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Published:
2025-06-14
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2025-06-29
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and suddenly i can't look away

Summary:

At first, Lloyd didn't get what made Zelos so beautiful. He was just a guy, after all, just like anyone else. But then he heard him laugh and suddenly, Lloyd was noticing bits and pieces of him that captured his attention.

Notes:

couldn't resist another zelloyd project to take a small break from the current zelloyd project ;) haha. hope you enjoy!

Chapter Text

Lloyd didn’t really get it. He knew that Zelos had to be beautiful because not only did he say so, but girls tended to swoon into him everywhere they went. Yet still, Lloyd didn’t really get it. 

He had paused his carving—he was making a new bowl for Noishe—and was glancing in Zelos’ direction as he was bothering Sheena, leaning into her space with a teasing grin and an obnoxious laugh as they sat by the fireside. 

Blue eyes, long red hair. And that was it, right? Lloyd just didn’t get it. A guy like Zelos just looked totally normal.

A soft whine caught his attention as Noishe walked up behind him and nudged his arm with his snout.

“Hey, boy,” Lloyd said with a growing smile. He sheathed his knife and scratched Noishe under the chin. Noishe’s tail began to wag happily, pleased by the attention. When he had enough of it, he leaned forward and gave Lloyd’s face an enthusiastic lick of gratitude. 

Lloyd snickered. “Your new bowl isn’t ready. You'll have to eat from a plate,” he said, leaning away. He looked at Genis, who was packing away some of the tableware he had finished cleaning up. “We have leftovers for Noishe, right?”

“Huh? Oh. Sorry, Noishe.” Genis gave the dog an immensely apologetic look. “There was nothing left on the pot. Looks like everyone was really hungry tonight.”

Hearing that, Noishe let out a low whine, but Genis was already moving to dig an apple out of their bag of supplies. 

“Here, why don’t you have this instead?”

Lloyd stood up and walked over, Noishe following behind him. “I’ll have to cut it for him,” he said as he took the apple. He picked up his knife and wiped it clean of wood shavings on his shirt. “Here we go, Noishe.” Lloyd smiled and sliced off a piece of the apple to feed to the overgrown dog. Noishe chomped on it happily, his ears flapping as he gobbled up the slice in a single bite. 

“Hey,” Lloyd laughed. “Don’t eat it so fast. You’ll choke,” he scolded as he cut off another slice.

“I wonder who he takes after?” Genis commented with a smirk that had Lloyd shooting him a dirty look. Snickering, his best friend wandered away to continue to clean up the remains of their dinner. 

Meanwhile, Noishe dutifully plopped down next to Lloyd in an upright sitting position as he eagerly waited for Lloyd to continue feeding him, which he did. And it was to this sight that Zelos barged in once Lloyd was down to the last two slices. The redhead draped himself over Lloyd’s back with a whine, nearly making Lloyd drop the apple in his hand.

“Lloyddd…! Did you see what just happened?! I’m being totally bullied here!” 

Lloyd looked up at him and spotted the red mark on a freshly slapped cheek. He sighed. “You did this to yourself,” he said uncharitably as he glanced across the camp to where a grumpy Sheena was now chatting with a cheery Colette. He turned his head back to Zelos. “If you didn’t get all up in people’s space like this, you wouldn’t get smacked.”

“Ugh, you’re so cold! C’mon, show a little sympathy here!” Zelos complained, his lower lip jutting out. 

“Yeah, yeah.” Lloyd gave another slice of apple to Noishe. He then shrugged Zelos’ weight off of him, leaving the redhead to pout at his side. “If you just calmed down, you wouldn’t get bullied.”

Zelos’ face scrunched up skeptically and he let out a huff. “I’m not buying it. And anyway, where’s the fun in that?” 

“Getting slapped is part of the fun?” Lloyd shook his head with a sardonic smirk. He gave the last slice of apple to Noishe. “You’re weird, Zelos.” 

“Hmph. I can see the brilliance of my stellar personality is lost on you. Am I doomed to simply be surrounded by tasteless simpletons?” 

Zelos made such a dramatically despondent sight, hanging his head, shoulders slumped. Noishe padded over, offering him a sympathetic whine, followed by a nudge with his snout that had Zelos blinking in surprise. His hand automatically reached up to pet Noishe in response, but he hardly made contact before Noishe started to lick his face with lively enthusiasm. 

“Wh—hey!” Zelos spluttered.

