Chapter Text
The rules of the monastery were crystal clear: Morro was not to be trusted, he was not to leave the courtyard pavilion after dark, and he was absolutely not supposed to be talking to the Green Ninja. Master Wu had placed strict protective wards around the ghost’s quarters, and the rest of the team still looked at Morro like he was a ticking bomb. Lloyd knew he shouldn't be pushing his luck.
Yet, here he was at two in the morning, carefully lifting the paper screen door of Morro’s designated room, trying to prevent his ninja gi from rustling too loudly. In his hands, he held a stolen plate of leftover dumplings and a book on ancient Ninjago history he’d swiped from Cole’s nightstand.
From the shadows of the corner, two glowing green eyes snapped open. "You're late, master of green," Morro whispered, his translucent form drifting down from where he had been floating against the ceiling. "I was about to start haunting the hallway just to pass the time."
Except, his voice wasn't as sharp as usual. There was a visible exhaustion in the spirit’s posture. Lloyd set the plate down, eyeing him closely. "I had to wait for Kai to stop snoring. And you look terrible for someone who doesn't even have a physical body. What happened?"
Morro hesitated, crossing his arms and looking away, the faint green glow of his spirit flickering nervously. "Nothing. Just... the connection. It happened again."
Lloyd’s heart did a strange, anxious flip. The tether between them was malfunctioning in the worst way possible. For the past three nights, whenever Lloyd closed his eyes to sleep, Morro’s consciousness was violently dragged straight into his subconscious. They were bickering and trading insults during the day, but at night, Morro was forced to witness the terrifying, chaotic landscape of Lloyd’s deepest nightmares.
"You saw the Preeminent again, didn't you?" Lloyd asked softly, sitting cross-legged on the floor tatami mat, keeping his voice to a bare whisper so the guards outside wouldn't hear. The playful, secret thrill of sneaking out suddenly felt heavy with angst.
"I saw you drowning, Lloyd," Morro muttered, finally looking at him, his ghostly face tight with a mix of frustration and genuine distress. "And because of the possession remnants, I felt the water too. I tried to pull you out of the dream-current, but the sky kept collapsing." He let out a bitter, quiet scoff. "It's pathetic. I'm a master of wind, and I can't even blow away a bad dream for you."
Lloyd stared at him, completely caught off guard by the raw honesty. A thick, suffocating silence settled over the small room. To break the sudden tension, Lloyd forced a small smirk, pushing the plate of dumplings forward. "Well, since you're stuck dealing with my messed-up brain every night, the least I can do is pay you in stolen food. Even if you can only taste the spiritual essence of it."
Morro blinked, the heavy vulnerability instantly masking over as a familiar, arrogant grin returned to his face. "Stolen from Cole? You're playing with fire, greenie. If he finds out, not even your golden power can save you from his wrath."
"Then you better eat fast," Lloyd whispered back, a genuine laugh bubbling in his chest as he leaned a little bit closer to the ghost, the boundary between enemy and something much deeper blurring further into the night.