This oneshot took a while to write and edit, and I'm satisfied with how it came out- I hope you enjoy it as well.

I suppose this can be another character study of sorts, but also a bit of practice for me, hammering out how I write these characters.

Anyways- spoilers up to and a bit past the Ghost Ship dungeon in Phantom Hourglass, and I guess some minor spoilers for Wind Waker?

Either way, enjoy.


Linebeck scratched at a part of the steering wheel that had some old paint stuck to it. He'd found it the day before and had probably spent roughly five total hours trying to scrape it away with his fingernail. As far as he could tell, it had been there for a while.

Anything to distract himself from the pair of unmoving kids mere feet away. One of them had an excuse- she'd been turned into a statue at some point. But Link didn't have as good a reason. He'd been sitting there for nearly an hour, just staring at her. Linebeck tried to hook his fingernail under the spot of paint in order to tug it off. Link flinched at the sharp scraping noise but kept staring.

Stifling a yawn, Linebeck tapped his finger against the wood, occasionally glancing down at the kid. The sounds of the ship and the waves outside hadn't caught the boy's attention, but those were constant. The boy's eyes were blank, and it looked more like he was looking through his friend rather than at her.

Scraping off the paint wasn't anything enriching, and staring out at the sea, while interesting at first, lost its novelty after a few hours. Linebeck leaned over the wheel, his arms crossed on it to keep it steady. He could see Ciela out of the corner of his eye, and figured that he might as well stay quiet as not to give her a reason to spark an argument. They'd all been on edge since the Ghost Ship, which meant that Ciela had been even more rude to him than usual.

He couldn't entirely place why. She hated him as a baseline, but now seemed borderline disgusted by him since the Ghost Ship.

They were moving in a straight line for now, so he didn't need to pay too much attention to steering. Linebeck crouched down and grabbed the rope he kept under the wheel and began tying it in place with a simple knot. Of course, that got Link's attention. The boy turned his head and trained his owlish stare on the sailor while he secured the knot. "What are you doing?" Link finally asked. He didn't speak much, and usually spoke in a very soft voice, so Linebeck almost didn't notice.

Either way, Linebeck was glad that Link spoke softly. People who spoke too loudly irritated him. Link was quiet in almost everything he did, and he often came off as timid. He also took care to not accidentally touch Linebeck very much, and didn't move things around on the ship. The boy generally kept to himself unless he needed some kind of help.

Ciela, on the other hand, was always too loud and too close to his face- the other fairies were quieter, but Neri was nosy, and Leaf was too excitable. None of them interrupted while Linebeck answered Link's question. "I'm tying down the wheel, since I'm going to go and do something else. You wrote in a pretty straight path on the map, so we're going in a straight line for a while." Linebeck tugged on the rope, then sat with his back to the wheel. "So. What are you doing, just sitting there in front of your petrified friend?"

Link blinked at him, and much to Linebeck's dismay, Ciela decided that she needed to talk. "Can't you see that Link's still torn up about this? He finally got to save her, only to find out he was too late. Leave him alone."

Linebeck waved her away. "I didn't ask you, Sparkles, I asked the kid. That doesn't answer my question, anyways." He tilted his head and peered at Link again. "What are you doing?"

Link shrugged. "...Sitting here."

"Why?"

"...'Cuz she's my friend." Link squirmed, unnerved by Linebeck's blank stare.

"...Yeah, but what are you doing? I can see that you're sitting there, but what are you doing while sitting there?"

Link only shrugged. "I dunno."

In response to that, Linebeck frowned. "So, you're doing nothing. What's the point, then? You can just do nothing in your room, and that way I don't have to deal with you sitting there, looking as much like a statue as your little friend."

"Don't be so rude," Ciela snapped. "He's grieving!"

"She's not dead," Linebeck muttered.

"But she might die! That's why we're on this quest! To save Link's friend, remember?"

Linebeck shrugged. "She's not my friend, just the kid's. That's his quest, not mine. There's no point in just staring blankly at her. Doesn't make any sense." He waved Ciela away and got to his feet. "She's not dead. Link's not getting anything done just sitting there and moping around. It's pointless for him to just stare into space for hours on end, doing nothing."

"I'm not doing nothing," Link quietly protested. He spoke so softly that it took Linebeck and Ciela a few seconds to realize that he'd spoken at all.

"Then what are you doing?" Linebeck snapped, already tired of the conversation.

"...It's hard to describe. I'm letting her know I'm here, like I'm promising that I'll save her. Uh... I'm psyching myself up. Is that the right way to say it?"

"Sure."

