paixaorpg | Goddess Knows Best [Active]

Entry tags:

Goddess Knows Best [Active]

Character(s): Jecht, Tidus and Urd
Content: Urd meddles in yet another father/son relationship.
Setting: Cafe Ersesat [L7]
Time: Week 14, early afternoon.
Warnings: None?

Urd had sent out two different letters yesterday. The first was to Tidus, asking him to join her at the cafe the next afternoon for some nice lunch and to talk more about blitzball. Getting the boy to come would be the easy part -- they hit it off rather well at her party and he seemed like a pretty friendly guy. The problem would be Jecht.

Sure, he'd admitted to wanting to connect with his son, but wanting to and actually following through were two very different matters. Much like with another father she'd generously helped, Urd wasn't sure Jecht would have the guts to actually show up. Her letter to him was been a lot more detailed:

Jecht,

Remember that little chat we had last week? You didn't think I forgot, did you? It's time to put Operation: Bonding into effect! Tidus will be waiting for you at the Cafe Ersesat in section L7. He thinks he'll be having lunch with me, but that's when you'll show up, a "chance meeting!"

Don't worry, I'll be there in secret to help you say the right things.

~Urd

Now, hidden from view from the patrons of the cafe, she kept an eye out for both blitzballers.

It felt so good to help others.

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Operation: Bonding? It sounded like a bad episode of one of those after school-specials they put on for wiener kids on the spherecast. He had come across a few in his drunken stupors back in Zanarkand -- when life was made easy. There had been a few times he had tried to execute moves from the more father-son geared lessons, but... he usually just wound up replacing the heart-warming speech at the end with slurs of name-calling and taunting. This sort of thing had never come easy to Jecht. If the boy knew that he cared about him then -- he would have just looked soft.

Sure, it would have been much easier just to stay back at Cid's place, in his room. But then he would just look like a coward, and lacking courage was not something that plagued the great king of blitzball.

Walking into the café, the letter that Urd had sent him was crumpled and tucked into one of his pockets. He took a seat in one of the booths and ordered a cup of coffee for himself. With his fingers laced together on the table, he waited nervously, half-hoping that Tidus wouldn't show up.

Tidus was certainly a lucky individual; he's met so many attractive ladies in his short time at Paixao! Urd was definitely a breath of fresh air, and Lenne wasn't half bad, herself. Pfft, and his old man always seemed to be on the side that Tidus wouldn't be some sort of mack-daddy. Not that he thought anything would come out of this meeting with Urd; after all, getting Yuna angry wasn't exactly on his agenda. Though, he wasn't entirely sure how he felt about the entire thing, anyway. Wanting to make a somewhat good impression, Tidus even picked one of those metal flowers he found on the side of the road to give to Urd, as he approached the cafe.

... wait, what was this?

Dammit. Once Tidus saw the burly back of his old man, he halted in his steps half tempted to go the other direction.

And he took a step back.

Ah! There he was! Urd's eyes widened in excitement, a grin on her face.

Shrunk to the size of a rat, she stealthily made her way to Jecht, dashing under chairs and tables. Hidden from Tidus, she floated up in front his father, right in his face.

"Jecht! He's here! Go get him before he gets away!" she whispered loudly, peeking out from behind the man's dark hair at Tidus, who seemed three seconds away from turning around and running as fast as his feet would carry him.

With all of the time that he had spent waiting at this point (which to him, felt like forever) seemed to happen at light speed. He hadn't seen the kid on his own, it had actually taken prodding from the mini-woman in front of him ( was she really that small?? sheesh, some worlds... ) to sit up and take notice. "Wh -- Wha??" Jecht whipped his head around the place, rising quickly to his feet, and searching the crowd, looking for something familiar.

When he finally landed on Tidus, everything around him -- just seemed to stop. The reality of the timespan between them hit him like a ton of bricks, which was made momentarily visible across his features. His eyes widened, and though his mouth seemed open to say something -- no words came out.

Catching himself quickly, he narrowed his gaze again, and cleared his throat, crossing his arms over his chest.

