Hello, everyone again!

I'm sorry it took me so long to update! I just don't have much time to write these days because during the days I study in High school and in the evenings I have an Italian class. Not even mentioning everything else. -sigh- Oh, well. Enjoy the chapter!

Reviewers: This is a habit of mine. I think that when you take the time to review, I can show you my gratitude by taking the time to answer your reviews. Also, just in case you wonder, I answer by the length of your review. So, thank you so much for your reviews!

Shadow Dark-Blade: Thanks, I do my best!

Katandshadow: Please, don't! Giant marshmallows are scary! I'm also horribly afraid of moose (not even mentioning spiders). –laughs nervously- They are so scary! Thanks for saying that, I'm really doing my best to write creatively!

Wolf-Knight-Angel: Thank you for loving it! When I uploaded this story I was pretty sure I would be flamed to death because of the couple… But Genis and Lloyd are so wonderful together! Too bad Genis is a bit too young in the game, but gladly it doesn't affect fanfiction! Yeah, I know Devil May Cry and I love that game too (Dante is so cool!), but I never noticed that my author initials are the same as its…

Jenny: I updated the S.F.B.I. just a while ago and I need to focus on other stories as well.

The Evil Maid: Thanks, but what should I review?

Chibi Bunny Raine: Well, I never liked the idea of Kratos being Lloyd's dad, so at first I didn't want to make him his dad but I guess if I follow the SL…

kika: Abandoning fics is pretty normal for me too… But I promise, I'll do my best not to abandon this fic, because I really love ToS and I love writing a romance between Genis and Lloyd! I might update seldom, but it doesn't mean I've abandoned it. I may have forgotten a fic as well… I'll do my best to keep up the quality!

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Due : St-stop Stut-stut-stuttering!

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Lloyd and Genis looked up as they heard something rustle in the forest behind them, then glanced at each other with knowing yet scared gazes. Lloyd found it delightful how similarly they thought, even if he had no idea what Genis was thinking, he simply assumed they thought about the same thing: Colette. But if she had been there… man, that would cause some problems. In a second Genis was up and looking into the forest with narrowed eyes.

"Colette?" He called quietly, hoping that she wasn't there.

No answer. The forest hummed silently as the wind whispered between the leaves of the trees.

"Maybe it was just an animal." Lloyd said quietly.

"I think it was Colette." Genis answered, jumping into the bushes out of Lloyd's view, looking for her. After a while of nothing but rustling he called: "Lloyd, it really is her."

Lloyd sighed, knowing that now they wouldn't be able to spend time alone because they would need to take care of her now and come up with some kind of a story to fool her. He knew that it would be a huge shock for Colette to learn that two of her best friends were actually a couple. And even worse, her best friends were both male. In short, if she had really seen them, they would surely hear a lecture about it later, not only from her but probably from everyone else in Iselia as well.

"Lloyd! We have to carry her back to Iselia!" Genis demanded, his marine eyes flaming.

"…I'm coming, I'm coming." Lloyd answered, rustling to the young mage. Colette really was there, completely out cold. It had probably been too much of a shock for her to see two men kiss, no one had ever told the poor girl that people from the same gender were able to fall in love. He glanced at Genis, who looked at Colette with worry in his eyes. For a while he wanted to forget Colette and keep kissing Genis, but he was afraid that she would wake up and faint again or start screaming or something. If they carried her home in peace and quiet, they would be able to talk to her before she would go around telling everyone what kind of demons lived inside of their heads.

He lifted her up gently in his arms, starting towards Iselia. They rustled through the forest to the road leading to Iselia, Lloyd finding it very hard to carry someone when his boots sank into the moss and the tiny branches of the trees whipped his face. As he got to the road, Genis walked next to him and took a hold of his arm. His grasp was tight as if he was demanding attention.

"I can't help feeling jealous, though." He admitted, clinging onto Lloyd. He tried to sound like it wasn't a big deal, but his body language told a completely different story.

"She's a girl." Lloyd ascertained simply.

"Well, I kind of figured." Genis answered sarcastically. "And that's what makes me so jealous."

