paixaorpg | Catching Up [completed]

Entry tags:

Catching Up [completed]

Character(s): Jecht and Auron
Content: Auron and Jecht have a talk.
Setting: The Actua Are in E3
Time: Week 5 - Late Afternoon
Warnings: None yet

Auron stood close to the wall in front of the building, sword, for once, left in his room in the hotel. The one coming there was, for once, someone he trusted; there was no need for a weapon now. He had told Jecht that he needed to hear the whole story. How the man would react, Auron didn't know. Perhaps no better than his son had. Likely worse. But Jecht needed to be told. He would find out for himself when he returned, but something like this wasn't something that one should wait to be told.

He wondered if Jecht would be able to recognize him. His coat would probably be the giveaway, but Auron didn't look like the young man Jecht had seen ten years before. He would probably have to answer questions about that, too, the ones he hated to answer. And it was because of that that as much as he was looking forward to seeing his friend again, part of him was almost anxious.

Maybe he'd have a drink when all was said and done, too.

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Jecht dispised being confined to on-foot travel. It reminded him all too well of the pilgrimage and the miles they'd treaded to reach Zanarkand, only to have to -- he forced those thoughts out of his head with a violent shake. Braska was here. He was, well, maybe he wasn't ALIVE per say, but he was definitely all right. And that's what was important.

Dragging his barefeet as he walked, his machina still remained fastened at his side. The things that Cid had told him, coupled with the disappearance of one of the people on that network-thing... that wasn't good. With his index finger, he rubbed underneath his nose as he continued forward, finall spotting a figure in the distance.

That red coat was unmistakable, and the blitzer actually broke into a run as he approached. But when he came close enough to make out the figure's face, he was nearly stunned. "HEY AURON, I THOUGHT -- " he had begun to bellow, but realized that the face he spoke to -- wasn't the same one he'd seen last in Zanarkand.

With a puzzled expression, Jecht stopped in his tracks and studied the man in front of him. Narrowing his eyes, he spoke in a bit of a warning tone. "... Hey buddy, where'd you get that there coat? 'Cause I know for a fact it belongs't ..." he trailed off, analyzing the face in front of him a little more.

"... No way."

"Surprised?" he asked, a hint of amusement leaking into his voice. He hadn't expected anything less, and Jecht's expression had been exactly as he thought it would have been. They had much to talk about, but he was sure Jecht knew that already. Any trace of his prior amusement was gone by the time Auron spoke next, a calm solemnity accompanying his explanation. "Ten years," he said. "For me, at least."

Auron took a few steps toward the door before pausing and looking over his shoulder at his friend. "Inside. I'll explain more then. Unless you'd rather we discuss everything in public?"

He was still frozen in his tracks as Auron spoke, his eyes sweeping over the other constantly, up and down, up and down. It took some restraint to stop him from reaching forward and pulling on that tuft of grey that stuck out in the middle of his head. Ten years, was he serious? It made sense, what with Yuna's age, but if that was true, then even the kid...

The kid.

Realization of the entire meeting hit Jecht in the face. His energy seemed to dwindle down slightly. He didn't care about making a scene in public, and hell, he would have been just fine talking with Auron out in the open -- but he knew very well that the other didn't like to have his dirty laundry aired, or, well, any laundry aired for that matter.

He was about to mouth off several complaints, about Auron appearance, his attitude, the way that he spoke, his suggestion to go inside, that musty old coat -- probably anything you could think of. He had missed Auron, and that was really the only way he knew how to express it.

Instead, he just nodded silently, his eyes more than likely still as large as saucers as he walked inside of the building. "We should probably sit down, eh? Wouldn't want an old man like yerself breakin' a hip."

So Jecht understood. Auron could tell the man had something to say, that he was holding back (for what reason only Jecht knew). He looked away and remained silent, allowing Jecht some time to process everything.

It was true. Auron's reasons for wanting to have the discussion in private were partially selfish. There were things about himself he wanted to keep from the ears of others. His past was his to know and tell as he saw fit, and he had no intentions of letting the wrong people use it against him. It was worrisome enough that this "Hades" seemed to know some of his secrets already.

