Jecht doesn't think anything of it when things from home started showing up for everyone. Maybe he'll get to keep another blitzball to replace the one Tidus took and never returned!! or maybe he'll lose them once the month ends.
So seeing that familiar structure in the distance, it sends hope fluttering in his chest. He doesn't remember running there but the walk up to it is real. The statues, the extravagant interior, the overly huge structure on its own.
He doesn't know how long he spent standing there laughing but he did. And somehow found time to contact Tidus in between.
That's the sort of excitement that isn't easy to hide, and so feeling it thrum through the amulet and into his head with his father's voice is bewildering to say the least to Tidus. The lake? What?
What's got you going?
Is he going to get any explanation, or is he actually going to have to drag himself all the way over to the lake without a clue?
Jecht clicks his tongue and adds what he's seeing to their communication. He's standing at the front row of the stands, looking at the center stage where the sphere would be. The platforms all lowered and inactive.
"It ain't a joke. Get over here or I'm starting the sphere without you."
He ends the connection and presumably makes his way to the control room. How hard can it be right?
Well for one thing, the door is locked and needed to be kicked down but still.
The line spikes when Jecht reveals what he's seeing; a sudden burst of emotion, an uncontrollable joy stifled by shock.
Tidus doesn't care when the communication drops. It helps him to scramble to his feet and drop everything to go sprinting for the lake, the current chaos of the city ignored for the beachy spread and the sight awaiting his own two eyes.
He might need a moment on the beach do some fist pumps and prancing on the spot like any respectable cool guy would do. But none of that stops him coming in loud into the control room once he finds it and Jecht, the broken door barely acknowledged.
The control room is just covered in red-orange flowers and streaks of rainbow colors, especially on the control panels when Tidus gets here. Not that Jecht cares. He's smacking buttons and flipping switches, sparking various things across the stadium to life. He even found the water release, not that that helps without a sphere to contain it.
"They probably grabbed it during downtime." He gestures at the right side. "Try the switches over there."
Better than grabbing it during Sin time, but Tidus won't give that any thought. He follows with his eyes where Jecht directs and hurries over, instantly overwhelmed by all the choice. Instantly tearing off flowers spread across said choice like spilt thread.
He presses a button. Nothing happens. Pulls a lever. Lights turn on, visible under the shut roof. A breeze picks up, sending the smell of sea salt all over the place. Tidus turns around, exasperated by impatience despite his giddy state.
"You've got more your side -- stop getting flowers over everything! This ain't a garden, you'll break something!"
Okay, cool, Tidus. Cool. Let's think about this, let's think.
"When the game starts... the rings spin, and the power has to build up. It's gotta be a lever, right? So whatever makes the thingies spin, then a lever to make the sphere go boom!" He waves his hands out in the air, and one of the glass bulbs pop.
Neither of them are going to give voice to that thought. Ever. Not when the whole stadium is here healthy and hale. The exploding glass and Tidus's death wail is enough to send Jecht into another fit of laughter. It's ridiculous how happy he is right now.
But, yes, no, they should focus. Get this whole thing up and running first. The lights and machina make whirring sounds so it's not a matter of lack of power or supply somehow.
What Tidus said is stirring up some memories though... Lever... spinning...
"Shit I remember now."
He suddenly moves to the left side of the console, ripping away some flowers from a lever he already tried.
"Now where the heck is that..."
More ripping away of flowers, clearing a large swath of it so he can jab at one of six buttons there in turn. "Come on, come on..." One of them beeps and something in the center of the platform jitters. "Got'cha!" He pulls the lever!
The rings start to rise up, slowly moving into position. It's not quite spinning but progress right?
"HAH! Thank you, Lona." He looks to Tidus. "Old girlfriend when I first started out. Snuck me in here one day."
