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[xshatterheartx.livejournal.com]

Who: Balthier, Fran, Basch and Vaan
When: Evening
Where: Rabanastre
What: Balthier batters Basch
Rating: PG-13



Balthier had Fran's hand in his. They had just returned from their short vacation in the Costa Del Sol and he was more than comfortable with the way their relationship was going. Things felt normal again. Relaxed. Happy. He truly didn't feel as though they could come to blows any second and start screaming at each other. As they walked through Rabanastre, he gave a playful smirk to his Viera partner.

Fran poked his lips with her claw gently. "Keep that smirk away, my love, or I may be forced to bite it." She teased, walking towards the Sandsea.

Balthier gave a purr and chuckled. "I dare you, Viera." He drawled, nudging her hip with his own. As they headed for the Sandsea, a smile crossed his lips as he watched Vaan, completely oblivious to them, go running through the crowd and down into Lowtown. "Hm. We never visit that boy often enough..."

"Mm. We should make more of an effort to visit with him. He does so adore you. And I daresay he is a far sweeter brother than either of those truly related to you." Fran replied, nipping his bottom lip.

Balthier smiled and nudged her again. "Speaking of him as though he were my brother makes me sound dreadfully ill in the head, if you recall that secret of my... ahem... fantasies." He muttered.

Fran gave a soft laugh. "And me just as sick, no doubt." She teased, taking his hand in hers, giving it a gentle squeeze as they entered the Sandsea.

Balthier laughed and shook his head slightly, holding the door for her as they entered the Sandsea. However, his eyes darkened the instant they set upon a certain man.

Sat at a table, sword on his side, eyes on a piece of paper in his hand, Basch was drinking quietly, a frown on his brow.

Fran ran her hand over Balthier's arm when she saw what his gaze had fallen upon. "Balthier... leave it. Let it go." She whispered, trying to guide him in the opposite direction.

"No." He growled, shrugging her hand away and moving to sit across from Basch, crossing his arms on the table, his eyes sharp as he did. "Well, slept with anymore taken women, Judge Gabranth?"

The movement in front of him and the voice had Basch tensed but he remained cool and slipped the letter away, sipping his drink. "I wondered when you'd come to me, fists and gun ready."

Fran sighed and followed Balthier, resting a hand on his less injured shoulder. "Balthier, please... do not do this..." She pleaded. "Let it go. It is in the past."

"Hardly," he murmured to Fran. He shifted to lean across the table somewhat, his gaze dark and fiery, as was his Esper. "You call yourself a friend then bed my fiancée. You are simply lucky I have not broken your jaw already."

Basch sighed slightly. "Balthier. It was a mistake. Both Fran and I know this. We were inhebriated beyond imagine and we had little control over the situation."

Fran took a handful of Balthier's hair, pulling him back gently. "Please. Balthier. What's done is done. It was a mistake, let it go and let us move on from it!! Please?"

Balthier gritted his teeth, pushing her hand away, giving her a hard look of warning. A moment later, he looked back at Basch. "Fine." He shifted to stand and began to walk away until he turned on the man and punched him, hard, square on the jaw.

The strike knocked him from his chair and Basch groaned in pain, shifting to stand. "Are you satisfied? Do you feel better now, pirate?"

Fran held her hand out to Basch, helping him to his feet. "What has that fixed, Balthier?! Nothing! It was a waste of energy. Grow up and move on! If I were to claw everyone who has graced your bed, there would be a lot of scars!!"

Balthier shrugged, rolling his eyes childishly. "It made me feel better, that is what is has done. So, yes, Basch. I am satisfied." He ran a hand through his hair and turned to leave, striding out of the bar.

Basch winced a little, clicking his jaw as he rubbed it, after taking Fran's hand up. When Balthier turned to leave, he sighed slightly. "Ever a child..."

Fran sighed, running her fingers over Basch's jaw lightly, whispering a soft Cure spell over it. "I am sorry." She murmured. She frowned a little. "I should go after him..."

Balthier strode back towards the Strahl, soon taking a different route and heading inside a doorway to Lowtown, jogging down the steps and easily making his way around the passages.

Basch gave a single nod. "At least now he may be able to move past this." He murmured. "Good luck." He added before taking his drink and heading to his room upstairs.

Fran sighed, running a hand through her hair, before walking out of the Sandsea, frowning a little when she couldn't see Balthier. With another side, she began to walk back towards the Strahl.

Balthier soon found what he was seeking. He grabbed the street orphan by his wrist and began to guide him back up to the streets of the city without a word.

"Balthier?" Vaan had been talking with some friends when he was grabbed and dragged away. He caught Balthier's strides and blinked at him. "What's going on?"

