NINJAGO: Amateurs of Adulthood .2

E2

"I don't wanna hear it...!" Lloyd sneered. He didn't mean for it to come out as mean as it did.

"Lloyd, I-"

"No! Why can't you all just leave me alone?"

"I'm sorry!"

"...What?"

The words that fell from Cole's mouth were as unexpected as his appearance. Sorry? For what? This whole time, Lloyd believed the one who needed the ninja's apologies was Morro. It was always Morro. Why did he need a sorry? He's the green ninja. Nothing hurts him.

"For what...?" Lloyd asked as his voice trembled. He had an idea of what Cole was going to say. He just never expected an apology for it.

"Sorry," Cole started, "for outing you the way we did...that ain't cool. And I'm sorry we overlooked it so much."

"...It's fine..." Lloyd mumbled in response

"No, it's not. It's really not. I remember how hard it was for me to come out to my family. Sorry your experience was so bad." Cole spoke, his deep voice vibrating inside Lloyd's ears

"Thank you, really...but I'm not the one who you should be apologizing to. Morro-"

"Lloyd." Said Cole, his voice low and calm like it usually was. "We don't Morro nothin'. We don't owe him our time. We don't owe him our patience. And we sure as hell don't owe him an apology. Morro has a dark past. We all know this. He wasn't under nobody's control, nobody's power, nobody's nothin'. He did what he did on his own time and it was his own fault. If Morro wants forgiveness, he gotta earn it. He don't get a free pass 'cause he's your boyfriend."

The words that fell from Cole's mouth weren't what Lloyd wanted to hear at all, yet they were undeniably true. Had Lloyd unconsciously been expecting the ninja to just get used to it? To not say anything about his relationship for the sake of not causing trouble? Had he really been expecting a pass?

The blonde scoffed softly with annoyance, avoiding eye contact as embarrassment also crept into his being

"I'm really okay with you dating a boy, but if that boy is gon' be Morro, you gon' have to toughen up. 'Cause not everybody gon' be as okay as me." Cole spoke again

"Okay, I get it..." Lloyd mumbled, still refusing to make eye contact with his fellow ninja

Cole watched his young friend for a small time before sighing to himself and patting Lloyd softly on the shoulder

"Lloyd, come home. I can't guarantee that nobody gon' say somethin' to you, but I can guarantee that I will speak up for you. No matter what." The tall man smiled

Lloyd finally brought his teary eyes up to watch the man who stood in front of him before wrapping him in a tight hug

"Thank you..." The blonde whispered into his friend's chest

Cole gave a small smile before wrapping his strong arms around the boy, "No problem."

The two boys said thanks and goodbye to both Ronin and Dareth before leaving the dojo and heading back to the monastery. Back at home, Zane and Nya waited for Cole to come back so they could share their negative news and recreate a new search plan, but quickly changed moods upon seeing Lloyd appearance.

The ninja that remained in the living room were obviously very happy to see Lloyd was back home, but they were also shrouded with a thick tension. What should they do? What should they say? No one knew the answer.

As he made his way towards the boys' room, Lloyd shifted his attention to Kai for a moment, hoping to catch anything, a smile, tears, even a frown, but there was nothing. Kai watched Lloyd move with a hollow expression, seemingly more entertained by whatever nonsense was playing on his phone than by the blonde's presence. Lloyd's lips fell into a small frown as he turned back to where he was going, blinking back tears as he went.

If Lloyd craved the approval of anyone it that room, it was Kai.

Now, he wasn't sure if he'd ever get that approval again.

Lloyd sighed as he collapsed onto his bed. The blonde quickly reached for his little frog plushie and held it tightly in his arms, squeezing the air out of poor creature. He sighed to himself as he stared up at the wooden ceiling. He had too much to think about.

Somewhere else across the city, Jay was enjoying himself. The blue ninja was surrounded by positivity everywhere he looked. Jay wasn't particularly sad or anything like that, but it was nice to get away from the growing tensions inside the monastery. The ginger didn't really have any specific thoughts on Lloyd's new "relationship" with Morro. He just knew it was wrong morally. And yet, he was curious.

Lloyd likes boys?

But Kai likes boys.

And girls, he thinks...

And Zane likes boys, too.

But Zane likes everyone.

At least he thinks so...

But Cole likes boys for real.

Ix-nay on the vaginas.

But Nya likes boys too!

What's so good about boys anyway?

Jay's mind starts to wander to that place again. That place where lust overtakes him, and he begins to ponder about the touch of another man. Is it different from being with girls? It's gotta be if it's so popular. Guys...together. He never thought it was gross, the thought just made him feel odd. It never felt odd seeing them with women, though. It felt safe. Felt normal. Normal. I just wanna be normal.

"Huh?" The man beside him asked. He had been waiting for Jay to look up at the camera when the blue ninja uttered those strange words

"Oh-! Sorry...!" Jay chuckled before quickly smiling for the photo

Jay sighed softly before sitting back down in his chair, ready to greet the next admirer in line, a dark haired woman and her young son who came dressed in a baggy, blue gi

"Hi, Jay! Um, did you know that my name's Jay too?" The kid smiled a wide smile

"Really?" Jay asked, bending down to reach the small child level. "I guess that makes us twins!"

The ginger watched as a toothy grin spread onto the little boy's face and felt his heart warm as he laughed. Jay reveled in that warm place while stuffing that other feeling deep down inside, locking it up, and throwing away the key. He throws it down some deep, black pit. Somewhere it will never be found again.