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---
At first, nothing seems odd about the request.
“-I mean, I just thought maybe you knew how to make them, and we’re friends, so I thought maybe-”
Okay, it’s a bit odd, but only because chocolate isn’t really something that Lloyd has ever shown an interest in before. Genis has taught Lloyd how to make a few different dishes since they’ve been friends, but it’s always been… meats, breads, sometimes even rare vegetables that Lloyd is fond of - practical foods. He’s never really been one for sweets.
“-obviously, you don’t have to; I’m sure it’s probably a lot of work, and I don’t know if you have the right ingredients here-”
So the chocolate thing is a bit weird, but Genis has never been one to back down from a challenge. He regrets it, later, but at the moment he barely even spares a thought as to why Lloyd has suddenly grown a sweet tooth besides ‘huh, that’s odd.’
“-but I really, really, really wanna know how to make chocolates, and I guess I could have asked Regal, but that seemed a little weird, and the two of us have cooked stuff together before-”
“Lloyd, it’s fine. It’s not that hard. I’ll show you!” Genis hurries to interject, because Lloyd is starting to look a little blue. Lloyd heaves a relieved sigh and shakes his head. ‘Huh,’ Genis wonders - ‘he was actually worried I was gonna say no.’ Later, he’ll swear that this is the moment the alarm bells started ringing in his head, but if he’s being honest with himself, he knows it’s not.
“Thanks, Genis. I can always count on you.” He says with a grin, and Genis can’t help but smile back. Lloyd’s good cheer is always infectious like that. His friend puts his hands on his hips and laughs brightly. “Okay, what do we need?!” Lloyd chirps, and Genis realizes ‘yes, I’ll show you how to make chocolates’ has become ‘yes, i’ll show you how to make chocolates right this second. ’ He’s not surprised at the rush - Lloyd is Lloyd, afterall - but he takes a moment to mourn the loss of his free time and close his book with a soft thud. It wasn’t like he’d been doing much, though, besides hanging around the hotel resort reading Tethe’allen textbooks while the others all got business done in Altamira.
With a determined nod, Genis stands up. “Depends. What kind of chocolates were you thinking of?”
Lloyd looks at him with a confused frown and shrugs. “I dunno. Regular chocolate? Plain chocolate? Is that a thing? ...There’s different chocolates?”
This is about the moment that Genis realizes with a startling clarity that Lloyd has absolutely no clue what he’s trying to do.
---
They set up in the master suite’s kitchen after a quick shopping spree for ingredients at the market.
Despite the rocky beginning, the day is, overall, a success. In this case the definition of success is very limited to ‘Lloyd understands the basics of what he wants to make and how to make it.’ It’s a small victory, but Genis is patient.
“For the last goddamn time, you have to STIR it! Stir! Stirring! With a spoon!” Genis grumbles while he pours the most recent failure down the drain. Lloyd is pouting at the table, sitting backwards in the wooden chair to face the rest of the kitchen.
Genis is patient.
“I was stirring! … Okay, okay, I got distracted a bunch, but I stirred a couple of times!”
Genis is patient.
“It needs constant stirring! ‘A couple of times’ doesn’t cut it!”
“I know, I know! It’s just hard!”
“How is doing one repetitive motion hard ?!”
“It’s boring! I can’t concentrate!”
Sighing, Genis shakes his head and looks forlornly at the depleted pile of ingredients on the counter. He’d anticipated some mistakes, but at the rate they were going, they were going to need more.
“Do you just want me to make some for you?” Genis asks with a yawn. “We’ve been at this for hours.”
Lloyd shoots up in his chair, shaking his head wildly. “No! No, no. No, I have to do it myself.”
Genis shrugs. “Well, we can try again another time. I’m exhausted. I’m gonna crash on the couch and get some sleep.”
His friend frowns at first before smiling and getting up to stretch. “Alright. I might give it another shot.”
“Tell me if they turn out… edible.” Genis snipes with a tired grin, and Lloyd grumbles a bit, but isn’t hurt by the jibe. They exchange good nights, and Lloyd waves him out of the kitchen with a grin of his own and a determined glint in his eyes.
