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Chapter Text

Hyrule Castle, Central Hyrule, Present Era: 101 Years Post-Calamity

Link woke to a muffled knock on his knight’s chamber door. Stumbling out of bed, he grunted an indication that he’s up and hastily pulled on his trousers and tunic, curious at the unusual visitation. Zelda knew his erratic sleep schedule and always warned him ahead of time if he was to be needed for some knightly duty, and most of his other communications came through her.

He unlatched the lock and swung the heavy door open, rubbing his eyes. As he opened them again, his jaw dropped.

“Vaati?”

The man standing in his doorway grinned down at Link.

“Long time no see, Link.”

He waited only for a responding smile- a baffled, disbelieving smile- before wrapping his arms around Link, lifting him off his feet with a little yelp and twirling him around in a display of long-lost friendship. Satisfied and somewhat flushed from effort, Vaati dropped Link to his feet again and settled his hand on his hip, the most familiar and wonderful self-satisfied grin stretching across his features.

“Did you miss me?”

Link opened his mouth, stuttered, and tried again: “What- how are you here? How long-“

“Eh, couple of days. As it turns out, Hyrule’s layout hasn’t changed too enormously over the last couple of centuries. The shrine was only about a day’s walk from this very castle. Though I have to say, it looks quite a bit different up here than I remember.” Vaati shot him a questioning look.

He looked…just the same as Link remembered. A little older. Scarred right eye no longer covered, but he had abandoned that style lifetimes ago, anyway. Lavender hair maybe a bit longer than before. His tunic and cape were impeccably clean, as always. Link vaguely wondered if he was being truthful about the “couple of days” he’d been free in his…new, strange Hyrule.

Those thoughts dissipated soon enough. It all felt like a dream.

Link grinned. “I can’t believe you. You made it.” He resisted the urge to sputter all the dozens of questions that had suddenly piled up in his mind. “Here- give me a minute. Did you have breakfast? I’ll meet you in the dining hall, I just need to get dressed.”

He smiled after Vaati as the man gave a conceding nod and turned, with somewhat of a flourish, heading off back across the arch-bridge with his cape fluttering at his heels.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Link could hardly believe his eyes.

He knew, logically, that Vaati would be released at some point. He just…hadn’t ever considered it would be this lifetime. To be honest, he’d hardly thought about the mage at all over the past 124 years. He was just another memory of someone who had been close in a past life, amongst all the others.

But he was no longer just a memory. He was here, now. Link was overjoyed. It was a feeling he’d never imagined he would experience. Vaati wasn’t just a reincarnation; he was the same Vaati that Link remembered. Albeit, centuries older, but…well, he honestly didn’t have a clue how time passed, or didn’t, within the seal of a magical sword. He certainly didn’t look centuries old. And that familiar sass was definitely still there.

Link was overjoyed, yes, but conflicted as well. He wasn’t a stranger to the grief of having a friend he had grown to love be ripped away, whether by death, distance, or imprisonment. But he’d never had them come back later, in a new lifetime, the spitting image of a loved one he had existed with in a Hyrule that was eons different than the present one.

Catching Vaati up was going to be…uncomfortable, to say the least. They had both just been kids, essentially, when Vaati was sealed. Link hadn’t had any idea what he was doing. With his newfound wisdom regarding the outlook of an early-20-something-year old, he figured Vaati hadn’t known what he was doing back then either, though he had seemed so much older at the time. All Link knew was that in his previous life, he had spent enough time with the man to develop the kinds of feelings that are inevitably conflicted following unexpected separation; forever denied closure.

And he knew, at least, that Vaati had felt the same. And he knew Vaati. He was a selfish, proud, and impatient bastard. Also, territorial. And gorgeous.

Link forcibly drove these thoughts from his head and splashed cool water over his face, running his hands through his hair in an attempt to tame the flyaways. He took a deep breath and began his descent to the dining hall.

Chapter Text

When Link finally made his way through the dining hall entryway, Vaati was deep in conversation with Zelda, splayed out across a dining chair with his arms behind his head, the image of charisma and self-assurance. Link couldn’t help but smile. It appeared he’d had no problem bringing Zelda up to speed, and they looked like barely a day had passed since it was Vaati and his Zelda, poring over magic manuals together, sharing hurried notes and passionate discoveries between good-natured jabs and jokes. 

Vaati turned his head at Link’s footsteps. “That was longer than a minute. You two haven’t changed a bit.”

Link grinned. “I was just thinking the same thing about you.” He pulled out a chair next to Vaati’s and began piling heaping helpings of toast and eggs and ham on the plate in front of him. He wasted no time getting to eating and turned his ear to the conversation he’d walked into, which seemed to be midway through Vaati’s explanation of how in the hell he had ended up on Hyrule Castle’s doorstep circa the Calamity.

“But- were you…conscious? In the sword?” Zelda’s eyes were alight with a hunger for understanding.

“No. More or less.” Vaati’s clipped response betrayed just the slightest tinge of discomfort at the topic. Link couldn’t imagine that imprisonment in a sword for centuries would be anything less than torturous, but Vaati seemed to have come out of it unscathed, at least superficially.

“But I had a hell of a time trying to find directions to the castle. Did you know the majority of your kingdom appears to be a ruined wasteland? It was hours before I came across a stable. I’m lucky I found you. Literally. I don’t do well in the wild.”

Link swallowed. Vaati’s ignorance of current conditions couldn’t be helped, but he’d always had a blunt way of expressing observations.

Zelda cast her eyes downward and took a breath. “Well…yes. We need to catch you up. Vaati, the…you arrived at a strange time. We just got out of war.”

Vaati uncrossed his arms from behind his head, face growing slightly pale. “Oh.”

“Yes. Just over a year and a half ago. It was the worst I can remember. Nearly all of Hyrule was destroyed. We’ve been reconstructing in the peace, but you can’t even imagine how it was before we defeated Ganon.”

Vaati looked lost for words. “I’m…sorry.” Then he was silent, and Zelda took it upon herself to begin the long history lesson in explanation of their modern and devastated Hyrule.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++       

Vaati was conflicted about his return to Hyrule.

Well, it wasn’t as if he’d had a choice, really. He had just kind of…fallen out of the sword. Hadn’t even realized what had happened until he felt grass on his knees and the foreign sensation of temperature on his skin. To be honest, it had taken him a lot closer to three weeks than the “couple of days” he’d claimed until he fully realized where he was and had composed himself. Until he felt comfortable with the idea of presenting himself to anyone who had previously known him. And he didn’t want to think about the humiliating process of gradually re-learning motor control, how to interact with the physical environment again, how to get used to being in a body again. In a world. It had been so long.

It had been so long, and all he’d had to think of- in the rudimentary way that thinking worked in the seal- was what he could last remember, and that was Link. Link and Zelda, the last two people he had seen before his centuries of solitude. While the imprisonment itself was more of a merciful blur, the recollection of his life beforehand was crystal-clear, as if it had happened yesterday- but a yesterday that was separated from today by several lifetimes of hazy, formless gray.

“If I don’t remember… I’ll want you to explain to me what happened.”

Link had nodded, eyes shining with that incredible sincerity and determination that was almost otherworldly in a human being.

Vaati had almost said, promise me you’ll look for me, but he knew that wasn’t the kind of thing he could ask of Link. He would never allow himself to ask such a thing of anyone. His first request was hard enough to voice. He knew, too, that there were no fairytale-like rules to this universe of theirs, and it was more than likely that any Link existing in any Hyrule that Vaati happened to wake up in wouldn’t be even remotely the same person that Vaati had known during his lifetime. The same memories, yes; but a lot could change in a reincarnation. So Vaati had resigned himself to a permanent goodbye, and finally kissed Link like he had wanted to do for months beforehand. Link’s breath had caught in surprise, but he hadn’t pulled away, and Vaati knew he wouldn’t. He had seen it in his eyes. That much had become obvious during their last few weeks together. And this memory was what Vaati was left with after he said goodbye to the people, and the world, that he knew.

So it shook him when the Link he found himself gazing upon in the knight’s chamber was so painfully familiar. It was his eyes: they shone with a recognition and a personality that Vaati knew. He had kicked himself later for nearly making a fool of himself with the introduction, but he couldn’t help it- he hadn’t expected such raw and unexpected joy to rise in his chest at the sight of Link again. Not just relief, but joy.

Such joy had sailed high throughout the entire afternoon, up until Zelda had excused herself from their catching-up, citing royal responsibilities. Vaati and Link had been left alone in the grand dining room, and what the mage had expected to transition flawlessly to flirtation- a literal picking up of where they had left off centuries ago- had instead gave way to a decidedly more awkward and stilted exit from Link, precisely as Vaati had begun to make his intentions unmistakably clear.

Vaati was left with no choice but to assume that his little Hylian knight was already taken. (After all, he would have to be a complete fool to turn down the mage for any other reason.)

Things were different here, now. Of course they were. Link hadn’t been waiting for him. He had his own life, and relationships, and of course he did, he was lovely.

It had been so foolish to think otherwise- and now, like a fall made that much more painful from such a lofty ascent, Vaati had to come to terms with the fact that what he had wanted was real, and here with him, but there was a possibility that he couldn’t exactly…have it.

He had always despised that feeling.

He was getting one thing he wanted, however, and that was the adequate feeling of power he would obtain via his newfound position as Court Sorcerer of Hyrule Kingdom.

It wasn’t as good as dominion, of course, but he consoled himself with the fact that this Hyrule wouldn’t exactly be the grand prize of some magnificent conquest. In fact, it would be more of a fixer-upper, like the kind of dilapidated house you’d take for unbelievably cheap because you don’t have the rupees for anything better and you need a place to live. Nothing like the shiny, alluring kingdoms he remembered from previous lifetimes. Vaati actually felt sorry for Zelda, shouldered with the responsibility of reign over such a project.

However, it had offered him a convenient in to ascend to a position of prestige not a month after landing disoriented in this world, and Vaati, with his intrinsic charisma and somewhat silver tongue, had expertly composed his offer of help in such a way as to convince the princess of his value to the rebuilding efforts without coming across as opportunistic, or haughty.

In fact, the servants were beginning the process of clearing out a joint bedroom-study for him now. It was a luxurious chamber, high in the uppermost levels of the castle, overlooking the lush fields below from a lofty vantage point. Just as Vaati liked it.

Chapter Text

It was a beautiful, clear spring morning when Ganondorf and Riju arrived at the gates of Hyrule Castle for their scheduled trade negotiations, flanked in all directions by soldiers. Every single one of them looked markedly uncomfortable on their borrowed horses except for the Prince, whose steed was all his own, and just as darkly outfitted and enormous as he was.

Zelda, knowing the day but not the time of their arrival, had chosen to spend the majority of the day outside, overseeing the repair of the West Passage. She stood apart from the swarm of soldiers and contractors, shielding her eyes from the noon sun as she gazed upon the process of construction. Alerted to the kingdom’s visitors, she turned and made her way to the castle footbridge.

She approached the Gerudo royal siblings with a smile stretched across her face, arms wide in welcoming. Riju called her greeting and began to dismount her steed, if a bit awkwardly; Ganondorf made to follow but was momentarily distracted by an unusual movement in his peripheral vision. Craning his neck to observe over the top of the ramparts, his eyes widened as he became audience to the apparent levitation of a massive section of stone arch-bridge, at what must have been almost 60 feet off of the ground.

Ganondorf swung himself off his horse and made his way urgently across the courtyard- right past Zelda without uttering a word of greeting- to get a better look.

Riju shot Zelda a pained look in apology and frustration at the (by this point well-known) lack of etiquette her brother had never seemed to grow out of. Zelda chuckled, shaking her head as pardon. The two kingdoms had become amicable enough over the last year that Zelda couldn’t help but find the Prince’s quirks to be rather humorous. The two female leaders convened and began to make their way towards the gatehouse, followed by Gerudo and Hyrulian soldiers alike.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ganondorf wouldn’t catch up for nearly five more minutes. He was standing, dumbstruck, at the most impressive display of magic he had seen out of anyone other than the Calamitous body that had housed his own soul.

It appeared that a tiny man, facing away from him but distinctive enough that Ganondorf knew they hadn’t met before, was single-handedly fitting a solid limestone arch-bridge between two ramparts using nothing but his outstretched arms and the distinctive acrid smoke and shimmer of magic crackling between his fingers. The throng of workers around him kept a wide berth from under the towering section of bridge as it wavered slightly in the air, but they all appeared in their element amongst the construction work, moving to and fro between piles of stone, apparently unconcerned by the majestic display of sorcery in their midst.

Who is this?

Ganondorf frowned. He stood still another second, considering whether or not to simply walk up and ask the sorcerer himself. Or would that be a bit too much of a breach of conduct for a visiting prince? He was just preparing to make his way over regardless when the sorcerer appeared to fit the stone slab in place with a wave of his hands in tandem. The man left his arms raised for a moment as the grinding crunch of rock being magically cemented in place faded into the open air around the castle.

The prince didn’t have a chance to introduce himself, however. As the sorcerer swiveled round- a self-satisfied smirk on his face- and began to make his way towards what looked like a construction manager in the corner, his eyes briefly met Ganondorf’s.

Ganondorf didn’t know what expression he himself was making, but judging by the split second of surprise that just as quickly transformed to a scowl on the sorcerer’s face, he assumed something in his image had displeased the stranger. Before Gan could return the grimace, however, the man had averted his eyes and engaged himself in conversation with the manager, too far away to catch what was being said.

Ganondorf scowled anyway, and turned to follow his soldiers into the Princess’s castle.

Who the fuck is that?

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Ganondorf strode through the castle’s gatehouse and into the entrance chamber just in time to avoid a conspicuously late arrival as the entirety of his Gerudo troop was ushered further down into the confines of the castle towards the meeting hall. Riju shot him a backwards glance over her shoulder, eyebrow raised in questioning before she returned to her conversation with the Hyrulian Princess. Ganondorf lingered towards the back of the crowd, striving to nonverbally soothe the palpable anxieties of his guards as they attempted to reconcile the informal nonchalance of their male leader with the infamous stuffiness of Hyrule’s royal court. Despite the Gerudos’ friendly relations with the kingdom, that Hyrulian formality was something Ganondorf had never, and would never, appreciate. Nor would he make much of an effort to abide by it, even as a guest of the kingdom.

Taking his seat to the left of Zelda and across from his sister, Ganondorf attempted to remain engaged in trade negotiations but found his mind straying. Trade wasn’t his area, anyway- such was Riju’s domain- but it was custom for both Gerudo rulers to attend these out-of-state meetings, more as a matter of etiquette than anything else. Ganondorf generally embraced the opportunity to visit his little Hylian lover, in any case; but Link was conspicuously absent this morning. Usually, he served the same purpose as Ganondorf during these trade meetings, which was to stay at the princess’s side, listening casually while fighting the urge to get up and attend to something more combat-oriented.

Something more than the absence of Link’s face was on Ganondorf’s mind this time, however. He was terribly intrigued by the spectacular display of magic he had witnessed moments before. Chiding himself for the whirlwind of emotion in his mind- envy being a large portion of it- he attempted to herd his ruminations to a more rational area: an attempt to understand how it was possible that there was someone in Hyrule, whom he had never seen nor heard of, who was capable of magical feats beyond his own, and who was apparently in the employ of the Hyrulian Kingdom. Though he wasn’t one for boasting- rather, he let his instrumental work at the expansion and enrichment of his Kingdom speak for itself- it wasn’t a secret that Ganondorf was the most talented sorcerer this side of the continent. So, why had this not come to his attention?

Beneath his logical inquiries, however, rested a more pressing concern: how?

How did an individual attain such power?

Without the aid of the devastating force of malice incarnate, that is?

Ganondorf leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms at the memory of the strange, unimpressive-looking man who had stood and directed the motion of a several-ton slab of stone with but the twitch of a finger.

“Gan.”

The prince’s head shot up suddenly, meeting Riju’s impatient gaze.

“That’s your cue,” Riju said flatly. “Which goods are a priority for the Kingdom?”

Ganondorf shook himself out of his pondering and leaned forward, engaging himself, if a bit reluctantly. “Our irrigation systems have expanded significantly since we last spoke. At this point we’re bringing in close to a quarter of the produce needed to feed the city, and several small ranching operations are underway. As such, our requirements have shifted somewhat, more towards wild game and timber. Demand for seafood and waterfowl will remain the same as usual.”

He smiled to himself at the impressed arch of Zelda’s eyebrows.

Yes, I may not be able to levitate bridges, but I can direct the power of the rivers to my kingdom and expand it two-fold in less than six months.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

The remaining hour and a half of negotiations passed not so tediously for Ganondorf following Zelda’s realization of just how much he had been able to do for his Kingdom since his freedom from the Calamity. The discussion wrapped up just around high noon. The Gerudo soldiers were invited to stroll around the castle grounds at their leisure, in anticipation of the banquet-lunch which would be served in around 45 minutes. Ganondorf took the moment of repose to check in on Link’s chamber in case he happened to be holed up there, hiding from his responsibility to the trade meeting.

The prince didn’t need to venture far, however, for as he made his way into the entrance hall of the castle on the tails of his chattering soldiers, he happened upon the sight of his partner approaching from the opposite end of the hallway. He appeared to be audience to a very animated and one-sided conversation with the lavender-haired Mystery Mage from before.

Link’s blue eyes fell upon the soldiers, looking surprised at their presence, as if he hadn’t been privy to their arrival. The mage cut off what sounded like monologuing in order to assess what had caught Link’s attention, and his face clouded over as he sized up the much taller man progressing down the hallway towards them.

“Gan!” Link brightened and strode over, arms wide in welcome, though Ganondorf perceived the slightest bit of stiffness in his movements. He returned the quick embrace and shot Link a knowing smirk.

“You missed out on all the trade-negotiating.”

Link gave a sheepish smile back. “I didn’t even know you guys were coming.” Suddenly aware of the silent figure behind him, who appeared to be observing the scene with increasing distaste, Link backed away from Ganondorf quickly and made a motion to pull his companion to the forefront. “Vaati, this is Ganondorf, Prince of the Gerudo. They’re our most active trade partners at the moment. Gan, this is-“

Link was cut off, however, as the man named Vaati stepped brusquely in front of him and extended a confident hand to Ganondorf. “Vaati, Court Sorcerer to the Kingdom of Hyrule.” His tone held a pompous tenor to it which Ganondorf found wholly unsurprising.

He extended his own hand coolly and shook. “An honor.” His voice was completely devoid of anything that could betray his impression of the haughty stranger in front of him.

If Link was at all irked by the mage’s attitude himself, he hid it well with a detached gaze off somewhere to the left of the two taller men.

“I would say it’s a pleasure to meet you, but we’ve met before, Ganondorf, as I’m sure you remember.” Vaati’s words were icy behind a smile that was much closer to a sneer.

At these words, the smallest bit of anxiety made itself known in the crease between Link’s brows.

Ganondorf held Vaati’s challenging gaze, blank and unfazed. “I don’t believe we have.”

“Is that so?”

Before the situation escalated into anything more unpleasant than it already was, Link gave a heavy, interrupting nod and seized Vaati’s right arm rather forcefully, making to continue their way down the hall. “Well,” he spoke, too loudly, “we better get going, but I’ll see you later, Gan. You’re staying until tomorrow, right?” and made off without an answer, shooting Ganondorf the smallest of apologetic glances as he passed him by.

Ganondorf allowed himself several seconds to stand and digest the unsavory interaction he had just been subjected to.

Who the fuck is that?

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Link was impressed that Vaati managed to wait until they were safely behind a stairwell door before beginning his tirade.

“What in the name of-“

“Vaati, there’s a lot that’s different about…him…this time around.”

Vaati snorted. He considered not responding to show his skepticism, but found he didn’t have the patience. “I imagine he came out of his own century-long time-out perfectly amicable, is that it?”

Link shot his friend a look that said, like that’s so uncommon. Vaati scowled in reply.

“I’m serious, he’s not who he was before. Ask Zelda if you don’t believe me. They are literally our most lucrative trade partners and biggest allies in Hyrule.”

“And how long has this been the case? Not nearly long enough to establish actual evidence of good intention, I imagine?”

“No, it’s been a year and a half. Ever since we beat the Calamity.”

“Which he came out of.”

“He was possessed.”

Something was off in Link’s tone- like he almost didn’t believe his own words, like there was ulterior motive for him to be so defensive of the man who had consistently emerged as his mortal enemy in every single previous lifetime. It did not escape Vaati’s notice, and he turned to search Link’s face. A fraction of a second was all it took for him to interpret the discomfort plastered over his features.

“Oh, I see. This is him.”

Link sighed. Well, it was all fucked now.

Vaati gave a mocking laugh, throwing up his hands in spiteful understanding. “Of course, in my absence, you would be fucking the next best evil sorcerer.”

Link flattened his lips but called upon his patience in dealing with this inevitable and entirely predictable interaction. He said nothing.

“Well, Link, if and when he decides to throw away the act and attempt to take over Hyrule again, I hope you know I’ll help you regardless.” The mage’s tone was haughty as ever.

If Link hadn’t known Vaati better, he might have believed that irritation at Link’s foolishness was the only thing shining through his disrespectful outburst. 

Chapter Text

The position of the Gerudo Kingdom as Hyrule’s biggest trade partner was lucrative, but did not come without certain problems in terms of diplomacy. Namely, the fact that males in the employ of the court weren’t allowed within the borders of the desert kingdom’s main township. As a result, Hyrulian caravans headed southwest for trade negotiations were staffed with as many women as possible (which was difficult in itself, as Hyrule’s male soldiers outnumbered the females 8 to 1) and the men were dropped off at Kara Kara Bazaar before the final stretch of the journey, where they would be housed until the Princess and the remaining women returned from their stay within the city walls. Because this inevitably left the Princess without adequate protection for the 10 or so miles to the walled confines of Gerudo Town, a troop of Gerudo soldiers (headed by Riju herself and sometimes Ganondorf alongside her) was dispatched to meet the caravan in order to escort them the remainder of the way.

Zelda had at first objected to this arrangement, insistent that her male soldiers could make the journey to the entrance of town and return to the Bazaar in the evening. The Gerudo Kingdom, however, had struck this down, objecting that it was, after all, their own policies which caused this hardship for the Hyrulians, and therefore they would graciously extend their services in order to make up for the complicated ordeal.

In private conversation with Riju, Zelda often complained that if her troops weren’t so overwhelmingly masculine in composition, this wouldn’t even be an issue. But so it goes.

As per usual, Link’s ambiguously masculine presence at Zelda’s side during negotiations was politely ignored. A Hero’s pass, if you will.

Vaati, now well at home in his position of Court Sorcerer to the Kingdom of Hyrule, found this to be both hilarious and decidedly unfair. He was eager to assert his presence and power to anyone the Court came in contact with- especially a burgeoning and lucrative trade partner. Despite the fact that sorcery had little useful place within the realm of international commerce, he argued incessantly for his right to occupy a seat at the Gerudo table- or for the chance to try to be offered a seat, at least- and Zelda grudgingly agreed. Partly out of a desire to humor her friend, but mostly out of a desire to shut him up and allow him to discover for himself just how strict Gerudo policy enforcement really was.

Whether or not Vaati had more surreptitious and unsavory reasons for wanting to put himself again in contact with Ganondorf was known only to himself, and shrewdly but privately assumed only by Link.

This arrangement was how Vaati found himself flanked by Link and Zelda in the royal carriage of the Hyrulian caravan to the Gerudo Desert. Presently it was making its way out of the Desert Gateway and into the open expanse of unimaginably dry air and sand composing the southwestern reaches of the continent.

“You know you’ll have to spend the night in the Bazaar inn if they deny you entry. Which they will.” At this point, Zelda was more amused by Vaati’s determination than anything else.

“If they deny me entry, I’ll go back to the castle. They won’t deny me, though.”

“How are you so certain of that?”

“I’ll just charm all the lovely Gerudo guards.”

Link choked a bit as he tried to stifle his laugh. 

“As if that’s not how you got in,” the mage jabbed at Link, who had turned away to gaze out the carriage window, still fighting back a smirk. “I can’t imagine that you actually pass for female, disguise or not. You’d still be showing those arms.” Vaati poked a finger at the muscle of Link’s forearm, as if to prove a point.

“My arms are probably the least muscular out of anyone in Gerudo Town, actually,” Link retorted, but Vaati could have sworn there appeared a tint of red to the tops of his cheeks as he refused to turn his face back to the group.

Vaati was better at holding back his own smirks than Link, and the undercurrent of the exchange went unnoticed by Zelda, who was admittedly distracted by her own work-oriented thoughts regarding the upcoming trade negotiations.

