Link was probably a little too content with life at the moment. That had to be it, since he really had no proper excuse for the silly idea he had.
He and Prince Sidon were sitting at the edge of the East Reservoir Lake, watching the sunset after a busy day of princely duties on Sidon's part. Just taking a breather away from the Domain proper while staying close enough that retiring for the night would be just a matter of walking back on a safe route whenever they pleased. No pressing duties, no expectations from anybody since they were alone, nothing at all to do except laze around and chat.
At the moment they weren't even talking, content to enjoy the view in comfortable silence.
Hence why Link's mind was wandering to mischievous places.
He was sitting particularly close to Sidon right then, so close that the curious skirt-like fin around Sidon's waist was touching Link's thigh, and the fin on Sidon's forearm was touching Link's shoulder. So, his idle mind decided to bring up a random question: how much of Sidon could Link touch and get away with before Sidon decided to stop it? Sidon was pretty laid-back when it came to stuff Link pulled on a regular basis, such as climbing on top of the palace and paragliding down to land on Sidon's shoulders, so Link could probably get away with a lot before Sidon decided to even bother questioning him about it. So, could he, for example, stroke the waist fin? Could he rub his foot against Sidon's? Could he run a finger down his bicep?
So many options he was wanting to try out, just because he was too idle for his own good. The only real question was, should he go for it or attempt to talk himself out of it?
…
The worst that could happen was that Sidon got uncomfortable and told him to quit it, which was so small an issue that it didn't even count. He could always apologize.
Yeah, he was totally going for it.
Link scooted a little bit closer to Sidon, bunching up the waist fin a bit in the process, and leaned against the Zora's side. Sidon glanced down at him with a smile, but didn't comment on it.
So far, so good.
Next, Link reached down and smoothed the waist fin, running his fingers along the edge of it with genuine curiosity. The yellow and blue part had a funny texture, feeling more elastic than the rest of Sidon's scales. More fragile. Kind of silky, even.
Sidon shifted slightly at the initial contact, but then seemed to accept that this was happening and ignored it. Well, he was keeping an eye on what Link was doing, but not interfering or commenting on it. Maybe he was waiting for Link to ask him questions about the fin?
Link didn't ask questions. Instead he let go of the waist fin and grabbed a gentle hold of the forearm fin to study it as well. It was a lot sturdier and less flowy, but had the same kind of silky texture beneath Link's fingers.
Now Sidon was blatantly following Link's activities, but just chuckled instead of stopping him.
"Let me guess, here next?" Sidon asked after a moment, and leaned forward to reduce his height, and then towards Link to bring his shoulder closer for Link to see. Oh, right, he had some frilly fins there too.
Link really doubted these ones had any actual practical function. They didn't seem like they'd add to Sidon's swimming speed or anything. They were probably just there to look decorative and, what, attract mates? If so, he could concur they were effective. Nonetheless, Link touched them curiously and discovered that they shared the feel of the waist fin; maybe they were even softer. Either way, very pleasant to the touch.
"Satisfied?" Sidon asked with clear amusement in his voice. Link shook his head and stood up so that he could nuzzle his face against the fins. Why? Because he could and was messing around anyway.
Sidon startled at the action, but still didn't stop him.
"...Does that feel pleasant?" Sidon asked after a moment, sounding half puzzled and half curious. Still not actually questioning why Link was doing this in the first place. It was kind of amazing.
Link nodded. It did actually feel very nice since the texture was so smooth and the frills were cool to the touch. He could see himself doing this again sometime, maybe the next time the day was particularly hot.
Suddenly he felt fingers carding through his ponytail, and looked up at Sidon.
The Zora smiled at him gently. "I hope this doesn't bother you? I like how smooth and light your hair feels, so since you're helping yourself to my fins, I figured I could indulge a little as well."
Link gave him a smile. Fair was fair, and it felt nice. Sidon could play with his hair anytime he wanted as far as Link was concerned.
Link, however, returned to his own mission.
Now that Sidon was still conveniently hunched over, Link decided to go for his head while he had the chance. He reluctantly let the shoulder frills be and instead ran his fingers down the pectoral fin hanging by the side of Sidon's face. Sidon's eyes darted to him for a moment, before he apparently decided that he was better off paying attention to what his own fingers were doing with Link's hair.
