What's this! Now Lloyd is making a move!?
You guys are getting some good fluff here. >:3
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*Zane is tending to the Land Bounty while the ninja are stranded on the rock.*
"Ugh, vultures. That's never a good sign." said Jay.
"They are carrion birds. It is a sign they believe we are a potential meal..." said Zane.
"Oh, thanks, Zane. Way to boost morale." said Jay.
"Can you guys keep it down? I'm trying to reach Pixal on the radio. Come in. Pixal? Can you hear me? Mayday, mayday! Come in, Pixal." said Nya.
"Any luck?" Lloyd asked.
"Nothing. There's something wrong with the long-range transmitter, but I can't figure out what. Even Nova hasn't been able to come up with anything." said Nya.
"Okay, well... don't give up." said Lloyd as he joins Cole and Kai outside, carrying supplies. "And that's the last of it."
"That's not good. Less than a day's supply of water." said Kai.
"And the ATV and the Dune Bounty are wrecked. And the Rock Cycle isn't fast enough to outrun those beetles!" said Cole.
"Well, even if it could, it would only carry one of us." said Kai.
"Maybe Nya could draw some water out of the air?" Lloyd suggested.
"In this heat? Low humidity? I don't think so." said Cole as they turned to the sound of Jay carving a rock.
"Jay, what are you doing?" Kai asked.
"Carving a message on this rock, so people know who we are when they find our bones." said Jay.
"Hey, has anyone seen Nova anywhere?" Lloyd asked, since he noticed that he hadn't seen Nova for a while, nor helping the others at the moment.
The ninja looked at each other for a moment, before they all shrugged. "No, we haven't seen her, but she must be somewhere."
Nova was sitting on the top of the rock that was on the platform, watching out for any danger from those beetles. Along with listening in to the ninja now and then. "I should have brought my old water gun with me. At least that way we still had some water." she mumbled to herself, looking up at the clear sky.
Lost in her own thoughts, Nova began getting the same chilling feeling, like back at the Monastery. But she tried her best to ignore it, even though the feeling was getting stronger every few days or so.
At some point, Nova thought she heard a faint whisper, only to then quickly jump and turn around when someone touched her shoulder, turning on her blades, pointing them at the person.
"Wow, relax Nova, no need to point your blades at me." said Lloyd, having quickly dodged her attack.
"Oh, sorry Lloyd, I didn't hear you." said Nova as she turned off her blades, while letting out a small sigh.
"So, what had you all jumpy since you didn't even hear me. Which normally doesn't happen." Lloyd asked, raising an eyebrow at her.
Nova bit her lower lip, thinking for a good minute or two. "Probably just my trouble sleeping these days."
"Shouldn't your plushie be helping you with that?" Lloyd asked, as he went on to sit down next to her.
"Well, umm, I've kind of stopped trying to sleep with it." Nova answered, rubbing the back of her neck.
"How come? Last time I checked, you would kill someone if something happened to it, or even panic if you didn't have it." said Lloyd.
Nova let out a small giggle. "I just don't wanna rely on it anymore, even though it's hard for me to sleep. I wanna be able to do it without needing something close by all the time."
"If you're have trouble sleeping, you can just come to my room. I wouldn't mind." said Lloyd, not thinking much of it.
Nova slowly turned her head, looking at him as her face was turning red. "...I'm sorry, what?"
Lloyd noticed her red face and chuckled a bit, as he took one of her hands in his. "If you can't sleep on your own, you can always come to my room and we can sleep together. That way, if you still have nightmares, I'll be right there by your side, should you need my help." He said, smiling softly at her.
Nova's face was turning more red, as he only kept going with his offer. ".....I-I well.....L-Lloyd.....You do k-know we aren't kids a-anymore, right? S-so us sleeping together...it's well..." She tried explaining, but couldn't stop herself from stuttering.
"I know Ocea and I don't mind, at least I'll wake up to seeing your beautiful face every morning." said Lloyd with a smirk on his face, and leaning his face closer to her until their lips met.
Nova was taken by surprise by all of this, as she wasn't sure how to react to this info. But relaxed a bit when they kissed. As she closed her eyes and slowly wrapped her arms around his neck.
Lloyd went on to wrap his arms around Nova, pulling her closer towards him while they kissed.
Though, their moment didn't last for very long, as they heard the sound of Jay screaming for help.
Having to break the kiss, they turned their attention to what was going on, and quickly jumped down to the others.
"Ahhh!"
"Jay!" shouted Cole.
"Help! Ahh!" Lloyd grabs his hand.
"Hang on, Jay!" said Lloyd.
"Pull me in, pull me in!" shouted Jay.
