Going down the stairs
He couldn't believe it, Pelleas thought as he saw Ashera, the Goddess of Order herself, disintegrate under his very eyes. Well, he wasn't really that close: he was more on the back, fighting off those elemental spirits in order not to give the others anything else to worry about.
Still he was able to witness Commander Ike, surrounded by blue flames, taking down the Goddess, and maybe that distraction had been what had caused him to be on the ground as he was in that moment: a spirit had attacked him – probably in one last desperate attempt to get to Ashera before Ike struck the final blow – and Pelleas realised too late what was happening. He managed to barely evade the attack – he never saw flames that closely – but in doing so he had sprained his ankle.
He stood up and tried to lean on his left foot, and a pained hiss escaped his lips. Yeah, it was definitely strained.
He looked around for Micaiah when he remembered that she broke her staff during the previous battle. He was sure that if he asked her she would've gladly used her powers to heal him, but she must've been so tired, so no, he wasn't going to tell her anything.
Everybody around him was catching their breath. None was paying attention to him, which was good. When they would return, he would've asked a healer to take care of his injury, but for now he didn't want to bother anyone with his strained ankle.
It wasn't pride what was blocking him – he never had that – but a certain sense of shame. Everyone was all right – more or less – and the way he got hurt was of the utmost stupidity.
He didn't want to be looked down by them, or at least not more than he thought they were already doing, and he was sure that if anyone found out about his injury they were going to do it.
When they started to go down the Tower, there was still nothing but silence; everyone had their mind elsewhere, but maybe they were all trying to answer to the same question, one that none had been brave enough to give voice to: what were they going to find outside?
Everything was back to normal, according to what Yune had said before vanishing – none knew where she went – but what about their friends outside, who had been fighting until that moment? Were they going to meet with their loved ones again, the same who they'd left behind?
Pelleas was pondering if his friends of the Dawn Brigade – but was right of him to consider them such? – were fine, when he felt someone touching his shoulder.
- King Pelleas -.
Pelleas couldn't help but to jump slightly for the surprise, but he remembered too late in which condition his ankle was. It hurt, a lot.
He turned his head and he realised that the hand that had just touched him was Ike's.
- Commander -, Pelleas muttered, surprised by the fact that he was approaching him, of all people.
Their interactions had mostly been silent, fighting alongside the other, making brief gestures to signal the other that they were doing fine. They had exchanged a few words from time to time, but it wasn't anything important, apart from that time that Pelleas desperately told the commander "please don't die" before the fight against Ashera.
He still had to understand what had gotten into him that made him say that.
In truth, Ike still intimidated Pelleas a bit.
He was a king and Ike wasn't. It should've been the opposite.
But that time... He wasn't feeling much intimidated. Maybe he was too occupied being tired to be anything else, and it seemed that Ike was in a similar condition.
- Is there any problem, Your Majesty? -, Ike asked then, and Pelleas was surprised that he had been able to notice that there was something wrong. He thought he was doing a good job at hiding his pain.
At first he tried to dismiss the thing, still convinced that it wasn't anything to worry about, but Ike didn't buy it.
- You know… -, he said in fact, - I used to do the same -.
- When I first became leader of the Mercenaries -, he continued, - I always felt a lot of pressure on me, so I pushed myself over my limits, even when I was in pain. Usually it didn't take long for Rhys to notice it though -.
- You should've seen how heated he'd get about it -, he added, chuckling with an affectionate spark in his eyes that made Pelleas smile in return.
Ike's gaze was on him again and Pelleas quickly looked away – he still had trouble looking at people in the eyes.
- … I strained my ankle -, he admitted then, but he quickly added, - But it's fine, it's nothing to worry a… -.
He couldn't even finish the sentence that Ike took him in his arms – with no real effort even – making Pelleas yelp in surprise, and he started to carry him through the stairs.
- Commander… Ike! -, Pelleas exclaimed.
- Relax, I won't drop you -, Ike reassured him and he looked… amused?
Luckily the others were too ahead of them and they didn't seem to notice anything – or maybe they just didn't care – but still Pelleas couldn't let that continue.
- But… You must be tired! -, he said in fact, - You shouldn't worry about me -.
- I'm fine -, Ike reassured him, and he looked sincere, - I wouldn't risk letting your ankle get worse -.
- But… But…-.
Pelleas tried to come up for something to say, but in truth he didn't really mind that situation.
- … Thank you -, he muttered then, and Ike nodded.
- Don't mention it -, he said, and he seemed so gentle it almost felt out of character, but it was also true that Pelleas didn't know much about him, apart from what people said, which probably wasn't very accurate in the first place thinking about it.
He wanted to say something, but he didn't know what.
It was strangely comfortable though, being carried like that. It wasn't something Pelleas had ever experienced, even when he was younger. It was also nice knowing that someone got his back, even if for a small amount of time.
He rested his head on Ike's chest – he could faintly hear his heartbeat that way – and he closed his eyes only to reopen them immediately. No, he was going to fall asleep if he relaxed too much.
He decided to talk to keep himself awake:
- Are you sure you're not hurt? -, he asked again, just to make sure, - I wouldn't want to bother you more than I've already had -.
- I already told you, I'm fine, Your Majesty -.
- I think we're way past formalities now -, Pelleas huffed before he had a chance to rethink that statement.
- And how should I address you as? Is just Pelleas fine? -, Ike asked.
- Yes -.
- Eh, that's funny -, Ike said then, after a moment of silence, - I've always been scolded because I didn't treat royalty properly, and now a king himself is telling me that I don't need to do it -.
- To be fair, I'm still not used to all this… -, Pelleas confessed.
- You know… You really are different from what I've imagined -.
It wasn't the first time Pelleas had heard something similar since Izuka found him; he'd become used to it. It wasn't like he was Ashnard's actual son however, so it didn't matter anyway.
- Oh, did I offend you? -, Ike asked then, noticing Pelleas' silence, - I can assure you that I didn't mean it in a bad way -.
- You didn't offend me -, Pelleas quickly replied, - I was just… thinking -.
Ike nodded and stayed silent for a while, then he said:
- I'm really glad you're not like what I expected -.
Pelleas didn't reply, but he felt his face heating up. He wasn't used to compliments – even though he was sure that was an actual compliment.
Right before stepping outside of the Tower, Pelleas managed to get Ike to drop him.
- I can manage from here -, he said as Ike laid him down as delicately as he did when he picked him up.
- Promise me you'll go find a healer immediately -, Ike said then.
- I will -, Pelleas promised and then, feeling more confident, he added, - I would hate to disappoint you -.
Ike chuckled and then he did something Pelleas would've never expected: he took his hand and he kissed its palm.
Wasn't that something people did to noblewomen? None had ever done it to Pelleas.
He didn't know how to feel about that; should he be mad? Excited? Flustered?
He couldn't even say anything that Ike had already passed him. He stopped right before stepping outside of the Tower and he turned towards Pelleas.
- Shall we go? -, he asked with a smile on his face. Pelleas wondered if that smile was hiding something else.
- Yes -, he said, despite wanting to say so many other things, and he followed Ike outside.
He didn't even notice his fingers brushing the spot Ike had just kissed.
Author's notes: so two playthroughs ago I made Ike support Pelleas just for fun, but in the end I kinda ended up shipping them. I had this scenario in mind while I was playing so I've decided to write it.