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The Voice
Chapter 66 – Letting Off Steam

Sooner or later, the subject had to be broached. In Riju's opinion, Link and Sheik were welcome to stay in Gerudo Town for as long as they'd like. There were some displeased murmurs among her people because of this, as having not one, not two, but three voe staying at the palace was a grave breach of centuries of tradition, but she found it remarkably easy to ignore them on account of just what those three voe had done to deserve it. The grouchiest among the Gerudo were, as usual, the elders, and Riju had a feeling they were only angry about voe being welcome in their city because they hadn't been when the elders themselves had been young.

It'd been Sheik who'd brought it up during dinner that night, saying they needed to get back to the Domain soon in order to help prepare for the fight. It'd been done in a surprisingly diplomatic fashion...that is, with no swearing or threats of bloody murder. In theory, Riju agreed. She, too, had her own preparations to make in order to march her army north to join with the rest of Hyrule's forces.

In practice, though...

"Are you sure you wouldn't like to stay a little longer?" she asked Link after carefully pulling him aside just after dessert.

Sheik and Kiro were speaking to each other in the Sheikah language, thoroughly absorbed in the discussion. There were some significant linguistic differences between their dialects, apparently, and Kiro was eager to learn about them, for some reason that went above Riju's head, for which she thanked the Goddess because she had enough troubles with the trade languages as it was.

"You are more than welcome to," she added, leaving little room for Link to agree or disagree. "I mean, you're both still recovering from your injuries and...well, whatever it was that happened to Sheik. And he still needs to build up his stamina, and—"

"W-We have t-to go," Link said, cutting her off, but not unkindly or abrupt. At this point, she was certain the Hylian just didn't have the capability to be rude or curt with anyone. "I'm s-sorry," he continued, "but w-we have a j-job t-to do. G-Ganon..." he trailed off.

"I know," she said, sighing. "I know. I just..."

Just.

She had a lot of things to add after that. Things she wasn't able to actually put into words, half-understood feelings she had no way of deciphering. She'd miss them, so much. Even Sheik. She wanted them to be safe, to not suicidally throw themselves into the bloody battle that waited, to just stay and...be.

Instead, what she said was, "I still haven't mastered Urbosa's Fury."

Good, falling back on a selfish request. Surely a sound strategy, especially when dealing with one of the most selfless people she'd ever had the pleasure of meeting. If the strategy could ever work, it'd be against Link.

Except this time. The Hero blinked, frowning at her.

"I'm s-sorry," he said. "I w-wish w-we had m-more time, b-but it's th-the one r-resource w-we c-can't w-waste. W-We w-will have t-to resume t-training after th-th-th..." he trailed off once more, jaw clenching as a grimace came to his face, annoyed with his own tongue's refusal to cooperate.

Riju had seen that more times than she could count by now. She couldn't imagine the frustration Link must have felt every time it happened. Speaking was difficult for him to begin with, but when he stumbled over even the simplest words and sounds...it was no wonder Sheik had offered to be Link's voice...and still did, whenever Link faced a particularly difficult conversation.

"After the fight," Riju offered, pleased to see Link's shoulders lowering themselves almost immediately in relief. "Yes, I would like that..."

"I p-promise," Link said, smiling at her. "W-We w-won't stop until y-you can d-do it."

"Thank you, Link," she said genuinely, lowering her head in gratitude. "Forgive me for thinking so selfishly."

That flustered the Hero quite a bit, and she sent him back to Sheik with a smile and a promise to see him the next morning.

Two more days. Two more days, and they would leave.

She would have to make the most of her training sessions with Link. Maybe, by some sort of miracle, she'd be able to produce more than just a measly spark by the time they left.

She wasn't.

If anything, the last two days of practicing only made her less able to produce the lightning that was Urbosa's signature move. And it was her own nerves that were the cause; she was sure of it.

"Tiny, it's not like you'll be at opposite ends of the world," Sheik had said. "You'll be in the same damn army, for Din's sake!"

