Chapter 7 – Link POV
Light filtered into the room through blood red curtains creating the illusion of twilight in the room, though I could tell by my body clock that it was morning. The light refracted off a crystal chandelier, adding onto the eerie red glow to the room. This was the first sight that I saw when I woke up and I immediately knew that I couldn't be anywhere on Skyloft. Nowhere in Skyloft looked like this. I sat up bewildered, taking in the room around me.
Whoever had designed it was an expert of interior design. The color scheme in the room was a combination reds, golds, blacks and occasional whites. The furniture was created in regal style, and was black with a gold trim along the edges. Anything that was interactable with, such as the handles on the dresser or armoire was outfitted in gold. To the right of the bed I was currently in was a large red velvet couch and matching chair. A black coffee table held a few various objects such as a bowl filled with potpourri, a heavy looking book and a vase. A fireplace gave the area a complete feeling, and within it embers glowed a deep red. The walls were black as well with small red and black alternating diamond patterns going down it. On the other hand, the base color of the plush carpet was red, with alternating black and gold diamonds. I lay in a gigantic four post bed that was centered in the middle of the room.
The bed was unbelievably comfortable. There was nothing like it in Skyloft. Even a bed made of Loftwing down couldn't compare. It left my body feeling weightless and relaxed, and I felt as though I could just lay here all day. I just lay in the bed, blissfully unaware of my situation until a small sigh caused me to jump. I hadn't noticed, but I wasn't alone in the bed. I hesitantly turned to see who was in it with me. I looked over at the person. A blanket covered the lower half of his body leaving me a view of his torso and face. He was extremely pale - inhumanly so. His white hair fell over his face, blocking my view of it, but I didn't need to see his face to know who he was. The moment I saw him, something clicked within my mind. First off, whatever had been blocking me from remembering him before, disappeared. I knew exactly who he was and remembered everything that had happened. I remembered meeting him those many times on my journey, and that time last night. And that dream… that dream in which he had kissed me.
He was my enemy… Why was I naked in bed with my enemy…? I wracked my mind trying to remember, and it all came together when I looked down at my legs noting the freshly healed scars. I had fallen, and had near fatally injured myself. So did that mean… that he saved me? That he took me here and healed me? No, he wouldn't do that, not that sadistic demon. In order to know, I'd have to ask him… plus the previous explanation didn't explain my lack of clothes. Anyway I needed to figure out what time it was and leave here. I knew I must've been asleep the whole night, I could tell by the sun and how incredibly hungry I was. The last thing I wanted to do, injured or not, was let down Zelda.
Internally flinching at the thought, I tapped the man on his shoulder. He shuffled slightly, his eyelids fluttering, but the action did not wake him up. With an inaudible groan, I shook him. A hand went up to his hair, and pushed the silky white curtain out of his face revealing half lidded eyes that looked up at me.
"Good morning, Sky child," he murmured. He had this warm smile on his face, the likes of which I'd never seen on him before. Usually he wore either a smug smirk, or looked like he was pissed off about something. I opened my mouth to reply to his 'good morning', but closed it again. I didn't know what to say. I wanted to lash out and ask him why I was in his house, but I couldn't bring myself to do it for several of reasons. First off, I didn't want to anger him and get him in a bad mood. I didn't know him as well as some people, but I knew that he was very prone to anger. Getting him in a bad mood could be fatal to me without any armor or weapons. The other reason I didn't lash out was because I truly thought that he was the one that saved me from certain death after my fall. Though it was unlikely that he would help me, it was the only feasible explanation right now. If he was the one that saved me, I owed it to him to at least pretend to be nice. I also didn't want to piss him off while I was unarmed...
With everything considered, I answered with a simple, "Mornin'." He seemed to like the response, his smile widening slightly. Before he could respond, a growl broke the silence. It was my stomach. I looked down, willing away the blush that dared to redden my cheeks.
"Mmm, hungry I see," he noted outloud.
"Yeah," I replied slightly awkward. This entire situation was so casual, it wasn't right. It was as if I had came here on my own consent to willingly hand out with him.
"I'll go down and prepare something then," he moved to get up out of the bed. I wouldn't let him simply leave, I had some things to ask first.
"Wait!" he paused at my outburst. I quieted down, "um… there are some things I want to ask…"
"Hmmm?" He raised an eyebrow. Did he really think I wouldn't have questions?
"Soooo... you found me after I fell?" I began.
