Loud, Loud Laughter

By Harmony283

Pairing: Zelos + Genis (friendship-ish in parts, but the line is blurred) mention of Raine + Sheena, onesided Presea X Genis, among others…

Summary: They were going to be late anyway. Or at least that was Zelos's well thought up excuse. Genis doesn't quite believe him. Especially when it involves a certain shop in that certain district of town. And tape measuring.

Inspired by: I Kissed a Girl by Katy Perry

Authors Note: Lack of sleep. Sleep deprivation. That's what I blame on this chapter. Honestly, I thought the whole 'store' scene would only take up a few pages. Not…an entire chapter. Ah, well, it was amusing. And I really, really need sleep –hasn't slept very well the past 4 days- so…yeah. Enjoy!

WARNING(S): sorta-AU, overall Zelos-ness, and a ten year age gap.

If you want to find the reason for something, the first thing you must do is realize that there might not be one.

To say that I hadn't been surprised would be a lie. I never saw the kid cry before. Well, maybe once, but that was over a year ago—back on our journey to regenerate the world. And even then it was only once, and on accident. It made me really wanna hate that bastard Mithos, but I knew if I said anything—then and now—the kid would clock me for it.

And I really didn't want to explain why the hell I was almost half an hour late, 'Not that he won't ask anyway, especially with me dragging the kid along.' I glanced behind me—inconspicuously, which was one reason why I loooved tinted glasses—and watched as the kid's head turned left, then right, scanning the surrounding stores with a look of interest on his face, which was replaced by disgust a few times as we passed some of the raunchier stores.

For all the innocence the kid seemed to spout, he seemed to actually know what all these stores were for. In fact, I could probably ask him and he'd tell me what something was. Not that I needed to know, and not that I needed to rub salt in the wound.

Which reminded me, "Would you like to see the shop I'll buy your uniform at?" I questioned, peering over the tops of my glasses as the kid turned to face me, "or would you like to see it on the way back?"

He thought this over for a moment before grimacing, "Which one's worse?"

I thought this over for a moment as well, "Well we're already running late, so a few extra minutes wouldn't hurt."

"But you'd have to explain why you're carrying around a maid outfit that somehow fits me." He refuted almost instantly, "An' I don't know about you but that doesn't seem like a good idea. He's probably already mad at you for being late." It surprised me by how easily he said this—like this was a normal everyday conversation. But his cheeks were tinted a soft pink—so I knew on some level this was bugging the hell out of him.

I would have made a comment on this obvious reaction, but chose to ignore it, "Oh I don't know about that, he probably won't even ask."

This seemed to surprise the kid into asking, "Why the hell not? Won't it be obvious?"

"This is an inconspicuous place," I reminded him, "Things here would be, oh, inconspicuous—you know? Why on earth would they make it known to the world that you bought something here? They'd get in a world of trouble for it."

"I wonder why?"

I ignored the sarcasm and answered, "Oh, you're a smart boy, you'll figure it out!" his face twisted for a moment in thought, before he turned away—suddenly very interested in the shops and what they sold, and the people who went with them.

I assumed from this reaction that he wasn't going to bring it up anymore, so I returned to looking straight in front of me—because I knew, even here, there would be those that recognized my face and I did not want that. The brat was right on one level—Mr. Ex Renegade Leader was most likely going to be quite pissed at me. 'But he'd pretty damn well wait cuz there's no way in hell I wanna reschedule.' I had too much to do anyway—with the Pope finally getting a hearing, meaning me showing up way more often at the castle—and of course I actually had time to devote myself to trying to sort through all those presents my wonderful Hunnies gave me—

"Which shop is it?" I almost jumped at the sound of the kid's voice, but immediately I regained my composure and looked back at him. He stared at me for a moment before looking back down at his feet, "Which shop…are we going to? I mean—where is—"

"Yes, yes, I heard you the first time," I waved my hand, "It's actually quite close to here—but, my, I'm surprised you asked." I grinned down at him and he immediately flushed—even though he wasn't even looking at me—and tried to look away.

His only response was, "Well you're going to drag me in there anyway—aren't you?"

"Yes." I answered without missing a beat, "We'll just…drop in, size you, choose the design, and then we'll head on our little merry way."

