I really like the idea of Lloyd being a sheltered kid DESPITE EVERYTHING EVER.
Sure he saw and heard a lot of stuff at home before his dad fucked off and his mom dropped him off at Darkley's.
Yeah sure the kids at his boarding school were awful. And they mocked him and beat him. Older boys also sneaked out a lot and then bragged about their adventures but Lloyd just wasn't interested in being like them. Ever. He also thought that if he ever found real friends they would be better than this. Alas.
He's not the type of kid who gasps when he hears profanities, but he considers it unnecessary. Like why say this stuff when you can just not say it? The first time he curses in front of Harumi she goes into hysterical laughter because 'oh my baby boy is mad huh????'
After drinking Tomorrow's Tea he goes into denial and builds some sort of barrier between himself and everything he considers to be 'for adults'. Like he's still a kid, right?
Unfortunately, others also don't know how to treat this new version of Lloyd. Is a mother supposed to give her child the love he didn't receive in time or is it too late for that? Is he even the same child she gave birth to?
Kai was careless enough to laugh at 'grown up' Lloyd after he asked to play with toys together, so Lloyd never asked again.
Eventually, others readjust, but Lloyd doesn't. He accepts that he is now forever stuck between being a kid nobody wanted around and being an adult who has to carry the weight of the world on his shoulders.
Lloyd doesn't like shows and movies for 'grown ups'. He walks out of the room if the boys turn on slasher movies and looks away during intimacy scenes. It's not even embarrassment he just physically cannot look or listen.
He likes comic books without graphic violence. He has seen enough of it already.
I feel like he'd love stuff like My Little Pony. It's bright and colorful and the characters are kind and caring for the most part. Harumi would show him Pony MOV and surprisingly he'd like it. Because the contrast between colorful children stuff and grotesque reality is exactly what his life has always been. Sometimes he wonders if he loves Harumi for the same reason he likes fucked up cartoons. Because she is cute but also scary and macabre. Like those postmortem photos she collects.
For a very long time his only understanding of the world of adult content comes from Jay and Kai. Kai just randomly talks about these things when his sister is not around and Jay comes into Lloyd's room because 'I saw this cool thing, you're going to like it'. Lloyd never likes it. And quite frankly that's exactly what Jay wants. A reaction. Lloyd usually kicks him out and slams the door. He doesn't see any of these videos as art (as Jay calls it). Lloyd only wonders what things Jay searches up that he doesn't show anyone.
Onto Harumi. You would think that she's the sheltered one, but before her biological parents died she lived in the poorest neighborhood of the city and was surrounded by all sorts of people. The stories Harumi tells Lloyd about her old neighbors make him freak out. After all he is no stranger to hearing angry men yelling and women and children crying.
He also smokes his first cigarette with her. He finds it disgusting, but she seems to enjoy it, so he pretends to like it too. Some time passes and eventually he doesn't think about his father or Kai whenever he smells cigarette smoke. So smoking actually becomes a pleasant experience for him. It gets to a point where he goes through more cigs per day than Harumi does. Especially because he doesn't have to hide it the way she does. Yes, his mom does roll her eyes and sigh, but he stopped caring about what she thinks some time ago.
One day Harumi randomly shows him a video that he actually likes and it goes downhill from there. There is no judgement between them ever, but he does judge himself more than anyone ever could.
He never gets into slasher movies that Cole and Jay love so much, but him and Harumi play horror games together. She holds his hand whenever he gets scared. Usually it's body horror that upsets him.
She also shows him her favorite music and gets him into ICP and whatnot. They do juggalo makeup on each other.
They don't go to parties much. Partially because being recognized would result in an impossible to untangle set of problems, and partially because they would rather lay on the floor in silence completely sober. Also Lloyd would never admit it but he is terrified of loosing sight of Harumi in a crowd of people. And wasted Harumi makes him uncomfortable with her words and actions. Often times on purpose. And he hates watching her suffer the consequences of her choices in the morning. He helps and takes care of her, but next time he is more insistent on watching cartoons instead of going anywhere.
Because if he chooses cartoons he gets to be a kid for one more day.