"Yes, the manor we are currently in is very close to the area in the forest that you fell. A Bokoblin that stumbled upon you informed me of your predicament so I came to investigate. There, I found you nearly dead at the bottom of that chasm, and decided I'd take you home in order to patch you up," he said it as though it was the obvious thing to do. Not that it wasn't, it was just unexpected from him.
"Why? Don't take this wrong, I'm very grateful, but it's so unlike you to have saved me. Afterall, I did seal away Demise, you'd think that nothing would make you happier than me dying."
He didn't look angry at the statement. Rather he looked sad. "I've changed," was all he said.
I held back a laugh. The statement was in no way funny, it was more of a 'you expect me to believe that?' laugh. "You've… chaaaanged…?" I asked skeptically with an underlying tone of sarcasm and stretching out the question. I tried to make my disbelief as animated as possible.
"I'd be ignorant if I expected you to take my word for it. In order for you to believe it, you'll have to see for yourself."
"Okaaaay," I internally laughed at the statement. Frankly, I couldn't see any reason as to why I'd be hanging out with the demon enough to even notice any change. Admittedly, I guess you could say I did see change in him, he was acting completely different than those times I had seen him before.
If Zelda were here she'd tell me to give him a chance. She believed that anyone could change for the better or worse given the chance.
Zelda… 11:45 sharp...
There were more pressing issues, "That aside, what time is it?" The question had been nagging at my mind this whole time. I couldn't wait to ask it any longer.
"It's about 8:30 in the morning," he replied casually.
Just in case, "I was only asleep for one night, right?" I could've been out for a week for all I knew.
"Yes. If you'd call from one morning to the next merely a 'night'. Why ever are you so concerned? Are people on that floating rock going to panic at your absence?"
Relief flooded over me, "Well, yeah, but I also have something to do today." I didn't want to tell him particularly what I had planned, but I needed to leave before then.
"Hmm. Well you can leave when you like, but I suggest that you have something to eat first… I suppose you need clothes as well, don't you?" He continued, changing the subject.
"Where are the clothes I was wearing?" I asked.
"Well they got terribly bloodied and ripped. They weren't worth the effort of repairing," he explained.
Made sense, "do you still have my supplies?" I'd be mad if something happened to my adventure pouches. They were enchanted.
"Yes, the only thing that I tossed was the tunic and the pants," he confirmed.
"Well then, yes, I'd like something, please." I didn't think people would take kindly to me traversing Skyloft in the nude.
He paused for a second to think, "I highly doubt anything I have will suit your taste, but…" he got up, walked over to the dresser, opened a few drawers and pulled out a red piece of clothing and some white leggings of sorts, "… these should do."
He handed me a silky red shirt-dress which I guess was kind of like a tunic, and some tights.
"Your boots were still intact so I didn't find it necessary to discard those." I moved to get dressed but he stopped me. "Why don't you bathe first Sky Child? Then you can have breakfast and leave with plenty of time left over."
I pondered his notion. A bath did sound good even if it was in his house...
"Okay, sure," he smiled at the response.
"Right this way," he said gesturing to the double doors on the left side of the room.
I blushed, still fully aware that I wasn't wearing clothes, "Um… if you don't mind…" He laughed at my reaction, and turned away. I got up and quickly rushed into the bathroom only to find that regardless of my previous reaction, he had followed me into the room. I turned my head and glared at him.
"I must bathe too, and it is you using my personal bathroom," his comment stirred odd feelings within me. I wouldn't bathe with anyone else, let alone another man.
"Okay, do you have any other bathrooms? I can bathe elsewhere," this couldn't be the only bathroom in his house.
He shook his head, "now, now, we don't need to be so shy child. I won't hurt you," he reassured. I wonder did he consider raping me as 'hurting' me, or if hurting me was only related to physical pain. He walked up behind me and wrapped his arms around my waist. He pulled me against him, in a tight, one sided embrace. The contact broke many boundaries I had, but I couldn't pull away from the warm embrace, I actually found myself leaning into him. He buried his face in my hair and began moving his hands up and down my body. I felt myself getting warmer; it really felt good.
It felt like we were in this position for an eternity before he finally let me go and got to setting up the bath. The bath was huge and built into the floor. It was similar to the one at the academy and had edges inside the tub to sit on. It went deeper than the one in Skyloft though and was much fancier. The entire bathroom was amazing. Diamond checkered tiles, alternating in black and white went up the wall, while the ground was tiled with glossy, squares with a substance in them that caught bits of light and sparkled. A chandelier hung directly above the tub which was in the center of the room. The bathroom was about the size of probably Fledge and my room put together. I rolled my eyes at his lavish style, even his toilet was trimmed with a golden seat and matching lid. Yeesh.
