Prison - Balthier/Vaan oneshot fic
I got bored and decided to write short one-shots (sho-shots, LOL lame) and after some time thinking, decided to put it up on my LJ for 'archiving purposes'.
The first time they had laid eyes on each other, it was in a secret treasure room in the Rabanastre Palace. The sky pirate has scared Vaan to the point that the hairs on the back of his neck stood up vertically when the suave, Archadian-accent voice called him from the hidden doorway. First impression - the man demanding the goddess’ magicite from him was the coolest man he had ever seen. ‘A lot like those guys in Penelo’s novels,’ he had mused.
Balthier, on the other hand, raised an eyebrow at the dirt-stained face of the little thief, his skin tanned from all the desert sun, boots slightly damp from having gone through the waterways. First impression - the boy who got to the treasure before he and Fran did was either very sneaky, or got lucky, big time. ‘Yet, that luck is about to run out,’ he mused in turn.
After that, they were running for their lives from the Archadian soldiers. A very pretty Viera, a hovering bike and a crash later - they, or Vaan, rather, was back in the Garamsythe Waterway. Somehow he was dragged to working with the two sky pirates (he thought it was a dream come true - to be paired up with his childhood hero figures), and met the mysterious woman Amalia, who wasn’t all that mysterious when they found out she was the princess much, much later.
In the end, they were caught and sent to the Nalbina Dungeons. That’s where it all began.
It wasn’t Vaan’s fault that he couldn’t stand seeing people bullied. He had after all, spent the past four or so odd years defending the orphans of Lowtown, and he was especially not fond of Bangaas or Seeqs bullying Humes just because they were smaller. All hope seemed lost when he ended up stuck in the small gated pit with three bloodthirsty Seeqs; unarmed and very fearful of his life. Hey, he was only seventeen and had a whole lifetime of sky pirating awaiting him.
When he heard Balthier’s voice above him, he expected to be mocked again. After all, it wasn’t even five minutes since he left Balthier at the end of the dungeon, and here he was - stuck in a whole lot of trouble. To his surprise, Balthier jumped right in to beat the crap out of the Seeqs with him. Vaan was touched by this act of kindness - after all he could’ve just let him rot, but chose not to. Then, to his second surprise (how many surprises must he get?), Balthier grabbed his arms and pushed him against the gated wall.
Of course, he first thought Balthier did this because he was pissed that he got his pretty white shirt stained with Seeq spit and blood. When Balthier’s face got a little too close for comfort, he then thought that Balthier was indeed bisexual and suddenly craved for some kind of personal contact (this is where he gulped in anticipation). But when he heard the clunking sounds of heavy Archadian armour and the voice of a Judge above them, then he realised he was wrong on both occasions.
“Shh,” Balthier whispered in his ear. Cursing the gods silently in his mind, Vaan struggled to keep himself standing despite the very close proximity he was to the very dashing, very handsome sky pirate. He swore that he had never seen a man look this good.
Some chatter between Judge Gabranth, a furious Bangaa named B’Gamnan and some fading clinks and clunks later, Fran came to see them from another gate, beckoning for them to come. She told them of a way out, and both of them were relieved to hear that. Vaan especially - perhaps it was the lack of water making him think funny things about Balthier. ‘Yes, that must be it,’ he convinced himself, and braced himself for their escape. Little did Vaan know he was on the right track of mind.
Many things happened after that to add to Vaan’s emotional turmoil - like meeting Basch (supposedly his brother’s murderer), escaping through the Barheim Passage (where they almost got killed by power-sucking bugs), returning to Rabanastre to find out that Penelo had been kidnapped by the same B’Gamnan who had been looking for Balthier, getting to sit in an airship for the first time (piloted by sky pirates to boot), meeting Lamont (a.k.a. Larsa Solidor, which they found out later), rescuing Penelo, getting caught and sent on the Leviathan, meeting the Princess, escaping the said ship, and many more things that eventually led up to helping Ashe ultimately destroy Vayne Solidor and the Bahamut.
Of course, before destroying such a powerful man and ship, they had to get help from Espers. Now, one of the leads they got was at the end of the Barheim Passage from a sick traveller.
And once again, it wasn’t Vaan’s fault the Esper mentioned was one of the Death types.
After a chain of Quickenings and a Summon or two later, Vaan was out like a light when the Esper cast Death on him at the very last moment of the battle. A hard slash from Basch’s large blade, and the Esper was theirs, but the desert boy collapsed to the floor, unconscious.
“Vaan!” screamed Penelo who was at the back of the group as she ran towards him. She dropped her staff and knelt beside Vaan, using a Phoenix Down on him. The rest of the group approached him, and Balthier placed his pole on the ground to kneel on Vaan’s other side. “It’s not working...” Penelo said in fear, trembling as Vaan remained unconscious.
