Kratos groaned and rolled over as the sunlight streaming through the window woke him. He had only gotten a few hours of restless sleep, and kept waking up to make sure Lloyd was still alive and breathing. Who knew what else that potion Raine had spilled on him could have done? They we're lucky it didn't kill him if the toxic ingredients Kratos had found in the basement were any clue.
That really wasn't something he should be worrying about now, he realized. What he should be doing is focusing on the task ahead. For instance…where was Lloyd? Kratos panicked as he realized the boy wasn't lying by his side like he was before. Kratos searched the bed sheets to make sure the boy wasn't buried under any of them, but found nothing.
"Genis!" Kratos appeared at the bottom of the staircase, startling the boy who was in the living room. "Have you seen Lloyd?"
"Relax he's right here but…" Genis started, looking down at his side before realizing that the boy had already disappeared once more. "He's rather hyper, I can't get him to stay still!" Kratos almost didn't realize what the blur that ran past him was until it crashed straight into a wall, falling to the floor and whimpering slightly.
"Lloyd!" Kratos winced, hoping the boy hadn't given himself a concussion, before running over to his side. Before he could pick the boy up to console him, Lloyd had already had bounced back up with vigor and returned to his routine of running around the house in maddening circles.
"He's been doing this all morning," Genis sighed as he watched Lloyd jump over Noishe, who was curled up at the foot of the couch, perking his head up to whimper slightly at the strange behavior going on around him. "And is it just me, or does he look older than he did yesterday?
"Yes…I think you're right." Kratos had time to observe after watching the boy carefully, almost getting tired from just looking at him. He definitely wasn't at an age to be running around when he was first transformed. Perhaps the effects would wear off over time, and he would grow to his normal age within awhile? He'd have to inform Raine about this later. "At least he seems to be healthy."
"At the very least. I'll watch him for a little longer, maybe you should go back upstairs and…um…" Genis blushed slightly and looked away as he pulled some of his schoolbooks into his bag.
"Is there something wrong?"
"You should get dressed." Genis finished and Kratos looked down to realize he was only wearing his undergarments. He had run out of his room so fast that he hadn't even thought about it.
"I suppose I should." Kratos spoke smoothly, as if this was all planned. "I should probably try and get him into something as well," the man sighed as he watched his son run around the room in only a diaper, knocking down various things as he went. Finally getting a hold on the squirming boy, he snatched him up and headed back upstairs.
"Lloyd, settle down." Kratos spoke firmly as he placed the boy on the bed, frowning at the protesting whines the boy was admitting. He reached into the bag to pull out some of the clothes Raine had bought, hoping that they'd still fit even with the toddler's sudden growth spurt. It took a bit of a struggle to get the boy's pants on, and Kratos had to pull him out from under the bed before could force the shirt on as well. Kratos crossed his arms and surveyed his work. Not so bad. Lloyd was alternating from blinking up at the man from his current position on the bed to looking down at his attire in confusion.
"Lloyd!" Kratos exclaimed as the boy dashed between his legs faster than he could blink, ripping off clothes along the way, until he once again wearing nothing but the diaper. Kratos groaned and picked up the discarded clothes. He had won the battle but it didn't look like he was going to win the war just yet.
XxX
"About time, what took you so long?" Genis asked as he Kratos came down the stairs, a kicking Lloyd underneath one arm.
"It seems our Lloyd has become an aspiring nudist" the swordsman sighed and set the protesting boy down, letting him run off to cause more havoc.
"Well, I need to get to school, I'm already going to be late." Genis hitched his bag over his shoulder and handed the older man a sheet of paper. "Could you pick these up at the market while I'm gone? We're really running low on groceries."
"I suppose it couldn't be too much of a hassle." Kratos tucked the list into his pocket, wondering if he could manage to find a leash for Lloyd at the market as well.
"Okay, thanks a lot." Genis waved good-bye to Lloyd and received an erratic hand waving motion from the boy in return as he bounced up and down on the couch. "Good luck Kratos."
"Hn, thanks." Kratos watched the boy leave forlornly, silently wishing that he would stay so he could help with the mass of pandemonium that was currently ruining their couch.
