Disclaimer: I own none of these characters! but the fanfic is all mine~
An average morning in Telma's boarding house was usually full of sound an chatter, today was no different. A couple of people sat around the table eating the hearty breakfast Telma had made. Link's mouth was full to the brim with scrambled eggs and bacon, but somehow he still managed to chug a glass of milk and shove another piece of toast inside as he quickly ate breakfast, already running late.
His messy blond hair was falling in his eyes and spiked out in random directions and completing his look was his wrinkled uniform that he hadn't bothered with hanging up from last night and his signature missing tie. He lost it so many times that the teachers had just given up reprimanding him about it, seeing it as a lost cause.
Link grabbed his plate and raced to the sink, tipping over his chair and snatching his backpack on the way, giving Telma a hug goodbye, "Thanks Telma, gotta go, bye!" He shouted as he ran out the door, his feet flying over the cracked pavement. Ganon was ready to leave ten minutes ago and he never liked to be kept waiting.
"I thought we agreed to meet twenty minutes ago!" Ganon shouted as he saw Link's short form slide around the corner, almost losing his pack. Link came running up, panting and he held up his hand to Ganon for a moment to catch his breath.
After what seemed like ages Link replied, "I know! I know! But I had a really good dream last night and I accidentally turned off my alarm!"
"You don't have an alarm!"
"It was my internal one."
"I don't even want to have this conversation right now, we gotta go!"
They slid into the classroom just as the bell rang, bright smiles lighting their flush faces from the run. Ms. Impa gave them an almost imperceptible grin before she began roll call and they took their seats like victors.
"You know Sheik..." Link began, scratching his back with a pencil, "It's common courtesy for neighbors who live in the same house to wake each other up in time."
"It's common sense to use an alarm." Sheik replied quietly, opening his book deftly to the page number written on the board as the lesson began to start.
He had honestly not been expecting a reply back from Sheik.
"What if I'm too poor to buy an alarm? What if I have to rely on an internal one?" Link questioned, stretching a bit before a yawn that engulfed his face.
Sheik snorted, was it with disdain? Amusement? Hatred at even being a part in this conversation? Maybe all three. "Then you should get that checked."
Before Link could open his mouth for a reply Ms. Impa singled him out, "Please read the next paragraph Link."
He looked to Ganon for help, because obviously he hadn't been paying attention, who in turn showed him not only the page and paragraph but the little drawing he had been doodling in his book where Link gets eaten by a pig. Wonderful.
After an embarrassing moment to read aloud to the class, he commenced back to making Sheik talk, but it seemed that the fellow had had enough of the chit chat for one day and ignored him for the rest of the time that they spent at school.
Link got up from bed, the dark room surrounding him with it's comforting cloak as he stood and looked out the window, sure that he heard a noise outside.
"Chichichi, Lulu, come here..." He saw Sheik kneeling down on the grass outside, his hand outstretched and trying to tempt the cat Louise out of hiding. He had never heard anyone else use the nickname that he and Zelda always used when they were little for the kitten. Well, it wasn't really a kitten anymore, it was an old and ornery cat that didn't like many people, Link and Telma were a part of the minority.
He rested his head on his hand, leaning on the window frame as he watched Sheik get the cat the come out of hiding and actually picked her up to pet. The starry sky sat overhead, the moon casting a glow upon the ground and lighting up Sheik's blond hair like a beacon. "Louise must really like you." Link softly called out to Sheik, his voice carrying through the stillness of the night.
Sheik whipped around trying to find the voice, finally pinpointing him and giving Link a glare. "What's it to you?" He demanded back, Lulu let out a small complaint because the attention wasn't fully on her.
Link remained silent, just staring and contemplating. Sheik began to grow uneasy, shifting from foot to foot. "Look, if you have something to say than just spit it out already." Sheik stated, and then he added, almost as if it was an afterthought, "It's getting cold and I want to go back inside."
Link stayed silent for a moment longer, "You remind me of some one I used to know." He smiled, the corners of his eyes crinkling humorously, "But she wasn't as rude as you. I'm surprised that you have a fondness for animals Sheik."
Sheik turned his head away, his lips pressing into a thin line but it seemed as though the corners were slightly turned up, "Animals remind me of a childhood friend, but he was an idiot. Still is actually." And with those lovely words and Link's laughter, Sheik disappeared back inside. A little bit later Link heard the door to the room next to his close.
