Hi there! Welcome to my shiny new Zelloyd drabble series! I hope you're all enjoying the new year so far. So this drabble/one-shot thing is dedicated to the lovely axisfiraga, for providing the prompt, and princespeach for just, I don't know, generally helping out.

Disclaimer: ToS is in no way mine.

x-x-x

1: Toast

Zelos stands from his seat at the food-laden table just as he sees Lloyd beginning to reach for the beast of a roasted chicken in front of him. If no one else is going to make a toast, it might as well be him, right? The occasion certainly deserved it – he watched as everyone registered his movement and looked towards him expectantly, even a little impatiently, he might say. Lloyd especially; he'd been eyeing that chicken all night.

"So," he started. "Well, first of all, don't worry – this won't take long." A glance to Lloyd out of the corner of his eye, the brunet huffing in response. "I think tonight deserves a toast. It isn't every day two worlds are combined, after all. And you know, none of us would be here today if it weren't for Lloyd."

He looks around at the band of misfits he's managed to find himself a part of. Sheena, heir to the chieftainship of Mizuho; Presea, the littlest lumberjack; Genis, a very capable magic user when he isn't a brat; Raine, all at once a skilled healer, sister, teacher, and mother; Regal, the jailed duke; Colette, the other Chosen and one of the strongest people he's ever met; and then there's Lloyd.

Yeah, then there's Lloyd.

"I mean, I know I'm amazing," the table collectively rolled their eyes, "but it takes a bit of extra something to keep a ragtag bunch like us together and save two worlds at the same time. So," he raised his glass, the others following suit, "here's to Lloyd. Without you, Bud, well… the worlds would be pretty worse off." He smiles. Everyone around the table is smiling, actually, and he delights in the fact that Lloyd's cheeks are looking a bit pink. "To Lloyd!" they all say, raising their glasses and taking a drink. Zelos sits back down and looks through the food – he could have sworn there was risotto somewhere…

And then Lloyd is standing, scratching the back of his head bashfully – he's still blushing a little. Somewhere in the back of Zelos' mind is the thought that it suits him.

The brunet makes a toast of his own, thanking them, telling them it wasn't really him and it was a team effort, goes on about family and, as his speeches usually are, it's very touching. Zelos tries not to think about the expression on his face as he looks up at the country bumpkin who changed the world(s) – and the redhead's mind, which itself is no easy feat. He tries not to think about that look Sheena's giving him and instead focuses on Lloyd.

They toast again and Lloyd practically dives into the chicken, barely having sat down before it's in his mouth. With some determined searching through the piles of food, Zelos finally finds that risotto, a victory sweetened all the more by winning a small wrestling match with Genis over the plate. They eat, those who are old enough drink, they bicker, they laugh – and for the first time in a long, long while, everything is good.

And if he and Lloyd are a little tipsy standing together on the balcony later, then, well.

He's certainly never been one to kiss and tell, has he?

x-x-x

Both princespeach and I agree that 'Littlest Lumberjack' should be a title for Presea.

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed it, and if you feel so inclined please leave any thoughts in the form of a review.