Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Revali stood through the ceremony, expression stone-faced and as unreadable as he could manage in order to hide his disgust. To the outside eye, he might even have looked bored. He wasn’t going to let these assholes see the overwhelming feelings of defeat and heartbreak sinking in his stomach. If he had to leave, he was leaving with his pride intact- thank you very much.

An honourable discharge.

What a farce. It was laughable.

They had wanted him out from the day he joined air cadets at twelve years old and now they had finally succeeded. The military never did accept him for any multitude of reasons- the list was ever-expanding. Racism as the first driver perhaps? His inability to play nice with the other kids? It wasn’t his fault the idiots from his youth at camp only seemed to have two active brain cells that they shared amongst each other. Yes, they had been much more interested in finding frogs around the base and skinning them like sick depraved monsters than holding an intelligent conversation. So excuse him for not joining in.

They hadn’t gotten any better with age. The army was one huge fraternity full of meat-headed man-children and if he hadn’t fit into their ‘boys club’ he thought it spoke quite favourably of his character.

The slight issue of his sexual identity didn’t help matters of course. Which was also ridiculous as he had never openly identified as anything. It was just one photo from an innocuous high school party that followed him through his entire (very short) career. If they were worried he’d make a move on any of them, they were all sorely mistaken.

He had always been more concerned with potential romantic partners' personalities and sense of character rather than their genders and the men in this room never proved to have anything special of note or worth.

Well… maybe his own personality through all of this hadn’t done him any favours when it came to acceptance. His late mother used to always tell him to kill others with kindness. While she had been a wise woman, that had sounded like the stupidest idea he had ever heard. Why exactly did they deserve his kindness when they never offered it in turn?

Okay so admittedly it was sometimes his ego and abrasiveness that rubbed his peers and superiors wrong, but was it really his fault he wasso damn good at what he did? 

After the shortest moment ever of actually considering some of the factors contributing to his downfall were maybe his own fault, he reaffirmed that no- he was perfect and everyone else was wrong.

Especially Rhoam.

Rhoam could suck it.

Still in his perfectly dignified stance, chin pointing up to the back wall stoically, he let his eyes glance up to the Colonel in front of him who was pinning a medal to his chest and singing his praises.

Pretty words but the man was just gleeful he was getting the boot.

It was always Colonel Rhoam who had it out for him the most and now he couldn’t even feel smug that the old man was being forced to practically serenade his achievements. Sure Revali won the battle but the Colonel had won the war. The man clearly felt the same sentiment and there was a distinct sparkle in his eye of victory.

The saddest part of it all was despite what anyone said, he did try to fit in. He cut his braids off. He tried to not show off for a bit (but it was just too hard when he was so damned spectacular at everything he did). He only dated women for a while- then not at all because frankly, he found most people too tiring to pursue a continuous relationship with and he found one night stands uncomfortable. His obsessive compulsiveness was just a little off of being an actual disorder (but yes they did try to catch him on mental illness anyway, nice try) and exchanging fluids with strangers was more disgusting than pleasurable.

The room of his peers wasn’t putting on the same diplomatic show as Rhoam. Most looked bored- Arms crossed, legs spread. They had no dignity. They looked more like punks than soldiers. The only person smiling was Mipha. Bless her enormous heart. It was forced of course. She knew as well that behind all of the pomp and grandeur that this was all nothing more than a pathetic pasquinade. She was doing her best however to try and support him.

He could at least appreciate her for that. There was no reason for someone from the navy to even have to be here.

She was too good for this place.

“-While you had gone against orders, your quick thinking and overall talent handling your aircraft has saved the lives of several of our most valuable men and women from the yiga terrorists and for that we all thank and applaud you for your service and selflessness in the face of danger! Wherever you go next, great things can be expected of you,” Rhoam said, closing the ceremony.

Revali stared dead-eyed straight ahead.

Right.

Next.

What exactly could be next for a twenty six year old retired fighter pilot? His career had barely even started and now he’d need another job for sure.

Mipha tried to convince him for days to start working towards joining the world of commercial airlines. Frankly, he appreciated her concern, but it sounded like a fate worse than death. While the military had been stifling and full of broken bureaucracy, it was nothing near as boring and routine as commercial business. He didn’t even count that as flying. It was driving on landings and then sitting for hours coasting on autopilot and making small talk with the co-pilot. (or worse it was BEING the co-pilot) Revali didn’t do small talk.

Unfortunately, he was still feeling a little hurt (and maybe a tad dramatic) when he decided that there was no point in half-assing exile and left society altogether to become a bush pilot.

Forget people. Forget having bosses and trying his best to fall in line. Everything was so loud all of the time and he just wanted quiet for a bit.

It wouldn't pay much, but it would taste like freedom all the same.

He moved out to the tiny town of Rito. A small community of people living at the literal end of the road. It was located long after the Trans-Hyrule highway shrunk from eight lanes, to four, to two passing through the Tabatha tundra until it was nothing but a gravel strip.

No road extended north of Rito- there was nothing further on than the great expanse of the wildly unexplored Hebra tundra and moutains.

Very few ventured out that way as even in the summer months, freak snowstorms and avalanches could bring about an explorer’s untimely doom. The winter was even more unthinkable. Winds could rise to a level of being able to pluck the average Hylian up and throw him back several feet like a rag doll.

His client list was never going to be massive- just the odd research group, maybe a few especially daring mountaineers.

Living was dirt cheap though. He got himself an acreage with a small bungalow for what felt like practically just the lint in his pocket. The amount of land let him build his own hanger for his personal aircraft- although it was more of a repurposed barn than anything.

Then just came the long part. Living.

He expected to fall into a life of self-imposed monotony.

But then he met Link.

Chapter Text

Revali looked at the schedule in his hand with disbelief.

“So you want me to drop you off half-way up the mountain…”

The man nodded.

“On the Biron Snowshelf.”

Another nod.

“And only come pick you up two weeks later by the North Crest?”

The man nodded again in a gesture that was becoming quite repetitive before he finally crossed his arms in challenge, starting to look annoyed at Revali’s line of questioning.

“And you are going alone?”

The man huffed.

Right. What a ridiculous question for him to ask.

He had worked with a number of researchers already from various universities, but they had always come in teams, and nobody stayed out in the tundra let alone the mountains for that long a time before their first rest in town.

The man, whose name was just “Link” as was written at the bottom of the itinerary seemed pretty young too. Probably younger than Revali, which was likely actually if he was a student. He was short as well, a tiny little thing really. Revali wasn’t known to be tall and this kid was probably almost a foot shorter.

Who signed off on this? Didn’t universities usually have safety plans?

“You’re going to die,” Revali said, at least managing to sound apathetic.

Link, ignoring that statement and having decided the conversation was over before it even began started loading equipment onto the plane.

He wouldn’t have even believed this guy was coming from a college if the school hadn’t called him themselves to book the first appointment. This was the kind of stupid he usually only got from 'Vloggers'. He'd had to run search and rescue already for a couple of those guys. This was reckless. This was a deathwish. 

Well, it wasn’t really Revali’s thing to care. (He decided to believe)

His job was just getting people from point A to point B and if this man was paying and didn’t want to engage in pointless chatter, that was perfectly fine. It was usually what he preferred even.

Still, his stomach twisted in knots as they landed on the mountain shelf. It was called a shelf for a reason. There was nothing but steep cliffs down wherever Revali looked.

He couldn’t even fathom the path Link was planning to take to get from here to the North Crest. The fact that he was going to be on the move too was absolutely ridiculous. It meant not even Revali would know where to pick him up if he got lost along the way.

He watched Link grab his packs and felt even more anxious. He had never seen anyone pack so light for a two-week expedition. Did he even have food in there?

The wind picked up for a moment and the top layer of the snow across the landscape that hadn't compacted yet lifted up in sheets of sharp icy dust and buffeted the men.

Revali ran a hand through his hair now finding it partly frozen.

There was no place in the world less hospitable and more devoid of life.

“You know there are better ways to die,” Revali said casually. “This is just depressing.”

Link shrugged, threw his backpack over his back and started trekking.

Revali returned to town and was feeling absolutely restless. 

He had tried to forget about the little man he had essentially left to a frozen grave. He tried to not think about how that tiny lonely dot on the mountain heading on a path that started from nowhere and ended nowhere shrunk and disappeared in his rearview mirrors. He ESPECIALLY tried to stave off the realization that it could have been the last time anyone would ever see the guy in any state, alive or dead, again.

That wasn’t something he could do though. If he could just write other people's lives off as 'not his problem' he wouldn’t have saved those soldiers at the expense of his career. Yes. Revali was unfortunately inflicted with the massive defect of being a good person. His one flaw really.

He would check on Link in the morning. Make sure he wasn’t an icicle.

For now, he decided to head to the bar so he would stop his pointless worrying in the interim.

He had lived in Rito for months now but had only been to the local watering hole twice. It was a feat really considering the tiny town only consisted of a bar, a general store, an inn and a few dozen houses.

He felt his head hurt as he entered. He HATED the dive bar aesthetic. Revali was someone who preferred order. Back when he was a staff cadet for the Akkala bootcamp, he was easily one of the most hated instructors because he expected PERFECTION in the barracks. Beds needed to be more than just made- they needed to look CREASLESS. Personal knick knacks were to be stored away when not in use. Boots were meant to shine. He was not kind to what he registered as laziness or anything that he perceived as slovenliness. 

Dive bars were the definition of intentional chaos and everything he disagreed with.

This bar was haphazardly decorated with no taste whatsoever. Every wall was covered in street signs, licence plates and posters that didn’t seem to have any theme other than ‘things the owner likes’- not even arranged in a sensical way... or posted completely straight. There was nowhere to train the eye that didn’t scream disorganized clutter.

As Revali made his way to the bar Harth glanced up to acknowledge him. “Well look who it is,” he said blandly.

There was no tone to be immediately recognized in his words. They weren't biting like an insult but they didn’t sound like a friendly welcoming either. It was just a statement. The guy was so incredibly stoic. His buddy Teba wasn’t much better.

Speaking of whom, Teba turned back from his place at the bar to briefly acknowledge Revali before returning his attention to the large flat screen behind Harth and taking a sip of his beer. “Been a while since you’ve come around,” Teba commented.  

Again, not exactly meant to be taken as an insult or a dig. Just another statement.

This is why he never talked to them. They were just the driest two people he had ever met. He wondered if they even talked on their hunting trips or if they just chose to trek through the woods for two days in silence like the robots they were.

Supposedly, as rumours went, they were wild in their youth. The signs, random pylons and other junk littered across the bar were apparently stolen from the various towns they had visited in their teenaged years and early twenties.

Revali had a hard time picturing this because, by city standards, they were still pretty youthful. Young enough even that both of their first borns were only about five years in age. He had always noticed that country 30s and city 30s were two very different ages.

“What will you have?” Harth asked.

“Just whatever’s on tap,” Revali sighed.

Harth nodded and grabbed a glass from under the counter.

“Huh,” Teba said.

“Huh what?” Revali asked.

“We didn’t peg you as a beer type.”

“And what exactly did you peg me as?” Revali asked.

“Don’t know. Something mixed? Fruity,” Teba said, only half committed to the conversation.

Revali narrowed his eyes.

“City folk drinks,” Teba concluded and Revali unbristled. Right, it was a statement on his metro-ness rather than... other things. He could handle that.

“So what’s on your mind?” Harth asked, placing Revali’s beer in front of him on a coaster. (He supposed they weren't completely heathens here) 

“What makes you so certain I came over with something on my mind?” Revai asked. “Perhaps I might have come here to watch the game,” He said before promptly glancing up to see what exactly the game was. Ug. Football. He’d pass.

They both looked at him with a sort of ‘come on now’ expression that said they had seen right through him.

“I had a weird customer today,” Revali admitted. “He came in on his own and requested I drop him off on the top of the Biron Snowshelf. I am a little concerned for his safety out there. While I am not legally responsible for his survival, it still leaves a bad taste in my mouth.”

(Or maybe that was the beer. They had been right, he did prefer mixed drinks but there was no way he could say that now)

“Oh, you’re probably talking about Link,” Teba said.

“You know this man?” Revali asked, eyes glancing between the pair.

“Yeah he’s been comin' for a few years,” Harth explained. “I wouldn’t worry about him too much, he’ll be fine.”

“How exactly do you know?” Revali debated.

“He’s always been okay before,” Harth shrugged. “Probably glad he’s got you now though. He used to just do the trek entirely on his own. He could disappear out there for well over a month and come back looking mostly unfazed.”

“Kid’s hardy as a rock,” Teba added in agreement.

Revali sipped his beer thoughtfully.

He still wasn’t convinced.

Chapter Text

He got up early in the morning with the sun and started making rueful preparations for a flight he still felt a little irritated that he had to make.

After sleeping off yesterday's anxiety, the new day only brought indignation.

What a DUMBASS to go out there so ill-prepared and alone. Perhaps some people should just die for the sake of natural selection – A thought he had as he continued to pull materials together for the search anyway.

Really he ought to just let the guy brave nature himself and live or die with his own choices- he pondered as he made the walk over from his house to the hangar regardless.

Grass wet with dew drenched his shoes and chilled his feet. It was always a little cold at dawn here even in the dead of summer. The air would warm up several degrees within a few hours but the bugs would awaken too and that wasn’t especially pleasant either. If he had to weigh being eaten alive by blackflies or braving some brisk air he'd choose the latter every time.

He had kept his warmer wear inside with the plane and as he stepped into the large barn he quickly put on his fleece-lined aviation jacket and kicked off his shoes to replace them with thick winter boots. (Then he put away his shoes neatly because he was not an animal)

Finally, he let his attention cast over to his dear Medoh. “Hello darling, aren’t you in for a treat? Two flights in two days! Why, you must be beside yourself~” he practically cooed this as he let his hand glide lovingly over her left wing.

Yes he talked to his plane. 

No he wasn’t crazy.

She was much better company than anyone in town and he has nothing but sharp words for anyone who criticizes his doting on his vessel.

He made the final preparations, gassing up, double-checking emergency equipment and then they were off into the skies.

From the air, Hebra really was breathtaking.

Most places appeared better from the sky. The inhospitable snowy mountains looked soft rather than deadly and the pack of wolves running free in the plains down below were fascinating when they didn’t pose any risk… to him.

Goddesses up above. He hadn’t even thought about the danger of wildlife to Link. The kid could be being hunted right now!

He moved with more purpose to where he dropped Link and… he wasn’t there. Not an inconvenience, he had expected as much.

His next course of action was to fly towards Link’s destination and catch him on his presumed path of travel. Revali was rather confident in his keen observational skills. He had been known rather well in the military for his eagle-like eye when it came to search and rescues or spotting trouble down below.

Link… was nowhere along any logical path.

Concerning.

He didn’t see any Hylian traces on the vast tundra nothingscape below wherever he looked. Most of the researchers he knew set up large camps that were rather easily spottable by air. Link was on his own but he still expected to see a tent pitched somewhere in the area. There was none. Like a released animal, Link had disappeared.

Or so he thought.

A second later he caught sight of something that stopped his heart and he swore could have caused him to crash.

There was a little splash of baby blue the colour of Link’s winter coat halfway up a 100 ft vertical rock face. Flying closer revealed the shocking discovery that the guy was climbing with NO SAFETY EQUIPMENT.

His heart jumped in his throat when the man, at the sound of the plane, turned back casually, TOOK A HAND OF OF THE ROCK WALL, and waved.

Revali almost screamed in horror but not wanting to distract him and be the cause of his fall, he landed on the upper platform instead and waited, getting out of his plane to pace back and forth.

When the Link finally dragged himself up over the ledge. Revali was a mess of anxiety and about ready to burst. “Are you an IDIOT?” He cried. “DO YOU KNOW HOW DANGEROUROUS THAT IS?” He took a deep breath and composed himself before sending the imbecile a glare icier than the ground they stood on. “Now, let’s forget for just a second that you just climbed a slippery frozen ledge with no safety equipment when a fall would have likely meant certain and instant death. You are alone out in the middle of a place where no one would find you if you got injured! If you break any bones or so much as twist an ankle you might also be as good as dead!”

Link gave him a bemused smile that absolutely infuriated him.

“Ug. It’s like talking to a brick. Senseless! Absolutely senseless! I don’t know why I bothered!” He grabbed at Links hands in horror. “Are those your gloves? They’re full of holes. Tell me you have another pair.”

Link pulled his hands away and reached into his pockets. For a second Revali believed he was going to pull out another pair but instead it was a baggie with some sort of jerky. He popped a piece in his mouth and held out the bag to Revali in offering.

Unbelievable. “You’re offering me food?” His voice shook in such a scandalized way it almost sounded like a squawk.  “Save your rations idiot!”

He stalked back to his plane and angrily rummaged through his supplies, Link followed behind casually to watch what he was up to. Revali finally tossed back a bag of trail mix and his extra set of gloves to Link’s feet. The man looked down in surprise.

“Whatever. Your safety I assure you is none of my concern. Starve because you didn’t pack any rations, freeze to death or get eaten by a bear for all I care. I’m not so nice that I’ll trip over myself to help any idiot who doesn’t even have a lick of common sense.”

With that, he headed back into town, powdery snow blasted at Link in his aftermath.

Ridiculous.

So he did end up returning once more.

Sue him.

It had been a week and he was feeling bad for poor Medoh all cooped up inside so he took her out and if he just so happened to take a route that took him to Link’s general area, that was entirely a coincidence.

He saw a large blob of movement down below on a large snowy plateau and figured it must be the other man… although… that little dot was somehow larger than he expected.

He flew down a little to scope things out.

A bear. Link was riding A BEAR. A grizzlemaw no less.

Even from such a distance up above, Link must have heard his string of screeched curses because he looked up and waved with a shit-eating grin.

Oh he was DONE.

... but not before a few more choice words. "I TOLD YOU TO GET EATEN BY A BEAR NOT RIDE ONE!"

Elsewhere in the Valley, Teba was moments away from shooting a white pigeon. The sounds of profane shouts and screams caused their prey to take flight in alarm and the white-haired man lowered his bow silently. If he was disappointed, it didn't show across his face.

“Sounds like they’re at it again,” Harth said.

“Seems so,” Teba agreed.

They moved on wordlessly in search of a new target.

The screaming continued. 

“Sure has a lot of energy that one,” Harth commented, "and a good set of lungs."

“Yup,” Teba said now eyeing a larger prize- a deer who had peeked its head up to stare away from them and in the direction of the cacophonous noise out beyond.

He notched his bow once more.

Chapter Text

Revali stormed back into the house in a huff.

That was the most ridiculous thing he’d ever seen.

No matter what he said to Link, the result was unsatisfying as the man had just stared at him calmly as if HE were the odd one.

He’d have wanted to go and vent to the guys at the bar but they’d surely gaslight him into thinking he was the one over-reacting, just like they did every time he had Link-related complaints.

His phone rang and he swiftly pulled it out almost crying in elation at the image of him and Mipha in dress uniform on his call screen.

He answered immediately. “MIPHA YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE THIS.”

He proceeded onto a ten-minute rant before Mipha could even get a word in edge-wise, feeling complete catharsis on finally being able to release some of his pent-up stress.

“-A BEAR, Can you believe this idiot?, I do think this town lacks some common sense, they all act as if it’s all so normal. Goddesses! I just-“ He rubbed his temples tiredly. “I don’t understand anyone out here.”

There was silence and he shifted. “Erm, Mipha are you there?”

“I’m… a little speechless if I’m being honest,” the gentle voice on the other side of the phone finally admitted.

He pumped his arm in victory. “See? That’s a NORMAL reaction.”

“But I’m glad you’ve found friends out there,” Mipha said.

“Friends?” He asked in disbelief. “Where did you get that notion in anything that I just said? Were you even listening? What friends exactly are you talking about?”

“Link,” Mipha said, “And Teba and Harth. They all sound quite lovely. I’m grateful you aren’t out there all alone.” There was a slight pause. “I worried about you Revali. You haven’t been answering my calls.”

Revali felt his heart clench. Right.

In his flustered state earlier he had forgotten about how he had been dodging Mipha for the better half of a month.

Don’t get him wrong, he loved her dearly but… she had originally told him that moving out into the northern wilds would be a mistake and he had been starting to feel in some ways that she had been right. However, his pride would never allow for her to know that.

He didn’t dislike his work but the issue was that his work often only took up a couple of hours a week and he was at a loss of what to do with the rest of his time. He tried taking up old hobbies but they hadn’t felt the same when he wasn't working towards anything.

Still, he had set up an archery space out at the back of his property behind the hangar that he dubbed the Flight Range. His grandfather had been very adamant on teaching him it when he was a child and he'd practiced it to an extent that he was almost as swift and precise with a bow as he was with a rifle. However, while it was a single-person sport, without competition or rivalry he found practicing a little uninspiring. Not unlike playing soccer alone.

He had taken her calls eagerly at the beginning as he was busy setting up his business and constructing the modifications to his hangar but then… found he had nothing to talk about as he had nothing left to do.

He didn’t know how to answer her constant “How are you doing”s.

He didn’t know. He wasn’t doing anything.

“Well, I’ve been busy,” he lied.

“I can see. I feel almost foolish thinking that you’d be bored out there all alone. You’d always managed to make anything lively Revali. The town is so lucky to have you,” she said this with such an honest tone that it physically hurt him. 

“Of course they are,” he said weakly.

There was a knock at his door and he straightened in surprise.

“What was that?” Mipha asked.

“A visitor…” Revali answered. How odd, he didn’t get many of those.

“I’ll wait if you want to answer it,” Mipha offered. “Or call back later?”

“No,” Revali said a bit too quickly in a way that embarrassingly betrayed how happy he was to finally be talking to her again. “Just wait one second.”

He put the phone down on the table and wandered over to the door.

It was Teba.

“Oh… hello?” Revali said in confusion.

Teba handed him a package wrapped neatly in butcher’s paper.

“What-“

“Your cut,” said Teba. “Thanks for the assist.” The man almost smiled as he pat Revali’s shoulder once firmly and then walked off.

Revali just stared at the package in his hands in utter confusion before snapping out of his stupor. “WHAT ASSIST?” He called out after him.

Teba didn’t even look back, he just gave a slight wave over his shoulder.

Revali returned inside in bafflement and picked the phone back up.

“Hey,” he said.

“You’re back! I heard yelling. Is everything alright?” Mipha asked.

“It was Teba…” Revali said. “He just thanked me, then handed me a package and left.”

“What is it?” Mipha asked.

Revali held the phone between his ear and shoulder as he unwrapped the paper. “Meat,” he answered. “I- I’m so confused.”

