Link loved his boots. His sweet, sturdy, trusty not-bog-flippers. He loved the sunshine. He loved having both of his hands free due to not needing to wield the fire rod at all times. But most of all, he loved being dry on his back too, instead of just his front.
It was the little pleasures in life that distracted him from hunger, exhaustion, and Sidon looking like he was ready to curl up and die if given the permission.
The two of them were walking down the Minish road, determined but weary. They had no clue how long the path to the next city was, Sidon kept looking at the puddles around them with equal amounts of hope and desperation despite knowing fish would not be an option, and Link was trying to not feel massively guilty for his suffering.
But sunshine. Boots. Hands. Dry. Yes, nice things.
"Oh, looks like the path is submerged there", Link said, louder and much more cheerful sounding than necessary. "It'll probably be faster to swim across than to go around."
Sidon's face darkened for a moment too short for Link to decipher the meaning, before a smile was pasted on haphazardly to cover whatever it was. "You're right. Let's go."
Sidon swam them across the water faster than walking would have been, but slower than Link was used to. To say Link was worried was an understatement.
Sidon seemed better for a little while after the swim, but then slowed down even more. Whereas he had had to wait for Link in the swamp terrain, now it was Link who had to hold back for him.
"Should we take a break?" Link asked.
"I… I'm not sure if it'll bring me any relief", Sidon said, face darkening again. Pure exhaustion. "If you need it, then we should, but not for my sake. I will do my best to endure."
Link shook his head. He was feeling somewhat better now – compared to being actively sick – and the only food they had left were the souvenir sweets he had for Zelda, so stopping was largely pointless as long as his feet could carry him.
So they continued. They walked, they swam across a couple of more puddles, they were both silently regretting not resetting their journey in the Lost Woods…
Then they finally saw a large rock face ahead of them. Link was willing to bet his sword on it being the Master Sword's altar, which he recalled being the base of the Minish city they were headed to.
He estimated it'd take them about an hour to get there if they didn't dally, so they gathered their remaining strength and picked up their pace, no longer worried about keeping any energy in reserve in case of trouble or in order to endure for an unknown amount of time.
Once they got closer, the dirt path turned into cobblestone, which turned into simple gray ceramic tiles. The road forked a few times, and Link assumed there were other Minish settlements at the ends of the forks. While he was curious, he was much more interested in reaching the city ahead of them. Perhaps he'd see the other places some day, when he returned here to experience the wonders of the Minish without the added burdens they carried on this journey.
They started seeing traffic too, coming and going from the road forks. Mixed groups of both regular and Mist Minish, lone travelers, families, caravans, guards…
Link tapped Sidon's arm. 'Should we speak with a guard?'
Sidon gave him a blank look, before shaking his head. "Later. Please."
'Ask for directions to the nearest inn or restaurant at least? We can get food faster that way.'
At that Sidon immediately approached a Minish in light armor. Link could see him struggling to keep up the polite act, but he still managed to have better manners than Link did at the best of times, much less when he was tired and cranky.
Directions acquired, they entered the city. There were a few woven, triangular grass houses at the edges of the stone altar, but the city itself was lodged between and underneath the large rocks surrounding the altar, and under the altar itself as well. Link had a vague recollection of Festari saying that the city surrounded the entire altar, which meant getting from one corner to another took a relatively long time. The city was divided into districts at each side of the triangle shaped altar too, so it was basically three distinct towns combined into one big, diverse city.
Between the rocks were more grass houses, and Link saw more than a few tunnels going under the rocks as well, some covered up with trapdoors and some not. The inn they were headed to was carved directly into the stone and supposedly took up the entire rock – bottom half was a restaurant and its storage room, and the upper half had rooms for travelers to stay in. The guard mentioned it was the oldest, biggest, and most famous inn in the entire city. Link assumed the prices matched the fame, and made a note to check them before staying for more than one meal – he was wealthy, but he had also splurged a lot during this journey and Sidon's money bag was lost in the swamp.
Once they were big again, he'd drop by his home with the Sheikah Slate and fill up his travel cash before they went anywhere else.
"Hey, are you the big people?" a random, plain looking Mist Minish asked out of the blue. There were so many people bustling around them that Link had more or less blocked everyone out, and hadn't noticed that they had been approached. He sighed deeply at the interruption.
'If you're a Vaatian trying to set us up for another Hylia damned ambush, you'll have to wait until after we've eaten', he signed irritably, and was completely unsurprised by the lack of comprehension on the stranger's face. Sidon seemed to be too tired to care about Link being rude – or for once he remembered it didn't matter here as nobody understood him – as he failed to reprimand Link.
"We are, but we are also tired from our journey and do not wish to engage in chit chat right this moment. Excuse us, but we have to be on our way", Sidon said with something like a smile on his face.
