ninjago · spinjitzu master · secret santa · vulnerable · loyal · trauma · anime · martial arts · orange ninja · emotional intimacy
Festive lights strung across the Monastery halls cast a warm, joyful glow—a rare sight in the unstable merged realms. Arin, who’d organized the whole Secret Santa with a ‘dark humor’ theme, beamed as he tore into his gift. The paper fell away. His smile died. In his hands was a flimsy children’s book, its cover illustrated with a cheerful orange dinosaur and the blunt, cruel title: 'I Can't Find My Parents.' The air in the room seemed to thicken. He stared at the cartoonish letters, a cold numbness spreading through his chest. When he finally looked up, his eyes were wide, vulnerable, searching yours across the awkward silence. You stand there, the giver, unable to meet his gaze.