Chapter Text
"Morro!”
You had whisper-yelled to him, his head snapping back quickly to look back at you with a guilty, shit-eating grin. The darn fool, he was bound to get caught. Stealing from the markets was never easy and though no one ever noticed either of you, you were still slightly paranoid. You worked and had some money, but he still thought plain open robbery was the solution to his aches. You gently smacked his hand away from a basket of apples, which he was on the verge of pocketing. Curse your hunger and his for once.
Or perhaps a couple billion times for this past week.
To the soft smack of his hand, he responded with a hiss and a mutter of indignation.
“I’m hungry! No need to be so-”
You cut him off before he could even begin on his ramble and hushed him “We have the money, so we’ll buy it. We can’t just be thieves forever”
“But I like apples, and you said you’ll only be buying a bit of food” he pointed out bluntly, narrowing his eyes at you skeptically.
You sighed. There was no arguing with him, you couldn’t bring yourself to do so on an empty stomach. Sure, you had a job, which could've given enough to buy some of the stuff he and you craved, but it was never that simple.
You worked as a shoe cleaner.
It hardly ever gave much and perhaps on a weekly basis you’d mentally slap yourself for making the idiotic decision of having this guy as your, let’s call him a sidekick, shall we? You kept him around because he was a pretty resourceful lad, albeit the reason for that being because he was a somewhat thief. He kept you around because you were able to bring food to the table on occasion, which was rather a big deal. You both knew that you were the more ‘important’ one at here due to this, yet you chose to treat him as an equal. Don’t question it.
This led to him becoming suspicious of your intentions behind this fragile structure of your alliance with him, and though he never voiced his suspicions, he made it to some extent a bit obvious at times. You noticed the way he’d glance suspiciously at you whenever you offered him something, as if he thought you had poisoned it.
In a fit of hunger and an attempt to make himself less reliant on you, he had attempted shoe-cleaning as well.
Turns out he was shit at it and ended up getting the already lack of customers' shoes dirty. The first day he began was the first day he quit, and he came back to the hideout muttering and kicking rocks with obvious disappointment and irritation. You had simply patted his back and told him that he could look for a different job. Upon reflection, that wasn’t your wisest of words that you’d ever uttered to him, but lack of education does things to people okay?
You slightly winced every time you thought back on that moment.
“I’ve tried but these damn people don’t want to hire me because I’m a thief” he sat down on the rocky ground of the hideout, the hideout being a cavern space in a mountain close to the village, just below a monastery. He had looked away grumpily, body tense and for once it almost looked like his hair was covering his face on purpose, like it could shield him from whatever it was he felt he needed to shield himself from.
The shame for himself, the spite towards the ‘people’, and the frustration due to FSM knows what.
All too clear.
You immediately understood that and never mentioned it again.
Biting your lip anxiously, you mustered up enough courage to look at him firmly. “Look, we’re going to buy some soup. I know it’s not favorable and you're dead tired of it but it’s all we’ve got for” You recited lamely, for what was probably the third time that day. FSM knew how tired you both were of that constant repetition, like some fucked up broken record. He looked away grumpily, crossing his arms.
He took what he could get, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t get tired of certain foods from time to time.
In an attempt to distract yourself from his unsatisfied mumbles, you glanced down at the money in your hand and slowly grinned. Now this revelation was bound to change his attitude. Hopefully.
“Nevermind the soup. I think we may have enough for something else Mori..”
His reaction was immediate, the pout on his face transforming into a smile that was bound to charm Ninjago and the rest of the realms all on its own. He even ignored the fact that you’d called him by his nickname, one that he insisted he didn’t like, but you always felt that he never truly minded.
You were almost convinced , you lived for that shit-eating adorable grin.
Key word: almost .
“Ha! Really? What can we get?” he looked back at you with widened eyes, looking on the verge of jumping from excitement. It took all his remaining strength not to lose his composure. Dang right he was done with soup, and literally anything sounded so much better to his aching stomach.
“Well, how does some rice and shrimp sound?” you offered. Though you’d known him for a while, you didn’t make a point of asking what his preferences in cuisine were. Food was sort of a forbidden topic you both blatantly avoided unless necessary to speak of.
