A/N: Honestly, the shots coming after 'Tea' aren't my favorites, because I'm bad at confrontation. Still I hope the message will be clear and that you will like reading them. They were extremely hard to write xD Three more to go! Please enjoy! :Meresta
Summery: Flirting, our leading man could do. Dating, that's a whole different story.
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Suggesting a malexmale pairing, language.
Disclaimer: I do not own Final Fantasy XII.

Try

Something was up. Something was up and Vaan was sure of it. He had no idea what it was his partner was plotting, but it couldn't mean anything good. His eyes followed the brunet as he had just excused himself right after dinner, disappearing into his room.

Leaving his colleague with the dishes, of course.

Yet, the dishes weren't what was bothering the wheat blond. It was the isolation of the older pirate. He was distracted, his mind always elsewhere, something that could bring them into serious trouble during raids. It had been like this ever since the pirates dropped the Royal couple at Mt. Bur-Omisace and Vaan was dying to find out what the hell was going on.

He wouldn't even reply to normal questions anymore, waiting at least a full minute before saying something like 'Of course', or 'Oh?'. The younger pirate would say the strangest of things to get Balthier's attention, but all failed. Aside from annoying him, it was starting to worry him as well. What could be so bad that the brunet refused to share it?

A deep sigh left his lips as he got up and went back to daily life; dishes.

"No..that won't do..damn.."
Soft muttering echoed through Balthier's room as he was frantically crossing stuff on a piece of paper. He needed to come up with something good. No, great. It had to be amazing and unable to refuse. All that, wrapped in enough subtlety for him to get away with it. Not an easy task.

Ever since his partner had conveniently fallen asleep in his embrace, Balthier had this nagging feeling inside of him. He needed to figure out what feelings he was dealing with and he was getting tired of running from them. Therefore, the decision to take action came quickly. What kind of action, however, was still undecided.

First, the brunet thought of taking Vaan somewhere nice. Ivalice was beautiful, overflowing with hidden spots and places gorgeous enough to take your breath away forever. But, they had been to most of those places already, for raiding or leisure. They had seen the sunset from every angle possible, they had climbed every building worth admiring.
Another thing, that once they would get there, Balthier would have no idea whatsoever on what to do next. Ladies man he may be called, 'dates' were all still very new. He worked better when he had only a second or ten, enough time to strike a pose, whisper some seductive lines and throw the lady in question a wink, before running off to his airship.

Unfortunately, none of that would work on Vaan.

Dinner could have been a great idea, if it weren't for the fact that the two pirates were wanted all across the planet. They'd been arrested and thrown into Nalbina before the main course came on.
That won't do.

Balthier had been going on like this for a week now, writing things down and crossing them out in a tough process of elimination. He was sure Vaan was suspicious of something by now, but he couldn't blow his cover. This'll need to stay a complete secret, until he figures out what his plan will be. Why were dates so hard, anyway?

A knock on his door interrupted his thoughts and the brunet quickly stuck the piece of paper behind his bed.
"Balthier?" Came Vaan's voice through the door.
"..Yes?"
"What are you doing?"
The older pirate frowned.
"Why do you ask?"
"You were talking to yourself."
His eyes widened as he instinctively clasped a hand before his mouth. Darn, he always did that at the most unfortunate of times.
"Is something wrong?" Came the voice again, and Balthier felt slight guilt when he heard the worried tone. He got up and went to the door, opening it to find Vaan looking a little startled of the sudden action. The brunet showed him a gentle smile.
"Nothing to worry about."
Vaan looked away to hide a small blush and rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"Good.." The wheat blond started.
"..Because if there is, you should tell me, you know. That's what I'm here for." Though his words were mature and confident, they came out quite nervous. The older pirate found it adorable.

