Link woke up later than usual. It had a lot to do with the fact that he had spent a long time last night making out and cuddling with Sidon. Ten out of ten, he would do it again as soon as he had the opportunity; maybe even sooner.

"Good morning, my coral reef", Sidon said, and nuzzled the top of Link's head.

Okay, as lovely as the general situation was, apparently they needed to talk.

"Morning. No pet names", Link answered, and hoisted himself up to his elbows to look at Sidon. Sidon's brilliant smile dimmed the moment Link's message reached its intended destination.

"What? Why?"

"I don't like them."

Sidon looked crestfallen, and Link felt instantly guilty. Was it that important to Sidon? Ugh… All right. Maybe he could compromise. A little.

"Okay. Fine. You get one pet name and then you stick to it. I have the right to veto it", he said, and Sidon's smile was instantly back.

"Splendid! How about… my jewel?"

"No. No gemstones. Or flowers."

"I see. Little trout?"

"No little anything."

"Oh, I'm sorry. My hero?"

Link shuddered. "Absolutely not."

"I take it 'my knight' is also out, then. My warrior?"

"...Maybe."

"Oh, progress! Hmm… How about… my mighty Lynel slayer?

Link snorted. "I approve in theory, but it's a bit of a mouthful."

Sidon chuckled. "Perhaps you're right. Honey candy?"

"Maybe."

"That's two maybes already! ...Wildberry?"

Something about the 'wild' really resonated with him. He nodded decisively. Sidon beamed.

"Wildberry it is! It's a lovely pet name, too. I'll be happy to call you that", Sidon gushed, and then hugged Link a little too tightly in his enthusiasm.

Link could get used to this. And if Zelda laughed at his pet name, he would stop vocalizing to her until she was adequately sorry.

ooooo

Eventually the two of them packed up, ate a hearty brunch, and left the inn. They stopped by the food shop and bought as many frog legs and as much frogspawn as was reasonable, and got a green kinstone as a part of the deal. Sidon was excited to have a new one, since he had already merged his first one.

He was considerably less excited about their trip back to the cramped tunnel. They went through that part as quickly as they could to spare Sidon the back pain; it was easy now that they knew the route.

Once they were on the ground level once more, they saw they had been wise to stay in the city for the night: the hill the city was on was practically surrounded by water. It had clearly been raining the whole night, if not the whole day, and as such it would have been impossible to travel. Today, though, the sky was clear.

They should be able to reach the capital well within the day, too.

With much cheer and holding hands – which was half weird and half absolutely natural – they continued their journey.

ooooo

The way to the city was rather uneventful. They walked a well-worn path, swam over a few puddles – much to Sidon's delight – and stopped by a crowded camp for a meal. Said camp was hidden in a large flower patch, and was both a resting spot for travelers and a popular camping spot for the people who lived in the capital. Apparently there was a regularly scheduled mouse cart that took people to the camp and back at certain times to halve the otherwise four-hour trip, and to make crossing the big people road safer. Luck was not on their side, however, as the cart back had left a little before they arrived, so the next one was hours away and not worth waiting for. They might be able to catch the other one that went towards the Lost Woods once they reached the city, though. It was an exciting prospect.

They walked the Minish path on this side of the road and then cautiously started crossing the big people road. They had been told that it could be crossed at any time here, as big people were rare this far into the woods. They were a bit – a lot in Link's case – anxious about it, but unwilling to wait until the nightfall when they had been told it was unnecessary.

As they were nearing the city, they actually saw the mouse cart heading back to the camp. It looked more or less the same as the big people carts that were used to transport people, except there were two mice pulling it instead of horses. A Minish wearing an official looking uniform was steering it, and Link saw him do the same hand gesture Hiveri had used to communicate with his bees when the mice became restless as they were passing him and Sidon. So this person was a mage with an aptitude to mice, he figured. Neat.

It was shortly after that encounter that they were finally on the other side, and soon after that they saw the capital city ahead of them. It consisted of two parts: the inner, old city was nestled between huge rocks and partially canopied by big leaves, and the new, outer city flourished on the outside of the rocks underneath more of the same big leaves. Of course they couldn't see the inner city from their vantage point, but the outer city alone was huge. They picked up their pace eagerly.

There was an actual paved road leading to the city, with a few lantern posts lighting the way for anyone traveling after the sunset. It was downright luxurious. It got even more so once they reached the city itself: there were paved roads leading to every house and every recreational area, lanterns everywhere, decorative floral arrangements hanging from said lanterns, and most of the houses looked sturdier than the majority of the big people houses Link had seen on his travels. Some of the roads had decorative tiles every now and then. Link assumed they were made in the previous city; at least the floral patterns looked very familiar.

The local Minish surrounded them instantly.

"Are you the big people everyone talks about?"

"They say you're half-fish!"

"Wanna try merging kinstones?"

