Between Life and Death (chapter 33 of 49, 6702 words)
Braska finds himself afflicted with another unexplained headache, but manages to recover in time to attend a banquet in his honour at Jyscal Guado’s manor. There, he discovers that he and Jyscal share certain similarities.
Read here on praze.net or here on archiveofourown.org, or read the whole fic so far as a PDF or an EPUB.
This and the following chapter are reasonably light and “having a good time”-focused, a bit like the Besaid episode; they were fun to write! After the boys leave Guadosalam there is basically no remaining happiness to be found in this fic though, haha. (Still fun to write though, I have to admit.)
Auron’s usual rationality is struggling under the weight of “I’m not having a particularly great time” plus “I really shouldn’t be kissing Braska” plus “but actually I quite like kissing Braska and it makes me have a slightly less not great time”.
I think Auron may have raised his voice a bit, but “shouting at me” is probably an exaggeration. I just love it when they argue … a weird thing to think about one’s OTP I guess, but here we are.
If Braska were present to hear Auron say “if it exists at all” about the Farplane, he would probably realise that something’s up with Auron’s faith, although Jecht doesn’t notice the significance.
Prematurely grey hair is perhaps a trait of the Auron family.
“Everyone always said I didn’t have much imagination.”
I think saying this in the past tense is an acknowledgement of the fact that Auron really believes his old life in Bevelle has ended. He obviously doesn’t know that will be the case in as literal a sense as it turns out to be (haha … oh god …), but he’s certain that if he returns to the city, his relationship with everyone he knew there will be totally different.
Jecht would actually love to be thanked. He’s gagging for it! But he’s just going to have to keep thinking that his companions don’t really value him. I’m sure this won’t contribute to any grand self-sacrificial gestures.
“Not as if I’m not used to them.”
Braska, mate, you have no idea what’s in store.
Auron telling Jecht he should have a shower like he’s Jecht’s mum … te he,
As Auron isn’t particularly skilled in reading, he’s used to storing large amounts of information in his head, while Jecht is the opposite.
Auron’s “they’re trying to poison me” spiral is understandable, I think. It’s a bit like the “Braska’s going to drown himself” one that he experienced during the Besaid section.
I find it odd that Braska refers to himself as a “fallen summoner” during the get-Jecht-out-of-Jail-free scene, given that he hasn’t actually started his pilgrimage yet, so perhaps others in Bevelle had started using it as an insulting nickname even while he was still training.
Tromell is basically the Auron to Braska’s Jyscal, being the only person who remained loyal despite everyone else hating him. It’s a shame that Auron and Tromell don’t get a moment together to enthuse about their respective masters like schoolgirls talking about their crushes or something.
Braska never says Girl’s name for a reason that will briefly come up in the next chapter; Jyscal doesn’t say his wife’s name either, because, er, he just doesn’t? And Jecht doesn’t ever say his wife or son’s name because, um … let’s say it’s for data protection reasons. In this fic Jyscal’s wife is called Annimarie, which is perfect, and I didn’t think I could either steal that or match it, so she has to remain part of the “unnamed wives” crew.
I don’t know if I ever went into detail about the phrase “Al Bhed lover”, but I see it as a set phrase that tends to be used in a derogatory way. In the game, Rikku says to Tidus, “You’re not an Al Bhed hater, are you?”, which I think implies that “Al Bhed hater” is some kind of defined conceptual category, so I thought “Al Bhed lover” could be as well. Anyway, a quick search through the fic tells me that I have used the phrase seven times up to this point and won’t be using it again, so looks like it’s a great time to explain it, lol.
Braska is getting emotional while Auron is like “ok, Guado man and human woman … how does this work genetically …”
It’s time for Braska to do his favourite thing: traumadumping! What a great evening he’ll be having.