"Really, I'm fine. I'm just..having a hard time making up my mind."
Vaan looked up at his partner, question in his eyes. Such gorgeous grey eyes.
"About what?"
Balthier snapped out of another daydream and gazed up for a moment, trying to find the right words.
"There's.. something I want to do, but it is quite a large risk to take. Also I'm not sure how to do it."
"Can I help?" The brunet smiled, wishing he could.
"I'm afraid I will have to do this on my own."
The younger pirate cocked his head to the side in thought.
"Well, you shouldn't be afraid of taking risks. You're a sky pirate, right? Just try."
Balthier shrugged, his partner's words sounded so simple.
"Thank you. I will."
A bright smile appeared on Vaan's features and the brunet faced away quickly. Why did he have to smile like that?
"Anyway.. I'm going to bed now, so.. 'night." The wheat blond stood a little awkwardly, not knowing why saying goodnight had become so hard over the last few days. His colleague nodded.
"Good night."
They stood there a few seconds longer, before Balthier shut the door. Once he heard Vaan was in his own room, he allowed himself to breathe again. That didn't had to take much longer or he had done things he'd regret. No matter what, he couldn't rush things, it would scare the wheat blond away.

He managed to get himself into bed and after twisting and turning for another hour, he finally fell asleep.

The next morning, Balthier got dragged out of bed by a very active Vaan, happily declaring it was cleaning day. The older pirate couldn't believe his partner was actually excited about cleaning, but when it came to cleaning the Strahl, things were different. His love for airships was great and he wouldn't leave a millimeter unattended to.

Lucky airship.

The brunet was friendly forced a way out, sent off with a list to stock up on food and medicine. Ever since he had gotten sick, Vaan insisted on keeping a large stock of potions on the ship at all times. With a sigh he went out, pulling his hat a little further over his head. Don't want to be recognized now, do we.

Inside, the younger pirate mused. He had the entire airship, entirely to himself and he was going to enjoy every single second of it. Taking his time to clean every single spot he could find, he hesitated for a moment when reaching the door to Balthier's room. He wouldn't mind him cleaning it, would he?

Just to be on the safe side, Vaan decided to only change the bed sheets. He took them off quickly and went to the washing room, where he sorted the laundry. When a small piece of paper fell from one of the sheets, the wheat blond picked it up without thinking it might be private. He unfolded it and read the contents, frowning at what it said.

There were a bunch of cities and countries jotted down, most of them crossed out already. The word 'dinner' had been written down three times, two of which were crossed out. Some half words were spread over the entire paper and it was obvious the writer didn't pay much attention to writing nicely. Vaan recognized Balthier's handwriting and although he had no idea what his colleague would want with such unclear notes, he kept the paper to return it when he came back from shopping.

"Vaan, are you there? I'm back!" A rich voice rang through the hallway.
"I'm in the washing room!" He shouted, sorting out the last few pieces of laundry.
Balthier placed some bags in the kitchen, before taking of his hat and heading towards his partner.

"How did it go?"
"Fine," Balthier answered. "it's paid for, for a change."
Vaan acted shocked, but smiled.
"How considerate of you." He got up, and pulled the piece of paper from his pocket. "By the way, I found this in your laundry. I thought you might want it back."
When the brunet noticed the paper, his eyes widened and he took it back, trying to act like he didn't care.
"Thank you." He tucked it in his vest. "..Did you read it?"
Vaan shrugged.
"Couldn't really make up what it said. Some cities? Were you making a list of all the places we've been to?"
The older pirate let out a soft sigh of relief.
"Something like that."
"Well, don't stick paper in your bed sheets, next time I might accidentally wash it along." The tone of his voice was disapproving and it made Balthier smile.

"I won't."
"Good. Now get out so I can finish this." A smirk.

In their living quarters, Balthier had arranged some flowers on the table. He used to bring flowers around all the time, mostly lilies. When Vaan entered the room, a bit tired from all the hard work he had done, he looked surprised.
"Roses? Those don't hold up well in this season, why did you bring them?"
Balthier looked at the deep, red color of the petals.
"I felt like taking a risk."

Their eyes met and both smiled as Balthier realized, he'd just have to keep trying.

Reviews are very much appreciated!