Luckily for their ability to interact with each other as something other than EXTREMELY SERIOUS ROLES, Lloyd's main thing is that he looks at people and sees people. And he does see Mithos as a person, and one who he likes, even though he's messed up. He knows he'll never get some things about the half elf experience and he doesn't care! Mithos the person cares about Genis, and yells, and attempts to punch Lloyd while looking like he's going to cry, and stops when Lloyd puts a hand on his shoulder. Mithos the person was their friend, even if it was a lie! (Zelos started out as a lie, too.) He likes that person. He wants to use Mithos the icon's example to make a world where Mithos the individual would have felt okay growing up. He also would like Mithos the individual's friendship and approval, but he can live without it. :/
What it all kind of boils down to is that Lloyd would do anything for Mithos that isn't against... his Lloydliness. Mithos has more weight in some areas (if not more ~love~) than party. If Mithos needed him to be there for him, or idk make him cheeseburgers, or kill him in an epic bossfight after a really long cutscene, or jesus him, Lloyd will do it. By god. And he is going to guard that tree for the rest of his life. 8|
...In his own way Mithos was missing Lloyd SO HARD. Lloyd being in camp fills this hole in his life that he wasn't even aware was there, with that ridiculous optimism to offset his own pessimism. As rivals/opponents/mirrors/whatever else canon sets them as, they balance each other out a lot, and with that element missing from his life Mithos was losing faith in a lot of things in camp without anyone doing much to restore it. Lloyd fulfils that role for him, that faith, in a somewhat different way than Genis does. Because Genis is also all about the power of friendship and relentless topping and whatnot, but he tends to temper that with logic and reason, whereas Lloyd is all SCREW THAT. He needs that too.
BUT. But! He doesn't quite want Lloyd here, because paranoia! Aselia's run on its past and present heroes for so long that oh god, if he's here and Lloyd's here and most of the party's here, then what is even holding up the world back home? Who's there to defend Aselia? To defend Martel?! Lloyd could be doing that instead of adding to Mithos's stresses here, but no, now he's trapped like the rest of them and Mithos has these visions of the world instantly sliding back to ruin.
Which ties in to this huge and confused faith he's got invested in in Lloyd re: Aselia's future, which is the other reason he's so angry at Lloyd just for coming back to camp but can't quite put a name to why. It's a bunch of things. One is that the future Arche lives in implies the party dies without managing to fulfil their promises to him and the Goddess Martel--and even if those promises were enormous and unrealistic (removing the discrimination in people's hearts! A peaceful world where everyone could live without fear!) he did believe in them, because he also acknowledged that the party was a stronger force in many ways than he and his own ever were. And when Lloyd wasn't there Mithos started feeling hopeless, because without reinforcement jesusing from the party as a whole he tends to backslide. And no one was really around to discourage him from being all gosh, everything sucks! in quite the right way. A second reasons is that having Lloyd around again does make Mithos feel like that can be changed! LLOYD IS JUST SUCH AN ENORMOUS FORCE FOR CHANGE, HOW CAN YOU LOOK AT HIM AND HAVE ANY DOUBT THAT SHIT WILL STAY WRONG. When Mithos is actually given a little more time to think about it, he'll be even more ragey and guilty. Because he lost faith in Lloyd to do what he promised. Because he has faith in Lloyd to do what he promised. Because he both wants and doesn't want to have faith in Lloyd.
Also he is so embarrassed. Because Lloyd got into camp and their first conversation was disastrous, and then he deaged and was cute and clueless and loev Lloyd and the embarrassments have not stopped heaping on and on and on. And. Status effects aside, a big part of this is because the Mithos Lloyd remembers--Mithos at the end of his life--is rather different from the Mithos who died then was forced to live on in camp for two years. Camp Mithos is...he's progressed to the point where he's in no way less crazy, but he's genuinely better than he used to be most of the time, and a little more of his past self peeks through. And even when he was at his most devious crazy in canon, Mithos liked Lloyd anyway and admitted as much. It was pretty obvious from their anonymous conversation that Lloyd is still exactly the kind of person Mithos would tsunlike if they didn't have a history, and Mithos is a little more likely to listen to him and be affected by him now, and Mithos was not ready to admit that to himself or to Lloyd so oh my god.
It throws him off balance to deal with TOS2 Lloyd too what is thisss. TOS1 Lloyd he did a little better with because he could punch him and tsun off and be done with it, but TOS2 Lloyd is basically extra-terrifying. Not just because he's stronger, but because he's had those two years to think, to reflect, to come up with some conclusions about Mithos that are startlingly accurate (and some that probably aren't, but hey.) Out of the party he probably saw the most of Mithos's soul, and now that's coming up between them and. Just. Some part of Mithos is totally going OH GOD, I HAVE CREATED A MONSTER.
Lloyd is going to be so pleasantly surprised by camp Mithos! IT WILL HONESTLY BE A LIFT FOR HIM because it's what he always believed Mithos could be - it's why he was so adamant that Mithos could've lived in the world, if he'd only tried.