Link thought to himself for a moment, thinking of a different way to explain himself. "...She's my friend, so I'm sitting here to provide her company." Link sat up, and took his friend's cold, frozen, outstretched hand in his own. "Her name's Tetra," he added.

"Tetra." The name clearly held no meaning to Linebeck. "Do you like her or something?"

This made Link pause. He thought about the times he'd spent with Tetra, then finally shook his head. "Nope. We're just friends. She was my captain before she got taken."

Linebeck blinked, staring at Link for a moment. He shook his head and straightened up. "That still doesn't explain why you're sitting there."

Link frowned. "But I did explain that. It's because she's my friend."

"That doesn't explain anything," Linebeck muttered.

"What would you do if one of your friends got turned to stone like this?"

"I don't have any friends," Linebeck dryly retorted, ignoring an amused snicker from Ciela. "But if someone I cared about was turned to stone, I wouldn't waste my time moping around and staring at them, and I'd put effort into actually fixing this."

Probably.

Ciela scoffed. "I doubt that. Besides, there's not much that Link can do while we're in the middle of the ocean."

"He could be doing the damn chores I told him to do three hours ago," Linebeck snapped, looking back at her. "Or he could be taking care of his equipment, or updating his maps, or just doing something other than sitting around doing nothing."

Ciela seemed to be vibrating with pure rage. "Do you have any idea how sad or hopeless Link probably feels? He's probably not in any mood to do your stupid chores for you!"

"Sitting there, doing nothing will do nothing but make things worse. At least, if he was doing his chores, he'd be able to take his mind off of it, or even come up with a way to go about fixing this."

Before Ciela could respond, Linebeck sighed. "This is pointless. I've got no reason to be talking with you." He sat back down, crossed his arms, and lazily gestured towards the statue. "Tell me about your friend. What was her name again?"

"Tetra," Link quietly replied, ignoring Ciela's furious mutters.

"You said she was your captain before this. She barely looks any older than you. Was it just the two of you?"

Link shook his head. "There were a few other guys on the ship, all of them adults, I think. But she's their captain. I dunno where they are now."

"How long have you been traveling with them?"

"A bit over four months."

"That's not a long time. Why're you traveling with them? At one point you mentioned that you have a little sister. You said that she misses you a lot, so why are you away from her with this group of... I assume pirates?"

A melancholy look slid into Link's eyes. "...Someone told Tetra and I to... do something."

"You're dodging the question," Linebeck muttered. "Why are you with these guys?"

"It's like I said. An old friend told us to go find something."

Linebeck let out an aggravated sigh. "Why do you want to keep exploring with these people?" He held up a hand as Link tried to respond. "Ignore anyone who isn't your family and who isn't on that pirate crew. Why do you want to do it? What is your reason, your personal reason that you chose for yourself, the reason that you have that has nothing to do with anyone else; what is the reason you ditched your sister to go with these people?"

"They're my friends- I can't just..." Link frowned to himself. "We-we want to find... no, he told... they don't- no, they miss me... I can't just live a normal life... after..." Link shut his eyes tight, shaking his head. "I don't think I know. It's all for the sake of other people- I don't even like being with pirates that much."

"You're upsetting him," Ciela hissed in Linebeck's ear. The sailor promptly grabbed her by the wing and flung her across the room.

"But they're m-my friends," Link decided, hugging his knees to his chest. "I just... don't like being called a pirate. People think I'm mean if they think I'm a pirate. I don't want to be mean. Tetra's mean, and so are the others, but they can be nice, too. I just don't like being mean at all, and they're sometimes mean to me when I'm not mean to people we come across while exploring." He frowned. "I like helping people, not attacking them, like pirates do."

Linebeck let out a short laugh. "Yeah. Not a fan of the implications that come with being called a pirate. That's why I've stuck to the title of sailor, even if I still do some things like a pirate would."

"Like what?"

"Mostly thievery. I'm good at pickpocketing."

"You're a criminal," Ciela drawled once she made it back across the room. "Link, are you sure you don't want to ditch this guy? He doesn't consider anyone to be his friend." She paused, and then turned to Linebeck. "How do we know that you won't ditch us if you get your treasure early?"

"I won't get my treasure early, Sparkles. The old man said that I get my wish after the kid kills that Bellum thing."

"Oh, so you remember Bellum's name, but not Tetra's?"

"For the love of- I actually give a damn about Bellum because he's a possible threat to my life. Tetra is just Link's friend."

"Your priorities are screwed up," Ciela snapped. "You're horrible! Honestly, I keep getting worried that you'll just sail away one day while we're out on an island! Why did grandpa make us team up with a jerk like you?!" By the end of her spiel, she was practically screaming.

