[A/N:] I added more Anthony (and I will continue to do so in the future), because I actually adore the idea of Anthony. Not that he was necessary in Other M in any way… but the idea of him is adorable. Fight me on that one :-P
Anthony quickly caught up with her, his concerned face promptly inducing an eye-roll from her. He crossed his arms as he walked beside her. "Samus! How're you doing? Is everything alright?" he asked, eyes roving over the cast on her shin and foot.
Samus just raised a hand, "Relax, Anthony. I'm fine. Just got this neat thing here and I can already feel it helping." Anthony just made a stern face at her, "Samus, you know this isn't funny. You're injured and making jokes about it isn't cool at all."
She gave in with a weary sigh, "You're right, sorry." She looked down at the cast, "Zelda said I'll be up and about in six weeks." Anthony didn't respond immediately, instead he just pulled up an eyebrow, "Zelda?"
Samus snapped up and motioned her hand in the air, "Yea, she's— she's Ms. Balder's TA. Zelda…" she waved at her leg, "…helped me with this." Anthony couldn't help but stifle a laugh, "Ooh, I see. So she put a cast on it, aye?"
Samus glared, "Very funny, Anthony." He nudged her in the shoulder, "Sorry, sorry! I got it!" He swiped a finger across his nose and simultaneously erased the grin on his face, "So what's gonna happen now?"
Samus shrugged, "I don't know. Ms. Balder went off to talk to the coach. I guess there's my next stop." Anthony eyed her cast warily, "Yes, if you manage to heave yourself up the stairs, that is." She gave him a light shove, "I'm not a cripple."
So, with a bit of adjusting, the two of them made it up the stairs and to the announcer's office. Heated voices reached their ears and they stood in front of the door uncertainly. In the end, Samus just knocked and peeked around the corner.
The coach of their famous football team, Mr. Lemming, stopped dead in his tracks from walking a line into the ground and turned to the quarterback. He motioned for Samus to come inside. She threw a quick look over to Anthony who nodded and turned to sit on the bench outside the office.
"Samus, we're just discussing the procedures. Letting you play today likely wasn't the best course of action." His eyes fell to her leg and he rubbed a hand over the back of his neck, "Cereza says you'll be out of commission for a while."
Ms. Balder — Cereza — pulled up an eyebrow and crossed her arms before her chest, "I would have never let you hit the field in the first place; not after a car crash, no matter how close a shave you had." She emphasized her words for maximum effect — resulting in Mr. Lemming actually looking ashamed of himself.
He squeezed her shoulder, "Sorry, Samus. I… was wrong about allowing you to play." Ms. Balder seemed pacified enough at his quiet admission. She pushed herself off the desk she was leaning against and walked up to Samus.
Her eyes were warm but stern, "Your well-being is much more important than the team's image as being invincible. Bart knows that." Mr. Lemming received a compassionate pat on the back from her. "That said, I'm ordering you to get some rest. No football for you until I deem you up for it. No other physical exertions unless they don't worsen the injury."
Samus nodded, not knowing what else to say. She had expected not to play any games — or, as Ms. Balder so unmistakenly said, participate in any sports — for a while. She resisted the urge to snort and thought back on the moment she so ungracefully fell into the grass, Guess my own pride got in the way once again.
"I talked to your coach about how we go about this," Ms. Balder continued, "We agreed that it'd be best if you had some assistance in the following days." Samus carefully schooled her expression at this, but the dark-haired nurse saw right through her.
"See it like a means to help you getting used to the situation. You'll have fun with it for a few weeks now, after all. And, you are the team's star player. I see it's in you and your coaches best interest to get you all fixed up as soon as possible." Ms. Balder sounded too cheerful for Samus liking, But I suspect it's just to make sure I'll be up and running again in six weeks.
Samus nodded, "You said assistance?" Mr. Lemming agreed, "Yes. Someone to help you out. It'll be temporary, only for the time being." Ms. Balder's eyes shone with an idea and she suddenly snapped her fingers, "How about Zelda?"
Zelda…?
Samus' thoughts returned to the coy brunette she'd just met barely twenty minutes ago. While she contemplated, Ms. Balder seemed charmed with the idea, "She knows how to take care of any problems you might find yourself dealing with and she's a nice girl. I'm sure you'll be getting along well, I already saw it."
Samus didn't quite know what to make of the nurse's insistence in this, but her comment on already having seen how well they got along — Does she think we're friends? — managed to placate her reluctance.
Enough, in fact, to convince Samus of at least trying. So she nodded and Ms. Balder smiled broadly, "Great! Now, I'll talk to Zelda about it, she'll be happy to help out." Mr. Lemming nodded fervently, "Sounds like a plan to me."
"I only ask of you, Samus, to do what she says when she deems it necessary to tell you what to do," Ms. Balder further instructed and Samus understood the motherly expression on her face as simply wanting to help her get better and not wanting to make her heel to every one of Zelda's commands.
