46. The children are fine
They arrived to the destination, Carla did an excellent job choosing that hotel, it's new and still not well known since its almost located in the middle of the prairie. That alone was really good news for them, they could ride the dirt bikes there, no need to leave them behind and pay a taxi.
ZELDA POV
Lee turned his bike off and started to remove his helmet
"Are you completely sure you can do that?" Lee asks the Princess
Rolling her eyes "I am the fucking princess, of course I can" Zelda gloats on that fact, she knows she will meet antagonizing forces, but she is sure she can get Lee a pass to enter Hyrule whenever he wants.
"Fair, I will take you on that one, Hyrule's Castle has internet connection, right?" Lee asks
"Yes, it does, it's the only place with that privilege in Hyrule, I really couldn't care less about it before, but now that I see how it can be used, it's a privilege… can I have your cellphone number?" Zelda asks
Chuckling a little "that is where I was heading at Princess, we need to stay in contact, I don't want to importunate with my visits."
Lee and Zelda pulled their cellphone's out and quickly exchanged contacts, then they rushed inside to catch on Link and the kids. Once they got to him, he had the keys to their room in hand already.
"I have never been on a hoctel before, it's pretty" Ben says eyes full of excitement
Link turns to him grinning "H.O.T.E.L., have any of you played videogames before?" he asks
Millie shakes her head furiously; Ben's eyes grow wide. "I don't have, but I have seen my uncle play"
"Never and no, PERFECT. I just rented an X-box console at the front desk and some games, how about we play a little with that?" Ben starts yelling and jumping in excitement "BUT FIST, you need to bathe in very warm water, I don't care who bathes first, once you are BOTH bathed, we can play for a while" Link states as he opens the door to the room, Ben frowns at the idea of bathing.
What are videogames? But more importantly, Ben doesn't want to take a bath, I guess I understand, he almost drowned in freezing water. He may want to stay away from water for the rest of his life… I think I could bathe him myself.
Zelda clears her throat to draw attention to herself, and uses a finger to signal the Prince to come closer. Link approaches allowing the Princess to whisper.
"I think Ben is scared of water, maybe I could bathe him"
"NO, I need you to help me do some quick diligences, Lee can take care of Ben and Millie for that matter"
"Lee? I don't think he can treat them tenderly" Zelda says feeling uneasy about it.
"They don't need endearment anymore; at the beginning they needed it and you took care of that by making them feel serene and encouraged. Now they need structure, they are NOT victims, they are survivors, I am sure Lee can guide them on that path" Link states with such finality that Zelda didn't even question it.
Link gets closer to Lee and whispers to him
"I am going to buy dinner, and other amenities with Zelda, Ben is afraid to take a bath, take it with him if needs to, and keep a close eye on Millie, she seems unstable. I won't take long "
"But… I am not all that good with kids" Lee states a little overwhelmed by what was required of him.
"PERFECT, pizza is good right?" Link says and grins when he hears Ben's exited yells.
ROVERT POV
This motherfucker just walked out with Zelda and left me to root here with the gremlins. I hope they don't multiply when they come in contact with the water.
"All right, time for a bath, come on Ben"
"I DON'T WANT TO"
"WELL THEN YOU DON'T WANT TO PLAY VIDEOGAMES, how about you missy? Are we going to have a problem too?" He asks daring her to challenge him.
Startled Millie furiously shakes her head, Ben is ranting on the floor
"You want to make that a no pizza too Ben?" Ben slowly stops his ranting
"GOOD, here is how we are going to do this" Lee turns to Millie "when you take your bath I will respect your privacy, BUT I need you to start singing LOUD, I want to hear it, the moment you stop singing I barge in to check you didn't faint, or slipped and hit your head, won't care at all if you are naked, fair?"
Millie nods and goes inside the bathroom closing the door, a few seconds go by before Lee yells
"I CAN'T HEAR YOU MILLIE"
Millie starts singing a song, it sounded more like screams than singing but that worked for Robert. He approached the X-Box Link brought and started unpacking it to set it for later use.
How am I supposed to get through to this little man? I don't want to force bathe him; he doesn't need any more trauma.
"I… I DO want to play sir" Ben says in a low volume
PERFECT "Then you know what you have to do don't you?"
"What if I drown?" Ben asks crying
"That CAN'T happen in a shower, BUT if you faint or slip and fall, I will be here to help you, you won't drown, I won't let it happen… I will need you to be singing too though" Lee answers half smiling
Ben pants a little "I don't know many songs like Millie, can I mew like a cat?"
Lee chuckles "why a cat? I hate cats, can't you bark?"