Linebeck set his jaw, glaring down at Ciela, little more than a small ball of light with wings, and growled, "I'm not some damn hero like the kid, I'm not in this to save people and I'm not some selfless whelp who'll ignore danger for the sake of others. I'm in this because I'd like for there to still be a world to explore, along with the promise of treasure. I'm being more or less dragged along; I didn't agree to do this out of the goodness of my heart or whatever."

"So what? Link's a child, you're an adult! Making him do everything is cruel! It's cowardly to make a kid do all of the fighting and stuff! You're just a heartless jerk!"

"Oh, please- The kid's never said anything about wanting my help in those dungeons, and he's done this before, hasn't he? If he wants my help, he can ask for it!"

"Stop arguing," Link said, his voice a bit louder than before. "I don't like it. I bet Oshus wanted us to go with him for a reason, anyways." He turned to glare at Ciela. "Linebeck hasn't ditched us yet, but he might if you keep being mean to him."

"But-"

"Just go away," Link mumbled, resting his chin on his arms. "I wanna be alone if you guys are gonna keep yelling at each other."

Ciela looked frozen in midair, and she was snapped out of her trance by the other two fairies flying past her. She zipped away alongside them. Linebeck watched them leave and huffed, relaxing. He peered at Link. "I have to stick around, since I've got to pay attention to where we're going," he pointed out, an eyebrow raised.

"You can stay," Link mumbled. "You're quieter than Ciela is. I like having her around, but she can be really loud and mean to you, even if you're mean too."

Linebeck scowled. "She started it. I was just curious." He got to his feet and stretched, then paused, glancing back down at Link. "Did I piss you off a bit there? You seemed a bit angry."

"Yeah, but I was mostly mad at Ciela. She didn't have to yell at you for not caring about Tetra as much as I do. You don't know her, but you… could've been a lot nicer." Link pulled his knees up to his chest. "I do really miss her. And I just want to keep an eye on her, and try and make her feel better"

Linebeck grimaced. "Oh. Uh. Sorry, then."

Link gave him an odd look, then shrugged. "But you both helped me find her, at least, so I've got a chance to save her. I'll tell Ciela to be nicer, if you want."

"No need, I don't think she'd stop, anyways. I don't think anything will keep her from flying off the handle any time I try to say anything."

"Sometimes she's being sarcastic," Link attempted, shrugging.

"Not like I'd be able to notice," Linebeck grumbled. "Now, shut it. Move your friend somewhere else or something. I hate seeing the two of you in the corner of my eye. Move her further into the corner or something."

Of course, by evening, Linebeck had forgotten Link's friend's name again, but he couldn't be bothered to ask. They were halfway back to Mercay Island, so they dropped anchor and Link and the fairies stayed out on the deck a bit longer to watch the seagulls. Ciela was out there with him, as the boy was no longer angry at her, and he seemed to be jabbering to her about what topic came to mind.

A few times, it looked to Linebeck like Link was talking with the other fairies, too. The boy was generally soft-spoken, but he was talkative with those fairies. The three of them seemed to be floating around on the wind, moving closer to Link when addressed. Ciela spent most of that time sitting on top of Link's head.

Linebeck had been in the engine room for a long while, silently watching the conversation that couldn't hear. While he watched them talk and presumably joke around, he half expected to feel some kind of envy or desire or even some kind of melancholy over seeing something that he was missing out on. But, as it always was when he watched people hanging out casually with close friends, he felt nothing but a mild confusion and curiosity.

He'd always felt like that even as a child, sitting alone on his own and yet not feeling too much envy for the kids who were always surrounded by friends. Was it his lower empathy or was it something else? He'd always been unable to pick up on other people's emotions and never knew what to do about it. Or maybe it was because he had been content with just a small handful of friends. Maybe it was because he'd been taught that he wasn't worth being friends with.

He left the engine room after his mind drifted a little too far.


"Hey, Ciela?"

"Yeah?"

"Have you ever flown by a seagull?" Link looked up, and Ciela floated off of his head to hover in front of him. "Like, got up high where they fly and then follow them around?"

"Mm… no. Grandpa never wanted me to go too far, and I don't think I ever did in my past. Some of my memories are still murky, though, but I hope they'll become clearer," Ciela said. "Once I was almost eaten by a seagull, though. I think it thought I was a bug."

"That almost happened to me, too," Leaf chirped. "I don't like seagulls. They're loud and kinda gross." He flew in a quick circle around Link's head. "Do you like them? I at least like to learn about them. Neri knows a lot."

