Chapter Notes: Some of the songs I threw in here are real songs that are super nostalgic, and what I considered would draw Link and Zelda to each other —more selfish song drops up next at 11
Also, the only stuff I know about competitive sports is what my soccer snob of a fiancé has told me, so sorry for any sport errors in this fic!
Content Warning: drinking and swearing
Link doesn't know why he's here, or if he's even in the right place.
He's staring up at a sign that's extremely vague; just a rusty sword stabbed into a mound of grass halfway to the hilt. The door to the establishment is dirty and covered in graffiti and there's two dudes standing outside it sharing a spliff. He almost asks for a puff.
Honestly, he considered not coming. Link knew he'd be riding his bike in the dark, and the safest place he could find to store it was at an outdoor parking lot with a few parked cars and flickering street lights. As he locked his bike, he chuckled briefly at a Subaru Forester with tons of silly bumper stickers on it—especially at the one of an alien flashing a peace sign. Nevertheless, he has no idea what to expect from tonight, has never been to a dive bar before, but it's better than making dinner out of the ingredients he can afford and falling asleep to a movie he's seen a hundred times.
His first two weeks in Deku came with some adjustment pains. He's never lived anywhere else other than in Central Hyrule, only traveled outside it when sporting events took him elsewhere, so moving into an apartment with a roommate who was barely there at all was both a blessing and a slight disappointment. It was great that no one knew him, a nice change, just what he wanted, but it also made him very lonely. His new roommate wasn't going to be inviting him out any time soon, and Link has kept his head down during all his classes just incase someone recognized him, so when that bookseller with those dazzling green eyes suggested a place to go for the evening, he was both apprehensive and thrilled.
When he left his hometown, he left everything. He's been planning this getaway since he apathetically applied to Northern, not expecting to get accepted, but when he did, he knew it was his only way out. He left Central Hyrule University with the dean, coaches, and the whole school in complete shock and furiously disappointed in him, left all his friends who weren't really his friends because they only wanted to get close to him for their own leverage, left his father in shambles after their hour long shouting match, and Mipha.
Fuck. That was the worst of them all.
They spoke face-to-face for hours. She cried. He cried. There was a slap involved, which he told himself he deserved so the sting of it would be less painful. It wasn't what he wanted to do, but he knew he needed to do it. They've been drifting apart for a long, long time.
Shaking off his protruding thoughts and blowing out a loud exhale, Link grabs the door handle of the Rusty Claymore, and steps inside.
He walks down a small, narrow hallway with dim lighting and cement walls, and immediately recognizes the song that's playing because he listened to it on repeat during the seven hour bus ride up to Deku. It's one of the only albums he can listen to over and over again without getting tired of it. The version that's playing in the bar is live; just an acoustic guitar with an airy woman's voice singing with impressive range, and as Link turns the corner to bring the whole bar into his view, he sees her.
"'cause I've got one hand in my pocket, and the other one is flickin' a cigarette."
She changed from her business casual attire, which really wasn't very business-y, to an outfit that revealed more of her tattoos. It was hard not to notice them as she searched for his book on the shelf because her tattoos came out of her sleeves and all the way up to her fingers. They're intricate and feminine, all black ink with small patterns, images, and designs coming together to form a gorgeous collection that makes Link want to know the story behind them all. At the book store, he saw she has a tattoo that goes around her wrist that's geometrical, but entwines a crescent moon onto the top of her hand, and as she turned her hand over, he saw a pumpkin with vines and further up her arm is a slice of fruit cake on a plate that made him smile.
Now, she's wearing a short black dress and a loose green cardigan, several necklaces, and a black choker with a small purple crystal dangling from it. She's sitting alone on a poor excuse for a stage, got a guitar in her hands as she strums it and sings into a microphone that has stickers all over the stand.
Everyone in this place seems to be friends with her, or at least as entranced by her as Link is. They're singing along with the song, smiling and laughing, drinking and chatting with nearby tables. It's personable. A small bar with a musty smell, but it's quaint and friendly —not at all what he was expecting from the drab look of the place outside on the street. The whole vibe she carries with her vocals and talent makes him want to find a seat at the bar and stay awhile.
So he does.
"Well my, my... what do we have here?" The bartender says as Link sits down on a squeaky stool at the counter. He's a stocky, older gentleman with a couple blemishes on his face and a dish towel over his shoulder, but his welcoming demeanor and warm smile is a huge contrast compared to what he looks like. "I see there's a new creature walking into my bar. I've never seen you before, what'll it be good lookin?"
"Um, Red Forest Ale, please."
