Day four of his apparent new life in Besaid sees Lloyd form some sort of routine. Colette meets him in the morning at the temple and grabs breakfast with him, sharing stories and explaining things about Spira Lloyd would have had no idea about otherwise. In return, he tells her stuff about home, about Zanarkand, and she listens carefully. Colette's company helps soothe the sharp ache in Lloyd's heart as he talks, not erasing it, but making it easier to cope. He sticks to the lighter things, general stuff, and she doesn't mention it when he gets choked up at any mention of his mother or Dirk or his friends.
Honestly, he's not even sure if she believes him at this point or if she just believes he's so far gone in his trauma he's making everything up, but the listening still helps.
After breakfast and chitchat, they make their way down to the beach to meet up with the Aurochs for practice. If she can, Colette will stick around and talk, but usually, she has to make her way back to the town center to help around the village. Lloyd's not surprised she's kept busy - a white mage is always appreciated anywhere, and Colette has such a big heart she probably volunteers for every chore she can. Something about filling in the gaps that Sin creates, Lloyd supposes. She's here for today, at least, and he enjoys her company as she watches the group play, chiming in with commentary and encouragement from time to time.
The Aurochs are a lively bunch, too. Lloyd has spent the majority of the last few days with them, practicing hard and learning to play with a new team. It's hard, honestly - sometimes he'll look around and expect to see Roisia pulling Yonit into a headlock for a missed pass, or Laru, smirking as he talks shit about the next opposing team. Lloyd had known his team for over a decade, had grown up with them as an extended family, and playing with strangers is new, intimidating. He tries his best, though, refusing to let the grief cloud his ability to play. He promised Alicia he'd help them make the championship, and he's not going back on his word now.
Lloyd stands on the beach, placing a blitzball on the ground and aiming to take a shot at the makeshift goal the Aurochs use for practice, Tyvre acting as the goalie, ready to block the shot. While Lloyd's always been a better offensive player than a defensive one, it never hurts to check the accuracy of his shots, both on land and in the water. Alicia's basically chained them all to land, anyways, their previous conversation having unleashed some sort of demon training regimen that - while effective - takes away the fun of the water until she's impressed with their skill on land. She almost reminds him of Dirk, honestly, the way her eyes gain a sort of manic sparkle in them as she explains how she's gonna exhaust them at the start of practice.
"'ey!" Shouts out Victor - (Lloyd has to take a second to remember his name) - an arm shielding his eyes from the worst of the sunlight as he looks out to the horizon. "Check it out, there's a ferry coming on by!"
Lloyd turns to look out at the ocean as someone else laughs. "Wonda what poor sucka got stuck here this time. No offense, Lloyd."
"None taken," Lloyd says, a grin taking over his face, "although, I would say the sucker would be whoever was stuck with you -"
He cuts himself off as someone falls off the boat, a familiar flash of teal and purple catching his attention before anything else, causing his eyes to widen. No fucking way. Heart skipping several beats at once, mouth dropping open, it feels like several eternities within a second as Lloyd bumrushes the dock, hardly listening to the surprised cries of Colette and the team, wasting no time in unbuckling his vest and tossing it behind him before diving into the water with practiced ease, using his momentum to propel himself over to the ferry. He catches Anna before she sinks too deep, down to the waters that the fiends Colette's warned him about lay, and, holding onto her waist with one arm, brings them both back to the surface.
Lloyd gasps as they breach the surface, out of shock rather than out of a need to breathe. Though he wants to talk to her now, and even though she is awake and breathing, Lloyd focuses on taking them back to the shore, shifting his grip on her so he can swim back, still in shock. Anna's alive. His mom is alive! Sure she fell off the boat, and sure she kinda smells like alcohol, but a drunk Anna is vastly preferred to a dead one. He just. Well, he needs to find out why she got drunk, and that's a concern, because, well, she's always been drunk to cope with things she hated to talk about, but. She's alive. That's what matters.