Lloyd snickered as Noishe’s ears perked and flapped. His nose began snuffling about, trailing over Zelos’ chest. Then his snout dove into his coat and towards his pocket. 

“It looks like he got a whiff of something,” Lloyd said, amused as Zelos struggled to maintain his balance. 

“Don’t just watch!”

Lloyd laughed and reached forward. “Okay, okay. Noishe, c’mon.” He grabbed the scruff of fur at the back of his neck and pulled the big dog back. Noishe whined, coming away with a small bag clenched between his teeth. 

“What the—?” Like a bird whose feathers had been viciously ruffled, Zelos stared at Noishe incredulously. “That’s what you were after?” 

Lloyd smirked, watching Zelos huff, but he grabbed the bag.

“Let go, Noishe. That’s not yours, you know,” Lloyd scolded. 

Another whine. But Noishe opened his mouth and let the bag go. He stared at it longingly as Lloyd held it back out to Zelos.

“Sorry about that. He’s a little hungry since we didn’t have leftovers,” Lloyd said, rubbing Noishe’s head between his ears.

Hearing that, Zelos' aggrieved expression turned more sympathetic. "Ah. That's right. The pooch wasn't around for dinner. Just how far did you end up wandering from us this time?” 

He addressed this question to Noishe himself with a somewhat exasperated tone, not unlike the way that Genis and Colette would talk to Noishe, despite the fact that Zelos rarely went out of the way to interact with the dog.

Noishe only whined in response, looking downcast, and it was such a pitiful sight that Zelos ended up tipping over the contents of the bag the dog had stolen from him into the palm of his hand. 

“Alright, alright, I hear you,” he said as he offered Noishe a scattered selection of dried fruit. “Here, why don’t you snack on some of this? The Great Zelos will graciously—“

He couldn’t even finish his sentence before Noishe was all over him again. Zelos sputtered as the dog chomped down on the dried fruits and licked his hand eagerly. Lloyd grinned, watching them as Noishe pressed his paws up on Zelos’ chest. He nuzzled and licked his face gratefully.

“Hey!” Zelos put his hands on Noishe’s neck to try and push him back as a peal of laughter escaped him.

The sound was bright like silver bells ringing clearly in a sparkling night. Zelos’ face, too, was warm with joy. His blue eyes were squinted shut and his teeth exposed in a wide grin that rounded his cheeks. 

Lloyd hadn’t noticed that he stopped breathing until a quick inhale drew him back to the present. He reached forward and grabbed Noishe, pulling him off of Zelos. 

“Sorry! He was really happy, huh?” Lloyd said quickly, his face feeling warm. Still, he couldn’t help but smile himself, the expression on Zelos’ face contagious.

“Sheesh, over something as small as a little bit of fruit? Have you been neglecting this poor guy, or what?” 

Even as the flash of his smile hid away again, his eyes remained bright, the light of the setting sun making them look even more radiant. 

“He just loves food,” Lloyd said defensively even as his eyes hungrily absorbed the remnants of that warmth until it faded into his usual expressions. Zelos’ lips tilted into a smirk that was a little taunting as he leaned forward. Disappointment began to boil in Lloyd’s stomach. “Anyway,” he continued as he pet Noishe’s head. “Thanks. I didn’t think you liked Noishe all that much.”

Predictably, Zelos had a handy explanation for that at the ready, one that was hard to tell how honest it was. 

“Heh. Don’t you know? The ladies love a man who’s sweet to animals,” Zelos told him boastfully. 

“Ladies again…” Lloyd rolled his eyes. Somehow this rhetoric was all the more tiring now that he knew Zelos could smile like that. “Do you do everything for girls?” he asked as Noishe whined again.

Zelos’ smirk only widened, of course. 

“Well, naturally!” he said readily. “Is there a greater pleasure in this world than being able to draw out a girl’s lovely smile? Well,” Zelos let a mirthful little pause linger between them, “I guess there are one or two more things, but a guy that’s still on your level should focus on that first,” he advised with a small snicker. 

“Yeah, yeah, alright.” Lloyd shook his head. “In that case, I’ll leave you alone to get slapped again. Good luck with that.”

Zelos pouted at the reminder and proceeded to complain about Lloyd’s “cold personality.”

But while Lloyd dismissed Zelos’ insistent advice, all he could think about was that laugh of his. He wondered what it would take to draw that noise out of him again.

Chapter Text

“…Zelos is really nice, isn’t he?”

