The Bet
By: Chibi-chan v2.0
Author Notes:
Hey, look, it's the first part! And a thanks for all the nice reviews, everyone.
As a heads up, there might be slight minor hinting towards other couples (like for instance Sheena liking Lloyd), but for the most part it's going to be focused on Zelos and Lloyd's relationship, but I will definitely, heavily involve other characters.
So in saying that, yes, it is mainly going to be m/m, but in no means will Zelos and Lloyd eclipse everyone else. The other characters will have their own scenes coming up, even if they most likely are going to be shared with either Zelos or Lloyd (or both or neither) – I'm going to have to, to make this work, because seeing as Lloyd is a big friendship guy, I doubt he would do things without asking people he trusts first on what they think (or if he just wants to discuss certain issues with them that may arise, in which he'll probably end up being confused :p).
Warnings:
-[future] M/M relationship
-Maybe some OOC (forgive me)
-TWT (Timeline, What Timeline?) – meaning, this is occurring during no specific event in the game. It's just there.
-Slight to mild language
-[future] M/M sex scene (will be linked off site)
Key:
"…" denotes dialogue
Italics denote thought
The Bet
part i
–
A
meteor suddenly came crashing from the sky above, pummeling into
Tethe'alla soil and blew everyone out of existence with its massive
radius of heated destruction…
Well, that didn't actually happened, but Zelos was wishing at the moment that it did.
Had he heard right or did he possibly need to check into finding a hearing device to decipher these weird words, moreover name, that were spoken none too long ago? But from the smile Sheena was beaming, he had heard right.
Lloyd Irving.
That was his "person"? Whatever happened to his sexy Sheena and her wanting to defend her honor and all that fabulous crap? He thought she was definitely going to nominate herself to be the experimental subject, but she threw a really good curve ball on him.
Damn her. She proved him wrong in not only just having breasts for show, but also some cleverness (which could be mistaken for cleavage at any time!).
"Ha, fine," Zelos glimpsed at Lloyd, who was now faced to the brat, Genis, talking about who knows what. "Lloyd will be begging
for me by the time I'm through with him." Really, it didn't matter who
it was, Zelos could work through this beautifully, pass with a grade A
mark and flying colors. He always managed to bag them in the end.
Then again, he was never put in a situation where he had a person like…Lloyd.
How in two worlds am I going to do this? Zelos questioned finally in his head, his mouth pursed into a thin line, showing off his frustration, which contradicted his previous confident speech. He certainly wasn't lying when he said he could get both males and females…but Lloyd? Could you possibly categorize the teenager as an actual…guy? From what Zelos knew about him, he was about as naïve as they come when it came to things as simple as holding a girl's hand. Zelos wasn't even sure if he had done that yet either.
Zelos didn't know if Lloyd could be considered a "real" teenager, also, let alone one of the male gender at that. Lloyd could either suppress his hormonal urges almost too well or he was a pod-person from outer space that produces asexually. When he was Lloyd's age – Zelos can recall these memories quite fondly – he had already had penetrating sex at least once as well as oral sex (given and received) more than three times.
And most likely, Lloyd probably doesn't even know what "sex" is.
He was exaggerating a bit, but…this was Lloyd. Could Zelos instead
blame the poor planet Sylvarant in not teaching their residents the
fine pleasures of the body? Or was it only his target and a couple of
others (Colette sprang to his mind rather quickly) who were uneducated
in this wondrous subject?
It had to be Lloyd, Zelos concluded,
since he remembered that a gorgeous person like Raine couldn't possibly
go without having at least one sexual encounter in her life without
being taught about it beforehand, if only a little bit of information
at that. He figured out of all those books she had stored away in
who-knows-where, maybe a couple had to have the naughty bits written
down within the pages…
Zelos mentally slapped himself. He shouldn't be thinking about Raine and sex at the moment (though the images were quite enjoyable and pleasing), he needed to get his mind fully prepared for Lloyd and sex.
Boy, did that sound weird when talked about in the same sentence. Lloyd. Sex. Two words he would literally be bringing together. It felt…weird; however, he should stop expecting the worse out of the circumstance if he was going to do this correctly. He needed to think of more positive thoughts.Lloyd was probably going to end up being a good lay – it was outrageously obvious the swordsman was a virgin, and virgins were always a specialty of Zelos' when it came to deflowering time – and he'd be able to enlighten Lloyd's simple mind on the matters of the body, especially on the "other" kind of fluid release that can be released.
Maybe…this won't be that bad after all, Zelos thought, mind picking up all the delicious possibilities for "virgin meat," well, I still don't know how I'm going to lure in Lloyd, but I can deal with that gradually. The
whole ordeal about how he was going to be able to stun Lloyd with his
cool words was a minor setback; his charisma would never fail him in
this bet. He was going to have to use all the tricks in his personal
book and probably make-up a few new ones along the way. He was about to
dwell more on the subject – it needed as much analysis as possible to
come up with the best strategies – but a piercing voice cut through his
thoughts.
