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Nya stood outside the door to the bathroom, debating how much longer to wait. Lloyd was in there; he had been for a while. She leaned back against the wall, looking up at the ceiling. This is not how she'd wanted to spend her afternoon, babysitting Lloyd. She knew he didn't want her there anymore than she wanted to be.
But this was what he got, for training while sick after he'd insisted was fine, before collapsing in the courtyard. So, Zane had sent him to bed rest, deciding he had to be supervised at all times. And it was her turn. Deciding he'd had long enough, she knocked on the door.
"Lloyd? You better not be dead in there." No answer. "You have thirty seconds before I'm coming in."
She grabbed the doorknob, twisting it, about to push the door open when it swung from the other side. Llody stood there, swaying slightly, looking up at her furiously under his blonde locks.
"Geeze Nya—I'm coming," He rolled his eyes and walked past her. Or tried to. He stumbled and she shot out to catch him, setting him upright again. She didn't let go of him, not trusting him not to fall again.
"'m fine, I can walk on my own." He batted at her hands, but she didn't move them.
"You literally just proved you can't."
"Hmph."
She felt him lean heavily on her, pale face grim with concentration as he swayed again. Grabbing him more securely, Nya walked him back to his room, forcibly laying him down and pushing his head into his pillow.
"Go to sleep."
Lloyd huffed, pulling his blankets around him. She walked over to his desk, sitting in his chair and pulling out her phone. Scrolling aimless for a few minutes, she heard him shuffling around, trying to get comfortable. Annoyed by the rest forced upon him, he grumbled the entire time.
Suddenly he went quiet. Nya wondered briefly if he had fallen asleep, but listen closer she picked up on his breathing, far too measured for sleep. She glanced up, softening at what she saw. Putting her phone back in her pocket, she walked over and sat on the side of his bed, running one hand through his hair.
"Hey Greenie, what's wrong?"
Tears pricked the corner of his eyes, he looked up at her, reminding her of how she used to find him when he first joined them. He would hide in corners of the bounty, crying when everything felt too much - it was a lot of destiny for a little kid.
"I aways make things worse."
His voice was barely audible, and Nya's shoulders relaxed. He looked so young – the comment reminding her of things he used to say, before the ninja really welcomed him. That had been years ago, and they had proved wrong such statements many times. But some things stayed.
"Kiddo, you made one thing worse," She explained gently, "Yeah, it was a bit dumb, but it's not the end of the world. We still love you – actually if you didn't make things worse sometimes you wouldn't be Lloyd now would you."
He sniffed gently, raising a hand to wipe his eyes. She twisted round and lay back next to him, "Besides, you can't possibly make things worse more often than Kai."
That drew a short laugh out of him, and she copied, shoulders shaking as she remembered all the idiotic things that her brother got up to. She wrapped her arms around Lloyd, snuggling under the blankets.
"Go to sleep kiddo, you'll feel better after."
Maybe babysitting her baby brother wasn't so bad after all.