One-two : a twisted game of dress up
"What the HELL am I even doing?" Zelda was twiddling her thumbs in the back of Lulu's mom's limo, looking nervously at her two friends.
Malon tore her gaze away from the TV, a flute of "boozeless-booze" in her hand as she reveled in the luxury. "Going out for the day with your two best friends to make yourself a glam girl for the upcoming night, of course. Er, you did invite him, didn't you?"
It had been three weeks since Zelda's last traumatic encounter, and sure enough, Link had quietly and efficiently put a stop to the strange stalker. Zelda could feel a little chill in comp sci sometimes, but trusted Link and his ability to uphold his promises.
"I invited him," grumbled Zelda, looking out the window. Limousines always made her uncomfortable – they reminded her of her father.
"As a friend?" Lulu asked, inspecting a chink in her perfect French manicure. "Or as something more?"
"Friends, of course." Zelda turned beet red, wanting to melt into the expensive black leather seats. "I already explained to you about the whole more-than-friends thing."
"I agree," Lulu said, and then looked up at Zelda, an unusually canine grin spreading across her normally composed and elegant face. "Doesn't mean it wouldn't be a great opportunity for sex, though."
"Lulu!" Zelda gasped, and then covered her face. "I can't believe you just SAID that!"
"Even good girls have their bad sides." Malon nodded seriously, though the shadow of a grin was present as she looked across the limo at Lulu. "And come on. You know it's true…"
"Well true as it may be…" Zelda turned, if possible, even redder, "it doesn't mean I actually would… even if I wanted to… which I don't…"
"Suuuure," Malon and Lulu chorused together.
"Anyway, moving on," Zelda said, clearing her throat. "Can we clarify the plans? I'm still a little… yeah."
"We're going to be at this spa place until four," Lulu informed Zelda, putting the TV on mute.
Malon smiled. "They'll get us all nice and ready. Makeup, hair, everything,"
"– and my mom is footing the bill."
"The limo is coming around 4:10 or so,"
"– to take us back to my place to get dressed –"
"– and then it'll go and pick up the boys – "
"– and come back for us."
"We'll go out to eat at a nice, outdoor French café, which the boys are paying for," Malon continued, and turned, allowing Lulu to finish.
"And the limo will come back to get us and take us to the dance when it starts at six. At midnight, it'll come to pick us up and take us each home."
"I think I caught all that," Zelda said, looking between Malon and Lulu. The latter was unusually bubbly and outgoing today, a characteristic that threw Zelda off, but she supposed the beautiful girl was just excited.
"Good." Malon nodded, and then hitched her purse up on her shoulders. "Because here we are."
The limo pulled to a halt and the chauffeur came around to open the door for the trio, and Zelda was instantly met with workers ushering her down a red carpet into a very expensive looking spa. It reminded her of when she was younger and her father had taken a particular girlfriend that Zelda quite liked – a pretty young woman by the name of Tetra who was like a second mother to Zelda – took Zelda places to have fun no matter the cost, spent time with her, cared for her and loved her.
Zelda had been devastated when her father had dumped her.
Malon's low whistle as she looked around jerked Zelda from her memories, and she quickly yanked her attention back to the present.
"This place is pretty snazzy," stated the redhead as she looked around the obviously expensive, height-of-fashion interior. Lulu gave a giggle, and Zelda cracked a wide grin.
"Thank you, captain obvious," teased the blonde as she plopped down in an expensive white leather chair.
"Don't mention it." Malon grinned and sat down as well, picking up a magazine from the table and flipping through it. Lulu sat down as well, but they did not have to wait long before the receptionist at the expensive glass-topped desk looked up from her computer and smiled.
"Miss Bay? The staff is ready for you."
When Zelda stepped out of Lulu's mansion, she was quite sure that she had never been primped, pinched, tucked, powdered, snipped, sprayed, and blow dried so much in her entire life. The discomfort of her hair in its exquisite knot, combined with the sparkling makeup painted onto her face to match the wine-colored dress, and the corset-like undergarment that Malon had shoved her into made the whole situation almost intolerable.
