When Zelda met up with her best friend, she had to tell her everything.
Not because they're best friends, but because Impa obviously noticed the band-aid on her head and the bruises on her neck. Zelda isn't the most coordinated human being, so technically she could have hit her head by opening a cupboard or something (wouldn't be the first time), but it's clear by the markings on her neck that she had been in some kind of incident and not the lustful, sexual kind.
It's early afternoon on Friday, and Zelda and Impa are sorting out their clothes in the downstairs laundry room of their shared flat. They live on the third floor and the washing machines are in the basement, so just to save time—or more accurately waste time—they do their laundry together. They have a third roommate, Riju, but she's almost never home and if she is it's hard to tell because her bedroom door is always closed. They have no idea if she even lives with them until the end of each month when her portion of the rent is paid on time.
Zelda's best friend is taller and even curvier than she is. Full-figured and wonderfully voluptuous, with deep tan skin and several beauty marks across her face. Impa's hair is naturally dark, but for years she's been dying it white, keeping it long and thick and straight, and the amount of compliments she gets on it is astonishing.
Neither one of them are the silent, attentive type, so it took Zelda a good forty minutes to sort through everything that happened to her as they languidly sorted through their laundry. She's sitting cross-legged on top of an empty washing machine next to the one that has her clothes spiraling and swirling around with soapy suds and lavender scents.
"So yeah," Zelda blows out an exhale, "if I hadn't of invited that guy to my gig last night, I probably would have been a goner."
"Damn," Impa shakes her head as she inserts the last of her coins into the next washing machine. "You should tell Kilton about your attacker so he can keep an eye out for that creep."
"That's a good idea, I haven't thought of that," she says, nodding intently.
Impa starts her machine up, then jumps on top of it with a sigh, letting her feet dangle off the side. "And you never caught your hero's name?"
Zelda shakes her head. "At this point, I'm just going to wait until he tells me instead of asking him flat out. I think it'll be a good conversation starter for him because he's incredibly shy. Like... wow, Impa, it's ridiculous how shy he is."
"Hm, maybe he has social anxiety?"
"No," She drawls. "I don't think so because it would have been too difficult for him to even step into the bar last night. He doesn't seem to have an issue being around people, just talking. It's almost as if..." Zelda ponders her thought one more time before she expresses it, "...as if he has a speech impediment or something."
"Does he stutter?" Impa asks, chewing on her fingernail absentmindedly.
"Not really? But he does have a hard time forming proper sentences."
Impa sighs, then crosses her hands over her wide chest and hunches over. "I don't know much about speech impediments, unfortunately."
"Me neither," she sighs with her friend.
They're silent for a moment until a chime goes off in Impa's pocket, so she shifts to her side to pull out her phone. It's clear by the expression on her face that it's Kass —she only smiles like that when he's around in some way or another.
Years ago, on the first day of high school when they were freshmen and most kids were extremely nervous, Kass—a completely new student—strolled into Zelda's economics class with checkered vans and a studded belt with confidence pouring out his ears, and sat right next to her. They instantly became friends by their shared interest in music and style, and the prissy teacher had to separate them within twenty minutes because they started banging their pencils on the desk like they were playing drums.
Later that same day, Zelda invited him to sit with her and her friends at lunch, but the second Kass and Impa locked eyes, it was the dumbest love at first sight anyone had ever seen. No one thought they would last; taking bets throughout high school on how long they would stay together because the two of them bicker all the time, and some of the more terrible comments were because "she's Puerto Rican and he's Black," but they proved everybody wrong. Years later, they still look at one another the very same way they did when Zelda had introduced them in the high school cafeteria.
"What is Kass doing tonight?" Zelda leans over the washing machine, closer to Impa to snoop at her texting.
"Him and his band mates are going out for drinks to watch 'the game,'" Impa gestures quotations with her free hand as she locks her phone screen and stuffs it into her back pocket.
"What sport do you think 'the game' is?" Zelda chuckles, and Impa quickly does the same. Neither one of them know a single thing about competitive sports, although they both are quite active people. They love to kayak, swim, and hike, practice yoga, and occasionally will play volleyball on the beach with their group of friends, even if they do more drinking than hitting or spiking the ball over the net.
"Basketball? Field Hockey? um... Poker maybe?" They laugh together. "Dude, I have no idea —but he'll be over later," she smiles wickedly.
"Naturally," Zelda meets her friend's smile. "Will I have to wear earplugs to bed tonight... again?"
