Every Sunday, Zelda and her group of friends always, always do something together. Whether it's a party, hiking trip, gathering to see a matinee, or simply drinking beer in someones living room while playing board games. There's always something fun happening on a Sunday.
When it's a hot summer day the destination of choice is usually at a secret beach only locals know about. The beaches of downtown Deku are nice, but they're pretty crowded with tourists and freshmen that are still new to the area. Due to the unique geological region, there are a ton of amazing little alcoves and beautiful gems hidden throughout it—if one knows where to look for them.
Midna's Cove is just outside of town, passed the Chikaloo Mountain entrance by a quick minute drive, and a very hidden parking lot shaded by tall trees and overgrowth. The walk down to the beach is a peaceful path through the woodlands until it opens into a curved, sandy beach with ginormous boulders people can swim to and jump off of, and a volleyball net some college students install every summer.
This Sunday the crew is larger than normal; Zelda invited her coworker Sidon since he's new to the area. He is much younger than Zelda and her friends —Sidon isn't even old enough to drink legally. Being a brand new freshman, Sidon just graduated from high school in the spring, and he had told Zelda that he immediately moved away from his hometown to get away from his parents because they would never accept his sexuality, which is always so heartbreaking to hear. Sidon is such a sweetheart, very mature for his age, and is a lot of fun to be around. He's bringing a date, too.
Kass's band mates have also decided to come out, and they're bringing their significant others. The band consists of two people besides Kass; the singer, Mija, always reminds Zelda of a fairy with her lilac hair and extravagant accessories, and she has a deep contralto voice with astonishing vocal range that has most people captivated by her singing. She also plays standup bass while Kass plays guitar, and their percussionist, Hestu, plays everything from bongos to the cowbell and maracas. Hestu has tan skin, freckles scattered across his cheeks, and long dreadlocks down to his waist. Since he was born and raised in Deku, he has many connections throughout the city, so their small local band has no problem finding gigs at bars or venues, but their favorite is when they get to play at outdoor festivals which is such a frequent occurrence in this small city anyways.
Zelda and her friends have been at the beach for close to an hour now, though Sidon and his date haven't arrived yet because he had a morning shift at the bookstore. The rest of them are standing in the waist high waters with drinks in their hands, forming a large circle to chat, laugh, and share stories. The sun is hot and bright and the water is cold and clear, and everyone is enjoying their relaxing, carefree Sunday with good drinks and close friends while hanging off the arms of their significant others.
Everyone except Zelda.
Glancing over the familiar, happy faces, Zelda smiles through the small pinch of bitterness that she feels. Kass and Impa have already made-out for a solid thirty seconds before Hestu literally dove in-between them, causing a large splash and a big laugh. Mija and her partner have been holding hands under the waters surface this whole time, and Hestu's partner has shared multiple stories about the hilarious dates they've been on and the silly pranks he pulls on her. Zelda is the only one here without a significant other, and it's becoming extremely difficult to remove that thought from the forefront of her mind.
Admittedly, there are certain moments when she wishes she had someone, though she would never, ever express this envy out loud. People and relationships come with heavy baggage and complicated histories, secrets, lies, and drama, and she doesn't want to deal with any of that. The more a guy has of all those things, the quicker Zelda is to ditch him, and that may be shallow and it may be petty, but it's her only defense mechanism. That way she'll never have to get her heart hurt by another guy ever again.
But as she watches her friends smile and kiss and be so unconditionally happy with their significant others, Zelda can't help but imagine what it would feel like to have someone she could express all that with. It's been so long that she's forgotten what it even feels like anymore.
"Zel, when are you gonna join our band permanently?" Mija asks, tearing Zelda away from her own self-pitying thoughts. "You show up for most of our performances anyways, and you and I harmonize so well together."
Zelda smiles and opens her mouth to speak, but it's Impa's voice that comes out.
"You know she can never commit to anything. Or anyone," her friend smirks when Zelda sends her a sharp glare. Sadly, she's right.
She takes a sip of her hard cider, then speaks for herself. "I've got so many things going on right now with school and work, I'd hate to let you guys down if I accidentally missed a gig."
Actually, she's not all that busy. Zelda only takes a couple classes per semester and works part time at the bookstore. She could join the band if she really wanted to, but Impa hit the nail on the head; she's having a hard time committing to anything lately.
"Well, you always have a spot in the band if you change your mind," Hestu says while flicking water at his partner who's blatantly ignoring him.
Glancing over her shoulder, she spots Sidon and his date waddling through the sand. Sidon immediately grows excited when Zelda begins waving at them, though his date still remains in resting bitch-face, or maybe the sun is in his eyes. Zelda skips through the water to meet them at their collection of laid-out towels and large cooler full of drinks so she can say hello.
Sidon is shirtless, exposing his athletic swimmers body, and sporting maroon bathing shorts. His perfectly styled hair is pulled back in a bun and bright bubble sunglasses cover his friendly eyes, though his smile is ever present. Zelda has never seen his date before, he looks older than Sidon —definitely closer to Zelda's age. He's white like Sidon is, though he's more sun tanned, with dyed blue hair and a sharp nose with sunscreen smeared across it. He still hasn't smiled yet.
"Hey girl! You look good in that bikini, your curves are out of this world!" Sidon says with a lovely tune in his voice, and Zelda strikes a cute but silly pose that makes them both laugh. He gives her a large, sweaty hug then begins to unpack his beach tote. "Okay, so I made sandwiches for everyone, they're vegetarian friendly," He winks at her. "I also threw together a little fruit salad and brought some extra snacks since I can't really buy boozey drinks yet..."