It was worth it, though, Zelda had thought as she had admired herself in a mirror. She looked good.
"I still can't believe how well you turned out, Zelda," Lulu had commented from her elaborate blue and green dress that looked like sea foam as they waited in the foyer for the boys and the limo. "I mean, not to insult you or anything, but you normally are kind of grungy and you look, well…"
"Steamingly sexy," Malon finished, scratching her beautifully waxed leg. "Link's going to drool when he sees you."
And drool he had when he stepped in the door and saw her sitting comfortably on a lush couch, her wine dress flowing around her fluidly. Her eyes had been shadowed sparkly pink, her lips painted a plush red, and she couldn't help but feeling her cheeks heat as he eyed her up and down. To one side, Malon had giggled lightly, but whether or not it had been at Link's reaction to Zelda or Darmani's reaction to herself, she was unsure.
"You look good, Zelda," Mikau commented with a smile, before turning to Lulu and kissing her lightly on the cheek and whispering something in her ear that had made her giggle. Darmani had slipped his arm around Malon's waist, and now here they were, walking from the house to the limo with Malon and Lulu and their boyfriends in front, and Zelda and Link walking awkwardly behind.
Link cleared his throat. "So."
"So."
"You look nice," he said, shooting her a glance out of the corner of his eye. Zelda turned her head and smiled, taking him in in his nice dress shirt and dress pants. Oddly enough, he wasn't wearing green, but a deep red that went rather well with her own dress. The tie at his neck was black and shiny, but for all his nice appearance, his hair was still wild. It looked good, though. Very good.
"You look nice yourself." She smiled at him again, and this time he turned and met her eyes, smiling as well.
For a second they just stood there, eyes and souls connected, but a loud squawk from Malon at something Darmani had said jerked them out of their trance. Link smiled abashedly, looking ahead.
"Guess we'd better catch up with them."
Zelda smiled as well, and could almost feel the makeup on her face cracking from all of the expanding and contracting it was being forced to do. "Yeah," she said. "Guess so."
Sunday, October 7
12:40 AM
I just got home from the dance. You'd never believe how much fun it was – but it was kind of strange, too.
Anyway, after I left off about the spa and whatnot, the limo came to get us – boys in tow. Link looked… well… really, really bloody sexy. Argh, I can't believe I just wrote that. But it's true! I mean, he cleans up nicely. Really nicely. Not that he's not hot normally, but…
What am I saying? This is LINK. Ugh, I've been awake too long. But anyway, dinner.
We went to this really nice outdoor café with a view of the sea – it was French, and just so romantic. It would be a good place for a date, but it was so expensive. I felt kind of bad for the guys, because they foot the bill… they didn't seem to mind, though. Link stared at me the whole time, which was kind of weird, and Lulu and Mikau were a little lovey, but other than that all was okay. Oh, and there was this one really funny part where Link went and got a straw all wrapped up in paper, tore off the top, and blew the wrapper at Darmani. I couldn't believe him! I mean, we were in this really classy restaurant and here he is acting like a three year old in McDonald's. But he only did it once, thank God. Other than that, dinner wasn't very incidental.
On the car ride up to the hotel where the dance was held, we all watched Starsky and Hutch, can you believe it? The ride wasn't too long – fifteen minutes, maybe, but still. It was really fun, especially because I didn't have to struggle to make conversation. It's weird – I normally don't have to struggle to make conversations, but maybe that's what insanely tight undergarments will do to a girl.
We got to the dance, but just outside, Link pulled me back and fished something out of his pocket – a corsage! It was a red rose and so pretty, and it matched my dress perfectly. I asked him how he knew and he shrugged, saying something about Jayda. He tied the corsage to my wrist and then we went in and it was almost like we were… what am I thinking? Just scratch that last thought.