"Why?"

"My god, you sure are simple." The mage shook his head with a smile. "Normally men fall in love with women, not with other men. Now that you're carrying her I can't help feeling jealous because I know you might fall in love with her any minute and forget me."

Lloyd laughed. "It's you I love, Genis. You think way too much."

"One of us has to think for the both of us." Genis answered, looking away as if he was embarrassed. "And besides, I don't think I think too much because my fear is completely reasonable. Liking men is like pea soup. Nobody wants it. That's why you could easily ditch me and take Colette because she's a woman and liking women is okay."

"Genis…" Lloyd stopped to look into his lover's eyes. "Stop that."

Genis looked at him under his eyebrows like a little brat who hadn't got everything he wanted. He was about to say something, but swallowed it then as if he had realised how stupid he would make himself seem. Not that it would matter with Lloyd though.

They came to Iselia a little later and took Colette to her house. Lloyd laid her gently on her bed, sighing at the same time. As he put her pink blanket on her, Genis walked in with a bucket of cold water, his eyes shining mischievously. The brunette stopped him with a strong, yet gentle hand, taking the bucket from him.

"You're not going to throw all the water on her, are you?" He asked, putting the bucket on the floor and guiding Genis's hand behind his back. The young mage looked at him with a questioning look, glancing at Colette worriedly every once in a while.

"Colette's here." He remarked.

"And?" Lloyd asked, pulling the mage closer. He wrapped his arms around the boy gently, bringing him close enough to feel his warmth against him. Just when their lips were almost touching, they heard Colette let out a scared gasp.

"That is gross!" She screamed, covering her mouth with her hands immediately as if she had said something horribly insulting. "I-I'm sorry." She mumbled into her hands.

"Umm… Genis and I were… uhhh… he was just trying if I have a fever!" Lloyd said the first thing that came to his mind. Both Colette and Genis raised their eyebrows, not believing a word he had just said. "Uhh…It's easier to feel the warmth… umm… if you try it with your lips, right Genis?"

"Uhh…Yes. Lips feel umm… the warmth better. If he has… only a tiny fever I won't feel it with my hand…" Genis explained, looking around a little guiltily.

"Ohh…" Colette said, clearly relieved. "How very thoughtful of you, Genis."

"Uh, yeah." The mage said, avoiding eye contact.

"Are you going to try my fever or not?" Lloyd asked then, smiling.

Genis shot him a glare. "I think you're fine, actually."

"But we should make sure of it!" Colette said from the bed.

Genis glanced at her, then Lloyd. With a sigh he took a hold of the brunette's shoulders and forced him to bend a little to reach his forehead. He placed his lips softly on Lloyd's forehead, jerking away as soon as he felt the warmth on his lips. "I… I don't think you have a fever." He ascertained, looking away.

Colette smiled happily, getting up. The two sighed in relief internally, their stupid lie had been believed. Maybe she was just accepting any excuse because she really couldn't understand two men in love, she would need to see for herself before she would believe it. But it didn't matter; all that mattered was that she wasn't suspicious about them anymore.

After a while they decided to continue to the cathedral where they had been going to in the first place. However, as they got out of the building, they saw some Desians taking an old woman away. In an instant Lloyd realized they were taking away Marble, Genis's and Raine's grandmother. She was a very sweet person who had never done anything wrong, he couldn't even imagine her hurting a fly, much less annoying the Desians. A shot of anger gushed through his body as he saw the Desians touch her roughly when they forced her to walk faster.

"What are they doing to Marble?" Genis asked from Lloyd because he didn't know who else to turn to. As the brunette gazed into his eyes, he saw how lost he was; although he looked like an adult he was still walking on the line between adulthood and childhood, not knowing which he really was yet.

"Hey! What are you doing to her? Where are you taking her?" Lloyd ran after the Desians, but they pushed him away from her roughly. He lost his balance and fell on his butt on the ground, grimacing.

"She wasn't able to pay the rent." One of the Desians said, glaring at the brunette. "This is a warning to all of you!" He looked at everyone that had gathered to watch the scene, all wanting to oppose them, but no one having the courage.