A flash of annoyance showed on Auron's face and he uttered a short "hmph." "I doubt you'll have to worry about that." In any case, he preferred to stand. He headed toward one of the nearby rooms down the hall, ignoring the woman at the counter's too-cheery greeting. Once they were inside, Auron shut the door behind him, walking over to the far wall. "I assume you have questions," he offered, staring out the window.

Yep, that was Auron all right. Even the years gone by hadn't changed him that much. It was a little comforting to see him act the way that he always had -- it gave Jecht reassurance that some things, no matter how much time passed, didn't change. Even if his appearance had.

It was still the same old Auron.

The blitzer grinned happily.

As they walked inside, his friend might have been prone to ignoring the woman's welcome, but Jecht always did the exact opposite of his stoic companion. "Hey there!" he bellowed, "How's about a couple bottles'a whiskey to, uh," he turned, seeing that Auron had already made his way well across the lobby and towards a private room, "uh, to that room!" he winked at the young woman, and scurried off to their meeting place.

Inside, he swung his eyes around the place, "Kinda ya of one'a Rin joints, eh?" he thumbed his nose as he took a seat and sprawled out across it. Manners in sitting, were certainly not a skill he possessed.

His eyes grew dark then, and his voice took on a serious tone. "The kid," he said, "you got to Zanarkand, didn't you?"

The ex-guardian his a frown as he heard Jecht order the whiskeys. It looked like he was going to have to keep an eye on how much Jecht drank tonight. Not that Auron couldn't understand it in a situation like this, but he'd rather not Jecht get sucked into old habits.

"Vaguely," Auron replied to the first question. "Smaller," he decided, looking the room over. And there were less machina around, save for the journals they both carried. Though Rin usually was careful to keep what machina he had around to a minimum.

"Yeah," he began, answering Jecht's second question. "I watched over him for ten years." He finally turned toward Jecht, but didn't look him in the eye. "Then we brought him to Spira, where he became Yuna's guardian. ...After a few difficulties." It was a shortened version of events, but it was the boy's story, and he should be the one to tell it in earnest. Auron himself could only tell as much as he knew. There was a short, amused snort, and the corner of Auron's mouth quirked upward in a sly smirk. "Like father like son."

"YUNA'S -- " he nearly fell off of his seat at that comment. The kind had to be, what -- seventeen by now? With the uncharacteristic expression of shock, Jecht had to take a few minutes to let all of this register. Not only had he failed in putting an end to the spiral of death with his sacrifice, but Tidus had to get involved, too?

He was silent for a moment, which was more than a little uncomfortable for him.

"Auron," he spoke in a low, serious tone. Something he hardly ever did. He was the worst at expressing these sorts of things, "You... you did good, pal," it was the only 'thanks' he could muster in such circumstances. "I knew... you could make it there if ya really tried," he smirked, though it was a sad sort of gesture. He was sure that the boy hated him with every ounce of strength his little body could muster, but know that he had had the chance to grow up...

Jecht's head snapped upwards. "He didn't cry, did he?"

Auron didn't respond to any of the praise. Jecht didn't know the whole story, and while Jecht may not have held hard feelings for what ended up happening, Auron still couldn't shake off that lingering guilt. The only good thing that had come of that rash decision back in Zanarkand was his being able to go to Zanarkand. Everything else... Everything else could have been ruined. It was only by chance that it hadn't.

"Only once," Auron replied. He hesitated. He shouldn't have. It was better to say what he needed to outright. The longer he waited, the more difficult it would be. But...

No. No excuses. "When he saw you."

Jecht frowned, although it wasn't out of disappointment from Auron's revelations. All he had ever wanted was for the boy to grow a backbone for himself. Understand that there was a time and place for tears. But when there were things that you loved, people you wanted to protect -- showing weakness wasn't the way to go about it. He knew full well how hard he had been on the boy. Because of his lack of compassion, an uncrossable rift separated the two of them for the entirety of Jecht's natural life. It hadn't been until he was pulled away from Spira that he realized that... maybe Tidus really hadn't seen how much he had loved him.

