A/N Well… Originally I was going to leave Caught as is… but then… I checked my email and found the reviews (thanks Crystal Adept, nife, Shinia, and Meowzy-chan) and a muse bit me again. The result, you ask? I have at least one more chapter idea, not counting this one, for this story now (possibly more if the plot-puppy finds another bone). Oh, and I built this story around a really funny scene that is mostly between Sheena and Zelos.
Summary – Recovering from the flu is not much fun, but when you finally have the boyfriend of your dreams, it isn't that bad either. Zelos, however, isn't content to keep that kind of joy to himself and does his best to set up friends or send them comfort.
Recover
"Aww… they look so cute together. Let's not wake them yet."
Zelos opened an eye and looked up at the to women watching him and Lloyd. "I've been awake since the chair crashed to the ground when you both woke up together. How about you two try not to wake Lloyd?" At the sound of his name, the brunette cuddled closer to Zelos, burrowing his face against the redhead's shoulder.
"W-we were just… perfectly innocent…" Sheena managed to splutter out, her cheeks flame red. "We weren't really…"
"Sleeping together?" Zelos asked innocently.
Sheena did an admirable fish impersonation and then sat down in the chair near the bed in order to glare at the Chosen. "You're such a pervert!"
"So what else is new?" Zelos glanced over at Raine; "How much longer are you going to work on her without help?"
"W-what!" Sheena demanded, her face, which had only just returned to it's usual shade, went crimson again.
"As long as it takes," was the bemused archeologist's reply.
"I wish you luck, milady."
"You… you're both… completely impossible!" Sheena leapt up and raced to the door, her quick escape marred by the door lock that took a few tries to unstick.
"She's rather cute when flustered, isn't she?" Raine remarked, absently. Then, she turned to Zelos and, rather sternly informed him, "if you ever break Lloyd's heart, you'll wish for the average, everyday Raine-ing that people who merely irritate me receive."
"Guess it's a good thing I don't plan on breaking his heart," Zelos replied, gazing down at the top of Lloyd's head and reaching up with his free arm to lightly run his fingers through the other's hair.
"Despite your pink outfit, I always figured you were straight, what with all those girls you flirt with," Sheena said, not bothering to turn around as she accurately guessed who'd walked up behind.
"I like to surprise people," Zelos walked over and hopped up onto the railing around the Inn's balcony. "Besides, I never actually went on a date with any of them; on the journey of regeneration, the only times I would sneak out was when I needed to be alone. Yeah, I imply a lot, but that's more to see who has their mind in the gutter than anything else. We've known each other for what, nine… ten years? Haven't you figured me out by now?"
"We've known each other, but we don't see each other often enough, I guess," Sheena replied after a long moment. "So, does this mean that your whole reputation as the ladies man who gets laid weekly is made up?"
"Welllllllllllllllll…" Zelos hedged and looked down at his boots. "Yeah…"
"So you're really a virgin?" An evil smirk had appeared on the ninja's face.
"This really isn't the point here…"
Triumph; "you are a virgin! Hah!"
"So how about you and Raine, huh?" Zelos cut in, pushing himself off the railing in order to tower over the ninja better. "You two seemed rather cozy when I woke up last night."
"Is that when you invited Lloyd into your bed?" she shot back.
"Indeed. Now, about you and Raine…"
"I… uh… well…"
"You like her; you want to hug her; you want to kiss her," Zelos taunted in a sing-song voice.
"I swear, I'm going to tell the whole Inn that the Chosen of Tethe'alla, self-proclaimed sex-god, has never been shagged."
"Why do you know all these synonyms for sex?"
Sheena blushed and mumbled something.
"What was that? I didn't quite catch it." Now it was Zelos' turn to smirk.
"I said IusedtolookatthemagazinesunderKuchinawa'sbedbeforeheleftMizuho."
"Once more, for clarity's sake," Zelos teased, ducking the fist that was directed at his shoulder.
"Kuchinawa had, er, magazines in his house that I would sneak peaks at. I kinda realized I didn't like guys when I wanted to keep looking…" she glared at the redhead, adding, "I've never told anyone about that and if you ever so much as say one word about it…"
"I'm trustworthy," Zelos complained, throwing up his hands in a mock-defensive gesture. "What is it with you ladies and threatening me today? I haven't called anyone my hunny and the most perverted thing I've done was try and follow Lloyd into the shower."
"I suppose, since you two are a couple now… you are a couple, right?" Sheena sighed when Zelos nodded the affirmative, "well, since you two are a couple, that isn't as perverted as it could have been."
"So… you read porno?"
"ZELOS WILDER IS A VIR…meep!" Sheena glared at Zelos, who'd clapped a hand over her mouth. The offending appendage was quickly removed however.
"Ugh…" Zelos wiped his hand off on his pants. "That was so gross… and juvenile. What are you, three?"
Sheena stuck her tongue out at him in response and wandered back into the Inn room.
Zelos walked in behind Sheena, a disgruntled expression still evident on his face.
"Sheena, what were you yelling about?" Raine asked.
The ninja looked at Raine, who appeared genuinely interested, and then back at Zelos, who was trying to kill Sheena with the power of his glare. "Nothing important. I might bring it up later, though."
"Oh… okay…" Raine noticed Zelos' murderous stare and raised an eyebrow. "This looks somewhat… backwards."
