JechtxAuron [complete]
I've never done anything quite like this before, but I hope you enjoy this. It was a lot of fun to write, kinda challenging, but overall a decent experience that I might even do it again.
All characters are belong to SquareEnix. =(^.^)= (intentional type if you did not notice)
--fathoms_deep
EDIT: Whoa, typoes abound, folks.
Fandom: Final Fantasy X
Pairing: Jecht/Auron
Theme set: Epsilon
Rating: R, just for language issues.
#01 - Motion
It was something Jecht was good at when he was buzzing on battle to the point where, for awhile, Auron could only look and appreciate the level of skill (piriouetting, claiming the field, laying waste to all who touched his sword); not so good when Auron woke up with half his stock of booze missing from the white jug hooked to his belt.
#02 - Cool
Just about the only non-roundabout compliment he had ever given Auron ("Man, those are damn slick, Auron! Can I have 'em?") was directed at the shades that he almost never wore; after that, he considered wearing them more often, because it seemed to get Jecht off his back about his clothes (which supposedly made him look like a "crotchety old man").
#03 - Young
Looking back, Auron first thought that even though Jecht had a son of his own, he appeared to have the mental capacity of a 15 year old boy with the cynical eye of one whose age far surpassed his capacity for compassion.
#04 - Last
It had started out as a fight, actually - Jecht had called him a name and Auron had retorted with his usual frozen rationality, which Jecht responded to negatively by tackling him to the frozen ground of Mt. Gagazet; Auron remembered the frozen ice underneath his hands and how very warm his mouth was and lost track of time how long they were laying like that.
#05 - Wrong
Afterwards, Jecht wondered if it was still irrevocably abhorrent to spend the night snuggled between Auron and three sweaty, smelly Ronso, or only slightly forgivable when they had shared the entire sake jug between them the night before.
#06 - Gentle
Jecht, Auron decided, wiping blood from his mouth, was anything but; Jecht surprised him then by reaching down ("Hey, better luck knockin' my head off next time, huh?") and helping him back up.
#07 - One
After listening to new jokes, stories, repeating theft of his sake jug, and enduring continuous rants about Auron's image around the campfire every night for about a week crossing the Calm Lands, as Auron understood it there was nobody else in all of Spira quite like Jecht.
#08 - Thousand
It was a number for many things: the number of seats in Luca Stadium maybe, or the number of times Jecht had tried to incite Auron into a fit of rage, but most of all it was the number of years that seperated Jecht from his own time, his own place where he had been the star of his own show, center-stage, drunk on his own wildfire of success; sometimes Auron watched Jecht at night as he looked at familiar stars, wondering if he missed that one place he held close inside his heart and maybe, if he did, Jecht wasn't half as big as a self-centered prick he made himself out to be.
#09 - King
Even though Jecht sucked at chess or any other similar game besides checkers as a matter of fact, he never stopped that confident, hell-raiser swagger that let everyone who saw him knew that he was his own self-proclaimed king; Auron didn't know how he felt about the man's attitude - whether the swagger was annoying or the confidence was overbearing - but at least it kept everyone positive.
#10 - Learn
Sometimes Jecht cursed Auron into oblivion when the hard-headed Guardian refused to let them have a little fun, relax a little, on their Pilgrimage; until finally, one day, Auron was caught without his shirt on and Jecht attacked with terrifying fervor the tense muscles between his shoulder blades, working out every hard and stubborn knot in his back so that, when he was done, Auron had to stubbornly admit he felt better.
#11 - Blur
The next time Jecht gets drunk, a battered, bleeding Auron promised himself, I will keep in mind that his aim is just a gods-damned sharp as it is when he's brick sober.
#12 - Wait
When the shoopuf finally arrived, Jecht had consumed a liberal amount of Auron's sake, much to his chagrin; later on as Braska handed over the last of their gold to pay for the resulting damage of Jecht's impromptu surprise, Auron wondered if there was enough left over to purchase a number combination lock for his sake jug somehow.
#13 - Change
The most refreshing characteristic that Auron found most admirable and also the most unfortunate was that Jecht seemed unlikely to change for just anyone - and maybe that's why he was more than a little surprised when Jecht apologized after Braska had lost his cool for the first and last time and demanded that he let up on Auron, or Yevon help him there'd be a very pissed off Ifrit casting a fireball conveniently into his ass; it was the first time Jecht had ever heard Braska swear.