The bartender chuckles softly at Link's meek personality, then grabs a glass and starts pouring from the tap. "You're a sweet boy, aren't cha? What brought you in here tonight?" He sets a pint of foamy ale down in front of him.
"Well, I— uh," He scratches the nape of his neck then looks to the stage absentmindedly.
"Oh, did Zelda invite you?"
He turns back to the bartender and nods shyly, but the man just smiles. "That girl is an absolute treasure. If it wasn't for her, this whole place would have closed down."
"Really?" He takes a sip of his ale. One of the reasons why Link was excited to move up here was not only because of the nature trails to hike on, the Pictured Cliffs to climb up, or Lake Hylia to swim in —but for the local beer. Deku breweries are the best in all of Hyrule.
"Sure thing," the man chirps. "This is one of the oldest bars in Deku, but it came with a terrible reputation. Bar fights, drunks, a couple stabbings. It seemed like only monsters were attracted to this place, which is why I decided to buy it. The name's Kilton," he offers a hand out and Link shakes it respectfully. "I wanted to clean up this place, make it more comfortable for misfits like me, but all the money I had went into repairing the damages and didn't have much left to redecorate or advertise. Thankfully, I found her while she was playing guitar in the park during one of Deku's summer festivals. Since then, she's been attracting a much better crowd."
They both watch Zelda as she flows into another song. Link doesn't know this one, so he takes his wallet out and pays for the beer, tipping generously. The bar owner smiles wide as he pockets Link's money, then speaks again.
"Occasionally, I still get a couple rowdy college boys in here." Kilton's beady grey eyes scan over Link, lingering on the strong build he has in his shoulders and arms, "but if you're with Zelda, honey, you can stop here anytime." He winks.
"Oh, I'm not—" but Kilton has already turned around to help another customer.
Link smiles and swivels on his chair to face the stage. So that's why everyone looks like they're friends with her, because they are. He sees all different kinds of people; young adults around his age that look like they would never mesh together, wouldn't belong, and yet somehow, they all do.
When the music has ended and everyone has stopped clapping and hollering, Zelda's eyes suddenly become fixated on the entrance, then speaks to the audience through her mic.
"Who placed the bet that Kass would get here at 9:35?" She asks the whole room, and someone raises their hand as they all jokingly argue about it.
The guy that Link guesses is Kass flies right past the counter and leaps onto the stage. He's buff, but soft —boft— with a wide smile and dark skin that's covered in vibrant tattoos full of color. He hastily opens his guitar case, takes out a guitar that's covered in stickers, then sits down at the empty seat right next to her. Maybe it's her boyfriend.
"Sorry everyone, you can blame it on Impa," he admits into his mic, and most people in the crowd chuckle or talk back while some of them whistle.
But Zelda doesn't miss a beat and leans into her own mic to respond. "Hmm, and where's the hickey this time?" Everyone laughs as Kass ruffles his own hair and blushes.
Definitely not her boyfriend.
Link watches as the two entertain the packed room with their friendly chemistry. They make fun of each other a lot, but they seem to be old friends, and Link finds himself laughing right along with everyone else. He answers her when she asks how the first week of the fall semester has been for everyone, but she can't hear him over the muffled sounds of all the other answers in the crowd. She starts to direct more questions to a rather vocal woman by the stage, and they briefly make fun of a teacher Link hasn't heard of, though a few people in the crowd chime in and laugh when Zelda tells a funny story about that teacher involving a humorous lab failure which happened a couple semesters ago. Her story has him laughing as well, although Link hasn't the faintest clue about molecular biology.
When Zelda and Kass start playing the next song, Link doesn't know the name of it, but he knows he loves it. The song is catchy and the lyrics hit close to home because it warns about the dangers of taking things for granted when people leave or when nature is disrespected.
"They paved paradise, and put up a parking lot," Zelda sings and her melodic voice gives him goosebumps.
She sings the main lyrics while Kass sings the backup vocals and they sound very similar to that one band who did a cover of it, though Link can't remember the name of them. He thinks the band title had a type of bird in it. Crows maybe.
Clearly, music is not one of his expertise.
"Hey! Are you who I think you are?"
Link turns around at the counter so he's facing the guy speaking to him instead of watching Zelda on the stage. It's a white dude a little older than him sporting a bright red cap and holding onto a bottle of generic beer. The guy leans against the counter, a little too close to Link, then speaks again before he can reply. "No way! I can't believe the Hylian Champion is here in Deku!"
He cringes at the title the guy used, but sends him a polite smile as his eyes drop down into his ale. Link hates being called that.
"What the hell are you doing here, man?" The stranger slaps his back like they're old pals.
