[ Seeing as how Cae has become something he actually recently started enjoying the company of, Reo came by for a visit. After waiting a while it didn't seem like she wanted to answer... so instead he left a gift on her front porch. Hopefully no one takes it by the time she comes back from her crystal state.
Inside is just a cute little tea cup decorated with a big red flower on the side.]
[After taking a while to find what he needs, Jecht leaves behind the following on her table: - half a dozen freshly made soft chocolate chip cookies from a bakery in the slums, neatly sealed and packaged - a jar of jam [(flavor pending)] - a small box of some kind of bran cereal with dried fruit pieces - a bottle of mixed fruit juice
And a note that reads: Morning, firebug. Bout time you woke up. Enjoy the food. I'll be over shortly. The juice's fresh. Don't drink your coffee.
-Jecht
Also, The teacup Reo left behind has been placed on the table she's sitting at.]
Caelia will find Jecht hanging out with her chocobo in his stable, sitting on the fence and petting his neck feathers. Nothing looks particularly off about him, except that bits of the fence has ice on the top but there are also a few red flowers that don't quite fit in with the grass.
Look. Feelings are complicated.
He looks up when she finally comes home, grinning.
There's nothing quite like coming back to a home to see the object of your affection already there waiting for you, even if something seems off with the ice and all. Seeing him with her favourite chocobo, who is very much soaking up the attention with happy kwehs and chirps and even some beak bumps against him.
See, Jecht is okay, Locke guesses, just as long as Jecht doesn't take away too much of Cae's attention. So when he sees Caelia, Locke starts fluttering his wings and happily chirruping and 'talking' to her. The sight puts an instant, soft smile on her lips.
"I can get used to seein' you here when I come home from doing what I do, Charming. But maybe without the ice." It only seems like there's something wrong here, but there's a certainty that she'll find out about it soon enough. So with that in mind, she goes easily to Jecht to slip her arms around him loosely.
"Gonna tell me what has you flustered like this, or am I gonna have to guess?"
Jecht laughs softly when Locke lights up at the sight of his master. So much for trying to win him over the past hour, not that he minds. He still has one hand on the chocobo's back when Caelia comes over. His own arm going around her in return. He doesn't move from the fence, since it puts him in a better position for a hug.
"Thought I'd speed up the turnin' of the weather. I ever tell you that ain't a thing in Zanarkand?" It's always nice weather, warm with the scent of the ocean. Sometimes mixed with ocean rain. But he's stalling. He knows he is. Yet he still huffs anyway.
"I ain't flustered." He finally pulls his hand back from Locke and faces Caelia properly. His tone growing somber. "My son's here... But I think he's from a time earlier than me and Auron. Before everything's... over."
"No, you haven't told me that yet, but that sounds like you're tryin' to stall."
Hah. Which, he was. She knows. When he says that he isn't, she just sneers, giving him a "uh huh, sure" look. But when Jecht's demeanor changes completely and he's not his usual self, that worries her a little.
"What do you mean before everything's over? And... it sounds like it's a bad thing he's here?" It's hard to figure why it sounds like it's a bad, or not so great thing that his kid is here - not that Cae knows how old he is, or what he looks like, but... "Or is this storytime with Prince Charming now?"
He grins, amusement that's lighter than usual, figuring out she's caught on on his stall.
"Weather's always nice and warm. Sometimes it rains." He brings his other hand to rest against her waist. "Yeah, it's story time. You got time to listen?"
"You'll have to tell me about that later, then. With memories, of course." That's important. She wants to see this place with her own two eyes, so to speak. She'll hold him to it, too!
But after this. This seems pretty damn important, and she's going to tell him that that's most important here, as if he didn't already know that.
"Of course I do. But maybe we should do that indoors, aye? I'll make you some coffee, warm you up after that icy display you gave me. I can at least make that right for you to drink." Anything else is... well, it's better left unsaid. "Come on, then. Inside." For as much as she would rather not break away, enjoying the closeness between them, she knows that this is probably not a conversation she wants her neighbours hearing Jecht's problems. So, with that, she steps away, but a hand isn't far to grab his, pulling him along with her into the house proper.
It's not comparable to being trapped as Sin. There's not a lot that can compare to that level of despair and hopelessness. But this is despair all the same. He trails an uneven patch of inky black under his feet as he makes his way to Caelia's home, eyes on the ground ahead with a tight expression. Even his person is shrouded in a bit of shadow where the remaining light of the day can't touch.