"I can't. He's too strong." said Lloyd.
Nova used what she could of the shadows, and had them grab Jay. Trying to help pull him in. "What does this motherfucker eat!?"
"Cole, can you grab my shirt?" Kai asked.
"I think so." Cole pulls Kai in slightly and grabs onto him.
"Take this!" Kai throws his fire Beohernie. Beohernie let goes of Jay and retreats.
Jay gasps. "Did you see that? He just tried to eat me!"
Lloyd watches Beohernie leave. "We better keep off the sand."
Jay sarcastically spoke. "Oh, really?!" Lloyd stares at him, annoyed.
Nova rolled her eyes, walking over, and slapping Jay in the back of his head. "Be happy it didn't loud mouth." She said before walking away. Thinking back to Lloyd's offer as her face slowly turning red again.
"You motherfucker Lloyd. I'm starting to think he is actually using his charm to get me riled up, or some kind of reaction out of me." Nova thought jumping up on the Land Bounty. "From a bratty kid to a fucking charmer, by the First Spinjitzu Master. Why does that part of him have to be my weakness." She facepalmed herself while letting out a heavy sigh.
Taken a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "We've already been dating for a few months, though it doesn't really feel like it....and then he just goes and throw that offer at me....just the thought of us sharing a bed, are making me think that it will only make it harder for me to sleep." Nova mumbled to herself.
*At nightfall, the ninja are sitting around a fire.*
"I see only one option: The digestive system of a beetle is very slow. There is a good chance the Thermolytic Inverter is still intact inside Beohernie's stomach." said Zane.
"Bernie." said Jay.
"Just drop it Jay, we are never gonna call it that." said Nova, rolling her eyes.
"What good does that do?" Nya asked.
"If one of us were to be ingested, we might be able to retrieve the device." said Zane.
"Ingested?" questioned Cole.
"Uhh, are you kidding?" said Kai.
"Eww! No, thanks." said Nova, sticking out her tongue.
"If we can get inside Beohernie's stomach–" said Zane.
"Bernie." Jay cut it.
"Dude, drop it already, before I make you the offering." Nova growled.
"We should in theory be able to retrieve the Inverter and exit again." said Zane to which Jay stares at him in horror. "Either through the creature's mouth or through the other end of the digestive-"
Jay shakes his head vigorously. "Lalalalalala, I don't wanna hear this!"
"Yeah. Of all the bad ideas I've ever heard, and I've heard a few. Lookin' at you, Kai, this takes the cake!" said Cole.
"I agree. It sounds nuts." said Nya.
"Yeah, crazy as hell. I'm not doing it." said Nova.
"The facts are indisputable. We need the Inverter. The Inverter is inside the beetle. Ergo, one of us must enter the beetle and retrieve it." said Zane.
"Hmm." said Lloyd as he began thinking about it.
"Lloyd, I swear by everything that is holy in this world, I'm gonna fucking kill you myself if you throw me into this." Nova growled with both eyes glowing purple.
"Don't tell me you're considering this!" said Jay getting a little scared, at how angry Nova looked.
"I'm open to other suggestions if anyone has one." said Lloyd, looking at the others, while ignoring the seeping anger coming from Nova.
"How do we decide? Who gets to... you know, be–" said Nya.
"It was my idea. The responsibility is mine." said Zane.
"No. I'm the responsible one." said Lloyd.
"No. You are the risky one here." said Nova rolling her eyes.
Lloyd glared over at Nova. "And you are the tempered one."
"Come again, boogers." Nova growled at him.
"You heard me, princess." Lloyd said back as they both glared at each other. But at least for once, no knives were being thrown.
"Guys, guys, you're both too valuable to risk, and maybe Nova. It should be someone expendable, like Jay." said Kai.
Jay snaps his head up immediately. "WHAT?!"
"Well, look who's talking!" Kai, Nya, Jay, and Cole start arguing.
"No, guys." said Jay.
"I am naturally--" said Cole.
"Guys, guys! We're going to settle this like adults." said Lloyd.
"Yeah, right, and this isn't a kid show." Nova mumbled.
"What?" Lloyd looked at her confused at that comment.
"Nothing. But I'm skipping this, as my future sight will simply ruin it." Nova simple replied.
*The ninja face off against each other in Rock, Paper, Clamp.*
Jay and Kai face off each other. Cole bursts into laughter at Kai. Jay wins. "Haha!"
*Lloyd wins against Cole, Nya beats Lloyd, Zane beats Jay, and Kai and Cole play for fun. Zane ends up competing with Nya.*
"I believe paper beats rock. Do not worry, my friends. Logically, I am the best choice. Being a Nindroid, I am more difficult to digest and can survive longer inside a stomach." said Zane.
