[A/N:] First of all: For some reason, FFNet ate a review :-( I have no idea how that happened, but the anonymous review from a guest disappeared even though I'm pretty sure I approved of it some days ago already. I wish to apologize for that; I'm not sure if I misclicked or if something else happened, but I just want the reader to know that I read the review and dearly appreciate the input!
Now, on for some unimportant babbling on my part... I feel the need to refine Peach's character, but for now have some more hyperactive blonde on caffeine :-)
The boys' shouts echoed over the field as they ran and threw, tackled and positioned themselves anew. Samus was watching the scene from — big surprise here — the sidelines. She was sat on the bench directly by the field, nursing a lemon soda in the shade and observing her teammates accommodating without her.
Not far away, the cheerleaders were practicing their own moves. Samus looked over to them, spotting Peach in their midst, and waited for a chance to take Anthony's advice. That bastard. Sometimes he's actually got decent ideas, she mused fondly.
As much as she had dreaded not being able to participate in the sport, watching her teammates play was giving her some satisfaction — they were a great team, and they would continue to be great. Her lips quirked in a proud smile.
As soon as practice was over, the two groups of young students gathered their things and made for the changing rooms. Samus got up from her seat and caught Peach's eye, waving her over. The cheerleader seemed surprised for a moment but it vanished in an instant.
"Hi Peach," she started but quickly realized she wasn't sure how to put into words what she wanted to ask. To stall a bit, she drove her hand through her hair but then Peach took the initiative and saved her the trouble entirely, "Zelda told me she's your personal TA now. She mentioned something like this," Peach motioned towards Samus' leg in a cast, "and that you'd not play for a while. How are you, anyways? I didn't get to see for myself yesterday."
Samus nodded at her inquiry, knowing Peach was notorious for her snooping but ultimately meant well, "I'm fine, thanks. Speaking of Zelda… Think you could give me her phone number?" Peach's eyes bulged but the girl quickly caught herself again. She scratched her arm, "Y'know, I'm not normally one to give her phone number out to just anyone… Why do you need it?"
Great, should have foreseen something like this. Samus tried to sound reasonable, "Well, I figured if something happened, it would help to have her number and call her. I'm not used to having a brace, or a… crutch, and she is supposed to assist me."
Peach nodded at her explanation, seemingly convinced that Samus wouldn't do anything with Zelda's number. Thank god she's so easy sometimes, Samus' mind drawled. Eventually, Peach motioned for Samus to brandish her phone and swiftly typed in the brunette's digits. Samus wasn't too surprised she actually knew them from memory.
Peach gave a smile, "Alright, there you go. I'll tell her you got her number now and—" Samus threw her hands up in what she hoped was a placating gesture, "That's okay! I'll just text her and let her know myself." Peach just shrugged, "Fine with me."
With that, Samus awkwardly excused herself and cleared out of the stadium. Anthony had gone his separate way, claiming he had somewhere else to be, so she was on her own. Her gaze fell on her leg and she grimaced.
Man…, she simply groaned internally. Eventually she walked the way back to her dorm, figuring she didn't exactly feel comfortable being at display to everyone out and about. The blonde girl was still in the process of getting used to the cast and people obviously found it odd to see her in such a thing — thus they tended to stare at her.
Sure, they think they're inconspicuous, but they're really not. With a little more effort than normally, Samus made it up the few stairs leading to the entrance of the dorm and entered her room. The football team had its own dorm; it was a tradition here in Zebes High and many other intern groups had adopted to that.
So nowadays, the swim team had a small dormitory to their own — peacefully co-existing beside the drama dorm —, the cheerleaders were close to the football team, and the a capella and music departments were also situated right beside one another.
It had proven to be a popular concept; for both faculty and student body. The specific dormitories themselves weren't too big, but they were a nice way of separating those participating in the respective niches from the common student.
Samus always saw it as some sort of refuge. And that refuge was exactly where she was headed now. She unlocked her room and stepped inside, dropping her bag from her shoulder and letting it slump against the wall.