The remark felt like it came out of nowhere. Lloyd was particularly taken aback by the fact that it had come from Colette. The two of them were trailing behind the rest of the group as they made their way through the Gaoracchia forest. They had gotten a tip that there was a powerful weapon hidden in these woods and had come to search for it. 

“Huh? What brought that up all of the sudden?” Lloyd asked, glancing at Colette who was peering at the other members of their group up ahead. Particularly Zelos, who was crowding into Sheena’s space with another one of his obnoxious grins, clearly teasing her.

He was going to earn himself another slap shortly, Lloyd was sure of it. 

“Well, you know…” Colette said, and here, her voice faltered, becoming smaller. “Sheena’s been sad lately… because of Corrine.” 

The moment those words were out of her mouth, Lloyd understood why he’d caught that hint of guilt threaded in them. They had made the pact with Volt in order to rescue Colette after all. But that didn’t mean that Colette was responsible for what had happened. Opening his mouth, Lloyd was ready to straighten his childhood friend out of that sentiment, but Colette cut in first, meeting his eyes with an understanding, yet apologetic smile. 

“She lost such a precious friend to her. I wasn’t sure what I could say to comfort her after I heard what happened. I mean, we did talk a little but… it’s been sort of awkward,” she admitted, rubbing the side of her arm. But the smile on her expression remained, becoming softer rather than more apprehensive. “It felt a lot easier the other night, though, thanks to Zelos,” she admitted, grateful. “He always knows how to bring up the mood, doesn’t he?”

Well, that was one way of putting it. Zelos didn’t seem like the type of person to take things seriously. Lloyd didn’t like to let things get him down for long either, but sometimes even he thought Zelos took things too far. Hearing what Colette was saying, however, made him smile too.

Now that he thought about it, it was true. Sheena was more vocal, now. Despite her complaints when Zelos flirted with her, the moment he let up, her shoulders were less tense and her head was held a little higher. More than that, Zelos had looked as satisfied as a well fed cat, his smirk easily on display when Sheena stormed away from him. 

“He has been hanging around Sheena more lately now that you mention it.” Lloyd looked at Colette. “I guess he’s been trying to cheer her up in his own way.” 

“That’s what I think too,” Colette agreed warmly.

“I wouldn’t have noticed that if you hadn’t pointed it out,” Lloyd admitted.

“I wouldn’t say that,” Colette held her hands together in front of her. “You’ve always been the type that picks up on things like this, Lloyd. I’m sure you would have noticed it soon.”

“You think so?” Lloyd rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish grin.

“I do!” Colette beamed. “After all, we’ve all been getting to know Zelos a little better, but you especially!”

“Me especially?” Lloyd blinked.

“Uh-huh!” Colette nodded. “You’re always talking with him when you can and making him laugh.”

Well, he had been doing that, eager as he was to see Zelos laugh more. He had never quite managed to pull out that light, bubbling sound again, but he’d heard a few laughs from Zelos that were similar. Lloyd felt his cheeks redden. 

“I guess that’s true,” he said. 

“It is true! And besides you—Ah!” Colette’s arms windmilled wildly as she toppled over onto the forest floor. “Ow…”

“Colette!” 

Lloyd didn’t feel worried for her at first, what with how often Colette fell over, but when she lifted her hands, he hissed sympathetically. Her palms were scraped up, quickly reddening underneath the dirt that highlighted the divots of broken skin.

“I’m okay!” Colette said quickly, not blinking at the injury.

“Still, we should get the Professor to treat it,” Lloyd said as he put his hand under Colette’s elbow to help her stand without agitating her hands. 

But when he looked up, he found that their group was gone.

“Uh.” Lloyd’s head whipped around. “Did we fall behind?”

“They’re not far.” 

Colette got her feet back under her and used the back of her hands to brush away the dirt from her knees. Her surety reminded Lloyd that she could likely hear them from afar, and thus guide the two of them back to the group. But in the end, she didn't have to because the very person they had been talking about ended up finding them first. 

“Hey, hey, what are you two lovebirds doing, lagging behind like this?” 

Zelos appeared before them with a mock-stern expression, looking like he had been unwillingly selected to look for them, but his exasperation with them didn’t last for long. The moment that he zeroed in on Colette’s injuries, he closed the distance between them in a flash.

“Whoa there, my dear angel. What happened here? Did you have a bad fall?” 

