Chapter 5 - Early bird
Samus balled her fists, pressing them against her cheeks in some form of mild frustration relief. Elbows rested on the ship's dashboard, the blonde let off a barely audible sigh of defeat and slid down; head resting in her now collapsed and folded arms. She pressed her face into the fabric of the zero suit and closed her eyes tightly shut; as if hiding her face would block out the thoughts trying to get into the back of her mind.
"This is a fucking terrible idea." She muttered bitterly, raising her head again to look out the front wind shield. The half empty ship parking lot of the mansion seemed unfamiliar compared to the vast expanse of nothingness that usually stared back at her with the same emptiness within the huntress, and Samus couldn't help but give off a small and involuntary whimper. Who was going to get hurt worse out of the two of them?
She shook her head, teeth grit defiantly. Emotion was weakness, and weakness wasn't an option. She made the foolish mistake of opening up the window of opportunity and this was how the universe repaid her. Nonsense, she thought, and decided that it was something she ought to never do again – but for now she had a promise to keep.
Zelda was... odd. Not the bad kind; not the sort of odd where you avert your eyes and steer to the other side of the street; but more... deeply stirring. She's ruptured something in Samus' gut and caught her off guard, and the blonde caught herself staring absentmindedly at the dashboard recalling the hopeful gleam in Hylian eyes as she'd pulled off the helmet. Maybe she'd get to see that look again if she were to...
"God, what the fuck am I thinking?! Why would I take off my helmet to see some girl smile?" She growled, smacking her now balled fist onto the dashboard and successfully scattering documents everywhere.
Then again, she had been in space for so long that maybe a little self indulgence wouldn't be so bad...
"Ugh, fuck, there I go again!" Fingers buried themselves between blonde strands, tugging with aggravation. With a guttural, heavy sigh she rose to her feet, reaching for her helmet. She hesitated, squinting her eyes as an alien heat rose to her cheeks and ran tentative fingertips over the visor as a tight knot jerked her chest. She wasn't sure what she'd agreed to, and a challenge was something that Samus Aran did not turn down, but cerulean eyes had the guts to try and tame the beast... and the beast feared that she may be treading on thin ice by letting her.
"Well, I can't keep her waiting forever."
It was 5am when Zelda was pulled from her drowsy world of clouds and fantasy, but as she winced and adjusted to the light she found that it wasn't her usual 7am alarm that had woken her.
Samus sat slouched over the side of her own bed at the far side of the room, rucksack in hand and helmet on lap.
Zelda sat up abruptly and rubbed her eyes; already in disbelief. She had gone to bed alone – Samus had once again refused to show her face ever since she had left the gym the day before – but here she was sat expectantly before her.
"Rise and shine." Her voice was impassive, but azure eyes gleamed with daring intent. Zelda shivered.
"What time is it?" She asked, voice still strained with the sleep and leftover dreams that she hadn't quite scraped from her half-awake brain.
"5am." Samus said, rising to her feet and arching backwards like a makeshift cat to crack her back. Zelda winced at the sound, but soon found herself doing the same.
"Goddesses, 5am? Why so early?" She said sleepily, thoughts wading through questions and doubt as she swung her legs over the side of the bed and wobbled to her feet – though her bones may as well have been made of jelly.
"Yes, 5am. Nobody is awake at this time." Impassive once more, but confirmation at least. Samus subconsciously offered her hand out to Zelda for balance, but as the princess looked up at her with wide-eyed surprise the huntress stared back with an even greater look of shocked confusion at her own actions.
A smile graced Zelda's lips, and her eyes blossomed into life with such radiance and warmth that it were as though the sun itself had nestled itself into them. Samus felt the breath knock from her lungs.
"I suppose I cannot argue with that." She chirped, squeezing Samus' hand as she steadied herself. It was metal, a brisk cold that she hadn't expected would help wake her up as much, but she dearly hoped that someday Samus would squeeze back.
Samus, meanwhile, was busy praising the curtains for keeping the room dim enough to hide the increasingly common heat that she had come to accept was definitely reddening her cheeks.