"The bath is ready," he said as he slipped in. So by 'I must bathe too' he meant he was taking a bath with me. I didn't want to take a bath with him, but I really wanted to take a bath… and it looked so warm. Plus it was filled to the top with bubbles, in fact there were so many they overflowed from the bath. He wouldn't be able to see anything through the bubbles. Anyway he had already seen me in my full 'glory' so nothing would be a surprise to him. Verbally sighing I slipped into the hot bath with him. It took me a few seconds to get used to the temperature, but when I did, it felt heavenly.
I leaned back against the smooth walls of the tub, and let myself sink down into the water. Ghirahim, on the other hand, sat up with his arms resting outside of the water. He seemed a lot more interested in me than in bathing. He raised a hand into the air, and a sharp snap rang out in the room. Various glass bottles of colored liquid appeared around near me. Picking up one I investigated it. I assumed it was some kind of soap, so I uncorked it and took a sniff to find out that it smelled amazing. I took more whiffs of it, unable to get myself to stop because it smelled so good. It wasn't anything like the bars of soap I was used to.
While I had been examining the soap, Ghirahim had – in complete silence – moved to sit next to me. "Do you like this one, sky child?" he asked.
"Mhmm, it smells so good!" I replied. The close contact with him didn't bother me at all. I actually thought it was nice. I never had parents or anyone who had been close to me like this before, and the only person I had was Zelda, but she never really broke social barriers like this. I really liked the experience, it was pleasant.
He reached out for the bottle and I handed to him without protest. He poured a generous amount of the liquid into his hand and, to my surprise, began to lather it into my hair. I never had someone wash my hair for me before. I indulged myself in the sensation feeling my body relax – my eyes closed, and my muscles went limp. He started lathering the liquid into my hair, but soon switched to a gentle scratching. My body instinctively moved to rest against his, and I lay my head against his shoulder to give him better access to my scalp. He did this for another minute or so before stopping, uncorking another bottle, and applying soap to his hand again.
He moved from my hair to my chest. A voice in my head, particularly that which belonged to reason, questioned why I was allowing him to wash my body. Over the past hour or so, that voice had grown smaller and smaller, and at this point didn't have any effect over my reaction to what he was doing. Under the water, his hands rubbed across my chest. My body reacted even more to this, heating up under his touch. A different feeling began to surface. It was a feeling I didn't really recognize. It wasn't completely foreign, I had felt it in Zelda's presence at times, but never this strong.
I was becoming aroused, and it was Ghirahim that was causing it. As much as I thought I should get out of the tub, get dressed and leave, I couldn't bring myself to do it. In fact, very shyly, I moved my hands onto his own. I guided his hand slightly down my chest. I was ashamed of it, but I wanted the sensation in my lower regions to be taken care of. He understood what I wanted and was prepared to give it to me.
He moved his right hand lower down my body until it rested on my arousal. His other hand rubbed up and down against my chest until it stopped on a nipple which he began to toy with. I felt his hair, which was surprisingly still dry, tickle my neck as he moved his lips against up and down the side of it, nipping occasionally. The hand that was on my arousal began to make rub against my shaft, eliciting moans from me.
"You want this, don't you Sky Child?" My response was a shy moan. He began to stroke me faster with little resistance from the water. Everything he did felt lovely. He left bite marks and hickeys on my neck, and each time he created another, my body had an amazing sensation from the points he touched. My nipples were rock hardand each time he squeezed them a breathy moan would escape through my lips. I was fully against his chest now, and I loved the feeling of his toned body against my own. I bucked up into his hand with each stroke.
My breathing quickened as he went faster and faster until eventually, with a moan that echoed throughout the entire bathroom, I came into his hand and the water. I slouched against him, feeling exhilarated. Admittedly, though I considered it at times, I had never masturbated before, so these feelings were new to me. They were amazing. I didn't even know it was possible to feel this way.
"I see you enjoyed yourself," he murmured. I sat up from my position against him and looked up at him. A blush that ran all the way up to the tips of my ears appeared on my face. I had no response to what he said, so I turned away from the satisfied smile that he wore. I could just imagine how smug he looked after I deliberately avoided his gaze.
"What time is it," I figured I ought to change the subject.
"9:15," I briefly wondered how he immediately knew the time, "What time do you need to be back for your plans?"
"11:30 or so, but I still need to go back into the forest and find some things," I hoped he didn't pry.
"Whatever would you be looking for in these dank woods?" Sigh, he pried. He handed me the bottle of soap. I continued my bathing from where he left off.
