caughtinanetwork | 001. [video] intro.

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001. [video] intro.

[Gives the SFC a gentle flick, giving the camera a wry smile. Seems like he's managed to get rid of all signs of his wet arrival, minus his damp clothes. He's trying very hard to forget the whole incident for your benefit.]

So what, all I get for gracing you all with my presence is this booklet and this horrendous tunic? No welcome party, no parades, no nothing? Geez. Not to mention there's water in places you don't deserve to even know about.

[He pouts his pretty boy pout, looking very hurt indeed.]

Ah, well, I'll forgive you this time. I'm sure that there should be plenty of hunnies out there to cheer me up, yeah? We can have a party of our own now that the great Zelos is here!

Oh, and Lloyd and friends? That includes my dear, voluptuous hunny, my darling angel, my cool beauty, and my precious little one-- If you're here, you're invited, too. Don't leave a man hanging, hmm?

[With a wink and a grin, he turns off the feed.]

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[Nope, pretty much everything that Zelos just said went in one ear and out the other. Zelos is back! Back and just, you know, being himself. That's the important message here!]

Zelos! Man, it took you long enough! Where are you?

[Come on, just tell him. He owes you a whack for that disappearing act.

And maybe a crushing hug for a moment. Maybe. Because Zelos is back!]

[A wave of relief washes over him when he lays eyes on a familiar face. All this talk of "foreigners" in that booklet got him just a tiny bit nervous.

He grins.] Hey, I'm just fashionably late! Can't you be a bit more grateful that I'm even here?

I think I'm in some sort of plaza. There's a huge piece of coral here, can't miss it.

[That's... weird... Somehow the way Zelos is referring to the plaza and the coral seems...

Eh, he's probably doing it on purpose, being deliberately dramatic. Lloyd brushes the thought away and grins back.]

Okay, hang on. I have something I want to show you!

[Not... entirely the reason he wants to track Zelos down, but close enough that he can still call it the truth! He turns the SFC off before Zelos can ask him about it, then heads on his way, straight for the plaza. Stick around a few minutes, Zelos, and you'll see a familiar brunette in a similarly familiar red jacket. He's racing into the plaza, weaving through the passersby as he searches- There!]

Zelos! Over here!

[Slips his hands into his pockets and waits patiently. Leave it to Lloyd to be bursting with energy.

After a few moments of waiting, he sees Lloyd's wild hair in the distance, then the rest of him. Zelos can't help but grin. He gives a lazy wave as he moves to meet Lloyd halfway.]

So what's all this fuss about, bud?

[No no, hang on, wait for it...

Lloyd slows when he closes the distance down to just a few feet. The grin remains. Can't alert Zelos. Okay, so it's not just a fake grin, but it's helping to hide the lump of emotion in his throat and the fact that his hand is moving.

Moving at high speed straight for the back of Zelos's head.]

Hah! That's what you get! I mean, come on, really?! A dust pan?!

[The hit connects, nearly knocking Zelos over from both the force and the surprise. Once he gathers his composure, Zelos straightens up, rubbing his head and giving Lloyd a heated stare.]

What the hell was that about, you dumbass?! What in the world are you talking about?

[Lloyd just gives Zelos a look. He is so not buying it.]

You know what I'm talking about, Zelos. That dust pan you gave me after you left? And the explanation you left with it? What, you don't think I know how to use one?

Are you kidding me? When have you ever gotten acquainted with cleanning supplies, bud?

But seriously, cut the crap. I have no idea what you're talking about. [Still rubbing his head.] Geez, can't a guy catch a break after waking up soaking wet? Not to mention waking up in some strange city...

Hey, I've cleaned my room before!

[Lloyd makes a frustrated sound, scowling at Zelos now.]

Come on, is hasn't been that long since you left. You can't have forgotten this place. You know, Vatheon? That city in the bubble underwater where all the worlds meet?

I've never been here before! [Getting real tired of your bullshit here, bro. He looks very close to stampong his feet like a child.] I don't know what's up with you, but you seriously need to take a step back and figure yourself out.

[What?

No, wait. What. Lloyd stares at Zelos, trying to read if he is serious.]

Yes you have. You were here before I got here. I'm not the one who needs to figure things out. Zelos, what's going on?

Dude, how do you expect me to know? I know you're not too bright, bud, but even I don't have the answers this time.

I'm sorry to disappoint-- [He averts his eyes.] --but right now, I think it's safe to say that you know more than me right now. I really have no clue what you're talking about.

[Lloyd frowns, thoroughly stumped. Zelos isn't just pulling his leg, is he? He doesn't sound like he is...]

Look... Here, I can prove you've been here before. Come on, come with me.

[He starts off down the street, then turns his head back to make sure Zelos is following.]

[Doesn't look like Lloyd wants to give in just yet. With a sigh, he follows his best friend..]

Showing me proof of the impossible... Sounds like Lloyd alright. [Mostly talking to himself.]

[Lloyd is pretty sure Zelos just needs something to jog his memories. He can't have really forgotten, right? It's just like when Lloyd can't remember where he put his shoes. He didn't forget, he just... misplaced the memory. Soon as he saw his shoes, he'd remembered, and felt silly for ever forgetting.