"Are we going to get breakfast?" Zelda asked, already busying herself with her hair brush. It was only now that Samus' eyes had adjusted, and this messy pyjama look was definitely a good one.
"Uh. You can, I'm not." Samus said uneasily, and although she could not see Zelda's face as she entered the bathroom, the silence told her it was a frown. They had been over this once before, and she knew how Zelda felt about it.
Zelda took a surprisingly short amount of time to get herself ready, and Samus was a little taken aback when Zelda went as far to take her by the hand to pull her out into the hall. Perhaps helping her up would ironically be her own downfall; especially when the princess did not let go once they began walking. She stopped abruptly, and Zelda was forced to a halt.
Samus growled, as though laying a single finger on her was a crime punishable by death; something that Zelda wouldn't have doubted 3 days ago, but now had her suspicions. She released Samus' hand slowly, never breaking eye contact, and saw Samus falter very slightly. Checkmate.
Samus grit her teeth, suppressing a curse. Zelda was testing her limits, and Samus didn't like that. She did not like it one bit, but there was such an air about this woman that she couldn't bring herself to not like Zelda.
"Don't get cuddly with me. We're getting breakfast." She warned, quickly cutting off her own train of thought, and although she didn't show it Zelda was partially surprised with the bluntness.
"Oh, so I should buy you dinner first and then get cuddly with you?" She retorted quicker than Samus had prepared for, and when met with quite the opposite of the fear she was aiming to strike, Samus was taken aback.
"Enough, Zelda." Samus' eyes were ahead of her now, and although to Zelda it seemed like a warning it was in matter of fact because Samus did not dare provoke any further flustering. If it weren't for the dread in her gut, the blonde's cheeks would surely be burning.
Samus remained silent for the rest of their trip; not out of resentment, but purely because Zelda's humming was too pure to interrupt. They were exotic songs she could only assume to be Hylian, however seeing as Samus wasn't exactly one to keep up with the charts she had no way of telling. It was elegant; each note flowed flawlessly and Zelda's voice was one that in the huntress' mind could be compared to no other she'd heard before. Granted, she was constantly surrounded by shrieking space aliens, but the sentiment was there sure enough.
There were a lot of things Samus didn't dislike about Zelda, now she had time to think about it.
She most certainly did not dislike the way she smiled, that much she knew. She appreciated the way that her eyes truly were a window to the soul, too. She liked that the questions Zelda asked were not down her throat, much like they were with 'fans' and other fighters.
Samus, why don't you take your suit off?
Samus, why are you so mean?
Samus, why don't you ever talk?
Samus this, Samus that, and to be brutally honest she was absolutely sick of it.
But Zelda hadn't been like that. Zelda spoke to her as though they had known each other for years, and although it tipped her mind upside down, it was refreshing to not have caution weighing on her mind. Even now, Zelda had taken her answer and decided to hum instead of carrying on after she had asked her to stop. Samus was no control freak, but she was grateful deep down even if she didn't show it that Zelda had respected those boundaries.
Zelda cast a glance up at Samus, and smiled. At last, a chance to take in the details of such an elusive woman! She had done so fairly frequently and been met with an impassive, somewhat uneasy stare each time as Samus remained unresponsive – but as time passed by Zelda very quickly noticed that Samus was lost in thought, and when their eyes met she saw a distinct glimmer through the dull sadness that pooled in those azure orbs. Her pupils, which Zelda was now realising to be distinctly cat-like, had dilated significantly since they had entered the hallway.
The lights in the hallway weren't blinding, but they were on – which meant only one thing.
'She must be seeing something she likes.' Zelda thought to herself, feeling that all too familiar heat rise to her cheeks at the idea that it could possibly be her. Unfortunately she had little time to dwell on it before the doors to the food court swung open; empty just as planned.
"Samus? We're here!" She said with a sheepish smile, watching as the huntress snapped out of her trance.
Samus' gut dropped. How long had she been thinking like that?!
