A new fic. :) Set after the games, different timeline to my previous fics.
The two person dog costume in this is the same as the one in "Couple Teamwork", something along the lines of something from an Asian Lion Dance (like the Chinese Northern style), but adapted to look more dog-like.
I picked Tadashi for the name of the dog costume character because it apparently means "loyal/faithful", which seemed like a good dog's name to me.
I picked Kaede as the real dog's name because it apparently means "maple", as I imagined her having reddish-brown fur and as that's the colour maple leaves turn it seemed like a nice fitting name.
I'm assuming that after what happened in the two games Lloyd and Colette may not be popular with some people (especially if they don't know or won't accept the truth), which is why they've encountered what's mentioned in this.
Dedication: as I've managed to type this up in time: happy birthday fic for Arctic Husky/The Zelda Master.
Disclaimer: Tales of Symphonia isn't mine, it belongs to Namco.
Zelos smiled and paused to watch Lloyd and Colette sitting peacefully on their porch. He'd wandered over to check how they were but almost didn't want to disturb the contented, relaxed atmosphere around them now he'd found them.
Kaede spotted him, however, and barked at him in a friendly way, causing his friends to look over at him and smile. Colette patted the space beside her on the porch, inviting him to sit with them.
"Sure there's enough room for me in amongst all that fluff?" he asked. As well as the dog on their laps Noishe was also curled up behind them and the couple hadn't taken off the fluffy costume trousers they'd been wearing earlier. The costume's head was on the porch next to Lloyd, looking oddly still and inanimate now the couple wasn't in the costume. Surprising, Zelos thought, the difference the good puppeteering those two could do made, the head was so expressive and full of life when they were in the costume.
"Kids wear you out?" he chuckled as he sat down. He'd seen them in the costume earlier, surrounded by the village's children, playing silly games. The couple didn't have any of their own but many of the village children seemed to regard them as sort of family members, somewhere between cousins and aunt and uncle, perhaps because of their willingness to join in with games.
"I think they like Tadashi better than us sometimes," Lloyd laughed, patting the costume's head.
"It was fun, but exhausting," Colette smiled. "I lost count of the number of times we had to 'shake paw' and play fetch."
"You should take it as a compliment, shows how good you two are at performing in that costume," Zelos smiled.
"Or that we're the only ones silly enough to play games in a costume like that, it's not exactly their traditional use is it?" Lloyd smiled.
"Sometimes it's good to bring in new ideas. Traditions can be nice and all, but if it's traditions all the time things might get boring," Zelos said.
"Says the husband of the village chief," Lloyd replied.
"Good position to bring in new traditions. Or at least it would be, if Sheena listened to my suggestions," Zelos shook his head sadly.
"Somehow I can see why she'd say that your crazy suggestions were bad ideas," Lloyd said.
"You would say that, country bumpkin. No wonder you fit in so well, being from a small village yourselves," Zelos teased.
It was true that they had fitted in to life in the ninja village well, Zelos thought, although it probably had more to do with the people they were. When Lloyd had been introduced to the village blacksmith and carpenter he had instantly gotten along with them, sharing ideas and some of the Dwarven techniques Dirk had taught him in exchange for Mizuho ones.
Colette, always happy to learn new things, had thrived when given the opportunity to learn new skills in the village too, and the couple often combined their skills to make some very beautiful items. Some were for people in the village and some were taken to sell and trade outside of it by some of the village traders.
It was quite rare for Lloyd and Colette to leave the village themselves now. Even when heavily disguised they'd often been recognised eventually and not everyone was happy to see them which was why they'd ended up moving to Mizuho, somewhere they'd be safe.
They had insisted that they didn't want to be a bother but Sheena had pointed out that they'd be a bother if she was worried about how badly hurt they might get. More than once the intelligence network ninjas had helped Noishe bring the couple to safety when they'd been injured. The two could still defend themselves as they had on their journeys but eventually the attackers often became a crowd and the odds worsened when it was large numbers against just the two of them, especially when Lloyd and Colette were reluctant to hurt people badly.
It was horrible, Zelos thought, some of the things people had done to them. The couple just wanted to travel peacefully, and had even tried using fake names and altering their appearance. It had been weird, the first time he'd seen Colette with short, dark hair and Lloyd with long hair. But even that and a different wardrobe didn't work, some nasty person would always eventually figure out who they were.
He'd been glad when they'd agreed to stay. Partially because, like Sheena, he'd worried that something even more awful might happen to them, not that he was likely to admit it to them though, and partially because it was nice to have other outsiders to talk to when he was feeling a bit left out or confused.
"Some traditions are good though," he said, stopping his musing to bring himself back to the present. "Like the dancing. You two have had enough rest, come on, time for more festivities."
He stood up and grabbed one each of their hands, pulling them up off the porch. Kaede barked, bounced around their feet and wagged her tail happily as Lloyd and Colette made 'OK then, if we must' sort of gestures and noises. Noishe, deciding that he didn't want to be left out, wiggled under the costume head and jumped down off the porch to follow them, hoping he might be able to get some of the delicious smelling festival food. He'd seen people pretend to offer the dog costume food, maybe if he was quick enough he'd be able to grab some.
Zelos turned his head to look behind him as he heard the bells on the costume head jingle and laughed. That was another reason he was glad his friends had moved in to the village, they could always make him smile.