just a couple months ago, if somebody told me that i was going to write a modern au, i would have told them to piss off. that just ain't me.
and now here i am. this pairing has the power to change a man.
not really all that relevant, but originally it was going to be a bookstore instead of a library, then i realized link would be Broke Ass pretty quickly.
"Ah, you finished reading it already?" He asked as he pushed up his glasses, voice hiding no amazement, "How was it?"
"Pretty good," Link said, "I liked it."
That was a lie, though. He only read about a fourth of the way through, read the summary on the back, then skimmed through the rest. Link had never really been too much into literature, and when he was, it wasn't typically books like that (it was really high fantasy). However, the librarian seemed so eager and hopeful when he recommended it to him, which meant Link had to like it.
He showed no less enthusiasm towards his reply. His hands clasped together and Link was graced with a smile (his reactions always made Link feel a bit better about, well, basically lying to him).
"Wonderful, wonderful," he said, "I thought you would enjoy it."
He then went on to talk about how much he liked the author's other works, how she even had written a fairly lengthy series that he used to keep up with. Link was only half-listening to his words— he didn't really care for the subject as much as he just liked listening to him talk.
This was a pretty normal occurrence. Once a week, in fact. Although, if Link had it his way, he would have been visiting the library everyday to see him. The only thing stopping him was that the only excuse he had for even coming was the librarian's constant recommendations and no right human could ever read a novel— especially at the length some of those books were— in a single night.
The entire thing started one stormy night. Link had come inside the library to shelter himself from the torrent of rain. He had always knew it was there, he just never had a reason to go in. Link used to like reading when he was younger, but as he grew older, he found that he had lost interest in indulging himself with literature. He was more of a movie and music kind of guy.
He had only planned on staying inside until the rain stopped, or at least lightened up, but then he saw one of the librarians— auburn hair, neatly styled save for one stray lock that curled against his forehead. Dressed way too formal just to be a librarian. From someone else's view, there was absolutely no reason why somebody like that should have caught his attention, but something about him drew Link in. His interest was only affirmed when he actually started talking to him.
Within three visits, Link had learned a lot about him. Actually, it almost shocked him how much he knew about him and it seemed with every visit, he learned something new. He knew his name was Shad. He knew he attended a pretty prestigious university and only worked at the library part-time. He knew his favorite genre was historical fiction. He knew he had an ardor for Hylian lore. He knew he had an extremely picky taste in clothing. He even knew he listened to an embarrassing amount of love songs.
(Shad didn't actually tell him that last one; he dropped his phone when he went to go put some returned books back on their shelves and Link couldn't help himself from going through his music.)
For some reason, Link thought his relationship with Shad would go kind of like a teen romcom. Shad was the cute nerd that would inspire Link to take up a surprising interest in literature and they would fall in love over their newly-sparked common interests.
That wasn't how it was going at all. It was actually just Shad talking mostly about books, Link not reading anything that was given to him, and Link absolutely failing at flirting (he tried to go for a subtle approach, but he was sure he was being too subtle).
"You got any more recs?" Link asked when Shad had finished his spiel about that author, though obviously he wasn't actually looking for that, but just needed an excuse to keep a conversation with him.
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do— ah, but, before that, there is a new shipment of books I must put away," Shad replied, "We are free to continue talking, but I'm afraid I can't assure you I'll be very attentive."
"That's fine with me." Of course it was. He didn't care if Shad was preoccupied with something else, as long as he talked to him about something, Link didn't care about anything else.
Link followed him to the front desk, stopping in front of the counter and watched as Shad went into the back room. He was barely visible through the door, in a corner opening a rather large box and actually sniffing its contents before taking a stack of books out and cradling them in his arms.
...Link never imagined that he would ever in his life think that somebody smelling books was cute.