Link shrugged with a faint smile. "My little sister, Aryll, likes seagulls, so I guess I like them too. They remind me of her."

"Do you miss her?" Neri asked, gently landing on his shoulder. "I heard you when you were talking with Linebeck. When was the last time you saw her? You seem like you really care for her, based off what you told us about your journey before this. Tetra lets you go home sometimes, right?"

The three fairies waited for a response, but Link only frowned. He sighed. "Not… really. She's really focused on our… goal. She doesn't like to turn back. I can only send my sister and my grandma letters. I really miss them."

"That's kinda weird," Ciela muttered. "Are you guys doing something really important?"

Link hesitated. "Yeah. That's what we were doing when Tetra got taken away." He wrapped his hands around the rope railing, looking down into the water. "I… hate thinking about how Tetra must feel right now. She hated not being able to do much during our last adventure, and now she's just… stuck again. Not able to do anything and maybe even terrified. I-I know it's just the way she was frozen, but I hate seeing her look so scared."

"We'll help you save Tetra," Ciela murmured, brushing up against Link's cheek. "She can still be saved, and we won't rest until she's okay and the two of you can go exploring again! And then you can go see your grandma and your little sister again."

"I do really want to see them again. It feels wrong to just leave them behind, and Aryll always says that she misses me in her letters. I get homesick a lot, but Tetra doesn't want to go back."

"Then go see them again, like Ciela said! Find someone else that'll take you!" Leaf hovered in front of Link's face, bobbing up and down in excitement. "Or maybe you can ask Tetra about it!"

"I can't just make them stop everything so I can see my family," Link weakly replied. "I- they're my friends. And I have asked Tetra about it. She… accused me of not caring about what we were doing. We argue a lot about turning back or not."

"Then… ask Linebeck to take you!" Leaf did a small loop-de-loop, adding, "I bet he wouldn't mind! He seems to like seeing new islands, and he doesn't even seem to mind going to old ones!"

Ciela scoffed. "I don't think he'd want to take Link across the seas to see his family. You heard him; he doesn't care about any of Link's friends."

"Honestly, after all of this, I don't think Linebeck would mind," Neri mused. "He does seem to be the adventurous type. He doesn't have much of a goal in mind aside from finding treasure."

"He's so rude though! Link, you wouldn't want to stick with Linebeck after all of this, would you?"

Link only shrugged. "I dunno. He's been nice when tending to my injuries or helping with the maps. I wouldn't want to leave him alone, anyways. I don't think it's very good to be alone for too long. Plus he doesn't seem too happy, though I think he does really like sailing. He did mention that he doesn't have any friends."

"Who would want to be friends with someone like him?" Ciela muttered, settling back down on top of Link's head.

"He's not all bad, like I said," Link laughed, though he could barely keep himself from sounding a bit nervous. "You guys just argue all day, so it makes sense that you couldn't imagine being his friend."

"Fair. But still. I don't get it."

Link only grinned. Leaf and Neri joined Ciela on top of his head, and the four of them began talking about seagulls once again.


The argument earlier that day left a bad taste in Linebeck's mouth and made him want to lock himself in his cabin, but he forced himself to linger in the storage room. Still, he couldn't be bothered to make any food for dinner, so he just muttered that there were leftovers in the ice box when Link asked about it. He didn't get up and get any food for himself.

Night fell and the three fairies went off into Link's room for the night. The boy stuck around a bit longer. Linebeck could hear him walking around in the engine room above the storage room. After a moment, Link stopped. It sounded like he stopped in front of his friend for what must've been the fiftieth time that day. Linebeck sighed and dug around in his pocket for his compass. He flipped it open, then peered at the half that worked as a timepiece. If it got late enough, Linebeck was going to have to tell the kid to go to sleep, and he wasn't a fan of that idea.

Either way, minutes dragged by, and once it was 10 o'clock, Linebeck sighed, removing his legs from where they were propped up on the table. Link was probably still in the same spot- and then he heard footsteps. Link trotted down the stairs into the storage room, gave Linebeck a sleepy wave, and disappeared into his own cabin, gently shutting the door.

Damn kid.

Linebeck did his nightly rounds, shutting off lamps and the engine, and discovering that Link did not, in fact, mop the deck. Cursing vehemently under his breath, Linebeck dragged the mop and a bucket of water onto the deck and finished the chore in Link's stead. He considered making some kind of comment about it in the morning, but decided that that would be pointless and unnecessarily cruel. Link had spent most of his day moping in front of his friend. He'd probably just forgotten.