Tidus throws a studying look his dad's way -- like he wants to say something regarding Lona, or how far back his memory extends. ...Actually, it might have something to do with his dating spots and what they got up to, but before he lets that go to places he'd rather prefer otherwise (please don't ruin the stadium for him), Tidus returns to outside the control room window, the giant machine in motion. His eyes lighting up at the prospect of actually getting to be in a sphere pool again...
And then they widen more, and Tidus backs on his feet; towards the door, raising a forefinger up to his dad.
"Wait! Wait here! Don't break anything!"
Nearly stumbling into the door, Tidus bolts out without another word. Speaking of old girlfriends, make-out rooms, and actually far more important components of playing a game of blitzball--
It takes about five minutes for Tidus to emerge again, this time on the ring that's still stationary: the diving platform. He gives a whistle from it, searching for whereabouts his dad is higher up, then lifts something up in both hands.
"Where do you think you're going?" Jecht calls out after him before shaking his head and tries to keep the whole momentum going. The rings are going so there should be a button to activate the sphere field, right?
"Who the fuck labels these things." He grumbles. Or don't label it. He doesn't notice Tidus immediately. Not until he finally smacks another series of buttons and the permeable field takes form from where he's looking--
Is that...
He huffs and looks around for the broadcast feature. That he recognizes fairly easily at least.
"Get your butt back in here, brat."
He sounds more amused than demanding. He knows first hand what homesickness feels like after all. He reaches for the switch he found before and turns it. Water begins gushing into the sphere.
DON'T RUIN THE STADIUM CONTROL ROOM BY HAVING SEX IN IT!!
"Like I'm doing that!" Can his dad hear him from outside, no matter how loud (and jovial) his response is? Tidus isn't too concerned by if the answer is no, turning as the water begins to gush out and fill the centre. The blitzball resting on the top of his head, admiring the sight with an utter giddiness.
A hum comes over Jecht's amulet.
'Hurry it up already!'
Impatient, but in the same way a kid is for the ice cream being scooped out in front of them. The line is ecstatic.
But he does look to see if the water can be turned up. Tidus isn't the only one eager.
'Everything's automated. Don't you dare get in without me.'
Jecht is leaving the control room. He's not staying in here the whole time. He's not that patient. The stadium's been standing for years. It's not going to break from an amateur operator. Probably.
He takes all the shortcuts possible to get down there once he's outside, leaping barriers and dropping to the seats below. All grins and heart pumping.
'Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah,' comes over with a feigned exasperation to Jecht's warning, whatever it's meant to be, while he watches the water gushing in. But once he spots his dad, he watches him, the elation in his movements; a man who hasn't properly seen a stadium in years. Who used to live and breathe this place.
It shouldn't be a scene that exists, but it does. It shouldn't be a scene that he's happy for, and yet--
well, Tidus struggles with that twisting in his stomach, as his father comes better into view. Lightly scoffing to himself, but he's spinning the ball between his hands for more than just impatience. Standing with the Zanarkand stadium pool filling for the both of them -- it conjures up reminders of thoughts that haven't been on his mind for months. Suddenly, he isn't sure what he's doing here, what he wants, but he keeps a composed expression, busying his hands better by knocking the blitzball up into the air from one hand to another.
"Can't play blitzball with just two people," he remarks casually, even if that isn't the case inside him. Play blitzball. With his father. The one man he's always wanted to see him play.
Jecht is huffing by the time he leaps onto the platform. Everything that's lived on only in memory, growing fuzzier by the day, suddenly returning in picture perfect clarity. The deafening roar of the crowd, the announcer calling his name, his teammates standing alongside him, peering into the water where he felt like he'd be the king for eternity...
He almost doesn't realize the cheering and clapping he's hearing have actually manifested around him, alongside the sparks and flames flying from him like fireworks. A sheepiness creeps into his smile but it's no less determined as he touches the surface of the sphere.
He's so close.
"'course we can," he exclaims, looking over at his son. Another dream he's given up on back in Spira, now inches away from coming true. "We're the Abes' star players, ain't we?" He holds out a hand to Tidus, waiting for a slap in return.
