"Professor…you've been looking in that mirror for almost an hour," Lloyd finally decided to comment. He'd been sitting in a nearby chair whistling quietly to himself, watching the woman fret over her appearance for quite some time now. If it were Zelos, he wouldn't even have paid attention, but the professor was not someone to typically be so vain. "Um, hello? Are you alright?" He got up and made his way over to the large mirror when he received no response, growing slightly worried.

"Don't you see that?!" Raine grabbed the brunette's head and pulled it in front of the mirror once he was in yanking range but did not take her eyes off her own reflection.

"I don't see anything…" Lloyd winced slightly at the hand that was gripping his hair as he stared at their reflection in confusion.

"Grey hairs!" Raine sighed, running a hand through the locks lightly. "I can't believe this is happening to me already. Of course, it could have to do with stress."

"Um, how can you even tell? I mean, your hair is white already so…" Lloyd was cut off he tired to dodge the smack to the back of the head, not succeeding.

"Are those…wrinkles around my eyes?" Raine turned her attention back towards the mirror and frowned as she picked out more and more things to worry about.

"God…girls are so weird," Lloyd sighed and made his way over to the couch where Genis was sitting, rubbing the back of his wounded head slightly. Glancing over to his friend, who had his nose buried in a book, he realized he was being ignored and thus, not going to receive any sympathy. Not that he usually received any from Genis. Sometimes he wondered why they were even friends at all. "So! What're you reading?

"History text book. Need to study." Was the murmured, almost robotic response. The boy had been studying at the academy in the rebuilt city of Palmacosta now that himself and his sister had ceased their traveling. They had settled down in the city a few months ago, and Lloyd had decided to crash with them for a bit.

"What kind of history?"

"Lloyd, can't you go take a walk or something?" Genis frowned as he chewed on the tip of his pencil, glaring down and the book in his arms.

"That's a really mean thing to say to your bestest friend in the whole wide world!" Lloyd grinned and poked the boy in the side, hoping to get some reaction. When he received none, he started bouncing on the couch restlessly. "Come on man…I'm sooo bored," he tired, in his most pleading voice.

"You're always bored!" Genis sighed, looking up at his friend for the first time all evening. He was like one of those puppies that wouldn't leave you alone until you pet them or gave them a snack.

"I can't help that, blame it on the ADD."

"You don't have ADD, that's just an excuse."

"Sure I do! I am totally attention, uh, deaf…?"

"Deficit."

"Yeah, I'm totally loaded with attention deficitness." Genis sighed and turned back to his work, trying to ignore the dramatic sighs and huffs to his left. After a few moments of treasured silence, Genis picked his head back up again as he heard someone come through the front door. "Look, Kratos is home, go bother him."

"Hey!" Lloyd jumped up in a quick, overly enthusiastic manner, "Welcome home!"

"Hn." The man turned to remove his gloves, which were stained with dirt and some other indistinguishable materials. He dropped his shield and propped the sword carefully against a wall, sighing as he sat down at the kitchen table.

"How was your day?"

"Fine." Lloyd raised an eyebrow at the clipped response, sensing that the older man was definitely not in a good mood, and that bothering him was probably not the most rational thing to be doing right now. However, Lloyd was not usually one to be associated with rational thinking.

"Were there lots of monsters?" he questioned again, receiving a nod. The area around the town had been a hotspot for them lately, and the group was trying their best to get rid of them, and ensure the safety of the people who lived there. Even after the two worlds had been restored, there was still a few monsters roaming about. "You should have let me come with you." Kratos sighed and offered him the slightest of smiles.

"It was not needed, I was fine on my own. Besides, you need a break, you've been working yourself very hard trying to harvest all the exspheres."

"Alright, whatever you say," Lloyd shrugged, knowing that there was really no point in trying to change the other man's mind since he could be quite stubborn. Especially when he was trying to look out for Lloyd.

"How is Colette doing?" Kratos changed the subject.

"Not bad. I went to go visit her today at the clinic, and she seemed more like herself." The girl had picked up a nasty virus during one of their monster hunting journeys and didn't say anything to anyone until she eventually collapsed of exhaustion, apologizing profusely the whole time.

"That's good."

"Yeah, they said she should be able to come home soon."

"Let's hope so."

"So…do you wanna…go train with me or something? I'm itching to get out of the house."

"I'm sorry," Kratos offered an apologetic smile, "I'm just very tired."

"Oh…it's okay. I'm sure I'll find something to do." Lloyd replied, a bit disappointed, but he was sure there was something he else could do to amuse himself. If not, there was always that wall on the other side of the room that he hadn't finished staring at yet.

XxX

"Mmm…that smells good." Lloyd stretched out on the sofa he was currently lounging on and turned his head toward the kitchen, where Genis was preparing dinner. "Want some help in there?"

"Nah…that's okay." Genis added a pinch of some mystery herb and dusted off his hands a few seconds later in a satisfaction. "Hm, actually, now that you mention it, could you go get Raine and tell her dinner is almost ready?"

"Yeah!" Lloyd jumped off the couch, eager to stretch out his legs again. "Where did she disappear to anyway?"

"She's been down in the basement all day, mumbling to herself and cackling like a maniac," Genis rolled his eyes and turned to where Lloyd was standing, a sudden fear-struck look on his face. "I'm sure it's just some new 'fascinating' research product of hers, don't wet yourself just yet," the boy giggled at the embarrassed look on his friend's face.

"You really can be mean when you want to, you know? Making me check on your demented sister, and insulting my bowl control at the same time."

"Oh shut up. It's only cause I like you."

"Yeah, yeah…hate to see what you do to people you hate."

Lloyd wandered off in the direction of the basement, gripping the handle cautiously. "Um…Professor, you in there? Dinner is almost ready." No response, Lloyd sighed as he realized he was now going to have to enter the domain of the beast. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door and made his way down the stairs to the lab. "Raine?" he peeked sheepishly around the corner, seeing the woman hunched over a table with various open books and materials.

"Lloyd? What are you doing down here?" Raine looked over her shoulder to see the brunette, whom had finally gained enough courage to step a few feet closer to her.

"Genis wanted me to tell you that dinner is almost ready."

"Oh, thank you. I'm almost finished with this, just give me a minute," she replied, dropping something into the mixture she was currently creating.

"What is that?" Lloyd's curiosity got the best of him, and he walked over to the table, wondering what the strange pinkish liquid was.

"Well, I've done some research and I've managed to discover a recipe for an age restorative potion."

"You're still on that?" Lloyd groaned, "You're hardly that much older than me, you look fine!" he threw up his hands in exasperation.

"Thanks for the compliment, but I'm afraid one's self is always their worst critic." Raine covered the top of the glass container and gave it a good shake, grinning as she looked at her warped reflection in the curved glass surface. "Perfect. I'll just go get a glass…" The woman turned only to walk right into something, or someone, who was right behind her. "Lloyd, I'm sorry!" she groaned and picked herself up from the floor, glancing at her right hand to find only the top of the glass bottle there. The rest of it had shattered on the ground along with the precious liquid it contained.

She sighed as she realized all her work had gone to waste. "Looks like it's back to the drawing board. Come on Lloyd, let's go upstairs," she glanced around her, only to find the room devoid of anyone but herself. "Lloyd?" She looked down at her feet, at the magic pink puddle on the floor, and next to it, a pile of Lloyd's clothes, but no Lloyd. "Lloyd?!"