He tries the handle of her door first before smacking his palm against the door three times. One hand braced against the door frame while he pressed his forehead against the door itself, closing his eyes to wait.
He opens his eyes when the door does. A complicated expression crossing his face, relief, a sadness he doesn't know how to convey, frustration... And do his eyes appear a bit watery? He hugs her. And it's only then that the darkness starts to ease. Light touching his skin again and the dark patches lessening.
There is definitely a sniffle, but his face is hidden from her with how he's hunched forward to meet her height. His voice is thick when he speaks.
"I'll explain later. I'm not hurt." Not physically. "Just... give me a minute..."
The problem with living in the slums, despite it not being too bad on some days, is that when people try the door like that when it's starting to get dark? Is that it puts her on edge. The smacking against the door doesn't make it any better, and while she's not usually the kind to use daggers or anything, she has one for good measure when she can't use magic quickly or get to one of the magical rods she's got.
That dagger is in her hand while she goes to the door.
The door cracks, and when she realizes who it is, despite the darkness swirling around him, she barely has time to put it on to the side table next to the door before Jecht's pulling her into a hug. What in the world has gotten him like this? It doesn't take long after the confusion wears enough for Caelia to wrap an arm, and then the other, around him. He's already answering any questions she would have asked him when he says that he's not hurt, so instead she steps back, pulling Jecht along with her to get him in the house.
Seeing the black around Cae and Jecht, Locke kwehs with worry for the two of them, though Caelia hushes him. The problems with having part of the chocobo pen inside the house.
"Jecht? What in the seven hells is going on?" There's no movement to pull away from him, mainly because she doesn't want to make him look at her when he's trying to be manly and not cry here in front of her (it's fine, Jecht, she won't care) but... he's going to have to tell her eventually. She's going to want to know. She's already worrying.
Jecht follows her inside, almost burying his face in her hair as he lets the tears fall. A moment of weakness, though he's had a lot of that around her since they met, hasn't he? He shakes his head and nuzzles her as a response, taking another few seconds for himself before inhaling to steady himself. An imperceptible tremble in his shoulders as he completes the deep breath and straightens without pulling away.
He looks to the side so he can wipe at the corners of his eyes with his fingers, drying it off quickly and flashing her a smile again. The darkness is fading rapidly, staying a dark gray than black and the shadow across his body lifting completely.
Another sniff to clear his nose and he's trying to reassure her by running a hand over her hair.
"I'll be fine. I needed that." He sighs. "I ran into Tidus in the lake... Must have caught him off guard too cause he choked. I saved him but I set him off. Bad. There's so much he doesn't know, firebug. So much I wanna tell him, but his feelings about me are so strong his own emotions damn near killed him." He keeps his gaze somewhere off to the side as he talks. Shame and quiet disappointment becoming a small pool of water by his feet. When he looks at her again, there's a deep sorrow there burying a darker anger.
"I punched him out before things got worse... Can't talk to my own kid cause he hates the sight of me." He huffs, self deprecating. "Pathetic."
There's no words exchanged while she waits for him to compose himself, no matter how long it takes. While she's not really great at comforting people in the sense of trying to make sure people aren't upset, she knows that she can shut up and let people talk. That's a comfort in itself usually, isn't it? But with Jecht it's also different, because now he's her own idiot that she likes a little more than others. So while he holds on tighter and nuzzles into her, Caelia runs a soft hand down his back, resting at the small of his back momentarily before running back up.
She really is trying to comfort him in the best way she knows, here.
When he pulls back, she gets a good look at him and the shadow falling away from him. She grins a little, and idly traces part of his tattoo. "Good to know I wasn't just tryin' to comfort a shadow version of you instead of you," but the grin falls when he mentions Tidus. Cae's quiet a bit longer, to let him speak up and get it out. She sure does notice that puddle at his feet, and... ah. Tidus is his son. That makes sense. But...
"Why does he hate the sight of you, an' why's that pathetic? I'm not sure I really understand here. I don't think I'd hate the sight of my father if I saw him again." Then again, it's also been thirty years and she misses the time she's not spent with her parents here. There's a difference, but right now she doesn't know what that difference is.
"Y'know I wouldn't be surprised if that's happened before 'round here. Shadow people runnin' around." He huffs. At least his sense of humor is still intact?
"I was really hard on him before I was taken to Spira. Thought the best way to raise him to be like me was to be tough on him." He closes his eyes. "Was too stubborn to let go of my pride until it's too late to do anything 'bout it. And he paid for it." He lets out a breath slowly, not realizing how chilled it is, remembering how it felt when Tidus's emotions physically rejected him. "Auron was with him the past ten years but he never should've been stuck with that job either. He ain't the most personable type."
