First Meeting (Green & Blue) - a Dorksquad Forced to be Evil AU Snippet
Bored, bored, bored bored bored bored bored.
Maybe more % sad. He tries not to think about it like, ever, so he's more sure he's bored.
His dad left for the mainland again with all the Generals, and Green's too young to join in attacks, so he has to stay on the volcano. Stay on the tiny little island he's been on all his life, as far back as he can remember, instead of getting to go to the giant mainland he can see from his bedroom window.
Or, well, he would see, if his bedroom had a window.
The volcano is so quiet today, all the action across the waves only the faintest of explosion noises that reach the black sand of the beach. All the Enginerds are locked in their rooms and labs, sleeping after several all-nighters prepping for the attack.
So Green, as usual, is all alone.
He could explore the volcano, but he already knows the entire island from top to bottom. He could play in his room, but future warlords don't really get a lot of fun toys... at least, not ones that don't break easily. Or are that fun to play with alone. He sighs, that ever-present sadness starting to creep up on him again, threatening to drag him under a smothering blanket of loneliness and bitterness.
Green shakes his head, as if brushing away those thoughts were as easy as brushing the blond hair from his eyes. He tries tucking some of the strands away between his horns with two of his four arms, hoping they'll stay put this time. It's about as likely as his tail not going three shades greyer from the amount of dust, dirt, and other grime the Generals track through the halls, but yeah, a near-impossible chance is better than an impossible one. Today’s more of a normal shapeshift day, at least. No big beastly monster or giant dragon. Just him, in all his not-quite-human glory.
He finds himself wandering to a different part of the volcano, one he still knows from exploration but rarely frequents. It's just a loading bay of supplies, sometimes a makeshift storage when stocks pile a little too high. Nothing really of importance.
Yet for some reason, something in Green's chest feels drawn to it today. He walks down hallways lit by the soft glow of lava in the tubes running like veins around the lair. When he reaches the storage unit, he pokes his head inside; as expected, not a single General or Enginerd frequents the room. Boxes of destroyed mech parts, dried fish for the sharks, and outdated General armour are piled in rows across the area, creating makeshift walls of supplies.
A pulse, tiny but yearning, pulls in his chest, a trapped firefly trying to escape, trying to guide him somewhere. He follows the sensation through the aisles of boxes, looking down at his chest with curiosity. He touches a clawed hand to his heart.
When he looks up again, Green jumps back, tail fluffing into startled spikes.
There’s someone else in the room after all. It’s a kid no older than him— no, actually, younger than him— hooked up to a generator by wires attached to heavy-looking cuff-like ‘bracelets’ around their wrists, ankles, waist, and neck. The skin around the cuffs is scratched up. Their dark auburn hair sticks out in wild, unruly curls that doesn’t appear cared for, with some pieces covering their eyes. Their ragged sea-themed shirt— something his dad would approve of— is much too short, revealing lots of pale, jagged scars running across many parts of their body.
Green spots a few other kinds of scars too: thin burns in scorched bursts, cuts across their palms like a sacrificial blade, small nicks and scratches that look like different bladed weapons (including one tear on their ear Green can recognize as a weapon thrown too close since his dad does a similar thing to Generals when he’s mad), a few feathers sticking out of the top of their neck cuff, and a few small patches of dark purple marks.
The kid stares at Green. Sparks of electricity jump down their arms and into the ‘bracelets’ connected to the generator.
Green stares back. His eyes are black sclera with golden, slitted pupils today, which could be off-putting, but hey, that’s life.
“Hi,” he says, like the socially experienced person that he is.
In his defence, he’s never met anyone remotely around his age before. ‘Bring Your Kid to Work’ days don’t really apply to anyone but his dad, and even then, he doesn’t bring Green with him on attacks, so honestly it doesn’t even apply to him at all.
“H-Hi,” the kid squeaks back. Their voice is raspy with disuse.
Something in Green’s chest aches at that. He knits his eyebrows. “You don’t sound so good. Wait right here!”
With a squish of his tail, he scrambles out of the room, dropping to all fours for extra speed. Today just feels like an all-fours day, apparently. He spots his target— a cylinder full of liquid— and pounces on it, claws finding purchase on the steel frame supporting the plastic container. A paper cup finds its way into his hand and he fills it up before returning to the supply room.
He holds the cup of water out to the kid with a nervous smile. Nervous? Why is he nervous? He’s a future warlord, he shouldn’t be nervous. …okay, maybe he just really wants this kid to like him, but that doesn’t mean he should be nervous.
Begone, nervous thoughts!
“Here! I brought you some water.”
“Don’t worry! It’s not poisoned or anything— I think. One, uh, one sec—“
He sniffs the water. Yep, no poison and no salt water. The latter is more likely than you’d think. “All good! Here, it’s for you!”
The kid still simply stares.
Green tilts his head. “Can you not reach it? Don’t worry!”
He brings the cup closer, and the kid flinches back with wide eyes. Green’s shoulders slump, tail drooping. “I’m not scary, it’s okay—“
With a clench of his fanged teeth, he tries to shapeshifter his inhuman features away. …it doesn’t cooperate with him. That’s fine! Everything’s fine! “I just… want to give you some water. That’s all.”
Green blinks. “Why? You look like you need it!”
The kid looks away. “O-Oh. I- I do?”
They look so sad, and lonely, and scared, and confused, and all sorts of feelings that makes the weird feeling in Green’s chest want to scream and kick and bite until he fixes it.
“Here! I can help you with it, if you want?”
There’s a small spark in the kid’s eyes. “R-Really?”
The spark goes out. “W-what do you want i-in return? I- I don’t have m-more b-battery…”
Green tilts his head again. “I don’t know what that means, but I don’t want anything. I mean, it’d be cool if you want to be, uh, friends or something, but you don’t have to be, and not just because of the water.”
The spark relights. “A-are you sure?”
Green nods. “Yeah. Can I help you?”
The kid slowly nods back. Green holds the cup to their mouth and helps them drink the water. He frowns, studying the way their hair pokes at their eyes. “Want a haircut?”
“The hair in your eyes. Want me to cut it? Or, uh, at least brush it out of the way?”
“That… t-that would be n-nice…”
Green brushes it out of the way. Glowing freckles lay splattered across the kid’s face.
Green beams. “You’re welcome! I’m Lloyd. What’s your name?”
“Lord Garmadon Jr, I see you’ve found our energy generator.”
Green whips around, tail point fluffing up from surprise. It’s one of his dad’s enginerds. Weren’t they all sleeping? And what does she mean by “energy generator”?
The enginerd nods toward the store room exit. “This is no place worthy of your presence, my lord. Please, allow me to escort you back to your room.”
Green glances back at the kid, who’s shrunk down into themselves. “What about them?”
The enginerd waves their hand flippantly. “The generator seems recharged enough. I will return after to exchange the battery it is to fill. Our rental time expires soon, and the boss wants to make the most of its time here. He isn’t fond of the price it costs to rent.”
Green frowns. “Can I stay with them?”
He’s ushered away with a hand to his back. “Please, my lord, your father would be disappointed in you.”
Green’s tail droops further. “W-what? Why?”
The enginerd doesn’t elaborate. Instead, she leads him away without another word. Green glances back at the kid. For a moment, their eyes meet. ‘I’ll be back’, Green mouths.
The kid watches him leave with a sad look, and Green hopes that when he returns, he can cheer his new friend up.
Other Dorksquad Forced to be Evil AU stuff-
m!Kai of the Fire Snakes (Art)
m!Nya of the Wojira Cult (Art)
