A/N: Hello, here I am. This is my first venture into FE fanfiction, though I've been playing Path of Radiance obsessively for the lasts few months. To anyone who's following me and doesn't understand this story, sorry. This begins my drabble series. It could include any character from FE 9, but many will probably be neglected.

Drabble: 11. Percentages

Individual rating: T

Warnings: Mentions of shounen-ai

Pairings: Mentioned Ike/Soren

Characters: Soren-centric, background Shinon, Oscar, Mist, Mia, Rhys, Gatrie, and Ike.

Percentage: noun. The rate, number, or amount in each hundred, the probability in numbers of a certain outcome.

Soren thought in percentages and probabilities. How likely it was that they would succeed, whether they would make it to the next town before night. It was the way his mind worked, though he usually tried to express the percentages as whether something was likely or unlikely, because certain people (namely Shinon) were aggravating idiots who either wanted to annoy him by pretending not to understand, or were just too stupid. Personally, Soren suspected the former, with a 87% chance, based on Shinon's past behaviors, but there was still a 13% chance he was actually that dumb.

The main focus for his percentages was in battle. The chances they could take this fort before sunset, the likelihood of reinforcements reaching the enemy, how likely or unlikely it was that the enemy would see they were outclassed and retreat.

(Incidentally, in the last fight, the chances of each were 93%, 45%, and 10%, respectively.)

Outside of battle, it was just a little thing his mind did, a strange little habit that he wasn't particularly inclined to stop.

Even now, relaxing in his room inside the fort with a supply list, his mind was churning out percentages.

There was a 34% chance he could finish the scroll before dinner, but only if he hurried. Based on the smells, the food supplies Soren had recently bought, and the appetite of certain members (mainly Ike and Boyd) there was a 97% chance that tonight's dinner contained meat, and lots of it. Mist was helping Oscar cook, and with her past cooking attempts there was a 66.5% chance that she had burned something. Judging by Mia's exasperated yells from outside, there was a 94.8% chance she was trying to teach Rhys to use a sword again. He made a mental note to stop her later. There was a 84.9% chance that Rhys would get hurt, and they didn't need their main healer beat up and bloody, even if he himself and Mist could both wield staves. And finally, because the fort was relatively quiet aside from aforementioned yelling, there was a 79% chance. Shinon and Gatrie were already in town, drinking ale and hitting on girls. Soren quickly thanked the Goddess for getting rid of the two fools.

Soren's numbers had been proven to be wrong from time to time (twice), and there was usually a small margin for error, but there was one percentage that Soren was undeniably sure about.

He loved Ike. Loved him as all the Goddess's teachings had forbidden between two males. Loved him as society scorned and shunned. But he could not subject Ike to that treatment, nor did he think that he, a dirty Branded, deserved someone as wonderful and caring as Ike, even if Ike himself hadn't minded his bloodline. Even so, his mind refused to obey him, and he knew there was a 100% chance that he was wholly, completely, undeniably in love with his commander.

The percentage he was unsure about was whether Ike loved him. Soren was terrible with judging emotions, and Ike was oblivious to other people's (Aimee's) affections. And so, the sage had resolved to not act on his feelings, no matter how difficult.

(But, if he had to guess, there was a 33% chance Ike loved him too.)

A/N: Of course, it's me, so Soren gets proven wrong for the third time and they get together and make Ike/Soren fans every happy.

Comments and criticism welcome!