Well, it didn't take very long to write this up, and I'm very pleased with how it came out. :'D

Ivan: You wrote an IsaacxHama story. You're still a traitor to your ship.

… This is my apology letter. In a sense.

Sheba: There was hardly anything good in this chapter. Weren't you going for a one-shot?

...IT TURNED INTO A TWO-SHOT SOMEWHERE ALONG THE LINE.

Ivan: Or, you got lazy.

Hey, I can totally edit out your name and leave a blank where it should be. At least you debuted in this one. Sheba's had no fame yet.

Sheba: I'm already famous. I don't need you to glorify me.

Ivan: …

Don't say that, Sheba. Or we'll never get to windshipping.

Sheba: D:

Ivan: D:

Heheheh. I'm so good.

DISCLAIMER: Camelot is the true blue owner to the wonderful game of Golden Sun. Sob.

two-shot.
IsaacxMia [mudshipping]
The Question of a First Time
Chapter One.

"I'm sorry, but the discussion of cost threw me off completely. What are the possible room arrangements for four people again? Y'know, for a clarification."

The Bilibin Innkeeper stared hard at Garet with undeniably tired eyes. "Four can go in a single bedroom with two beds or two bedrooms with two beds. And, no," the Innkeeper added in a monotonous voice when Garet opened his mouth to make another inquiry, "There are absolutely no exceptions as written in Bilibin law. ESPECIALLY for you." The tired stare furrowed into a hostile one, so as to prompt Garet to back away from the counter. The Mars Adept did so without another word.

"Good for nothing, lazy, bad service," were just a jumble of the nice words Garet was uttering under his breath as he made his way back into the Inn's lounge, where his friends were enjoying a hot meal, each one different to its respective owner.

"Judging by the oh so cheery look on your face, I'd say we're in a bit of a pickle," Ivan commented in a lively manner as Garet rejoined the group by taking his seat.

"Damn straight," Garet grunted, humorless. He stabbed at his sandwich and stew with a stony expression. "The Innkeeper just doesn't like me and wants me screwed over. So, in turn, you guys are being screwed over by association." Annoyance laced every word out of the redhead's mouth, which was then stuffed with a huge bite of sandwich. "I'm thinkin' Bilibin has the worst service ever. And, and, this sandwich is mediocre."

"Don't take it out on the poor chef. He's troubled by the Kolima curse," Mia chided in a hushed tone, inclining her head slightly to the man in a chef hat in Garet's peripheral vision. Garet rolled his eyes, and turned to Isaac, who was beginning to look rather sheepish.

"Come on, now," The Venus Adept laughed softly, waving a hand in a failed physical attempt to dispel the rising of his best friend's temper. "What were the options you were given?"

"One room with two beds or two with two." Garet put up his fingers lamely, an attempted, yet unsuccessful, diagram of the two choices. "Sorry, Mia, but you're going to have to be paired with one of us guys for the night." He sighed and lowered his hands, "This situation is pretty new to us, ma'am. And it doesn't help that it seems I've lost my people skills."

"You never had any to begin with," Ivan quipped cheerfully, making it very obvious that he was doing his best to grind on Garet's nerves as much as he could. Isaac, who was used to this kind of interaction, and Mia, who was not, looked on silently as Garet's anger peaked and manifested in the form of a table pound.

"Like you would even know, runt! Back in Vale-…!"

"You should just stop now. I have mind reading abilities, remember?"

"It's not like you've ever Mind Read me for that!"

"I don't know. Sometimes you're sleeping, sometimes I'm bored…"

"…! You little bastard! What have you looked at? That's an invasion!"

"But you're kind of boring anyway-…"

"You shouldn't know my life-…!"

"And it's not like you see much past Jen-…"

"Shut up! I am so going to pulverize you!"

"Guys… GUYS!" Mia stood up suddenly, her expression nervously controlled as she Doused the two boys with an adequate amount of water. The two stared at her mutely, mild irritation flashing in Garet's eyes and silent apology in Ivan's. "Okay. This is going to be very basic, so listen up—NO fighting at the table." She lowered and crossed her arms, a momentary figure of authority. "Alright?"

