file of oneshot (ninjago)

Gratitude (pt. 2)

appreciate it" Shade said with a sincere smile.

Well that makes Neuro catch off guard, making him look at the shadow master with disbelief. "Earlier— wait— that's just for a reasonable excuse–"

But then his words are cut off as Kai calls in Shade to check up with the tattoos if he ever had one in the first place. "Shadow. Your turn" just then Shade then walked over to Kai and showed that he wasn't the spy, "Now you believe me now?" He is annoyed at Kai's as he wants this thing to be done quickly. "I'm still watching you, shadow. I know you were the spy" the master of fire said as he glared at Shade, who scowled at him as he left the room.

With Neuro on the other hand still processing the words Shade just said, that Shade feels thankful because of him earlier. "He's… grateful because… of me?" He said feeling a little overwhelmed because of shade's word, his cheeks a little bit warm.

"Dude, your face is red. Is everything alright?" Griffin asks as he waves his hand infront of neuro's face, still frozen in his place, as he processes what just happened. "I think… I need to clear my mind from here" he said as he left the room. While he walks around the place he thinks he should refresh his mind by relaxing and taking in the fresh air outside. What's with all of that out of the sudden? Shade's thanking him for what he only mere words of defense for him, also what's with that smile he gave him? Yes, it was the first time Shade ever smiled at anyone, usually he never smiled or was friendly to him. But this all of the sudden? It was new to him.

To think that Shade smiled at him… was warm and sincere, and handsome— wait did he say handsome?! No, there's no way he finds Shade like that, no way he has a weird feeling out of the sudden for him. He only knows him for a few days, there's no way he has feelings for him like that, can it? It's so frustrating to think of it that way, he really needs to clear his own mind now.

"Thinking about something?"

The voice surprised him, as Neuro looked at the person who asked him. It turned out to be Shade, coming out from his hideout as he turns out using his power to hide from the others. "Since when did you hide in there?" He was a little surprised by the shadow master, as If he came out of nowhere. Shade then chuckled to neuro shock face, payback is really nice. "Oh, not really long. Maybe after I left the room? A little bit bored, and there's nothing to do, so I hide there in case anyone is still talking about me or still suspecting me as the spy" he explains why he was hiding there.

"I see…"

"So why are you out here? Too much mind reading in there, or something bothering you?" Shade asks him, as to which he observes neuro's movements since he was outside the room. Nervous, confused, flustered, all those emotions are clearly shown in him. "Nothing." He stated clearly as he didn't want to look at Shade gaze. "Really? You seems to be thinking about something" the shadow master said as he walk closer to the master of mind, their face close to eachother making them looks like about to kiss, which making Neuro even more nervous than before.

"Seriously it's nothing to worry about— also why is your face so close to me?" He asked, face already warm a little bit he could feel Shade is smirking at him as the shadow master flinched away from him. "Just thought maybe you would try to read my mind again, but I guess you didn't even try when i am close to you" he said, making Neuro didn't realized that he could just try to read his mind at this time. "What? You're telling me that I can just read your mind in this state?" He asks Shade with disbelief, well he just missed his chance to do it.

This makes Shade laugh freely at him, seeing his face was so upset even pouting like a pufferfish, "Oh geez, you should see your own face! You look like a pufferfish now!" Amused by neuro's pout face, Neuro in return smiles a little. "Is that a smile I see? Neuro who never smiles, is now smiling? Am I right!" He asks smiling seeing neuro smiling for the first time.

Neuro then scoffed as he push Shade face with his hand afar from his sight, a small smile still presence on his face "your delusional" he said making Shade let go of his face from neuro hands as he hold them, "am not, just admit it that you were smiling thanks to me" The shadow master bragging to him.

"Whatever floats your boat, but you're still a delusional one" Neuro teases him and facing away till he notices that he could feel Shade still holding his hand, that was until the shadow master looked at his hands too. The two of them didn't realize that they were holding hands. "Hm? Sorry, didn't mean to do that" he said as he let go of his hand from the grasp.

Somehow Neuro missed his touch already— did he really think he likes his hand touching Shade now?! That's already out of his mind now. "You okay? You've been zoning out lately now" Shade calls to him as Neuro awakens from his thoughts, as he nodded didn't mean to worry the other. "Right, thanks for helping me back there, if you need any help maybe I can return that as a favor" and with that Shade then said his farewell and disappeared using his power.

At this rate Neuro could feel his heart beating softly, just thinking about earlier. "That's.. weird" he said as he then fastened his walk to his own rooms. Tomorrow is sure going to be a different and awkward day for him. And he wish there's nothing weird or life threatening happening for tomorrow.