Finally, the caravan rolled into the sleepy center of the Bazaar. Apart from the shopkeepers-  basically fixtures of the landscape at this point- the oasis was nearly empty. Dusty and stiflingly hot, only the scattered palms and the entryway to the inn offered any degree of relief from the afternoon sun. To this shade Hyrule’s soldiers flocked once the Princess had indicated that they could take their leave.

Link peeked out the half-covered carriage window, checking if any of Princess Riju’s escort had arrived. It looked clear. He nodded to Zelda, part of a silent exchange they were now both very familiar with, and climbed out the carriage with the air of someone attempting something covert under a limited time frame.

Vaati stared after his trail. “Where’s he off to?”

“Changing into his disguise,” Zelda replied. She gave a short chuckle. “Most of the Gerudo realize who he is at this point, but it’s courteous for him to try and be discreet about it. Especially in front of the Hylians,” she added, gazing pointedly at the few male civilians unaffiliated with her caravan who roamed the sleepy oasis.

Vaati nodded in understanding.

The mage had intended to take this opportunity to scope out the area; however, Riju’s timing was impeccable, and soon enough the swoosh of sand-seals parting the desert sand became audible, signaling the approach of their escort.

Amongst the din could be heard the heavy trot of a singular horse upon the packed-down road from Gerudo Town.

It was not long before Vaati was reminded of the fact that Ganondorf, in this existence, was the only of his people who kept a mount. It was a monstrous, majestic creature, standing a good 6 feet at least at the withers, jet-black as its master’s armor and just as elaborately decorated.

He had to admit, it was an imposing sight. Ganondorf’s own stature atop the beast wasn’t unimpressive, either.

Craning his neck to get a better look, Vaati’s eyes squinted and then began to burn as he realized who the Gerudo Prince was conversing with from the top of his stallion.

Link was covered up but certainly recognizable in a color-coordinated sirwal and cropped top, veil, and hood, from under which his straw-colored hair fell out and grazed exposed shoulders. Actually, Link really wasn’t covered up much at all. Quite the opposite. Apart from the lower portion of his face, a miniscule strip of chest and his forearms and thighs, he was entirely exposed.

Vaati felt his stomach drop, assaulted by a vile mixture of jealousy, anger, and sudden desire, all of which he refused to consciously identify.

Still, he didn’t take his eyes off the interaction occurring across the pond.

Link had hoisted himself onto a boulder next to Ganondorf, so that he was able to lean over and stroke the stallion’s peculiar red-orange mane. He was nearly eye-level to the Prince at this point, but still had to tilt his head up just slightly to maintain conversation.

Ganondorf uttered something that sent the knight into a fit of laughter. Vaati could see the grin peeking out from behind his veil.

He had become familiar with the sight of Link’s body as they had traveled the long months together in a past existence; such was the reality of a nomadic lifestyle, when any nearby body of water was a welcome chance to bathe, and every too-hot day wasn’t worth wearing clothing for the sake of modesty.

This time around, however, the knight’s form was a bit different.

He was older, with a much more violent past behind him this time around, and it showed on his body. Even from a distance, his skin was visibly laced with scars: long, jagged white streaks that crisscrossed all over and seemed to cover more skin than they didn’t. Under these marks was muscle which made up every visible inch of his frame, rifting the knight’s form in a way that gave Vaati a sudden appreciation for just how much physical activity Link’s excursions around Hyrule must entail.

Link shifted, lounging back now, supported on one outstretched arm. His torso twisted slightly in Vaati’s direction. Vaati’s heart turned over.

It wasn’t until he was startled by the charming voice of a Gerudo soldier’s introduction that Vaati realized he had been so occupied with the sight of Link that he hadn’t even taken notice of the throngs of beautiful women around him.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

By the time that Zelda, her few female soldiers, Link, and their Gerudo escort were ready to finish the trek to the seat of the Kingdom, Vaati had ingratiated his way into the ranks of Riju’s soldiers to the point that they were apologizing to him for the fact that he wouldn’t be able to join them inside the city. Several of them seemed genuinely disappointed about it, too. In particular, two of the newer recruits seemed reluctant to pull themselves from the mage’s side as they were called to formation.

Try as he might, Vaati found himself unable to get through to the soldiers, who were adamantly loyal to their traditions. To a fault, in his opinion.

As he capitulated to the inevitability of returning to the Castle- there was no use staying in this muggy wasteland if he couldn’t fulfill his mission, after all- Vaati caught sight of the smaller caravan headed southwest into the horizon. Flanked by towering soldiers and grasping tight to Riju, Zelda seemed to be struggling to find her footing atop a shield, pulled by some kind of strange desert seal. Close behind them was Ganondorf on his horse. Link sat much too close in front of him, his back against the Prince’s enormous chest, looking dwarfed and ridiculous on such an enormous creature.

Vaati grimaced and disappeared, back to the cool, welcome Hyrulian air.

Chapter Text

Rap-rap-rap-rap.

Vaati’s head inclined at the soft, recognizable announcement of his chambermaid at the door. A small smile passed his lips. Though he had initially been dubious of the idea of an attendant- his desire for privacy overrode his desire for servitude- he had been introduced to his new domestic several weeks ago and had quickly changed his mind upon appraisal of the young woman. She was charmingly meek, fit for her station, but not without the glint of something more behind her dark eyes. Small and slender and undeniably attractive, with long straw-colored hair that fell down her back and complemented a rosy smile. And she held an obvious fascination for her liege that Vaati always found humorous, and fun to play with, when observed in those around him. He figured he wouldn’t pass up an opportunity to add a bit of spice to his research-intensive workdays, and thus humored the girl.

“Enter.” He remained engrossed in his textbooks as the door creaked open and the clink of a tea set made its way to his desk. Once she had set down the platter, Vaati smiled at Mira in thanks, relishing her flustered glances at anything but him as he rested his fingers on her forearm and sat back to observe her.

“A pleasure,” she mumbled, daring to turn her eyes to meet his.

“No, the pleasure is mine.” Vaati scanned her form lazily before returning his eyes to the work in front of him.

“Don’t you ever take breaks, Master Vaati?”

Vaati paused, and slowly turned his head back to meet her eyes once again. Her voice was innocent, but there was that gleam of mischief just barely perceptible in her inquiring gaze.

He smirked. “Ah, I do, but always of my own accord.”

Before the startled expression- scared of having overstepped a boundary- remained too long on her face, he added, once again turned to his work dismissively: “In fact, I was just planning on taking an extended break in about an hour, if you’d like to check back in at that time. I can never have too much tea,” he added, tip of his mouth curving upward.

He saw the slow and somewhat devilish smile creep across her face out of his peripheral vision as she gave a short curtsy, taking her leave. “Of course, sir. I’ll be back then.”

Vaati waited until she was safely across the study before raising his head to catch the last glimpse of her gait, the ghost of a self-satisfied smile wisped across his own features. Well, at least now he had something sweet to look forward to amidst his unending research.

 +++++++++++++++++++++++++

By the time Mira was knocking on Vaati’s door again, he had made sure to stop at a convenient point in his research in order to avoid distraction by unfinished thoughts. This time, he made his way over to the door and let the girl in himself, smirking at the second pot of tea she had actually brought with her.

“I’m lucky to have such a dutiful chambermaid.” Vaati’s voice was silken; he ignored the refreshment, however, opting instead to take a seat on his red velvet chesterfield, motioning for Mira to join him. “But I’m sure you appreciate taking breaks as well.”

Mira set down the pot and, with a small intake of breath as if resigning herself to what she hadn’t been sure she was going to do, stepped over to the couch and took a seat next to her master. Her movements were hesitant, as usual, but her eyes betrayed that curious desire, and were more aflame than Vaati had ever seen them.

Vaati barely held back his grin, feeling quite like a cat who had finally cornered its prey.

If Mira caught on, however, she didn’t seem to mind. In fact, she appeared newly emboldened by the crossing of some invisible threshold by allowing herself interruption of her work duties in her master’s very chamber. She swiveled to face him from the other end of the couch, shifting slightly so as to be closer to him. Her dark eyes bored into his, and the side of her lip curled into a wicked smile. “And what does my master do to relax?”

“Well, I have several hobbies. But that’s usually dependent on whether or not I find myself with company. I doubt my usual occupations would interest you much, but I’m certain we can think up something that would interest us both.”

Vaati’s words hung expectantly in the air between them, toeing the line between innocent and deviant. The distinction was in the voice delivering the words. He left the decision up to her.

Mira’s eyes dropped downwards, only to lift slowly back to meet Vaati’s, smoldering as she murmured suggestively, “I’m sure we could.”

He had his answer.

Permissive as he may have been with Mira’s breaches of normal chambermaid conduct, Vaati wasn’t going to stray too far from the established bounds of their relationship. As such, he made sure to keep his body positioned in a way that implied he wasn’t planning on doing too much work during their mutual “relaxation.”  Even as their hands roamed hungrily over each other and his mouth strayed from Mira’s lips, to her neck, to her newly-uncovered shoulders, he kept himself planted firmly in his seat on the couch, and gave Mira a grin of encouragement when she made to position herself downwards and in between his knees. The maid didn’t seem to mind. In fact, she was wonderfully eager. As she should be.

Their set-up also gave him ample space to play with that delightful blonde hair as he drank in the view of her. Vaati lifted himself slightly, helping her to get him out of his trousers, then laid back down, right hand lazily entangled in her locks, happy to allow his enthusiastic maid to help him take a break.

And she definitely wasn’t bad at it, either. Vaati found himself struggling more and more to contain his sighs of pleasure as she gradually increased her pace.

Rap-rap rap rap- rap-

Mira froze, her gaze shooting up to meet Vaati’s at the interruption outside his door.

“Keep going,” he whispered, absently stroking her shoulder. To the door, he shouted irritably, “Come back later!”

“Vaati?”

Vaati frowned at Link’s inquiring voice through the wall.

“I said come back later.”

He heard a grudging “Okay,” followed by the muffled sound of footsteps retreating down the hall. Rolling his eyes, he stroked Mira’s head once again, prompting her to resume her pace. Slowly but surely, she relaxed, taking up where she had left off with just as much enthusiasm.

Vaati rested his head over the back of the couch, attempting to return to a comfortably thoughtless state of mind. Instead, he found his thoughts wandering more toward the man who had just knocked on his door. He felt a twinge of irritation at the direction of such thoughts, conscious that there was a reason he generally didn’t let the blond boy take up residence in his mind during times like…this. And it wasn’t because such thoughts would impede the process.

Redirecting them was a lot harder when he was already well on his way, however.

Vaati looked down at Mira, and a warm flush ran from his shoulders to his stomach at the sight of her. With her head bowed like this, golden hair tumbling over her shoulders, it was almost possible to imagine that…

Goddamnit, stop.

The images in his mind didn’t obey, however. Vaati found himself thinking back to Link as he had been during their cross-country trek to Gerudo Town: sun-kissed and radiant, and so very exposed, in the vai “disguise” necessary for entrance to the desert kingdom. Vaati had teased him about it afterwards, but only to distract himself from the fact that Link had looked absolutely ravishing in the get-up. The physical response such a sight encouraged in Vaati was not lost on him now.

Mira seemed to notice, too, and increased her efforts accordingly.

Vaati gave up trying to direct his thoughts. He leaned his head back, eyes closed, but in his mind he kept his sight on the figure between his knees; however, the blond in his mind had hair quite a bit shorter, and the chamber-maid’s dress was replaced by turquoise-and-gold-patterned cloth draped over an impossibly toned physique.

At that point, Vaati couldn’t hold back a moan. His hand instinctively squeezed Mira’s arm and he raised his head up enough to let out a husky murmur. “Are you going to swallow for me?”

Mira redoubled her pace in response, and Vaati chuckled, a quick escape of breath just before it transformed to a groan as she finished him off. 

Chapter Text

4 Months Later. Hyrule Castle, Central Hyrule, Present Era: 102 Years Post-Calamity

Vaati was just changing into his night clothes, one of the longer days of work he’d had finally over and done with, when he was disturbed by a knock on his study door which was much too loud for the lateness of the hour.

Glaring at the teacup he had just picked up to move to his sleeping chamber, the mage turned on his heel and made his way across the room, opening the door in a huff.

“Link?”

The smaller man in front of him waved, stepping into the threshold of Vaati’s chamber a little more promptly than normal. Vaati raised his eyebrows.

“Heyy. Whassup. Can I hang out here right now?”

Vaati paused. Link had been drinking.

“…Of course.” Vaati paused again, waiting for an explanation that never came. “Well, what’s wrong?”

“What do you mean?” Link’s voice was loud as he crossed the study, passing through the threshold into Vaati’s bedroom, making himself very much at home. He plopped down on the mage’s bed, kicking off his boots and nearly toppling over onto his side in the process. Vaati sighed from his vantage point in the study.

So much for the peaceful end to my day.

He went back for his teacup and joined Link in the bedroom, eyeing the knight suspiciously. Trying to read the boy’s drink-marred emotional state. He wasn’t certain, but whatever it was, it was volatile.

“Well, you’re drunk, first of all. And you’ve come barging into my study at 11:30 at night. Obviously something’s on your mind.”

Link scoffed. “I just wanta hangout with you. Can’t we?”

Link proceeded to direct his entire body to face Vaati and placed his hand on the other man’s shoulder, though in his current state, it ended up more as a motion to steady himself than the friendly gesture he was going for. Link gave Vaati a watery smile.

Oh, Gods.

“I missed you.” Link’s stare became suddenly penetrative, searching the mage’s face.

Finally, he comes here looking for sex and of course he’s shitfaced.

Vaati gave the boy a pitying pat on the shoulder and stood up. “I don’t know what’s happened, but you’re welcome to stay here tonight if you need to. I’m going to go finish some research.”

He made to cross back into his study, but Link’s sudden grip around his wrist stopped him.

“No! I mean- stay with me.”

For a split second as Vaati turned back to face him, Link’s face was pained, panicked at the sight of him leaving. But it was quickly replaced with that pathetic excuse for seduction he seemed to be going for. “I…me and Gan, Ganondorf, we’re done. So. And…I miss you.”

Vaati stood silently, a tired sigh heaving his chest. Oh, Link.

“I’m sorry.” He reluctantly sat back down beside his friend, placing a somewhat stilted hand on his shoulder.

“Wha’? Don’t be sorry. It’s fine. I’m actually…good. Because I wanted to see you.” Link turned again towards Vaati, lifting his right leg and hooking it over the mage’s left in a botched attempt to situate himself onto the man’s lap. Vaati wrinkled his nose and looked away, placing his hand between them as a barrier to Link’s sloppy advance.

“Stop. This isn’t the time.”

“What do you mean?” Link’s voice raised slightly. He glared at the mage obstinately rejecting his advances. “I want you. And I know you want me, too.”

Vaati’s eyes narrowed at the knowing in Link’s jab.

He would be angry, if he didn’t feel so damned bad for the poor kid.

“I’m not hooking up with you the day you break up with your boyfriend after you’ve gotten wasted to deal with it. You need sleep. I’ll get you a cup of tea, you’re going to hate yourself in the morning.”

The only factor easing the humiliation of the fact that Link was trying to use Vaati now, as a rebound, was that the boy probably wouldn’t remember too much of it in the morning. Vaati pushed aside his bitterness in favor of simply doing his best to get this man passed out as quickly as possible.

“No! That’s not true. I’ve wanted you…this whole time. So now, it’s fine. I’m happy about it.”

Vaati gritted his teeth at the waver in Link’s voice. Even drunk, he didn’t believe his own words. He stalked to the study in search of another teacup.

“Where you going?”

“Go to SLEEP, Link.”

As it turned out, the tea wasn’t even necessary, as the five minutes it had taken for Vaati to prepare it was long enough for Link to forget his immediate surroundings and drift off into a queasy slumber, slouched nearly upright against several pillows. Vaati released a relieved breath at the sight as he re-entered his bedroom. Setting the teacup down on the bedside table, he attended to his last few bedtime chores before settling himself into the small portion of his sizeable mattress not occupied by a sprawled Link. He waved a finger to extinguish the magical fire from each corner of the room.

What was it about this boy that had Vaati finding himself enduring humiliation? Not just once, but repeatedly?

Anyone else who had the nerve to best him in battle and not immediately kill him afterward would have gotten obliterated.

Anyone else who would even suggest that Vaati lock himself up- willingly- in a sacred prison for the benefit of the country? For the greater good? He would’ve maimed them permanently just for the suggestion.

Anyone else who would put him through the mortification of being a very, very obvious, drunken second choice…

And yet. 

Vaati sighed, turning slowly towards Link’s body which was now rising and falling with deep, even breaths. He wouldn’t admit to himself now that he had longed for this exact scenario, under different circumstances, countless times before.

He extended his arm and settled it gently over Link’s torso, and eventually drifted to unconsciousness himself, face wrought with frustration even in sleep.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Vaati had been up for hours by the time Link awoke the next morning, greeted by a killer headache and confusion as to why he was alone in Vaati’s bed at 11 in the morning. His memory of the day before cut off rather abruptly around 9 PM, at which point he knew he’d already been drinking for several hours. Feigning sleep until he could recall a bit more about how the night had ended, he peeked up from behind the regal violet duvet enveloping him and caught sight of Vaati hunched over at his desk, as usual, facing away from the bedroom.

Link had all his clothes on, and what few glimpses he retained from the night prior gave him the impression that whatever interaction they’d had had leaned more towards argument than sex. Link scowled to himself. Leave it to him to humiliate himself in a drunken fit of whatever ideas had come over him in his blackout.

Well, it was no good to delay the inevitable. Link began to drag himself out of bed, moving slow to avoid further aggravating his nausea. Vaati’s ears pricked at the sound of movement from his bedroom, but he remained still, faking engrossment in his work. 

Link had planned for his first stop to be at Vaati’s desk, but the sick twist of nausea in his stomach re-laid his plans. He made a beeline for the mage’s attached bathroom. The slam of the door was followed by muffled sounds of retching.

From his study, Vaati smiled vindictively.

That stupid boy should endure some kind of punishment for his foolishness.

At the sound of Link’s return to the study, Vaati bid him good morning. “Feeling good?”

Link grunted in response. He made his way to the desk and settled himself, leaning against the mahogany table.

Vaati couldn’t help but chuckle mean-spiritedly at the sight of the knight- he wasn’t sure he’d ever seen him so disheveled. “You look awful.”

“I feel awful.” Link rubbed his face. He paused awkwardly, perhaps waiting for Vaati to initiate conversation; he didn’t. Link took a deep breath. “I have no idea what I did last night, but I have a feeling I owe you a thanks, and an apology.” He searched Vaati’s face for any sign of how right he was.

The mage’s face was impassive. “That you do.” He left it at that, turning his attention back to the papers piled in front of him.

Link waited another beat before realizing that was as far as it was going to go. “Well, thanks, and sorry. I’m gonna go suffer in my own quarters.”

Vaati nodded curtly. Link took his leave.

Chapter Text

When Link’s familiar knock announced his return to Vaati’s study later that day, the mage feared the worst: that he had remembered what he’d done and had come back to offer a real apology. He considered feigning absence, but thought better of it and reluctantly made his way to open the door.

“Are you busy?”

Vaati noticed that the boy didn’t look a whole lot better than when he’d left in the morning. “I’m always busy.”

Link opened his mouth, but faltered. Rolling his eyes, Vaati stepped aside, permitting entry.

“Sorry. Zelda’s tangled up in something, and I- well, I work tomorrow, so I can’t just take off. And I just- don’t want to be in my room right now,” Link finished lamely. “If you need help with your work, I’m all ears. Or hands.”

Vaati couldn’t help but smirk. “Don’t pretend you’re good for anything more sophisticated than bloodshed, Hero.”

The corners of Link’s lips turned up. “Bastard.”

Vaati gave a last glance at the piles of paperwork on his desk, which he then turned his back on in acceptance that he wouldn’t be getting any more of it done tonight. He was simply relieved his initial assumption for the purpose of Link’s visit didn’t seem to be the case. “Well, what’s on your mind?”

Link shrugged, directing a vacant gaze away from Vaati and towards the window. He opened his mouth to speak, thought better of it, then perked up as he looked back to Vaati and gestured at the piles of textbooks on his desk. “What are you working on?”

“Ah…I’m in the research stage of constructing a magic mirror for the Kingdom.” Vaati played nonchalant, but Link could detect the pride in his voice as he introduced his newest project.

“Magic mirror?”

“For resource acquisition, amongst other things. It will be able to show the exact location in Hyrule of any item, resource, landmark, what have you that the user asks of it. During the later stages, I intend to implement functionality that will be able to transport the user directly to said location.”

Link raised his eyebrows, impressed. “Wow. That’ll be fantastic for rebuilding efforts.”

“It will be fantastic for the Kingdom in general, even after rebuilding is complete.” Vaati gazed down on his research, piled in unsteady towers of textbooks and parchment paper. “Unfortunately, it’s a rather complicated bit of engineering. I’ve been at this for weeks.” The tiniest note of frustration shone through his words. “It will be well worth it, however.”

Vaati considered mentioning his second, more personal reason for the construction of the portal, but thought better of it. No, Link didn’t deserve to know all of what was going on behind the scenes of the mage’s impressive spellcasting. Especially after the fiasco he had forced him to endure last night.

The mage glanced at the hour and stood up, retrieving a bottle of wine and glass from his cooler. He shot Link a look. “I’d offer you a glass, but I have a feeling you’re not feeling up to it tonight.”

Link wrinkled his nose in reply. Vaati laughed. He poured himself a glass and settled comfortably on his chesterfield. “So, what has the famous knight, personal appointment to the Princess of Hyrule Kingdom, got on his plate these days?”

Link rolled his eyes at the grandiose title. “Scouting missions for reconstruction, always. Zelda has me going out to Lake Hylia tomorrow to clear the road. Apparently she’s got dozens of business license requests for the place but just as many complaints that no one can actually get there, thanks to the lizalfos.” Link’s voice betrayed his typically well-hidden irritation at the enduring incompetence of Hyrule’s citizens when it came to their own self-defense.

“Hah.” Vaati sipped his cabernet. “You and I should go out “clearing for reconstruction” sometime. I hear there’s interesting monsters in Lanayru Province.”

Link glanced at him, surprised. “Yeah? You want to?”

Vaati grinned. “Once I’ve got a free minute, I should add. And only if we’re taking care of the exciting ones…I have no interest in wasting time taking down lizalfos. A lynel, on the other hand… it’s been a while since I stretched my wings.” He extended his arms behind his head in a performative stretch, winking at Link. The man scoffed in reply, but there was a twitch at the corner of his mouth.

“Well, whenever. Just say the word. But I’m pretty sure the two of us against a lynel would be a little too easy.”

“Ah, we’ll see. We can always resort to sparring if it comes to that.” Vaati extended his legs and gazed comfortably over his glass to the window.

Link smiled to himself. It did feel good to have his friend back. Turns out, reincarnation as a different person isn’t that big of a deal when it comes to rekindling lost connections, if at least one of the parties waltzes in like no time had passed at all. Vaati had shown up acting like the Link he’d found in this entirely new world was just the same old Link from centuries ago.

It also helped to have crystal-clear memories of the friendship from that past life.

“I missed you.” Link glanced over to Vaati again.

He quickly frowned, however, when it appeared that his words had set something off in the mage- the opposite of what he’d intended.

“Yes, you’ve mentioned that.”

Vaati’s voice had cooled several degrees, and his brow hardened as he continued to inspect the scenery outside his window.

Link hesitated, confused. Vaati had a famously short fuse, yes, but this time he truly had no idea where this reaction had come from. “Uh?”

Finally, Vaati turned to look at him, glowering. “So, what happened between you and your prince?”

Oh.

Link swallowed. He was suddenly much more concerned about what his behavior last night had consisted of. Apparently, he’d drunkenly clued Vaati in to a couple things.

“Um. He, uh…I guess they’re doing some expansion of their own, and it sounds way more dangerous to be doing that in the desert. He doesn’t want the stress of a relationship while dealing with it, I guess. And he doesn’t really have the time for…”

Me. Anymore. Link rubbed his face, suddenly tired. This was the opposite of the conversation he’d come looking for in Vaati’s company.

Vaati took a deep breath, but looked back towards the window, exhaling much of the fight he’d had in him moments before. It was too damned hard to be righteously angry at the boy when he sounded so pathetic. “Well, I already told you I’m sorry that happened, so I don’t feel the need to say it again.” His tone came out softer than he’d intended for the words that carried it.