Linebeck did most of the chores around the ship at night before he'd run into Link, anyways. He still did most of the chores. Link only mopped the deck, but occasionally was stuck with doing the laundry if Linebeck was in an especially foul mood. Anything related to the ship's functional upkeep was left to Linebeck, simply because it was dangerous if you didn't know how the ship worked, and he didn't trust Link with repairs on his ship.

Linebeck dumped out the water once the chore was done and locked the door to the deck behind him. He'd created the locks on the doors himself, and they didn't use much of a mechanism since they simply just kept the door from being opened with a metal strip locked in place. They were cheap and effective, but he wasn't sure how much force they could withstand.

By the time Linebeck completed his rounds and returned to his room, his paranoia was already making his hands shake. He left the lamp on his desk on, but cleared away some of the papers, folding up the maps and stacking them on the wall-mounted shelf, not bothering to organize them.

Linebeck double-checked the lock on his door while he tugged his scarf and coat off, the heavy coat being hung on a hook on the wall, and the scarf being folded up and placed into a small box that he hid under his bed.

On the other hand, his waistcoat was hastily folded up and practically tossed in the wardrobe in the corner, and his boots were left at the foot of his bed. Those had little value aside from how much they had cost to make and how much time it had taken. Linebeck was grateful that he'd been taught how to sew as a child. It was incredibly hard to find clothing that actually fit someone as tall and thin as he was, and it was far too expensive to commission a professional, and that skill had recently proven useful whenever Link returned from temples with tears in his tunic.

Somehow, that boy always managed to remain somewhat optimistic, no matter what he'd just faced off against.

At least until they'd found Link's friend on the Ghost Ship.

Linebeck momentarily attempted to remember Link's friend's name.

Nothing.

Standing beside his bed for a short moment, Linebeck stared at the small flame in his desk lamp. It made the nearby shadows move and shudder in a way that sent chills down his spine. The warped shadows brought to mind images of monsters and ghouls and anything that could attack. He could faintly smell the melted candle wax. It was a smell he never really liked. He shivered and laid down on his bed.

Linebeck stared at the ceiling as he lay in bed, still wearing his dress shirt and slacks, although he had the top few buttons of his shirt undone. Linebeck forced himself to roll onto his side and watch the door. The smallest creaks fired up his paranoid imagination. It was possible for bokoblins to be totally silent. Perhaps the Ghost Ship was back. He clawed at his sheets. His feet were cold, hanging off the end of the bed, uncovered by the blanket.

Curling up and covering his feet, Linebeck shakily sighed. He slid a hand under his pillows and nearly jumped out of bed when his hand initially made contact with nothing. Barely a moment later, though, Linebeck's hand found the cold metal of the hidden knife, and an ironic feeling of safety swept through him. The door was locked, the small window covered, and he had a knife less than arm's length away.

He knew he would get no sleep that night. His insomnia had kept him up for the past few days, and he'd spent some time that day trying to focus any whatever he was doing while his sleep-deprived mind repeatedly drifted. Linebeck also noted the dull ache in his stomach for the first time that day. It had been a while since he'd bothered to eat anything. At least he had the sense to keep himself hydrated, which was a sure improvement from the sorry state he'd been in a year ago, after-

No. No, it was too late to think about that. His anxiety would only worsen if he allowed himself to linger on horrible memories.

And it was already too late.

Linebeck squirmed in his bed and pressed his face into his pillow. He itched all over and felt a tightness in his chest. He couldn't allow his exhaustion-addled mind to twist the shadows in the room and keep him from getting the slightest bit of rest, not again. He clenched and unclenched his fists and scraped his palms with his jagged fingernails.

He wondered how Link managed to get any sleep. Link had told him what he'd been through, and Linebeck hated how much of himself he saw in the boy. Their situations were certainly juxtaposed, but with each passing day, he felt as though he and Link were more and more similar, and he hated being unable to identify the feelings that he had about it.

It was so cold in his room. They were docked close to the Isle of Gust, so the wind was certainly affecting the temperature of this part of the sea. He pulled his blanket even tighter around himself and reached down to grab the other blankets stowed under the bed. Old scars seemed to burn while Linebeck wrapped more blankets around himself, still shivering and yet still sweating.

He knew that it was all just caused by mental fatigue and stress, but that anxiety was strong enough that it was causing all of the thoughts and placebo sensations that sent Linebeck's fight-or-flight instincts into overclock, all while trying to stay quiet enough to avoid pity. He had very few options, and walking out onto the deck was no longer an option since he didn't want anyone else seeing or hearing. The previously cold room suddenly felt stiflingly hot.