I saw his nose twitch, "The hand motions aren't needed." His eyes narrowed a second later as he focused on something past me, "That…wouldn't happen to be it, would it?" He asked, trying hard not to point.

I turned back around and searched—almost wishing he had pointed, but knowing the poor kid was probably embarrassed enough to just be here—until my eyes fell on a familiarly decorated store. It wasn't much, really, the outside was just like any other—with glass display windows in the front modeling the hot sexy looks of the season—but the outfits stood out enough to make it one of the many most discreetly visited stores. It was anonymous in its own right. But the kid needed an answer, so I answered, "Ah-ha, yup that's the one! Let's hurry, let's hurry," I had the nerve to reach out and tug his hand, but he immediately jerked it out of my grip—his face looking almost appalled.

"Don't—"

I didn't even let him finish as I grabbed his hand again and began tugging him to the store, "Hurry, hurry, as they say." I knew—and he obviously knew—that I wasn't going to let go this time, and that I wasn't going to give him any time to react. Instead I dragged him the rest of the way down the road, to the front of the store. He stayed silent the entire time, until, of course, we stepped inside.

"Zelos." He hissed out, hiding halfway behind me as a woman—wearing one of the fashionable displays out front—walked up to us, "I don't know…"

"Oh, hush, hush," I waved my free hand at him dismissively, "The faster we get out of here, the better for you, yes?"

"Well—" He started, shifting nervously, but it was obvious, even without words, that he saw the logic in my statement. What a good boy.

"Exactly!" I cut him off anyway, before turning back to the now-amused—I stared at her, or rather, her outfit, for a moment before making my decision—maid.

I smiled and she easily smiled back, "My, I have to say it's an honor to have you visit our store." She obviously had heard of me, which should have been a bad thing, with my 'disguise', but at the moment I couldn't bring myself to care. "What may I do for you on this fine day?" she wondered as she peered down at Genis, "Or rather, what can I do for the both of you?" her mouth twitched as Genis fidgeted uncomfortably, "I'm assuming it's his first time in a place as fine as ours."

I laughed and quickly nodded my head, "Why yes, it is in fact! And we're here for a specific reason."

"And that would be?" She questioned, her smile growing slightly more devilish. Oh she knew—she knew all right.

"We need to find a specific something that's in just the right size." I couldn't say I didn't enjoy the sudden flaming blush on the poor boy's cheeks.

"What kind of 'something'?" Oh but she already knew the answer to that too, "Something like this," she twirled around in her outfit, "Or something more…free?"

"Yours." I answered, trying hard not to laugh—or point out—or—or—something as the poor brat's color turned about ten degrees darker.

"Ah! Good choice," she clapped her hands together and smiled, "What style? Or would you like to browse some?"

"Unfortunately we're in a bit of a hurry." For the first time I felt Genis try to tug his hand out of my grip, but I only tightened my fingers fractionally, "Why don't you choose…something suiting?" I jerked him forward and he stumbled for a moment before regaining his balance and glaring up at me.

"Zelos." He hissed out with even more venom—but much more embarrassment as well.

"Hmm, something to suit this little cutie here?" Genis blushed even further and almost flinched away as she leaned in close, "I didn't know you were into that sort of thing," she commented offhandedly, "But my you are the cutest thing!"

"I-I—" Genis stuttered, obviously not knowing how to respond to that.

I couldn't help but laugh, "I know, isn't he?" I patted him on the shoulder, and he seemed to welcome my touch more than the woman's, "A nice little catch if I do say so myself. Especially for something like this," I waved my hand around the store.

She let out a giggle at that, "Well we always do appreciate new customers." She straightened up and turned away, beckoning a second later with one hand, "This way, this way." She led us through various raunchy—and oh so provocative—outfits, along with various other pleasers, before we arrived in the back, near the tall-tale maid section.

"I don't think we have anything that would fit him here," the maid hummed as she pulled out a nearby step-ladder and slid it in front of one of the shelves, "but I'm sure we can get measurements and make it in no time." She thumbed through many of the different designs—some frilly, some lacy, some revealing, and others as conservative as a maid outfit could get—before choosing one and holding it out.

