Slateri held up a finger, while leaning against their knees with their other hand, working to catch their breath. Link crossed his arms and waited, while his eyes searched Slateri's person. Oh, there was a promising messenger bag. His posture became less hostile as his hopes got up, and he glanced at Sidon to see similar expression dawn on his handsome face.
After a moment or two, Slateri was finally able to speak again.
"I'm so sorry, Your Highness and Link", they said, and Link saw the look of fond exasperation on Sidon's face; he had tried and failed to get Slateri to drop the honorifics and just call him by his name before they left. "I forgot to give you something important, and I went after you as soon as I realized it."
Link nodded impatiently, and only Sidon's look his way stopped him from thrusting his hand out in a wordless demand. The poor prince was teaming up with Zelda (or maybe they were doing it independently of one another, he didn't know) in trying to teach him some manners, but he was rather resistant to their attempts. It wasn't his fault that manners were one of the things he lost with his memories, and being practically mute made it easier to just demand things with gestures rather than try to be silently polite about it with someone who didn't understand the language. But he was slowly getting better, at least when they were watching.
Slateri reached into the bag, and pulled out two of those weird moving nuts Link had seen and dismissed yesterday. Damn it, he had seen them and not asked. He was so used to weird things happening around him that he no longer bothered to question them, and now it had bitten him in the ass.
"These are Jabber Nuts, and they will enable you to understand and speak Minish", Slateri said, and held them out. Link snatched his up before Sidon could remind him of manners. "Or well, in Link's case just understand, I suppose."
Link didn't bother correcting Slateri about their assumption of total muteness on his part. It tended to just confuse things, and it was fun to watch others' reactions when one day he was suddenly able to talk to them. Sidon's face had been priceless.
Speaking of Sidon, he thankfully kept quiet as well. Link was pretty sure Sidon thought his ability to talk was a secret, and hadn't told anyone about it. It was damn cute, so Link wasn't about to correct him anytime soon.
Link pointed at his Jabber Nut, and then at his mouth questioningly. Slateri chuckled and nodded.
"Yes, you eat it and it'll work in a few minutes", they said, and Link promptly shoved the nut into his mouth, gave it a few chews, and swallowed. It tasted… well, nutty. Slightly spicy?
Everyone was quiet for a while, then Slateri asked, "Is it working?"
Link rolled his eyes. Maybe actually testing it would be more effective a way to find out, yeah?
"Assuming you asked that in Minish just now, then yes", Sidon answered.
Wait... Oooh. Right, yes, that made sense. Smart. Link nodded too, when eyes landed on him questioningly.
Officeri clapped their hands together with a wide smile. "Most excellent! This will make everything much simpler for everyone. I'm glad I could be of help for you in the previous awkward situation, and that it was so neatly resolved. Now, I must thank Messengeri for-"
Officeri looked around, while Slateri looked mildly confused. Link was thrown by Officeri's sudden perfect way of speaking after the halted Hylian from before. Magically understanding another language was weird…
"Um, Slateri? Where is Messengeri?" Officeri asked, looking like they dreaded the answer.
"Am I supposed to have met her, sir?" Slateri asked, and Link could see where this was going. He bit his lip to keep from snickering, while Sidon coughed awkwardly and politely feigned interest in the buildings around them.
Officeri closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I see. This is going to be my next headache then, isn't it?"
He collected himself and gave Link and Sidon a slightly pinched smile. "Prince Sidon, Link. It was a pleasure to meet you and to act as your guide, but it seems that I'm needed elsewhere. Have a wonderful stay, and come see me if you need anything. Slateri, come with me."
"Bye! Hopefully we'll see again!" Slateri said and waved, while being almost dragged off by Officeri.
"Thank you both for your help, farewell!" Sidon said with an enthusiastic wave. Link waved as well, silently wishing Slateri luck with the trouble they seemed to be in, deserved or not.
For a moment, the two of them silently adjusted to their new situation. Then Sidon turned to him.
"Stable, right?"
Link grinned and nodded.
ooooo
As Officeri was obviously busy, they opted to ask Scavenri for directions to the stable, which he was happy to provide. While the trip to the stable was long, it was still a popular visiting spot so the Minish had a well-worn underground path to it that they could use. He warned them, though, that the stable itself was dangerous to navigate in, so they should to stick to the walls and the ceiling beams with the other Minish; the big people couldn't see them and might unknowingly step on them. Nobody survived being stepped on.
With that in mind, Link and Sidon departed the town and entered the underground path. They climbed down one of the ladders marked with an arrow down, and came to the mouth of the tunnel proper.
"Wow, would you look at this!" Sidon said in awe as they stepped in.
The path had been carved deep into the earth and was fortified with thick wooden beams and ceiling. There were deep gutters on both sides of the tunnel, probably to safely guide the rainwater that inevitably got in. Glowing lanterns were hung up on the ceiling to bring light; as Link peered closer into one, he saw Electric Chuchu jelly inside. There were also a few Minish walking towards them, presumably headed to the Stable Town; they were all carrying heavy looking bags with them, probably souvenirs.
