Hello, my darlings! Welcome back to the factory!
Yes, here I am with yet another Gelloyd story.
Info on this one:
Title: To Kiss and Tell
Tales of Symphonia: Dawn of the new world
Rating: T
Pairings: Lloyd/Genis, a bit of Emil/Marta.
Genre: Romance and humor
Warning: The info above is your warning, friend! If it offends you in any way . . . then this is not your story.
Enjoy!
TO KISS AND TELL
It was a girls' night out according to Sheena.
They were all going to spend the night at Altamira and the girls had decided to take the chance to unwind, have a relaxing spa day and a fun night out. And seeing how almost everything in Altamira was owned by the Lezerano Company, they got amazing discounts for being Regal's friends.
And since it was girls' night out, it was guys' night in, apparently.
They had stayed at one of the biggest suites in the hotel. They ordered a ton of room service and were currently playing poker with hot wings and beer.
And speaking of beer . . .
"Where are our sodas?" Genis asked, quickly scanning through the table full of ice-cold beer. He frowned and turned to Zelos "There's only beer here!"
"Zelos, don't tell us you forgot to bring us something to drink, too" Lloyd said.
"C'mon, bud. You are not a kid anymore, a beer from time to time won't hurt" Zelos grinned cheekily.
"Yeah? Well I'm only fourteen" Genis said, crossing his arms over his chest.
"So then you can have some tasty tap water! How does that sound, Brat?" Zelos said.
"Urgh. You are an idiot" Genis rolled his eyes "I'll go to the lobby and get me my soda" He said walking to the door.
"I'll go with you" Lloyd said "Emil, do you want us to bring you one, too?"
"Um. Sure, Lloyd. Thanks" Emil smiled.
"Okay" Lloyd nodded and left to catch up with Genis.
…
"Hey," Lloyd grinned, standing next to Genis as they waited for the elevator to reach their floor.
"Can you believe him? We even gave him money to get us our drinks! How can you stand that idiot? Sometimes I want to grab my kendama and use him as a dummy to practice my spells" Genis knotted his eyebrows together and exhaled through his nose.
"I know he can be really annoying sometimes" Lloyd smiled "But don't let him get to you. Just do what everyone else does: ignore him" He shrugged.
Genis sighed ". . . I guess"
Lloyd stood a bit closer to Genis. He reached out and held his hand with his own.
Genis moved away from him in a heartbeat, worriedly looking around to make sure no one was nearby. The elevator's door opened with a 'ding' sound.
"Lloyd, I've already told you. We have to wait until this is over" Genis said as he got into the elevator.
Lloyd frowned "We should tell them" He mumbled "It's not like it's wrong"
Genis pressed his lips together.
Lloyd put a hand over Genis's shoulder. The elevator's door closed and it started to descend. "I'm sure the professor and the others will understand. They are our friends, aren't they? I know they'd want us to be happy"
"This might not be as easy to accept as you think, Lloyd. Especially not to Raine" He thought he had made it clear enough when Lloyd rejoined the party that they had to keep this a secret.
When Lloyd finally explained to them everything that had been going on and decided to help them save the world one more time, Genis was quite nervous as to how things were to flow between them. At first, Genis wasn't really talking to him –he was really mad at Lloyd for going off to find his impostor and the cores without even saying goodbye- but after a long day full of calming tea and taking out most of his anger on Zelos, he was ready to speak to Lloyd.
And the first thing he said? They can't know about us.
While traveling the world in search for exspheres, Lloyd and Genis's bond deepened and their friendship bloomed into a relationship. They hadn't told anyone about them yet and it sort of . . . was a bit of a problem now. It hadn't been necessary in the past since they scarcely saw the others after the worlds reunited, but now . . . well they were all right here. And Genis wasn't sure if telling them was the best idea.
But they were still working that out, since Lloyd didn't thoroughly agree.
"We don't have to tell them. We can just drop hints until they figure it out!" Lloyd's eyes shone eagerly, clearly excited about his plan.
"That won't make it any easier for them. If anything, it will only make Raine even angrier to know we didn't tell her straight on" Genis sighed.
Lloyd frowned "I bet if she was in love with someone, she wouldn't want you to be mad at her for that"
Genis blushed slightly "It's not me being in love what would bother her, Lloyd. It's me being in love with you" He lowered his eyes.
The elevator door opened.
"Me?" Lloyd said with confusion as they got off the elevator and walked down the hall towards the lobby "Why would she be mad at you for being in love with me? I never thought Professor Sage had anything against me"
"Quiet" Genis said in a whisper "Someone could hear us" He looked around the hall.
"Sorry" Lloyd said, scratching the back of his neck.
Genis sighed as they kept walking towards the main desk "She doesn't have anything against you. It's not you. It's us"
"Huh? What do you mean?" Lloyd asked.
