Story Title: Boop!
Disclaimer: I don't own Breath of the Wild.
Author's Notes: It never fails that right when I have to go to work, I always wind up getting really cute ideas. As far as I know, this idea hasn't been done yet but even if it has been done, it was too cute not to write. I haven't even finished my other SidLink fic and I keep getting ideas... It's only going to get worse after I actually meet Prince Sidon in game, I know it will.
Again, I apologize if my characterization of Sidon is off, since I haven't reached him in game yet so a lot of my characterization is based more in fanon for right now. As always, thanks for reading.
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Story Title: Boop!
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It was only a game they were playing. Neither Link nor Prince Sidon were sure what the rules were or what they were doing but they were enjoying themselves underwater playing what was best called tag but it was not quite tag. Mostly they swam together, spiraling around one another in an underwater dance, and raced against each other—most of the time Sidon won but not without giving Link plenty of encouragement and chances to surpass him.
"Once you get accustomed to your Zora armor, I'm positive you'll be outmatching me by strokes," Sidon said after one of their races. He grinned, his sharp, triangular shark teeth glinting in the afternoon sun, and tousled Link's hair affectionately as he leaned in and added, "Confidentially, Link, I eagerly await that day and I will always welcome your challenge."
Sometimes they actually played tag but they just as often wrapped their arms around each other and sneaked in kisses and forgot to swim away.
But as the sun went down so left the light, and the water darkened, and hungry creatures slinking and swimming around in the water disappeared from Link's view. None were as large and fearsome as Prince Sidon, of course, and the creatures had kept away from him as long as the Zora prince was around Link. All was fine until Link realized he couldn't see through the water anymore—he only felt the moving current push and sway around him. And something was hunting him.
He felt it swimming around him. He felt the push and curve of the current quickening and closing in on him. He wished he had seen where Sidon had gone, or at least knew he could get his attention. Link dashed blindly through the water and the creature followed. He felt a thick fin brush along the back of his leg. Startled, Link twisted around in the water and stopped. He floated and searched the water for any sign of what might have touched him and what might come back for him. He found nothing, mostly because he couldn't see anything to begin with.
Link wished he could pull down his mouth guard and call out to Sidon, pointless as that was to do underwater. His instincts yelled at him to run and get out of the water and he did not second-guess himself. As Link darted toward the surface, the creature cut him off, its black shadow consuming what little moonlight dimly illuminated the water. Link halted and shouted in panic, fat air bubbles slipping out of his mouth guard.
Whatever the creature circling around him was, it was huge and fast. As it whipped back around and charged at him, Link saw sharp teeth glinting in the dark water. Link did the only thing he knew to do in that situation—he swung at it and bopped it hard on the nose.
The creature immediately twisted and turned away from Link. As it swam away, it raised its hands, not fins, and cupped its nose protectively. It was in that moment Link realized that the creature was not a hungry water-dwelling monster but a dear and loving boyfriend and that oh Goddesses, he had punched Sidon.
Not long after Link reached the surface and popped his head out of the water, Prince Sidon too came up. He still had a hand guarding his sore nose. "Y-You punched my nose," Sidon said, looking a little teary-eyed and sounding more than a little upset. "Why in heavens would you do that for?"
Link noticed through a gap in Sidon's hands that the pink around his nose was flushed red and throbbed. Keeping his hands visible in the moonlight, Link slowly explained their unfortunate misunderstanding. Even though Prince Sidon was quickly learning how to read Link's hands and face, there wasn't much light for the Zora prince to easily understand his message without Link having to repeat his signs and gestures over and over.
Sidon blinked in confusion. "You were scared? Of me? Why would you—" he said, shaking his head in disbelief, his protruding shark tail wiggling and slapping against his broad shoulders. "I would never hurt you."
Link opened his mouth wide and clicked its teeth together. Sidon's sharp yellow eyes grew wide as he gasped.
"...So you mistook me for a monster," Sidon said, the hurt in his stare evident, as he canted his eyes to the side and frowned. "Well, you would not be the first."
Link tipped his head to the side in curiosity as Prince Sidon turned away from him. "I had many non-Zora friends growing up. When summer came, we swam nearly every day," the Zora prince explained, a wisp of melancholy underlining his nostalgic tone. "One day, we were roughhousing a bit in and under the water. I was chasing a Hylian boy, but that summer I had grown tall and I was fast in the water. In my excitement, I must have bared my teeth at him. With my greater size and speed, I must have been a horrific sight."
"It never occurred to me that my friend was swimming so fast to get away from me. I was so keyed up by our playful frenzy that I rushed after him. I was just playing, like we all were, of course, but he didn't know that. He thought I was attacking him. When I grabbed him by the ankle, my friend twisted around and bopped me on my nose. My kind, we have very sensitive noses. We can't tolerate even the slightest tap."
"By the time I recovered and reached the surface, he and all my other friends were out of the water screaming hysterically about a monster. After that, none of them wanted to play with me. When I played with other friends, the same thing happened with them. I lost so many friends..."
Awash in guilt, Link dashed the short distance between them and threw his arms around Prince Sidon's waist and crashed into the Zora prince's bare chest right as Sidon felt the water shift and turned back around. Even if he had done it on accident to defend himself, Link regretted punching Sidon on the nose so much.
"Now, Link, I do not fault you one bit. Really, your hit hurt my pride more than anything," Sidon said and then perked up a little. He then flashed Link a tiny smile. "You have a magnificent hard right jab. If I had really been a hungry shark attacking you, I would have most certainly been dissuaded from eating you and would have chosen to locate less spirited prey."
Link offered him an appreciative smile in thanks, even though he was still embarrassed about hitting him.
Sidon slid a hand along Link's shoulder and down his back, stopping midway to pull Link closer to him. "I am truly sorry for frightening you. It was never my intention," Sidon apologized and bowed forward. "Thank you for not running away. You are truly marvelous. I love you and I treasure every moment we are together."
Before Sidon raised back up, Link braced his hands on the Zora prince's shoulders and jumped up. He quickly pecked a gentle kiss on Sidon's nose in apology. Momentarily surprised, Prince Sidon blinked and then gaze down at Link and smiled brightly.
Link asked Sidon if he could forgive him.
Sidon wrapped his arms around him and pulled him up and out of the water in a fierce hug. "If you can forgive me, I can most certainly forgive you," Sidon said and planted a giant kiss on Link's cheek, as Link grinned, his body shaking with silent laughter.