Lloyd stood up quickly and threw his arms in the air. "You can't take her away because she hasn't paid the rent! I'll pay it for her!"

"It's too late." The same Desian said, pushing Marble towards the ranch.

Lloyd stood still, looking after her with sadness in his eyes, lost with what to do. Genis ran next to him, Lloyd could tell that he was panicking as well because his voice higher than normal:

"We have to do something!"

"Let's follow them!" The brunette grabbed Genis's hand to pull him after him when Colette ran in front of them.

"I'm coming too!" She declared, almost defiantly.

Lloyd reacted immediately. "No, please stay here, Colette. You fainted, you need to rest."

"Al-alright." She took a step back, looking at her feet. She understood Lloyd's worry about her condition because she was the Chosen, but she still wanted to be with him. Even if she had fainted and seen that very weird vision about Lloyd and Genis kissing… but it couldn't be true. Men couldn't fall in love with each other. It just wasn't possible. Not in any way.

She watched as the two disappeared into the forest as they ran after the Desians. Her rings fell on the ground without her noticing, she just looked after them, hoping that they would come back all right. Especially Lloyd, but scared by the thought she quickly prayed that Genis was safe as well.

Lloyd, he had no idea of her feelings. He held the mage's hand as they ran deeper and deeper into the forest, dodging the branches trying to hurt them, jumping over the rocks and the trees' roots sticking out of the ground. Genis had a hard time following him because he still hadn't got used to his body, he wasn't used to his long legs and broad shoulders, he kept hitting everything all the time and stumbling. Cursing, he hit Lloyd's back as the brunette stopped running.

He got up quickly, helping Lloyd on his feet as well. After glaring at him for a while he finally gave up, Lloyd wouldn't understand the trouble of getting used to a completely new body. The thought dropped from his mind as he saw Marble behind the high wire-netting fence, forced to push and pull heavy boxes.

"Marble!" Lloyd shouted with a smile as they ran to the fence, trying to catch her attention by waving their arms.

Marble noticed them and shuffled to the fence, smiling. "Lloyd! Genis! What are you doing here?"

"We've come to rescue you!" Genis explained, still waving his hands. Maybe he did it because he was panicking, maybe just because he had nothing else to do to make him feel useful.

"I'm so excited!" Lloyd laughed. The mage gave him a weird look, but didn't say anything.

Marble's face, furrowed by time, began smiling even more than before. "You don't need to rescue me. I've lived a long and happy life…"

"But we want to!" The brunette said enthusiastically, grabbing the fence and rattling it. His expression darkened as he remembered the Desians. "Those Desians… they're treating you like dirt! We'll save you!"

"But you don't really…" Marble fell quiet as she noticed that the two were no longer anywhere to be found. She smiled as she returned to work; it was so nice to have such youngsters in Iselia, ready to help everyone in distress.

Genis and Lloyd had made it on a cliff near the ranch where they could see into the ranch clearly. The brunette watched the Desians and humans for a while with hatred burning in his eyes, but said nothing. Genis probably felt the same and it was no use talking about it now, it was more important to free Marble. Still, he could feel the intense anger releasing adrenaline into his body, making his skin itch with the will to punish the Desians.

"Genis, you distract them while I cut the fence open and she gets to escape! " He said quickly, his eyes flaming.

The mage switched his weight on his other foot. "Well, it's not waterproof, but worth a try."

"Yeah", Lloyd agreed with a confident smile. He started towards the ranch when Genis began casting the spell. He knew how good-looking Genis was when he cast magic and did everything he could to not think about it, but in the end he had to turn around to see him handle the kendama so easily (something he had never mastered). For a while he still tried to keep going, but in the end he had to go back:

"Genis, I want one kiss before I go."

The mage stopped casting, turning to look at him with a confused expression. For a while they just looked at each other, Lloyd hoping he wouldn't ask any more questions and Genis wondering why he couldn't wait until they had freed Marble, then the mage seemed to get the idea.

"Don't tell me…" Genis started as he lowered his gaze."…it happened again." He finished flatly.

