so thanks to loveandzelink (user 2603491), i've gotten the inspiration to make this again! it's floating somewhere else on this website and/or ao3, but this is definitely the real version now. so, without further ado, i present with great care, let me go.
disclaimer: i don't own loz or anything in the story but my words and the plot.
warnings for: drug use / abuse, underage drinking, general teenage tomfoolery
Fingers ran through blond, the ever familiar group of people surrounding him. Zelda, leaning against a poster of one of her movies (the teenage star being all too famous sometimes), Groose, leaning on Link's rolling chair. Sheik, laying next to Midna on Link's bed, Link himself in his ever familiar green camouflage beanbag chair. Impa, Zelda's manager and best friend, packing in the little green leaf pieces, sitting against her crush, Pipit, whom was setting up the glass and metal pipe for the plant.
Slowly, the pipe was passed around, Link's locked room being filled quite quickly with blown smoke rings. The feel of everyone was lazy, Zelda's head flopping to meet Link's shoulder as they dissolved into peals of stupid laughter over one of Sheik's many stupid jokes.
The pipe exchanged hands about as much as a note in class, Link doing a stupid impression of his history teacher -
"LINK FORTIS! GET DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT YOUNG MAN!"
"Shit -" Pipe snuffed out, Link's body spray filled the room as he threw a piece of gum in his mouth and sprayed some on. Unlocking the door, he motioned to hide everything as he traveled downstairs to 'meet his fate'.
"Yes, Aunt Uli?" Chewing the stick of gum to hide his breath, the teen figured his bangs were enough to cover his eyes.
"You were supposed to pick up Aryll and Colin from their practices today!"
"I thought practices got out around five."
"It's six!"
"Oh... I'm sorry, Aunt Uli, I really am – I'll pick them up next time, promise." A flash of a super sweet smile – his aunt almost melted, sighing loudly in annoyance.
"Fine. Get them next time. Or you're in deep shit, mister."
"Got it!" A childish salute as he trotted back upstairs, locking the door and sighing with relief.
"I cannot believe you forgot to pick up your cousin and sister, Link." Sheik snorted, pulling out a cigarette for everyone. Link took it, leaning on Zelda in his beanbag chair.
"Oh hush, you." Tossing a shirt at him from the floor, Sheik dodged it – and it landed on Midna, who shrieked in feigned surprise, making everyone dissolve into laughter. In order to preserve some image of proper teens, the group whipped out homework, falsely discussing the book that Link and Zelda were reading for Gerudo Literature.
"Link, mama's ordering dinner. She wants to know if your friends are staying." Colin's young face popped into the room, blinking at the group.
"What's she ordering?"
"Pizza."
Zelda grinned, laying her head in Link's lap. If one did not know any better, one could assume they were dating.
"I've gotta get home, actually. My mom's making chocolate cake and I am not missing that with those little kids." Pipit's mother ran an orphanage, and always made a chocolate cake once a week. Getting up and gathering his things, the teen grinned and waved goodbye, seeing himself out after saying goodbye to Uli.
"I think that leaves the rest of us." Groose chuckled, leaning further on the seat as his notebook lay in his lap – unopened.
"Ok!" Colin skipped back downstairs, and soon another young face popped into the room – one with a frown of disapproval, arms crossed.
"Really, big brother!? You're so stupid!" Yanking on his earring, Aryll Fortis began to lecture Link – who promptly could only cry out in pain from the tugging and try and pry her off without ripping out his piercing in the process. Eventually, Zelda managed to help him get her off, only for Aryll to grab his ear instead.
"Forgetting Colin and I!? Where's your brain!? You promised to protect me after mo-... You know!" Aryll was hurt by this, and Link had royally screwed up. Silently, everyone slinked to the hallway to give the two some much needed privacy.
"I'm sorry Aryll – I really am." After prying her off of his ear, the teen yanked her down into his arms, holding her close. "Just because I accidentally forgot you two once doesn't mean I'm not going to protect you. Just believe in me, ok?" Stroking her hair, the teen felt her arms wrap around his torso.
"... You big wimp, how can I believe you when you're so scrawny?" Aryll mumbled into his chest, prompting a deep, rich laugh from Link – one she liked to hear, as it signifyed that Link was fine and wouldn't leave her too.