Now he was confused. "Whaddaya mean, saw me?" he asked carefully, his eyes narrowing slightly. His attention was pulled down to his hands as he flexed and loosened them into fists. He surely would have remembered seeing his son grown up -- it isn't something that you forget that easily. Auron must have meant those sphere recordings that they'd left -- right? Right?

Jecht's train of thought (which was usually easily de-railed anyway) was interrupted by the cheerful desk girl coming in, armed with a label-less bottle of dark liquid, and two glasses.

As it was placed down, he muttered a half-hearted thanks, obviously less cheerful then when he had first entered Actua Are.

During the course of the pilgrimage, it had become apparent just how much Jecht really cared for his son. Tidus had never seen it that way, but, then again, the boy had only known his side of the story. The rift between the two was obvious enough for anyone to see, and it was why he had made sure Tidus had seen at least one of the spheres during the course of their journey.

Auron waited for the desk girl to leave before continuing. "You came after Braska defeated Sin?" He finally looked Jecht in the eye, his mouth drawn into a tight frown and his expression unreadable. "You felt something before you arrived."

The ex-guardian looked away, most of his face obscured by the high collar and his eye hidden behind his sunglasses, both of which he was thankful for. "It was within Sin." Auron's voice was solemn and quiet, and, if one was listening close enough, they could find a hint of shame beneath his words. If it weren't for the silence of the room, it probably would have gone unheard.

The blitzer twitched slightly, as Auron used that tone of voice of his. It was like asking a question, and knowing the answer before Jecht even gave it. Oh, he had felt something before he "died." He had experienced conscious thought in the form of the Final Aeon. He had felt his fists pummeling Sin, bringing down his great weapon on the beast.

And while it lay, finally defeated, he was unable to control himself from going after Braska. Powerless to stop his own hands from taking the life of someone he cared about.

Then, something else. He couldn't have explained that next feeling if he had tried. A great surge of energy, like he was being pulled apart from his body. And after that ...

"In Sin?" he finally managed to choke out, his eyes narrowed as he struggled to understand.

"In Sin," Auron repeated, nodding. "In an attempt for all of us to end the spiral once and for all." He remembered standing there on that platform as clear as day. Jecht standing before them with the illusion of Zanarkand he had created for himself in the background. The symbol of the Zanarkand Abes hovering above the fake city, made of rubble. The air of solemnity that lingered around each and every one of them. It was impossible to forget.

"You're late, Auron."

"I know."

"You become Sin." It was difficult to say, and yet it came out easier than his previous words. Was it because he had been preparing to say them for awhile? It was hard to say.

Okay. What? Him, becoming that big ugly son of a bitch monster? Him, causing mass destruction to the world of Spira? Him, tearing apart families, killing innocents, running mad in a world that he wasn't even from?

The weight of this revelation wasn't something he had been prepared for. Sure, yeah, he thought, something -- weird, had happened after Braska -- you know. Even in his thoughts, he seemed to have trouble being honest with himself. But to have become Sin?!

Jecht was silent for a long time. His eyes were fixated on his hands. The pain that he must have caused -- the people that must have cursed him... Suddenly, he reached forward and grabbed a hold of the whiskey bottle. He brought it upwards towards himself, his eyes shadowed over thanks to his unruly hair. He bent his elbow, leaned forward and -- hurled the bottle towards the opposite wall.

The glass shattered upon contact, what had been inside now trickling down the wall.

"We beat Sin, right?" his voice was low, hoarse. He kept his face hidden. "In the end. We got it for good." A pause. "Right?"

Auron didn't even blink as the bottle hit the wall. He had expected something similar, though he didn't think the booze would be the first thing to go. Although he would admit it was preferable to the bottle being downed.

Perhaps he would wait until later to tell Jecht about Zanarkand. Much later.