"The world is skewed today," Zelos agreed, relaxing and sitting down on the edge of the bed. He closed his eyes tiredly; only up for an hour and he was already exhausted. "So, where's the brat at?"
"Genis," Raine emphasized her brother's name, "has been grounded. He threw a temper tantrum over nothing; I don't know what's gotten into him."
"I think I know what's wrong," Lloyd supplied, walking out of the bathroom with his normal outfit, sans boots. "He… he got over his crush on Presea about halfway through our journey. Do you remember how he could hold conversations with her all of a sudden? Well… he fell in love with Mithos a few weeks after we befriended him. Genis told me, but he… he didn't want anyone else to know.
"After the events at Altessa's, I tried to talk to him, but he locked his door." Lloyd moved over to the bed and sat down by Zelos. "After everything was over, he seemed happy so I thought he'd gotten over it."
Zelos winced. "Poor kid. He just doesn't get any breaks, does he?" The redhead reached into his vest and pulled out his personal wingpack. "Hmm…" he went over the display panel for a moment and then extracted a thick notebook. "I've never shown anyone these before… so tell me what you think. If they're good enough, it might help Genis feel better…"
The notebook opened to reveal incredibly life-like drawings of everyone that he'd met in the past few years… including a few of a smiling Mithos that, more often than not, was featured with a grinning and blushing Genis. Zelos tugged out a few of the drawings and handed them over to Raine.
"Give those to him for me, would you?"
"These are…" Raine looked up and peered over at the notebook. "Can I see the rest?"
"Well… sure…" Zelos reluctantly handed over the book and then leaned over, resting the side of his head against Lloyd's shoulder. An arm reached out from the red clad man and pulled Zelos closer to his boyfriend.
"These are amazing," Sheena finally said for both her and Raine. "I never realized you were such a people watcher before."
"I particularly like this one," Raine added, gesturing to one of her, staring avidly at the Triet Ruins, and Sheena, who was watching Raine instead.
Sheena blushed, but nodded. "Well, here you go," she handed the notebook back. "I need to get back to Mizuho. Take care of yourselves, okay?"
"We miss you guys," Raine added. "I got so used to our group of eight; I wake up expecting to be at a campfire with you two arguing with Genis over breakfast again."
"We'll have to have a reunion of sorts eventually," Lloyd decided, grinning as the others agreed.
----
Zelos draped an arm around Lloyd's shoulder and guided his boyfriend back into town. "Let's drop by Aisha's; I want to thank her for getting Raine for us. After that… wanna do the tourist thing?"
Lloyd nodded. "Sure, sounds good." He leaned against the taller man and slid an arm around Zelos' waist. "So, do you think that Raine and Sheena will eventually get together."
"They will. I've been exchanging letters with Orochi. He may be quiet and unassuming at times… but he seems to view Sheena as a little sister. Big brother ninja wants to play cupid for them," Zelos explained as they made their way back into the city. "However, he's never done that before and needed help. Naturally, he thought of me."
"Naturally…" Lloyd echoed. "Especially considering how long it took us to finally click."
"We're doing better than Colette and Presea."
"Everyone is doing better than them."
"Point." Zelos tilted his head to the side and kissed Lloyd's cheek. "In a little over a week, I need to meet up with Seles in Meltokio. I got a letter from her a few days ago, remember?"
"Yeah. You looked kind of upset. Is something wrong with her?"
"No… not really. She wants us to sell the family manor. I… I don't know if I can call that place home, but the place has meaning for me. Selling it would be… something I'm not sure I can do yet."
"Then we'll head to Meltokio next," Lloyd tugged Zelos down the path towards Asgard's residential sector. "You can tell her 'no' and we can crash at your place in style. And this time, can you please tell Sebastion that my name isn't 'bud'?"
Zelos just laughed in response.
----
That evening, Zelos found himself cuddled up against Lloyd again. The day had been exhausting; it wasn't really that late but Lloyd had insisted on an early night after Zelos' umpteenth yawn.
"Have you ever liked any other guys before?" Lloyd asked abruptly.
"Well… in school there was a guy I had a crush on, and anyone with eyes has to admit that Yuan, Kratos, and Yggdrasill were hot… though I seriously thought that Yggdrasill was a girl in disco garb when I first saw him."
"You think my dad's hot!"
"Yuan thinks so too…"
"He does…" Lloyd sounded dubious.
"I walked in on them making out once… before you sent them to Dherris Kharlan. Trust me, Yuan thinks so."
Lloyd giggled and wondered aloud, "I bet that's what he keeps trying to tell me when he uses the comm to contact me."
"Probably. Tell him about us first; that should get him over his worry."
"Worry?"
"You're family; his son. He's probably afraid of that you'll hate him or something. Irrational, yes… but that's only because you're you."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"You don't discriminate no matter what."
"Oh… Before I knew I was gay… I always figured that love was love. That emotion can't be bad, can it?"
"I don't think so," Zelos agreed, his eyes closing. "Love you, Lloyd."
"Love you, Zelos," Lloyd echoed. Hesitantly, he reached up with his free hand and started running his fingers through his sleeping Chosen's silky red hair. "Seles will accept you, if that's what's worrying you…" he whispered before falling asleep as well.
A/N The next one is gonna be angsty at first and fluffy at the end. Squee I love fluff. It's so… fluffy… wow, that redundant of me…
It's late; I shouldn't be up; I should be asleep. I'll post this tomorrow. Yawns, saves file, closes computer, and goes to bed.