"Makeela!" Zelda whined into her computer where Makeela stared into the camera. "Please pick one!"
"Fine! Blue! Tell him it matches his eyes and that's why you picked it!"
Zelda's hand hovered over the blue shirt, but at that comment, she decided to go with her black one instead, tugging it over her head.
She and Link had decided to make use of their long weekend, most of it which would have been spent at home respectively alone anyway. Zelda had dinner with Aryll and Link the night before, and she was still impressed by the many embarrassing stories Aryll could tell about Link, though her favorite was the time she'd convinced him that Lizalfos Licks were really the severed tongues of a mystical animal, and Link had stayed away from them for years, unable to know if she'd been lying or not.
"Oh, you're a spoil sport," Makeela hissed when she saw what Zelda had chosen. "Tell him the black is for your unkind soul towards me!"
Zelda rolled her eyes and pulled her hair up. "Up or down?"
"Down. Let him run his hands through it!"
Zelda snorted and leaned close to the camera. "We're going to a public park trail."
But Makeela's eyes widened playfully. "Oh gods, have him throw you into a pile of leaves and drag him down with you!"
"Makeela…"
"And then he'll take off that black shirt of yours and be like 'Hey babe, wish you'd worn blue, like my eyes.' And you'll be like, 'Well, if it's off what's it matter?' Because I know you and you'd actually say that and be totally serious."
With a judgmental stare, Zelda shook her head. "Okay. Public park. First date. What part are you missing? I'm nervous enough. How about distracting me with something that's not related to my date?"
Makeela hit her keyboard in excitement. "Okay! What would you do if he were a robot, like in that episode of Gone Gadget? But like, hear me out! Not one of those freaky things, but the ones who look just like humans."
"Androids?" Zelda laughed, grabbing a necklace.
"Yes! What would you do if he was one of those?"
"Go on a date with him, I guess," Zelda said simply. "You're not doing a good job distracting me."
"What if he was a fish?"
"Gods, Makeela. Please go on a date, even a bogus one, just so I can harass you with stupid questions like this too."
"Nope! Happily staying single, if not for just for my sake, but for yours so you can't bother me. I just don't get what you're so nervous about. It's not like this is your first date. Besides, it's Link. You practically love him. It should be comfortable. Just be yourself. Do what you normally do. It'll be natural and, listen to me here, it will be fine."
Zelda scoffed. "First off, I don't love him, so calm yourself. Second, I don't know what I'm doing! Rav wasn't my friend beforehand. He was just some guy. What if Link and I discover that we weren't meant to date?"
"You were, but okay, I'll humor you. You'd probably be good friends if it doesn't work out. You already are. But if that's what you're afraid of, you've always have me!"
Chuckling, Zelda used the mirror next to her computer to do her makeup. "It's true. And I actually do love you, so we're all covered." Zelda paused, looking over at the clock before back to the screen. "So, what are you going to get me for my birthday?"
Makeela made a noise, not excited, but not horrible upset. "I still have a few weeks. And I wouldn't tell you anyway."
"Get me the new Moonlight Howl graphic novel?"
"What if I don't want to?"
"I'll cry."
"Good!"
They both laughed, and Zelda sat back, admiring herself. It was casual, but with more effort than her normal days at school or rehearsal. She slipped on her sneakers and sat back.
/
Link paced from his room to the bathroom for the fourth time before Aryll finally came out of her room to watch him.
"Please pick a room to get ready in."
He turned to her and made a face, toothbrush in his mouth as he fixed his wet hair with his other hand. "What?" he said, though the toothpaste looked like he was rabidly foaming at the mouth when he spoke. He went back to the bathroom.
"You're not wearing that, right?" she said, glancing at him in his graphic tee.
"Why?" he asked after spitting into the sink.
"You look like you're going to school, not on a date. Get back in your room and take that stupid shirt off."
She pushed past him and went into his drawer, rifling through his things.
"Hey! That's my shit! Don't make a mess."
"Your room is already a mess; you won't even notice."
"No it's no—"
"Wear this instead!" She tossed him a nicer shirt without any logos on it. "Want a tie?" She held one up.
He pushed her hand away, but took the new shirt, switching out of his old one. He held out his hands. "Better?"
"Yes," Aryll said, nodding. But she made a face as she squinted at him. "Your lips are fucking chapped, man. What did you do? Run through a desert? Didn't you just take a shower?" She disappeared, but she returned a moment later with chapstick and grabbed Link's head to keep him from pulling away. "Put this on."