Link clenched his jaw, torn between knowing he should ask and not wanting to hear the answer. Finally: “I’m a little worried about what else you told me that I don’t remember. More what I told you, actually.”

Vaati crossed his arms in a huff. Finally, in a tone of voice that would have been humorous if Link wasn’t the cause of this conversation, he spat: “If you really want to know, you finally made the logical decision and propositioned me, which frankly I don’t understand how you refrained from doing over the last several months, but that’s none of my business. I’m sure you wanted to be loyal to your little boyfriend. And I told you to get fucked because I would never lower myself to that level and engage with anyone so inebriated, despite how much you so desperately wanted it.”

Well, Vaati had actually been a lot nicer to the drunk at the time, but it was better for everyone if Link was under the impression that he’d gotten the harsh treatment he deserved.

He didn’t need to turn his head to know Link was furiously red at the newfound knowledge of his own behavior. He could practically feel the heat emanating off his face from across the couch.

“Regardless, I’m not a second choice. You had your chance,” Vaati snapped, when the boy failed to apologize immediately.

Link paused, but finally turned toward the mage, still burning red, and asked quietly, “Did I?”

…Oh, goddamnit.

Vaati’s head spinned. He couldn’t give in to this. It was humiliating. But what if- no. But what if…he could do something that he knew deep down was him giving in but make it look enough like he was in control that…his pride wouldn’t…

Vaati turned and met Link’s eyes. He was fairly certain his resolve broke at that moment. But still he held the challenge that hung between their gaze, waiting.

Then, Link smirked, still hot with the flush of embarrassment on his face. “I wanted you back when I was 17 in my other life. So, technically, you were my first choice.”

Boldly, he inched himself closer to the mage and reached out to rest a hand on his forearm.

“Goddamnit, Link, I don’t want to do this with you!” Vaati retorted furiously, standing up to leave.

No- fuck him.

So he threw himself back down and gripped both of Link’s shoulders, glaring at him before he pressed- more like smashed- his lips against Link’s, an expression of anger more than anything else.

He could have sworn he felt the bastard smile under the sudden assault.

The next few moments were a mutual catharsis of several months’ worth of desire, provoked further by Vaati’s tangible fury and Link’s natural tendency to encourage such kinds of forceful affection. By the end of several minutes, the pair had found a natural dynamic, with Link pinned under- and much further undressed than- his partner. Vaati halted his rough oral exploration of Link’s neck and took a moment to assess their environment. He abruptly lifted himself from the couch and motioned toward the bedroom, more instruction than question. Link was eager to oblige.

The knight soon found himself shoved onto the bed with a force he wasn’t sure was still present in Vaati’s temperament. The smaller man wasn’t complaining, however. He opened his eyes to a remarkably predatory look gazing down upon him. Vaati’s fanged canines were somehow more prominent from such an angle as the man grinned downward at what lay helpless beneath him.

“I thought I’d never get to see you like this,” Vaati breathed, voice low and dangerous.

Link’s eyes only burned a brighter blue in response. He looked expectant.

And the situation didn’t warrant waiting. Not after several centuries. So Vaati took only a few moments to rifle through his drawer and find his oil before he was back on top of Link, one hand supporting his weight as the other pushed the knight’s legs up towards his chest, eyes all over the man below him, sensitive to subtle changes in his demeanor while pretending he wasn’t. If anything, Link was more impatient than he was; he had the nerve to try and pull Vaati into him when he wasn’t moving fast enough. Vaati smirked, and finally relented.

Oh, that moan was something Vaati didn’t think he would ever have the pleasure of hearing, back when he had resigned himself to an existence housed inside of a sword. It was just as sweet as he’d imagined.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Vaati hadn’t completely lost the rage that had spurred his yielding to temptation. But as the minutes passed with he and his little knight entangled together, he found himself able to focus past the blood rush in his ears and extend his awareness to the writhing body below him. From the signs transmitted through sound and touch, he anticipated the other’s release soon. Which would never do, because the timing of that was up to Vaati, not Link.

He also loathed to admit it to himself, but this situation was something he may have fantasized about once or twice in the past, and Link’s beautiful performance below him wasn’t aiding his own endurance.

Vaati leaned his head between the blond’s neck and tanned shoulder, nibbling lightly, rewarded by a soft moan. He spent several more minutes exploring the sensitive landscape around Link’s collar before moving up to his ear to whisper: “Link.”

A lovely little whimper in reply.

Vaati suddenly slowed his pace. He pushed his hips closer towards Link and pressed into him deep, raising his head just enough to catch a reaction flit across those enchanted blue eyes. Something between ecstasy and panic.

“Vaati-“

“Mm?” Vaati pulled out slightly, only to repeat the movement, pushing down closer, and deeper, and slower than ever.

Link gasped. “I’m-“

Vaati didn’t hear the rest, because he was there, too, and confident that his timing was impeccable, as always. Any moans emitted from the squirming boy beneath him were drowned out by Vaati’s own whine as his legs clenched and his fingernails dug into Link’s skin. His breath came out in gasps, and he was vaguely aware of the mild sting of teeth clamped onto his shoulder, from where the last dredges of Link’s melodious cries emanated. Then they both collapsed limply into each other and the bed.

The mage resisted the urge to admire Link post-orgasm until they had both begun to breathe normally again. Slowly, he pulled out and away, holding himself up with one hand and tracing Link’s rosy profile with the fingers of the other. The boy’s blue eyes opened slowly, himself drinking in the sight of Vaati, flushed and satisfied. Link’s lips turned slightly upwards and he closed his eyes again, slowly, like a cat.

Vaati let his eyes linger a few moments longer before sitting up and summoning a washcloth with a wave of his fingers and a whoosh of wind from the bathroom. He dropped it unceremoniously onto Link’s abdomen. The mage felt a twinge of irritation as he realized that the further removed he became from his orgasm, the more his feelings of anger and resentment began to resurface, increased doubly by the fact that he had, in fact, just given in to the temptation he’d promised himself he wouldn’t give in to. The lovely sight of Link lying spent in front of him only slightly tempered this. More than resentment, however, was the dreadful creep of guilt- easily one of Vaati’s least favorite emotions- which became more pronounced the longer he observed the pretty aftermath in his bed.

He hadn’t wanted to have post-break-up sex with Link while the boy was undoubtedly raw with the pain of the whole thing, intoxicated or not. He detested that Link had put him in that position.

He detested that Link had even had the chance to put him in that position.

He detested that he hadn’t gotten what he’d wanted right from the start, right from the moment he’d fallen out of that damned sword; he detested that he had willingly waited all that time only to come out and have to wait some more and now that he finally had what he’d wanted it was… dirty, somehow.

Link interrupted his ruminations. His voice was soft, hoarse. “Can I smoke in here?”

Vaati shrugged. Sure. He could clean it up with a wave of his hand later. Whatever.

Link waited a moment, but upon no further instruction reached over for his trousers, pulling out a small metal case. He removed one of the slim cigarettes, holding it between his fingers for a beat.

Another beat. “Um,” he began awkwardly, “could you-”

Vaati’s finger flicked, shooting an orange spark too forcefully through the air between them, igniting the cigarette instantly. Link’s eyes lingered on him before leaning back to take a drag, deciding to leave whatever was on the mind of the sorcerer alone. Eventually, Vaati settled himself back down alongside Link, fingers extended in silent demand for a drag. Link conceded.

Link felt a tense energy radiating off the man, like the emotion that had instigated this encounter was back and building up a vengeance. He shifted himself and laid his head over Vaati’s chest anyway. He needed this. He would never voice even a fraction of the turmoil that had been marring his mind after what had transpired between him and Ganondorf yesterday morning. But he knew Vaati cared enough to be a shoulder to lean on. That, in itself, was a welcome weight off his heart.

As if responding intuitively to Link’s thoughts, Vaati set his annoyance aside and wrapped an arm around the boy cradled against his chest, if a bit grudgingly.

Chapter Text

Vaati threw his hands up at the obstinance of Hyrule’s greatest knight. “We’ll be wasting the better half of a day if we begin at Inogo Bridge. Why not just plant ourselves at the base of the mountain and get it done in one day, and then we won’t have to fight the beast in the dark?”

“I told you before, I can’t just warp anywhere like you can. Unless you can tuck me under your arm and take me with you, it’s the closest we’re gonna get.”

“You told me there’s a warp point in the center of Zora’s Domain.”

“Vaati, I can’t just materialize you into the middle of a separate kingdom and deal with introductions afterwards.”

“Why not? We’re doing them a favor. They should be grateful.”

Link shot the mage an exasperated look.

“You said yourself you show up there all the time.”

“You know, for all your intelligence, you’re an idiot, diplomatically.”

Vaati scowled, but backed off. “Well, I only have a single day off, you know. So we’ll have to leave early tomorrow, if we want to finish the job in the daylight.”

Link shrugged. “Fine with me.”

“And I want to share your horse. So I can sleep in the back.”

At this, Link laughed aloud. “You…are not going to be able to sleep on a horse.” Sometimes he wondered how Vaati had made it this far in the world.

Vaati glowered at him. “Whatever. Get your equipment ready, then. I’ll want a nap at Zora’s Domain.” He stalked off towards his study.

Link rolled his eyes and made his way towards his own quarters. The two had finally been able to align their equally hectic schedules and plan a lynel hunt up on Ploymus Mountain. Link was actually rather grateful for the busyness of the last several weeks. He wasn’t one for talking things out; but their last encounter left them both with much to think on, at the least. Link wasn’t entirely sure whether the mage viewed the sex as a mistake not to be repeated, or…something else. Link figured it would be best to just not bring it up and see if Vaati would at least be up for some platonic monster-killing. Despite Vaati’s remarkable patience for back-to-back bookwork and dull architectural repair around the castle, Link could tell he was getting antsy to test his skills in actual combat after being confined for so long. Link took the opportunity to aid Zelda with Hylian-Zora relations, requesting an exchange of monster-part harvest for the temporary absence of the reincarnating lynel looming over their domain. After a quick correspondence with King Dorephan, Zelda had given Link the okay, and now, they had just to prepare for the relatively short trip into the Domain, introduce themselves (well, introduce Vaati), and get to work.

Although Link expected it was going to feel more like play. He hadn’t fought alongside Vaati in centuries. Hadn’t ever, in this lifetime. He had precious memories of their last stand-off against Ganon, however, and Link couldn’t deny the thrill he’d felt during the combination of his own expert swordsmanship and Vaati’s magnificent sorcery. It had been such a thrill, in fact, that it nearly overshadowed the decidedly less positive associations he had with Vaati’s two higher, beastly forms; those remained tinged with older memories of hostility between himself and the mage. Link was hoping that excursions such as this one would work to reverse those associations.

He didn’t have much getting ready to do, thanks to the majority of his equipment being permanently housed within the Sheikah slate. He prepared a quick dinner, washed, and went early to bed, mentally outlining his plan for the following morning.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Rising with the sun, Link outfitted himself in his wetland gear and spent the next half hour stretching, knowing Vaati was certainly going to need more time to get ready. Once his muscles were loose and prepped for combat, he headed up from his chamber to the hallway of Vaati’s study.

Rap-rap rap rap-rap.

“Come in.”

Vaati had just finished his own preparations. He traveled light as well, thanks to the weightlessness of his weapons of choice, and his own rare ability to teleport anywhere he desired. He looked the same as ever, save for the wet-weather cloak he’d draped over his tunic and trousers, and his regular crimson sandals were replaced with more demure leather boots. There was an unusual sheen to his signature purple cap which suggested he had weather-proofed it in some way.

“Ready?” Link placed his hands on his hips.

“Nearly.” Vaati pulled a map of the Lanayru region from his desk and unfurled it in front of Link. “Where exactly are we going?”

Link studied the scroll for a moment before placing his finger on the westernmost portion of the parchment. “Soh Kofi shrine. Inogo Bridge, for you. I’ve got your picture.” Link reached down to awaken his Sheikah slate, scrolling through his album in search of the image of the two watchtowers overlooking the winding Zora River.

Vaati examined the photograph as if committing it to memory. “Inogo Bridge,” he uttered under his breath. “Alright. If I’m not there in fifteen minutes, meet me back here.”

Link nodded and made his way to Vaati’s balcony, stepping into the cool early-morning air to ready himself for the perpetually uncomfortable act of Sheikah-brand teleportation. Vaati locked up the door to his study, followed by his balcony double doors, and winked at Link through the panes of glass before taking a deep breath and feeling his physical form shatter as it flew across Hyrule to the east.

When Link reappeared at the foot of the shrine overlooking those luminous Zora watchtowers, he was surprised to find Vaati already waiting down at the head of Inogo Bridge.

He’s good at that. Link didn’t pretend to understand how magical teleportation worked for someone who’d never physically set foot in their desired destination. In fact, he didn’t pretend to understand how magical teleportation worked at all. He was plenty happy with his own technology-assisted method.

Link scrambled down the rocks to where the mage stood, admiring the glittering Lanayru sky. It was a rare cloudless dawn above the path to Zora’s Domain, and even the lizalfos who usually caused a racket along the river seemed to have retired for the night, leaving the cliff-lined canyon floor tranquil and serene.

“That’s amazing that you could get here on the first try.”

Vaati shrugged. “What can I say, I’m amazing.”

Link marched ahead, concealing a smile as he selected his summoning rune for Bad Bitch. He avoided using it most of the time, knowing his steed cared even less for Sheikah-travel than he did. He knew Vaati wouldn’t stand the trek on foot, however, and the path was much too narrow for his Cycle.

Vaati’s eyes widened at the sudden materialization of Link’s horse in front of them. “That’s…” he trailed off, obviously trying to conceal his astonishment.

“It’s the gear. Ancient Sheikah tech, like the Slate.” Link motioned to the luminescent saddle adorning the length of Bad Bitch’s spine. He summoned an apple from the tech in his palm and offered it to her, soothing her absentmindedly as she chewed.

“You’ve never ridden a horse, right?”

Vaati’s miffed silence was an answer in itself.

It wasn’t his fault there were no horses to be found in the Hyrule he’d emigrated from.

“It’s easy. Kind of. You won’t have to steer, so it’ll be fine.” With a swiftness and ease that belied the man’s short stature, Link swung himself up onto his mare. He shifted as far as possible towards the front of the saddle and extended a hand to Vaati, who pointedly ignored it but followed his lead, swinging himself up and settling against the shorter man’s back. Vaati tried to keep indication of his unease to a minimum. Bad Bitch seemed friendly enough, but the act of sitting upon another living creature for use as a vehicle was completely foreign to the mage.

Link gave a nod once Vaati was settled, knocking his heels softly against the sides of his horse, and they began their ascent to the entrance of the Domain.

After several silent minutes, having let Vaati get a feel for the novel landscape, Link tilted his head back towards the mage. “If we run into anything, d’you think you can just fireball them out of the way real quick? I don’t feel like pulling out my sword.”

“Mm-hm.” It was then Vaati realized that, indeed, Link had neither sword nor shield equipped on his back, as he usually did anytime he left the confines of Hyrule Castle. He chuckled softly. “You’re really not worried, are you?” He took the opportunity to rest his hand on the small of Link’s unobstructed waist, squeezing gently. Link froze at the touch at first, but quickly settled into it, hiding a small smile.

“Not until we get to the lynel,” he snickered.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

It was noon by the time the two had made it to the Great Zora Bridge. Link dismounted and said his good-byes to Bad Bitch, leaving her under Zora care with another apple for the afternoon. Vaati examined the magnificent structure of luminous stone before them.

“This is grander than I remember,” he stated, managing to maintain a tone of cool indifference.

“Yeah, they really put in some work on this place. It’s made entirely of luminous stone. They pay me, like, 50 rupees a pound for the stuff.”

Vaati nodded approvingly. “Well, shall we?”

They headed off towards the central courtyard of the Zora Kingdom. Link announced his business to the guards, though they seemed ready to let him pass before he’d even opened his mouth. As they entered the Domain proper and made their way to the grand imperial staircase towards the throne room, Link and his strange companion were showered with greetings, so much so that the knight had to continuously escape conversation with the excuse of Official Hyrule Business.

Vaati observed silently the entire way. They sure are friendly.

Finally, they arrived at the foot of the King’s throne. Link smiled warmly up at the Zora, waving a hand in greeting.

“Hey, Dorephan!”

Vaati looked sharply at him. Wasn’t that a bit informal for addressing a King?

Link didn’t seem to notice, however. “We’re here, finally! This is Vaati, Hyrule’s Court Sorcerer. We should have your lynel dispatched by 4 o’ clock, latest.”

The enormous Zora smiled down at the two Hylians. “It is a pleasure, Sir Vaati. I thank you both enormously for your service to us. Link, are you certain you don’t require more than the simple materials harvested from your kill?”

Link waved a hand in dismissal. “Nah, that’ll be plenty. We’re happy to help.”

Vaati had to keep himself from scowling. Link was the opposite of an opportunist. Too damn selfless for his own good.

“In that case, good luck with your hunt. As always, come right down if you need assistance, though I doubt that it will be necessary,” King Dorephan winked. He spoke with the assurance of someone who had commissioned Link for this type of work countless times before.

Link bowed and turned to point to an overhanging ledge to their right, one of the highest points looking down upon the Domain. It glittered beautifully in the midday sun. “That’s Shatterback Point. Right at the top you’ll be hidden from view, but the lynel’s just downslope from it. If you want to warp there now, I should be able to make it in thirty minutes or so. Or you can come with me, if you want.”

“How are you getting there?”

“Uh…well, I’ll be swimming up the waterfall.”

Vaati wrinkled his nose. “I’d rather not get drenched right before battle.”

Link chuckled softly. “Alright, I’ll meet you there.” He looked up at Vaati, his face suddenly serious. “Don’t engage it before I get there. I don’t care how bored you get. Okay?”

Vaati huffed, offended at his partner’s lack of faith. “I’ll wait.”

Link nodded. Vaati took a breath, broke into pieces, and reappeared as a dot at the top of Shatterback Point. Link took off at a jog towards Mikau Lake.

Chapter Text

Vaati took a moment to appreciate the 360 degree view from the top of Shatterback Point. He had to admit, this Hyrule was beautiful, and…vast. Despite its tragic disrepair, it was captivating. From the accounts Link shared with him, it sounded like the knight had ventured to the very furthest corners of Hyrule for work and play, and Vaati could almost see how it was worth the trouble. He gazed to the east, across the sparkling expanse that Link had called the Lanayru Sea. He wondered if there was a modern Palace of Winds in this world. It was not the first time the question had crossed his mind.

He scrambled up the mass of rock to his left to get a better view of the battlefield they would be working with. He found himself gazing down upon an open prairie, scattered here and there with trees and boulders but otherwise unblemished, resembling some kind of man-made mountaintop arena crafted for their exact purpose. He scanned the landscape for any sign of lynel.

There- movement to the right of the meadow. It was too far away to make out anything but a rough outline of the peculiar six-limbed beast. Vaati advanced to the base of the stone slab, shielding his eyes from the midday sun and trying to get a sight on what kind of weapons their foe had on him.

He could just barely make out what looked like…a bow? The creature had impressive horns, and…yes, that certainly was a bow slung across its spine, but Vaati couldn’t tell what kind of sword was reflecting the sunlight off the beast’s back. Careful not to make any noise that might spill into the grassy basin below, Vaati switch-backed between the two boulders overlooking the lynel’s stomping grounds and narrowed his eyes, peering at the monster who appeared to be making rounds along the periphery of its territory.

Well, technically, it was Zora territory. From what Link had explained, the beast had just shown up one day, over a hundred years ago, and since refused to die for any length of time that mattered. Apparently Link’s inconstant hunt of the thing served to allow the Zoras occasional access to the area’s resources, but it was good for little else, as the monster would always reincarnate several months later.

Vaati was just considering moving closer- damn it, he didn’t have a scope attached to his hip at all times like Link had- when the beast turned its head very suddenly, and its eyes rested directly on the mage creeping behind the rock.

Shit.  

How could it see this far? Vaati could barely identify the damn thing from here.

The monster turned to face him head-on. Yes, it could definitely see this far.

Vaati supposed there was no cautious retreat from this. His mind flicked guiltily to Link making his way up the mountain before the lynel’s reaching for its enormous bow and what looked like- arrows imbued with- electricity?- shocked the mage’s mind back to the present.

Vaati liked its style.

The lynel nocked an arrow, and Vaati sighed, but there was a wicked smile plastered across his face.

Can’t wait now.

He felt a sudden thrill at his first chance in several hundred years to inhabit his favorite form. It was necessary, after all.

Vaati launched himself behind the boulder just as one of the electric-yellow arrows came whizzing his way. He focused all his energy into the long-unused but not forgotten sensation of transformation. Mental pictures of extending limbs and newfound fire crackling at his body’s periphery preceded the real thing by mere fractions of a second.

He felt his cap morph alongside his body, shape-shifting into slender but dagger-sharp horns to rival his foe’s, and it was almost like ecstasy. By the time his power had raised him weightless above the ground, he wasn’t worried in the slightest about the lack of cover to shield him from those feeble arrows flying his way. He could propel five times that power from his fingertips. And he did, harnessing the wind to arrest the projectiles in their path, so that they fell limply to the sorcerer’s feet hovering above the moist earth. Vaati could have sworn he saw the lynel’s face fall at this demonstration.

Ah, and what better arena in which to control the winds than the very tip of a mountaintop?

Vaati threw his head back and laughed.

With a wave of his arm he summoned the southern wind, sending it crashing into the beast with gale-force strength. The lynel was knocked down by the unanticipated force and remained bent over in the meadow below just long enough for Vaati to realize this was going to be a very, very unfair fight in his favor.

He dismissed the need for levitation and dropped noiselessly to his feet, stalking towards the creature who had found its fight again, rearing up on hind legs in a bellowing rage. It had not advanced two bounds before a flick of Vaati’s wrists sent two balls of blackish-purple fire crashing into its chest, eliciting a furious roar as it reared again, trying to retreat from the enchanted flames as they threatened to disable its movement.

Vaati smiled menacingly as he moved closer, approaching at an ominously slow pace as the lynel backed up, panicked by the dark fire whose paralyzing magic still wisped at its bones. This beast, however, was not going down easy. It withdrew quickly from Vaati’s path once the magic faded, surprisingly nimble for a creature of such brawn, and galloped a winding semi-circle around Vaati’s right, stopping for a moment to lean down towards the ground curiously.

Vaati stared. What is he doing?

He realized a split-second too late that he wasn’t the only one who had magic.

A blast of fire came barreling towards the mage, slowed only slightly by a last-minute wall of wind that didn’t keep Vaati from being thrown backwards by the impact anyway, landing against the rock underneath him with force that would have broken bones if not for his superhuman form.

The sorcerer raised himself up on a shoulder and snarled.

The incandescent rage following injury by another’s hand had been forgotten since the last time he’d assumed this form. It was back, however, strong as muscle memory. He registered the flash of movement crossing the meadow- threatening the creature’s imminent descent upon him with an axe- and warped to a safe distance behind the lynel, who thundered in confused fury at the magic trick as its axe swept through empty air and onto the rock below.

Vaati held his elbow and cursed, incensed that he was now in a position to be more concerned about his own wounds than those of his opponent. In the two steps he took to gauge his condition, he made up his mind; and it snapped to attention, channeling the enormous power needed to ascend to his transfigured form. He was less sophisticated in his attacks, that way, but concurrently less affected by trivialities such as pain.

In a strange and ominous warp of the atmosphere around him, as if the eastern side of Ploymus Mountain had broken away from regular time and space and begun to swirl in and around itself, Vaati’s damaged frame began to expand and transform. His quickly broadening body seemed to suck in the air at its periphery and expel a dark, magically tainted pollution that dispersed across the meadow as his wings became defined against the cloudless sky above.

He considered making use of his peripheral eyes; but as he batted his wings and rose 60, 70, 80 feet above the dumbfounded lynel, he decided he didn’t need them. The vast ocean of air encircling this mountaintop would serve him just fine.

And so he used that ocean, pulling winds from the north and the south and harnessing them into a small tornado suspended in the air across from him. He spared his opponent one last, pitying sneer before hurtling the mass of wind down onto the beast, sending its body crashing into the boulder behind it.

It collided in a sickening crunch of shattered bone. Then it slumped over, and was still.

Vaati remained suspended in midair for several beats. Finally, he exhaled, mentally releasing his adrenaline and rage as he descended back to solid ground. When he began to approach the crippled beast again, he had transformed back to demon form. A deadly, pinpoint-accurate ball of electricity grew in his palm as he closed the distance between them; it was effectively the arrow he would shoot to ensure a clean kill.

