Another update? My, you're all spoiled~


Penelo waved goodbye to her newly found favorite pair from the car when she got in to be taken home as the said couple watched her leave from the doorway, slightly waving.

Vaan looked up. "When was Fran suppose to be here?"

"No clue," he responded and closed the door after waiting for the teen to come back inside.

"... Okay, then," he grabbed the beanbag and put it in front of the couch. "What about last night? I remember you were wanting to talk to me about it or whatever earlier," Vaan stated, plopping down on the piece of furniture he dragged and immediately started regretting it.

Balthier sat on the couch, putting his feet up on the coffee table again. "I guess it doesn't matter now."

Vaan raised an eyebrow and cocked his head at him. "How come?"

"Well..." He had to think for a while, realizing that there was something more important than Fran, but he didn't know how Vaan would react. He decided he wouldn't know unless he told him, so he went for it. "On the way back from the audition, I saw Reks."

That hadn't been last night, but whatever. This news was better then what he asked for. "What? But... He went missing when I was fourteen." He frowned slightly. "What do you mean you saw 'im?"

"I mean I saw him. He was walking down the road with a man I've never seen before. I tried talking to him, but he denied that he was Reks. For all I remember, it might not've been him."

"Well, he did have an older boyfriend," he mumbled. "Might've been him."

"What did his boyfriend look like?" He tried not to show that he was surprised at this news. Both sons of an extremely religious family were homosexual. Something had to be going on there.

"Dude, it was three years ago. I don't remember what he looked like. I barely saw him."

He frowned. "Oh... Still. D'ya think Reks would stick around here like that?"

Vaan shrugged. "Might. He didn't take any of his Gil and who knows how much..." He looked up as he tried to remember the guy's name. "Josh had...?"

"His name was Josh?"

He bit his lip. "It could've been... If not, it sounded like Josh."

"Basch?" he asked, barely remembering what Reks had called him.

"Yes, Basch!" He stared at Balthier for a second. "You did see him!"

Balthier suddenly got to his feet. "Then c'mon! We have to find him!"

"For what reason? You're not thinking of making him go back, are you?"

Balthier sighed and sat back down. "You're right. If he's happy, he's happy. I shouldn't interfere."

The blonde shook his head before he spoke. "That's not what I meant by it, but that's a reason." He sat up the best he could in the beanbag. "Our parents are the reason they ran... It took me a while to get up to speed, but I finally did and I understand," Vaan added while bringing his knees to his chest. "I don't blame either one of 'em... They're both very strong believers of their religion and they verbally beat the bible and that shit into our brains. They still to do that with me, in fact that's why I'm going to the school I'm attending... If they somehow find out what happened between you and I, you'd learn what it's like to have it up your ass in no time." He placed his forehead on his knees. "That's what happened to Reks and Basch... Didn't surprise me that it was... Fuck, if I could've, I would've begged to go with them."

Balthier laughed without humor. "Yeah, your parents are like that. I dunno why I'm one of their friends, to be honest. I haven't been to church since I was a kid and you're the other sinful thing I've done," he said, half joking. "I can lie to your parents with no problem, so they won't know about our relationship. After all, I am an actor." He looked at Vaan, who was still curled in the fetal position. "Wait... Are you saying you'd rather be with them than me?" he asked in all seriousness.

Bringing his head back up, Vaan rested his chin on his knees with an eyebrow raised. "No, that's not what I was trying to say at all," he defended. "I was saying if I had the choice then to be able to go with them, I would've." He shifted slightly to get comfortable again. "Way before Mom and Dad's stuff started happening and they asked if you could watch me, the thought of running off and coming here crossed my mind so many times..." he admitted, a small smile forming upon his lips.

Balthier raised an intrigued eyebrow. "Really? They're that bad?"

"Well... Yeah, if you're atheist and hate when religion is shoved down your throat, like they do."

"What do you think of me now?" he asked slowly, wondering how Vaan thought of him after yesterday and the day before.

"The way I always have."

He hummed thoughtfully, a little let down that Vaan hadn't changed his opinion. He didn't say anything, looking around for the remote to watch something on TV.

The blonde pushed the remote over to Balthier with his foot when he noticed what he was looking for. "It got knocked off when Penelo decided to randomly attack me."

"Thanks." He picked it up and turned on the television, flipping through channels so fast that it could have given someone a seizure. "Did you wanna watch anything?"

"Nope, not really," he responded as he stood up.

"Suit yourself." He settled on the news and tried to put all of his focus into it, but he couldn't help but wonder if Vaan really meant what he had said about what he thought about Balthier.

Out of nowhere, Vaan straddled Balthier's lap. "Now, what did you wanna talk about earlier? You never told me."

Balthier was a little surprised at the action, but accepted it. He leaned back and wrapped his arms around Vaan's waist. "I was going to ask if you liked what we did yesterday, but I'm taking this as a yes," he said as he laughed.