Link gently stroked the fin, his fingers tracing the old scar there; he had always wondered where it came from but had never bothered to actually ask. Sidon hadn't volunteered the information either, though it was possible that he just didn't actively remember the scar being there and thus didn't feel the need to explain its existence at random. If Link was being honest, he liked the scar a lot. It looked manly, it made the Prince seem more like a regular guy who could be wounded just like everyone else, it felt a bit like a personal touch on the otherwise otherworldly handsome Zora, and it made Link feel better about the scores of scars he had himself. Yes, the scar was lovely.
Seeing how Sidon still wasn't protesting the touch, Link boldly moved upwards and ran his fingers along Sidon's crest. He started with the snout-like part and then moved to the shafts at the sides. He counted the pink-ish dots with his fingers, twelve, and slid his hands back to the center.
He then noticed that Sidon was extremely still and quiet. He had stopped fiddling with Link's hair and just stayed unnaturally still, holding his breath even. Link stopped his movements as well, waiting for... something. Anything.
He wasn't disappointed. As soon as it became obvious that Link wasn't going to move for a while, Sidon gently but insistently pushed his head against Link's palms, making them slide along the skin a little, involuntarily stroking him again.
Well then.
Someone was obviously enjoying this particular touch, if he even silently asked for more. Lucky for Sidon, Link was happy to oblige. He spread his fingers to cover a larger area at once and rubbed them tenderly along Sidon's crest, doing an improvised half-circle along the shafts, lifting his hands off again at the tips, and then repeating the process. After a few strokes he decided to pluck the feathery head decoration off and drop it somewhere to the side so that he could freely run his palms over the top of Sidon's head. His hands bumped into the dorsal fin, and he caressed it with his thumbs experimentally; it was pleasantly pliable, which was unexpected as it looked rigid.
Sidon made a small content noise, and pushed his crest into Link's chest with a little more force than he probably intended. The end result, however, was that now Link could easily reach all of Sidon's head, which was probably what the Zora was aiming for.
Alright, Link had not been expecting this when he started messing around, but he was most definitely not complaining. This was fun, Sidon was obviously enjoying it, and Link got to touch the man of his dreams a bunch. Win-win.
Link moved his palms to the top of the snout-part of the crest again and then smoothed them all the way down to the second dorsal fin in one steady motion. He unfortunately couldn't reach further down the tail, but Sidon hummed in contentment regardless. Link smiled to himself, then gently pulled at the tail until Sidon got the hint and moved it to the shoulder closest to Link, now well within his grasp. Link repeated the earlier maneuver, this time able to slide his palms all the way down the tail, and touch all of the fins on the way down.
Sidon sighed and wrapped his arms around Link, snuggling closer to the Hylian. The Zora rubbed his crest affectionately against Link's chest, which made Link's heart hammer wildly.
This was fine. Just fine.
Link gulped, then got back to running his hands over Sidon's head a few more times, all the while listening to Sidon sigh and hum and practically purr against his chest. It was filling his heart to the brim with warm and fuzzy feelings, which was nice, but distracting since this was supposed to be just a game.
Reluctantly, Link lifted his hands off Sidon's head and nudged the Zora's shoulder.
Sidon's arms tightened around him.
"Hmm, one more time, please?" Sidon asked quietly, sounding almost groggy and definitely comfortable.
There was no way Link was going to say no, so he stroked Sidon's head one more time, slowly so it lasted a little longer. Sidon sighed happily at the contact, then at the end of it lifted his head and looked at Link with grateful eyes.
"Thank you. I don't know what brought that on, but it was immensely enjoyable and made me very happy", he said, which made Link's heart ache with love. "Is it too much to hope that you'd be willing to do that again sometime?"
Link shook his head with a smile, then signed. 'You're welcome and I'd be happy to do that again.'
Sidon smiled brightly enough that Link could probably go a week without sunshine and be fine.