The monster’s head lifted just barely at Vaati’s approach. The mage stopped, gazing down at his kill admiringly.

It had beautiful form. What a creature. It was a pity they hadn’t been around in his Hyrule, during the heyday of his tyranny. 

For a moment, Vaati felt that it was a shame. The elemental magic of the beast was so like his own; and so beautifully powerful it was. Alas.

He aimed the sphere of lightning at its heart and released it with a flick of his wrist. The magic made contact and the lynel slumped for good.

Vaati reveled in the high from his kill as much as he could, for he knew that as soon as the blood in his ears and the adrenaline in his veins slowed, he would be feeling his injuries again. He didn’t think they would be too severe, but… it had been a long time since he’d had to assess such things.

“You fucking asshole.”

Vaati jumped at the voice to his left. Link was striding over from the north end of the meadow, broadsword and shield slung over his back. His voice conveyed irritation, though his expression failed to match up; instead, there was a strange, almost uncertain look over his features, though he walked quickly and with purpose toward Vaati and the dead pile of loot at his feet.

“Thanks for waiting.” Link dropped his gear unceremoniously, wasting no time getting to his knees to pillage the corpse. “If you wanted to just do it all yourself, you could have spared me the trouble of spending the last twenty minutes scaling that fucking cliff.”

Vaati threw his arms up in defense. “I didn’t intend-“

He halted at the sound of his own voice, low and foreign through the vocal cords of his demon form. He suddenly felt self-conscious, though he didn’t understand why.

Link made no acknowledgement of his tone, but raised his head, nearly imperceptibly, to observe as Vaati interrupted himself to exit his demonic body and return to Hylian form, a few feet closer to the ground.

Vaati cleared his throat and continued. “I didn’t intend to engage it. I didn’t realize they had such good eyesight! You know, I’ve never seen one of those things until today. I couldn’t exactly wait for you after he spotted me on the hill.”

“I told you to wait at the top of the mountain. Where you’re not visible.” Link scowled but shook his head, dropping the subject. “Whatever, just help me pick up these parts. I should make you carry the guts.”

Vaati sighed huffily. He didn’t drop to his knees, however. “Give me a minute.” He made his way to a nearby rock to settle himself on, grasping his left shoulder, trying to avoid catching Link’s attention as he nursed the wound.

Unfortunately, Vaati’s preoccupation with destruction and command magic had never left him much time to practice healing spells, and he found himself at a loss on how to reduce the pain radiating out from his shoulder and elbow. Injuries sustained as a demon were always doubly worse by the time he made it down to Hylian form. In fact, he usually didn’t change back for several hours after battle. He’d never actually had the displeasure of enduring an entire round of healing as a weak Hylian. He wrapped his opposite hand around the wound, willing for it to help, knowing it wouldn’t.

Link raised his head, eyes fixed on Vaati.

Shit.

Link frowned. “What happened?”

“Nothing,” Vaati snapped. He knew it was too late, however. The boy was practically at his side already. Link tossed back Vaati’s cloak, exposing the broken skin visible under torn shreds of tunic.

“Shit, you didn’t look this bad a second ago!“

“It gets worse the closer I get to Hylian,” Vaati said irately. “But I’m fine. Just let me wrap something around it and I’ll finish with the lynel.”

Link didn’t respond, but instead took up the task himself, bandaging Vaati’s upper arm with a clean-ish shred of tunic. Vaati winced involuntarily at the jostle on his joints.

“Sorry…how bad is it?”

“Not bad at all,” Vaati hissed, sucking in through his teeth.

Link tittered, then apologized again. His hands moved more gently around Vaati’s injured limb. The longer he assessed the wound, the more furrowed his brows became. “You should actually just get back to the castle and get this taken care of. It’s worse than I thought.”

“Nonsense,” Vaati countered immediately, narrowing his eyes at the knight. “I said I’d help you with the materials, and I will. This is nothing.”

Link was silent, but his eyes scanning the mage’s cringes in response to touch argued otherwise.

Vaati huffed. “You’re an idiot if you think I’m going to run home injured while you take all the glory for this thing. I’m Court Sorcerer. In fact, the Zoras should know that I’m perfectly capable of taking out their problem lynels alone.”

Vaati added under his breath, “and getting due payment for doing so,” while Link distracted himself with a fit of laughter.

“Okay, Vaati. Tell you what. I already have a bad reputation for showing up late to battle. Let’s just tell everyone the lynel kidnapped me and held me hostage, forcing you to fight it by yourself in a heroic battle to defend my honor.”

Vaati whacked Link with his good arm, but there was a twitch at the side of his mouth as he rolled his eyes.

Link stood up. “Okay, let’s get to it, then. Teleport back to where we left, it’s the eastern bridge. I’ll warp to the domain and meet you. We say bye to Dorephan, and then straight back to the castle and you actually get that looked at.”

Vaati shrugged. “Fine.” He waved a swirling motion with his right hand, and the blood visible from under his cloak ran clear under rivulets of water, concealing any sign of injury.

Then the two figures at the top of the hill faded into the atmosphere simultaneously, one in a swirling flourish of blue tendrils reaching up towards the sky, the other with a shattering like black panes of glass struck by some invisible, radial force.

Chapter Text

Four Sword Sanctuary, South-Central Hyrule, Four Sword Era: Five Days Since the Defeat of Ganon

Vaati took a deep breath in as he faced the sword before him. He was resolute in putting on a fearless face for Link and Zelda; but truthfully, he felt like a man walking the plank. Worse, he was torn between wanting to extend his time here- really existing for as long as he could- and needing to get this over with as soon as possible before he changed his mind. Which he would, if he spent too long considering the ramifications of his decision.

Though he knew the ramifications of changing his mind were worse. Would be worse. Vaati had already tried to summon anger, as a shield and a crutch; but for some reason he simply couldn’t this time.

He felt Zelda’s soft hand grip his, pulling him to face her. She gave him a brave smile, but he saw the waver of her lips, and he knew her sharp mind was racing with countless considerations of what he himself was thinking. Whether he was truly going to do this.

He smiled bleakly back at her, giving her hand a squeeze. “I’ll be fine. It’s nothing I haven’t been through before.” He laughed, but it came out more bitter than he intended.

He caught Link’s eye at this, and immediately regretted it. The boy looked ready to cry.

Now that, Vaati couldn’t handle.

Zelda, too, seemed suddenly aware of the Hero’s condition, and inhaled, preparing to give her last goodbye. She wrapped her arms around Vaati’s waist, squeezing tightly, and gave the man one last, long look.

It was full. Full of gratitude, full of pain, full of sadness, full of love.

Full of relief.

“The goddesses will remember that you entered willingly. You won’t suffer in vain.”

Vaati shrugged, though her words did offer him a modicum of comfort, coming from the Wisdom Bearer herself. If anyone knew what bizarre machinations worked behind the eyes of the Goddesses, it was the Princess.

Zelda stepped back, and Link didn’t waste a second running up to embrace the mage. He buried his face in the folds of Vaati’s robe, trembling slightly, squeezing so tight it was nearly painful.

Vaati rested his chin on the top of the boy’s head and smiled sadly.

After a minute (during which Zelda had respectfully moved several meters away) Link broke the embrace and looked up to Vaati, unshed tears wobbling in the corners of his eyes.

Vaati put on that brave smile again under the gaze of the Hero.

“It’s alright. I’ll see you in a couple hundred years, right?”

Link smiled weakly, but almost sobbed right afterwards.

Vaati’s own smile faded. He ran a hand over the boy’s shoulder. “Truly, though…if…if in one of your next lives, if you hear word of a strange man with incredible magical power and a purple hat, I…hope that you’ll keep an eye out for me.”

Those words hurt so much to express. Hurt his pride so much. But he needed to ask. He couldn’t…no. The thought of a lost memory all over again, of waking up new and alone in some unfamiliar world…no.

Link nodded furiously, burying his face in the mage’s chest all over again. “Of course I will,” he whispered in a choke.

Vaati’s voice lowered almost to a whisper as he continued. “If I don’t remember… I’ll want you to explain to me what happened.” He squeezed his eyes shut at the thought. He was grateful Link couldn’t see him.

The smaller boy nodded ferociously again. Vaati heard him sob and his heart began to pound even louder in his ears.

Suddenly, he unlatched himself from Link, stepping back and holding the boy’s shoulders in both hands. He waited until Link’s blue gaze met his, then pulled him forward in a kiss. It was gentle, longing, but fit for goodbye. Vaati lingered only a moment on the other boy’s lips. His heart broke silently at the cruel irony that this was the first and final time.

And he broke away, turning quickly on his heel towards the sword. He couldn’t tell what Link shouted after him or how close the boy managed to get in pursuit before Vaati’s palm wrapped around the glowing blade and he inhaled his Hyrule’s air one last time.

He left Link stumbling in shock, wailing, chest heaving in sobs at the empty air in front of him, grasping at the sword which had stopped glowing, now sealed shut inside the pedestal.

Chapter Text

Hyrule Castle, Central Hyrule, Present Era: 102 Years Post-Calamity

Vaati was glued to his seat, applying the final touches to his research notes. Link had given up on trying to understand them some time ago. All he could glean from the piles of papers and textbooks littering the mage’s desk was that portal-making was a long, complicated, magic- and mathematics-heavy process that he could never have the patience for, at least in this present incarnation of himself.

He observed with fascination, though, at the way the complex formulas and ancient spellwork came to Vaati so easily and seemed to hold his attention more the greater they increased in complexity. The energy radiating off the mage in his element reminded Link of the change that he felt in himself during a particularly intense bout of swordplay; or at the top of some peak previously untouched by Hylian feet, overlooking the entirety of Hyrule, surrounded by pristine natural splendor. To witness that familiar feeling, but shining from Vaati’s eyes- it was strangely captivating.

The mage, however, had finished his work for the afternoon. He stretched, gazing around his study, warm with the touch of the afternoon sun and cluttered with all sorts of magical paraphernalia. Dust motes drifted across the shafts of golden light spilling from the windows.

His nose wrinkled in dissatisfaction, and he turned to Link. “Let’s go to your chambers. I’m tired of this view.”

Link raised an eyebrow. “You know my “chambers” is a room a fifth the size of your study alone, right?”

Vaati shrugged indifferently. “So? I won’t be needing the space to fling my textbooks around.”

Link yielded and stowed away his slate, whose photo album he had been organizing on Vaati’s couch. He waited for the mage to lock up and they headed to the south-west wing of the castle. This was where the ordinary knights’ chambers connected to the isolated turret that Zelda had appointed specially for Link following their defeat of the Calamity. It was small, true, but Link was gracious to have been given his own space, separate from the other employees’ housing and far enough removed from the main veins of the castle that he could smoke on the turret balcony without interruption, if he so desired the solitude.

Which he usually did. In fact, his housing at the castle was satisfactory enough that trips back to his house in Hateno were becoming few and far between, especially in the wake of the heavy workload the spring had brought. Link didn’t particularly mind. His house had never been lived in enough to feel much like a home, anyway. Zelda had visited several times, but even she agreed that it was more a glorified weapons storage unit than a space for living in.

Vaati didn’t know that Link even owned his own place, yet. It just hadn’t come up. That, and Link would feel somewhat…strange about bringing the mage over before he’d had the chance to re-assess the photographs and memorabilia that had made their way into the structure. The last time he had been there, he had brought Ganondorf, and the memory of that felt a little too recent for Link to return comfortably to the place in the company of the Court Sorcerer.

The two arrived at Link’s chamber door, and he fumbled a bit with the key as he unlocked it. “Sorry about the mess,” he mumbled, somewhat embarrassed at the state he kept his living space in. That was another reason why he generally suggested he and Vaati spend time in the other man’s rooms.

Vaati made himself at home on the disheveled bedsheets as Link rushed to remove the more mortifying remnants of the night before from the room (scraps of uneaten food and garbage, mainly.)

The mage smirked. He never failed to give the boy grief for it, but in truth, Vaati was comforted by the idiosyncrasies that this present-day Link retained. The younger Link from his memories of centuries ago had been just as much of a lovable slob.

“Do you have the Princess over in this filth?” Vaati teased, clearing several books from the edge of the bed to the night-table, making room to unclasp his sandals and extend himself across the mattress. Link shot him a faux-scowl, crossing the small space to plop down next to Vaati’s torso.

“You wouldn’t believe it, but Zelda’s messier than I am.”

Vaati scoffed, disbelieving.

“Seriously! She’s awful. That’s why she never lets anyone into her rooms. She pretends it’s because she’s all high and mighty but really it’s because she’s got rats running around in her drawers.”

Vaati laughed out loud at this, prompting a grin from Link as well. He nudged the mage’s side. “Do not tell her I told you that, though.”

“Oh, I will,” Vaati chuckled, raising himself up on his elbows to grin impishly at the knight.

Link groaned melodramatically. “You’re evil.”

“That I am,” Vaati murmured from behind a slightly wicked smile. He cocked his head, as if remembering something. “I might spare you if you do something for me, however.”

“Oh, and what’s that?”

“I still haven’t had the chance to observe your swordplay. That Lanayru lynel was too easy. You’ll have to take me out again sometime.”

Link rolled his eyes. “So you can get there before me and take it down by yourself all over again?”

“That wasn’t intentional! I told you that already. And if you have the good sense to take us somewhere we don’t need to swim up any waterfalls to get to, I can promise you that we’ll both engage in battle at the same time.”

Link smiled in spite of himself. “It wasn’t all bad, actually. It was…interesting, to see you fight. Haven’t seen that in a while.”

Something about the way Link paused at “interesting” had Vaati turning his head to look him in the face. “What do you mean, interesting?”

Link hesitated, shrugging. “I don’t know. It’s just been a while. You’re so poised and regal all the time here, it’s easy to forget you can turn into a giant, deadly eyeball-bat at will.”

Vaati pursed his lips irately at the crude description of his Transfigured form. “If you ever describe it that way again, I’ll go a step above that form and obliterate you with my Wrath.”

Link chortled. Vaati looked at him seriously again, though. It was true that there had been a strange, barely perceptible trepidation in the man after he’d come across Vaati’s quick work of the lynel in his beastly form. It had reminded him of the fear he’d seen and knew so well in others, but he knew it wasn’t quite that.

And here it was again, just trembling at the edges of Link’s words as he recounted the experience. Vaati struggled to put his finger on it.

Whatever it was, he wouldn’t deny that it prodded pleasurably at his ego and the parts of him that relished in the awe and fear his power inspired in others. Vaati suppressed a self-satisfied smirk and extended his arm to brush his fingers lightly across Link’s cheekbone, earning a startled look from the knight, who had been lost in thought. As Link’s chest twisted toward Vaati, the mage moved to seize a loose fistful of Link’s hair at the nape of his neck, tugging ever so slightly as he lifted his lids to meet the bright blue of Link’s eyes.

“I’m ‘poised and regal,’ hm? Well, good. Fitting of my role here. But I’m glad you remember what other forms I’m capable of,” Vaati murmured lowly.

Something in Link’s belly flipped at the change in his voice and the dark that crept into his eyes, pulling his mind towards the visceral memory of his night spent with the mage several weeks ago. Link pulled in a deep breath.

Which made Vaati’s mouth turn up in a roguish smile. He crept his hand further down the Hylian’s neck, fingering the folds of his knight’s tunic where it draped over his collarbone, rubbing small circles into the skin just below the shirt collar.

Something Vaati loved about Link was his conspicuous reaction to touch like this. Vaati drank in the pink tinge that bloomed along the boy’s neck and collar, following the trace of his fingertips. It crept up to Link’s cheeks and he looked away, embarrassed at his now flushed face.

Link seemed all too aware of his own physical reaction, too, but his inability to hide it only seemed to spur it on, in a curious peculiarity to his personality that Vaati would never understand but enjoyed very, very much.

He responded in accordance with Link’s response, fingers deftly locating the buttons inside the boy’s collar and unhooking them. Just slowly enough to send a shudder of anticipation along the knight’s spine.

Just as Vaati gripped the base of Link’s tunic and began to pull up, however, he was interrupted by Link’s hand, which pushed on his chest gently, wordlessly asking that he remain lying down. The boy then repositioned himself over Vaati’s hips, straddling him. The mage raised an eyebrow, but before he could speak Link had moved downward over Vaati’s legs and taken to unbuckling his belted tunic, then on to his trousers, as the mage looked down at him, looking torn between wanting to interrupt Link’s actions and so badly wanting to submit to them.

Link suppressed a smirk as the mage lying before him tried, but failed, to push words past his open lips and interrupt Link’s taking control of the situation.

Vaati’s tendency towards domination was certainly not exclusive to matters outside the bedroom, and Link very much welcomed that dynamic. He had long since stopped trying to repress his own atypical desires in the bedroom; and these desires happened to mesh rather perfectly with Vaati’s, as he had recently discovered. As much as Link usually embraced simply being putty in the hands of someone else, however, there was something to be said for witnessing that look on someone else’s face every once in a while.

That look of submission: of someone falling into pleasure without reciprocation, without effort, and without any control over how good they were being made to feel and how quickly they were approaching release. Link wanted to see that on Vaati’s face. He knew the sorcerer, however, and he knew that putting him in such a position was damn near impossible unless under the pretext of serving him. So, this was exactly how Link planned to go about seeing that face now.

Thus Link lowered himself down to Vaati’s knees, exposing the mage’s skin just enough to allow access, leaving his red trousers bunched across the midpoint of his thighs. Link subdued his own gaze, careful not to assert too much dominance by meeting Vaati’s heat-filled crimson eyes with his own. That would come later.  

Vaati ran a languid hand across Link’s scalp, twisting the blond locks between his fingers as he observed the show the boy had so willingly begun for him.

As much as he feigned nonchalance, though, there was a prick at the back of the mage’s mind that was almost like panic, which he tried to ignore by assigning it foolishness. There was no way Link could have known, but- this was precisely the situation that had fueled so many nights spent awake just a little bit later than usual. Late enough that the cover of darkness brought a haziness to his thoughts that acquitted him from the mortification he would normally feel in their wake; late enough that he could fall into sleep just afterwards, and hope that the fantasies would merge into illegible dream by the coming of the next morning.

Simply stated, Vaati didn’t have a lot of confidence in how long he could last gazing down at the real thing, and Vaati put a lot of stock into his self-control. In these matters.

Link looked so delicious, however. Catching quick glances in between readying the landscape for his subservience; so meek, so submissive. Eyes flitting away from Vaati’s as soon as they were met like he was afraid of getting caught.

Vaati sighed under his breath, firming his grip at the back of Link’s head, exerting just enough downward force to signal instruction to begin.

He would allow it.

Link began slowly, cautiously; just cautiously enough to give the impression that he waited for permission. When he heard that barely audible sigh pass Vaati’s lips he knew he was in the clear. As the minutes passed, he idly sensed the dynamic shift from something Vaati thought was under his control to something that was much more under Link’s control.

He smiled inwardly as he began to feel the clench and pulse behind the skin of Vaati’s hips, which he moved his fingers upon, rubbing small circles as he felt the man resist the urge to buck and tremble under his tongue. Link was waiting for his moan.

And it came, despite the mage’s commendable self-control up to that point. Link took the sound as sanction to increase his pace. He was remarkably sensitive to the changes in Vaati’s demeanor; and finally, when he felt the man’s fingers curl up between his locks of hair in a way that was more reflex than command, the knight pulled back, keeping Vaati in his mouth but at such an angle that Link could lift his eyes up and see the beauty of the mage’s face: taut in an expression of pleasure so deep he was as of yet unaware of Link’s staring.

And then Vaati opened his eyes, and when they caught Link’s they held that wonderful helplessness that Link had sought from the beginning: smoldering with emotion and absolutely vulnerable to the track that Link drug him along on as he trailed his tongue in wide arcs over his skin.

In spite of himself, Vaati exhaled a moan of pleasure as Link’s tongue reached his crest and encircled him again, and this time Link’s eyes didn’t leave the mage’s face the entire time. Vaati’s eyes rolled back for but a second before shooting back down to meet the knight’s, filled with affection mixed with a sort of anger at his involuntary reaction to the boy’s skill.

Link would have grinned right there and then if he hadn’t been afraid that it would bring the entire session to an end. Instead, he raised his eyebrows in a wicked innocence, and dropped his eyes again, back to focusing on the work in front of him. Vaati gripped his hair tight in retribution, but his motor control didn’t last for long before Link was feeling the mage’s hands claw at his shoulders with every downward thrust of his head. When finally he felt Vaati’s hips buck upwards, accompanied by the sweetest moan yet- not really a moan, but a whine, higher and uncontrolled as it escaped Vaati’s lips- then he knew he’d done well, and he rode out the rest of the mage’s reaction as his mouth was all but forced down against Vaati’s hips. Link let out a cry of his own, prompting Vaati’s hands to run over his shoulders in as much of an embrace as he could offer from his position.

Link waited before withdrawing, until the pulsing in his mouth had ceased and he heard the finality in Vaati’s exhale. Gradually, Link lifted himself up on his palms and moved up to straddle Vaati’s waist again, lowering himself down chest-to-chest and nuzzling his chin into the crook of the mage’s neck. He smiled softly as he felt Vaati run his hands over the length of his back.

“Feel good?” Link murmured, risking Vaati’s prideful wrath.

The wrath didn’t come. He simply laughed quietly, bouncing Link’s head up and down on his chest. “You don’t need to ask me that.” He paused, then stroked his shoulders. “If you want…some kind of reciprocation…you better ask soon.” Link heard the melody of oncoming sleep tinge the man’s voice as he spoke.

Link shook his head, settling himself under Vaati’s chin and sighing a soft, drowsy exhale to prove his point. “Mmm. I’m okay. Are you tired?”

The mage didn’t answer in words, though the steady rhythm of his breath seconds later gave a sincere response. Link smiled and following the enticing lure of sleep as well.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Vaati woke with a start, fueled by the memory of how he’d been had at the deft hand- or, rather, tongue- of the clever knight asleep over his chest.

He nearly rose and displaced the boy in his irritation, but managed to hold himself down.

It was fine. There was no way there was some…ulterior motive in his initiative. That was simply Vaati overthinking things. Right?

He peered down at the soft expression of sleep over Link’s features, feeling his own soften at the sight. That damned knight was so beautiful. Especially in repose. Vaati gave in to the urge to caress his head, relishing the subtle reaction he gave in sleep, moving into Vaati’s touch unconsciously.

Vaati wondered how sincere Link was. He wondered about his state of mind, his conscience, and the condition of his heart so soon after the dissolution of his relationship with the Gerudo prince.

He knew Link, and he knew the boy was a professional at concealing his emotions. Such trivial issues as feelings were a hindrance for one whose purpose was divinely gifted and instrumental to the liberation of his world. Despite this, he also knew the boy’s tells, and that he lived a more tumultuous emotional life than he would ever admit to anyone on the outside. What he wasn’t sure of was how to interpret the boy’s reckless reactions to heartbreak and turmoil.

Was this real?

Thinking back to his previous lifetime, and the way they had parted, Vaati wanted to think yes. Such things couldn’t be faked.

But now…was the boy he found this time around the same as the one he had known?

He looked the same. He seemed the same. He was the same, as far as Vaati could tell, with the addition of several years of age and however much wisdom came from the grief and trauma of his experiences in this Hyrule. It both hurt Vaati and comforted him that this Link held much more in common with the mage’s own experiences than ever before. This time around, Link knew the disorientation of having half-lived one or more centuries of sleep, of semi-existence. That was something they could connect over, strangely enough. Link now understood the torment of waking up in a world he didn’t recognize.  

Vaati wondered if Link had grappled with the urgent impulse to search for something in this world that he could identify with, that he could remember from before he fell into his hundred-year-long sleep. In conversation, Vaati had picked up on bits and pieces of the boy’s search for his lost memories, of the grindingly slow process of stumbling upon hints and clues to his former existence as he roamed across Hyrule, following his divine purpose.

He always spared Link the disgrace of pity, but his heart hurt for the boy when he listened to him recount his time prior to the Calamity’s defeat. He always spoke of it in this odd, far-off tone of voice, as if he still wasn’t entirely convinced that the events of his former life were truly his, or just stories recounted to him by others in lieu of him having any real understanding of his past. During these talks, Link’s voice held the detachment of someone incapable of connecting to their own life; robbed of the sense of personhood that memories create. The worst part was that Link had had a life, before; he just couldn’t remember it. He knew that he had once been whole, and that wholeness he could never get back.