Tidus scoffs when he hears the echo of a crowd, or after the fact; when confusion meets the lopsided grin on his father's face, and Tidus gets it. Well, he did already, sorta -- you don't forget those sounds once you hear them, even if they're usually from more than one source.
But he wishes it had taken his father some more time to come over, or maybe that he'd gone to the other side. He's so real up close now, the rows of seats far behind his back, the last of the water gushing in, the noise of the day outside with the fresh air around them.
Real. That shouldn't be a problem, should it? Tidus looks at the hand with a hesitation that's brief before another scoff leaves him, and he takes up the blitzball into both his hands.
"Not since forever for you! You've gotta show me that you're still up to snuff!" He turns on his feet, facing the pool. "Star players first!"
And he jumps with a kick off the ledge, breaking into the barrier of the pool and being engulfed in the blue. There's still a small layer of water that needs to fill, but there's plenty for the pair of them. He's heading for the centre, to get space between Jecht and himself.
Jecht doesn't retract his hand until Tidus makes the leap into the water. He tries but he really doesn't understand what Tidus is thinking sometimes. He shakes his head with a light huff and watches while Tidus swims towards the center. An upward glance and a vague flash of blue light tells him when the pool is filled.
He touches the surface of the sphere again. A cooling sensation on his palm. This is real. He's really here. A moment he thought would never happen again.
He inhales, holds his breath and releases it. Is it crazy for the Great Jecht to almost feel overcome by nerves? He cricks his neck and swings his arm to loosen up his shoulder, doing a few warm-up jogs.
Yeah. It is crazy. Because the water is right there.
He grins and dives in and he'd whoop for joy if he could. He hasn't done this in over ten years but he still takes to it like fish to water, with a mere passing feeling of unfamiliarity. He dreams about this. He never forgot.
Ignoring the obvious swirl of rainbow coloring the water around him, he swims towards Tidus to face him, motioning arrogantly with a hand. Let's do this.
It's better than the lake water by far, less dense, not so murky on the eyes; and what's more revelling is the familiar kind of blue the sphere bleeds all around him, that only lives these days in his dreams. Tidus backflips when he's found his place, and the want to laugh tingles across the line of his shoulders when he rights himself, the ball kept afloat beside him.
Home. Could he call this a home? It was as close to home as he was ever given, here or Spira. The blitzball stadium that housed all his dreams.
He's testing out the movement of the ball when his dad finally enters the sphere, knocking it from the ends of his feet to catch in his hands. The water swirling around him makes it swing off-course in ways it shouldn't, but Tidus can't help that. There's only so much dunamis can help him control, isn't there?
But with the ball steady, his feet kicking under him and the sight of his father in the pool, there's something eerily familiar about this too--from either his dreams, or nightmares. One or the other.
He ignores the pressure against his chest--like he breathed in too early, didn't prepare his lungs--and waves back dismissively before giving his feet a sharper kick, and he begins to swim at an angle adjacent to Jecht. There's a goal there, one at his back too, and he's making ample speed towards it with the waters continuing to twist around him. Half an eye on Jecht, to see when and if he'll come for him and the ball.
And if so, he'll have to test his luck and the distance to make a basic throw for it--unless Jecht has a way of stopping him.
Jecht would be disappointed (and insulted) if Tidus just handed it over. He grins and follows after once his son takes off with the ball, a slow spin on his back as he propels himself forward. A movement familiar yet tainted with foreignness now. He could lose himself in the blue so easily, float in the water in a state between reality and dream.
But his instincts tell him Tidus is about to make a throw, so he does the easiest thing possible without any teammates to back them up. He kicks his feet and reaches out to grab Tidus by the ankle... and yanks.
He's pulled, out of range to grab the blitzball with the attempt he takes, turning his sights next on the face behind this chump (chump!!) move. Tidus tries to kick the ankle free, but following that not working -- and most likely not -- he goes for knocking his free foot into the hand holding onto him, aware of the possibility that Jecht might have ideas.