"Get the fuck off," he muttered, pushing her arms away, but he was too late. "Is that shit strawberry?"
"Don't be a brat, Link. Put the chapstick on. You look like a troll."
"I fucking hate strawberries. Get away from me!"
She shoved him out of her way and returned to his room a moment later, flashing a generic non-flavored chapstick before nearly assaulting him with it again. He made a face but didn't fight her nearly as hard, sucking up the losing fight with as much dignity as he could muster under her triumphant gaze.
"Take it with you," she said, shoving it into his pocket. He rolled his eyes, but she blocked the way out of his room. "You haven't tried to impress a girl in years. It's showing."
"Shut up."
"Mhmm," she muttered, letting him pass.
He grabbed his pack of gum off the table, popping a piece into his mouth before going to put the rest in his pocket, but she stopped him again. "Take the other one. Just tonight."
Sighing, he nodded and switched his pack of gum out before grabbing her keys off the small couch. "Am I good to go?"
"You have my approval."
He smirked, patting the doorframe as he turned back around. "Thank you, Aryll."
"Colin is picking me up in about an hour, so if you need help before then, send me a discrete text."
"Gods," he laughed, closing the door behind him.
/
Zelda hurried out the door, locking it behind her
She was glad Link had parked in her driveway, because seeing him driving a car was the most unfamiliar feeling. And she didn't know what Aryll's car looked like.
His arm was hanging out the open window, and he was distracted by something on his other side and didn't see her approach.
She leaned next to his arm, poking her head into his window and causing him to jump back in surprise. And when he turned to her, their lips were a small breadth away from each other. Link had nowhere to go, and he couldn't really say he wanted to pull away from her, but she did, giving them both some space. Link's eyes darted to her lips before he managed to steady them on her eyes.
"I just wanted to make sure it was you. I've never seen you drive a car."
"I would kind of love to see some old woman's reaction if you shoved your head into her car by accident."
She snorted and popped around to the other side of the car. "Honestly, I'd kind of love to see that too."
Zelda pulled her seatbelt on and then glanced at Link, where he was unabashedly looking her over, which honestly made her feel less awkward to oogle him herself. He looked sharp. He smelled fresh, his damp hair was nearly dried, his clothes were more formal than what he normally wore, but not so much so that she felt underdressed.
"I like your shirt," Zelda said, reaching over to feel the sleeve for no real reason that she could justify.
He mentally thanked Aryll, or cursed her for simply being right, he wasn't sure which.
"I like your… everything." He shook his head and let out a deep sigh at how stupid that was. "Okay, time to go."
Zelda grinned, loving how easily he got flustered around her. She wasn't much better, but she felt pretty confident that she'd managed to keep most of her reactions to him internalized. Like when he put his hand on the back of her headrest to back the car up, his muscles tightened and left her without a doubt that he exercised when he was bored, as he'd told her in the past. And she was pretty certain that she'd done well to keep her gaze out the window at red lights when she felt his attention turn to her for an extended period of time when he thought she wasn't looking.
Or when he parked the car and walked around to meet her on her side, taking her hand in his as they started to walk, she'd been pretty sure that she kept most of her excitement from overflowing.
They both felt awkward at first. There was something different about doing the same thing they normally did… but with a new meaning behind it. Their conversation was strained, small talk that they normally never needed to engage in.
It had gotten to a point where Zelda had to actually address it.
"I'm sorry," she said when they took a path that led around a small pond. "It's been a while since I've done this."
"You?" he scoffed. "I haven't been on a date with a girl I actually liked since… I was fourteen, maybe?" He only didn't feel awkward admitting it because he'd already mentioned it to Zelda in the past.
"You said you went on dates with Ilia's friends."
He shrugged. "I said 'with a girl I actually liked.' Those dates were… not quite this."
Though Zelda could control most of her reactions, she just gave up on trying to stop herself from blushing.
"My first date with Ravio was horrible. Gods, he took me out with his friends on a double date and he barely paid attention to me. I don't even think he held my hand. And then he kissed me and it was just out of nowhere."
"But if he'd held your hand?" Link asked, raising their joined ones between them.
Zelda smiled coyly. "Do you kiss on the first date, Link?"
He visibly swallowed, but that was the only hint of nervousness he displayed. The rest of him oozed confidence in that strange way that Link shifted between knowing what he was doing, and bumbling like a child.