Link and Sidon turned away from the person and started to walk away, only for the stranger to reach out and grab a hold of Link's arm. "Please, I have an urgent message to deliver!"
Link had half a mind to punch this person, regardless of whether they turned out to be a Vaatian or a good guy.
"Whoever you're working for couldn't have anticipated we would arrive here at this exact moment, which means the message can wait until we're ready to receive it", Sidon snapped, no longer smiling. "Unhand my swain right this instant or we'll call the guards."
Wow. The temperature sure spiked abruptly. On a completely unrelated note, Sidon should be aggressively assertive more often. He felt like he had had this thought before, but the sentiment was worth repeating.
The Minish quickly released Link's arm and lifted their hands up in surrender. "Apologies! Of course, I'll wait. May I follow you to the inn or restaurant you're headed to and wait for you to be ready there?"
Link and Sidon looked at each other.
'Inside or outside?' Sidon signed. Hah, joke's on the Minish for not understanding now!
As for the question… if their hanger-on waited outside, they wouldn't be watched the entire time they ate, and they could sneak out from the potential back door or something if they wanted to ditch the person. On the other hand, if this person waited inside, they could keep an eye on them and not let them potentially tell more people of their whereabouts and arrange an ambush. Privacy or safety?
'Outside. I wanna eat in peace', Link decided. He had a feeling an ambush was already waiting for them, so it didn't matter at this point. Besides, their enemy was likely aware of their whereabouts by now regardless, as many eyes had watched them enter the city – as unfortunate as it was, taking care of the ants had never been a permanent solution to avoiding their enemies. He liked to think it had bought them their peaceful journey from the edge of the mist into this city at least, which wasn't a victory to be underestimated considering how they likely wouldn't have won another battle with their current strength.
Sidon nodded, and turned towards the antsy looking Minish again. "You may follow us, but we would appreciate you waiting outside. We want to have privacy."
The Minish looked like they wanted to argue, but then smiled instead. "That is acceptable. Please lead us forth."
Okay, Link was now about seventy percent certain this was a Vaatian. Oh joy.
The threesome walked on in awkward silence, and soon reached the place they were headed for. The exterior of the inn had two elegantly chiseled rock pillars with an awning like wooden roof on top to protect the doorway from rain, and there were windows on both sides of the door, giving anyone who was considering entering the establishment a first glimpse of what to expect – thankfully there were long curtains blocking most of the inn from view, with only a couple of the closest tables visible from the outside, so they could still have privacy as long as they didn't sit right next to the windows. On the sturdy looking wooden door was a beautifully painted placate that had fancy looking Minish words on it, along with two convincingly realistic looking food dishes on either side of the words. Link's stomach growled at the sight.
"I'll be waiting right here", their unwanted shadow reminded them, way too cheerfully for someone who would be waiting outside of a restaurant for what could end up being hours while the two of them ate, possibly bathed, possibly even took a nap – it all depended on how long Sidon would take to recover into his princely self, who would be aghast to let someone wait. Link, on the other hand, could happily let this Minish rot there for the rest of the day in order to avoid being dragged into any more trouble before he felt adequately rested. "Have a pleasant meal!"
"Thank you", Sidon said, probably without even thinking about it. Link went ahead to the door and held it open for his boyfriend, as Sidon had to hunch over a little to avoid hitting his head fin on the awning. Thankfully the inside of the inn had the ceiling much higher, and Sidon could stand straight without an issue.
The inn was bustling with people and noise. There were full tables, waiters going around with delicious smelling meals and frothing tankards, and a generally nice and comfortable atmosphere that indicated a prestigious establishment. While the place was carved into cold rock, there were plush rugs on the floors and intricate tapestries on the walls to take off the hard edge. From the ceiling hung multiple lanterns lit with Fire Chuchu jelly, illuminating the place brightly with warm light.
A waiter approached them, wearing a bright smile. "Hello, and welcome to the Master's Altar Inn and Restaurant. Are you here for a meal, or would you like to rent a room?"
"Potentially both, but for now we would like a meal, please", Sidon said, sounding just a tad desperate, but masking it with politeness. To Link's experience eye he looked rather like he wanted to blurt out a food order immediately, but the last dregs of his manners kept him from actually doing so.
The waiter showed them to a free table – away from the windows – where Sidon immediately stopped any menus from being fetched. "We cannot read Minish. I'll take any kind of a fish, shrimp, or frog based dish you recommend, proportional to my stature and in that order of preference, please. My companion takes any kind of a meaty dish. We'll drink anything you think goes well with the dishes. Potential desserts can be discussed after the main course."
The waiter looked taken aback by the very ambiguous order, but clearly they knew when to not ask further questions, because they simply wrote the order down and then went to relay it to the kitchen.
Finally, a good meal was on its way, and Link had one less thing to worry about.