It was one of the more conservative ones, or at least it was chest wise. It had a fold down collar with a complimentary ribbon, and the buttons were made of a silver-blue metal I had seen in some jewelry. The skirt itself was on the short side—fanning out gently, with a mess of lacy petticoats underneath. The sleeves fanned out in a similar—though less pronounced—manner, and had clasps in the same silver-blue as the buttons.

"This is my first choice." She said with a smile, handing it down to me, "the color scheme just matches." She smiled at Genis, who seemed eager to see what shapes and patterns he could find in the worn carpet. Thankfully the woman was nice enough not to point out his obvious embarrassment and instead stepped off the small ladder and pushed it down a little further, "And I believe there's another one as well." She murmured more to herself than to us as she stepped back up again, and began to thumb through even more of the deliciously taunting outfits.

The poor boy looked like he was about to faint. How cute. 'He must be taking this as some sort of punishment.' The thought suddenly popped into my mind, 'But oh, no! That's the farthest thing!'

I shifted the dress to my left hand and reached out, patting Genis on his head. Immediately his eyes snapped up to mine, before they quickly dodged away—face painted a lush shade of pink. I was about to say something when a flash of red and black caught my eye. It was one of the outfits the woman was looking at—as if she was debating whether or not she should pull it out to show us, or not.

"Oh?" She turned to me, "Now that one looks…interesting. May I?" She quickly took it off the hanger—a pleased smile on her face—and handed it to me. I took it from her hands quickly and inspected it. Quite honestly—it had to be the most…well suited for the little brat. Not in his color scheme, no—it was in fact, the exact opposite—'Then again, he'll only wear it around me so…'—I smirked and turned to Genis, holding the outfit up, "What do you say about this one?"

He glanced at it, was tempted to look down, but didn't, "How am I supposed to know?"

I shrugged my shoulders, "You could at least compliment on the design."

"Again—how am I supposed to know?" His blush was a bit deeper, but the shyness and embarrassment that was so rampant on his face never made it through to his voice, "What? You want me to compliment the color scheme?"

"That's a start."

"It's red." He made a slight motion to the short skirt of the outfit—it was actually quite a bit shorter, I realized, in comparison with the one we previously chose—"And black." His eyes traveled to the top of the outfit. Yes the majority of it was black, "Your colors."

"Eh?"

His blush deepened, "I mean—the red." He couldn't look at me and, out of the corner of my eye, I saw the woman grin—and almost a split second afterwards I could've sworn I saw the brats blush deepen.

That was just too good of an opportunity to pass up, "So red reminds you of me, hmm?" I wondered, inspecting the outfit—with the frilly red skirt, and red accent buttons, with the black overtop, and the small white apron down the front—'If it reminds him of me, then why shouldn't I get it?' the sudden thought popped into my mind and, really, it was quite the interesting little thought. But the kid still hadn't answered me, in fact, it almost seemed like he was trying hard not to breathe.

"You'll have to breathe sometime," I pointed out, "I'm going to keep asking you the question until you say something in response."

He swallowed loudly and looked at the ground, "You have red hair—I just…that's why." It almost sounded like he was trying to lie, but this was the second time he brought up my hair, 'Nice to know there's something about me the kid enjoys.'

Regardless of how awkward the utterance made him, I grinned, "Well then, if it reminds you of me, the all the better right?" I turned to look at the 'maid' again, "I believe we'll be getting this one as well—or at least, the design."

She smiled widely back, "That's perfectly fine! But we still need to get the measurements." She eyed Genis for a moment, "If…we can get them."

The brat had heard this, and had opened his mouth to protest the notion, but thankfully I cut him off before he could so much as say a word, "Oh you'll get them." He didn't know what was coming—really he didn't, and I didn't want him to. But I had him in my grasp—my free hand around his wrist in a vice grip I was sure he couldn't break—and I dragged him flush up against me.

"Zelos!" Of course, that didn't mean the brat couldn't struggle. It wouldn't be as fun that way.

"Oh hush," I maneuvered him so that he was facing forward, and I was pushing against his back, "Now lead the way."

