Disclaimer: I think it's well-documented that this site was put here for people who do not own the characters herein. But in case you didn't know, I'll fill you in. I own neither Fire Emblem: Sacred Stones, nor the characters associated with that particular game. I would also like to add that this story is not to be mistaken as being true to the story line or the actual characters of the game. I am simply using them to entertain myself and anyone who may be interested in reading this work of fan fiction.

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Turn and Face the Strange

by CorrosiveMidnight

Warning: In case you didn't know from the pairing in the summary, this is a male/male type thing. If you do not enjoy or are not interested in reading such things, please turn away. Though it will not be very graphic, it may offend anyone who's not ready to accept the concept. Thank you.

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It had taken time to repair the damage that had been done in that war. It had affected the entire continent, but with a lot of hard work everything began to get back in order. The deadened hillsides began to flourish once again revealing its former glory. All the hard work and all the effort had been worth it just to see the impending beauty that was sure to follow. It was all worth it.

Well…, to most. But to one young Renais knight, it had been nothing more than backbreaking, time consuming labor. Forde could think of a million better things to do than waste his youth away rebuilding a kingdom. Currently, the group he was with was planting young saplings in an open field, while he found a seat on a very comfortable tuft of grass. He was presently drawing the sight before him. The lovely meadow with rolling hills in the background, some flowers speckling the grass in the distance, and the others in his group. He took care to draw the individuals in his picture since he was a little out of practice when it came to doing portraits. He had no paint with him, so sketching and shading would have to do for now, but he took great care in drawing his comrades anyway. His little brother, Franz was showing one of the saplings to Amelia, who was asked to move to the kingdom of Renais and become one of her knights. Seth had kneeled beside one of the plants to admire it. Even the new king of Renais, King Ephraim, had decided to come out and play in the dirt. His queen, the lovely Tana, had not joined them, for she had traveled to the kingdom of Frelia to visit with King Innes and Queen Eirika. King Ephraim was standing over Seth, chatting with him. And, of course, last but not least was Forde's long time companion, Kyle. He looked a little out of place in the drawing. He would never be still long enough for Forde to 'capture a moment'.

Forde looked up at his friend who was now walking toward him. (Busted,) Forde thought as he slowly got to his feet.

"Forde, what do you think you're doing?" Kyle asked with a very irritated look on his face. Actually, this was the look he always presented.

Forde smiled. "You know, the people of Renais will be really pleased with our work here." As he tried to change the subject, he had folded the picture he was working on and was shoving it into his armor.

Kyle looked at him with his usual solemn expression. "Forde." He ran his fingers through his hair and rolled his eyes. "I've been watching you this whole time, you know."

Forde grinned moronically. "Really? I didn't know you cared." He'd given this look on purpose. Feigning ignorance kept him out of trouble for the most part.

Kyle looked at him and sighed. "Forde..." He looked over at their king, who was still busy talking to Seth, then looked back at Forde. "You've been doing nothing but goofing off all day. Give me the drawing."

"What drawing?" Forde asked innocently, feigning ignorance once again.

"Stop messing around, Forde. I'm serious," Kyle said. He held out his hand.

Forde huffed and handed the drawing over.

Kyle unfolded the drawing and studied it. "What's this?"

"What?" Forde questioned. He stood beside Kyle and looked at the drawing with him.

"Is that me?" Kyle asked very seriously.

Forde frowned. "Now don't go doubting my sketching prowess. You kept moving around. I couldn't get a good fix on what you were doing, so I just drew you."

Kyle looked slightly surprised. "No. I wasn't saying that it was bad. I mean, I just didn't think I looked like that."

"What do you mean, 'like that'?" Forde asked.

Just as Forde was about to go on, the king himself walked over to them.

Kyle tried to fold the picture back up and slide it into his armor without Ephraim taking notice. "My Lord," he greeted with a small bow.

"Your Highness," Forde said, copying Kyle's bow.

Ephraim nodded to each of them. "What do you two think you're doing here?"

"We weren't doing anything, Sire," Forde lied.

Kyle looked at Forde.

"And that is exactly what it looks like you're doing," Ephraim said to them. He looked at Kyle strangely. "I expect this kind of behavior from Forde, but you, Kyle? I have to say I'm a little surprised. And disappointed."

"I'm sorry, Your Highness. It won't happen again," Kyle said.

"See that it doesn't," Ephraim said with a small smile. Though he was somewhat kidding, he was also serious. He didn't want to see a perfectly good knight turn into...Forde. "I'm beginning to think that you spend too much time with Forde."