"Sorry. Yes, ma'am." Ivan, of course.

"Got it," a low grumble. Garet and his reluctance.

"Okay. Good." Mia happily took her seat and began to stir around her stew busily. Garet, ever the instigator, started with evident protest:

"But, HE started it!"

"Garet, please." Mia frowned at the boy and lifted her palm, which began to shine with a blue light – a warning. Garet backed down with a pout as Ivan and Isaac stifled their laughter. "Anyway, before you boys started an uproar with your quarrels, I was going to say that I don't care how the rooming goes, one way or other." She looked around the table with a brilliant smile. "It's just for the night, and I trust you all. Equally."

Isaac found himself smiling all too widely, and slowly lessened his expression into that of a casual grin. She hadn't said, I trust you already, Isaac, because we just have that kind of compatibility. She'd said she'd trusted them all. Equally. This reflection was slightly depressing and caused the evaporation of his smile completely. The other two, however, beamed around at each other in revelation of the newest team member's acceptance of them.

"You can't mean that. Especially with Garet's clumsy and reckless behavior. Surely, you must still have your doubts with hi-…" Ivan dodged a habitual blow from Garet and lifted his hands so as to highlight this action. "Exhibit A. Uncalled-for violence." The trouble-inducing kid smiled brightly at Mia, who laughed openly at his statement and Garet's reaction.

"You little-…!" Garet blindly threw another punch, which was once again effectively evaded by the agile Jupiter Adept.

Mia giggled at what could be called the duo's performance, and looked over at Isaac expectantly. Isaac returned the stare and chuckled as well, nodding at the bantering two.

"You get used to it after a while."

"I'm already getting there," she replied happily, smiling down at her food. Isaac watched her, without a reply, while his comrades continued their arguing and Mia looked on with an excitable interest. She was the newest, and unexpected, party member, having only just been an addition for about a week and a few days, but she was already filling in the role of referee, which had previously been given to Isaac by default. Unlike Isaac's handling of the job, though, Mia seemed to have taken a liking to the all-too necessary position.

It was refreshing, the way she had just clicked into perfection with the rest of the group. Her charisma had been highly praised back in Imil, but Isaac had assumed it was a 'since childhood' kind of admiration. After the events at the Mercury Lighthouse, however, he had begun to correctly pin her as a devoted and courageous person, but it was only now that there were new depths to her person being reached, and he was particularly admiring to every new level. He had, of course, felt the pull of an attraction at first sight; it wasn't to be unexpected. After all, Mia was a very beautiful girl- not many could make Isaac do a double take while still staring at the same spot.

However, Isaac had brushed aside the feeling, jumping to the conclusion that it was the typical guy hormones that were dominating his opinion- and now, more than ever, he had to be the kind of person to evaluate a newcomer fairly and critically, no matter how nice they were to look at. But, it was different, the opposite of the result he had expected in getting to know her. The more he learned, the more he was drawn in...

"ANYWAY." Garet took his seat forcefully, glaring at Ivan in a tell-tale manner. Ivan avoided the heated gaze and continued on the remnants of his lunch. "Now that Miss Mia has agreed to go with this weird room-sharing deal, we gotta decide who's gonna... be paired with who."

"You were going to say, who's going to sleep with who."

"SHUT UP, IVAN. That aside, we need some sort of method, a roll of dice, a flip of a coin, drawing straws, or something that will help us decide." Garet nodded to himself, suddenly very thoughtful. "Clever. Wait. Mind-racking?" He seemed to be slowly confusing himself. Isaac blinked, slightly alarmed. Suddenly, Garet leaped from his chair. Startled, the others stood up just as quickly.

"W-what is it?"

"Geez, suddenly doing that..."

"Garet, what's wrong?"

Isaac, Ivan, and Mia, respectively, looked at Garet with bewildered expressions, each tweaked to a variant degree. Garet grabbed Ivan's wrist in a well-calculated dive and pulled the younger boy out of the Inn's lounge with him while shouting, "I JUST REMEMBERED SEEING A DJINNI IN THIS CLEVER UNDERGROUND PLACE, AND IT'S ONE OF YOURS. WE GOTTA GET IT, NOW."