“Well that was nice of him. I knew you were friends.”

“I-“ Revali stared at the large strip of unknown animal in confusion. “I really don’t understand this town.”

Chapter Text

Eventually the day Revali was scheduled to pick Link back up finally arrived.

Despite every reservation the pilot ever had about the whole thing, Link was exactly where he said he’d be, when he said he’d be, looking almost no worse for wear than when he’d been dropped off. (Besides his clothes being oddly singed in some places)

He felt a creeping exhaustion and sense of defeat as he landed the plane and trudged up to the hastily thrown together makeshift camp.

Link was wearing the pelt of a wolf over his damaged jacket and all Revali could think was: So much for the fear that a pack might do him in. This feral man was definitely the top predator out here.

Yes, he really had run himself ragged for nothing.

“I guess you’re some sort of bush man/crazy hardcore survivalist then?” Revali commented dryly.

Link was preoccupied cooking some meat on a small compact cook pot and didn’t answer him.

“You could have said something to ease my conscience a little for having had helped you out,”  Revali said.

Link was still facing away but there was a small huff of laughter, made visible as it condensed in the cold mountain air.

“Well I’m ever so glad I was able to amuse you so,” he said, crossing his arms and only a little bit offended.

Link didn’t reply (of course) but scooped some meat up onto a piece of slate and handed it to Revali who merely bunched his eyebrows together in confusion. Why was he always trying to feed him? He was also handed a sharpened stick he assumed was meant to skewer the meat in place of cutlery.

“I take it this is wolf meat?” Revali asked, staring down at his bowl and then to Link's garb.

Link nodded with a slight hum, the first vocalization he had ever heard him make, as he scooped out his own portions.

There had been nuts that didn’t look edible in the pan as well that Link had omitted from plating- assumably some sort of seasoning. 

All in all, Revali was skeptical.

In the city he was rather particular with his meat, preferring cucco or quality cuts of hateno cow; farm raised animals.

However, he had ended up cooking that meat Teba had given him the other week and found it rather good, only to find out later it was venison. So he wasn’t entirely opposed to experimenting.

It was more just a latent distrust in Link’s sense of taste. If it was anything like his common sense, this was going to be an off experience.

Still, he gave it a try and found himself oddly… impressed?

He couldn’t tell if it was the wolf itself or Link’s choices in cooking and seasoning. He was a little curious to see what the guy could pull off in a fully functioning kitchen.

He noticed after a few morsels that Link was staring at him.

“What?” Revali asked. Link kept staring. “It’s not as bad as I thought,” he admitted.

Pleased, Link finally returned his attention to his own bowl.

“By the way, how exactly did you hunt this wolf?” Revali asked.

Link merely held up a soup ladle and he hoped to the Goddesses that he was joking. (He almost believed he wasn't by this point)

When they finished, he helped the researcher pack his stuff on the plane- less out of kindness and more so to speed the process along. He was used to the summer down below and was COLD. He certainly hadn't expected to have to dally up there for lunch.

Revali went to pick up the final bag and found it impossibly heavy. He felt a little flustered at the sight of Link watching him fail to lift it. He quickly stepped away, ego bruised. “What’s in this?” He asked sardonically, “Rocks?”

Link grinned and unbuckled to top flap of the canvas bag only to reveal a mountain of ore.

“A geologist,” Revali scoffed. “Oh course, it would make sense for someone with a pebble in place of a brain to be off studying rocks.”

Link shuffled for a moment awkwardly (a gesture Revali didn’t catch as he continued to inspect the haul) before ultimately shrugging and heaving the bag over his shoulder as if it weighed nothing.

He was… stronger than he looked.

Revali checked his watch. “Well, let’s get moving Stone-Head, there’s some winds that are supposed to come in by two that we might want to avoid if we can. I’m sure you’re eager to return to civilization for a few days anyway,” then added under his breath “If you can call a town of a couple buildings 'civilization'.”

Chapter Text

The beginning of HIFA had Revali coming to the bar more frequently. While he had a strong dislike for most sports, he always found a certain elegance to soccer.

It helped of course, that his whole family was obsessed. It was considered a disgrace for anyone of Lurelin heritage to turn their nose up to the game. His family had accepted a lot about him over the years and always extended an unfaltering pillar of support but… if he disliked soccer... no exaggeration, he surely would have been disowned on the spot.

His eyes were glued to the screen this particular night in rapt attention when a drink was placed in front of him. Some sort of wildberry cocktail, exactly his taste but… he looked up to Harth. “I didn’t order this.”

Harth eyed him with a nearly imperceptible smirk. “Courtesy of-“ The chair next to Revali dragged out. “Him,” Harth finished, gesturing with a tip of his head.

Revali glanced over.

Link.

The blond man winked in what he could only assume was a joke.

“Oh it’s you,” Revali said. “Haven’t seen you since I released you in town. Thanks… I suppose.”

He took a sip of his drink and looked back to the screen to make sure he hadn’t missed any important plays. “Enjoying yourself? Taking in Rito’s many sights?” He drawled.

Link was still staring at him straight on when he nodded slyly- a gesture Revali missed entirety in his divided attention.

Link gestured to the tap and Harth nodded in understanding, pouring him a beer.

Oh- commercial break.

Revali looked to Link with a teasing smirk. “You even old enough to drink?”

For a moment, Link looked almost annoyed. He dropped his driver’s license on the counter. “Huh,” Revali said after studying it over. “I must admit you’re much older than you look-“ In fact, he was only a year and a bit younger than Revali himself. He glanced back at Link who still looked a little miffed. “Though I suppose you’re used to hearing that.”

Link huffed. Apparently.

“You really don’t talk much do you?” Revali asked. At first he had figured it was just Link not wanting to be friendly. He was quite gruff on their first meeting, a little defensive even. Now he was actively seeking out Revali’s company but still choosing to not talk. Whatever, it hadn’t really been much of an inconvenience yet. It was hardly the weirdest thing about him and if he did ever choose to talk he could only imagine the nonsense that would come out of his mouth.

Link only shot him a cheeky grin in reply.

“Well,” Revali said, changing the topic. “You’re going back out tomorrow yes? I hope you’ve drafted up your new itinerary.”

Link pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to him.

“Hebra North Summit to the Hebra South Summit???” He reigned in his surprise. It was Link after all. “As reckless as it is, the real issue is you thinking I can just land a plane on a SUMMIT. I can do this spot and this spot as the closest we can get,” He said pointing two areas near each summit where the contour lines spread.

Then he paused. “You know, you should probably give me a picture of your intended travel path- in case you ever need help or get lost.”

Link looked a little offended for a moment at the notion but pulled out his phone and opened up a markable map through his apps.

He paused uncertainly before slowly tracing his finger starting from the North summit and spiraling down. So far so good. Then he continued to draw, and continued and continued. Red lines ended up crossing several times as he doubled back, noticing spots of interest he missed. Before long the entire map was more red than map.

 “THAT’S SO HELPFUL THANK YOU!” Revali finally snapped. “YES IF YOU FREEZE TO DEATH OUT THERE I’LL JUST LOOK EVERYWHERE.”

“I thought it was weird seeing you two getting along for once,” Harth called from over his shoulder, attending to another regular. “Play nice in the bar okay?”

Revali shook his head and just looked at Link. “Forget it.” The commercials had ended and that was all of the time he was going to spare on that train of thought. Not when there were more pressing issues.

“FOR THE LOVE OF HYLIA,” Revali cried as number 12 from the other team scored. “I SWEAR IF LURELIN LOSES TO TARREY TOWN OF ALL PLACES!”

They were still leading of course but there were a lot of dumb plays this game on the part of his favourite team and Tarrey Town should not have been able to make half the shots that they did.

Revali shook his head in disgust. “Ever since Armes became coach… He’s just ruining this team!”

Link hadn’t left after he closed up shop for business talk so he spared him a brief side look. “You like soccer?”

Link crinkled his eyebrows together and kind of shrugged, tilting his head side to side.

“Anyone who doesn’t like soccer just doesn’t understand the intricacies! It’s not like other sports where you just have to have a thick skull and big shouders! Soccer is an art anyone can excel at with skill and creativity. Take Numar there- number 3, wirey little guy but he’s the best on the team- watch him now! Oh! Did you see that pass?”

Link nodded.

“It’s not just running around either you know, the field's just a more complicated chessboard. When you watch long enough- there are distinct patterns.”

Revali spent the rest of the night detailing each and every play and Link watched attentively and nodded. It was hard to say if he was really absorbing anything but the company wasn’t terrible.

Chapter Text

The season passed by fast.

Revali grew less and less concerned as Link continued to be found waiting at the meeting points, entirely unharmed other than a few new singes on his clothes each time. Which of course he eventually found himself having to point out. “What the hell?” He couldn’t help asking. “Aren’t you a geologist or something? What could you possibly always be doing to SET YOURSELF ON FIRE?”

Link just smiled and shrugged as always.

Finally, just as autumn was hitting, it was time for Link to go home for good.

They flew back in silence and Link scampered off to get his truck. It was an old and worn thing, rust peeking out from chips in the red paint. It bounced as he drove along the grass to pull up to the hangar.

He loaded up his season's worth of treasures and samples. Revali watched the entire time while leaning against the hangar’s outer wall with his arms crossed.

Maybe he’d miss him just a little bit.

If only because he made the days passed by in this town a little less predictable.

He really had been an odd creature right up until the very end.

He wondered if he’d be back next summer?

As Link finished up. He seemed to take a deep breath before turning to Revali and sending him an almost sorrowful smile.

“It’s okay to miss me,” Revali said.

Link grinned at his haughty tone and then made a gesture, tapping his chin and extending his hand out and- WAIT. Was that sign language?

“You communicate through HSL?” Revali said in disbelief.

Link nodded in confusion.

“You can’t speak?” Revali clarified.

Link paused then nodded.

“WHY DIDN’T YOU SAY ANYTHING?”

Link gave him an amused look. One that said ‘are you an idiot?’ which definitely riled Revali up because you know it’s bad when an idiot is calling you an idiot.

“THAT’S NOT WHAT I MEANT OBVIOUSLY!” Revali quickly replied in a fluster and then shook his head. “You are the worst! Get out of here! Good Riddance!”

He nearly chased Link into his car and the blond laughed the whole way in playful glee. He gave Revali a sloppy wave and a lop-sided grin before he drove off and Revali rolled his eyes.

Honestly.

Chapter Text

He was back. Yay.

MUCH sooner than Revali expected. In the middle of the winter no less.

Revali stared apathetically into the pair of baby blues haunting his doorstep.

“And what exactly do you want? You do realize I’m closed for the season right?” He asked, resisting a shiver at the cold winter air now invading his home.

Link’s shoulders hunched a little but then he looked back at Revali determinedly and handed him a note.

Revali took it and found it to only be a single sentence. ‘I need to go to the Sturnida Basin’

“Absolutely not,” he snapped and shoved the paper back at the other man dismissively. “No one goes out in the winter. I get you think you’re invulnerable, but I promise you, you’re not.”

Link lifted his hands as if to sign but scrunched his fingers in frustration. Instead, he pulled out his phone, fiddled with it for a moment and then handed it to Revali.

It was set to new contacts, he clearly wanted him to put his number in. Revali fixed Link with a look. It seemed that they weren't done arguing this point. Meanwhile, a deep bone-chill was starting to set in as the air permeated through his sweater. He was moments away from chattering teeth so he stepped a little to the side in open invitation.  “Okay, clearly it's is going to take a while to drill this into your thick skull so get in, I’m freezing.”

He ushered Link inside and shut the door quickly before reluctantly inputting his number and handing the phone over.

Link typed a few letters and Revali suddenly heard his phone buzz in the other room.

Him going to retrieve it seemed like permission to the blond to kick off his boots and follow him in.

Revali glanced at his phone.

‘Link’

“Yes obviously,” Revali snapped, “Get to the point.”

But Link didn’t, when Revali looked up, Link was scanning the house in wonder, when he met Revali’s eyes, he quirked his head before typing, ‘Do you actually live here?’

“What exactly is that supposed to mean?” Revai asked.

‘It’s too clean, it’s like a model home.’

Revali thought of responding, maybe making some off-handed comment about the horror show he had no doubt was probably Link's place but there was a more pressing matter at hand.

“Link, there’s no way you’re going out there, you should just return to Central Hyrule.”

Now the researcher was back on track. ‘I NEED to go. I’ll pay extra’

Revali wiped his face in frustration. ”It’s not about the money. Does the school even know that you’re here or are you going rouge? You do know that it is HOPELESSLY stupid to go out in the winter like this. The whole town is shut down with all this snow. In fact, how did you even get here? I figured the road in would be impassable at this point.”

‘I got stuck a few times’  Link admitted. ‘but this was important. There’s something I missed out there. Or rather, something I saw that I didn’t realize I saw.’

“You’re not curing cancer!” Revali scoffed. “I don’t see the point for all this melodrama. I’m sure this could have waited until the summer.”

‘My funding won’t extend to the summer! This was my last year!’ Link protested.

A small spark of something that felt a lot like disappointment struck in Revali’s chest. He had kind of just assumed…

His summers would be getting dreadfully boring from now on. “Even if I wanted to help, the plane is in for the winter. Do you see this snow? The whole runway is buried.”

‘I’ll shovel’ Link volunteered quickly.

“It would take you all day.”

‘I’ll shovel’ Link repeated.

“Fine,” Revali sighed. “Shovel and I’ll think about flying you out.”

It was an impossible task of course. By this point, there were well over 15 inches out there. He figured Link would give up eventually. He lead him outside, handed him a shovel and closed the door in his face before leaning his forehead against the cold entryway for a moment with a long sigh. Exhausting. This man was exhausting.

After the moment passed he returned to his couch, draped his fluffy blanket over his shoulders and curled back up with his book.

He tried to concentrate but about every half hour he would glance outside to watch the man continue to struggle through his task.

By mid-afternoon, Link was actually halfway through and Revali was faced with the sinking realization that he was actually going to do it.

He should have known really, this was Link they were talking about.

He had been drinking tea at the window watching the struggling man when he slowly let his gaze wander up to the mountains above. It always struck him how deceptively peaceful they looked in the summer, but now there wasn’t even that illusion. The peaks were gray and blurry and looked like thinly veiled death.

He watched the other man once more with a tight frown. Why was all this so important to him that he felt like he needed to endanger himself to this extent? He supposed he wasn’t one to talk. He used to be a passionate person too- recklessly chasing storms in his aircraft, making the most daring landings just to prove he could. Just to be the best.

He didn’t dislike passionate people.

With the most resignation ever assigned to any one person. Revali went out and helped him with the last bit of shovelling.

When the runway was completely clear, the men flew out towards the mountains. However, as Revali had predicted, there was nowhere to land, and he told Link as much.

“You can tell from looking at the cliff faces- that’s over five feet of snow! If I land the plane, it will sink and be stuck all winter. There's nothing we can do.”

He hoped this would finally be enough to dissuade Link.

It wasn’t.

Link looked at him dead in the eyes for a moment before opening the door and throwing his pack out.

“WHAT-“

Link gave him an apologetic smile and jumped out after it. Revali watched him with shock as he fell the fourteen or so feet and landed cushioned in the soft snow.

He dug his way out and waved to the plane.

Revali was absolutely speechless.

After a moment he called out, "OKAY BUT HOW THE HELL AM I GOING TO PICK YOU BACK UP?! YOU IDIOT!"

Link just gave him a look that said 'we can figure that out later'

It was hard to believe he forgot how GODDESS DAMNED irritating he was.

When Revali got home he made a point of learning every curse word and insult he could in sign language before calling Mipha and venting.

Chapter Text

Link had said he only needed three days.

It was a shorter amount of time but no less worrying. It was below negative thirty up there even before the wind chill- not conditions a hylian could survive in for any protracted amount of time, even with the proper winter wear.

To be honest, he was angry enough that the worry came second for once. Link would pull through, he always did but jumping out of his plane was one of the stupidest and most irresponsible things he had ever seen someone do and he was seething. Certainly, it was not the kind of behaviour he would ever allow on his aircraft again.

He’d be telling Link that when he picked him up… Once he figured out how the hell he was even going to do that. He had seen first hand that there was nowhere to land. Revali had spent the better part of the day thinking about this and was frankly, tired. Once he dropped him off it became his job and responsibility to figure out how to pick him back up but there was just no feasible way…

His plane had a pretty good anti-skid system but that meant nothing on that much snow, he might as well be landing on bottomless bog; it would have the same effect- he would instantly sink. Maybe a frozen lake? He’d have to risk the ice being thick enough… not to mention no lakes immediately came to mind other than Lake Kilsie which brought forward it’s own problems in the form of massive bluffs that separated the basin from the water.

Perhaps if he landed there and waited long enough Link would find him eventually and no doubt gracefully climb his way down like the Goddess damned mountain goat he was.

At the end of this thought, the power went out.

Great.

He had a strong feeling this was coming eventually this winter. It seemed like only a matter of time. Maybe one of the trees damaged in the last ice storm finally succumbed and fell onto a powerline?

Or was it just his house?

He peaked outside to try and see if the lights were still on at the general store down the way but suddenly got a bone-chilling feeling. Something was TERRIBLY wrong, he could feel it in the air pressure and the little hairs on the back of his neck stood up.

Through all his years of flying he learned to trust these kinds of instincts, so he slammed the door shut as he ran back inside and started to pull up satellite weather maps on his phone.

His face immediately drained and his chest clenched tightly in horror at what he saw.

Link was going to die and, given that he was not the type to leave someone for dead without at least trying to help, so was he most likely.

He stumbled to put on his boots without a second thought and then he ran out the door.

Any anger was gone as he sprinted to Medoh, just panic guided him forward now. He tripped once or twice on the slippery trampled snow that was the thin path to the hangar.

Then he was in Medoh. Then he was in the air, and suddenly he was calm.

As hot-headed as he could be, he knew how to handle himself in an actual crisis. It was what had made him so effective as a military pilot.

The day he had saved the soldiers, he was eerily calm-minded and rational as well. He knew he could do it, so he did.

Things definitely looked much worse now that he was up in the sky as he could see over the large rock formations that had been hiding the encroaching storm clouds- which were somehow the most ominous he had ever witnessed. It looked like a scene from a natural disaster movie.

and he was flying right towards it.

Unlike last time, he was not so certain of his chances of success on this rescue. All he knew was that if he stayed home he’d hate himself forever and that just wasn’t an option he could happily live with.

He made it to the basin in record time and focused his attention on ignoring the nasty storm getting closer and closer by the second in favour of scanning the massive snowy expanse. First for any glimpse of life or movement that could be Link, second for a place to land.

His original idea for landing on the lake was now out given that it banked on Link knowing to come find him and this was much earlier than their agreed upon meeting time.

There was a somewhat larger body of blue down below and he had thought he had lucked out and found a pond. As he got closer though, he found that it somehow wasn’t frozen. Seeing steam rising he suddenly realized that it was a hotspring.

The snow around the spring’s parameter was miraculously thinner due to the heat and so he landed with relative ease.

It was starting to snow now. Granted only lightly, but it wouldn’t be light for long. Soon there’d be zero visibility and both his chances of finding Link or getting out would be lost entirely.

He stepped out of Medoh ruefully. He found that this level headed calm he sometimes experienced only extended to when he was actually behind her controls.

As the cold wind hit his face and nipped mercilessly at his skin he began to realize how stupid this had been.

The basin was massive and Link was nowhere. Worse yet, the snow was only thin enough to drive on along the water’s edge- an issue because it was tightly nestled between steep towering rock ledges.

Planes couldn’t just shoot directly up in the air, they needed a lot of open area to take off from and slowly ascend.

Just as everything was beginning to look hopeless, there was a whistling noise from up in the distance.

Well at least he’d accomplished his first objective after all.

Link was only a bit more than a dot in the distance, standing way up the sloping hills of the basin. He had clearly heard and saw Revali come in, this was good.

Revali waved his arms as wildly as possible to try to signify the urgency for him to come down.

Link started to make his descent, but it was painfully and frustratingly slow.

Meanwhile, Revali began to re-examine their options. Well if he had achieved one impossible task, what was a second? There must be some sort of solution to get them out of there. He found himself absentmindedly stroking Medoh’s wing as he surveyed the land. That’s when he noticed the anomaly in the falling snow. Just west of the spring, the falling snowflakes were being shot vertically far back up several dozens of feet into the air. His eyes trained down to the fissure in the earth directly below this strange vertical column of wind.

Well.

That might work.

A thermal updraft. He had studied basic geography of course as many aviators do. He had never heard of anyone trying to fly in one, but if anyone could do it, it was surely him.

He turned back to watch Link still approaching. He was moving faster now, having found a way to slide down the drifts in his snowshoes. He… seemed to be favouring his right leg but that might just have been his imagination.

As soon as the other man was finally in front of Revali, he was grabbed and dragged to Medoh “We have to go,” Revali said briskly. Link was struggling a bit in protest at first at the harsh grip but he seemed to give up all resistance immediately when he heard the urgency in Revali’s “Now.”

As soon as they were both in the plane, the pilot turned to him. “Right. Well. First off I would just like to say as I wasn’t able to earlier: YOU WILD CAVE MAN. YOU ABSOLUTE NEANDRATHAL. IF YOU EVER JUMP OUT OF MY PLANE AGAIN I AM LEAVING YOU HERE FOREVER.”

Link looked at him perplexed.

“I just wanted to get that out in case we die,” Revali clarified calmly.

Link however, looked even more taken aback. Clearly he still hadn’t caught wind of the danger. Some survival man.

“I take it you haven’t seen the skies?” Revali asked.

Link looked up. From this angle, the darker angry storm clouds were just starting to appear over the basin’s edges which blocked most of the sky. It would be upon them in minutes.

Revali didn’t bother to gauge his reaction, he was laser-focused on the task at hand. He started Medoh up again and positioned her to face the geyser of air dead on.

They really were lucky Revali was possibly the best-damned pilot to ever live.

Chapter Text

Link must have caught wise to what Revali was doing rather late.

As in, while they were speeding as fast as the plane could possibly go straight towards the rock face and what would appear to the eye as an inevitable crash.

Revali felt a hand grab his thigh in a vice grip and grimaced. Well if that wasn’t distracting… It was probably the closest part of him Link could reach but still.

“This is either going to go very well or very, very poorly,” Revali noted. “I can stop and you can get out now if you wish.”