Kyle looked up at the sky. "Of course." He was about to go back to his duties when the drawing fell out of the side of his armor.

Forde could only look at it.

Ephraim picked the drawing up and unfolded it. "Oh, no. Have you started drawing everywhere you go too?"

"Actually, Your Majesty, that's mine," Forde said. "Kyle came over to stop me from drawing, as always. And he took it away from me."

Ephraim looked at the drawing for a while. "Well, then. That makes a lot more sense." He looked at the sketch strangely. "This drawing is perfect..., but Kyle looks odd for some reason. Maybe it's because he's so big in the picture compared to everyone else." He folded the drawing, looked at Forde and gave it back to Kyle. "You hold onto that," he told the green-haired knight without even looking at him.

"Yes, Sire," Kyle said.

Ephraim kept his eyes on Forde. "And you, get to work. I'm under the impression that from the looks of that drawing you haven't done a thing all day." He turned and went over to where Franz and Amelia were helping each other.

Forde sighed and slumped his shoulders. "I guess that's gonna put a delay on my vacation."

Kyle shook his head and laughed. "Vacation? You can't take a vacation from nothing." He started back toward his area.

Forde watched Kyle walk away at first, wondering how often an event like Kyle's laughing occurred. He knew he rarely heard it. He jogged after Kyle. "Alright, since I don't do anything, why don't I give you a hand?"

"Because I'll be working. That seems to be a foreign concept to you," Kyle said.

"Hey, drawing isn't just tossing a bunch of charcoal against a piece of paper, you know. It takes a lot of hard work," Forde told his friend.

Kyle picked up one of the saplings and tossed it to Forde. "Think fast."

Forde was caught off guard. He fumbled, trying to catch the little tree, but it ended up falling anyway. He picked it up and glared at Kyle.

"To be honest, Forde, I don't think you know what work is," Kyle said plainly.

"Hmph. I never did give you those painting lessons I promised you, did I?" Forde asked.

"Nope," Kyle said, digging a hole in the ground.

Forde just held his sapling. "Then, that's when I'll show you that what I do isn't just 'goofing off'."

Kyle took the sapling from Forde, planted it and covered its roots with dirt. He let out a long sigh and wiped some sweat from his brow.

Forde laughed. "I should have been here doing this earlier. This is easy."

Kyle smirked. "Uh, huh. You think so?" He handed Forde the shovel roughly. "Your turn."

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--next day, at Renais castle...

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Forde and Kyle were in the knights' quarters in the castle. Since they were officially the king's closest royal guards, they all lived in the castle. Forde had promised Kyle painting lessons, and painting lessons he would give him.

Kyle looked at the painting materials Forde laid out. Then he looked at Forde. "What do I do with this?"

"I'm gonna show you how to paint," Forde told him.

Kyle sighed. "I know that much. I mean, how do I start?"

Forde laughed a little. "You start by picking up a brush."

"No. What do I do? Isn't there some way of going about this? I mean, what's the best way to look at painting? What are the rules? How do you do it?" Kyle asked.

"Man. You are so uptight about everything. Painting is an art form, not war. There aren't a bunch of strategies, there's no strict layout of what you want to accomplish. It's about feelings," Forde told him. He smiled. "I can tell you're gonna have a problem with this." He picked up one of the paint brushes and gave it to Kyle. He stood right behind him and looked at the empty canvas. "I'll try to explain it in a way that you can understand. The canvas is your enemy."

Kyle looked back at Forde out of the corner of his eye, then at the canvas. "There's nothing there."

"Right," Forde said. "Any new experience is like this blank canvas. You don't know where to start and you don't know what the end result will be. Today, it's an enemy in the field that you've never faced, but you know you have to fight against him."

Kyle furrowed his brow gravely. "An enemy I've never faced, huh? I don't think you even know what you're talking about. Well, at least I know how to use my weapons in the field. I don't have a clue here."

"Well, you weren't born with a sword in your hand, were you? You had to learn to use it at some point," Forde reminded him with a laugh. "Come on. It'll be easy. At least according to you it will be, seeing how I don't work and all."

"Hmph. Well, you don't," Kyle said. "Honestly, I don't know why I ever believed I could learn anything from you. You've proven to be self-centered at every turn. You don't even want to put your life on the line for your kingdom. Why would I expect you to be able to teach me anything when you can't even see outside your own selfish little world?"

