"How many people?" Ramus Harkinian asked his daughter the next morning after she made her case.
"Just… four."
Arina Harkinian tapped her fingers on the counter. "And how many are boys?"
"Just… two." Zelda cleared her throat, struggling under the gaze of her parents. It was almost like they could see that she'd been kissed, like there was a giant mark on her face screaming that she should be interrogated about having people stay overnight. This kind of questioning hadn't happened in years.
"Will Makeela be here?"
"Yes. She's coming early."
Her father spun his cellphone around absently. "Who else?"
"You don't know them. Makeela can vouch for them though, if you don't trust me." A low shot, but Zelda wasn't in the mood. Not after they hadn't come home until the middle of the night and were leaving again in a few hours.
"I just meant their names," he muttered, though he could feel her annoyance with them radiating off of her.
Zelda wanted freedom, like anyone else. She wanted to go to school, have friends, and be able to go out. But she also enjoyed being with her parents. The summers they used to spend by the pool, laughing with virgin cocktails as they lazily floated in unicorn-shaped pool floats were some of her fondest memories. They didn't have to bring her anywhere, or buy her a car. She really just wanted a day when they didn't talk about—or go to—work.
And she understood that they loved their jobs. She understood that they were both heads of their own divisions within the company, high up and climbing higher. She wouldn't have been surprised if, one day, they both ended up in a heated power struggle to reach CEO first. It already seemed like they were on that steep climb.
"Makeela, Link, Ilia, and Pipit."
Her mother grabbed her phone, checking a text as she spoke. "No Revali or Ruto?"
Zelda's lips tightened. "Nope. I'm not really talking to Revali, and Ruto hangs with him. So no."
"Oh darling," Arina cooed, "I'm sorry you're fighting. Things will get better if you two just sit and talk it out."
"No thank you."
"What happened?"
Groaning, Zelda leaned her head down on the table, looking at her parents. "So, they can all stay over, right?"
"Yes, that's fine. I think we want to meet them when they arrive though."
"Will you actually be here?" she muttered.
"Zelda," her father tried, but his phone started to ring. Though he muted it, his eyes kept darting to the screen. "We should be if they're coming over at seven."
Zelda grabbed her things off the table and nodded, seeing how both of them were itching to grab their phones. "Okay. I'm going to go let them know they can stay over and get some things ready."
And finally, when Zelda laid on her bed, she wondered what the hell she'd been thinking.
She and Link had sat on a bench, talking about what they were going to do about Moonlight Howl. And then Pipit got brought back into the conversation. And then Makeela. And then Zelda had asked if Ilia watched it. And somehow, all of that turned into: you should all come over to watch. It'll be fun with a group. And that turned into Link texting Pipit and then it all spiraled out of control from there. What had once been a date was now a watch party. But it had also led to a promise of another date towards the end of the week when Link's shift ended early. A date that was more… private.
"Warning," Zelda sent to Link. "My parents want to meet everyone."
His reply came quickly. "Do they know we went on a date? Or are we just friends?"
"Just friends. They're going to leave for work about an hour in, so it shouldn't be too painful."
"Sounds fun"
She scoffed and flopped on her bed, doing homework for a while. Every now and then, she could hear her parents arguing either with each other or with some unknown voice on the other end of the line. She peaked over the balcony and saw her mother flailing a clipboard around as she reamed someone out.
It was a relief when Makeela arrived.
She greeted Zelda's parents and headed upstairs, quick to leave them to their phone calls.
Tossing her backpack with a change of clothes in it off to the side, Makeela threw herself onto the bed. "Tell me everything before he gets here!"
And though she'd done so last night, she excitedly retold the events of the night, showing Makeela all the random pictures they'd taken through the date. Most of them were of scenery or Link, since it was her phone, but she'd snuck her way into a few of them.
After spending the day together before everyone's arrival, Makeela and Zelda headed to watch mindless television until Zelda got Link's text.
She stood up and stretched before making her way to her parents in the kitchen. "They're here. Just remember, the red head, Pipit, is deaf, so don't have a full-blown conversation with him while you're looking at your phone or anything."
And when the doorbell rang, Makeela answered, leading everyone inside.