"Can't you at least wait for the little children in the neighborhood to fall asleep first?" a woman complained before setting down a plastic grocery bag down on stairs. "Or at least the people that'll do something when they hear one thing going wrong."

Balthier turned around in surprise, not even hearing her let herself in with the key she had. "Fran! When did you get here?" He gently nudged Vaan to get off of his lap before standing up, trying to hide what he had been doing.

"Just now." She tossed her copy of keys to him to catch. "Food's right there. It's lasagna. Enjoy it and keep the dish." She opened the door to let herself back out. "Night."

Vaan watched her leave as he sat on the couch before looking back at Balthier.

Balthier had caught the keys, but wasn't moving due to being so immensely confused. "I guess she wasn't kidding when she said she wasn't gonna stay long..."

"Why didn't she?" He cocked his head slightly.

"She has to go see her parents." He tossed the keys onto the table and picked up the food, taking it into the kitchen. "D'you wanna eat now?"

He followed him into the kitchen. "Yes! I haven't eaten since lunch, and that was only a fry."

He looked at him in surprise. "A fry? Why didn't you get something else? Didn't I give you Gil for lunch?" he asked as he started to get plates and silverware.

"A fry was the only thing that I snatched from Penelo's tray," he explained, taking the warm dish out of the bag. "And you did give me Gil, but I didn't have any when lunch came around and I refused to take any of Penelo's food, minus that one fry."

"What happened to your Gil?"

"... Would you believe it if I told you that it became a magician and pulled a trick by making itself disappear?" Vaan asked with a nervous smile.

He frowned and narrowed his eyes at Vaan as he put a large piece of lasagna onto his own plate. "No. What happened to it?"

He sighed. "Vayne came back today from being suspended. Is that enough said?"

He exhaled heavily. "Him again? Do you want me to go get your money back from him? I need an excuse to beat him up."

"I don't think I need more punishment." He frowned. "He gave me two doses of swirlies today as well..."

"That explains the sweatshirt. I was gonna ask where ya got that." He moved to the fridge to grab himself a beer and a can of pop for Vaan. He sat down at the table with them and cracked open his beer. "You need to tell a teacher about this. I'm not gonna sit here while he does this to you. Either get a teacher involved, or I'll handle it myself."

"Then handle it yourself," he said, sitting down at the table with Balthier and taking a drink out of the can of soda. "He got suspended 'cause a teacher saw what happened... The staff over there act like they don't like me or care, but I can't understand why." He chuckled slightly.

His frown stayed on his face and he took a small sip of his beer. "I'll go up to the school tomorrow and solve it then. I don't have to be back to the studio until Monday."

"Thanks, Balthier." He smiled before scarfing down the food in front of him.

He smiled. "What kinda person would I be if I let you get beat up every day?" He put down his beer and also started eating, pacing himself slower than Vaan.

He paused for a second. "A cruel soul."

He laughed. "I'll try not to be cruel to anyone but Vayne."

"Try not to?"

"Alright, alright, I won't be." He smiled and took another bite of his lasagna. "So, other than Vayne, how's school?"

Vaan leaned back in his chair, letting his food settle a bit before getting up to get more. "Boring, as usual."

"Did you learn anything, at least?" he teased.

"... I dunno. I can't remember," he joked.

He rolled his eyes. "Glad to hear it," he said sarcastically.

"And for the news tonight," a woman on the TV from the other room started.

Vaan sighed. "I thought that thing got turned off..." He got up and walked back into the living room, entering when the screen was showing a mugshot of a suspected criminal. "Holy shit, that looks like Basch!"

"What?" Balthier got up and looked, shocked. "That's the guy that was with Reks..." He suddenly grabbed his keys off the table and put on his shoes. "Vaan, stay here and lock the doors. I gotta go find Reks again. What if that guy kills him?" He went into the kitchen and looked in a cupboard, where a safe was hidden. He started doing the combination, looking for his guns.

He stood there in thought. He didn't like the idea that got into his head, but it was a possibility. "What if... What if they're somehow together on it? I know it doesn't make complete sense, but what if I'm right?"

Balthier picked out a small handgun, tucking it into the band of his pants before relocking the safe. "I can handle it. I'll call the police if I find them to give me some backup. Does that make you feel better?"

Vaan shook his head. "You're not a super human, you can't handle everything..."

He smiled. "I can bloody try, can't I?" He pecked a kiss on Vaan's forehead and ruffled his hair. "I'll be back soon, I promise."

The blonde sighed. "Fine... Don't get hurt."

"I won't." He kissed him on the lips quickly before he left, hopping in the car and driving back to where he saw Reks and Basch.

As soon as Balthier had gone out the door, Vaan did what he had been told and started locking everything that could be lock, including windows, just in case. When he was done, he got on the couch and watched through the window like what an anxious dog would do when waiting for their owner to come back home. As he did so, all he did was silently hope that Balthier and Reks would be fine.