Hey look, another one based on a prompt, but this one grew into... something?
Hooked on a Feeling
Link had arrived to the gymnasium with the sole intention of burning some energy. He had finally learnt how the treadmill worked; even if it wasn't his favourite activity, outside jogging was way better for him than running on one same spot. Too bad a storm had decided to ruin his plans.
After a good while playing with the settings on the machine, he had given up and went towards one of the weight lifting benches, ready to give it a try before Ganondorf arrived to hurdle them all, when he spotted Ike on the foam mats, stretching up while teaching Pit how to properly do it without pulling a muscle. It was then when he noticed more people had entered the gym to work out, contrary to when he had arrived.
He smiled at the sight, despite the music he was listening through earphones, he would get some pieces and bits of the conversation, something about Ike showing the young angel about his skills. Next thing, Link was looking in awe how Ike was doing push ups, with only one hand.
"Thirty eight… thirty nine"
"Link you are creating a pool of saliva on the equipment"
Link jumped from the bench, a hand reaching to his mouth to check if it was true he had been drooling but frowned in frustration when Marth sat beside him, laughing at his expense.
"That was not funny" he said, pulling his earphones away "he could have heard you"
"It was funny, Roy took a picture" the prince replied, pulling down the towel around his neck to dry some sweat from his face "I thought you said you were going to work out with no distractions"
"Sixty! New record Ike!"
Link turned his attention towards the mats, looking how Ike was already standing up from doing push ups with only one arm. Link stared at how Ike worked his arms above his head, pulling one elbow behind his head, how the grey tank top would curl up along and reveal part of that well-toned abdomen…
"You're doing it again"
Link blushed and looked away, catching Marth's smug expression.
"I see why your fixation on the guy"
"I'm not fixated on him" Link lied, his face heated up in embarrassment.
Marth snorted "right, because spending the last twenty or so minutes staring at him is definitely not fixation"
Link huffed, but his eyes were already gazing towards the mercenary, who had just got back on the foam mat to start his push ups again, with the other arm, now accompanied by Roy, who was just sprawled on the other mat, busy with his phone. Marth was right, he was hooked on the mercenary, ever since he had arrived and the way he would smile and how down to earth he sounded whenever he talked, not to mention how dedicated he was on the battlefield.
"How can he do that?" Link muttered, ignoring Marth's eye roll "he even lets Pit on his back while he does it, look at him!"
"Jealous?" Marth smirked, earning a punch on his shoulder "ow ok, getting serious here, have you tried lifting his sword? No wonder the guy has all that strength"
"Nineteen, twenty" they heard the angel counting each push up, Ike just focusing on keeping a balance while he pushed his body upwards and Link was once again caught staring the way that arm flexed and showed how firm those muscles were.
"You should totally ask him out already" Marth smirked "before someone steals him away from you"
"Why must you say it like that" he sighed, hands fiddling with the earphones cord. The truth was, Link was already seeing Ike, had been for the past two months and so far it was amazing. Yes, he would prefer to talk about it with his friends and show around that it was him the lucky guy dating Ike, but he was also aware of how the rest of the smashers were when it came to meddling with others relationships. He had seen it years ago when Zelda and Samus arrived to the dining room one morning while holding hands, or how many days they spent teasing poor Robin with Chrom. The only one who had survived the prank war had been Marth, and that was because no one dared to try pissing him off –he remembers Roy being subject to it too but he was alright with joking and pranking as long as Marth wasn't involved-
"Oh come on, don't be a pessimistic elf" Link groaned "look, I have it from very good reliable sources that Ike would not turn you down"
"Reliable sources" Link repeated, "you mean Falcon, Zelda and Peach's gossiping?"
"They happen to know more than you give them credit for" he smiled "like, I happen to know at least three more smashers who have their eyes targeted on the mercenary"
Link raised an eyebrow at his friend, but he was not going to admit the possibilities of that being true. His stomach sunk at that thought, remembering all possible scenarios where there was some interaction of them with Ike. Sure there was Rosalina and Palutena who were really friendly with him, but they were friendly with everyone and Pit had mentioned that Palutena was like that. But then he thought of Pit's dark counterpart and not to mention…
"What about your granddaughter?"
"You had to put it that way didn't you?" Marth rolled his eyes "I don't know about Lucina's interests but Ike does seem to fit her type of guy"
"Seriously?"
"Hey man you asked" Marth stood up "anyway, I'm going to work out, something we should be doing in here?"
"Shut up" Link stood up as well "I'm calling quits for now, will see you during dinner"
He made his way to his room instead of using the gym showers, last thing he wanted was another encounter of that sort. The rain was still falling outside of the mansion, tapping against the crystals. Link couldn't even tell what time it was because the sky looked so dark, but he figured he had at least a couple of hours before dinner time.
The hallway was empty by the time he had arrive to his room and locked the door behind him, walking in the direction of his bathroom while tossing away his clothes on the way, the sound of the shower mixing with the rain outside.
Link sighed, the warmth of the water feeling good against his skin. He closed his eyes, focused only in how the water would cover him and how soothing it was for his muscles. But soon enough, thoughts of the previous conversation resurged, making him sigh in frustration.
He knew he would take the commentaries, had done it before when they all thought he and Zelda were a thing –he shuddered at that, Zelda was like a sister to him- and perhaps he was being slightly overprotective of Ike.
