Soon came and went. Link was becoming increasingly frustrated by how long they had been apart. It seemed not only unfair but improbable that there was no one else in all of Hyrule capable of saving people. Couldn't someone else have rescued those carpenters? The lack of bridge was no skin off Link's nose, he had a Longshot. But no, it had to be him, and then he had to deal with those women. They weren't really all that bad and it was kind of refreshing to be around people who laughed in the face of prim and proper. What he did have a problem with however, was their penchant for groping him. From the things the carpenters had said these women should have excited him, instead he felt uncomfortable. It wasn't their hands he wanted.
When he'd set off to cross the desert he was looking forward to some peace, some time alone, not that the crossing was peaceful. The sand storms were relentless, so much so that he could barely see or breathe. The Gerudo may have told him to follow the path between the flags but they'd still let him wander into the desert woefully underprepared. The breaths he did manage to take felt like they were cooking him from the inside. He stumbled along, arm held in front of his face, trying to protect him from the abrasions of airborne sand. It was already hell and he hadn't even reached the temple yet.
Eventually the storms died down, it was bliss to be able to see without squinting and to breathe freely. He found himself in a sunken portion of the desert, cliffs stretching up on all sides. But there, arching into the sky and far taller than the cliffs, was what must be the temple. Link started towards it, watching for enemies as much as he was watching for Sheik. Surely they would meet again, here, at the temple entrance just like before? The only things he met, however, were leevers.
Link stood, staring back out into the desert, on the temple steps for a good five minutes, waiting. He sighed, turning back to the entranceway, jaw clenched tight. He tried to pretend his hands weren't shaking, that it didn't hurt, but hey, what was a promise between lovers, or friends, or two mutually attracted parties, or whatever the hell they were, right? And, what were they? What was Sheik to Link, or for that matter was what was he to Sheik? He had technically proposed back in Kakariko but it had been meant more like a confession and Link wasn't even sure two men could get married. Not that Link needed the blessing of an official figure to feel comfortable sending his life with Sheik.
Is that what he wanted, to spend his life with Sheik? The idea made his breath hitch, and it felt good to think about, somewhere between static shocks and sliding into a warm bath. He thought about what it would be like, to spend a lifetime getting to know the Sheikah boy, to stay beside him and just live, like normal people. It was definitely what Link wanted, and he wanted it an awful lot. But maybe, whispered the parts of him that were wounded by Sheik's absence, he was the only one.
He cast his eyes over the desert one last time before turning and heading into the temple. Even if his heart did feel like lead someone had taken a hammer to, denting the soft metal like clay, he still had his duty to carry out. Except he couldn't, not as he was. The only things he found in the room were a block he couldn't move and a crawl space he couldn't fit in. He growled in frustration, viciously punching the immovable block. Everything was terrible. Pain rippled up recently set fingers, he hissed, cradling his hand against his chest.
Then, without warning, waves of guilt crashed over him. Sheik had reset these fingers, had held his hand so gently as he'd splinted and bandaged them, and here he was, undoing all that careful work. Here he was, hurting himself again. Link closed his eyes; the memories of that night were raw and vivid. He'd never let go like that before, never let his anger and fear win out like that, he'd never been so honest before. He'd expected Sheik to scold him, to tell him he was being childish, pathetic.
Thinking about it, it seemed like his feelings had crept up on him, growing slowly from the time they first met, snaking through his being until they bloomed. But then again, he could swear that it was that night that he fell, there and then and all at once, to the tune of desperate, quite, heartfelt apologies. Maybe it was both. Maybe it was stupid to even try and set such an ethereal thing as feelings to such a logical thing as a time line. Thinking about it made his head swim. It was so easy to be distracted, to just think about Sheik and how warm he felt and the way that holding him made Link ache.
He huffed out a breath. He had to keep himself together, had to dam up his feelings again. He couldn't yo-yo around between hurt feelings and anger and lovey-dovey daydreams like this just because Sheik hadn't shown up and this temple was immediately conquerable. He had to settle himself, he had to think. It was obvious there was nothing he could do in here so, after one last look around, he left. He walked back down the steps and turned to stare back at the temple, searching for another way in. He jumped out of his skin when he heard the soft paff of something hitting the sand behind him. He reacted automatically, whipping round and drawing his sword, which he promptly dropped.
`Sheik!'
