10th Combo - Video

[redcladidealist]

[He'd been thirsty when he'd woken up early in the morning. Still a little sleepy, the six year old got up to go look for Kratos. Things like cups and faucets were a little beyond his reach. Not without a chair to stand on, but it would be easier to ask his daddy's friend. Besides, a part of him just wanted to see the man again, a tangible presence connected to his father. Being around the man made him feel that much closer to seeing his daddy again.

Yawning, Lloyd put his hand on the door knob of his room-



-and freezes, eyes wide. That's not a six year old hand on the knob. He's not six. He's...

Seventeen.

Seventeen, but he'd been six again for a week. A week he remembers. Sheena and Rise, Dino, Colette, Saki and Zelos, Emil, Haseo, people he didn't even know...

Kratos.

Lloyd can feel the heat of embarrassment creeping up into his face. All the things he'd said and done... and with his friends. With Kratos.]

Aw man...

[A little while later, after he's snuck out of Kratos's house, trying not to wake the man up, the teenager turns his Dreamberry on. His face is still a shade of mortified red.]

Damn it, what does this place have against normal?

Comments

[redcladidealist]

[Rubbing the back of his neck. So awkward. Still, he offers a weak smile.]

Yeah. Thank goodness for that.

Er... sorry about making you scream.

[popstar]

[Have a weak laugh and a shake of the head.]

It's okay, I guess. You didn't really know any better.

[redcladidealist]

What made you scream like that anyway?

[...and Lloyd is still clueless, no matter how old he is.]

[popstar]

...Really, Lloyd?

[redcladidealist]

What?

[He really doesn't get it.]

[popstar]

[She's sighing right about now, and it's a big one.]

The frog... I was screaming because of the frog, okay?

[redcladidealist]

Oh.

[Sorry, Rise. He's still got a blankly surprised look on his face.]

What was wrong with the frog?

[popstar]

[She looks a little disgusted talking about it.]

They just really gross me out.

[redcladidealist]

Huh. I don't really get it, but I guess I understand. [After all, there's things he doesn't like, too.] Sorry about that, Rise.

[popstar]

It's okay. You're lucky you were such a cute kid back then.

[Otherwise it might've taken longer for her to forgive you.]

[redcladidealist]

Huh? [Lloyd flushes.] Wh-what're you talking about? I wasn't cute. I was just a normal kid.

[popstar]

[Seeing Lloyd blush like that only made he laugh.]

You were cute. So tiny and naive.

[redcladidealist]

[Not. Helping.]

Naive about what?

[popstar]

Well, you did think the Dreamberry was a rock.

[redcladidealist]

[If it's possible, Lloyd's face turns an even brighter shade of red.]

H-hey! That's not my fault! We don't have any magitechnology like there where I'm from! How was I supposed to know what it was?

[popstar]

Even then! I still thought that it was kinda cute. And you really wanted to get me out of it too. How's that not cute?

[redcladidealist]

[Okay, he kind of wishes the ground would swallow him up right now.]

If you thought someone had been eaten by a rock, wouldn't you have done the same thing?

[popstar]

[Sorry Lloyd. That's not happening. And neither is Rise going to stop anytime soon.]

I don't think hitting it with a stick would've done anything.

[redcladidealist]

[FOREVER MORTIFIED.]

I didn't know that. I thought it was a rock monster or something! You're supposed to beat monsters up if you want to save people from them. At least, that's what I thought back then.

Come on, Rise, I was six.

[popstar]

[How she loves watching you squirm. Have a giggle.]

I know, I know. But that's another reason why you were so cute.

[redcladidealist]

[Rise just wants to make his face resemble a tomato.]

Y-yeah, well, you were cute, too!

[Two can play at this game.]

[popstar]

[Unfortunately for you she knows how to take compliments well.]

Thanks Lloyd. Even if you haven't seen me as a six year-old before.

[redcladidealist]

I wasn't talking about that.

[Lloyd is about to open mouth, insert foot in three... two... one...]

You were cute when you were screaming about that frog.

[popstar]

Wait, what?

[She didn't hear that correctly did she? After all, how could she be cute when she was screaming her head off. Her cheeks immediately flush and she tries her best to cover them behind her hands.]

How was that cute, Lloyd?

[redcladidealist]

[Lloyd immediately becomes flustered at having to explain himself.] Because... because you were! You were kind of... um... You had a lot of emotion! It made you look... different. You were cute!

[Lloyd obviously fails with words.]