"... I gotta find another way to talk to Tidus. But not right now." Right now, he just wants to be alone, near someone he loves.
"I'd prefer you bein' you, and not some weird... Shadow Jecht."
Just throwing that out there. A Shadow Jecht would be rude and horrible to her, and she doesn't want to deal with that.
Caelia's quiet when he talks about what he had done with Tidus. She has to really think on that, what he meant... so eventually, she looks up at him curiously.
"Hard on him how? I don't remember my father much, but I don't think he was ever hard on me. My grandmother, she's a different story, but she loved me all the same." And "hard on her" in this case was telling her granddaughter not to be so hard on herself when she couldn't use white magic like everyone else, among other things. She doesn't know what Jecht means when he says he was hard on his son, but she won't be ready for it, that's for sure.
[It appears as an innocuous looking but lovely box (the kind for necklaces and their pendants) on her table (did he bribe Kineta to bring it inside through Locke's stable access into the house? Possibly... She can't prove it!!)
There's also a note attached to it 'don't open till I'm there. -Jecht'
[See, the suspense is indeed killing her, but!!! He requested she wait. So that's what she'll do.
...even if the urge to just open it up before he gets there is strong. In fact, when he arrives, she's ready to open the box, looking pretty impatient.
[ There arrives a small bag to Caelia by messenger bird, covering inside a dapper cactus boy (the one in front) wrapped in paper to keep it safe. There's a small card attached to the bag. ]
Last month was weird, so was I. Thanks anyway - Tidus
[ And if there was any doubt, the language of the writing matches a certain other person's here. ]
Turning up at her place is just a regular occurrence now, either him waiting outside or having been given a way in. He's made himself at home now in a way. And despite what just happened with Tidus so recently, he shows no sign of there being anything wrong. For now.
He's lounging comfortably in a chair, taking up far too much space even for a man his size.
"Y'know, I'm thinkin' about findin' my own place."
This is now an all the time occurrence, so she's really not surprised when Cae sees he's in the house. The talk of his own place is surprising, seeing as he had been with Auron and well... family, and all.
"Your own place, huh? Why's that? Or are you feelin' like three's company in Auron's house?"
Or is there another reason...?! Is all okay on the kid front maybe?! (Lol, no.)
Hah, well he has her there, that's for sure. She grins and snorts.
"What, you jealous Auron gets more action than you? He's been here longer, so you'll have to really do a lot to catch up."
An invite? Or just teasing? The answer is Yes. But his question is... well, that sounds more serious.
"I already got a home, but I wouldn't mind sharin' it, I guess. Unless you can find a bigger one that's free, I guess, but I'd need a chocobo pen like I have now for Locke."
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branchandroot
Action;
Date: 2019-10-06 03:03 am (UTC)Inside is just a cute little tea cup decorated with a big red flower on the side.]
Action - around the Emp equivalent of Oct 20th
Date: 2019-10-30 10:16 am (UTC)- half a dozen freshly made soft chocolate chip cookies from a bakery in the slums, neatly sealed and packaged
- a jar of jam [(flavor pending)]
- a small box of some kind of bran cereal with dried fruit pieces
- a bottle of mixed fruit juice
And a note that reads:
Morning, firebug. Bout time you woke up. Enjoy the food. I'll be over shortly. The juice's fresh. Don't drink your coffee.
-Jecht
Also, The teacup Reo left behind has been placed on the table she's sitting at.]
action; sometime before mid Nov? ish?
Date: 2019-11-18 11:24 pm (UTC)Look. Feelings are complicated.
He looks up when she finally comes home, grinning.
"'bout time."
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Date: 2019-11-21 12:55 am (UTC)See, Jecht is okay, Locke guesses, just as long as Jecht doesn't take away too much of Cae's attention. So when he sees Caelia, Locke starts fluttering his wings and happily chirruping and 'talking' to her. The sight puts an instant, soft smile on her lips.
"I can get used to seein' you here when I come home from doing what I do, Charming. But maybe without the ice." It only seems like there's something wrong here, but there's a certainty that she'll find out about it soon enough. So with that in mind, she goes easily to Jecht to slip her arms around him loosely.
"Gonna tell me what has you flustered like this, or am I gonna have to guess?"