Like grabbing both his ankles, or some devious move like that. But if that head comes in range of his hands, whether due to him crouching his own body to reach for it, that's a bed of octopus hair just asking to be yanked!!
Tidus is not about to be pulled down completely without a fight! Oldest trick in the blitz book! He's got a ball to protect!
Jecht lets loose some bubbles when he opens his mouth too wide to laugh but he shuts it quickly enough. Bad move but not terrible. Not when he now has both of Tidus's ankles in his grasp.
... and yanked hair.
Been a while since someone did that. Still, he may be ten years out of practice but he still played blitz professionally but for a solid twenty years. He throws his hands downwards to tug Tidus to his level and hopefully loosen the hold on his hair, flash Tidus a grin, and headbutt him.
Just because Tidus can read this move happening doesn't make it any easier to suffer once it hits him, literally. He doesn't let go when he's tugged down, but his grip does loosen when a sharp blinding pain comes to his forehead, though, even in that instance, he's telling his hands, his fingers, not to cave. Bubbles escaping to rise with the others let out.
Sometimes, it's better to allow a temporary lose of the ball and to make a strategic move based on your skills. Such as coming up behind the person with the speed you're better at than attack or defence.
Or, when your opponent is your father, the literal face of the man you've dreamed about plummeting in a few different ways, smirking before getting a cheap shot (a cheap shot!!) on you, what you actually want to do is tangle your fingers further into the mess of his hair...
...and with pure adrenaline and spite aiding Tidus through the recoil, see how Jecht likes another one of those headbutts himself!
Jecht is still grinning when he reads the intent too late. His eyes widening briefly just before impact. The pain stacks onto the first headbutt he initiated, though not too badly. No, he should be more worried about the escaping air bubbles when he has to remember to hold in laughter.
Ridiculous.
But a great feeling.
He holds up a middle finger to Tidus then swims for the ball, forehead still aching and head rattled. He's going to try and get it and toss it towards the opposing goal from the one Tidus arbitrarily picked.
If Tidus's brain wasn't currently rattling inside his skull and the ability to speak limited to Not within the sphere, he might've expressed something along those lines. Right now though, there's no time for any of that, no time to consider anything but his next move without unnecessary delay.
Luckily, Tidus knows as he watches Jecht rush for the ball that giving chase isn't the answer here, the thrill of the game taking over him (or maybe that's a concussion). What would any true blitzer do once than they had the ball but the obvious? So Tidus swims, body giddy despite the oxygen not coursing through his system, but it doesn't get rid of that sports high that keeps him hyper-aware in any game. Quicker than he usually would be; they're in a world with dunamis, and if he had the ability to give him that extra boost in a game meant for more than the two present, what was the point of even practising half the stuff he did in the first place?
It doesn't have Tidus directly in front of the goal, not really even in line with it, but gives him the space between himself and Jecht, what he dares to take before turning around--and there Jecht is, readying, already shooting. He has a choice; and Tidus makes it in another swift decision, the water rippling around him in the secondary boost he gives himself to hurl himself in the way of the ball's path, using his body as a shield for it to hit.
He's pushed back as the ball connect, but it's a small bump. A bump he feels more in the dizziness in his head than anywhere else, but it doesn't stop Tidus, his vision straightening and the ball in his hands, from experiencing the burst of pride from his tactic working.
Tidus looks over to where Jecht is in the sphere, then gives an exaggerated shrug for show.
Got a problem with dunamis in your blitzball, old man?? @ him via the amulet.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
blitzcheer) wrote2019-10-26 12:26 am
WE'RE GONNA BLITZ DAMMIT
So seeing that familiar structure in the distance, it sends hope fluttering in his chest. He doesn't remember running there but the walk up to it is real. The statues, the extravagant interior, the overly huge structure on its own.
He doesn't know how long he spent standing there laughing but he did. And somehow found time to contact Tidus in between.