He took Colette’s hands into his own, letting them rest on them with her palms facing up as he examined them. Colette offered him a sheepish smile as she allowed him to take a closer look. 

“It doesn’t hurt,” she assured him in the same way she had Lloyd, but Zelos didn’t allow her dismissal to deter him from treating her injuries. 

“Well, even so, I can’t let a lovely lady remain in this state under my watch, so let’s get you healed up,” he told her with a charming wink before proceeding to do just that. 

A bright sparkle fluttered out of Zelos’ fingertips and zipped into Colette’s palms. Her skin glowed briefly as the scrapes were knitted together with dancing sparks of magic that flickered away as soon as their job was done. Though still dirty, the redness and scrapes were gone. 

Lloyd closed his mouth as soon as the display of magic finished. He realized then that he had been staring. They didn’t often get a chance to see Zelos heal up close like this. He tended to only do it during battle, and only if Raine was otherwise distracted or spent. 

“Thank you, Zelos!” Colette chirped happily. She rubbed her hands together to brush away the dirt that remained. Lloyd looked up at Zelos’ growing smile.

“Yeah, thanks.” Lloyd grinned at him.

“That pretty smile of yours is all the thanks I need,” Zelos told Colette with another devilish wink. And then he turned his eyes on Lloyd. His gaze flickered over him in a movement that was almost too quick to catch in the act, but Lloyd got the impression he was checking whether or not Lloyd had gotten injured too.

“No need to worry, I’m fine.” He quickly reassured him with an open hand, but the gesture ended up having the opposite effect: a flash of surprise crossed Zelos’ eyes—he had clearly not expected Lloyd to notice his concern, and now that he had been caught, he swiftly buried it away beneath his usual nonchalant demeanor.

“Hmph, who said I was worried about you? I’ll have you know that the Great Zelos’ special healing services are solely reserved for the ladies! You can get the Professor to look you over if you need to.”

That wasn’t quite true. In the midst of battle, Lloyd had been on the receiving end of one of Zelos’ spells. He almost wished he could feel it now. Outside of battle, he could surely appreciate it.

“Sure,” he said instead with a shrug and a smirk. “Then I guess I’ll just ignore all those other times you’ve healed me.”

While Colette giggled behind her hand, Zelos let out a huff.

“As I said, these are my special healing services. But if you’d rather I don’t pay attention to you when a monster’s coming at you, that can be arranged,” the redhead said haughtily, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“The Professor will scold you if you do that, Zelos,” Colette reminded him, trying to hold back another laugh. 

The mere reminder did, of course, make Zelos abandon that train of thought promptly. He winced at the mental image of being on the receiving end of Raine’s (painful) disapproval and then pressed a hand against his chest, as if appalled by his own blunder. 

“You’re absolutely right, my dear angel. How could I even dare to burden our sweet Professor with this sort of thing? I suppose I’ll have to resign myself to doing what I must, for her sake,” he said theatrically. 

Lloyd snickered with a grin. “Well, thanks, Zelos. Even if you are doing it for a weird reason.” He clenched his fist in a cheerful determination. “I’ll look out for you too! So you really don’t need to worry. We’ll have each other’s backs.”

“Yeah!” Colette pitched in, throwing her fist in the air.

Zelos didn’t seem to know how to react at first in the face of their bright-eyed insistence, but in the end, a wry smile worked its way up his lips, softening his expression. 

“Yeah, yeah, I get it, you pure pair of do-gooders. But before you start worrying about protecting anyone, how about you focus on staying close to the rest of the group instead of wandering off on your own?”

The two of them wilted sheepishly.

“Okay, okay.” Lloyd rubbed the back of his neck.

“We’re sorry, Zelos. We’ll make sure to keep up.” Colette bobbed her head in a quick nod.

“Good.” Zelos’ smile brightened into something a bit more familiar. “Let’s go catch up with everyone else then. I’ll escort you personally, my little angel.”

Despite Zelos’ flirtations, Lloyd still found himself feeling somewhat warm. The three of them caught up with the group and Zelos never left them behind, not even Lloyd. His scolding had brought Colette’s words back up to the forefront of Lloyd’s mind and lightened his step.

Zelos is really nice, isn’t he?

Lloyd kept an eye on Zelos’ back as they walked, wondering how many parts of him were hidden underneath the surface. He was eager to find more of them, to unearth a new piece of him. Lloyd propped his hands up behind his head and grinned to himself. 

He couldn’t wait to know him better.