Story Title: Your Love Will Keep Me Warm
Disclaimer: I don't own Twilight Princess.
Author's Notes: Does Shad really hate the cold? Would he really be ineffective in a Snowpeak expedition? I don't know, and probably not, depending on how invested he was in the expedition's mission, but for this fic, it's a yes on both counts. Did I just want to write some warm, fluffy Shad/Link cuddles? Indubitably yes. Was the vast majority of this fic written back in December during a lengthy cold snap but was only finished months later? Obviously.
You wouldn't believe the amount of rewrites this little piece has gone through… Eventually there comes a time when you have to decide that the story is finished and that is that. Also, the Shad/Link ship has not sunk yet. Submarines are unsinkable, y'know.
As always, thanks for reading.
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Story Title: Your Love Will Keep Me Warm
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There was no doubt about it—it was too blasted cold to read. Shad mentally noted his page as he laid the shut book down on the bed and then buried his numb hands beneath the covers and under the bend of his armpits in hopes of warming them. Even with a crackling fireplace and every window inspected and sealed for air leaks, the guest room was ridiculously cold. One would have to be a yeti to survive in conditions like this and Shad was no yeti, though he had to be half mad for agreeing to come along in the first place. He was an academic most inclined to the temperate climes of Castle Town and Hyrule proper, not to this mountainous wasteland of ice, wind, and snow. This whole expedition was nonsense.
Shad had been unable to locate a single steady source of heat on the entire sprawling Snowpeak estate. He swore that that only way he was going to feel any warmth at all was if he crawled into a lit fireplace. The scholar had tried bringing a tall selection of books from the yeti's library back to the guest bedroom provided to him and Link for a bit of light reading, but even with the room's roaring fire and their mounds of blankets and sleeping furs on their bed, Shad was shivering profusely. He couldn't even focus on the words in front of him—the only thought running through his head was how just breathing seemed to coat a rime of frost on his lungs.
While its interior and exterior were equally beautiful and magnificent, this mansion's existence on Snowpeak made absolutely, positively no sense to him. First of all, there was no record of it, either in its library or in the historical records back in Castle Town—Shad had looked into the location after Link had asked him whether or not he wished to accompany him and Ashei. You see, Shad had figured that such an undertaking as constructing a mansion out in the foreboding, unrelenting mountains to the west of Zora's domain would have required a commission to a construction company or acquisition of a land permit, or that there would at least be a blasted newspaper clipping on the absurdity of the daft project but there was nothing! Beyond its stone walls, Link was the sole source of knowledge to its existence.
There had to have been people, though. A staff to serve the eccentric lady or lord of the mansion and their family. And there were signs that a great battle had taken place here, since much of the mansion was in disrepair or in outright ruins. Perhaps an elder Zora would be able to recall past dealings with either the mansion's original owner or some of its staff...
As curious as Shad was to learn more about the mansion's history, what he wanted to know more than anything was when he and Link would be departing from this abominably cold place.
"I think I've figured out the problem," Link announced quite blithely upon his return. The cold seemed nonexistent to Link, which baffled Shad to no end. Chainmail was far from a good insulator of heat, and while his tunic was made of a quality fabric, it wasn't particularly thick or appeared to be enchanted to ward off the cold as far as Shad could tell. He had to wonder, though, if Link's tunic possessed a fur lining or some sort.
Exposing his hand to the chill once more, Shad pulled down the scarves masking his mouth. "Fantastic, my dear boy! Oh, it will be marvelous to at last shed this cocoon and emerge a Hylian once more," he said, his voice rife with anticipation, as he flipped off the blankets covering his head. It was not as if he desired to remain confined to their guest bedroom for the entire duration of their expedition. There was information to procure out on the mountain and within the mansion, even if that knowledge had to be chiseled from the ice first. "To assuage my own curiosity, do inform me what the offending culprit in question was, will you?"
"There's a draft somewhere. Can't pin it down just yet though," Link said and that was all Link offered in explanation.
He thinks there's a draft? Shad felt a vein twinge on his forehead. "What a fine deduction of the obvious, old boy," the scholar said, his tone and stare utterly vexed, as he yanked his hood of blankets and furs back over his head and covered his mouth once more. "Next time you step outside, come back and let me know if the snow is still white."
Shad knew that Link had meant well, but for the length of time that the Hero had been gone, Shad had expected that he would have returned with a better answer than one the scholar had already determined for himself from simply feeling the cold air on his skin.
"Oh, bless your heart," Link said, as he climbed into the spacious bed provided to them and hugged his arms around Shad's blanket cocoon as far as the round mound allowed him to. "I hate to see you so miserable, especially since I dragged you out here."
No, no, Shad didn't have the right to be so annoyed. After all, Link was still determined to solve the problem and he was doing his best to pacify the scholar's grumbling, while Shad had given up, buried himself in blankets, and complained incessantly. If anyone should apologize, it was him.