"Fruit."
"Fruit?" He asked as if the answer was too simple. "Why ever did you come here looking for fruit?"
"Someone told me really good fruit grows here…" had Yerbal been wrong?
The demon looked thoughtful, "I suppose at one point fruit trees grew in these forests, but now most of the best fruits are found behind Lake Floria. Also you still never answered the question…"
"Hmmm?"
"Why do you need fruit? Trying to revive another dragon?" I rolled my eyes at the inside joke.
"No, it's for a friend. I'm having lunch with them and want to show them something different." Truth was that I wanted to impress, but it was basically the same thing.
"Having a date with the Spirit Maiden?"
"No," I immediately lied. The reaction was too fast. He knew I was lying. Why did he assume the first thing I was doing was having a date with Zelda?
"Mhmmm… Well if you truly want exotic fruit, then I may or may not have some that you may take along with you."
My face lit up at being spared a journey. "That would be great!"
Ghirahim sighed, "I can't deny a face as lovely as yours." He stood up to get out of the tub. "I'm going to get started on breakfast. You finish up in here, and then head on down."
"Okay~" I was smiling, I could feel it on my face.
I've changed. The words played again in my head. I truly believed them now. He had changed, at least from the person I knew him as. He was kind, caring, and beautiful, but I didn't want these thoughts to surface. I didn't want him to be there in my mind tearing me apart. He brought out feelings that I had never shown before. Want, being one of them. I talked to him like a normal person, had normal conversations with him, but back on Skyloft, I hardly talked to anyone. In all the times we've seen each other, I've probably shared more lines with him than I have with Karane.
I rinsed off, and pulled myself from the tub. I was going to drain the water, but honestly had no idea how to, so I ended up just leaving it as it was. I grabbed a fluffy red towel off a shelf and dried myself off. Once dry, I went into the bedroom and picked up the clothing that he picked out for me. I noticed that a pair of black underwear had spawned. I picked up the garment and looked over it. Were these supposed to be underwear? They sure were different than any underwear I had worn… I had two options. I could wear these underwear, or I could wear nothing but tights to cover myself with. The choice was obvious, and with one last glance at them, I slipped my legs into the holes and pulled them up. It took a second to adjust to the feeling of suffocation down there, but after I got used to them, they felt okay.
I put on the tights next. I actually had worn tights before so this wasn't as bad as the underwear. The only thing that was weird was that these tights did not have holes for my feet, rather they doubled as socks too. Lastly I put on the shirt he had given me. I honestly like the way it felt and looked. It went about halfway down my thighs, just like my tunic did, but had long sleeves that were tight fitting. The whole thing was form fitted, but it was not feminine, rather it still had a masculine feel to it. A v-neck showed a bit of my neck, and the ensemble looked good, but it felt incomplete. I bet a necklace would look perfect with it. I wasn't against wearing jewelry, in fact I wore earrings, but necklaces always seemed so feminine. I rolled my eyes – why did it matter if it was feminine? Knowing I shouldn't do it, I poked around in a small jewelry chest that I noticed on his dresser until I pulled out a thin silver chain. Why did he even have other jewelry? He wore the same damn outfit everyday. I put it on and had to admit, I liked the way that it looked.
My boots rested at the foot of the bed. They went on easily because of the smooth texture of the tights. I put them on, stood up and went through the other set of double doors in the room. The doors opened up to a hallway that was just as elegantly furnished as everything else I'd seen. The smell of food led me to a grand set of stairs. I heard bustling in the distance and followed the noise into an interesting kitchen. Ghirahim was cooking something in a pan, but on a weird machine or something. It acted like a fire as it was hot and cooked the food like fire did, but there was no flame. It probably was like the machines I had seen during my journeys through Lanayru. I think one of the robots there had called the energy they use to power the machines 'electricity'. I investigated a cabinet created in the same style. It was like an ordinary cabinet, but it was cold inside it. I opened the other door and this side was even colder; the things within it covered in ice.
Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Ghirahim watching me as I did this. "Do you find my fridge to be interesting?" he asked in a teasing voice.
"It's just weird," I replied for lack of a better word.
"And how exactly is it 'weird' if I may ask?"
"I don't get it. Like how does it work?"
"I created it using technology that I scavenged from Lanayru. I also created this as well," he gestured to what he was currently cooking on, "I have dubbed it the name 'stove'." I wondered did he really create them, but given that I hadn't found anyone else with a 'fridge' or a 'stove', I'd believe him.
"What lackluster names. I'd think someone like you would come up with something more fabulous." If I had created them I'd have named them something cooler.