Jay leaps onto and hugs Zane. "So long, buddy."
Zane pushes Jay off. "I have every intention of surviving, Jay."
"Sure you do, pal." Jay turns away dramatically, patting Zane's face. "Sure, you do."
Nova rolled her eyes, before walking away from the fire and back up on the rock. Wanting some peace, she sat down and looked up the stars. "They look almost like back at home, just not as colorful." She mumbled to herself with a small smile.
"Are you talking about the world you lived in, before coming here?" Lloyd asked walking over, and sitting down next to her. As he had noticed her leaving the fire.
Nova gave a small nod with a soft smile. "Yeah, it was a lot different from this world, but also not in some way. In that world, there wasn't anything crazy stuff like what we've been through. No magical powers, magic tea, big evil villains, dragons, oni or other kinds of creatures." she explained.
"Your world sounds interesting. You've ever thought about returning, should you ever have the chance to?" Lloyd asked, wrapping an arm around her and pulling her closer.
"A few times... But after living here for a few years, even with everything we have been through. I'm actually happy about staying here." said Nova, resting her head on his shoulder.
Lloyd smiled at that, happy to hear she wanted to stay here. "Would you ever show me your world? If you got the chance?"
Nova let out a soft laugh. "Hell no, if I did, I'm pretty sure it would break your mind." She said, slowly closing her eyes, enjoying being this close to him.
Lloyd scowled, looking down at her. "I'm pretty sure I'll be able to handle it, whatever you think would break my mind."
"Whatever you say, greenbean." said Nova with a smile on her face.
Lloyd's scowl slowly changed into a small smile, kissing her forehead. "So, thought about my offer? It still stands if you are interested."
Nova's face began growing red when he mentioned the offer. Slowly opening her eyes, to see his bright, green eyes looking right into hers. "Motherfucker I both hate and love his charm." She thought as she used a hand to push his face away. But he wasn't letting her, as he easily grabbed her hand in his.
"Come on now, moonie, no need to get all shy on me right now." Lloyd said with a smirk on his face.
"Moonie?" Nova questioned confused.
"Don't like my other nickname for you?" Lloyd asked, raising an eyebrow, while still having that smirk on his face.
Nova blushed, growing a bit shy. ".....I-I didn't say that I didn't like it." She said, avoiding his eyes the best she could. But by the First Spinjitzu Master he wasn't letting her look away, as he placed a hand on her face, making her look at him.
Lloyd chuckled at how shy she was acting, after how angry she was earlier by the fire. "You are very cute, when you get all shy like this my moonie." He said, kissing her cheek.
"Noooo, Lloyd, please stop." Nova wined, not able to take all of this, as her face was going more red.
"Ooo what's this, is little moonie begging for mercy. Now that's new." Lloyd teased as he went on to kissing everywhere on her face.
"Lloyd!" said Nova, now actually trying to get away, but he had a good grip on her. So she couldn't escape.
"Looks like the infamous thief has finally been caught, and I'm gonna make sure she gets behind bars." Lloyd teased, pulling her closer towards him. And before she could resist any further, he pulled her into a kiss.
Nova's eyes widened and were about to say something but was cut off by the kiss. "Fucking bastard." She thought as she closed her eyes, returning the kiss.
Lloyd moved a hand behind her head, holding her close as he deepened the kiss.
Nova wrapped her arms around his neck, with one hand messing with his hair a little. As they hold the kiss for a good while, until they had to break it as to catch their breath.
Opening their eyes, they looked at each other, while panting for air. "Jackass." said Nova, pouting a little.
Lloyd chuckled at her reaction. "Come on now, don't get mad at me, Ocea. I just wanted you to relax a bit after everything so far." He smiled at her and ran a hand through her hair.
Nova rolled her eyes, blushing, but did let out a small sigh. "Fine, I'll take up your offer." She said, resting her head against his chest, closing her eyes. "I'm too tired to fight anyway."
With a soft smile, Lloyd slowly picked her up bride style, and carried her back to the fire where the others were already asleep. Slowly putting her down by the fire as he went on with laying next to her, and wrapped an arm around her. Pulling her close as they slept together for the night.
*In the morning The ninja get Zane ready for his trip.*
"Let's run through the plan again." said Lloyd.
"I bang the pot, drawing the creature's attention. He eats me. When I am in his stomach, I locate the Inverter, radio back, and you pull me out." said Zane.
"Right." said Lloyd as they cringe at the sound of the birds cawing.
"What could possibly go wrong?" said Jay.
"Shouldn't have said that." said Nova as she let out a yawn, still tired and wasn't that happy about being woken up so early.