"You'll find out one way or the other before the day is done, won't you?"
Zelda bit her lip and nodded, needing to move her attention off of him. "Okay," she laughed.
Link pulled her to a stop and pulled his hand free of hers, instead, pulling her closer to him by her hips.
Her mouth dropped open a bit, smirking.
"Do you, Zelda?"
His breath was hot against her and she lost her train of thought as he moved closer.
"It depends on the guy. Like… no to Ravio, but… yes to… others."
He nodded, their lips nearly touching. "Okay."
And he pulled away.
Zelda was left heaving for air from his near kiss, her eyes wide. "You're a tease!" she balked, laughing at his hardly innocent expression.
He shoved his hands into his pockets and walked backwards so he could face her. His eyes sparkled with humor. "Only with you, Zel."
She shook her head and hurried after him. In her momentum, she practically threw herself onto him, and while he caught her, they both went down knees first into the grass, laughing. It was a combination of pent up energy and embarrassment, but neither could stop.
Zelda, however, was feeling a little braver than earlier, partially thanks to Link's actions. As he went to get up, she stopped him, scooting so she was just beside him. And she wrapped her hand around his neck.
His breathing sped up, though he held still, waiting for her to do something, trying desperately not to move without knowing for sure what she was doing. He'd just goaded her with a false kiss, after all.
But he couldn't stop his hand from sneaking back to her waist, steadying her as she shuffled even closer. Her tongue darted out, wetting her lips, and Link started to die a little inside. His eyes were stuck there, on the receiving end of what he'd just done to her.
She could feel his chest heaving, endlessly bringing them both up and down as she rested her other arm against him, letting it trace the skin on the side of his neck.
"Are you going to do that to me again?" she asked, moving closer.
He tried to laugh, but it was a choked noise. "Probably."
She shook her head, also unable to laugh without it sounding a bit strangled. "Then for your honesty."
She crossed the rest of the distance between them. Their first kiss was fast, enough to break the ice, barely long enough to even count. But once the ice cracked, they both fell in.
They crashed into each other at once, starved for the thing they'd both been desiring almost since they'd met. It felt like an impossibility, but they both fought to bring the other closer, though there was no room left between them.
She could feel Link's hand on her waist, half on fabric, and half his hand on exposed skin where her shirt rode up slightly. She made a noise into him when his fingers twitched, as if reminding her they were there, and Link drowned in her.
He felt himself falling, figuratively and literally, as he landed back on his elbows. Zelda's lips chased his, and his hand flew up to the back of her neck, urging her towards him, and their lips met again. And again.
For Link, it was like every shred of the pent up anxiety he'd been hoarding inside burst out into the most confident act he'd ever done. He trusted himself, and he trusted Zelda. And it had been a long time since that combination had existed inside him.
For Zelda, she felt the years of loneliness slip from her mind, feeling for once, and with only one other person beside her, that she wasn't utterly alone. And she felt strongly enough to believe that he wasn't going to pull away anymore, and neither was she.
Save for a few poorly aimed nose-bumps and awkward giggles, they stayed like that in the grass for some time.
"Ugh!" a voice said, causing them to finally break apart. An older woman with a young child was walking by. "There are children here!"
Though both were entirely breathless, Link's wide eyes turned to Zelda, the first to break the spell. "Shit, we're in public."
She ran a hand through her tousled hair. "Oh gods, that's embarrassing."
"Sorry," Link said to the woman, helping push Zelda off of him. "First kiss." He turned to Zelda and winked, and gods, she turned red.
The woman was not amused.
"I don't care if it was your dying kiss. My grandson does not need to see that."
"Sorry," they both said again, standing on their feet as the woman walked by with a huff, pulling the young boy along.
Zelda covered her wide mouth with her hand, trying to stifle a laugh. "Oh gods! That was… we're in a very public place!"
"All those weeks of hanging out in secret might have fucked with our heads," he laughed, pushing back his own hair, though he could almost imagine Zelda's fingers instead.
Zelda grabbed Link's hand and pulled him with her. "Think we can make it to the food truck without getting in trouble?"
But Link shimmied his hand out of hers and wrapped it over her shoulder instead, pulling her into him and feeling her hand around his waist. He leaned closer and let his nose brush her jaw before planting a soft kiss to her cheek.
"Nope."
Reviews: Oracle of Hylia: 1000000% meant the verb bahahahha! st4tic sh0ck: I'm in! I'm all here for that club! But yasss they're finally going on a date!