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Soren inhaled deeply as he sorted out his possessions or at least, tried to look as if he were. He hadn't brought a lot in this trip, in fact near nothing if not for the clothes on his back and his tomes. But Ike gave them time to prepare themselves for what was going to be long trek towards Gallia's castle, according to the two beasts anyway.
Thinking of the cat and tiger had Soren gripping his tome tightly. The spirits around him buzzed, reacting to his sudden wave of strong emotion. The spirits never spoke words of beorc or laguz, they made noises, buzzing and for all his life, Soren learned to understand them but it had been too long since he'd heard them like this.
Closing his eyes, he remembered and actually felt as if he were a boy again. A boy stumbling blindly on the streets, hungry and thin, beaten and bruised. No matter where he went or wherever he tried to beg with what little to no vocabulary he had, instead of kindness he'd gotten sticks and stones thrown at him. Vividly he remembered a baker who'd he'd seen was kind to the other children threw a pot of oil at him. With anger, he remembered how instead of feeling scared or pained, he was grateful for the heat the oil brought him because it was winter and it was better than no heat at all, even if only lasted for a few minutes before he froze under the cold winds.
The beorc were violent but they saw him, acknowledged his existence even if it was through disdain and hate. But the laguz, the beasts were cold and when they weren't silently glaring at him, they were ignoring him as if he were an invisible ghost.
The spirits shook around him, he could feel their power lick at his feet, slide through his hair and heat the tips of his fingertips. His lips moved, whispering a well practiced spell before he'd even realized. The earlier scene repeated in his mind, he should've killed the beast. They deserved it for hurting Ike, for hurting him, for everything--
"Soren."
The mage was pulled away from his bitter thoughts and slowly turned to Ike, schooling a cool look on his face so as to not worry him.
"Are we leaving?"
Ike nodded, "are you done?"
"Yes, Ike."
Soren quietly made for the door and as he passed by his commander, he felt Ike place a hand on his shoulder so he stopped.
"Hey..."
"Yes?"
"What's wrong?" Ike's voice was quiet and concerned, "you're shaking."
Soren looked down to reflect and looked at his shaking hand. The spirits around him had quieted down since Ike had appeared, no longer as wild as they were earlier but Soren hadn't realized until now that he was the one shaking.
"Is this about earlier? With the laguz?"
"...it's nothing. I'm...we have to go."
Soren made to move, not wanting to further this conversation but felt a little disappointment when Ike let him. He heard the door close behind him and Ike fell into step with him as they made their way down the hall. It was silence but nothing like their usual comfortable silence.
Ike stopped suddenly and spoke with conviction, "I'm your friend."
The word caused him to stop and Soren turned to the other, "what?"
"I'm your friend. You can trust me to be there for you when you need someone to talk to."
Soren nearly forgot to breathe for a moment as he took in Ike's words. Again, this man was doing things that gave him enough reason to take the next step and keep moving.
"Soren?"
"...I...I know, Ike. You...you're my friend," the word was too foreign on his tongue, but one he'd wanted to say aloud for a long time. "I...do trust you."
The air around them eased and Soren saw the small smile that appeared on Ike's lips. Only then he realized that Ike was truly concerned for him.
"All right then."
Resuming their way towards the end of the hall, Soren stopped shaking as he stood beside Ike.