The hand was withdrawn and Revali allowed himself a second to check on Link. He was staring straight ahead now with a shockingly unwavering expression of determination and trust. Well, he’d shown himself time and time again to be the sensible one of the pair- perhaps Link was banking on that.

“Good, there’s no going back now,” Revali said solemnly, they had just passed the final point where he’d be able to safely break before the updraft.

When they hit it, it felt like being free-flung into the air by a slingshot.

It took every ounce of Revali’s concentration to not spin out. Within seconds they were several feet above the highest peaks. His ears popped a little at the quickest change in elevation he had ever experienced. 

Then a new set of problems arose.

The world was entirely whited out by flurries of snow and ice. Pellets clanked heavily against the cockpit.

“Well this is un-ideal,” Revali commented, although it really went without saying.

It had been a while since he had felt wind like this too. It took all of his efforts at the wheel to not be flung around at the whims of the crosswinds.

As for finding Rito… well it was a guessing game.

He had to rely entirely on flight speed and his compass but the wind definitely would throw any mental calculations he made for a loop.

It came as a massive relief when they started to see lights down below. It seemed most people got their backup generators going before the storm

His own property was still entirely dark but the placement of the other houselights gave him a good idea of where his own home was… Goddess he hoped he wouldn’t crash into it.

It was a sideways landing when they reached his lot. He didn’t bother aiming near the hangar, it was still dangerous to walk the whole distance across the entirety of the property in this weather and not get turned around.

Even with as close as he had gotten to the house, the short trek over was no less terrifying. They could hardly see more than ten feet in front of them.

Snow was whipping at them horizontally and quite a bit of it was finding its way uncomfortably down the neck of his jacket. Ice pellets stuck to his eyelashes and made it even harder to keep his eyes open.

The house was all but invisible until they reached the doorstep and Revali, grateful he hadn’t locked the door in his rush out, merely turned the knob an inch and it swung open violently.

Link and him rushed in before he, with much more effort, pulled the door shut and locked it.

Still pumped on adrenaline, he wasted no time pacing around and lighting candles, illuminating the dark house in soft light.

Before his last match burned out, he dropped it into the fireplace and the logs slowly began to ignite.

He glanced out the window at the raging storm and to where he knew they had left Medoh. Poor girl was going to have an unpleasant night, his heart twisted for her.

Link was now staring at him in the most incomprehensible way. It could be anything from awe to indignation but Revali decided to take it as the former. “Impressive, I know,” He said. “Very few can achieve a mastery of the sky. You’re lucky it was me rather than any other ordinary pilot-“ Perhaps feeling a tad dramatic he chose to coincidently stand in front of his displayed medals at this thought and paused to make sure Link’s attention had caught onto his accolades.

“I doubt anyone else would have noticed let alone considered using that updraft. It was quite a masterpiece of aerial maneuvering if I do say so myself,” he now looked to the wall of honours distastefully. The anger and indignation was finally bubbling back. “It’s such a shame, that even with my notable ability to explore the firmament, my superior skills are wasted here, in the middle of nowhere bailing out dumbass youtubers and moronic rockheaded geologists.”

“It’s just…” he rubbed his temples, “asinine.”

There was still no indication of what was going on behind those darkened blue eyes of Link’s. The small blond walked over and looked out the window as well with scrunched eyebrows.

“Are you pouting?” Revali asked. “Think you could have survived out there and are upset I ruined your fun?”

Only then did he notice how pale Link looked beyond the pink wind burns that stained the bridge of his nose and cheekbones. How stiff his jaw was set. Link slowly shook his head no.

Oh. He was subdued this whole time because he was finally getting on to contemplating how close to death he had just been. Well, that was understandable then, He hadn’t thought Link capable of this level of introspection if he was being honest.

Link looked at him slowly. He lifted his hands as if to sign but stopped himself. He pulled out his phone but the cold had obviously killed the battery.

Finally, he settled on just hugging Revali tightly.

“Yes, yes, I know,” Revali said. “What would you do without me? Now that’s enough of-“ Maybe a moment longer would be okay. They did almost just die. He let himself tentatively hug back for all of a few seconds and pat Link’s back awkwardly before pulling away long before he believed Link would have liked- the clingy little thing.

“Well,” he said. “I have a backup generator but the activation switches are outside and I don’t know about you but I’d rather not go back out in that.

Link, ever the go-getter sent him a quick thumbs up and tried to move back to the door and that’s when Revali noticed the limp again- now much more obvious on the flat hardwood floor.

He rolled his eyes. “Of course you also hurt yourself.”

Link froze.

“Let’s take a look at it then,” Revali sighed.

He forced Link over to the couch. “So when was it? When you were rushing down the basin?”

Link shook his head. Revali bent down and rolled up the researcher’s pant legs which were a clammy sort of dretched from their cuffs to just under his knees from where snow must have fallen into his boot and melted. He was already barefoot, likely to have prevented sloshing wet footprints across the house in his socks.

Comparing the two ankles- the left was definitely swollen.

“Surely not when you jumped several feet out of a moving plane then?” Revali said with sarcastic shock, pausing to stare Link dead in the eye.

Link looked away shamefully.

Of course that was it.

“So what you mean to say is you’ve been trudging around for over a day on an injured leg?” Revali asked.

Link was still looking away in embarrassment when he nodded.

Revali waited patiently for Link to look back at him before he was finally able to use his newly-learned signs.  ‘Dumbass, Idiot, twerp…’ He listed off every single one he could remember, it was a rather long list- he might have gotten carried away.

‘twatwaffle?’ Link repeated the final one with a muted laugh.

“If the shoe fits,” Revali said. “Well I guess it would only fit one foot given how swollen the other is.”

He forgot he had to look up to gauge Link’s response. The blond was… smiling warmly now. Eyes dancing with the moving firelight.

‘you (???) sign?” He asked. It wasn’t hard to fill in the unknown word and guess what his full question was.

“Just the insults,” Revali said, “so you can’t make secret jibes to my face.”

He did not like the smug look Link was giving.

He experimentally moved Link’s foot in order to test the damage (and hopefully hurt him just enough to wipe that look off of his face. No Link, he does not secretly care)

There was no response and Revali glared at him in annoyance. “You’re going to have to let me know when it actually hurts so I can figure out what’s wrong with you. Physically anyway. Leave the toxic masculinity out of the door please and thank you. I didn’t leave the army to still have to deal with that nonsense here.”

He ran through the tests again and Link was slightly more responsive.  

“You’re lucky,” Revali said. “It’s minor- a miracle really. It’s just irritated because you walked on it so much after the fall. You should probably keep your weight off it now as much as possible. Maybe elevate it.”

He went to his room and returned with a pair of sweatpants and a towel, throwing both in Link’s face before turning around. There was the sound of a zipper, then some rustling, wet clothes hitting the floor and Revali gave it a couple more moments before turning back.

His pants were comically long on Link.

He pulled over the coffee table for his guest to prop his leg up on and gave the towel still sitting on his head a good ruffle before taking Link’s own pants over to the laundry room.

When he got back, Link had pulled out his notebook.

“At least tell me you got everything that you wanted out there,” Revali said. “So this wasn’t all a complete loss.”

Link looked at him with a bright smile and nodded.

“Good,” He replied and claimed his spot at the other end of the couch. “Well isn’t this going to be fun?” He huffed. “It’s going to take a few days for the federal services to come in and plow the highway out. Seems I’m stuck with you for a while.”

Link gave him an apologetic smile and hastily wrote in his book before holding it up and showing his writing ‘If you prefer I could move to the motel tomorrow.’

“Oh now you want to be courteous,” Revali said, rolling his eyes. “As if barging into my home the other day and insisting I fly you into the mountains was a smaller deal. Listen, I told you the town is closed for the season. That obviously includes the motel. I have a guest room, I don’t care if you stay as long as you don’t make a mess.”

Link quickly wrote again. ‘Thank you’ Then he made that same gesture he made the last time he was in town where he extended his hand from his chin.

“So that’s what that one means,” Revali said.

‘Do you want to learn more?’ Link wrote.

“Why not?” He shrugged and scootched closer to better see the notebook on Link’s lap. “It’s not like there’s anything else to do until this storm dies down.”

If he noticed Link jimmy a little closer until their knees touched, he didn’t mention it.

Chapter Text

The next morning was COLD. As was expected of course for a house in the tundra without electricity. It took pure will power for Revali to force himself out from under the warm blankets of his bed. Why in all of Hyrule had he decided to live somewhere that was FROZEN for half of the year?

Admittedly he was born and raised in Central Hyrule but his Lurelinian blood was really crying out at him for his stupidity right now. He wanted to curse whichever Goddess decided to make hylians furless and featherless. It really wasn’t fair that birds got to walk around with that lovely insulated down.  

He reignited the fireplace to bring some initial warmth into the house before bundling up completely and heading outside the get the generator going. This had to be done immediately, he was worried about the pipes freezing if he put it off any longer.

The wind had caused massive snowdrifts along the side of the house so it took much longer than it should have to get to the generator out at the building's side. By the time he had made his way back indoors, Link was already up and in the kitchen.

There was a low sizzling noise and the distinct and mouth-watering smell of frying eggs.

Revali stared at the oddly domestic image for a moment in surprise, feeling as if he wizard of Oz’d his way through the storm last night to find himself in some alternate dimension where Link wasn’t some feral animal.

The blond broke his temporary state of frozen gawking by looking up at him and beaming a thousand gigawatt smile that honestly had no reason existing so early in the morning.

The first words Revali managed to utter out were, “What did I tell you about standing on that foot?”

Link’s grin turned mischievous and he nodded his head down to something Revali couldn’t see from behind the kitchen counter. He ventured over to find… Link was standing on one leg.

His expression looked triumphant, as if he found some great and undiscovered loophole.

How nice it must be to be able to derive joy from something so stupid. He honestly envied him.

Link slowly put the spatula down from his careful work on what was clearly some sort of mushroom omelette before looking to Revali to sign in very slow gestures ‘I-make-breakfast’

He had originally thought it odd that of the couple dozen words he was taught last night so many of them were types of meals or food related.

Then again, maybe he shouldn’t have been surprised, this was Link after all.

“I can see that,” Revali said dryly and Link only smiled further, happy to have learned that Revali had understood. “Well… I can commend you for making yourself useful. I suppose you aren’t a compete freeloader.”

Link just shook his head good-naturedly and resumed his task, scrapping the omelettes free from the bottom of the pan and plating them.

He lifted both dishes but Revali quickly took them from him. “If you try jumping all the way to the dining area they are definitely going to end up off the plates and onto the floor.”

He grabbed some silverware from the nearby drawer as well before taking everything over to the table.

Link stuck behind to turn off burners and soak the pan in the sink.

When he hopped over to join him, Revali gave him a pointed look. “I must say, I am relieved you didn’t set anything on fire. I was weary my house would be burnt down by now given how often I find you utterly scorched.”

He had wondered once how Link would fare in a real kitchen given his adeptness at cooking even with his limited resources in the mountains. The answer was: WELL.

His omelettes put any restaurant to shame.

All in all, he wasn’t a terrible house guest. That awkward feeling of having to ‘entertain’ that Revali hated so much was never present for the duration of Link’s stay.

The researcher actually spent a surprising amount of time out of the way and pouring over his fieldnotes in deep concentration.

It was the first time Revali had seen any proof of his assumed academic inclinations.

He himself spent an embarrassing amount of time coincidentally sitting on the chair that faced the desk Link had set up shop at.

He made a show of reading his book but he had to admit his eyes strayed quite often to marvel at the odd image.

He could justify of course that it was simply in the sort of awestruck wonder one might have when watching a dog play a piano. Definity he never let his gaze wander to the defined forearms that only a climber could have, exposed by the rolled up sleeves of Link’s forest green half-zip fleece. Certainly he never caught himself watching the way the blond would sometimes rake his fingers through his long hair when he was in deep thought, pulling his bangs back and out of his face in a graceful and seamless motion.

Nope.

Revali sure didn’t notice any of these details let alone find himself feeling momentarily breathless over them.

It was only after dinner that Link finally was back to bothering him. (because he reasserts, he was not bothered earlier)

His phone had been charged and that meant of course that he was free to pester Revali as much as he wanted.

Revali had barely been at the couch for more than a moment when Link hopped the back and was sitting next to him with a look that could only be described as rambunctious.

“What is it?” He asked dryly.

Link handed him his phone that he had left behind in the kitchen and he stared at it in a confusion that was only cleared when Link held up his own with a coy smirk. 

“You want to talk,” Revali said.

Link nodded and quickly turned his device on.

There was the usual start up sounds, followed by a cacophony of system updates and email pings. Just as Link looked ready to start typing, his phone went off with at least eight successive beeps. At the start of these sounds, Link turned deep pink for some reason and desperately tried to mute his phone before giving up on that flustered attempt and instead tried to muffle the phone with a couch cushion. He glanced towards Revali, face darkening still until the very tips of his ears were red.

Was he waiting for some sort of comment?

“What?” Revali finally asked. “You seem… popular. I don’t suppose it’s the school asking you where you ran off to? I’m still not convinced you didn’t run over here without telling anyone.”

Link shook his head no but seemed to un-tense.

Weird.

He fiddled with his phone for a second and a moment later, Revali’s beeped.

‘Hey 😊’

He looked at Link slowly with piercing green eyes. He wasn’t going to respond back ‘hi’. They were pretty much mid-conversation at this point. He had no intention of playing cute. He'd respond when Link gave him something worth responding to.

Link quickly typed some more. ‘I couldn’t say it earlier (obviously), but that was really cool how you flew through that storm’

“Of course it was,” Revali said with a shrug. "Engrave it into your memory, you'll never see flying like that again."

‘You were fearless’

“Naturally.”

Link glanced back to Revali’s wall of honours. ‘I didn’t know you were in the military…’

“Why would you?” He replied offhandedly.

‘Have you been in a dangerous situation like that before?’  Then he quickly added, ‘You just really seemed like you knew what to do. I didn’t expect it.’

“That was nothing,” Revali said, although that was certainly a lie. He had definitely been in some at least equally tense situations, but the other day had been dire. “I was dispatched as a water bomber for that fire in the Great Hyrule Forest a few years back.”

Link eyes sparkled and he quickly moved closer in rapt attention. He supposed that meant he was expected to go on…

“I’d never seen anything like it,” he commented. “The smoke was terrible, but the fire was…” There weren’t words to describe it really. Not even with Revali’s broad dictionary.  “It looked like I was flying over hell. It was so hot and extended for miles. It got so massive it created it’s own weather system up above. There were times where I’d be shot up suddenly and without warning into the clouds- It wasn’t that unlike riding an updraft come to think about it… maybe that was where the experience to handle one came from.”

Link still seemed enraptured with the story. He hadn’t made a single move to grab his phone. That was really all he had to say about that event though.

“Obviously I’ve been in other dangerous missions too… he gestured vaguely to the wall of medals. “Let’s just say none of those were for the fires.”

He felt himself actually shrink a little under those intense blue eyes and hoped it wasn’t noticeable. He didn’t want to go on. While he would never not appreciate admiration for his skills. Everything involving the yiga… was hard to talk about even now. He wasn’t sure he’d ever quite want to if he was being honest.

“Stop looking at me like that,” he warned. “That chapter of my life has been glued shut and I'm not going to reopen it for your amusement. The stories are quite… unpleasant.”

Surprise and then understanding seemed to wash over Link.

Revali glanced away and when a warm hand fell over his and he nearly jumped in surprise.

Link was… touchy. He’d noticed it before. The hugs… the knee taps. He supposed it came hand and hand with being mute that he learned to show expressions and emotion in other ways.

At least Revali had to tell himself that. There was nothing… special about these actions.

‘You’re really strong’ Link typed.

Revali rolled his eyes. He hated that. He liked compliments sure but he hated… being comforted; the act of someone else ‘reassuring’ him was uncomfortable. He didn’t need it. He wasn’t nearly that fragile.

This wasn’t him being ‘vulnerable’.

He just… didn’t want to talk about it.

He pulled his hand away with a scowl and texted back. ‘I know’

The ping from Link’s phone… wasn’t the same tone as the ones from earlier. So they hadn’t been texts. Curious.

Despite that momentary rockiness, they ended up talking for quite a bit longer about more mundane topics until some of Revali's abrasiveness melted away.

Link eventually started teaching him more signs.

When the night finally grew late, Link hobbled off to bed. He left his phone on the coffee table to charge overnight.

Revali was about to turn in for the night himself when there was a sudden ping. The same one that had spammed Link’s cell earlier.

The screen came to life and an app showed up in his notifications.

‘You’ve missed (9) new messages, aren’t you popular 😉’

He recognized the application’s logo. This was one of the more popular dating apps… for men seeking men. Oh. Hm. Okay. Revali filed away this new found fact about Link under ‘Why would I care?’

It’s not like it mattered to him.

He absolutely could not care less about Link’s dating preferences.

He really couldn’t.

Still, remembering now the feeling of Link’s hand over his and the affectionate warmth in his eyes, it all suddenly had a different flavour. Something sweet that left a jolt through his chest.

Now he was being the ridiculous one.

He would reaffirm as many times as he needed to himself that he didn't care.

Link would be gone soon anyway. As early as he was able to and he'd never come back. There was no point in humouring any temporary cabin-fevered inklings of attraction.

Chapter Text

It was brisk outside the morning Link was setting out to depart.

They could not pack his truck fast enough. Revali would have fought Link more about his stubborn insistence to both ignore his injury and press through it but like hell he was going to take that many extra trips in and out loading up the equipment in the spirit of ‘being nice’. He had been plenty nice already and it was COLD.

His breath billowed out into the air with each exhale and his skin burned like it was on frosty fire.

It had only ended up taking two days for the plows to come in and free Rito from its sudden snow-induced isolation. He supposed the matter was expedited by the need to get professionals in to fix the powerlines.

He’d admit (not out loud of course), that he might end up missing Link just a little. The somewhat peaceful harmony they had managed to maintain until this time was certainly no small feat.

Revali’s little bungalow was undoubtedly a bachelor pad (albeit a very grown-up one). Its open concept floor plan was practical for his everyday use but afforded very little privacy between multiple occupants and with him being a bonafide introvert, things shouldn’t have run as smoothly as they did.

The only time Revali admittedly felt a little awkward was when he hit the treadmill. He couldn’t help but feel like there were eyes on him. To be self-conscious of course should have been ridiculous. It was his own house and, not to mention, he kept himself in rather good shape.

But Link was Link and whatever level of fitness Revali was at probably looked rather pathetic to a guy who could climb a mountain almost effortlessly. While he didn’t let Link’s presence interrupt his daily routine, he may have ran a little faster and harder than usual.

Link likely wasn’t even looking… those eyes he felt prickling his back were probably just his in mind. Afterall, very few things could rouse Link from his concentration while he was working. The list was: food. One item actually.

Regardless of whether his spectator was imaginary or not, if was nice to finally feel motivated to push himself again. He had found himself growing a little more lethargic as the winter progressed and this was the exact kind of inspiration he needed to get back on track with his personal training.

He wondered briefly if he’d be able to keep it up now that he would be on his own again.

He stepped into the house to find there was only one last bag sitting waiting at the door. He slugged it up over his shoulder and trudged across the hard crunchy snow to toss it over the tailgate and into the truck bed before turning to Link.

“Well,” he said hugging his own frame in a feeble attempt hold in some of the warmth. “Do try to get your foot checked out by an actual professional once you are back in the city alright?”

Link nodded.                               

Yeah… he didn’t trust that at all. “You say that now but I won’t hold my breath,” Revali sighed. “You really don’t have any sense of self-preservation, do you?”

Ug, that cheeky little smile. He was so proud of himself.

He wanted to clap those two rosy cheeks and smush that grin in irritation but masterfully resisted. “That wasn’t a compliment you know. Did that sound like a compliment? Wipe that self-satisfied look off of your face.”

His words were for naught. He was only managing to further amuse Link. It seemed that expression wasn’t going anywhere…

And neither was Link. There was nothing left to for him to do here, he merely needed to hop into his truck and go but he seemed insistent in dawdling and forcing Revali to freeze out there. “What are you waiting for?” He finally snapped. “Are you expecting some sort of heart-felt goodbye? Sorry but I’m hardly that sentimental. Be gone you miscreant, go wreak havoc somewhere else,” He looked away as if to say ‘end of conversation’.

It was true, he didn’t do goodbyes, but ordinarily he would have stalked back to the house by now and left whoever was dragging their feet to depart on their own. Instead he was lingering, positioning as much of his body away but staying put nonetheless.  He was clearly stalling as well and was honestly, a little embarrassed at himself because of that.

There was a strong tap on his shoulder that forced his attention back. Link was looking at him in annoyance. He supposed refusing to look at a person who could only communicate visually was somewhat rude.

Link made the thank you sign.

“Don’t mention it.”

His hands lingered, posed in a way that suggested that there was too much more he wanted to say, things Revali would have no hope of understanding with his limited HSL vocabulary.

After a moment’s hesitation, Link bit the finger of his glove and pulled it off, followed by the other one and retrieved his phone.

Idiot. His hands were going to freeze in less than a minute at this temperature and altitude. It was entirely baffling how someone who spent so much time up in the mountains hadn’t realized that by now.

Link started to type but his fingers were slow and clumsy with the cold and whatever it was he was trying to type, he was obviously fumbling. He switched hands, taking turns opening and closing his fists in a fruitless effort to bring back circulation and feeling to his numbed digits.

Revali watched this all for a moment before shaking his head and plucking the phone from Link’s grasp- a shockingly easy task.

He glanced at the screen for only a second to see a string of illegible garble and then he simply took a step closer until he was standing square with the shorter man and slowly slid the phone back into the pocket of Link’s winter jacket.

“Hmm,” Link hummed in one of his rare moments of vocalization. Sounding almost displeased with himself.

“You’re ridiculous,” Revali said, shocking even himself at the lack of bite in his tone. He slowly reached down and gathered up Link’s frost nipped hands and wrapped them up tightly between his own gloved ones.

“Honestly,” he chid. “Be more careful with these, they’re how you talk are they not?”

Link didn’t respond. Obviously. How could he- but his gaze lingered on Revali’s face, he could feel those blue eyes drilling into him even if he refused to make eye contact. He just focused on the smaller pair of hands, giving gentle ministrations by delicately rubbing them, wary of hurting the raw skin with the harsh plastic friction pads of his gloves.

Then Revali felt a slight tugging. Link slowly brought their hands up to his lips and... let out a long breathy exhale. A cloud of warm condensed air escaped upwards and dwindled out. Revali obviously couldn’t feel it through his thick winter mitts but something about the sight caused his entire chest to clench so tightly his lungs hurt. He was glad his scarf hid his involuntary gulp.

