wow, i can't believe the last fic i published was that self-indulgent birthday pwp all the way back in march.
anyway, i was dealing with some pretty heavy depression there for a while and just didn't feel like doing much of anything. which is disappointing because summer is really the only time i can sit down and write anything worthwhile and i wasted that away lmao.
but, i'm starting to feel better. at least, i've healed enough to start writing again.
ANYWAY, i decided to write another shadlink ficlet, since there hasn't been anything new for this ship in a while! c:
Romance had always been a rather...difficult subject for Shad.
He had certainly dated in the past— though probably not as much as other men his age. Almost definitely not as much. That is, if those relationships could even be considered actual relationships. Aside from the one he was currently in, the longest he had kept a significant other was four months. Four months. It probably wouldn't have lasted that long if it had not been for the fact the other man was rather meek and probably too shy to break it off any sooner.
It wasn't that he disliked his partners or anything. In fact, he quite liked them and he was always heartbroken when they split up (it was never him doing the breaking up, it was always him being broken up with…). He either had no clue how to properly convey his feelings or he realized he didn't quite like them to the extent he thought he did when they first got together.
Common complaints were, it's hard to tell if you even care, sometimes I have to wonder if you're dating me and not your books, you never give me any attention.
And others of that sort.
He just simply wasn't any good at romance. So, he decided he was probably destined to be alone as far as his romantic life went. Which, for a while, he was.
Until Link showed up in his life.
Honestly, Link was the last person he ever expected to actually want to waste his time with him, he had actually asked Shad out first. Of course, he didn't expect it to last long. Actually, he expected it to be probably the shortest relationship he'd experience (which wasn't long considering the shortest was nearly a month, not even one). However, he truly did like him, so knowing that, he accepted the offer nonetheless. He decided to prepare himself for the hurt in advance and cherish him as much as he could.
He was both the luckiest and unluckiest man in Hyrule.
Seven months passed.
Seven months. Over half a year passed and they were still an official couple.
Which was odd, because Shad didn't feel he did anything different with Link than what he did with any other partner, so there was absolutely no logical explanation why their relationship had lasted so long. Not to mention Link hadn't once complained about Shad's obvious lack of romantic attention.
Or, at least, if he had any complaints he wasn't vocal about them (figuratively speaking— Link wasn't exactly vocal about anything).
He supposed it helped that Link was just as awkward as him when it came to romance. Apparently this was his first relationship.
Could have fooled him, though. Before Link first confessed to him, he was certain him and Ilia were a bit closer than what they lead on. Apparently that wasn't the case at all.
He really lucked out.
"What would you have done if there wasn't anyone here?" Shad scolded him as he roughly wrapped a bandage against his injured arm, small puddles of blood already beginning to seep through the white cloth, "You would have just bled out like a stuck pig on the bar's porch!"
Although Link's back was faced towards Shad while he bandaged him up, he could see a sheepish smile form on his lips from what he saw of his profile.
A long, heavy sigh escaped Shad and he moved his hands to begin bandaging Link's torso.
"You really are lucky I happened to be here, old boy," he mumbled and though he was talking to Link, he was also talking to himself, "Goddesses only know what may have happened If I weren't."
Shad was usually at the bar when the others weren't. Occasionally he wasn't, but most of the time he was, occupied with research or something like it.
Suddenly, Link began to turn himself around to face Shad. For a second, his face twisted in pain, garnering another sigh from him.
"I wasn't finished," he began, waving the roll of bandages in hand, "Ah, don't move around too much either, lest you reopen the wound."
When he finished that sentence, a finger was lightly pressed to his lips, and Shad watched as it moved from there to the wrapped up injury on Link's arm.
He gave him a flat, incredulous stare. "I am not kissing it."
Link pouted, but it was obviously fake.
"You seem a little big to be a child, nor am I your parent, last I checked." He scoffed with a dismissive flick of his wrist, "Now please turn back around so I can resume patching you up."
Link complied and, like he said, Shad continued with wrapping his wounds up.
There was a scrape on his shoulder that Shad had cleaned up and when Link expected to feel a bandage be placed on it, he instead felt lips that slightly stung the cut— then he felt a bandage be quickly placed there.
When Link cocked his head over to glance at Shad and smirk almost triumphantly at him, he had turned his gaze away and refused to look back at him, completely red-faced.