She knew that was true, but she doubted she'd be able to monopolise Link's time as she had during their stay in her palace. Nor would she, on that note. She had no doubt her days would be filled with meeting after meeting and training sessions and planning sessions and every other kind of session, really.

"Strategy is important when waging war, my lady," Buliara told her. "Simply marching your army to the field and telling them to charge is how you lose the battle."

That was fine. Riju agreed with that. Basic stuff. It was all the other plans that had to be made that were so boring. Logistics, for one. Making sure that every part of the army had the supplies and equipment they needed, and arranging the transport of said supplies and whatnot, was so mind-numbingly boring she was afraid her spirit would abandon her body in an attempt to escape it all.

But that was how she would do her part to make sure Link made it out alive. She and the others would keep Ganon's forces occupied while Link (and Sheik, obviously, because she couldn't even imagine them not being joined at the hip most of the time, least of all at the very climax of the war) faced Ganon himself.

Itself, she mentally corrected herself.

Whatever Ganon had once been, the monster it had become was no longer anything that could be described as a person. She was looking forward to Link putting down the Gerudo's greatest shame.

Another reason for why she had to do her best. She and her people would stand tall with the other defenders of Hyrule, and nothing would drive them back into hiding.

Sheik watched Link puttering around their room as he gathered together his equipment, double-checking to ensure he wasn't forgetting anything, inspecting his weapons for damage, and generally being an anxious mess.

The last part wasn't anything new, of course. Sheik hadn't managed to help quite as much as he'd hoped to when he'd first decided to whip Link into shape, as he'd promised himself. At this point, he was quite sure this was just Link's default state of existence, and something that would never really change. That was fine. Link was fine. Sheik would simply have to work even harder to help him through the worst of his episodes.

Eugh, I'm growing soft, he thought. Some evil artificial overlord I am.

"This is the third time you've checked the bow," Sheik said after a while, unable to stand watching him anymore. "Everything's in order, and by the time you remember what you've forgotten we'll be too far away to do anything about it anyway."

The look he received from the Hero at that told him in no uncertain terms that he wasn't helping.

Okay, so maybe poking Link a little from time to time was unreasonably fun, but Sheik liked to think it helped keep the Hero on his toes.

Somehow.

Possibly.

If nothing else, it helped relieve some of the anger Sheik suspected Link always kept a tight lid on. With all the bullshit he'd been forced to endure, it wouldn't surprise Sheik if there was a century's worth of rage bottled up within the Hylian. Link would never dream of unleashing it, of course, but it wasn't healthy to keep it inside either, so Sheik kept poking until Link let off a little steam.

Link didn't rise to the bait, though, continuing his obsessive quest of making sure his pack was heavy enough to break his back.

Sheik shook his head. He'd get the Hero to release a little aggression later, some way or another. Maybe they could both...

His internal temperature rose a little, and he took his eyes off Link's insane packing. He let the fingers of his normal hand slide along the surface of the bedsheets, trying to keep himself occupied with analysing the dual set of data he received about the feeling of it—the tactile feedback of the nerves themselves, along with the digital representation as picked up by his sensors.

It was interesting, trying to find discrepancies between the digital and biological data. So far, he'd found a few, but the error always lay with the digital side of things, proving that, as advanced as his sensors were, they could not compete with the real thing.

Not yet, at least.

It provided him with distracting entertainment for a moment or so, but it quickly grew old.

Honestly, he was a little anxious himself, and for the dumbest reason, too. The sort of reason that, if Tiny or Ayla were to hear it, they'd collapse with laughter. Link too, possibly, but for a different reason entirely, mainly his unbridled optimism regarding anything that wasn't related to himself.

"Do you think he'll like me?"

Link paused at the question, sending Sheik a questioning glance. "Wh-Who?"

Sheik clenched his jaw. He knew it'd been stupid the moment the first word had left his mouth. But he was committed now, and he was going to ride this ridiculous train of thought into the pits of hell if he had to.

