39. Choir Voice
The sun was beginning to rise, but the sound of birds chirping was barely heard, it was obviously overshadowed by the sound of cars using the already busy streets. Zelda sat on the bed, and slowly got out of it, trying really hard not to wake Link. Once out, she rushed to her own bed and laid on it, her intention was to pretend she had slept there all night. Link was trying hard not to bust out laughing.
LINK POV
She doesn't want me to know… fair.
After the shopping is my turn for people meeting, and I am feeling anxious about meeting them, are they really other version of me? And if they are, how much do they remember? I feel like I failed them. But at the same time, I want to find them as soon as possible and mend for my mistake, I don't know if there is anything I COULD do to appease my guilt, but setting them as my potential donors IS a good first step.
If they are recognized as my donors SWORD will protect them, make sure they have a house and enough money to buy food, since I need them healthy in case, I ever need an organ or blood… and if it happens that they are NOT other versions of me, everything will remain as it actually is. In that scenario I hope these people can still be my donors, I hope I never need an organ, but outside help with blood supply is very appreciated, I scared my peers… I finished my blood bags TOO soon last time, and they can only extract blood from me every 4 months.
Link sat at the edge of his bed and grabbed his cellphone, he confirmed that they were on walking distance to a mall, and then started checking airlines.
THERE, just bought tickets to travel to Huston today, I am going to cut her shopping time even more if I don't want to lose our spot on the airplane, not really sorry about it but I feel like I should be. Good thing I have an ace under my sleeve.
Link stands and approaches Zelda's bed, he notices she even took the time to make it look like she tossed and turned all night, earning a smile from him. He touches her arm
"Wake up princess, I want to start the day as soon as possible and so do you"
Zelda slowly sits up, stenches her arms a little and yawns
You are overdoing it girl, just hurry up.
"Good morning, aren't we having breakfast first?" Zelda asks
"YOU are, that is what the cereal and milk are for, not nutritious, but it will provide you with enough energy for what I want you to do, I need you to be done shopping in 2 hrs." Link said with such finality that the Princess found it hard to argue with his decision, but she could not stay silent about it.
"That IS crazy, why?" Zelda asks squinting her eyes
"I bought tickets for us to travel to our next destination today, but we have to be there on time, for buying early flights I received a 20% discount, the money I saved doing this can be repurposed into buying a cellphone"
Zelda gleams at this "You are buying another one? Could I have your current one then?"
"NO, Mine was provided to me by SWORD, it has expensive applications pertaining my job, the one I am buying will be commercial one for you"
*Ready for the downpour?
Not really, hope its quick, girls need to learn to control their emotions
*why would they want to do that? It has worked in their favor for millennia, manipulation… their most effective and lethal weapon.
Zelda's eyes open wide in hope and disbelief, she was waiting for Link to say it was all a joke, but he remained silent looking at her with concern. She starts whimpering covering her face with her hands, but soon she recovers and raises her head cleaning her tears.
"You, Raziel Link Nohansen, have reached a deal with me, Zelda Harkinian" she states in an attempt to give formality to this interaction, her way of trying to ensure that he will keep his promise.
"Do I get to pick it or you pick it? FORGET THAT, I don't care, I would just like if it has an alarm, a flashlight and catalogs like the ones I was watching"
Link closes his eyes and shakes his head smiling "girl… I need to teach you how to navigate the internet, using it you can access store catalogs for clothes, shoes, jewelry or ANYTHING, I promise your cell will have all you are asking for and more"
Zelda starts screaming in a high pitch note and jumping around the room, Link flinches with every scream, when she was passing by him, he just suddenly grabs her by her upper arms, lifts her an inch from the floor and let's go of her, this shuts her screams effectively, but she sustains her happy grin.
"Breakfast NOW" Link commands her
"Yes sir"
Zelda grabs the small cereal box from the counter and opens it, she eating straight from the carton box inclining it over her mouth. She then digs into the minifridge searching for the milk, once she finds it, she opens it with one hand and takes a long drink, then continues with her cereal… she repeats the cycle while standing until she is done, she notices Link looking at her and just smiles in shame.