Guess following those instructions will be something I'd have to bear, considering this is a condition of me getting her help in the first place, she mused.
She left the office and started walking back to the stairs. Anthony stood up from where he was sat and joined her, looking at her with an inquiring gaze.
Samus heaved a sigh, "They benched me. I get an "assistant," as Ms. Balder called it, for the next few days." Anthony's eyes widened and he promptly barked a hearty laugh, "What, so you're getting a babysitter now?" She glared at him, but Anthony seemed resistant to it.
"Geez, that sucks balls. But hey, can't do much about it, right? It's not like we didn't expect as much." He tried to sound reasonable, Samus knew that, and back in the hospital they did talk about what this would mean for the nigh future and their football team.
She looked at him, an almost painful twinkle in her eye, "Yea. The coach seemed beat. But, it's not the end of the world. And, regarding my babysitter…" Samus gave a weary sigh, "At least it'll be Zelda. Could be worse, I guess."
Anthony hummed thoughtfully, scratching his chin, "Zelda… I wonder…" Samus stared at him, "What?" He just chuckled and rubbed his hands together, "Gotta get some research in." With that, he skipped past her and left with a grand wave, "I'll catch ya later, invalid!"
What's up with him though…? Samus' thoughts droned through her head as she watched him depart.
Zelda exhaled shakily, her nervousness finally subsiding, and she occupied herself with sorting some unpacked utensils into the correct drawers. She was still in the nurse's office. Her thoughts flitted around the conversation she had had with Samus.
She bit her lip, Wow. And here I thought I would never get noticed by anyone else but Link and Peach. And Impa I guess, but she's so secluded she probably doesn't count. Zelda suppressed a squeal at her own silliness.
Well, I did come here to make myself useful… entirely aware of the fact that I could encounter Samus. She felt herself blushing and shook her head because she was alone and therefore it was stupid. Maybe Peach was right, maybe she just needed to be a bit braver and a bit less anti-social.
"Unless you want to end up like Impa here," she'd said on that particular lazy afternoon by Lake Maridia. Impa had just growled at her, like a feral cat or something, and the two had started fussing and teasing each other. Zelda's lips curled into a smile, "What a fond memory…"
Zelda stowed away a packet of bandages when her phone started violently ringing in her pocket. She nearly dropped the damn thing on the counter before checking her WhatsApp messenger. Peach had just sent her about three billion messages, every single one asking for her whereabouts and each sounding more and more desperate.
The brunette felt a little guilty, remembering how she'd just left Peach on the field outside without so much as a word to where she was headed. She quickly typed a reply, hoping to ease her friend's worries.
"relax, i'm fine. i'm at ms. balder's office." Peach promptly stopped her mental breakdown, "god, im so glad youre ok. i thought you got lost in that crowd full of burly guys and skimpy chicks." Zelda couldn't help but laugh at that message. Peach was usually dead-serious about cheerleading and football, but sometimes she found herself being able to make fun of it.
"i'm sure you would have shouted something offensive to find me, had that been the case." It took only a few moments for the quirky blonde to answer, "zelda, youre spending way too much time on that website." Zelda pressed a hand to her mouth and broke out in wild laughter; she had actually discovered the phenomenon of "tumblr" due to Link.
"what are you doing there anyways? you said you were free today," Peach continued. Zelda had just placed her thumbs on the screen of her phone when she heard the door behind her open. She spun around and came face to face with Ms. Balder.
She was wearing a pleased expression and when she spotted Zelda still lingering around, her smile widened, "Zelda, great to catch you here." The brunette refrained from reminding her that she had been here for a while now.
Ms. Balder looked around the office and — upon finding that Zelda had already cleaned up the remaining utensils strewn about — patted her on the shoulder, "I talked to Mr. Lemming and we came to an agreement." Zelda looked at her curiously, Why would she tell me? Well, probably because she thinks she owes me for my help…
"We agreed that you'd help Samus out for a couple of days."
…or maybe she just wants to saddle me with some charity work. Zelda's brain had some difficulties absorbing the information. Ms. Balder looked at her, a requesting glint in her gray eyes, and she mistook Zelda's silence for declination, "It'll be just for a few days, Zelda. Nothing too excessive." She tilted her head, "And Samus would be glad to have you."
W-What? She actually said that…? her thoughts stuttered. Ms. Balder gave an encouraging smile, "I know this would be a great opportunity to get some real, independent work done. See it as a practical exercise. Falco would do it, but I figured Samus would feel more comfortable if she'd received the help from another girl instead. Also, you know I wouldn't ask you if I thought you weren't up for the task."
Zelda bit her lip; Ms. Balder was a pro at convincing people. Not that she would have declined anyways, she just needed a few breaths to come to terms with the idea that she, Zelda, would spend time with the school's most famous student, Samus Aran.
