The Things You Do To Friends

by sagdragon3002

Slight AU. The group is joined by a revived Braska, Jecht, and Auron. Jecht relays to the gang an incident during Braska’s pilgrimage Auron would rather keep private. Little does Jecht know, Auron has a nasty streak as wide, if not wider, as his.

My first non-MK fanfiction. Be proud!

Typical Disclaimer-ness: I don't own FFX, anything familiar ain't mine, yadda yadda.

Notes: It's clear I'm obsessed with this game. I've had it for a total of 4 days, have played only up til Luca before the first Blitz game in search of Auron, and this idea pops into my head. It didn't help that I read other fanfics and became further obsessed (or perhaps possessed?). So obviously any mistakes I make, characterization or otherwise, is explained by my complete and utter lack of experience with the game. And yes, my fave char so far is Auron.

Setting: An AU future-verse fic considering the liveliness of four characters, set after the end of FFX. Does not go into FFX-2, considering I haven't even finished FFX. Also, for the sake of the story, the aeons came back with Braska—they're just nice to have as a little plot device.

Summary: Tidus' group is joined by a revived Braska, Jecht, and Auron for the purpose of... something. Jecht relays to Tidus and the gang an incident during Braska's pilgrimage Auron would have rather kept private. Little does Jecht know, Auron has a nasty streak as wide, if not wider, as his.

---

Auron watched his friends over the curve of his jug as they milled and, in the case of some, roughhoused around Rin's Travel Agency. He sat back in his chair at ease, certain that Kimahri would bellow if real trouble brewed.

The loud crash did not even evoke an eye-twitch from Auron, though he did sigh past the rim of the jug. Jecht had cost them another pretty gil. Soon Rin would be charging for the remodeling of the entire Agency.

He dismissed the notion of bringing Jecht under hand. If it was really necessary, Lord Braska's scolding would do well enough. The pilgrimage was not nearly as serious as ridding the world of Sin. No one was in mortal danger, no one had to die at the end in order to save Spira. So Auron did what Rikku had begged him to do an year ago and "let his hair down."

Another crash, and this one sounded closer. Auron rolled his single eye toward the left. Fix that: no one had to die at the end except, perhaps, maybe, Jecht. Even Yuna, who had hero-worshiped the man upon finding him alive, looked cross with the famous Zanarkand blitzer.

A second Zanarkand blitzer sat across from him, looking dark and irritated. Tidus had grown in the year Auron had been away at Farplane, but there was still a childish air around him, when he wasn't busy being gloomy. He held a mug of something that looked like sake.

Concern erupted within Auron. "Where did you get that?" he queried, fingering his jug.

Tidus blinked. "Around. Wakka got it for me, but I don't think he got it straight from the—hey!"

Auron had deftly snatched the mug away, dumped it in a flower pot, and picked up a different, safe glass. "With Jecht around, you don't want to take chances," he explained to the boy as he poured him a drink from his jug.

Tidus looked surprised, but drank, curious as to what Auron kept in his infamous jug. He was choking from the liquid as the others (Lulu, Yuna, Wakka, Rikku, Kimahri, and Jecht) gathered around their table.

Auron narrowed his eyes. Jecht held a sphere in his hands. A sphere that looked distinctly familiar.

"So, what is it, Tidus?" Rikku badgered the blitzer eagerly. "Sake? Wine? Vodka?"

Auron took his gaze from a grinning Jecht to Rikku, momentarily puzzled. "Why do you assume it's alcohol?" he asked.

"It's tea," Tidus told them all, clearing his throat once or twice. "Bad tea, might I add."

"You wouldn't know good tea if it smacked you upside the head," Auron snorted.

Jecht sighed dramatically. "Auron, after all these years, you still abstain from alcohol?"

"I rarely put sake in my jug. Certain people have prevented me from enjoying the drink as much as others do," Auron replied darkly, taking a long drink.

Jecht's grin got wider. "Grudges aren't good for your health. Or your complexion." He juggled the sphere tauntingly.

Auron's fears grew worse. "Jecht, what is that?"

"Oh, this little thing?" Jecht nabbed it out of the air, his back molars now showing in his smile. "Just a little. . .story. About our favorite monk and the reasons behind his abstinence."