Why? just… why?
*Why not? It's an easy way to eat fast, you have done it yourself, besides… she looks SO DAMN SEXY doing it.
Not helping
Link sighs and opens the door to exit the room without even looking at her
ZELDA POV
Did I stain my face with food or something? That cereal was crunchy and tasty by the way, not like the cereal we seldomly eat at the castle. But getting back on subject, why is he being so rude? I did what he told me to do. Well, as long as he is buying me things, I don't mind, he can be as mean as he wants… I AM GETTING A CELLPHONE!
I am getting one, right? I mean… his code is his word, he would not lie to me, I hope.
Zelda followed Link completely lost in her thoughts, hence not paying attention to her surroundings at all, making it was a sock for her when she noticed they entered a complex with many stores for different things, Link stopped and turned to her signaling a place.
"That door leads to a store for feminine underwear, 5 of everything if you want, in the meantime I am going to that store" he signals a store that read Samsung "I am choosing and buying your cellphone"
Link turns and heads there, Zelda stays frozen for a while.
He IS buying one for me… I mean, yeah of course he is doing that, he said he would, didn't he? And he does not lie. It kind of sucks that he hates me… he has not said it but I know, I feel it at times. I don't know why he does, and I am not sure I want to ask him, but I know he pushes through the hate to care for me. And for that… I am grateful.
Zelda heads to the store Link pointed to, once she enters, she is overwhelmed, there are several mannequins modeling female underwear all around the store. Nobody seems to be bothered by the almost naked female look-alikes, Zelda ran out to take a breath of air and settle her head.
[wherever you are, you do what you see] Zelda remembers that advise and shakes her head
They are not bothered, they don't even stare at them, which means I shouldn't either then. It's going to be hard though, I am very prude, I may have slept with Link several times, but we were both DRESSED, except yesterday, but he was NOT completely naked… Neither are the mannequins I suppose, get a grip and get in there.
The Princess settles herself and goes back inside. She heads directly to the man in the counter.
"You work here, could you help me? I am in a hurry" She asks having a hard time maintaining eye contact with him, due to the merchandize surrounding them.
"Well then we have a problem, all the girls that come here take AGES looking through ALL articles on this store, so I call it bull shit that you are in a hurry, what you want is a personal slave to follow you around the store" the clerk says ill-mannered
Zelda squints "Did I stutter? I believe I was perfectly clear with my demand, should I repeat myself?"
The man leans back on his seat in shock, most women just turn around and look for help with another clerk leaving him alone, but this girl decided to bite back, he was actually impressed.
"What do you need" the clerk asks defeated
"I am not sure; I have never bought underwear in a place like this one"
"Fair, let's go basic then, panties, bras and some socks" The clerk looks at her up and down "I would say small panties is the safe choice in your case. I can't help you with bras you have to choose them yourself, you can't try them on by the way. And the socks should be easy, just follow me"
The man directs her to a stand that contained lots of panties, he lifts a small packing that contained 3 panties
"This brand is known to be good and lasting; this packing contains a black, white and beige pantie. Those are the basic colors any girl wants, if you want another you pick them yourself from these area" he points ahead "there are some teen bras from the same brand I believe, you also want at least the 3 basic colors"
Zelda nods and turns to the clerk "Thank you"
He nods at her and as he is leaving, he turns to yell "I forgot the socks, just look around and pick the ones you like best, by the way, the length of your arm between your wrist and the elbow, is the length of your foot, just in case you need that measure"
Zelda opens her eyes wide and sits on the floor, she takes off her left shoe and places her foot on her right forearm, and laughs realizing it is true, they are the same size. She decides that medium size is too big for her feet, but small falls short, she notices some of them stretch a little if pulled, so she picks 6 pairs of small socks from those, not minding the color or pattern, who would pay attention to that?
Today is a good day, I learned something new about my body, the attendant did make this a LOT easier for me, but he was kind of grumpy [all men HATE shopping] HAHAHAHA, I guess he is right on that one. Now… where is Link? I am almost done here but I have no rupee to pay, is that what they use here? I will scream to call him when I am done.
