Link sat on his bed, watching Zelda stuff several things into a gym bag. Beside him, Pipit was doing the same, only with Makeela, who was beside Zelda. They were muttering to themselves, saying something about the items in each of their bags.
"You have everything," Link said, moving his hands as well for Pipit's sake. "I've watched you two repack your bags three times."
"Shut up, Link!" Aryll called from the other room as she was getting ready to leave for her night class. "Let them check again! Neither of them are late."
"Who'd have thought there'd be so much stuff for one game? You'd think it's just shoes and water," Pipit said, watching with interest at the many things they'd packed into their bags.
"I saw that," Zelda said, eyeing Pipit. Her hands moved for him, but she spoke aloud for Makeela. And while Makeela had practiced, she'd only picked up and remembered a few phrases. Pipit had appreciated the effort on his behalf, but Zelda was quick to tease that some people simply weren't wired for another language and that Makeela was one of them.
Zelda looked satisfied upon third inspection of her bag, and her check of Makeela's. They both zipped everything up and slung their bags over their shoulder almost simultaneously. They headed into the other room, though Zelda felt eyes on her and turned around.
Pipit was getting up, but Link was watching her leave, his eyes low. She shot him an exasperated look.
"What?" Link asked, rolling off the bed, wriggling his eyebrows at her. "I like your uniform."
Zelda grabbed a pair of sweatpants and pulled them on over her shorts with a smug look. "You like all my uniforms."
He shrugged guiltily before kissing her as he passed.
"Ewww! No! None of that!" Makeela whined, pulling her coat on.
Link wrapped his arms around Zelda to make a point. "There was a time when you were trying to get pictures of us kissing."
"We're not elusive creatures anymore," Zelda laughed, pushing Link off her so she could finish getting ready.
"No," Makeela huffed, "It's just that you're both together and it makes single people slightly annoyed to constantly see PDA."
Link shorted. "Sorry, I forgot to translate that."
Makeela ignored him, and Link turned to Pipit. "She wants you to ask her out. She's feeling single. Just do it already."
"We went for pizza the other day."
"Too subtle," Link laughed. "Zelda and I didn't even know when our first date was because our dates were too subtle. It took spelling it out for it to actually work."
"True," Zelda chimed in, giggling at Makeela's suspicious stare.
She'd learned a few words and phrases, but for Makeela, her favorite and easiest way to communicate her feelings was simply giving them all the middle finger, regardless of the topic.
"Hey girls," Aryll said, standing in the doorway to her room with her bag already slung over her shoulders. "Sorry I can't come, but you guys crush the living hell out of the other team, or whatever you say at sport things!"
"Oh, we will!"
"Okay, good," Aryll said, pushing past everyone to get to the door. "Maybe I'll see you later. If not, food's leftovers tonight."
"Thanks!"
"Link, pay your bills," Aryll said, closing the door behind her.
Zelda glanced at him and he rolled his eyes. "Phone. I forgot."
"Oh, okay."
"Ready?" Makeela asked, standing up and immediately hopping anxiously from foot to foot. "I don't want to be late."
They were, by no means, late. Link dropped them both off before going with Pipit to Hyrule Energized. The players had to get there a bit early, so it gave them the extra time to dally.
When they returned, each with their own Lon Lon Special, they headed for the bleachers, spotting the two people they wanted to sit near.
Ilia was having a full-blown conversation with Gabe, excitedly telling him a story that had them both laughing. Though Ilia wasn't nearly as close to Gabe as Pipit and Link, she'd been to the shop a few times and knew him well enough.
"Hi guys!" she said, waving them over.
Pipit took the space beside her, and then Link sat. He leaned forward to talk to Gabe. "You made it."
"I did. I wouldn't miss her first game of the season. Besides, I'm here as a spy. I want to know what all this fuss is with Pip and Makeela."
Pipit turned red and pointedly looked away, though he was still trapped between Link and Gabe. Link made sure Pipit could see his hands.
"He won't ask her out on a real date but keeps doing these unofficial double dates with me and Zelda. So, I'm trying to get him off his ass to just ask her out already. Was I this bad?"
"Worse," Pipit signed, knocking Link's hands out of the way.
Link chuckled and watched Zelda and the rest of the team warm up on the court. She was focused in the same way that he'd seen her at theater rehearsals.
"Did Zelda see you here?"
Gabe shrugged. "I don't think so. She hasn't looked over. Maybe if she sits on the bench, she'll get a look at her cheerleaders."