Everyone watched in awe as Auron lost his composure. He dropped his jug, scrambled over the table, and tried to wrestle the sphere out of Jecht's hands, toppling Jecht over in his chair in the process. He yelled all the while, "Give me the sphere you slimy piece of blitzball shi—"

"Sir Auron, Sir Jecht!" Yuna cried, stomping her foot to get their attention. They tilted their gazes to the woman. "Stop fighting. Sir Auron, please get off Jecht, you're bigger than he is. Sir Jecht, please don't provoke Auron anymore, you don't have the training to survive."

Auron paused, torn between obeying and getting the sphere. Jecht smirked. "You heard the High Summoner, Auron. Now, obey like a good little guardian and get off."

He made up his mind. Rather than going for the sphere again, Auron wrapped his hands around Jecht's neck.

"Gah! You're strangling me!"

"Observant, aren't you," Auron growled.

"Sir Auron!" Yuna tried to get his attention again. "Choking Jecht to death is wrong."

"I'm sure Tidus won't begrudge me the opportunity," Auron replied calmly, watching Jecht struggle underneath.

"Actually," Tidus watched the events unfold with wide eyes, "I want the opportunity to choke him to death for myself."

"Then you'll wait in line," Auron squeezed harder; he thought he saw blue tinging Jecht's lips.

Yuna thought she did as well. "Kimahri, please help," she begged the Ronso.

The guardian nodded, and gently peeled Auron off Jecht, ignoring Auron's protests. "Kimahri no want Auron in prison for murder," Kimahri explained to the legendary guardian.

Jecht sat up, rubbing his throat gently. "Damn, Auron, aren't you touchy."

"You won't show that sphere or I'll show you touchy," Auron threatened, reaching out to pull the hair from Jecht's scalp. Kimahri held him effortlessly with one hand.

"What is it?" Rikku asked plaintively, ducking around Auron to peer at the sphere. "Is it another memory sphere?"

"Memories, and a few good laughs," Jecht chuckled.

Auron jerked, but Kimahri wouldn't let go. He began to see the inevitability of the situation. "Let go, Kimahri," Auron told him darkly. "I won't kill him. For now."

The Ronso believed the guardian's words; he let go. Auron snatched up his jug, bemoaning internally as he found it empty. Had I known Jecht would get away with barely a scratch, I would have saved the tea, Auron scowled as he stalked out of the private room he had booked in case something like this occurred.

On his way to the bar, Auron recalled the events recorded on the sphere Jecht was undoubtedly showing them. He remembered it all too vividly. . . . .

Auron looked up from his seat as Jecht hollered his name. "Yes?" Auron asked.

"You want some sake?" Jecht held out a skin Auron assumed was filled with the alcohol.

"No, thank you," Auron answered, returning to wiping his katana clean of blood from the last fiend attack. He still felt uncomfortable around this man from Zanarkand, a man whom recently joined under Braska's expressed permission. Auron had argued with Lord Braska that he did not need any help acting as guardian for him, but the High Summoner had been unmoved; Jecht accompanied them and quite a few times Auron found himself bailing the newcomer out of an early death.

"Aw, don't be so stuffy," Jecht scolded, thrusting the skin under Auron's nose. "Take a sip. It's the best sake on Spira."

Auron doubted that. The "best sake on Spira" was out of Jecht's price-range. "No, thank you. Please leave."

Jecht glared at Auron sourly. "Drink."

"No."

"Drink."

"No."

"Drink or," Jecht paused dramatically, "I'll tell Lord Braska who lit the camp on fire last week."

"Good, you've finally come to your senses and are ready to confess your mistakes."

Jecht stumbled over his words, then snapped, "Not that time, Auron, the other time."

Auron shifted. He still thought it was the chocobo's fault, but Lord Braska would not see it that way. Especially considering it was Braska's own chocobo. "Alright, I'll drink your damned sake."

Smiling brightly, Jecht proffered it again. Auron snatched it and uncapped the skin, sniffing the liquid first. "It doesn't smell like sake."

"I paid enough for it to be sake," Jecht muttered. Unseen by Auron, Jecht rubbed a scar on his hand that had not been there the night before.

Sending a silent prayer, Auron took a swig. He frowned; it was a bit more bitter than he liked, but relatively good. He drank again—

Auron snapped back to reality as the bartender asked for his order. On a second thought, Auron requested sake. The way the night was going, he would need the extra spirit to make it through. After paying for the alcohol, Auron slowly made his way back, losing himself in his thoughts once more. . . .