Pipit and Ilia were awestruck, staring at the entire home in absolute wonderment. Link looked around, trying to feign the same experience, despite having been in the house several times. It had Zelda giggling as she bounded up to greet them.
"Thank you for inviting us to watch tonight," Pipit signed, his eyes darting to the massive television.
"Of course! Makeela and I have had the subtitles on for hours so we wouldn't forget."
Pipit smiled. "I appreciate it. Thank you."
Finally, Zelda turned to her parents, gesturing to each one. "This is Link, Ilia, and Pipit."
Ilia was the one who took a step forward first, grasping Arina's hand. "Pleasure to meet you both. Your home is beautiful."
As she spoke, Link shot Zelda an anxious look. She just bit her lip and watched him follow Ilia's lead. There was something about the way Ilia glanced back at Link too that had Zelda suspicious. Like Ilia was guiding him more than just genuinely introducing herself.
Makeela made an anxious noise as they awkwardly watched Ilia and Link shaking her parents' hands. They couldn't hear what Link was saying, and soon, he and Ilia swapped before Pipit did the same.
Zelda mentally cursed because she really wanted to know what he'd said to her father. She'd have to remember to ask later.
Link finally walked in her direction and flashed her a relieved look before standing beside her with his hands firmly in his pockets, leaving a large gap between him and Zelda for good measure.
"Zelda, darling," Arina said, nodding her approval over Zelda's polite new friends, "I've left you the card so you can order some food."
"Thanks mom," Zelda muttered, watching them go into their respective studies before turning back around. "They're leaving in about an hour." Her hands moved with her for Pipit's sake, though she had the feeling Link was ready to jump in if he needed to translate.
When they were gone, Zelda pushed Makeela forward, gesturing to Pipit. "This is Link's friend, Pipit. Pip, this is my best friend, Makeela. Sorry, my parents think you all know each other."
"No problem. Can you tell her it's nice to meet her?"
Zelda did, and Makeela awkwardly smiled and nodded a vague gesture that meant 'you too', not knowing a single word in sign language.
"Gods, Zelda," Ilia said, looking around again in wonder. "This place is really gorgeous. What do your parents do?"
As she spoke, Link translated. Zelda remembered Link had mentioned that Ilia knew some sign language, but not enough for it to come naturally. For Link, it was almost like he didn't even realize he was doing it, that's how naturally it came.
"Advertising. They're high ups, so they're at work a lot." She noticed Ilia's bag, and then finally everyone's. "Oh, you can put your stuff down anywhere."
Link looked at Makeela and then Zelda. "Does she know that we kissed?"
"Obviously. Do they?"
Link nodded and moved closer to Zelda before shrugging off his backpack. "Are your parents going to pop out?"
"They probably won't leave their rooms until they leave the house."
Pressing a quick kiss to Zelda's lips, Link grinned. "Hi."
"No!" Makeela wailed when she noticed how close they were, and the rampant blush over both of them. "We missed it!"
Ilia made a noise of protest as well and crossed her arms while Pipit watched expectantly.
"Voyeurs?" Link laughed.
"Oh, they totally are," Zelda agreed, patting his arm and moving away from him to give them the tour.
When they were back to the kitchen after seeing the rest of the place, Zelda pulled out her phone as everyone agreed to keep it simple and order from Subrosian Pizza. She slid the phone to Ilia as everyone hovered around the island.
It was chaos in the kitchen
She and Link had their arms pressed against each other but were determined not to overwhelm anyone with any overt show of affection, especially not after the park.
Makeela was in front of Pipit waving her arms around in faux sign language as she attempted to ask "how do you talk to people". Thankfully, Pipit understood and went to his bag before returning with a mini whiteboard.
"Like this," he wrote. "Or my phone." Then he slid the board to her.
"OMG," she scrawled excitedly. "I love whiteboards."
Zelda and Link cringed, but Pipit laughed, wiping the words away with his palm. "Their novelty wears off after a while."
It was a while before Ilia, Makeela, and Pipit migrated to the couch, chatting happily. Makeela had taken almost total control of Pipit's whiteboard, and from what Zelda could see, she was controlling a losing game of hangman. Link and Zelda stood in the corner of the kitchen, watching, finally taking a moment away from everyone's prying eyes.