"I've got the element of surprise! … Hey, you know what Fortis means?" Aryll shook her head, bright baby blues looking up into sapphires. "It means 'hero'. So, I'm your hero, then!"
Grinning despite the obvious smell of pot that lingered around him, despite the obvious reason that she was forgotten, Aryll knew Link wouldn't forget again – or let her down. "Doesn't that make me your hero, then, too?"
A soft chuckle. "Guess so, kiddo. I guess so. Promise to save me if things get too rough?"
"Promise! Promise to save me from big scary bullies?"
"Absolutely, positively." Ruffling her hair, getting a shriek of indignance as a reply, the teen grinned and stood up, standing her up on the floor.
"Help me with maths later?"
"You might want to ask Zelda – I'm not good at maths, remember."
"... You're hopeless, big brother!"
Laughing, Link opened the door, deciding to keep it open with the window to air out. The group was downstairs, Groose and Impa playing some kind of fighting game with Colin while Zelda kept score. Aryll skipped into the kitchen to sneak a brownie, promptly being shooed out by Aunt Uli. Flopping onto the couch, Link scoffed at Groose's poor handling of the game.
"Lemme show you how it's done." Effortlessly, Link bested both Impa and Colin in less than two minutes.
"The hell?" Impa stared at Link, who simply shrugged and opened his mouth to reply, when –
"LANGUAGE!" Aunt Uli shook her fist playfully out of the kitchen at whomever dared to utter 'hell' in her house.
Link laughed, before stretching. "Learned it from dad I guess... He used to play games with me as a kid."
"And whoop you into next year."
"Aryyyyyyyyll!" Whining childishly, she scoffed at him, grinning nonetheless.
"Sometimes I wonder who's the older sibling," teased Zelda, prompting a balled up piece of paper to be tossed at her from Link in indignation. This led to a laugh, and Zelda talking to Aryll about school – and her maths homework, of course. Link continued to thrash Impa in the game, Colin having taken up to watching.
Impa fought with might, putting up a good fight against Link's ultimately superior game play. However, Uncle Rusl came home from the station, and in a show of how childish he could be, picked up Colin's old spot and thrashed both Link and Impa instead of going to get changed and relax.
"Auuuugh! Uncle!"
"Remember, I taught your father what he taught you." Impa laughed, leaning back in the seat. The doorbell rang, proving the pizza to have arrived. Link slid to grab the money, paying the unfortunate classmate or young person to be the deliverer. Carrying the six boxes to the dining room table, everyone crowded around to grab what they wanted before it was gone.
Piled around the living room, the teens laughed and chattered, eating as Rusl and Uli watched them, eating at the table like proper adults. Zelda had squared away with Aryll to do her homework as they ate, Link and Impa talking with Groose about how exactly to play the game, Colin comforting Groose over not really understanding it. Midna and Shiek were leaning on one another, eating from eachother's plates instead of their own.
Groose went home after a while, and Impa left to run an errand or two for Zelda that involved managing her career. Zelda stayed, leaning on Link while he played against Shiek, Colin watching as the two of them stayed evenly matched. Midna was cheering on her boyfriend, the ruby eyed teen grinning as he kept Link on his toes.
"Don't stay up too late, kids, school tomorrow." Rusl warned them, waving goodbye to Zelda, Shiek, and Midna – usually they tended to be gone before morning. Uli was already upstairs, and Colin retired to bed a while after. Aryll stayed to fight her brother in the game, joining in against Shiek and Link. Around one in the morning, they left, leaving Link to slink upstairs to go to bed. Aryll had gone up about an hour earlier, and he found the blonde girl in his bed, curled up – waiting for him, but asleep.
Yawning, stripping down to his boxers and throwing on a tank top, Link crawled into bed, wrapping arms protectively around her. It took very little for him to sleep, but what he saw in his dreams would wake him for the rest of the night.
"W-What's going on? L-Link, I'm scared -"
"It's ok Zelda. I'll relieve you of that fear, ok?"
"L-Link, s-stop this! Sto-"
Crimson everywhere, splattering walls and the blond.
Cold, dead sapphires staring, hurt and betrayed.
A laugh, high pitched and cold and too distorted to be his.
so that's it. r&r, 2nd chapter coming asap. this took me a while to write ehe.