Come to the lake. Now. You don't wanna miss this.
no??
What's got you going?
Is he going to get any explanation, or is he actually going to have to drag himself all the way over to the lake without a clue?
YES
He gets a clue and the excitement does not lessen one bit.
Get your ass over here.
nnnn-no....?!!
What? There's disbelief, but it's lost under the bewilderment and confusion.
How? What? Who? You sure? --Is this a joke?
Is he being punk'd right now?? (Someone is taking too long to get his ass anywhere.)
YASSS
"It ain't a joke. Get over here or I'm starting the sphere without you."
He ends the connection and presumably makes his way to the control room. How hard can it be right?
Well for one thing, the door is locked and needed to be kicked down but still.
no subject
Tidus doesn't care when the communication drops. It helps him to scramble to his feet and drop everything to go sprinting for the lake, the current chaos of the city ignored for the beachy spread and the sight awaiting his own two eyes.
He might need a moment on the beach do some fist pumps and prancing on the spot like any respectable cool guy would do. But none of that stops him coming in loud into the control room once he finds it and Jecht, the broken door barely acknowledged.
"Is it broken?! Why's it off!?"
Why isn't it going already c'mon c'mon c'mon!!
no subject
"They probably grabbed it during downtime." He gestures at the right side. "Try the switches over there."
no subject
He presses a button. Nothing happens. Pulls a lever. Lights turn on, visible under the shut roof. A breeze picks up, sending the smell of sea salt all over the place. Tidus turns around, exasperated by impatience despite his giddy state.
"You've got more your side -- stop getting flowers over everything! This ain't a garden, you'll break something!"
Okay, cool, Tidus. Cool. Let's think about this, let's think.
"When the game starts... the rings spin, and the power has to build up. It's gotta be a lever, right? So whatever makes the thingies spin, then a lever to make the sphere go boom!" He waves his hands out in the air, and one of the glass bulbs pop.
"Errrgh!"
That was a strangled noise alright.
no subject
But, yes, no, they should focus. Get this whole thing up and running first. The lights and machina make whirring sounds so it's not a matter of lack of power or supply somehow.
What Tidus said is stirring up some memories though... Lever... spinning...
"Shit I remember now."
He suddenly moves to the left side of the console, ripping away some flowers from a lever he already tried.
"Now where the heck is that..."
More ripping away of flowers, clearing a large swath of it so he can jab at one of six buttons there in turn. "Come on, come on..." One of them beeps and something in the center of the platform jitters. "Got'cha!" He pulls the lever!
The rings start to rise up, slowly moving into position. It's not quite spinning but progress right?
"HAH! Thank you, Lona." He looks to Tidus. "Old girlfriend when I first started out. Snuck me in here one day."
no subject
And then they widen more, and Tidus backs on his feet; towards the door, raising a forefinger up to his dad.
"Wait! Wait here! Don't break anything!"
Nearly stumbling into the door, Tidus bolts out without another word. Speaking of old girlfriends, make-out rooms, and actually far more important components of playing a game of blitzball--
It takes about five minutes for Tidus to emerge again, this time on the ring that's still stationary: the diving platform. He gives a whistle from it, searching for whereabouts his dad is higher up, then lifts something up in both hands.
What else than an actual blitzball?
no subject
"Where do you think you're going?" Jecht calls out after him before shaking his head and tries to keep the whole momentum going. The rings are going so there should be a button to activate the sphere field, right?
"Who the fuck labels these things." He grumbles. Or don't label it. He doesn't notice Tidus immediately. Not until he finally smacks another series of buttons and the permeable field takes form from where he's looking--
Is that...
He huffs and looks around for the broadcast feature. That he recognizes fairly easily at least.
"Get your butt back in here, brat."