Basch knelt beside Penelo to calm her down, a reassuring hand on her shoulder, while Fran looked down at the fretful Balthier, noticing his worry. Ashe knelt beside Balthier and began casting Arise. She had only recently learned it, and she was the only one with enough magick power to cast the spell. “Arise,” she mumbled, letting the glow from her fingertips fly to Vaan, and the desert boy began breathing again, to everyone’s relief.
His bright blue eyes opened to see a teary Penelo and he groaned as he sat up. Penelo was so overjoyed that she was about to pull her childhood friend into an embrace when someone else beat her to it. Before Vaan could even realise that he had actually been knocked out and revived, he felt Balthier pulling his shoulders with his hands and after that a soft feeling of lips upon lips.
Penelo, Basch and Ashe were speechless at this, staring at them with eyes wide open, and possibly mouths wide open too. Fran only smiled, this sudden course of action proving her theory that Balthier’s change in personality had indeed been caused by Vaan. When Balthier released his grip on the desert boy (who at such close proximity noticed that the corner of his eyes were wet), Penelo, Basch and Ashe were staring at him, as if waiting for him to say something.
“Hey guys...I’m...alive, right?” Vaan said.
The stupefied trio only nodded.
“And...if I’m alive, that means...this is real right? Not a dream?”
They nodded again.
“That means...Balthier just kissed me, right?”
Once again, still shocked from the ordeal, they nodded.
Vaan felt his body become rigid. “Okay. I’m gonna pass out now,” he said, before doing just so, Penelo catching him before his back and head slammed against the ground. Fran continued to snicker as she watched Balthier lick his lips in pleasure, Penelo shaking the unconscious Vaan, and Basch and Ashe looking at each other with disbelief over what had just happened.
“So, Balthier,” Fran said as Balthier stood up triumphantly. “Why did you do it?”
“Ah yes, my dear Fran,” Balthier replied, looking down at the other four. “I thought this was the best time to get the message across. Nothing says ‘Welcome back’ like a kiss after being revived.”
“Welcome back, indeed,” Fran said, before chuckling again.
Ashe’s eyes twitched as she looked up at Balthier in disgust. Basch had somewhere between a look of mortification and curiosity on his face. “So...you fancy boys like Vaan?” he asked, feeling like a complete fool for asking such a question. Ashe turned to him in disbelief and slapped him on the arm.
The next sentence from Penelo gave them all surprises, however. “Balthier, how could you!” she yelled, blushing bright red. “That was Vaan’s first kiss!”
>> END
The first time they had laid eyes on each other, it was in a secret treasure room in the Rabanastre Palace. The sky pirate has scared Vaan to the point that the hairs on the back of his neck stood up vertically when the suave, Archadian-accent voice called him from the hidden doorway. First impression - the man demanding the goddess’ magicite from him was the coolest man he had ever seen. ‘A lot like those guys in Penelo’s novels,’ he had mused.
Balthier, on the other hand, raised an eyebrow at the dirt-stained face of the little thief, his skin tanned from all the desert sun, boots slightly damp from having gone through the waterways. First impression - the boy who got to the treasure before he and Fran did was either very sneaky, or got lucky, big time. ‘Yet, that luck is about to run out,’ he mused in turn.
After that, they were running for their lives from the Archadian soldiers. A very pretty Viera, a hovering bike and a crash later - they, or Vaan, rather, was back in the Garamsythe Waterway. Somehow he was dragged to working with the two sky pirates (he thought it was a dream come true - to be paired up with his childhood hero figures), and met the mysterious woman Amalia, who wasn’t all that mysterious when they found out she was the princess much, much later.
In the end, they were caught and sent to the Nalbina Dungeons. That’s where it all began.
It wasn’t Vaan’s fault that he couldn’t stand seeing people bullied. He had after all, spent the past four or so odd years defending the orphans of Lowtown, and he was especially not fond of Bangaas or Seeqs bullying Humes just because they were smaller. All hope seemed lost when he ended up stuck in the small gated pit with three bloodthirsty Seeqs; unarmed and very fearful of his life. Hey, he was only seventeen and had a whole lifetime of sky pirating awaiting him.
When he heard Balthier’s voice above him, he expected to be mocked again. After all, it wasn’t even five minutes since he left Balthier at the end of the dungeon, and here he was - stuck in a whole lot of trouble. To his surprise, Balthier jumped right in to beat the crap out of the Seeqs with him. Vaan was touched by this act of kindness - after all he could’ve just let him rot, but chose not to. Then, to his second surprise (how many surprises must he get?), Balthier grabbed his arms and pushed him against the gated wall.
