And It’ll Always Be You And I (You Don’t Have To Go It Alone)

by LikeAPro42

Summary:

There are 1,378 recorded soulbond types. These range from being able to share dreams with your soulmate(s), sharing a lock of hair, or even having their name(s) tattooed on your wrist.

Lloyd Garmadon is the unlucky bastard to be connected to his soulmate via echoing pain and matching scars. (It is as if the Cloud Kingdom is laughing at him). He just hopes his soulmate won’t hate him too badly for everything he’s put them through.

Brad always dreamed of meeting his soulmate. Whoever they are, they must have the worst luck in the world because they always seem to get caught in the crossfire of whatever disaster was happening this week. Brad doesn’t really mind the phantom pain (The First knows how much pain he’s probably put his soulmate through). He just wishes that his soulmate would be more careful and let the Ninja handle it.

Or:

These two idiots literally met when they were toddlers and it takes them almost two decades to piece together who their soulmate is.

(Can be read as a stand alone)

Notes:

So… funny story…

Y’know how I have three works in progress (in Ninjago) and then several more in my notes? Well, I read one too many JayRoy, JayKyle, and JayNeal soulmate AUs (can you tell I like Jason Todd?) and then I wrote this

I was originally going to post this as a very long one-shot, but what the hell. It’ll be series of connected drabbles instead

Title and all chapter titles are from Go It Alone by Joe Jonas

Chapter 1: Prehistoric

There are 1,378 recorded soulbond types. These range from being able to share dreams with your soulmate(s), sharing a lock of hair, or even having their name(s) tattooed on your wrist.

Legend has it that after wandering the world alone with no one that truly understood him, The First Spinjitzu Master never wanted anyone to bear the same pain. It’s said that these soulbonds were the last gifts of The First Spinjitzu Master, before he disappeared forever.

Since then, it had become commonplace to use whatever gift The First Spinjitzu Master left to find your love(s), whether romantic, sexual, or queerplatonic. And sure, some of those journeys can be rocky or messy, but most say it was worth it in the end.

Chapter 2: You Get Back What You Give, Give, Give

The day that Brad met his soulmate was pretty remarkable, just not because of said soulmate.

It had taken a week of constantly wasting study hour, meal times, and free time for Brad to find a mated queen fire ant. And it took two months after that to have a substantial amount of fire ants for his prank.

So managing to pull it off after all that work was fantastic! And what made the successful prank sweeter was he managed to be the new kid’s first tormentor. How cool was that?! Brad was on his way to be the next head of the Tudabone Clan, just like his mom!

But hearing the new kid’s hiccuping cries throughout the night hurt. Somehow more than the fire ant’s fiery bites and itchy red bumps. Because, yeah, the bugs must’ve gotten in his bed somehow. Brad could’ve swore he took precautions using bug repellent, but he guessed that wasn’t enough. Oh well.

It wasn’t exactly the perfect prank, Brad was realizing now. If it could backfire so spectacularly, if it could make someone else feel terrible enough to cry all night…

Brad resolved quietly to himself that in the morning, he’d take Lloyd Garmadon under his wing and teach him all about the art of villainy.

Chapter 3: They Can See It For Themselves

Notes:

Content Warnings

• Implied bullying
• Implied abandonment issues
• Implied homophobia
• Implied homophobic parents

The other day was the day everyone in their grade got tested.

Now normally, Lloyd hated any form of tests. They were always really hard and the most important classes were always the ones he barely scrapped by. Even with Brad helping him study and explaining concepts like hierarchy within a criminal syndicate or the best ways to get rid of the bodies.

But this test was actually really exciting! They were going to figure out what kind of soulmate they’ll have!

The test itself was pretty boring without the pressure of getting a bad grade. (Or knowing the worst of the worst will be out on the prowl afterwards to score extra credit at your expense.) But filling out a questionnaire was only step one.

Step two was being put through a myriad of physical tests. Which was actually pretty fun! Lloyd always loved running and jumping and kicking and spinning. So these challenges were no big deal.

And step three was a little weird, but check ups by the doctor always made Lloyd a little uncomfortable. It was as if the doctors were observing someone who was a step or two away from human when it came to the blond. But that couldn’t be. Lloyd was as human as anyone else! Probably…

Anyway, a few days passed and now they were getting their results passed back to them. Lloyd couldn’t help but vibrate in his seat from excitement.