This little vixen of a man…

The whole action had caught Revali so off guard that his eyes finally snapped to meet Link’s.

Link held his gaze with an entirely unreadable expression. He blinked, unintentionally giving a brilliant display of his long black eyelashes and suddenly Revali didn’t feel so cold anymore. He could feel a vein in his neck beating with how hard his pulse was racing.

Their hands were still held inches from the blond’s chapped lips.

This might usually be the part where Revali would yank them away and say something blunt, biting and brutal but… there was something about the finality of it all that stopped him.

 “I don’t give goodbyes,” Revali repeated, slowly clenching Link’s hands a little tighter, “but if I did…”

He almost just wanted to let the thought drop but he held Link’s undivided attention now. His throat felt heavy with words too thick to easily force out. “I’d say just… Be good. Don’t be the idiot I know you are and… try to be safe out there.”

He let go of Link’s hands and refolded his arms, stepping back and bringing up that iron-clad defensive wall once again. “After all, you won’t have me to bail you out. Your luck can only hold out for so long.”

Link gave him a cordial nod- which gave him the sinking suspicion he had in fact, not learned his lesson. It was like trying to house train a puppy. There was too much work to be done on this man and no time to do it.

Link pulled back on his gloves and almost with a look of regret, slowly backed up to the truck, not turning once from his (former) pilot.

When he got inside his vehicle and finally drove away, Revali felt… heavy.

He stood out there until the rusty old road-hazard was entirely out of view and then he returned back inside to start the coffee maker, returning by habit to the mundanity of a typical winter day in Rito.

It was a difficult trek but he went to the bar that night.

He didn’t really feel in the mood to be alone.

Harth was wiping down the bar, Teba was at his usual seat. They both looked up. “There he is,” Harth said. “Saw you went out flying right before that storm. You’ve got some guts kid.”

Teba pulled out the stool next to him in invitation. “Saki was worried. She was up all night wondering if you got back alright.”

“O-oh,” Revali said. He hadn’t really expected anyone else to notice his departure and certainly hadn’t expected them to care.

“She kicked me out of the house at six in the morning to make sure your plane was in,” Teba added.

Revali was a little speechless. “I… hrm, thank you I suppose.”

Harth placed a Vodkah hydromelon cocktail down in front of Revali. The raven haired man had recently come to decide that he knew better what Revali would like than the man himself.

He was… frustratingly right.

No doubt he’d take a sip and realize this was exactly what he wanted right now.

Harth leaned forward on the bar a little. “I hear the plane wasn’t all that was there.”

“What do you mean?” Revali asked, not feeling in the mood to guess what he was eluding to.

“There was a red 1990 Chevy Sport in your driveway,” Teba reported.

“Ah yes, that,” Revali conceded. That truck was unmistakable.

“So how is Link?” Harth asked.

“Still an idiot, still utterly ridiculous,” Revali mumbled into his glass. “Coming in here demanding I take him out to the mountains and then having the audacity to almost die… Then I had to hold him up for a few days because the dumbass didn’t know the motel was closed.”

“And you didn’t kill him?” Teba asked. It was flat toned but Revali knew him well enough now to hazard a guess that it was his brand of dry humour.

“No, it wasn’t necessary. It turns out he can be civil when he wants to.” A fake expression of annoyance crossed Revali’s face as he added under his breath, “Which of course makes you realize he just chooses not to be the rest of the time.”

Feral little gremlin.

For the first time ever, Revali allowed his gaze to idly wander over the miscellaneous furnishings and wall art of the bar. It usually caused him actual psychological damage but… perhaps he was suddenly missing that little spark of Link’s off-kilter chaos.  

The more he looked the less rhyme or reason to anything there seemed to be. Chairs of different makes sat around the same table when the seats clearly had full sets strewn across the dining area. A set of moose antlers over the tv was an odd placement as well. At the sight of a sign stolen from a street called Yellowsnow he had to put his foot down. “Why on Earth would you put that over there in the corner? You missed a golden opportunity to have it over the bathr-“

He stopped mid gesture as he noticed what was already hanging over the washrooms.

“Is that a bow?”

“Oh that?” Harth asked, he was a little preoccupied washing glasses but he leaned out a little to see what Revali had been staring at. “That was the first bow I ever made.”

“You… make bows?” Revali asked, highly impressed with this unexpected development.

“Make and shoot ‘em,” Harth agreed. “Only way to hunt. Teba does too. You?”

“I… do dabble a little bit in archery,” Revali said, hiding a smirk at the great understatement. He had been a national competitor in his youth after all.

“Guess we’ll have to take you out some time and test your metal,” Teba said.

“I think… I might accept such an invitation.”

When Revali finally did get home, it was late into the night. He learned it actually was possible to get to infamous duo to talk as long as it was about archery.

He quickly got into bed.

Then his phone pinged.

It was Link. ‘Just made it home, the roads were baaad.’

Alright.

He tossed the item onto his end table, happy to leave it at that.

A few minutes there was another ping.

‘Thanks for everything. I had fun getting to know you better.’

He lingered, unsure how to respond. Maybe he’d just ignore that too.

‘Good night!’ Link added.

‘Night’ he finally typed out and sent it before he could change his mind.

Chapter Text

The winter passed by much too slow. The days got darker and darker as sunrise became progressively more late and sunset would follow far to soon. It didn’t get any warmer either, but at the very least, there were very few real snow events after that last one.

Entertainment was scarce and so Revali did end up going to the bar more frequently. Despite the cold, Teba and Harth did come over now and again too and joined him for target practice at the flight range. At first their visits were rare, but eventually they grew to a fairly regular occurrence.

He was proud to say they were adequately impressed with his talent (or at least as impressed as they ever got with anything)

He extended his permission to allow them to use the range at any time and they took him up on the offer, Teba even brought his son Tulin in for training now and again.

When he was feeling especially hospitable, they were allowed into the house after for a quick drink. It was nice… but their visits didn’t quite go as easily or feel as natural as when Link was there. He would find himself predictably drained after a while and would then need to spend a day after on his own to ‘recharge’ before he went to see them again.

As for Link, he continued to text him. It was a foolish endeavour and Revali made an active effort to let it fizzle out. It was inevitable that it was all going to end eventually anyway. He was never one for long-distance friendships and it was already a miracle he was maintaining one with Mipha. (and he had known her for over half of his life) In his opinion, Link was just a short flicker on his radar. Something that had already passed.

Link however, did not seem to agree.

He sent messages as often as every few days to as infrequently as every other week but he never stopped, even when Revali didn’t usually reply.

It started off with little messages about his day. Places he went, food he tried.

Revali mostly looked at the messages in bewilderment and after a day of trying to decide how to even respond, he just figured, it’s too late now, why bother?

He sent a bizarre number of pictures of horses too.

…that was a bit of a mystery. Revali knew there was an agricultural department on the campus and it seemed Link had a tendency to venture out to the fields on his lunch breaks. Why he felt Revali would be interested in the horses though was anyone’s guess.

At least once a week he’d get a picture of a different horse with a simple message of ‘this is Buttercup’ or ‘this is Henry’.

Occasionally, Revali would crack and respond to him. Usually only when there was something obvious to say back. There was even one night where he had stayed up in bed and texted with Link for hours. (although he regretted it soon after when Link got even more persistent for a couple of weeks.

In time, Link seemed to figure out the magic code of how to coax Revali into responding.

He had been on the treadmill one day when he got the following message:

‘I got in trouble today ☹’

Revali had rolled his eyes at this but typed out ‘What did you do this time?’ as soon as he was back onto the walking cycle of his interval training.

‘I was helping out a lab in the biology department by collecting hot-footed frogs… they escaped in transport,’ Link replied.

‘…in the hallways’ he added.

Unbelievable. Revali wrote out a quick, ‘Be more careful dumbass’ just as the timer prompted him to up the speed again.

When he checked at the end of his workout, all Link had responded with was: ‘:P’

A week after that, he was sent another disconcerting message.

‘Got scolded by the school’ Link’s text read.

Revali had typed back ‘Why?’ before he could even stop himself.

‘I got caught climbing the administration building.’

‘WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?’

‘Fitness.’ Link followed up his reply with a GIF of a man in seventies aerobics-wear sensually weightlifting.

Revali almost tossed his phone. “I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THIS MAN IS MY AGE!”

… He had forgotten about his company in that moment.

“Link?” Asked Teba.

“Definitely Link,” Harth agreed.

Link’s messages became more and more ludicrous in time. Any hint of attraction Revali had felt in the past began to properly dissolve away as he recalled just how feral Link was- a state of being that apparently extended into his behaviour in real civilization.

Eventually, the following message graced his screen:

‘So… I uh’

That was it. The entirety of the text. Revali waited at his phone, expecting more to follow. For a while nothing came. Then, there was a simple, ‘Nevermind.’

Revali threw his hands up to the sky in exasperation. FINE.

He put his phone down and walked away. Then immediately walked back. Not ‘fine’. Now he was dangerously curious.

‘What?’ He texted back.

There was a pause just long enough that he assumed he wasn’t going to get an answer. Link was an insanely fast typer so ordinarily, if the reply wasn’t immediate, he was likely busy.

‘I might have gotten suspended today.’

Revali balked.  

‘WHAT. DID. YOU. DO.’

‘I might have… set the campus green on fire.’

Without a second thought, he called him immediately.

“GODDESSDAMN YOU AND YOUR GODDESS DAMNED FIRES! HOW? HOW DO YOU KEEP DOING THAT?!!”

There was a strange wind sound.

It was getting louder and louder and was oddly irregular. “What are you in wind tunnel or something?” He finally asked. “What is that infernal racket?!”

The wind changed into a more vocal, stifled laugh. Link was laughing. “WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING IDIOT? YOU SHOULD BE FEELING BAD RIGHT NOW!” He screamed into the speaker. Honestly.

There was a ping on his phone and he looked down, pulling away just enough to read the screen.

‘Did you seriously just call a guy who can’t talk to one-sidedly yell at him?’

He had a point. Still.

“I’m hanging up,” Revali said flatly.

He was well on his way to doing so when there was a hoarse “No.”

Revali had to blink. Did… that just come from the other side of the phone? The voice was raspy which made the tone hard to distinguish but it sounded a little panicked. A second later there was a fit of pained coughing.

‘Ow’

“You just… spoke,” Revali said.

‘Yeah, hurt like a bitch.’

“But you can talk?”

‘Damaged larynx. Not really.’

“Then… why can’t I hang up? This is kind of stupid to stay on. Don’t tell me you missed my dulcet tones that much?” He added slyly.

‘Maybe’

A small fluster. So not all of the butterflies had left after all. Some were taking their sweet time. He sighed and switched to speaker, leaning back on the couch to comfortably view the screen. “Well, are you at least going to tell me for once how this fire started?”

‘fine, give me a sec.’ Link’s usual desire to keep his fire-related affairs to himself seemed dwarfed by his wish to keep Revali on the line. ‘So I have this professor friend in the department who studies weaponry from extinct civilians and he needed to test out some ancient zonai spears.’

“I think this is going in a much more stupid direction that I thought it would,” Revali commented.

‘It’s really cool, they used to ignite their spears and keep them lit by dipping them first in this flammable material they’d mix up themselves.’

“Yep,” Revali said, agreeing with his previous statement.

‘Or at least that’s the theory for what the stuff was for and we wanted to test if it was possible to apply it to combat… We got a little heated fighting and may have knocked the solution over. Turns out it is a bit like napalm it just… kept burning. (still is actually, they’re working on how to put it out)’

“WHAT? HOW DID YOU NOT GET EXPELLED? I-“

His rant was cut incredibly short by another message.

‘It’s kind of sad though… They’ve been trying to get Robbie to retire for decades and now they’re going to make him. They claim that he’s gone ‘senile’. That's insane. He’s hardly even 80.’

Revali rubbed his temples, strongly questioning his taste in men. “You… fought an eighty-year-old man with flaming spears. I… I can’t. Just…” Revali hung up and Link got the message to let the conversation drop.

The next day though there was a ‘So now we’re in trouble with the city.’

Revali was getting fed up and almost didn’t bother responding with his ‘why.’

‘We went to the park and tried to celebrate Robbie’s retirement with fireworks and… there was another fire.’

After a good long sigh. Revali messaged back ‘Just go back to sending pictures of horses. You win. I’ll reply. I don’t want to hear about this anymore.’

Link immediately responded with a picture of a brown mare with white spots. So fast you’d think he had it pre-loaded. ‘This is Brownie. She’s a really good girl.’

‘Stunning. Adorable. 10/10.’   

Chapter Text

Revali drew his arrow straight back and took careful aim.

At it’s release, it deftly cut through the air and directly into the bullseye some fifty meters away.

Teba’s son Tulin immediately whooped with delight and ran the length of the yard to inspect the target before running back to report, hardly out of breath.

“Holy smokes Mr. Revali! That was a perfect inside-out shot!” The young boy’s eyes were practically sparkling and Revali had to admit- he could get used to that.

He usually didn’t join Teba when he was out with his son but had been caught today on his way back from the general store and dragged along. He hadn’t initially been enthused. If he was being honest, he thought it would be annoying to have to entertain someone else’s kid… Not to mention, he knew his abruptness didn’t exactly give him the best track record with winning over children.

But this… wasn’t so bad.

If nothing else, it was nice to have a more captive audience for once and get something other than an approving nod or grunted one-word response when he flexed his skills.

Speaking of which: “Nice,” Teba acknowledged.

“How did you do that with all the wind?!” Tulin never seemed to be able to keep fully still- he raced around Revali excitedly as he asked.

Revali glanced between the pair skeptically.

There was no way that, he thought looking to Tulin, came from that- his eyes flickered to Teba. It… wasn’t even possible. Saki didn’t seem like the type to cheat and Tulin did at least look like a tiny little carbon copy of his father but… their personalities were just too different.

“Mr. Revali?” Teba’s supposed progeny prompted.

The pilot bent down on one knee. “Well,” he said, unable to hide the boastful edge to his tone. “It takes years of practice but the real trick is-“

His train of thought off-railed immediately as he caught sight of a certain familiar figure standing a distance away, watching with an amused smirk.

Revali regained his bearings and threw back his head in (half-faked) annoyance. “For the love of- what are you doing back here?!” He called over accusingly.

Link waved with a gleeful smile and Teba seemed to take it as some unspoken cue to gather up his son, “Come along now, Revali’s got company."

Tulin lightly protested but ultimately gave in and let his father gently usher him away with some reluctant goodbyes.

Revali barely noticed, too baffled by his surprise guest.

The researcher made his way over and paused in front of him, hands jammed into his pockets. He gave Revali a boyish grin and nodded his chin towards the pilot’s shoulder.

Revali unsurely brushed imaginary lint off of his jacket and Link shook his head before stepping closer and catching a lock of his hair.

Oh.

His heart clenched. “Y-yes. I’ve been growing it out.”

Link hummed approvingly but didn’t immediately let go, twirling the blue strands between his fingers with a gentle smile. Hylia help him.

He had once again forgotten how physical Link was. He brushed him off quite quickly with embarrassment, “Well that’s enough of that,” he said, the tension making his words sound a little sharper than he intended. Link didn’t seem phased.  

“I thought your ‘funding’ was up… and you are aware it’s still bad up there? Just because it’s spring in Central Hyrule doesn’t mean Hebra got the memo.”

It was true, stubborn clumps of snow still decorated the village and there was no doubt that the mountains were much worse.

Link typed in his phone and Revali’s cell pinged. ‘New project, new fund’

“But still winter,” Revali said dryly.

‘It’s not in the mountains,’ Link responded.

Revali’s eyes narrowed and cracks in Link’s ‘casual’ façade were beginning to appear as his smile faltered into something a little more awkwardly forced. His gaze flit away nervously for a moment before he regained his confidence and typed ‘…it’s in the desert.’

No.

Revali immediately pocketed his phone and gathered up his stuff. “Well, good luck with that. Bon voyage and all that. So lovely for you to visit me on your way. Your very out-of-the-way way. You should probably get going before dark. Have a safe trip!” He called this last bit over his shoulder as he headed back down the long path to the house.

There was a constant pinging in his jacket as his phone vibrated incessantly against his stomach, but he ignored it. That was well out of his work scope. His job was flying people through Hebra.

Link caught up and grabbed his arm.

Revali turned around and sent Link’s hand an icy look until he let go.

“Why didn’t you message first that you were coming?” Revali asked. “I could have saved you the trip.”

Link lifted an eyebrow and pointed at his throat. Begrudgingly, Revali pulled out his phone.

There were a series of missed messages that basically culminated to:

‘Wait

Wait

Wait

Wait

Pls

Wait

Revaliii’

Ah yes, he remembered this tiredness well.

Link began to text again. ‘Because you’d say no if I asked over text?’

“Correct,” Revali agreed, “and I’m saying no now too. Who would have been able to guess such a shocking outcome?”

‘Why not though? It’s close(ish)’ Link argued.

“Hardly,” Revali responded.

‘Pretty please?’ Link bat his eyes as soon as Revali looked up from the message.

“Believe me, you don’t have the charm for this approach.” It was a bold-faced lie, but Link didn’t have to know that.

Link clung to Revali’s arm and mockingly lifted a foot like a damsel in distress. He typed with one hand, never once training his puppy dog eyes off of the pilot. He had to admit that was impressive.

‘goid sr Ihav nowere ese to turn’ Or maybe not.

Revali shrugged him off. “There are other pilots. Ones who focus their careers on taking people through the desert.”

‘You were my first~ I thought we had something special! <3  I don’t want to do it with anyone else’

“You’d be safer with someone who knows the desert well- in the way I know the mountains.” It was a valid point to make although he actually… did know the desert pretty well. He spent months in the past pouring over aerial maps and several tense days and nights flying over in reconnaissance back when it had hid the primary hideout for the yiga insurgents.

Despite the circumstances, he didn’t specifically have any trauma with the desert itself but look… that disgustingly dry air, sand and persistent sun had been terrible for his skin and he said never again.  

‘I couldn’t be safer with anyone else- you’re the best of the best aren’t you?’ Link typed.

“Huh,” Revali said. An effective rebuttal. A smirk graced his lips and he straightened his back proudly. “Well there you go- that’s a little more like it.”

Link looked at him before it sunk in. Flirting would get him nowhere, but flattery might. A moment later he was frantically typing and exploding Revali’s phone with compliments.

‘You’re so amazing!’

‘You’re the best pilot ever!’

‘You’re so cool! ‘

‘I admire you and want to spend more time basking in your radiance!’

Revali actually laughed, mirth melting the last bit of stoniness in his expression. “Alright, alright. I’ll get you there. You were right, as far as contract pilots go- I am a gem amongst unpolished rock. I understand your trepidation with entrusting your well-being to anyone else. First smart decision you’ve ever made- I might add.”

Link hid the smugness in his eyes when he signed. ‘I knew you couldn’t --- me if I came in person.’ By context, the middle word was probably ‘resist’.

“Careful there,” Revali said. “I could still change my mind you smug little thing. I assure you, your ugly mug didn’t help your case. I’m just infinitely kind.”

Link’s jaw almost dropped. ‘You --- learning sign?’ This time he deliberately slowed the motions.

“I wouldn’t be too flattered,” Revali commented. “It was something to do and I was already on a roll. I didn’t expel too much effort; I’m just naturally gifted with everything I do.”

Link didn’t buy it and his grin grew to incredible sizes.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Revali snapped. “Go get your truck and meet me at the hangar to load your stuff up before I change my mind.”

The blond nodded vigorously and sprinted off.

Only when he was out of sight did a ghost of a smile twinge back across Revali’s lips. He was always going to say yes in the end. (but he sure as hell was going to make him work for it first)

Chapter Text

There were irrefutable parallels to the day they met as they stood in the middle of the desert. Other than a slight golden glow, the ocean of sand didn’t look that different from the desolate white expanse of the Biron Snowshelf.

Why out here? Revali had a hard time comprehending it. He had figured that the massive outcrops of the highlands would be the more likely target of Link’s research but instead, they were a good fifty or so clicks southwest in the middle of absolutely nowhere.

The short little blond had proven himself a more adept survivalist than he had originally appeared, but a very similar dread was pumping through Revali’s veins all the same. Somehow, he found the ONE PLACE that rivalled Hebra in terms of having a promise of certain-death. Of course he did, he had made it his sole purpose in life to make sure each and every hair on Revali’s head turned prematurely grey after all.

“You know, there are less depressing ways to die,” Revali commented, repeating the same send-off that he had given him the first time, perhaps feeling a little sentimental, he supposed. Rather than huffing indignantly and walking away though, Link sent him a wry smile and Revali was reminded that while things looked the same, everything had somehow changed.

He had become unfortunately invested in this gremlin and had reasons other than just a conscience to not want Link to succumb to some dreadful fate and disappear forever. 

Although disappearing here might be difficult… There was no shelter or coverage anywhere to speak of. Or water. Or food. Lovely.

Worst comes to worst, he supposed Link could probably get to Kara Kara for supplies… maybe. Revali took a few experimental steps through the sand. Walking was not easy. Sand didn’t crunch and consolidate the way snow did. Without solid ground, travel speed would be much slower… they might have been about a six hour walk from the small desert settlement.

Goddess it was hot. He honestly wanted nothing more than to hop into his plane and get the hell out of there but he had a responsibility to make sure Link really was adequately prepared. This was a very different ball game than roughing it in the tundra. Survival skills in one place did not necessarily translate to survival skills in the other.

Did he mention it was sweltering? Revali had the good sense to change to short sleeves under his jacket when he had heard where they were going but he restlessly rolled them up even further. (the jacket was long since discarded unceremoniously on the pilot’s seat) His back was already drenched in sweat. This was disgusting.

“Why do you never study somewhere nice?” He complained. “Or safe? Like the great plains, or a tropical beach somewhere?” Goddess, he’d pay Link to let him fly him to Lurelin- well not really, Link would still have to pay but all the same. “Faron is nice you know? There are rocks there too- in fact, there are rocks practically everywhere in Hyrule I don’t know why you must insist on the most dreadful places you can find!”

Link gave him an odd smile (one that almost seemed like he was in on some inside joke) and finally shrugged before signing an amused ‘sorry’. Revali determined in an instant that he was, in fact, not sorry at all.

“I will admit I had been dreaming of sandy beaches all winter but in these fantasies, there was presumably a point where the ‘beach’ ended and the water started."  When he thought about sinking his feet into burning sand, he had the image of a wet breeze and roaring ocean accompanying it all. This is not an adequate substitute.

