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Living on the Bounty seemed like a dream to most people. It was always pleasantly cool in the day, and it always seemed as if you were flying.
But now, as Lloyd shivered miserably on his mattress, he thought otherwise.
It was too cold in his room, evidenced being the window that was nailed open, letting all the cool air in.
He pressed the ratty thread-bare blanket to his chest, curling up deeper into his mattress, trembling and puffing out air.
He frowned at the sight of his own breathing in front of his face. Why did the ninja have to give him the one room that was miserable cold?
There wasn’t even a heater!
He sobbed gently to himself. He had never been so cold before.
Not even the day after Darkley’s abandonment, when he almost froze to death.
Truthfully, all feelings in his nerves had vanished so that was probably why.
Lloyd was almost tempted to storm into one of the Ninja’s rooms and demand warmth, like the evil warlord he is.
But for some reason he didn’t.
It was because the ninja needed their sleep if he wanted to fight fairly with them tomorrow.
It was because he was scared.
They had told him that Lloyd was free to ask anything he’d like from them, but Lloyd saw the glances they gave each other when he asked for that second bowl of cereal.
The small knot grew larger in his chest, forcing his head down in shame as he shovelled cornflakes into his mouth, trying to keep the nausea down.
He was stupid to think that they were serious. He was stupid to think they were right.
Maybe that was why he refused to go to them now. To tell them to close the stupid window. To ask them to help.
He spent his whole life surviving without help. He can last for a couple more days.
That’s just what it was, huh? Hold off for a couple more hours, days, weeks, months, years.
Hold off until you can do whatever you need, whenever you need.
Until you feel safe.
Until you are safe.
He had tried to, already, close the window himself. But his hands slipped and tore on the rusty nails that held it together.
It stung and he hissed, pressing a hand to his mouth in shock so as to not disturb the other ninja.
Who knows what they might do if Lloyd annoyed them a bit too much?
He didn’t want to find out.
Lloyd never forgot the age difference between him and the others, how they could easily hit him, beat him, ground him, the weird thing they called ‘time out’ (Lloyd had never heard of it, he only knew about the punishment seat).
He had no power here, and he was scared.
He was scared, he’ll admit it.
Lloyd hoped he wasn’t annoying anybody anymore, he liked being on the Bounty. He liked having his uncle around (even if he was just being nice so Lloyd wouldn’t continue being evil. It wasn’t as if he actually cared about his nephew).
He had cut down the pranks, the talking, the eating. He had even cut down his breathing sometimes whenever he was close to the ninja, too afraid that one of them might hit him if he were to breathe too loudly.
He kept his discomforts and pains to himself. He didn’t need to bother anyone over such trivial things.
He was just cold. And that could be fixed in the morning when the sun rose once more.
Lloyd sniffed and sat up, giving up at the useless attempts at sleeping. It was getting him nowhere.
He flipped his legs over his mattress, his body jolting when his feet met cold hard ground.
Why was everything so cold?
He pulled his sleeves down more, padding over to his door and opening it, letting the hallroom light flood in.
He waddled through the Bounty, carefully placing his feet at their designated spots, and none of the creaky areas he had memorised by heart.
Lloyd brushed the blonde hair out of his eyes, tugging on it to give some relief to the pounding headache echoing in his head.
He walked a lap around the Bounty, skipping the outside because it was too cold.
The canyons in between his bones ached and Lloyd bit back a sob.
Oh gods, it hurt so much.
It felt like something had ripped apart his chest, squeezed away his heart and then gauged it away with a fork.
It hurt like hell, and Lloyd swallowed down bile that crept up his throat.
He just wanted to sleep.
Lloyd rubbed his eyes, padding back over to his room with an extra small sheet in hand.
He had taken it from the living room couch, in hopes for some extra warmth.
It was a faded orange colour, and Lloyd wondered who it belonged to.
He would endure the consequences tomorrow, for now, all he wanted to do was sleep until he shrivelled away.
Shielding a yawn with his hand, he opened his bedroom door, and was struck by surprise by the warm air that bombarded him.
He almost wilted then and there, aching for the warmth he desperately needed.
His knees buckled but he caught himself, realising where he was.
He spotted matted up dark hair and a chest breathing up and down, on a bed that was not his.
This wasn’t his room. This was Cole’s.
A panicked gasp left his mouth as he walked backwards, out of the warm haven he missed so dearly and back into the cold harsh truth of reality.
He turned away, to walk back into his own room, ignorant of the peaceful snoring that erupted from Cole’s bed, but stopped himself.
His room was too cold, and Cole’s wasn’t. He could just stay there for a little while, besides, he’d be gone in the morning!
He had to be gone in the morning.
Lloyd felt his eyes slip shut and he forced them back open.
Only for today. Just one day.
Lloyd didn’t even realise he had sunk down onto the floor until it was too late and sleep crowded his vision.
The warmth enveloped him until he was floating on a comfortable bubble.
Just one day, he told himself.
Just one day.
Cole was dreaming.
He dreamed of warm brown eyes, and red.