Malon and Mikau staked us out a table, then went to dance with Lulu and Darmani, and of course, the first thing Link does is wander away to the food table. Honestly, we'd just eaten dinner, but here he was getting a plate of cheese and crackers, and he even filled up a glass of chocolate syrup that he poured on some strawberries for me. At first, we just sat around, talking and munching.
Then a slow song came up, and I was about to ask Link some stupid question or other about his favorite TV show when he suddenly blurted out "Do you want to dance?" Well, of course, I said yes, and so he took me by the hand and led me to the floor…
It was strange. I've never slow danced – really slow danced with a guy before. It was really nice, though… and… I'm not even going to go into it, because I'm living with Link and shouldn't think of him like this.
Anyway, we went back and sat down and a few of Link's friends wandered over and talked to us for a bit, and then this one guy showed up- his name was Khail, and he was decent in the looks department. Anyway, Link got all mad when he saw him, I don't know why, but Khail asked me to dance so even though Link was glaring at me, I said yes. And it was nice- I kind of maybe like Khail, I think, but… Link… blah.
After I danced with Khail, Link grabbed me by the wrist, furiously stating that we needed to talk. So he dragged me outside the ballroom into the sort of waiting reception area thing and pulled me into a corner- and he was really mad. Really mad. He told me to stay away from Khail, that he was bad news, and of course I got mad because he was being a total ass about it. When I asked Link about why I should stay away from Khail, he turned all red and said "I can't tell you, but it's not safe, Zelda. Don't go near him." I mean, how cocky is that? He treated me like I was a total… just… ugh! I mean, I suppose that maybe I should listen to him because Link usually has a good reason for what he says and does, but I hate how he treats me as stupid sometimes. I mean, Khail seemed really nice… but yeah. Maybe I should listen to him. I don't know.
Anyways, Link made me so mad that I wound up crying and running into the bathroom, to my infinite shame. Malon and Lulu, who saw the whole thing, came to comfort me, along with some other girls, and even Nabooru, my gym teacher, who was "keeping the peace" or something. Anyway, Malon totally defended me but Lulu said that she was sure he had his reasons… and I agree now but earlier I had to try not to snap her head off for that. Oops.
They helped me get cleaned up, and then I went back into the ballroom and danced with random people. I had fun, but I was still mad, so when Khail asked me to dance some more, I said yes. We danced for a while longer, then he took me away to a table and we sat down and talked for a bi – it turns out that we have a lot of the same interests.
Anyway, around 11:30, Sheep showed up looking pissed, and Khail told me he had to go but that he'd like to see me more. I wonder if he likes me… because I kind of like him, but Link said to say away from him. Plus, there was something in the way that Khail was looking at me that I didn't like, so I suppose I'll be taking Link's advice.
In other news, after Khail left, Link came over and sat down and apologized and said that he trusted me and was just concerned for me, and that he knows I have good judgment and please would I not be angry at him? So I forgave him, and we danced the last dance together. Then we left and got in the limo and everybody seemed to understand we'd made up, and even though it was quiet it wasn't awkward so – we girls used the men as pillows, and it was really nice and stuff.
Anyway, I'm home now. I'm probably going to pull on my pajamas and go to bed. I'm exhausted.
G'night.
Zelda snapped her journal shut and dropped it into a drawer on her bedside table, yawning and stretching and looking remorsefully at her red feet.
"Man," she mumbled, rubbing her toes. "Those shoes hurt."
A knock came at the door, accompanied by a male voice. "Zelda?"
Zelda yawned wide, putting a hand over her mouth. "Come in, Link." He stepped in and she could see that he'd pulled off his nice clothes and opted for homer Simpson's boxers and a white tank.
"You're still all fancy and stuff," he commented, eyeing her as he shut the door behind him.
"Yeah." Zelda looked remorsefully over her dead gown, fluffing the lightly wrinkled skirt around her. "I just finished writing in my journal. Anyway, what do you need?"