Before Ms. Balder could say anything else, Zelda nodded, effectively silencing her. "Alright then. Just… what exactly am I supposed to do?" The nurse shot her the biggest grin, squeezing her shoulder, "That's great, Zelda! Thank you so much! Well, for starters…"
She moved past her and then shoved a crutch into her hands, "…she needs to understand that this thing is necessary." She threw Zelda a knowing wink before she continued, "Samus is your patient now. As her personal TA, you help her with daily things; making sure she doesn't overdo what little training she can get in, checking her cast, handling an injury, and maybe assisting her with other small things."
Zelda nodded obediently, figuring that so far it didn't sound too bad. Ms. Balder explained further, a frown on her face, "I understand Samus is a person who hates being still. Mr. Lemming told me she is fiercely independent and tries to make things work by herself." She sighed, "I fear she might underestimate the situation and that can very quickly result in worse conditions."
She went on, "Mr. Lemming and I both are concerned. We want to keep a close eye on her recovery and we think having you with her will help her condition tremendously while we won't have to worry too much." Zelda blushed slightly at the indirect compliment and Ms. Balder smiled gladly at her, knowing full well the girl caught her meaning.
They settled the conversation with some minor important things and Ms. Balder winked and gave Zelda a key to "the sanctuary" aka the office. She gave her full access to everything within, in case Samus needed immediate help while she herself wasn't available.
Zelda felt flattered at the display of such trust and she closed her fingers around the keychain; not even Falco was allowed in here without supervision. The nurse idly chatted away after instructing her young padawan and then showed her out with a friendly thumbs up.
Zelda stood outside in the hallway, still a little dizzy from the sudden turn of events. Her phone buzzed once more in her pocket and she wrestled for a moment to get it out. It was from Peach, obviously, "zelda, u still there?"
The girl smiled, a rising anxiety fluttering in her stomach as she formulated her reply. She thought about how she wanted to break the news to her friend, but she eventually figured getting it straight out was better than beating around the brush.
"well. apparently i'm going to be samus' personal TA for the time being."
The reaction was — surprise, surprise — instantaneous, "pls tell me youre friggin joking! zelda what does that meeeaaan :O " Zelda chuckled and started walking towards the exit of the stadium, hands shaking a little, I guess that's a definite improvement from the "socially awkward" box people like to put me in.
She answered jokingly, "i knew joining the girl scouts was good for something," and put her phone away, ignoring all the ensuing fuss from Peach.
"Yo, Samus!" The blonde turned and spotted Anthony down the hallway, who was waving excitedly at her. He went over to her — saving her the struggle of making her way over to him, because crutch — and smiled widely, "You look hot."
She grunted, "Impa nearly hit me with the thing this morning. Said I'd better use it or she would break my other leg." Anthony laughed at that, having no problems imagining Impa doing exactly that. He pointed it out to her, earning himself a glare.
"Anyways, guess what! You know that Zelda girl? She's one of Peach's friends!" Samus frowned, "Really? I've never seen her at cheerleader practice though. She's just a TA as far as I know." Anthony nodded, "Yea, she is. Peach told me she's a bit shy and you know how our girls are." He smirked at her good-naturedly, "They really aren't exactly the shy type."
"No, not really," Samus rolled her eyes. She glanced at him, "Why are you telling me this?" The dark-skinned boy shrugged, "Thought you might want to talk to Peach about her. Y'know, get to know her a little."
Samus grimaced at his suggestion, "Why would I do that? I could just… ask her things." Anthony remained quiet for a while before bursting forward, "Okay, for real? I was just curious about this girl. Yesterday when you told me about her and the coach's plan? It was a no-brainer for you. And, seriously Samus, you're not really the type to warm up to people fast."
He raised his eyebrows, silently challenging her to deny his observation, but Samus only gave a sigh. She knew he was right, it was fruitless trying to convince him of the opposite. After all, Anthony had been her best friend for pretty much forever and knew her like no other.
He seemed to think the same thing, his pearly white teeth shining in a sly grin, "You know I'm right." Samus scoffed, resolving to turn the tables a little, "So you're curious about her, huh? Maybe you should talk to her. You might find she likes you back, charmer."
She drawled out the last sentence the way he oftentimes did and Anthony just crossed his fingers before his face, "No, no, no! That's totally not what I— Dammit, Samus!" The blonde girl laughed at him and he bumped her shoulder in return, causing her to wobble on her feet.
They sauntered towards their respective classrooms, waving at each other before finally parting ways. Anthony texted her only a few moments later, "yo, hatchling. you should probs ask peach for her number. just in case you 'break a leg' or something."
He ended the text with a playful " :'D " and even though Samus felt already annoyed at what that would probably entail, she figured it would be the safer option instead of actually asking Zelda herself. Thinking back on the encounter in Ms. Balder's office, the girl would most likely die of embarrassment if I asked her for her number — in front of people, no less.
That thought promptly put a grin on her face. Samus put her phone away without replying to Anthony and trudged to class.
[A/N:] I wonder if my "referencing" got a little out of hand here… You'll let me know if it did, right? Because I'm counting on you :-P