"Awe Si, that's so sweet! Wow, this looks great," She says, taking the bowl of fruit from Sidon's hands. "And don't even worry, we definitely have a bunch of drinks to go around," Zelda smiles and opens the cooler so they can put all of his treats into it, and for Sidon to choose a drink of his own.
Turning to his date to greet him, Zelda finds that he's looking around the beach with a wrinkled nose and pouty lips. "This beach is okay, but I think Rito's Landing is better," the guy says.
"Oh, and don't mind him," Sidon speaks before Zelda can give him a face. Rito's Landing is not better. There's always garbage and beer bottles left over from douchey groups of students, and the last time Zelda visited that beach a fight broke out between two guys trying to prove who was stronger. "He's just like that, but he makes up for it in appearance," he flirts at his date.
Sidon's not wrong; his date is very easy on the eyes, though he'd probably be more attractive if he didn't seem like he was constantly in a state of scouring.
Zelda shakes off his silly comment as Impa approaches at her side, so she introduces them both. "I'm Zelda, I work at the bookshop with Sidon, and this is my friend, Impa," She says as Impa smiles and waves. "Would you like a beer or hard cider?" She gestures towards the cooler.
Sidon gleefully chooses a hard cider as his date hovers over the cooler for a long time, then snarls almost. "I only drink light beer."
"Oh, I brought some," Impa says and reaches in the cooler for a Corona Light, but he shakes his head.
"No, it's fine. I should have brought my own," He drops his beach tote on the sand with a heavy sigh and crosses his arms over his chest.
"Well, if you want one then just grab one," Impa says with a little bite to her tone, and closes the cooler. "Sorry, I didn't catch your name."
He raises an eyebrow at the two women. "You mean you haven't heard of me?"
"Not really, that's why we're asking...?" Zelda and Impa share a quick look.
"My apologies, I should have introduced you all," Sidon interjects, trying to keep the peace and places a gentle hand on his date's bicep. "This here is Revali."
"I'm assuming you've never been to an NHU soccer game or else you would know exactly who I am," Revali says, clawing a hand through his thick hair. "I'm the most important player on the team. Do you even know what position that is?"
Zelda and Impa shake their heads lazily as Kass trudges out of the water to join the conversation, and to grab another beer.
Revali puffs his chest out slightly, almost like a bird trying to show off his feathers and raises his voice. "I'm captain of the soccer team."
The two girls were about to pretend to be impressed when Kass squeezes in-between Zelda and Impa with a new beer in his hand. "Aren't there three captains at Northern?"
"I— well...Yes, but I'm the first captain. And technically there's four now," Revali rolls his eyes.
Kass is the one to respond since he's the only one that's actually interested. "Oh man, don't tell me the rumors are true."
"What rumors? Babe you're shaking," Impa begins to laugh as Kass's genuine excitement grows.
But Revali just scoffs, shifts his weight to one side, and nods, "Yeah, it's true."
"So you got to meet him!? What's he like?" Kass asks with a wide grin, "I've read he's such an awesome guy—he's donated so much to charity."
"Honestly?" Revali looks at Kass out of the corner of his eye. "He's just like any other celebrity; thinks he's something special, a gift from god, but I'm a better soccer player than he'll ever be."
"Than the Hylian Champion?" Kass raises an eyebrow at him. "Better than the guy that can probably qualify for an Olympic Gold Medal?"
"Absolutely," Revali nods with confidence. "At practice yesterday, he spent most of it watching from the bench because he was too afraid to handle my talent."
"Right, of course," Kass says with a wholesome smile, too kind to challenge a stranger's ego anymore. He turns his attention to the girls. "Impa, can we go to their game next Friday? I've always wanted to see the Hylian Champion at a live game."
"Sure, but who is he?" Impa asks and Kass answers.
"He's world renowned as the next upcoming soccer legend of all time, already shattering Hyrule's records for most hat-tricks in a row, goal assists, and holds the Guinness World record for longest goal ever scored." Kass takes a sip of his beer and continues, "—but then suddenly he vanished from the spotlight and no one knew where he went until a rumor started floating around on Friday that he's taking classes at Northern, and I guess now he's on the soccer team. He was a child star before he started focusing on soccer and playing for New Castle, but I don't think you've seen any of his films, hun," Kass nudges Impa's elbow.
"Oh, that guy? He went to the same high school as me, apparently," Sidon says automatically, like he's said it a couple times before. "He graduated with my sister, but she was six grades ahead of me in school so I can't for the life of me, remember him at all."
"What's his real name?" Zelda asks, only vaguely interested in the conversation.
Kass is about to answer, but Revali speaks before he can. "It doesn't even matter because he wants everyone to call him 'Champion,'" he says, then mumbles; "cause he's an arrogant prick."
Tiring quickly of sports talk, Zelda tries to change the topic, and turns to Sidon who's sipping on his hard cider. "Hey, were you able to remember where you've seen that guy from the bookshop?"
"Oh my gosh no, I still can't place him," Sidon admits, "sorry, I have such a bad memory, but he was at the bookshop today."
"Really? What do you think he was doing there?" Zelda's cheeks starts to tint pink. Why is she blushing?
As much as she tried to hide the flush forming across her face, Sidon notices and with a smirky smile he answers. "He was returning that book you helped him find. He said he had to drop a class and it was either his history or literature class, so he chose the history one. He is super cute Zelda, you should totally get on that before I do," Sidon's smile grows wider right along with Zelda's.
Revali clears his throat and gives them a dirty look, but it just makes Sidon laugh. He wraps a muscular arm around Revali's shoulders and sends him a flirtatious look in return, "what are you, jealous? You don't even know who we're talking about."
"Me? Jealous?" Revali scoffs, "That's just... asinine."