Genis can’t stop smelling chocolate all night.
---
The next morning, Genis wakes up easily. The light is streaming through the curtains, and from the looks of the sun, someone is going to be knocking on the door soon to make sure everyone’s awake and ready to go. It takes him a few moments, but eventually he remembers the fiasco of the night before.
The kitchen is quiet, and Genis isn’t sure if the trepidation he feels as he sticks his head around the wall is entirely appropriate. The first thing he sees is Lloyd, sitting up at the kitchen table with a half-empty tray of misshapen little chocolate balls in front of him. The second thing is the absolute trainwreck of a mess that’s somehow been plastered on every surface in the kitchen. Cocoa is strewn across the countertops, tiny chocolate pieces across the floor. There’s a spot near the strange Tethe-allen oven where Genis is at least 90% certain that a whole batter mix must have been dropped. The only spot in the whole kitchen that looks at least moderately clean is the table Lloyd’s stationed at.
He’s hunched over the tray with his back to Genis, and as Genis watches with incredulous pity, he mechanically reaches one hand up to the tray, grabs a chocolate, and puts it in his mouth.
“You haven’t slept yet, have you?” Genis asks.
“Nope.” Lloyd says, mouth full. He chews half-heartedly before swallowing and picking up another one.
Genis stares. “Are they… good?” He asks as he picks one up curiously. They’re definitely not pretty, but they’re formed and look like chocolate, which is a step up from the night before.
“I guess.” Lloyd mutters blandly, forehead creased in a way that hasn’t lightened since Genis has woken up. He puts the chocolate in his mouth. Genis shrugs, and pops his own in - he lives with his sister; there’s nothing Lloyd can make that would ever be as bad as Raine’s cooking. He’s not afraid.
Actually, he’s pleasantly surprised. Despite their… unappetizing appearance, the little chocolates aren’t half bad. It’s not exactly anything special, but they taste fine. He even grabs another one after he’s finished the first.
Lloyd doesn’t look happy.
“What’s wrong with them?” Genis asks, honestly confused. He would think Lloyd would be over the moon - after all, he did manage to successfully make a batch of chocolates. Without Genis there to supervise, even.
Frowning, Lloyd goes to pick up another chocolate, but Genis bats his hand away. Lloyd doesn’t make another move to grab one, only sighs and slumps down further in his chair. “I dunno.” He grumbles.
Blinking, Genis waits.
“Fine. They’re… I dunno. They’re chocolates.” Lloyd says unhelpfully.
Genis nods along. “Yeah. They are.” He says, because they are.
Lloyd stares at him for a few beats like this is supposed to mean something. Finally. He shakes his head again and groans. “They’re boring! ”
Genis snorts. “They’re good, but it’s plain chocolate, Lloyd. What were you expecting?”
“I… I don’t know. These just aren’t… they’re not good enough.” Lloyd mutters, and scratches the back of his neck. “I could buy stuff from a store and have it taste better than this.”
“Most chocolates from stores have other stuff mixed in. Caramel, different flavors, different chocolates. We just used plain milk chocolate, nothing else.” Genis says thoughtfully.
Lloyd looks like his head is about to explode, and Genis takes pity on him. “How about this - we clean this kitchen up a bit before we leave, and you spend some time thinking. The next town we stop in, give me an idea for something to make and we’ll try it.”
“...Okay.” Lloyd says, nodding seriously. “I will.”
They sit in silence for a few moments, looking around the kitchen. Lloyd looks like he might be seeing it for the first time.
“You jackass .” Genis says.
“Yeah.” Lloyd agrees.
---
So, Genis forgets about it. Well, not really, but in between fighting and other, more important things, it fades from his immediate thoughts. They stop in Meltokio around a week later to resupply and spend a day resting. Zelos, as usual, offers his mansion for them to use - an offer that Raine, as usual, quickly accepts whenever she remembers the prices on Meltokio’s inns. Genis can’t even really complain - Zelos’ mansion is huge, more like an inn itself than a house. The couches in the lobby are cushy and comfortable and make great reading spots with the light from the window behind them.