#14 - Command
When it came down to it, Braska made all the decisions; depending on how much Jecht whined about it, it was Auron's job to make sure he didn't get on Braska's nerves which was still, quite honestly, a difficult thing to do - yet seeing Ifrit chase Jecht up and down and all over Besaid Island trying to shoot a firaga spell up his behind was something Auron would definitely pay to see.
#15 - Hold
Stop grabbing my hand, dammit it's not my fault you don't want to wear shoes; it's cold, Auron, and my frickin' toes are about to f-fall off; don't they have a saying where you come from... "be prepared"?; but-but Auron--; Fine, come here, I'll carry you, idiot.
#16 - Need
It was supposed to be an honor to be the recipient of Jecht's sudden and quiet request (Do me a favor, would ya, and look after my son), but Jecht treated it as if it was the world's most trying task in Spira.
#17 - Vision
When Auron asked if Jecht would be alright if he saw the Zanarkand of their world, Spira, and not the sprawling metropolis with which Jecht was familiar, the blitzball player replied curtly, "If there was anything in the world I'd rather not miss, seeing any Zanarkand - broken up all to crap or all sparklin' and shiny - oh, yeah, Zanarkand would be it, except--" and he paused, "--well, hell, it sure as hell will be different with you standing beside me."
#18 - Attention
Whenever Braska turned on the sphere recorder, Jecht didn't mind standing by himself and being the center of any and all attention; what Auron didn't and still does not understand is why on Spira the blitzer kept yanking his sleeve to loop his arm around his neck and squeeze until Auron was blue in the face while Jecht kept on grinning like the devil's fool.
#19 - Soul
After explaining the Farplane for the fourth time, Auron just gave it up as a bad job; Jecht still held to the fact that people went somewhere after they died: "I sure as hell don't wanna disappear and leave a hologram of myself behind; hologram's nowhere near as good lookin' as I am."
#20 - Picture
Once, he had surprised him by grabbing him just as Braska was about to snap the picture - crushing Auron's shoulders with a bruising grip - and later on, as Auron viewed the still-image on the sphere recorder, he was amazed at how naturally he seemed to fit against the other man, tucked underneath his arm, close enough to kiss him and yet somehow neither of them looking much phased.
#21 - Fool
Auron was convinced, but Jecht wouldn't hear any of it; so long as the good times were rolling, Jecht could convince anyone that they were on top of the world no matter how stupid Auron's jokes were in contrast to Jecht's... colorful humor.
#22 - Mad
One of them wanted to stir things up to make things interesting and the other was cleaning up afterward to make sure things didn't get too damn crazy, but "madness" was definitely a word describing skinny dipping in the Moonflow.
#23 - Child
Once, Jecht and Auron were invited to Braska's home in Bevelle for supplies; Auron shouldn't have worried that Jecht was terrible with kids because late in the afternoon he saw him shooting goals and showing little Yuna all of his fantasticly impossible Blitz moves and for awhile Auron was almost convinced that Jecht was an easily likeable guy.
#24 - Now
He could only hope that he would meet with Jecht in the Farplane; it had been a long time coming, bearing his quiet mourning but never regretting the sacrifice he had made - because Jecht had died, not for Spira, but for his son... to reunite with him in the most impractical of ways, but then when had Jecht ever been a creature of practicality?
#25 - Shadow
When he hugged him from behind, surprising him as he stood against the sunrise, Jecht's darker form in the grass seemed to make Auron's disappear entirely, weaving their figures together seamlessly into one black, complete being; the next instant, he was gasping for air and pounding his chest to find sufficient oxygen and Jecht was trying hard not to laugh too much at his expense.
#26 - Goodbye
There were times Auron couldn't wait to tell his drunken friend how often he prayed to Yevon for the day when he would finally be gone, but then he realized that maybe, when Braska completed the pilgrimage and everyone went home, it would seem almost... too quiet; he soon found that if he closed his eyes and listened, Jecht actually had a decent voice when he wasn't vocalizing an insult.
#27 - Hide
Underneath the shining, coarse bear-like exterior, there was a soft fleshie being that had to love someone other than himself; Auron was sure he'd probably find it someday.
#28 - Fortune
Auron counted himself lucky that he was normally (imperatively/uncannily/frustratingly) level-headed, because if he hadn't been, he was sure he'd be missing about four teeth already and Jecht would have twice as many scars on his body than he already had.