Of course, he first thought Balthier did this because he was pissed that he got his pretty white shirt stained with Seeq spit and blood. When Balthier’s face got a little too close for comfort, he then thought that Balthier was indeed bisexual and suddenly craved for some kind of personal contact (this is where he gulped in anticipation). But when he heard the clunking sounds of heavy Archadian armour and the voice of a Judge above them, then he realised he was wrong on both occasions.
“Shh,” Balthier whispered in his ear. Cursing the gods silently in his mind, Vaan struggled to keep himself standing despite the very close proximity he was to the very dashing, very handsome sky pirate. He swore that he had never seen a man look this good.
Some chatter between Judge Gabranth, a furious Bangaa named B’Gamnan and some fading clinks and clunks later, Fran came to see them from another gate, beckoning for them to come. She told them of a way out, and both of them were relieved to hear that. Vaan especially - perhaps it was the lack of water making him think funny things about Balthier. ‘Yes, that must be it,’ he convinced himself, and braced himself for their escape. Little did Vaan know he was on the right track of mind.
Many things happened after that to add to Vaan’s emotional turmoil - like meeting Basch (supposedly his brother’s murderer), escaping through the Barheim Passage (where they almost got killed by power-sucking bugs), returning to Rabanastre to find out that Penelo had been kidnapped by the same B’Gamnan who had been looking for Balthier, getting to sit in an airship for the first time (piloted by sky pirates to boot), meeting Lamont (a.k.a. Larsa Solidor, which they found out later), rescuing Penelo, getting caught and sent on the Leviathan, meeting the Princess, escaping the said ship, and many more things that eventually led up to helping Ashe ultimately destroy Vayne Solidor and the Bahamut.
Of course, before destroying such a powerful man and ship, they had to get help from Espers. Now, one of the leads they got was at the end of the Barheim Passage from a sick traveller.
And once again, it wasn’t Vaan’s fault the Esper mentioned was one of the Death types.
After a chain of Quickenings and a Summon or two later, Vaan was out like a light when the Esper cast Death on him at the very last moment of the battle. A hard slash from Basch’s large blade, and the Esper was theirs, but the desert boy collapsed to the floor, unconscious.
“Vaan!” screamed Penelo who was at the back of the group as she ran towards him. She dropped her staff and knelt beside Vaan, using a Phoenix Down on him. The rest of the group approached him, and Balthier placed his pole on the ground to kneel on Vaan’s other side. “It’s not working...” Penelo said in fear, trembling as Vaan remained unconscious.
Basch knelt beside Penelo to calm her down, a reassuring hand on her shoulder, while Fran looked down at the fretful Balthier, noticing his worry. Ashe knelt beside Balthier and began casting Arise. She had only recently learned it, and she was the only one with enough magick power to cast the spell. “Arise,” she mumbled, letting the glow from her fingertips fly to Vaan, and the desert boy began breathing again, to everyone’s relief.
His bright blue eyes opened to see a teary Penelo and he groaned as he sat up. Penelo was so overjoyed that she was about to pull her childhood friend into an embrace when someone else beat her to it. Before Vaan could even realise that he had actually been knocked out and revived, he felt Balthier pulling his shoulders with his hands and after that a soft feeling of lips upon lips.
Penelo, Basch and Ashe were speechless at this, staring at them with eyes wide open, and possibly mouths wide open too. Fran only smiled, this sudden course of action proving her theory that Balthier’s change in personality had indeed been caused by Vaan. When Balthier released his grip on the desert boy (who at such close proximity noticed that the corner of his eyes were wet), Penelo, Basch and Ashe were staring at him, as if waiting for him to say something.
“Hey guys...I’m...alive, right?” Vaan said.
The stupefied trio only nodded.
“And...if I’m alive, that means...this is real right? Not a dream?”
They nodded again.
“That means...Balthier just kissed me, right?”
Once again, still shocked from the ordeal, they nodded.
Vaan felt his body become rigid. “Okay. I’m gonna pass out now,” he said, before doing just so, Penelo catching him before his back and head slammed against the ground. Fran continued to snicker as she watched Balthier lick his lips in pleasure, Penelo shaking the unconscious Vaan, and Basch and Ashe looking at each other with disbelief over what had just happened.
“So, Balthier,” Fran said as Balthier stood up triumphantly. “Why did you do it?”
“Ah yes, my dear Fran,” Balthier replied, looking down at the other four. “I thought this was the best time to get the message across. Nothing says ‘Welcome back’ like a kiss after being revived.”
“Welcome back, indeed,” Fran said, before chuckling again.
Ashe’s eyes twitched as she looked up at Balthier in disgust. Basch had somewhere between a look of mortification and curiosity on his face. “So...you fancy boys like Vaan?” he asked, feeling like a complete fool for asking such a question. Ashe turned to him in disbelief and slapped him on the arm.
The next sentence from Penelo gave them all surprises, however. “Balthier, how could you!” she yelled, blushing bright red. “That was Vaan’s first kiss!”
>> END