Chapter deux, ready, set, go! I really like how this turned out for the most part, although I got a little lazy in some parts... It's like almost 1:30 in the morning. Gimme a break. I'm exhausted. Anyhow, I hope you enjoy this! Make sure you let me know how you like it, because your reviews help me make it better! (Also, I realized I haven't made it clear when this takes place in game. It's anytime after both Colette and Presea have been saved from their taciturn-ness and when you have all eight characters.)

Disclaimer: I don't own ToS or any of the stuffs/peoples from it.

It had all started because Sheena and I got on the subject of games. Passing through Meltokio a few days after our night in Altamira we saw a group of children, maybe twelve or thirteen, engaged in some odd-looking game that I knew I'd never played before. Sheena acted surprised when I said something about it, telling me most kids have played it; even she did growing up in Mizuho.

"I'm not a commoner, Sheena," I reminded her with a wink. "I wasn't allowed to play with the peasant children, nor was I allowed to participate in their simple games." That earned me a firm jab in the arm, but I shook it off, growing quite accustomed to the abuse.

After she was sure my arm knew just how much I'd upset her, she ceased and was quiet for a moment before she asked, "Then what kind of games did you play growing up, Zelos?"

I laughed for a moment and tried to think of some. I'd grown up playing with the children of the nobles and the wealthy—when I was allowed to play at all. As a child, I was studying most of the time. The Chosen had to be smart. When I did play, though, there was one game that always guaranteed interesting results, and I didn't necessarily like to participate all the time, but good or bad, the outcomes of the game were never dull.

"Spin the bottle," I said with a defined smirk, and the ninja rolled her eyes dramatically.

"Of course," she sighed. "Why didn't I guess that?"

"What's 'spin the bottle?'" someone asked suddenly, and it took me a few moments before I turned my head and realized it was Lloyd. It had skipped my mind that anyone else might be listening to our exchange, but nevertheless, I found myself surprised that even a naïveté like Lloyd didn't know what such a common kissing game was.

I turned around and began walking backwards, now facing Lloyd. "What? You're saying you've never heard of it before?" I asked, injecting the melodrama my teammates had come to expect from me in my voice.

"I guess," he said, his face getting a little red, and I couldn't help but laugh a little unintentionally.

Sheena walked a bit closer to Lloyd. "Give him a break, Zelos! Lloyd's got more morals than you. Of course he wouldn't know about that kind of game."

I laughed. "Yeah, right!" I scoffed at her. "Like you've never played before!"

That shut her up, and I nodded in victory as Sheena's face flushed. Turning to Lloyd, she put a hand on his shoulder. "Trust me, Lloyd, it's a game that you don't want to get yourself involved in—especially not with this pervert." She gestured toward me and I made a face at her.

Lloyd still looked confused. "Well, what kind of game is it? How do you play?"

Clearing her throat, Sheena began. "You need a decent amount of people… At least four or so, probably. Everyone makes a circle and takes turns spinning an empty bottle in the center, then whoever it points to when it stops spinning has to—"

"Hang on, Sheena," I said, interjecting obtrusively and promptly cutting her off. She shot me a dirty, suspicious look, but stopped talking. "How about we show you how to play, Lloyd? I think we could get enough people to play."

Sheena coughed. "No!" she said firmly, but I ignored her, turning to Lloyd, who was still quiet.

"Lloyd?" I asked.

"I don't know," the swordsman said skeptically, a slight smile on his face as he looked me straight in the eye. "Last time you taught me how to play a game I lost us five-thousand Gald…"

"Wait, what?" I heard Sheena ask, and I cracked up laughing; Lloyd and I were the only ones who knew what had happened that night in Altamira.

"Nothing!" I choked out. "It's not important." I was still struggling to take a full breath, and while Lloyd knew about Altamira, both he and Sheena were looking at me like I had two heads. "So, what do you say then, Lloyd? There's no money involved this time."

"You promise?" he asked playfully.

"I promise," I said, raising my right hand as if taking a pledge. Dropping it, I added, "but you can pay me if you want to when it's over."

I turned back around to continue walking and felt Sheena whack me violently in the back of the head, and despite the pain that brought, I couldn't help feeling a little flutter in my chest. Excitement. I hadn't played in so long.

It had been awhile since I'd been home, but nothing had changed about my personal mansion since I left it. The team and I decided to spend the night there; it was free, after all, and I had enough beds to accommodate everybody. We ate the dinner my butler prepared for us, and then I met up with Lloyd and Sheena afterwards to plan out our little game. First, we needed to recruit.

It took a good ten minutes, but I was able to convince little Presea to play with us, and using the possibility of stealing a kiss from her as bait, I also hooked Genis into "a round or two." The little brat already knew the game and only agreed because of his little crush. It was easy to get Colette to play. I didn't have to explain any part of the game to her; she only needed to know that Lloyd was playing. Between Sheena and me, we agreed that Regal and the professor could do what they wanted for the night and we wouldn't disturb them. They were a little old for our game.

There were six of us, and we gathered in the den downstairs. Perfect, really. I told everybody to get into a circle and sit down, and it was flawless.

"I think a couple of you already know how to play," I said with a chuckle, and I could almost hear Genis and Sheena growling under their breath. I'd made sure to grab an empty glass bottle from the kitchen before joining the circle, and I held up said object in my hand. "Spin the bottle is the name, and kissing is the game."