–
"You don't fool me – not so confident now, are you? I
found someone you won't be able to touch and it's going to drive you
mad." Her voice was more snide than usual when talking to Zelos, who
instantly caught the happy glow flowing from Sheena's body language.
She absolutely loved the feeling of power and superiority that the situation had surfaced. Zelos was getting going to get what he deserved all these years; the disappointment of utter rejection. Though she was getting ahead of herself, she held high confidence in Lloyd to not be swayed easily by Zelos' buttered words – but she figured that might be because he wouldn't understand them…either way, if she won the bet (no matter why or how Lloyd declined the offers) Zelos would finally be forced out of her hair.
Zelos shrugged nonchalantly at the tarnishing comment. "I'm confident as ever, sweetheart," he smirked when he saw her fingers twitch at her side, "your choice just…surprised me. That's all. I think I'm allowed to feel this way considering my target." Surprise was an understatement. Its impact was more like a kick in the gut, a shove into a brick house, a punch right in his eye, and a fellow trip down a flight of stairs for luck.
"Hmph." Sheena batted intruding bangs away from her face in annoyance. She could see through Zelos' poor concealment. Confident. Yeah, sure. Whatever. "We should go back, everyone's probably fed up with this and I don't feel like being in your presence anymore." Blunt and straight to the point, no use in hiding her ill will at the moment.
Not waiting for Zelos to reply, she lifted her head to stare at Lloyd again and gave a nod in his direction. She watched him take the gesture as a positive sign, turned to Genis, and the two of them childishly high-fived each other. It was obvious they were happy this was over.
Sheena felt the same way, too…kind of. The bet was looming over her conscience and it bothered her, niggling in the back of her mind that she gave permission to Zelos to try and sex up Lloyd. If anything does happen between them…it's my fault. She sucked in a short breath. If she lost, she would take it within stride and keep to her word as promised.
Letting the air out of her mouth, she turned away from the male Chosen and started to walk towards Lloyd and Genis.
Zelos silently followed behind her, arms crossed over his chest, a smirk blooming on his features. "And so, the game begins."
Sheena ignored the comment.
–
Lloyd jogged up to meet Sheena, his twin swords clanging at his side as
he moved. Genis was walking calmly behind him, his hands folded and
perched on top of his head. Lloyd opened his mouth to greet Sheena, who
he thought to be looking quite displeased with something. I wonder what's bothering her.
Deciding he'd ask later when the time seemed more appropriate, the
brunet grinned sheepishly, stopping in his tracks when Sheena was in
front of him. "You two have to be the only people I know who could
actually fight that long by trading insults."
Sheena leaned back on her heels, a genuine smile rushing to her face. She was embarrassed that Lloyd had watched her act like such a child and not the mature teenager she was supposed to be. "Yeah, well, sorry for making you guys wait."
Genis, who was now near Lloyd, shrugged and replied, "That's okay, Sheena. We know it wasn't your fault." Lloyd nodded in agreement. Genis peered off to the side, watching Zelos saunter up from behind Sheena. "Speaking of the devil…"
Shaking off the action of freezing up, or even flinching – the bet was only starting, there was nothing to be worried about, Zelos hadn't even made a move yet – Sheena gave a small, forced smile at Genis and Lloyd, ignoring the Chosen's return. "Why don't we go back to the hotel since this mess is all over?" Even though a whole new mess is going to arise soon enough… "The others are probably in their rooms waiting for us."
Zelos, finally reaching the trio and taking place next to Sheena, stood with his hands on his hips, a familiar twinkle in his eye. "What's this? We're going back already? And here I was hoping the four of us could go train a bit more." Genis rolled his eyes at the sarcasm, while Lloyd frowned and scratched his head, not quite sure how to respond.
"Uh, I don't want to take the chance…" Lloyd's voice trailed off, the statement left at a blank though he was sure at least Genis knew what he was hinting at. He averted his eyes to stare at the blades of grass that were sprouting up from the ground, digging the toe of his boot into the nutritious soil. That sure was awkward – he didn't to say something rude (Raine was always scolding him when he opened his mouth then inserted his foot, of course, not literally…Lloyd wasn't that stupid!). Maybe he should change the subject. Yeah, that was a good idea. A very good one, Lloyd congratulated himself.Lifting his gaze back up, Lloyd flashed a friendly smile, hoping to conceal his anxiousness. "I mean, Raine might have our heads if we don't show up soon." He nodded, trying to enforce his persistence even though he had experienced the "Wrath of Raine" many a time before this. Besides, there was no need to train anymore today, especially not with these two in the same party; that was practically summoning death itself and asking it to personally strip you of your life. Not a pretty sounding idea.