"Is it true you can summon the rain?"

"You're shorter than I thought!"

"Want to go out with me?"

"I can show you the city!"

"Can I-"

"Enough, please!" Sidon said with all his princely authority, just as Link was starting to get overwhelmed and was itching to go for his sword to resolve the situation in the quickest possible manner. Needless to say, Link forgot about the sword in favour of ogling his absurdly attractive, assertive boyfriend. Sweet Hylia.

The Minish quieted down in shock and awe. Possibly out of politeness, too.

"We're here as visitors only, and will not be granting anyone anything or answer any unsolicited questions", Sidon said, and the way he said it sounded rehearsed; he probably used the phrase a lot during whatever royal visits he did within the Domain. Link idly wondered if the "we" referred to the two of them, or if it was the royal we. Not that it really mattered. "If you could kindly show us the way to your leader, we would appreciate it."

Did Link already mention how attractive Sidon was when he took charge? Because he was damn attractive when he took charge.

The Minish looked at each other, then one stepped forward and pointed a finger towards a gap between the rocks. "Gentari's office is in the old city, in the city hall. You'll know it when you see it, or you can ask someone over there for more directions."

Sidon smiled widely, and a couple of Minish took a shocked step back. "Thank you very much."

The two of them walked past the Minish, and as soon as they were out of sight Link patted Sidon's arm.

'Lean down here', he signed, and then gave Sidon a big kiss, even daring to linger for a moment. It was the best thing ever to be able to simply do that now, and he hoped it'd never lose its thrill. He smiled widely. 'Being in command suits you.'

Sidon beamed, even if he also rubbed the back of his neck bashfully. "Thank you, Wildberry."

Link blushed a little, and chuckled. He was so in love with this man that it was absolutely ridiculous.

ooooo

The old city was magnificent from the very start. The rock gateway they used – there were supposedly more on the other sides – had huge full body reliefs of some impressive looking Minish on both sides. On the right was an elderly Minish with a floor-length beard and hair, full robes, and a staff with a bird's head on top. His stance spoke of power, wisdom and dignity. On the left was a younger, somehow slightly Hylian looking Minish wearing regular Hylian-style clothing, a cape, and a hat with a gem on it. Link assumed that one to be male, too, because their Hylian-like looks instinctively gave him that impression. Anyway, his stance radiated power, confidence and fearlessness.

"I wonder who they are", Sidon said with awe, craning his neck with Link to gaze at the amazing statues. Upon further inspection the reliefs looked downright ancient, just really well taken care of. Maybe they were deities? Or the people who founded this city?

'We can ask this Gentari person', Link signed, and Sidon agreed. With some reluctance they moved on. There was more to see and people to talk to, after all.

The inner city was partially carved into the surrounding rocks, with some regular buildings in the free space between the rocks. The regular buildings were more or less the same as the ones outside, so Link focused on the rocks. There were doors and windows and even balconies jutting out of the stone everywhere he looked, indicating that the rocks were hosting countless houses and possibly even shops within. He couldn't tell if just the outer layer was used or if the rocks were entirely hollowed out for the use of the Minish. The thought of the latter was mind-boggling and made his respect for the Minish rise considerably; he had thought only Gorons were stubborn enough to do that.

A hollowed out rock sounded a little dangerous, though. What if a big person sat on it? Especially someone heavy, like a Goron? Wouldn't it just... break, and crush everyone inside?

He thought about his travels within the forest as a big person but could only hazily recall seeing this particular rock before. It had felt… wholly boring and unremarkable to him, and he had passed right by it without even considering climbing on it to scout his surroundings like usual. Huh. ...Right, hadn't Slateri or someone mentioned that the Minish magically repelled big people when they convened? That would be it. He wondered if he could pay closer attention to it now that he knew, as a big person. Although it would probably scare the Minish if he were to walk too close and even more so if he looked at them directly. But he was so curious! So, to be responsible or to satisfy his curiosity? ...That was a dilemma for when it was actually relevant, though.

In the inner city all of the pavement consisted of tiles that were carved, painted, or both, and there were lamp posts everywhere. There were even more floral decorations here than there had been outside, possibly as a compensation for the lack of live greenery. Also, there were so many Minish buzzing about that Link held onto Sidon's hand tightly just to avoid getting separated in the crowd. Scouting for shops or the city hall was impossible for him in this crowd, so he hoped the much taller Zora had better luck.

"Oh, that must be it!" Sidon said enthusiastically, right on cue. He pulled Link forward, and soon enough they were in front of a building that seemed more like a set than an actual building. It was wooden and impressive and official looking, but so flat against the rock that the actual insides just had to be carved into the rock or the Minish working there had to be the skinniest people in existence.

Well, this was certainly a good way to get acquainted with this city's architecture.

They looked at each other, and let themselves in, bursting with curiosity and hoping to find a good few answers here.