Link hoped he would get a good night's sleep at the very least, but apparently the goddesses weren't on his side. He had been in the middle of a pleasant dream about something, maybe flying? Then he was unceremoniously booted back into the world of the wakeful thanks to a loud crack of thunder, and a lightning strike that made the hero's whole world go white for a fraction of a second.

Skyloft didn't usually get storms, but it did happen occasionally. And this one seemed particularly nasty. In fact, Link wouldn't be surprised if there was a fair bit of cleaning up needing to be done tomorrow.

Groaning, LInk burrowed his head beneath the pillow and tried to go back to sleep, but before he could nod off, something else made itself known to the young hero. Now that the thunder had stopped, LInk was made aware of a faint rustling noise coming from not just inside his room, but underneath his bed.

Let's make something clear. Link was a brave boy, destiny and his journey had made that so. But to be suddenly woken in the dead of night to a deafening crash of thunder, and then hear a noise coming from underneath his bed? It was really freaking him out, and he knew he would not get a single wink of additional sleep that night if he didn't check it out and ease his worries.

Quiet as a mouse, using the furious drumming of rain as cover, the hylian slowly extracted each limb from the blankets one by one. Stealing himself, Link took a deep breath and kneeled, taking a little peek beneath the bed.

"Oh!" Ghirahim had tucked himself awkwardly in the corner; how he managed it given his size, the Skyloftian would never know. Actually, he didn't fit at all, his feet were sticking out at the foot of the bed.

Ghirahim, for his part, looked somewhat embarrassed to be caught in this position. "Hello," he said, attempting to act casual and failing miserably at it.

"Ahhhhh!" Link screamed before he could stop himself. His brain wasn't fully awake, and he didn't remember yesterday's events yet, though in hindsight, Link would realize finding the demon under his bed that night would've caught him off guard either way.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Ghirahim, not expecting to be screamed at, let out a shriek of his own, much louder, longer, and higher than LInk's was.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!" A third scream echoed from through the wall. Fledge. If the thunder didn't wake him up before, the screaming certainly did, and now he had joined in on the yelling.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh!" Link and Ghirahim were now screaming at the same time because neither of them expected Fledge's scream.

"Aaaaaaah!" Another scream from further down; it sounded a bit like Cawlin.

"Aaaaaaaahhhhh!" That was probably Strich.

"SHUT UP!" And that, much to LInk's disbelief, was Pipit. That uncharacteristic yell, combined with an extraordinarily timed crack of thunder, put the madness to an abrupt halt.

Silence except for the rain for a good ten to fifteen seconds, and then Fledge spoke up. "Uh, is everybody okay?"

Several muttered 'yeah's and 'I'm good's later, and the dorms went quiet once again.

At this point, LInk's brain had finally gotten itself caught up on the recent goings-on, and now the embarrassment was starting to set in. "Oh my gods," the hero muttered, slamming his burning face into his palms.

"I'm sorry." Ghirahim's voice is barely above a whisper, and it's still odd hearing him speak so softly.

"Uh," Link replied, very eloquently. He felt light-headed from all the screaming, or maybe it was from being awoken so abruptly. "What are you—why are you under my bed?"

Ghirahim fidgets his hands around in his lap, his dark gaze locked onto his intertwining fingers. Maybe it was the dimness of the room, but it appeared as if the demon's cheeks were a much darker gray at the moment. "I—"

Whatever he was going to say was swiftly cut off by yet another deafening roar from the sky, making LInk jump. Ghirahim jumps too. He flinches so bad that his head smacks against LInk's bed-frame. Air hisses out from between his teeth, adding a higher frequency to the ugly harmony of it all.

"Ouch," LInk says in sympathy. That looked like it hurt. "Are you okay?"

"I've been better." Ghirahim's voice is strained with pain, and something else the hylian couldn't quite identify. But that was alright, because he was almost certain he understood what the problem was.

"Is it the storm?" Link never would have imagined that the monster under his bed was afraid of anything, much less thunderstorms. But it was the explanation that made the most sense.

Ghirahim doesn't respond for several seconds, still intently staring at his lap. Then he very slightly tilts his head in a nod. The motion was nearly imperceptible, a blink and you'll miss it situation. Yet LInk had caught it, and now that his brain was zooming in on the fine details, he now notices a tremor in the demon's body. It was so small that the hylian wondered if he was only imagining the movement.

"It's loud." Link doesn't know why he finds himself stating the obvious, but he feels the need to provide a sound to focus on besides the storm. "The thunder woke me up."

"Oh?" Much to Link's relief, ghirahim seems to perk up slightly when he hears this. "So… so, it wasn't… I didn't…" He trails off, but the hero has a good guess of what his roommate meant to convey, and shakes his head. Ghirahim relaxes, but only slightly. "Well… I am still… I realize how this may appear, and I assure you, I don't…" He gestures vaguely with quivering fingers, clearly trying to act like his usual self, and failing miserably.

It was odd to see a demon so composed as Ghirahim used to be struggling for words. Or be awkward in any way, really. But at the moment, those uncanny feelings took a back seat. No longer was Ghirahim a villain which LInk needed to defeat; right now, he was someone in need of help, no different from anyone else the young hero had assisted before.

Link crawls under the bed, too. He makes himself as comfortable as he can, leaning against the wall next to Ghirahim. The demon says nothing to either protest, or encourage the actions. He simply sits, an eerily silent presence just as stormy as the sky outside. Thunder rumbling in the distance elicits small movements, nowhere near as exaggerated and boisterous as he usually is. Link never would've thought he'd miss those times.

The two boys stay like this for an indeterminate amount of time. It could've been minutes, it could have been an hour or two. Then, Ghirahim finally speaks up.

"It's not the sound that frightens me." Link finds himself opening up his ears. There was a little more confidence in his voice now, though whether it was real or just a facade, the Skyloftian couldn't be certain. He found himself hoping there would be more, maybe even another full-on monologue. The simple fact that this would be welcome in any given scenario was almost enough to make Link chuckle, but he holds it in.

"There's something inside of me." and it appeared that, for better or worse, LInk's hopes were answered. "My mind screams at me that I am in danger. That something threatening hides itself within the rain. But, there is nothing to be found. Nothing I can taste…" Thankfully, Ghirahim manages to turn himself slightly more away from Link before he's flicking out his tongue, testing the air. Even more thankfully, the disgusting slurping sound LInk associated with this gesture was absent. If LInk wasn't looking, he never would've been able to tell he was doing it. I guess he could always do it without making much noise and just did it to mess with me, the boy thinks, slightly broodingly.

"No, nothing but the storm. So why does it unsettle me so? Something must have happened in my past. Yes, there must have been one or multiple…"

Link was a little reluctant to admit this, even to himself, but Ghirahim actually had a really nice sounding voice. When it wasn't full of venomous bite or sadistic anticipation, the demon's voice was rich and smooth, and even a little melodic. Before he could stop himself, the hero let Ghirahim's low rambles fade into a gentle hum in the back of his mind, which lulled him back into a deep, calm sleep.

A/N: Not me ((queerplatonically) simping for ghirahim through LInk. It's only going to get worse from here. /lh

I headcanon that Ghirahim has a fear of thunderstorms and in particular lighting, because of the attack Demise does where he lets poor Ghirie get zapped in his sword form to do more damage to LInk. I doubt that fight was the only time Demise pulled that stunt, and it would definitely leave a mark.