#morroxlloyd

“Say cheese! (⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)”

The sounds were almost too much for him. Everything was so different, so new. Ninjago felt like a whole other realm, and he half wondered if the Preeminent miscalculated and he wasn't in Ninjago anymore. The ghost's footsteps were muted, both a combination of his lack of solidity and how unnaturally light he was. Though they did create a noise, it was quiet and hard to detect without specifically listening for it. He had the Sword of Santuary on his back, his head downcast with the long black hair of his falling over his dark grey eyes. In front of him, a brunette was walking beside a blond with a confidence in his step, head held high. He was wearing a red ninja uniform, the hood pulled up to mask his face, though his amber eyes still shone bright. The blond at his side had a green uniform on, though his hood was down and revealed his soft hair. His own eyes were a vibrant emerald green, reflecting his silent contemplation. Behind him, three others stood. One was a titanium nindroid, his expression cool and his frost blue eyes watching the ghost carefully. He was looking out for any sign of a fight in him. The others were holding hands, one in blue and the other in black. The one in blue was the only one talking, rambling his mouth off - silence seemed to scare him - while the black one almost looked annoyed. "Okay, okay," the black one groaned finally and turned to address the small ghost. "Morro, what are you planning?" "Nothing," he muttered, and it was true. He wasn't even sure why or how he was back. An awkward silence fell over the group again as they took Morro, climbing up onto a pirate ship. The ship was hovering slightly, and Morro noted the words 'Destiny's Bounty' carved into its side. The second Morro was on the deck, a girl was standing there, a bubble of water floating beside her. "Nya," the blond spoke, addressing the girl. "Relax. I brought him here to speak with him. You can drop the water." "Are you sure?" She questioned, giving Morro an uneasy stare. "I mean, isn't it kind of- um, how do I put this? Stupid to be alone with him? Last time you were, he possessed you, Lloyd!" Morro winced at the memory. He had shared bodies and thoughts with his enemy for three months, and in the end that led to the two bonding. He knew Lloyd's feelings, and Lloyd knew his. That was part of why he didn't try anything on them when Day of The Departed rolled around. He let go of his grudge to protect the green ninja, no more no less. "Listen, sweetheart," Morro started, deliberately ignoring Kai's glare at the nickname. "If I wanted to possess him, I would have by now. I'm not one for manipulation, so don't go and say I'm only trying to gain your trust." "Morro," Lloyd said sternly, looking at him seriously. "She's just trying to keep me safe." With that, he turned back to Nya and gestured to the water. "Relax." Nya sighed reluctantly but the water fell to the floor, Morro immediately flinching to pull away. The memory of drowning was too painful and once more he felt a flash of anger to the world. He died twice, technically three times, couldn't he just be at peace? All of this returning was getting exhausting. "I won't fucking hurt you," the ghost muttered under his breath, another flash of anger towards himself this time. He hated himself for even having to say that, because of what he did. "Language!" the black ninja scolded, but turned to Lloyd. "You know to yell if you suspect anything right away. Correct?" The blond nodded and reached out, taking Morro by the wrist. With that, he pulled the ghost away and into a private room. Morro suspected it was Lloyd's bedroom, noting the green and black pattern of the bed, the light green of the walls, and the darker green rug. He really did like the color, which in a way made sense. It would be better to like the color you were as a Ninja than hate it. With Lloyd's command, Morro slowly sat on the blond's bed and set aside the sword - it was in reach of them both, though, so Lloyd took it and put it on himself instead. The green ninja's gaze turned to Morro finally, his expression soft. "How did you return?" Lloyd asked. His voice was gentle, careful, and it almost made Morro scream in frustration. He shouldn't be treated this well! He should be thrown out, told he's worthless - which he was. Or even better, killed again. Lloyd should have let Nya hit him with the water! He deserved it, for all he did to them! Morro realized he was cracking again and quickly repressed the feelings, turning to address Lloyd. Maybe if he lied, they'd hurt him and he'd get what he deserved. Morro slowly stood up, watching as Lloyd studied him warily. He told himself over and over that he deserved this, he deserved what they would do to him. He had to make himself pay. "Morro," Lloyd repeated, sounding a little harsher now. Good, he was being careful. "How are you back?" He couldn't think of a 'how'. He had a 'why' planned, but how he was back? It's not like the Preeminent is still alive to send him to Ninjago. And so he just kept his mouth shut, walking to Lloyd. Why couldn't he just hurt the Ninja? They had to punish him, but they wouldn't if he didn't hurt Lloyd! "I was brought back by a sacrifice," Morro lied after a moment, his emotion masked for the most part. "I need to kill you." He glanced over at the Sword of Sanctuary, gaze careful. Lloyd just stared at him in shock as he used the wind to bring the sword back. Lloyd winced at the feeling of the wind in such a small area on his back but reached up and grabbed the hilt of the sword firmly before it reached the ghost. "Don't lie, Morro. I know you don't want to hurt me." Lloyd didn't sound tired or disappointed. Just concerned and confused. It made Morro's blood boil with more self hatred. "It'll be okay. We can talk through whatever you need to talk about. "The ghost's eyes widened. He'd never compare to Lloyd, so why did he ever try? The Green Ninja was good, and he was anything but good. Though he slowly sat back down again, staring at the floor."... Why can't you just kill me again?" Morro asked after a moment, his voice quiet. "Or hurt me, like I did to you." Lloyd's own eyes widened a little in shock. Did Morro want to die again? He struggled for a moment to speak properly and figure out what to say, which gave Morro time to let everything out. "I'll never be good like you are. You're all exactly right, you're a much better Green Ninja than I ever could be. You forgive people and you make them feel safe, and you're so much better at teamwork. I don't– I don't know how I thought I could be like you. I only hurt everyone I come across. People hate me, they fear me, and they love you." Morro was starting to tear up, and angrily wiped his eyes on his tattered and dirty sleeve. "You're alive. You didn't try to destroy the world over a simple grudge you had for decades. You're stronger, good, and I'm- I'm just a ghost that everyone forgot about. I'm worthless, you're worth everything. And- fucking Hell, Lloyd!" He burst out when he saw Lloyd looking at him with that much sympathy in his emerald eyes. "Don't look at me like that! I deserve this, I deserve all of it! I deserve to die so just fucking kill me already!" Lloyd shook his head and went to Morro, gently cupping his cheeks in his own hands. Morro flinched, his breath shaking as he solidified to feel the touch. He seemed to lean into it a little, tears forming in his grey eyes. "You don't deserve any of what's happened to you," Lloyd said softly, looking at him intently. "You're strong, Morro. You're a good kid—" he was interrupted by Morro muttering he was technically seventeen, but continued regardless "—and what happened sucks. I get that. You want to rest, lay low and just exist in peace. Its exhausting returning every time and not always knowing why. I'm sorry that Destiny chose me, I truly am, but trust me when I tell you that I see you being just as worthy. You're forgiven for what you did. "Morro trembled, one of his hands going to wrap around Lloyd's wrist as he pressed himself into the hands. A few of the tears slipped down his cheeks, burning his skin faintly, but Morro didn't seem to care. His chest ached with a whirlwind of emotion, and Lloyd smiled reassuringly. The green ninja moved a hand off Morro's cheek to run through his hair, testing his boundaries. He remembered how much Morro liked that. The ghost was actually crying now, leaning up into the hand and letting out a quiet whimper. He wasn't used to this feeling, as his walls slowly fell and he broke down. "I'm proud of you," Lloyd said softly, sitting beside him and offering a hug. "I want you to know that." The ghost's breath hitched and he nestled himself against Lloyd's chest, his body solid now. He was small enough to fit perfectly, burying his face in the crook of Lloyd's chest. The ninja didn't seem to mind his shirt getting wet with the tears, simply wrapping his arms around Morro. They were both silent as he let out decades of grief and pain, crying until he had no tears left. He still didn't budge then, letting Lloyd play with his hair absentmindedly. Morro didn't even notice as he started purring quietly from the feeling, his body relaxing after a few hours. He didn't notice when Zane came to check on them, in the middle of falling asleep on Lloyd. He was exhausted, so Lloyd requested Zane turn the lights off and tell them Morro will be staying in the room overnight. Zane nodded and left, shutting the lights off and carefully closing the door so as not to wake Morro- but not before the nindroid did Lloyd a favor and gave him his phone, so he didn't need to move Morro to get it. Lloyd gave a grateful hum and turned the phone on, muting it so he couldn't scare or wake Morro accidentally. He knew the ghost hadn't had enough time to explore all of Ninjago's changes, so he wasn't aware of what a phone was. Lloyd listened to the quiet purring as he continued messing with Morro's hair and going through Kai's hundreds of new posts on Instagram. It was like having a cat sleeping on him, especially with Morro's size. It was sad he was only so small because of malnutrition, but it made cuddles a little easier at least. "Hey, Lloyd?" Morro asked after a few hours had passed, his eyes opening and voice tired. "Can I tell you something? "Lloyd didn't notice him wake up, giving a hum to show Morro he could continue. "I love you." "I love you, too." But Morro was asleep once more before he could hear Lloyd's words. Oh well, it could be told tomorrow.