Genis glanced at Lloyd, watching his best friend grow uncomfortable when no one was saying anything, but rather…just being oddly quiet. It's up to me then. You owe me, Lloyd, he thought jokingly. "For once, Lloyd is right," hey, he had to make it sound genuine, "my sister would grill us with lectures if we kept her waiting any longer and Colette is probably worrying about us."
Lloyd shot a look of gratitude at Genis, who in return, gave him a light shrug with a smile on his face, "Don't worry, I got your back…like always," was the significant meaning. He grinned and looked at Sheena and Zelos, waiting for their answer.
Moving a stray strand of hair away from her eyes and pushing it back behind her ear, Sheena conceded. "Of course, you guys go ahead though, I need to say something to our fellow male Chosen here."
Lloyd and Genis stared at each other for a few seconds; Sheena suspected they were contemplating on if it was the right thing to do to let them talk because there was a possibility of another fight to come up when the person was like Zelos, the guy had some mouth on him. And that wasn't a compliment.
With hopeful eyes, she gave a mental sigh of relief when she saw both of them nod hesitantly, signalizing that what she asked would be done. Lloyd gave a small warning glance at Zelos before saying, "Watching you two fight made me hungry." His teeth caught his lip and he chewed on it, "So don't stay back too long, all right?"
Sheena nodded. "Got it." She smiled gently when Lloyd turned away and started to walk back with Genis by his side. That guy...he always managed to brighten her worst times. Turning to Zelos, she crossed her arms.
"Okay, I just want to get one thing straight—"
"And it sure won't be Lloyd when I get through with him," Zelos stabbed quickly with a striking remark, a grin on his face. Sheena wanted so bad to smack that bird-eating-cat-grin off his face and then some, but she held back the urge. She thought of Lloyd and his hunger and how he would most likely be disappointed in how she fell easily into Zelos' tricks…that sobered her up quickly.
"As I was saying – and please no comments from the peanut gallery until I'm done – yes, the game has started…and may the best person win."
Zelos' grin widened, nodding lazily as he strode past her, his confidence getting the better of him despite his actual apprehension on the situation. He stopped in his tracks when he was a few paces ahead of the stationary Summoner and looking over his shoulder, Zelos responded, "Why, yes, I know that. I just hope you'll remember when the best man wins, he'll get full bragging rights to what he's accomplished."
Sheena didn't fall in his word trap this time; she was stronger than that – she was. "You say that now Zelos, but you'll see…it's not going to be easy. Not easy at all." She was waiting, just waiting for that moment when Zelos was going to screw up this bet. And when he did, she would relish that the hotshot wasn't "hot" anymore with an ugly blank mark on his record.
Zelos let out a low chuckle, flicking a piece a hair away from his cheek. The sound made Sheena's blood boil. That pompous idiot, laughing – acting – like this is like some dumb joke! We're playing…her thoughts hesitated when a small dawn fell upon her…we're playing with someone's feelings. A pang of guilt wrapped around her heart, threatening to make it bleed. But she couldn't go back on her word, it would be disgraceful and keeping to her principles was something she vouched deeply for. Instead, she hoped that Lloyd could forgive her in the future if he got hurt, which was certainly going to be inevitable in this case because sooner or later, the word of the bet would be completely out (despite their know-how to keep it between themselves) under certain circumstances and there was going to be some prices to pay.Wrapping
her arms around herself, an action of security, Sheena stared at Zelos'
back, her voice serious, "You have no idea what you're getting yourself
into," and neither do I. However, she was ready to accept
consequences and make do with them – make the mistakes better when they
arise…work them out if they can…never give up, no matter what happens.
–
Not bothering to respond to the last statement, Zelos kept his head
high and stalked off in his usual nonchalant manner, more than ready to
get back to the others rather than to stay and squabble endlessly (even
he had his limits). As he walked casually, his hand lifted slowly to
his dagger, lingering above the hilt steadily. It was a normal instinct
that had been instilled within his mind when he was young – protect
himself whenever there could be possible danger, never trust anyone,
they could backstab you at anytime…never go into a situation half-blind
and with no clothes on…he had learned that one later in life.
And at that moment, he truly questioned if he could win this and not feel any sort of regret for his actions.
–
to be continued…
–
Author Notes:
Hm…now that this is done, Zelos and Sheena are feeling some guilt at their impromptu decisions, but despite all that, they'll still go through with this. Time to start on part two – where the real fun begins, Zelos might be a bit anxious, but don't think that'll stop him from trying to win over Lloyd and win the bet – though the real question still lies…at the end of this, will Zelos actually be able to treat Lloyd like another of his trysts and let it go so simply? Or will he start to feel some sort of attachment? :P