Satanic Mechanic: Sixth chapter finally up! Like, a year after the fifth. Anyway I'm continuing this because for some reason my brain has allowed it, and I noticed there are still some people who have this on their alerts.
I've also gone through and edited the previous chapters. Nothing major, but I corrected some mistakes, changed around some wording, and added in some stuff here and there.
I've got a lot of fresh ideas for this fic, so hopefully it can finally be completed. I think it deserves it. Wish me luck!
XxX
Zelos had long since given up on trying to keep the beast—or Lloyd as most people called him—confined in the house and began making plans for an escape. The boy had already been bouncing off the walls and managed to bump into Genis's swollen ankle as he did so, sending the older boy into hysterical yelping. So before the kid could cause any other bodily harm, Zelos sat him down on a wooden chair. Looking down at the boy sternly, and ignoring big innocent eyes that blinked up at him in a confusion, Zelos began his lecture.
"Listen kid, I know you must be bored as hell but you need to settle down."
"NO!" Lloyd declared and tried to hop off the chair but Zelos caught him and sat him back down. Seemed like this wouldn't be as easy as he thought.
"Alright, let's make a deal. You act like a normal child, and I'll take you to the park, okay?" Zelos tried to persuade him but Lloyd seemed to be more preoccupied with something on the man's face. "Hey, you got enough brain power yet to handle that proposition or…" the redhead blinked as the boy poked him on the nose and broke into hysterical laughter a second later. "I guess not," Zelos sighed and grabbed a pair of small shoes and struggled to keep Lloyd's legs still as he slipped the tiny feet into them.
"Ew…hate these," Lloyd complained and tried to wiggle his way out of the devices.
"The hunnies are never going to look your way if you run around barefoot. Come on now bud, it's like you've learned nothing from me. Okay, now here comes the tricky part," Zelos grabbed the laces and looked up to make sure Lloyd was paying attention, at least, paying as much attention as a hyper active 4-year-old could. "Alright, you loop the first string around your finger and then pull the other one through like this, see?" Zelos demonstrated slowly and pulled the bow into a nice tight knot.
"This is booooring."
"Just humor me, m'kay?" Zelos grinned, "Here, do the other one yourself."
"But…that's too hard." Lloyd scrunched up his face and glared down at his unlaced shoe in confusion.
"Nah, it's not that bad."
"…you show me again?" Lloyd kicked his one foot forwards, which almost resulted in Zelos getting this teeth kicked in.
"Give it a try first. You need to learn this stuff you know. I know you think your dad is going to be around forever but sometimes parents don't always stick around…" Zelos trailed off glumly, Lloyd already being completely lost on what he was talking about. "Look, never mind. You can practice later." Zelos tied up the other shoe and Lloyd jumped off of the chair in delight, looking down at his feet in evaluation. "Lookin' sharp," Zelos winked and Lloyd headed for the door excitedly.
"Where are you guys going?" Genis managed to mumble in his half-asleep state, rolling over and giving Zelos a wary look.
"Just outside, it's probably a better place for the kid to burn off his energy than in here."
"Good luck," Genis snickered as he recalled the sort of state Kratos had been in last time he tried to bring Lloyd out in public.
"Just be careful. Kratos will have your head if anything happens to him, you know?" Sheena added her two cents and Zelos waved her off dismissively.
"Yeah yeah, it's cool." Zelos turned towards the door only to find it left ajar. "Eh…Lloyd?" he glanced around but there was no sign of the boy. "Aw shit, I can't believe this!" Zelos exclaimed and rushed out the door and into the busy street outside. "Lloyd?!" he began panicking when he didn't spot him nearby, trying not to imagine the many horrible ways Kratos could inflict certain death upon him.
Zelos' spirits lifted as he ran by an item shop, stopping dead in his tracks he spotted a familiar messy mane of brown hair. He fought his way through the city crowd and found Lloyd standing in front one of the open market stands, drooling over some candy.
"Oh, thank god," Zelos sighed and grabbed a hold Lloyd's waist, hoisting him up into his arms. "Are you trying to give me a heart attack?" Zelos's original relief was replaced with anger as he reprimanded the boy. "Christ, I swear if you pull something like that again I'll…" Zelos watched in horror as the boy's eye's filled up with tears, "Oh no, no no no, don't do that…" he groaned as the boy began wailing and causing a scene in front of the shop. He barely knew how to handle a crying women, never mind a crying child!
"Come on…where's the off button on this thing?" Zelos whined as the boy continued to sob and carry on. "Look, Lloyd," he grabbed one of the bars of candy Lloyd had been ogling earlier and held it up to the boy's face. "Mmm, chocolate!"
"Hn…mm?" Lloyd sniffed and wiped his eyes, immediately brightening at the sight of sugar.