"Oh. Uh, right. Sorry, was just thinking." She muttered, hoping that it would be enough to satisfy Zelda's curiosity – but of course, it was to no avail.
"Might if I pry further?" She chirped, distracting herself with Hyrule's designated table. In fact, Samus noticed, she ate only from that table; a smart move, and one she would follow herself if she were from a designated galaxy. She also noticed Zelda's royal upbringing showed very clearly even though the smallest of tasks, such as how she buttered what appeared to be fine cuisine right to the edges and not a single inch over, or the way she poised her wrist when picking up a mug.
"Well, I take the duck hunt dogs out each morning, so... I figured you might want to come along. Nature and all." She murmured, taking the initiative to distract herself this time. Working the coffee machine with one metal hand was a little challenging, and she quickly realised that she would have to take off the suit in order to multitask. Zelda heard the rattles and hisses behind her back, and her grip tightened. With a deep breath she steadied herself, trying her best to maintain no change of expression when she turned to see Samus in her zero suit once more; a sight she would never grow sick of.
She was also increasingly fascinated in Samus' pupils. What on Earth had made them that way? She drew in closer, the comfortable silence between them broken only by the clack of her heels against the wooden floorboards.
"That sounds like a wonderful idea. I shall try not to keep you waiting." A warm smile lit up her face, and Samus sighed inaudibly. She was really starting to enjoy causing that smile.
She was also realise later in the day that Zelda sitting next to her instead of opposite her was something she would grow to enjoy very much.
Zelda, meanwhile, was lost in her thoughts. Samus had considered her interests so that she could enjoy spending time with her, and that in itself was more than enough proof that she was willing to make an effort; not to mention the passing glances and faltering impassive stares were quickly starting to hint at something a little more than 'putting up with her'.
Zelda ate in silence, but it was comfortable as she had expected, and Samus was always happy to oblige. As she glanced up at Samus, the blonde closed her eyes in what was perhaps the first somewhat blissful expression she had ever seen. Coffee mug in hand, she ran her free fingertips through her hair, and Zelda found herself absent-mindedly twirling a few strands of her own hair between her fingers.
Minutes passed idly by and Zelda ate as quickly as she could, and although Samus did notice the speed she was more impressed that not a single crumb fell anywhere but back onto the plate. She wasn't a messy eater herself, but even she got crumbs on her lap from time to time.
"Alright, ready when you are." Zelda licked her lips before turning to face the bounty hunter again, but found that Samus' gaze was already on her. There was something about having Samus' attention that made her feel very important, special in fact, and it warmed her heart knowing that Samus truly was trying. The big bad bounty hunter was trying to make things enjoyable for her.
But she wanted raw Samus. She wanted Samus in her purest, unguarded form no matter how deadly it may be, and she was going to earn her way to it no matter how many phoney walls Samus put up.
"So, duck hunt dogs?" She asked as Samus lead her out the fire exit and was met with a chilled punch of early morning air. She shivered, stopping only long enough to stretch out before rejoining Samus who was steadying herself in front of a large, metal lever by the side of a hatch on the side of the building.
Zelda blinked, squinted her eyes and tilted her head to the side as she came up alongside the huntress.
"I have never been out here. What is the lever for?"
It was fleeting, so very fleeting, but Samus smirked.
It was smug, undoubtedly smug, but azure eyes gleamed with mischief as her lips quirked up and she looked over at Zelda with nothing but playful intent.
"Think fast, sweetheart."
Samus threw back her weight and pulled the lever; the hatch flew open and 8 large, slobbering and particularly enthusiastic dogs spilled out into the open – and Zelda was right in the middle of their path.
A cloud of fur and thunder of paws overwhelmed her, and when she finally opened her eyes to steady the spinning of her head Zelda found herself lay flat on her back in the grass.
Samus stood over her, eyes creased with amusement and what was perhaps the most beautiful smile she had ever seen graced across her lips and arm outstretched to offer a hand.
"Need a hand, your majesty?"
Zelda melted.
In that moment, she realised that she was falling head over heels in love with Samus Aran.