Soren pulled himself up into the branches of the old oak tree, he climbed up into the leafy canopy and sat down, resting his back against the trunk. He cast a disapproving glance at the Greil fort, well, to be more precise, he cast a disapproving glance at the party inside. With a light sigh, the mage pulled his book from the folds of his robe along with an apple. One light spell and one bite later, Soren was reading contently in his tree.
Ike was staring in utter shock at his mercenaries. Dad had never prepared him for this. A buzzed Oscar was trying to coax Boyd off the table while Gatrie made advances towards well...everything. Titania was judging a drinking contest that Ilyana seemed to be winning. Rhys was under Mia in the corner. (Evidently, Rhys had been heading back to his room when she had tackled him and promptly passed out.) Suddenly, the fact that Greil always sent him to bed before these parties started made perfect sense. In a vain search for sanity, Ike scanned the room for some sign of Soren. Some trace of the one person he was fairly certain wasn't drinking.
"Oscar..." Ike shouted over the ruckus, "Have you seen-"
"I LOVE YOU TITANIA!!!" Boyd interrupted, leaping off the table at the paladin. The room exploded with laughter as the flame-haired woman side-stepped, causing Boyd to hit the ground.
"Sorry, Commander." Oscar said hurriedly, sprinting over to pick up the now bleeding Boyd, "Where's Rhys?" the squinty knight asked. "Rhys?"
"Help me!'" The healer shouted from under the purple haired swords-woman. "I'm stuck!" Gatrie was still trying to out-drink Ilyana, who was giving no ground. Ike left the building and wandered outside. "Thank Ashera I sent Rolf and Mist to bed already..."
Soren took another crunch from his apple. I wonder how Ike's doing in there...he thought to himself as he flipped the page. It had been rude to leave his friend alone in there, but...Soren had always ditched the company parties and old habits die hard. He heard a crash and ruckus laughter from inside. Soren sighed and briefly considered casting Elfire to shut them the hell up. It was only a passing fancy, he'd never actually injure any of them...except maybe Mia and Boyd...and Shinon, by Ashera they were annoying.
Ike looked around the wood, Soren had to be out here somewhere. He studied the trees, looking for the tell-tale glimmer of a magic. Ah, there it was, a faint shine in the trees a way off. He wandered towards it, trying to be a sneaky as possible.
"You're not very good at this whole sneaking business, are you?" commented a snide voice.
"Lethe, would you try to be more polite to the Beorc?" Ranulf's shadow countered with a sigh.
"Uh...hello Lethe, hello Ranulf. You're not at the party..." Ike said, feeling like an idiot for stating the obvious and blundering into the two laguz.
"Clearly." Lethe's bladed tongue slashed, "Are you Beorc blind? Or merely oblivious?"
"Lethe..." Ranulf said again, his tone a light warning, "What she means is that we Laguz aren't terribly fond of Beorc festivities, particularly the drinking." Ranulf said, "Well, she's not. I don't mind a couple of drinks now and again." and Ike knew he was smiling.
"Hey...um...Ranulf, you can see well in the dark right?"
"Yep."
"Is that light Soren?"
"Yep." Ike beamed, "thanks!" he hurried off towards the light, once again attempting to be sneaky. Ranulf's tail curled itself around Lethe's,
"Good thing beorc can't see well in the dark." He said, pulling his counterpart into his arms. Lethe nodded in agreement and nuzzled against Ranulf's bare chest.
"Yeah...that would have been beyond embarrassing." She kissed him. As Ike left he thought he could hear mewing.
SNAP. A breaking twig pulled Soren out of his book. He tossed his apple core at it and waited for an "ow" but none came. He rolled his eyes and fished a second apple from a pocket.
THUMP. Ike nearly jumped as an apple core landed an inch away from him. That was close... he thought. From where he was, he could make out Soren's tiny frame about three trees off. With a mischievous smile, Ike pulled off his cape and tied it on a branch, like a huge red blanket. Then, he wandered towards the mage's tree.
This time, it was a gentle rustling that interrupted Soren's reading. "For. The. Love. Of. Ashera," he groused. Glaring over in the direction of the noise. He caught the sight of fabric in the woods and scowled. He shook his head and went back to reading. He had just lost himself in the pages when another noise pulled him out.
"Man, Soren. You are a heavy reader." came a light chuckle from below him. Soren looked down to see Ike, standing on two branches, looking up at him. For a second, Soren allowed himself the satisfaction of feeling taller.
"Hi, Ike." the mage said, softly blushing in the darkness and the blue-haired general pulled himself up to Soren's branch.
"Man, they're nuts." Said Ike, resting his head against a higher, nearby branch.
"That's why I left." Soren said simply, taking another bite from his apple. He looked over at his best friend, "Want some?" He said, holding up the fruit.
"Sure." Ike said with an evil smile, he leaned over and kissed a stunned Soren on the mouth. His left hand moved itself to the tree-trunk for support as his left cradled Soren's skull, lost in the sea of silky black hair. For a split second the mage wanted to protest, but, instead, he melted into the kiss. The apple fell from his hand and made a nearly inaudible thump on the forest floor. He felt himself slid towards the blue-haired commander as the kiss intensified. Ike pulled away and laughed at Soren's stunned expression.
"Wha-What was that for." Said a flustered mage, Ike grinned.
"You know I prefer Apple Juice." Soren rolled his eyes and shook his head at Ike's poor excuse.