He looked over at Brad, who was doing a much better job of hiding his excitement. Instead, the brunet was just bouncing his knee slightly.

Lloyd tried to follow Brad’s lead, but the most he could do is tamp down his smile into blank face.

Brad leaned over the isle between their desks to whisper out, “What do you think your soulbond will be?”

“I dunno. Maybe the type where we touch and swirls of colors appear? Or maybe the one where we touch and our soulmark of the other shows up?” Lloyd thought those were the coolest types. They were beautiful to see on other people, and Lloyd had always been kinda jealous. “I just know it won’t be the obvious ones like being colorblind until we first make eye contact or having a clock tattoo counting down until we meet. What about you? What type do you think?”

Brad shrugged a little. “I don’t really care what type of bond I have. Whoever she is, I just want my folks to like her. And for her to like my family too. Especially since I’m supposed to run the Tudabone clan one day.” Lloyd nodded at that, as if he understood those worries.

All the blond had were flashes of memories that he thought was family. Of barely managing to run down long, red and yellowed hallways decorated in the ancient and mystic. Of incense intermingling with the scent of tea. Of two men he looked like (one with his face and the other with his hair) begging him to walk towards them while a woman laughed behind him.

But it didn’t mean anything really. Lloyd never really had a family, and those were just dreams of what he wanted so so desperately. Dreams he could only achieve if he were to become the best warlord so his dad would beg to rule at his side.

But until then, all Lloyd ever really had to worry about the opinions of were teachers and the headmaster of the school. And maybe Brad. He was like mentor to Lloyd and maybe they could one day be the forbidden f-word: friends.

It was then a thought occurred to him. “She? What if your soulmate isn’t a girl?” It was quite common for same-sex or polyamorous soulbonds to occur too, after all.

“She has to be! My family won’t accept my soulmate any other way.” Brad slumped a little in his seat, doing his own equivalent of curling in on himself without projecting weakness. “Or accept me.” He added in a dark mumble that Lloyd was probably not supposed to be able to hear.

The blond opened his mouth to respond when his paper was passed back to him. His eyes roamed the page with phrases like “soulbond type C-class 15b.2” and “…subject will feel psychosomatic aches that echo’s their soulmate’s physical pains…” and “…if sympathy pains are strong enough, matching scars or other markings will manifest on their body…” jumping out at him.

“Hey! I got the same thing!” Brad shouts, and that’s okay because the class has been shouting for a while now since receiving their results.

Lloyd went to turn his head, when another paper was shoved in his face. He batted it away a little and squinted up at Brad when he heard his snickers.

“Weird.” Lloyd decided. “What are the odds of that?”

“I’d say one in one thousand three hundred seventy-eight.”

Lloyd rolled his eyes and shoved Brad, ultimately causing the two to start tussling on the ground. He couldn’t help smiling, even after their teacher broke up their “fight”. This was shaping up to be a good day.

Notes:

A-class bonds are able to be observed physically like having matching soulmarks. B-class bonds are mental bonds that can’t be observed physically like being able to taste whatever your soulmate(s) last ate. C-class bonds can be both physically observed and also mental like being able to read your soulmate(s) most prominent thoughts that appear on the back of your hand.

The “15” is the 15th type in the C-class category. The “b” is that it’s the second subtype of the 15th type (pain causes scars instead of scars causing pain).

And the “.2” refers to the amount of soulmates within that relationship. So for Brad and Lloyd, it’s just them, so it’s a 2.

Chapter 4: Take A Picture / Before And After

Notes:

Content Warnings

• Bullying
• Casual mentions of homophobia (“gay” used as an insult bc it’s the 2000s)
• School fights
• Brutal fight
• Fight taken too far
• Blood

Brad could sense something was wrong. Nothing he could see or hear was out of the ordinary, but there was a part of him that knew something terrible had been going down. But what could it be?

He continued on to his next class when he finally heard the chanting of boys that only came with spectating a school fight. What was it this time? Someone looked at someone else wrong? A kid finally snapped after all the bullying? A boy called another guy “gay”?