Sheik locked the solid wooden door behind him with a decisive click. The cat's quiet footsteps disappearing down the hallway outside. His delicate fingers sat there on the golden knob for a moment, thoughts simmering, before he turned away and began to get ready for bed.
His reflection caught him for a moment in the mirror, and he couldn't resist touching his recently cut hair. It had used to be so long and pretty, and now it was chopped off in his haste to get away. Now he could no longer be a girl and had to hide his appearance with chest bindings and contacts, he couldn't get close to Link for fear of him being hurt, he couldn't do anything but hide Zelda inside, where she was nothing more than a memory.
Sheik's fist clenched tight and he pulled it back in anger, letting it fly at the mirror with all his anger and frustrations. It sent shocks up his arm as he made contact, the mirror cutting into his hands and shattering into pieces which broke into even more shards upon hitting the floor.
He stared at his bleeding hand blankly, the pain not reaching his mind yet as it was still detached within memories.
"Damn you Vaati..."
The next morning Link woke to a terrifying sight. Sheik stood before him with the cat raised up high, a peculiar and yet amused look on his face. Link slammed his back against the wall and threw his hands up in defense, the sound of his bare back hitting the wood resounded with a solid thud.
"Oh darn, you're awake." Sheik frowned and shrugged, depositing Louise on Link's bedside table. "You're gonna be late."
"Were you just going to drop a cat on me?" Link wasn't sure if he should be outraged by the threat of physical harm or gratitude that Sheik took the time to wake him up.
"You have ten minutes before you have to run the entire way to school in order to make it in time." Sheik merely stated before picking up his bag from the doorway and heading downstairs for breakfast.
"Cheeky bastard." Link mumbled, flopping back down in his bed and rubbing a hand over his face with a smile. Lulu let out an indignant yowl at his language of choice in the morning and he ruffled the fur between her ears.
"Alright alright..." He said, stating nothing in particular as he jumped out of bed and grabbed his clothes, throwing them on with a devil may care attitude, running his hands through his hair quickly in the mirror, and snatching his bag to go down and eat breakfast.
"Dunanana! I found your pencil!" Link sang as he flipped Ganon's pencil back to him. Ganon reflexively caught it before it hit his face, giving Link a look because he knew that Link had had it all along.
"You know, study hall is literally meant for studying." Ganon commented, trying to get ready for the math test that they were going to have in the next class. His grandpa could and would kill him if he got anything less than an A.
"Apparently not to Link." Nabooru commented from the seat in front of Ganon, Resting an arm on Ganon's desk with a smile. She was a beautiful girl, her makeup, if a little heavy, done perfectly. It was well known throughout the school that she had a crush on Ganon, it was only Ganon himself that had no clue. "He'll probably try to use that Lens of Truth that he created for last year's science fair."
"Aw, you guys are no fun." Link pouted, and then yawned so widely that tears came to his eyes. He rested his head in his arms and after a moment of thought he glanced at Sheik's back. It was very narrow and feminine, many of the students in the class still debated Sheik's true gender. Link himself wasn't sure if Sheik was telling the truth, but considering how guarded he was all the time, he wouldn't be surprised if Sheik actually was a girl. The language though was something entirely different. If Sheik was a girl then he was a crude one and rather rude. Why would he pass himself as a girl though? Unless something happened back where he came from... No... he was probably telling the truth and was just a feminine looking guy. But Link had never seen a guy look so pretty before... Link's pondering was interrupted by Sheik's delicate hand coming up to scratch the back of his neck.
Sheik cursed quietly in his mind as he rubbed his neck, trying to get rid of the eye beams that were burrowing into the back of his head. What the hell does he want this time? He hoped to the goddesses it wasn't another heart to heart moment where Link tried to befriend him once again. He tried to ignore the steely gaze behind him but after a couple of minutes staring at his paper and not being able to concentrate, he turned around with a glare, "What?"
Link pursed his lips like he was legitimately thinking about something, "Are you a girl?"
Telma couldn't stop laughing that night when she saw Link come home with a black eye, an angry Sheik just moments before slamming through the house and pounding to his room. She could only just guess that Link had asked the forbidden question.