#29 - Safe
It wasn't as if he felt safe in the blitzball player's scarred, powerful arms; it was more like he was slowly losing control of his limbs and gradully seeing spots in his eyes just before Jecht quit hugging him so damn hard with a hearty, "We made it, pal! Give yourself a big--" (Whop! Whop!) "--pat on the back!"
#30 - Ghost
The first time he'd seen a pyrefly, a spiritual hologram of someone's memory, Jecht had been drunk and angry and brimming with a tearful, pissed-off type of regret; Auron helped him get through his emotional breakdown and wiped away his tears with the edge of his sleeve, wondering what could have brought on such a violent deluge and if he would have to wipe his eyes if it happened again.
#31 - Book
Auron carried with him a journal that he wrote in at night sometimes; Jecht stole it from him once and read the first half of the thirtieth page - the other half was read in blushing, silent awe.
#32 - Eye
He had never known the color of Auron's eyes and he didn't know why it was important, but he had to ask, so finally, after three hours of argumentation, he demanded that he take those sweet shades off or he'd bust them to pieces; he was mildly surprised to find Auron two inches in front of him, staring across the rim of those shades with eyes that looked like wooden coals, burning and intense and with an admirable level of focus that made Jecht love him passionately for a few long seconds.
#33 - Never
They never really had gotten to the point where they could say it out loud, at least not to each other, but Jecht thought it was a start.
#34 - Sing
He had a horrible singing voice, Jecht knew, but sometimes when he felt spiteful and sad he would sit alone in the night and sing it, knowing that there was at least one person who could understand why he did it in the first place and not complain about all the noise he was making.
#35 - Sudden
There he came crashing down the hill after that treacherous stone had come loose, his limbs and arms flailing and it cost Jecht all of his strength to...
#36 - Stop
...halt his falling companion's progress; in a pile they fell to the ground, tangled limbs and muffled curses and now a plethora of bruises (but, Jecht thought as he snuggled his nose red, soft collar, at least I get to hold him for awhile.)
#37 - Time
Two men; one from a past that supposedly maintained the prospering beauty of Zanarkand, who glowed in the light of stardom and preferred the attention and adoration of all rather than the attention and adoration of his sun, and the other would rather remain quiet, give advice when asked, and admire silently and without intrusion.
#38 - Wash
In the baking-yet-still-chill light of the morning sun, the bubbles in the bath made colors dance across the ceiling as though mimicking the glow of the Moonflow; Auron, having just come in for a bath himself, stood still as if frozen by his own shame and let his eyes devour what his hands could never touch: scarred, tough skin, dark with days in the sunlight, dripping dark hair that must surely be soft after a good washing - and curves, all over, curving muscle, curving shoulder and vertebra as Jecht bent his head and slowly massaged a stubborn knot in his neck loose from his neck.
#39 - Torn
With Jecht, there were no two ways about it (he liked, no, he fuckin' admired Auron for being so awesomely mature and in control and Jecht cursed his inability to truly let his emotions manifest in true words); but with Auron he never knew just how the younger Guardian felt about him: hatred, despair, tolerance, love... suddenly the blitzer fervently wished that most of the time it was at the very least tolerance, because sometimes it felt like asking too much for his love.
#40 - History
He never got tired of talking about where he came from and Auron realized he didn't mind listening; it only became a problem when Jecht started asking Auron really personal questions.
#41 - Power
Auron was always a mite stronger, always a bit more cunning, always more and more of all sorts of things than Jecht; so why, when it came down to fisticuffs, did Auron always let him win?
#42 - Bother
There was almost never any time to be alone with him, and whenever Jecht suddenly happened to be in the mood, it always tended to be in the middle of the afternoon during dinner and he couldn't, to save his life, get him to stop putting his peas down the front of his trousers.
#43 - God
There never seemed to be much interest in Yevon on Jecht's part, whether because he considered himself the god of his own universe or maybe because he knew it didn't really, couldn't, apply to him since he was from his own Zanarkand; Auron didn't have problems with godless people, and now one of his favorite ones was standing right next to him in Luca Stadium, hollering indiscrimnantly at the players of both teams to "quit half-assing and show some real fuckin' talent."
#44 - Wall
It was hard, uneven, undulating stone - the same stone that had carved out the entirity of Guadosalam - but for the moment, feeling teeth and lips pull and suck at his throat in mildly reckless, drunken abandon (his own mind faintly swimming as well), Auron figured it was either that or ... that really ugly pineapple-shaped chair over there.