"Yu Yevon," he began, deciding an explanation was in order, "possesses the Final Aeon, using it as the core of the next Sin. The Final Summoning only prolonged the spiral of death." There was a hint of bitterness in his voice. Even now he couldn't understand why it had been allowed to go on as long as it did. He understood some of the reasons. To keep the Maesters in power, to provide hope to the people. But the first always fueled his bitterness toward the religion and the second was no more than a lie.

"It is gone. As is the Yevon faith, I imagine. Yuna and your son helped defeat it." Himself as well, he supposed, but he considered himself more of a guide on the journey than anything else.

Jecht kept quite all the while as Auron spoke. He couldn't tell what sort of -- feelings were reeling up inside of him. Anger? Self-loathing? Self-pity? He hated trying to sort this sort of 'bullshit' (as he would call it) out.

Unconsciously, his hands kept clenching into fists, then releasing. After a few minutes, he raised from his seat and faced the wall quickly. Pulling his fist, he sent it reeling forward into the wall, probably doing more damage to his now-aching knuckles than the building.

He breathing was laboured as he struggled to control whatever force was driving him. Up and down his shoulders rose. With his back still towards the former monk. "The kid," his tone seemed almost defeated, "what's... he like?"

((Hey, considering this is pretty... well... traumatizing to him, I can try and help you make him a little happier somehow with another muse if you need me to? D:))

Auron watched Jecht, seemingly impassively, but there was a frown hidden behind his collar. Part of him wondered whether or not this was the right thing to do. He wondered whether or not he should have waited for Jecht to find out himself, or even just waited a few days longer. What if...? There were too many "what ifs" to focus on only one.

"A lot like you," he replied. "Headstrong, acts before thinking, does the right thing." He looked away after a moment. "He made us fight the Chocobo Eater, too."

"I made sure he watched your spheres."

Auron had definitely made the right choice in telling Jecht immediately. If there was one thing he hated, it was being kept in the dark about something important. He hated that sugar-coating ideology, and even if his reaction to the news was a violent one, he knew that he needed to hear it.

So... the kid was a lot like him, eh? "Heh," the man chuckled with a slight bitterness. He leaned forward, resting the palms of his hands against the wall in front of him, and hung his head low between his arms. "I bet he hates that."

About to make a comment about the Chocobo Eater, he was abruptly cut short hearing that last bit. The kid -- he'd seen them?

Jecht froze. He had been more open and honest in those recordings than he had ever been. He had spilled everything in front of that device, things he thought he'd never have the courage to say in the flesh. Truth be told, he only really started to be serious when he began to realize that maybe there wasn't a way back to that Zanarkand, but --

He never thought he'd have the chance to see his son again after his time in Spira. As the realizations sunk in, he suddenly became aware of the mist (there was no way they were tears)that had somehow built up in his eyes.

With shaking hands, he inhaled quickly, hoping that Auron hadn't heard the barely audible sniff he'd tried to conceal as he straightened his back and immediately faced the door. "Yeah, so," he started speaking as though he was trying to rush through something, "I, um. Thanks for all that, Auron. Gettin' to Zanarkand an' all that. I forgot that, uh, I had to do somethin' jus' now, so, maybe we'll catch up more a little later."

ooc; aww, thanks for the offer! jecht will bounce back (he's jecht! haha) but a couple days of self-loathing will do him good. plus he's got that meeting with vyers lined up right after this, so you're doing more than enough for him as is. ;D

((Okay, good. ^.^ Just wanted to make sure everything would be okay. I know a lot of angst can make things difficult to play sometimes. XD))

Auron knew it irked the boy. He always protested whenever the possibility was brought up, but even he, to some point, couldn't deny just how similar he was to his father. But as much as Tidus denied it, it was obvious enough that he didn't hate Jecht as much as he said. He could see it in Tidus's eyes in his and Jecht's last meeting and hear it in his voice. But that was something the boy would have to tell Jecht himself.

He heard the sniffle but made no comment, pretending he had heard nothing. Jecht already wanted to leave enough already and there was no reason for Auron to bring it up. He had reason enough for tears already, whether he knew it or not. "I keep my promises," Auron explained, more grateful for the "thank you" than he showed. "Until next time then."

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Catching Up [completed]

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