. Sun. Warmth. Pineapples. No snow in sight. None.” He paused to sniffle again. “You hear that, lantern? Warmth. You should try it sometime.”
The lantern, predictably, didn’t respond, and Lloyd let out a groan of frustration. Akita’s soft laugh finally broke the silence. “You’re such a baby,” she said, her voice heavy with amusement.
Lloyd glared at her, though the effect was ruined by his violently shaking frame. “Easy for you to say! You’re from this icy nightmare! I’m a guy who just spent the last week in a desert city fighting off a firey snake thing. There was sand. Heat. This? This is unnatural!”
Akita chuckled again and closed her eyes, letting his complaints wash over her like a soothing lullaby.
"I'm so cold..." Lloyd whined, his voice muffled as he flopped onto his side, face first into the snow. The icy chill seeped through his clothes and bit into his skin, eliciting another uncontrollable shiver. "Where’s Kai when you need him…" he muttered, his voice pitiful and trembling. He buried his face into his hands, though he made sure his arms stayed wrapped tightly around his body. Curled up like that, he looked like a shivering green ball, his new cloak puffed out around him in an almost comical attempt to stave off the cold.
Akita, who had been on the verge of drifting off, cracked one eye open. The corner of her mouth twitched with restrained amusement as she watched him pitifully wriggle in the snow. He was hopeless, clearly unused to such extreme cold. Letting out a soft hum, she debated whether or not to intervene.
“You’re going to freeze yourself solid if you keep that up,” she said finally, her voice calm but tinged with reluctant concern.
Lloyd didn’t move, just let out another groan that turned into a miserable whimper. “Too late… I’m already an icicle. Just leave me here. Tell everyone I died bravely—fighting the elements… or something.”
Akita sighed, sitting up slowly. She wasn’t particularly thrilled about what she was about to say, but if Lloyd froze to death, it would be a problem for both of them. “You know,” she began, her tone measured, “if you’re really that cold… body heat is the best way to warm up.”
Lloyd peeked out from behind his hands, his face red from both the chill and embarrassment. “Wait, are you saying—”
“Yes… Cuddling…” She cut him off before he could start rambling. “I’m saying we can share warmth. That’s all. Don’t make it weird.” She sighed again, more heavily this time. “And don’t expect me to offer twice.”
Lloyd blinked at her, his shivers momentarily paused in surprise. “You’d really do that?”
Akita rolled her eyes. “I’d rather not haul your frozen body around, if that’s what you’re asking.” She patted the space beside her with a reluctant wave of her hand. “Come on. But if you start whining about something else, I’m throwing you back into the snow.”
Grinning despite his frozen misery, Lloyd scrambled over, plopping down beside her like an overgrown puppy. “Thanks, Akita,” he said, his voice muffled as he pressed close.
“Don’t thank me. Just stay still and don’t hog all the heat,” she muttered, though the faintest smile flickered across her face as she wrapped her arms around him.
Lloyd burrowed into her side, his movements awkward at first, but he quickly found a position that felt almost natural—fitting into her like a puzzle piece. The contrast between the biting cold and the faint warmth radiating from Akita’s body was enough to make him sigh in relief, his tense shoulders slowly loosening. It wasn’t the blazing heat of a fire or the steady comfort of a heater, but it was something.
Desperate for every bit of warmth he could find, he pressed his face into the thick fabric of her shoulder-padded coat. The coarse material wasn’t exactly soft, but it was warm, and that was all that mattered. He inched closer, his weight settling more firmly against her as he instinctively pressed harder, trying to draw out every ounce of heat.
From an outside perspective, he looked almost childlike, like a small boy seeking solace and safety in his mother’s arms after a nightmare. His arms clung tightly to himself, but his face was buried against her shoulder with such vulnerability that it made Akita pause for a moment. She glanced down at him, her sharp features softening as she watched him melt into the comfort, his shivering finally starting to subside.
“You’re really leaning into this, huh?” she murmured, her tone dry but not unkind.
Lloyd mumbled something incoherent, too absorbed in the relief of warmth to come up with a proper response. His breath came out in soft, uneven puffs against her coat, and Akita found herself shaking her head with a quiet chuckle.
“Just don’t get too comfortable,” she added, though the way her arm shifted to rest more securely around his back betrayed her words. Despite herself, she couldn’t deny that his weight leaning into her wasn’t entirely unwelcome—it reminded her of old times, being taken care of by her Brother when they were small.