The two disappeared from view with Ivan's last yelp of, "GAH, BUT DID YOU HAVE TO BE SO DRAMATIC," leaving Isaac and Mia simultaneously staring after them, dumbfounded.

"Well," Isaac started carefully, turning to grin slowly at Mia as he took his seat. "I forgot that Garet tends to act rather rashly when a forgotten idea re-enters his head. He's been that way since... forever."

"I guess it should be okay not to go after them..."

"Nah, they'll be okay. But maybe they'll come back with a good idea on how to sort this out," Isaac laughed.

"Does Ivan always end up in tow?" The blue-haired girl asked with a soft smile. She pushed back the last bit of her stew, symbolizing her completion with the meal, and hesitantly watched Isaac as he put on a pensive face.

"That's only started recently. As you know, Ivan started traveling with us just before you joined in." He made sure to flourish the finishing concept of the sentence with a big smile, and Mia smiled back shyly in return.

"Oh, that's right. I'm constantly forgetting that it was only you and Garet to start." She frowned suddenly, puzzled. "Wait. The Healer of your Sanctum asked you two alone to bear the burden of this quest?"

"It seems awfully under-thought," Isaac admitted sheepishly, "but it was the Wise One who spoke through him and asked that we accept the task. I figured that if it was such a mighty... er, thing asking it of us, it couldn't be a completely misguided decision." He shrugged halfheartedly, pushing through the usual smile. Mia shook her head quickly, her expression still troubled.

"Oh, no, it's not that I think it was a mistake at all." She reddened a little, from embarrassment, Isaac figured. "You and Garet seem perfectly apt and determined enough. It's just, I thought it'd be a bit much to ask someone..."

"We could have done without the 'it's gotta be you or the world is doomed' bit, but overall, I think it's what drove us to accept. So, it's kind of understandable," and once again, Isaac's tone came out as sheepish. He wasn't sure, but talking about the assignment of the quest was uncomfortable. He never failed to feel as though he was bragging.

"It wasn't a bad choice; the Wise One's, I mean." Mia looked up at Isaac shyly, her face still a tad bit red. "You're... pure of heart. And... very well suited." She looked away, pretending to be on the lookout for Ivan and Garet. Isaac scratched at his chin awkwardly. He'd never been good at receiving compliments.

"Th-thanks. But, you and, and Ivan of course, you guys seem that way, too. So, we all kinda fit into it together. This was supposed to turn out this way, I think," Isaac rambled, a nervous feeling creeping over his speech. Mia nodded, giggling lightly.

"Yeah. It certainly seems like... this is where we all should be." She smiled in a thoughtful manner. "The situation is dire, but Garet's rash behavior, Ivan's intellectual comebacks, your accepting demeanor... they make it all so much more endurable. Fun, in a way."

"You add much more than I do to the table," Isaac blurted out bluntly, not making eye contact. "And, so soon. It hasn't been too long. And, yet..."

"That's quite the compliment. Coming from the 'Leader'." Isaac looked up to see Mia smiling at him, and realized she was teasing. He made a noncommittal face, feigning a flattered look.

"Wha, Leader? Shh-yeah, that'd be the day." He grinned lamely. "I'm just the decision breaker is all."

"Decision breaker. Might as well accept the leader title." Her smile and stare quickened Isaac's pulse considerably. "Oh, speaking of which. Why does this room issue seem like such an... issue?"

Isaac blinked, caught off guard. "Huh? Isn't it obvious?"

"...Apparently not so much for me," Mia admitted slowly, borrowing Isaac's sheepish expression. "I mean, this is the first time we've come to an Inn outside of Imil, which is when I stayed the last night with Megan and Justin, but is it really so weird?"

"Mia," Isaac started slowly, causing Mia to blink and redden slightly, "It just seemed as though it'd be an odd... gesture, I guess, to have you share a room with one of the guys. I mean... it seems as though it'd be most conflicting to you. In a way."