Eyes around the circle widened. Everyone who didn't already know the game was catching on, and I was admittedly enjoying the surprised look on Lloyd's face.

Leaning forward from my sitting position in the circle and into the middle, I placed the bottle on the wood floor carefully. "As you can probably guess, when it's your turn, you spin the bottle. Whoever it lands on, well… you get to give them a smooch!" I spun the bottle once just to show them, and it surprisingly stopped pointed straight at Sheena. I raised my eyebrows at her and she blushed red.

"No way!" she said, and I laughed, full of good humor already as everyone's eyes fell on us.

"You don't want to kiss me, Sheena?" I asked her, sounding innocent and sticking out my lower lip. The thought honestly didn't do a thing for me, but I was sure it would be fun for everyone else to watch, and there was nothing I loved more than being a showman.

"Never!" she cried, making a disgusted face.

"That was just an example, anyway," I said with a wink in her direction, and I could hear someone who'd been holding their breath exhale sharply, but I didn't look up in time to see who it was. "Would you like to do the honors of starting us off, Sheena? Then we'll go clockwise from you."

"I guess so," she grumbled as I took my spot back and she spun the bottle. The tip of the bottle went around a few times before it started to slow down significantly, and when it finally stopped, I had to stop myself from groaning.

"Ooh!" I cooed, feeling myself slip into my act, but not sure why. I didn't have to care if they kissed. "Sheena! Pucker up and kiss Lloyd."

Lloyd's face, which already hosted a light pink blush, flushed completely red, and he opened his mouth to protest, but nothing came out. I didn't expect him to have any objections to kissing a beauty like Sheena, but did he actually have feelings for her? Why hadn't he told me? We were friends. I almost felt betrayed, and I wasn't quite sure what the look on my face was as I watched Sheena lean in and shyly peck her match on the lips. This was going to be a long game. I sighed.

Nearly an hour—almost twenty rounds—later, we were beginning to get tired. After Sheena and Lloyd, it was Colette and Genis; Lloyd and Colette (Colette flushed five different shades of scarlet); Presea and me (Sheena made me kiss her on the cheek); Genis and Lloyd (that didn't happen—Genis refused); me and Colette (awkward, but she reacted cutely); Sheena and Presea (Presea asked for it on the cheek); Colette and me again (I kissed her on the hand and she blushed); Lloyd and Colette again (I was getting tired of this one); Presea and Genis (Genis was pretty thrilled about that and pretty much tuned out after that babyish excuse for a kiss); Genis and me (but he punched me in the head when I tried to get close); me and Sheena (and she let me this time!); Sheena and Genis (Genis wouldn't stop complaining about the stupidity of the game); then Colette and Lloyd for the third time (I couldn't watch that again; I looked away).

We were closing in on the end of our game. Presea kept falling asleep on Genis' shoulder and Colette on Lloyd's. The blonde was jerked awake when the swordsman found it was his turn once again, and after apologizing to the sleeping angel, he leaned forward to spin the bottle.

I found myself watching the tip of the bottle intently, as I did every turn, but as it began to slow and inched my way, I could feel my heart, usually calm, beating in my throat.

"Lloyd and Zelos!" Sheena exclaimed, and I could hear laughter and mischief in her voice. "Finally something interesting!"

I looked up at Lloyd slowly to find that he wasn't looking back at me, almost as if he was hiding his face. I gulped, trying to calm myself to no avail. Two seconds—the longest two seconds of my life—passed before Lloyd got on his hands and knees and crawled across the middle of the circle toward me, eyes never meeting mine, and leaned into me. His lips pressed against mine clumsily as one who had kissed either very little or not at all. Instinctively I leaned into him, kissing him back softly and finding that I really didn't want to part.

I lost track of time—although it couldn't have been more than six or seven seconds—before Lloyd pulled back, and I heard shuffling as he sat back in his spot. I looked up and Colette had stood up, announcing that she was getting too tired and was going to bed.

"Me too," Genis said, and Presea left as well. Sheena, Lloyd, and I were left.

"I warned you, Lloyd," Sheena said with a laugh, but her cheeks were still stained a bit red from all the excitement.

Lloyd let out a nervous-sounding chuckle. "Yeah, you did," he agreed. "I think I'm going to bed, too. Goodnight, Sheena. Goodnight, Zelos."

I looked at his eyes as he said my name, and smiled at him. "Thanks for playing, Lloyd," I told him, and I caught his eyes for a moment. "Sleep well."

Lloyd smiled at me before disappearing up the stairs, but my eyes followed him the entire time. Once he was out of view, I stood up as well, and so did Sheena. She was staring at me oddly, and I made a face at her.

"Like what you see, baby?" I asked her playfully, but I knew she knew that I was playing around at this point.

"Yeah, right," she spat. "What's up with you?"

I coughed. I sure felt a little off, but I hadn't realized it was visible as well. "What do you mean?" I asked for clarification. I had to know what I was doing to give myself away so I could fix it by morning.

"You've been looking at Lloyd like he's a piece of meat the entire night, Zelos," she said. "And that didn't look much like a 'spin the bottle' kiss."

I was stunned silent. I had no idea how to reply to what she'd just told me, so I gaped at her.

"You don't have to explain anything to me, I guess," she laughed. "I'll see you in the morning." She patted me a little too hard on the shoulder and she, as well, climbed the staircase to get to her guest bed.

A piece of meat?

And what about the kiss?

I wished that I could pretend I had no idea.