Lloyd nestled deeper into Akita’s side, greedily soaking up all the warmth he could. But as the minutes passed, the heat began to dwindle, replaced once again by the biting cold that crept through his clothes and sank deep into his bones. A small whimper escaped his lips, a pitiful sound that made Akita glance down at him with a raised brow.
“Still cold…” he muttered under his breath, his voice muffled against her coat. He shifted again, trying to press impossibly closer, his hold tightening around her as though sheer willpower could force the chill away. But his efforts were so fervent and uncoordinated that they nearly tipped them both over, Akita planting her hand into the snow to steady them.
“Lloyd,” she warned, her voice tinged with annoyance.
“I can’t help it!” he hissed, his voice pitched high with frustration and the cold. “It’s like the Never-Realm itself hates me. I swear, if I ever get out of here, I’m never coming back. Never. I’m moving to the warmest place I can find. Maybe somewhere tropical—do they have beaches in Ninjago? Do you think Misako has a map for that? Oh, what if we found one of those islands where the sand’s always warm? I bet it’s nice—"
“Lloyd,” Akita said again, sharper this time.
“Or maybe I’ll just start carrying around a portable heater everywhere. Oh, and I could—”
“Lloyd.”
Her patience finally snapped, and before he could launch into another long-winded tangent, she leaned in and kissed him. The touch was brief and feather-light, just enough to silence him, but it completely froze him—metaphorically, at least. He felt volcano levels of heat fill him.
Lloyd’s eyes flew open, his breath catching as the stream of words died instantly on his tongue. His mind went blank, the cold momentarily forgotten as he processed what had just happened.
Akita pulled back, her expression calm but her cheeks faintly red from more than just the cold. “There,” she said, her voice even. “That shut you up, didn’t it?”
Lloyd gawked at her, his mouth opening and closing like a fish out of water. His face turned a deep shade of red, radiating heat that rivaled the lantern’s dim glow. “Did you just—did I just—”
“Yes,” Akita cut him off, her tone flat. “And if you don’t stop rambling, I’ll do it again.”
That effectively silenced him. Lloyd snapped his mouth shut, his face still blazing as he stared at her in stunned silence. For a moment, he forgot all about the cold, his thoughts now consumed by the realization that he’d just had his first kiss—in the middle of a freezing wasteland, no less. And with one of the prettiest girls he's ever been within 30 feet of.
Akita smirked at his reaction, leaning back slightly and letting the silence settle between them. “Good,” she said softly, adjusting her arm around him again. “Now, stop squirming and get some rest.”
Lloyd nodded stiffly, still too stunned to speak. His face burned hotter than ever, though whether it was from the lingering shock of the kiss or the cold finally loosening its grip, he couldn’t tell. Without a word, he buried his face back into Akita’s shoulder, this time quieter, his rambling silenced by his spiraling thoughts. The cold could wait. His mind was racing, trying and failing to make sense of what just happened.
As he shifted slightly, his face brushed against her neck, and he instinctively nestled closer. He found warmth there, soft and comforting, and let himself rest against it. His breaths slowed, his trembling gradually subsiding. Akita narrowed her eyes, glancing down at him. He was annoyingly clingy, but before she could snap at him, she felt his body relax completely, his eyelids fluttering shut.
“Dummy,” she muttered under her breath, frowning slightly as she realized he was already dozing off. She sighed, the exasperation in her voice mixed with a trace of reluctant fondness. His weight against her side wasn’t particularly comfortable, and the snow beneath them was starting to seep through her coat.
Muttering curses to herself, she rolled them both slightly, shifting so that Lloyd ended up beneath her. He blinked briefly, groggy and confused, but her sharp glare quickly silenced any protests he might have made.
“Don’t move,” she commanded flatly, adjusting her position so she wasn’t half-lying in the snow. Her body now shielded him more fully, providing warmth in a way that was almost loving—if a bit gruff.
Lloyd let out a sleepy murmur, too tired and warm to argue. “Thanks, Akita,” he mumbled softly, his voice slurring as sleep overtook him.
Akita sighed again, though this time it was accompanied by a small, almost imperceptible smile. “You’re lucky I don’t just toss you back into the snow,” she muttered, more to herself than to him.
As the silence settled, the steady rhythm of Lloyd’s breathing began to lull her, and her own eyes grew heavy. She let out a low, contented growl, pleased with the warmth they were now sharing. “Hmph… guess this isn’t so bad,” she murmured, her voice soft and sleepy. Within moments, she had dozed off as well, the two of them nestled together in the icy expanse, finding solace in each other against the freezing cold. She yawned gently, face against his neck now, letting warmth seeping into his body.