Linebeck desperately tried to think about something else and dispel his darker thoughts, but he had nothing to distract him. In his desk across the room were small puzzles and trinkets that he'd collected for the sake of having something to toy with, but as his hands shook and his heart raced, the desk felt impossibly far away in the darkness of his cabin.

He writhed in anxious discomfort for what felt like ages, until a soft knock on his door nearly gave him a heart attack. Linebeck abruptly sat up, blankets draped over his shoulders. "Wh-what?"

As he expected, Link was the one who spoke. "...Can I come in?"

Linebeck forced his breathing to slow before clearing his throat and saying, "Yeah, sure, give me a second." He clambered out of bed, uncomfortable with the cold floor. Linebeck fumbled with the lock on the door, lifting it and folding it back. Straightening up and forcing his expression to be neutral, he let the door swing open while he leaned against the doorframe. He desperately hoped that he didn't look like a panicked wreck as Link peered up at him.

Actually, the kid was the one who looked like a panicked wreck. His normally fluffy hair looked like a matted mess, and his eyes were red and puffy, like he'd been crying. Linebeck tilted his head and gave the boy a cruelly disdainful look. "You look like hell." Link said nothing. He just shifted his feet and tugged at the bottom of his pajama shirt. "I'm going to guess nightmares."

Link nodded, averting his gaze.

"Why are you bothering me, then? Why not your annoying little friends?"

"They're still sleeping," Link mumbled. He shuffled into the room. Linebeck stepped aside and shut the door once Link was inside. "Your room is nice," the boy murmured, not a single envious note in his voice. The captain's room was a fair bit larger than the one that Link got stuck with, and Linebeck considered it a fair setup.

Linebeck leaned against the door while he watched Link shuffle around. He'd never thought he'd so easily let the boy explore his room, but a strange sort of calm descended over Linebeck while he watched Link poke around. His heart still hammered in his chest, but the anxiety-induced sensations had halted. He quietly fidgeted with the lock on the door, then decided to leave it unlocked for the time being.

While silently he silently looked around the room, Link's eyes lingered on the desk next to the door. here were five picture frames on the desk, all of them placed face-down. Link frowned at them but was courteous enough to not tamper with them; he did give Linebeck a questioning look and got a shrug in return.

Link didn't touch the wardrobe, any of the desk drawers, or, well, anything. He kept his hands on the bottom of his shirt, still clutching at it. His eyes were still wide and fearful as he peered around the unfamiliar room. He flinched once Linebeck cleared his throat. "What do you want, exactly?"

"I wanna sleep in your room." Link looked up at him with still-fearful eyes.

Linebeck had to fight to keep himself from scowling. "No."

"Why not?"

Linebeck narrowed his eyes at Link. "Why do you think?"

"I dunno. You don't like being touched very much, so I could just sleep on the edge or something." That was a good point. Still, Linebeck frowned. Link quickly continued before the sailor could interrupt. "I-I know you don't get a lot of sleep, so I-I don't want to keep you up or something. A-after nightmares, I u-usually need to be with another person to feel better. J-just... I won't be able to do a lot of stuff tomorrow if I don't get a lot of sleep, so we won't be able to get as much treasure or anything."

Linebeck had to admit, the kid was smart for appealing to his more selfish side. After a few seconds, he sighed. Link was a good fighter, and just having him in his room made him feel safer. Weapons or no weapons, Link could probably fight off anything if he wanted. "Fine. You can sleep in my room. Just be quiet. You said you had a nightmare, right? If you think this'll help, then sure."

At that, Link grinned. Linebeck only stared blankly back at him, but the kid's smile didn't falter. He had to admit, Link was one of the first people he'd met who'd decided he was still worth talking to, even after finding out how pathetic he was. Link shifted his weight, then crawled onto Linebeck's bed, wrapping himself in all of the blankets without even asking. Once happy with his little cocoon, Link settled at the edge of the bed with his head on the pillow and peered up at Linebeck, who was still standing with his back to the door, arms crossed.

Linebeck clutched at his shirtsleeve, thinking about the last times he'd been touched for a long period of time. Longer than a brush of shoulders or the contact that occurred when patching up wounds. The last time he'd had any prolonged positive contact with another person was long enough ago that he barely remembered what that kind of contact even felt like. If roughly three years could be considered a long time. Considering his age, it was a decently long time.

Finally, Linebeck sighed, pushing away from the door. "You better not snore," Linebeck mumbled, climbing into his bed at an awkward angle, avoiding contact with Link at all costs. So far, Link's appearance in his room was at least an oddly welcome reprieve from his tormented writhing.