"Relax Nova it's gonna be fine." said Lloyd smiling at her. To which she simply blushed a little, as she still couldn't believe she woke up sleeping with him.
*Zane walks out on the sand and bangs the pot. He turns back and shrugs at the ninja. Beohernie soon rises out of the sand. Zane tosses the pot away and allows Beohernie to eat him.*
"Zane!" shouted Lloyd.
"Oh no!" said Kai.
"It ate him! It actually ate him!" said Kai as the ninja throws on their hoods.
"Zane! Zane, can you hear me?" said Nya.
"Hang on, Zane!" shouted Cole.
"Zane, come in!" shouted Nya.
"Maybe the sand is blocking the signal." said Lloyd.
"Or he's being dissolved in stomach acid!" shouted Jay.
"What do we do?" The rope on Cole's cycle stops extending.
"Wait until something happens." said Nova, sitting down with a yawn.
"Not very helpful, Nova." said Kai.
"Not in the mood Kai." said Nova, rubbing eyes sleepily.
"Well we can't really do anything for the time being." said Lloyd, going over and sitting down next to Nova, wrapping an arm around her. "You can rest your head on my shoulder, until something happens."
Nova didn't say anything but just nodded, and rested her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes and was fast asleep.
"What happened for her to not, lose her temper as much these few days?" Jay asked.
"Yeah, I mean last night by the fire she got angry, but now she is all calm and not as grumpy." said Cole sitting down too.
Lloyd just gave the others a shrug. "I guess I just know how to keep her in a good mood."
"Right. So, did you use any of the tips I gave you?" Kai asked, sitting down beside Lloyd, as he wiggled his eyebrows at him.
"I thought about them, but decided against it. Knowing Nova, she would either try and kill me or not get them at all." said Lloyd holding Nova close and making sure she was still asleep.
"Oooo has our little green ninja grown up to be an actual charmer?" said Cole with a smirk behind his mask.
"If Nova can become all nice and friendly just from Lloyd alone, I think his charm actually are the only one to work on her." said Jay.
"Unless you count back to Morro." said Kai.
Lloyd narrowed his eyes at Kai when he mentioned that name. "She wasn't charmed by him flirting with her all the time. If anything, she looked more confused, and not sure how to react to it."
"Ooo so you were jealous, even though we didn't know at the time that it was actually Nova." said Jay now also smirking behind his mask.
"I wasn't actually sure he had a crush on her. I mean, if anything, it looked more like they were just friends messing with each other." said Kai.
"Guys seriously drop it, at the time I just saw Delta as a friend, nothing else." said Lloyd annoyed.
"Then why did you keep offering her to join the team, after we defeated Chen and his army?" Cole asked.
"I thought she would be a good addition to the team, and it might also stop her being a thief." said Lloyd.
"Well it clearly worked after the reveal, so far, she hasn't stolen or robbed anything." said Nya joining in.
"From what we know of. I wouldn't be surprised if she were stealing stuff, these few months we hardly saw her." said Kai.
"The Commissioner said that Delta hasn't been very active for a while, so I'm pretty sure she hasn't done anything these few months." said Lloyd looking at Nova who was, somehow, still asleep and hadn't woken up from them talking.
"Anyway that said. Are we gonna talk about what we saw this morning?" Jay asked.
"Saw what?" Lloyd asked confused.
"You two sleeping together, since when did that happen?" The ninja looked at him curious while smirking behind the masks.
Lloyd blushed a little, rubbing the back of his head. "Just last night, she told me that she was having trouble sleeping without her plushie. So I offered her to sleep with me if she ever had trouble sleeping on her own."
The ninja stared at him, surprised. "And here I thought I was the one who could charm anyone." said Kai.
"I'm surprised she actually took the offer, I thought she would be very much against it." said Jay.
"Yeah, I didn't think you two had already gotten that close in your relationship, after dating for a few months." said Cole.
Lloyd shrugged, looking down at Nova, who was wrapping an arm over him while still sleeping. "Well, we haven't had much time together, as she has been busy with her own projects along with helping Pixal with the secret base. But we have agreed to spend some more time together after this quest."
"Aww how sweet." said Nya smiling, as they all watching Nova snuggling into Lloyd in her sleep.
"She is gonna kill us, if she finds out about us seeing this." said Cole.
Jay throws off his hood. "This is crazy! How long has he been in there?"
Nova slowly began waking up as she heard Jay's voice, yawning as she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes.
"Almost an hour." said Nya.
"We gotta pull him out! Before it's too late." said Cole.
"What if he needs more time to find the Inverter?" said Lloyd, getting up while still having his arm wrapped around Nova.