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Date: 2019-11-27 08:02 pm (UTC)"Thought I'd speed up the turnin' of the weather. I ever tell you that ain't a thing in Zanarkand?" It's always nice weather, warm with the scent of the ocean. Sometimes mixed with ocean rain. But he's stalling. He knows he is. Yet he still huffs anyway.
"I ain't flustered." He finally pulls his hand back from Locke and faces Caelia properly. His tone growing somber. "My son's here... But I think he's from a time earlier than me and Auron. Before everything's... over."
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Date: 2019-11-30 05:47 am (UTC)Hah. Which, he was. She knows. When he says that he isn't, she just sneers, giving him a "uh huh, sure" look. But when Jecht's demeanor changes completely and he's not his usual self, that worries her a little.
"What do you mean before everything's over? And... it sounds like it's a bad thing he's here?" It's hard to figure why it sounds like it's a bad, or not so great thing that his kid is here - not that Cae knows how old he is, or what he looks like, but... "Or is this storytime with Prince Charming now?"
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Date: 2019-12-01 02:02 pm (UTC)"Weather's always nice and warm. Sometimes it rains." He brings his other hand to rest against her waist. "Yeah, it's story time. You got time to listen?"
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Date: 2019-12-02 08:21 am (UTC)But after this. This seems pretty damn important, and she's going to tell him that that's most important here, as if he didn't already know that.
"Of course I do. But maybe we should do that indoors, aye? I'll make you some coffee, warm you up after that icy display you gave me. I can at least make that right for you to drink." Anything else is... well, it's better left unsaid. "Come on, then. Inside." For as much as she would rather not break away, enjoying the closeness between them, she knows that this is probably not a conversation she wants her neighbours hearing Jecht's problems. So, with that, she steps away, but a hand isn't far to grab his, pulling him along with her into the house proper.
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From:Immediately after Tidus encounter
Date: 2019-11-29 03:17 pm (UTC)He tries the handle of her door first before smacking his palm against the door three times. One hand braced against the door frame while he pressed his forehead against the door itself, closing his eyes to wait.
He opens his eyes when the door does. A complicated expression crossing his face, relief, a sadness he doesn't know how to convey, frustration... And do his eyes appear a bit watery? He hugs her. And it's only then that the darkness starts to ease. Light touching his skin again and the dark patches lessening.
There is definitely a sniffle, but his face is hidden from her with how he's hunched forward to meet her height. His voice is thick when he speaks.
"I'll explain later. I'm not hurt." Not physically. "Just... give me a minute..."
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Date: 2019-11-30 05:59 am (UTC)That dagger is in her hand while she goes to the door.
The door cracks, and when she realizes who it is, despite the darkness swirling around him, she barely has time to put it on to the side table next to the door before Jecht's pulling her into a hug. What in the world has gotten him like this? It doesn't take long after the confusion wears enough for Caelia to wrap an arm, and then the other, around him. He's already answering any questions she would have asked him when he says that he's not hurt, so instead she steps back, pulling Jecht along with her to get him in the house.
Seeing the black around Cae and Jecht, Locke kwehs with worry for the two of them, though Caelia hushes him. The problems with having part of the chocobo pen inside the house.
"Jecht? What in the seven hells is going on?" There's no movement to pull away from him, mainly because she doesn't want to make him look at her when he's trying to be manly and not cry here in front of her (it's fine, Jecht, she won't care) but... he's going to have to tell her eventually. She's going to want to know. She's already worrying.
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Date: 2019-12-01 02:25 pm (UTC)He looks to the side so he can wipe at the corners of his eyes with his fingers, drying it off quickly and flashing her a smile again. The darkness is fading rapidly, staying a dark gray than black and the shadow across his body lifting completely.
Another sniff to clear his nose and he's trying to reassure her by running a hand over her hair.
"I'll be fine. I needed that." He sighs. "I ran into Tidus in the lake... Must have caught him off guard too cause he choked. I saved him but I set him off. Bad. There's so much he doesn't know, firebug. So much I wanna tell him, but his feelings about me are so strong his own emotions damn near killed him." He keeps his gaze somewhere off to the side as he talks. Shame and quiet disappointment becoming a small pool of water by his feet. When he looks at her again, there's a deep sorrow there burying a darker anger.
"I punched him out before things got worse... Can't talk to my own kid cause he hates the sight of me." He huffs, self deprecating. "Pathetic."
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Date: 2019-12-03 07:21 am (UTC)She really is trying to comfort him in the best way she knows, here.
