Work Text:
Kai didn't know what he was doing when he heard the floor creak behind him. He blinked, and his eyes burned. Like he'd forgotten to blink. Thinking. About Morro. About Lloyd. He hadn't protected him. He promised, and Lloyd trusted him, and he couldn't, and—
"Lloyd. What are you doing, it's late."
He'd turned around to find the Green Ninja frozen behind him, caught tugging another blanket off the couch from where it had been carelessly thrown over the back.
Lloyd stared at him like a deer in headlights. There were still dark circles under his eyes. Bones still jutting out from beneath his too-pale skin.
I couldn't save him. You let Morro get him, you let him go to that stupid museum alone, and look what happened. Some protector you are.
"...Lloyd, are you OK?" Kai spoke softly. He didn't want to startle him. His little brother's nerves had been jumpy as Jay on caffeine since they'd gotten him back. Especially around Cole. It was hurting both of them. Kai hated to watch.
Look what you did.
Lloyd was shaking. Shivering. There was already a blanket wrapped around his shoulders.
All the covers on the Bounty had been gradually migrating to Lloyd's bed. Cole had dumped everything but his sheets on the mattress two days after the Preeminent was destroyed. Said he didn't need them any more. Lloyd had whispered a thank-you, but couldn't force himself to look.
"...Kai?" Lloyd's voice was hoarse. He blinked. Slowly moved each of his fingers, clenching and unclenching his fists like he needed to check if they still listened to him. He'd been doing that a lot lately. Must've picked up the habit while he was captured. Forced to do things with his own body that he never wanted to do, to hurt the people he loved.
Kai knew his little brother was still stupid enough to think it was his fault.
Your fault.
"Lloyd. You're shaking. What's wrong?" Kai couldn't stand beating around the bush any more. Forget this, this, 'Are you OK' nonsense. Clearly he wasn't. Lloyd was a terrible liar, but give him that question and oh, how he'd try. He lied buckets. They all did.
Lloyd blinked again with a tremor. "It-it's nothing, it's just..." He trailed off and shuddered.
"Is it a nightmare?" Kai pressed. He hated Lloyd's nightmares. Yet another thing he couldn't punch in the face and burn to a crisp for hurting his brother.
"N-n-no, I-I'm just cold." Lloyd shook his head, movements jerky. "I-I'm always cold, Kai." The shadows vibrated as they fell across the hollows of his face. "I...I c-c-can't get...warm."
That. That was something he could fix.
"Come here," Kai ordered, then proceeded to completely ignore the actual words of his command by jumping over the back of the couch himself. He took Lloyd by the shoulders and began directing his shaky frame back around to the cushions. "Hey. It's all right. I got you."
If Kai was the one supporting most of Lloyd's weight, and if that was way too light, he didn't say anything else. Lloyd only nodded.
Kai plonked back down on the couch, bringing his little brother down with him on top of his lap.
"Oof." Lloyd's teeth chattered together. "Kai, y-you don't have to—"
"Shut up, little bro." Kai cut him off, arranging him more comfortably in his lap and tucking the covers around him. "What's the point in having a Master of Fire if you can't use him as a personal heating blanket? Sounds like a waste of true potential, if you ask me."
Lloyd snorted shakily and mumbled something unintelligible.
"Yeah, yeah, whatever," Kai said, wrapping his arms around him. He shut his eyes and began to focus, honing in on the small spark of his powers deep in his chest. They were back, but they were weaker. A lot like the boy in green, shivering in his grasp. The source of those powers.
No matter. It would be enough.
Kai coaxed the sparks into a flame. A gentle glow of warmth that slowly spread across his body, slowly permeating the skin and muscles and cold, weary bones of the other.
Lloyd thawed. He stopped shivering. He melted.
"Mmm..." Lloyd let out a contented sigh of relief. "Warm." He snuggled closer, savoring the sensation after weeks of bitter cold, howling hunger, and a constant wind that tore through his clothes like nothing and bit and clawed at every part of him inside and out.
Kai gave a sleepy smile and ruffled his hair, running his fingers through the thick blond locks. Even in the darkness, the soft color was all his own. None of that black that made his edges look sharper, his hollows deeper, his skin even more washed-out and pale than it already was.
Kai sighed. It's all my fault.
"Don't be so hard on yourself," Lloyd murmured, like he could sense the voice in his head. "You make a great master of personal heating." He twined both arms around Kai's torso and clung on tight.
Is he asleep?
Good.
Kai relaxed.
It still wasn't OK yet. Maybe it would never be OK. Maybe Morro would haunt both of them to their graves, whether a ghost, a voice in their heads, or a distant scrap of memory.
But for now, at least, they had each other. Lloyd didn't blame him. He certainly didn't blame Lloyd.
Maybe it was time to let go of blaming himself.
Just a little.
It would be enough.
They would both begin to heal.