A knock on my window had me jumping. My surprise settled faster than light, falling into loving excitement. Only one person used my window to slip inside the house.
"You know, we have a perfectly functioning door," I mused with a beguiled smile as I slid the window up. Lloyd hung upside down from the old ladder beside my window, head to toe in his green ninja gi.
"Where's the fun in that?"
"Where indeed?" I sighed, glancing outside at the morning sky behind him. "How was morning patrol?"
"The usual," he shrugged. It was hard to when he was using his arms to keep himself from falling, so his whole body moved with the shrug. I raised an eyebrow.
"Are you going to hang there all day or are you coming inside?"
"Or," Lloyd said, throwing in a third option. "You could kiss me?"
I stared at him.
"Quickly, please," he said, closing his eyes in merriment. "All the blood is rushing to my head."
"Moron," I muttered, but couldn't hide the endearment in my voice. I slipped back his mask and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. "Now get inside before you faint."
Lloyd rolled his red eyes but landed inside, anyway. His weight staggered a little and I was unsure if it was from being upside down or from the quick, love-filled kiss, or a combination of both. I eyed the pink on his cheeks and concluded that yeah, it was probably both.
"Are you ready for this afternoon?" Lloyd asked, draping his arms around my waist nonchalantly. His eyes betrayed the softness of his feelings when he stared at me.
"Graduation," I murmured, pulling back his mask from his face properly. His blond hair swayed back into place, sticking in some parts from sweat. I raised my brows pointedly. "I'm ready, but the green ninja needs to take a shower." I took a sniff and pulled a face. Sweat and grime and- and garbage. His usual, intoxicating smell - my favourite fragrant - was barely noticeable. "Badly."
"What was that?" he said innocently, cocking his head to the side. "I'm stinky?" He pulled me in closer and smooshed my face against his chest, ignoring my squawking curses. "I don't smell anything bad."
"EW, LLOYD!" I squeaked, pulling away enough to inhale a large breath. Tears stung at my eyes from the horrid smell. "That's gross-!"
He pulled me back in. I thumped my fist on his chest in retaliation, though it was in vain.
"Sorry, what was that?" he asked. "I didn't quite catch what you said."
"I hate you!" I groaned, hauling my head back while he grinned playfully. "What did you do, dumpster dive?"
"Spot on," Lloyd nodded. I gave another sobbing whine. "A thief decided that a dumpster was the perfect place to hide from us."
"Perfect way to turn off your girlfriend," I complained, wiggling in Lloyd's arms in an attempt to get away. "Go get a shower, for God's sake."
"You'll need one now, too," Lloyd pointed out. A sneaky grin grew on his lips. "Care to share?"
"You know, I would've thought about it," I said sharply, brows pulled tight over my eyes. "But considering that you purposefully planned this, I don't think you should be rewarded with a shower buddy."
"Aw," Lloyd whined. I pointed in the direction of the bathroom.
"But I'll give you cuddles if you shower right now."
"How can I refuse that?" he chirped, brightening instantly. I cringed as he leapt closer to press a kiss to my forehead, bringing the awful scent with him, before he disappeared to shower.
I lifted my shirt to sniff and recoiled in disgust.
"Dammit, I am going to have to shower, too."
A few hours later, Lloyd played with my hair while I did the barest of make up I dared, getting ready for the graduation ceremony. I wasn't sure what to expect, since it's just a high school ceremony rather than college, but knowing my friends, we'd be taking a bunch of photos. I snuck my own Polaroid camera into the pocket of my jacket to continue my collection of photos to take with me to college.
"Ready?" Lloyd asked, dropping his chin onto my shoulder. I readjusted my hair before sneaking a quick kiss to Lloyd's cheek. "You look delectable, darling."
"'Delectable'?" I echoed with a snort. "Word of the day?"
"No, actually," he sniffed. "I've been reading your books you keep at my place in my downtime."
"You? Reading something that isn't Ninjitzu or comics?" I asked, eyes wide in mirth. "The world must truly be ending."
"Hey, I read batman fanfics, too," Lloyd pointed out with a feigned frown. I giggled, shaking my head.
"You are so cute," I sighed, glancing down at the lipgloss mark I left on his cheek. He didn't make a move to wipe it away. Then I perked up. "We need to go. Dad wants to drive us and you know how he gets if we're running late."