Vaati could understand this. He’d suffered through several bouts of divinely-incurred amnesia himself. Why he hadn’t come out of this last imprisonment in the same state, he couldn’t say. At the back of his mind he thought back to Zelda’s- the old Zelda’s- words, before he had willingly sacrificed himself and entered the seal:

“The Goddesses will remember that you entered willingly.”

"You won’t suffer in vain.”

As much as he disliked admitting it sometimes, he knew that there was always some wisdom in the Princess’s words. Yet, at the same time, it made him angry. This was their divine acknowledgement for his unthinkable act of selflessness? The preservation of his memories? That was nothing more than a lack of punishment.

Yes, he had fallen out of that sword into a world perfectly equipped to fulfill his need for power, and riches, and admiration, and he had indeed fallen out with his cap still with him (though more as a symbol than anything else- the cap itself had lost its wish-granting capabilities several lifetimes ago) but… there was something missing.

There is always something missing.

Vaati had to periodically remind himself that he was past the point of finding that missing piece through violence. That had never ended well for him, anyway, on a long enough timeline. He’d found himself here, again, doing well, because he’d actually chosen to do good. Well- not that he had much of a choice. But he did choose to risk the pain, the possibility of memory loss, the indescribable horror of living for centuries trapped inside of a white nothingness over the risk of death at Link’s hand and worse punishment still by the Goddesses if he were to fail- which he would have.

He wouldn’t ever utter such thoughts aloud, of course. Never. It scraped and tore at his pride even to skim the surface of such thoughts. But over a millenia of experience has the tendency to instill a certain realism in those able to repeatedly elude death.

And so, he attempted to face his situation, in spite of that ever-present hole that had always had residence inside him, living proactively and without violence. And so he looked for a link to his past. To the memories that he himself couldn’t truly remember, but knew enough about to understand that they were important to him; that they were a part of him. Maybe, in some secret way, he hoped that by touching the physical subjects of those recollections, he would regain some of that personhood that was inevitably lost with the loss of his memory.

So he mentally jotted down the final touches on his mirror blueprints and began to draft plans for how he would begin construction of the intricate metallic contraption, to the sound of Link’s quiet and steady breathing in sleep next to him. It could be worse.  

Chapter Text

“Pedré.”

Silence.

“Pedré.”

Silence.

“Sa sha pedré.”

Nothing but the creak of window shutters as a breeze blew in.

“Sa sha pedré.”

Silence.

“God fucking damn it,” Vaati snarled, and jumped to his feet from where he had been crouching in his study, shaking out his hands and marching over to the window to slam the shutters closed. He reconsidered, however, thinking to the couple of cigarettes he’d snuck out of Link’s case after one of his latest sleepovers in Vaati’s bedroom. He generally considered them vile but acknowledged their use post-coitus or in situations of great frustration and stress, during which they were oddly soothing. This was such a situation.

Despite the exactness- no, the flawlessness of his blueprints and his construction, his magic-tech mirror-portal was failing to live up to expectations. Namely, it wouldn’t turn on. Granted, even the use of such a phrase was rather foreign to Vaati. His expertise was in magic: good, old-fashioned, ancient arcane spellwork, not the headache-inducing technological wizardry that was so common, and so infuriatingly powerful, in this Hyrule. If not for its power, he wouldn’t be bothered with it. But Vaati couldn’t deny that the Sheikah had truly come up with something worth his while this time. The Guardians were testament to that. If only he could take it up as easily as he had taken up magic.

The most frustrating thing about it was that there was magic humming within the metal and stone of Sheikah devices. That was clear enough in touching Link’s slate. That, at least, was familiar; but it was the apparently seamless integration of magic and technology that confounded the mage. Even with hours and hours and hours of research and fieldwork under his belt, the core mechanics of it still escaped him.

That missing link was what was quickly turning his morning from a cause for celebration of accomplishment into a defeat that was making him want to kick in the damned contraption and forget it altogether.

But, no, he couldn’t.

Vaati exhaled and silently thanked the soothing effects of the leaf as it burned up and wisped out the open window.

Perhaps…perhaps he was relying too much on the technological aspect of the device. It was, after all, primarily fueled by magic. Perhaps a simple spell-word with no effort behind it wouldn’t cut it. Especially if he couldn’t establish a clear connection to the technological wiring.

He huffed the cigarette down to its mid-point and snuffed it out impatiently into the ashtray, returning to his spot in front of the mirror. Instead of crouching, this time Vaati situated himself cross-legged in front of the dark glass, getting comfortable and readying himself with deep breaths in anticipation of a deeper concentration.

Once his body and mind were still, he raised his hands slightly, closing his eyes and thinking of nothing but the round looking-glass In front of him. The ambient sounds of Hyrule Castle faded away instantly. Vaati was well-versed in this. Instead of simply uttering the word, he felt it, and summoned from his body a powerful flow of magic which he commanded to infuse the device.

He heard crackles.

Vaati’s eyes shot open, but he kept his concentration unbroken. He saw nothing but the mirror- and it was alive. Its face was no longer black but a dim blue, and it was emanating glowing tendrils of power, like the kinds that encircled the rune-items of Link’s slate when he called them forth.

Yes! Show me- show me-

No. No, he would start small. He didn’t want to…overload it. Jinx it somehow.

“Show me…a sword.” Vaati uttered the first thing that came to mind.

And the mirror responded to his command. It swirled blue for a moment but then stabilized, and he was audience to…Link, who appeared to be climbing up a flight of castle stairs, sword slung over his back as it always was.

Vaati raised an eyebrow, but then smirked, and the smirk slowly grew to a wide, unabashed grin. It was even better than he’d imagined. Not only did it follow his command, but it followed it innately- it responded to the details of the instruction as it had formed in his mind, those which he hadn’t uttered nor even consciously specified. In his split-second mental search for an item to display in the mirror, he’d thought of a sword- Link’s sword, the one he was most familiar with. And the mirror had known this.

It was perfect.

Vaati found himself watching the knight as he made his way through a castle hallway, humored by his newfound ability to…well, to spy, more or less. He found Link’s present activities uninteresting enough, however, and was just going to practice on another item when a knock announced someone’s presence outside his door, breaking his concentration.

He would have been witness to the sight of Link knocking on his door through the mirror, if it hadn’t suddenly shut off and gone black the instant his magical connection had faltered thanks to the interruption.

Link didn’t wait for an answer, and walked in, coming upon the sight of Vaati gesturing irately towards the device settled in the middle of his study floor.

“Fuck!”

Link blinked. “Um, I’m sorry? Should I go?”

“No-“ Vaati huffed, turning to the knight then back again, gesticulating hurriedly to the mirror and muttering Old Hylian under his breath. Whatever he was doing, it didn’t work. The glass remained dark.

“Goddamn it!” He raised himself and turned on Link. “What do you want? And when did you just start entering people’s rooms without permission?”

Link raised an eyebrow. “Uh, your door was cracked open. I was just coming to see if you were free, but I can come back later.” His eyes drifted inquiringly towards the mage’s set-up in the middle of the room.

“Well, I am now, since this piece of shit hardly works.”

Link had to bite his lip to hold back a laugh at Vaati’s comedic irritation. “What’s going on? That’s the mirror you’re working on, right?”

“Yes, it is. It works, but only when I’m actively pouring energy into it. It’s supposed to work whenever I turn it on, and it’s supposed to stay on. I hate this goddamned Sheikah technology.”

“Well, at least it works at all. That’s really impressive.”

Vaati rolled his eyes. “It’s not impressive if no one else in the castle can use it, nor if it only works when I’m actively telling it to.”

Link was silent. Truthfully, he would have expected such functionality to be a perk, in Vaati’s eyes. He was somewhat territorial. And a priceless magical device that only worked at his command would do wonders for his delusions of irreplaceable importance to the Kingdom.

He didn’t voice these thoughts. “Isn’t that how most magical objects work?”

“This isn’t supposed to be just a magical object. It’s a technological device. It should work all the time once it’s turned on. Like your slate. If it doesn’t stay on and functional unless the user is actively injecting it with magic power, the consequences of breaking focus during teleportation with it could be disastrous.”

“Mmm.” Link grimaced, trying to be sympathetic when he really didn’t have the slightest clue about such things.

Vaati threw his hands up. “I’ll figure it out soon enough. What’s on your mind?”

Link shifted to one foot, still somewhat preoccupied with curiosities about Vaati’s mirror, but he dropped it. “I was wondering if you would have dinner with me tonight? I’m taking the afternoon off. I’m leaving on an errand for Zelda first thing in the morning and I might be gone for a while, so. I’m thinking lamb?” He paused, looking around the interconnected study and bedroom chambers with furrowed brows. “Did you steal some of my cigarettes?”

“I wouldn’t turn down the opportunity to enjoy your cooking. An errand, hm?”

Link smiled at the compliment. He decided to overlook the mage’s conspicuous ignoring of the cigarette inquiry. “It’s more like an expedition, actually. I’ll be scouring an abandoned labyrinth in Akkala for some Sheikah tech.”

At this, the wind mage’s ears pricked forward and he halted mid-stowing away of his mirror. “Tech? What is it?”

Link glanced up, keen to the sudden interest. “Uh, it’s called a ‘travel medallion,’ heard of it? It might not be real. Could be just a rumor. But supposedly it allows the user to transport themselves anywhere they want, no slate or shrine required. Pretty much exactly what you can already do,” he remarked.

Vaati looked up at him, but his eyes were focused somewhere through and behind Link’s face. “May I look for it with you?”

The suspicion creased into Link’s face couldn’t be suppressed. It wasn’t just that such interest, coming from Vaati, always sparked memories of his somewhat…ambitious nature. Not that Link actually worried about such traits making a resurgence with ill intentions- but it was the fact that what had caught the mage’s attention was essentially a cheap construct of a power Vaati already had innate.

“I mean…sure, but why do you care?”

“Not that I would be intent on keeping it, of course,” the words left Vaati’s lips quicker than sounded natural.

Link raised an eyebrow. “I never accused you of intending to keep it.”

Vaati ignored his suspicious tone. “But…if I took a few days to study such technology, I could make stellar improvements in my project. You see, the goal of the project itself isn’t what’s causing me frustration; it’s the means of transferring my magic ability into a technological device to avoid the chore of having to constantly be draining magic into the machine during its use.”

“Couldn’t you just study my slate for that?”

“The slate requires a technologically connected endpoint. The shrines. If this thing doesn’t, I need it.”

Vaati’s crimson eyes leveled with Link’s blue. If he was desperate now, it wasn’t expressed in his face.

“Well, I don’t know if it really does or not. I don’t even know if it’s real. But yeah, you’re welcome to come along.”

Vaati’s face broke in a smile that Link couldn’t distinguish as either genuinely pleased or deviously victorious.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Over the course of that evening, Link would occasionally allow in and then usher out the ghost of a worry. A worry that maybe he had become either too cocky- or too desperate for a sense of comfort amidst his all-too-recent heartbreak- and that his defenses and good judgement were suffering for it.

It certainly wouldn’t be the first time that had happened in this lifetime.

Chapter Text

Link had insisted on getting to sleep early before their trip to Akkala early the next morning, but Vaati had other plans, emboldened by Link’s decision to allow him to tag along and secretly elated at the possibility of finding a solution to his research woes.

And, as usual when it came to a test of wills between the two of them, Vaati came out victorious. It was too easy when Link could be so easily swayed by a few skillful touches in the right places.

Vaati lay back against the purple velvet pillows piled against his headboard, supporting himself lazily on one elbow as his other hand had a firm hold on Link’s waist as the boy moved against Vaati’s hips, slowly, rhythmically. It felt good, sure, but Vaati was dissatisfied with the view he was currently afforded. It showed little of Link’s upright position, facing away from Vaati as he straddled his lap, legs stretched out parallel to the mage’s. Vaati could see Link’s back, leading down to the top of his ass- which was tanned and built and easy on the eyes, of course- but this was not as pleasing a view as one from over the man’s shoulder, so that he could see the entirety of Link’s front.

So, without warning, Vaati hooked his arm around Link’s torso, pulling him abruptly backward until the knight’s back lay flush against Vaati’s chest. Link’s surprised whine in reply, expressing heightened sensation at the change in position, reassured him that he had made the right choice. The mage ran his hand idly over the edge of Link’s thigh where it met his hipbone, and he thrilled inwardly at the tremble the touch elicited.

“Does this feel good?” Vaati barely had to raise his voice above a whisper, as his lips were positioned just behind Link’s ear now. The teasing in his words didn’t go unnoticed, and only prompted louder moans from the man on top of him as Vaati began to move his own hips back and forth at a steadily increasing pace. Link’s hand clamped down on top of Vaati’s, fingers clenching. The change of angle felt twice as good and left Link uncertain of how long he could realistically continue.

This uncertainty doubled when he felt Vaati’s hand slowly release its grip upon his waist in order to move downwards and between his legs. Link gasped and felt himself choke a little on the intake of air. He heard the sliver of a laugh escape from the mage’s lips, which began a roaming nibble up and down his neck, followed by the graze and then sharper pressure of teeth pressing into the tender skin above his collar.

“Mmmm-“ Link whimpered and raised his eyes to the ceiling, momentarily in awe at the mage’s uncanny competence in conducting his bodily response, almost as if he were using magic. He loved it, and he knew Vaati loved it too.

As if in unspoken reply to his thoughts, Vaati brought his other arm down from behind his head in order to secure Link’s hips firmly on top of his own, eliminating the possibility of any pulling away on Link’s end, and began moving his hips hard enough that Link was howling, now, and it vaguely flitted across the knight’s increasingly incoherent train of thought that this was why Vaati had set up that soundproofing spell as they’d climbed into bed earlier that evening.

The thought went as quickly as it came, replaced by the beginnings of sentences that tried to form themselves upon Link’s lips but were interrupted anew with every push of Vaati’s hips against him as he was held down. Finally all that Link could conjure was a rasped “Vaati-!”, the desperation in his voice audible enough that the mage actually slowed down and brought his lips back up to Link’s ear.

His breathy words didn’t mask the taunting in his tone. “Yes?”

“I-“ the remainder of Link’s thought didn’t make it past his lips. A moan came through instead.

Vaati adored playing with him. He slowed his pace even more, as if genuinely curious as to what Link was trying to get across. A wicked grin hid itself in Link’s hair as the mage continued his motion in smooth, even paces, savoring the feeling of Link’s muscle around him with every deliberate push and pull. Vaati’s right hand loosened its grip from between his legs, and the sound that passed Link’s lips this time was truly a whine, even daring to convey a hint of frustration at the slowing pace. Vaati laughed out loud at Link’s impudence.

“You’re going to have to tell me what you’re trying to say,” the mage murmured, voice smooth as silk. He caught out of the corner of his eye the wonderful sight of desperation crossing Link’s flushed face. He curled his free hand up over the boy’s forehead, running it through mussed blond hair before grasping tightly, pulling Link’s head down into the crook of his neck in a gesture of control.

Link exhaled, and willed himself to find words, as he now knew he would have to.

“I- you’re going to make me come,” he breathed in broken pants.

Vaati’s movements began again at the finish of these words, accompanied by another short, mocking giggle and a kiss planted on the knight’s temple in praise. The mage adjusted his movement in reward of Link’s compliance, pushing into him deeper and faster, prompting the unrestrained whines Vaati had been waiting for and shivered in pleasure to hear.

“Good boy,” the mage purred into his ear, and with those words Link was put into a state beyond hearing.

He abandoned all awareness of the world beyond the tightness in his belly, and he didn’t hear himself as he moaned. Vaati clamped his teeth down onto the back of Link's neck as encouragement as he felt the boy's legs clench against his own, accompanying the melody of finality in Link’s heavy moans on top of him.

When Link had returned to lucidity enough to open his eyes, Vaati’s face was grinning unabashedly at him as he lay wrapped up in the mage’s arms, vaguely aware of caresses trailing up and down his limbs and waist. He returned a weak smile of his own, then closed his eyes again under the gaze of his partner, who trailed a finger lovingly over the boy’s profile, enraptured at the flush covering every square centimeter of Link’s face and torso in his afterglow.

Vaati always adored this reaction in Link. The man’s body was terribly adept at making itself heard through his image, whether as an expression across his face or pigment that rose to the surface of his skin, never failing to betray even the faintest trace of arousal, or embarrassment, or the spent satisfaction of orgasm.

So honest. Link was so honest in everything that he did, and everything that he was. It was foreign and delightful to Vaati.

Chapter Text

The next morning, Link found himself standing behind the Akkala tech lab with the mage at his side, all worrisome thoughts of the previous day replaced by a much more present anxiety about how much of a pain in the ass Vaati was going to be as a travel companion. It hadn’t been two minutes and the slender man was already shivering and cursing the cold, looking bitterly over the cliffs as if the Akkalan coast wasn’t one of the most spectacular views in all of Hyrule. It wasn’t even that cold.

Link told him as much, to no avail.

“It’s fucking freezing. This is the shittiest, wettest wind I’ve ever felt in my life.”

Link swiveled his head and gaped in disbelief. “Then turn it off!”

He’s a wind mage, for fuck’s sake!

Vaati didn’t reply, but irately lifted his hand to temporarily redirect the gusts, as if the motion was some huge inconvenience. “How far away is this labyrinth?”

“Eleven miles.”

Vaati’s hand stopped in its tracks and the wind resumed with a startling force. “What?”

Link prayed for patience. “It’s only a couple hours’ walk.”

“Eleven miles is at least a half a day!”

Ahead of them, the morning mist hung in a haze over the sharp crags that rose from the sea. In the air, all was silent, winds abated by the silent force that flowed invisible from Vaati’s fingertips. The sun was clean and cool.

Link reached for his slate defeatedly. “Okay. Fine. You’ll like this.”

Under Vaati’s distrustful yet intrigued glance, he swiped several quick motions across the screen and backed away from the cliff, arm held aloft, device directed at the ground in front of him. Before Vaati’s eyes, in a shower of rippling blue sparks, a small, mechanical horse materialized into the space before them. 

Link interrupted Vaati’s inhale, ready for questioning. “It’s my Master Cycle. It runs at 40 miles an hour. I only got it about a month ago. I’ll hop on and you get on back.”

He didn’t wait for a reply. Fitting the slate onto the cycle’s key reader, the machine thrummed to life, compressing slightly under the knight’s weight as he settled himself a little farther forward than usual and gave an expectant look at his companion.

Vaati didn’t like riding things. He preferred his movement, especially at high speeds, to be all his own. But this had to be better than an eleven-mile walk.

Once they were both settled as comfortably as possible under the circumstances, Link revved the motor and turned his head back towards Vaati’s chin. “You’re gonna want to hang on tight,” he shouted over the din of the motor, “and if you need to stop for any reason, give me a hand signal up front.”

Vaati’s hands weren’t held around Link’s waist tight at all- a typical gesture of faux-nonchalance and natural defiance of instruction- but that changed quickly enough as the Cycle roared into action down the hill from the lab.

It was terrifying. Vaati even admitted this to himself. Every gentle slope turned into something that had no right to be as steep as it was, and with every cursed swerve Link made along the folds of the hillside, he seemed to lean into the turn as if he was trying his hardest to topple them both over at breakneck speed. Vaati’s body clamped rigid around Link and the machine as he tried to keep himself as far away from the ground as possible.

After several minutes of this, Link’s head turned back again. “You have to lean into the turns,” he shouted. “You’re way too stiff.”

Vaati snapped an impolite retort that couldn’t be heard over the ruckus of the bike’s engine.

The mage became more and more nauseated and his driver became more and more exhilarated with every passing minute. Finally, they reached the crest of a hill and their pace slowed. Link turned back yet again, but his voice was more urgent this time.

“There’s a Guardian. Get ready.”

His passenger could have used more instruction, but alas.

Link aimed the cycle straight at the mechanical monster like he had a death wish. Within seconds the red beam had lit up in its eye, focused directly on Link’s torso, and was following them with pinpoint accuracy- which wouldn’t have been hard for anything to do, given that Link wasn’t even pretending to try to avoid the laser. In fact, he was riding at increasing speed directly towards it. Vaati was seconds away from screaming his panic into Link’s ear when the cycle jolted to the right hard enough that the mage would have been thrown off if not for his death grip around Link’s waist. Not a half-second later the white-hot beam had ejected from the Guardian and missed them by mere feet.

And Link was grinning.

Vaati didn’t have time to compose a question, or a remark, or a rage-filled string of profanities, however, because as soon as the beam passed them and they sped past the backside of the monster, its red-hot sight could be felt smack in the middle of the mage’s back. He cursed the technological speed and precision of these bastards.

Link didn’t appear to feel the same urgency. Once again the seconds passed like torturous minutes as he continued forward, straight as an arrow, apparently unconcerned by the fact that he had assigned his passenger the role of target to a shot that would take mere fractions of a second to reach him. In perfect unison with the ring of the Guardian’s shot, the bike jerked left, and yet again Vaati found himself feet away from what looked like instantaneous death.

This repeated once more before the two were safely outside the range of the beam. Once they had covered enough ground that Link felt it safe to turn back and meet Vaati’s eye, his face was the most elated the mage had seen it in months. It was clear that the whole ordeal had been little more than an exciting detour for him.

It took Vaati all he had not to strangle his driver right then and there on the bike.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

It wasn’t much longer before the two were overlooking Lomei Labyrinth from the north Akkalan shore. It wasn’t yet noon; the massive stone edifice hung with fog so that all that could be clearly deciphered was its roof, which was pitted with interconnecting depressions in an intricate geometric design, a preface to the maze that lie waiting at the temple’s foot.

This close to the supposed house of their treasure, Vaati finally seemed invigorated.

He was the first to initiate a plan. “I can’t see the bottom, but I can still get there with magic. I suppose you’ll be using that gliding device. Is there an entrance and does it face us?

“I assume so.” Link’s eyes were fixed on the impenetrable gloom that obscured his route to the entryway.

As they deliberated, a gentle rain broke from the overcast sky above them and pattered down upon their shoulders.

Link spoke up. “This is a Sheikah temple. There’s likely going to be Guardians crawling the place. I see Skywatchers, too- they have spotlights that reach to the ground. And the passageways will probably be too narrow for your bigger forms, if it’s anything like the other mazes I’ve been to, so we need to be really careful.”

Vaati shot him an offended glare at the remark. “Not being able to transform hardly means I can’t take care of myself.”

“I know. I’m just telling you. One blast from a Guardian is enough to incapacitate either of us if it’s full-frontal. They’re different than mortal monsters.”

Vaati snorted disdainfully, as if he needed instruction on how to keep himself from being incinerated. Now that he was back on his own two feet and in control of his movement, the Guardian seemed a much less daunting foe than it had been on the bike.

It was unusual for Link to be giving combat instruction like this, however. He gave a sidelong glance to the knight, who continued to stare straight ahead, as if somehow developing a tactical plan for a temple he’d never set foot in. Vaati couldn’t deny that these mechanical beasts were something he’d never encountered back in the…in his old life. Before the sword. And they seemed to affect Link in a way that gave Vaati caution, simply for the fact that the undeniably talented knight afforded them a respect that he never gave to some simple Hinox, or even the Moldugas he’d tackled at the reaches of the Gerudo Desert.

“Well, shall we?”

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

After some confusion trying to find the temple’s entrance- Vaati cursed the counterintuitive entryway that stood some 70 feet above the ground- the two reunited and developed a plan at the head of the labyrinth. It wasn’t long before Vaati caught on to the comedic hatred that Link held for these types of puzzles. When he asked about his previous experience in Sheikah labyrinths, and how long it usually took him before he found his way, Link muttered that he didn’t want to talk about it.

They hadn’t taken two steps forward before a Stalker rounded a corner and focused its fuchsia eye straight at them.

Three corridors away, panting heavily and pulsing electric with the adrenaline of fear, Link whipped out his slate and made a series of frenzied motions across the screen that resulted in the materialization of a strangely-shaped angular bow, accompanied by a quiver full of iridescent blue arrows and a sword-and-shield pair that pulsed with an energy Vaati couldn’t identify. The mage watched in concealed wonder as the knight’s original weapons evaporated into some incomprehensible Sheikah void with the touch of a button.

Link paused for a moment, then put his fingers back to the slate in an afterthought. In front of him appeared a heap of armor, embellished with ornate accents and intricate designs that wrapped snake-like around the substantial collection of leg, arm and breast plates. He quickly scanned their surroundings, then began the swiftest change of clothes Vaati had ever witnessed.

“Watch for Guardians,” he uttered, all too aware of Vaati’s frustrating lack of caution as he felt his companion’s eyes on him, doubtless accompanied by a smirk.

Because Vaati had never felt the searing heat of a Guardian beam nick his shoulder, no doubt.