Making his way over, he managed to see a familiar head of blond hair peaking through the throng of people circling the altercation.

Oh no.

His stomach dropped just as Lloyd got punched across the face. And ouch! That had to have hurt! Brad’s face ached from just looking at it.

Lloyd threw a punch back, hitting the other kid in the jaw. Brad’s own knuckles twinged in sympathy. But there was no time to think further on it.

He ran into fray, pushing his way through the crowd until he finally breached the inner circle. The other kid — some redheaded upperclassmen Brad had seen in the halls but didn’t recognize outside of that — wasn’t expecting anyone to intervene. His eyes bugged out, just as Brad tackled the older kid to the ground.

He punched the redhead over and over again, before the other kid rolled them over and got some good hits in as well. And on the fight went, with punching and kicking and hair yanking and biting.

And for some reason, during the brawl, he couldn’t get Lloyd’s injury out of his head. How he’d likely get a black eye and who knows what other bruises. And the image of Lloyd with a swollen face only made Brad angrier.

He punched harder, hitting the older kid below him once, twice, thrice, he couldn’t stop. He just kept going and going, uncaring of the blood coating his knuckles or splattering across his face.

“Brad, stop!” Two arms encircled his shoulders and pulled him back from the knocked out kid. Brad struggled a little, snarling and trying to get back to pummeling the older kid. That was until he registered who was spoke, who it was that was dragging him backwards. “He’s out! I’m okay!”

And just like that, it was as if ice was dumped on Brad and shocked him back to reality. None of the boys that made up the circle were cheering anymore. Instead they were shooting Brad wary looks. Some though looked at him in a new light. Like he was soft for defending the lowest on the totem pole. Like he was easy pickings. Like he was some sort of goody two-shoes hero.

Brad shuddered a little in disgust. Uh. No. He’s putting a stop to that idea right here, right now.

He shook off Lloyd’s grip and stood up. Sneering at the other boys, he darkly proclaimed, “Lloyd Garmadon is part of my gang, got it? You mess with him, you mess with me. And if you mess with me, well.” He showed far too many teeth in what someone could charitably call a smile. “You’ve seen what will happen.” Brad made sure to stare specifically at those who were sizing him up. They all looked away first.

Brad glanced one last time at the redhead he was fighting. He felt no remorse. Play stupid games, win stupid prizes and all that. All Brad felt was viscously satisfied that the kid was going to look far worse off than Lloyd ever would.

With his head held high, Brad made his way out of the circle, the other boys cautiously parting for him and Lloyd trailing behind.

The moment the two were out of earshot, something compelled Brad to ask, “you okay?”

Lloyd didn’t say anything. He just nodded.

They walked back to their dorm room.

Patching themselves up was routine. With the amount of fights Brad got in and the amount of times Lloyd had been ganged up on, it was inevitable that the two shared a fully stocked medkit.

What was out of the ordinary was patching each other up. When Brad was taking care of Lloyd’s face (cleaning up the dried blood leaking from the blond’s nose, making sure nothing was broken, cracking a cold pack and shoving it against Lloyd’s eye) it was completely silent in the room. But when Lloyd was feeling Brad’s scalp for any bumps did he break the silence.

“Why’d you do that?”

“I dunno.” Brad shrugged, because it was the truth. “Just felt like it.” That was easier to explain than him seeing red at the idea of Lloyd bruised and bloodied.

Silence reigned again. It wasn’t until Lloyd was tending to the bitemarks on Brad’s forearm did the blond speak again. “Did you mean it?”

“Mean what?” Brad winced a little in the middle of his response. Disinfectant was always the worst part about getting hurt.

“That I’m part of your gang.”

“Yeah. Can’t let all of my hard work keeping you in this shithole go to waste.” And hard work it was. Lloyd was lucky Brad promised to take him under his wing that first night. The kid would have never lasted this long without him.

“…thanks.”

“Don’t mention it.” Brad muttered, his mouth twitching up faintly. “Really don’t. Creation knows my reputation is already in the gutter after that stunt.”

And Lloyd couldn’t help but smile at that. Because at Darkley’s reputation was everything and Brad had sacrificed that everything just for Lloyd.

Series this work belongs to:

• Part 8 of Malibu & Malachite (Pro’s GreenFlower Collection)