"Now I see why you've been a bit frosty toward me this whole trip," Link said, unable to keep his pursed lips from stretching into a smile.
Unsure if the Hero was trying to be humorous to lighten the mood or was being intentionally vexing, Shad nonetheless rolled his eyes and groaned at Link's ill-timed pun. "In heaven's name, that kind of wordplay is not permitted for the remaining duration of our time on Snowpeak."
"No need to be so cold to me." Shad couldn't feel Link's kiss through his many layers of cloth and fur. "I'm just havin' a little fun—"
"Yes, at my expense!" Shad said. "Why I agreed to tag along on this trip I'll never understand. You and Ashei are far more than capable of handling yourselves in these frigid conditions than I. As far as the expedition has gone, you haven't once had any need of me or my expertise. You literally had to carry me on your back through the snow."
"Having your arms and legs wrapped around me, your chest and thighs flush against my back is a burden I'm willing to bear," Link said, a flirtatious tone deepening his voice a bit.
Shad was in no mood to tolerate Link playing around. "Do not skirt around the matter. Name one thing I have done on this expedition that was beneficial and that neither you nor Ashei could have contributed yourselves. ...You can't, can you?"
Link blinked bewildered back at him. "That's not the point," he said. "We wanted you to come. You're every much a part of the Group as me or Ashei."
"But without me here, you can achieve far more by yourselves. I'm an impediment to the expedition." Shad tipped himself over onto his side and let gravity collapse his blanket mound around him accordingly. The effort winded him. "Go on. Ashei should be by any moment to collect you to start out on today's objective. I'll remain here."
"Shad, stop it," Link said and began to peel back the layers upon layers of blankets only to find more underneath and further more beneath that. Having lost count of how many blankets and furs he had amassed around himself, the scholar truthfully would not be surprised if his layers were able to magically regenerate themselves. "Goddesses, I left you alone too long and now all this cold has crept right on in you."
That was a rather poetic and yet sufficient manner of explaining his present state, Shad had to admit. Shad disliked the cold and he possessed a low tolerance for it. And the longer he was exposed to any pervasive chill, the more his discontent fouled his mood. Without any research or any particular task for him on this expedition to occupy his mind, it wasn't long before his rising wave of negativity splashed his every suppressed worry and self-doubt to the surface. And if there was anything Shad hated feeling more than the cold, it was feeling useless.
Having just broken through the crust of Comforter Mountain, a tired and overheated Link had to take a break. "Y'know, there is another reason I asked you to go with me."
"Ashei told you that you'd get a good jolly at watching me waddle in the snow, yeah, did she not?" Shad wryly replied from deep inside the inner core.
"No...well, yes...but no," Link said. "But you and I, we haven't been able to spend much time together. Something always comes up, either with you and the University or with me and the ranch or Hyrule."
Both were sadly true. All their plans for extended visits and perhaps an adventure away never seemed to involve much time for each other or tended to fall through before the plan ever had a chance to start.
"I know that a snowy mountain range that's infamous for its blizzards and sub-zero temperatures isn't exactly romantic," Link said, "but I was hopin' that in our downtime we could enjoy it."
Through all the furs and blankets, the realization hit Shad. He's right. We've had all this time together and I've been too busy rotting it all away. The scholar's eyes were misty as he shed a few layers and ungainly sat back up with Link's help. He exposed his face and removed the scarf over his mouth. "I'm a right foul git," Shad said remorsefully.
"No, no, you aren't," Link said, as he hugged Shad's neck. "You're just cold. This place is cold. Heck, the mansion has more holes than halls still standing. It's no wonder that every room always feels like a Freezard is breathin' in your face, down your neck and back, and all places in between and below. I just tolerate it better."
"Now you listen to me," Link silenced the open-mouthed scholar before he had the chance to refute his words. "Ashei has a hard time getting across Snowpeak and I'm just freakishly strong. You focus so much on what you lack that you think so little about what you have. Stop comparing yourself to everyone around you, and especially to me. You don't have to beat me in a fight to win my love. You already have it."
Shad exhaled a long, tense breath he didn't know he had been holding onto. There were grateful, joyful tears in his eyes. "That's a relief. I shudder to imagine a world where that is our reality."
"Ah, you'd figure out some way to win that wouldn't need strength," Link said, with a charming grin.
"I do love that your heart is always in the right place," Shad smiled as Link pressed their foreheads together. Shad swore that he felt more heat in their little press now than he had felt the entire time he had been buried underneath all those blankets and furs. "Especially when I lose my head."
"Just so you know..." Link said as he kissed the center of Shad's forehead. "It's right here."
Tilting his head down and closing his eyes, the scholar agreed with a tight-lipped, bashful smile.