Interlude 3: The one where they have post
Malin crossed her arms before sighing. This was ridiculous. Utterly ridiculous.
And dangerous. So completely dangerous that it wasn't even funny anymore.
Her fiancé didn't seem to notice. He strutted through the room as if he owned it, armed to the teeth. His ridiculously huge backpack was packed to the brim with literally anything one could need if they travelled through warzones, rainforests, the poles, deserts, the sea and finally to the moon for good measure. Malin absent mindedly wondered how he hadn't collapsed under the weight yet.
The young man meanwhile grinned and pulled the two absurdly large guns strapped to each leg from their sheaths to make a dramatic posture when he caught Malin's eyes on him. "So how do I look?" he asked, before putting the guns back to where he had taken them and straightening his army jacket. And where he got that soldiers uniform complete with the green-brown camouflage colors without ever having been at the army was another mystery that Malin did not want to solve.
"Like you're going into a suicide mission" Malin finally voiced, a frown twisting her face as she crossed her arms.
The blonde sighed at that. "Love" he breathed. "You know that I cannot hesitate any longer…"
"But what if they're already dead!" Malin finally broke out as she fought against tears. "What if you're risking your life for nothing! What if you die? We planned to finish our studies this summer and then finally marry! Why throw your life like that away?"
He looked away for a moment, trying to collect himself: "But what if I can still save them? I cannot let this thought go. You promised you'd let me at least try."
Helplessly he threw his arms up, before turning to the young woman sitting on the couch of the room: "Zelda, please explain to my…"
He stopped short when he saw that the girl had fallen asleep. Drool dribbled down her chin and she was in for a crick in the neck when she awoke. Next to him, Malin sniggered: "Well, you took too long getting yourself into gear, so she decided to take a quick nap."
Now more solemn, she approached her friend. "She hasn't been sleeping well recently. Nightmares have continued to plague her and if it aren't nightmares they're still dreams that stay on her mind every waking moment. Impi is at her wits end seeing as even sleeping pills don't help her get a resting sleep."
Impi was one Zelda's father's employees. She was a middle-aged woman with albinism that had been employed as Zelda's bodyguard after a kidnapping incident when Zelda had been only eight. By now the woman had also become a kind of mother surrogate for Zelda and the one in charge of keeping this family running. Right now she was missing, probably running from doctor to doctor to get a suitable treatment for her charge's nightly troubles.
Gently Malin touched Zelda's shoulders and shook the girl softly awake. The girl snapped her eyes open before blinking a few times, trying to adjust to the light.
"Slept well?" Malin asked. "Zelda's green eyes focused on her, before the girl spoke: "I saw them again."
"They're just dreams" Malin gently said and the young man felt as if he was missing a huge chunk of information right there, while he watched the two women interact.
"No, no" Zelda insisted. "They're safe and sound. And they answered me. I dreamed they mailed a letter. I watched them travel through time and space."
Then her gaze snapped to the blond, boring into him before commenting dryly: "You'd be an idiot to go now."
"How do you know that?" he answered then, angered. "Where is this letter you speak off?"
Zelda paused frowning, unsure of the answer.
The young man took that as his answer: "There is no letter, they're not fine and I will have to go and save them. And you won't stop me. You promised."
Zelda sighed, before slowly nodding.
And then the doorbell rang.
"I'll take it" she expressed tiredly, taking a brief glance at her friend before adding: "No one should see you like this right now." "I'll go with her" Malin muttered broken, not even glancing back before she left the room, leaving a frustrated and sad fiancé behind.
The woman raced down the long corridors before hurrying down the huge stairs to the entrance door of the mansion.
Without hesitation Zelda opened the large front door before stopping short. Next to her Malin gave a surprised gasp as she took in the short man standing on the doorstep. He had short, mouse-brown hair, a red cap and white, very skin showing clothes.
"Oh my…are you a cosplayer?" the redhead asked, finding her words first. The man gave an indignant squeak before announcing outraged: "I am a postman!"
A beat passed before Zelda flatly announced: "You've got a horrible accent." Then, while he was angrily sputtering, she grabbed his arm promptly and dragged him without warning into the mansion. Malin sighed, closed the door, and followed after her friend.
Once Zelda had reached the room where the young man was still stationed, she let go of the postman's arm, before announcing: "I was right!" The postman meanwhile rubbed his abused arm annoyed and announced: "That's not a way to treat a postman, heck, any human being!"
"And we're terribly sorry" Malin soothed, smiling gently. "You've got a letter for us?"
"After the treatment I just got I might be inclined to just burn it" the brunette grumbled to that, crossing his arms incensed.