"I don't think I snore," Link whispered, sitting up. "No one's ever told me that I do." While Linebeck laid on the other side of the bed, already turning to face the wall, Link shifted and stared up at the ceiling. "I dunno when the last time I shared a bed was. Maybe with my sister. I've told you about her, right?"

"Yeah. Kid with the weird name. Aryll, right?"

"You remembered her name!" The joy in Link's voice was pure and genuine and it made Linebeck feel warm inside, slowly melting away his prior anxiety. "I'm happy that you remembered," Link murmured.

"Yeah, well, when you talked about her, you sounded like you really care for her and miss her a lot." Linebeck hugged himself, the cold of the room getting to him again. "I imagine you're a good big brother to her, uh, having traveled across the sea to save her."

"...Yeah, I would've done anything to save her," Link mumbled. He went quiet, frowning down at his own hands.

"Is that what you had a nightmare about?" Link flinched, though Linebeck didn't notice. "You told me about that whole thing a while ago, and you don't seem like the kind to lie. Sounded like it was a whole lot for you to have to do." With a sigh, Linebeck shifted onto his back, eyes still on the wall. "Why make a kid save the world alone?" He glanced sidelong at Link, getting a blank look in return. "Though I guess it makes sense that you would want to go and save your sister. You chose to do that part without much prodding, right?"

Link shrugged timidly. "I mean, I'm used to making her feel better, so of course I went to save her. At first, I didn't think it'd be much different than killing bugs for her or comforting her after a nightmare. It just felt like another thing I'd do for her as her big brother." He looked over at Linebeck, seemingly expecting something, but the sailor only looked back at him for a moment longer and turned back onto his side. Any residual warmth was gone, and the cold seemed to be seeping into his bones.

After that, silence. Linebeck tensed up so that Link couldn't see him shiver, and he couldn't bring himself to ask the boy for at least one of the blankets. After a few long minutes, Link mused, "Do you want me to turn off the lamp?"

"...Sure." Linebeck heard the blankets being shifted, the soft noise of Link's bare feet on the wooden floor, and the click of the lantern being turned off. The darkness just in front of Linebeck's eyes started to shift and morph into grasping hands, and he wasn't sure if that was caused by his overactive imagination or his lack of sleep. He felt the mattress shift as Link laid back down on the bed.

Two of the four blankets were tossed over Linebeck. Link's toss hadn't been great- the blankets mostly just ended up draping over Linebeck's midriff, but the captain muttered a quiet thanks while he tugged them up over his shoulders. He didn't have the energy to cover anything below his waist. Feeling his anxiety returning, he fought to keep his breathing steady.

"Hey," Link quietly whispered. "Linebeck?"

Linebeck suppressed the urge to thank Link for getting his mind off his worries. "Yeah?"

"What are you scared of?"

This gave Linebeck pause. His legs only got colder, and he finally caved and covered them with the rest of his blankets. He rolled onto his back and looked over at Link. He could see the kid's outline in the darkness. "Well, you know I'm a coward. ...But a lot of my specific fears are weirder than just being scared of monsters."

"I'm scared of weird stuff, too," Link whispered. "I don't like pigs anymore. Some plants and birds scare me. What about you?"

Linebeck hesitated, then sighed. "...I'm scared of dogs. And being touched, to an extent. And the smell of alcohol. Things that are too loud or too bright or smell or taste too strongly scare me- I've always had good senses. …I get nervous when I misunderstand how people feel -among other things."

Linebeck braced himself, half expecting Link to get nosy and ask him to elaborate. Instead, Link quietly said, "I don't think you're a coward."

Linebeck said nothing.

"I think you're brave. I mean, most people we've met are too scared to leave their islands, but you're still sailing around. And you're helping me. And you bandage my wounds and sometimes make food and help me with sea charts and teach me card games and now you're letting me sleep in your bed after I've had a nightmare." A smile was evident in Link's voice. "I've never had a big brother before."

Linebeck blinked.

What the hell is that supposed to mean?

He frowned to himself, still remaining quiet. Link continued the conversation. "Did you really not understand my reasons for wanting to stick around Tetra?"

"Yeah."

"Do you understand other peoples' feelings?"

"Not really."

"That's okay," Link whispered softly. "I guess they're hard to understand. I hope you can at least understand a little bit, eventually. That means I can help you, kinda like how you help me."

"Okay."

"Hey, Linebeck?"

"What?"

"Is it okay if I think of you as my friend?"