He made a quiet ‘yes!’, fist pumping the air triumphantly, a slightly smug smirk making its way onto his obviously tired face. You rolled your eyes but understood the mini-outburst. He hadn’t had a good enough meal like that in ages.
You took him by the hand and pulled him over to a stand that sold food and you placed your order.
Not that he needed much pulling, if he could, he’d run.
As you gave money to the person at the stand, you spared a glance over your shoulder back at Morro. The guy was positively, beaming at you in the politest way possible. He only ever gave that look when he wanted something, in this case, he definitely wanted you to share the food. Well duh, of course you’d share it. Sometimes you’d sit down and wonder why he was so oddly doubting of you, or anyone in general. To be entirely real here, you guessed you were the exact same.
Birds of a feather huh?
You gave him a reassuring squeeze to the shoulder, a little reminder to him that he’d very much receive something. Once assured, he stood giddily next to you, waiting for the order to arrive.
Meanwhile, you counted what remained of your money. There were still a few cents sitting beautifully on the palm of your hand, gleaming tauntingly and practically begging to be spent. You had just enough to perhaps get a candy or two. A fancy indulgence for you and Morro, however, being given this information would make the poor dude backflip and collapse.
So you decided to be the mind of reason here, like you always were. You kept the information, but planned to tell him after you’d gotten the food.
Nevermind, your excitement got the best of you. You’ll tell him right now. You simply had to. You were still just a kid after all.
A kid.
“Hello? Your food?”
Snapped out of your thoughts, you looked back at the vendor who was extending his arm to hand your ready-made food to you. Spluttering from embarrassment for your moment of daze, you awkwardly took it in your hands and murmured a quick thanks. You could almost feel Morro’s gaze drilling a hole into the back of your head before you turned around and handed him his order. He smiled sheepishly and held the food carefully, glancing from the food then back to you.
You inhaled and exhaled slowly, not yet walking. Morro was looking at you impatiently, tapping his foot on the ground with a look in his eyes that was saying ‘ So?? What are we waiting for?? ’
“Okay Mori, I know you’re hungry, so am I. But I think I have enough money left to get us some candy, whadda’ya say??”
As expected, his expression changed again. Though unlike beforehand, it wasn’t one of starry eyed wonderment, but rather one of surprise. Confusion was etched onto his sharp features and you reflected back his same face of confusion. You were almost sure he’d be ecstatic.
After a prolonged, torturous silence, he finally answered. “Don’t you want to save it?” he questioned curiously, already beginning to walk in the direction of your so-called home. Your face flushed slightly, he was right. Now you definitely were regretting asking. The damn shame of cravings..
Speeding up a little to match his pace, you kept your gaze downwards, looking at anything but him. The ground looked mad interesting, the birds really were quite noisy, and the small scar on your hand looked so weirdly out of place. Letting out a small huff, you prepared yourself to take back your words, but he cut you off.
He had noticed your look of embarrassment, so he’d looked away and quickly added “I mean, if you really do want candy..” then he brought his gaze back to you and raised an eyebrow with a slight grin “I’m not one to disagree, am I?”
It really was quite a funny face.
Laughing, you answered “No, it’s fine. You’re right we should save it. C’mon, lets go”
“Sure?”
“Sure”
The two of you walked, a peaceful silence replacing the earlier humiliating atmosphere. It really was quite nice just walking and not being a fret over how you’d continue living. Though mostly it was tiring to walk, today it was just another thing you had to continue doing, everyday, for the rest of your life. The ground was rough, and at times it made you want to defy the earth’s force of gravity, like a bird, or a cloud.
Oh but the sky..
The sky, the sky was so wonderful .
It looked down at you, but not in an overbearing way. No, no, it looked at you the way a mother would to their child, it was like the mother you never had. You found consolation in the way the heavens were shielded by the passing clouds, and how at night the sky would cover itself in a blanket of stars. How you wished to fly up there and leave the cruel world behind, let the wind take you away as if you were nothing more than a leaf.
Now, you didn’t know if Morro ever noticed your fascination with the sky. In fact, the boy was more partial to learning combat. In later evenings he would sometimes talk about how nice it’d be to know how to fight, to be able to not stand down to anyone or anything. He’d talk about it for a long while, just laying down beside you on the ground as night would fall. The sky would darken, but it never dampened his enthusiasm on the topic.