"I just wanted to apologize again…" He put his hands behind him and fidgeted, looking at the floor. Zelda smiled and stood up, walking to him (a deep part of her mind was annoyed at the little swishy noise her gown made as she moved), and she took his hands in hers.
"It's fine. I can't say that I understand completely, but I've forgiven you anyway."
"Thanks." They stood there for a moment, hands together, and then Link stepped back, smiling at her.
"You still look nice," he commented, and reached out, plucking at an elegant curl that had tumbled from its pin to drape across her shoulder. "I especially like the hair."
"Don't get used to it." Zelda gave a weary laugh, too tired even to swat away the hand that lingered by her collar bone.
"But I still like the grungy princess as much as the elegant one," teased Link.
Zelda put her hand to her heart, faking an air of offense. "I am not grungy! I am… oww." She misplaced her weight, causing her feet to hurt like the bloody devil, and swore.
"What'd you do to your feet?" Link asked, bemused, as he looked down.
"It's those horrid shoes Jayda made me buy," Zelda replied, hobbling to her bed and plopping down on the mattress. "I can't believe she talked me into wearing them. It feels like my feet are about to fall off…" Zelda trailed off, looking remorsefully at her red and swollen toes.
"I can give you a foot massage, if you'd like," Link offered, plopping down next to her.
"Honestly? That would be heavenly. Oh, but give me a second to get out of this horrible corset."
"You're in a corset?" Link raised one eyebrow, eyeing Zelda's form.
"Yeah. It's not like bone and lace and stuff, it's… you'll see. Just hang on a minute." Zelda stumbled pathetically into the bathroom, stripped off her gown and the spandex underclothes, and pulled on a pair of rubber ducky pajama shorts and a matching tank. She returned and tossed the corset-like object to Link, who eyed it cautiously.
"Ouch," he commented, pulling at the elastic.
"Yeah." Zelda sighed, shaking her head. "It pulls everything in."
"You don't need that," Link commented as he tossed the garment in offense into the bathroom. "You're fine just the way you are."
"Massage." Zelda changed the subject, though she didn't know why, patting Link's fuzzy head in gratitude as he took a place near her feet. "You really are the best."
"Don't you know it?" He took her feet carefully in his hands, beginning to rub, his hands gentle yet deft upon her sore toes.
"That feels really, really, really good," she mumbled as she felt her painfully sore muscles relax. "Where'd you learn to give massages?"
"Mom used to be a masseuse," Link commented idly. "She tutored me in 'the ways'."
"Heh, tutored," Zelda laughed. "Sounds like your last name."
"I suppose it does." There was quiet in the peanut gallery for a time, with Link's hands moving slowly higher – loosening the muscles in her lower legs, then just above her knees, when he stopped.
"You are a miracle worker," mumbled Zelda, sitting up and crawling over to Link to give him a hug. "You're even better than some of the people at those spas I go to with Lulu and Malon. Thank you so, so much."
"Not a problem." Link hugged her back, then slowly let go as she moved back a little.
"And I'm sorry about blowing up at you," she added, ashamed. Link grinned, shrugging.
"It's fine. I understand." He leaned back against the mountain of white pillows propped against the mahogany headboard, and Zelda surprised the both of them by laying her head on his knees. She relaxed as he began to run his hands through her hair, loosening the curls and removing the small army of bobby pins that guaranteed her the inability to pass through a metal detector.
By the time that Link had collected every last pin from her hair, she was asleep on his legs, dreaming of her hero.
"Good night, Princess," he mumbled, bending forward to kiss her on the forehead before trying to get up. However, just as he did, she rolled over just enough to pin him beneath her, and it seemed he had no choice. Carefully, he began to rearrange her so that he could stand, but as he did so, she reached out a pale arm and wrapped it around him, hands gripping the fabric of his shirt.
Sighing, Link resigned himself to having to spend the night with her, and hoped that he wouldn't be hurt too badly the next morning by her. He gathered her in his arms and fell asleep as well, and in their dreams of each other, both had smiles on their faces.