"Yeah", Lloyd drew a circle to the sand with his boot's tip with an embarrassed smile.

Genis smiled, Lloyd wasn't sure was he laughing at how pathetic he was or how sweet he was. He walked to him and grabbed him from his shoulders, kissing him sweetly. Genis wrapped his arms around him to hold him near just in case he would run away in the middle of the kiss.

Lloyd broke the kiss just before it would've gone too far and changed into something else. He smiled at his beloved before disappearing down to the wire-netting fence. Genis smiled as he went, happy that they had cleared the misunderstanding between them, otherwise their friendship would've suffered a huge hit if not even ended. He dismissed the thoughts as he began casting again, although he made using the kendama look very easy, it needed a lot of concentration.

Fully concentrated on his spell, he didn't notice that he was standing too close to the edge and as he cast the Fire Ball, the ground under his feet crumbled. He fell down into the bushes, cursing quietly. At least he had managed to cast the spell, now it was on Lloyd's shoulders to save Marble. He heard the metallic sound as the brunette's swords hit the wire-netting fence, the shriek it let out as it gave in and the joyous squealing of the imprisoned as they ran away.

Lloyd had seen Genis fall off the cliff and cut the fence as fast he had been able to before running towards his beloved to check on him. However, he hadn't thought that running to Genis would be a bad idea in his worry because the Desians noticed him as he ran in front of the ranch.

"Hey, you!" The Desian guarding the gate shouted.

"Hey, the guy in red! Stop right there!" His partner continued.

He understood then that it hadn't been a good idea, but he had already been seen; now he needed to be fast to get away. He only sped up; jumping into the bush he had seen Genis fall into. With one strong hand he lifted the mage on his shoulder and continued running towards Iselia, ignoring how Genis shouted to him about being such an idiot to run to him like he was some pathetic child who couldn't take care of himself.

He put the made down when he came to Iselia, hoping that they would be safe there. Iselia had a peace treaty with the Desians, they shouldn't be able to do anything to them as long as they were in the village. Genis glared at him angrily, he was really pissed that Lloyd would risk his life to save him. Lloyd kept on looking at him with an apologetic look, knowing that he couldn't have done otherwise.

The mage sighed, turning his face away as he admitted: "I guess I should say thanks anyway."

The brunette chuckled. "You're welcome."

"Although you're still an idiot." Genis said like a brat who couldn't admit he had lost.

There was a silence, as the mage looked at Lloyd from under his eyebrows and Lloyd looked back at him with a smile.

"Ge-" The brunette began, but he was cut off by Colette's scream.

"Colette!" Without a thought he ran to see if she was okay and she definitely wasn't. In front of her stood a large green monster, wearing a ragged shirt. The broken chains in its ankles clanked melancholically as it took long, lunging steps towards the Chosen, who was desperately trying to fight it alone.

"Colette! Are you all right?" Lloyd ran to her and helped her on her feet. Genis looked at her worriedly, but began casting magic as it seemed like the monster would kill all of them if no one did anything.

"Y-yes." She gave him a quick smile as they drew their weapons. "I'm fine. I'm sorry to worry you."

Lloyd sighed. "You don't need to apologise, Colette." He ran to the monster, raising the blades over his head. However, this left his stomach unprotected and the monster's large hand hit him right there. As he flew to the ground, he tried to breath but couldn't. Every time he tried to draw air he just let out a wheezing sound, worrying Genis.

The mage ran to him, taking a hold of his shoulders. As Lloyd looked into his eyes, he saw the same panic as he had seen in his eyes when the Desians had taken Marble away.

"Lloyd! Breathe! Breathe!" Genis rocked him back and forth, his marine eyes watering. In front of them, Colette fought against the monster furiously. At times she glanced over her shoulder to see if Lloyd was all right, but she knew if they all ran to him to see if he was all right they would lose and the monster would destroy Iselia.