"Lloyd's right. We gotta stick to the plan and wait for the signal." said Kai as Jay throws on his hood, and everyone listens to the radio.
"Hello? Can anyone hear me? Are you there?!" said Zane.
"Zane!" The ninja cheer.
"You're alive!" said Jay.
Cole simultaneously. "Yeah, you're alive!"
Kai simultaneously. "Good job, Zane!"
Nova simultaneously. "Took you long enough!"
"Quiet, everyone! Quiet. Zane, we hear you. What's your situation?" said Nya.
"I have retrieved the Inverter." said Zane.
"That's great! Hang tight. We'll get you out of there, Zane." said Nya.
"Okay, guys. Let's reel him in." said Lloyd as Cole starts up his bike. "Give it some gas! Nice and easy!" Cole starts reeling the rope. "It's working!" The rope slows down, resisting. "Keep going! Reel him in!"
"I'm trying, but Bernie's not making it easy. Come on. Come on!" said Cole.
"Just like reeling in a thousand-pound tuna!" said Jay.
Nova went on to use the shadows to help Cole reeling Zane in.
"There he is! Look!" said Lloyd.
"Come on." Zane tugs on the rope. "Open up!"
Beohernie starts to resist. "We're going to burn out the engine! We're going to lose him! Whoa!" said Cole as Bernie starts tugging on Cole's bike.
"Cole!" They jump on the cycle and hold it down.
"Let go, you bastard!" Nova growled, still using her shadows to pull the rope.
"He's too strong!" said Cole.
"Hold on!" Nya tosses a lasso, holding down Cole's bike.
The ninja pulled on the rope, grunting. "Unh!" Beohernie manages to lift Jay off his feet.
"Aw, he's gonna pull us in!" shouted Cole as The ninja drag Beohernie around until he knocks Cole off his bike. "Whoa!"
"Cole!"
Nova kept trying to hold on but ended up also getting knocked over, falling down next to Cole.
"Nova!"
"Lookout! Here come the other two!" shouted Jay while Cole summons his power and tosses one of the beetles into the air.
Lloyd and Nova ended up hitting the other beetle at the same time, flipping it upside down. "Got him!" said Lloyd.
"Thanks for the help!" said Nova, smiling at Lloyd.
Jay zips along the line, toward the Beohernie. "Ninja, gooo!" He electrifies Beohernie. Beohernie cuts the line, and Jay falls down. "Wha-ahh! Ahh!" Nya catches him. "Oh, thank you, Nya! I love you."
Kai tosses fireballs at Beohernie. "Unh! Come on, Zane!" Beohernie opens up, throwing out Zane, the Teapot of Tyrahn, the soda guzzler hat, and slime on Jay. Lloyd chuckles at Jay, while he glares at Lloyd.
Nova also giggled at it as she put a hand to her mouth trying to cover it up. But Jay easily heard it as he sent another glare at her.
Lloyd runs up to Zane. "Zane! Are you okay?"
"Say something." said Nya as Zane produces the Inverter.
The ninja laughs. "Aw, Zane!"
Jay simultaneously "Buddy! So worried."
Kai simultaneously "Nice!"
*Zane puts back the Inverter, and the ninja load up Cole's bike and Kai's buggy into the Land Bounty. The beetles rise out of the sand again.*
"Everyone ready?" Nya asked.
"Get us out of here." said Lloyd as Nya takes off, with the three beetles following close behind. "Here they come."
"Hold on, everyone. Here goes." Nya Pushes the handles in, producing the thrusters. The radar beeps constantly as the ninja continue to go out of range.
Lloyd high-fives Cole. "We made it!"
Jay high-fives Zane. "Yeah!"
Nova high-fives Kai. "Good job. Home free."
"That was one doozy of a mirage!" said Jay.
Nova smiled at that, going on to lean against a wall. "I should probably start doing recordings of these adventures."
Lloyd looked over at her with a raised eyebrow. "Why recordings, if anything, you could always just write a journal."
"I wanna be able to look back at the things we have been through, and maybe some time in the future, others will be able to see everything we did." said Nova with a small smile.
"Huh, I see." said Lloyd as it got a little awkward between them. "Sooo..... I take it you didn't have any nightmares through the night?"
Nova blushed a little, while noticing the others wasn't paying them any attention at the moment. "...No, I didn't have any." She said, turning her head to look away as to avoid looking into his eyes.
"Well, that's good to know that it worked. So now we both know that whenever you can't sleep by yourself, you can always come and sleep with me." said Lloyd, smiling.
Nova's face just turned more red, before she then decided to go into the shadows as to have some alone time.