Shad began to wander through the aisles of books, looking at the ones in his arms and placing them in what was their right place on the shelf surprisingly fast (Link could never figure out where all those went in such a short amount of time. He wasn't even entirely sure how the library was organized). They talked about irrelevant things as Shad did his job.
In one of their conversations, Link learned that Shad was allergic to cats. So much for inviting him over to his place. He had two of them.
"So…" Link began after their talking had come to a silence for a bit, "You got a girlfriend?"
"No, I do not." Shad replied as he pushed a book tightly between two others, completely nonchalant.
"Really?" He hoped he didn't sound as eager as he thought he did, "Get so many confessions, it's hard to choose, eh?"
Shad quietly clicked his tongue as he scanned over the book in his hand. He clearly hadn't processed the question yet, that or chose to put it off until he finished whatever he was doing. He moved to a different aisle and looked over the letters taped to the shelves before he pushed the book into its designated section by its spine.
"Actually, I don't get any confessions," he finally answered, "It is beyond me how you would come to such a conclusion."
"Seriously?" Link asked, leaning against the shelf, "I thought you'd be popular with girls."
Shad scoffed. "That's shocking to hear from someone like you— aren't you popular?"
"Uh, well," he laughed and scratched the back of his head, "I wouldn't really say that."
"Oh, do not play modest," Shad looked at him and grinned, "I have seen the way women here look at you and I know you must notice it, too."
Link only laughed (because there was no way he could deny that and be convincing about it) and the conversation came to another halt as Shad continued sorting through books. He had went back to grab another armful and finished two sections before Link spoke up again.
"So, then," Link cleared his throat and looked away, "You don't have a boyfriend then, do you?"
He didn't see it, but he heard the sound of a hardback book hit the carpeted floor. When he looked back, Shad had knelt over to pick it up and Link swore he caught a glimpse of red on his face.
"N- No, I do not…" He mumbled as he quickly pushed himself back up and put the book in place with haste.
Was that question too obvious?
Well, even if it was, he wasn't about to change the subject.
"In- uh, in that case…" Link didn't blush often, but he could feel his face heat, "A new coffee shop just opened not too far from here, you should let me take you there one day."
Shad didn't respond. When Link looked to him, he was looking at the spine of a book in his hand, but he wasn't reading anything, just idly staring at it. As if he was just using it as an excuse to not look at Link.
Maybe it was too soon for that.
"Uh, I mean- I mean if you're not into that, I get it, just forg—"
"I would like that, I think," Shad interrupted him, this time Link was sure his face was red. "I would like that very much, actually."
Link wasn't particularly religious, but he thanked every goddess right then.
After Shad had finished putting the new books away, he had taken a small paper from his notepad and quickly scribbled his number on it.
"I have class every weekday morning and I work full time on Saturday," he told him, "I get off Saturday evening and I am completely free on Sunday."
"Alright…" Link replied, but he was still a bit dazed from how well that went.
"Oh, and Link," he grinned and leaned in close to him, his lips only a couple inches away from his ear, "Now that this has been established, there's no reason to keep pretending you read the books I give you."
Link stepped back, absolutely startled from that statement. How long had he known?!
Shad only looked at him with a coy smile on his lips. That only startled him more.
Link lounged on Shad's couch, sprawled out with both arms extended up, his phone in his hands. He was texting Ilia, as she asked him how things were going, which reminded him.
"Hey, Shad." He started.
Shad, who sat in a nearby chair reading some weird book, made a short grunt, an indication to continue.
"When I used to go to the library to see you, when did you realize I wasn't actually reading those books?"
He looked away from the book and hummed in thought.
"Probably around the third time." He answered.
Link blinked in surprise. He had been found out completely, apparently.
"Actually, that was only a suspicion," Shad continued, "I knew for sure around your fifth visit when I slipped my number in between a couple pages, and when you returned it, the paper had been left unmoved."
...Oh.
Link learned that Shad was a lot smarter than he looked. Which was a bit frightening, because Shad already looked pretty damn smart.