"Ooooooh, then what would you name them child?" He asked me curiously. He focused more closely on what he was preparing now.
"A super-duper-freezing machine!"
He turned and looked at me incredulously, "No. Fridge is definitely better than what you came up with."
I pretended to pout, "Well then. I see some people can't accept creativity."
He was now putting whatever he had made on a plate. He brushed past me as he swiftly walked into another room. I heard the sound of plates being sat down. He came back into the kitchen and pulled a jug of what I thought was probably juice out from the fridge. Reaching into a cabinet he pulled out two glass cups as well.
"Breakfast is ready," he told me as he moved back into the other room. I followed him into the room, and sat down in a spot at the table where one of the plates was. He sat one of the glasses next to my plate, and proceeded to sit down across from me. The table was long and narrow, but rather than sitting on both ends, we sat in the middle section.
I picked up a fork and began digging into the meal. It was fantastic. Meat was a rarity on Skyloft because there were few places to raise animals. When we did have meat it was chicken, or pig because they took less room to raise than cows. This meal consisted of not just one, but 2 types of meat - sausage and bacon. The sausage taste like it was infused with honey because it didn't taste like plain sausage. He also prepared scrambled eggs and toast to go with it. I was slightly curious as to where he got the food from, but hunger beat curiosity. I ate everything hungrily and managed to eat what was the size of two normal breakfast's in half the time it took me to eat one.
"Do you always eat like that, Sky Child?" So he'd been watching me eat. Figures. I looked down at my now empty plate with hope that he wouldn't see my embarrassment. How did he manage to be so elegant? He even ate elegantly!
"No, I was just hungry," I replied after an awkward amount of time.
"I see. Are you still hungry?"
"A little bit, but I'm going to lunch in like an hour so I don't want to be full." I knew if Ghirahim offered me more food, I'd probably eat until I couldn't anymore.
Without looking up from his plate he responded, "that's understandable. If you change your mind though there are other things you may have." We sat in silence for a few minutes. I had a glass of the juice to learn that it was the same fruit that I liked to eat from the forest. I watched Ghirahim eat. Actually eating was the wrong word, he sat there picking at his food, using his fork to shuffle it around on the plate. He looked bored, thoughtful, or a combination of the two.
"Do you always eat like that, Ghirahim?" I said, imitating his quote from earlier. His expression changed at my jibe. A little smile crept onto his face.
"I generally don't eat, so no."
That was interesting statement… "Do you like, not need to eat?"
He moved to get up, "no, I don't have any physical need to indulge in human necessities."
I had many questions I wanted to ask about that, but I decided against it. One of which was why did he even have food if he didn't eat, but he'd probably pull up some mushy, 'I got it for you, sky child', kind of excuse.
I got up too, grabbing my plate and cup. I followed him into the kitchen and started to wash my dishes in the sink when he stopped me. "Don't bother yourself with servants work," he told me.
I sat the dish down in the sink and just left it there. It went against my usual habits, but I didn't care. He snapped his fingers, summoning a wicker basket onto the counter next to me. I opened it to see it filled with various fruits among several of other things. I noticed a few muffins, a small jug of the juice with accompanying glasses, and some dried meats. I picked up the basket.
"How do you do that?"
"Do what?"
"Your snapping thing," from the first time he had summoned his rapier in Skyview Temple, I always wondered how he was able to materialize thing from thin air.
"Magic," he responded simply.
"Well… yeah, but like, how?" How did you manage to assemble a basket of stuff neatly arrange and summon it from nothing.
"Even if I did attempt to explain it to you, you wouldn't understand."
"Oh," I closed the lid on the basket and took it from the counter.
"Have fun on your date," he teased, empathizing the last word.
"It's not a date," I muttered, trying to hide my embarrassment at his words, "but thank you for the snacks." I was grateful for all he had done.
I watched as he moved one of his hands in position to snap again, "We will meet again, Link." Did he plan to…?
"Huh?" With a crisp snap, I was back in my room in Skyloft. I put the basket on the floor and sat down on my bed feeling a bit overwhelmed. His teleportation magic left me dizzy though it could also have something to do with the sudden altitude change. I looked up at the clock on my wall. I still had about an hour until I met with Zelda. I looked in the mirror. Looking over my outfit, I really felt that I should change, but I really liked the outfit and decided not to. If anyone asked me about it I'd just say that I traded for it with a Goron or something.
I wondered what I could do to kill some time. Now that the moment was nigh I felt anticipation building in the pit of my stomach. I left my room and went to distract myself for the next hour.
