Small Moments With a Ghost

Day 11: Blankets/Dolls or Stuffed Animals/ "Even the dead need sleep"

Note: this one takes place not too long after Lloyd's chapters in 'My Best Friend's a Ghost', so Lloyd is still smol (aka not a teen) in this oneshot.

Anyways, onward!

~~~~~

"Little late for pipsqueaks to be up, isn't it?"

Lloyd jumped, biting back a curse he'd heard Kai use once. "Morro," he hissed. "Don't do that! You-you startled me!"

"Uh huh. How'd you let that happen, o' fearless Green Ninja?" Morro snarked, flipping himself upside-down while doing air-quotes.

Despite himself, Lloyd couldn't help but flinch. "Yeah well," he snapped, turning away from the ghost and walking away. "It's late and I'm off my game. Leave me alone."

"Yeesh," he heard Morro muttered. "Someone's cranky."

That's rich coming from you, Lloyd was tempted to say. Instead he bit his tongue and kept walking.

He eventually made it to the rec room. He made his way to the corner, where a pile of blankets was neatly folded up in a basket, and grabbed as many as he could carry. He waddled over to the couch, set the bundle of blankets on top of it, then hopped up and crawled under the pile. After a few minutes of rearranging, Lloyd had made the perfect blanket nest. He sighed, settling in.

"Any reason why you're out here and not in bed?"

Lloyd groaned in annoyance. "What part of 'leave me alone' don't you get?" He said, pulling the blankets further over his head.

"The part where you're doing your best to blend in with the furniture instead of sleeping," Morro retorted, sounding as if he was above Lloyd. "C'mon Pipsqueak, spill. What's going on?"

Lloyd said nothing, curling up even more in his nest and hoping the ghost would take the hint and leave.

No such luck. The young ninja-in-training got no warning before something cold poked him in the side. Lloyd gave an undignified squeak as he jumped away from the poke. "Quit it!" He hissed.

Another poke followed, though this time Lloyd caught a hint of a ghostly finger phasing through the blankets. "Come on, Pipsqueak, I know you're in there~" Morro sang obnoxiously. "Don't make me have to tickle you."

Fed up (and not wanting to get tickled-Kai had already gotten him earlier and he was the worst), Lloyd groaned and popped his head out of the blanket nest. "What?" He asked flatly.

Morro, still flipped upside-down, studied him for a second. Something seemed to click for him and he nodded to himself. "...nightmare?" He asked, voice surprisingly gentle.

Lloyd scowled and looked away. "'S stupid," he muttered, bundling up a blanket and hugging it close, like a pillow or stuffed toy.

He was the Green Ninja. Fabled hero, destined to defeat a great evil. Getting upset over a nightmare was so...so childish. So unbecoming.

Lloyd thought Morro would agree.

The ghost's response surprised him.

"Everyone gets nightmares, Pipsqueak," Morro said, flipping himself right side up and crossing his arms. "Well, not me-I'm too awesome for that-but basically everyone else does. It's normal."

"Still sucks," Lloyd muttered petulantly, pouting. "I should just be able to go back to sleep after one, not lie awake wondering if it'll come back..."

It was why he was out here and not in his bed in the first place-the thought of remaining there after the dream...Lloyd shuddered and burrowed deeper into his blanket nest, pulling one over his head again.

Morro said nothing, just let out a little hum in response. Then, strangely, he kept humming--no, Lloyd realized, there were words among the hums. "Are...are you singing?" he asked incredulously.

The ghost spluttered. "Wh-No, you uncultured twerp. I was reciting, there's a difference!" he snapped, indignant.

"Oh. Uh, what are you reciting?"

"Eh, nothing important. Just this one poem I remember reading when I was-that I'd read before," Morro said dismissively. "Had magic, I think. And dragons."

Lloyd poked his head out again. "Dragons?"

"Yeah, but it's kinda long. And boring, you wouldn't like it-"

Lloyd sat up and shuffled to the edge of the couch. He gave the ghost his most attentive look, complete with big puppy dog eyes.

Morro rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Fine, fine, don't say I didn't warn you..."

So Morro started to recite, and Lloyd listened. The story did contain magic and dragons-or, more accurately, of a certain koi fish, who braved the dangers of his native river and swam up a tall waterfall in order to become a dragon. It was a beautiful tale, and Morro told it well, his echoey voice adding a layer of depth to the story and adding to its mystical nature.

It was a long poem, though, and while Lloyd enjoyed every bit of it, by the time Morro finished, the little ninja was yawning widely.

The ghost gave a sniff. "Hmph, don't tell me you got bored, Pipsqueak," he said, but his tone was light and teasing.

Still, Lloyd made sure to shake his head. "No, no, 's good," he slurred, trying to cover up his next yawn. "You know anymore?"

"I don't think you'll be awake enough to hear and enjoy them, kid. You're half-asleep as it is."

"Am not," Lloyd mumbled, snuggling into his nest of blankets, getting comfortable.

"Uh huh." Morro gently flicked Lloyd's forehead. "Go to sleep, Pipsqueak."

Lloyd leaned back, intent on doing that, when one of the blankets slipped free from his grasp. He grabbed it, about to incorporate it back into his nest, when an idea came to him. It was a silly one, one baked out of his sleepy brain, but...

"Here." The ninja-in-training tossed the blanket at a surprised Morro. "Even the dead need sleep," Lloyd quipped, smiling.

The blanket phased through the ghost, who gave Lloyd an unimpressed look. "I literally can't sleep," he said.

Lloyd shrugged. "Still." He yawned, lying down on the couch. "Night Morro..."

He heard Morro scoff, but just before he closed his eyes, Lloyd heard the ghost murmur, "Sleep well, Lloyd..."

(And when Lloyd wakes up the next morning, before everyone else does, he notices Morro meditating in the corner of the room. The blanket he gave him is draped around the ghost's shoulders).

~~~~~

Awww. :)

The story that Morro recites is one I remember reading about in a book when I was a kid. At the time, a little fish swimming up a waterfall to become a dragon was the coolest thing I'd ever heard.

Hope you guys enjoyed! :D