"Thaaat's a good boy." Zelos cheered internally as his tactic proved to be successful and Lloyd began nibbling on the chocolate bar contently.
"Mm, thanks!" Lloyd cooed as Zelos paid for the candy, keeping a solid grip on the boy's wrist the whole time in fear that he might run away again.
"Oh, it has manners. I'm surprised."
"Chocolate!" Lloyd cried again as he began licking his fingers, the chocolate now beginning to melt in the hot sun an making a mess.
"You have a one track mind, you know that? But I guess I really shouldn't talk," Zelos chuckled to himself and watched as the boy devoured the rather large bar quicker than anything his size should have been able to. He grabbed some napkins and attempted to clean the boy up a bit, stepping back a few seconds later to admire his work.
"Hehe…he's so cute." Zelos blinked as he heard a feminine voice coo from behind him before turning around.
"Well, thanks for noticing," he grinned at the two young women who were whispering behind him.
"I meant your son, but you're not bad yourself," the taller of the two smiled slyly and her friend whispered something in her ear before giggling again.
"Oh, well he's not…" Zelos trailed off as he noticed the adoring look in the two girls eyes as they looked down at the mini Lloyd. "I mean…of course he's cute! He's my kid after all," he stated proudly and ruffled the kid's hair in an affectionate manner.
"And how hard it must be for you to have to raise a child on your own like that," the girl sympathized.
"Oh yeah, it's a lot of work," Zelos gave his best labored sigh, "but I manage…somehow."
"You poor man," the girl continued to offer her grievances and Zelos managed to convince her to meet him for drinks later on tonight. After saying their goodbyes the two girls left and Zelos turned to beam down and Lloyd, who was still licking off the remainder of the melted chocolate off his fingertips.
"I knew it, beautiful girls really do just gather around you!" he exclaimed and Lloyd blinked up at him in a confused manner. "Anyway, so you still up for the park?"
"Yeah!" Lloyd cheered and Zelos took him by the hand and lead the way. A wry smile stretched across his face as the local park came into view. It appeared the all-girls school they had built just a few years ago was having some sort of field day, because the place was teaming with dozens of young girls, all dressed in precariously short school uniforms. Zelos pondered his plan of action before he decided which group of hunnies to approach first, grateful for the fact that he now had a secret weapon. A mini-sized secret weapon to be exact.
"I think this is going to be the start of a beautiful new friendship," Zelos remarked to Lloyd, who was already busy picking up dandelions and tossing them in the air like they were confetti.
XxX
"How could you let them go off on their own like that!" Kratos grumbled, having woken up from his nap only to find Lloyd missing. "Zelos is not nearly responsible enough to take care of a child."
"Give him a little more credit than that," Sheena sighed, though she wondered why she opted to stick up for the pervert at all. It was just something she did once in awhile. "Lloyd needed to get out of the house, anyway. He was really hyper this morning."
"Hn," voicing his disapproval with a grunt, Kratos turned and walked into the kitchen. Maybe some coffee would wake him up and give him the energy to rebuke Zelos when they got home. Well, he had to admit he was grateful for the break, but he was still worried. If Lloyd came home with so much as a scratch on him Kratos would…
"Hey, we're back!" Zelos shouted as he stepped through the door, almost as if on cue, and a happy looking Lloyd was latched onto his arm. "Oh, you're awake. How wonderful for all of us," Zelos remarked sarcastically as Kratos walked over to them silently.
"Hm, he seems to be intact," Kratos remarked as he examined his son, counted ten fingers and ten toes, and Lloyd giggled as the seraph poked him in the stomach.
"Did you expect anything less? We had a great time!" Lloyd nodded enthusiastically as if to back up this statement.
"Whatever you say," Kratos shrugged and went back to the kitchen to finish his coffee.
"Ugh, what a long day," Zelos sighed as he took a seat on the couch and Sheena glared at him as he interrupted her nap. Lloyd followed a few seconds later, mimicking the way Zelos folded one leg over the other.
"Heh, he seems to like you a lot better now," Sheena remarked with a smile as she watched Lloyd mimic the redhead's every move. From the kitchen, a pair of narrowed dark eyes watched them discreetly.
"What can I say? People just naturally feel the urge to admire me," the Chosen spoke with mock modesty, shaking his head as if it were the greatest burden he could endure. "Ah, that reminds me," reaching into one of his pockets, he pulled out several pieces of stray paper, "gotta remember to file these away."
"What's that?" Sheena leaned forward to get a peek at the papers, her features sinking into a disbelieving frown as she realized what she was looking at. She wondered how she could even be surprised after all this time. "Phone numbers? You were picking up girls while you were supposed to be baby-sitting? That's low, even for you," she huffed and leaned back against the couch with her arms crossed.