Fran let out a heavy sigh when Balthier wasn't on the Strahl. The joy she had been feeling was quickly sinking back to that pit of fear and insecurity. She left the Aerodrome, and sat on a wall, gazing out at the Westersand.

The pirate dragged the boy along, chuckling a little at his urgent tone. "I require you. We have not spoken for a short while. We shall spend time together." He stated as he laced his fingers with the teen.

Vaan blinked a little but just continued walking with him, a blush on his cheeks as Balthier held his hand properly. As they headed for the Aerodrome, he tried to ignore the whispers and looks they got.

Fran blinked a little as she saw Balthier guiding the boy by his hand in such a way. Her heart sank, would he truly stoop as low as to bed the boy this way? She remained seated for a moment longer, before heading after the pirate pair.

Balthier led Vaan aboard the Strahl and towards the engine room. He tugged open the hatch to the engine and hummed softly. "So, tell me, what have you been up to of late?" He asked as he wriggled under the engine.

Vaan shifted to hop up on the workbench, tapping his feet against the leg of it. "Not much, really. Just teaching the kids in Lowtown how to fight..."

Fran entered the Strahl, quickly finding the two men. She rested against the doorframe, giving Vaan a soft, almost sad smile. "Hello Vaan. Kidnapped?" She teased.

Balthier groped around for tools and soon began working on something that had been irking him about the Strahl's purr. She'd sounded a little off colour.

"Huh? Oh, hi. Yeah, snatched right outta Lowtown and dragged here." He frowned slightly. "Something wrong, Fran?"

Fran gave a nod. "I am fine. Apart from the fact my pirate lover has broken the face of one Judge Gabranth." She murmured, watching the engine.

"I did not break his face!" He called out, squirming slightly under the engine. "Fran? How long as this been loose?" He asked, tapping his wrench on a bolt that would be in her sight.

Vaan blinked a little, frowning slightly. "Uh... you guys want me to go?"

"No, Vaan. Stay. It has been so long since we last saw you. How have you been?" Fran asked, turning her attention to Balthier. "It was fine when Nono and I ran checks last week."

Balthier gave a hum before continuing his work, his brow furrowed as he scanned his stormy, knowledgeable eyes over every detail of his baby.

Vaan shrugged a little, blushing as he recalled what happened with Al-Cid. "I'm alright. I haven't seen Penelo in a while... so..." He pouted slightly.

Fran rose an eyebrow. "You have not argued again, have you?" She asked, sounding a little concerned. She gave the boy's pout a gentle poke.

Balthier stretched up, reaching to a certain part, hissing slightly at how hot it still was. "Odd..." He murmured, frowning more.

Vaan shook his head a little. "Just... haven't seen her. She's probably working. Oh, I got myself a part time job, too. Sorta. I run errands for Old Dalan. He always asks me to do weird stuff so it's fun!"

"It sounds like you are keeping busy." At Balthier's hiss and his words, Fran once more turning her attention to Balthier, crouching down to peer into the engine. "Something is wrong?" She asked.

Balthier gave a slight nod, sliding out of the engine to look at her properly. "Her valves are not cooling down as they used to. Her radiator must be on its last legs. We seek a new one in Archades in the morning."

Vaan blinked and shifted to sit down beside Balthier, peeking in at the engine. "Huh. Why does it have to be Archadian?" Vaan still didn't know that the Strahl used to be an Archadian prototype battleship.

Fran gave a nod. "We set off at dawn. Let us hope we can find a new one without being caught. I do not wish for a date with the gallows." Fran looked at Vaan, head tilting slightly. "The Strahl... She is Archadian, just like her captain."

Balthier gave a huff as he stood. "I am not Archadian. I am Rabanastran." He muttered, wiping grease from his hands on a workshop rag.

Vaan blinked a few more times before chuckling. "You haven't got the voice to be a Rabanastran, Balthier. And anyway, I lo... like your voice as it is."

Fran gave a soft laugh. "You are as much Archadian as I am Viera." She teased, kissing the very tip of his nose.

Balthier smiled lightly and tugged Vaan off the floor a moment later. "You, boy, shall stay the night here. I have plans to talk your ear off while we drink."

Vaan laughed and ruffled his hair, giving a shrug. "I never turn down a comfy, safe place to sleep." He gave a sad smile, looking at the floor.

"You always have a home here with us, Vaan. You and Penelo." Fran said, before exiting the engine room.

Balthier curled a hand under Vaan's chin, pressing a chaste kiss to the boy's lips. "If you ever need us, just say so, fool." He murmured, smiling before heading off after Fran.

Vaan blushed brightly at both Fran's words and Balthier's kiss, his heart pounding hard as he let his gaze slip down again.