The woman nodded her head curtly before stepping off the ladder and beckoning us to one of the backrooms—with a sign saying 'employees only'. Unlike most 'Employees Only' rooms, however, this one wasn't stacked high with boxes and boxes of crap. It was filled with fabric, the floor was actually carpeted, and there was this strange floral sent in the air that reminded me…

Of the princess?

My nose crinkled at the thought, 'Like hell she'd ever come in here.' I roughly shoved the thought aside, though, when another woman walked up to us. This one actually had a nametag on, as well as a less…revealing…outfit. Hers was just a nurse outfit, rode up in the front a bit, but was all the way buttoned up.

Her name was…Claudia. Claudia the nurse.

"Claudie!" The maid smiled, "We need some sizes for this cutie here." She motioned to Genis, "Would you mind?"

Claudia—or Claudie—or nurse—shook her head and smiled, "Of course not." She reached into one of the front pockets of her outfits and pulled out a measuring tape, "Okay then, come here."

Like the brat was ready and willing to just walk across the room to her. In fact, the kid practically hid behind me in embarrassment. I had to literally drag him forward and keep him still for the woman to actually see him.

"Quite the shy one." It wasn't a question, it was a statement, as she took the remaining steps forward until she was standing right in front of us, "We've had those before." She extended the measuring tape, smiled a sickeningly sweet smile before saying, "first the chest size, then the shoulders, and then," she attempted to wrap the tape around his chest, but Genis jerked back almost immediately.

Her smile, quickly turned to a frown, and I whispered, threateningly, in his ear, "You do know that this will take twice as long—and he," he knew who I meant by that, "Will not be happy."

"Your fault we're late." He bit back, glaring up at me. But he had stopped struggling long enough for the nurse to re-wrap the measuring tape around his chest—heck, by the time he even realized she had wrapped it around him, she had already gotten a size, and was fishing around in her other pocket for a notebook to write it down in.

"Okay, next your arms." Genis tried to pull away again, and she scowled, "Arms. Now." It must have been the tone of her voice—it sounded almost like his sister's right after she yelled at him—but it worked well enough. He complied nearly immediately, and, quite honestly, it was quite hilarious.

Or rather it would have been, but I really hadn't been lying. We were going to be ridiculously late—and Yuan was most likely going to be severely upset with me. Not that I'd pass up this opportunity. Oh no. But it was so damned hard now just to talk to the man. Especially now with the extra adage of shadiness—even without the so few guardsmen that he had left.

Renegades no more. But still a busy man. Almost a paradox.

"Next, your overall height—" she started again, but Genis roughly cut her off.

"I'm 5'1, exactly." He was blushing, almost looked ashamed as he said it.

"I figured," the nurse jotted that down as well before closing her notebook, "thankfully the adjustments won't take long with the two outfits you've chosen." The fact that she called them outfits amused me, and made the boy's face burn that much brighter, "but they will take a few hours—considering the adjustments being made are, "she glanced down at Genis, "for every obvious reasons—and we want it to look as natural as possible—"

I raised my hand to stop her, "I understand completely! Natural would definitely be best! And you are the specialists! Take as long as you need, since," I glanced down at the brat—his face was steadily cooling off, "We aren't exactly sure when we'll be back. After all, we are quite late for a very important date!"

"As the Rabbit says." Genis muttered under his breath.

I ignored him and continued, "And the certain date—or person, rather—will probably not be very happy if we delay any longer." I placed a hand on the kid's shoulder, watching, half amused, as he tensed—the kid really wasn't used to touch—at the touch.

I hint of knowingness glinted in the Nurse's eyes, "Ah—I understand." She gave a soft smile and a nod of her head, "We will work quickly but diligently to make sure everything is just perfect. Though if you don't mind me saying," she was looking down at Genis again, "You are quite the cutie."

Again his face burned crimson.

Again, I laughed.

"Now, now," I squeezed said boy's shoulder gently, tugging myself down so I could whisper clearly in his ear, "you must get used to such flattering comments! You'll be getting them for a quite a while!"

Again his face burned, "H-How the—how am I supposed to answer that."

"Thank you works just fine, wouldn't you say?" I glanced back at the Nurse, and then over at the Maid, who was setting out the outfits on one of the tables. They both gave quick nods of their heads, "See? Say thank you now!"