"Splendid! I look forward to it", Sidon said, and pulled Link into a mildly crushing embrace. Link's face was smooshed against Sidon's chest, and he was definitely not complaining. He was also not complaining about how his palms were splayed over Sidon's abs. Those were some serious abs, too; not that Link had been unaware of them – he would have to be blind for that to be possible – but he hadn't gotten a good feel of them before. Usually his hands were properly around Sidon or locked to his own sides when hugging happened; this time his hands had been in front of him because he had just finished signing a second earlier, hence why he got this opportunity.
All that undulating movement during swimming did Sidon some good, all right.
Link got to rub his thumbs over the valleys and ridges of the delicious muscles for about a second before Sidon startled and pulled Link away from his body. The Zora's eyes were wide as he stared at Link, who felt almost guilty now. However…
"I'm sorry! I was crushing you, wasn't I?" Sidon exclaimed worriedly, and set Link down to look at him, eyes searching for injury.
Link felt oddly of disappointed. He was, after all, kind of hoping to get caught, so to speak. Also, he wouldn't have minded spending some more time with the abs.
'Used to it', he signed, which didn't seem to make it better.
"You shouldn't have to be used to it! I should be more careful with you! You get injured often enough as it is by enemies; your friends shouldn't be adding to it!" Sidon cried, distraught.
Link reached up and patted his bicep comfortingly. Then he paused, hand still on the bulging arm muscle. This was not the time, but damn. Hello.
Link forcibly dragged his mind out of the gutter and looked at Sidon with a disapproving frown.
Sidon looked sheepish in return. "Right. You don't like me fussing when nothing is actually wrong." Link kept frowning. "And you know your own limits." Frown. "And you will let me know if something is wrong."
Link smiled and gave a satisfied nod.
Sidon chuckled, and shook his head. "For someone as quiet as you, you sure still get your point across with little effort."
Damn straight he did.
Sidon let out an amused snort, then settled back down to his earlier spot, feet disturbing the water and sending out ripples that lapped against the shore.
"Do you still wish to stay out here?" Sidon asked, and looked at Link again. "The sun has set. Not that I'm in a hurry, if you want to stay longer."
Link sat down as close to Sidon as possible again, and dipped his feet into water. He then looked up at Sidon at the question.
'Stay', he signed simply. He wanted to keep messing around while he was on a roll.
"Alright then", Sidon said with a smile, and leaned his arms back so he could rest his weight on them, and tilted his head back to look at the darkening sky. "You know, I like this time of the day. It's quiet but still warm. Nobody expects too much of me since everyone's duties are about over."
Link made a noncommittal sound, only half paying attention to Sidon's idle attempt at conversation. Mostly he was watching Sidon's feet contemplatively.
Why not?
Link slid his foot near Sidon's and stroked the side of the Zora's instep with his toes.
The effect was instantaneous.
Sidon jumped and looked at the water with wide eyes, scanning the area frantically until he spotted Link's foot near his. The Zora held a hand against his chest and let out a huge sigh.
"Don't startle me like that! For a second I thought there was something in the water", Sidon moaned and looked at Link accusingly, although without much heat.
Link smiled sheepishly and signed a quick 'sorry'.
Sidon shook his head. "It's quite alright, I just wasn't expecting that."
Link took that as a "carry on" and moved his toes back to Sidon's foot. Sidon jumped again, but this time only a little bit, and in surprise rather than fright. Then he gave an exasperated sigh, but didn't tell Link to stop or move his foot away. He only watched, looking a bit resigned.
Link considered stopping on his own because of Sidon's borderline negative reaction, but then figured that he had already committed to this so he was going to finish it. Unless Sidon actually asked otherwise, of course, which was sort of the end goal anyway.
Link rubbed the side of his toes against Sidon's instep, and then his ankle. The silver anklet Sidon wore annoyed Link, so he moved upwards and caressed Sidon's calf instead, which got him a reaction from Sidon: the Zora lifted his other foot and rubbed Link's instep with it for a second, then moved up to his ankle and then quickly to his calf.
Link blushed and looked up at Sidon, who was peering down at their feet with a look of concentration on his face.
"Your legs are very soft. I didn't even realize that before now. They look a bit hairy when they're dry so I assumed they would feel the part too, but that doesn't even register…" Sidon mused, which confirmed to Link that Sidon absolutely didn't know the concept of footsie. He wasn't sure whether to be relieved or disappointed. He also didn't know if Sidon's words counted as a compliment.