Link pat his back comfortingly but Revali quickly flicked him away. “No touching. It is MUCH too hot for that.”

Link lifted an eyebrow.

“What?” He asked tiredly.

‘O-t-h-e-r-w-i-s-e yes then?’ Link asked. 'to t-o-u-c-h-i-n-g?'

Revali looked at him.

He looked straight back.

“Well you’re lucky there’s no ocean here after all. I’d probably be trying to drown you in it right now. You are insufferable.”

Link snickered. Revali rolled his eyes and looked away, unfortunately, right into the direction of the late-day sun.

What an opportune moment to bring a certain something up.

He squinted at the sky almost accusingly. “That pretentious overblown star has no right being that harsh when it’s almost sundown.” Now in for the kill: “You should probably do an application of sunscreen just to be safe.”

Link looked at him in bewilderment.

Well, he still might be wrong in certain assumptions, so he elaborated. “Yes it’s further away when it’s down that far, but you can never be too careful.”

Link tilted his head. 

Yeah, no, he called it then.

He took a deep, calm breath. “You, are a DUMBASS-“ The calmness apparently didn’t last long. “YOU TRAVELLED TO A DESERT WITHOUT SUNSCREEN? ARE YOU STUPID?! I’LL ANSWER THAT. YES, YES YOU ARE.”

Link, as always, was unphased by his angry ranting and it bothered him.

“Lucky for you,” Revali said, storming to the plane. “I already accounted for that and came prepared- I knew one of us had to.”

He could hear the footsteps in the sand behind him so he wasn’t surprised when he wheeled around after rummaging through Medoh to find Link standing right behind him. He jammed a large tube of sunscreen in Link’s hands. “Here I bought this from the general store right before we left. Feel free to reimburse me if you’d like.”

Link nodded dumbly.

“You better put that on every two hours, you hear me?” Revali asked.

Link nodded again and squirted a tiny drop-sized amount onto his palm before roughly rubbing it into his face. Revali all but screeched in horror.

“Okay, first, you are grossly underapplying. Second, how can you brutalize your face like that?! Goddesses above! Put a second layer on this instant and don’t drag your skin around like that! Just think about the collagen breakdown you are causing!”

Link, uncertain now, squirt a little more into his hands and pat blobs onto his face.

Revali fell back dramatically to sit on the plane’s doorstep. “Medoh darling, what are we going to do with this man?” He asked, stroking her for any bit of comfort he could get before sighing at Link deeply and beckoning him forward. “Alright, I’m only showing you once. Get over here immediately.”

As Link positioned himself in front of where Revali sat, he now stood a few inches taller. Revali reached up and gently massaged the cream into his skin. (the touch being entirely clinical of course) 

“You still have to rub it all in," he explained, "but be soft with your touch. Sunscreen is the most important step to your skincare routine you know, sun damage is the leading cause of premature aging.”

He paused on that thought and rubbed a thumb across Link’s cheekbone. For someone who put so little care into themselves, it was simply unfair how smooth and unblemished his skin was. “What a waste that would be,” he commented in idle thought. Although… the more he carefully scrutinized it, the more red it all was starting to look. Maybe it already had burned a little in the time they spent dawdling after all? Link’s ears were reddening too…

Revali held out a hand.

Link lurched to attention and stared at it in dazed confusion.   

“More,” he demanded.

He still looked disoriented for a moment but quickly caught on and dispensed some more sunscreen onto Revali’s palm.

He nodded in approval and quickly got to work on the outer shells of Link’s ears. When that was done, he rubbed the remainder into the back of Link’s neck.

Right.

How to bring up the next question?

Actually, no.

This was tedious.

Honestly, why was he putting so much effort dancing around it all? To protect Link’s pride? He already knew he had none of that. Revali sighed. “you know what? I’m running out of patience beating around the bush like this.”

His hands were still on the back of Link’s neck and the researcher’s eyes snapped open, (he hadn’t even noticed they had closed)

“It’s getting late and I feel like I’ll regret this if I leave you here with certain things unaired,” He continued.

Link swallowed thickly.

He locked onto those blue eyes as he sternly added, “Let’s not play games anymore.”

Link seemed stiff with rapt attention, unusual for him, but appreciated. “Link, as much as I mock you for being an… well, an idiot- and you are, I’m sure even you can figure out what’s going on here.”

Link slowly nodded, but said nods grew more and more vigorous.

Revali was long since done on Link’s neck so he finally pulled away but Link quickly gripped at his wrists as they fell, readjusting to hold both of his hands.

Okay then?

He had said no touching but whatever.

He honestly felt a little flustered and he wasn’t sure exactly why Link’s eyes were suddenly smouldering.

He tried to glance at the hands with as unamused an expression as he could muster and said flatly “Open your bag.”

Link now seemed incredibly confused.

So he hadn’t understood what he was getting at afterall.

“Well come on now, let’s see what else you’re missing. There’s not enough time in the day to come up with an anecdote and segue to ask about each and every thing you may have forgotten. Let’s drop the charade of me even pretending to assume you are somehow prepared for this.”

He had already admitted that the sunscreen was an intentional purchase so it's not like he can pretend the conversation leading up to it was entirely organic.

While it was mortifying to admit he put any thought into any of this, it would be worse if his pride somehow killed Link because he didn't catch that he was missing something essential.

Link let go of him immediately.

He almost looked embarrassed and a little downtrodden as he pulled his pack off his back. 

His cook pot was strapped to the outside with cords and carabineers. A large hydroflask was easily accessible via side pocket. A good start.

Then Link opened his bag and Revali choked. It was only a third full. There was maybe one change of clothes, a few days' worth of food and a large canteen.

“Well…” he managed, “At least you thought to bring plenty of water but… you do know it’s going to get cold at night right? Very cold.”

Link nodded and annoyance flared back up in Revali. “Well if you knew that, why didn’t you bring a single warm thing?! What were you planning on doing?”

Link slowly signed the word ‘fire’ and Revali threw back his head with a loud groan.

 “That was the absolute last thing I wanted to hear from you!” Ridiculous. The idea of staying up and stoking a fire all night was already farfetched but then to make matters worse- “Do you see mountains of firewood just laying around?” Revali asked gesturing around the nothingscape.

Link pulled out his phone to type- he supposed whatever he wanted to say was now too complicated for Revali’s limited sign. There was obviously no signal where they were but Link showed Revali his screen and Revali squinted through the myriad of horrific cracks (he gave him considerable grief about those on the flight in already) to try and read his message. Still, just looking at the screen gave him another on-coming headache and that was before he managed to read ‘I have a talent for finding flammable things.’

“Yes,” Revali said tightly. “You. You are the only flammable thing out here.”

Link tilted his head back and forth in slight disagreement and pointed to the canteen. ‘And this’ he signed.

Revali looked at him dumbly. “You’re saying that massive container there… the one that says ‘For water only, do not apply canteen to open flames’ is full of what? Lighter fluid?”

Link shook his head and slowly fingered spelled: “Z-O-N-A-I  F-L-A-M-M-A-B-L-”

Before Link could even finish, Revali had already screeched “NO!” in outrage.

He hopped up from his perch on Medoh in order to pace up and down and utter the world’s most impressive string of curses before pointing at Link accusingly “You are the LAST person in the entire world who should be carrying that around! You are going to incinerate yourself and probably everything here. I’m not sure if there’s any physical way to burn down a desert of all things but I somehow have every faith that you’ll find a way.”

Link had a look across his face that took a second to place but when he did he had a whole other reason to continue screeching. “DON’T LOOK PROUD AT THAT. THAT IS NOT ‘GOOD FAITH’ THAT IS ‘BAD FAITH’. I SWEAR TO THE GODDESS IF YOU TAKE THAT AS A CHALLENGE, I WILL MURDER YOU.” Link had a remarkable talent for hearing only what he wanted to.

Alright. He was ready to leave now. the idiot would be fine.

He was halfway to pulling himself up into Medoh when his logic caught up and he remembered that, no, he wouldn’t be.

He tossed Link the thermal blanket from emergency supplies angrily. “Here, this compacts up well. You should consider purchasing one of your own next time. Imagine that? Being able to plan yourself out of a paper bag. It’s a useful skill you know.”

He jammed his hands in his pockets and noticed another item he forgot to hand over.

He tossed it to Link as well and despite being unguarded, he caught it. (of course he did)

“UV-protectant lip chap,” Revali explained. “Believe me there’s nothing worse than sunburnt lips.”

Link looked at it for a moment and then grinned at Revali mischievously. ‘Teach me to use this too?’

Revali narrowed his eyes. “I have been so kind. Don’t mock me.”

Link pouted (Genuinely, or as a joke it was hard to say) but Revali didn’t care anymore, he got into his plane and flew away.

Chapter Text

The general store was more lively than usual.

Saki and one of her friends- Amali he thought her name was- were at the counter, animatedly chatting with the owner but they stopped the second he walked in and eyed him with interest before exchanging a look.

That… didn’t spell for anything good. (He assumed)

They left him unconfronted as he did his shopping though and as he exited the store, he thought maybe he was in the clear.

“Revali!”

Or maybe not.

He turned around slowly to have found that they had followed him out. “Ladies,” he acknowledged.

“How fortunate to have run into you,” Saki said. “We were just picking up some last-minute supplies for a little ‘girl’s afternoon’ we’re having and were wondering if maybe you’d like to join us?”

“I’m afraid that I’m not a girl,” Revali commented dryly and internally rewarded himself for biting back from saying that they hardly were either at their ages. He had the virtue and restraint of a saint sometimes.

“Semantics,” Amali said, playfully whacking his shoulder. “We’d love to have you regardless.”

“I have-” actually, he didn’t know these women well enough to feel like he needed a fake excuse, “No. Thank you.”

“Aw, come on Revali,” Saki said. “You’re not in that different a situation from us, surely you want a little distraction? We saw you flying out Link the other day- that puts us all in the same boat!”

“And what boat is that exactly?” He asked.

“Waiting on our men to come back home!” Saki announced cheerfully. “And you know what they say, when the rooster’s away, the hens will play!”

Goddess, they better hope he wasn’t on this boat because he would gladly steer it into a glacier.  

She continued on, oblivious to the sour look on Revali’s face. “Teba has taken Tulin out hunting,” The way she had said that last bit suggested she was less than thrilled from this development, “and Amali’s Kass is still out doing… erm, whatever it is he’s out there doing this time.”

“Teaching,” Amali said. “He’s travelling to schools across Hyrule and doing these cute little music workshops, it’s such an amazing opportunity for him! He loves children.”

He clearly did if their ridiculously massive clan of daughters said anything.

To this day, Revali was still uncertain how many of them there were.

At first, he had thought she just had one daughter who was somehow everywhere but then he started seeing them around doubled or even tripled up. They all just… looked identical.

Well not really. When he looked closer, he realized they were all clearly slightly different ages- but that didn’t stop them from looking like yearly released editions of the exact same girl. The only real discernible difference between them all seemed to be their preferences in colour.

“I don’t think you’ve met him yet,” Amali said in a sort of awed contemplation. “My big guy is a modern-day minstrel you might say- always on the go wherever the wind takes him.”

There was a lot he could have said there, but he thankfully didn’t, still hung up on one important previous detail. “Link is not my ‘man’, he’s just a client,” Revali scoffed.

Saki poked his shoulder almost condescendingly. “Of course he is,” he did not miss the way she winked at Amali.

Annoyed, he attempted again to shrug them off. “Well if that was all, I best be-“

Saki clenched his arm so hard it almost hurt. She was still smiling but there was a frantic energy suddenly that made said smile feel just a little unhinged. “My BABY-” she said with a nervous chuckle “-is out there on his first-ever hunting trip, overnight because my husband refuses to ever ‘half-ass’ anything. It’s still below freezing temperatures and there are wolves, bears, woolly rhinos and moose that could trample him without a second thought and if I don’t surround myself with people right now I’m going to lose my last shred of sanity and snap.”

A moment later she was back to being the cover model of friendly, unassuming femininity. “We had tried to get the sisters from down the road to come out but they pulled out last minute- as usual- and we have made far too much sangria. You would be no imposition whatsoever, Revali.”

Amali whispered in his ear nervously. “If you don’t come help us, she will drink it all. Please.”

He was starting to get the impression that he never had a choice.

“I suppose I didn’t have much more on my docket for the day,” Revali admitted ruefully.

“Excellent!” Saki cheered and the two women hooked either one of his elbows and strong-armed him off to her and Teba’s residence.

They had a cute home.

It wasn’t his first time being there, but it struck him with surprise every time. It wasn’t exactly his style, but he could appreciate it all the same. It was very cottagecore, right out of a country-centric lifestyle magazine.

There was an abundance of trinkets and lots of quilted things, but at the very least, it was organized. He wasn’t one for unnecessary clutter himself, but he could admit that the space had a warm inviting atmosphere- entirely from Saki’s own influence, he was sure.

The woman really was a Godsend for Teba. On his own, the place would go from cute cottage to bachelor’s hunting shack very fast.

At most, there’d be a couch and tv and the rest of the décor would probably just be equipment and taxidermy. As it was, she managed to keep all of that stuff exiled to the basement and Revali could commend her for those efforts alone. The place was a little tacky, but it could be worse.

They sat in the family room on plush mismatched couches. Saki wasted no time in pulling out the glass container of her prepared sangria and placing it in the center of the coffee table.

Red wine with oranges, apples and blueberries it seemed. Not a bad mix.

She quickly poured them each a glass before taking a few frazzled gulps of her own.

This time it was Amali and Revali who exchanged a look.

They kept Saki distracted from that point on with idle chatter. It was less painful and forced than he had expected. (He was so used to Teba, Link and Harth at this point he had forgotten what regular people were like) When the conversation moved to 90-day fiancé he had to admit that yes, he was following that on cable and found surprising release on being able to finally rant about Juney and Jogo because, no, baked apples were not a sufficient enough romantic gesture to mend every problem in their rocky relationship and that couple absolutely did not belong together.

Saki and Amali agreed which, again, was a great change from Teba or Harth who would have responded with just a grunt or an ‘if you say so.’

A couple of drinks in, Saki began to bellyache about the hunting trip again. She had spotted a baggie of trail mix that had missed being packed and had a miniature meltdown.

“I had put it right on top of their bags. I’m not exactly sure how they missed it… I knew it- I knew I should have packed it directly inside. This is all my fault! My little guys are going to starve out there I’m sure of it!”

“Don’t worry,” Amali said, “they’ll be fine. Men are bizarrely hardy, it’s the only way they’ve managed to survive this long as a species. Kass is a wreck too, he never packs enough socks.”

Revali leaned back into the cushions with the fatigue of an old experienced veteran in this topic. “Link, let me tell you, is the worst.”

He sipped his drink slowly and crunched his eyes. “Do you know what he packed for the desert? Nothing. He packed nothing! It makes no sense… how did he survive all these years without me being forced to almost have to divinate each and every thing he might forget?”

The women nodded in understanding and he wanted to cry. Finally. Someone got it.

“You’re running a little low there,” Saki said, pointing at his glass. Huh, when did that happen? He graciously allowed her to pour him some more from the pitcher.

“He didn’t even take sunscreen!” He whined. “I had to buy him a bottle and- I swear- it’s like he never used it before because I even had to apply it for him like he was some child!”

The women stared at him.

“What?” He asked.

“You… put on his sunscreen for him?” Amali asked with a giddy smile.

“Well no,” he said rolling his eyes at the implications that they were out there re-enacting some romantic beach-movie cliché. “I just blended it into his face… and maybe did his ears and neck.”

Saki and Amali took a sip from their drinks in perfect synchronization.

“What was I going to do? Let him burn all his skin off?” He asked accusingly. “I don’t want his gross desiccated body flaking all over Medoh’s seats on the way back.”

“Of course not,” Saki said, waving him off. “You are a wonderful friend. He’s lucky to have you.”

“You can say that again,” Revali said crossly. “But not the friend part, our relationship is strictly professional.”

“Strictly professional,” Amali parroted as a stern aside to Saki.

“Yes, yes,” Saki agreed, nodding sagely.

Drinks continued to be poured and consumed at an alarming pace.

“You know what else?” Revali finally said, head swimming. “What is with them and phones?”

“Oh my gosh, yes,” Saki said, pointing at him in acknowledgement. “Teba never takes it with him. EVER. He says he hates being tied down to technology. Of course, he’s also the guy who hunts with a bow and arrow so..”

“Kass has his usually, but it’s always on mute and he never hears when I call,” Amali sighed.

“Link would be better off if he never took his anywhere. He breaks them so often, I don’t know how he can afford it but he has to get a new phone almost once a month! I bet you when I do pick him up it will have new cracks again somehow. Even though it’s the desert and there’s NOTHING hard to drop it on,” Revali shook his head and groaned. “Ug, it annoys me so much. Why are we talking about them anyway? Let’s talk about something else.”

“I’ve got facemasks!” Saki suggested.

“Is it from the general store?” Revali asked. If it was, no thank you. He knew their selection.

“No, a wandering salesman,” she said. “He’s got all sorts of wares, he comes by town a lot. He calls his skin care line ‘BeedleJuice’.”

Revali made a face.

“His name’s Beedle,” Amali clarified.

“Still,” he said, unconvinced. “Fine, what kind of facemask is it?” He asked.

Saki shrugged. “Secret formula.”

He looked at her in horror. “Bring me the container right now.”

Sure enough, there was no ingredient list. Opening the thing, he had never seen a texture like that before in his life.

“Absolutely not,” Revali uttered.

He peered closer at Saki’s skin and nodded. His tact was gone after being one-too-many sangria glasses in. “Well the good news is now that we know what’s going on…” he gestured vaguely to her face, “…there, we can fix this."

He stood (dizzily) and picked up the pitcher, shaking what was left of the wine. “Alright ladies, we’re switching houses. I have a probiotic yogurt mask that will change your lives.”

The other two raised their glasses.

Chapter Text

The air was an unbearably dry sort of hot as Revali waited at the meeting point. Coming from Hebra was just too much of a shock to the system. He had avoided the worst of the merciless desert sun the last time by flying Link in during the late afternoon but this time, it was just a little before midday and the air was simply vibrating as the sand cooked.

All Revali could do was fan himself with the map but it offered very little relief, he was just moving hot air into his face at this point.

The only shade was by Medoh but her metal body was simply radiating heat. He found a semi tolerable spot under her wing but still felt he wouldn’t be long for this world if he had to wait around much longer.

Licking his drying lips, he stared out at the sandy expanse listlessly.

Where. Was. Link?

He knew the temperature was only going to get worse, they were hardly over the day’s peak yet. In a couple of minutes, he was going to pop back up and try to find the guy himself from the air. He wasn’t looking forward to it.

“I love you, I do,” Revali said to his plane, suddenly weary she might be reading his mind, “but darling, you are a greenhouse in there. I will fry like an ant under a magnifying glass.”

Medoh said nothing, but her silence spoke volumes. “It’s certainly not my fault we’re here,” he snapped. “Don’t be mad at me, blame Link.”

He shook his head, certain this sass was just the heat getting to her, he wouldn’t take it personally.  

He froze to listen carefully at a cacophony of noises in the distance.

What was that?

For certain there was the sound of something being dragged across the sand… but it was accompanied by a weird… orca cry?

It was coming in a direction blocked by Medoh so he quickly circled around and, let him just say…

He had thought that there was very little Link could do anymore to cause him genuine shock but that was BEFORE he saw him sledding on his cookpan while being pulled by a CRITICALLY ENDANGERED ANIMAL.

He had only ever seen pictures of sand seals in national geographic magazines. There were predicted to be only a small handful of them left in the world and for a while, they were thought even to maybe have gone extinct.

Even snapping an up-close photo was considered a near-impossible task given their overall timidness and ability to detect the slightest movements in the sand.

People describe their once-in-a-lifetime encounters with sand seals with the same sort of reverence as if they had crossed paths with a unicorn. For the people of Kara Kara, the appearance of a ‘gentle giant of the desert’ was something almost sacred and deeply spiritual.

Yet here Link was, making a complete mockery of it all. Revali watched entirely deadpan (and dead inside) as the creature careened towards him, wailing and hollering against the rope Link had somehow managed to get looped around it.

Maybe to someone, this might even have been funny. It was too bad Revali had virtually no sense of humour.

As Link got close, he let the poor thing go by releasing one of his grips on the rope. Unfortunately, the seal’s primary priority seemed to be fleeing Link, meaning it didn’t mind if it barreled down Revali in the process. He just narrowly avoided getting plowed over and took a moment to watch it flee a couple of yards before burrowing itself down in the sand. 

He turned back to Link slowly.

After a small bout of speechlessness, he decided not to comment on any of that at all. Not the sand seal. Not the fact that he was standing on the plate he cooked on. (gross) It all just felt like low-hanging fruit and he had two things more pressing on his mind.

“You’re late.”

Link scratched the back of his head apologetically. ’Sorry,’ he signed.

“-and you’re naked.”

Well, that wasn’t true at all, he was just missing a shirt but it was so distracting he might as well be.

‘I’m hot,’ he signed.

There was no denying that, unfortunately. Revali’s eyes fell to his chiselled abs for exactly one fraction of a second.

Link was living proof there is something always critically wrong with the pretty ones. It was a devastating universal truth. (Revali himself was, of course, the exception to this rule)

Revali sighed, pointedly making an effort to not look at him, lest it be mistaken for ogling. “Still, only idiots go around topless in the desert. You need sun protection. You’d actually feel cooler with something loose and airy on”

‘yes…’ Link admitted as soon as he could catch Revali’s attention again. ‘but also… fire.’

 “I goddessdamn knew you would,” Revali uttered with disdain.

Up close he could see Link’s pants were also thoroughly scorched after all.

And while his eyes were on Link’s pants (and not that hint of a deep cut ‘v’ right about the beltline) he saw something move just a little off-center to the crotch of Link’s trousers, there was an unholy wriggling.

Horror.

If he were as suave as he believed he was, he’d have crossed his arms lifted an eyebrow and said “Someone’s happy to see me.” However, he was not. Instead, he jumped back several paces and screamed.

This was one of those rare cases when his fight or flight instincts veered sharply towards ‘flight’.

“WHAT IS THAT?” He cried. (vulgar obscenities omitted)

Link glanced down in confusion and burst into a fit of giggles before slowly reaching into his pocket and pulling out a… LIZARD??

Revali screeched. “IN YOUR POCKET? WHY? WHY WOULD YOU KEEP THAT SO CLOSE TO YOUR… bits?” Lizards had teeth didn’t they? They must. Revali stared at the dangling creature and began sweating for a reason other than just the heat.