XxX
"Chicken, broccoli, salt, noodles…" Kratos checked off the items on the list he had already purchased. He never noticed how much food the group had consumed until now, and he was guessing it was about to go up from the way Lloyd was trying to grab anything in sight that was edible. "Lloyd, put that down." Kratos scolded as the boy tried to sneak another candy bar. "Where was I…pigs feet? I hope Genis doesn't expect me to eat that." The man frowned as he tried to figure out where he could purchase such a thing.
"Aaahh!" Lloyd whined and pulled on the ribbon that was tied around his wrist, which Kratos had tied to him after he tried to jump into a nearby fishing dock. It was the only way he could think of to keep the boy from getting lost and or injured. He did his best to ignore the strange looks being aimed towards himself and his leashed son.
"Just a few more minutes Lloyd." Kratos smiled down at the boy and offered him one candy bar to satisfy him. Though sugar probably was not the smartest thing to be giving the boy, he had to do something to make up for dragging him around town all morning.
Paying for the last of the groceries, and deciding to bypass the pig's feet for now, Kratos gathered up his bags and began heading out of the business district.
"No!" Lloyd exclaimed as after they'd made some progress, crossing his arms and standing his ground. Kratos sighed. 'No' seemed to be the only word the boy knew so far.
"Alright, come on." Kratos heaved the boy over one shoulder, not in the mood to argue with the toddler just now. The sooner he could get home and keep the child contained in the house, the better.
"Nonononono!!" Lloyd screamed and carried on, Kratos grunted as the boy bit his shoulder for the fifth time, and seriously began to consider the purchase of a muzzle.
XxX
"Kratos, you're home! I was starting to worry when I got home and no one was here…" Colette trailed off as she noticed the young boy hauled over the man's shoulder. "Who's that?"
"Colette, glad to see you're feeling better," Kratos spoke slowly, remembering vaguely that she was supposed to come home from the hospital today and feeling slightly guilty for not being there to pick her up. He supposed he had an excuse for being distracted lately though. There was also the small problem of Colette missing a few little details while she was gone. "There was an unfortunate accident."
"Accident?" Colette clasped her hand's together, a worried expression on her face. "Is everyone alright? Where's Lloyd? And Professor Raine?"
"They're both fine, Lloyd's right here." Kratos set the boy down, amazed that he hadn't started running around the room like before. Instead the boy was blinking up at Colette shyly, like many children did in the presence of a stranger.
"Lloyd?" Collete approached the boy slowly, who inched behind his father's leg as she did. "Is it really you?" The boy jumped away as she tried to inspect him closer.
"That's strange, he's not usually this shy," Kratos observed as he tilted his head down to see the boy loop an arm around his leg, sticking a thumb in his mouth a moment later.
"Lloyd, its me Colette, your friend!" Colette pleaded and tried to reach out for the boy, who screamed and ran off as she did so.
"…Perhaps I should explain what happened."
XxX
After Kratos had explained the bizarre story to the girl, and she had gotten over her initial shock, they sat at the kitchen table, waiting for Genis to get home from school. "Do you think he'll be back to normal soon?" Colette finally asked, who had been sitting quietly at the table for awhile now.
"Most likely. If the effects don't wear off soon, I'm sure Raine will find a cure."
"I hope so…" Colette sighed, "He doesn't really seem to like me much." She glanced over at the boy only to see him flinch and cover himself with a couch pillow.
"As far as I can tell he has no recollection of anything before the transformation. He may just be wary because he doesn't know you yet."
"He has to go back to normal…he just has to," she whispered, looking incredibly troubled.
"Don't worry Colette, I'm sure everything will turn out fine." Kratos tried to consol the girl, but was having mixed feelings himself. Lloyd was a hyper, disobedient little brat from what little experience had with him thus far. But, he was getting to have that experience, and he wasn't sure if he wanted to give that up just yet. Maybe he didn't want Lloyd to go back to normal, as selfish as that might be.
"Yeah, thanks Kratos," Colette smiled, studying the older man for a moment before speaking again. "Um…is that a candy wrapper in you hair?" Kratos blinked and reached up to find a crinkling piece of plastic tangled in his hair, grimacing at the mystery stick still lingering on it.
Perhaps Lloyd turning back to his older form quickly wasn't a bad idea, either.