(no subject)

[person4]

Title: Accord
Fandom: Final Fantasy XII
Pairing: Basch/Vaan
Rating: PG
Note: Written for nanthimus for help_haiti. Diving in just under the wire.

Vaan knew that he should probably feel bad about taking blatant advantage of Marquis Ondore's hospitality. Mostly because Penelo kept telling him that he should. But when he'd heard that Ache, Larsa, and Al-Cid were gathering together on the neutral ground of Bhujerba for the sake of strengthening the peace between their three countries, which he'd just known was their way of making an excuse to all get together, he'd grabbed Penelo and set their wings towards the Skycity, ready to show up on Ondore's doorstep and have Penelo pout at whoever greeted them and push on Ondore's goodwill towards them until they managed to wrangle themselves a room.

It had been easier than he'd expected. Turned out that stopping Vayne and Hunting one of the city's traditional bogeymen, not to mention Penelo already being known to the guards as a former guest, had let them build up enough of a name for themselves that they were escorted straight to Ondore when they showed up. There's been no need to beg their way past who knew how many levels of security.

Larsa had greeted their appearance with a welcoming laugh, and even Ashe had been startled into a smile instead of keeping her serious queen-face on. It was the first time they'd all been together since before Ashe's coronation, and though Balthier and Fran's absence as they annoyingly continued to avoid everyone felt keenly obvious, and it was awkward pretending not to know Basch for the sake of his charade, Vaan was happier than he'd been in ages at seeing his friends again. They really needed to barge in on them more often, instead of allowing Ashe to grow distant in the name of her duty and only talking to Larsa through letters. He knew that it was up to him and Penelo to keep them all together; kids from the Lowtown slums weren't expected to know the rules of class and propriety anyway, so Ashe shouldn't be surprised if they sneaked through the waterways into her palace one day even if she felt like she couldn't go out in the streets searching for them.

Unfortunately, it turned out that the peace talks weren't as much of a giant sneaky lie as he'd guessed they were. Maybe he should have realized that from Al-Cid's presence. Since his parents were still alive, if he claimed that he was off strengthening the ties between nations they would expect him to explain exactly how it had gone. And that meant lots and lots of Vaan and Penelo hanging around without much to do while the royals were off discussing this economic plan or that land deal.

They'd found ways to occupy themselves at first. Bhujerba was a great place to be if you were stuck with lots of time to spare--the mines offering a fun place to train if you got tired of exploring the shopping district, the bars a wide variety of places to relax once you'd worn yourself out--but before long they'd stopped bothering to leave Ondore's manor. They were there to visit everyone, not to sightsee, and when they took off during the conferences they ended up missing any chances to talk when everyone else took breaks from their meetings.

The third day in Vaan chose to sprawl in the hallway outside the meeting room and sort through the loot which had built up in the bottom of his travel pack during the past few month of sky pirating, ignoring the dirty looks a few of the servants shot him. It wasn't as comfortable as the plush set of rooms they'd been given for their stay, but it wasn't like he hadn't gotten used to making himself comfortable in any safe spot he could find during his years of thievery, and it would let him nab everyone the minute they were free.

He was just getting bored of sorting out the umpteenth pebble that had somehow gotten mixed in with everything else when the door suddenly opened. He hopped to his feet, ready to run off and grab Penelo out of their room so she could come visit, but the only person who came out was Basch. The fact that Vaan hadn't heard him approaching the door even though he was wearing a Judge's full set of armor was a little upsetting; even if Vaan had mostly switched to plundering ruins and tombs where stealth wasn't necessary, it just wasn't fair that the guy who was way too honorable to ever so much as pick a pocket could move so silently while encased in iron.

Basch was carrying a plate which he offered to Vaan. "I thought you might wish for some refreshment, if you intend to remain out here for much longer," he said, tugging off his helmet once his hands were free and taking a few deep breaths of fresh air.

"Hey, great!" Vaan exclaimed with a wide grin, dropping back to where he'd been sitting once the plate was in his hands. His mouth started to water just looking at the food piled up on it; one of the biggest perks about suddenly having a bunch of the highest of high-class friends was the chance to occasionally stuff himself on the types of food rich people ate. For years he'd watched the makings of feasts pass through Migelo's store and never been allowed to sneak as much as a crumb, and now here he was getting a selection of appetizers like it was his right to have them. He'd already downed a few mouthfuls before he thought to say, "Thanks for thinking about me, Ba...aaaaaa...ranth. 'Branth."