Link signed, ‘E-M-E-R-G-E-N-C-Y Food’

Yes… hot but tragically defective in the head. There was no saving this one.

“I’m going to make this dead clear,” Revali started. “There will be NO live critters on my plane. I haven’t forgotten about that frog incident at your school.”

Link pouted.

“Let it go,” Revali said, not budging an inch.

Ruefully, Link released the lizard and just like the sand seal, it fled at top speeds away, perhaps aware of its close brush with death.

“Is that it?” Revali asked. It was meant to be a sarcastic question he hadn’t expected Link to sigh dramatically and sling off his backpack before pulling two more lizards out of either one of his side pockets.

Revali opened his mouth to comment but link cautiously opened the main flap of his bag and gently kicked it over before retreating to Revali’s side.

“Wha-“

A MASSIVE VIPER slithered out.

That one definitely had teeth, and venom.

It eyed them for a moment and Revali wondered if this really was how and where he was going to die. If it was, being run over by a sand seal would have been a much cooler story. He shouldn't have moved back then.

Link made a begrudging shooing motion and the snake slithered off.

“I’m starting to wonder if your business is worth it,” Revali commented. “I’m thinking maybe not.”

Link sent him a sidelong look of ‘you don’t mean that’ and went to retrieve his bag.

This was his first time seeing Link’s back and GODDESS it was red.

There was a distinctive gradient in the places where he hadn’t managed to reach with the sunscreen and it resulted in an aggravated looking cow-splotch centred squarely between his shoulders.

Idiot.

This was exactly why you always wear a shirt.

Link grabbed the bag and wadded back over.

“Well then, I’m sure you are eager for some Hebra wind right about now, I sure am. Pick up your feet let’s go,” Revali ordered, unimpressed when Link stopped in front of him.

Link just shook his head and pulled out his phone. He wrote out something hastily and showed it to Revali but his screen was, as predicted, now almost entirely unreadable. Some cracks were so large that grains of sand even got wedged in-between.

He had to take it in his own hands and hold it under Medoh’s shadow before he could decipher: ‘Change of plans, I need to go to the Great Plateau first’

Chapter Text

And so there they were, at the Great Plateau, home of the most important and sacred ruins to Hyrulian society-

-and Revali had aided in releasing Link right in the middle of them all. This felt like a major lapse in judgement and perhaps a literal war-crime against his own country. He was pretty sure the ruins were protected under international law.

He crossed his arms and tried to calculate his own level of accountability to whatever was going to happen here. Technically, this area was open to the public, meaning so far, they hadn’t done anything wrong. However, the plateau was also nearly inaccessible through any means other than flight so Revali was definitely an accomplice to whatever destruction Link would no-doubt incur on his path through.

Well, to be a little fair to himself, a correction would be that the plateau was inaccessible to normal, ordinary, everyday people. Link was a mountain goat, he’d have gotten here eventually if he were determined enough… but would the court of law agree with this flimsy argument was the question…

He probably would have fought Link more on this detour if it hadn’t been for that desert heat. He hadn’t cared where they went then as long as it was up and away.

“I think I might have done a terrible thing,” Revali finally admitted. “It’s a bit like I’ve released a harmful predator into an unassuming ecosystem.”

He had expected some sort of snort of amusement or other sound of non-reassurance but the silence was even more unsettling.

He glanced down to Link.

There was no mischievous grin or twinkle in his eye, he seemed… off.

“That is to say,” Revali continued, now fixing his attention dead on Link, “Please refrain from doing anything… you would typically do here. This is a site of cultural preservation.”

Link nodded quietly.

Revali hummed, unsatisfied. “It’s not like you to be so docile,” he commented. “Have you finally decided you’re going to behave?” There was a slight cadence to his voice that that trickled in at the end of the question that betrayed hints of his concern.

Link just glanced down at his feet with a faraway expression.

Hm. The pilot slowly uncrossed his arms and reached towards the blond uselessly. To what? Comfort him? He wasn’t even sure anything was wrong. He stopped halfway to touching Link’s shoulder, letting his hands drop to his own side instead.

Maybe it was nothing. He was coming straight from another field expedition afterall. He had every right to be exhausted. It was probably like ending a marathon and then having to run an extra few miles after.

But his ever-trusted instincts were telling him something was definitely amiss with the researcher beyond just fatigue.

Link was a ‘get to it’ kind of guy. Ordinarily, they’d barely be off the plane before Link would be dragging his stuff out from the back storage with a spring in his step.

Now Link’s things were in the back seat untouched and none of his usual gusto was present.  

He was finding it very hard to leave Link here. Not like this.

He stood rigidly next to Link, giving him an unusually large serving of patience. Maybe he was second-guessing the decision to come straight over. He was probably dehydrated and hungry- not a great way to start a new trip. To be honest, they had barely detoured getting here, so if he wanted to hop back in the air and go to Hebra then and there Revali figured he’d wave any extra charge… and he supposed this spot was always on his someday bucket list of places to visit so Link had done him a favour. 

He took the time just to enjoy the perfect weather. Hebra was still stubbornly cold and the desert had been unbearable as well for opposite reasons but this was… pleasant.

There was a nice spring breeze going. The sort of room-temperature weather where he could feel comfortable in his aviation jacket and yet Link still somehow seemed unaffected by his own shirtlessness.

Oh right… that. He had done so well up until that point ignoring that particular elephant.

He focused back on the scenery. For such a small little part of the world, it geographically really did have a little bit of everything: green forests, grassy fields, even snowy little bits of mountainous terrain. It was a miniature version of all of Hyrule contained within one big outdoorsman’s playbox.

That marvel was before even considering the ruins. The temple of time was just a hop, skip and jump away up the nearest cliff.

He had seen it so many times at this angle from photographs, it was surreal to be standing there in person… yet it was still somehow only the second craziest thing for him to see that day. Was it always like this for Link?

 “I must admit… In all my years of flying, I haven’t been here before,” He said thoughtfully. “I wonder why that is,” he added, more to himself than to Link.

When he was just an air cadet, he dreamed of getting his pilot’s licence. The idea of being able to easily go wherever he wished at the slightest whim had him bubbling deep down with excitement.

Now he even had his own plane and he rarely ventured outside of his little bubble in Hebra. Visiting Mipha in Castletown over the holidays was probably the first and only time he travelled for pleasure in quite a while.

There was suddenly a hand on his elbow and Revali jumped.

Link was looking up at him now, the first bit of eye contact since they had arrived. He even gave him a slight lopsided smile when he tentatively signed: ‘want a t-o-u-r?’

Revali was baffled by the slight air of desperation exuding from Link. Something telling him he’d do anything to not be alone in that moment.

“So you’ve been here before I take it?” Revali said, raising a brow.

Link gave a slight nod. ‘Yeah you could say that’

Revali inspected him for another moment but ultimately agreed. “Why not?”

Without another word, Link began to lead him toward the temple. With Link standing a bit in front of the pilot, Revali was once again flashed with that massive sunburn… and Link’s back. Perhaps because Link couldn’t actively catch him looking, he was less cautious with where he placed his eyes. There was clear definition going on between his shoulders for sure. His traps were quite tight, leaving a long elegant line running down his spine. Muscles flexed and tensed slightly as he naturally moved his arms while walking.

That whole situation there probably needed to be dealt with immediately for Revali’s own sanity.  

He shrugged off his favourite jacket.

He didn’t necessarily trust Link with his belongings, especially some of his more cherished clothing articles but the alternative was somehow worse.

“Link,” he said.

Link turned at the sound of his name only to get the coat tossed into his face. The blond recovered after a moment of surprise and held it out to inspect it in bewilderment. ‘It’s not cold’ Link finally signed.

“I’ve told you this before, I’ll say it again. You need to cover up in the sun.” To make his point come across he gave the shorter man a ‘good-natured’ slap to the back… right on the burn.

Link yelped but then ruefully put the coat on, if nothing else, to prevent another direct attack to the skin.

There was some immediate relief as Link zipped it up, a pulsing in Revali’s temple subsided.

Link continued to navigate their way up the cliff in a path that seemed almost memorized, like he knew the exact spots where the topography was most gradual.

They reached one messy-to-navigate outcropping and Link scaled over effortlessly before offering Revali a hand.

Revali stared at it with slight resentment. He wasn’t a total pris. He had been in the military for Goddess’ sakes! However, he wasn’t exactly dressed for this little day trip. He doubted his ‘handwash only’ clothing was made to be able to endure tree branches and brambles tearing at them and he’d surely scuff his dockers trying to climb the rocks on his own.

He took Link’s hand and let the blond give him a supportive tug up.

This was mortifying. He felt like he was playing right into the city-boy stereotyped persona he was so often assigned.

Link didn’t immediately let go of his hand either. 

He was about to tear it away when he noticed a haunted look returning to Link’s eyes. He was staring out past the temple at a larger cliff side off in the distance. He had been perking a little up until this moment and this drop in his mood again had Revali nervous.

Rather than letting go, he squeezed Link’s hand a little in an almost reassuring manner.

Link looked at him for a good long moment before he smiled slightly and squeezed back.  

Well now he couldn’t let go. He let Link continue to hold his hand and simply decided he would look the other way instead of overanalyzing the optics of it all. He couldn’t recall ever seeing two grown men outside of a relationship holding hands like this but… this was the wilds there was always some flexibility in throwing out some social conventions.

They explored the temple for quite a while. Revali didn’t really have any knowledge of architecture but could appreciate the intricacy of the stonework all the same.

Link knew… a surprising amount, more than he could convey through Revali’s limited sign. He often shoved his phone in Revali’s face with entire paragraphs texted out about small details he himself had overlooked. It was a pain however trying to read the block of text around all of the cracks.

From what he bothered to make out, Link was more articulate than he’d thought. He supposed they had only ever spoken in brief texts and first-level signs so he hadn’t paid Link his proper dues.

“I wonder if it isn’t prettier now than it was in the past,” Revali commented. Through the deterioration of time, all superfluous things were gone and rotted away leaving only the stonework. Holes in the roof made the whole place still have an outdoor feeling, not to mention the grass and moss that had invaded to reclaim the space. In the medieval era, perhaps the stale air and likely shoddy old-timey glasswork of the windows would have taken away from much of the building’s majesty.

Link just shrugged, but in the way that suggested he didn’t disagree.

There were other ruins throughout the plains, all less spectacularly preserved.

The last place Link had guided him to was an abbey that was no longer anything more than a maze of crumbling walls.

In a particular opening Link shot a quick text and, to Revali’s surprise, his phone pinged.

‘This was the cloister. That’s an open private garden that would be encapsulated on all sides by the monastery walls. They’d go here to pray in the tranquillity of nature.’  

“There’s signal?” Revali asked.

‘Yeah, this is the only place in the plateau that has it.’

There was a network with a single bar that his phone tried to connect to. It was the Scout’s Hill base. They must have been right on the edge of the plateau at the part that overlooked the camp. He had been there once on a training exercise and remembered seeing the towering walls and the edges of the ruins up above but he hadn’t even recognized where they were from the other side.

Link guided him to an especially crumbled part of the abbey’s outer wall that was easy to climb and they sat on the edge overlooking great expanses of Hyrule.

He could see the training ground down below now and the small military outpost town a little ways away.

Actually, he could see much more than that. Lake Hylia was just a little to their right. This was a good view of the massive Hylia bridge as well. It was about as old as these ruins but had been meticulously upkept for many generations of Hylians. Engineers come in to check it every few months but it still miraculously stands and functions for everyday use.

Directly in front of them were the Dueling Peaks. They looked so close but were still deceptively too far to ever consider walking (If one could have even climbed down the massive ledge in the first place). What surprised him most of course was the distant red rocks of the East Necludian Highlands on the horizon. As a pilot, he had a better sense of actual distances than most but he had thought of Lurelin as so much further.

His phone pinged while he was lost in the view.

‘So,’ He looked up to catch Link’s eye for a moment before the researcher continued to type. ‘That sand seal was pretty cool huh?’

So he was secretly aware of how insane some of the things he did were afterall. It was good to know.

“Hmm, yes I suppose… I never expected to see one in real life, let alone almost get mauled by one.”

Link scratched the back of his head apologetically, but the next thing he typed wasn’t a request for forgiveness.

‘They’re descended from these massive ancient monsters called molduga which is pretty cool. They existed at the same time for a short while. Ancient desert people would ride around on sand seals like I did and pray they didn’t run into one of them. It would probably be like encountering a megalodon in the ocean- scary stuff.’

Revali took pause as he read this. Ancient desert people? Was that a thing? It sounded like something he would have learned about at some point in the basic Hyrulian education system. They had entire repeating units on the zonai and sheikah in primary school after all. This felt like it would fall under the ‘history that would interest an eleven year old’ umbrella.

He didn’t really doubt Link though.

“You seem surprisingly interested in this stuff,” Revali commented.

Link’s lips quirked upwards a little. ‘Yeah’

He paused and then added: ‘when you grow up around ruins I guess you kind of get interested in objects of the past. Though I personally find the animal stuff cooler for some reason.’

“What?” Revali asked, rereading the line a few times. “You grew up around ruins?”

Link didn’t make any effort to type right away.

It was an unusual amount of sharing from him to begin with. He sent his pictures of horses. He often talked about his day, he rarely however, really talked about himself.

‘here.’ Link finally typed.

“Here…” Revali repeated in confusion.

‘I grew up here. With my dad’ then he added: ‘Sometimes’

“Sometimes…” Revali said. “As in you vacationed here a lot?”

‘As in sometimes my dad was here, and sometimes he wasn’t.’

“Hmmm,” Is the only way Revali could think to respond. It was a lot to take in. He supposed it now made sense how seamlessly Link blended into the surrounding environment. He was from here. This was his point of origin.

It was an insane story from anyone else, but it just fit Link.

If he spent time up in the rocks by Mount Hylia and the River of the Dead it also explained how he handled himself in the Hebra mountains so well.

One fact stood out however:

“Goddess, you actually are feral,” Revali said in awe.

Link sent him back a dazzling grin and tried to make an exaggerated pose with his hands on his hips but then was distracted by something. He pulled out a tube from the coat jacket.

“Ah right,” Revali said. “I brought aloe just in case. I honestly thought you’d do much worse with the sunscreen instructions so… good job on that at least. Your back is a mess but that’s about it.”

Link shrugged off the coat without warning and Revali turned his head ninety degrees away on instinct as if he had just been flashed.

There was a tapping on his shoulder that forced him to look back.

‘Help?’ Link signed and pointed behind himself.

Revali wanted to bash his own head on the stonework. No. No thank you. He did not want to do that. That was going somewhere dangerous.

“Sure,” He said casually.

Damnit.

Link handed him the aloe and turned around to show him his back again- which was now more up close and personal than ever.

It was fine. This was just as clinical as the sunscreen was, he reasoned to himself. (Although he would have to make sure to never mention this to Saki and Amali this time around)

Revali squeezed some out and lightly tapped a blob to the center of the affected area. It was burning to the touch and to Link’s perspective, the serum must have been chilling because his muscles rippled attractively in reaction.

Revali then tried to be quick in rubbing it in, prioritizing efficiency above all else.

He angled forward a little to catch the light and see if he had really applied it over everywhere, but this was the moment Link chose to look over his shoulder and suddenly their faces were only inches apart.

Revali’s brain may have error coded for a moment, which somehow helped him in looking calm about the whole thing. He backed up and said in an even tone, “It’s done.”

Link tried to reach behind himself to feel Revali’s work but seemed to struggle in reaching the spot. So that was the problem. He worked up his body naturally through climbing and hiking and dumb things like riding sands seals. It was all passive fitness. He never likely actually took time to stretch the way he would have it he had been a gym-goer.

“I would recommend yoga when you get back,” Revali commented. “That’s a rather pathetic range of motion you have there. I think most schools have programs.”

Link glanced away embarrassed and signed ‘Yeah maybe.’

“I’m tired of saying it but you should take better care of yourself. Especially since you have to use your body so much for… I don’t know, whatever it is you do out here.”

‘Yeah…’ Link signed with an oddly timid smile. He shuffled a little closer to Revali, likely intuitively.

He began to type something in his phone again and Revali checked his own cell in anticipation of the incoming message but then noticed the time. It was getting surprisingly late. “I should probably depart soo-“

The message came in mid-sentence and he looked down. ‘Want to stay for dinner?’

Realizing what Revali had been saying before. He quickly typed. ‘No nevermind it’s fine’

Then added. ‘Sorry’

“Fine,” Revali agreed, surprising even himself. “A pilot as great as I can fly at night if need be,” He rationalized. “Worst comes to worst I always have a sleeping bag stored in Medoh.”

Chapter Text

Link had taken them back to the other side of the temple rather than directly back to Medoh. There was a pond up ahead which he wasted no time in heading over to. Revali followed wordlessly, for once.

The pilot was far more tired and hungry than he had thought before the prospects of dinner had come up and it was impeding on his goddess-given gift of gab. Lunch had been a long time ago and quite small given he hadn’t anticipated being out for so long.

The water was a long way down, flanked on every side by steep slopes and full-on cliffs. The pond itself was a crystalline sort of clear and numerous fish could be seen swimming just underneath the water’s surface.

He caught Link eyeing them with a look of intense concentration. There was a predatory glint in his stare that really was almost unsettling when compared to his usual easy-going countenance.  

So they were going to fish then… dinner was going to be a long wait yet.

Revali sighed, feeling his stomach quake with the ghost of a grumble. There was really nothing he could do at this point but resign himself to whatever Link had planned. He walked a little closer to the edge and glanced down from their ten-foot cliff “So do you have poles or-“

It was then that he caught Link shedding off the jacket. He really couldn’t seem to keep his clothes on today. A moment later, Revali’s idle thought ran truer as Link’s pants joined the pile.

“WHA-“ Revali began to ask in a scandalized tone but that was as much as he got out before the blond took a running leap and all but swan-dived into the waters below, directly on top of a hylian bass.

Revali was struck speechless.

This looked… stupid.

He stood in place, watching with a tight grimace as Link wrestled the flailing creature down below.

How was he even going to get out of there? The fish was massive, and it looked like it was taking all of his energy just to stay afloat and keep a solid grip on it.

Well, Revali decided that this particular production was of Link’s own making and that there was nothing he could do to help. He bought the tickets, might as well at least try to enjoy the idiot theatre.

He sat down on the ledge and simply watched with a deadpan expression as Link engaged their dinner in the dumbest battle he had ever witnessed.

After a good amount of thrashing, fighting and being dunked on by a literal fish, Link managed to get to the one part of the pond’s perimeter that was on just enough of an incline for grass to grow and that he, with great difficulty could maybe walk up without the use of his hands.

He at least stopped its flapping about with a merciful wack on a rock at the hill’s base and then it just became a matter of dragging something with its unique shape and weight up the steep hill.

Revali sighed and stood up to meet him near the top.

As Link’s foot slid on a place where the slope had eroded, Revali steadily gripped his shoulders and helped pull him up.

Link nodded to him appreciatively and placed the fish down in favour of shaking off like a dog.

He was a goddessdamn animal, and Revali deigned to tell him as much as he was sprayed with dirty water droplets shot like projectiles out of Link’s sopping wet hair. “You are a Goddessdamn animal!”

His outrage only lasted for about that long as Link quickly sedated him with one of his patented grins that shone every single one of his teeth.

“Whatever, I’m hungry,” Revali grumbled. “I don’t have the energy for this right now.”

Link put back on his clothes, pausing of course at Revali’s coat to look towards him in a silent request for permission.

“Yes, please,” Revali said. “It was always going to get deep cleaned and fumigated for bugs from the moment it touched your person anyway. I strongly doubt the pond water made you any dirtier and I assure you I’m quite tired of having to stare at you in any state of undress.”

Link gave him a frustratingly smug smile as he zipped it up.  

“Don’t preen yourself too much. I just like to keep more civilized company,” Revali was quick to explain. “Perhaps ‘stare’ was simply one of my rare slip of the tongues. I did mean ‘look’ of course.”

Link just vocalized a hum that was the equivalent of ‘sure’. Entirely too condescending for Revali’s taste.  

The blond slugged the massive bass over his shoulder (Revali had to remind himself again that It was okay since he was going to wash the coat later) and began walking off. The pilot followed behind him, forced into the most disturbing staring contest ever with the fish’s creepy dead eyes. He was chopping the head off as soon as they made camp. He never did like eating something while it still had a face, much to the extreme teasing of his extended family.

They’d sure love Link though. He was certain the man would eat just about anything if the snake he tried to sneak onto his plane had been any indication.

Actually... that was an amusing thought. He’d quite love for them to meet Link. They taunted him about being prissy his whole life. Link on the other hand would make them all look downright delicate themselves! It was fun to envision the wounds Link could effortlessly inflict on their own pride. The fact that it would be caused by a boy with such a pretty little face only made Revali’s sadistic glee at the concept all the sweeter.

Well, perhaps someday Link’s research would take them to Faron. He just had to hope the older geezers would live until then.

Or… actually, perhaps it was for the best that they’d never meet the researcher. It would surely just backfire and turn out like how it did with the people in Rito- where they all now were so certain that the pair were lovers. Ridiculous. He couldn’t even imagine where they all acquired such an absurd notion.

Oh! A certain observation cut his thought short.

“Look at you!” Revali chid and Link paused in confusion. “There’s pondweed tangled up in your hair! Have you no sense of decorum? Goddesses above,” he said as he fussed with the blond’s hair. It sure was tangled up in there. He had to pull out the elastic and run his fingers through his knotted tresses a few times before all the lake scum was out.

He held Link by the jaw and moved his head around as if observing some show horse. “Alright, it’s all out now,” he mumbled.

He quickly redid Link’s ponytail and shook his head in bewilderment. “You really ought to check yourself more. You’re not feral anymore, take some pride in your appearance.”

Link bashfully grinned and proceeded to show no signs of embarrassment as he playfully pulled Revali along towards Medoh.

Seriously. How anyone thought that he was suited for, much less attracted to, such a wild little brute was beyond his comprehension.  

Chapter Text

It turned out they didn’t really need to make a camp.

Link stopped briefly at the plane to grab his bag and then lead Revali to a cabin nestled in a quaint field of aspens, just a little bit west to the base of Mount Hylia.

A cabin in the middle of the great plateau.

It was absurd.

He had a hard time believing it was even legal to build a structure on such a historical site but it was tucked away in a special little pocket that would be of no interest to archeologists so it must have flown under the radar.