He sounds more amused than demanding. He knows first hand what homesickness feels like after all. He reaches for the switch he found before and turns it. Water begins gushing into the sphere.
no subject
"Like I'm doing that!" Can his dad hear him from outside, no matter how loud (and jovial) his response is? Tidus isn't too concerned by if the answer is no, turning as the water begins to gush out and fill the centre. The blitzball resting on the top of his head, admiring the sight with an utter giddiness.
A hum comes over Jecht's amulet.
'Hurry it up already!'
Impatient, but in the same way a kid is for the ice cream being scooped out in front of them. The line is ecstatic.
no subject
'You're not the boss of me, brat.'
But he does look to see if the water can be turned up. Tidus isn't the only one eager.
'Everything's automated. Don't you dare get in without me.'
Jecht is leaving the control room. He's not staying in here the whole time. He's not that patient. The stadium's been standing for years. It's not going to break from an amateur operator. Probably.
He takes all the shortcuts possible to get down there once he's outside, leaping barriers and dropping to the seats below. All grins and heart pumping.
no subject
It shouldn't be a scene that exists, but it does. It shouldn't be a scene that he's happy for, and yet--
well, Tidus struggles with that twisting in his stomach, as his father comes better into view. Lightly scoffing to himself, but he's spinning the ball between his hands for more than just impatience. Standing with the Zanarkand stadium pool filling for the both of them -- it conjures up reminders of thoughts that haven't been on his mind for months. Suddenly, he isn't sure what he's doing here, what he wants, but he keeps a composed expression, busying his hands better by knocking the blitzball up into the air from one hand to another.
"Can't play blitzball with just two people," he remarks casually, even if that isn't the case inside him. Play blitzball. With his father. The one man he's always wanted to see him play.
no subject
He almost doesn't realize the cheering and clapping he's hearing have actually manifested around him, alongside the sparks and flames flying from him like fireworks. A sheepiness creeps into his smile but it's no less determined as he touches the surface of the sphere.
He's so close.
"'course we can," he exclaims, looking over at his son. Another dream he's given up on back in Spira, now inches away from coming true. "We're the Abes' star players, ain't we?" He holds out a hand to Tidus, waiting for a slap in return.
no subject
But he wishes it had taken his father some more time to come over, or maybe that he'd gone to the other side. He's so real up close now, the rows of seats far behind his back, the last of the water gushing in, the noise of the day outside with the fresh air around them.
Real. That shouldn't be a problem, should it? Tidus looks at the hand with a hesitation that's brief before another scoff leaves him, and he takes up the blitzball into both his hands.
"Not since forever for you! You've gotta show me that you're still up to snuff!" He turns on his feet, facing the pool. "Star players first!"
And he jumps with a kick off the ledge, breaking into the barrier of the pool and being engulfed in the blue. There's still a small layer of water that needs to fill, but there's plenty for the pair of them. He's heading for the centre, to get space between Jecht and himself.
He's got to protect the ball, after all.
no subject
He touches the surface of the sphere again. A cooling sensation on his palm. This is real. He's really here. A moment he thought would never happen again.
He inhales, holds his breath and releases it. Is it crazy for the Great Jecht to almost feel overcome by nerves? He cricks his neck and swings his arm to loosen up his shoulder, doing a few warm-up jogs.
Yeah. It is crazy. Because the water is right there.
He grins and dives in and he'd whoop for joy if he could. He hasn't done this in over ten years but he still takes to it like fish to water, with a mere passing feeling of unfamiliarity. He dreams about this. He never forgot.
Ignoring the obvious swirl of rainbow coloring the water around him, he swims towards Tidus to face him, motioning arrogantly with a hand. Let's do this.
no subject
Home. Could he call this a home? It was as close to home as he was ever given, here or Spira. The blitzball stadium that housed all his dreams.
He's testing out the movement of the ball when his dad finally enters the sphere, knocking it from the ends of his feet to catch in his hands. The water swirling around him makes it swing off-course in ways it shouldn't, but Tidus can't help that. There's only so much dunamis can help him control, isn't there?
