Mild AU for RD – because frankly, this is the way Stefan should have come back to your party if you ask me xD Thanks for reading and reviewing if you so choose - I'm still getting my FE voice down so I apologize in advance :X

Soren was yawning as he quickly crossed the camp to attend this latest meeting. He was late, unfortunately, and no one would be more upset about this than Soren himself already was, but he usually relied on the sound of Titania sharpening her axes to wake him, and either she hadn't done that this morning or he had somehow slept through it…

He stopped walking. There was someone… watching him, he could feel it…

He glanced around camp. It was relatively empty, actually, and anyway most of the people he could see were definitely not looking at him, so…

There was a loud sound like something digging through dirt. Soren quickly spun around, but there was no one – no, wait, there was a tuft of grass in the dirt, but it was standing out and oh geez did he just hit that tuft of grass with a spell in his shock?

The fact that the grass disappeared indicated to Soren that he had, in fact, attempted to kill the grass in shock.

The grass popped out of the dirt, and now there was a head attached to it. "Hello again, Soren!"

Soren's jaw dropped. "Stefan?" he exclaimed, completely shocked and not ashamed to show it. "What the – how did-"

The elder Branded crawled his way out of the ground. "Nice reflexes!" he admitted, brushing soil off his long coat. "Although it speaks volumes about your paranoia that you would attack the ground."

"It's not paranoia when you actually were stalking me," Soren protested mildly.

"All right, point. So I heard that your lot is taking on the Begnion Empire and so far actually winning. Could you use an extra hand? Surely you of all people can appreciate how little I care for Begnion."

Soren's scowl deepened before he finally said, "Is Begnion to you as Gallia is to me?"

"I see we understand each other."

The sage nodded. "All right then." He sighed. "Although taking care of you is going to make me even later to our war meeting, I hope you know."

Stefan gave him that cocky yet charming smirk. "It's nice to see you again as well, Soren," he said with a friendly glint in his eyes. "I hope your being late won't impede the Laguz Alliance's progress…"

"Hardly," Soren muttered, shuffling the pieces of parchment in his arms until he found the neglected staff equipment list. "So I assume you'll need extra swords so as not to waste your… Katti."

"And I'll need nothing else, my friend."

Soren's scowl somehow deepened. Why were things so awkward? He had only asked Soren to run away with him… The sage shook his head. "Fair enough."

Stefan scowled slightly. "You look paler than you did last time I saw you. Have you been sleeping at all?"

"I'm late," Soren said stuffily, turning and walking on.

Stefan had to laugh. At least that much hadn't changed. "You'll come around," he said with a smile, going to find some familiar faces.

Soren was fairly sure he was going to have an aneurism. "He. Did. What."

Ranulf looked embarrassed. "Yes, Skrimir ruined your genius plan so that he could lose in a fight with General Zelgius and cost us the war, but it's not as bad as it sounds! At least he's not dead, right? Riiiight? Ha ha..."

"I think his eye is twitching," Rolf reported innocently before being ushered away by Shinon (so Rolf wouldn't have to see Soren's brain explode – a sacrifice on Shinon's part of course, but Rolf was too young to see such violence).

Ike crouched in front of Soren so they could make eye-contact. "Soren, Soren, look at me."

"Kill... cat... stupid... death..."

"He's speaking at least," Stefan said helpfully, "That's a good sign."

Ike did a double-take. "When did you get here?"

Stefan merely smiled. "Master Soren, calm down. You can't force Skrimir to pay for his ineptitude if you die of a stroke."

That did get through to Soren, who visibly relaxed. "Sorry about that," he murmured, coloring when he noticed that he was surrounded. Instantly Rhys stepped forward to make sure he hadn't accidentally hurt himself.

Ike gave Stefan a wary look. "I think Skrimir's learned his lesson. From what I saw, he got beaten pretty badly."

Ranulf's ears drooped in disappointment. "But I wanted to see a fight..." He went silent when Ike shot him a Look.

Stefan's smile didn't change. "We shall see," he said fondly. "I'd hate for this lovely tome I purchased for Master Soren to go to waste." He presented the young sage with a Bolganone tome.

Soren lit up. Ike scowled.

Soren cursed under his breath and held his nearly-depleted Elwind closer to his chest. He was up to his knees in bloody swamp water and, even worse, he had gotten separated from Ike. Ike tended to not pay attention to details and what if something happened to him and -

There was a loud thunk from behind him made him crouch down reflexively. He then spun and gaped. "Stefan? The plan called for you to be-"

"Apologies, Master Soren," Stefan replied sweetly, cleaning his blade, "But I noticed that you had gotten separated from Ike, and even the best mage needs a swordsman to protect him."

Soren blushed. "All right, what do you want, Stefan?"

"Pardon?"

"You keep showing up-" A flash of blue caught his eye and Soren sprinted towards it. Stefan smiled patiently and followed.

Soren was scowling mightily even as he sipped the drink that Stefan had handed to him. "It's simply too crowded," he said, pouting.

"Begnion, Gallia, Phoenicias, Crimea, all working together... Yes, it is, at that," Stefan admitted. "But just because Empress Sanaki is now calling all the shots doesn't mean that you're not still important to the war effort, Soren."

Soren snorted.

Stefan smiled. "I understand."

"I asked you a question on the battlefield, you know. You never answered."

"And what question was that?" Stefan took a sip.

The smaller man looked over at him cautiously. "Why are you always around? I feel as if you're stalking me. It's disconcerting. If this is about your colony-"

"When was the last time someone wanted to be your friend?"

Soren blanched. "I..."

"It's obviously been awhile. I feel the same way. We understand each other, Master Soren, and although I know your heart belongs elsewhere, I should like to be your friend. Is that an acceptable arrangement to you? After all, you have nothing to hide from me as you do from the other mercenaries. You're cynical and sarcastic and your wit is as sharp as the air blades you command. I genuinely like you."

Soren looked completely shocked. "Er."

Stefan continued to smile and he raised his glass in a toast.

Soren tentatively raised his as well.