Not that he manages to appreciate the reading light before Lloyd slumps down onto the couch next to him like a sack of potatoes. “I was thinking about using fruit.” He says cryptically, and Genis blinks a few times and slowly closes his book. It’s a new one - ‘The Effects of Exsphere Mining In Meltokio’s Economy - a History,’ and it’s very interesting.
“...Fruit?” Genis asks.
“Yeah.” Lloyd nods.
They sit in silence.
“You know, for the chocolate.”
“Ah. Of course.” Genis remembers now. “... Why?” He asks.
“I dunno.” Lloyd shrugs. “It just seems like something he-” He cuts himself off, frowning and biting his bottom lip. “Seems like it would be good.”
Genis squints.
This is another one of those moments that he’d kick the shit out of himself for if he could go back in time.
Regrettably, Genis has a headache and he wants to get back to his book so he just says, “That’s easy. Just get fruit and dip it.”
Lloyd taps his own forehead. “Just dip the fruit? That’s not really… a chocolate, is it? That’s just. Chocolate covered fruit.”
Genis groans and drops his head against the backrest of the couch. “I’m going to cry, Lloyd. You’re going to make me cry.” At the look Lloyd gives him, he rolls his eyes up towards the ceiling. “Okay. Um… what about fruit jellies? People make chocolate covered fruit jellies. I think that counts as a chocolate candy.”
Lloyd perks up like the idea of a chocolate covered jelly has never occurred to him. It probably hasn’t.
“That’s… a great idea! Thanks, Genis!” He grins, clapping his hands together.
“Let me guess, you want to try right now?” Genis deadpans, but Lloyd surprises him by hesitating for a moment before shaking his head.
“Nah… later.” He says, a tad shiftily. “I think I’m actually gonna just go for it on my own. I think I understand the basics…?”
Genis squints again, before snickering out a short laugh. “Yeah, we’d probably wreck Zelos’ kitchen. Actually, let’s go for it. Make him clean it up.”
Lloyd looks alarmed, but laughs all the same. “No, no, no. That’s mean.”
They laugh, and Genis gets to go back to his book.
---
Later in the day, most of the party is gone, and Genis is half reading and half napping on the couch. He’s seen Regal, Lloyd, Colette, Raine, Sheena, and Presea all go out the front door, although not all together. Each person invited him along, and although he turned them all down in favor of Meltokio’s Exsphere Economy, it still made his chest warm every time.
Understandably, he’s more than a bit surprised when he hears a tiny whisper of his name by his ear. Jumping a half foot in the air is totally within reason, and Zelos goddamn Wilder has no right to be leaning over the back of the couch snickering his ass off.
“What-” Genis hisses with all the bitter disdain he can muster. “Do you want?”
It’s not very effective. Zelos grins and raises his hands in a mock gesture of surrender. “Relax, kid. I was just hoping for some advice.”
Leaning backwards, Genis frowns.
This is odd.
“...Me?” He asks incredulously. He’s so thrown off by the idea that Zelos is asking him for advice on something that he forgets to be angry.
Zelos nods. “Yep, you. You’re a pretty good cook for a little kid - do you have any idea how to make chocolates? I guess I could go to the library and find a recipe book, but it’s easier to learn from a friend, in my experience.”
Genis blinks.
“You… want to know how to make chocolates?” He asks slowly. ‘Huh,’ he thinks blankly. ‘Deja vu.’
Zelos nods.
“It seems like something you’d already know.” Genis mumbles.
“Ah-ah, cause of all my hunnies, right?” Zelos winks at him, still grinning. “I buy chocolate for them all the time, but I’ve never made any before! It’ll be… from the heart!” He finishes with an overdone flourish of the hand, and leaves it resting over his chest.
“... uh-huh.” Genis says. He stares at Zelos from the other side of the couch, and looks back down at his book. He looks back up. Zelos is still there, with a desperately hopeful look in his eyes.
“Help a bro out…?” Zelos cracks weakly.
Damnit.