"... Hey."

Well, running away now would've just been bad manners. Gulping, Tidus looked to the left and right to see if Urd was around. Oh, come on... I was expecting a woman, not... this shirtless old bear. Considering that he hadn't been insulted yet, Tidus sighed and walked on over to Jecht.

"Hey, old man." Tidus crossed his arms, glancing to the sides every chance he got so he wouldn't have to make eye contact with Jecht. "You're here for a date or something?"

Hidden from Tidus, Urd hovered behind Jecht's shoulder, glancing between the two men with an expression best described as unimpressed. Well, she knew it wasn't going to be that easy. Both were so caught up in their manful stoicism. But what a surprise Tidus was! He'd seemed so joyful and confident at her party. Here in front of his father, he was closed off and inhibited.

"Say yes!" she hissed into Jecht's ear. "Invite him to sit with you while you're waiting!"

"Huh??" he was caught off guard, hearing the suggestion coming from the back of his head. This was weird. Almost like -- having a conscience barking at you. Only he doubted he could ignore these commands. "Oh. Right," he muttered back, under his breath so that Tidus' wouldn't be able to hear.

"That's right," he responded. "Just gettin' ready to meet with some more die-hard fans. They'll do anythin' for a few minutes of my time, y'know." Sure, the puffing up of a story, that was no problem. But trying to mend this rift between them? That was something else...

"You, uh -- you can take a seat, y'know," his red eyes traced all around the café as he made the comment, trying to make it look as though he was disinterested no matter which way the boy chose. "I still got some time before they get here."

"Oh, really? I would never dream of intruding on your special time with your fans, you know?" Tidus did not budge a single step, arms still crossed. "Look, you're here and alive. So am I. That doesn't necessarily mean that you have an unlimited pass at taunting me and making my life generally miserable, old man." Yet, even with those words, Tidus did not turn to run. "Grab yourself a drink. You've always been good at that much, when you were grandstanding in the stadium."

Urd winced. The boy did have daddy issues, didn't he? Well, not like she couldn't understand. Still, this was going to be way more difficult than she thought. She knew for a fact that Jecht wanted to patch things up with his son, but maybe Tidus really had no interest in such a thing. Playing the hidden guide to Jecht wouldn't last for long... Behind Jecht's head, the mini-Urd disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Suddenly, a full-sized Urd entered the establishment, dressed in a shockingly short purple dress, a long white coat and black heels. "Tidus!" she called, smiling sweetly. "Sorry I'm late. Got caught up in something at home." She walked up to the men, giving Jecht a significant look out of the corner of her eye before wrapping her arms around Tidus's arm, hugging it close. "Who's this? A friend?"

"Hey now kid, don't you -- " he was just about to go on defending himself. He hadn't drank since he had wounded that shoopuf on the Moonflow! There was a sudden flash -- on their houseboat back in Zanarkand. I can stop drinking whenever I want! ...And really, he hadn't wanted to back then. There was no reason to, after all. His son hated him. The crowds in the stands were thinning. He was on a downward spiral.

As Urd walked in, Jecht suddenly turned around, wondering if she was still behind him, and seeing that that was no longer the case... Looked up at her with slight interest. He wasn't sure what angle to play with her sudden 'arrival', so all he could do was smirk.

"Looks like you've got some entertainment of your own, anyway. Wonder how far the apple really fell from the tree, heh."

Handing the small makeshift bouquet of flowers to Urd, Tidus was still obviously tense as his gaze never left his father. "Leave it alone, old man. Urd and I are just friends; don't go and start spreading rumors to Yuna or anything. Besides, she already knows I'm out to meet with a friend." Tidus then crossed his arms.

Nodding to Urd, Tidus managed a forced smile. "Urd, meet Jecht. He's... my father."

