Lloyd's words wash over Zelos' not-quite-here-but-still-here mind, reel it back in in surprise, and pinch his brow and tear his gaze away from the Zohar cluster again. Wait, what? What? Zelos is already wheezing out another laugh when Lloyd's done speaking, looking so expectant, and it causes an incredulous look to slap itself on his face as Zelos asks, a little too loud, "Of course there's cats in this world? Holy shit, Lloyd, what the hell have they done to you for you to hate them? They're so cute!"
And so it begins.
What started as probably just a joke then turns into a five minute debate as they both struggle to understand the true beauty of homophones, then a short explanation on Katz and why they suck forever and cannot be redeemed in the eyes of any god, followed by a lengthy comparison on other small, mostly meaningless differences between both of their worlds. They compare names, culture, geography. Food, at some point. Art, at another. Superficial things that mostly scratch a childishly curious itch, but nothing more.
But that's okay, really. Under the starlight and with only the sounds of nature keeping them company, together with their voices and the crackling of the fire in the distance, Zelos finds that he just doesn't mind if their conversation sticks to the superficial and mindless. Because he's pretty sure that if he hears anything deeper and more serious about the worlds' differences now then he might not like what he finds--the confirmation that he wants is thus sent to the back of his mind, forgotten for tonight, locked together with the existential horror that he knows will come with it. So he humours Lloyd. So they talk for now, casual and easy, until the dark blues and blacks of the sky begin to leak light blue and pink, until morning comes and Zelos realizes, belatedly, that he's left a human without any sleep.
Damn it. Failed step one, huh?
Well, that's not his fault, right? Lloyd did this of his own accord. Maybe it really was like he said and sleep just hates him. The fire has been allowed to go out at some point, Zelos guessing that the morning temperatures are probably much more tolerable than those felt during the night for a human's senses. He's a fire blade, so it doesn't matter to him, but. Gotta be courteous for the humans. Gotta be nice.
Laying down on the grass, staring at the swirling colours of day and night, the transitional moment never quite getting old for a once caged bird seeing it outside for the first time, Zelos suddenly feels unease. Maybe he should get up and check in on the others, a part of him thinks, but the tension from last night comes back and haunts him the second he even dares to think about the only other driver-blade pair in this group. Zelos makes a face. His little episode from merely a few hours back already lies limp in his memory, but there's still licks of anxious energy lapping at his feet like water at the prospect of facing Malos and his driver, leftovers from the intense storm of yesterday that haven't quite left the shores of his conscious.
Lloyd and Sheena already seem to not care about it, though. That's... good, right? The fact that literally half the people here have already apparently forgiven him and he didn't get into any significantly threatening trouble for stepping out of line. The fact that his driver didn't do anything.
That's something, right?
Huh.
Stirring in the ambient ether warns him to an early riser. Zelos blinks, sighs. Makes a choice, rises from his spot on the grass, stretches, dusts himself off as he gets ready to join their party before anyone freaks out about their clear lack of an Aegis nearby. He makes quick, direct eye contact with Lloyd, then silently gestures at the dead campfire with his chin. Briefly, Zelos entertains the idea that he might have to explain why Lloyd's out here with him, but then decides that maybe the kid should explain himself instead.
Because what a curious sight this human makes, having just stayed up with an Aegis all night just talking, not even bothering with actually keeping watch, and returning to camp looking like it hasn't actually affected him.
One timeskip ready to go
And so it begins.
What started as probably just a joke then turns into a five minute debate as they both struggle to understand the true beauty of homophones, then a short explanation on Katz and why they suck forever and cannot be redeemed in the eyes of any god, followed by a lengthy comparison on other small, mostly meaningless differences between both of their worlds. They compare names, culture, geography. Food, at some point. Art, at another. Superficial things that mostly scratch a childishly curious itch, but nothing more.
But that's okay, really. Under the starlight and with only the sounds of nature keeping them company, together with their voices and the crackling of the fire in the distance, Zelos finds that he just doesn't mind if their conversation sticks to the superficial and mindless. Because he's pretty sure that if he hears anything deeper and more serious about the worlds' differences now then he might not like what he finds--the confirmation that he wants is thus sent to the back of his mind, forgotten for tonight, locked together with the existential horror that he knows will come with it. So he humours Lloyd. So they talk for now, casual and easy, until the dark blues and blacks of the sky begin to leak light blue and pink, until morning comes and Zelos realizes, belatedly, that he's left a human without any sleep.
Damn it. Failed step one, huh?
Well, that's not his fault, right? Lloyd did this of his own accord. Maybe it really was like he said and sleep just hates him. The fire has been allowed to go out at some point, Zelos guessing that the morning temperatures are probably much more tolerable than those felt during the night for a human's senses. He's a fire blade, so it doesn't matter to him, but. Gotta be courteous for the humans. Gotta be nice.
Laying down on the grass, staring at the swirling colours of day and night, the transitional moment never quite getting old for a once caged bird seeing it outside for the first time, Zelos suddenly feels unease. Maybe he should get up and check in on the others, a part of him thinks, but the tension from last night comes back and haunts him the second he even dares to think about the only other driver-blade pair in this group. Zelos makes a face. His little episode from merely a few hours back already lies limp in his memory, but there's still licks of anxious energy lapping at his feet like water at the prospect of facing Malos and his driver, leftovers from the intense storm of yesterday that haven't quite left the shores of his conscious.
Lloyd and Sheena already seem to not care about it, though. That's... good, right? The fact that literally half the people here have already apparently forgiven him and he didn't get into any significantly threatening trouble for stepping out of line. The fact that his driver didn't do anything.
That's something, right?
Huh.
Stirring in the ambient ether warns him to an early riser. Zelos blinks, sighs. Makes a choice, rises from his spot on the grass, stretches, dusts himself off as he gets ready to join their party before anyone freaks out about their clear lack of an Aegis nearby. He makes quick, direct eye contact with Lloyd, then silently gestures at the dead campfire with his chin. Briefly, Zelos entertains the idea that he might have to explain why Lloyd's out here with him, but then decides that maybe the kid should explain himself instead.
Because what a curious sight this human makes, having just stayed up with an Aegis all night just talking, not even bothering with actually keeping watch, and returning to camp looking like it hasn't actually affected him.