"Sharky," he said after a long and awkward pause.

If anything, that only confused Link further. "Wh-Why w-wouldn't Sidon like y-you?" he asked, coming to stand at the foot of the bed, packing momentarily forgotten.

Sheik remained steadfast.

For a second, at least. Then he looked away, grumbling. "Never mind, stupid question," he mumbled under his breath. Which was easier said than done, since he had to consciously control the volume of his voice to be at whisper level, which came naturally to everyone but him. "Get back to pack—"

He suddenly found himself with a lapful of Hero; Link more or less straddling Sheik's hips, staring down at him with a severe look usually reserved for people who talk too loud at the theatre. To keep him from squirming away, Link placed his hands on Sheik's shoulders, keeping him in place.

"T-Talk," he ordered. "Wh-Why w-wouldn't Sidon l-like you?"

"You know, repeating the question usually doesn't cause the one being interrogated to feel particularly cooperative—"Sheik began.

"Sh-Sheik," Link said.

Sheik glared up at him. "Have you noticed that the letters you stumble on aren't consistent? Even when repeating the same sentence, you stutter on different—"

"Sheik," Link repeated, glare darkening considerably.

"See? You didn't stumble on the sh there, and furthermore—mpph!"

As a strategy to get Link to kiss him, it was perfect. Sheik made a note of this and resolved to find further ways to take advantage of this tactic in the future.

Sadly, it was not a good diversionary tactic, as Link fixed him with that same look once they separated, a little out of breath and more than a little red-faced.

"W-We've been over th-this," Link said, letting his hands travel along Sheik's shoulders until the pads of his thumbs were stroking across his cheeks, so gently Sheik could barely feel it. "He l-loves you."

"No," Sheik said, trying but failing to shake his head. Link's grip was surprisingly strong. "He loves the me that was in the slate. He loves the me that was just a voice without...without..." he gestured to his body, "this! There's no telling how he'll react to this. 'Oh hey, Sharky, how's it going? Oh, nothing much, just got this here body, you see, long story, oh and Link nearly had to die for it to happen, so how about some loving?'" He snorted. "Not really a good way to announce it, huh?"

Link's nose was wrinkled, his face twisting at the callous way of telling the story. The corner of his mouth was lifting a little in a suppressed smile, though.

"M-Maybe not m-mention m-me dying for a b-bit," he said, "b-but otherwise that's a v-very...you w-way of d-doing it. S-Sidon'll love it." He leaned down and pecked the tip of Sheik's nose. "And he'll l-love you."

I have the most ridiculous partner, Sheik thought, staring up at the Hylian.

"You have ridiculously selective sense of confidence, you know that?" he said.

"It's a g-gift," Link said faux-haughtily, flicking his loose hair over his shoulder.

"How about turning some of it inwards, too? Give yourself a little boost?" Sheik suggested, letting his hands roam until they settled on Link's thighs.

For such a petite-looking Hylian, Link had some ridiculous muscles packed in there. It explained his ability to climb just about anything, at least. Sheik dug his fingers into the soft flesh hidden beneath the fabric of Link's sirwal, careful not to do it too hard with his left hand. Link's pulse gave a little a start at that, and Sheik's sensors told him there was a spike in Link's internal temperature...as well as his own.

"P-Pot, kettle," Link murmured, his voice lowering as he let his weight gradually tip them backwards until Sheik's shoulders touched the bed, Link shifting forward in order to purposefully introduce a little friction between them.

Another spike in heart-rates and temperatures.

"This is cheating," Sheik said, trying not to gasp as Link hands began to explore a little further. "You can't win arguments—ah!—like this!"

"W-Watch me," Link whispered, capturing Sheik's lips in another searing kiss.

Well, I can stand to lose one argument, I guess, Sheik thought.

And he had meant to get Link to let off a little steam, so...mission accomplished?