eue Chapter two. What? Regular update schedules? Never heard of them. XD Ahh well.

It was very dark. Prince Marth was almost positive he was dreaming. One of the reasons he came up with was that he had no idea where he was. The other was that his friend Ike seemed too close.

Way too close.

Their noses were touching, and the taller man's lips were moving, as if he were talking, but no words came out of his mouth. It was a very strange dream, as the prince was inclined to believe it was, because not only was Ike speaking, but there was something else happening too... If he could just focus his eyes enough...

Nope.

He couldn't tell.

All Marth could see was the mercenary's face in front of him, feeling his hands somewhere near his neck. His cheeks, maybe? It didn't matter. Ike was still talking--or rather, the equivalent of talking, because nothing was coming out of his mouth. Maybe he was talking, was the prince too far away to hear him? Well that didn't make any sense. He was close enough to feel uncomfortable by the advances of the subconcious Ike. But he didn't argue the point with himself too far, he really wanted to know what the mercenary was saying! He should speak up! As he lifted his head up closer to his friend's face, to hear whatever it was he was trying to get out...

"WHAT THE HELL?" The previously sleeping prince shot upright, sitting up in his bed, panting like he'd been holding his breath the whole time he slept. His hair was messier than it usually was, the static cling he attracted while he slept given no time to burn out. In a state of utter panic, he looked over to the clock on his night-table; 3:40 AM. Marth was slowly relaxing, his abrupt fit of panting leaving as quickly as it had come. However, he was still freaked out. He looked at the clock once more, to make sure he got the absurdly early time right. He groaned and fell back onto his pillow as he realized he'd been sleeping for about three hours. Going back to sleep was out of the question, though--he didn't want that...that...dream, or whatever it was, to come back. In fact, he was already attempting to repress the outcome.

"That dream..." he groaned, pulling his pale blue comforter back over his head, "Why...Why did that even..." he trailed off, not worrying about it at the moment. He really only wanted to go to sleep and wake up a normal time, hopefully forgetting about the whole incident.

But sleep never found him.

--

At about eight o'clock in the morning, the bright sun peering through his uncurtained windows, Ike stretched and groaned, sitting up drowsily. He didn't sleep well the past night, the time changes were really wreaking havoc on his schedule. But ever the optimist, he blinked his eyes a few times before taking in his surroundings.

It was very plain. The sun only added a bit of natural light, the lamp on his nightstand untouched and left off. However, his maroon-red sheets were in a bit of an obvious disarray, and his shirt, armour, and sword were all strewn across the floor. Other than that, there was no sign that anyone was living here. He didn't bring anything with him to this tournament he'd been forcibly kicked into, and even if he did, he wasn't given any time to unpack. The same distress he felt a night earlier came back to him as a gray cloud, threatening to lead him to pessimism again. His personal rain-shower threatening to douse him, he stood up stiffly and did a bit of unconscious stretching to help the ache in his muscles. He showered, got dressed, and put his armour on as if his mind was separate from his body, only remembering the source of his previous optimism as he walked outside. As he shut and locked his door behind him, he noticed a shorter...someone...standing right behind him. Without even turning around, his mouth curved upwards into a slight grin and he murmured "Marth."

A small chuckle followed by a delicate cough was the response from behind. The little prince merely tapped his shoulder, beckoning for him to turn around. The mercenary did so, almost ramming Marth over in the process. He didn't, but it still ended up in a rather intimate embrace that once again caused the prince to notice how warm Ike was. He didn't seem sick--was he sleeping in front of a fire or something? They both backed up reflexively; Marth flushing slightly, coughing, and turning away, and Ike scratching the back of his head and staring off to the side. The uncomfortable silence lasted for a few moments, and both males were just staring off into space, unsure how to react.

Ike broke the silence first. "So...uhhh...Good morning, Prince Marth." he mumbled, looking down at the prince awkwardly. "Did you sleep well?"

He didn't notice when Marth's eye twitched--It wasn't incredibly noticeable. He stared up with a little smile on his face. "Good morning, Ike." He nodded slightly. "For the most part, yes... How about you?" he asked as the pair started towards the kitchen for breakfast.

The mercenary sighed. "Yeah, I guess so. All this changing times has been awful for my sleep schedule, but I'll get by." He chuckled at this, scraping a few of his fingers over his chin aimlessly. His own laughter brought about a little giggle from the trailing prince--It was contagious.

The pair was still chuckling as they made their way into the large cafeteria together, Ike leading by a fraction. Marth went to go and sit down at one of the nearest tables to the entrance, gracefully plopping down in one of the chairs and watching the taller of the two head over to the breakfast buffet line. As soon as the prince was sure Ike wouldn't see him, he laid both arms out in front of him and slumped down on them, his forehead resting somewhere near his elbows. He was still deprived of sleep, and his thoughts about why he had gotten no sleep were still haunting him. He groaned to himself, not caring about his public appearance as he let himself fall asleep on his hands.

The last thing he heard was a concerned female voice getting closer to him. He couldn't pinpoint whose it was or what they were saying, but they sounded worried. He wondered what all the commotion was about...

Author's Sentiments:

Mmm. I was eating one of those giant Mrs. Fields cookies while I was writing this. Is that relevant at all? No? I'm sorry.

LOL CHLIFFHANGER SORRY GUYS NOT A GOOD ONE COME BACK NEXT TIME

Anyway.

Hope you guys are enjoying this so far, I'm having fun writing it. :3 There's a bunch of fluffy drabbles for a while, but it's all out of friendship. Or is it? Ha! Mmmmn. Well, as I said, I do have a lot of this story written already, it's just a matter of typing up and editing. I really don't have any real sentiments about this chapter since I was distracted by...cookie, mostly. -ADD- ONTO THE REVIEWS? ovo

Reviews:

failedpklove; Aww, thanks so much. n.n (Yeah, hehe. Ike in a trenchcoat really made me think, too. XD I think a flight jacket would suit him!)

Cherry Maiden; Thanks, dear. :3 Ah, yes, this next chapter will be longer. But that one was the prologue, after all, so it was really just an introduction. This thing is only getting started, my friend. XD