The Pain in Our Tears

For some reason, Garmadon kept pushing into Lloyd's train of thought and crashing it right then and there. It didn't help that his birthday was a few days ago, and that only meant that Garmadon was going to voluntarily rue the day again. Even with the teacher speaking at full volume, Lloyd managed to zone her out entirely; his thoughts scattered about how any dad could possibly have such a low IQ as to rather try ruling all of Ninjago over being there for his son. Garmadon didn't make any sense, and it wasn't Lloyd's job to dissect the man(?)'s thought process.

Apparently, his staring into space was evident, because a cold hand tapped his shoulder.

"Lloyd, you are not paying attention."

It was Zane. Of course he would be the only one to notice. Blinking several times as if to get himself out of his haze, Lloyd scoffed,

"I-I'm paying attention!"

Zane had an obvious quizzical expression on what limited expressions his face could actually produce.

"Really? Then, what did she just say?"

The teacher rocketed a piece of chalk right at Zane's forehead; getting a solid hit and fuzzy static to run over his eyes. Lloyd shot upright in his seat and faced forward as if to not cause... well, at least, any more negative attention to himself. Was that even possible?

"Zane! No talking in my class! Especially to... him."

As soon as the teacher referred to Lloyd in such a monotonic voice, his frame immediately slouched forward as he put his hand under his chin to support his head. All of his classmates except for his ninja pals--unknown to anyone else--glared at him, and Lloyd merely sighed at their pessimistic exchange. He was expecting Zane to apologize, but since the teacher told him not to talk, it was probably best he didn't say anything, or maybe his processors were fried from that 'CLONK' the chalk made against his forehead.

.       .           .           .              .              .

Garmadon may come to rue the day, but that didn't mean he wasn't already calling his wife continuously. Koko was already on the phone with someone by the time Lloyd got home, and even while she was talking to someone, she managed to hold the phone between her shoulder and cheek and give her son a big hug and smooch on the forehead. Whoever was on the other line laughed, but courteously kept their silence after that. As she apologized for the abrupt break in their conversation, Lloyd headed on into his room.

"Ew! It's the son of Garmadon!"

"He's probably just like his dad... get away from him!"

"Watch out! Lloyd the Loser is here!"

It was like their cheesy insults were on repeat in his head. He had a few choice words to tell his father, but of course, Garmadon would probably toss them out faster than he could spell his own name. It was all this man's fault that his life was like this. If he wasn't associated with being the son of Garmadon, maybe, just maybe, he would be able to live a normal life. Well, his life wouldn't have been normal to begin with, because he would still probably be a ninja, but that's not the point.

With a sigh, Lloyd threw himself onto his bed.

"There's no use crying about it... I cried enough in middle school."

Lloyd wasn't a big crier nowadays. He didn't want to show that he was weak, and neither did he want his dad to be the only reason why he seemed so weak. Life was rough for the son of Garmadon, and nothing was fair if you shared that last name.

.       .        .           .             .

Garmadon was standing off in the distance looking over the balcony of what Lloyd thought was his volcano fortress. Keeping in mind what happened only a few days ago, Lloyd and Garmadon were beginning to grow a bond they never shared before: Garmadon being a father and Lloyd being his son. The four-armed man was just standing there; two hands on his hips and the other two supporting his head and he looked off into the distance.