Author's Notes

This'll make so much more sense if I say this first: this was inspired by Zelos' misuse of trust from Lloyd. A friend of mine sort of requested this, but I didn't add in a certain element *cough*smut*cough* that she wanted. Sorry, Minnie! I'll do it one time~!

And nooow I go to bed. =w= It's 5am!

Disclaimer: Tales of Symphonia doesn't belong to me aaand I'm not getting any money for this.

Warnings: Slash, OOCness. The latter is explained in the fic, but I still apologize for it.

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Blocked Passage

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It had been happening since last November. Now, it was pushing March of their second year travelling together, but things were always the same. They'd sneak out, or leave an excuse to stay out for longer than the rest of them, and still no one seemed to notice. Not even after all of those months...

...no one had seemed to notice the difference.

"Hey, Lloyd?"

The questioned brunette looked up from his task, his brown hair flopping out of his eyes with the energy it always harboured. Between his legs he held Flamberge, and had been encountering the laborious job of sharpening the blade, when his companion had asked for his attention. And of course, who was Lloyd to deny such a simple request, if he was willing to save the world? "What is it?"

Zelos crossed one of his ankles over the other casually, one hand behind his head and messed in his hair; supporting him above the pillow. In his other hand rested a ruby red apple, with no bites taken from it just yet. The apple would leave his hand every so often to dance in the air, but with a soft 'clup' it fell back in to the Chosen's hand.

"I think we should tell them."

At that, Lloyd tensed up. His eyes, which had been calmly settled on Zelos, narrowed before they dropped back to Flamberge. He placed down his sharpening stone next to him on his bed, staring down at the hand which now covered the slab. Tell them? Was Zelos out of his mind?! What would be the point in that? Stubbornly, he brought his hand back up to his blade, stone in hand, and continued to sharpen the fine edge to satisfaction.

"There's nothing to tell, Zelos."

The small 'clup's from the apple stopped, and after about five long, solid seconds, a moderate crunch was heard, followed by the small chomping sounds as the Chosen took down his first bite of apple. He was in thought, and obviously hadn't the first clue as to how to respond to Lloyd, since he had paused and then gotten distracted.

After another five minutes or so of silence, Zelos decided to pipe up again, "It's been half a year or something, bud," he pointed out, his eyes fixed on the white ceiling.

They were staying in Altamira, and only Zelos and Regal were really accustomed to the decor of these hotels. Zelos and Lloyd always shared a room now, and the redhead had his ultimately favourite room in the whole hotel: this one. Lloyd felt somewhat lucky, considering the whole room consisted of blacks, creams and scarlets, and he found it a beautiful combination. Although, he had been surprised by Zelos' real reason to favouriting this particular room; the view from the balcony. Whenever they spent the night here, Zelos would make Lloyd stand with him to watch the city folk, the late night shows in the distance and the water shows from that same balcony.

He had said it made him feel alive.

Lloyd was still working that one out. Zelos had probably seen all of those shows personally; why would he want to see them from afar? He'd not bothered to pressure the man about it though. Whatever, he thought, Zelos was like a labyrinth when you tried to get in to his head and understand him.

Snapping back to the present, Lloyd took another glance over at Zelos, seeing him completely absorbed in tracing the patterns on the ceiling with his sharp eyes. "I know," he said matter-of-factly, "but that doesn't change anything. There is still nothing to 'tell,' unless you want to just boast or something." He said his last lines with a tinge of resentment, which chilled Zelos' heart, but he ignored it for the time being. He couldn't wipe off the slightly offended expression spoiling his features, but he could pretend it didn't exist.

He instead got up, tossing his apple in the trashcan, and made his way over to Lloyd. The twin swordsman had finished his work with both Flamberge and Vorpal by now, and had been laying back on his bed in his usual fashion; one knee up with his hands tucked comfortably behind his head.

Zelos climbed on to the edge of Lloyd's bed, one foot resting flat on the floor with his other tucked beneath him, a hand on Lloyd's stomach. He never used to be this delicate. Lloyd had changed him thoroughly. More than he thought anyone could. He had, after all, always gone for the winning side. This time he'd mucked up, though. Mucked up by falling for this damned kid. And now... now he thought before he spoke, didn't flirt half as much, and he'd even cut down on the hostility towards Genis and Regal.

"You know very well what I mean," Zelos said coldly, the hand on Lloyd's stomach sliding slowly beneath the male's shirt, softly caressing the soft skin it found there. Lloyd's stomach was always so pleasantly warm and soft. "Why won't you let me?"

Lloyd scoffed. He was unphased by the touches, having grown used to them after sixth months. "You know the answer to that already," he retorted, his expression flinching a little when Zelos' fingernail tripped over a more sensitive place on his torso. "Stop asking."

This is the way things always went now. Zelos would encourage something, and at some point, would begin demanding answers. Most of the time they managed to get through it, but sometimes, the redhead would begin spewing those words Lloyd couldn't deal with hearing, which led to putting them both in a bad mood.

Obeying for now, Zelos softly urged Lloyd's leg flat to the bed, so that he himself could crawl over the brunette on all fours. He displayed the grabby hands he always made to Lloyd, signalling that he wanted Lloyd's hands, and once he was given them, their fingers laced automatically together. Zelos could get back comfortable on all fours now, hands tightly holding on to Lloyd's.

Yes... Lloyd had definitely made him far too delicate.

"You never give me straight answers," Zelos murmured, leaning in close. He caught Lloyd's lips in a small kiss, and repeated the action several times, until his lips sought a different area, tracing kisses up along Lloyd's jaw line. Once he reached the male's earlobe, he slowly ran his tongue up along the shell of the ear, pulling back once he was satisfied with the groan he had earned from Lloyd.

"Hey, Lloyd?" he asked, looking right down in to the chocolate eyes.

"Yeah?" Lloyd responded, his voice touching the youth and naivety it had possessed before this journey had begun. Zelos loved when he heard that small, miniature spark in Lloyd's voice, especially considering how rare it was these days. He felt deep sympathy deep inside of him when he took the time to think about it. Lloyd was the person who had changed the most within the last year, and everyone was worrying about it.

"...I lov—"

"Don't, Zelos."

Zelos sighed, nestling his face in to Lloyd's neck. This was exactly what he didn't understand. Lloyd knew his feelings very well, and he know Lloyd returned them. They wouldn't be what they were or do what they do if that love didn't exist. But the brunette just wouldn't say or, or even let him say it!

Letting out a large sigh of defeat, he slumped down next to Lloyd, feeling the arm behind his head reaching in to stroke at his red locks slowly. It had been worth the try. He'd just have to try again, when Lloyd started off in a better mood. He had seemed off all night.

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Later that night, when the whole city had retired, leaving behind an eerie silence beneath their balcony window, Lloyd laid awake, gazing down at Zelos as he thought to himself. His fingers still ran gently through the hair, finding it quite an addictive pastime.

He hated having to brush Zelos off. He hated it with a burning, sizzling passion. But he had his valid reasons. He was sick of being deceived, thrown around like he was just a big jerk. Which was why he had finally began to start building walls, to protect himself from everything around him without making that decision too late. And, as much as he would like to deny it... one of his tallest walls stood right in front of Zelos' passageway to his heart.

"I'm sorry, Zelos," he whispered, brushing some bands from the man's forehead so that he could place a small kiss there, "but... I still can't trust you with my heart."