A/N: First response to my 7snogs claim on Livejournal. The prompt here is message, which I sort of reinterpreted as, "Get the message?"
This is pretty directly related to Make Believe, another Lloyd/Zelos ficlet that I've published here. Unless you like heavy symbolism, you'd probably be better off reading that first.
I do appreciate constructive criticism. It inspires better writing.
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Lloyd's eyes trailed uncertainly between Zelos and the crackling fire before them. Ever since they had left Meltokio, the former Chosen had remained eerily quiet. While the silence didn't bother him, the unknown emotions stirring behind it did. Normally, he found it easy to read his partner - as high as he perceived his guard to be, there were always these quirks - but today there was hardly a blip on the radar.
It wasn't as if the red one had been overly concerned with his emotional state. He'd been curious, sure; recently he'd made a few... suggestions, and he was a little fearful as to how Zelos would take to them. Initially, the Tethe'allan had brushed it off, claiming to not understand a word he was saying. But now... well, Lloyd wasn't so sure.
After another hasty glance toward his friend, Lloyd gathered his courage. He raised himself to his feet, and scuffled across the dirty campfire until finally, he settled at Zelos' side. The elder regarded him with what he conceived to be thoroughly tired eyes.
"Hey," chimed the younger swordsman. It was only polite to greet someone before you dive-bombed them to the ground.
Zelos grunted, effectively pinned under Lloyd's body. The latter grinned mischievously, causing the former's brow to raise and his lip to twitch in uncertainty. "If you were cold, you could've just spoken up."
"If I was cold, I would have..." Lloyd's grin transformed into his impression of a smirk. "But I'm not. Besides, you would've been too busy falling asleep on me to notice."
"You're probably right about that," the Meltokian admitted, shrugging nonchalantly. "This cold, hard dirt is really comfortable. Anyway, now that you've got my attentio--"
The red one laughed, "Yeah, I'll tell you when I really do."
There weren't anymore questions; Lloyd sealed their lips before the elder could retort. Although he intended the kiss to be passionate, he could feel his own uncertainty churning within him, overwhelming everything else. He clung to Zelos' form, ceasing his assault only when he felt the brief caress of gloved fingertips at his cheek.
"It's okay," his partner whispered into his ear. "I got it... It's okay."
Lloyd rushed into an explanation of his words, "I just wanna be with you, Zelos. Just you, and nothing else. I don't care how you come, okay?"
Another silence extended between them. This time, though, he found solace in those quirks. Even if it was just the steady, slow beating of Zelos' heart against his own chest, it provided more than enough refuge until the answer came.
"Okay."