Urd grinned, slapping Jecht on the back with subtle force. "Nice to meet you, Jecht. You're a father?" She draped her arm around his shoulders, glancing up and down the man's body with an appraising eye. "No way, you're way too fit and young to have such a mature son!" She looked to Tidus as one hand fiddled Jecht's headband, hair and ear. "But, yeah, I can see the resemblance. Why don't we all sit down, catch up?" She finally released Jecht from her roving grasp -- but looped her arm through his, as well as Tidus' arm after accepting his bouquet with a wink. "C'mon, I could use a drink and a good story."

Edited 2010-02-04 23:41 (UTC)

"Yuna?" he asked suddenly. What would she have to do with it, anyway?? Unfortunately, there was no time for Jecht to sort that out in his mind as Urd approached him. He was used to this sort of treatment from the ladies, and truth be told, he was eating it up with a spoon.

With a grin on his face, the Blitz King allowed her to size him up, relishing in the attention, especially in front of his son. Tidus pretty much had to acknowledge that he was both charming and good looking -- as far as his son knew, this was the first time he'd ever met Urd. Somehow, he was proud at being able to 'show the boy how it was done' with a gal.

"Can hardly believe it, eh? Well, I was the King of Blitzball, y'know," bragging, too, came easily. "I'm sure I could tell ya some'uv the most excitin' stories you ever heard!"

"Did he ever tell you of the fact that he cons his own fans by basically promising them to see moves that don't exist. Tell them about the Jecht Shot Mark III, old man." Tidus made no movement or intent to sit down. "Or the fact that he was all over the news one time in a bar scandal for drinking one too many and getting into a brawl with his own teammate, dislocating his jaw? Or perhaps the one where he..." No, mentioning his mother's death would be way below the belt, even for Tidus in this situation. Yet his expression was still bitter. "Nevermind. If you want to hear all the hot air coming out of this balloon, then be my guest." Tidus turned around and began to talk away.

"Ergh..." Urd muttered as Tidus turned away. She snapped her head towards Jecht, the charming and flirtatious expression changing into annoyance. "Think you could bring the ego down a notch?" she hissed quietly. "This isn't about you, it's about him, remember!?"

She went after Tidus quickly, stepping in his path with an apologetic smile. "Awww, c'mon, cutie. You're just gonna stand me up?" She leaned towards him a bit, glancing at Jecht. "C'mon, you know it'd just drive him crazy to see me all fangirly over you. Help me take him down a peg, huh?"

How this would all equate with getting the two men to bond, she didn't know. Frankly, Urd was making it up as she went along.

"Hey! Now wait just a --" he had begun to defend himself -- there were legitimate reasons for all those things! Marketing a shot that had no predecessors up'd his ticket sales. Most of the players on the Abes lived the high life thanks to him! That guy in the bar? Maybe that joker shouldn't have said what he did about his son!

Well... at least that's what it had sounded like the guy had said. Maybe the details were hazy. A bottle of whiskey could do that to a guy sometmes...

And then came the shot of the hour -- Urd was right. This... wasn't about him. Slumping back, some of the wind let out from Jecht's sails as the cold reality of the situation hit him.

This was his chance to make right with the boy. So why was he messing it up?

"Who's side are you on, anyway?" Tidus lifted an eyebrow at Urd's suggestion as he muttered the inquisition. Obviously pouting a bit, Tidus pulled up a chair across form Jecht and sat down, after pulling a chair out for Urd to sit between the two of them. "Is there anything else you wanna say, old man?" Tidus spoke, in a rather monotone manner compared to his usual cheerful demeanor. He was tired already, and he wasn't in the mood to bite Jecht's head off... for the next few minutes, anyway.

Urd smiled sweetly at Tidus' gentlemanly behavior and sat down on the chair he pulled out for her. The smile faded, however, at the monotone tone of his voice. She'd convinced him to stay, but for how long? This wasn't going how she wanted at all.

She glanced at Jecht, both curious and dreading his response. Should she cut in now, before he had a chance to shove his foot further into his mouth? No, no...he had to have a chance to make things right with his own power. So Urd lifted her hand to gesture to a waitress while the two men talked.

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Goddess Knows Best [Active]

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EDITED -- for the justice of booze references!

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