"Imagine if we had a tunnel like this between Zora's Domain and Kakariko Village", Sidon mused, looking fascinated. "Nobody would have to cross the dangerous mountains or do a lengthy trip around them. It would be very convenient. The Minish are ingenious!"
Link smiled. 'They have to be if they want to survive. At least we "big people" don't have to worry about being stepped on by anything but Hinoxes and Taluses, and they are rare enough.'
"Ah, true. Still, it's an idea worth considering", Sidon said, studying the beams. "Perhaps we could enlist the Gorons to help with the digging…"
Link chuckled quietly and started walking leisurely ahead without Sidon. It took a couple of minutes for the Zora to even notice he was gone, but Sidon caught up soon enough. It's not like they could lose one another in a straight tunnel.
As they walked ahead they saw more and more Minish headed to the other direction and giving them curious glances. Or giving Sidon curious glances anyway, Link blended in well enough with his short stature and the new Minish clothes. Sidon, being tall and red and distinctly fishy looking, would never blend in. That, and he also waved cheerfully at anyone who looked at him long enough. Link hid a smile.
After roughly half an hour of walking they arrived to a chamber-like section that had tables, chairs, and barrels of water in it. There were a lot of Minish resting their feet and seizing their chance to put their luggage down for a moment.
"I would guess that this is the halfway mark", Sidon said with a wide smile, and made his way to one of the water barrels. There were ladles and cups nearby, so it was clearly meant for common use. Sidon took a long drink, and then poured a couple of cups over himself to moisten up. Link took a drink as well, while trying to keep from laughing at the scandalized looks from the nearby Minish; they had clearly never seen a Zora before and couldn't even begin to understand the strange ritual of drenching oneself on purpose. It was necessary for Sidon, though, as the tunnel was a little warmer than what was comfortable and had gotten worse the deeper they went. He hadn't gotten around to soaking in the Stable Town, either. With any luck, it would get cooler again from this point on.
"Umm, excuse me?" one particularly small Minish said, looking at Sidon hesitantly. Link would estimate them to be a young adult at best, but probably no longer a child, as they hadn't seen any in the tunnel so far. The trip was probably too long. "Why are you washing up here of all places?"
Sidon gave them a delighted smile, and turned fully towards them.
"Is that what it looks like to you?" he asked, and crouched to be more on their level. The Minish took half a step back, but looked more curious than anything else. "I'm actually just moistening my skin. I'm a Zora, which is an aquatic race, so staying on land and especially in hot places isn't exactly ideal, and as such I need to soak every now and then. Just pouring on some water works in a pinch."
The Minish looked awed and nodded. They were working hard on looking Sidon in the eyes, but their own eyes seemed to constantly be drawn to his tail instead. Sidon's smile widened as he noticed this, and he turned his head a bit to showcase the tail properly. The Minish's eyes widened, and then they actually squeaked when Sidon wagged the tail.
"Willyoudateme?" they asked, then clapped their hands over their mouth in shock and blushed scarlet. While Link felt the jealous urge to go and yank Sidon away from the infatuated Minish, he also completely understood and sympathized with them; only his inability to talk with strangers had stopped him from blurting something similar out when he first saw Sidon. Not that the sentiment had gone away at any point, but it was easier to control after he had gotten used to it.
Sidon blinked in confusion, then chuckled in delight. "Oh, I'm truly flattered, thank you. But I must decline. Not that you aren't a very pretty lady, but I'm afraid keeping in touch would prove to be too difficult."
...Wait, Sidon could tell this Minish was a woman? How was he able to tell, and why hadn't he mentioned this ability before? He probably knew Slateri's gender too.
"Oh…", she said, and looked disappointed. "That's too bad. If you change your mind, I live in Stable Town and my name is Wreatheri. I work at the flower decor shop. Drop by."
"Maybe I will, but no promises", Sidon said, and waved bye to Wreatheri as she skittered back to her… friends? Parents? Link wasn't able to tell their ages well enough to guess.
"She was adorable", Sidon said, and Link shrugged noncommittally.
'Muzu will have a heart attack if you marry a Minish.'
Sidon laughed out loud, and clapped Link's shoulder.
"You're quite right. Tempting as that would be, I think I should at least stick to fellow big people", he said, and gave Link's shoulder another pat.
Link tried not to attach any… unreasonably hopeful meaning into those words. Ever since he learned of Mipha's feelings for him, he had given up on any thoughts of pursuing Sidon, her little brother, unless Sidon himself decided to take the initiative. He didn't think that very likely, and was mostly fine with it, but sometimes he could have sworn there was a double meaning behind the things Sidon said or did. Like now.
Sidon broke the moment by stretching, and looking into the direction they should take.
"It seems we ought to stop dawdling if we want to even reach the stable before nightfall. Shall we?"
Link nodded, and they continued their journey.