Finally Lloyd managed to get some air, only a little, but it was enough to save his day. Genis let out a relieved sigh as he stood up to help Colette again. Lloyd got up as quickly as he could, getting ready to attack once again. This time he was going to be more careful; seeing the worry in Genis's eyes, the panic, the tears… he definitely didn't want to see them again. He shielded his body with the other blade as he let the other cut a deep wound across the monster's face. It countered his attack with another fist, this time meeting with his sword.

Colette spun around, throwing her rings carefully not to hit any of her friends. The rings cut wounds to the monster's arms, but it was hard to see through the fire Genis had cast on it. The rings returned to her and she spun around again, wondering where to attack next.

The monster groaned under Lloyd's rain of strikes, at times Genis's fireball made it fall over. For a time that felt like ages it just stood there, unable to attack. It was almost as if it was waiting to die. As Colette moved closer, she couldn't help the feeling that she had met the monster somewhere before, but inside she knew it was impossible. It was a monster and she had lived her whole life in Iselia where monsters were very rare, not even talking about something its size.

Finally it let out its final shriek, a heartbreaking cry towards the heavens. Its massive body fell on the ground with a loud thump. For a while the three stood completely still, waiting for it to get up and attack its final attack before passing onto the next world. But it never got up; it just laid there, the empty eyes staring into the distance, into the next world.

Standing on the monsters corpse they all sighed in relief. It hadn't been an easy fight, but at least the village was now safe. As they gazed up, they saw a group of Desians walking towards them, a man with turquoise hair leading them. He looked very powerful with a sword resting on his hip, a long cape billowing behind him like the sails of a war ship.

"You have broken the peace between Iselia and the Desians! State your names for the criminal record!" He said, his eyes flaming.

"We saved this village!" Lloyd protested. They had only done what anyone else would've. Anyone else just didn't have exspheres helping themselves.

The man chuckled, looking at the monster. "You killed our first successful research specimen, Marble001, how do you think you're going to get away?"

"…M-Marble001?" Genis's eyes widened as he said that. No wonder the monster had felt so familiar. It had been Marble all the time. The thought of killing Marble hit him hard; without any idea of who was looking he fell on his knees and sobbed quietly. He didn't care of the Desians took him prisoner, he had killed a person and he needed a punishment for his actions.

Lloyd glanced at him quickly wanting to go to him and hold him, tell him everything was all right, but he knew that the Desians wouldn't hesitate to use their weak moments for their own good.

The man with turquoise hair smiled a little. "Such a shame Marble001 died. Oh, well. We will find new specimen." He turned around, his cape following him by length. Without a word he marched away, the Desians looking after him with fear mixed in respect.

"State your names!" A Desian took a step forward as the man had walked away.

Genis looked up from his hands with hatred flaming in his eyes. "YOU! YOU KILLED MARBLE!" With one long jump he tried to attack the Desians, but Lloyd caught him in the air into his arms and held him tightly. Genis tried to free himself, scream and kill them all, but when Lloyd held him gently against his chest, whispering comforting words to him, the pain took him over all over again. His anger turned into sadness and he sobbed against Lloyd's warm chest, embarrassed that he would cry in front of someone.

"That's Lloyd Irving and that's Colette Brunel and the last one's Genis Sage!" One of the villagers shouted. Lloyd glared at him quickly, knowing that if gazes could kill he would've made a lot of bodies that day.

"Catch them!" The same Desian commanded.

In a flash, the three were gone. They were too tired from defeating Marble to fight against the Desians anymore, Genis was too sad to be able to concentrate properly, Colette was too weak to fight alone and Lloyd was too worried about his lover to fight. They ran towards the cathedral, knowing that the Desians wouldn't look for them there or at least it wouldn't be the first place they'd search.

They got to the cathedral that was a beautiful building with its tall tower and renaissance decorations. Above the two heavy oak doors leading into the cathedral was a huge stained glass window, depicting a woman with long hair sleeping on a bed of roses, surrounded with seven medallions, one for each summon spirit. They all looked at the view with silent awe for a while, really agreeing with Raine that it was fabulous.
From behind them a low voice asked: "Are you the Chosen?"