Not the harmful, shattering red, but more of the gentle, soothing red that felt like roses brushing on your skin, the warmth of an open fire, the blood pumping through your heart.
He dreamt of hair that seemed spiky at first, but was actually softer than his own, like smooth milk chocolate.
He dreamt of a smile, blinding with love and a scar that ran down their lower lip.
He dreamt of soft hands and warmth.
He dreamt of Kai.
Maybe it was because his room was very warm, maybe it was because Kai was the last person he talked to before shutting himself to bed.
Maybe it was the fact that he was holding his hand as he fell asleep, maybe it was because he could feel Kai’s warm breath on his neck as he slumbered, all gone in a dream of his own.
Maybe it was because he loved him.
Because the dream turned into a nightmare with one sudden movement.
Cole awoke with a gasp, and tears in his eyes. Kai murmured next to him, surprised by the sudden jostle.
The earth master shushed him gently, running his fingers through his hair gently until his boyfriend settled and squeezed his hand.
Cole pressed his palms to his eyes, and took in a shuddering breath, willing his mind and body to calm.
He was alive. He was here.
He wouldn’t let anything bad happen to him again.
Cole dropped his hands and sighed tiredly.
He heard the slow hum of the heater work its wonders, and Cole smiled at the warmth flooding his veins.
He flipped his legs off the bed, placing the soles of his feet against the snug floor, frowning when he felt something unfamiliar.
What was a random bedsheet doing in his room?
Cole hummed uncertainty and looked down at where his feet were.
To say he was surprised would be an understatement.
Lloyd was huddled up on the floor, a calm neutral expression on his face, almost carefree. He had a thin orange bedsheet, one that Cole recognized as his own, over him in a near blanket, and he was curled up over himself.
Cole didn’t know how he got there, and it wasn’t as if Lloyd was going to tell him.
He didn’t know why the kid wouldn’t tell them anything, or ask for anything.
Even basic necessities, like food and water, the kid deemed a hassle and not needed. But Cole knew that wasn’t true because if it was, Cole wouldn’t have seen Lloyd rummage through the kitchen cupboards for an apple that one late night after a couple days of not eating.
He felt he was not classified enough to worry about the kid. He was not his father, or related to him anywhere, and the first encounter he had with the kid had ended with LLoyd strung up on a pole for god knows how long.
It didn’t seem right for him to suddenly worry about him, no matter how much he did.
Cole frowned and scooped him up into his arms, smiling when Lloyd made a low murmur, much like Kai’s, from the sudden jostle.
The earth ninja carried him like a baby, stealing the chance to kiss his matty soft hair.
He walked out of the room, through the hallway and into Lloyd’s room, wondering why he was in Cole’s.
One step into the room told him all he needed to know.
A massive tidal wave of coolness flooded into his warm blood system, swallowing all the warmth in his veins and leaving it with only an icy scar behind.
Cole shivered and Lloyd whined in his arms, diving in deeper into Cole’s chest, some hope for any sort of warmth.
The earth ninja frowned, his gaze sweeping across the room in an attempt to find out why it was so cold.
No wonder Lloyd couldn’t sleep!
He eyed the open window, watching the air seep in and into their own bones.
Cole shifted his weight on one hand to hold Lloyd and used his other hand to swiftly close the door, using his super strength and flinching when the window made a loud crack.
Lloyd jolted in his arms, sleepy eyes peering up at him through the haze of his blonde curls.
“Cole..?” He mumbled and the earth ninja looked down, surprised.
He wondered if…
Cole bounced him gently in his arms, making a low shushing noise and stringing his fingers through Lloyd’s hair.
The same thing he would do to Kai.
Lloyd hummed faintly, his eyes already closing by themselves, lulled to sleep by the gentle movement and warmth.
Cole smiled ever so softly, with an endearing look in his eyes.
Lloyd was just so cute, so childish that it seemed impossible to hate him.
Even then, as he demanded for ‘all the candy in the town,’ Cole had to fight back the urge to just buy it all for him.
All his little pranks, no matter how big they were, always sent a smile to his face, because the way Lloyd would react was just so loving, it was impossible to not.
It pained him to see that small boy grow so meek, so timid, when he was such a boisterous child not so long ago.
Cole had a theory on why he had changed so deeply.
He noticed plenty of things, like the flinching, the starving, the shallow breaths.
He wanted to assure Lloyd that he had nothing to be scared off, because no matter what, as long as he were there, nothing bad would ever happen to him.
He would protect his family, and Lloyd was family.
Cole entered his own room once more, smiling at his tossed headed lover, who snored softly and hugged his pillow, drooling onto it.
He placed Lloyd down onto his bed, and Kai mumbled, swapping him for the pillow and bringing him close. Lloyd hummed and pressed closer.
Cole took the last place, beside Lloyd, head resting on one hand and the other encircling the two to bring them closer together.
He watched the two of them sleep together, and a sense of calmness flooded into the room and his mind, a peace he missed.
They looked like family.
Maybe one day, Cole could tell them that.