“You seem a lot less confident here than you were on your bike,” the mage remarked as Link fitted the queer-looking helmet around his skull.

“Yeah, here I’m not riding something that can outrun a Guardian in two minutes.” Link fitted his limbs into the last of the armor. “Let’s hope you don’t end up regretting the fact that you don’t have the same gear,” he added, in response to Vaati’s raised eyebrow in the direction of his helmet. “Do not let them hit you.”

The gravity in his voice shut down the sarcastic reply Vaati had been preparing.

After not terribly long- thanks largely to Vaati’s aptitude at solving maze puzzles, which Link couldn’t hide his envy of- the two found themselves on a path that seemed promising in leading to the object of their quest. They had already ran for their lives a handful of times, and Vaati seemed to finally get the message regarding the lethality of Guardian beams after narrowly missing one and witnessing the crumbling of a significant portion of stone wall that had been the unlucky victim in his stead. The mage sure wasn’t too proud to use his teleportation magic by the second half of their trip through the labyrinth.

He was impressed to realize that the nimble knight at his side could practically keep up with his teleportation by virtue of speed and agility alone. It was fascinating to witness Link in such an environment; it was like Vaati had never really seen the extent of his abilities, the way he could move when he was truly afraid for his own safety.

Well, Vaati had seen that before- but it had been centuries ago, and the memory was mercifully fuzzy.

Eventually the pair stood at the entrance to a conspicuous hole in the ground, leading straight down into complete blackness. The torchlight glow on Link’s features revealed a curious mix of relief and apprehension. He looked up to meet Vaati’s eyes and nodded.

They went in. Link landed gracefully with the use of his paraglider, while Vaati descended in a slow drift to the earthen floor at the bottom.

They found themselves in the center of an enormous chamber, dark but for the glow of four torches arranged in a square around the center of the room, casting long shadows across the ancient moss-covered rock encasing them. Link noted with unease the silhouettes of several decayed Guardians surrounding them from every angle.

No, not several. At least…at least ten.

Link felt the blood drain from his face.

Without turning to Vaati- without even daring to open his lips beyond a sliver- he spoke in a low tone: “We should leave.”

Vaati whipped his head towards his companion, visibly displeased. Link cringed at the motion; Vaati appeased him by resisting the urge to yell. His tone struck irate through the whisper he managed to control. “What!? Why? We’ve made it this far.”  

 Memories of the Forgotten Temple at the mouth of Tanagar Canyon bloomed hot and crimson in Link’s mind. At once his flesh erupted in goosebumps and he felt a hot flash across his forehead. He drove the trauma from his mind. As best he could.

“I…we’re…they’re all going to turn on.”

“What are? The statues?”

Oh, gods. They’re not statues.

“Vaati, I know you don’t understand how dangerous these things are, but you need to trust me and we need to leave.”

Link couldn’t have chosen worse words.

The mage scoffed. He sauntered forward, placing himself even further towards the center of the ring of Guardians. Turning back to Link, his face alit by torchlight, he held an expression that Link hadn’t seen for many, many years.

“I’m not leaving. Go if you want. I’ll meet you back at the castle with this medallion if you won’t stay to find it with me.”

His voice reverberated across the chamber, emphasizing the looming silence of the temple as it faded away, leaving nothing but silent, dark space between the two men.

Oh, Vaati.

Link looked hard at the glint in Vaati’s eye. The shadows flickered across his face, darkening his cheekbones, leaving only the glint of crimson under thick lashes and the dark imprint of the tattoo under his left eye, somehow unfamiliar in the strange light.

Fine.

Link stomped forward and thrust the Guardian shield into the mage’s arms. It slipped through Vaati’s grip and clamored to the floor in a painful clang, seeming to shake the walls enclosing them.

Vaati recovered the armor, running to stay on Link’s heels as the knight flew past him towards what was- too conveniently, Vaati suddenly realized- a rusted and moss-overgrown chest placed square in the center of the quartet of torches.

Positioned with his feet practically touching the base of the chest, Link gave one last scan of the chamber around them. His face was grim at the evaluation.

He didn’t look at Vaati as he spoke. His voice was cold. “Get fucking ready.”

Link unlatched the chest, and before the treasure was stuffed deep inside the pocket of his undershirt, Vaati caught a glimpse of the unmistakable radiant blue of Sheikah tech.

He grinned in triumph.

And the buzz of six decayed Guardians, waking from a long sleep but very much alive, fixated onto the two men in the center of the chamber.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Vaati couldn’t say which pillar Link bolted to first. His movement speed seemed to rival that of his own teleportation. All he could do was close his eyes, imagine the knight crouching behind stone, and focus his magic in the hopes that it would place him beside the blonde-haired boy.

So he did, and found himself upright next to Link as six separate Guardian beams met in the center of the room where they had both stood moments earlier, meeting in an explosion that rent both their ears in pain.

Within seconds Link had nocked a glowing arrow onto his bow. Taking barely a second out from behind cover to aim, he released the projectile towards the nearest enemy. It connected, and by the sound of it, did significant damage- but Link didn’t stop to evaluate the shot.

He bolted right, wasting no time in search of new cover.

Vaati soon understood why, as the combined laser beam from three of the machines had the first thick pillar crumbling to pieces before his eyes.

Fuck-

Vaati leapt back. The danger sent a newfound urgency coursing through him. Instinctively, without even consciously summoning the will to do so, he felt his bones crack and cry and become warmed with the endorphins of transformation. His feet were now meters above the ground, but he still felt his peril as he hovered exposed before the next unrelenting blast of Guardian beams centered on his torso.

Utilizing the enhanced movement capability his new form gave him, he dissolved into black and reappeared at the opposite end of the chamber, oblivious now to Link’s position but all too concerned with his own welfare anyway. His second transformation came as swift as the first. In mere seconds he found himself another fifteen feet higher in the air, deafened by the heavy beating of his own wings, feeling again the heat of sights on his body- but not the mortal fear that usually accompanied it. For caution’s sake, Vaati swerved for cover behind the closest pillar, observing the beam seconds later as it delved a crater into the wall next to him.

He didn’t waste much time inhabiting this form either. Next came the worst pain, but the greatest payoff, in the invulnerability and godliness that came with two deadly pincers attached to a demonic incarnation of Wrath itself.

Vaati felt the last of his being transform into the dark and fiery silhouette of this final form. He advanced upon the two closest Guardians, swooping down to clutch one in each enormous claw and sending them flying into two deformed heaps of metal crumpled against the temple wall.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Amidst the flash and boom of Guardian fire and the crumbling of several tons of stone per second, Link couldn’t make out in whose favor the opposite end of the battlefield was progressing. His only driving thoughts: nock arrow, hit target, and run like hell for the next closest cover. So far he had taken out a Guardian and a half. He cursed himself for not calculating in advance the stock of weaponry he would need for this kind of work.

He had four arrows left.

If he could shoot down two Guardians total, he would have cover enough from the remaining beams to take out the rest up close. Granted, it would entail a lot of running.

Where the fuck was Vaati with the Guardian shield? That method was easy work!

Link continued with his strategy, grieving the steady loss of stone-pillar cover with each beam shot in his direction. He made his way quickly across the chamber as his growing panic at Vaati’s lack of visibility threatened to reach a fever pitch.

Two down. Four to go.

Three down. Three to…

Link halted, crouched behind some makeshift cover of rubble, listening hard.

The buzz was gone. It had silenced after a deafening crash of metal against stone, as if one of the enormous metal foes had been batted into the temple wall.

Link unfroze and vaulted out from behind his cover, eyes scanning the room.

The fuchsia was gone. The electric blue was gone. Instead, in the center of the room, at the end just as at the beginning, Vaati stood triumphant. But he wasn’t standing; he was floating halfway to the ceiling, enormous black claws clutching the remnants of dilapidated Guardian wire, regarding his handiwork in the pile of metal and stone that lie piled in the corner.

He had destroyed just as many Guardians as Link had. They were all dead now.

Link should have been relieved.

Instead, he gazed up at the monster towering over him, and had to push his breath past his pounding heartbeat in order to croak, “Turn back.”

Vaati’s single, monstrous eye fixated on Link. He dipped slightly down in the air, but remained elevated, as if he were about to oblige, but changed his mind.

Link tried to speak again, but the breath caught in his throat. His eyes were desperate. He didn’t come any closer to Vaati. It took all of him not to back away.

Despite Vaati’s monstrous form, feeling still shone through that single, unblinking eye. With a cold drop of his stomach Link realized Vaati couldn’t speak like this.

Why won’t he turn back? Why is he doing this? Doesn’t he know I hate it?

The firelight emitted from the single torch that had survived the wreckage glinted off of Vaati’s horned crown.

Suddenly, Link felt his exhaustion. He felt a horrifying kind of fear that arose from facing an enemy who made him automatically fear for his life but whom he didn’t want to fight.

Link fell to his knees in submission to that fear.

At this, Vaati blinked in confusion. In a whirling wisp of pungent black smoke, his body reduced two-fold, until he became a being who kept his horned crown, remained levitated above the cool mossy earth, but inhabited a humanoid body once again. A body scarred with ghastly wounds, which were bleeding very human blood.

“Do you have the medallion?” The mage rasped.

Link couldn’t answer.

Vaati remained levitated until the blood pooling onto the ground below him formed a veritable puddle. Then, unable to hold himself aloft, he dropped out of the air, landing in a limp pile with a thick splash of warm crimson liquid.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

As soon as he registered his partner bleeding on the ground, Link was jolted from his stupor. He scrambled to his feet. He didn’t waste time summoning an elixir or fairy to tend Vaati’s wounds. It was clear that he was beyond the help of such things. He bounded over to the collapsed mage, leaving all gear but his slate as he knelt in the gruesomely deep puddle and attempted to lift the man into his arms and over his shoulder.

It was near impossible with the weight of Vaati’s Reborn form. Link gave a miserable cry, struggling under the weight of the body in his arms; he had to make do with this. He juggled the slate in his right hand as his left seized Vaati’s waist. Gripping the man as close and tight as possible- praying that they wouldn’t be separated in the warp- he selected their destination: the semi-rebuilt docks of Hyrule Castle.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Link was screaming for help before his feet even touched the stone of Saas Ko’sah shrine.

Before long the knight and the unconscious mage in his arms were surrounded by soldiers. Link barked instruction to the confused castle help, increasingly frenzied with every second that Vaati’s blood continued to spill darker and darker into Link’s armor.

“He needs magic healing,” Link gasped, at a near-run alongside the stretcher that was carting the mage up and out of the dark fortress bowels. The nurse who’d been summoned to the scene attempted to keep track of the instruction despite the raucous confusion around them.

“He can’t be changed out of his present form or he’ll die but it’s maintained with dark power so the healing magic will have to specific, he can’t be touched by the usual recovery spells- we need the highest healing mage in the castle- and get Zelda-“ Link abruptly cut off and made a beeline for the infirmary store-room, bursting through the door with enough force to nearly knock the wooden slab off its hinges.

Conglomerated near a high open window, several fairies floated together in a pale pinkish glow.

Link addressed them directly, oblivious to the startled store-keeper in the corner.

“I need you! All of you!”

The fairies dipped in confusion, but heeded his order, trailing behind the knight as he sprinted to catch up with Vaati on the stretcher.

“Do what you can,” he panted as the stretcher came into view, gesturing to the bloodied body on top of it. Then, quick as an arrow, he was off again.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

“What happened!?” Zelda’s face was panic-stricken as they flew down the spiral staircase from her study towards the infirmary from which Link had come.

“He- I don’t know! We were fighting Guardians and he changed to his last form and I’m pretty sure he didn’t bother to keep from getting hit. He didn’t look injured until he turned back and then he collapsed-“

“Is he still Reborn?”

“Yes, if the nurses did what I told them to-“

“We need Oneira’s magic.”

“I know, I sent for her!”

“I’m- I’m sure he’s fine. I’m sure he could transform again to keep the damage at bay if he needs to.”

Link didn’t bother explaining that there was no way Vaati was fit to transform in his current state. He wasn’t even conscious. It didn’t matter. Zelda always said comforting things, and Link always knew them to be meaningless comforts.

He was relieved to find that the body lying motionless on the infirmary stretcher seemed in better shape than when he’d left it. No doubt thanks to the famed Oneira, who stood protective over the mage, still in the process of uttering some strange and most likely forbidden healing magic compatible with the kind of sorcery Vaati used in propping up his beastly forms.

But the blood drained from Link’s face as he realized that the body in front of him was no longer Reborn. It was Hylian.

“He’s-“

“He’ll make it,” Oneira interrupted, shooting Link a severe look over her hands, which swayed softly to the rhythm of magic. “We spoke, briefly. He could manage the switch after the help of your fairies, Link. And my magic works all the better that way.”

Zelda winced, knowing her prized infirmary nurse wasn’t a fan of aligning herself with dark magic in the healing of royal employees. It was just that…well, she was the only one who knew how.

It hadn’t exactly been a smooth transition, explaining to these devout followers of Hylia that Hyrule’s newest appointed mage was…aided…by a magic that was decidedly not Goddess-given.

Link didn’t seem bothered by this tension, however. In a split second he was by the body, thankfully less sullied by blood, but still pale, lids closed. His hands hovered over the splits across Vaati’s skin, unmistakably the work of Guardian technology now that the blood had been washed away. The eerie symmetry of the wounds sent a pang through Link’s heart.

My fault.

Link jumped when Vaati’s eyes opened suddenly and fixed upon him a look that was decidedly unmoved by the gravity of the situation he had just lived through.

“Link,” the mage croaked.

Link’s mouth opened wide, but no words came out.

Vaati’s painfully cracked lips broke into a smirk. “You…you have the medallion, right?”

Link blinked.

Then he turned on his heel and stormed out of the room.

Chapter Text

It wasn’t long before Vaati was up and running like nothing had happened.

In fact, he almost seemed proud of their disastrous Akkalan escapade.

Not the being minutes from death part, of course. But the part where he took out three Guardians in as many minutes. And he didn’t miss the chance to tell anyone who would listen that if he had been allowed to stay in his Wrathful form, he wouldn’t have even needed the healing.

Meanwhile, Link had spent the better part of the following three days isolated in his chambers, seriously questioning several aspects of his life.

Namely: his intuition. His ability to read people. His faith in others. Vaati’s judgement. Vaati’s motives. His own motives. His own judgement.

Primarily his own judgement.

Presently, he was hunkered down in his room, studying maps of Hyrule, trying to memorize unfamiliar regions as far from Akkala as possible in an effort to keep his mind from roaming back to their recent brush with death. He hadn’t even recovered the medallion from out of the drawer he’d tossed it into since they returned. Any attempts to uncover the functionality of the thing would just revive memories of Vaati’s Wrath and flood his brain with that terrible imagery, rendering rational thought impossible.

It was true, he’d never explicitly stated to Vaati what kinds of harrowing recollections accompanied the sight of his most powerful form. He couldn’t have expected him to simply know. The mage didn’t flinch at the sight of Link in green, after all.

And even if Link had explained it to him, their situation had been life-or-death. It was reckless- extraordinarily, infuriatingly reckless- for Vaati to have gone about his attack on the Guardians with no attempt to shelter himself from their attacks; but at least partly, he had been doing what he felt he had to do. Right?

But Link had wanted to leave. He had told him they should leave. And Vaati refused.

Such thoughts spun around in his head and only became more and more entangled as the torturously long day wore on. After a while, he became conscious of an ache in his back from the long hours perched over the same section of map, eyes watering and twitching as they bored a hole through the parchment that he hadn’t really been seeing for the last twenty minutes. He willed himself to move his limbs into a new position, but they didn’t listen.

When a rap announced itself on his door, he jumped forcefully enough to knock over his teacup, sending lukewarm liquid all across the work-desk and into the delicate folds of the maps strewn across it.

Link swore, hurrying to save what he could as the liquid spilled down the table. “One second!”

Whoever was at the door didn’t wait. It burst open with a creak, sending a jolt of irritation down Link’s spine.

“I said wait-“

Vaati was leaning against the doorframe when Link turned round, quite himself in a posture of self-satisfaction, and painfully ignorant to the irate mood he had just produced in his host. 

“Link, I’m offended.” But there was a grin across the man’s face. “You’d think you hardly cared whether I lived or died in that awful infirmary.”

Link’s lips flattened.

“I stayed long enough to know you wouldn’t die,” he replied dryly.

 Vaati paid this no mind. Instead, he flounced between the knight and his desk, eyes fixed upon the faint blue glow emanating through a crack in the bottom drawer of the bedside table. Before Link could move to hinder him- or object to the flippant disregard for his privacy- Vaati had pulled open the drawer and seized the medallion, turning it over fondly in his hands.

“So, what does it do? I assume you’ve inspected it fully by now?”

“…No.”

Vaati raised his eyes to look at the knight, brows furrowed. “What? You haven’t even fiddled with it?”

“No. You go ahead. Let me know what it does once you’ve figured it out.”

Link’s voice was flat and hard. He avoided Vaati’s gaze.

At this, the mage ceased his fondling of the artifact and narrowed his eyes at the knight. “Is something wrong?”

Link took a deep breath and fixated blankly on a spot up and to the right of Vaati’s piteously confused face. Despite his open mouth and influx of breath in anticipation of speech, Link couldn’t find the words. The air hung heavy between them.

Then, something in Vaati’s countenance softened. He didn’t let go of the medallion, but his arms dropped and his aggravating, innate arrogance left his stance. He took a step towards the man tongue-tied in front of him.

“I’m sorry if I worried you. But we’re both alright, aren’t we? I admit I underestimated the Guardians a bit. But you know I wouldn’t have done what I’d done if I didn’t know that you were alright and that we would both be safe.”

Those words broke the dam in Link’s throat.

“You had no idea whether I was alright or not, you passed out!” He spat, turning to Vaati, fire in his eyes. “You may not remember but I had to warp us both back to the castle- we would both be dead but thankfully I know how to take care of myself! I would never have taken you along if I had any idea you’d be so reckless-“

Vaati scoffed, immediately on the defensive. “You’re chastising me for being reckless? You realize that I speak to Princess Zelda, as well? You’re infamous throughout the castle for causing others to worry for your well-being.”

“That’s-“ Link faltered- “that’s different.”

It wasn’t different.

Admitting such would hand Vaati the argument, however.

“And, Link, I also know how to take care of myself, which is why I tried to remain in my final form, and if you’d just trusted me in that decision-“

“I can’t fucking stand your final form!” Link bellowed, and his voice rattled the work-desk.

Vaati was silent at that.

Something shifted in his memory, and he remembered the pleading in Link’s eyes as he’d knelt below him in the Labyrinth temple that day. He suddenly saw it in a new light.

The mage opened his mouth, then closed it. His eyes widened in understanding as he gazed at Link, now steadfastly refusing to meet his eye, seemingly ashamed of his outburst.

“I…didn’t realize that.”

Link shrugged, looking more and more uncomfortable by the second.

“I never told you,” Link finally acknowledged, miserably.

Vaati could have mentioned what a critical piece of information that was to leave out before embarking on a life-threatening assignment, but he didn’t. The boy before him looked wretched enough without the reminder.

Pride wasn’t really one of Link’s hang-ups, especially in comparison to the ancient mage, but Vaati supposed he wasn’t entirely immune to assaults on it. The Hero was reckoned across Hyrule for his bravery, his selfless- and, yes, reckless- disregard for danger in the interests of the Royal Family and the land he served. Come to think of it, the mage couldn’t remember a time Link had ever shown that kind of fear; not the kind that motivates you, but the kind that immobilizes you.

But Link had been immobilized below Vaati’s form in the temple. The more Vaati strained to remember, the more he reevaluated the blankness in Link’s eyes, the break in his voice, the strange collapse to his knees that Vaati had mistakenly attributed to injury.

In fact, now that Vaati thought about it, the scene couldn’t have looked altogether different in Link’s eyes from the last time the Hero had stood before him, bow in hand, while his Wrathful form hovered high above the ruins of a forgotten temple.

Palace of Winds, Central-Western Hyrule, Four Sword Era - 350 Years Prior to the Calamity

“Oh, I was wondering when you two would come around.”

Link froze. Zelda stopped short behind him, clumsier in her movements, almost knocking him over. The voice hadn’t come from a direction- it had come from all around them, like it was in their heads, but it wasn’t.

Then it converged above them and swept downwards.

“How rude of you to show up here, at my palace, wielding that ugly sword like you’re really planning to use it against me.”

Vaati the Wind Mage floated before them, arms folded across his chest, a deadly smirk across his face. Zelda started at the grown version of the boy she remembered from unknown centuries ago. He no longer bore the naivety of youth on his face- a trait which had been strange to witness in someone so intent on the conquest of a kingdom- but his features were the same: piercing crimson eyes and long lavender hair down his back, though this time both eyes were unobstructed. Zelda had to strain to identify a small scar running down the length of his right eye, barely perceptible from healing. She hadn’t noticed it before- in that other lifetime, the mage had always kept it covered with bangs.

And, of course, that cursed purple cap, ever-present alongside the sorcerer.

“Oh, shut up,” Link growled, stepping forward aggressively, although his foe was a dozen feet up off the ground. He remembered this sorcerer from a previous lifetime: pretentious, arrogant, condescending. He would go on for hours with his monologues if given the chance. Link preferred to end it now, and quickly.

Vaati chuckled, but it was far from friendly. “Now, you both look as if you’re trying to make a very bad decision. I’m not who you want, anyway. This is my palace, and mine alone. If you’re searching for a certain pig-beast intent on the destruction of your world, you’ll have to look elsewhere.”

Zelda spoke up this time, shaking with anger. “We know you know where he is. And he’s not the only one we’re searching for.”

“And why is that? I’m minding my own business, doing no harm to anyone.” Vaati’s lie was punctuated with a wicked grin.

The Princess flared. “Oh? Is that so? You haven’t been setting fire to villages across Hyrule?”

“That was the handiwork of my…colleague, not me.”

“You’re not the one isolating villages and electrocuting travelers with your goddamned barriers?” Zelda hissed, pulling the shoulder of her tunic to reveal a lengthy white scar zigzagged across her collar.

Vaati tossed his hand airily, looking bored with the accusations. “Well, sometimes you have to cooperate with others in order to get what you want out of an arrangement. Ganon was in need of my services.”

“Oh, is that so? And you truly believe you’ll be getting what you want when all this is through?”

Vaati’s glance shifted to Zelda for but a second before lifting back up to gaze indifferently over the two youth’s heads. “And why would I believe otherwise?”

Zelda’s voice lowered. “For someone working alongside the incarnation of evil, you’ve a really optimistic outlook for yourself once he finally gets what he wants. I never took you for such a fool.”

Link didn’t know what it was Zelda was trying to accomplish with this back-and-forth, but he knew that whatever she was going for, she’d just ruined it with that insult.

Vaati raised himself out of his casual stance in the air and jolted downwards, face contorted into a hateful sneer. “You insolent witch. It’s too bad, you two could have taken the mercy I was about to offer you and leave.” A growing orb of crackling white flame began to take form in his palm.

Fucking finally.

Link leapt from the ball of one foot, landing on the other, an inconceivable distance away, now facing the wind sorcerer’s side. The Four Sword came down a fraction of a second too late, as Vaati- caught off guard by Link’s advance but quick to react nonetheless- teleported immediately, reappearing to snicker darkly from behind the knight. 

“Too slow, Hero-“

Link was in the middle of turning to face his foe when the white-hot flame hit him square in the side.

“Link!” Zelda squealed. The helplessness in her voice was clear. She didn’t know how to help. She had no weapons.

But he was back on his feet in no time. That was nothing.

When he raised his head to face Vaati again, the mage had transformed, Reborn into the form that was so disgustingly familiar to Link from lifetimes ago.

He spat at the sorcerer’s feet.

And he threw his sword to the ground, securing it with one foot to an audible gasp from the Princess. The gesture seemed to confuse the wind mage, as well, which gave Link just enough time to sling the bow off from his back and nock an arrow in an unmatched show of dexterity.

Vaati swore as his shoulder was pierced by the projectile.

“You fucking-“

Link didn’t wait to hear the insult. In seconds the Four Sword was back in hand, bow on his back, and he’d advanced to the bleeding figure bent over before him, thrusting the blade dead-center into Vaati’s middle.

It connected, it veritably ripped through the man’s stomach, it probably came out the other side.

The face that lifted back up to look at Link wasn’t human anymore. Its eyes were white with hate. Blood gurgled from the corner of its mouth, and it twisted, the whole thing twisted, dissipating into a black fume around Link’s sword and re-forming meters above him; but this time, no longer even an imitation of human.