Colette spun around; surprised that someone had got so close to her without a sound. Lloyd had jumped when the stranger had spoken and now tried to calm down his racing heart from the surprise. In front of them stood a tall man with copper-coloured hair covering his face almost completely, revealing only one emotionless nougat eye. He wore a tight purple suit with a cape, on his left hip a sword rested in its scabbard.

"Yes, she is. What's your problem?" Genis walked in front of her, looking at the man in purple with defiance in his eyes.

"Genis, I don't think you need to protect her." Lloyd said a little warily. He was awfully sure that the man could easily kill Genis if he wanted to get his hands on Colette.

But that wasn't the man's reaction. To their surprise, he blushed. An awkward silence fell over them, no one really knew what to say or do, they had all thought that the man was a threat or something, but he had actually blushed. In the end, Colette began giggling; she just couldn't help it anymore.

"I…I…" Kratos tried to collect himself, he couldn't be embarrassing himself the first time he met with them. Blushing ruined his believability as a mercenary and worse, as a man. But he couldn't help it; he had never seen something as beautiful yet defiant as the boy protecting Colette. He had beautiful silvery hair and blue overalls, making him look more like a child than like the adult he already was. Trying to talk felt like Kratos had just swallowed something that just wouldn't go down. He hid his eyes behind his bangs so that he couldn't see the angelic creature as he continued: "I am Kratos. I was hired to protect the Chosen."

"Who hired you?" Genis demanded, taking a step closer, looking for an eye contact but found none.

"A friend who wishes to stay nameless."

"What an odd friend you have." Lloyd said, wondering. "I've never met a person who doesn't want to have a name before…"

"Lloyd, stop thinking." Genis said over his shoulder, glancing at the brunette. Lloyd gave him an irritated glance; the mage shouldn't have made fun of him in front of a stranger. It was all right if he made fun of him when they were with their friends, but this man was something so cool that he wanted to be really smart and cool as well.

"How very nice of your friend to ask of you to protect me", Colette said sweetly before Genis got to answer. "I don't think I need protection though."

"Do you think these two can protect you?" Kratos asked, almost smiling. It was hard to say was he smiling or wasn't he because his eyes couldn't be seen. "I'm sure I am much more useful than them."

"Well, if you want to come with us, it would be great!" Colette clapped her hands together enthusiastically. "It's great to get more friends!"

Kratos sighed heavily, but nodded. "Then it is set." His eyes met with Genis's and he felt his face reddening. How awkward it was! He turned his gaze away quickly, hoping that no one had noticed the red rising on his face. He knew that if he could only ignore the boy he wouldn't have the slightest of problems, but it was so hard not to look at him. Just like it had been with his deceased wife.

"Let's go into the cathedral then!" Lloyd said enthusiastically. If Kratos had been hired to protect Colette he was probably a good guy and besides, he had blushed, so it meant that he wasn't a complete stone face. Lloyd knew he trusted people maybe even a little too easily, but he couldn't help himself. It was just the way he had always been.

They wandered around the huge building very quietly, admiring the beautiful architecture. Most of the time Lloyd admired Genis and vice versa, but every time Kratos or Colette glanced at them they pretended to be interested in the cathedral.

Everyone else noticed Raine except Genis and it was already too late when he had stepped into the light. He saw Raine, gasped and made his situation only worse. The professor spun around, surprised that someone with such a familiar voice would be in the cathedral. For a while she just stared at Genis who tried to smile innocently, wondering was she dreaming or had Genis disobeyed her once again.

"Genis! How did you get here?" Raine demanded when she realised she wasn't having a dream. "And without my permission! Why did you come even though I told you to keep studying? This is utterly reckless! You disobey me all the time, how do you think I can ever lay my eyes off you! Every time I look elsewhere you run off to endanger your life an-"

Genis looked around with a scared expression. If he didn't come up with something very fast she would spank him and he didn't want her to do that in front of Lloyd. Lloyd had seen him spanked before, but it was a totally different thing now that he was an adult. And besides, it wouldn't be appropriate of Raine either to hit his butt in a cathedral! His eyes met with an old pot in the corner of the room and in an instant he had an idea. "Uhh… What a … nice vase…" He stuttered.