‘He can’t be worse at it than Lloyd.’ Genis says to himself as a consolation.
---
Zelos is, thankfully, a fast learner. He pins his hair up and out of the way, pays close attention, and carefully follows Genis’ instructions. In an hour flat, they have a presentable batch of plain milk chocolates before them. It’s literally a tenth of the time it took for Lloyd to manage it, and Genis feels a mixture of schadenfreude and pity for his best friend.
When he turns to Zelos to congratulate him on the chocolates, however, he sees a familiar expression on the redhead’s face.
“...What’s wrong with them?” Genis asks.
Zelos sighs and shakes his head. “I guess not even the Great Zelos can make a perfect batch on the first try.”
Genis blinks. He feels a headache coming on. “They taste fine.” He says awkwardly. The two of them have never really gotten along, but Zelos has been surprisingly cool after the couch episode.
Zelos shrugs, and shakes all the chocolates into a little box. “You take them, then. I don’t want any.”
They’re not bad chocolates, so Genis takes the box. He remembers Lloyd’s reaction to his own chocolates, and takes a guess. “Do you think they’re… too plain?” He wonders hesitantly.
Zelos turns to him, a genuine spark of surprise in his eyes. “...Yeah. They’re not good enough.” He says shortly.
Genis snorts. It’s a very surreal experience. “Those girls would take those in a heartbeat.” He grumbles.
Starting, Zelos frowns. “...Yeah, you’re probably right.” He doesn’t say anything afterwards, and Genis feels a bit awkward.
“Goddamnit, it’s not rocket science.” He snarks. “If you think they’re too plain, put something in.”
“Like what?!” Zelos nearly whines. “I don’t know what they’ll like!”
“I keep telling you - they’ll like anything you give them. I have no clue why you’re so hung up over this.” Genis says, throwing his hands in the air. “I don’t know what to tell you. I don’t know what Tethe’allen people like in their stupid chocolate. The last time I went shopping with the others here, we saw chocolate covered peppers. ”
Zelos suddenly perks up, his eyes widening. “You don’t have chocolate covered peppers in Sylvarant?” He asks.
Genis leans back at the sudden change of tone. “... No? I’ve never heard of it before in my life. It’s weird. Like something Raine would make for kicks.”
Frowning, Zelos looks around his kitchen. “Well… what do you use in Sylvarant?” He asks carefully, like it’s the most important question he’s ever asked.
“How’s that gonna help you with the girls here?” Genis grumbles.
“No, no, I’m curious. What do you use in Sylvarant? What kind of chocolate do you guys like? My cute little angel, you, and Lloyd.” He asks again, almost more serious than Genis has ever seen him. Over chocolate.
Unsurprisingly, this is another one of those moments that Genis would kick himself for if he was capable of time travel.
“Uh- oh, hmm.” Genis, at this stage oblivious to the danger unfurling before him, thinks hard about the question. “Well, Colette likes anything sweet. I don’t think she’s ever mentioned a favorite, but it’s probably chocolate covered fruit.”
Zelos nods sagely, wiping a fake tear from his eye. “We’re practically twins! There’s nothing better than chocolate covered fruit.”
Genis sighs. “I guess I like white chocolate. I’m not picky.” He trails off, thinking. Zelos is messing with the dishes in the sink, putting off an air of casual interest, but his eyes are tracking Genis like a hawk.
“...Lloyd?” Zelos asks offhandedly while examining one of the dirty spoons.
“I’m thinking - I don’t really know. He’s never really had much of a sweet tooth.” Genis finally says.
“How can you not like chocolate?!” Zelos bursts out, spinning around and brandishing the spoon at Genis. Genis does not jump. Zelos looks like he’s about to burst a blood vessel.
“Don’t point that thing at me, I don’t know. I mean, he likes it. I just don’t know what- Oh, wait. There was this thing Dirk used to make! It was this sheet of dark chocolate filled with a bunch of different nuts and raisins. I never really liked it, but Lloyd and Colette would eat the whole thing!”
Zelos started laughing. “That’s like- that’s healthy chocolate!”