"But I'm not—" I shot him a glare and he flinched, pouted, then sighed, "Th-Thank you. I guess."

"Oh come now you can do better than that!" I scolded, "Put more feeling into it! They're helping us out oh so nicely with your wonderful outfits!"

He shot me another glare, which I returned in a stressed smile.

And the maid, for whatever reason, found this funny, "Oh don't worry too much 'bout it!" for the first time I noticed the slight accent in her voice, "you're a boy. Of course you aren't used to it! But I'm sure you'll get there with a bit of practice." Her eyes narrowed for a split second before she winked casually and turned back to the table, calling over her shoulder, "Though that is depending on what these outfits are fooor."

The blush was back in full force.

Along with it came my surprising laughter. I didn't think this would be so—so—not so much as funny, but as—amusing and entertaining and—

Seeing the kid out of his comfort zone, not with Lloyd, or Colette, or his sister—exposed, in a way—was almost a relief.

"C-can we please go?" Genis tried desperately to jerk his shoulder from my grip as the nurse joined in a soft laughter as she gathered a large basket filled with threads and brought it over to the table, "L-Like you said he'll be mad at you for being late. He might not even be wherever the heck he's supposed to be."

"Oh he'd better." He seemed shocked by the sudden seriousness of my voice, "It's dammit hard to catch that guy—even harder than it was when he was—" I quickly caught myself, and instead made an ambiguous hand motion, "—so he had better see me. It is quite important after all."

"And you're dragging me along." He shook his head in disbelief.

"Oh no, that's your own fault." I reminded him.

"Yeah but now I'm wishing I didn't come."

"Yes but then," I cocked my head to the side, "There would be a bit of a problem."

"With wha—" this time he cut himself off, lowering his voice enough in realization, "Oh."

"Yes 'oh'." I smiled mockingly down at him as I escorted him through the 'Employee's Only' section—giving the maid and nurse a careless wave –into the main shop, "and I fully plan to go through with it, so you had better go through with it as well."

"But you're gaining something and I'm not." He protested violently, averting his gaze as we walked past an entire wrack of nothing but sexily cut lingerie.

"Really now." I stopped and jerked him back for a moment, before we could entirely leave the embarrassing isle, "Tell me—who's gaining more? Me—because I'm doing this to prove you are the little hypocrite, and it's so damn amusing—or you, you and your hiding away from your dear older sister."

His eyes widened for a fraction of a second—pulling up from the floor to gaze at my own before falling back down, "I didn't ask for your help."

"Well you're receiving it." I finally let go of his shoulder, leaving him, dumbfounded, at the start of the isle, "and I can take it back anytime I want."

He blinked up at me, not even realizing my grip had ceased—that now of all times he could probably run away—being the ungrateful prat that he was—and just…stared. Stared for a while before speaking, "and how would you know where Raine is? She travels so much lately."

"Mizuho is second to none in information dealing." I spoke the true statement the dear Demonic Banshee had spoken not only a year or so before, "That is. It is second to one—though that one, can't exactly be called a network but," I smiled wistfully, "it gets the work done."

"Y-You mean…you?" He didn't sound like he believed me. Good that he caught on though.

I shrugged and turned around, "Eh, if you choose to believe me then believe me."

"But you aren't—" he cut himself off, his voice hesitant and soft.

I really wished I hadn't heard him, "No I'm not the Chosen anymore." I agreed with his half-spoken statement, "Doesn't mean I usurped all my power—or that the dear King wants me to."

I stepped out of the entrance and into the balmy air of the outdoors; I could hear the boy quickly shuffling to keep up with me. Finally, he came to a near stop behind me, "So you still have your rank—I expected that much, but how can your rank be high enough to surpass Mizuho?" As far as the kid knew, basically all from Sheena, the very notion, I knew, would seem impossible.

I laughed, "Oh, you'd be surprised. But here and now isn't the time to explain the How's and Why's—understand?" For the first time since we walked out of the measuring room, I think he realized that, for all his hating the store, he didn't seem to think that anyone would eavesdrop on us. That, again, made me laugh, or at least chuckle, this time, "Dear boy—this is the Red District, of course there're eavesdroppers."