Link hated this part. The part where his foes were always more than mortal. He didn’t have that kind of insurance.

Zelda screamed to Link, “Give me your bow!”

Link opened his mouth to protest- you don’t know how to use it- but changed his mind, and bolted back to the Princess, thrusting the bow and quiver into her arms. She accepted it clumsily. Link left her again, scanning the battlefield for their enemy.

It hovered high in the air, a familiar, repulsive monstrosity of black smoke crowned by a gleaming golden headpiece. One single eye shone red, angry and inhuman. Miniatures of itself formed a protective barrier around Vaati’s center, eerie clones down to the very timing of their blinks.

Link almost choked in surprise at the sight of one of those eyes being pierced, dead-on, by an arrow shot from Zelda’s hand.

He made the mistake of looking back to her, because he was just so impressed.

And Vaati took that chance to blast him with another fireball. Deep purple, this time, and much more painful than the last.

Link crashed to the ground, cursing as he felt the stone pathway to the Palace of Winds grate against his forehead, dotting his vision with blood as he made his way back to his feet. It wasn’t just a passing pain this time- he felt the remnants of that blast in his bones. Like a poison spreading through the tissue it touched, it seemed to worsen with every second.

He didn’t care. This had to be done.

He took advantage of Vaati’s rage towards the Princess at her assault on his minions, apparently having forgotten for a moment about the Hero of Hyrule, who was steadily advancing from his blind side with the Four Sword at the ready.

Link impaled it again into the monster’s flesh just as it was preparing a blow that would have left the Princess unconscious.

This time, a screech seeming to emanate from the Palace itself pierced the gales twisting round their battlefield.

Maybe it was the relief that Zelda hadn’t been hit- maybe the confidence that arose in Link after that screech- but he let his guard down, and he suffered for it.

For the next time that he was able to open his eyes, it was yet another form that hovered above him, and this one had claws. Claws, attached to limbs that had knocked him unconscious for longer than he wanted to think about- where was Zelda- and where was all this blood coming from-

Vaati’s Wrath couldn’t speak, but Link could have sworn it laughed just before it lowered one of those hideous claws and raked it against his front, slicing a gash from the base of his collar down to the top of his groin.

Zelda screamed again, and it was furious.

Link couldn’t say anything. All the air in his lungs seemed to escape as he met the pain of having his torso ripped open. He couldn’t move his limbs to cover the tear. He could feel his own blood cover him like it was a bucket of warm broth poured over his front.

There was some kind of- noise- in the background, and a whoosh of air, and the black figment that had just killed him fell out of Link’s field of view. He couldn’t gather his thoughts well enough to try and see where it had fallen. His thoughts were unraveling. The periphery of his vision grew dark.

He was going to die here. He was going to die- it was really happening- he was going to die-

No, no, no, Zelda, help, no- help me- no-

But he couldn’t speak it with words. His mouth didn’t work. He was going to die here.

Chapter Text

Palace of Winds, Central-Western Hyrule, Four Sword Era - 350 Years Prior to the Calamity – Continued

The next time Link felt some kind of consciousness, he was still bloody; but it had dried, somehow. There was nothing spilling from the fault line across his front. There were words in the air, near enough to be heard, but Link still couldn’t concentrate enough to really understand them.

“You know it will end that way. You’re not a fool, Vaati. You’ve already seen it in action. He believes himself more powerful than you.”

“He’s not.” The voice that rasped in response to the Princess’s words was low, gasping, like its owner was teetering on the edge of consciousness just as Link was.

“Maybe not. But by the time he’s gained all the power he plans to- with the help of the work he’s roped you into- it won’t matter whether he really is or not. He will have all the control.”

“I will destroy him.”

Zelda laughed darkly. “I could destroy you here and now.”

The source of the pained voice spat.

Link, in a monumental effort to move through the pain and gain some understanding of his situation, caught out of corner of his eye a familiar glimmer- the glimmer of Light Arrows that he remembered so well from previous lifetimes, hanging in the air as if with magic. Or- was that an arm holding them?

“What you have here- you can keep it. As you said, it wasn’t you laying waste to Hyrule. I can see that your priorities are not what they once were. The Hero and I- we don’t care to take away what you’ve built. We simply need to take back the country from those who seek to ruin it. That man will kill you without a second thought once your work is finished. You really think Ganon plans to share his conquered Hyrule? Don’t fool yourself.”

Silence.

“You have no choice, Vaati. You are facing death from two sides out of three. If you accept my offer, you will cheat death, and keep everything you have.”

Silence.

“I converse with the Goddesses. If you don’t believe me, it’s because you worry that I am lying to you. But why would I lie?”

Silence.

But then-

“How do I know you won’t kill me just as quickly after I’ve served your purpose?”

“As I said, I converse with the Goddesses. It is not in my nature to build such foundations on deceit.”

Weighted silence.

“And him? He won’t put that damned sword through my heart the moment he’s capable enough to do so?”

“The Hero listens to me.”

Chapter Text

Hyrule Castle, Central Hyrule, Present Era: 102 Years Post-Calamity – Continued

“It won’t happen again.”

Vaati closed the distance between himself and Link and wrapped his arms around the shorter man’s waist, pressing his chin into the crook of his neck. Link’s body stiffened at first, but melted just as quickly, until he was hardly supporting his own weight in the hold of Vaati’s arms. It felt good to have his face up against the front of a tunic. It felt good not to have to focus on avoiding eye contact.

He could feel the man’s fingers curling into his hair, raking gently down to the base of his neck, moving up again to repeat the motion.

“I didn’t realize. I thought you didn’t mind when I changed,” Vaati spoke softly.

“I- I don’t...” Link trailed off, trying to find words for his contradictory feelings on the matter. “I don’t know. Sometimes I don’t; if it’s just the first one, it’s...” He abandoned the attempt to voice his thoughts. He himself didn’t understand them. He knew that Vaati knew it wasn’t that simple, either, and he shamed himself for the conflicting messages he was sending, remembering a time not too long ago, in this very room, when the topic of Vaati’s transformations had served as no less than a foray to intercourse.

He remembered the flush that had spread across his cheeks as the mage teased him, emboldened by Link’s comment on the intimidating nature of his transformed state. Of course he remembered the unmistakable arousal that had bloomed in him at the thought; that time, the memory of Vaati’s earlier transformation on Ploymus Mountain had spurred him on, filled him with a desire that Vaati had perceived.

How could he expect the mage to have known that he would be rendered immobile with fear at the sight of a form just one step further than that one?

If Vaati was wondering the same thing, though, he didn’t comment. Instead, he cupped his palm around Link’s cheek and leaned down to meet his lips in a kiss that was extraordinarily gentle.

Link felt the shame that had enveloped him during their talk begin to fall away, and finally he threw him arms around the mage in return, accepting the soft, warm relief that came with their embrace.

Not long afterwards, as they relocated to Link’s bed in the midst of undressing, Vaati made sure to wrap up the Travel Medallion in his cloak as he piled his clothes into a heap by the bed, not wanting to forget it when he would return to his study after their tryst.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

7 Miles East of the Tower of Winds, West-Central Hyrule, Four Sword Era- 350 Years Prior to the Calamity

A dark and bitterly cold evening set upon the forested outskirts of Central Hyrule. A gloom hung in the air, unabated by Vaati’s attempts to send it elsewhere by magical force. Each time he swept the moisture up in a gale and sent it flying behind them towards the mountains, more arose from the wet soil and penetrated the surrounding air to replace what had been driven away.

“Do we really need to spend tonight in a camp? It’s fucking freezing. Isn’t there some sort of village where we can-“

“Yes,” Link interrupted the mage flatly, “we do. That way I can hear you if you try to run away or kill us off in the night. And there isn’t another town for 12 miles.”

The mage snorted. After the last several hours spent in deliberation- and culminating in unavoidable concession- he had become a grudging travel partner to the Princess of Hyrule and her Knight. They were headed to Ganon’s fortress together (as Vaati couldn’t be trusted to travel alone, unsupervised by the two Triforce holders who had essentially become his handlers.)

“I already told you I’d agree to your offer.” The last word spat from Vaati’s mouth, quick and deadly sharp.

“Your word doesn’t mean shit.” Link’s reply was devoid of emotion, completely matter-of-fact, and his inconceivable calm inflamed Vaati past his admittedly low boiling point.

Wind gusts grew in the air as he sprung to his feet and advanced upon Link, spewing venom.

Zelda cleared her throat.

The mage halted. Not instantly, but he halted.

Link glowered back up at him, eye contact never broken.

Vaati scowled. Every fiber of his being bristled at this scenario- his conduct- his glory, bridled to this Princess, not even an adult yet, but high and mighty like she really felt she was fit to bind him like this.

He turned on his heel, storming off, and with a throw of his arm he cast a rope of lightning into the forest not 400 feet to their right.

Zelda jumped, Link stiffened in preparation for battle- but nothing more came of it than the crack and crash of trees, falling into a thicket too damp to catch flame.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Hyrule Castle, Central Hyrule, Present Era: 102 Years Post-Calamity – Continued

“God, you’re beautiful,” Vaati murmured, running his hand down the length of Link’s torso, appraising his form with hooded eyes. “I’ve told you that, right?”

Link tucked his chin to his chest, fighting a bashful smile. He gave a quick nod and tried to maintain command of his breath as Vaati’s wandering hand made its way down his hips.

“Good. I can’t let you be too humble.” Vaati placed a finger under Link’s chin and tipped his head back up, forcing eye contact, melting inside at the blue of the boy’s eyes betraying his waning self-control in the wake of Vaati’s touches.

Vaati pulled Link’s head in close, locking their lips together, relishing the low moan that finally passed from Link’s mouth into his own as his hand made contact with its target between Link’s thighs and tightened.   

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Vaati wouldn’t admit it to anyone but himself- it make no sense for him to call down stormy weather to worsen their night spent outdoors- but as he stalked away from the pair to sit at the edge of the forest overlooking the plains, the landscape was overtaken by a sudden downpour.

Zelda could have sworn the sky had been clear not fifteen minutes ago.

Link abandoned his attempts at a fire with a huff. Not that he’d had much of a start anyway, in this damp. Finally, he gestured to the dark figure segregated from them, exasperated.

“Can’t he…he has magic! Can’t he make the fire? Or fucking… conjure up a goddamn waterproof tent for us? You know ours is already soaked from the humidity.” Link shifted uncomfortably, pack heavy on his shoulders and wet against his back.

Zelda wiped her face with her hands and sighed. “Maybe he would have before your outburst.”

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Vaati pulled Link down so their chests were flush and Link’s breath came out fast and hot onto his neck, punctuated by delicious cries with every upward thrust of Vaati’s hips.

“Does this feel good, Hero? Does this feel good?”

“Unh- ah-“

“Are you getting closer?”

Vaati felt Link’s muscle pulse against his stomach in reply.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

When Vaati finally returned to the makeshift camp, Link was in the process of fortifying their tent shelter with an awning of interlocking pine boughs. They held impressively well against the rain, diverting the downfall into runoff down and away from the base of the tent, which the pair had attempted to pitch on the highest platform they could find within the limited space of the forest clearing.

Vaati didn’t announce his return, but stood before the shelter, arms crossed.

Link didn’t acknowledge him.

Zelda waited a moment, then stated tersely, “It’s going to be a tight fit.”

Vaati couldn’t believe the depths he’d plummeted in the last 24 hours. From high above the world in his very own palace to stuck with two intolerable teenagers in a soggy tent. Lengthy consideration of such things would be too much to bear. It might even penetrate past his furious indignation to something more, something worse.

So he made himself useful, and conjured an intricate fire-cast, which surrounded the tent with hovering pools of hot, steaming air: magical heat, just enough to drive moisture from the fabric without catching fire. These glistening tendrils danced their way around the entirety of the tent until every hint of damp had been driven from their shelter.

Link paused in his collection of more boughs to watch the display, mouth agape, betraying his astonishment. It was him who spoke next, filling the pregnant silence that followed Vaati’s show of magic.

“Can…can you do the same thing for our clothes?”

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Vaati felt his lover begin to claw at his forearms in desperation, though the mage certainly wasn’t holding back at this point. He wasn’t even trying to tease the knight.

Yet Link bucked and whined like he was being denied something.

“What’s wrong, sweetheart?” Vaati whispered, stroking Link’s head lovingly, carefully monitoring his voice so as not to betray his own proximity to orgasm, for the knight felt so unimaginably good clenched on top of him.

“I-“ Link’s voice broke, and he lifted himself up on a weak forearm to meet Vaati’s eyes, with an urgency in his own that broke Vaati from all other distractions- “I love you-“

Link collapsed back down into the crook of Vaati’s neck, breathless as his legs began to spasm.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

It was a tight fit for the three of them inside Link’s tent, but they were dry, and all secretly glad for the warmth of three bodies against the frigid night. Zelda lay as a buffer between the two boys, who had pressed themselves as far as possible toward the fabric walls of their shelter, Vaati facing east, Link facing west.

As the three drifted to exhaustion-fueled sleep, the clouds above them slowly parted, carrying away the rain to leave a clear, starry night. 

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

“Mmm,” Vaati replied slowly, feeling a new warmth bloom in his chest. A pleased smile spread across his lips. He cradled Link as he shook in his release on top of him; Vaati followed suit soon after.

Chapter Text

10 Miles North of the Temple of Ice, South-Central Hyrule, Four Sword Era- 350 Years Prior to the Calamity

Far enough away from the communal camp he is as good as chained to, the Wind Mage finds a seat upon a felled tree trunk and begins to command a bantering magic between both hands.

The elements shift and transform on the stage between his outstretched palms. The miniature elemental form of a rainstorm is summoned above a small crackling flame, and Vaati sends them to battle against each other, so absent-mindedly as if to almost not know the outcome. The rain engulfs the flame; its heat wasn’t bold enough. Big enough.

Rain snaps in dozens of microscopic alterations and then becomes a loosely assembled ball of electricity, a tiny model of the lightning he could call down from the sky if he so desired, albeit at a much increased cost to his stamina. When he sends the two collections charging at each other in the air, there is no effect. The fire dances through the lightning as if these two forces existed on separate planes.

This play is directed independently of the natural workings of the sky above Central Hyrule. Vaati couldn’t say what the weather was like in that moment; he was too absorbed in the weather between his palms. His universe of mindless self-soothing, the pleasurable whirr of magic borne without effort. Like falling into a trance.

If he were feeling anger, he could channel that fervor into a control of the sky above in a way that would feel effortless- at least in the moment. He could change the winds at will, or bring forth torrential rainfall, booming thunder, crackling lightning all in a matter of minutes. He could form a tornado before them, as if he possessed enormous, invisible hands at a potter’s wheel, molding the atmosphere to his will. He could have his companions trembling in terror, baffled at his change of heart, or vindicated in their expectations of treachery.

But Vaati wasn’t feeling anger. That, he could not summon, and not for lack of trying. He felt empty. He felt tired; not tired in that he couldn’t call down a thunderstorm, but tired in that he had no desire to.

His days in this world were numbered. As they had always been, no matter where he found himself when he awoke. They were numbered on that cursed morning he was born as a Minish- though he didn’t know it then- and they were numbered when he fell from his trap several hundred years ago, and they had been numbered from the day he was summoned into existence again in this life, and if he went through with this, he had no doubt they would be numbered again on the wretched day he began existence anew in some bleak and pointless Hyrule of the future. He had never been fated to win. Not even that, but he had never been afforded even an ounce of control over his own destiny; his soul was a mouse to be batted around and tortured by the bloodthirsty cats in the sky that others termed the Goddesses.

The anger should have been there, and he wondered where it was.

Deep down, however, he knew.

He was tired.

Fated, again, to return to the sword. To trap himself back for several lifetimes’ worth of torture, of increasingly mindless deterioration, of the interminable onset of insanity that never seems to envelop him completely, always withholding mercy. Fated to a centuries-long absence of existence, just corporeal enough to feel that sense of being lost; that confusion, that dulled perception, that fear- no- that all-consuming terror-

He wondered why death didn’t yet seem the better option. Something seemed to be holding him back from fully accepting that feeling.

Anger was what he should have been feeling towards Link, whose own blasted destiny as a pawn of the Goddesses in effect made him Vaati’s executioner. Zelda, the jury. Vaati knew intimately well, and loathed, the judges.

However, when he thought of the boy he had grown to know as the slow months had passed them by, all he could feel was a dull, hollow sadness in his chest that came and did not go.

Link was trying to focus on other things, prepping a camp meal for the two others as distraction, but his eyes kept flitting to the dark cloaked figure who had escaped the bounds of their campsite, barely within eyesight.

His concern had not escaped Zelda’s notice, and she knew he felt the same way she did.

“He didn’t take it as badly as I’d imagined he would.” The Princess’s voice held a high, awkward note of feigned hope.

Link shrugged despondently. “He’s probably still taking it in. He might turn around minutes from now and decide it’s better to kill us both.”

Strangely enough, Link’s tone wasn’t bitter, nor suspicious, nor angry. It was…flat. Sad.

“I don’t think he would do that at this point. I simply relayed what the Goddesses told me in sleep. I didn’t make any threats either way.”

“It’s still you telling him he’s as good as dead.”

Zelda sputtered, trying so desperately to find light in the situation that she knew was hopeless. “He isn’t- he won’t be dead. He’s done this before, Link.”

“That probably makes it all the worse.” Link’s voice dropped so low that his Princess struggled to hear him.

“He was in the sword for at least a half millennium before! I can’t say for sure, but it sounded like…it sounded like the Goddesses were pitying him, Link. Like they were trying to make his fate as bearable as they could. I have a feeling in my heart that it will be for much shorter this time around. It will be nothing compared to what he’s endured before. He may even be out within a century.”

Link stared absently ahead and did not respond.

Chapter Text

Hyrule Castle, Central Hyrule, Present Era: 102 Years Post-Calamity

Link had not had much interaction with the Gerudo Kingdom since his split with their Prince.

Aside from his mandatory accompaniment to trade negotiations- during which, nowadays, he spent the bare minimum required time seated at the table, stoic and blank-faced to the point that it often seemed his mind was in a different place entirely, determined never again to meet Ganondorf’s eye- Link hadn’t set foot inside those clay walls for months. He had even foregone his source for the cheapest electric arrows in all the country. Even if he didn’t have the misfortune of running into his ex among the throngs of townsfolk crowding Gerudo City’s busy streets, the memories alone were enough to ward him off. And Link couldn’t imagine the awkward conversation that would necessarily take place between him and Furosa, his favorite barkeep, were he to show up alone and explain to her that her Prince had left him in the dust 6 months prior. If she didn’t somehow already know.

In line with his physical avoidance of Ganondorf, Link also furiously denied his mind any leeway in wandering towards the same subject. He didn’t wonder what the Prince was up to on any given day. He didn’t think about him when he came home from trade negotiations. He might disappear for a week afterwards to the Akkalan highlands, yes, but he didn’t think of Ganondorf on his travels. He thought of nothing, and he drank. Early on, he had taken to storing an amount of liquor within the technological confines of his Sheikah Slate that would have horrified Zelda, if she had known. As time went on, he needed less.

By the time he and Vaati had overcome the strange in-between stage of their relationship- long after the weeks following their first sexual encounter, where every interaction was heavy with tension and frustration and want (and anger, in Vaati’s case) and they had allowed themselves to embrace whatever it was that they had, albeit without giving it a name- Link didn’t need a half-gallon every four days to quiet his thoughts. He still drank, of course, but not in the desperate, frantically self-soothing manner he had before. Even his memories of Ganondorf were made mild by the unsteady, but still warm and sweet comfort that Vaati- his old friend- brought Link when he thought of him, or spoke to him, or slept with him. Or told him he loved him in a foolish, probably orgasm-induced fit of sudden feeling. But Link had been trying not to think about that incident.

So when Princess Zelda was summoned to the Gerudo Kingdom for negotiations that were not trade-focused, but land-focused, and she was told that due to the nature of their discussion the Gerudo would allow entry of her Court Sorcerer into the city, and Link was summoned as usual and on short notice, he didn’t think to revisit old habits and pack a bottle in his “luggage.” He had other things on his mind.

Like what on earth the Gerudo Kingdom was doing requesting physical expansion of their reign into Hyrulian territory.

Zelda had explained to Link that it wasn’t an infringement on their land, per se- it was more a courteous notification to Hyrule Kingdom that the water source the Gerudo prince had been summoning to irrigate the entirety of his city was, technically, a tributary of Lake Hylia, however underground and far to the southwest as it was. Zelda expected the diplomatic meeting to be nothing more than a formality; an officially recorded agreement upon something that had been implicitly allowed and supported by both parties for months prior. After all, it was no burden on Hyrule for the Gerudo Kingdom to finally irrigate their land to the extent it needed to flourish. In fact, Zelda was thrilled for Riju that her brother had applied his impressive sorcery to such a fantastically positive end for their people. Their friendship was such that a boon for the Gerudo was a happiness to the Princess of Hyrule.

Link, however, was always a skeptic, when his heart wasn’t tugging his attentions elsewhere. And now that his connection to Ganondorf had been severed, his suspicions were rekindled at the words territory negotiations, and he couldn’t help but fear the worst: Ganondorf had finally come into his age-old role as aggressor, ever hungry for conquest, however small; and this was just the beginning of the inevitable bloodshed.

Zelda found Link’s suspicions preposterous, and voiced to him as much.

“You don’t think your unhappy relationship with him doesn’t have anything to do with this? I don’t mean to be blunt, Link, but you were singing his praises 6 months ago.”

“He wasn’t asking for Hyrulian land 6 months ago.”

“He’s not asking for Hyrulian land now.”

Link failed to concoct a retort. It was just a feeling, after all. He couldn’t justify a feeling to Zelda. But it felt so real.

It felt real a year and a half ago, too, and then you fell in love with him and forgot about it.

Link cringed inwardly at the callous truth-telling of the voice in his head.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

When the topic of Vaati’s uncommon welcome into the city came up between the two men, Link was less eager to voice his suspicions. Primarily because he was extremely uncomfortable discussing his previous lover with his current one, and secondarily because he knew Vaati would agree with him too much thanks to his cross-lifetime, not entirely unjustified hatred of Ganondorf. He didn’t want to give the mage a reason to be shamelessly rude during his first diplomatic meeting with their closest allies.

So he tried, ineffectively and very awkwardly, to hide his thoughts as the mage packed a suitcase and monologued proudly on his unexpected admittance to the female-only Kingdom. Thankfully, he was too wrapped up in delusions that this exception was due to his personal charm to give notice to Link’s distraction.

“I figured it was only a matter of time before they invited me in. Living in an all-female city. Those women must be starved.”

Link hmphed in unhearing agreement and studied the impressive view from Vaati’s bedroom window.

“Although, speaking to the guards all those months ago, apparently they do get out if they so desire. But then they have to cross that hideous desert. What a shame. Do you know what the negotiations are concerning? Zelda only told me that my presence would be allowed due to the “nature” of the subject matter. Any idea what that’s supposed to mean?”

At this, Link’s mind was tugged back to the conversation, and a bitterness arose within him. He tried to quell it, so that it did not shine through his voice. “I don’t really know. She didn’t tell me much either. Something about an official agreement on their use of a tributary for their irrigation.”

“What on earth would they need me there for?” Vaati’s words did not align with his tone, however, which was nearly gleeful at what Vaati obviously felt was an invitation, again, based on his invaluable charm and charisma.

Link, however, wasn’t so sure. He thought hard on Vaati’s words.

What would they need him there for?

Suddenly, Link jolted up from Vaati’s chesterfield and headed towards the door. “I’ll be right back.”

Vaati stuttered, indignant at the rude departure, but the knight was already flying down the hallway, headed to Princess Zelda’s study.

“Who invited you to Gerudo City?”

“What?”

“Who invited you? Was it Riju or Ganondorf?”

“Oh, Link.” Zelda sounded exasperated at the reemergence of this topic. “It was Ganondorf, but-“

But Link was gone, out the door as quickly as he’d come.

Link’s re-entry into Vaati’s chambers was greeted by the mage with hands on his hips, lips pursed. “Oh, you’ve come back.”

“I have no idea why they invited you. I don’t think Zelda knows either. So whatever happens, I guess, don’t lose your head, but be ready for anything.”

Vaati narrowed his eyes. “What is that supposed to mean?”

Link only shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t know.”

Suddenly, however, Vaati’s temper shifted. He smiled, somewhat hungrily, and before Link knew it the mage had taken him in his arms, and planted a dominating kiss onto unsuspecting lips. “Don’t worry. I’m sure it will be fine. I’ll be there with you.”

