Work Text:
With no topics of interest as of now, Lloyd opted to silently stare out the window as Cole drove them to Kai’s house to hang out, the only sound being the quiet rock music coming from the car’s music player.
Lightly drumming his fingers to the beat of the song, Cole couldn’t help but want to break the silence between them.
“Hey, you’re workin’ to get your learner’s permit, right?”
Turning his head to face Cole, he promptly nodded.
“You wanna watch how I do it? Maybe it’ll help you out.”
With Lloyd giving a simple “sure,” he sat up a little straighter and trained his eyes on Cole as he continued driving. As he went, the older boy would explain when he would use turn signals, when he would slow and speed up, and who had the right-of-way in different situations.
Between these little tidbits, the blonde would try to pay attention to how his friend would use the wheel… but instead, something else caught his eye.
“Why do you always wear these?” He pointed, referring to the rings he wore, a white one on the left, and a black one on the right, both on their respective middle fingers and never in any other order.
“Oh,” the earth ninja said, peering down at his own hands. “Well, this one is to show that I’m aromantic,” he started, lifting up his left hand, “and this one is to show that I’m asexual,” lifting up his right hand.
Another bout of silence.
Considering Lloyd’s mildly puzzled expression, Cole asked him a question.
“..Do you know what those mean?” Then he added, “It’s okay if you don’t.”
The green ninja shook his head in response.
“Oh, okay!” Cole smiled as Lloyd was starting to realize how much the other boy loved explaining things.
“Being aromantic means you don’t really feel romantic attraction towards people. Being asexual is the same gist, but with sexual attraction instead,” he calmly explained. “Both boring, in my opinion.”
While Lloyd tried piecing it together in his head, Cole asked him if what he’d said made sense.
“I.. think so.”
Another few moments of uncomfortable silence passed.
“I kind of… understand feeling like that,” Lloyd admitted. “Is that dumb?”
Cole gave him a look at the last part. “Do you think I’m dumb?”
With the other boy quickly disagreeing, he concluded, “Then no, it’s not.”
As Lloyd fidgeted with his seatbelt, the earth ninja figured he’d give one more piece of advice before they arrived at their destination.
“Figuring yourself out takes time. If I could go back and tell myself anything, it’d be to be more honest with myself.” He gave his friend a thoughtful look. “If that’s how you feel, then that’s how you feel. It might be normal for other people to fall in love and stuff, but you need to do what’s right for you. Not anybody else.”
Parking by the sidewalk, Cole gave a warm smile before speaking again.
“Got it?”
Lloyd smiled back, making a mental note to hug his friend as soon as they were both out of the car.
“Got it.”