Zelda picks another packing of panties, then goes to the brass and starts searching for the same size of the one she is currently wearing, it fitted her perfectly according to Carla. Once she is done, Zelda leaves her stuff on the counter and walk to the entrance, she screams "LINK!"
A loud whistle is heard. Zelda smiles identifying it as Link's, since it sounded like it had a weird eco, she yells back "I WAIT HERE!" and gets back inside heading to the counter, she proceeds to retrieve her clothes and thanks the clerk for watching over them
"Are you buying these?"
"No. I mean, YES, I am waiting for the person who is paying to come"
"You mean the person who just whistle at you like a dog?" the clerk says angry at the disrespect
Wow… I have not thought of it like THAT, I was expecting it though, since he avoids rising his voice, I kind of suspect why he does, but I am still going to ask him personally… well, not really, I am going to insinuate the topic using this event, yeah that is a safer route.
"HAHAHAHAHA, he is NOT being disrespectful, believe me" Zelda tells the clerk to calm him down
The door opens and Link enters, he had two bag packs in hand, he approaches the princess handing one to her.
"Once I pay you put your clothes inside" Link tells her and turns to pay.
Zelda opens it to start shoving everything and notices the box containing her cell phone. She lowers her back pack to the floor and gives Link a one-sided hug. He does not react at all and continues to pay using his card.
"Thanks for shopping with us today" the clerk states handing the receipt
Link nods and ushers Zelda outside of the shop, she waves at the clerk and the man waves back smiling, Link notices the interaction and as they start walking, he asks
"Did you two became friends?"
"I am not sure… I think we are now, I thought he was going to give you an earful about whistling at me like a dog. Just to be clear, HE SAID IT LIKE THAT, I know you didn't do it out of disrespect, you did it to hide your choir voice"
Link stops walking and turns to look at her, curiosity mixed with anxiety on his face. Zelda decides she needs to let him know she is not a threat, so she continues
"I noticed that your voice echoes oddly when you rise your volume, it makes it sound like a crowd speaking, you do a great job hiding it but… I guess I just make you want to scream at me VERY OFTEN" she chuckles a little at that
"I don't fear you by the way, there is a registry of a person with a voice like yours Hyrule's archives, he got sentenced to death because he was obviously possessed, so they expected forces of evil to violently leave his body while he burned alive, but nothing of the sort happened… That occurred centuries ago in Hyrule. If people in this world are as fragile as you say they are, they will dissect you in fear once they find out, so I understand the need to hide it. I guess I just wanted to tell you that you don't need to hide it with me anymore."
LINK POV
I tried… I knew this big family crap was going to expose me sooner or later, she is right on one thing tough, I DO find it particularly hard to moderate my volume with her, she is just so FUCKING INFURIATING, if someone was to find me out on this, it was going to be her.
I believe the Princess just told me she is not afraid, and that she does not mind, can I trust her word?
*I don't know. She seems to be expecting an answer from you
yeah, but I do not want to thank her for this, and I don't think she is expecting a thank you, but she is waiting for something. Maybe she wants me to confirm her assessment of me.
"Choir voice?"
"Yeah…. I mean, you kind of have a low and deep voice, I am sure you could sing if you wanted to, and to top it all, it kind of sounds like a multitude of people speaking, so you have a choir voice"
Link closes his eyes and does a quick exhalation; he continues walking and Zelda follows him smiling.
"Where did you buy these weird luggage bags?"
"Mine is the one I use when I stay in this world, yours is a present from Wolf, he came while I was paying your cell and threw them at my face, completely my fault so I don't hold a grudge, I forgot mine at SWORD's premises and it hadn't even crossed my mind you may need one too." Link says with a mischievous grin
"Are you also going to buy clothes?" Zelda asks exited by the idea
"No, my garb is already on my backpack, it's called a backpack by the way" Link informs pointing at it
Link stops in front of a display of the map of the mall, and uses it to point at 3 stores
"We are running out of time we so have to do this fast, these 3 are well known clothing stores, we have time to visit ONLY 1, choose "