"Oh, I see. Well, it's not as though it's the same bed," she said rather quickly, causing Isaac to choke on a particularly prolonged breath of air. "Um, are you okay?" Isaac waved her off, indicating for her to continue. She laughed and did so, "So I don't think it matters either way."

"Oh, alright. That makes things a little less traumatizing." Isaac nodded at her, smiling politely. Mia returned it, and then reddened once again.

"But..." She hesitated.

"What is it?"

"You're the decision breaker, you said?"

"That's right." Isaac replied coyly and laughed. "What are you getting at?"

"Well, since that's your position, I guess I'll clue you in." Her smile widened, but her azure eyes shifted downward, her visual focus avoiding his completely. Isaac cocked his head at her.

"Clue me in? On what?"

"Well, um, decision breaker," She giggled lightly, and then continued. "Since it's only you... I'll clue you in by saying that out of the rest of the group, I'd probably be most comfortable it I got to share the room with you."

Isaac blinked and lifted a closed fist to his mouth, a vain attempt at hiding his newly blushing demeanor. "That's..." Mia continued evading his stare, but showed her attentiveness easily enough anyway. "That's reassuring somehow."

"Reassuring? You're such an enigma," Mia laughed softly, tracing the lace of the table's cheap mantel. Isaac looked up.

"Enigma? What-...?"

"SO, IT'S DECIDED." Garet tackled the back of Isaac's chair with such a sudden force that Isaac ended up getting pushed almost completely onto the table itself.

"What the-...? GARET."

"Sorry, buddy. But, look, see what I caught." He shoved a small creature into Isaac's hands with the pride of an accomplished toddler. "His name is Gust!"

"And he's mine." Ivan appeared suddenly behind Mia, whom was blushing rather profusely. "I did most of the work anyway."

"Whatever." Garet snatched the Djinni from Isaac's still-dumbfounded hands and stared at it with an intent happiness. "These things are so adorable!"

"Gust, bite him."

And so, the Jupiter Djinni did so, causing Garet to curse loudly and release him. He flew back to Ivan and hopped up and down excitably. "Master?"

"Very well done." Ivan smiled a caring smile and the Djinni happily disappeared into the folds of his clothes. "He's just like me already. I'm so proud!"

"Hmph." Garet couldn't conceal his annoyed expression, but was readily startled when a large hand derived from Psynergy shoved him suddenly. "Woah! Hey, what gives?"

"Garet, when you smashed into me," Isaac started cautiously, "you yelled, 'So, it's decided.' What did you mean?"

"Yes..." Mia added slowly, "I've been wondering myself..."

"Well, Ivan here and I happened to walk in when Miss Mia clued in our very own Isaac." Garet threw an arm around Ivan, who looked less than pleased at the motion. "And so, it was decided. The rooming problem, I mean."

"I don't know what he's talking about. I'm just ecstatic about my new Djinni," Ivan mumbled nonchalantly, slipping out of Garet's hold. "But, since it seems like a sufficient solution, I'll go with it. We won't count this as an agreement with the oaf."

"And Mia's clue counts as a third vote, so even if Isaac were to complain, which he wouldn't, he's outnumbered." Garet beamed at them, oblivious to Ivan's insult. Until... "HEY, I AM NOT AN OAF."

"You made the statue block the path three times. You're an oaf."

"Take it back!"

And once again, Isaac and Mia, red-faced this time around, were left to quietly oblige and watch their two teammates banter habitually.

Seemed like a good place to stop. And so, the two-shot was born. :D

Ivan: Lazy.

No one cares what you think. You're just the comic relief.

Sheba: Better that than pure sexual tension, though.

You don't know what the readers crave.

Ivan: Like you know any better? Miss On-Hiatus-For-Four-Years?

...Anyway, be sure to leave a review. It'll inspire me to write the follow up chapter much faster. :D

Sheba: She'll do it anyway. It's an empty threat.

...Oh, my chickens. -_- Re-reading it now seems the pace is too fast. What do you guys think? Lemme know. :D