This, however, did not alleviate Link’s worries, and in fact only cemented a hard rock of anxiety and foreboding in his gut. He didn’t feel able to tell Vaati this outright, but the idea of how the mage might act within the walls of Gerudo City now that he felt a certain ownership of Link actually made him feel sick to his stomach. He wouldn’t put it past Vaati to flaunt their relationship before the Gerudo Prince, as some reflex of pride and revenge against the man for having ever had a relationship with Link in the first place.

So Link smiled weakly, and awaited the next several days with inescapable dread.

Chapter Text

Vaati’s and Link’s moods were diametrically opposed during the trip from Hyrule Castle to Gerudo Town.

Link’s head swam with increasingly far-fetched ideas on what kind of doomed design could have warranted a request for Vaati’s presence during land-use negotiations, rendering him restless and distracted, aggrieved to have to spend the better part of a day cooped up in a carriage. Specifically, in a carriage with Vaati, who was so smugly preoccupied with his invitation to the normally female-only city that he couldn’t be bothered to give any higher thought to the situation, and would only drone on haughtily about how it was about time, etc., etc. The mage also was not subtle about how much pleasure it gave him to be in a situation where he could both look at Link in his vai get-up as well as sneak handfuls of him anytime Zelda wasn’t looking.

Link was almost relieved by the time they made it to Kara Kara Bazaar.

This time, their escort had arrived before they did. Ganondorf was absent; he had failed to show up for an escort ever since he and Link had split. Riju was there, though, bubbly and welcoming as ever.

Link’s senses were heightened, his awareness stretched painfully to every single sound and movement around him, paranoid and searching desperately for some clue as to the cause of these irregular circumstances. But there was nothing in Riju’s demeanor that suggested anything out of the ordinary.

In the time that Riju introduced herself to Vaati, offered and was denied her offer to provide him with a sand-seal (in Vaati’s opinion, one of those things had to be ten times worse than a horse), and made plans to meet him at the entrance to Gerudo Town after he warped there, Link’s heart had begun to race and his paranoia was bordering on fight-or-flight in a way that was less than useful given the situation.

He tried to focus his breathing as he mounted his shield to cover the last stretch of desert to the city.

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

Hyrule’s Court Sorcerer earned his fair share of stares as he passed through the city towards the Kingdom’s dining hall. Riju’s guards, of course, had been informed of the unusual accommodation, but civilian city-goers were all but outraged at the intruder until they were silenced by a look from their Princess which had to convey some form of “I’ll explain it all later.”

Vaati, for his part, was thoroughly enjoying all the attention, as well as the wondrous novelty of the desert city and its all-female inhabitants.

“Princess, this is the liveliest place I’ve seen across the entire country. I’m sorry to break it to you, but your kingdom has been one-upped.”

Zelda chuckled. “Oh, I know it.” She gazed around in never-waning appreciation for the sheer volume and variety of the Gerudo thoroughfare. To Link’s dismay, they had arrived in record time and just past the heat of mid-day, so that the entirety of the city- or close to it- was out along the bustling streets and clay corridors, taking advantage of the late-afternoon milder temperatures. The Knight tried his best to maintain a position enclosed by Hyrulian and Gerudo guards, so as to avoid meeting any long-lost faces of old friends, whom he’d all but abandoned since his split with their king.

Which is why he cringed when a familiar voice called out to him from across the courtyard: “Link! Get your ass over here!”

Zelda’s and Riju’s eyebrows raised in unison.

The Noble Canteen’s barkeep, Furosa, stood at the edge of a fruits vendor stall, and she shot Link a positively indignant glare, oblivious to his very royal accompaniment.

It spoke to the authority in her tone that even Zelda seemed to give Link a look of urging, as if to say, What are you waiting for, she called you over!

“Catch up with us, we’ll wait before starting,” Riju offered brightly, but also looked slightly concerned for Link’s welfare.

Link sighed, and jogged off to find out what Furosa had in store for him.

“I cannot believe how long it’s been since you set your ass down in my bar. I thought I must’ve pissed you off beyond repair or something. What is the matter with you?”

Link tried to begin an explanation, but faltered. God, there was too much to explain now, in the space of a few minutes before a diplomatic negotiations meeting.

“You look like you could use a drink if I’ve ever seen it. Come, why don’t you sit down with me for a second. I’ll make it quick, your fancy meeting can wait.”

…Shit. I could use a drink.

So Link followed Furosa back through the winding streets to the bar.

Chapter Text

+++++++++++++++++++++++++

By the end of seven minutes alone with Furosa behind the bar, during which Link ingested one drink to ease his nerves and another one and a half for good luck and Furosa attempted to digest the annotated tale of why he’d been avoiding Gerudo Town for a year straight, Link was decidedly happy about this unexpected turn of events.

“Honey, I’m sorry. I would knock some sense into him if I could. All I know is he has been obsessive over the expansion recently. Runs himself ragged every single day, gets four hours of sleep and then does it again at the crack of dawn. I don’t know why Riju hasn’t set him straight yet. But all I know is that I’m sure it’s not you, dear. He’s just got too much on his plate right now.”

Link shrugged. He had long since thought over these considerations, prying them apart in the long hours of the night following their break-up. He was past ruminating on such things.

“It’s fine. It’s been a little while. I’m sorry for not showing up, seriously. I think I’ll start visiting here again and make it up to you somehow.”

Furosa patted Link amicably on the back, shaking her head. “Don’t you worry. You better get to your diplomatic what-do-you-call-it, though, before they find you hiding from them at the bar.”

“Oh, shit-“ Link jumped from his stool, gathering his wallet and loose affects to hurry to the dining hall. He hugged Furosa goodbye, heading out the door back into the main thoroughfare. He was thankful for the interruption, as it turned out. No longer jumping with anxiety and paranoia at the thought of being in the same room as Ganondorf anymore, he began to chastise himself for his obsessive worries of moments before. It would be fine.

Chapter Text

When Link rushed into the meeting hall, he was met by Vaati, Zelda, Riju, Ganondorf, and Buliara all staring at him expectantly, while attendants Reeza and Ploka manned the entrance, trying their best not to eye the Hylian Knight too curiously for his late arrival.

Link gave an apologetic grimace and hurried to the open seat beside his Princess.

He noted- with much less stress than if he had not taken his detour to the bar- that Vaati and Ganondorf were seated as far from each other as possible within the formation around the table. Link figured that someone with a keen understanding had set this up purposefully.

“Well, let’s begin,” Riju opened brightly, impervious to the slightly awkward and tense atmosphere around present company. She unfolded a large map centered on the table and motioned to a section in the far-southwest corner. “This is the region from which we have been directly sourcing the groundwater from. I trust you take us at our word that when Ganondorf first pulled the flow towards Gerudo Town, we were not of the understanding that its source was, technically, within Hyrulian territory. Further surveys revealed that the major source of the groundwater is the Nautelle Wetlands within your far-southwest border, which constitutes a massive aquifer that stretches all the way to the borders of the East Barrens. Our Kingdom wants to extend a formal apology for the technical breach of resources we have committed against you, though I understand, Princess, that this has been no hardship on your kingdom, and you have much supported our efforts in the expansion and irrigation of our Kingdom thus far.” Riju gave a significant look to Zelda, who nodded and smiled warmly back.

“No apology necessary. We have been supportive of your development from the start.”

Riju nodded. “We appreciate that. As such, we want to extend a formal thank you- and we have drafted here the official paperwork legitimizing this agreement between the Gerudo and Hyrulian Kingdoms. Once the signatures are completed there will be no gray areas in the legality, assuming the draft is acceptable to you, Zelda.”

Link smiled slightly at the Chieftain’s familiarity in addressing his Princess. Though Zelda was more private where her own personal life was concerned- especially in comparison to Link, who was a right blabbermouth about his own relationships after he’d gotten a couple of drinks in him during his and Zelda’s weekly evening dinners- she had been hinting more and more about her growing friendship with the charismatic Gerudo leader. Link was happy for her.

“That sounds great to me.” Zelda extended her hand towards Ganondorf, who had removed the legal documents from his folder and settled them down upon the table.

He cleared his throat, though, and his large hand remained firmly on top of the files.

“There is, actually, one more negotiation I was hoping to discuss regarding this agreement, Princess, if you don’t mind.”

The Prince’s tone was polite as ever, but the characteristic strength and confidence in his speech was not missing.

The sedate glance that his sister gave him was barely perceptible, but Link caught it.

“As you know, our efforts in the expansion of our Kingdom have been unceasing and remarkable over the last several years. Our people no longer go hungry. Trade has increased tenfold, which no doubt has bolstered your own kingdom’s riches. Our population has increased exponentially- we no longer have so much death in childbirth, and there is no need for restrictions on the size of our families, as we finally have the resources to support a growing and healthy population.”

Ganondorf’s words were even, but powerful. His gaze was cool and steady as he ran it over the faces of his audience, and Link was momentarily winded by the reminder of what had so intrigued him in the man during their first encounters post-warfare. Post-Demise. He suddenly felt guilty, though he did not know precisely why.

“Princess Zelda. I trust Riju has confided in you the effort it has taken to redirect the flow of the streams and source from the aquifer the water necessary for all the expansion and enrichment we have seen recently. Though I use the magic readily, it takes much of my effort, and it is even more difficult to set the magic pulls from the city, far as it is from the source of the flow. Nearly all the diplomatic work and infrastructural advancements we have been working on have been thanks to the Chieftain, as I have been busy maintaining and strengthening the river pulls. Though she does not show it-” Ganondorf looked pointedly to his sister “-our success has not been easy. It has been taxing, for all of the Gerudo people.”

He paused. The air hung heavy.

“This is why I propose to you a negotiation allowing us the occupancy of a portion of your land stretching from the Oseira Plains to the wetlands. If we were able to station Gerudo troops just within this area, we could maintain the magic pulls directly from the source, significantly reducing the strain and effort- and manpower- currently needed to irrigate our crops. Our forces would no longer have to travel the many miles bi-monthly to survey the area and maintain the pulls. It is asking much, I know. But our Kingdom is frankly unable to continue to flourish as we have been if we cannot gain physical access to the land.”

Link felt the blood drain from his face.

Every alarm bell, every warning, every fight-or-flight reflex accumulated from millennia of lifetimes- of warfare- of death- it rang in him like he had not felt since he stared the Calamity down, face-to-face, unwavering in the duty that had bound him since the dawn of his time.

“Of course, I do not ask that you give us this access freely. Our Kingdom will gladly pay a handsome sum for occupancy of the region. Additionally, we will ensure that it is free of monsters, ensuring safe passage for your people, as well as a peaceful haven if they should so decide to put up residence in-“ Ganondorf, for the first time, looked to Vaati- “what I understand is a fairly remote region of your country.”

Zelda was silent. It was clear that an answer was expected, but she stood still, for one beat too long.

So Ganondorf looked again to the Court Sorcerer. “As I understand it, you have been instrumental in the reconstruction of your Kingdom, particularly when it comes to infrastructure. Forgive me if I’m mistaken- but the far southwest corner of your land, past the Archery Camp, is as of yet rural?”

Vaati met the strange golden eyes of the Prince. He nodded. “That is correct.”

Ganondorf nodded. “If ever you wanted to change that, our troops would gladly make it so the region is safe to settle in, as part of this agreement. If your Princess allows it.” He settled his gaze back onto Zelda. She still seemed lost for words.

“I…I would need time to think it over. This proposition is completely new to me.” Zelda looked urgently to Riju, whose face entirely reflected the Princess’ confusion.

“Is it not customary for such propositions to be reviewed first in writing?” Vaati spoke up again, with a certain venom in his voice that made Link flinch but also compounded his own indignance at Ganondorf’s unexpected proposal.

“Generally, yes. Though I worried that any foreshadow to this particular negotiation may have incited some opposition in certain parties.”

Ganondorf looked straight at Link with these words.

Link couldn’t believe the audacity.

Something unblocked in his mind, and he felt the fire leftover from the liquor course through his veins, and suddenly he didn’t give a damn for etiquette, or formality, or saving face in the position of First Appointed Knight to Princess Zelda of Hyrule Kingdom.

Link stood up. Quickly, clumsily. But boldly. “You say that as if any opposition on my part would be unwarranted.”

Ganondorf did not respond immediately, but settled his confident gaze evenly onto Link. Finally: “I don’t see how. This is simply a request to ensure the continued survival of our Kingdom.”

“It’s a trick, and one you can’t pretend I haven’t seen before,” Link spat, all inhibitions vaporized. His energy filled the room, and suddenly he didn’t care for appearances, nor for the friendliness that his Kingdom had shared with theirs for going on several years now. His eyes burned, his stance was ready for battle. “Ganondorf- If you insist on falling back into old roles, Zelda and I will have no choice but to do so as well.”

Zelda gasped. Riju went white.

Vaati looked like he didn’t know who to believe.

Ganondorf’s face turned to stone.

And Link suddenly felt sick. He threw back his chair and bolted from the room.

Chapter Text

The next time Link stopped moving long enough to consider what he’d done, he was miles away, close to the far-eastern edge of the Toruma Dunes. He had only stopped because he felt his heart was about to burst.

The moon shone as just a sliver, a welcome premonition to a dark night, one where Link could remain until dawn without worry of being found.

He felt sick. He was sick, into the warm sand and halfway onto his feet, cursing the alcohol that he now realized had provoked the entire thing. He wasn’t wrong- he knew he wasn’t wrong, he was right about the panic that had coursed through him, he knew it now- but he shouldn’t have…he shouldn’t have done that. He should have held his tongue. Planned it all better.

He had been an embarrassment to his Princess, and he had no doubt moved their diplomatic relations with the Gerudo ten steps backwards with his hasty accusation.

He hadn’t meant to threaten them.

But it was his duty to protect his kingdom. His Princess. And everything Ganondorf had uttered resounded a sick echo in his head of times past, times that the Gerudo King had overstepped his bounds and attempted conquest over the land of Hyrule. For reasons reasonable or not, good or bad, it- Link was destined to fight it.

He found himself stumbling forward for many minutes before he lifted his head to a Lizalfos camp, out of the blue, centered around one of the few small oases of the desert. He hadn’t registered their presence until their snarling war cries near surrounded him. Hadn’t meant to intrude, but their ready aggression gave him a blessed reason to react. His heart sang as they centered in his vision, a welcome distraction, a call to occupy the movements and mindset that he had been born into. 

Destruction, death, vengeance.

Five minutes hadn’t passed before he was surrounded by dead bodies and hot blood at his feet.

Link panted hard, but his heart was eased. A ringing overcame his head and offset all uncomfortable thoughts from moments previous. He only felt his body, his muscles, and it was a relief like nothing he had ever known apart from bloodshed and the fight to stay alive.

So when a fragmented blackness disrupted the air in front of him- much too close and much too familiar, stinking of magic- he scowled and nearly attacked it with the adrenaline still coursing through his veins.

“What are you doing?”

Vaati stood meters ahead of him, brows furrowed, apparently genuinely confused at the state he’d caught Princess Zelda’s knight in.

“What are you doing? How the fuck did you find me?” Link’s voice was louder and meaner that he intended for his audience. But it couldn’t be helped.

“Oh, I just thought I’d retrieve you before you made some other grand mistake on Gerudo soil like the one you just made. Zelda’s in shambles.”

Link’s scowl transformed, teeth bared.

“Go fuck yourself. Leave me alone. I never gave you permission to use your fucked-up dark magic to track me.”

If Vaati hadn’t been caught up in the heat of the moment, his face may have betrayed the hurt these words brought him. He hadn’t meant to…invade the man’s privacy, or however he twisted it like he just had. He had simply been worried about him. It wasn’t his fault he had recently honed his sight magic onto the man who meant most to him, and finally decided to use it.

“You’re making a fool of yourself and the Kingdom you represent. Come back with me and apologize to Zelda like you should.”

Link spat as he turned away, storming off from this antagonistic discussion. This was the last thing he needed. “I’ll be back tomorrow night.”

But Vaati had upped his game, and he materialized again in front of Link, halting his infuriated departure.

“Stop. Come with me.”

In a movement that resulted not from any kind of forethought, but rather reflex, Link reached for his sword.

“Leave me ALONE.”

The Wind Mage raised his eyebrows. “Is this how you get when you know you’ve made a huge mistake but refuse to admit it?”

Link snarled- for him to say that, of all people- and swiveled round, again stomping away from Vaati.

When he felt hands grasp his wrist to keep him from going, he wasn’t surprised, and quickly shook them off with a forceful jerk of his arm.

Vaati switched tactics and appeared again in front of him, stopping him again with both hands on his shoulders, more powerfully this time.

Link cried out in anger and shoved him off.

When the mage tried yet again, Link unsheathed his sword, but dropped it to his side a second later and came for Vaati with his bare hands.

When Link slapped his lover hard across the face, Vaati was already in the process of conjuring a lightning-fast ball of heat to thrust into his middle, and both actions occurred so close together that any onlooker would swear they’d had the same idea at the same time. Link doubled over, shocked at how Vaati’s attack had winded him, though it wasn’t nearly on the level of the mage’s attacks during a real fight.

That didn’t stop him pouncing on the man again, this time with a closed fist into the middle of his sternum.

Vaati stumbled backwards, holding his chest. His face was outraged through a curtain of hair when he looked up to Link again. Then, an electric shock, a whisper of true atmospheric force, straight from the fingertips of his left hand to Link’s chest.

This, Link wasn’t expecting. The spell hurt to the point he wondered if he was injured.

Before he could overcome the shock, he was held in a bind, legs and wrists pinioned by magical rope much stronger than Vaati’s physical grip. Losing his balance, Link fell forward onto his knees, nearly toppling face-first but for Vaati’s uncannily prompt fist around his ponytail, holding up his torso.

“Quit it. You’re done.” Vaati’s voice held venom. Link hadn’t heard that tone in a long time.

He was silent.

“I don’t know what the fuck you’re thinking.” Vaati’s curse accentuated him jerking Link’s head backwards, strands of hair pulling painfully in his grasp.

Link clenched his jaw. He was suddenly overcome with the indignation, the certainty that he could beat Vaati to a pulp if he’d really wanted to.

But he didn’t, and instead of reclaiming control, he let angry tears spring at the corners of his eyes and slumped, rag-dolling his body so Vaati had inadvertently wrenched at his hair again as his spine curled downwards.

Still Vaati held on, on alert for some kind of ruse, some way that Link would escape his grasp and come back on him with twofold wrath. It didn’t come. Finally, Vaati relaxed his grip, and slowly kneeled down to face Link at eye level, body braced for any sudden movement.

Link shut his eyes tight, and cried. He sobbed with great big heaves of his shoulders, the kind of crying that takes over when you need to expel something from yourself and you can’t, but you try to get it out through the sound, the wailing, like you need it to reach all the way up to the Goddesses.

Chapter Text

Their sex the following night was rough. At Link’s beckoning, Vaati pretended to use the knight’s mouth only for his own pleasure, pretended to ignore the choking and gagging that accompanied the process. After, his hands were rough on the boy, and bruises began to bloom before they had even finished- though the whole thing didn’t last long. The entire time, Vaati was consciously holding back from what Link was nonverbally asking for; the few words that came out of him were obeyed, but just barely. The aggressive sex hadn’t been Vaati’s idea. Link had staggered into his chambers later than usual and pulled him to bed without a word, alcohol on his breath, directing Vaati’s hands to slap him, speaking only to ask for pain. Vaati felt he was being violent enough already. He was wary of the intensity of their encounter minutes in; when he finally stopped mid-play to say “Link, maybe we shouldn’t-“ the knight had croaked “please” in a way that worried Vaati that he would start crying all over again if he dared stop. He didn’t want to risk that.

When Link choked out “harder” after Vaati had slapped the boy’s face hard enough to sting his own hand, Vaati found himself fighting the sudden urge to cradle his cheek and soothe the reddening skin, moved to concern by the tears that began to streak Link’s face from the impact.

Instead of another slap, he chose to wrap his hand around the other man’s neck, steadily increasing the pace of his left hand between Link’s legs concurrent with the force of his grip in his right, until he was certain there was no air able to pass through his lungs, though Link urgently tapped his palm against Vaati’s thigh as a signal: tighter, and did not stop even as his eyelids began to flutter and his gaze fell through Vaati’s face and into a clouded, unseeing stare. Vaati lessened his grip at that. Concern nearly interrupted the rhythm of his other hand; but he held steady, and Link finally came with a babbling moan. Relief swelled in the room from within both of them, albeit for different reasons. Link finally seemed relinquished from his desperate need to become bruised; and Vaati no longer had to weigh the force of Link’s requests against a secret worry for his wellbeing. He didn’t want to leave the Princess’s royal knight with a big purple welt on the side of his face, after all, no matter how much he seemed to want one.

When Link had begun crying- no, bawling- in the desert, Vaati had panicked. His hands shook as he stroked the boy’s back, all thoughts of their quarrel forgotten, desperate to stop the heartbroken wails that stretched across the sand for what felt like miles. He had held him, caressed his hair, rocked him, tried anything to lessen the boy’s shakes. He had never seen Link cry like that. He hadn’t really seen him cry at all, in this lifetime. Now, a grown man, sobbing the ear-splitting cry like that seen in new, raw grief; the sound stunned Vaati. He was scared for him.

The two had returned to Hyrule right away, leaving Zelda alone in her desperate scramble to mitigate the damage her knight had caused. She had told Vaati it was better that he leave too, that no more men stay to intrude upon the sacred laws of the Gerudo kingdom, that it would be best for the princess to perform the diplomatic mending alone. Link hadn’t dared re-enter the city walls. He’d waited over a mile away for Vaati, who returned quickly after conversing with Zelda. He found Link apparently numb, mute and seemingly broken, communicating only in small movements, yes or no. Vaati had insisted he spend the night with him in his chambers. Link had shook his head. Vaati didn’t want to push it this time. But later that night, Link was back, undressing himself like it was an emergency, urgency and pleading in his eyes. He ducked Vaati’s kisses. Really, it wasn’t much like sex at all; more reminiscent of their altercation in the sand, though Vaati fought his hesitation the whole way through. But to be tender would have seemed an affront to his lover that night.

Regarding the morning after: Zelda’s reprimanding of Link was perhaps not the worst he’d received from her in all his lifetimes, but it was definitely the worst he’d received in this lifetime. The sting was twofold, because not only was Zelda directing one infuriation at him over his abhorrent behavior, but she was also directing a second, newfound infuriation at him over his drinking problem, which he’d done an apparently stellar job of hiding from her for years and years up until this week. 

“Thanks to you I’m throwing an entire goddamn apology banquet for them in a month, and you are going to both interact nicely with Ganondorf, and apologize to his and Riju’s faces as well as not have shit to drink the entire night.”

Perhaps the most frightening aspect of the tirade was Zelda’s generous use of profanity, which she usually shied away from even in the worst of times.

As for Vaati, he soothed an unnamable fear that had been growing in his pit of his stomach since the Gerudo Town fiasco by diving headfirst into his research, propelled by the (literally) magic solution afforded him by the Travel Medallion. Untold hours of examination and study culminated in a too-hot afternoon spent bent over his desk with the expectation of success right at his fingertips.

Vaati chewed his lip. Before him lay the Medallion, situated next to his magic mirror, both humming with electric energy and pulsating blue light. The man was spent from a half-day of pouring energy and magical focus into the project, but had no plans of taking a break anytime soon.

He was afraid to test it out. Afraid it still wouldn’t work.

So, again, he started small.

Show me a plate of food.

Hyrule’s dining hall materialized before him in the previously-dark glass.

Show me a plate of food. But this time, further away. No further instruction, conscious or subconscious. Just ideas of a town outside of the confines of Hyrule Castle grounds.

A homely private kitchen appeared, surrounded by your average-looking Hylian family, somewhere in an unknown village.

Vaati’s eyes lit up. His heartrate jumped.

Now…

No. Still too ambitious.

Instead, he maintained the connection on the glass, but lifted himself from the floor. Then he took a deep breath and exited his study to the bedroom. He fished one of Link’s cigarettes from his bedside table (he had to admit, perhaps he was forming too strong a habit at this point) and leaned out the window for a mandatory five-minute distraction from his work.

When he returned to the study, the unknown Hylian family kitchen remained on the glass.

Vaati literally leapt in joy.

He wondered whether it was still too soon to ask for what he truly wanted. What if it jinxed it somehow? What if he was…punished, or the Goddesses angered by his desires, or…

What if it didn’t exist? What if there was nothing left?

Vaati shook his head, as if he were shaking off an irritating fly. A poisonous thought.

Fuck it.

Show me the Palace of Winds.