"Isn't it obvious, Lloyd? She wouldn't approve of us because we're both boys" Genis's cheeks turned a cherry-red color.
"Yeah, but that's what I don't understand. How is our relationship any different from the others? It doesn't make any sense" Lloyd said frowning.
". . . It doesn't matter. What does matter is that we can't tell Raine or anyone else yet. And it's not like you are in any position to make demands. I'm still mad at you for disappearing like you did" Genis said.
They reached the main desk. There was this short man with dark hair going through some papers.
"Oh. Good evening, gentlemen. What can I do for you?" He greeted politely.
"The floor with the mini stores is closed and we want three orange sodas" Lloyd said simply.
"Right away, sir" the man went through a door behind the main desk.
"Genis," Lloyd said softly once the man left "I'm sorry" His fingers twitched- he wanted to step closer and intertwine their hands. Only, he couldn't. And that really pissed him off.
". . . It's okay" Genis sighed "Just. . . don't do that again. I was really worried, Lloyd"
"I won't" Lloyd shook his head "We're sticking together from now on, right?"
"Yeah" Genis smiled.
"Here you go, sir. Three orange sodas" The main desk man suddenly said, handing them the drinks.
"Thanks" Genis said, grabbing one of the glass bottles as Lloyd grabbed the other two. They walked back to the elevator and to their room.
…
They all sat at a round wooden table.
"If we were going to play poker, why didn't we just go to the casino?" Emil asked, holding his cards close to his face- he didn't really understand the game, but decided to play anyways.
"Because, kid, neither you nor shorty over here are eighteen yet" Zelos said munching on a cheese stick.
"Okay, stop calling me short already!" Genis almost choked on his soda. His eyes narrowed.
"Suuure" Zelos said "Grow taller and I will"
Genis's whole face puckered up as if he had just licked a lemon. Zelos snickered "Sheesh, brat. Take a pill! Can't you take a joke?"
Genis and Zelos stared at each other for a few moments without even blinking. Genis had an icy glare on his face, wanting to carve a hole into Zelos's forehead with his eyes. Zelos, on the other hand, simply looked . . . smug- as usual.
"Um, so" Emil cleared his throat "How do we start?" He asked, wanting to break the tension.
"The first thing you do is ante" Regal explained "In our case the ante is a red chip. So we must all throw one red chip to the center of the table" He said as he flicked his wrist and threw his chip. They all checked their cards.
"Okay. Hm. Let's see" Zelos mumbled eyeing his cards "Duke, give me two cards" He said to Regal, discarding some cards from his hand and throwing them into the muck.
"I want three cards" Lloyd said and slid three cards into the muck. Regal quickly gave them new cards. He dealt like an expert- his fingers moved swiftly, just like the dealers in the casino.
The room smelled strongly of buffalo wing sauce and barbecue chips. Genis shifted in his seat with his blue eyes fixed on his cards "What do you think the girls are doing?" He asked to make conversation. The room was awfully quiet and he sort of hated to hear nothing but the noise the others made while eating- had Raine been there, she would have definitely scolded them for their manners.
"Probably boring girl stuff" Lloyd said "That's why they said it was a girls' night out, right? Because they're doing girl stuff?"
"Girl stuff?" Emil tilted his head to the side "You mean like makeup and combing their hair?"
"At night? And here in Altamira? Kid, you are not the brightest bulb in the box" Zelos chuckled "There's a new club the opens tonight. The ladies are probably there dancing or just hanging out" He shrugged "I kinda hope they were here, though. Strip poker is one of my favorite games, after all" He smirked.
"I can't really picture Professor Sage dancing at a club" Lloyd said.
"Me neither! I think she'll be hitting everyone for inappropriate behavior" Genis smiled.
"D-do you think someone would ask Marta to dance?" Emil asked. He thumbed his cards nervously, slightly folding the end of one of them with his fingernail.
"What's that, Emil? Are you jealous?" Zelos pressed his cards closer to his chest and leaned on the table to stare intently at Emil with a lopsided smile.
"I-I'm not! I mean, Genis must be worried about Presea, too, right?" Emil flushed brightly and turned to stare at Genis, hoping Zelos would focus his attention on him instead. To his surprise, he saw Lloyd frown and sit up straighter as Genis blushed.
"Are you, Genis?" Lloyd turned to him, with his eyebrows furrowed.
'What?' Genis opened his mouth just slightly, and then closed it again. What could he say? He could play along and say he still had a crush on Presea so that it didn't raise any suspicion. Or he could tell the truth and say he wasn't worried if Presea danced with someone or not. He weighed his options but didn't say anything "Um. . ."
Lloyd's eyes widened "You are!" His jaw tensed.
