Ikesoren week 2023 Art from Twitter! I couldn’t participate as much as I wanted to but I still had a blast making these and seeing everyone else’s works too!
It’s Ikesoren week 2023 and I very much want to participate, but I vastly underestimated how out of practice I was, so I’m gonna cut my losses and call it here - but I’m glad I made the effort. I’ll try scaling even further back for day 2 :’)
Author notes above cut, skip to cut for the story.
This is set in my Askr universe for the first winter holiday festival based on my interpretation of each game's canon. My interpretation of the Tellius series can be found in my Affinities Series on AO3.
My work is always “no beta - we die like men” but I’m scheduling this ahead of time and wrote it in a few hours because I wanted to do a little something for Ike/Soren Week since they’re my first OTP, but I’m not going to be in town during Ike/Soren week. So, it’s extra no-beta as a 1st draft. I may clean it up and throw it onto AO3 sometime.
Holiday - Winter Festival in Askr
The night before the festival, Soren left the library late into the evening. There was some party going on, but he didn’t want to be bothered with it. The gifts would be exchanged the next day, and the library had been gratefully empty as the others had gone off to enjoy the festivities.
“Soren?” A voice called out, Ike’s voice, Ranger Ike’s voice in particular. They had been summoned to Askr several months ago to help fight against Embla, but the fighting had come to an end a month ago, in time to prepare for the winter festival. From what the summoner had said, they had been summoned from the same world at the same time, a few months after Ashnard’s defeat, the day before Ike was set to return Ragnell to Begnion.
Soren turned to the other end of the hallway. “Ike?”
Ike smiled and walked over to Soren. “I didn’t see you in the great hall, so I figured you were here.”
“Do you want to go back now that you’ve found me?”
“I’d like to spend the time with you.”
The sincerity of the statement and the softness of Ike’s voice cut through Soren. He felt his heart pounding in his ears.
“And I don’t think you want to go, otherwise you would have been there already.”
Soren nodded numbly.
“Are you all right?” Ike asked.
“I was planning to go to bed,” Soren said.
“Mind if I walk back with you?”
“That’s fine.”
They walked in silence down the numerous long halls to the wing where those summoned from Tellius were staying.
“I think the decorations are nice,” Ike said eventually.
“They aren’t all in terrible taste,” Soren allowed.
Ike snickered. Soren blinked. “Leave it to you to be a harsh critic.”
Soren shrugged. “They’re better than whatever Duke Tanas used in his villa.”
“Is there anything about the festival you’ve enjoyed?”
“I suppose the food Oscar’s been having us try has been agreeable.” Soren looked up at Ike. “What about you? Is it to your liking?”
“I think I’ve enjoyed the food most myself.”
They arrived at the empty common room that had doors leading down to the different hallways where the rooms were.
Ike looked down at Soren. “Hey, Soren?”
“Yes, Ike?” Ike’s face was flushed red and his energy was nervous.
Ike reached a hand out to Soren, but pulled it back before laying it on Soren’s shoulder. “Soren, I- I’ve been thinking a lot lately.”
“About?”
Ike cleared his throat. “What- what you mean to me.”
Soren’s eyebrows jumped up. “What do you mean?”
“Soren, you- you’re important to me. You’ve always been special to me and I don’t- I’ve never really thought much about it before beyond that all this time.”
“And?” The rest of the world fell away as Soren waited for Ike to respond.
“Well, I- You-” Ike looked into Soren’s eyes. “I really- I-” Ike’s hands clenched into fists by his side. “I find you really attractive- and I- you mean so much to me. I can’t imagine not having you in my life, by my side.”
Soren felt his cheeks flushing. “A-attractive?”
Ike nodded. “I’m sorry. I don’t know why I do. I just- I- Sometimes I forget everything else when we’re talking and the idea of holding you in my arms is really- ever since the war against Ashnard ended, it’s sometimes the only thing that relaxes me enough to sleep. And I- you’d figure it out eventually, right? So I- I figured I ought to tell you.”
“Ike,” Soren muttered. He leaned forward and rested his face against Ike’s shoulder. Ike wrapped his arms around Soren almost immediately.
“Soren?” Ike asked. “Is- I’m sorry. I- what- what do you make of it?”
“Make of what?”
“M-my feelings. You-” Ike huffed in irritation. “You know what I’m trying to say, right?”
Soren pulled back from Ike enough to tilt his head back and look into Ike’s eyes. A bright blue that rivaled the sea in both brilliance and depth. And yet, it was clear to Soren what Ike was feeling. Soren nodded minutely. “I do.”
“And?”
Soren’s eyes glanced briefly upwards, spying the mistletoe hanging in the center of the room above them. Ike turned his head to follow Sorens gaze. Ike let go of Soren almost immediately and swore out loud.
“Sorry, Soren, I didn’t realize- I forgot that was there.”
Soren reached out to Ike and tugged him closer, wrapping Ike’s hand around his back. Ike seemed to understand and held Soren tightly again.
“We- we can ignore it,” Ike said.
“You-” Soren’s face flushed red a little as he realized Ike’s focus kept breaking to glance briefly down at Soren’s mouth. Ike felt so tense. “What if we didn’t?” Soren suggested.
Ike’s eyes widened.
Soren felt so weak suddenly, as if he could only stand because of Ike’s grasp. His head spun at the idea. “I- I must admit that I- feel the same?” His voice became so light and strained as he tried to force himself to speak, despite feeling like he couldn’t breathe.
“Soren,” Ike muttered, reaching out a hand and brushing Soren’s bangs out of his face. “You really mean it?”
Soren nodded, feeling electricity pulse down his body from where Ike’s hand was cupping his cheek.
Ike swallowed and then darted his head forwards, the way he did things when he was nervous, but trying to get through what he felt like needed to be done. His lips crashed down on Soren’s and Soren inhaled sharply through his nose. Soren balled his hand into Ike’s tunic to stop Ike from pulling back, and they both relaxed into the kiss. Ike moved his hand back from Soren’s cheek to the back of Soren’s head, fingers tangled in Soren’s hair.
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the
Organization for Transformative Works
Soren flirts with a tavern owner to get a discount, and Ike feels intensely jealous, like any good friend would.
Just uploaded Chapter 9 of empty hourglass, so I thought I'd keep sharing chapters here! Also, happy Ikesoren Week everyone <333 this counts as my submission for today's prompt, Traveling