Again. Surprise.

I took another few steps, "What I do with my time is just oh so very important to every person on this planet—why wouldn't they want to? But come now," I motioned him further along so that he wasn't standing, dumbly, in the doorway of the store he never wanted to go in before. "I very much do not want to be subjected to another one of that man's hissy fits."

"H-Hissy fits?" He didn't know what to make of that.

"Yup, hissy-fits." I reaffirmed, "Every big-bad leader has them." For some reason or other I was reminded of that man—that girly, girly—"If I leave you alone with some little boy you'd probably rape them"—man. The man I didn't even like to voice a name to.

Him and his hissy-fit over his sister.

I looked back at Genis for a moment—'How the hell could this kid be friends with a guy like that?, though I knew his younger self had at least some sort of redemption in that area—and, oddly, his lips were twitching, like he wasn't sure if he should smile or frown. Like had half-way guessed what I was thinking.

But then. To him. It was obvious.

'Does he consider that guy a friend still, though?' Considering—

Laughter.

I blinked, now it was my turn to be surprised.

He was laughing. The kid was laughing. In the Red District, where one was supposed to be sneaky and inconspicuous.

Not loud. Never loud.

But the kid was laughing.

Never innocent either, anyway.

And that was just what his laugh was. Or at least. It sounded like it.

He was only a kid. A brat—but still a kid—a half-elf but still a—

'I'm thinking to hard.' I roughly shook my head and asked, "What's so funny?"

"That—that—" his laughter died down some, but his lips still twitched, "I'm not sure but—but—it reminded me of…of…" his lips twitched more—a chuckle escaped—but he tried to hold it in again, "just…it was funny." Was all he could seem to manage—then he laughed.

Giggled.

I felt a different kind of smile—more like a smirk if you want to be specific—ease over my lips, "Really?"

He nodded his head, trying to cover his mouth with one hand, "Yeah. Really." Talking seemed to make his laughter even worse, and he had to practically clamp his hand over his mouth just to ease it a little bit.

"I'd wonder why," I, on the other hand, wasn't laughing at all, "suppose you could tell me?" I bent down a little, "Considering I have no idea why someone throwing a hissy-fit could ever be funny."

He gave me a frazzled look, still chuckling, before attempting, "I don't know." Laughter, a little shakier, "I have no idea—" it almost sounded like he wanted to apologize through his laughter. But he was laughing. And it obviously didn't work.

"Really." I hummed, leaning down closer, before tapping him hard on the forehead, "Don't get it. But whatever floats your boat."

He blinked, his laughter finally dying down enough, "That hurt." He rubbed his forehead. Then. A little slower, "Why?"

Didn't exactly know what he was asking why to, but I answered in the best way I could, "I dunno, why?"

"You just repeated me." His chuckling was back, in his voice.

"Oh, did I?" I faked a look of shock, "Well then—I don't rightfully know why. Is that a little better?"

He gave me an odd look, "But I asked you why first!"

"Do you need a why?" I wondered, turning away and beginning to walk again.

"I don't get where this conversation is going." Again, I heard laughter in his voice.

"And it's making you laugh."

"No it—"

"And you don't know why." I cut him off.

He blinked, confused, "What?"

I smiled at him over my shoulder, "That's a reason, isn't it?"

"But—wait." I was confusing him. He was confusing himself. "I don't…get it."

"You're laughing and I don't see what's so funny. And you're laughing here of all places," I made a hand motion to our surroundings, "I don't get that." I told him, slowing down some so that he could walk next to me.

A lengthy pause stretched between us, as we walked down the road to our—or my, really—destination.

Then, hesitantly, he spoke again, "Still don't get it."

All I could do was shrug.

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The whole 'hissy-fit' thing came to mind because of a joke in my AP-English class. Involving a friend of mine, reading a poem about woodchucks, and God throwing a 'hissy-fit', and always missing his intended target. Don't worry. I was absent on that day, so I don't really get it either. But it's really funny XD

Also, thanks so much to those who reviewed for the last chapter! Please keep reviewing, because, in a nutshell, reviews are this fanfics life force! If no one reviews then there will be no more updates! –gasps-

-avec amour