Forde really got serious for a change. "Okay, I usually blow off the insults you ramble off to me, but that one hurt. You know, if I really weren't willing to lay down my life for king and country, I wouldn't even be a knight," he said quietly. He walked over to the canvas and ran a finger across it.

Kyle looked surprised to see the sudden change in Forde's usually upbeat attitude. "Well, you don't act like it, Forde. You're always drawing or sleeping." He looked at the paint brush in his hand. "It's like you don't care about anything or anyone." He looked at Forde. "It's hard to take you seriously."

Forde looked at Kyle. "Well, we've got enough serious people around. I figured that having one guy who's not so uptight wouldn't hurt." He smiled a little. "Besides, it helps keep you on your toes."

"And just when I think you're about to be serious about something, you go back to being The Jester. Forde, you really need to start taking things more seriously," Kyle said.

"And you need to start taking yourself less seriously," Forde retorted with an even bigger smile. He walked over to Kyle. "Starting with this whole painting thing. It's a good way to loosen up." He took Kyle's brush and dipped it into some green paint. "And you'd be surprised how much it helps improve your spear and sword handling." He gave the brush back to Kyle.

Kyle looked surprised. (Forde? Talking about spears and swords off the field?) he thought. (I don't believe it.) Kyle looked at the brush in his hand for a while, then at the empty canvas. He frowned.

Forde rolled his eyes and sighed. "You're the one who said this was so easy. Here." He walked over and stood behind Kyle once again. "When you paint, you want to have total control over all your strokes. If you practice a particular stroke, you'll get better at brush control." He put his hand on the hand Kyle had his brush in and slowly started making small repeating motions across the canvas.

Kyle just watched silently as Forde moved his hand around. Forde's face was so close to his ear that he could hear him breathing. Something wasn't right.

"The first thing I want you to work on is making all your strokes the same," Forde said to him as he kept moving Kyle's hand in the same motion to draw the same pattern across the canvas. "Precision. Control. Those are what you'll be working on for now." He let go of Kyle's hand and Kyle almost dropped the paint brush. "Keep working on that. When I see that you've got it, we'll move on to something else."

Kyle cleared his throat and went on making the pattern that Forde had shown him as his instructor stood behind him to observe. Something was still wrong. Kyle's painting hand began to tremble a little as he went on making the pattern. The strokes were no longer looking the same.

Forde noticed the change in Kyle's motions. "Hey, if you're tired, you should take a break. Give your arm a rest." He laughed a little. "Or then again, maybe I'm making you nervous."

"To tell you the truth, you are making me a little nervous," Kyle told him. He put the brush in the water cup and folded his arms across his chest. "I don't like it when you're being weird like this."

"Weird like what?" Forde asked, looking confused.

Kyle turned to him. "I don't know. Like, serious."

Forde raised an eyebrow. "First, you tell me that I need to take things more seriously. Then you tell me that I make you nervous when I do take things seriously. If I didn't know any better I'd think we were married."

Kyle's face flushed deep red. "Forde..."

Forde looked at Kyle and laughed out loud. "You look really funny when you change colors like that. This is the first time I've ever seen you like this. It's kinda cute."

Kyle's already deep red face flushed even more. He remained silent and looked away.

"No need to be so embarrassed," Forde told Kyle with a laugh. "You gotta learn to relax a little."

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--later...

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Forde had shown Franz the picture he'd drawn during yesterday's restoration mission. He smiled. "You should have seen the way Amelia was looking at you while you were talking about that plant. I don't know what you were saying, but she sure was into it. Or maybe she was into you."

Franz blushed. "I don't know about that second part, but she's really into nature and stuff like that."

"Well, if she likes things like that, you should take her fishing with you. She'd probably love that," Forde suggested.

"I don't know," Franz said, looking away.

Forde laughed. "Believe me, little brother. That girl is so into you, she can't see straight."

"I don't know about that, Forde. I think you're over-exaggerating," Franz told his brother.

"Franz, Forde," someone greeted from behind them. This was good old Kyle. "There is training to be done."

Franz looked at Kyle. "Yeah, you're right. There's a spear competition coming up." He looked at Forde. "Tell me you'll enter."

"Nah," Forde answered quickly.

"Oh, come on, Brother. I'd like to show you how much I've improved," Franz said.

"We were all in a huge war not that long ago. I've seen how much you've improved. How could you think about training and competitions after something like that?" Forde asked.

Franz frowned.

"Don't worry, Franz," Kyle said. "That lump-on-a-log probably wouldn't be much competition anyway." He knew Forde too well. He knew that if he doubted Forde's skills that he would want to prove otherwise. He winked at Franz.