"I, uh— I transferred here."
"Woah! So you're going to be playing soccer for Northern?"
"No, actually—"
"The Hylian fucking Champion," he interrupts. "The dude that everyone says is better than Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo combined, and I got to meet him at this shit bar. God damn, I can't believe it. I have to tell my mates about this!"
Link sighs loudly, clearly uncomfortable with the conversation. If Link had kept on the path that he was heading down, he'd most likely be representing Hyrule in the next Euro Cup. Just like his father did.
"Are you on the team?" Link asks, dragging his eyes up from the counter to acknowledge the stranger, but trying to deter the topic away from himself.
"Nah man, can't play for shit."
That's a relief, he says in his head. Even though Link isn't planning on joining the soccer team, he wouldn't want some guy like this as his teammate.
Turning away from the stranger entirely, Link rolls his eyes and brings his attention back to the stage. The stranger had already taken his phone out to text all his buddies about meeting the 'Hylian Champion,' but that's not who he is anymore. That guy is just like the rest, Link thinks. Doesn't care about getting to know him, the type of person he is, or even his name ever since that title was used to showcase him. They all just care about the records he owns and whether or not being friends with Link can be used to their advantage somehow.
His mood perks up throughout the hour as the stranger moves away from the counter without another word, so Link orders another beer from Kilton, but becomes inebriated in the music of Zelda. He's almost done with his second beer when their set is ending and Zelda asks the audience for one final song request. She refuses a couple of them for being too complicated to play on an acoustic guitar and one song that simply just sucks, and then for some reason unknown to him, Link hears a request escaping his mouth when the room grows quiet enough for his soft voice to carry.
A couple people sitting in the crowd turn, but his eyes are focused on her because hers are on him for the first time tonight. Link watches as Zelda's eyes adjust to the dark contrast from the bright spotlight, and when she realizes who he is, the most unabashed excitement flashes across her features for the smallest second before her expression turns sultry and a playful smirk forms across her lips.
She's fast... but he's quicker.
"I see someone likes that album just as much as me," she says, straight at him. Link hears one person in the audience do a very lascivious 'ooo' when Zelda sends him a wink.
Kass sings his farewells to the audience and steps down from the stage because he knows he's unneeded for Link's song request, and possibly because Kass's girlfriend walked in a couple minutes ago, and Link shamelessly stares as they make-out in the corner of the room. He's never been allowed to do that before. Not in public anyways.
When Zelda is done retuning her guitar, she keeps her eyes locked on him as she begins to strum. The song Link requested is one from the album that he listened to during his bus ride to Deku, and he repeated that song specifically over and over for at least an hour. He can relate to the lyrics so well, could have written them himself if he was any good at that sort of thing. The main reason why he left his well structured and perfectly planned life at Central was because he had a co-dependent relationship with not just his significant other, but with everyone.
"I don't want to be adored for what I merely represent to you," Zelda's voice reverberates through his ears and buries deep down into his chest. It's like the whole room grew quiet; the clanging of glass pints and the laughter of tipsy bar flies. It all begins to fade away and the only sound he can hear anymore, only person he can see, is her.
No, Link tells himself. It's much too soon for him to start dating again. He doesn't even know how to date. Zelda portrays a smoothness that is borderline intimidating and completely out of his skill level... but then why does she seem to be staring at him in the same way that he's staring straight back at her?
"I don't want to be your idol, see this pedestal is high and I'm afraid of heights," She's smiling at him and singing with emotion and strumming her guitar with practice and talent, and it dawns on him that this is the most relaxed and carefree he's felt in months. If he feels this way when he's around her, then perhaps it's worth it to move a little closer, both literally and figuratively.
Just a little.
After the song has ended, Zelda bids the audience a goodnight; "drink responsibly and drive safe," so Link downs the last of his beer and begins to stand from his seat to walk over to her. He doesn't know what he'll say when he crosses the bar, but her green eyes are beckoning and inviting, still watching him as she sets her guitar down, smiling brightly when she realizes what he's doing, what he wants to do, but then a person steps right in front of her and, unfortunately, it's not Link.
It's the guy in the red cap that called Link the Hylian Champion from earlier, and she seems too kind of a person to ignore him, not like she could if she tried. The guy's demeanor seems broad and dominating, and Link watches the spark in her smile that was originally directed at him begin to fade, turning into something more courteous and polite as the stranger talks her ear off. He's probably telling her how talented she is, or how pretty she is, but Link doesn't know if they're friends or if he's a guy she's dating. Either of those are highly unlikely, but Link figures he should probably just take the ruined moment as a sign to leave.
So he does.