"Jecht, Auron, we'll stay here for tonight," Lord Braska stepped over a log placed to mark their camp and raised a brow. Jecht was doing his best to keep from laughing, and Auron was drinking from a skin with a curious expression. "Jecht? Auron? What's going on?"

Auron separated from the skin, looking up at Braska oddly. "This, contrary to Jecht's claims, is the worst sake I've ever had. I don't even feel drunk."

Braska flickered his eyes to Jecht as the man snorted. "Let's ignore, for right now, the fact that we all agreed not to drink on this pilgrimage. Jecht, what did you put in the skin?"

Jecht grinned up at the summoner. Auron began to sense something wrong with the situation. "Jecht, what is this?" the guardian demanded.

"Oh, don't get your boxers in a bunch," Jecht sniggered. "It's nothin' poisonous."

"Jecht," Auron grabbed his katana. "What. Is. This?"

The smile was mischievous and wide. "Well, since you asked sooo nicely—"

Jecht did not have a chance to finish his answer. Auron's free hand flew up to his mouth, and with a gargle Auron leaned over a nearby barrel and began to vomit. . . .

Upon reaching the private room's doors, Auron stopped and listened. It was silent, meaning that either Jecht had delayed with his usual melodrama and the group was just now starting to watch the sphere, or they had finished and were sitting in horror.

Auron stopped turning the handle midway. Rather than silence, there were tiny noises coming from the room. A sound he remembered as vomiting.

Resigned to his fate, he opened the door. He slipped in as the group continued to watch, varying expressions of shock and confusion on their faces.

A figure was bent over a barrel throwing up, obscured by a second figure rubbing its back in reassuring circles. A third figure rolled on the ground, laughing and howling.

Auron glared at the present Jecht, who watched Auron with dancing eyes. Like Auron, Jecht did not need to watch the sphere to remember the events. "Admit it, it was funny."

"I admit no such thing," Auron growled. "Especially since it wasn't funny."

"Especially since what wasn't funny?" Lord Braska entered, looking curious. He saw the sphere, and his curiosity dropped, replaced by disapproval. "Jecht, I told you to get rid of that."

"I did," Jecht argued innocently. "It just so happened my pocket, at the time, was the perfect disposal."

Braska sighed. "I'm certain if everyone was this interested in why Auron carries his own drink, he could have given them a more decent version of the events."

"Wait," Wakka blinked. "You mean, this is why Auron drinks only from his jug?"

Auron sat in his chair and chugged deeply. Braska nodded.

"What was in it?" Lulu watched dispassionately. "It seems rather. . . vile."

Scowling, Auron muttered, "Few things in the world taste remarkably like sake. It turns out shoopuf urine is one of those few things."

Yuna turned three shades paler. Tidus spluttered his tea, disgusted. Everyone else had similar expressions of disgust, except Jecht.

"Eeewwww!" Rikku cringed, shaking her head vigorously. "That's. . . sick!"

"It was also very funny," Jecht chuckled.

"Remind me to dump shoopuf dung on your face since you like it so much."

"Aw, you just have no sense of humor, Auron."

Auron's hand twitched toward his katana, longing to take it and cut out Jecht's tongue. He changed his mind.

Jecht laughed, but the laughter trailed off as Auron smiled. The smile was one that Jecht and Braska were familiar with, one that meant Auron was pulling out his darker side.

"It pains me to say this, Jecht," Auron began, strolling casually to his friend and clapping him on the shoulder in a brotherly fashion, "but you're right. You are absolutely right."

Gulping, Jecht stammered, "I am?"

"Yes," Auron gave him a shake. "I need to find a sense of humor. All this time, I thought I needed to be stronger, faster, smarter. But all I was missing. . . was a sense of humor. And who else should help me but the master of humor, you?"

Wondering if perhaps his friend had changed more in the year than he gave him credit for, Jecht grinned. "Yeah, of course I'll help you out, Auron. What are friends for?"

"Excellent!" Auron sat back down, smirking. "Then why not regale us with more tales? The time when we fought that dastardly evil malboro? Or the time the bandersnatch pack snuck up on us? Or," Auron leaned forward, the smirk widening even further and his eye glinted, "the time you experimented with the chocobo?"

Jecht shot up, all humor gone from his face. "That," he hissed, "was sworn to secrecy."

"Oh, but it was hilarious," Auron chuckled, toying with his jug. "You just don't have a sense of humor."