Franz smiled. "I guess you're right, Kyle. He wouldn't be much competition."

"Wait just a minute, now. I've got what it takes," Forde said. "I just need a break is all."

"Well, let's hope it's nothing that'll keep you out of the next war," Kyle said.

Franz laughed a little. "I'd better go. My rival will probably want to train with me." He looked at his brother. "And maybe I'll take her fishing after that."

"That's the spirit," Forde told his little brother. "And while you do that, I think I'll take a little nap."

Franz shook his head and left.

Just as Forde was about to lie down, Kyle grabbed him by the shirt. "Armor up, soldier. You're training with me whether you like it or not."

Forde sighed. "Don't you have anything better to do? Why don't you go rescue some fair maiden or something?"

"What do you think I'm doing now?" Kyle asked. He smirked. "With all that hair you look like a girl. Why don't you cut that stuff off?"

"Oh, all of a sudden you have a sense of humor." Forde shook his head. "No way. This is a symbol of art. Without my hair I'm just that guy who swings a sword. People see this hair and say, 'That fellow over there is an artist'."

"So that's why you can't keep the girls away from you, huh Forde?" Kyle said sarcastically.

"I'll leave that part up to you, oh great warrior hero," Forde responded.

Kyle rolled his eyes. "That's enough out of you. I want to see you in full armor and out on the training grounds in 3 minutes. You're just arguing to waste time."

Forde held up his hands. "Caught red-handed. I guess I'll have to be more creative if I plan to get away with fooling you."

"Flattery won't get you anywhere either, Forde. You're down to two minutes. I'll be waiting," Kyle told him. He left the knights' quarters.

"I don't know who he thinks he is. He can't push me around like this," Forde murmured to himself. But as he said it, he was putting on his armor.

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--training grounds...

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Amelia quickly lunged at Franz with her practice spear and hit him in his side, forcing him to the ground.

"Nice work, Amelia. You're really improving, but you'll have to work on your aim. It's almost like you're swinging blindly at anything that might get in the way," Seth said. "Franz, your parry is still too stiff. That's where Amelia has you beat. Notice how fluid her movements are. That's the reason you can't seem to touch her. Loosen up your stance." He had just finished training himself. "Good job, both of you. Keep practicing."

"Yes, General," both Franz and Amelia said as Seth was leaving the training grounds.

"This isn't really fair. You've spent most of your time training on horseback. If we were both riding, I'd lose to you every time," Amelia told Franz.

Franz laughed uncomfortably. "I don't know if that's true. When we first started out it may have been, but I've seen you on horseback. You're really good."

Kyle wasn't far from Franz and Amelia. He had been waiting for Forde for about ten minutes and he hadn't shown up yet. So he was just watching Amelia and Franz in the meantime.

"You're the one who's good, Franz. Both with a spear and a sword. I still haven't gotten used to swords. They're so much harder to handle," Amelia said. "I'd like to learn, but I don't think I can."

"I-I could teach you. I-it's not as hard as it seems," Franz stammered a little. "We could start after we take a break."

Amelia smiled at him. "That would be nice."

Franz scratched the back of his head. "Um..., when we take our break, would you like to go fishing with me?"

"Of course, I will," Amelia said, sounding a little too excited. She calmed down. "I mean, it sounds like a lot of fun."

Franz's eyes lit up. "Great. That's great." He readied himself for another round. "Shall we continue with our training?"

Amelia took her stance. "Ready when you are."

Kyle smiled to himself as he watched the two youngsters spar with each other. He had decided that Forde wouldn't show. (He probably fell asleep in the middle of suiting up,) he thought. He chuckled to himself when he imagined Forde half armored and sleeping standing straight up.

"What's so funny?" someone asked from behind him.

"You, that's what," Kyle replied. He turned around to see Forde standing there. "What took you so long, Forde? Did you fall asleep again?"

"Veeeeeryyyyyy funny," Forde declared sarcastically. "No. I ran into Lute. She was looking for you, so I told her that if she couldn't figure out where you were then she may as well just stop looking."

"What'd you tell her that for?" Kyle asked.

Forde laughed at the expression on Kyle's face. "That was priceless. You should have seen yourself. Your eyes were all bugged out." He laughed a little louder. "I didn't tell her that. She was asking about you and I told her that you and I were training together. So she said for me to tell you she was looking for you and she let me go."

"And that took ten minutes?" Kyle asked.

