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Nov. 8th, 2009 09:11 am![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
bouncyballparty.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
kh_drabbleChallenge: {206} Storm
Title: Old Man
Word Count: 589
Notes: All about Tidus and his (not so) sublimely magnificent daddy.
Sitting on the dock after school lets out. Blitz ball balanced between his knees. Cigarette he knew he shouldn't have between his fingertips. It's all for the effect, something about being a rebellious teenager.
Past the dying sun, he can see the island from here. Waves crack against its beaches, seagulls circle overheard. Just like always. It's his own mercurial nature that keeps him from being the same. Older and yet unchanging.
A hand through his hair and drag from his cigarette.
Hard to believe it had been a year already.
A year since the storm that took him away.
It had been an unnatural storm, Tidus knew that much, and he'd been trying to convince Wakka of it ever since that night. Something in the sky didn't look right. Wakka said he never even woke up.
There was something at the door, scratching. Tidus remembered he was pretty small back then, lacked the courage to see what it was. He remembered looking up to his father, who was much bigger than him. He wondered if the fear he felt must've been in his eyes, because Jecht never acted like much of a father until that night.
Sometimes Tidus still caught his mom staring out at the sea, pining for the return of her husband that might not ever return. He figured he probably hated Jecht for that, because his mom barely looked at him anymore. Hence, the cigarette.
He recalled that his old man had a sword, much too massive and burdensome for anyone to wield but him. Still, Tidus never saw him so much as touch it before that storm. It was the reason he practiced swordfighting so much, even when he should've been more interested in blitz. Or girls, even.
In some way, Tidus supposed he still wanted to be like him. Jecht, the blitz ball superstar.
That noise was still at the door. Tidus could see outlines of someone running past, down the beach. It looked like Sora. The sky was black and yellow and purple, swirling at a central point like a hurricane. Mom said it was a tropical storm, but it sure as hell didn't look like it.
“Go sit down and stop taking up space.” That was what he told Tidus. At the time, it pissed him off but now...he figured that was just Jecht's way of saying, “Don't stand at the window, it's dangerous out there.”
Then he got that sword, as hefty as it looked, lifting it with one hand. Whatever was at the door wouldn't be there much longer. So Tidus sat down like he was told and Jecht left their small house without so much as a goodbye. Off to fight the dark without any help from anyone.
Tidus remembered that Jecht had been drinking that night, and wondered if that contributed any to his apparent disappearance (death). Tidus always thought he drunk too much, but could never find the courage to tell him.
Because how does anyone, as a child, say they think their parent drinks too much?
Tidus doesn't cry about it. He's sure that if he did, his old man would just call him a crybaby and smack him upside the head. He did things like that frequently. (Used to do things like that.)
Sometimes, Tidus would think that was the only way he knew how to show love. Most times though, he figured he was just an asshole with no sense. His drunken old man.
It's hard not to miss him, sometimes.
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Date: 2009-11-08 06:10 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-08 06:29 pm (UTC)Yeah, my drabbles are all turning out sad lately. Heart-breakiness all around.
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Date: 2009-11-08 06:51 pm (UTC)It's hard not to miss him, sometimes.
Oh man, that's just their relationship in a sentence. I need to go wibble now. 'Scuse me. *wibbles*
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Date: 2009-11-08 07:25 pm (UTC)Much love for that icon, by the way.
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Date: 2009-11-09 12:41 am (UTC)FFX was my first videogame, so Tidus and Jecht get extra love from me forever. Especially the "OMG I hate you but I totes love you at the same exact time". ♥
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Date: 2009-11-09 02:23 am (UTC)I've been harboring a serious crush for Jecht ever since. >.> lol
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Date: 2009-11-08 07:01 pm (UTC)Wah. ;_; I encourage you to write another one about that night, from Jecht's POV, because your Tidus was spot on and I'd love to see your Jecht-muse.
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Date: 2009-11-08 07:22 pm (UTC)lol anyway, thanks for commenting!
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Date: 2009-11-08 07:25 pm (UTC)cryget off the muse-mill!Yeah, of course! ^_^
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Date: 2009-11-08 09:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-08 10:11 pm (UTC)Comments like these make my Tidus muse endlessly happy!
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Date: 2009-11-09 12:52 am (UTC)this is so heartbreaking, it made me tear up :c
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Date: 2009-11-09 02:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-09 02:35 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-09 04:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-09 04:50 am (UTC)Tidus has such a great narrative in-game(FFX), my biggest concern was hoping that I could capture that tone that he has. ^-^
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Date: 2009-11-10 03:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-10 02:40 pm (UTC)And I'm so glad you liked it <3
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Date: 2009-11-11 06:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-11-11 06:41 pm (UTC)