yev dragged us all back to tellius hell and ava is mean to me. ike/soren, slow burn to the max. kind of a thought process.
ava: i keep thinking about an ikesoren au that spans both high school and college and like. is a super slow burn i guess on ikes part but only because thats like the only way i can imagine that happening personally but yevs livetweeting has got me like ok. this , may be Slightly gayer than i remembered. and so instead of keeping them in unrequited heck i will be kind, but only after many years
also its hs/college because i enjoy the idea or soren pining quietly bc hes a Nerd and also has braces but then kind of sheds that in college and its not quite an “oh no theyre hot” realization thing but it is like a gradual. oh. thats right. thats… this is soren. soren? soren just has grown into themself and is more confident which is evident in their air and how they carry themself, but it might not really be apparent to other people?? on the outside. because he is still kind of emo looking but for people who know its like yeah, definitely
. . (angie: my thought process did a loop zoop into hell.) . .
they grow up together and go through a lot of dumb shit together ike doesn’t remember a time when soren wasn’t a petulant shadow by his side, save for when they had not yet met. he’s used to their presence and to deciphering tells and conversational tics, because that was their friendship. soren would snip and ike would grin and proceed to do something stupid despite the fact soren just warned him to do otherwise.
they took care of each other. yeah, they were always the quiet sort so when soren starts to speak up and hold conversation with a level stare, ike kind of blinks. soren is still soren but they’ve changed and he can’t immediately pin point what that difference is. they graduate from high school and go to the same university, ike’s bragging to the guests at the graduation party about how smart soren is, they’re top of the class, full ride scholarship and all, and he’s so happy for them and claps his hand on their back, soren only gives him a pointed look and a thank you, tucking a strand of dark hair behind their ear.
everyone offers polite congratulations because they’re still prickly, rough around the edges.
they’re next door neighbors, ike’s rooming with boyd, soren’s in the suite down the hall, they invest in headphones when they learn they’re rooming with pelleas. he likes his monologues. soren does not.
soren and ike sit in the quad and ike does his work, chewing on a pen trying to solve a math problem, soren flips through philosophy books and sighs whenever ike starts clicking his pen. they have their best, long winded and complicated conversations on the balcony outside the engineering department’s fifth floor because no one ever looks at the side stairs as a viable entrance option, it’s become their hideout. it makes them braver, sometimes. soren speaks freely, and ike always happy to hear them ramble.
before they know it, they’re third years, and nothing’s really happened. ike gets confessions from people all across campus and he scratches the back of his head, sorry.
still too blunt, soren taps his head with the spine of their book.
better than to drag it out, ike takes the book from soren’s hand and waves it around. you’re always studying.
of course i am.
ike rolls his eyes, c’mon. want to do something?
soren quirks a brow.
sure.
and ike is like oh. shit. he wasn’t expecting an actual answer, he wasn’t terribly sure what he was planning to do either. it’s. there’s something else. soren takes their book back.
ike picks them up in his shitty truck and they go out driving through the back roads and soren fiddles with the radio station until they get to the classics or whatever, and they tap their fingers against the dashboard.
they just drive. eventually ike parks and they sit on the truck bed. soren points out constellations but ike can’t stop looking at them and he’s at a stand still as to why. he offers them his coat when it gets cold and soren says thank you and shrugs it on.
they drive back.
exchange goodnights and soren neatly folds ike’s coat and tries to give it back, he only shakes his head and tells them he’ll get it another day. don’t worry about it.
fine. goodnight, then.
they linger in the lobby before soren dips their head and leaves.
and ike watches them go.
that’s soren. that’s my best friend.
ranulf is his roommate this year and when ike mentions it in passing, the shit eating grin disappears.
“the young beorc’s in love.”
“yeah. maybe.”
soren keeps the coat for a very long time.
they’re out in the real world before they can even hold hands im ruined
he puts his hand over theirs, and tries, oh really tries not to notice how small their hand is. ringed and delicate and tiny, ike is gentle when he brushes his thumb over soren’s knuckles. is this okay, he mumbles and soren is going through the seven stages of grief.
soren tries to punch him and remembers reyson broke his hand trying to do the same thing and that iceberg finally comes crashing down.
how long have you known how long have you waited
sweet soren suffered so much. they just start. blinking back tears and ike has no idea how to react to people crying. kind of brushes the tears away awkwardly and soren stares blankly they haven’t even registered the fact they’re crying and that ike has his hand against their cheek. what the hell. what the hell?
sorry, ike says. and it sounds like home.
hey, don’t cry anymore. it’s okay, um. it took me a while but i finally came around, huh? jeez, soren. you were always a cry baby as a kid too, and even when you didn’t want anyone around, i’d be there. so. i’m going to do the same thing now. i’ll always come over to you.
he hugs them, puts his chin on their shoulder and pulls them close and it’s been 2999999 years but they finally got it right.
