It was the bright and early hours of morning and Vinny thought he had gone deaf, it was way past the usual hour that his loud and needy roommate would storm into his room and announce the sun's presence in the sky despite its lack of use to the smaller man.
Against his better judgement, Vinny let his door creak open into the rest of the apartment only to still be without any noise from his almost overbearing friend. It was... unusual to say the very least but despite this, he decided to sort himself out for the day so he could head off to work if he needed to.
After his preparations, Vinny walked as if he was in a horror film, carefully creeping into the living room to see his large, oni friend laying face down on the sofa. His hoodie hung off his shoulder as gravity its effect on the garment, his head buried in his arms and complete lack of movement, sound or even life from the older man.
Now it was really strange, if not a little disturbing, and Vinny could feel his anxiety rise while he fought against his thoughts on what to do.
"Heyy, Garmadon, are you alright buddy?" Vinny whispered gently, placing a soft hand onto the exposed shoulder but prepared to pull it back in case of some strange aggression or reflex his large oni friend may or may not have.
Fortunately, Garmadon didn't react much besides a frustrated grunt.
Vinny sighed in relief but that was short-lived once Garmadon pushed himself up with considerable effort and rubbed his crimson eyes with a clawed hand, Garmadon's usual intimidating manner was completely washed away; his eyes were peaky, his hair was messy and most notably, he looked absolutely fatigued.
Vinny stared wide-eyed at the oni, utterly unable to comprehend how to react to his roommate's health leaving Garmadon to be the first to make conversation. "What on earth are you doing up at this time?" Garmadon's voice was deep and gravelly, more so than usual, as his throat growled with the words, his dark face looked pale despite being black like obsidian.
Vinny huffed and then pulled out his phone to call his boss. "I'll be back in a sec- lie down."
Vinny heard Gayle answer the phone with a stern yet somewhat kind-ish voice "Hey Vinny" she spoke through her phone and out of his, the 39-year-old stroking the back of his neck nervously. "Hey Gayle, my roommate's feeling sick so I might be late, like, really late" He slowly said, ensuring the words didn't bug out while he called. Surprisingly Gayle was understanding, disappointed yes, but still understanding.
With a lot less pressure on getting to work, whilst also worrying about Garmadon, Vinny felt himself relax slightly but alas, the nagging worry for dear Garmadon remained, pulsing in his chest. The shorter man sat down beside the sofa, staring into the dreary face of the once powerful Lord Garmadon, funny how people change when get to meet them.
Before he could notice the oni open his crimson eyes, Vinny grabbed a drink for Garmadon and another pillow just in case his roommate needed it.
After making a few last-minute decisions and fully keeping Garmadon comfortable, Vinny finally headed off to work. At that point in the day, it being now 12.30, he wouldn't be filming anything because of his absence during the early hours but he could still organise and plan other small, casual news filming jobs for later in the week.
..
Of course, during his lunch break Vinny had to return to check in with Garmadon and practically as soon as the door shut behind him, Garmadon called out weakly, like a distressed child or a wounded dog. "Garmadon.." Vinny groaned in annoyance but failed to stifle his light-hearted laugh from escaping.
"I feel strange, I don't see how I can help it." Garmadon pointed out with a small gesture making Vinny chuckle yet again. Yes, living with Garmadon was difficult, especially when he did things Vinny couldn't understand, but it was better than being alone again.
Thank you guys for reading this, sorry for the lack of content recently. I had hoped to make a Christmas one shot but we can see how that went.
Enjoy 2023 :>