But with the ball steady, his feet kicking under him and the sight of his father in the pool, there's something eerily familiar about this too--from either his dreams, or nightmares. One or the other.
He ignores the pressure against his chest--like he breathed in too early, didn't prepare his lungs--and waves back dismissively before giving his feet a sharper kick, and he begins to swim at an angle adjacent to Jecht. There's a goal there, one at his back too, and he's making ample speed towards it with the waters continuing to twist around him. Half an eye on Jecht, to see when and if he'll come for him and the ball.
And if so, he'll have to test his luck and the distance to make a basic throw for it--unless Jecht has a way of stopping him.
why would he simply just give the ball??
no subject
But his instincts tell him Tidus is about to make a throw, so he does the easiest thing possible without any teammates to back them up. He kicks his feet and reaches out to grab Tidus by the ankle... and yanks.
no subject
He's pulled, out of range to grab the blitzball with the attempt he takes, turning his sights next on the face behind this chump (chump!!) move. Tidus tries to kick the ankle free, but following that not working -- and most likely not -- he goes for knocking his free foot into the hand holding onto him, aware of the possibility that Jecht might have ideas.
Like grabbing both his ankles, or some devious move like that. But if that head comes in range of his hands, whether due to him crouching his own body to reach for it, that's a bed of octopus hair just asking to be yanked!!
Tidus is not about to be pulled down completely without a fight! Oldest trick in the blitz book! He's got a ball to protect!
no subject
... and yanked hair.
Been a while since someone did that. Still, he may be ten years out of practice but he still played blitz professionally but for a solid twenty years. He throws his hands downwards to tug Tidus to his level and hopefully loosen the hold on his hair, flash Tidus a grin, and headbutt him.
no subject
Sometimes, it's better to allow a temporary lose of the ball and to make a strategic move based on your skills. Such as coming up behind the person with the speed you're better at than attack or defence.
Or, when your opponent is your father, the literal face of the man you've dreamed about plummeting in a few different ways, smirking before getting a cheap shot (a cheap shot!!) on you, what you actually want to do is tangle your fingers further into the mess of his hair...
...and with pure adrenaline and spite aiding Tidus through the recoil, see how Jecht likes another one of those headbutts himself!
no subject
Ridiculous.
But a great feeling.
He holds up a middle finger to Tidus then swims for the ball, forehead still aching and head rattled. He's going to try and get it and toss it towards the opposing goal from the one Tidus arbitrarily picked.
no subject
If Tidus's brain wasn't currently rattling inside his skull and the ability to speak limited to Not within the sphere, he might've expressed something along those lines. Right now though, there's no time for any of that, no time to consider anything but his next move without unnecessary delay.
Luckily, Tidus knows as he watches Jecht rush for the ball that giving chase isn't the answer here, the thrill of the game taking over him (or maybe that's a concussion). What would any true blitzer do once than they had the ball but the obvious? So Tidus swims, body giddy despite the oxygen not coursing through his system, but it doesn't get rid of that sports high that keeps him hyper-aware in any game. Quicker than he usually would be; they're in a world with dunamis, and if he had the ability to give him that extra boost in a game meant for more than the two present, what was the point of even practising half the stuff he did in the first place?
It doesn't have Tidus directly in front of the goal, not really even in line with it, but gives him the space between himself and Jecht, what he dares to take before turning around--and there Jecht is, readying, already shooting. He has a choice; and Tidus makes it in another swift decision, the water rippling around him in the secondary boost he gives himself to hurl himself in the way of the ball's path, using his body as a shield for it to hit.
He's pushed back as the ball connect, but it's a small bump. A bump he feels more in the dizziness in his head than anywhere else, but it doesn't stop Tidus, his vision straightening and the ball in his hands, from experiencing the burst of pride from his tactic working.
Tidus looks over to where Jecht is in the sphere, then gives an exaggerated shrug for show.
Got a problem with dunamis in your blitzball, old man?? @ him via the amulet.