"From what I hear," Ilia chimed in, "Neither of them get benched often. They're good."
"You have to bench people sometimes, right? You can't play a whole game."
Ilia glanced at Link. "When is the last time you played a sport?"
"I used to play basketball."
"Street basketball with rules meant for players who showed up at a park. That doesn't count."
"Yes, it does! It's a sport!"
Gabe rolled his eyes and waved them both off, shushing them. "Two different games with two different rules. They're both still games, so leave each other alone."
Ilia stuck her tongue out at Link, who returned the adultly gesture.
The four of them sat there casually talking until a buzzer went off. All of them jumped at the sound of the scoreboard.
"So," Link said, leaning forward as the teams huddled together. "How do we know if they win? Like… what number do they go to?"
Ilia scoffed. "I don't know. Don't you look up what your girlfriend does?"
"No. I figured I'd just watch and learn."
Pipit rolled his eyes and pulled out his phone, typing something quickly before handing it to Link.
Link looked down at a search result on Pipit's screen. "'To win a game, a team must score 25 points with a two-point difference. If they're too closely matched, the game can continue over the 25-point maximum.' Okay, so they need 25 or more?"
"Sounds it," Ilia agreed.
Pipit took his phone back, ready to type again. "What are their positions? Makeela told me but I don't remember. It was a fake word or something."
"Look it up. See which position is a fake word."
After a moment, Pipit made a face and spelled out: "Libero."
"What's that do?"
Link and Pipit sat huddled over the phone, trying to figure out what the rules were. It wasn't until Zelda and Makeela were on the court, the game officially starting, that they looked up, trying to follow the game.
"So, they hit the ball three times?"
"Why do they always hit it out of the lines? Is that on purpose?"
"Oh, okay, it is three times."
"Her knees must fucking hurt."
"That's why they wear the kneepads. There's no way they hurt."
The sounds coming from the court were deafening, and Link was greatful to be able to sign to Pipit. From everyone's screams, calling out plays and who's getting the ball and where to go and what to do, the court was loud.
There was an incessant squeak on the court floor where their shoes skidded. It was high pitched and non stop.
And the crowd. The crowd of rowdy high schoolers and their families heckling the other team, cheering for their friends and family. Link was sure he heard "open your eyes, ref" at least twenty times in the first few minutes.
But amid the cacophony of noises, Link could hear one thing loud and clear: Zelda's name.
For the briefest of seconds, he almost went to recruit Pipit to help find the source, the one person who wouldn't stop shouting out for Zelda and cheering anytime she did something.
It wouldn't have been weird if he'd recognized it as Darunia. Even Revali or Sidon wouldn't have been the biggest surprise. If he knew that it was Ruto, Ravio, or even Groose, he'd have been annoyed, but that nagging bit in the back of his brain would have calmed down. He'd hoped it was one of their teachers, but even Mr. Auru was just politely clapping whenever something happened. It was a voice he'd never heard before, and he couldn't pinpoint the source.
He watched the game, trying to calmly ignore the voice. He nearly thought it was in his own head, some sort of internal torture device that was hell-bent on driving him insane. But then he saw the source of the voice, a young man, probably his age, who stood up to cheer while calling out a "yeah, Zelda!"
He was mildly familiar, though he was sure that the loudmouth didn't go to school with them. He had nearly white, blonde hair, and when he turned around for a moment, as if feeling that there was someone's gaze boring into his back, Link could see that his eyes were such an intense shade of brown that they were nearly a dark red color.
Link elbowed Pipit. "Where have we seen that guy before?"
Pipit followed Link's discrete finger point and shook his head. "Doesn't look familiar at all to me. Why?"
"He keeps cheering for only Zelda. And I've seen him before."
"I assume he doesn't go here."
"No."
For a while, they left it, but suddenly Link felt his attention divided between watching Zelda and ignoring the loudmouth.
When Zelda was on the bench, she was either too tired to spot them all, or too focused to look in the crowds. Either way, the screaming menace became quiet and suddenly disinterested in the game, instead playing on his phone.
Link considered himself to be… fairly level headed. Sure, he had his moments. He'd managed to ignore Revali throughout the majority of the play. Even his subtle jabs or obnoxious flirting with Zelda could be ignored because Link could see underneath it. He could see the jealousy, and the anger, and the honest hatred of him that was channeled into most of his comments. They were all shots at Link, while having the 'benefit' of complimenting Zelda at times. With Revali, it was like a contest between the two. And while Link wasn't proud of that, per se, he knew it wasn't just Revali trying to get with Zelda while they were together. It was directed at him.
