Log; Closed

[never-sacrifice.livejournal.com]

When; Today! Friday the 13th~
Rating; G? XD They're too retarded for BUTTSEX at this point, dudes.
Characters; Lloyd Irving & Zelos Wilder [never_sacrifice & so_wilder]
Summary; Since Zelos treated Lloyd to dinner the week before, Lloyd decides to return the favor, as he has his shiny gift card from the paintball torunament~ After dinner, the two go to Xanadu and snack on flowers. Full of Dork. ♥

Log;
For the amount of people in the city, the cafe Lloyd and Zelos had picked was pretty empty. There were some people here and there, some with friends, others alone, but it wouldn't have mattered if the place was filled wall-to-wall with residents. Lloyd's focus would have remained the same. No, said focus wasn't on Zelos, but instead on how not to look like an idiot in front of Zelos. The last time they did this, there was no one around to say that it was a 'date' like that Hisoka man had insinuated, there weren't people suggesting they--well, whatever it was a very drunk Elena had suggested, Megumi had not yet accused Lloyd of loving anyone, and no one was saying the brunette was in denial. In just a week, Lloyd's attitude towards he and Zelos hanging out had completely changed.

Food half-gone, Lloyd still wasn't sure if he should just give in and call it a date like the rest of the city seemed to want him to.

He looked up from his plate and at Zelos. It had basically been pretty quiet between the two ever since the food came and Lloyd wondered if that was just due to the good food or if it was due to bad conversation. He poked at his food a little more, trying to think of something to say, and came up short. Well, Zelos is the loud one, he determined as he took a bite of his steak. He'll think of something.

Maybe he was imagining it. Zelos glanced up, only to find Lloyd
somewhat listlessly prodding the meal he'd ordered, and generally
acting unlike his usual buoyant self. Okay, so maybe he wasn't imagining it. Lloyd seemed to be acting kinda different than the last time they went out together like this. There were all sorts of possible reasons for that, some definitely more favourable than others. Zelos smirked a little to himself, all the while knowing he really shouldn't be entertaining such unlikely thoughts in the first place.

The real answer was obvious. Lloyd was anxious because of the new
deities, and who could blame him? Zelos placed his knife and fork down – having finished the pasta he'd ordered - and settled back
comfortably on his chair. If Lloyd was anxious, then it was his job to be a cheerful distraction. "Yo," he grinned across the table, absently crumpling a napkin in one hand as he spoke, "You should at least pretend you're having a good time!"

He was teasing, of course. Lloyd had been taking the bait more than
ever lately, so Zelos made sure to soften the jest slightly, "I like coming here with you, you know? This is a cool place. I'm having fun, so you definitely should too!"

Lloyd, too, put down his knife and sat back a bit. "I wouldn't just
pretend to, I would, and I am. I wouldn't have a reason to pretend to be enjoying myself and it wouldn't be fair to either of us if I did." He hoped that made sense. The urge to recite Dwarven Vow #11 was smothered by the nagging thought that he needed to start looking and acting cooler. Granted, he liked most of the vows, but this probably wasn't the time for them.

He looked around the cafe, taking more of what Zelos had said into
mind. "And yeah, I like it here, too. I really hope the new deities
don't remodel it like they did the fountain or anything." He leaned
forward and placed his elbow on the table, propping his chin up with the palm of the same arm. With a little hope, he added, "I doubt they would change anything more than the fountain, at least... I don't want them changing our apartment again."

He leaned away from the table again to take the last three bites of
his dinner, musing quietly about the deities. This was typical of the brunette--changing focuses so quickly like that. But hey, Zelos
brought it up. Soon enough, the waiter came and took away their empty plates, leaving a thin black book for them to check over instead. Picking it up, Lloyd let out a, "Hmm..." and reached for his wallet.

There it was, a gold card containing more money than Lloyd figured
he'd ever have. His thumb traced over it lightly, but he hesitated and looked at the bill again. This was supposed to be his treat, not...

"Oh, whoops," he let out, eyes still downcast as he took out some gald to fold into the checkbook. The Dwarven Vows weren't always right. "I guess I forgot the card. That's okay, though, I can handle this much."