“I- I know!” Genis snickered. “It was awful! It couldn’t even be good healthy like fruit! Just nuts and raisins!”
“That is the saddest thing I have ever heard.” Zelos groaned, still smiling, while shaking his head. “Oh, man. Thanks, kid. I think I’ve got some ideas now.” He grinned.
Genis grinned back. “You know, you’re kind of okay - for an asshole.”
Zelos blinked, startled, before barking out another laugh. “If the Cool Beauty heard you talking like that, she’d hit the shit out of you.”
“Don’t you dare tell her I said that. I’ll fireball you.”
“Nah, your secret’s safe with me. After all; you’re kind of okay, too- for a little brat.”
---
It takes another week for Genis to realize the gravity of his mistakes.
They’re in Sybak this time, checking up on a lead at the research institute. Everybody’s mostly split up, and as they haven’t checked into an inn yet, he’s wound up wandering around the flea market with Sheena and Regal. Thankfully, the two of them are moving fairly fast - they skip past the seventh chocolate stall without a second glance. And it really has been seven; Genis has been counting.
Shaking his head, Genis scratches his cheek in amazement. “What is it, chocolate season? Everywhere I look, chocolate.”
Sheena looks back at him with an incredulous frown. “Well, yeah. Of course it is.” She says.
Genis stops. “What do you mean?” He asks, feeling an odd sense of dread curl in his stomach.
“Today is Valentine’s Day.” She says with a long-suffering air, like this should explain everything. It doesn’t.
He opens his mouth to ask what in the world ‘valentine’s day’ is, when Regal suddenly jumps in with a smile. “I apologize, Genis. I’d forgotten - they don’t have ‘Valentine’s Day’ in Sylvarant, Sheena.”
“What?!” Sheena gapes at him. “I’m moving! Now! Take me home with you!” She cries.
“Valentine’s Day is a holiday here in Tethe’alla where you gift chocolates to somebody that you have… ah, romantic feelings for. Originally, it was supposed to be handmade chocolates, but - well, with the times…” He explains, and Genis can barely hear the next thing he says from the sound of his choices and decisions crashing down around himself. “- I explained this to Lloyd a few weeks ago as it came up in conversation, but forgot to enlighten the rest of our party as to the festivities.”
Genis takes a deep breath.
And another.
It can’t possibly be as bad as he’s imagining.
It’s entirely possible that Lloyd was trying to make chocolates for Colette.
But, in that case, Lloyd would have said something. The two of them were certainly close enough, and Genis had known about Lloyd’s crush on Colette when they’d been younger. And- a lesser nail, but a nail in the coffin all the same - it’s not a Sylvaranti holiday. Colette would like the chocolates, but it wouldn’t have the same -
And Zelos-
Genis groans and puts his head in his hands. “God damnit!” He moans.
Sheena jumps. “What- what’s wrong?” She asks, looking genuinely concerned.
Genis couldn’t look her in the eye.
“I’ve made a mistake.” He says blankly.
----
----
With a determination in his heart not unlike the thrill of battle, Genis headed off on his own to find Lloyd and Zelos, and hopefully intercept the Exchange™ before it happened.
When he finally found them the sun was beginning to set, casting a nauseatingly romantic tone over the area right outside town. They were sitting close together at the top of a hill, shoulder-to-shoulder, and laughing so loudly that Genis was honestly surprised it had taken him as long to find them as it did.
For a moment, he paused. Zelos was a dickhead, but they seemed… happy. Genis thought about turning back, and just leaving them alone until tomorrow. It seemed like the right thing to do.
“Hey!” He called, voice cracking. “Hey, you jackasses!”
They both turned around, eyes wide. Lloyd was smiling so hard it looked like his face might split, the idiot, and Zelos was barely any better. “Genis!” Lloyd cried, waving a hand wildly in the air. His arm clonked down onto the top of Zelos’ head with a crack that Genis could hear from all the way at the bottom of the hill, and he definitely heard the curses that followed it.
“Fuck! Goddamn-”
“Shit, shit, sorry Zelos- Genis! Genis, hey, up here!”