"What happened?" Rikku chirped, bouncing on her toes. Auron found the girl irksome from time to time, but he was glad of her presence now; she kept the "joke" going.

"We were staying at an inn for the night to wait out a snowfall," Auron told them, pretending to ignore the subject of the tale as he grew redder, "and Jecht was bored, so he tried to hit on one of the servants. She left, and to keep Jecht from bothering the two of us, I told him where she had gone, in the chocobo stables. Well, he went and looked. Lord Braska and I waited a few minutes for him to come back out, since we were sure the woman would slap him soundly, but he didn't. We got impatient, and we went to look for him."

"It was not a few minutes," Jecht growled. "Get the damn story straight."

"I am," Auron replied; Braska was shaking his head, eyes covered. "Anyway, we went to the chocobo stables to see if he was there, and sure enough he was. . . . But the servant wasn't. And the sounds were awfully X-rated for just petting a chocobo."

Jecht buried his head in his arms, grumbling, "It was dark. It was dark, and the damn chocobo wasn't exactly making any noises."

"The hell it wasn't," Braska interrupted suddenly, face serious but his eyes sparkled. "That chocobo was squalling like there was no tomorrow. I'll bet it never went near another human again."

Tidus snorted, amused at his father's humiliation. Rikku and Wakka joined him, though Yuna and Lulu seemed thoroughly unamused. Kimahri remained stoic, but Auron could swear his mouth twitched once or twice.

"Now, if all this embarrassment is over?" Braska inquired. "I want to get some sleep, and I suggest everyone does the same. We're not through the Thunder Plains yet, and Macalania is still quite far."

"Oh, just you wait, High Summoner," Jecht's humor was back, and it was aimed at Braska. "You have been in quite a few. . . scrapes, that we could share."

Auron was a brave man, but not even he would have been bold enough to risk embarrassing the High Summoner Braska with that tale. He watched as Braska narrowed his eyes, leaned down, and said quietly, "Auron is a dangerous foe, Jecht. However, he is not High Summoner. He does not have command over the aeons. I do. If you dare tell them about that, you'll be in for a world of hurt tomorrow." With that, Braska said his good nights and left.

Jecht still smirked, and Auron's stomach sank. "You're going to tell them?" he hissed.

"Why not?" Jecht chortled. "We got ours, it's time he got his."

"May I remind you, the High Summoner's daughter is here," Auron jerked his head toward Yuna. "This is not something she should hear."

"I'm sure she's heard worse. In fact, I know she's heard worse, thanks to you," Jecht glared at him.

"Her father's guardian is one thing. Her father is an entirely different matter."

"Oh, come on," Rikku bounced. "I wanna hear!"

Auron gauged the faces. While they were still disgusted by the previous two stories, they did not look discouraged. Even Tidus seemed curious.

"Fine," Auron muttered, getting up and clapping his hands over Yuna's ears. "Let's go, High Summoner. There is no way in Anima's Hell that I will let you hear this story."

She went peaceably, and Auron shut the door behind him firmly. He escorted Yuna to her room, shut the door and turned to head for his own. He almost ran into Braska. "Lord Braska," Auron bowed.

"Oh, stop that, Auron," Braska chided. "How long have we known each other? How much have we gone through together? Ours is not a friendship to be restricted by formalities."

Auron shrugged. "Habits die hard."

Braska chuckled. "Yes, as do we. Good night, Auron."

"Good night, Braska."

Auron reached his door when Braska interrupted him. "Jecht is taking my warning seriously, isn't he? I would hate to bother Yojimbo with dismantling his body bone by bone, no matter how much Yojimbo seems to dislike the man."

Auron hurriedly bid Braska another good night before ducking into his room, shutting his door with a gulp. Maybe I'll let Jecht take a sip from my jug before he dies, he thought as he readied himself for bed. He'll certainly need the strength when he faces Braska's fury. The thoughts accompanied him to sleep.

The morning rays awoke him, but he lay in bed for a while, contemplating sleeping in for once in his life. Braska's rumbling baritone and Jecht's cries changed his mind.

Another beautiful day on our pilgrimage, Auron thought as he dressed. A loud boom, unrelated to the raging thunderstorm outside, shook the Agency's foundation. Jecht was inaudible, but Auron could imagine that Jecht was begging for anyone to save him from Braska.

"The things you do for friends," Auron smiled to himself, hefting his Masamune to his shoulder and calmly walked into the storm below.