Zelos couldn't see why it would be a problem if their apartment got refurnished again, but that thought was quickly knocked aside as Lloyd placed the gald into the checkbook. "What? You forgot it?" The redhead shifted forward, a look of disbelief on his face, "You dumbass!" He laughed, "You're a real idiot, sometimes, you know that?" He would have offered to pay instead – it certainly wouldn't have been a problem – but Lloyd probably would have taken that as some kinda insult. The redhead shrugged before waving a gloved hand at the other boy dismissively and getting to his feet, "Well, whatever, bud! Come on, let's walk for a while, yeah?"

He didn't really want to head back to the apartment this early anyway, and especially not when he was getting a chance to hang out like this. Besides which, Lloyd still seemed a little subdued, and Zelos really did want to try and cheer him up somehow.

"Don't make fun of me," Lloyd protested softly. "You should be grateful I didn't demand you paid or something." He stood once the waiter came back for the bill and smiled to Zelos. Not a bad suggestion; besides, Lloyd didn't want to return home just yet. Not home, the apartment. Whatever. "A walk, huh? Yeah, sure, that sounds fun! Let's walk around the new fountain and check it out!"

It wasn't until the two got outside did Lloyd remember what the old fountain did. Reflecting memories of the past... well, with these two, that really wouldn't be ideal. Lloyd would have hated to see anything involving his mother, or Colette when she lost her soul, or when Mithos took over Zelos' body, or... any of that. And he knew that there were things Zelos would really rather never see again. So perhaps walking around the new fountain was a bad idea.

"Oh, uh... hey, instead of the fountain..." Lloyd looked around for something else to do, but his eyes met with nothing but dark corners and night sky. "... well..." What else was there to do? There was that garden place, a club, and... the beach. "Umm... have you been to that flower place before? Uh, Xanadu, I think it's called?"

Zelos was more than a little uncomfortable with the suggestion of visiting the renovated fountain, and it was no small amount of relief that had him smiling at Lloyd's mention of Xanadu, "The gardens, right? Well, yeah, I've been there once before…" With Tenten, just last week in fact. That was the afternoon before he'd taken Lloyd out the first time. No, wait, Lloyd was taking him out this time. Had to remember that. "I haven't been there at night though!" He continued happily, one hand rested against his hip as he spoke, "Yeah, I think that's a good idea. I'll show you around a little, okay?"

It didn't take them long to find their destination, chatting as they walked the city streets. Zelos paused, a little bemused, before shaking his head. "Oh, that'd make sense. This is a different entrance. Guess I can't show you around, I haven't been to this part before." He brought a hand down on Lloyd's shoulder in a friendly gesture. "We'll just have to explore!" He grinned again, "And you better lead the way after all. This is your treat to me, remember?"

"Well, yeah, but..." Lloyd glanced at him, face straight. "You just don't wanna do any of the work." He cracked a grin and gestured forward. "Look, flowers! Lots of them." And there were certainly a lot of them. Small, grand, colorful, and bland; there were even some that looked as though they might turn towards them and wave a petal. In fact, Lloyd half-expected it. He stayed closer to Zelos and away from some of the more lively looking ones as they walked through.

"So if you've been here," Lloyd started as he studied a rather large flower bud from a distance, "is it true that some of these flowers are edible? I mean, dinner was filling and all, but I didn't even think of getting dessert. I kinda wanted to get out and do something else." With a quick start, he looked to Zelos. "Er, that's okay, right? Like, you... did you really want dessert?"

It was a nice place, now that he took the time to look around. Last time he'd been here, he'd done his best to find a decent spot of grass as quickly as possible – Zelos wasn't so much weak as just plain lazy, and he really hadn't wanted to carry that picnic food around for any longer than necessary. No such distraction existed this time, though, and he couldn't help but notice just how impressive the plant life actually was.

He also couldn't help but notice that Lloyd was staying pretty close, the brunette gazing around with equal parts wonder and curiosity – amusingly, Lloyd also seemed to be slightly nervous of some of the larger flowers. Zelos really didn't mind that at all, and wasted little time in edging closer to his friend. Sure, it wasn't much, but it was something.