The building was no marvel of modern architecture, that was for sure.

The logs that made up the shack were uneven and janky. The spaces between them were filled-in with mud. The roof was little more than a tarp draped over the top.

It was falling into disrepair and it was obvious no one had been here for a long, long time. The mud cement had partially washed away with time leaving massive holes in the walls. Debris piled on top of the tarp with enough weight that it sagged in the middle causing the water from the last few rain events to puddle rather than run off. The retained water was dirty and browned by the decomposing leaves plastered to the tarp's surface in gooey layers.

There was no door but he concluded with horror that there likely never had been given the lack of any sort of door hinge.

With complete curiosity, he glanced inside the gaping entryway to see a singular room consisting of a small wooden table with two chairs and two flat wood boards nailed into the walls that he assumed could only be beds what with the old matted furs sitting on top of them. One of the beds was tiny and couldn’t fit anything other than a child. It was closer to the width of a bench than any recognizable standard bed size

The scene told an entire story.

“You really lived here,” Revali said quietly. He stood at the entrance a little longer feeling a growing knot in his chest as he stared at the remains of Link’s childhood. It was the strangest thing that, in theory, he wasn’t learning anything new from what Link had already told him but there was something very different in seeing the physical evidence himself which detailed the harsh reality of what it really meant to live in the wild.

Until you saw it with your own eyes, the image in your mind remained far more fairytale-like but this erased that all in an instant with a much grittier picture.

He absentmindedly took a step closer but was suddenly overcome with the scent of mold and quickly backed away. The smell was rancid.

Holes in the tarp were causing water to drip in and destroy everything with mildew. The inside was probably a complete health hazard by now.

He turned away to see Link ignoring his investigation in favour of performing the task of fixing up the stone firepit that had partially collapsed over time and with successive storms.

As soon as Link was done restacking the stones in a chimney-type configuration, he pulled out a set of matches.

“NO,’ Revali quickly interjected and swiped them away before Link could inflict any more self burns and more importantly, singe his favourite jacket.

“I’ll handle that,” he said and Link almost pouted. He clearly got a certain joy out of lighting things on fire, Revali knew it.

Link signed, ‘need more things’ and pointed to the fish in a way that clarified that he was referencing an ingredients list, likely for a recipe.

“Fine,” Revali said, unimpressed. He was now bordering on famished and was having a hard time understanding why they couldn’t just eat the fish and be done with it. “I’ll take care of cleaning the bass and setting the fire, just be quick.”

Link looked at him in surprise.

“What?” Revali asked defensively. Link looked to the fish and Revali scowled. “Please, I can cut a fish. I come from a long line of Lurelinian fishermen I’ll have you know. My uncles and grandfather are still out on the boats to this day. I’m not nearly as helpless an outdoorsman as you seem to assume.”

Link gave him a slightly impressed nod.

“Well then be off,” he dismissed, and Link nodded again before jogging away. He turned his attention back on the fish and pulled out his worn multitool. This was going to be a little difficult with the wrong knife but he was now bound and determined to show Link the cleanest cuts he’d ever seen. Just to spite him.

---

Link came back just as Revali was finishing his own chores with meat (from where???) and a few spicy peppers.

He collected the fillets of fish Revali prepared and immediately set up his cook pot on top of the fire.

He threw in the fish and meat and the silence was immediately filled with a delectable sizzle. An appealing aroma quickly followed. Link paused at the peppers.

He looked to Revali and pointed at one in silent question.

“Yes, spicy is fine,” Revali said.

The smile Link sent his way was another one of approval and Revali, for the life of him, could not understand how such a simple exchange over something so mundane caused his breath to feel as burdened as it did. Praise from someone like Link was hardly anything special, yet it somehow felt like it was.

Link was quick to add in the peppers and everything fried up remarkably fast. Soon Link was handing him a piece of wood with some of the seafood and meat spicy stir fry sitting on top.

The meal was, predictably at this point, amazing.

Link had a voracious appetite, something Revali already knew, but it meant he grossly overestimated how much he had to make for two people. (Which of course also made Revali wonder if maybe Link wasn’t accustomed to cooking for anyone other than himself, a thought that had him oddly tickled)

Revali usually stuck to a strict and controlled diet- he was always meticulous about counting calories and portions. However, perhaps from how tender and fresh the meat was combined with how hungry he had been and how Link kept serving him each time his ‘plate’ was empty, he ended up eating far more than he probably should have.

He was properly bloated by the end. It didn’t feel great. It had been such a long time since he ‘binged’ anything, his stomach wasn’t used to being so full. 

He leaned back and groaned. “You did this to me on purpose,” he accused

Link had barely finished eating before he was up and busy at work brining the remaining uncooked meat for the rest of his trip. Still, he stopped what he was doing to turn to Revali with a downright coy twinkle in his eye. ‘Think I try to --- you up so you can’t fly away?’ He signed.

“What was that middle word?” Revali asked.

‘f-a-t-t-e-n’ he signed each letter with a grin.

Revali scowled. “Whether it was intentional or not, it worked,” he finally commented. “I feel nauseous, I’m not going anywhere.”

Link seemed to have completely forgotten what he was doing now in favour of fixing Revali with the entirety of his attention.

‘your sign is better than I thought’ Linked commented, purposely forming each word slowly. ‘I was going easy on you. I didn’t know.’

Revali pointedly didn’t look at him when he replied off-handedly. “Again, it was a passing hobby just to see if I could. I wouldn’t read too much into it.”

This was the hundredth time today where Link fixed him with that knowing look. One more time and he swore he’d strangle him.

He would have done it this time but Link was saved by Revali’s own physical discomfort. He was simply too full and lethargic to muster up any motivation to move. He just sat as Link continued back on his task of slicing up the meats and coating them with the salt he shaved off a massive chunk of halite he and his father must have mined from Mount Hylia at some point in the past.

They really foraged everything it seemed. 

The lengthy process meant of course that Link’s hands were too busy for the most part to be able to talk in any meaningful way.

Well that hardly bothered Revali who was a master at long one-sided rambles. There was a reason it took him four months to even realize Link couldn’t talk.

He gossiped about Rito, relaying info he had acquired from Saki and Amali on their morning jogs- entirely unaware of what a stereotypical housewife he sounded like as he interspersed his own personal opinions. Link just chuckled along at the proper points and continued on his work, a faint smile ghosting his lips.

After a while, Revali was finally growing impatient. There was simply so much meat that this was taking forever. He knew Link was a glutton but there was no way he had needed this much.

“Was the boar really necessary?” He asked. “That bass was more than enough to feed a whole family on its own. This all was a little… indulgent for two people, don’t you think?” Revali commented.

Link turned around with an almost sheepish expression. ‘special dinner.’ He paused trying to find the right set of words that Revali might have any hope of understanding. His hands were still too messy from handling the meat to touch his phone or paper. ‘Good to be i-n-d-u-l-g-e-n-t sometimes’

“Hmm, treating me were you?” Revali said and then felt properly scandalized by how flirtatious his own tone was. It was Link’s fault, he had been coquettish all day and it was finally starting to rub off on him. Of course, the fact that Link now seemed to be the bashful one was awakening something predatory in the pilot, his hawk-like gaze narrowed on him.

He was well-aware the effect his eyes had on people. They were such a light (almost radiant) shade of green that his pupils appeared narrower than those of the average hylian who had the more typical brown or dark blue irises which better blended in with the black.

He used them to his advantage whenever he wanted to see someone squirm.

He had expected Link to only grow more agitated but he forgot that this was the one goddessdamn hylian who would sooner take on any sort of predator before he ever considered running away like prey.

So Link instead relaxed entirely and gave him a little wink. ‘I am a good h-o-s-t’.

Like he said, openly coquettish.

Revali wondered briefly what was bringing it on. Was it just that he was in a good mood? Link had always been touchy and a little overly friendly but he was amped up to another level now. Was it the opposite? Was there still something wrong and he was trying a little too hard to play it off?

Link sealed the jar he had sterilized above the fire earlier once he had the last of the meat inside and dunked his hands in a bucket of water to clean off the gore and grime.

When he turned to Revali still wiping his hands on his pants, some of the playfulness gave way to something a little more contemplative. His smile was almost reluctantly earnest when he signed. ‘but also…I…’

He seemed to change his mind on saying anything and simply shook his head.

No, not this time. “Also you what?” Revali asked, surprisingly unable to let the previous topic drop. There had been the faintest trace of that haunted expression Link had worn earlier and it wasn’t hard to realize he had been on the verge of finally giving an explanation to exactly what had been weighing him down.

Link tensed his hands but decided to pull out his phone instead.

Revali sighed and pulled out his own phone. “Use mine, your screen is wholey too unreadable,” he said, unlocking it before passing it over. Link tentatively took it and sat next to Revali.

‘I haven’t been here in a very long time. That in itself is its own special occasion,’ he typed into the notes app.

“Had an unpleasant departure I take it?” Revali asked. “Or at least that’s the sense I’ve been getting.”

Link laughed silently and touched his throat before typing, ‘yeah you could definitely say it wasn’t the best send-off.’

Revali only glanced down long enough to read the message before his thoughtful attention returned to the part of Link’s throat he had absentmindedly stroked, feeling there was more to that gesture than simply scratching an itch.

A hand was suddenly on his chin and his face was brought up to meet Link’s eyes which were sparkling with mischief.

“What have I said about touching in the past?” Revali muttered, pulling away while willfully ignoring that he had touched Link the exact same way earlier.

‘That it’s okay as long as it’s not too hot out,’ Link replied immediately.

“You…” Revali sighed. “You really only ever hear what you want to.”

Link grinned.

“Case and point,” Revali said. “I’m honestly getting tired of pointing out I never mean my comments as compliments even though you stubbornly always continue to take them as such.”

‘I was just trying to get your attention, I’d written a message but you were too lost in thought to read it,’ Link typed.

Before Revali could retort, Link had scrolled up to a line of text Revali hadn’t read.

‘You really want to know my story don’t you?’

How… how dare he. On one hand yes. He was now ENTIRELY CURIOUS but on the other hand, he asked in the one way that Revali had no way of answering honestly without bursting in embarrassment.

He chose his sanity over his curiosity. “Hmph, I personally don’t care.”

Link just shrugged and set the phone down as if to indicate the conversation was dropped.

“But,” Revali quickly added, “I just thought you looked like you were dying to get something off of your chest and being the infinitely kind and generous person I am, I am willing to be a soundboard- er, so to speak- if you need it.”

Link laughed a little again in a way that Revali was certain was at his own expense and picked back up the phone. Then he paused, simply staring at the screen in befuddlement. Revali slid in closer to see what he was looking at.

Oh. It was just his lock screen. Link had seemed almost surprised, but he could hardly see what the fuss was about.

“It locked? Here I’ll unlock it again,” Revali offered and held out a hand expecting Link to immediately pass it over but instead Link lingered, staring at the picture of him and Mipha he had taken from that Christmas.

The more Link looked, the more Revali began to feel properly embarrassed. He’s said time and time again that he’s not the sentimental type, but it was a good picture. He rarely got a photo of him grinning that he actually liked and he had made it his screen background on impulse- but the longer Link looked at it, the longer Revali felt self-conscious of that stupid unguarded smile and the way his arm was slung over her shoulder in an unusual act of PDA. He was normally more private with his affections but he had been high on the energy of the city, having gotten too used to the much slower pace of life in Rito and behaved a little uncharacteristically.

“Staring at it won’t unlock it,” Revali commented as calmly as he could. “Here pass it over, I’ll unlock it for you,” he urged again.

Link just shook his head and signed instead, the gestures droopy and lacking their usual energy, ‘no, it’s fine. It’s not important.’

Revali wanted to throw his head back and groan. He finally almost had him.

Link moved to stand and Revali panicked. “Oh no you don’t!” He said through gritted teeth and looped his arms around Link’s torso to pull him back in. Link fell hard back between the pilot’s legs.

If Revali had been paying any attention to Link himself he’d have noticed the shocked and flustered expression but he was too busy grappling him and fixing his attention on his phone.

“You think I’m letting you take a single step with my phone after seeing how you manage to so thoroughly destroy your own all of the time? I’m sorry it’s not happen-“ He had managed to pry the device from Link’s grasp in this time and only then did he look up at the researcher and notice his berry-red face and wild-eyed expression.

“What?” He asked dumbly.

He took stock of their positions.

He still had one arm tightly wrapped around his waist, holding Link’s back firmly against his own chest.

It was a ridiculously intimate image of his own creation.

He let go expecting Link to shuffle off in a hurry but instead, he just sat up a little so he was off of Revali but still seated in front of him. Once Link was facing forward, Revali could no longer see his face, just his shoulders which seemed just a little more slumped than usual. He was like a slightly wilting plant from behind.

He was fine with this- not facing Link that was. It gave him time to control his racing veins. When he finally calmed he unlocked his phone and handed it back to Link as if nothing had just happened.

“Listen, I’m tired of you constantly twiddling your thumbs as if you’re on the verge of saying something. I’ve been remarkably patient but it’s getting annoying. Just say what you’re thinking.”

He was referring of course to whatever Link was trying to say about his experience on the Great Plateau so he was caught a little off-guard when all Link typed was ‘she’s pretty’.

“Who?” Revali asked dumbly.

‘the girl’ Link replied. ‘In your picture.’

Something twisted in Revali’s stomach and it shockingly wasn’t heartburn or indigestion from that disgusting quantity of meat. “Mipha?” He asked. “I suppose… it’s honestly hard to see her that way at this point. I’m not introducing her to you if that’s what you’re thinking. You are FAR too wild for her.” It wasn’t exactly true, Mipha was shockingly strong for how delicately she spoke. If anyone could domesticate Link it would be her, but the idea left him bitter. As did the idea of Link possibly being attracted to her for that matter.

‘Not your girlfriend?’ Link asked.

Revali almost choked. “Absolutely not.”

‘Sister?’ He tried.

“Might as well be,” Revali said with a shrug Link wouldn’t see with their positions. “We met when we were 12, she was a sea cadet and I was an air cadet but we had a joint camp in Akkala for that age group. Neither of us exactly fit in with the riffraff so we migrated towards each other and have been close since.”

However, he paused in thought, how was it they hadn’t ever gotten together? It would have made more sense than not. They got along after all and that was a rare thing for Revali. “I suppose she’s just not my type,” he said more to himself than to Link. It was true. He was just a little bit of a bully sometimes and while he did his best to be better for Mipha, he preferred someone he could openly tease without that heavy guilt when it came to his romantic partners. (Although with that line of thinking he wondered if he wasn’t just a little warped) He needed either someone who would retort back... or an utter moron who frankly deserved anything he dished out. He didn't glance at Link at that thought. He didn't.

He did however turn his attention back to Link for other reasons, having decided this wasn’t the time for serious self-reflection. Not when it meant dropping another important topic. “Now would you like to stop being so infuriating and just get to the point?”

Link, ever the agent of chaos did the one thing he hadn’t expected and fell back into Revali’s chest.

He was about ready to scream his protests but that was before he read over Link’s shoulder ‘I got taken away from here after an accident.’

Link leaning on him became old news- it wasn’t a huge deal anyway. Link was more animal than human in his eyes at this point, this was no different than a cat sitting on your lap… Revali told himself as an excuse as to why he didn’t really feel like shoving the blond away. Plus reading the screen in this position was much easier.

“Oh?” He asked.

‘I was climbing in the rain and slipped on the wet rocks. I had to lay at the bottom of the cliff for hours before my dad found me. I was lucky it was one of the times he was around.’

Revali had no real reason to speak through any of this exposition and Link’s fingers kept typing away anyway. There was hardly a pause where it was appropriate to interject.

‘Even after he found me I was of course left on my own again since he had to go off to the abbey to call for help. I really thought I was going to die there… then he guided the rescue helicopter over and it was just this rush of activity but I wasn’t really fully conscious at that point. Apparently, I was ventilated poorly and that was when my larynx got torn.’

What do you even say to any of that? Revali decided to just take a page from Link’s book for once and rest his chin onto the blond’s shoulder comfortingly.

Link paused and then leaned a little into the touch, his still damp lake-scented hair brushing against Revali’s cheek.

Ordinarily, he’d be revolted. It was really a wonder that he wasn’t. Still, he was only doing that this once, and only because any words of condolences felt far more cringy.

‘It was the last time I saw my dad before he died, they wouldn’t let me come back.’

“Of course not,” Revali scoffed. “I can’t imagine why you’d want to! It was downright child abuse, your accident was inevitable and you are lucky it turned out as it did.”

Link didn’t seem to agree so Revali tucked Link’s bangs behind his ear (to get them out of his own face, lay off!) and murmured. “Very few kids would have survived a life like this. It’s a parent’s duty to ensure your safety at that age, not your own.”

Link typed slowly in a way that if he could talk, Revali imagined would sound soft, ‘I liked it here’

“Yet when I dropped you here you looked like you wanted to be anywhere else,” Revali commented.

‘I was left here alone a lot’ Link typed. ‘I was okay with it because I always knew he was coming back, it’s just different being here knowing he never will… you know?’

Well, he understood that feeling. He had the same feeling about his own home when his mother had passed. He wasn’t sure Link’s own father deserved such unconditional love given the clear negligence he showed in parenting but then again, for however long, his dad was probably the only other person he had. He wouldn’t even have known anything was wrong and probably still didn't believe it.

“Yes...” Revali answered. “I know.”

‘Revali,' Link typed, 'thanks.'

“For what?” Revali asked indifferently.

‘sticking around.’

“Hmph, I wanted to see the Great Plateau. There’s all there was to it.”

Link nuzzled in further towards Revali and again for some impossible to decipher reason, he let him. This was just a Linkism, it only meant something if he let it… right? The warmth and pressure felt oddly good with his aching stomach. He was basically just using Link as a hot water bottle. It was getting colder out too as the sun was setting, he only had his short sleeve denim shirt to keep him warm given Link was in his coat. He basically owed him this warmth.

Yes.

Wait.

Revali turned to stare at the setting sun accusingly. It was that late already?

He had thought his tiredness was coming mostly from over-eating but it turned out he had spent much longer than he thought running around outside.

There was a special sort of fatigue one gets from being out in the sun all day and it was hitting him hard.

“Seems like I’m camping,” Revali muttered bitterly. As great as he was, it wouldn’t be safe to fly home like this.

Link perked happily.

‘There’s only one adult bed but you can take it if you-‘ He wasn’t even finished typing before Revali interrupted him.

“I’m not sleeping in that respiratory death trap and neither are you.”

‘Under the stars then?’ Link asked.

He hated him for how oddly romantic he worded that. He bet Link was the reason for all the rumours about their relationship. (Not considering how the sheer volume of times he complained and talked about Link to anyone who listened might have had any impact)

“It’s not like there’s any alternative,” Revali huffed.

Link went to type something but once again found himself locked out of Revali’s phone.

“For the love of Hylia,” he declared, “Here’s the password.” He swiped his hand across the screen in a few pointed motions and whatever Link had originally been planning to type was forgotten with this new privilege.

‘You really sure you should be giving me your password?’ Link asked.

“What could you possibly do with my phone?” Revali asked. “It’s not like there’s service.”

‘Snoop,’ Link typed immediately.

“See what I care,” Revali shrugged. “It’s not like I have anything incriminating. Unlike a certain cassinova I’m not flirting it up on all the dating apps.”

Link froze. ‘You knew huh?’

“I knew,” Revali commented. “Just didn’t care.”

Link shook a little in a way that was probably laughter. ‘I’ve uninstalled it now.’

“Didn’t pan out?” Revali asked.

‘I just got tired constantly having to meet with strangers when I’d rather just’ Link paused and Revali erroneously assumed the way Link pressed just a little harder into him was entirely incidental. ‘Strengthen my existing relationships.’

“That’s fair,” Revali responded as if he didn’t care at all.

‘I’m snooping,’ Link then said and closed the note writing app.

“Be my guest I guess,” Revali said. “I really have nothing to hide.”

It turns out, he did.

Chapter Text

The first thing Link did was make a quick swipe through his apps. It was going to be a laughably fruitless endeavour if he was hoping to find anything interesting.

Meanwhile, his weight was starting to get a little bothersome. Revali’s back was beginning to get sore holding himself up while Link continued to slouch into him.

…Come to think of it (and the thought was coming on startlingly late) This was ridiculous in the first place! There was absolutely no comprehensive reason for all of this nonsense right here to continue going on. He was coming a bit more out of his food coma with time and back into his senses. Perhaps as well, Link had just been slowly training him over the last year to accept almost anything, no questions asked. Including this.

But seriously.

Why the hell was he allowing the cuddling?

This was outlandish.

He eyed the log bench sitting just a little further behind him and scootched back both to get more comfortable leaning against it and to create some distance from the blond.

That second part didn’t happen, Link just shuffled back with him without a second thought and continued to lay back into him with all of the dead weight and mouldability of a sack of flour.

“Really?” He snapped with annoyance.

He tried to push a little at Link’s shoulders to give him the hint to back off but that other man was stubbornly jello-limbed.

He was being quite cat-like in that regard.

“Don’t you think that’s probably enough of this?” Revali asked dryly. He gestured, unamused, to their positions but knew Link wasn’t facing the right way to see. He had to know what he meant though. There was NO WAY he didn’t. Such an insufferable little thing he was.

He surely had to have some modicum of common sense. He had lived among civilized people in the city long enough that he was even able to get into Hyrule’s top University after all. Revali really had been making too many excuses for his behaviour.

‘Not really,’ Link sighed back over his shoulder, not bothering to interrupt his investigation by flipping back to the memos. 

Revali sighed tiredly. “Is being back home making you lose that last tiny shred of social decency you had?”

Link stopped what he was doing to glance back over his shoulder and beam.

This man… was absolutely impossible.

As expected, Link hadn’t found anything as Revali had never really installed anything beyond what came with the phone. Well, there were a few satellite weather applications maybe. A compass as well. All things that were useful for his job rather than for pleasure.

He could feel the way Link huffed with disappointment through his back and he suddenly couldn’t help but gloat by leaning inwards to murmur in his ear, “What? Are you bored and defeated already?”

Link shivered slightly at the feeling of warm breath hitting his cheek, but then shook his head, determined to press on.

He opened Revali’s photo gallery and was affronted with dozens of pictures of the new patio he had just finished building with Teba and Harth at the flight range.

The guys had been dropping the hint that Revali should think about making a lounge-y spot over there for a while now and as soon as the ground had begun to thaw, he finally gave in and agreed. Given the Flight Range was basically now a communal spot on his property they had all chipped in and helped construct it together. The final product was actually something quite nice. It was a bit like a semi-enclosed gazebo with lots of outdoor mats to sit on centred around a cozy firepit in the middle. It certainly would make practicing out there the next winter far more bearable with a place to warm up.