#45 - Naked
His skin had character, each scar telling a particularly gruesome story, stories that Jecht would have loved to use to regale him with during long nights like this one, when they lay skin-to-skin even if it was only shoulder-to-shoulder and the desert oasis of Bikanel left little clothing to be desired; Auron couldn't stop himself from taking liberties with touching that skin and surprisingly, Jecht didn't stop him - until he took his hand away and brought it down to his stomach and pressed it there, and from there Auron couldn't fathom just how he'd be able to stop touching.
#46 - Drive
Nobody enjoyed killing things more than Jecht, not even Auron, but in spite of Auron's reluctance, they always made a tally of how many Cactuars they could kill whenever they found themselves in the desert. Jecht was still ahead by about fourty-seven cactuar.
#47 - Harm
Bodily harm was becoming like a language: one hard whop on the shoulder and Auron always knew Jecht was feeling fine and peachy; two punches meant Auron was getting on his nerves; one tackle, followed by a straddle, and a thwack across his head, followed by Auron kneeing him in the groin and flipping him over and pinning him -- well, Braska knew that it was going to be a trying day.
#48 - Precious
Above all else, Jecht just wanted to see his kid happy, but now that there wasn't really a chance in hell of seeing that happening with his own eyes, he merely contented himself with making Auron his whiny son's honorary baby-sitter - a task that he would not entrust to any other living soul in Spira, and somehow that made Auron's heart twinge with unfamiliar gladness.
#49 - Hunger
He dressed like a pirate, he drank like a fish, he stole his sake, he beat him up on a regular basis (but Auron let him), he walked around barefoot for no particularly sane reason, and he tasted, among the usual (sweat, salt, heat, sunlight), like cinnamon and spice when he kissed him just underneath his ear; Auron realized later this was why he began to prefer a certain type of cologne over another when he had moved to Zanarkand upon the back of Sin (a creature that had somehow smelled just the same.)
#50 - Believe
After all, Auron had nothing to believe in; Jecht had made all that change in a moment's glance, a meeting of eyes and a flash of a crooked grin that wrinkled the dark scars on his cheeks - that look that said wherever Auron came from didn't matter because he could always be at home with Jecht.
All characters are belong to SquareEnix. =(^.^)= (intentional type if you did not notice)
--fathoms_deep
EDIT: Whoa, typoes abound, folks.
Fandom: Final Fantasy X
Pairing: Jecht/Auron
Theme set: Epsilon
Rating: R, just for language issues.
#01 - Motion
It was something Jecht was good at when he was buzzing on battle to the point where, for awhile, Auron could only look and appreciate the level of skill (piriouetting, claiming the field, laying waste to all who touched his sword); not so good when Auron woke up with half his stock of booze missing from the white jug hooked to his belt.
#02 - Cool
Just about the only non-roundabout compliment he had ever given Auron ("Man, those are damn slick, Auron! Can I have 'em?") was directed at the shades that he almost never wore; after that, he considered wearing them more often, because it seemed to get Jecht off his back about his clothes (which supposedly made him look like a "crotchety old man").
#03 - Young
Looking back, Auron first thought that even though Jecht had a son of his own, he appeared to have the mental capacity of a 15 year old boy with the cynical eye of one whose age far surpassed his capacity for compassion.
#04 - Last
It had started out as a fight, actually - Jecht had called him a name and Auron had retorted with his usual frozen rationality, which Jecht responded to negatively by tackling him to the frozen ground of Mt. Gagazet; Auron remembered the frozen ice underneath his hands and how very warm his mouth was and lost track of time how long they were laying like that.
#05 - Wrong
Afterwards, Jecht wondered if it was still irrevocably abhorrent to spend the night snuggled between Auron and three sweaty, smelly Ronso, or only slightly forgivable when they had shared the entire sake jug between them the night before.
#06 - Gentle
Jecht, Auron decided, wiping blood from his mouth, was anything but; Jecht surprised him then by reaching down ("Hey, better luck knockin' my head off next time, huh?") and helping him back up.
#07 - One
After listening to new jokes, stories, repeating theft of his sake jug, and enduring continuous rants about Auron's image around the campfire every night for about a week crossing the Calm Lands, as Auron understood it there was nobody else in all of Spira quite like Jecht.
