Chapter 5: Overlap

Rain pelted against the carriage windows, the storm clawing at her concentration. "That one," she said, pointing to the right most card in Link's hand. He sighed, dropping it onto the steadily growing pile sat between them. Comparing his tiny hand to her own, it was obvious this game wouldn't last too much longer.

"I don't get it." She eyed the young engineer as he spoke up, sprawling out across the floor. "You must be cheating; I haven't won a game all night."

She giggled, placing her head into her palm. "You're just easy to read, are you even trying to hide what's in your hand?"

He grumbled as he pulled another card from the deck, eyes scanning the rest of his hand. As he tucked it in to join the others and, seeming to take her words to heart, he tried to hide his face behind the cards. But as she predicted, an unmissable shock of excitement betrayed his intentions. It was honestly quite cute. Still, that didn't mean she'd let him win.

She pointed at the middle card in her own hand, prompting him to place it for her. "It isn't a bad thing you know." He looked at her, confusion twisted on his face. She continued "Being open I mean. I much prefer it to the pompous airs people usually put on."

He placed a card of his own onto the stack, but didn't take his eyes off her. "What do you mean? What are they normally like?" Again he was to the point.

"Oh you know, they're just two faced," she forced her voice up, aiming to drown out the rapping of the rain. "Oh princess, you look wonderful, it's as if you don't even have to try, it'd just be wonderful if you could come to my husband and I's gala this weekend." She let her eyes roll as she sighed. "It's actually funny, they clearly think they're being sneaky."

Link snickered as he held her cards up for her to see. Her eyes scanned over the hand, nothing useful. As she gestured towards one, Link spoke up once again.

"Would you mind if I asked something kind of personal?"

The rain beat a rhythm around them, and she found herself pausing for a second. A chill ran through her, unsure if it came from the rain, or herself. She scanned his face, watching for any sign of ill-will. But as he looked across at her, soft eyes shining with genuine curiosity, she realised how silly a thought that was.

"Of- Of course, what do you want to know?" She hoped he didn't notice the words catch in her throat.

"You seemed to know a lot about that ship at the raffle, are you interested in that kind of thing?"

He sat patiently, waiting for an answer, and she found herself unable to meet his eyes. His words had warmed her. And truth be told, it was a little comforting. Plus, she hadn't realised he remembered that. She took a breath, building up the courage to speak.

"Honestly? I can't remember a time I wasn't interested in it." Her eyes finally settled, gazing at the rain as it ran down the glass. "It was my Grandfather who started it I suppose. He always said it was important to remember our history, and the people who made it." She could almost see his image form in the drizzle. For a moment, she was five again, sat with him in the castle library as the weather beat around them. "He used to tell me all about the journey they made from the great sea, about creatures as large as houses and islands as varied as New Hyrule." Her head fell into her palm. "I've always wondered what it must have been like…"

"Would you like to go out to sea?" Link asked, "I'm sure we'd be able to get a boat from Paupuchia."

She had to admit, it was a nice thought. "I'd love to." She sighed, "But there's no way I could ever be away from the kingdom long enough to travel anywhere interesting."

"Oh, of course." Link practically deflated next to her. "I should have realised that."

Well that wasn't fair, she didn't want to see him like that. Link added a new card to her hand, the deck was looking thin now. "You know, you never told me why you became an engineer." She said, before the words even formed in her head. No that wasn't quite true, it was more like something that had been sleeping in her thoughts, waiting for a moment to come out. She supposed, seeing as he asked his questions, it seemed fair for her to ask her own. "I know you said you were more interested in the train itself, I was just wondering why?"

Link rubbed the back of his head, his muddled thoughts surfacing onto his face. "I don't think it's anything as noble as you really - I've just always been fascinated by how things work, what makes them tick." Link said, the tinge of embarrassment flushing his face. "I think it's amazing how we've built trains, how all these smaller parts can slot together to make something completely new – if that makes sense."

She mulled his words over. Did it make sense? She supposed she hadn't thought of things like that, but… "I kind of get it. It's similar to people right?" She said, but the confusion on Link's face made it clear that she needed to go on. "I mean I've always found it interesting to think about why everyone does what they do. There's always some reasoning, a few thoughts you can't see that dictate who they are."

"That's…actually a really nice way of putting it." He said, putting on a face she'd only seen when he was stuck on a tough puzzle. "You know I've always…" He paused, rubbing his arm as if stirring the courage to speak. "It's my dream to make a train that can go anywhere, no matter how harsh." He cut himself off. Reaching over the bench behind him, he shifted through the overalls he'd discarded for the evening. After a moment of fiddling, he pulled a clean sheet from a pocket, an odd bit of clean contrasting his soot covered uniform. He opened it for her to see, revealing his engineering certificate. "That's why I got this. Being qualified means I'm allowed my own train - one I can do what I want with."

She looked past the sheet in his hands and was drawn into his eyes. Nervousness boiled in them, but with a pinch of excitement mixed in. And in that moment, she found herself stuck. Able to move on but not really wanting to. All she knew was that a tingle ran down her spine and as if sparking her back to life, she became horribly aware as each second ticked away. She scrambled, her brain searching for words, but unsure where to look. "That makes…I guess that makes a lot of sense, Alfonzo being your master then." When had she become so aware of everything she said? She took a breath. "Although I was admittedly a little surprised he had an apprentice, he always said he just wanted to drive trains and live quietly after he retired."

Link laughed. Not a little chuckle, but a proper laugh. She wasn't sure he'd done that since they met. And she didn't miss the smile it put on her own face.

"Yeah that was an awkward meeting." He leaned over to her, whispering as if someone may overhear. "I actually broke into his workshop to get some parts."

Her eyes widened. "You?" She scoffed. "The noble hero who won't even disobey rail signs?" She said, mocking tone ever so delicately mixed in.

He laughed again. Maybe she could get used to that. Link continued, "Well that's Alfonzo's fault. After he – somehow – caught me, he made me work on the train to make up for it." He gazed off, drawn into memories. "It's funny how we just kind of stuck with it, not that I mind, he's a great teacher."

He turned back to her. "You can't let him know I said that." He said, a slight look of worry on his face. "I'd never hear the end of it if he found out."

"Oh please as if I could." She said, wafting her hand through his arm to make her point. "Although I'll have to keep that in mind if I ever need you to do something for me."

He scoffed, winking at her. "Really, blackmail? I'm learning too much about you tonight."

She stuck her tongue out at him, getting caught up in his rhythm. "Well a princess needs some kind of protection after finding out her companion's an attempted thief."

"Funny you'd say that; I remember hearing plenty of rumours of someone sneaking out of the castle." He dropped a card onto the pile between them. "I win by the way."

It took a second for her to register what he said. But as she noticed the lack of cards in his hand, compared to several in hers, it clicked. "Have you just been distracting me!?" her voice jumped more than she expected.

His eyes bounced around the room, an unconvincing attempt at covering up his sheepish grin. "What me? I'd never do that."

Looks like he was better at acting than she thought if she hadn't noticed him being that obvious. Or maybe he was interested and just as bad at covering that up as he always had been. Either way, that didn't mean she'd let him get away with it.