A/N: For some reason I randomly started playing The Lost Age again and really got into Golden Sun… again XD Got a fair few ideas for this but need to get the introduction outta the way first, so…

Author: Yoru Ryu
Rating: K+ (PG-13)
Shipping: Mudshipping and various others
Summery: A hapless Isaac wants to propose to Mia, but with friends like theirs who needs enemies.
Disclaimer: If I owned Golden Sun there’d already be a third game, so I don’t TT

Modus Operandi
Introduction

It was quiet enough to hear a pin drop and yet the silence was deafening. A loose checker dropped to the floor with an almighty clatter and rolled to a stop across the room with devastating rattle.

“Garet?”

The redhead sat at the small table behind his black checkers still as stone, hand poised over the board, his eyes staring off into the distance through his best friend. “Yeah?”

“Are you okay?”

“I’m just fine, Isaac.” the redhead replied, still stone-still and wide-eyed. “S-so, how long?”

The blonde opposite him tilted his head, “how long what?” he asked quizzically.

“How long have you wanted to…” Garet cut himself off with a gulp; he couldn’t say it.

“Oh. For as long as I can remember. It just sort of happened, you know? When it happens you can’t control it and now it just feels right to do this,” Isaac said with enough sincerity to drive a blade through the heart of a best friend. He sat awaiting the next checker to be played.

Slowly lowering his hand Garet numbly placed his black checker onto a random square of the playing board. His eyes bored into the back of his own hand as he felt the gaze of his friend resting on him. Fingers trembling and throat dry he uncurled his grip on the small disk finalising his move. Carefully lifting his eyes he met the gaze of his friend who smiled brightly.

“Sorry to spring it on you so suddenly, Garet,” Isaac said while moving a checker of his own, effectively winning the game. He stood up swiftly, “I know why you’re so worried, but don’t worry. Of course you’ll be my best man, Garet!”

Garet chocked out a reply through his burning throat, “oh, hey. T-that’s great, man…”

He watched as the blonde neatly left the room with a blinding smile and without the slightest inkling as to his best friend’s pain.

Tearing down the path leading from his house Garet ignored the rantings and flung insults from his elder sister shouted from the doorway. How dare Isaac want to propose to Mia! After the nineteen years they’d been friends he thought they had an understanding - friendship over relationship! Obviously not. Bah.

He kicked a stone down the archway of trees leading away from his house. Didn’t Isaac know his actions would mess with the whole system? Things had been carefully worked out since… forever! Himself, Isaac, Felix and Jenna - they all had an understanding.

If Isaac got married his whole world would tumble down on him. Isaac would move in with Mia or vice versa and spend less and less time with him. They’d start hanging around with other married couples, going out for dinners, settle down on a farm, and-and… children! Children hated Garet! They threw things and bit savagely. He huffed; how could Isaac be so selfish?

A pathetic sob escaped him as he thought about it. This treachery couldn’t go unreported! His very world depended on it!

So without further ado he rushed to their leader’s house, barrelling over those who didn’t manage to avoid his desperate footfalls.

Hammering on Felix’s door he had to catch his fist from connecting with the face appearing behind the door. A dour scowl met his urgent banging.

“What the hell are you doing?” Jenna snapped.

“Oh, Jenna, it’s terrible! Isaac wants to - Isaac’s going to - !” He couldn’t continue as he grabbed for his friend with over exaggerated gestures.

Jenna slapped his hands away. “What’s Isaac doing? This better not be like that time you wore beehives as turbans to blend in with Gondowan,” she deadpanned, clearly not impressed with the Fire Adept’s performance on her doorstep.

Immediately regaining himself Garet sneered back; “it’s not like that.” Jenna raised a sceptical eyebrow. “Really, it’s not! Just let me in.”

“’cause if you think you’re coming in here with a beehive -”

“Jenna!”

The distinctive childish arguing between his sister and the oaf preceded them as they ruefully invaded his room. With an irritated sigh Felix turned in his seat to greet them.