#08 - Thousand
It was a number for many things: the number of seats in Luca Stadium maybe, or the number of times Jecht had tried to incite Auron into a fit of rage, but most of all it was the number of years that seperated Jecht from his own time, his own place where he had been the star of his own show, center-stage, drunk on his own wildfire of success; sometimes Auron watched Jecht at night as he looked at familiar stars, wondering if he missed that one place he held close inside his heart and maybe, if he did, Jecht wasn't half as big as a self-centered prick he made himself out to be.
#09 - King
Even though Jecht sucked at chess or any other similar game besides checkers as a matter of fact, he never stopped that confident, hell-raiser swagger that let everyone who saw him knew that he was his own self-proclaimed king; Auron didn't know how he felt about the man's attitude - whether the swagger was annoying or the confidence was overbearing - but at least it kept everyone positive.
#10 - Learn
Sometimes Jecht cursed Auron into oblivion when the hard-headed Guardian refused to let them have a little fun, relax a little, on their Pilgrimage; until finally, one day, Auron was caught without his shirt on and Jecht attacked with terrifying fervor the tense muscles between his shoulder blades, working out every hard and stubborn knot in his back so that, when he was done, Auron had to stubbornly admit he felt better.
#11 - Blur
The next time Jecht gets drunk, a battered, bleeding Auron promised himself, I will keep in mind that his aim is just a gods-damned sharp as it is when he's brick sober.
#12 - Wait
When the shoopuf finally arrived, Jecht had consumed a liberal amount of Auron's sake, much to his chagrin; later on as Braska handed over the last of their gold to pay for the resulting damage of Jecht's impromptu surprise, Auron wondered if there was enough left over to purchase a number combination lock for his sake jug somehow.
#13 - Change
The most refreshing characteristic that Auron found most admirable and also the most unfortunate was that Jecht seemed unlikely to change for just anyone - and maybe that's why he was more than a little surprised when Jecht apologized after Braska had lost his cool for the first and last time and demanded that he let up on Auron, or Yevon help him there'd be a very pissed off Ifrit casting a fireball conveniently into his ass; it was the first time Jecht had ever heard Braska swear.
#14 - Command
When it came down to it, Braska made all the decisions; depending on how much Jecht whined about it, it was Auron's job to make sure he didn't get on Braska's nerves which was still, quite honestly, a difficult thing to do - yet seeing Ifrit chase Jecht up and down and all over Besaid Island trying to shoot a firaga spell up his behind was something Auron would definitely pay to see.
#15 - Hold
Stop grabbing my hand, dammit it's not my fault you don't want to wear shoes; it's cold, Auron, and my frickin' toes are about to f-fall off; don't they have a saying where you come from... "be prepared"?; but-but Auron--; Fine, come here, I'll carry you, idiot.
#16 - Need
It was supposed to be an honor to be the recipient of Jecht's sudden and quiet request (Do me a favor, would ya, and look after my son), but Jecht treated it as if it was the world's most trying task in Spira.
#17 - Vision
When Auron asked if Jecht would be alright if he saw the Zanarkand of their world, Spira, and not the sprawling metropolis with which Jecht was familiar, the blitzball player replied curtly, "If there was anything in the world I'd rather not miss, seeing any Zanarkand - broken up all to crap or all sparklin' and shiny - oh, yeah, Zanarkand would be it, except--" and he paused, "--well, hell, it sure as hell will be different with you standing beside me."
#18 - Attention
Whenever Braska turned on the sphere recorder, Jecht didn't mind standing by himself and being the center of any and all attention; what Auron didn't and still does not understand is why on Spira the blitzer kept yanking his sleeve to loop his arm around his neck and squeeze until Auron was blue in the face while Jecht kept on grinning like the devil's fool.
#19 - Soul
After explaining the Farplane for the fourth time, Auron just gave it up as a bad job; Jecht still held to the fact that people went somewhere after they died: "I sure as hell don't wanna disappear and leave a hologram of myself behind; hologram's nowhere near as good lookin' as I am."
#20 - Picture
Once, he had surprised him by grabbing him just as Braska was about to snap the picture - crushing Auron's shoulders with a bruising grip - and later on, as Auron viewed the still-image on the sphere recorder, he was amazed at how naturally he seemed to fit against the other man, tucked underneath his arm, close enough to kiss him and yet somehow neither of them looking much phased.