Ben grins wide and shakes his head mewing, Robert laughs a little at that. He actually manages to make Ben help put together the X-Box while they waited for Millie. Then the bathroom door opens and Millie comes out using a bathrobe.
"My turn, Meeewww" Ben says rushing pass Millie to take his bath
That… was easier than I thought.
Millie looks at Robbert "It was this and a towel, I choose to leave the towel for Ben, that is good right?"
"I don't know, I think… the robe would not have fitted him at all, just don't put your clothes back on, I think Link and Zelda are buying you some"
Millie sits on one of the beds looking at the glass whale decoration on top of the drawer, she grabs it and after looking at it she opens her hand and lets it fall, it breaks in pieces. She gets on her knees and starts picking up the pieces. She then stares and holds a particularly long shard. Lee was staring at the whole scene.
Millie is considering ending herself with it, damn. I heard when Link said she seemed unstable, but this is a whole new game… I have to do something, but what? Or maybe I don't have to do anything, maybe I just need to speak.
"it's not like in the movies you know, it's a slow and painful way to go"
Millie looks at Robert scared she got caught. She started to sake her head trying to deny it but Lee just glared back lifting an eyebrow.
"Why would you even think of fucking doing that?" Lee asks
Millie opened her mouth but instantly closed it "you would not understand" she answers setting the piece in the floor and looking down at the mess.
Lee rolls his eyes "Of course I don't, and I don't want to, what I want to do is help but I CAN'T if you won't even speak to me…" Lee turns his head towards the bathroom "THAT IS NOT A CAT SOUND BEN, WE DIDN'T AGREE ON CHANGING THE ANIMAL" Lee says in a demanding tone, but deep down he is glad Ben appears to be having fun.
"IT'S A SHEEP, EVERONE LOVES SHEEPS… BAAAAAAA".
"So, are you going to tell me so I can tell you why you are wrong and stupid, or do I have to get it out of you?" Lee says in a menacing tone.
Millie stares back in anger "what is wrong with you? How can you insult someone like me? Don't you see I have been through enough already? I am broken. A complete and utter failure, I tried to save them all, but I couldn't. and the ones I did manage to release still drowned"
Lee glares at her "Ben didn't… you couldn't release all of them, shame… but you DID save one, I call you stupid because IT IS stupid to think about the ¨what ifs.¨ You need to focus on what actually happened… on what you managed to do despite the circumstances, your situation was NOT easy but still you still didn't give up" Robert reaches for a box of facial tissues and hands it to Millie
"You couldn't save them all, but one of them is alive because of you, and is currently bathing making animal impressions" Ben was now mooing "If you are taking the blame for what happened, then take the WHOLE BLAME, the good and the bad, THIS" Lee points at the bathroom door where Ben is now oinking like a pig "this is your fault too, isn't that great?"
Millie couldn't believe it, he was painting her like a hero, but she didn't felt like that at all, she felt undeserving. Robert went to sit on the floor in front of her, she blew her nose and cleared her throat before speaking
"I… thank you for thinking so highly of me, but I am not all that, I believe that if they didn't deserve a happy ending, why do I?"
BANG! Robert punches the floor destroying what was left of the whale. His fist is now bleeding and Millie yelps scared.
"WHO THE FUCK CARES IF YOU DESERVE IT OR NOT, they were not there, YOU were, you feel like you could have done more, well BOOHOO, that is the baggage fighters have to carry all the time"
Lee stares at Millie straight in the eyes "yeah, you heard that right, what you are feeling is normal, and fighters have to deal with it forever, is a heavy load but I don't regret it even for a second, why do you?"
Lee stands up and starts walking to the bathroom, he hadn't heard Ben doing animal sounds, but there standing by the door is Ben, eyes wide in fear. Lee tries to play it off and smiles at him.
I should learn to control my temper; I should not have done what I did just now. Ben talk to me, say ANYTHING, help me save this situation.
"What happened? Millie is crying and you are bleeding" Ben looks down at Robert's fist
"I was clumsy, I dropped a glass decoration, Millie is crying because she is a little sad, but we can help her smile again, right?" Lee states with a reassuring smile
"YES, but… how did you got cut? Does it hurt a lot? Can you still play?" Ben asks worried about loosing a friend he could play videogames with.
"I am an EXCELENT player, I needed to give you an advantage so I punched on the whale's remains, it hurts but I think I can still beat you" Lee says wiggling his eyebrows
"YOU WISH" Ben says frowning and smiling
Millie begins to genuinely laugh at the scene, Lee sighs
Disaster avoided, on BOTH fronts. LINK YOU OWE ME
LINK POV
The pair went to the Hotel's entrance, around it where a few keepsakes stands and small restaurants, she doubted they could find all that was needed there, but then some t-shirts where visible and an old lady was trying on some flipflops for the hotel's pool. The sight filled her with determination, she WAS going to find all they needed there.