"You wouldn't dare!" instantly came from the two blondes in the room. And looking at the girl with almost glowing green eyes and the young man armed to the teeth the postman quietly agreed that yes, indeed, he wouldn't.
Also, it was his job after all to deliver letters and not to burn them. He hadn't just made this interspatial and intertimely trip to just burn the letter after everything. That would be like kicking a cuccoo on purpose, which was to say not very bright.
Didn't matter that the people he had to deliver to sucked. He had a job to do, it was his holy call after all.
Wordlessly he tugged the letter out of the pocket dimension he had within his trousers and while both the man and the redhead seemed disturbed by the action, Zelda simply snatched the letter and blinked as it turned out to be a pencil case.
"It's their's" the young woman breathed. And instantly the other blonde in the room jumped into action: "Gimme!"
In the ensuring struggle over who got the pencil case and its innards, the postman quietly decided that it would be better to escape before the insanity that seemed to haunt this mansion struck him, too, and thus he decided he'd rather leave. Carefully he inched to the door, only to be stopped by Malin. "And where do you think you're going, Mister?" she asked and crossed her arms. "We've still got a lot of questions and you're going to answer us, or so help me." And the postman gulped in fear.
Meanwhile the small bout had ended with a clear victory for Zelda. While her friend was taller than her, he also was usually a very lazy law student and thus not the sportiest. She, meanwhile had not studied but rather spent all her day doing whatever she wanted, be it videogames or simple walks in the nearby park to enjoy the sun, and thus was more agile and therefore finally managed to pin him to the ground by sitting cross-legged on his back.
"Unfair" wheezed the young man from where he lay face down in the soft and luxury carpet of the room. "That's life" stated Zelda coldly with all her Gamer-wisdom, before promptly unzipping the pencil case. The impaled phone slipped out from inside and drew a soft gasp from Zelda, who felt dread settle in her stomach.
Malin, too, knew that her future sibling-in-law would rather do a lot other of nasty things before letting their new phone end up like this. Next Zelda removed the two rupees uncaringly before quickly unfolding the letter.
And then she started to cackle.
"What is it?" the young man beneath her asked and with the power of an overprotective brother finally managed to successfully throw Zelda off.
While she was still too busy grasping for air because she was laughing too hard, he finally managed to conquer the letter successfully. His head promptly turned different shades of red before he finally broke out into relieved and embarrassed laughter, too, and then offered the letter to Malin, who curiously read it.
And within there stood:
"Hey everyone,
I just wanted to tell you not to worry. I might be currently a little dimensionally misplaced, but I am fine.
Zelda, do you remember that last message you send me? That one about the Linked Universe? Yeah, those are the boys I'm currently hanging out with. So there is seriously no need to worry as I am in the best company possible.
In the back there are some real-life rupees, so you can find someone to write me an excuse for university and the missed examen. You can keep the rest by the way.
Bro, please don't do anything stupid (like jumping into black portals, if you have them too). I mean it. I'm fine and in (somewhat) good hands. Really, proof is on the SD card. Ignore the fact that my phone is broken, some of the Links decided to be idiots and invade my privacy. They got paid back double and triple for that incident. I'm fine, really.
Malin, please stop my brother dearest from doing something really idiotic like trying to go after me.
Thanks a lot
Babble (because that is what the Links have been calling me according to the postman who has a horrible accent.)"
"Well, he does" Zelda defended her childhood friend as she saw Malin fondly roll her eyes, before the redhead turned to her fiancé: "It's funny how you almost did the one thing they explicitly asked you to not do, tright?" The young answered with indignant sputters.
"And seeing as all the receivers have read the letter, I'll be taking my leave now" the postman quickly said, before making his way to the room's exit once more.
This time it was Zelda who stopped him by grabbing his arm once more a bit firmer than necessary, causing him to wince. "You'll stay here! We still have some things we have to send as a care packet. And it would be a pity if you have to do this horrible timely-spacey trip twice, don't you agree?" the sharp glint in her eyes caused him to break out into sweat.
"But my schedule" the poor man stuttered out pitifully.
"Your schedule can go duck itself" the young man announced, nearing the other male. "You look totally overworked, man, just take some holidays. Stay here a while, Zelda's got lots and lots of guest rooms."
"It's by law that people get holidays, according to paragraph…" Malin added for good measure.
The brunette man seemed like mouse in trap in that moment, his predators circling him.
"You get full lodge for free until we sent the care package" Zelda assured, grinning. "Would you really mind living for a while in luxury just to wait and deliver a package?"
The man squeaked, caught between duty and basic human desires.
Zelda took that as her answer, happily she clapped her hands together: "Great, now let's get working!"