He kind of wished that he didn't know Basch well enough to realize that the slight amused smile on his mouth at how badly Vaan had caught his slip was the equivalent to anyone else laughing out loud at him. It would have been less embarrassing that way.

He'd expected Basch to go straight back into the room and to his duty guarding Larsa as soon as he'd seen Vaan fed, but instead he vanished into a nearby waiting room for a moment and reappeared with a chair. Vaan realized what he was thinking when he settled it beside him; his armor wouldn't make it easy for him to sit on the floor like Vaan was if he was planning on staying out there long, and there wasn't much point to standing at attention with a wall between himself and Larsa.

"So, how are things going in there?" Vaan asked, figuring that he should show some interest in this meeting of nations no matter how boring he'd found it during the five minutes he'd tried sitting in on it during his first day there.

"Well enough. Today they discuss Nabradia, and whether the other nations might lend aid if Queen Ashe seeks to clear Nabudis of the beasts which plague it. It would do her heart good to see Lord Rasler's lands made safe to travelers again, though she knows well that the land itself would remain inhabitable." He looked at the door with a faint smile on his face, "It makes my own heart glad to watch these talks. I've stood guard during many treaties and conferences between nations in the past, but this is the first time that I've truly seen all representatives involved come together with peace and comradery on their minds rather than politicking. Never before would I have left my lord alone for any length of time in the presence of those who might benefit from his death, but now I would trust him to remain safe even if I left entirely. ...Her as well."

"Now that sounds like a good idea." Vaan wolfed down his last few bites of food then jumped back into his feet and tugged on Basch's arm. "Come on! I bet you'll have a lot more fun out in the city than you're having in there, and I can sell off some of this junk."

Basch gently pulled Vaan's hand off him, squeezing slightly before letting go. The metal of his gauntlet was hard, the leather stiff, but the warmth of his hand seeped through them. "I would be glad to spare some time for you, Vaan, but it was nothing more than a passing fancy. A knight must not leave his post on a idle whim, however secure he might believe it to be."

"Even if it wasn't secure, this is Larsa. And Ashe. Al-Cid and Ondore could turn out to be completely useless in a fight, but those two would still be able to slice up anybody dumb enough to attack before you could even drag your hundred pounds of armor over to them."

"Even so. But I will ask Larsa if he can spare me more time to visit with you at some point," Basch said with a faint smile. "I am glad to see you again, Vaan. It was not my intention to remain so long separated from you when I swore my sword to Larsa. Or from Penelo, of course. Friendly faces have become too scarce for me to wish to distance myself from them."

"Hey, we missed you guys too," Vaan said, rapping him companionably on the shoulder. "We wouldn't crash just anybody's peace talks, you know."

• • •

'At some point' proved to be just a few hours later, when business was done for the day and Larsa decided that he'd like to go visit the city himself. At first their group remained closely together, Vaan, Penelo, and Larsa chattering happily about how their lives had been going since Vayne's downfall with Basch a more silent but pleasant presence by their side, but as time passed they'd slowly separated. Penelo and Larsa pulled ahead, their voices growing quieter, what had been a group discussion gradually morphing into a private conversation between them. As he and Basch fell back until they were only just close enough for Basch to do any sort of decent job guarding Larsa Vaan felt uncomfortably like they were giving Penelo and Larsa their privacy, and that was just weird. It was Penelo. Penelo never needed privacy from him.

But Vaan thought he'd gotten the better end of the split. It wasn't like he didn't see Larsa as a good friend, but they still heard from him as often as letters could travel between Archades and Rabanastre. Basch they only heard about through those letters, never in his own words.

"I heard tell of how you hunted the beast Maduin through Sochen," Basch said as they slowly wandered the streets. "If you ever come seeking a Mark so near Archades again, I would be glad if you'd send word to the palace. If fortune is with us I could find time to join you."

Vaan laughed ruefully, rubbing a new scar on his arm. "I could have used you then. That monster was tough, and I couldn't even risk bringing Penelo with me because of its thing for hume women."

Basch reached out and carefully touched the scar, grazing his finger lightly along its length. "A worthy mark to bear, from a battle against a foe you can be proud of slaying," he said, tapping it once before he pulled away. Vaan blinked at him, surprised at the shiver that went through him at the light touch. He wished that Basch wasn't wearing his mask, so he could make out the expression on his face. "But I'm glad that it was nothing worse."

"I dunno," Vaan said, flashing him a grin, "I bet you're not the only one who could make having his forehead sliced open work for him."

"There's little need for you to change your face, Vaan."