Sidon put his leg back down, apparently done with his own testing.
Well. If he didn't care about his feet being touched…
Link set his foot back down, although he kept it pressed against Sidon's for the heck of it. Instead, he placed his palm on Sidon's thigh, near his knee.
The Zora froze for a second, then relaxed again, although maybe just a little more tense than before. Link refrained from smirking, in case Sidon was looking at his face.
Link idly caressed the knee with the tips of his fingers before slowly dragging his palm upwards on Sidon's thigh, which made the Zora's breath hitch. But still, no comments and no pulling away from his touch.
Link chanced a sneaky look up at Sidon's expression, and saw that Sidon's eyes were glued to watching Link's wandering hand while the Zora was trying his hardest to hold a poker face. However, his pupils were wide and the scales on his jaw and neck were slightly flared, which Link took as an indication that Sidon wasn't half as composed as he pretended to be.
But why was he allowing Link to continue when he obviously found the touch to be on the inappropriate side, which it frankly was? Out of politeness? Hoping Link would stop on his own? ...Because he didn't want Link to stop?
One of those options were infinitely preferable to the others.
Link blushed but kept going. He let his fingers brush the inner thigh briefly, and noticed from the corner of his eye that Sidon's fingers curled into a fist. He slowly moved his hand upwards, but then circled to the side so that his hand ended up on Sidon's hip.
Sidon let out the breath he had apparently been holding. Link wanted to giggle so damn badly, but refrained out of fear that it would break the moment.
Seriously though, Sidon was apparently letting him do whatever he wanted with him. Time to up the stages.
Link caressed Sidon's hip in circular motions, then purposefully made a contemplative humming sound before turning his body towards Sidon and moving his hands to the Zora's belt. He paused for a moment to give Sidon time to react, and when nothing happened he unbuckled the belt and removed it, tossing it aside.
Sidon was letting him damn well undress him without a word. Link was starting to consider that he might, in fact, be dreaming.
He didn't dare look up to see Sidon's expression.
He ran both of his hands up Sidon's hips, now without obstacles. Sidon shivered, but otherwise kept very still and very quiet. Link bit his lip in anticipation and slid his hands to the Zora's delicious abs. They tensed under his ministrations, which only made them more defined and oh Goddess Link could dip his fingers between each individual muscle effortlessly. He could spend all day doing this. He wanted to lick them. …He probably could, too, if he truly dared. But he didn't. That was a line he wasn't willing to cross jokingly.
A very, very blurry line that he kept toeing like a smug little shit.
Speaking of toeing the line… Link couldn't very well reach the rest of Sidon from his current position, so he took a deep steadying breath, and boldly straddled the closer one of Sidon's thighs.
Sidon sucked in a loud breath and twitched, his hands suddenly moving towards Link, who froze on the spot. Was this the line for Sidon?
However, Sidon's hands halted mid-motion and hovered uselessly in the air, fists clenching and unclenching in indecision.
Link waited, holding his breath.
Finally, Sidon placed his slightly trembling hands on Link's hips and left them there, just barely holding on to him, like he was unsure it was allowed. Like he was afraid that Link would pull away because of it, or feel trapped if he held on too tightly.
Link was busy dying from his face overheating, and was desperately trying to get his shit back together.
They stayed frozen in uncertainty for a few heartbeats before Link released the breath he had been holding and moved his fingers up Sidon's sides, convincing his mind that everything was Just FinE.
Sidon also sighed in obvious relief, and seemed to relax a little.
Link unwound some more too, until he realized where his fingers were heading. He stopped rather abruptly at the edge of Sidon's gills, completely unsure how to go about touching them or if he even should. Would that be like shoving a finger up his nose? Or would it hurt? Could his dirty Hylian fingers infect them or something?
"It's alright", Sidon suddenly said quietly, making Link jump slightly at the unexpected noise. Had Sidon's voice always been so low and breathy?