"Whoa, bud, calm down. What happened?" Zelos raised his eyebrows "Wait- Don't tell me you have a crush on cute little Presea, too! I'll have to side with shorty on this one, bud, he did see her first"
Lloyd was still staring at a very nervous Genis.
"Lloyd," Genis started.
"Just tell me the truth. Is that why you don't want us to tell-"
Genis quickly put his hands over Lloyd's mouth "I'm not jealous about Presea dancing with someone else" He said quickly. Lloyd seemed to relax at this.
Genis took his hands away from Lloyd and sat back to grab his cards again "And I don't think Lloyd has a thing for her either. Right, Lloyd?" His eyes met Lloyd's brown ones.
"Right" Lloyd grinned.
Zelos shrugged "Meh. It's not like they would even let her in the club. She looks far too young"
They all went back to the game. After a few hands, tons of poker chips lost by Lloyd and three pounds of French fries, it was time for Regal to collect his winnings.
"That's not fair! You don't even need the money" Zelos complained.
"I don't intend to take any money from you, chosen. I was simply playing for fun" Regal said.
"Thanks, Regal! I'm actually glad you won and not Zelos" Lloyd grinned.
"Yeah" Emil chuckled somewhat nervously "Marta would've killed me if she found out I lost all of our money at a poker game"
"You two share your money?" Genis asked.
"Yeah" Emil nodded "I take care of it, though, since she tends to spend it all on souvenirs and different weapons"
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Careful, kid. I'm saying this as a worried friend" Zelos placed a hand over his chest "You two already sound like a married couple"
"Married couple? I think that's taking it a bit too far, Zelos. It's just sharing their money" Lloyd said.
"No, bud, that's what they want you to think! And before you know it, you are wearing a ring on your finger and chained for life" Zelos shuddered.
"I don't think Marta and I are getting married any time soon" Emil sweat dropped "But I don't think marriage is as bad as you make it sound, either"
"It is not" Regal answered simply "Marriage entails mutual respect, commitment, love and trust. It is by no means chaining yourself to another person. I myself have never been married but-"
"It's hell" Zelos interrupted "The only good thing that comes out of it is getting some whenever you want. But sometimes you don't even get that"
"Of course you would only care about that" Genis rolled his eyes.
"Brat, that's an important part of any man's life! If you don't agree with me, it's 'cause you kids have never gotten lucky" Zelos said, toying with a black poker chip and smiling evilly.
Lloyd grinned "Well, actually-" Genis kicked him from beneath the table "Ow!" pain shot through his entire leg. Lloyd bent to rub his shin. Genis's face was as red as Lloyd's shirt-even redder.
"What?" Zelos said looking taken aback "Bud, have you done it? For reals?" His eyebrows were almost touching his hairline "And you didn't tell me about it? I'm hurt!"
Emil was staring at him with his eyes wide open and his jaw almost hitting the floor. Even Regal looked a mixture in between shocked and curious. Genis's heart hammered in his chest. He swallowed nervously.
"Speak up, bud. Give us the juicy details. Who, when, how?" Zelos said.
"Uh . . ." Lloyd's eyes searched Genis, hoping he'd tell him what to say. "It was-"
Knock, Knock
"Guys! We are here, open the door" They heard Sheena's muffled voice from outside.
Genis's heart almost jumped in relief. Some say saved by the bell. It was more like saved by the knock in this case. Lloyd, too, seemed relieved- he exhaled loudly and stood up to open the door.
"Hey, how did it go?" He asked as the five girls entered the suite.
"It was fun" Sheena smiled "We went to this fancy restaurant the hotel manager suggested. At first they didn't want to seat us- dress code or whatever" She put 'dress code' in quotations "But of course, after we said we were Regal Bryant's close friends, everything was okay. And the food was pretty good"
"Yeah, it was delicious!" Marta said in a singsongy voice "But Colette tripped and made our waiter trip, too and there was a bunch of broken plates . . . And they kicked us out"
"It was embarrassing" Raine said, kneading her right temple.
Colette flushed "I'm sorry, Professor Sage!"
"It's okay, Colette, my angel" Zelos passed an arm over Colette's shoulders "It's far more fun if you're with me, anyway"
"So you went out for dinner?" Emil asked Marta.
"We did. It was fun. But I missed you!" She said dreamily, hugging his arm.
"Phew. I'm just glad you didn't go dancing" Emil mumbled.
Genis and Lloyd simply watched gladly as they all let the subject slip. Thankfully Zelos was easily distracted by women.
Ha. I find it funny how the title is "to kiss and tell" and there's no kissing in this story. I might do a part 2 of this but I'm not sure. Hm. Anyways, I hope you liked it, my dear readers. And I hope we read from each other soon!
~MonaLisa