Vaan was about to come back with something about sky pirates and eyepatches when his thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a small voice saying, "Hey, hey, hey, I remember you! Basch fon Ronsenburg!"

They both froze and slowly turned towards the speaker. But when they spotted the small child staring at them, Vaan was the one her eyes were fixed on. "Hey," she said again, cocking her head to the side, "What's Ondore's lie? Nobody would tell me."

Vaan laughed, and ruffled her hair. "Oh! It turned out I was wrong about that. You can tell everybody you asked about it that Basch fon Ronsenburg came back and said Ondore was really a nice guy after all."

The girl looked thoughtful. "When I asked my amba about it, she said that anybody who said that they were Captain Basch was either insane or a murkha and I shouldn't listen to anything they say. Am I not supposed to listen about him lying, or about him being nice?"

"The lies, child," Basch cut in while Vaan frowned, feeling insulted. "And I do not claim to be Basch fon Ronsenburg, so you may believe me."

This seemed to be as deep as her curiosity ran, as with her long-held questions finally answered she soon wandered away from them.

"Well, I guess that's it then," Vaan said, bumping his arm against Basch's and trying to hide a wince when he accidentally hit an especially pointy section of armor. "If I'm Basch I've got to go find some big noble fight to get my head gashed open in. How else am I gonna get that rugged soldier look?"

• • •

Supper was spent together as a group, and more than a little part of Vaan wished that they were gathered around a campfire instead of a long fancy table. Roasting whatever edible meat and plants they could find over the fire might not be nearly as tasty as Ondore's nightly feasts, but he just knew things would be a lot more comfortable there. He wasn't sure how Ondore and Al-Cid would fit in, but Ashe and Larsa both had their places by the fire and Basch would have been able to join them instead of standing at attention by the door. The conversation was freer than a person would expect from a table filled mostly with royalty from various countries, and the feast a rather informal affair with the food spread out on the table instead of passed out course by course, but the atmosphere still wasn't as easy-going as it had usually been during their travels.

Vaan stayed back when everyone else left for the night, examining the remains of the feast thoughtfully. Ondore's chefs were good at judging the amount of food needed for a group their size so there weren't many leftovers, but there was still enough for at least one more serving. As the servants who'd been sent to clear the table cast significant looks between it and the door of the kitchen he quickly filled a plate with everything that he'd thought had tasted especially good.

Basch's room was the one right next door to Larsa, only a few doors down the hall from the suite Vaan and Penelo had been given for their stay. There wasn't any answer at first when Vaan knocked on the door, and he began to worry that maybe Basch hadn't gone straight back to his room, but a moment later the door swung open to reveal Basch still adjusting his helmet on his head. Vaan realized that he must have been prying himself out of his armor for the night, since he'd already removed both of his gauntlets and his left arm was bare to the shoulder of anything but the light shirt he wore underneath.

"Do you seriously put on your helmet every time you need to answer the door?" Vaan asked, walking into the room when Basch stepped out of the way to allow him in without even questioning why he was there.

Basch closed the door behind him again before answering. "I must. Think what you will about my scar, Vaan, but it is an obvious mark. It's no matter if some servant who's never known me sees it, but it were Ondore or Al-Cid who came to my door and they saw me with my face uncovered they'd realize the truth at once."

"I don't get why it matters," Vaan said, plopping down on Basch's bed without so much as a by-your-leave. He knew that it might be a better idea to take one of the chairs in the room, but they were all fancy decorative wooden things that looked beautiful and felt completely uncomfortable. The bed was the only decent seat in the room. "They both already know that you're still alive, so why shouldn't they know that you've switched to guarding Larsa?"

Basch shook his head slightly. "You must understand, Vaan; Bhujerba and Rozarria may be our friends now, and as I said before I am glad of it, but this may not always be the case and my name has never been cleared. If for any reason they ever turn against Larsa, they must not be able to defile his name in the eyes of the people by letting it slip that he's been hiding away a king-slaying traitor as his closest guard."

Vaan realized that telling Basch how much he thought the duty Gabranth had foisted on him sucked, even if he was glad the Larsa had somebody decent watching his back, probably wasn't the best idea, so he quickly changed the subject by lifting the plate. "Hey, I know you didn't get to eat anything at supper, so I figured I'd pay you back to the snack earlier."

"Thank you, Vaan," Basch said, accepting the plate but setting it aside on a desk for the moment. "Thank you for thinking of me."

He returned to removing his armor as he'd been doing before Vaan arrived, freeing the rest of his right arm then turning his attention to his legs.

