Zelda woke up to Sheik's fingers tapping quietly on the carpet in front of her, his entire frame squished between hers and Link's. His head was pressed against Link's chest and other hand looped around her wrist, pressed against her pulse gently.
Midna was draped across the three of them in her pajamas, Linkle's arm hanging over the edge of the couch, t-shirt bunched up around her stomach and blanket only covering her feet. She had a pair of boxers on, thank the Three, covered in fanged remlits.
They had piled eight sleeping bags on the floor, all of them unzipped and spread out, in lieu of an air mattress, and then covered that in comforters, quilts, throws, and every spare pillow in the house. Probably the neighborhood. Popcorn blanketed the living room, and the television was still on, replaying the main menu cutscene for ReDead Redemption in an endless loop. Somebody had muted it, thank Nayru, but the light bathed everything in a red sheen.
A glance at the clock ticking softly on the wall above Linkle revealed that it was three in the afternoon, and Zelda's gaze dropped to Sheik's mostly still form, worried.
It had taken hours to get him to calm down. Horror movie after horror movie after horror movie—Zelda had dropped off at around six in the morning, unable to stay awake any longer—and Link had had to take each of them aside and explain what had happened, because if Sheik had told them it would have agitated him further.
He was scared. Terrified. She'd never seen him like that before. He wasn't scared of…anything.
She'd thought he was, when they were younger. A few times. But he'd proved her wrong without fail. Being thrust into a family of strangers who spoke a different language in a foreign country hadn't scared him at all. Working with the dead and handling corpses didn't even faze him. Seeing things that shouldn't exist, either.
But she thought she understood. The one thing Sheik valued above all else was his privacy. And this stalker was invading that in every way possible.
She still wished he'd let her call the police. Or even their uncle. Ganondorf would be able to help, Zelda was sure of it.
Something shifted, snapping her out of her thoughts, and Midna winced as she wiggled off of everyone. Zelda reached out a hand and helped her plop down beside her, lips quirking up into a smile when Midna looped an arm around Zelda's waist and threw a blanket over the two of them with a sigh.
"I am sorry, about the pants thing. I swear to the Three that it was because of the juice box." Midna murmured, and Zelda sighed.
That hadn't been good. Sheik had been more in a panic about that then the stalker, when he'd realized she was there. Boundaries were a huge deal for him, because he had a hard time even understanding them, and the sibling thing made him overly anxious about every little slip. He hadn't believed that it was a relatively normal thing, siblings walking in on each other, until Linkle had gone on a rant about every little thing she'd ever caught Link doing. Horribly embarrassing for Link, but it had worked.
"It was pretty clear nothing was going on."
Zelda was only slightly lying. She knew they'd slept together before, though she didn't know if they still were—she was not going there with her best friend or her brother—and that had been her first thought, but the absolute panic in Sheik's face and the embarrassment in Midna's had been more than enough to tell her that that wasn't the case.
Midna was never embarrassed about anything intentional.
"That is why I love you." She muttered, and then relaxed completely against Zelda.
The corners of her lips pulled up into a smile, and she pressed her face closer to Sheik's back in turn.
He shifted, let go of her wrist and turned to face her, and Link's eyes cracked open looking like they could kill.
Linkle whined, in turn, and rolled off of the couch, dropping right on top of him. Because apparently everyone was waking up now.
"Morning, baby brother."
"Where are your pants?" Link growled, not even looking up completely. Linkle paused for a moment, regarded herself seriously, and then shrugged.
"These work."
"Linkle—"
"They're like shorts, Link. Now don't be an ass so early in the morning."
"It's three. Afternoon." Zelda corrected, and Linkle let out a whine.
"I'm going to do absolutely nothing done today."
"…Thank you, all of you." Sheik's voice was soft, and at the sound of it they all forgot their bickering.
"We'll go check your place out today, if that's alright. Figure out where the fucker got in from. If you want to stay over here, that'll be fine, Sheik." Link didn't move at all as he spoke.
Zelda sat up, ruffling her brother's hair.
"We're doing something. We'll talk to your landlord. Maybe they can install a camera in the lobby?"
Though it was strained, Sheik smiled.
"Any suspects, though?" Linkle asked.
"Well if you're not fucking with me, no." Sheik retorted. He didn't sound as defensive as he could have—Zelda took that as a good sign.
"Maybe it's…somebody who doesn't know how to flirt? Like a neighbor or something?" Midna ventured.
"I doubt somebody would start stalking another person if they weren't trying to flirt. Or intimidate." Linkle scoffed, folding her arms across her chest. Sheik scowled.
"I don't—"
"Here, let's…plan. We'll go check your apartment and stuff, and I can lend you my shitty camera. We can hide it in the lobby, or like…in the back of your mailbox!" Linkle interrupted, smacking Link as she scrambled to her feet. Link let out a groan.
"You can stay with me tonight, Sheik."
Sheik's expression smoothed out, the tension in his eyes fading, as he turned to look at her. Zelda lifted an eyebrow, but he suddenly scowled again.
"Not if Syrup's in town."
Well. She'd forgotten about that. The family drama of the living sort.
"…Alright. I can stay with you."
It still felt strange to say, to risk, to admit. Everyone's eyes found their way to her face, and she flushed beneath the attention.
And Sheik smiled, brilliant and so hopeful that it hurt. That it eased all her anxieties.
"Alright."