He is a cunning man, capable of twisting any concept to fit his own ideals in the blink of an eye. Whatever bet you make, whatever you base it on, even if your certainty in success in infallible, everything will tip in Zelos’ Wilder’s favour, and he will win. He will make you look a fool, he will laugh while his pride soars up several notches, and he will never let you live it down. Never.

Lloyd Irving had to learn this the hard way.

Bets were nothing too threatening to Lloyd – he always had them with Genis. He won only a small number of those bets, but he was sure he could win this one. He was growing annoyed with Zelos’ constant flirting around the group for a reason he could quite comprehend, but it annoyed him – especially his carefree attitude in such dire situations. Lloyd wished secretly to himself that he could be as carefree as Zelos in times like those, but he was a worrier – something he couldn’t escape from. And if he was worrying, he needed everyone around him to be calming him down. Something which Zelos didn’t do.

Lloyd finally plucked up the courage to declare his bet to Zelos after a while. He found it a little awkward, being one of his first proper conversations with the man after travelling under his supervision for less than a week now. It also annoyed him at how Zelos was now their group leader, supervising them all for the Pope, and also for knowing the most about this strange, new land they had come to. Much protest was thrown into the air from Lloyd at that fact, but a firm slap to the head from his Professor made him grudgingly accept that Zelos was their new leader.

Regardless of all Lloyd’s worries, Zelos simply slung his arm around Lloyd’s shoulders after his proposition with a grin, waiting to hear the terms.

The terms were met. Zelos wasn’t allowed to flirt for 24 hours.

Lloyd’s faith in humanity slipped a few feet when those day passed without even an uttered “hunny”.

And so, Zelos had won their first bet, and true to his nature, did not plan to let Lloyd live it down. He didn’t know Lloyd too well, and personally didn’t care about the boy, but he’d jump at the chance to mortify anyone who dared challenge him. And he did just that – knowing that Lloyd wouldn’t be unfair and let his end of the deal slip made the experience so much sweeter.

All that was left to do now was to wait for that moment where Zelos could watch Lloyd’s confidence crash down around him, if only for a few minutes.

That moment came at a later hour to Zelos’ satisfaction, and to Lloyd’s horror. The youth and secretly hoped that the thing that would trigger his humiliation could be put off, and by the time it happened next, Zelos would have forgotten all about it. But of course, that would never be the case – Zelos found some sort of sick pleasure in watching the people who challenged him fail miserably, and be made to pay for their errors.

Zelos ran his gloved finger down his blood soaked blade with a large monster behind him, killed and oozing thick, red liquid into the grassy floor, and Lloyd know that his fate had been sealed – Zelos had killed a monster larger than himself singlehanded, without a scratch on him, sealing his prize. Smirking in Lloyd’s direction, he said those two worlds loud enough for the rest of the party to hear; those two words that made Lloyd wish he could just disappear.

‘Say it.’

Lloyd faltered, looking back at the others who were all observing quietly. Raine and Genis offered suspicious glances to him, their weapons still in hand from the previous battle, Sheena simply glared at Zelos, wondering what he could be up to this time, Colette cocked her head to one side curiously at Lloyd’s panicked expression, and Presea simply stared ahead with her empty gaze as per usual. There was no way of getting out of this, and with all his friends watching, Lloyd found this more difficult than he had expected.

Lloyd turned back to the crimson-haired Chosen, opening his mouth slightly and then snapping it shut. Zelos raised an eyebrow, still wearing his trademark grin.

‘Hmm ... s’up, Bumpkin?’ he asked, sheathing his sword. ‘Aww, don’t tell me you’re chickening out now. And after all the trouble I went through of not flirting with my voluptuous hunny?’

‘I was wondering why you were acting so weird ...’ Sheena commented, still eyeing the Chosen warily. ‘So you had a deal with Lloyd all the time?’

‘Yup yup,’ Zelos claimed proudly, thudding Lloyd on the shoulder. ‘Needless to say, the kid lost, and everyone’s favourite Chosen came out top once again.’

Lloyd groaned quietly to himself at the reminder of why he was in this unholy situation, and the taller man wrapped a strong arm around his neck. ‘Now, are you gonna say it, or do I have to beat it out of you?’

‘Oh Lloyd, just say it and get it over with,’ Sheena snapped, becoming impatient with their fooling around. ‘We have to get to Meltokio before nightfall.’

‘Wha – no!’ Lloyd refused loudly, trying to pull away from the Chosen’s grip. ‘I’m not saying it with all these people around!’

‘Well, I’m sorry there kiddo, but you don’t have a choice.’

Lloyd just scowled up at the Chosen at an awkward angle, still with an arm wrapped around his neck. ‘Look – I’ll say it, I swear – just not now -’

‘Oh no, you’re saying it now,’ Zelos protested firmly, tugging Lloyd down in a headlock and pressing his knuckles to the top of his head. ‘Ill noogie it out of you if I have to.’

‘Wha-! Oh come on , how old are you, twenty-tw-?‘

Burning friction erupted across Lloyd’s scalp almost immediately as gloved knuckles set to work. The snickering from Genis wasn’t helping Lloyd in this situation, and he squirmed violently.

‘Ow ow ow! Zelos, I swear to g – OWWW, stoppit! Zelos !’

‘Say it, kiddo,’ the swordsman replied simply, showing no signs of letting the youth free from his unyielding grip until he was satisfied.

‘I don’t want to – oww! Zelos, this really, really hurts! Lemme go already!’

‘Say it, say it, say it, say it, say it, say it, say it-‘

‘No! I won’t! Let me go, dammit!’

‘- Say it, say it, say it, say it, say it, say it, say it-‘

‘Owww! No! Get off!’

‘- Say it, say it, say it, say it, say it, say it, say it, say it, say it, say it, say it, say it-‘

‘Oww, dammit Ze - I’M YOUR BITCH !’

Zelos finally unhanded his short friend as a stunned, ringing silence fell over the group, grinning wildly.

Lloyd took a deep breath, straightening up and refusing to face anyone of his friends, especially Genis, who he was sure was loving this moment as a payback for all of the noogies he had received from Lloyd over the years. No one said anything for a while, and Sheena managed to break the long lasting silence with a chuckle that she could no longer hold on. Very soon, all of them were laughing, save for Presea. Even Colette had to giggle at the time.

Lloyd slapped a hand to his flushed face, dragging it down slowly in humiliation. Zelos finally brushed his knuckles against Lloyd’s chin in a playful thump, ruffling his hair atop the irritated skin of his scalp.

‘‘Atta boy.’

Lloyd just frowned, and Zelos smiled back at him, turning and returning to leading them back to Meltokio, in a much higher mood than usual.

You should never make a bet with the Great Zelos Wilder.

--------

Somewhere, up in the cold, plain Chosen Obvservation Base in Welgaia, several angels stared as Lord Kratos slapped a hand to his face.