"A change of clothes, underwear, flipflops, toothbrushes and paste, is that it?" Zelda asked Link
"Yeah, that should do… no wait, something they could use to sleep on too" Link says trying to see what the Princess was looking at that got her on warrior mode.
"Ok, do I wait for you, or how do I pay for everything?"
"Get on the line to pay when you are done, I should not take long, it's just pizza" Link answers
"They sounded pretty excited about it, what is it?" Zelda asks with curiosity
"I… forgot this is new for you, don't worry about it, I promise you will like it. Now let's hurry, I do trust Lee with the kids, but not for long periods."
I mean, he IS good and all, but he is got contained frustration and anger issues. The children could quickly exhaust him if they misbehave much, a tiered beast can be very scary.
*He won't harm them
Of course he won't, but causing them a panic attack right after a traumatic event is not good for mental health.
He ordered two regular pizzas with pepperoni, and bought a small cup with pineapple, in case one of the kids was a mental, he/she could add it to his/her slices. He was NOT going to damage the integrity of the whole pizza with a fruit. He went back for his Princess; she was already on the line, she started talking to him about her treasure hunting, she seemed very proud of the clothes she managed to find.
"It was HARD, since most stands are only selling souvenirs, but I think this will do" Zelda stops talking and starts sniffing "is that delicious smell the pizza?"
Link smiles and nods at her, he is currently balancing both pizza boxes in his left hand and using his right to retrieve and carry Zelda's shopping bags. She was about to protest but Link softly shushes her. He pays and they start heading back.
They start rushing back to their room, Link was about to open their door but stops and leans in the door, he smiles and puts down everything to listen in on them. Zelda looks at him puzzled and then starts to hear the fight inside.
"You are a fucking cheater" Ben claims
"No, I am not, you just suck" Robert answers
"NO, I DON'T, my mum convinced me to leave my formula long ago" Ben proudly states
Millie laughs really hard at that one "FOUL, you lose because you lied claiming he still sucked, hand over the controller"
"WHA FUCK YOU!... whatever, you are going to give it back in a few minutes, you paly worse than Ben
Link was outside pressing his back on the door and smiling, he was kind of applying a choke hold on Zelda, his left arm around her neck but not pressing on her, just going across her to hold her right shoulder, and his right hand covering her mouth, to prevent Lee and the kids from hearing her giggles.
The children are fine, Lee somehow managed to draw them out, I think is time for them to meet the new challenger
"We are going in, clean your face" Link orders Zelda as he picks the pizza boxes from the floor. Zelda wipes her teary face with her hands, but she continues to giggle and cry. She always thought crying of happiness was a myth, it just didn't made sense at all, but now that she understands. Its relief, you cry because you were so scared and worried and suddenly you don't have to be anymore. She takes few deep breathings to settle and picks up the bag of clothes.
"WHO IS HUNGRY?" Link yells as he opens the door.
"NOT THEM, they both are cheaters, they don't deserve food" Lee says fuming
"Well, you are a SORE LOSER" Millie states as she right before losing, she lowers he head and hands the controller back to Lee.
Lee takes the controller with an evil maniacal laughter, Ben starts mocking Millie for loosing so soon, Millie starts yelling back at Ben. Link is overwhelmed by the situation, and then salvation arrives.
"HEY!" Zelda suddenly yells, everyone goes quiet and looks at her
"I am hungry… you" she points at Ben and Millie "I picked some clothes for you, so rid of the robe and the towel to dress up, THEN we sit at the table and eat. You can go at each other's throat after that"
Link stares at her and smiles "sounds like a plan" he turns towards Lee and starts to frown noticing the cuts on his knuckles. Ben sees the frown and starts speaking a little nervously, he wanted to defend his new friend.
"He… did nothing wrong, he is just clumsy a broke the whale, then got angry at it and punched it" Ben explains, hoping to justify Robert
Do I believe that is what Robert did? OF COURSE NOT, he is not clumsy at all. That is what he told Ben, or what Ben just made up to save him, JAJAJA. I was NOT wrong leaving them with Lee, he started to fix them at a low cost… I mean his hand will heal.
Link continues to frown but with half a smile "does that mean you won't be ready for a real challenger?" he says shaking a controller as he puts it away
"The real question is… are YOU ready to face me?" Lee asks back wiggling his eyebrow
ITS ON… after we eat of course. I am ready for him but not to face off against my princess, she is hungry.