“What weapon do you think would deal more damage, a sword or a blade? I personally really like swords, they’re kind of awesome, right?”
“I mean, yeah. They're pretty cool, but why would we need a sword?”
“Dunno. They’re awesome, plus they’d be even better for defense in case we get attacked or something”
“True, true”
“You think I could make one?”
“Don’t be a dumbass, you need proper skills for that. You do you though, and hey, if you do somehow make one, don’t run me through with it, will ya?” you joked, nudging his shoulder.
He laughed and grinned “I’m not that stupid. I’ll know how to wield it, and it won’t be in your direction”
“I wouldn’t trust you on that”
“Heh, I knew you wouldn’t”
The two of you would joke around like that for goodness knows how long. You let this sort of thing just happen, it was always a pleasant distraction from the worry clouding your mind. Yet at the same time you knew his transfixion on weaponry was just a result of him just not wanting to be helpless.
He just wanted to be someone .
Hm.
You supposed you wanted that too.
Upon arrival to your home, Morro immediately sat down into the nearest corner and ate his food. You snickered but followed suit and sat down beside him, munching on your food hungrily without shame. For perhaps two or three minutes, the air was full of the sounds of both of you eating like ravenous beasts, proper etiquette and manners were NOT top priority here.
Once done, you collapsed to the ground, for once feeling fulfilled and content with life, not giving a straight shit if the floor of the cavern was dirty. The cavern walls were decorated with junk you and Morro had found, ranging from random picture frames to furniture that you had a hunch was older than Ninjago itself. Not much home-y material, but it was what you were used to.
When you had first made your agreement of alliance with Morro, it didn’t take long for him to just crash at your place and get comfortable. Not too comfortable, just enough to the point where he made it clear it was official he was planning to stay for safety purposes. Funny how he called it an ‘alliance’, but it really was a shitty way of disguising that he was interested in being friends. It was clear as day that he did this for beneficial reasons, but sometimes you couldn’t help but think you guys really were friends, albeit not super close ones.
Like you knew each other but didn’t.
On another note, you had found it amusing when he first spoke of making an alliance. You were seriously considering declining, but he made a point of following you around until you made up your mind.
FSM he was persistent, but you could see why. You had a somewhat shelter, worked a bit, and had zero beef with the other poor kids in the area. Sometimes the other lads would gang up on each other and you honestly did NOT want to be a part of that. However, Morro insisted he’d be useful. So here we are.
Speaking of, the guy was laying on the ground beside you.
You looked at him.
He looked at you.
Then he let out a monstrous blech, one that was bound to shake the whole cavern and the monastery above.
“Ez’cuse me”
“ Morro!! ”
He folded his arms behind his head comfortably and grinned like a fool, closing his eyes and blowing a strand of hair out of his face. “C’mon, it wasn’t that bad. Admit it was funny at least”
You snorted but didn’t deny it. “Sure, sure. Shit coulda shook the whole mountain” You raised an eyebrow at him, to which he laughed. “You’re exaggerating”
“Well duh”
“Mhm. Oh and uh, thanks for the food…”
You sat up and stretched “Your welcome but promise me you won’t blech like a crusty toad ever again” you scolded gently. At times it really was like you were the older one here, but in reality he was older by a month or two. The dynamic didn’t feel off though, it was comforting mostly. Maybe that’s why you could never bring yourself to kick him out, it always felt like he was your responsibility. Not that he needed to know that.
“Can’t promise” he said in amusement, noting the humor in your words.
“Uh huh. Anyway, wanna nap or look for stuff?”
“Nap”
“Lazy ass”
“Nuh uh”
“Yuh uh”
He snorted and rolled onto his side, facing away from you as he pretended to sleep. You rolled your eyes but smiled.
“Kay. I’ma be outside if..”
You didn’t finish your sentence because realization hit you like a blast of cold water.
Ah.
He got food, is currently in shelter, and no one’s bothering him.
He doesn’t need you anymore now, does he? Not until tomorrow.
The cycle begins again.
Before you can walk away and more thoroughly review your thoughts, he speaks.
“Sure you don’t want to stay?”
Oh. He wanted you to stay. He did this sort of thing rarely, but when he does end up doing it it always brings you reassurance that you two really are friends.
“I guess I’ll stay then”
Silence.
Then,
“Cool”
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