Link scrambled over the sand between them, and pulled Sheik into the tightest hug he could manage. He loved the way they fit together, loved the way Sheik smelt of hot skin and linen and aloe, he loved how it felt to press his body against Sheik's, and the thrill of thinking about how it would feel if it was just skin against skin. He released his grip gently, stepping back so he could look at Sheik properly.
`Hello Link.' Sheik looked a little dazed, he was covered in sand and dust and one of his eyebrows had been split.
`Goddesses, what happened to you?'
Link brought his hands up, one to Sheik's cheek, the fingers of the other hovering around the cut on above his eye.
`Ah, there were leevers, lots of them, and I didn't see them through the sand storm until it was too late. But Link, listen, you have to go back to the Temple of Time and become a child again and then come back, oh, and I'll teach you the song so you can get here, I'll just get my lyre.'
Sheik spoke quickly, tripping over his words, unusually hurried. He turned, dislodging Link's hands, and started unpacking his lyre. Link's arms dropped to his sides, and when Sheik turned back towards him ready to play, Link just stared blankly back.
`You're sending me away. We been apart for two weeks and you're just sending me away?'
Link's voice cracked as he spoke, hurt and hysteria worming their way into his words. Sheik stared at him, eyes wide over his cowl,
`Oh Goddesses,' he breathed out, `no, no, ah, well, yes but' he screwed his face up, turning it towards the sky before letting out a long, low `fuuuuuuuuuuuuck!'
Sheik took a little time to make sure his breathing was steady. He was an idiot, a giant dodongo's arse of an idiot.
`Link. . . I'm really sorry. I don't want you to go,' he bit his lip, hard, `I want to stay here with you, in the stupid sand filled shithole and make up for being apart. Did you know that two weeks is 20160 minutes, I counted, all of them, it was awful.' He looked at Link, who didn't seem overly convinced, `It's just that, what with the storm and the leevers, I'm late. I was supposed to be here two days ago but I think I spent them going in circles. A-and this is the last one, we're nearly done, I just. . . I just want this to be over.'
He looked at Link, lip clamped beneath his teeth again. Silence. Link didn't answer; he just stared back at him. The longer the silence went on the harder Sheik pressed his teeth into his lip, until,
`Ah, shit.'
Sheik pulled his cowl away from his face, pressing his fingers to the wound. Blood stared to dribble down his chin, he wiped it away. Hands found their way to his cheeks, cupping his face gently. Lips found their way to his, kissing away the blood. Sheik felt himself relax. He dropped his lyre onto the sand and moved to press his body into Link's. The kisses were careful and tasted of salt and metal. His hands cast themselves over Link, creating his own atlas of touch. They found broad shoulders, a strong, straight back, a well-defined chest and sharp hips. They hesitated then, desperate to move further down, to take in round buttocks, muscular thighs and the things held between them, but wary, not wanting to overstep any boundaries.
A twitch of indecision lead fingers to ghost over the top of a thigh. Guttural noises bubbled from Link's throat and he thought he'd made a terrible mistake, his hands withdrew, floating in empty space, unsure. Then he felt himself be bodily lifted up, and his back pressed against the upright pillar of the stone arch. His legs wrapped themselves around Link's waist and his hands tangled themselves into his hair. The kisses weren't careful anymore. They were forceful, open mouthed affairs, with tongues soliciting one another into complex dances.
Sheik couldn't breathe, couldn't think, he could only feel. There was no hiding what this was doing to his body, no escaping the desperate trills he made when Link pressed them together. He wanted more. His hands wanted to explore the places they'd shied away from earlier. His lips and tongue wanted to follow in his hands wake, to kiss and taste every inch of available skin. His crotch wanted more than occasional, accidental contact. He wanted more.
Link pulled back, Sheik whined, his breathing was heavy and his blue eyes were the brightest that Sheik had ever seen them.
`Will you be here when I come back?'
Sheik stared at him, his mind too foggy and body too demanding for him to take in the question. Link repeated himself,
`Will you be here when I come back, after I've sorted out whatever it is I have to do?'
`You're leaving?' Sheik was scandalised, `don't go.' He leaned forward, trying to catch Link in another kiss but failed.
`Hey, you were the one that wanted me to leave straight away just not.'
Link chuckled as he spoke but it was clear he was still hurt by what had happened. Sheik squirmed uncomfortably,
`Yes, but that was before you kissed me and before . . .' he looked down pointedly, Link following his gaze, making them both blush all the way up to the tips of their ears. Link let go of Sheik, putting him down carefully.
`To you, my dear, I'll only be gone for moments. Now, teach me this song.'