When he pulls back, she gets a good look at him and the shadow falling away from him. She grins a little, and idly traces part of his tattoo. "Good to know I wasn't just tryin' to comfort a shadow version of you instead of you," but the grin falls when he mentions Tidus. Cae's quiet a bit longer, to let him speak up and get it out. She sure does notice that puddle at his feet, and... ah. Tidus is his son. That makes sense. But...
"Why does he hate the sight of you, an' why's that pathetic? I'm not sure I really understand here. I don't think I'd hate the sight of my father if I saw him again." Then again, it's also been thirty years and she misses the time she's not spent with her parents here. There's a difference, but right now she doesn't know what that difference is.
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Date: 2019-12-04 02:56 pm (UTC)"I was really hard on him before I was taken to Spira. Thought the best way to raise him to be like me was to be tough on him." He closes his eyes. "Was too stubborn to let go of my pride until it's too late to do anything 'bout it. And he paid for it." He lets out a breath slowly, not realizing how chilled it is, remembering how it felt when Tidus's emotions physically rejected him. "Auron was with him the past ten years but he never should've been stuck with that job either. He ain't the most personable type."
"... I gotta find another way to talk to Tidus. But not right now." Right now, he just wants to be alone, near someone he loves.
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Date: 2019-12-05 10:50 am (UTC)Just throwing that out there. A Shadow Jecht would be rude and horrible to her, and she doesn't want to deal with that.
Caelia's quiet when he talks about what he had done with Tidus. She has to really think on that, what he meant... so eventually, she looks up at him curiously.
"Hard on him how? I don't remember my father much, but I don't think he was ever hard on me. My grandmother, she's a different story, but she loved me all the same." And "hard on her" in this case was telling her granddaughter not to be so hard on herself when she couldn't use white magic like everyone else, among other things. She doesn't know what Jecht means when he says he was hard on his son, but she won't be ready for it, that's for sure.
cw: mentions of alcoholism, verbal abuse
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From:Jan 1st
Date: 2020-01-03 08:33 am (UTC)There's also a note attached to it 'don't open till I'm there. -Jecht'
If she takes a peek, there's a reddish-tinged ladybug pendant sitting on a cushion, attached to a necklace.]
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Date: 2020-01-06 07:11 am (UTC)...even if the urge to just open it up before he gets there is strong. In fact, when he arrives, she's ready to open the box, looking pretty impatient.
GOSH, JECHT. What have you done!!!]
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Date: 2020-01-07 05:35 am (UTC)He looks pleased as punch when he walks into her house like he didn't just leave her on a cliffhanger for a day or so.]
What?
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Date: 2020-01-16 03:21 am (UTC)[In fact, she doesn't even wait for him to get fully into the house and OPENS THE BOX because fuck you I won't do what you tell me (for long)!!!!
...but she doesn't look yet at what's in the box, just gives him a >:( face because SEE, SEE HOW I WAITED.]
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Date: 2020-01-16 09:52 am (UTC)I didn't know it'd mean that much to ya.
[He walks over to press a kiss to her temple. One hand around her back while the other cradles the box to lift it slightly.]
Go on. Look.
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From:03/01: late holiday present
Date: 2020-01-03 12:15 pm (UTC)Last month was weird, so was I. Thanks anyway
- Tidus
[ And if there was any doubt, the language of the writing matches a certain other person's here. ]
Before April 7?
Date: 2020-04-07 06:05 am (UTC)He's lounging comfortably in a chair, taking up far too much space even for a man his size.
"Y'know, I'm thinkin' about findin' my own place."
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Date: 2020-04-09 05:21 am (UTC)"Your own place, huh? Why's that? Or are you feelin' like three's company in Auron's house?"
Or is there another reason...?! Is all okay on the kid front maybe?! (Lol, no.)
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Date: 2020-04-12 07:33 pm (UTC)"Auron's family but knowin' he's havin' sex every night while I'm left high and dry so far away from my girlfriend is a pain."
He grins, clearly joking until he follows up with:
"Wanna make a home of our own?"
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Date: 2020-04-22 10:02 am (UTC)"What, you jealous Auron gets more action than you? He's been here longer, so you'll have to really do a lot to catch up."
An invite? Or just teasing? The answer is Yes. But his question is... well, that sounds more serious.
"I already got a home, but I wouldn't mind sharin' it, I guess. Unless you can find a bigger one that's free, I guess, but I'd need a chocobo pen like I have now for Locke."
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Date: 2020-04-27 07:14 pm (UTC)He's leaning forward with interest at her response.
"Last I checked, they ain't givin' away free homes 'round here." His grin widens. "So you'll let me move in?"
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