The cold air was refreshing. Lloyd inhaled deeply and his throat ached a little in response to the unforgivingly frigid atmosphere. He cast his gaze to the exsphere sitting atop his left hand and clenched his fist so tightly that he knew his knuckledsmust be white underneath the crimson fabric of his gloves.

"Mom…"

"Hey, Bud, who're you talking to? Have you been hiding something from me? A lady of the night?"

"Shut it, Zelos."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Calm down, now."

There was complete silence other than the soft whistling of the wind through the snow-covered trees. All that Lloyd wanted right now was solitude, pure and uninterrupted by anything, especially the joker standing behind him. He scowled and clenched his fists even tighter, digging his fingernails into his palms, wondering if the cloth could absorb this much pressure as he swore he could feel the barrier between his flesh and the gloves lessen as he squeezed increasingly more aggressively. Hopefully Zelos would sense the hostility and his silent pleads to be left alone. Even he wasn't insensitive or oblivious enough to not know when he was unwelcome.

"More than one temptress? I didn't mean to sell you short, but I, the great Zelos Wilder, kind of have a monopoly on this place. And by this place I mean Tethe'alla. Though it would seem that quite a bit of Sylvarant has already fallen under my spell. I mean, when a gorgeous, statuesque vision of male perfe-"

"DAMN IT, ZELOS! I need some time to think."

"Why think about me when you can see me in the flesh?"

Lloyd grasped the railing, back still turned to Zelos, trying to restrain himself from doing something stupid.

"Hey, man. Sorry. I mean, I get that this must be pretty hard for you. Have you… decided yet?"

"I don't know what to do. I know that Dad, uhm, Dirk, raised me from the time I was a kid. He's been protecting me. But so has Kratos, in a way. Could you imagine having to kill your own parent?

"I already did."

Lloyd turned to face the Chosen whose face had fallen, betraying the mask of composure and self-assuredness that he usually wore.

"Zelos…."

Silence.

"That wasn't your fault… Zelos?"

"Huh? Oh sorry. I kind of zoned out. Just thinking about…"

"Your mother?'

"What? Oh no, I was just thinking about how many of my poor little Flanoir hunnies must be in need of a little extra body heat on a night like tonight."

Zelos let out a low chuckle but Lloyd could hear the underlying sadness in his voice.

"I respect you, Zelos."

"Yeah? Well, I guess I could teach you a thing or two about the lady folk if you look up to me that much. You're no me, but you're a decent-looking kid. I'm sure you'd do okay. The hair could use a change, but…"

"No, I- What's wrong with my hair?! Hey, no, I mean, stop it! I'm serious."

"So am I. I'm sure we could find you at least one lovely lady who's willing to be seduced."

"Hmph. Maybe respect wasn't the right word."

"Admire? Envy? Love, maybe? I wouldn't blame you. But I'm sure we could think of some other words, if yours wasn't on the list," he remarked, tossing a few tendrils from the curtain of glossy red hair over his shoulder. He cocked his head to the side slightly and smiled that mischievous half-smile that had captivated most of Tethe'alla.

"Nevermind."

"Okay, okay. I'll stop. So? Come on, out with it, Lloyd."

"Well, just, I admire the fact that you're able to make it through tough situations with a grin on your face the entire time. I think you're stronger, deeper than people, including yourself, think you are. You're more than a pretty face."

Lloyd looked straight into his friend's devilish bright blue eyes, which were sparkling in the light of the moon. He knew there was depth behind those eyes. More than the protective barrier of arrogance and playboy attitude gave them credit for.

"Heh heh. You said all that just so you could tell me I have a pretty face? I'm flattered, really, but I told you before, I'm not really into guys."

Maybe Lloyd was wrong.

"You're incredible," he groaned.

"Tell me something I don't know," he smirked.

"Whatever. I'm going to bed if you're gunna keep acting like this."

"Okay, okay. I'll be good."

"No mention of your hunnies?"

"Nope."

"Or how wonderful you are?"

"You brought that up."

"Zelos?"

"Alright, alright."

"What do you think I should do?"

"I'd kill him."

Lloyd turned away again, shielding his face from his companion as it twisted and contorted in accordance to the turmoil that had arisen within him. But now was not the time for weakness, especially not in front of Zelos.

"Just like that?" His voice wavered, a mixture of rage and sadness, a product of devastation.

"Look , Lloyd. I know you want everything to work out. You want everything to have a neat, happy ending. I get that. It's in your nature. I'm trying to be optimistic too. You're a good guy, which is why I don't get what Kratos is doing to you. I don't think it's fair. He knows just as well as anyone what you're like, and yet he's forcing you to make this decision, instead of really taking responsibility. I know that maybe I shouldn't be talking about responsibility because I've tried to run from mine too, but after getting to know you, I know that I couldn't do what he's doing to you. That sonofabitch knows what he's putting you through and it's not right that you have to suffer for his mistakes. If I were in your place, I would be mad as hell. Not to say that I'd actually want to kill him, but if I had to I would. But that's me."

"If there's another way, I want to find it, but I have to come to terms with the fact that it might come down to…"

He choked on the last few words and knew that they would only emerge as senseless stammering, so he just trailed off and looked down through the tears welling up to the snow that had just begun falling. He could hear the soft footsteps advancing towards him from behind, a light crunching of the snow condensing under his friend's boots. A single tear rolled down from Lloyd's cheek onto the blanket of snow that covered the balcony . He silently cursed his own weakness and wished that Zelos had just gone back to his room when Lloyd had instructed him to. He was overcome with embarrassment and his face felt hot against the glacial night air. Then, without warning, he felt two strong, reassuring arms wrap around his shoulders from behind.