A/N: This is something I've been wanting to write ever since I played the Song of Strife season. Soren is such a cutie and I miss him a lot.
That's pretty much it, lol, just a silly lil story to feed my own cravings
Summary: Never doubt a mage's skills, especially if said mage is the Magister Merlin.
Word count: 1277 words
Merlin kneeled and placed a couple more branches on top of the pile, making sure there was some organization in them and it was not just a scattered mess of wood. There, it should be good enough for the night.
The magister was about to get back on his feet when a firm, strong paw closed around his shoulder. Merlin looked up, meeting Soren’s gaze. “Here, you’ll need this,” Soren muttered, offering the man two rocks to start the fire.
Merlin smiled, shaking his head. “Thank you, but I don’t think so,” he turned back to the pile of wood. With a single snap of his fingers, a spark jumped from the tip of his digit, falling right on top of the branches and, soon enough, a fire began to crack. Merlin nodded proudly, but could feel Soren lighten up his grip before turning away and leaving.
“Hm? What's wrong?” Merlin asked, cocking his head to the side while watching the mauler take his seat somewhere else near the fire, resting his back against a larger rock. “Wasn’t that what the stones were for?”
Soren hummed, his eyes closed as he crossed his arms in front of his chair. His ears twitched a little at the sound of Merlin’s voice. “Yes, but you solved it with magic,” he let a small smirk take place on his lips, giving the campfire a look.
It was just like a regular one, just like the ones he and Alsa built every time they went out hunting or collecting resources. “At last, magic is useful for a thing or two, I suppose”, he chuckled, lifting his eyes to look at the magister instead. While Chippy, Hammie and Alsa were running around to set a comfortable place to rest, Soren and Merlin were tasked with getting a campfire ready. Still, if all it took was magic, were the two of them needed for this task?
“A thing or two, you say?” Merlin muttered with a bit of surprise, sitting on the opposite side around the fire. “Aren’t you being a little harsh just because I did a little trick?”
“But that was a compliment,” Soren smiled back at the mage. This wasn’t like him, to feel like teasing and taunting someone, but this guy and that two balls of fur still didn’t seem to understand how things worked in the Ashen Wastes. “Your magic seems useful for times like this.”
Merlin sighed, resting his head in one of his hands while looking at the mauler guy. It’s been barely a couple days since they arrived and Soren and Alsa seemed like good company to keep around. Still, while Alsa was careless and straightforward in her actions, Soren seemed a bit more… complicated. Reserved, cautious and somewhat stubborn.
If it wasn’t for Alsa, who knew how long it would take for the magister and his patrons to get into Soren’s good side? Even if it didn’t look like Soren trusted him now, Merlin guessed it was a work in progress.
“That was just a small trick. I can do a few more to entertain us for the night, if you’d like,” Merlin flashed the mauler with a friendly smile, making some small specs of light glisten in his palm.
Soren, however, didn’t look impressed. “Can it do anything actually useful? Can you fight with it, for example?”
Sigh, what a difficult guy. “Like Alsa, you mean?”
“She is… hm, yes, like her.” Soren nodded, gesturing a bit as he began to explain. At least one topic interested him, after all. “She can lift walls from the ground and even throw rocks at people - that’s useful.”
“I think I saw her making some dolls of dirt for the others back in the settlement. Wasn’t that useful as well? It made them happy.”
“Yes, but that’s just a trick.”
Merlin sighed. Just a trick, huh? “That’s… true, but you can trust me as well. I can stand my ground in a fight too!” Merlin forced a smile, flexing his arm and patting his bicep. Soren scoffed, unable to hold back a laugh at the gesture.
As offended as the magister could feel, he couldn’t deny that it was a sweet sight to behold - it probably was the first time he saw Soren let go of the tension, relax even for a moment. Maybe…
“Oh? You don’t believe me, do you?” He grinned, watching the mauler shake his head. “Then allow me to demonstrate, Soren.”
“Be my guest,” the guy chuckled again, leaning back against the rock and watching Merlin perform what he thought would be another lame, harmless trick.
The magister held his hands near each other, keeping barely a couple inches between his palms. With just a couple of whispers, energy began to surge between Merlin’s hands, bright lines swirling around each other until they took the shape of an orb. Soren managed to hold back his awe, playing an unamused facade.
Merlin finally opened his eyes again, the energy in his palm starting to look unstable. Something about it made Soren feel uneasy, but before he could protest or say something, Merlin spoke again.
“Don’t worry, it’s just a trick. This won’t hurt,” he mused, firing that energy at Soren.
All the mauler could do was to cover his face with his arms, his paws clenched while he pressed his eyes shut. Was that it?
No.
Before he could mock the magister for his seemingless useless trick, Soren felt an itch against his side, then on his stomach, against his ribs and even something flicking against his ear. Soren felt the corner of his lips curling up, twitching.
“W-what dihid- a-agh, wahait- hmmph..!” He pressed his paw over his face, his eyes widening with realization of what was happening.
It tickled.
“Is something wrong? I thought you’d like my little trick,” Merlin giggled, sitting back and watching the show unfold before him.
His trained, accustomed-to-magic eyes could see the energy swirling around Soren’s body, passing and running over his body, moving past his arms and down to his legs, flowing over his little bear ears.
It’s been a good, long while since he ever used this spell, but who would guess it would become useful in the Ashen Wastes of all places?
“M-Mahagister- ahAHa, w-whahat dihihid you doho?!” Soren laughed, falling to his side as his laughter slowly grew louder, unrestrained. He growled in annoyance, his paws swatting at his own body in the hope of blocking whatever was tickling him silly. “T-thihis is stuhuhupid!”
“It’s not if it works. And I can see it does,” Merlin smiled, watching as Soren rolled on the ground and tossed himself back at the place where he was sitting.
Soren kicked his paws and shook his head, his smile wide enough to bear his little fangs. “O-ohohokay! Stohohop it nohow!”
“That depends,” Merlin looked away, twirling a finger in the air as if controlling the flow of energy around Soren’s body, “what do you think about my magic now? Do you think we can make some use out of it?”
Just like it started, it was gone. All it took Merlin was a small gesture to dissipate the magic, freeing the other guy from the torment of that silly spell. “I’m glad you see my point,” he teased, deciding to let Soren off the hook easily this time. “Now, let’s check on the others… it’s been a while since they went to look for that meat.”
“Y-yes,” Soren gasped as he caught up his breath, pushing his body up to get up quickly, “right behind you, magister!”