He mused about how to come up with the mercenary about it when he heard pounding from outside, accompanied by Roy's voice.
"Link! You alive in there? Are you trying to drown yourself?"
The hylian rolled his eyes, turning off the water stream. It was then when he noticed he had spent a good amount of time in the shower, no wonder he had come for him.
"I'm good! I'll catch up with you all in a moment!" he yelled, a towel wrapped around his waist as he looked for a set of clean clothes.
"Alright! Don't take too long man!"
Since it was still raining –huh, they'd probably blame him for that- he decided to wear one of his favourite hoodies, the tattered one on the hems with holes in the sleeve but comfortable enough to enjoy the rest of the evening. By the time he reached the dining room, the place was already full with the rest of the smashers, but he smiled when he found where Ike was sitting, and his plate almost empty.
"Did I make you wait?" he greeted the mercenary as he approached the table, sitting in front of him, a hot plate of steamy broth with him.
"Not really" Ike replied, offering Link the bread basket with his clean hand "Marth and Roy were here a moment ago but they just served something with kale? So, you know"
"Ah, and I suppose you didn't bother in getting up for some of it?"
Ike grabbed his glass and smiled behind it, but the moment was interrupted when Snake sat just next to him.
"Hey kid"
"Hey Snake" he replied automatically, putting his glass as far from the soldier as he could "what are you up to?"
"I am here to do you a favour" Snake said, ignoring Link's expression "I'm going to be your wingman tonight"
Link choked on the piece of bread he was eating, face turning red at Snake's words, but Ike just raised his eyebrows in disbelief at the older man.
"I told you, I am not interested"
"Alright fine, then you can be my wingman tonight"
"I don't even know how to do that" Ike laughed, pushing the jug of water towards Link "are you ok?"
Link lifted a hand, trying to make an ok sign with his fingers while taking a long gulp of water. It's not that he couldn't blatantly tell Snake off because Ike was already seeing someone, that person sitting right in front of him, but the man was odd already and had caught Link off guard.
"Come on Ike, you should give it a try for the poor old man's sake" Marth said as he sat right next to Link, smiling at the mercenary "it can't hurt you to try"
"I uh…" Ike gave Link a quick glance but the hylian hadn't voiced out a sound since Snake arrived, and he couldn't just say what he wanted to because Link had asked him to keep it a secret for the moment, "I really don't think I'm good at this"
"Oh come on, Link would agree, don't you think?" Marth looked at his blond friend, chin resting on his hands.
Link swallowed, his entire face flushed. He wanted to punch Marth in the face but that would raise more questions, something he was not going to face in the middle of the dining room. So much for mustering up the courage of talking about it with Ike.
"What do you say kid? Want to help me? We can get you a date in the process"
"I told you hundreds of times, I don't want to"
"And why is that?" Marth asked, pinching Link's elbow from below the table.
"Because I-"
"Because he's dating me already!" Link finally snapped, standing up and slamming his hands against the table "he's already seeing someone, who is me! We are dating, we are going out, so back off him already!"
The sudden silence in the dining room made Link realise his words had come out louder than what he had thought they were.
"Woo! Congratulations!" Zelda yelled at last, clapping from the table she shared with Samus and Peach, the other two groaning as they pulled out some money.
Little by little smashers stood up to give money to others, some smirking while others muttering of how Link should have waited two more weeks to confess, the hylian looking dumbfounded around him.
"What… what is going on?"
"Oh, just a little wager" Marth smiled, counting his share "we were betting how long it would take you to spill the beans"
"But, but you, and" he looked at Snake but he had disappeared to some other place, and to Roy who was giving some coins to Pit "what?!"
"Link, you aren't exactly subtle" Marth stood up and walked away, leaving Link alone with Ike.
The hylian slumped back on his seat, baffled at what had happened, when suddenly he felt a warm hand above his, a thumb rubbing in circles across the skin. He looked up, surprised to see Ike smiling at him, his hand still over his.
"I'm sorry, I didn't… I don't know what to say"
"You kind of said more than enough" he replied "which, well, I'm flattered"
"You are?"
"Well, if I remember how they are with well, these" he pointed at them with his free hand "that was very brave of you and I am flattered"
"You are not mad?"
"Uhm no" Ike shrugged "it was getting exhausting to say no lots of times to Snake and I was starting to think you were embarrassed of being seen with me or some-"
Link didn't let him finish that sentence as he pulled him close by the shirt and crashed his lips against his, resulting in a mess of teeth and lips.
"Are you kidding me? I couldn't take my eyes away from you this afternoon" he said after pulling away "last thing you'll hear from me is that I'm embarrassed of being with you, I swear"
Ike smiled, pulling closer for a more appropriate kiss when a spray of water fell on their heads, soaking them completely.
"No PDA in the dining room guys!" Pit exclaimed from above their heads, gliding while holding a bucket, some smashers laughing behind them.
Link glared at the angel, about to make a comeback, when Ike started to laugh, droplets of water falling down his nose and landing on the table.
"We'll keep that in mind" he waved at Pit, standing up and taking Link's hand with him "come on, you'll catch a cold all soaked"
Link felt his heart beat rising, his cheeks and ears flushing and his hands were probably sweating, but in that moment he couldn't help the smile on his face as he walked side by side with his mercenary, hands entwined as they laughed at their soaked heads.