She laughs, "tell me honestly; are we that loud, Zel?"
"Seriously? People across the street can probably hear you two, and my room's only across the flat."
"Hopefully it's as hot for you as it is for us," Impa snorts.
Zelda doesn't skip a beat. "Absolutely. It's like I'm right there with you guys. Two nights ago, Kass asked so many times 'do you like that?' —that I almost answered him for you."
With a feisty shove from Impa, she's pushed off the washing machine and they both share a laugh. They've been inseparable ever since early middle school when Impa's family immigrated to Hyrule, and both of them were never picked for a locker partner, so they got paired together. They quickly discovered that they had the same Teenager Mutant Ninja Turtle backpack, and while everyone else in middle school was starting to get interested in 'relationships' or 'dating,' Impa and Zelda were too busy sharing comics and reading everything from Harry Potter and Artemis Fowl, to Lemony Snicket, Goosebumps, and The Boxcar Children.
Not even their last two years of high school—when Zelda was forced to move in with her father and change schools—they never lost touch. Zelda attended every single marching band event for Kass and theater production for Impa—even if she was merely part of the stage crew. Zelda still was there to support her friends, no matter how hard her father tried to keep her away from the 'corrupted public school,' and what Zelda's father likes to call; 'the lower class.' That was her home, her school, her family, and it was too little, too late for her father to try to change Zelda from the person she had already started to become.
So when her and Impa graduated, spent two years traveling together with their hard earned money and came back to Hyrule, they did not waste any time. They applied to Northern, found an apartment together, and without hesitation, Kass followed them.
"You think I'll ever get to meet your man of mystery?" Impa asks, raising a cocky eyebrow.
Sighing loudly, Zelda's face turns slightly serious. "You know I don't let guys sleep over."
"Well... what if he's more than just your next casual hookup?"
"That's never gonna happen," she sends her a weak glare.
"Why not?"
"Impa," she whines, "we've talked about this. I don't want a relationship."
"But you're in such a great place now. You have been for awhile."
"Yes, exactly. I'm perfectly fine on my own."
Impa's not letting up this time, like she usually does. "So you're completely fine with finding a guy to keep around just for a brief period until you get tired of him, then kick him to the curb? Aren't you getting tired of it?"
"I— I don't kick guys," Zelda tries to defend herself, but can't meet her best friend's eyes. "I make it perfectly clear I'm not looking for anything serious."
"—But isn't there a trendy saying that mentions something about how you find the right person when you least expect it?"
"I'm pretty sure you're just making that up," Zelda rolls her eyes as she places her palms on the rumbling washing machine and leans into it. Strange choice of words Impa chose to use since it's eerily similar to what Zelda said to the guy in the hallway this morning.
She meant it when she said it though—she doesn't want a relationship. Zelda hasn't had one since she moved up to Deku. The last relationship she had was toxic and terrible, leaving a sour taste in her mouth about the whole concept, so she vowed to never put that much trust in another person ever again. She got rid of the relationship nonsense and resorted to keeping guys at a distance, along with any attachments or baggage they might carry. Currently in her phone she has guys under Back Tattoo, or Fro-Yo Dude, and one that she's not overly proud of: Daddy —but he had those dad vibes that were oddly strange to resist.
Just like the stranger's glasses in class today, she thinks to herself before she tries to shamefully bury the thought down along with all her daddy issues.
Impa clears her throat and Zelda looks up at her still sitting on the washing machine, staring with a soft expression. "This guy doesn't sound like your ex at all, Zelda, and you met him so differently than how you've been meeting most guys lately." Impa tilts her head and continues. "Let me just ask: if the right guy came along, would you really pass him up over something that happened to you years ago with a completely different dude?"
Zelda scoffs softly, avoiding the question. "Please. The right man for me is the pizza delivery guy."
Groaning lowly, Impa starts to give up, but she has one more comment to make before she quits altogether. "Who knows? Maybe this shy guy can make a better pizza than what the delivery guy drops at our door."
"I'll believe it when I see it," Zelda huffs. Even her own stubbornness annoys her sometimes, but she's too stubborn to admit it.
"Fine," Impa raises her hands in defeat, "if you don't want what Kass and I have, then that's fine with me, if it's fine with you."
"Trust me, I'm fine," Zelda says, though neither of them believe it. "But I am curious as to what Kass had you liking so much...?"
She gets shoved again.