Also man. Lloyd would totally get all the endbosses out of jail free if he could. HE'S ALREADY KIND OF THINKING ABOUT IT WITH RATATOSK AND RICHTER. If he could think of a way to wake Mithos up in the World Tree at least enough that he could be a little summon spirit-y, he'd so do it.
I have headcanon that with the right incentive/amount of energy, Mithos could be woken up to be the dominant Summon Spirit personality for a little while instead of Martel.
Iiif Lloyd lives a normal human span (...which I think is extremely unlikely tbh) he wouldn't mess with Mithos. But after a couple hundred years you are so getting woken up. WE DON'T ALL GET TO SIT AROUND NAPPING, MITHOS YGGDRASIL.
What it all kind of boils down to is that Lloyd would do anything for Mithos that isn't against... his Lloydliness. Mithos has more weight in some areas (if not more ~love~) than party. If Mithos needed him to be there for him, or idk make him cheeseburgers, or kill him in an epic bossfight after a really long cutscene, or jesus him, Lloyd will do it. By god. And he is going to guard that tree for the rest of his life. 8|
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BUT. But! He doesn't quite want Lloyd here, because paranoia! Aselia's run on its past and present heroes for so long that oh god, if he's here and Lloyd's here and most of the party's here, then what is even holding up the world back home? Who's there to defend Aselia? To defend Martel?! Lloyd could be doing that instead of adding to Mithos's stresses here, but no, now he's trapped like the rest of them and Mithos has these visions of the world instantly sliding back to ruin.
Which ties in to this huge and confused faith he's got invested in in Lloyd re: Aselia's future, which is the other reason he's so angry at Lloyd just for coming back to camp but can't quite put a name to why. It's a bunch of things. One is that the future Arche lives in implies the party dies without managing to fulfil their promises to him and the Goddess Martel--and even if those promises were enormous and unrealistic (removing the discrimination in people's hearts! A peaceful world where everyone could live without fear!) he did believe in them, because he also acknowledged that the party was a stronger force in many ways than he and his own ever were. And when Lloyd wasn't there Mithos started feeling hopeless, because without reinforcement jesusing from the party as a whole he tends to backslide. And no one was really around to discourage him from being all gosh, everything sucks! in quite the right way. A second reasons is that having Lloyd around again does make Mithos feel like that can be changed! LLOYD IS JUST SUCH AN ENORMOUS FORCE FOR CHANGE, HOW CAN YOU LOOK AT HIM AND HAVE ANY DOUBT THAT SHIT WILL STAY WRONG. When Mithos is actually given a little more time to think about it, he'll be even more ragey and guilty. Because he lost faith in Lloyd to do what he promised. Because he has faith in Lloyd to do what he promised. Because he both wants and doesn't want to have faith in Lloyd.
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Also he is so embarrassed. Because Lloyd got into camp and their first conversation was disastrous, and then he deaged and was cute and clueless and loev Lloyd and the embarrassments have not stopped heaping on and on and on. And. Status effects aside, a big part of this is because the Mithos Lloyd remembers--Mithos at the end of his life--is rather different from the Mithos who died then was forced to live on in camp for two years. Camp Mithos is...he's progressed to the point where he's in no way less crazy, but he's genuinely better than he used to be most of the time, and a little more of his past self peeks through. And even when he was at his most devious crazy in canon, Mithos liked Lloyd anyway and admitted as much. It was pretty obvious from their anonymous conversation that Lloyd is still exactly the kind of person Mithos would tsunlike if they didn't have a history, and Mithos is a little more likely to listen to him and be affected by him now, and Mithos was not ready to admit that to himself or to Lloyd so oh my god.
It throws him off balance to deal with TOS2 Lloyd too what is thisss. TOS1 Lloyd he did a little better with because he could punch him and tsun off and be done with it, but TOS2 Lloyd is basically extra-terrifying. Not just because he's stronger, but because he's had those two years to think, to reflect, to come up with some conclusions about Mithos that are startlingly accurate (and some that probably aren't, but hey.) Out of the party he probably saw the most of Mithos's soul, and now that's coming up between them and. Just. Some part of Mithos is totally going OH GOD, I HAVE CREATED A MONSTER.
In conclusion!
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Lloyd is going to be so pleasantly surprised by camp Mithos! IT WILL HONESTLY BE A LIFT FOR HIM because it's what he always believed Mithos could be - it's why he was so adamant that Mithos could've lived in the world, if he'd only tried.
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MAYBE IF YOU SWORD ME IN THE FACE A THOUSAND TIMES I'LL BECOME COMPLETELY FUNCTIONAL, LLOYD
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You may die of embarrassment if I try to ruffle your hair when you're not tiny, though. I am still ten inches taller.
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...in the bartender outfit.
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there is no way you can win
YOU LOST WHEN I GOT HERE
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Also man. Lloyd would totally get all the endbosses out of jail free if he could. HE'S ALREADY KIND OF THINKING ABOUT IT WITH RATATOSK AND RICHTER. If he could think of a way to wake Mithos up in the World Tree at least enough that he could be a little summon spirit-y, he'd so do it.
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Except no.
Napping, do not disturb. :(
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I am still laughing at the "I HAVE CREATED A MONSTER" by the way. Mithos, you don't even know.
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