The general concept of friendship was something Linebeck had never understood, and he therefore rarely made any friends, and only had them while in his childhood. As he aged, he quickly discovered that his lower empathy made it difficult for him to get close to anyone, much less to care. He glanced back at Link's dark outline. He trusted this kid. He trusted him more than he'd trusted anyone in three years. He found it slightly easier to understand Link's feelings, as he did with anyone that he cared about, even if he refused to let himself realize it. But there were complications- Link reminded him far too much of people he'd lost, both in how he acted and how he looked- sometimes it hurt to hear about what he'd been through. Besides, Linebeck could barely remember how to treat a friend. There was no way to know if the kid would care to stick around.

Still, Linebeck could feel safe around him. For the time being, he supposed that putting an extra degree of trust in Link would be worth it. "...Sure, you can."

"Thanks," Link whispered. "I'll be your friend, then. I hope you can get some sleep."

"...Thanks. I hope you, uh, don't have another nightmare. And, um, I'm sorry about your petrified friend."

"Thanks," Link murmured. "I hope she'll be ok. Good night."

"...Y-yeah."

Link drifted off soon after- Linebeck heard his breathing slow and even out. Sure that the boy was out cold, he turned on his side and watched him, hoping that that would somehow help with his anxiety. He didn't want to move any closer to Link, but the boy's mere presence allowed him to relax much faster. The paranoia was still there, but Linebeck felt safer knowing that Link would be able to protect him. It was odd to put so much responsibility into a twelve-year-old, but Link had proven time and time again that he was more capable than most adults. Still, he had to do something to support the kid. He cared about him, just didn't know how to show it.

And, again, there were the similarities and parallels between the two of them.

Even if he didn't get any sleep, Linebeck would kill to at least doze off. He let his limbs go slack, and forcefully slowed his own breathing, silently counting.

Y'know, I heard that slowly counting in your mind helps you go to sleep.

Yes, really! You think I'd lie to you? What kinda big brother lies about something like this to his little brother? Especially you, as scaredy and anxious as you can be.

Come on, at least try it. It's better than letting your insomnia take over every night.

I know you sleep better when I'm there with you, but I won't be around forever.

This time, he didn't try and stifle the memories that surfaced. Linebeck drifted off, thinking of how Link had said that he'd never had a big brother before.

Why had he said that?

Linebeck knew what it was like to have an older brother, but Link didn't, right? What had he been talking about? Was he missing some extra detail? Was he missing something obvious, as usual? Was it yet another misunderstanding?

Those questions remained unanswered while Linebeck fell asleep.


It was late afternoon when Linebeck next woke. He sat up, lethargic and thirsty, and it took him a few moments to see that there was something on his bedside table. Link had clearly already gotten up, since Linebeck was alone in his room. He rubbed at his eyes and pushed his hair out of his face and behind his shoulders. A glass of water and a small note had been left on his bedside table.

Linebeck grabbed the water and gulped it down, glad that Link had the sense to fill it with water from their freshwater storage. He coughed and almost dropped the glass as he put it back. The note had a small message written in even smaller handwriting, but the writing was neat.

you were still asleep when i woke up so i didnt wake you. Neri told me that you might be thirsty when you wake up so i got you some water. Ciela might be mad if you sleep too late though. i wont be mad since you always look tired. Leaf said that he hopes you dont have any nightmares. -Link

Linebeck re-read the note while rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, making a mental note to try and teach Link how to use proper grammar. He set the note back down and shoved off his bed, hastily redressing himself. It was already late in the day, so if they were going to get anywhere, he needed to get to work soon.

He practically stumbled out of his room; his mind was still fuzzy from sleep. Linebeck yawned, almost not noticing Link and the spirits. He walked right past them, dragging his feet.

Link hopped out of his chair and tugged on Linebeck's coat. He grinned as the captain peered blearily down at him. "You got some sleep!"

"...Yeah. Thanks for the water. Sorry I slept in so long. We need to get moving." Linebeck pried Link's hand off his coat and walked up the stairs. It didn't take him long to get the ship's engine running, and Link was already seated in front of his petrified friend.

Linebeck tugged on a few levers, and the ship was moving. He glanced down at Link. The kid still hadn't gotten used to the sudden start of the ship's movement and had to keep himself from falling over. Linebeck smiled to himself, then wiped the expression from his face when Link looked at him. With a huff, Linebeck crossed his arms on the steering wheel and placed his chin on his arms. With a finger, he felt the back of the wheel and found the dried paint. He started scratching at it again, marginally less irritated by the sight of the boy in front of his statue friend.

Linebeck really needed to express his gratitude for Link's help and protection at some point.

Maybe he could write a letter or something.