#21 - Fool
Auron was convinced, but Jecht wouldn't hear any of it; so long as the good times were rolling, Jecht could convince anyone that they were on top of the world no matter how stupid Auron's jokes were in contrast to Jecht's... colorful humor.
#22 - Mad
One of them wanted to stir things up to make things interesting and the other was cleaning up afterward to make sure things didn't get too damn crazy, but "madness" was definitely a word describing skinny dipping in the Moonflow.
#23 - Child
Once, Jecht and Auron were invited to Braska's home in Bevelle for supplies; Auron shouldn't have worried that Jecht was terrible with kids because late in the afternoon he saw him shooting goals and showing little Yuna all of his fantasticly impossible Blitz moves and for awhile Auron was almost convinced that Jecht was an easily likeable guy.
#24 - Now
He could only hope that he would meet with Jecht in the Farplane; it had been a long time coming, bearing his quiet mourning but never regretting the sacrifice he had made - because Jecht had died, not for Spira, but for his son... to reunite with him in the most impractical of ways, but then when had Jecht ever been a creature of practicality?
#25 - Shadow
When he hugged him from behind, surprising him as he stood against the sunrise, Jecht's darker form in the grass seemed to make Auron's disappear entirely, weaving their figures together seamlessly into one black, complete being; the next instant, he was gasping for air and pounding his chest to find sufficient oxygen and Jecht was trying hard not to laugh too much at his expense.
#26 - Goodbye
There were times Auron couldn't wait to tell his drunken friend how often he prayed to Yevon for the day when he would finally be gone, but then he realized that maybe, when Braska completed the pilgrimage and everyone went home, it would seem almost... too quiet; he soon found that if he closed his eyes and listened, Jecht actually had a decent voice when he wasn't vocalizing an insult.
#27 - Hide
Underneath the shining, coarse bear-like exterior, there was a soft fleshie being that had to love someone other than himself; Auron was sure he'd probably find it someday.
#28 - Fortune
Auron counted himself lucky that he was normally (imperatively/uncannily/frustratingly) level-headed, because if he hadn't been, he was sure he'd be missing about four teeth already and Jecht would have twice as many scars on his body than he already had.
#29 - Safe
It wasn't as if he felt safe in the blitzball player's scarred, powerful arms; it was more like he was slowly losing control of his limbs and gradully seeing spots in his eyes just before Jecht quit hugging him so damn hard with a hearty, "We made it, pal! Give yourself a big--" (Whop! Whop!) "--pat on the back!"
#30 - Ghost
The first time he'd seen a pyrefly, a spiritual hologram of someone's memory, Jecht had been drunk and angry and brimming with a tearful, pissed-off type of regret; Auron helped him get through his emotional breakdown and wiped away his tears with the edge of his sleeve, wondering what could have brought on such a violent deluge and if he would have to wipe his eyes if it happened again.
#31 - Book
Auron carried with him a journal that he wrote in at night sometimes; Jecht stole it from him once and read the first half of the thirtieth page - the other half was read in blushing, silent awe.
#32 - Eye
He had never known the color of Auron's eyes and he didn't know why it was important, but he had to ask, so finally, after three hours of argumentation, he demanded that he take those sweet shades off or he'd bust them to pieces; he was mildly surprised to find Auron two inches in front of him, staring across the rim of those shades with eyes that looked like wooden coals, burning and intense and with an admirable level of focus that made Jecht love him passionately for a few long seconds.
#33 - Never
They never really had gotten to the point where they could say it out loud, at least not to each other, but Jecht thought it was a start.
#34 - Sing
He had a horrible singing voice, Jecht knew, but sometimes when he felt spiteful and sad he would sit alone in the night and sing it, knowing that there was at least one person who could understand why he did it in the first place and not complain about all the noise he was making.
#35 - Sudden
There he came crashing down the hill after that treacherous stone had come loose, his limbs and arms flailing and it cost Jecht all of his strength to...
#36 - Stop
...halt his falling companion's progress; in a pile they fell to the ground, tangled limbs and muffled curses and now a plethora of bruises (but, Jecht thought as he snuggled his nose red, soft collar, at least I get to hold him for awhile.)
#37 - Time
Two men; one from a past that supposedly maintained the prospering beauty of Zanarkand, who glowed in the light of stardom and preferred the attention and adoration of all rather than the attention and adoration of his sun, and the other would rather remain quiet, give advice when asked, and admire silently and without intrusion.