- pet names/nicknames > it started out as more of a bitter insult but morro calls lloyd the “rip off green ninja”, or “rip off” for short, as reference to morro obviously being the better green ninja > lloyd has multiple nicknames for morro though, going anywhere from “airhead” to “my little raven” > theyre only affectionate nicknames when lloyd gets sappy but otherwise they just make fun of each other - relationships with the ninja > kai probably took the longest to adjust to his presence and morro taking every chance to pester or prank him did not help > morro avoids nya bc haha second death trauma go brrr, and nya doesnt trust him at all > hes cool (pun intended) with zane. they dont interact much outside of any group hangouts but morro doesnt have a problem with him > cole sort of acts as a mom to morro (he and zane are both the mom friends of the group but zanes a little more relaxed on morro than he is with the others). morro doesnt really appreciate being treated like hes a child but whatever, hes already tried to get cole to stop and failed > jay and him arent necessarily friends but morros cool with him too - relationships with the ghost generals bc theyre here now too> soul archer and bansha are the moms of this group. soul is a lot more relaxed than bansha though, and hes closest to morro, so he didnt question morros judgement when he got with lloyd. he doesnt trust lloyd but sort of learned to get used to his presence> bansha wasnt happy about lloyds presence, mostly bc she was sure morro would get hurt by him, and so she tried to kill lloyd more than a few times> wrayth and lloyd are actually friends, just bc hes easy to get along with and wrayths was alive a lot closer to when lloyd was than the others (hes 17 but only 27 in ghost years)> ghoultar and lloyd havent interacted enough to really form anything

Man I have a lot of free time before class. Oh, Kai's yelling "The food doesn't have a good taste!"