But this jackass… he wasn't even pretending that the game other than Zelda held any meaning. There was no attempt to even disguise it. It was just blatantly being thrown into Link's face again and again that someone else was here for Zelda.
"Am I crazy for hating that guy without knowing him?"
But Pipit just shrugged. "Ask Ilia. I can't hear if it's as bad as you think it is."
Link begrudgingly sat back. He debated trying to yell louder to cheer Zelda on, but honestly, it seemed as if she didn't even hear the guy as it was. It would have only been for himself to scream for Zelda. And this wasn't about him.
Well… it was.
If he'd felt jealousy before with Revali, then this wasn't the same feeling. This was a burn in the back of his throat that he couldn't swallow, something that sat on his heart and made him want to scream.
"I know who it is," Link signed, sitting up a little straighter. "It's that guy she hangs out with at work. She showed me a picture of them."
"Okay. Go beat him up then. I'll hold him."
Link rolled his eyes and shook his head with a small laugh. "Thanks."
For the entirety of the game, the hospital guy's voice went right through him, like the screech of a chalkboard, or the grind of a garbage disposal when a fork went down the drain, and he felt like the mangled prongs.
Still, he managed to tune the guy out to an extent. He was here for Zelda, and he enjoyed watching her play.
It was no surprise to anybody that they won.
The teams were congratulating each other on a well-played game while the crowd was dispersing off the bleachers and onto the court and into the hall.
When the teams were done, they could see Zelda looking around, unsure where anyone was. It almost proved their guess that she hadn't seen them in the stands, since they were still in virtually the same spot, just on the court instead.
But when she did finally spot them, her eyes lit up and she pointed in their direction before nodding to someone and running to greet them all.
"Gabe!" she breathed, still heaving from the game. "You came?"
"Couldn't miss it. You're very talented. A true Renaissance man…. well, woman. You and Makeela. Well played."
"Thanks," Zelda laughed. "I'd hug you, but…" she looked down at herself. She was sweating.
Gabe slung his arm around her shoulder. "I work with these kids all day. I'm not afraid."
Zelda laughed and hugged him back. "Thank you so much for coming!" She grabbed Ilia's hand and squeezed it before looking at Pipit. "And thank you, too. Makeela saw her parents. She'll be over in a minute."
"I came here for you, too."
"Sure you did," Zelda laughed before holding her arms out to Link. "Hug: yes or no?"
"Hell yeah," he chuckled, grabbing her tightly. "I don't know what you're better at: this or theater."
"I'm a Renaissance woman, remember? I can be better at all of them at once. Besides, they're really pretty different from each other."
"True, true."
Then, Link spotted that guy pushing through the crowd towards them, and he felt his grip on Zelda's waist tighten. He consciously had to loosen his arm.
"Hey! You came too!" Zelda exclaimed, giving him a quick hug when he opened his arms. Link was glad to see that she gave him one of her "I'm hugging a stranger" hugs: arms under theirs, and tightly against herself still, rather than the warm welcoming ones she gave to close friends.
"Guys, this is…" she looked at Link first and gave him a funny look before turning back. "This is Komali. He's my friend from the hospital. Komali, this is my boyfriend, Link, then Pipit, Ilia, Gabe, and Makeela will be here soon."
Ilia and Pipit nodded politely before talking to each other. Though Zelda could see that Ilia was simply filling Pipit in on what was happening with Komali.
Link begrudgingly held out his hand. "Nice to meet you. I've heard stories."
"Same," Komali said, a stiff, awkward handshake passing between them.
Thankfully, Gabe took over and also went to shake his hand. It gave Zelda enough time to shoot Link a smug look. And in that one look, he knew that she was well aware of the burning jealousy that was just sitting on him. A whole conversation passed between them with their meticulous stares, one that told Link to stop being jealous, and one that said he couldn't help it.
Zelda gave him a pitying smile and crossed behind Gabe while he spoke to Komali to wrap her arms around Link, casually leaning against him. He bit back a grin and nodded, letting out a snort. "Thanks, Princess."
Zelda lightly hit him in the back as she laughed. "You looked so sad!"
Gabe stepped away, claiming to go find Makeela's parents, who he'd met at the show, to say hi.
Komali's eyes slowly took in the way Zelda was holding on to Link and he cleared his throat. "So, I've heard a lot about you, but it's nice to put a face to the name."