Heh, yeah, he's pretty sure Zelos will feel even sillier once everything comes back.]

You keep saying that, but wait'll you see for yourself.

[Lloyd definitely seems pretty confident. He also seems to know his way through the city well, leading Zelos to the edge of the main populated area. Trees surround a large stone and wood building, three stories tall, with what looks like a smithy set off to the side.]

I guess you never got to see my new place before you left last time. This is the Winespring Inn I told you about. My room's up on the third floor. I'm not sure if Mat or Rand are home, but we probably shouldn't be too loud.

[Looks like Lloyd alright, sturdy and practical. Zelos crosses his arms over his chest.]

When is it gonna get through that thick skull of yours? You keep blabbing on about stuff as if I'm suppised to know about it, but in reality, I'm just completely lost. It's quaint, but I don't know squat about it, or those people you mentioned.

Well, Rand's new. He came while you were gone, so I don't expect you to know about him. I guess Mat's name never stuck because I didn't talk about him to you much, and I just said you've never been to my place here. This isn't how I'm going to prove you've been in Vatheon.

[Sorry, Zelos, he's not ready to quit justifying the lack of memory, or admit it might really be a lack of memory. That possibility just hasn't sunk in.

Inside the building, the first floor looks like the common room of a fairly large but empty inn, with tables and an unmanned bar, plenty of room for people to mingle. Lloyd heads straight for the stairs on the other side, stairs that will take them to the second floor, which looks more like the first story of a house instead of an inn, then on up to the third.]

It's pretty cool here, though. One of their friends, Perrin, used to live here. He's a blacksmith and he let me use the forge. Mat figured since Perrin let me use it once already, he wouldn't mind letting me keep using it. I've been working on making stuff to build a boat with!

[He listens and doesn't really have much to add. Maybe if he just shut up for once, he could hurry up and get to the point - the point being that he's never been here before and people should just stop acting like it already.]

A boat? We're already underwater. Gonna need something that can go underwater, not on top of it.

I'm not going to build it down here. I'm going to build it on the island above us.

[Okay, they're on the third floor now. Lloyd makes a beeline for his room. When he opens the door, Zelos will get to see... a messy bedroom stacked with all sorts of craft projects, a few papers lying around that might be scrawled blueprints, and clothes left lying everywhere. Lloyd, of course, ignores all this, picking a way expertly along a trail through the room to a shelf on the wall near his bed. There's a picture in a frame there, which he picks up and brings back. The frame, if Zelos bothers to look at it, is clearly handmade.

But the picture itself might distract him from that, because the picture, from his perspective, would be impossible. It's a candid shot of two young boys, a redhead who looks like he might be preteen and a brunette who only looks three. The older boy is smiling while the younger boy climbs all over him.

The boys are Zelos and Lloyd.]

There. See?

[Okay, you've lost him. He's still not familiar with the new world yet, so he decides to let the conversation drop.

At the doorway of Lloyd's bedroom, Zelos doesn't bother to try to navigate through his mess. He leans against the open door and watches him closely.

When he lays eyes on the photo, he can't help but smile at how precious Lloyd is. He recognizes him instantly, those eyes are so distinctive, but the redhead makes his breath catch in his throat. He looks so... happy. The young redhead wears his face, his young body, but that expression is too foreign to truly be him. Right?

Zelos shakes his head, looking away.]

I don't know where the hell you got that from. It doesn't make any sense at all.

[Lloyd's heart had risen at the sight of that smile, what he'd thought had been a hint that Zelos remembered. He'd been the one to give Lloyd this picture, after all.

But that isn't the case. Lloyd makes a frustrated sound and shakes his head insistently.]

Yes, it does! It proves you've been here and that we both got cursed so that we were both kids again. I'm pretty sure Zelda took that picture. You remember her, don't you? You even lived with her!

[Alarm bubbles in his throat, but he squashes it down as quickly as he can, shaking his head more vigorously. He lived with that woman...? Just what happened between the two of them to get him so close to her?]

I talked to Zelda for a few moments before you responded. She claimed to know me, too, but I've never seen her before.

[His hands twitch by his sides as he turns towards Lloyd sharply.] Okay?! I don't know what's going on with her, or with you, or with all these damn people claiming that they know me! I've been here for a few hours at best! Why can't you get that into your fucking head!

[Alarm is shooting high inside of Lloyd, too, but for an entirely different reason.]

Because you've been here! Come on, you have to remember! What about the club thing for girls to talk to people? Or when you made me drink tomato juice after I got drunk? What about... What about when you helped make my new Key Crest? Don't you remember any of that?

[Video] 3/4

[Video] 4/4 Done! And...haha, I'm crashing in bed for the night

[Video] Alrighty! Goodnight~

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[Action] omg i'm sorry about the typos, mobile tagging is apparently very difficult for me

[Action] Haha, it's fine. We all make typos sometimes. XD

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[Action] insufficient angry icon...

[Action] I had that same problem this morning in another thread.