"Well, that was after we made out for a while," Forde said, looking serious.

Kyle frowned and furrowed his brow.

Forde laughed again. "Man, you're easy."

"Forde," Kyle said, irritation setting in. "Grab a practice spear. Let's begin."

Forde sighed. "Still couldn't get away with it, huh?"

"Your skills at avoiding work are lacking at best," Kyle said plainly. "You're not gonna get me that easily. I told you that trickery and banter won't steer you clear of anything."

"Yeah, but it'll sure throw you for a loop," Forde told him. "Seriously, Kyle. You'll believe anything." He picked up a practice spear and started warming up.

Kyle watched Forde, amazed by his movements. (Why won't he put his talent to use on something besides being the court jester? He honestly has what it takes. He just refuses to apply himself.) He just stood there watching him for a while.

Forde held his spear in one hand and tapped it on his shoulder. He looked at Kyle. "Any time you're ready."

Franz and Amelia had stopped their own sparring in order to watch the two older, more experienced knights do battle.

Kyle nodded. He grabbed his spear and held it rigidly in both hands.

An all out fight ensued. Every time Kyle thrust at Forde, he would parry and every time Forde thrust at Kyle, he would block the blow with ease. The twirling and spinning of their spears was dizzying to the two onlookers, but after a while they suddenly stopped. The tip of Forde's spear was only a centimeter from Kyle's chin.

Forde smirked. "Looks like I win."

"Think again," Kyle said seriously. His eyes shifted downward slightly and then back up at Forde.

Forde looked down and saw that Kyle's practice spear had pierced his chest plate. He frowned.

"Draw," they both said, relinquishing their positions.

"Wow! That was amazing," Franz said from the sidelines.

Amelia was astounded, so much so that she couldn't speak.

"You sacrifice your strength for speed," Kyle said. "You're fast and you'll definitely stay alive, but you'll never take down your enemy. Unless you tire him out, that is."

"Yeah, well, you'll kill your enemy, if you can ever catch him. An assassin would have you for breakfast. Your attacks are slow and predictable," Forde told Kyle. "You sacrifice your speed for strength."

"If my attacks are so slow and predictable, why didn't you notice that I had penetrated your armor?" Kyle asked confidently.

Forde gave Kyle a dumbfounded look like he wanted to say something, but there was nothing he could say. He began to pout a little.

Amelia and Franz walked over as they were discussing their sparring match.

"That was unbelievable, you two," Amelia said. "Kyle, your show of strength was out of this world." She looked at Forde's chest plate. "I knew it! You did pierce his armor. I didn't think that was possible to do with just a practice spear. There is real power behind every move you make. And you have solid defense as well. Maybe you're where Franz picked up his style."

Kyle modestly accepted Amelia's compliments. "You know, I was watching you and Franz spar. You have some very impressive moves yourself. You use your size to your advantage, yet you're strong enough to do damage to your opponent. You'll be a great warrior in no time."

Amelia smiled. "You really think so? Thank you so much."

"Man, Forde. Your style is unparalleled," Franz told his brother. "You somehow made every move look...elegant. Like each motion went with the last. It was like you'd rehearsed for this battle. And talk about fast. I wish I had graceful, quick actions like you. Such talent."

Forde smiled. "Well, like I always say, 'Tis better to be thought talented than to prove otherwise'."

Kyle heard Forde's comment and turned to him. "You know, Forde, out of all the things I've ever heard you say, that had to be the one that made the least amount of sense."

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--time to eat...

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It had been a long day of sparring. The two had worked up a sweat trying to best each other, but a lot of their matches ended in draws. They lost count of the ones they actually won because they were so evenly matched on the majority of the fights.

But they worked up an appetite quickly. As soon as Forde and Kyle sat at one of the tables in the knights' mess hall, Lute walked over.

"Greetings, Sir Kyle. Greetings, Sir Forde," Lute said to them. She took a seat beside Kyle. "Did Sir Forde tell you that I had been searching endlessly for you?"

"Actually, he did. I was supposed to find you as soon as I was done training, but we decided to grab a bite to eat first," Kyle said. "How have you been, Lute?"

Forde smiled and nodded to Lute. He began eating.

"I am well, as always. I know that you may find it a bit strange, but I was hoping that we could have a bit of a chat. And since you have been properly introduced to my obviously superior intellect and my charming personality, I know that you will want to hear what it is I have to say," Lute said. "I have done some research and have evaluated it carefully. Now, I must bring this bit of information to your attention."