Link nodded. "Yeah, Zelda showed me the picture you guys took together, but I couldn't place you right away."
"Yeah, same. I see you every time Zelda hands me her phone. She's got a picture of the both of you as her wallpaper, but I guess I never really looked closely."
Link felt his neck tighten as he tensed in annoyance. "Yeah, don't look through her camera roll or you'll learn what I look like."
"Okay," Zelda said, moving away from both of them. "I need a new water, and I need a shower. And food. Maybe this weekend we can go hang out. Bowling or something, maybe? There's that place, the Bombchu Bowling Alley. We could go there. Does that sound fun? Maybe Saturday?"
Link feigned a smile, but nodded. But Komali shook his head. "Saturdays I'm out of town visiting my grandparents. But maybe next time I can reschedule."
"Okay! No problem! Figured I'd ask." She turned to Link. "We can make it a date instead."
"Deal," Link said, seeing a smug look in her eyes, though he couldn't figure out why.
But when Makeela came over, Zelda introduced Komali to her, and the three of them fell into a far less awkward, easy conversation. Link eavesdropped, and he could see how they'd become friends. They had a similar sense of humor, and he gathered that Komali made her laugh.
But when Komali left to go home, Zelda spun on Link, amusement on her face more than accusatory. "You're so jealous right now! It's seething off of you!"
"He likes you."
"He doesn't. We're friends."
Link tsked. "I'm well-versed in what it's like to be head over heels for you. I know what it looks like. Ilia knows what it looks like. That was it. He likes you."
"It's true," Ilia chimed.
"Yeah," Makkela added. "He was totally staring at your ass, too. You might think you're just friends, but he wants more. He's a homewrecker, and he's coming to town."
Link snickered, shoving his hands into his pocket.
"Really?" Zelda gasped, looking to Makeela and then Link. "Wow. Okay. What do I do?"
"Show him more pictures of you and Link," Ilia tried.
"Tell him all about your sexcapades with your boyfriend," Makeela laughed.
"No," Link and Zelda said at once.
She chuckled and turned to Link. "Any opinions?"
He shook his head. "No. You do whatever you want to do. I trust you. I don't trust him. If he tries to kiss you, you tell me so I can anonymously punch him in the teeth."
"Ouch," Zelda breathed. "If he still has teeth after I hit him for that, sure, I'll let you at him."
Link kissed Zelda's cheek. "I love you."
"Yeah, I know."
"Hey, do you guys want to go grab a pizza or something? I'm starving."
"Aryll will eat the leftovers, right?" Zelda asked. "Or should we bring her something?"
"We can bring her something for tomorrow."
"Yeah," Ilia chimed in. "I'm good for pizza."
"Same."
Makeela glanced at the court. "I don't do junk food during sport seasons, but I'll go if we go somewhere with healthy options."
"Sure."
And with a goodbye to Gabe, and to Makeela's parents, they waited for Zelda and Makeela to return to and from the locker rooms before grabbing some food at Subrosian Pizza where they talked about the game, and the latest episode of Moonlight Howl all night.
A/N: I wrote the last 1500 words or so in the past two hours, but the whole beginning took me DAYS! I watched so many volleyball games, and I STILL had to rewrite the whole beginning three times. I hated this chapter hahaha! None of it went to plan! THEY ARE NEVER PLAYING A GAME OF VOLLEYBALL IN THIS FIC AGAIN! I even needed to ask for help because I was so stressed out by volleyball. NOPE! NEVER AGAIN! BYE VOLLEYBALL! MAY YOU FOREVER BE IMPLIED!
Responses: Oracle of Hylia: Maybeee, maybe not! Either way though, I really always like Zelda being in medicine. I feel like it fits her so well. DK21 XcL: Hahahhahahaahhaha! That's a pretty spot-on description of exactly what happens! James Birdsong: Thank you! Scarlet Curls: YASSSS IT IS! AND I AM HERE FOR IT! ElenaGilbert24: Yes! We love Zelda finding her path and discovering what she loves and what she's strong enough to handle! Not everyone can be a nurse. I think they're something special that I could NEVER do! Take care of yourself as well! 3 Brandon: I used to be able to update this fic every day, but not anymore! I'd say my update schedule for both fics is probably one or two chapters a week per fic right now. I posted in Written in the Stars yesterday, so I think I'm going to try to keep posting them on separate days, too. And thank you 3! Hope your friend got their answer lol!