Lloyd's questioning startled the redhead out of his little reverie. Zelos shook his head, "No, no, I'd eaten enough, don't worry about it," He paused, pondering. "I've never heard anything about eating the flowers before though, so I didn't try it last time." He smirked a little then, "You wanna try it though, right? If we get poisoned, I'm gonna kick your butt you know."

Lloyd was looking at him, still startled. "Uhhh... right, I'll eat one first." He looked at the flowers, bud by bud, and swallowed. "Well... maybe one of the smaller ones. The really small ones. And uh, edible looking ones." He moved away from the redhead and closer to a patch of flowers with small, barely blossomed heads. He stared for a short moment and crossed his arms over his chest. "I feel kinda bad ruining the garden by taking off the flower head, but..." On that note, the teen plucked off a small bud and without further hesitation, put it in his mouth. Instantly, he smiled at the flavor and began to chew, looking back at Zelos with a nod.

"It's good!" he grinned after swallowing. "It's kinda sweet, but in that way, it's also like candy, you know?" He popped off another two flower buds and walked back to Zelos to give him one. "Here, see if you like it. And if we do get poisoned, kicking my butt wouldn't help. We'd just have to ask for some help, is all."

Lloyd expectantly watched Zelos, waiting to eat his second flower until after Zelos had consumed his.

Zelos took one of the tiny flower heads, trying to ignore how typically cute Lloyd had just been acting. Really, that sort of thinking wasn't gonna help anyone. Instead, he examined the bud in his hand. It didn't look particularly appetizing, just like a regular flower. Still, if Lloyd thought they were good, then what harm was there? Giving his friend one last long look – if this tastes bad, I'm totally blaming you – Zelos popped the flower into his mouth.

"Hey!" He smiled broadly, clearly delighted, "You're actually right, these are pretty good!" For a moment, he considered trying to grab the other one Lloyd had already picked, if only in a playful effort to tease the other boy. "But I'm still gonna kick your butt is we get sick. It might not actually help, but it'll definitely be satisfying!"

Zelos took a few steps further down the path then, motioning for Lloyd to follow, "Let's try some more, come on!"

"Hehe, I'll kick you back if that's the case," Lloyd warned playfully before he followed Zelos, chewing on his second flower candy. This one had a different flavor than the last--the color had also been different, so perhaps that was why--but it still tasted very good. Lloyd was glad he thought of the place after all, despite the fact that flowers weren't normally a very masculine thing to look at. But it was a much better idea than to go to the fountains, even if they weren't like the old ones any longer.

Lloyd peered around, curious as to all the different flavors there might have been in the garden. He offered a few to Zelos as he ate some for himself and later decided to set aside some for Genis and Kratos with the added thought that if they didn't want them, he could still have some more for himself. Figuring Zelos was doing the same thing, Lloyd left him alone for the most part up until he got a little tired of taking buds off and sat down at a nearby bench to eat a few more. He watched Zelos a moment to see what he was doing, but eventually looked away.

He spotted a fully bloomed flower to his right. He leaned over to get a better look and wondered aloud, "You think the ones in full bloom are edible, too? I kinda wanna try, like... eat them petal by petal or something." He paused. "But those could just be regular flowers. Man, they should make it easier to tell the difference between real flowers and candy ones. It's kinda frustrating."

The redhead turned around at Lloyd's question, taking a moment to finishing what he was chewing before attempting to respond. "Maybe you should just try it and see?" He suggested lamely, trying to think of something a little more helpful to add. "They probably feel different or something?"

He was about to walk over and take a look himself when a large, orange flower caught his eye. Zelos moved to inspect that instead, hesitating a moment before removing the tiniest piece from the tip of one of the petals and dabbing it onto his tongue. Sure enough, it had a sweet taste. Grinning, he pulled one of the large petals free and strolled across to where Lloyd was seated.