"Hey, uh, you need any help with that?" Vaan asked, once Basch's limbs were bare of armor and it was time for him to struggle with his heavy cuirass. "That can't be something you're supposed to manage by yourself."

Basch's eyes met his and held for a moment, then he bowed his head slightly. "If you wish."

The armor of a Judge Magister was much more complicated than that worn by Dalmascan knights, but Vaan was able to work it out as he helped Basch unstrap it and lift it from his body. Vaan had been the closest thing Reks had had to a squire when he'd joined the knights, and he'd learned the basics of piecing together and pulling apart a suit of armor back then. For all the good it had ended up doing his brother.

"Oh, wow," Vaan said with a laugh when Basch's body was freed from its iron shell and he got a whiff of what he smelled like underneath it, "do you want me to call somebody to get you a bath? Heck, I'll make you one myself to speed things up; you must have been frying in there."

"The price one pays to fit in with the Archadian military, I fear," Basch said, not exactly looking pleased at Vaan's amusement. He plucked at his linen undershirt and gingerly sniffed it. "I'm not so bad as all that, am I?"

"Well, not really. I mean, I spend most of my time in Lowtown, and compared to half the people there you smell like you've just been running around in a field of flowers. But I'm kind of used to you being one of the people who cares about hygiene, you know?" Vaan said, taking pity on him. "It's probably mostly because of your clothes soaking up sweat anyway. It might be better if you take off your shirt."

Again Basch gave him that long look, then mildly said, "If that's what you feel would be best," and pulled his shirt over his head.

Vaan blinked at him. Even though he'd suggested it he hadn't really expected Basch to just go ahead and do it. "I'm glad you've gotten less scrawny," he said absently, staring at Basch's pecs. When he realized the silence was dragging on for an unusually long time after his statement he pulled his eyes up to Basch's face, and saw the amused quirk of his eyebrow. "Seriously, I could see your ribs back when we first met each other, and that's just not right. You look a lot better now."

Basch shook his head slightly, and rested his hand on Vaan's shoulder. "Tell me truthfully, Vaan; do you realize the way your words might be taken? I count myself a good judge of men, but I fear I can't seem to tell if it's innocence or knowledge that makes you speak so freely."

"Hey!" Vaan said, bristling immediately, "I'm not innocent. I'm... not totally sure what you're talking about right now, but you should know me well enough by now to know I'm not just some kid!"

"I see," Basch said, lowering his eyes and smiling wryly, though Vaan had no idea what the joke was. "Think on it, Vaan. And if you come to realize my meaning then return or not as you wish." He pulled away from Vaan, and sat at the desk before the plate Vaan had brought. "Thank you again for the meal."

Recognizing a dismissal when he heard one, though still not sure exactly what he'd done to suddenly disappoint Basch, Vaan walked back to the door but paused after only opening it a crack. "Right... well, night Basch."

"Good night Vaan."

• • •

Vaan didn't rest well that night. Or at all, really. The bed Ondore had given him was so soft that the first night he'd slept in it he'd thought that there was no way he'd ever be able to lay in it for more than three seconds without drifting off even with Penelo snoring in the other bed across the room, but that night all he could do was stare up at the ceiling trying to work out what the hell had made Basch suddenly close himself off like that.

When he finally worked it out, he practically fell out of bed in his haste to scramble to his feet.

He chose to pick Basch's lock instead of knocking and making him feel compelled to drag on his armor in the middle of the night to protect his identity, which turned out to maybe not be the wisest idea in the world when he was met by a sword at his throat the moment the door cracked open. But he wasn't afraid for a second, trusting Basch completely to recognize him before any fatal mistake could be made. "Okay, so maybe I was being completely dumb about how somebody might take it if I ask them if they need help undressing. Or ask them to strip down more. Or stare... a lot. Or throw myself on their bed like I belong there. But it's not like you'd have been taking advantage or anything if you'd just assumed that I wasn't a complete idiot. You don't need to be all honorable, and noble, and hold yourself back until you know for sure that I don't just have cockatrice fluff for a brain. You should know by now that I could totally kick your ass if it had turned out you'd read me wrong." He stared down at the ground, scuffing one of his feet against the floor. He'd rushed out the door so fast that he hadn't even bothered dragging on his shoes, and the tile was cool and surprisingly rough beneath his toes. "And I wouldn't have. Kicked your ass, I mean. Just so you know."

Just like earlier Basch stepped out of the way without any question. And once more Vaan entered the moment his way was clear.