Kyle shook his head and laughed a little.

Forde looked from Lute to Kyle. (So, I'm not the only person who can make this guy laugh,) he thought as he continued eating. He frowned when he realized what he had just thought.

"What's this bit of information you want to talk to me about?" Kyle asked Lute.

"Actually, I propose that we take our leave of this area. There are far too many ears here," Lute said.

Kyle raised an eyebrow. "I know I tell you this all the time, but you're really odd."

"Thank you," Lute said.

Kyle looked at the ceiling. "That wasn't a... Never mind." He looked at Forde. "Watch my food for me, would you, Forde? I'll be right back."

Before Forde could even respond, Kyle left with Lute. He watched them walk to the doorway of the mess hall. The two stood and talked for a while. Kyle laughed several times as she spoke to him. She'd put her hand on his arm more than once. This was typical behavior for two people who held a conversation, but for some reason, it made Forde uncomfortable. The pit of his stomach had that funny feeling like when someone told you a loved one had died or when people you know have to go far away and you know that you'll never see them again. He'd felt that feeling before. And in every case, he was losing someone who was close to him.

But he wasn't losing someone who was close to him now. So why did he have that strange and awful feeling again?

Lute and Kyle hugged. The feeling got worse.

Kyle came back without Lute. He sat down at the table like nothing had happened and started eating.

Forde just looked at Kyle for a while.

Kyle looked up at Forde strangely. "Something wrong?"

"No. Nothing," Forde replied. He just looked at his plate.

Kyle went back to eating. "You know, we're gonna have to work harder on our spearing. We both have advantages and disadvantages in our styles. I'll bet if we can come up with some kind of hybrid of the two styles, we could be unstoppable, both at that competition and in battle."

Forde moved his food around on his plate.

Kyle looked back up at him. "Forde."

"Hm?"

"Are you okay?" Kyle asked.

Forde was silent for a moment, still pushing his food from side to side on his plate. "Mm hm."

"Forde," Kyle said.

No response.

"Forde!" he said a little more sternly to get him to look at him.

Forde did just that.

"Forde, what's the matter with you?" Kyle asked.

Forde smiled, but it wasn't his usual smile. There was something so fake about it. "Nothing." He looked at his plate again. "This stuff is really terrible today. I don't feel so good."

Kyle frowned. "It's not so bad." He looked Forde over. "But you do look a little pale. Let me take you back to our quarters." He stood and helped Forde to his feet.

Forde felt fine. (Do I really look pale?) he thought. "I can get there on my own. I just need to lie down for a minute. That's all."

Kyle put Forde's arm over his shoulder, then he put his arm around his waist to support him. "Come on. I'll help you."

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--quarters...

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Kyle helped Forde onto his bed.

"I can take care of myself," Forde told Kyle.

"Be quiet and let me help you," Kyle said. "Man, and you call ME stubborn. Learn to accept a little help now and then." He started taking Forde's armor off for him.

Forde just watched him, looking confused the whole time. His face reddened a little. "Why are you doing this?"

"What? Undressing you? Because you can't wear your armor in bed," Kyle told him. He got on his knees and started untying Forde's boots.

Forde reddened even more as he kept his eyes on what Kyle was doing. "No. Why are you doing this for me?"

"We're friends, Forde. Friends help each other out," Kyle told him, concentrating on his task at hand. He smiled a little. "Besides, I don't like to see you like this. It weirds me out. So, I'll do all I can to make you feel better."

Forde smiled a little as well and kept watching as Kyle took his boots off.

"That and if something were to happen to you, I won't have anyone to train with," Kyle added.

"Ah, now the truth comes out," Forde said.

Kyle stood Forde up and pulled back the covers. "Get in."

Forde obeyed and Kyle pulled the covers up on him.

"I have three people I can consider friends. That's our king, Lute and you, Forde," Kyle told him.

Forde frowned when Kyle mentioned Lute, but he wasn't sure why.

"I just happen to be around you the most, so I guess that makes you my best friend," Kyle went on. "But don't go telling everybody that I'm doing and saying things like this or I'll be laughed at."

Forde rolled his eyes. "Hey, why don't you just leave the joking to me. That's my job."

"That wasn't a joke, Forde. Besides, you're not doing your job very well right now, anyway," Kyle said. "Now, get some sleep. And that's an order."

"As you command, Sir Kyle, commander of the Knights of Renais," Forde said sarcastically.

"Not again," Kyle groaned. He walked out of the room.

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To Be Continued...