"Man," He sat down heavily, giving an overly dramatic sigh as he did so, "We've been here a while, huh?" Zelos edged a little closer to the other boy, holding the petal up for Lloyd to see before pointedly tearing it in half and presenting him with a piece, "We should probably head back soon. My feet ache." He winced a little as he spoke, really effort to garner some sympathy rather than being due to any actual pain.

Chuckling softly, Lloyd jokingly asked, "Is it possible for you to go through one day without complaining about something?" He accepted the flower, bit into the petal, and gave a hum of appreciation, telling himself he should definitely grab more before they left. He waited a little bit until speaking again, as he found he much more enjoyed eating the edible flower petal instead. "So you want to leave now? I guess that's okay. There's only so many flowers you can look at before you've seen them all."

The brunette stood up, careful of the 'candy' he had in his left hand as he did so. He gave a thoughtful look to the garden before him and smiled. "You know, sometimes this city really bugs me, but then there are nice places like that cafe and this place, too. It's easy to forget all the bad stuff that keeps happening when you're eating flowers, huh?"

Lloyd tilted his head a little. "Although I do miss home. I think Colette would have really liked this place." He stiffened a moment, realizing that was probably a rude thing to say, or at least made it seem like Lloyd would rather have been in Xanadu with Colette instead of Zelos. Whether or not that was the case, brown eyes focused in on green ones. "But I'm glad I could... well, I'm glad I'm here with you. You help with forgetting the bad stuff, too, and I'm grateful."

After saying that, Lloyd wasn't sure what was redder: his jacket or his face. He decided it was a good time to look away.

Zelos pulled a face at Lloyd's first comment, equally light-hearted in nature, before smiling as Lloyd accepted his half of the petal and seemingly enjoying it. He nodded lightly in response to Lloyd's next question, shrugging a little, "We can always come back again soon, right?" He watched as Lloyd stood up, noting the flower buds clutched in the brunette's hand and grinning fondly.

Listening to Lloyd speak, Zelos decided that the evening had been a success. After all, the deities seemed to be the last thing on the other boy's mind now, or rather, the deities seemed to have become a more manageable issue. The redhead had intended to interrupt when the topic shifted rather abruptly to home, and then again to Colette. Yeah, she probably would like it here. She probably wouldn't be complaining either, joking or otherwise. His expression never shifted, but Zelos glanced away for the briefest moment, forcibly reminding himself that he actually liked Colette and he was being completely irrational.

When he looked back, the pair locked eyes. Lloyd had more to say. Zelos listened intently, Lloyd's words doing more than to simply confirm what he'd be speculating about just a minute beforehand. Yes, he had distracted Lloyd from what was making him anxious before. But more than that… Lloyd had looked away now, his face flushed a red as vivid as the jacket he wore. Zelos was the grateful one now – Lloyd was allowed to blush, but the Great Zelos was supposed to have a little more composure! What was he thinking, anyway? There was no 'more than that'. The redhead got to his feet slowly, hesitating for a moment…

… Before ruffling Lloyd's hair with one gloved hand, chuckling softly to himself and giving the brunette a friendly grin. "Come on, bud. Let's head back."

Lloyd wasn't sure if he should feel thankful that Zelos said nothing in reply to what he had said or feel even more embarrassed. The physical attention helped calm his nerves a bit, at least, and he slowly nodded. "Yeah, it's getting kinda boring here. I'm going to grab another big flower for the way back home, though, okay?"

Regardless of Zelos' answer, Lloyd gripped one of the nearby flowers--a yellow one--and held it in the hand not full of other flower candies. "All right, good to go!"

Lloyd seemed quiet for a moment before, before deciding to make one last grab at what Xanadu had to offer. Zelos allowed himself a fond smile, a smile that had reverted to his usual easy grin by the time Lloyd had acquired the large yellow flower. This made more sense. Lloyd seemed as oblivious as ever, which had to be a good thing.

He nodded at Lloyd's statement, stretching for a moment before turning towards the place that was almost starting to feel like home. "Let's go then!" He replied, waiting a moment so as to walk alongside his companion rather than slightly ahead. He was content with this. He had to be.

This had been a good night.