#In which Zenos ruins everything but Lisette still ships it >.>

[ladyramora]

Valentoine's disaster

You smiled and waved at Astrid as you left the amphitheatre’s stage, happy that you were able to help her with another little snafu that popped up and dampened the little one’s spirits. you had just reached the seats when her sister , Lisette, came up to you, cheerful as ever as she grabbed at your arm, “Thank you for helping her again this year!”

“It was no trouble, I enjoy the festivities every year and I wouldn’t want her to be discouraged.” You said, wondering why she hadn’t helped her sister instead, seeing as she probably had seen what had happened and knew how to resolve it properly.

“Oh?” Lisette said, smiling at you, “And who exactly is your beloved this year?”

“I-I don’t have one, I saw a lonely looking person who wanted to join in the event and I offered to be their partner.” You explained bashfully, a small pain in your chest at that fact.

It wasn’t as if being alone ashamed you, no, your life was dangerous and busy and honestly it would be hard to ask someone to give you their heart when you often were called away to far off lands at the last moment and, for all they knew, you could fall to some eikon or an enemy’s weapon. 

No. It was better if you were alone… no matter how much it hurt… no matter how lonely you felt when you returned home, how bittersweet it was to wave as two of your friends happily rode off into the sunset after their wedding… 

Lisette looked at you, her eyes narrowed in a similar fashion to a warrior about to engage in a difficult battle as they sized up their opponent. 

Uh oh.

You glanced around, left and right, silently pleading for some sort of mischief or distraction or hells, even some sort of disaster to ward off, to save you from the Valentoine master. 

You and Lisette were suddenly swallowed up by an enormous shadow.

You looked up to see Zenos smiling creepily down at you.

Not what you meant by a disaster, but hey, you’d take it.

“Zenos.” You growled, grabbing your weapon, only for Lisette to stop you with a hand on your arm, “No, no,” she said, “No violence here, only love.”

“It cannot help it, it is but a blood thirsty beast.” Zenos purred.

“Says the man who massacred several nations for fun!” you snapped back.

You snarled at him, only for him to smile eagerly at you, only instead of a fight breaking out, you feel her give your arm a squeeze as she asked him, “What brings you here to our Festival of Love?”

You looked at her, surprised she’d ask him that. Hells, it was surprising that she asked him anything, the man was pretty good at terrifying people into silence. 

Then you noticed that twinkle in her eye.

Oh dear, sweet Gods, please don’t let her be thinking what you think she may be thinking!!

“Festival of Love?” He repeated, as if he hadn’t noticed the hearts and the couples EVERYWHERE. He glanced around, his eyes widening, telling you that he apparently hadn’t noticed the decorations and the love struck couples everywhere.

“It’s Valentoine’s Day.” You explain, “It’s a time where couples and families come together and share their love.” You watched his face contort into one of confusion and… what else was there?

“Would you like to try our main attraction?” she said, stressing the word attraction in a pun that nearly made you face palm.

“You have entertainment?” He asked, surprised.

“Yes, all you need is a partner.” she said, looking from him to you in a suggestive manner that you wanted no part in.

“Oh, no…” you said, pushing gently away from her, “Not him. Please, Lisette, don’t make me…” but with a turn of her head and a threatening sweet smile, you groaned and showed him the way to the main event.

This was going to be the worst Valentoine’s day ever.

—-

You rubbed at your temples, hissing curses at whichever God had thought this to be a fun little ‘fuck you’ to the Warrior of Light. 

Zenos had nearly destroyed the maze with his blades, he had stabbed a poor moogle and ran off, breaking your 'bond’ as you stayed behind to save it’s poor little life and kicking over the fences with a loud laugh and even hopped over the hedges to kick over the gates on your side as well. Most of these moogles were little shits, but they didn’t deserve to die when all they were doing was trying to help the House of Valentoine spread love. 

then there was the cards. Oh dear gods, that poor moogle wet itself in fear and was nearly crushed to death until you stepped in and told him that he’d already cheated on the maze, that it wouldn’t kill him to follow the rules on this one.

He did, but he still cut the ones he chose in half, making it easier to guess, but it spoiled the fun of it. 

By the time they were to get their rewards, you told the moogle you weren’t interested and dragged Zenos out of there, furious and embarrassed and just wanting to get out of there and go home.

This had to be the worst Valentoine’s day you’d ever suffered through. The moment you were out, you told him to wait by the booths and tell him not to destroy anything before you had to report to the sisters about the damage done to their fun event. 

As well as give Lisette a piece of your mind…

—

Astrid was upset about her course being destroyed, understandably, and Lisette had to help arrange for it to be fixed and deal with disappointed customers, but at the same time, she felt it was worth it to have those two get their fortunes told.

The WoL scowled so fiercely at her when they shoved the paper containing their fortune in her hands, “Here’s the bloody fortune.” They snapped before turning on their heel and swiftly leaving with their cheeks red, this 'Zenos’ right behind them, eagerly asking if they could fight now.

Lisette opened up the folded piece of paper and smiled.

Just what she thought. 

Hopefully next year, the WoL would have Zenos under much better control, but just in case, it might be better to have more booths for next year’s event, maybe have some more games out. She’d talk to her sister about the idea later. As for now, she was just pleased to know she was right.

(Submitted by @lolzwaitwhat)