something i've written in the middle of the night.,,i've been thinking too much about this duo, and i havent wrote fan stories in such a long time; sorry.
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the feeling of being pulled away from the edge was abrupt, but after link recollected himself of what happened he was set down onto the deck, arms that were encircled around his waist retracted back to the holder's side; he staggered abit from feeling the sense of hard ground again. Linebeck gave a huff, sounding annoyed… yet a sense of unusual worry hinting in his tone, "jeez, kid! thats stupid of you to do that! what if you really fell off, huh?" he didnt wait for link to answer, as he was already returning to the engine room below deck, stomping his feet and giving out an exasperating sigh as he slammed the door behind him. anyone else would presume that this sort of mood wouldnt be taken too lightly, but link knew better. true, the personality changing abruptly from no interest at all towards the kid to suddenly picking up more than even he could sense was something totally noticeable, however link caught on onto the hidden details; the captain's wall of remote expressions, assuming a necessity for his high reputation, was diminishing ever so slightly every time the warrior child was doing something unsafe in his presence. in fact, link has done secret experiments on this theory; and he was right: there were times where link would purposely spill hot water from the kettle onto his hand…actually, the water wasn't even that hot, yet the steam emitted from it gave off the impression that it was hot enough…and it successfully did for the captain, for he quickly was at his side to press ice onto the spot, or that time where link had accidentally (it really was an accident) busted part of the engine in which he tried to help linebeck fix in the middle of the ocean. a thick puff of soot and coal dust enveloping the front of the compartment and covering both him and the captain in blackness; unintentionally link sneezed and claimed that he was fine, saying he didnt inhale much of the minerals from the smoke, yet linebeck was so quick to take out a clean rag and wipe his face, holding his head with the other hand so that he could really scrub off the soot…there were no warnings or calls of concern before the action ensued, although as quickly as it started the event ended as equally abrupt. but within those short moments the kid saw through linebecks protective wall, seeing the change in expression much differently and more tranquil than what was after the deed was done; he could distinctly remember how the older man held his hand carefully when applying ice, holding his palm and ever so lightly caressing his fingers, and when he firmly yet….lovingly?..held his head while he was wiping his face off, yet avoiding complete eye contact, and how moments
ago he felt the captain's arms squeeze a bit tighter than usual before quickly letting him down. The actions were noticeable, but what really intrigued link more was not only that; for whenever the captain came besides him, the amount of closeness became…smaller each time; the difference between each time was hard to distinguish, yet link felt that they were getting closer emotionally and physically. linebeck, in a few more tries, would probably be as close to a few inches from his face; theyve already established back hugs from what happened minutes ago. but link didnt need to be that close from the captains face to see that his ears and cheeks were drawn with color, besides his nose, of red blush. on rare occasions, link would imagine to wait until linebeck would crack, his emotionless and disinterested look would crumble like a broken wall, and he would imagine linebeck twitching his red ears with embarrassment, blinking of discomfort yet keeping eye contact with the kid, his palms holding his becoming shaky, witnessing his captain's expressions becoming conflicted yet trying to maintain posture (and failing ).
link jumped back to reality, jolting in his footwork as the engine turned back on and moving the ship all together again. link thought, what will i do next to get his attention?" and walked towards the door leading to the lower deck deep in thought. along the way, link crosses his arms around his waist area, and the feeling of linebeck's arms once again returned. link wishes that the next time, linebeck would hold on a little longer than how it would start.