Ike grunted as he tried to shove his end of the futon through the door. Soren could have laughed at Ike and Andy's friend, B, who were trying to move the futon into the spare room to give the swordsman a place to sleep. Andria WAS laughing.

This was the funniest thing she had seen in awhile.

"If we tilt it this way, maybe it'll slide in," B suggested.

Andy resisted the urge to say 'that's what she said'. It was too juvenile and something that would be lost on the other two anyway. She instead contented herself to laughing harder as B suddenly turned red. With one final shove, the two men managed to get it into the room, where they promptly dropped and sat upon it. Andy tossed Soren some bottled water, which he gave to the two men lounging in the spare room.

B looked at Andria. "I know it's not much-"

"But it's better than what we had," she supplied for him. "I'm just really glad it fit."

B smiled. "That's what she said."

Throwing a pillow at her friend, she shook her head. "That's a little immature." Ike was staring at them in confusion, but Soren had a small smile on his face. The mage rarely smiled, but he had figured out in the past three days that if something was said that he didn't understand it was usually an inside joke or a sexual innuendo. After he figured that much out, he could usually decipher what was being said.

Andria turned back to her living room and surveyed the destruction. Her lamp had been knocked over and the books that Soren had stacked on the counter were everywhere. She put both hands to her eyes and rubbed them. "You two are more trouble than you're worth, do you know that?"

Soren shot her a look that she missed because she was covering her eyes. "You think we are trouble?"

At his slightly hurt tone, she looked over at him. "No, you're not trouble. You're...well, Ike's trouble, but you're not, Soren." She smiled at him, which relaxed him slightly.

Ike pouted at her, though. "I'm trouble? Oh, my lady, whatever would give you that notion?"

B looked over at the blue-haired man. "Dude, bad idea. Don't ask her why we're trouble. She'll be..." He shuddered. "Honest." B had said the word like it was dirty, which made Andy laugh.

"Hey, just because I don't spare your feelings doesn't mean I can't be nice about it." She went to her refrigerator and opened it, shocked to find it slightly empty. "Well...who wants to go out to dinner tonight? Seems I'm out of food. Again."

Soren glared at Ike. "I told you not to eat all her food."

"I didn't," Ike said defensively. He glared at Soren. "I think she needs a supply officer."

To Andy's dismay, Soren nodded in agreement. "I know. I was just thinking that."

B had to stifle his laughter. After hearing the entire story of how Ike and Soren came to be, mainly because he was one of the few who asked and knew about the game, he was invited over to be Ike's friend. Soren wanted little to do with B, but Ike found his company more to his liking than spending every moment with Andy and Soren, who were still trying to figure out how it had happened.

Soren looked over at Andy. "Should we go get supplies? Or are we going out?"

Andria rubbed her temples slightly and frowned. "Supplies, I guess. Come on Soren, we'll leave these two lumps to eat the rest of my food."

Ike's indignant "It wasn't me" and B's laughter rang in her ears as she grabbed her keys and led the way to her car. Soren got into the passenger side once she unlocked the door and she sat down, slamming her door shut in inexplicable frustration. The dark haired man looked over at her, a frown firmly in place.

"He is trying, Andria." Soren put on his seat belt. It had taken only one threat from Andy to get them to wear it. "It's harder for him, I think. He left so much there that it's difficult for him to fully be here."

"You adjusted fine," she said quickly as she started the car.

"Yes, well, I didn't leave that much behind. My only friend is here with me now."

Andy started down the road, thinking on what Soren said. Of course she hadn't thought of that. Until four days ago, Ike had had a sister, friends, a life. Now he was in the real world. She sighed and glanced over at Soren.

"If I could find a way to send you back, I would if that was your wish."

Soren shook his head. "That would be Ike's wish, I think. Not mine. I've felt more at home here than in all of my years in Tellius. And I doubt they'll notice there. If I did my math correctly, it'll be as if we never were. Someone else will take our place there. We won't be missed much."

Andy glanced over at him. He truly didn't seem upset about it. That shocked Andy a bit. "You...won't miss anyone?"

"You know my story," he said simply.

They drove past a park and Soren looked out the window at a boy flying his kite in one of the secluded parks. He put a hand on Andria's arm, causing her to look over.

"Can we stop? I've been meaning to try and see if I can still use..."

She nodded and pulled over, shutting the car off and grabbing her messenger bag where his tomes were kept. Since he was sent with everything he had on him, Soren found he still had his elwind, elfire, and elthunder tomes on him. Andy was just as curious as to whether it would work as well. They both walked to the quiet end of the park where there wasn't any other people.

Soren took his elwind tome and stood near a tree, Andria behind him. He opened the book for the first time since arriving and flipped to the appropriate page. She watched as his eyes closed and he stuck one hand outward, chanting under his breath.

Andy's hair stirred slightly...

Soren's jacket twitched...

The trees swayed...

Andy heard it first, a growing growl from the sky.

Everything became darker, the clear sky clouding over in a sort of funnel, the wind picking up dramatically. Leaves started blowing around on the ground, and the rumbling grew.

The wind came and scythed into the earth, leaving a destroyed area in the grass. Several tree branches fell, split from their trees. Andria fell to her knees, staring at the area of destruction.

Soren closed the book with a satisfied sigh. When he turned, he saw Andy on the ground and hurried over.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded. "I'm sorry. It's just not everyday that you see..."

He put a hand on her arm, kneeling down. "I know it's a shock. It always is the first time one sees it." He gave her a small, reassuring smile. "Let us go."

"Before someone comes," Andy said, standing. "I still can't believe that worked."

They walked back to her car, ignoring the crowd that was gathering behind them Andria was amazed she made it to the store without getting pulled over. They got the groceries and hurried back to the apartment, barely a word said between them.