#38 - Wash
In the baking-yet-still-chill light of the morning sun, the bubbles in the bath made colors dance across the ceiling as though mimicking the glow of the Moonflow; Auron, having just come in for a bath himself, stood still as if frozen by his own shame and let his eyes devour what his hands could never touch: scarred, tough skin, dark with days in the sunlight, dripping dark hair that must surely be soft after a good washing - and curves, all over, curving muscle, curving shoulder and vertebra as Jecht bent his head and slowly massaged a stubborn knot in his neck loose from his neck.
#39 - Torn
With Jecht, there were no two ways about it (he liked, no, he fuckin' admired Auron for being so awesomely mature and in control and Jecht cursed his inability to truly let his emotions manifest in true words); but with Auron he never knew just how the younger Guardian felt about him: hatred, despair, tolerance, love... suddenly the blitzer fervently wished that most of the time it was at the very least tolerance, because sometimes it felt like asking too much for his love.
#40 - History
He never got tired of talking about where he came from and Auron realized he didn't mind listening; it only became a problem when Jecht started asking Auron really personal questions.
#41 - Power
Auron was always a mite stronger, always a bit more cunning, always more and more of all sorts of things than Jecht; so why, when it came down to fisticuffs, did Auron always let him win?
#42 - Bother
There was almost never any time to be alone with him, and whenever Jecht suddenly happened to be in the mood, it always tended to be in the middle of the afternoon during dinner and he couldn't, to save his life, get him to stop putting his peas down the front of his trousers.
#43 - God
There never seemed to be much interest in Yevon on Jecht's part, whether because he considered himself the god of his own universe or maybe because he knew it didn't really, couldn't, apply to him since he was from his own Zanarkand; Auron didn't have problems with godless people, and now one of his favorite ones was standing right next to him in Luca Stadium, hollering indiscrimnantly at the players of both teams to "quit half-assing and show some real fuckin' talent."
#44 - Wall
It was hard, uneven, undulating stone - the same stone that had carved out the entirity of Guadosalam - but for the moment, feeling teeth and lips pull and suck at his throat in mildly reckless, drunken abandon (his own mind faintly swimming as well), Auron figured it was either that or ... that really ugly pineapple-shaped chair over there.
#45 - Naked
His skin had character, each scar telling a particularly gruesome story, stories that Jecht would have loved to use to regale him with during long nights like this one, when they lay skin-to-skin even if it was only shoulder-to-shoulder and the desert oasis of Bikanel left little clothing to be desired; Auron couldn't stop himself from taking liberties with touching that skin and surprisingly, Jecht didn't stop him - until he took his hand away and brought it down to his stomach and pressed it there, and from there Auron couldn't fathom just how he'd be able to stop touching.
#46 - Drive
Nobody enjoyed killing things more than Jecht, not even Auron, but in spite of Auron's reluctance, they always made a tally of how many Cactuars they could kill whenever they found themselves in the desert. Jecht was still ahead by about fourty-seven cactuar.
#47 - Harm
Bodily harm was becoming like a language: one hard whop on the shoulder and Auron always knew Jecht was feeling fine and peachy; two punches meant Auron was getting on his nerves; one tackle, followed by a straddle, and a thwack across his head, followed by Auron kneeing him in the groin and flipping him over and pinning him -- well, Braska knew that it was going to be a trying day.
#48 - Precious
Above all else, Jecht just wanted to see his kid happy, but now that there wasn't really a chance in hell of seeing that happening with his own eyes, he merely contented himself with making Auron his whiny son's honorary baby-sitter - a task that he would not entrust to any other living soul in Spira, and somehow that made Auron's heart twinge with unfamiliar gladness.
#49 - Hunger
He dressed like a pirate, he drank like a fish, he stole his sake, he beat him up on a regular basis (but Auron let him), he walked around barefoot for no particularly sane reason, and he tasted, among the usual (sweat, salt, heat, sunlight), like cinnamon and spice when he kissed him just underneath his ear; Auron realized later this was why he began to prefer a certain type of cologne over another when he had moved to Zanarkand upon the back of Sin (a creature that had somehow smelled just the same.)
#50 - Believe
After all, Auron had nothing to believe in; Jecht had made all that change in a moment's glance, a meeting of eyes and a flash of a crooked grin that wrinkled the dark scars on his cheeks - that look that said wherever Auron came from didn't matter because he could always be at home with Jecht.