"-d time after time I have to- what?" She spun around again, her eyes beginning to shine with excitement. "Oh, my goodness! It's a vase from the Miyong-era! And it's so well preserved; the hand-made decorations are just absolutely beautiful! Oh, could this be a ceremonial-"

Genis watched her go on about the pot for a while without knowing where to run before Kratos grabbed him and ran away with him. As the mercenary carried the boy in his arms he could feel his face redden yet again. If it just didn't happen every time he was with Genis everything would be fine! He tried not to think about him now, but it was so hard. It was hard because he was warm and he was in his arms, looking at him with widened eyes. He just had to glance into them every once in a while, his face's colouring switching between normal and red.

Kratos carried Genis all the way out of the cathedral, where they met up with Lloyd and Colette again. They began running towards the forest in order to get away before Raine would get out of the cathedral and see that it hadn't been only Genis that had left the class. Just when they were about to get into the safe hug of the forest, Colette fell over. Instinctively everyone stopped, Kratos running to her to see if she was all right.

"Ah, I told you all to stay in the class and keep studying!" Raine ran out of the cathedral, shouting. She quickly scanned the yard, noticing them near the forest. "Lloyd and Colette too! How can you three be so reckless?"

Lloyd scratched the back of his head as they walked towards her in shame. "But we really wanted to see the cathedral you spoke about…"

"Oh, yes. Well, then it's forgivable." Raine smiled. Architecture was really her true love, using it as an excuse was not only the way out of trouble but also the way into her heart. "Isn't it fabulous? The decorations on the outside were done during the early renaissance, as you can see the model for all the decorations comes from the classical times, the-"

"Maybe we should camp here for tonight. It's getting dark." Kratos cut her off.

"Who are you?" She looked at him with narrowed eyes, judging if she could trust him. Something in him told her to stay on her toes, but she couldn't put her finger on it.

"I'm Kratos. I was hired to protect the Chosen."

Raine smiled, hiding how suspicious she actually was about the stranger: "I'm Raine. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"As well." Kratos answered.

Quickly they put up a camp; somehow Kratos had managed to carry a tent for four people with him. No one asked any questions, but secretly wondered where he could've carried it. Only Lloyd didn't wonder, but it was no miracle since thinking had never been one of Lloyd's best sides.

The brunette didn't know if Genis had noticed, but Kratos kept looking at him all the time, a slight blush covering his stony face. Feeling a hint of jealousy Lloyd got up and walked to the mage, listening in to his and Kratos's conversation:

"D-did you make this?" The mercenary asked. Lloyd frowned because it felt weird to hear Kratos stuttering. He hadn't done it at all when he had spoken to him or Colette or Raine.

Genis looked up from his meal, he had been deep in thought. "Yeah, sorry if it's a little tasteless, but I didn't have all the spices."

Kratos turned his gaze away quickly when the mage tried to look for an eye contact, feeling how the red on his face just got brighter. "No, no, t-this is very g-good."

"…Do you always stutter?" The mage asked frankly the first question in his mind, looking for an eye contact even more than before. To him it seemed odd that Kratos never looked at him, whenever he tried to, the mercenary hid his eyes even more carefully.

"W-what? I-I don't stut-stutter!" Kratos stammered, trying to sound as casual as possible.

"Oh, t-then it mu-must b-be only m-me." Genis answered sarcastically as he returned to eating.

Lloyd couldn't help feeling bad for Kratos, the poor guy was only trying to be friendly. Genis was just so insensitive when it came to others' problems. The brunette put a gentle hand on his lover's shoulder, looking down at him with a question in his eyes: "Can I talk to you for a second?"

From the corner of his eye he saw Kratos glancing at him, probably wondering what he wanted to talk about with Genis. The mage hadn't noticed anything, he just flashed him a happy smile, looking more like a child than an adult then. "Sure."

Together they walked away from the others, so far that they couldn't hear or see them anymore. As the brunette finally stopped, Genis sat down with a sigh. He gazed at the brunette curiously until Lloyd sat down next to him, pulling him into a gentle hug.