"Well anything sounds bad when you say it with that attitude! Nah, see, Lloyd had fun too. I bet you it was a relief compared the company he usually keeps," Zelos added purposely as he watched Kratos approach them.
"That's enough. Lloyd, it's time for your bath," reaching out for the boy, Kratos blinked as he quickly squirmed out of reach, scrambling behind Zelos for protection.
"Yeah, go. You smell," sticking out his tongue childishly, Zelos tried to pry the boy from his side but to no avail. Sighing he looked back up at Kratos—who was looming over the couch with his arms crossed—and shrugged. "I tried."
"Humph," not one to be so easily thwarted, Kratos leaned over again only to have his arm kicked away by the protesting child. "Lloyd, stop that! Let's go."
"No! Wanna stay with Zeros!" Lloyd shouted, and despite his difficulties in pronouncing the name, the message was clear.
"Ah, so the truth comes out. The kid has good taste," Zelos grinned but something in Kratos' stern gaze faltered.
"Fine. He's free to do what he wants," with that Kratos turned to storm back into the kitchen to start on the dishes. Zelos winched as pots and pans were clanked together with a little more force than necessary.
"Jeez…what was that all about?" he turned to Sheena, who had watched the whole exchange.
"You idiot. It's obvious he already feels bad at this, you don't have to make it worse," she scolded and went upstairs. Zelos turned to Lloyd, who seemed unfazed but obviously growing bored with the adult's problems.
"Thanks for getting me in trouble."
"You're welcome!" Lloyd exclaimed, having already gotten a lecture from Kratos about the rules of 'please' 'thank you' and 'you're welcome', and was thrilled to be able to show off his skills to his new idol.
"No, listen. I was being sarcastic," Zelos rolled his eyes and put a fist to his chin as he slouched over. "It's not like I'm intentionally trying to hurt anyone. Hn. What the hell do they want from me?"
"Play tag?" Lloyd's solution was pretty simple, and Zelos sighed.
"Yeah, okay, whatever. You're it."
Lloyd continued to follow Zelos around for the rest of the day. Even after about an hour of tag, about ten games of hide and seek, and one disastrous round of 'pin the tail on Noishe'. Kratos was conspicuously missing for the evening, though it was clear when he came home that he had resumed his monster slaying duties. The rest of the group seemed perfectly content to let Zelos entertain Lloyd all day, and he was starting to figure out why.
"Listen brat, you're lucky I'm letting you share my bed in the first place. Now settle in already and go to sleep."
"No! The monsters will eat me!" Lloyd shouted in between sobs, and the exhausted Chosen sighed.
"There's nothing here! I've already checked under the bed at least ten times, bolted up the closet, and got you a night light." Zelos groaned and rubbed at his face in pure agitation as the child began crying louder. "What more do you want from me?" he pleaded, ready to start bargaining if that's what it was going to take to get him some sleep.
"I want Daddy!" the boy shrieked and trailed off into tears again, burying his red face deeper into a pillow.
"Alright, alright! One monster exterminator, coming right up," Zelos groaned and made his way to the door. Kratos was really not going to be happy about being woken up at this hour.
"What do you want?" the predictably annoyed man grumbled from his doorway.
"Your brat won't shut up and go to sleep. He keeps complaining about monsters."
"That's all?" Kratos snorted in a 'lol, you noob' sort of manner, and shoved Zelos out of the way. The Chosen huffed as he followed the man into his bedroom.
"D…daddy?" Lloyd sniffed as his father cast a shadow over him.
"That's right. What seems to be the problem here?" Kratos smiled and Lloyd's mood instantly calmed.
"It's those stupid monsters again. They keep bothering me. Will you stop them like you did that other time?" the boy asked meekly.
"I see. Good thing I brought this extremely powerful monster sealing charm," Lloyd shot up in his bed in order to get a peek at this treasure, but Kratos clutched it to himself quickly. "No, you can't look at it. It looses its effectiveness," the boy gasped and pulled the sheet up to his chin again, but it was clear he was more excited than fearful this time.
"Oh please…" Zelos rolled his eyes at the display. This couldn't be serious. Were all kids this gullible? Kratos shot a quick glare his way before kneeling down on the floor. With a flick of his wrist he had cast the imaginary charm into the depths underneath Zelos' bed.
"That should do it," Kratos declared as he stood up. "Why don't you come back to my room now and I'll make warm milk to settle you."
"Kay!" Lloyd exclaimed and got out of bed to clutch at his father's hand.
"Oh Kratos, my hero," Zelos mock swooned. "Now that those monsters are taken care of, can I get some sleep too?"
"Goodnight, Zeros."
"Kratos…seriously, don't ever call me that again."