The crutch promptly ended up on the floor as well — albeit near enough for her to grab it from her bed — and Samus threw herself onto the mattress. She sighed, closing her eyes and letting the soft afternoon sunlight filter in through the thin curtains of her window.
She felt the weight of her phone in her pocket.
Her eyes opened and flitted across the ceiling, and before she could talk herself out of it, she grabbed the small device and scrolled through her WhatsApp in search for Zelda's contact. She wasn't exactly hard to find; with that name you ought to end up on the very bottom of a list.
Samus tapped her icon and stared at the picture. It was a shot of Zelda herself on the left, a timid smile on her face, and a brightly grinning young boy with blonde hair on the right. She thought she had seen him before, but couldn't bet on it.
The quarterback frowned deeply and then flung her phone somewhere off to the side, hearing it land on the mattress with a dull thud. She threw an arm over her eyes, exhaling.
Samus chewed on the inside of her cheek.
Peach was babbling away happily. Happily, but it was still a strain on Zelda's nerves. Impa had pretty much shut down for the moment, impassively indulging in her packet of skittles. Zelda herself sat between her friends on a random bench on campus.
They were idling away after classes, not decided yet where they wanted to hang out today. It was rare enough for Impa to actually join them, so the mood was cheerful (surprisingly enough) regardless of place.
"So he said I should just try it. I did. It didn't end well," Peach lamented. She was recounting a story from cheerleader practice in which she hurt herself and had ended up with a huge bruise on her thigh. Sure, it drew attention to her gorgeous legs, but it was a bruise nonetheless.
Zelda nodded sympathetically, patting her friend on the back a few times. The bruise had faded almost entirely by now and people had stopped eyeing it. Peach rested her head on Zelda's shoulder for a second, indulging in the petting, before she sat back up straight, winking.
"Anyways, how's Link doing? I noticed you changed your profile pic." Impa snorted, though it wasn't quite clear if at Peach's inquiry or something else. Zelda gave a little smile, "He's fine, I guess. We…" the girl looked down into her lap and fumbled with the straw of her milkshake, "met up after school the other day. It was fun."
Peach threw her a knowing grin, big and cheesy, and she tackled the brunette from the side, squeezing her tightly, "Oooohh, I knew you two would be so cute together! Tell me you like him!" Zelda giggled at her friend's enthusiasm, which was purely contagious, and shrugged, "I don't know. He's nice."
Peach wiggled her eyebrows and grabbed her hands, preventing Zelda from reaching for her phone which had just buzzed in her pocket, "'Nice,' my ass. You totally like him, just look at your blush right now!" She made a go for Zelda's cheeks, and the younger girl caught her hands, laughing. The blush was most definitely present and she felt it spreading to her ears.
"Don't be ridiculous! I'm only blushing because you're teasing me!" Peach hug-attacked her again, sending both of them crashing into Impa, who in turn just rolled her eyes and shoved back. Peach poked Zelda in the side, "Who's in denial here, huh?"
Zelda just shook her head, embarrassed, "I don't know what you're talking about." She distractedly pulled her phone out and threw a quick glance at who had texted her. It was a message in WhatsApp but the number it was from was unknown to her. She frowned at the display before tapping on the new contact.
A single, curt message stared back at her.
hi, is this zelda's number?
She bit her lip, ignoring Peach for a moment in favor of wrecking her head for a clue on who this person was. And how they'd gotten her number. She figured it couldn't be someone she didn't know. She gingerly began typing a message.
yes it is. may i ask who you are?
It took only a few seconds for her to get an answer.
it's samus.
Zelda's heart stuttered dangerously in her chest and her eyes widened as her brain tried to wrap itself around the information, What…? Peach was forgotten in an instant, but the blonde cheerleader apparently didn't even notice because she was idly chatting away anyways. Impa to her left though, threw her a quizzical glance.
Zelda ignored it — mostly because she simply wasn't capable of registering it in the first place — and stared at the screen. Samus… just texted me? How'd she get my number? And why would she text me?
Zelda licked her lips before formulating a reply, her mind whirring, but Samus beat her to the punch.
sorry, i know this is a surprise for you. peach gave me your number.