"…Do you really think we should hide our relationship?" He asked as Genis answered his hug by pressing closer.

"Oh, yeah." The mage said sarcastically as he looked up at him. "Maybe we should tell Colette and let her rant about how sinful we are for the rest of her trip? Not even mentioning everyone we meet? How will they all react to two guys in love? Oh, they'll probably join us and trail rainbows in their hands!"

Lloyd sighed, covering the boy's mouth with his hand. "Genis…"

Genis tore his hand away quickly, continuing with the jeering tone: "No, no. I think it's a wonderful idea! And in the end we will all live happily ever after in the magical fairytale-land where all of your dreams come true!"

"Shut up, Genis, I got the point." He said, annoyed.

"I've got more. And maybe if we try real hard we can make everyone good so that there would be no ev-" Genis's eyes widened as the brunette pulled him into a sudden kiss. Although Lloyd's hug was strong, it was gentle as well, making him feel weak. The nice feeling from being held and kissed spread to his whole body and he didn't want to let go anymore to make more fun of Lloyd.

After the kiss Genis just looked at the brunette with a content smile, leaning his forehead against his. It was true that Lloyd was a little simple, but he was also a great person who had a large heart and a strong sense of justice. Sometimes he was being too optimistic about some things, but even though Genis always knew he was just trying to cheer him up, it always worked. Probably the cheerful, happy feeling spread.

"…You know Genis, when I first saw you I remember you were talking with Raine about the space and all those wacky things." The brunette said suddenly with a fond tone as if he was talking about something he cherished very much.

The word 'wacky' resonated a little in Genis's ear, but he decided to let it drop. For once. After all it was their only moment romantically together in a while without anyone fainting. Instead of saying anything he just pressed closer, letting Lloyd know he was happy by a kiss on his collarbone.

"…When you became an adult I noticed I… was falling in love with you and I thought that maybe a girlfriend would change my mind… Do you remember her?" Lloyd continued, looking at the dark blue sky with thousands of stars in it.

The mage had no idea why the brunette was telling him that, but just talking with Lloyd like this made him feel so good. It didn't matter what they spoke about as long as he could hear Lloyd's voice. "…Yes."

"Well, although I told everyone she's my girlfriend, she really wasn't." Lloyd sighed. Maybe back then he had already known that even if he would've had a whole harem of women he would never forget Genis, not as long as they would be only friends, able to touch, but only to a certain extent.

"Oh." Genis commented to the brunette's shirt.

"She just kept ignoring me and I followed her around... And at night I would dream about you and make out with my blanket." Lloyd finished, still looking at the stars. He didn't feel embarrassed at all to tell that to Genis, somehow it was only relieving to let it out.

There was a moment of silence before Genis turned to look at him in the eye. When he spoke, there was no sarcastic tone in his voice, only a gentle one that Lloyd had never heard before. "Lloyd, have I ever told you to leave out the final sentences of your stories?"

"…Yeah." The brunette answered by length. He sure hoped that Genis had understood his point and not just been shocked by his revelation. It wasn't really that weird, it had been only a blanket! It hadn't been anything kinkier than that, for god's sake.

Genis pressed closer again, rubbing his head against his chest like a tiny kitten, smiling happily. Lloyd rested a gentle hand on his head, watching him with a smile. "But seriously… I'd like to make love with you."

The mage gasped in surprise, coughing right after it as if he had swallowed something that just wouldn't go down. "A-aren't you going a little too fast?"

"Why?" Lloyd asked, looking into Genis's marine blue eyes.

"We've been a couple for less than a day!" The boy explained, waving his hands in the air.

"…And?" The brunette smiled at him, not having any clue of what Genis was trying to say.

Instead of bothering to explain about getting to know each other better as a couple, the mage sweatdropped. "Let's at least get a room, alright?"

-

Yeah, I know. Kratos doesn't show much how he feels, but I wanted to give him at least something. He can be expressionless when he's not around Genis, but when he is, he'll keep on blushing and stuttering. Ah, so cute.

Thanks for reading, your comments mean a lot to me!