“Okay, okay! In hindsight, the beehive idea wasn’t our best, but it worked at the time, so who’s laughing now?” Garet’s voice reverberated around the small room.

“Certainly not that peddler,” Jenna’s snide comment immediately followed.

Sighing irritably again Felix spoke quickly to interrupt the full-blown argument looming, “Garet. What do you want?”

The redhead suddenly stopped, his eyes staring the group’s unofficial leader down. “What do I want?” he asked himself, imitating the older Adept poorly before exploding; “I want you to kick some sense into Isaac!”

Observing his sister’s shocked expression he figured he must have looked equally shocked judging by their friend’s sudden outburst. Sure, the redhead would blow his top quite often, but usually he’d go running to Isaac not demanding to have the blonde beaten senseless.

Ignoring his sister’s indignant snort Felix continued, “Garet, are you feeling alright?”

“I’m just dandy,” Garet replied shortly.

With a shake of his head Felix decided on the best course of action - humouring Garet - he replied just as irritably, “enlighten me.”

It came as a shock to them all;

“Isaac is going to propose to Mia.”

“What!?”

Suddenly both boys stared abashedly at the female fire Adept.

Jenna coughed awkwardly, “I mean-uh… what?”

“I mean Isaac’s gonna marry Mia,” Garet said slowly.

Another sad shake of the head Felix drew his eyes from his sister’s nervous shuffling and returned to his quill and leaves of paper. He sat straight in the chair with hands clasped and an emotionless expression looking out the window.

“This is problematic,” he stated, sagely.

Garet punched his hands together, ”hah! I knew it!”

“Yes,” Felix said calmly, “although it was predictable. We should have anticipated such an event, but now the best we can do is to deal with it.”

Jenna slammed down on her brother’s bed, hard, “how dare you, Isaac!” she cursed the roof. “Geeze, running off and marrying Mia after our nineteen years together, humph.” Silence followed her proclamation.

“In all seriousness, Jenna,” Felix slightly inclined his head, “when have you ever really shown much interest in Isaac? Would you really like to marry him?”

“Well, “Jenna scratched her head, “I’d like the option,” she said indignantly.

The brunette turned his face back to the window. Garet huffed and crossed his arms. “What about me? I’m still free,” he pouted.

“This is no time for jokes, Garet,” Jenna jabbed the male fire Adept in his side, watching him squirm.

Brushing the feathery end of his quill against his chin, Felix thought aloud; “ Isaac defecting from our group will create some major repercussions. Between the four of us we’ve crafted a complicated ecosystem and a society built upon each other. The removal of one single building block from that society could very well be our downfall.”

Garet rubbed his forehead, “uuh, yeah. That’s what I was thinking…” he laughed nervously.

“No, it wasn’t!” Jenna immediately argued. It was automatic and one of the said building blocks of their personal society. “You just don’t want Isaac running off ‘cause you don’t have any other friends.”

Garet clenched his fists ready to counter with an equally barbing truth before; “… mean,” he sniffed sadly.

“The question is,” Felix continued, oblivious to the fire Adepts, “what can we do about it?” The unsaid ‘Lord knows we’re all too sad to ever find a date and move on’ comment echoed around the room painfully.

Standing from the bed Jenna held a hand up urgently before quickly dropping it as If her idea had suddenly escaped her. Garet rocked back and forth on his heels, arms crossed and a strained expression pulling on his face - also idealess. Both the younger Adepts shrugged at each other before turning to the brunette.

“What’s our modus operandi?” they both asked together.

Quill met paper as Felix started scribing down their plan. The blonde wonder wouldn’t be leaving the folds of their society any time soon.

A/N: Short chapter is short. First chapters are always hard, ugh. When has Jenna shown any interest in Isaac? In Madra, but whateva. The shenanigans begin next chapter if anyone read and reviews. I probably should have waited till I’d finished the first chapter and posted these together, but, eh. Hindsight. Wow, I really want to get back into the fandom though but it’s so hard to find active places :cc