Querencia

S2 E18: Nepenthe

(n.) something, or someone, that can make you forget grief or suffering

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[M/n] stared at his reflection, obsessively fixing the long sleeves of the Kimono top Garmadon had gifted him upon learning of his and Lloyd's date. While he had been the one to decide to take Lloyd out on a date, until yesterday, he'd had no idea where he wanted to take Lloyd or what he wanted them to do. It had been years before his coma that he'd been on a date, and living in a Monastery right near a small town was not exactly condusive to a particularly interesting date.

Basic dates didn't seem right, not after everything they had been through but stargazing was something he had done with Morro, and he didn't know if he could share that just yet. Luckily, a banner about the annual Lantern Festival had caught his attention before he could spiral.

To celebrate the defeat of the Overlord and the rebuilding of Ninjago City, the Mayor had decided to allow the Festival to be held in Ebirah Park. The last Lantern Festival [M/n] had seen had been back before everything with Morro had changed, but he knew Lloyd would share his own love of the beautiful lanterns. 

Smoothing his palms down the black silk of the kimono top, he let his claws lightly run over the hand sewn designs. Purple morning glories trailed down the front fold and along the sleeves with delicate silver thread outlining some of the flowers to make them stand out. 

Since part of the Festival was the walk through, [M/n] had chosen black pants and boots to match. 

To pull it all together, he wore his hair up, holding it together with a simple onyx chopstick. His heart rate was unnaturally fast as he stared down his reflection, but he ignored it, silently slipping out from the bathroom of Dareth's Dojo to quietly make his way out the back door. He could hear the man teaching a group of students and did not wish to interrupt after the man had so graciously offered up his spare room and bathroom for the ninja to ready himself.

Ara was lounging on the nearby roof, seemingly asleep until [M/n] made his way up the fire escape and climbed into his saddle. With an affectionate huff, Ara stretched, slowly climbing to his feet before leaping into the sky with a powerful beat of his wings to begin climbing higher. Noticing how his rider’s hands trembled around the reins, Ara kept himself at a slow glide within the clouds, giving him time to breathe and calm himself. "Σας ευχαριστώ," [M/n] whispered, leaning forward to press a palm to Ara's warm scales. 

Tucking in his wings, Ara dropped into a steep dive to make his landing faster and to bring less attention to himself. Landing on a tucked away roof, [M/n] slid from the saddle, lightly scratching the ridge above his eye. Huffing, Ara wished him good luck – or the draconic equivalent – before taking off to do as he pleased.

[M/n] had only told Garmadon – not Lloyd – the location of the date so the man could tell his son the day of because he knew if he gave Lloyd the location too soon, he would look up what was happening and discover the Festival. Dropping down to the ground, [M/n] crossed the road to settle down beside the gate to wait for Lloyd. 

Every few seconds, he reached for his Tessens – the ones he'd left behind – a nervous tick he knew he'd have to get rid of. Barely five minutes had passed before Lloyd arrived wearing a gorgeous blue kimono top with darker blue waves and gorgeous gold stitching that brought out his eyes and the golden sheen of his hair.

"You look beautiful," [M/n] stated, watching as Lloyd's cheek went red. 

"Beautiful? Not handsome?" 

"Would you prefer if I called you handsome?" [M/n] asked, pressing a hand to his back to guide him down the main path. 

"No, I don't mind, it's just, why beautiful?"