Link glanced up and found Sidon's eyes on him. His pupils were large enough that almost none of the yellow was visible, and the eyes were half-lidded. The scales around his jawline were sticking up, making him look rough around the edges. He looked perfectly ravishable. Link was going to die.
"You won't hurt me as long as you don't stick your fingers underneath the edges", Sidon clarified. Link nodded dumbly, barely comprehending the words.
He had an official permission now. How had it came to this again?
'Don't know, don't care' about summed it up.
Link mentally gave himself a few slaps over the head to get his focus back, then pried his eyes away from Sidon's and back to the Zora's long torso.
He very gently and carefully moved his fingers horizontally along the gills, which fluttered under his touch. Link had once held a small bird that had tried its best to spread its wings and fly away from his grasp; the gills felt similar. It was fascinating and absolutely captivating. Link kept stroking for a while in wonder, until Sidon's stifled moan broke his trance and brought a hot blush on his face.
Oops. He may be overdoing this.
His mind very meticulously filed the reaction away, just in case it was needed at a later point. No particular scenario in mind, of course.
Of course.
Sidon's grip on Link's hips tightened in response to him stopping his ministrations, but he didn't say anything this time.
Link pretended his face wasn't the same colour as Sidon's scales and moved on.
He slid his hands up Sidon's chest and underneath the cravat, or whatever the Zora called the piece of cloth Sidon wore around his neck. Sidon's breath hitched at the action. Link, however, was displeased with the existence of this article of clothing, just like he had been with the belt. So he looped his arms around Sidon's neck to find a way to remove the neck piece along with the cloth. Since there was no latch that he could find on the front, there had to be one on the back.
Link fumbled with the neck piece for a good long while until Sidon's hands reluctantly left his hips to help him out. The Zora deftly unclasped the neck piece and unceremoniously tossed it aside. It seemed to include the shoulder pieces, which was a bonus. To top it off, Sidon also discarded the blue sash that had been hanging from his shoulder.
Link had never seen Sidon so bare, and although the clothes actually made very little difference when it came to covering his body up, it still made Link bite his lip. Hot damn.
What made it worse was the fact that when Sidon returned his hands to Link's hips, he stuck them under his tunic and against his skin like he was perfectly entitled to do so. Which he was, but that was beside the point.
Link's silly game was backfiring and he couldn't be happier about it.
He tried his best to ignore the warmth of Sidon's palms against the lower half of his sides, and especially the fact that Sidon was caressing the skin with his thumbs. It was extremely distracting and did funny things to Link's heartbeat. So it was most definitely better off ignored.
Concentrate, damn it!
Link pieced his focus back together and brought his hands back to Sidon's now bare chest. The pecs twitched under his touch and it was just not fair to the rest of the world that one man was allowed to not only be a prince, but also be kind and tall and talented and handsome and a wonderful warrior and damned ripped to boot.
The only thing fair about this situation was that Link was allowed to touch said man's ripped body. Definitely worth it slumbering for a century when this was what he got to wake up to.
Sidon's breathing was ragged and caused his chest to tremble with every exhale. Link rubbed the firm muscles with his fingers, captivated. It was truly a shame that most of Sidon's chest was usually covered, because Link could spend a good chunk of time staring at it.
However, he had to move on. Because of Sidon's positive reactions, he was counting on being able to do this again sometime, and could spend some quality time with this area later. With that in mind, Link slid his hands under Sidon's arms so that he could reach the Zora's back. If his fingers accidentally on purpose brushed against Sidon's gills on the way there, making Sidon suck in a deep breath, it was purely coincidental.
Sidon's back was vast. Gerudo Desert wasn't as vast. If Sidon's abs went on for miles, then his back went on for days. It shouldn't have been a surprise, considering how Sidon was like seventy percent torso, but Link had not been prepared for this. He couldn't reach all the way down, but that didn't stop him from trying, and Sidon seemed to enjoy the attempt if the shiver was anything to go by. The way back up was even better, as Sidon pressed his face against Link's hair, presumably in an attempt to calm down or to show Link some affection of his own.
Link, of course, was completely cool and collected, and not at all breathing heavily or anything.