“I think he knows where we are, Bud, fuck that hurts-”
Genis growled and trudged his way up the hill, reaching the top after a few painful minutes of climbing. By the time he met up with them, he was huffing up a storm. He sat down bonelessly with a grunt and a wheeze.
Zelos raised his eyebrows. “Do you know how to read the mood, brat?” He jeered, but there was no bite in his tone.
“Shut- the fuck - up-” Genis wheezed over Lloyd’s reprimands. “If it wasn’t- for me - there would be- no mood.”
Zelos grinned brightly, but Lloyd at least had the good sense to look a bit apologetic. Ah well, that’s why Lloyd was his best friend anyways.
“Thanks for the advice, by the way.” Zelos smirked, eyes dancing.
Lloyd sat up straight. “You jerkoff! I knew you didn’t just think of that on your own.”
Zelos chortled. “You’ve got no room to talk!”
“They’ll be useful!” Lloyd grumbled, flushing a bright red.
“Do I even- want to know?” Genis asked, finally managing to catch his breath.
“ Yes!” Zelos crowed, while Lloyd simultaneously groaned “No!” and hid his face in his hands.
“He used fucking gels in his chocolate! Like, bona fide apple gels and peach gels!” Zelos broke into full bodied laughter, waving a good-sized box around in the air that Genis hadn’t noticed until now.
Genis closed his eyes and counted to three. “Lloyd, that’s not what I meant.”
“I know that!” He tried to yell, but it came out as half laughter. “I just. I didn’t buy enough ingredients to cover all the stupid mistakes I made! And then the day was tomorrow and I didn’t have enough time so I had to use something!”
Zelos, who had almost managed to calm down, broke into another fit of laughter and collapsed back onto the grass. “You didn’t tell me that!”
Groaning, Genis shook his head. “And you totally made Dirk’s chocolate, didn’t you. You jackass.” He muttered.
“A-ha, not quite!” Zelos grinned, sitting back up in a flash. “I kept the same base of dark chocolate so that it would taste somewhat similar to what he liked, but instead of nuts and raisins I threw a bunch of crap like marshmallows and cookie bits.”
Despite himself, Genis started to snicker. “You fixed it! Dirk would be rolling over in his grave!”
“He’s not dead!” Lloyd laughed, and threw a tiny piece of chocolate at Genis. It hit him on the forehead, and fell down to the grass.
“Heartbreaking! You’re just throwing my hard work into the dust!” Zelos cried, slinging an arm over his eyes and letting loose a terrible fake wail.
“Hey- hey, I’m supposed to be mad at you guys. Stop it.” Genis laughed.
Lloyd shook his head, smiling. “That’s what we were laughing about when you got here. We’d only just realized that we’d both gone to you for help with cooking.”
“Thanks for that again, by the way.” Zelos teased, but his smile was sincere.
Genis shrugged. “Not like I knew I was doing it.”
They were all quiet for a few moments before Genis turned to glare at Zelos. “I crawled my way up here to let you know that Lloyd’s my best friend, and even though I question his horrible taste-”
“I do too!” Zelos interjected, but looks from both Lloyd and Genis made him click his mouth shut.
“-I trust that he can make his own decisions. Even if they’re… you. ” Genis sneered. “But if you hurt him at all, I swear I’ll bury you alive. I know how to use earth magic. I’ll do it.”
“Genis, you did not come all the way up here just to-”
“Yeah. Yeah, I really did.” He grumbled.
Zelos frowned up at the sky. “I’ll dig the hole for you with my own bare hands, brat.”
Genis pretended not to see Lloyd lace his fingers together with the Chosen’s, and looked away while they started whispering, but when Zelos leaned forward to kiss Lloyd, Genis raised his hand. “Still here, idiots. Be cool.”
Zelos gave him a long side-eye. “If you don’t wanna see it, then go.”
Lloyd scowled and smacked him upside the head.
Genis laid back against the grass, snickering. “Nah, I don’t think so. You guys owe me, and this stupid hill was really steep. I’m still tired, so I’m gonna lay here and rest.”
He grinned, and pulled out his book.
---