Once back to the surface, he plops himself down on the shoreline, a few feet away from where the waves crash against the sand, sitting Anna down so that her head rests, elevated, on his lap. Colette walks up to him, confusion plain on her face, and he mouths "give me a second" to her, lightly flicking at his mother's forehead. "Hey, mom, the secret word is Blitzball. My name is Lloyd, the sky is blue, and you love chocolate. What's the secret word?"
hey has anyone tried the chicken salad
Honestly, he's not even sure if she believes him at this point or if she just believes he's so far gone in his trauma he's making everything up, but the listening still helps.
After breakfast and chitchat, they make their way down to the beach to meet up with the Aurochs for practice. If she can, Colette will stick around and talk, but usually, she has to make her way back to the town center to help around the village. Lloyd's not surprised she's kept busy - a white mage is always appreciated anywhere, and Colette has such a big heart she probably volunteers for every chore she can. Something about filling in the gaps that Sin creates, Lloyd supposes. She's here for today, at least, and he enjoys her company as she watches the group play, chiming in with commentary and encouragement from time to time.
The Aurochs are a lively bunch, too. Lloyd has spent the majority of the last few days with them, practicing hard and learning to play with a new team. It's hard, honestly - sometimes he'll look around and expect to see Roisia pulling Yonit into a headlock for a missed pass, or Laru, smirking as he talks shit about the next opposing team. Lloyd had known his team for over a decade, had grown up with them as an extended family, and playing with strangers is new, intimidating. He tries his best, though, refusing to let the grief cloud his ability to play. He promised Alicia he'd help them make the championship, and he's not going back on his word now.
Lloyd stands on the beach, placing a blitzball on the ground and aiming to take a shot at the makeshift goal the Aurochs use for practice, Tyvre acting as the goalie, ready to block the shot. While Lloyd's always been a better offensive player than a defensive one, it never hurts to check the accuracy of his shots, both on land and in the water. Alicia's basically chained them all to land, anyways, their previous conversation having unleashed some sort of demon training regimen that - while effective - takes away the fun of the water until she's impressed with their skill on land. She almost reminds him of Dirk, honestly, the way her eyes gain a sort of manic sparkle in them as she explains how she's gonna exhaust them at the start of practice.
"'ey!" Shouts out Victor - (Lloyd has to take a second to remember his name) - an arm shielding his eyes from the worst of the sunlight as he looks out to the horizon. "Check it out, there's a ferry coming on by!"
Lloyd turns to look out at the ocean as someone else laughs. "Wonda what poor sucka got stuck here this time. No offense, Lloyd."
"None taken," Lloyd says, a grin taking over his face, "although, I would say the sucker would be whoever was stuck with you -"
He cuts himself off as someone falls off the boat, a familiar flash of teal and purple catching his attention before anything else, causing his eyes to widen. No fucking way. Heart skipping several beats at once, mouth dropping open, it feels like several eternities within a second as Lloyd bumrushes the dock, hardly listening to the surprised cries of Colette and the team, wasting no time in unbuckling his vest and tossing it behind him before diving into the water with practiced ease, using his momentum to propel himself over to the ferry. He catches Anna before she sinks too deep, down to the waters that the fiends Colette's warned him about lay, and, holding onto her waist with one arm, brings them both back to the surface.
Lloyd gasps as they breach the surface, out of shock rather than out of a need to breathe. Though he wants to talk to her now, and even though she is awake and breathing, Lloyd focuses on taking them back to the shore, shifting his grip on her so he can swim back, still in shock. Anna's alive. His mom is alive! Sure she fell off the boat, and sure she kinda smells like alcohol, but a drunk Anna is vastly preferred to a dead one. He just. Well, he needs to find out why she got drunk, and that's a concern, because, well, she's always been drunk to cope with things she hated to talk about, but. She's alive. That's what matters.
Once back to the surface, he plops himself down on the shoreline, a few feet away from where the waves crash against the sand, sitting Anna down so that her head rests, elevated, on his lap. Colette walks up to him, confusion plain on her face, and he mouths "give me a second" to her, lightly flicking at his mother's forehead. "Hey, mom, the secret word is Blitzball. My name is Lloyd, the sky is blue, and you love chocolate. What's the secret word?"