He dug his fingers deeper into the muscles as he moved, partially massaging them in his wake. Sidon groaned against his hair. It was glorious and bound to frequent in his dreams for the rest of his life. Link finally reached Sidon's shoulder blades and gave them a good long rubbing, causing Sidon to sigh in bliss and slump slightly against Link. This man was in desperate need of a back massage. By Link specifically.
Link moved his hands up to Sidon's shoulders, still digging in deep. His position was getting kind of inconvenient for this, but he pushed on for a bit longer regardless. Sidon sure seemed to appreciate it, as he was now continuously rubbing his crest against Link's hair and muttering a string of "ahrightthereyesthankyousonicehmmyes" and so on.
Link could easily get used to this. And by 'this' he meant Sidon being putty in his arms. Large, muscular, and attractive putty.
Link had to stop eventually, as his fingers were starting to ache from the workout; he didn't understand how professional masseurs did this all day long. He gave Sidon's shoulders a couple of pats as a cue that he was done, then attempted to lean back to look at him. It was easier said than done with Sidon leaning most of his weight against him, however. Link patted Sidon's shoulder again, which brought the Zora back from the massage induced stupor.
"Oh, excuse me", Sidon said and lifted his weight off Link to give him a sheepish, but otherwise very relaxed look. "That was wonderful, thank you. It's been too long since the last massage I've had. You see, our claws are very inconvenient for something like that, but nobody is willing to cut theirs for the sake of a job, either."
Now that just wouldn't do.
Link reluctantly removed his hands from Sidon's person so he could sign. His fingers were stiff and difficult to work with, but he managed.
'I'll give you a proper back massage tomorrow morning, if you want.'
Sidon stared at him for a second, then absolutely beamed. "Would you? That would be great! You're the best, Link!"
Cue a crushing hug that left Link literally breathless for a moment. And then panicky Sidon. The usual.
Link weakly patted Sidon's shoulder again in sympathy, although this time with his hands in front of him instead of behind Sidon. Once Sidon was properly calm again, Link brought his hands up to the Zora's left shoulder and slowly dragged his fingers down the well-defined bicep. A smile tugged at his lips; he had an idea.
Link looked up at Sidon, who was watching his actions attentively. Once he had the Zora's attention, he grinned and flexed one of his own biceps.
Sidon looked mildly baffled but amused for a second, then visibly got it. He chuckled and lifted up the arm Link had been fondling, and then flexed it.
Now that was more like it!
Link's hands instantly flew to the bulging muscle, and he stroked it admiringly. Rock hard. He glanced up at Sidon again and gave him a thumbs up, which made the Zora laugh.
"I'm glad it's to your liking!"
Link nodded enthusiastically, then turned to the bicep again and dropped a kiss on it.
Sidon's laugh ended abruptly as he froze.
Link smirked to himself and nuzzled the laxed muscle, which twitched as Sidon automatically flexed it again at the contact. A coy glance at the Zora confirmed that Sidon was staring at him with wide eyes.
Link couldn't resist. He was running out of places to touch anyway.
Keeping his eyes locked with Sidon, Link gave the bicep a long lick, which caused Sidon's neck and jaw scaled to instantly flare up. Sidon sucked in a breath, and a moment later both of his hands grabbed Link, gently enough, by his shoulders.
Sidon opened his mouth to say something, but then changed his mind and cleared his throat first, visibly collecting himself.
"Link. I was trying not to, because I didn't want to risk being wrong and sounding stupid, but now I really have to ask."
Finally! So a lick was needed to tip the scale. No pun intended.
"You are flirting with me, right? Because I have to say that it's very effective and completely accepted."
…What?
Well, he wasn't entirely wrong, but...
Sidon nuzzled Link's hair with his crest, a gentle smile on his face.
"I will gladly enter a relationship with you. I'm truly flattered that out of all the people you have met, you chose me."
…You know what? Link could roll with this.
Link gave Sidon a big smile and nodded his head, then tapped his lips with a finger.
Sidon looked overjoyed, but puzzled.
Link rolled his eyes, grabbed a hold of Sidon's pectoral fins, and pulled his new accidental boyfriend's face down so he could kiss him silly.
Not a bad way to finish off his whimsical game.
And now he was definitely guaranteed more touchy-time whenever he wanted.