Zelda blinked at the information; of course Peach would have given Samus her phone number. Why was she even surprised? She dismissed it; not knowing that a certain quarterback had deliberately foregone telling her that she had asked Peach for the number.
The brunette didn't dwell on it. Instead, she tried to calm her breathing and come up with an adequate answer to placate Samus and rid her of her worries.
oh, it's not a problem! i was just wondering who this might be. peach — she stopped short of typing out how Peach usually didn't care about giving away digits of her friends, but figured it made Peach sound like a bad friend. She deleted it.
oh, it's not a problem! i was just wondering who this might be. i didn't expect it to be anyone else but maybe link who reset his phone again and forgot to make backups with names… i certainly didn't expect this to be you.
Zelda saw that Samus was on her phone, her status showing her to be "online." It didn't take long for her to write back.
well that sounds chaotic.
Zelda smirked and imagined Samus frowning deeply at the information. An image of Link appeared before her inner eye; all bubbly and random and nervous and messy. She couldn't deny he had his charm. She thumbed her phone.
yea being chaotic? he does that sometimes.
is he your boyfriend?
Zelda stopped. She didn't know what it was that made her pause, but the pounding of her heart suddenly stilled. Her mind blanked for a moment and then it was filled with thoughts of Peach cooing over the two of them, assuring Zelda they would look so good together.
She couldn't type the answer quickly enough.
no he isn't.
The seconds ticked by as Zelda stared at her phone, waiting with bated breath.
i see.
Zelda read the message a few more times, trying to decipher a meaning behind it, but the reply was so neutral that she found it hard to. Not knowing what to write, her thumbs hovered over her keyboard.
well i just wanted to ask you if it's okay for me to have your number. in case i'll need you or something.
The brunette nearly fell over herself to answer. The thought alone that she could help Samus in a situation where practically no one else could was shooting a giddiness through her veins.
it's fine, really! so, do you need my help right now?
not right now, no. i'm in my room anyways.
Zelda frowned as she glanced at the tiny digital clock in the top corner of her phone. It was in the middle of the afternoon, why would Samus be in her room at this time of day? She chewed on the inside of her cheek, standing up.
are you sure? it's not because of the cast, is it?
Zelda could very well imagine Samus pouting right now, feeling caught. She wasn't too far off with that prediction and the quarterback's answer was a bit too quick to not be suspicious.
nah. just had a long day.
Zelda turned to her friends who were staring at her by now. Peach quirked an eyebrow, "Are you alright, Zelda? You haven't been listening to a word I just said!" Impa remained silent, but there appeared a spark in her eyes. Zelda willed a blush from her cheeks.
"Sorry, Peach. Something came up and I…" she tried, gesturing into the general direction of the school building. Impa crossed her arms, "You smiled and blushed an awful lot just there."
Peach's eyes widened and her golden locks bounced when she snapped her head back and forth between her two friends, "Wait. That on the phone… That was Link, wasn't it?!" She squealed, thinking Zelda had been texting with none other than the blonde boy they had just talked about. Impa rolled her eyes, "Guess this is it for today. See you around, Zelda."
The older girl grabbed Peach by the strap of her bag over her shoulder and dragged her off, mercifully relieving Zelda of the inquisitive cheerleader. Zelda threw an apologetic wave after them but didn't dwell for longer on it, her thoughts already back with Samus Aran. She turned and made her way to the dorm of the football team, thinking.
I'm pretty sure her cast is unnerving her. She didn't want the crutch, which I totally get, but I didn't think it would annoy her so much. I should check up on her. The brunette glanced backwards with a fond smile, still vividly seeing Peach throwing a fit before her mental eye, Thank god Impa knows when to step in.
She figured showing up empty handed wouldn't be the best move; after all Samus actually didn't want to see her right now. So Zelda steered towards the small kiosk the campus owned, an idea forming in her head.
[A/N:] Things are getting into motion slowly. Tell me what you guys would prefer; a pairing with Link or a pairing with Samus? (not that it'd change my own opinion on the matter, huehuehue :-P)