"So what brings you to this little corner of the castle?" Vio asked Red as he sat on a plush chair by the window. "It's a little out-of-the-way from the grocery store, I can't imagine you'd make this trip without good reason." Red smiled.
"Aww, do I have to have a reason to visit my smartest teammate!" He pretended to sulk. Vio chuckled.
"No, but you do. So what is it?" Red's fake pout cracked into a barely withheld smile.
"Not much really. Just, oh, I don't know." Red pulled a pill bottle out of his hands. "The fact that when Zelda came, she was too distracted by your obvious lack of self-care that she'd forget to pick up your pills off the counter." Red's smile widened into a pride-filled beam. Vio's eyes widened as momentary shock filled his face before they softened into amusement.
"And here I was thinking I'd get a free day pass," Vio snapped his fingers in a sarcastic show of defeat. "Although, I'm assuming that's empty given that I always dump all of my pills into that weekly thing." Red's face continued beaming as he shook the bottle. When the telltale rattle of shaken pills didn't come, he responded.
"Yep! I didn't actually have a lot of faith in the thought that Zelda would whisk you away from the house, and I worried that if I took some pills, you'd notice and think that I didn't trust you. But," he shook a finger like a parent scolding a child, "just because I don't have them right now, don't think you're off the hook that easily! I'm staying 'till I can tell Zelda! She'd be mad at me if I just let you not take them."
"Shoot. There goes Plan B."
"Was Plan B 'Distract Red and get him to Leave by Bringing Up the Fact that Blue is Probably having Trouble Carrying All the Groceries Home by Himself'?"
"Congratulations, you've passed the pop quiz with flying colors."
It didn't take much to be able to read the obvious pride in Red's eyes. He always adored these lessons. They felt much warmer than a lot of interactions the Links had as of late. Sure, Blue never failed to hang out with Red if the smaller teammate pouted at him enough, but Vio's company felt different than Blue's. Red always regarded Vio as the intellectual leader of the group. Where Green's plans failed to account for a certain obstacle, Vio never failed to supply the true leader with the details needed for the best strategy. Then, at the end of the day, the lavender hero took no more congratulations than any of the other teammates. If Blue had turned out to be the smart one, Red had no doubt that the sapphire teenager would remind everyone of it at any moment possible, gloating and soaking in the attention like a self-entitled sponge. Red loved to hang out with Blue, don't get him wrong, but too much praise went straight to the angry Link's hothead.
Vio, however, humbled himself after their first adventure. He didn't gloat about his intelligence, never complained when he had to take up more work because he was the only one skilled enough to do it, and never hesitated to set about using his innate cleverness to help those around him. Red didn't have to worry about Vio judging him because the purple-hatted hero seemed to completely believe that the first step of fully finding true intellectual potential was to have an open mind about every person.
"Aside from my medication," Vio waved his hand dismissively to close the topic, "is there anything else you wanted to talk about?" Red thought for a moment.
"Not really. Blue's been acting a little weird, but he's probably just mad cause he feels like he can't do anything to help with this whole situation. Also," Red giggled, "I think he's starting to feel bad for teasing me." Vio quirked a skeptical eyebrow.
"I'm not entirely sure that's true." He commented.
"Nah, you just haven't seen him enough. He's really starting to curb his temper." Vio stood in skeptical silence, checking to see whether or not his teammate was joking. When Red didn't start laughing, the clever Link shrugged.
"Well I hope you're right. The last thing we need is for him to yell at another child wanting an autograph. Nayru knows if he'll be able to scrape together another barely acceptable public apology." Red giggled again, hardly trying to contain his childish delight in the newly recalled memory.
"Remember last time he had to give a public apology?"
"Unfortunately."
"What was your favorite part? Mine was 'Next time some guy cuts me in line I guess I shouldn't call him an asshole and punched him. That was sorta uncalled for, even if he did have an attitude.'"
"I think the entire thing was a masterpiece of sheer ineptitude at public speaking, but the part where he stopped because he needed to reorganize the flashcards in his sleeve was absolute brilliance."
"I remember that! He dropped a couple on the stage! And wasn't he halfway through a sentence?!"
"Well where else could he have ended the note? The end of the sentence? That's just insane."
"Right?! Did you get to see Mr. Shusenn's face?! He looked like he was going to blow up!" Rondel Shusenn, of course, being the chief of the street knights and the father of the teenager Blue had punched. He did, by all legal means, have every right to throw Blue into the street knights' jail, but being a public figure meant the Links could get away with a lot more than most other people in town.
Blue, so far, was the only one of the Links who'd ever needed it.
Vio secretly kept up the hope that, once Shadow could freely walk around, that this would remain the case.
Before the two Links could continue with their idle conversation, the doors to the room opened. Zelda, followed by a tall Shiekah woman, brusquely entered and passed both Links without any sign that she'd noticed their presence.
"Now you're duties will be rather difficult to juggle. Given that I am very close to the age of legal inauguration, this shouldn't last. Should you find your duties stacking too high I would be happy to help. Between ceremonies I typically find that I have very little to do, and my studies are rather easy, so I hope you should feel no hesitation to ask for my help should you need it. The sudden promotion will mean that you will have to begin immediately, with rapid training followed by immediate tackling of newly learned jobs. However, I have it on good faith that you are more than capable of tackling these duties if given the time." During her little speech, Zelda went around the room, searching for something. When her face lit up that she'd found it, she picked up a scroll and held it out for the woman. "Here's the list of duties that need to be taken care of by the end of the week."
The Shiekah kneeled as she took the scroll. Zelda placed both of her hands on the woman's shoulders. "I have no doubt that you'll do wonderfully." The Shiekah stood and nodded.
"Thank you, princess. I promise that I will perform my new duties to the best of my abilities."
"I know you will. Thank you, Impa. You may leave." The woman turned and began reading the scroll as she left.
It took a couple of seconds for either Link to react. Luckily, Zelda seemed more than prepared to break the silence.
"The new chancellor." She informed as she turned to the table. "I recently found that the last one couldn't quite understand how to prioritize my schedule. Impa's family has worked as dutiful and rather skilled servants to the royal blood for as far back as it goes, so I have no worries of her repeating his errors." She paused, seeming to notice something. "Red? What are you doing here?"