Only My Eyes Can See
Icy_Blu
Summary:
When the bounty needs some major repairs, the ninja have to come up with money and fast! Lloyd, not wanting his true home to be under threat from enemies, decides to make his own money in less than ideal ways. Just as long as no one would find out about his methods he should be able to save up enough money to get them in the air again in no time!
But then Kai had to butt in as per usual...
Notes:
This is when everyone is of legal age. Lloyd would be around 18 or 19. I imagine the travelers' tea to have aged him into an older teen/young adult.
(See the end of the work for more notes.)
Work Text:
In all fairness, Jay had said months prior to the breakdown that parts needed to be replaced. Yes, his parents' junkyard had some scraps that would help with a short-term patch-up but Jay was a man of engineering and inventing. He didn't like the fact that the parts were rusting or about to blow their bolts with every gust of fuel going into the bounty's gas exhaust. He did tell them they needed to find new more upgraded parts and fast. But no one seemed to care. They assumed since he was a ninja, but also an inventor, that he would patch it up as always, and he didn't.
He didn't have any spare scraps to fuse into the gearbox or anything to help with the engine coolers. Zane had offered to use his ice blast to cool them off but again that was a short-term issue. So when the ship did breakdown in the middle of a desert area, Wu had tasked the ninja with raising enough money to get the correct parts.
Cole had suggested a car wash, a chance for the ladies to see him work with some tunes with a washcloth would surely rake in the money. Zane had suggested other means such as online transactions but Wu quickly shut down that method and instead suggested more laboring work. Jay was annoyed, maybe the city of Ninjago should give them the money as they do owe the ninja one or two for saving their butts every other day.
Lloyd hated the fact that they had to do all this manual labor just to earn a less than decent wage. Sure, they could steal the money but Wu would more or less execute them for that. Whilst working at a construction site, Lloyd had an idea. It was risky but it could bring in the money in record time. Plus, it was only a temporary job- no one had to know.
"So we don't have to work?" Jay asked slowly.
Lloyd had gathered his teammates around the meeting table.
"Yeah, I thought since fairly recently I became more or less an adult- I should be the one to work for us. It can get me a working experience I never had." Lloyd explained, trying his best not to look his older teammates in the eye in fear of him being caught out for lying. "You guys could also maybe help jay with better blueprints or train harder?"
The four looked at each other and sighed.
"Okay greenie, you have one week. If you can rack up three hundred by Friday then we will let you be the breadwinner and we can do the chores around here." Kai agreed, placing his hand out for the green ninja to shake.
Lloyd smiled and shook the fire ninja's hand. This would be easy.
Over the week, Lloyd asked if the ninja could go out into the city daily and pick up basic groceries, and packages addressed to Lloyd and sometimes Nya. The green ninja had used his alone time on the bounty wisely and sure enough, his methods of receiving money were more than great. By Friday he had presented the other ninja with double what Kai had asked for. Cole was the one to point out the suspicion to the others first. Kai did try to defend Lloyd, he really did but it was hard when Lloyd didn't seem too tired from his work. Kai thought he'd have a normal job such as a cafe worker or clerk at a store. He knew from experience that those jobs really tired people out. He seemed to notice more and more that Lloyd never really let to go to work. He would still be magically at their home when the ninja returned.