"Makeela seems to be having too much fun," Zelda laughed.
Link snorted. "So is Pipit. Ilia's not usually into big groups so she's a little quiet, but I'm pretty sure she's not miserable."
"What an endorsement," Zelda chuckled, leaning into him.
He wrapped his arm around her and she went for a kiss, but hastily pulled away from Link, all but throwing herself onto the counter when she heard a door.
"Zelda, we're leaving!" her mother called, coming into the room and grabbing her coat.
Her father was right behind, grabbing his own keys. "It was nice to meet you all!"
When the door closed, Zelda relaxed again, turning to Link. "Close."
"Scale of one to ten, how bad are they going to react?"
Zelda made a face. "I don't even know. But I'm not ready for the inquisition."
Link wrapped his arm around her, moving her in front of him so he could rest his chin on her shoulder. "Aryll was gods awful last night. I was dying a little."
"Tell me everything," she laughed.
Link shook his head, his chin brushing her skin and sending a chill through them both. "Abso-fucking-lutely not."
"Give me a hint. I want to know how bad!"
He tightened his grip and let his lips leave a scalding hot trail up her neck, chuckling in her ear, his breath tickling it.
"No."
They all sat together on the couch, pizza in hand and mouths wide as Castor Wolf left Amalia. A lone wolf, he'd said, never learns to travel in a pack.
Zelda and Link's pizza had been long since forgotten on the floor, and for once, she'd been unable to move, clinging to Makeela's arm as she tried to stop herself from crying. And Link was no better, leaning forward so far with his hands covering his mouth. Pipit had his face half buried in the crook of his arm, and Ilia was a statue of unreadable energy.
The credits ran, and it was silent between them.
The mid-season finale. A month-long break. Pain and torture at an unforeseeable level.
"That can't have been the end of the episode," Zelda finally whispered.
But it had been, and every one of them hovered around their phones, watching videos of people wailing at bars, hitting tables, and all-around mayhem ensuing.
It had been all-around draining, but they sat together, discussing their theories and ideas for how the situation would resolve. How could Castor return to the pack after his brother's death had torn him to pieces?
It left them all in a pile on the floor, having mostly thrown pillows and blankets and cushions around in some sort of strange makeshift nest, and slowly, one by one, they all drifted to sleep.
Zelda woke up in the middle of the night with her back pressed against Link's chest, his arms around her, her phone limp in his hand from when they'd been looking at it. His breath wasn't quite a snore, but it was heavy in her ear.
Makeela, Ilia, and Pipit were all circled right in front of them, a video still playing on someone's phone as it went through a queue. Makeela's hair was sprawled out practically in Zelda's mouth. She pulled away and tried to avoid choking, though she did silently cough a few times, as it brushed her tongue, opting to—oh so unfortunately—move closer to Link. His breath sputtered, taking a sharp breath.
"Zelda?" he whispered, so low she could barely hear him.
"Yeah?"
"Mmm," he hummed, readjusting himself. His arm tightened around her, pulling her in as it did. "This okay?"
She comfortably leaned against his chest this time, her eyes already closing again. "Mhmm."
They both made a few more sounds of agreement before they were silent again for the rest of the night, left only with the noise of someone's phone in the center of the room singing an advertisement that no one was awake to skip, asleep together like it was the most natural thing in the world.
A/N: Okay! I barely got this chapter done because I started work today. I didn't end up doing half of what I wanted to, so I decided to halt the daily updates for right now. The fic is not going on a total break, but I'm not going to promise daily updates for the rest of this week and possibly next week too while I readjust to my work schedule and lose countless more hours of my life trying to figure out why I can't grasp the concept of Zoom (though I FINALLY figured out how to add a blurred background). Once I get used to my new schedule, daily updates will definitely start back up again though!
Reviews: AndrewPixelKnight: Hahahahhaha! I think that's a great way to sum this chapter up! Nekotoko: If horny teenagers was a crime... yikes they'd need more jails hahahhaha! Boy Man Dude Guy: Thank you!