He was considering putting up a few hammocks for the summer too- if there was one thing Revali could appreciate it was a good hammock. He spent many days during those visits with his grandfather in Lurelin curled up and comfortably cocooned with a book between the palm trees.

The pictures in the phone however must have been quite dull, they were less of the finished product and more of various cuts of wood, photos from the laying of the foundation and scrawled out measurements he had then snapped a picture of to have handy for later.

Link had been speeding up flipping through impatiently.

“Like I said,” Revali said smugly, “You’re not going to find anyth-“ he choked on his words as Link scrolled past something and immediately double-took, returning to stare at the picture for an embarrassingly long pause.

It was one of the pics he had taken for his physical training and it was, quite unfortunately, a shirtless mirror selfie.

Out of context, it looked incredibly douchy.

Link continued to boldly stare for far too long. When he started to zoom in with his fingers, Revali finally came back to reality and snapped with embarrassment. “Really?” He asked. “You don’t have any sense of shame do you?” He went to make a swipe for the phone but Link expertly moved the device out of his reach and continued to look.

“What exactly are you doing?” Revali growled and Link moved back to the memo app, quite regretfully on his end.

‘I’m being fair.’

“Fair?” Revali parroted in confusion.

‘Quid pro quo for all the “staring” you were doing earlier.’

Revali’s face had never felt so hot in his entire life. “I wasn’t- I didn’t! I told you I-“

He began to push just a little harder on Link’s shoulders, suddenly quite anxious to get him off. His warmth was no longer appreciated. Especially not with this overwhelming heat of embarrassment.

Link ruefully sat up and turned a little to face Revali.

“I was certainly NOT,” he said as he finally managed out his first intelligible sentence. It had been a long time since he felt so utterly flustered, he hoped his darker complexion hid it. There were a few things he needed to set straight. “Just so you know,” He said and pointed at the picture accusingly. “THAT is not a vanity thing. I wasn’t just…” he mumbled this next bit, “checking myself out or anything.”

Link switched to memos. ‘It’s okay if you were though.’

“I WASN’T!” Revali almost screeched. He was feeling even more hot under the collar now. Oh Goddess. “I am on a new training regime; I just need to take pictures to document my progress! See what works for me! You can’t just eyeball it and notice gradual changes like that!”

Link paused and began doing something on the phone.

He almost regretted pushing Link off of him because now he couldn’t see. When Link tilted the phone a little to block the light, it was obvious he was back to looking at the photo.

“REALLY?” Revali asked in exasperation.

He quickly signed, ‘it clearly worked’

Ahhhhhhhhhhh he just wanted to die. He just wanted to dig a hole out here and bury himself. Link was sometimes mortifyingly straightforward with his words. “That’s… the 'before' picture… like I said I just started.”

Link snapped his attention up to look at him incredulously.

“What?” He asked a little nervously.

Link typed something and Revali was left awkwardly waiting.

‘You’re perfect though’

Revali spluttered a combo of confused garble. “I- you- but- I-“

His body was buzzing half with embarrassment, half with… something else.

He looked away and purposefully scowled. “Thank you but no thank you- I refuse to fall into such complacency, there’s always room to strive to become better and that is what separates the good from the grea-“

Link had been fiddling with his phone for the entirety of Revali’s little rant and it was making him apprehensive.

“What exactly are you doing?”

He crawled over just in time to read the system message ‘Service unavailable, image will send when mobile service returns’

“Did you just- Did you just send that to yourself?“ Revali spluttered. “Go over and delete that immediately!”

Link ruefully went to Revali’s messages where he found himself in ‘most recent’ under the designation ‘Feral Arsonist’. He did pause a moment however to marvel at the ‘Queens of Rito’ chat directly below, which was entirely too eye catching to miss with the obscene wealth of emojis.

“It’s just Saki and Amali,” Revali scoffed. “I didn’t name the group.”

Link chuckled a little and clicked on his own chat log. Then they both froze.

In the unsent message window was a simple ‘how are things going?’

It was something Revali had typed up sometime shortly before Link had arrived in Rito to request a flight to the desert but he had stopped himself from sending.

This might just have been the single most cringe-worthy day of his life.

He was pointedly looking away with his face buried in his palm but he could FEEL Link staring holes into him.

There was a tap on his shoulder and he was forced to look at the memo Link wrote. ‘When did you write that?’

“How am I supposed to remember?” Revali snapped.

‘You know you can send me messages right? You don’t have to wait for me to text you.’

“Of course I know that,” Revali said quickly. “I must have simply written it and then forgotten about it, it was hardly anything so important.”

That was a lie. He had written it in the morning two weeks ago and then spent the rest of the day convincing himself not to hit send. He didn’t want to give Link any ideas.

It just had been that the researcher had failed to send any texts that week and he wondered if he hadn’t finally been wiped from this planet by the natural selection that was frankly, bafflingly overdue.

‘It doesn’t have to be important,’ Link typed, ‘it would make me happy all the same.’

Revali had reached his mental breaking point and quickly stood up. “Delete the picture message, I’m going to go get my stuff from the plane,” he said with startling calmness.

Link moved to get up as well, seemingly with the intent to escort him. “No need, it’s nearby I’m not going to get lost and I want to be alone for a bit,” Revali quickly shot him down.

Link looked a little worried but he sat back down.

“I’ll be back,” Revali said curtly.

He needed the entire walk to Medoh to cool off. His face was on fire. His heart was hammering. He was horrified. If he had remembered about any of that he would have never given Link his phone.

It made him suddenly get apprehensive about what else he had hidden away on there- and come to think of it, he had left Link with his phone.

He quickly grabbed his stuff and all but raced back to the cabin.

Link was still sitting by the log, having not moved at all and was still (unfortunately) glued to Revali’s phone.

He had the strangest smile.

He looked… happy about something.

His eyes were bizarrely soft and he was biting his bottom lip as if he were suppressing a bubbly giggle.

That… couldn’t be good.

Revali quickly marched over and this time succeeded in snatching the device away.

Link got up as well, still staring at Revali in an overly affectionate manner.

‘Bathroom’ Was all he signed and he walked away to find somewhere private to conduct his business.

Revali glanced at the screen.

It was scrolled to the very top of the group chat between Amali and Saki.

He broke into a cold sweat.

Chapter Text

💅 ✨Queens Of Rito 👑 🍷

Saki: Morning Girlies! Made a group chat! Thought this would be easier.

Revali: No.

Amali: Oh yess! Classy, I love it!

Revali: No. Whatever is going on here. I hate it.

Saki: You have been ✨outvoted✨ name stays!

Saki: Morning run tomorrow?

Revali: Sure

Amali: Oh Goddess. Fine 😂

Amali: Everything hurts.

Saki: Yes I am starting to think the war against ageing is a losing battle. I will never have the booty I once had.

Revali: No. You absolutely can. I will email you ten of my favourite glute exercises right now.

Amali: Actually send them to me too, you do keep it tight. Your secrets, hand them over please.

Saki: He really does, Link is a lucky man.

Revali: No.

Revali: I have changed my mind, you are on your own.

Saki: Nooooooooooooo!

Amali: 😭

Revali: May both your bottoms sag forever onwards.

Revali: Flew into the city to pick up some stuff. I got you both those products I recommended.

Saki: !!!!

Revali: Saki, if you ever put something with denatured alcohol on your face again, I will never speak to you. (Same goes to you Amali with your goddessdamned coffee scrubs)

Amali: Revali, I love you.

Revali: Most people do.

Saki: Thank youuuu! <3

Amali: Bachelor tonight?

Saki: of course!

Amali: Whose place?

Revali: Mine. Your litter of children are insane. I am never going there again.

Saki: Great! We can pick up the stuff then.

Amali: Oh my Goddess, I’m so excited you are joining Bachelor night Revali! 😂 This is going to be great!

Saki: Hey Revali, you must be excited!

Revali: Why?

Saki: Isn’t today the day you go pick your man up?

Revali: I am tired of telling you all: He is not my man.

Amali: You have not stopped talking about how upset you are about him being out there since you dropped him off.

Revali: You are fabricating things. I couldn’t care less.

Amali: You could the other night when you were drunk on sangria.

Saki: You are a little excited. I can tell.

Revali: from what????????

Amali: Are you going to wear something nice to meet him?

Revali: I always dress nice. It will not be for him.

Saki: I’m keeping a record of all of the times you’ve insisted you’re not in love with him so I can read them out loud at your wedding.

Revali: Let’s say we ever did get married

Amali: Yes?? I’m listening

Revali: You two will not be invited

Saki: ☹

Revali: Might be late or even not come back at all tonight. Do not freak out and report me missing. I did not crash in the mountains. In fact, please stop assuming I am going to die every time I leave. While I do appreciate the concern, it insults my abilities as a pilot. I’m about to not have signal again. Do not be alarmed if I don’t respond.

Amali: Oh my Goddess he’s rambling to distract us. He’s got to be with Link!

Saki: !!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes Revali!!! Go for it!! Get him!!

Amali: Tame that wild beast!!!

Saki: He’s not replying…

Amali: Revali please just tell us, are you with Link??

Saki: Revali please we have to know!!

Oh lovely. Having scrolled through the messages, that was just about as bad as he remembered.

Actually, it was worse.

He had not realized that they had managed to get some replies in before he and Link had left the abbey.

He looked over at the Temple of Time.

“Are you punishing me?” He asked Hylia. “It feels like you are.”

A hand fell on his shoulder and he jumped and swerved around to face Link. “DON’T SNEAK UP ON ME!”

Link smirked, ‘I’ll try to say something next time’  he had signed that deliberately slow, just to make sure the sarcasm was read as such.

“That’s!” Revali balked, “I hate you.”

Link shrugged, ‘I think maybe you don’t.’

“Your brain is defective then,” He said, crossing his arms in agitation. He was teetering on the edge about whether to address the messages or not. It would be a mistake if Link hadn’t actually read them but he had to have, right? Revali cleared his throat. “Hm.. just so you know… the people of Rito are raging gossips. They make-up stories and just decide they are true.”

Link quirked his head a little sideways.

“Oh please,” Revali scoffed, “you know exactly what I am talking about. Actually, I bet it was you!” He accused, pointing a finger dramatically.

Link just pointed to himself as well, faking surprise.

“Yes, you probably put that puerile idea in their heads what with your… overly gregarious acts of PDA! Anyone would get the wrong idea!”

Link's grin was widening and he sat down on the log with an expression of ‘go on’

“Well, perhaps you haven’t noticed but you are awfully…” He glared at Link and said this next bit with a slight bite of disdain, “touchy.”

Revali began to pace, swinging his hands about as if performing Shakespeare while he laid the facts out bare to Link. “Yes, it’s you who has given them all a plethora of reasons to tease me day in and day out! Perhaps you could keep it in mind for the future that while you get to leave, I am trapped with those rumourmongers who are constantly trying to circumvent the mundanity of their lives with mendacious gossip, including that about the two of us!” He was getting more annoyed as Link only continued to smile, seeming to be uncaring towards his plight. 

“What?!” He finally barked. “Has any of that sunk through your all but impermeable skull?!”

‘You talk good, sky man.’ Link signed with a sappy grin.

“Don’t make that face either!!” Revali screeched.

Link actually looked confused now. ‘face?’

“That one…” Revali muttered, “that makes you look like you’re…”

Link blinked.

“You know…” Revali sighed. His skin was getting hot again so he quickly summed it all up. “Anyway: No touching and no staring at me like… that-“ he gestured loosely at Link’s face, “-around the villagers alright?”

Link grinned.

“What now?” He snapped.

‘So fine if just us?’

Revali just glared at him and after a very long pause, he simply said, “Do… what you need to if it gets it out of your system.”

Link’s jaw dropped.

Revali was a little scandalized at himself as well. He suddenly felt the overwhelming urge to flip the narrative… so what he said wouldn’t be… misconstrued. “What? I can’t control where you look at every hour of the day!” He said exasperatedly. “I have far better things to do, and anyhow,” His tone turned smug, “I have been called statuesque and striking to the eye many times. I am certainly not unaware of my assets. I can’t blame you for looking but for the love of Hylia, be surreptitious about it,” he flicked his braid.

‘You do keep them t-i-g-h-t’  Link agreed. ‘Your A-S-S…E-T-S’  He clarified.

That pause was deliberate.

There was no way it wasn’t.

And he had that self-congratulating grin as well.

Revali took a deep breath. “That ledge over there,” he pointed at one of the many corners of the plateau. “Do me a favour and throw yourself off of it.”

He promptly turned away from Link, focusing instead on setting up his sleeping bag and hoped that was the end to that conversation.

The sky had darkened completely and become alight with stars when they settled down to sleep, Revali in his sleeping bag, Link directly on the ground, as far away as Revali could get him.

“Do you usually just sleep like that?” Revali asked. "On the bare grass?"

He could see Link’s shoulders shrug in the starlight but of course he wouldn’t be able to see sign.

“How do you not get sick?” He asked. “It’s early spring. It gets cold and you’re going to get all wet with dew in the morning…”

Link shrugged.

“I suppose the mountains and desert are dry enough you don’t face that problem…”

Link nodded.

“Hmm…” Revali hummed. “And you used to live in that cabin here…” He said after a pause.

Link nodded again.

Revali turned over onto his other side, hoping that if he wasn’t looking directly at Link, he wouldn’t think about it too hard.

He had heard getting sick from being cold and wet was a rumour… but certainly the few times he had gone to sleep with wet hair he had woken up with a scratchy throat.

Link’s throat… it was already so messed up, he bet it would be really bad for him if he got a cough.

He turned back to face the other man across the little makeshift campsite.

Ug.

Some survival man this idiot was. He was starting to wonder if he just didn’t care at all about his own health.

“Alright,” Revali said, sitting up.

Link propped himself up on an elbow and looked towards him. It was still too dark to see a facial expression from the silhouette. He’d hazard a guess that Link was probably confused though.

Oh no… he was going to regret this. The little gremlin seemed like the 'handsey' sort.

“Do not touch me,” Revali said firmly.

Now Link sat all the way up and clearly tilted his head in befuddlement.

This next part was hard.

He grit his teeth.

At least not being able to see that irksome face helped.

He lifted the blanket part of his bedroll in an open invitation. “You can’t be getting sick out here.”

Link stumbled up and seemed frozen in place.

This was terrible.

He was right, he did regret saying anything.

Slowly Link approached, at the speed of someone walking up to a wild animal.

When he got right up to Revali and the pilot didn’t… do whatever he might have been expecting (change his mind?) Link kneeled down and shuffled in.

It was a large sleeping bag, it wasn’t a ridiculous fit for two people.

Revali scooted as far to the corner as he could, faced away and closed his eyes.

There was a tapping on his shoulder after a bit and he all but growled. “What did you think I meant when I said don’t touch-“

He had turned around as he talked and was then BLINDED by the light of a screen.

“GODDESS,” he cursed, covering his eyes. The light still burned through though, it hurt against his night vision.

The screen wasn’t moving away so he painfully pried his eyes open and the bright blur eventually gave way to ‘thanks’

He let out a strangled noise of annoyance. “You blinded me for that? Yes, I know you're grateful! It could have waited until the morning!”

Link shook his head and now he could see his face with the light of the screen. He was much… closer than he had felt in the dark.

He typed something, ‘no not for this,’  he gestured at the sleeping bag but paused, ‘actually also for this but,’

He was back to typing.

Revali waited. He was typing for a surprising while. He seemed to be deleting quite a bit as he went though, if the gestures were anything to go by.

‘I'm pretty competent so most people just assume I'll always be fine one way or another. I had always thought so too. I don't think anyone has worried about me before. Not until you. I didn't know what it was like to have someone actually care.’

Ah.

Oh.

Hm.

Revali squinted at him, and only half because of the light. “Please, when have I ever worried about you?” He finally managed to ask.

He quickly decided he did not want an answer to that question.

Link had just finished typing something, expression tight, when Revali just shook his head. “Turn off my phone, you’re killing the battery and ruining both our eyesights.”

Without bothering to see what Link wrote, he turned over and returned to trying to sleep.

It was harder now, his thoughts were racing.

Honestly, Link probably wasn't used to someone looking over his shoulder.

Certainly not family.

Probably not at the school either.

Even the people of Rito, who constantly fret over Revali for the slightest things like whether he was lonely or back home after a flight out, had told him not to bother concerning himself over Link's well-being. 'Hardy as a rock' they'd called him back during that first summer.

When Link's back knocked a little into his own, he didn't say anything and he let him stay there, loosely connected.

Chapter Text

It was a weird sensation to wake up outside.

Disorienting.

The air was crisp and little chilly given the season. The smell of wet grass mixed with the campfire scent that stubbornly lingered from the night prior. He couldn’t remember the last time he awoke to direct sunlight on his face. It was all so perplexing when he was only half-awake.

... the arm looped loosely around his waist did not help matters. He scowled but that was just about the maximum energy he was willing to expel while still so groggy.

He sighed quietly and rubbed his face with a hand, the slight movement made him all the more aware of the solid (and now very familiar) weight pressing across his back, molded to the curve of his spine.

He closed his eyes tiredly, not able to muster up the usual fight in him just yet. What he had first thought was wind against the back of his neck he was now realizing was too warm, and followed too predictable a rhythm, mirroring the steady rise and fall that he could feel of Link’s chest.

Mother of Hylia.

Somehow they always ended up in this situation didn’t they? It was simply inane.

As small as the blond was, there was a surprising sturdiness to him- Revali wasn’t certain he could push him off even if he wanted to. (Which he did of course!)  

Regardless, he didn’t see why things always had to be his problem.

It was Link’s turn.

Being infinitely kind and understanding, he was going to assume this was an involuntary accident Link had committed in his sleep and he supposed he couldn’t fault him for that. Yes, he was so incredibly generous in fact that, if Link woke up right now and got off of him, he would even pretend to be asleep and spare them both the embarrassment.

Determining his plan to be sound, he shuffled a bit to rouse the sleeping blond.

He thought he could detect a change in the researcher’s breathing pattern, and he held his breath while waiting to see if he had awoken,

There was something surprisingly nerve wracking about it all.

It was weird.

His heart was suddenly beating so fast. He should have just tried to slink out of this on his own. The nerves were catching up to him now.

There was something tense about waiting for Link’s reaction. Perhaps it was due to Link’s unpredictability, or maybe just that suddenly, with a second party to acknowledge their current predicament, it somehow felt more real.

Of course, it was possible he was still asleep, he didn’t appear to be moving. Not at first. Link shuffled after a moment, tightening his arm up around Revali’s lower ribs and the pilot realized he was only more trapped now.

It must not have woken him up – He had thought with a grimace. However immediately after, Link nuzzled his forehead between his shoulders affectionately in a way that fully disproved the theory.

That was Revali’s breaking point.

He rocketed out of the shared sleeping bag with the same urgency as if it had been on fire or full of snakes. (two very real possibilities given his current company)

‘ARE YOU SERIOUS?!” He screeched and swivelled on his heel to turn and face the blond with a heated expression.

Link just looked at him with a sleepy smile. He had originally been propping himself up with one his elbows, but he readjusted to a sitting position to sign, ‘morning.’

Revali just pointed at Link accusingly. “You!”

Link tilted his head, smile still present. ‘Me?’

Revali narrowed his eyes. “You…”

Link grinned and fell back down into the sleeping bag stretching out luxuriously.

“You were awake,” Revali stated.

Link looked at him with a sly smile. ‘And you?’

As Revali continued to glare daggers into him, Link simply signed, ‘Sorry, I t-u-r-n-e-d in sleep.’

“If you were actually sorry,” Revali said, crossing his arms, “You wouldn’t have escalated the situation when you had woken up.”

Link shrugged. ‘thought you were having a bad d-r-e-a-m.’

“And what would make you leap to that assumption?” He asked, unimpressed.

Link suppressed a laugh. ‘Don’t want to embarrass you.’

“Just spit it out,” Revali urged.

Link placed a hand over his own heart and mimed it thudding. Right… he probably would have felt that.

Link had been correct, Revali would have preferred he hadn’t said anything. His face felt so hot when he quickly spat out “Well, I was having a nightmare. A living one where I woke up with a dirty infested sloth hanging off of my back.”

Link just grinned again, ‘Sorry.’

No he wasn’t. It was written all over his face still that he didn’t have an ounce of remorse.

As Revali rolled his eyes, Link got up as well. ‘Want breakfast?’ He signed.

Revali sighed. “You tire me.”

Link bit his lip as if he wanted to laugh and continued to wait for a response.

“…Yeah,” he admitted ruefully.

One meal of meat and mushrooms later, the pair stood outside Medoh.

There was nothing really to pack, Revali had left his sleeping bag behind with explicit instructions to not get it ruined, it was from an expensive hiking shop after all; he’d spent a pretty penny. He was someone who took care of his things so it always made sense to splurge for the durability of more expensive items. He was a little uncertain if it was LINK-durable though.

He had gotten a promise however that Link would pay to replace it if anything happened, so he wasn’t too concerned.

“Well,” Revali said after a long awkward silence, stoking Medoh’s wing absentmindedly, “This was… an interesting detour.”

Link nodded.

The pilot glanced at him from the corner of his eye. He seemed okay… he was okay now right? That dark shadow that hung over him the day prior at least looked as if it had lifted. His usual field work pep had seemed to have returned too.

Still, he could be suppressing something, it really was best to check. One couldn’t leave someone out stranded on their own if they weren’t in the proper mental condition for it.

“You are… alright now I take it?” He asked as drolly as he could, as if he didn’t really care about whatever response he got but Link’s smile and tinted cheeks were hard to ignore, not after the conversation from last night. “Oh come off it,” he quickly snapped. “This isn’t me ‘caring’ I’m just doing my job!”

That was a bit too hasty a response. It sounded so ingenuine that even he was cringing. “Well,” he conceded. “Perhaps… I care just a little bit.”

He couldn’t bring himself to look at Link’s reaction. Once it was out it didn’t sound like how he had planned. “I would have to be a sociopath if I didn’t at this point, is all I meant.”

Link pulled his attention back by stepping forward and giving a gentle tug to his wrist. Revali looked at him.

His eyes shone fondly. ‘I’m okay now.’

“Good…” Revali managed out uncomfortably.

‘Thanks,’ Link signed.

“You’ve thanked me quite enough already it’s getting terribly awkward I’ll have you know.”

Link eyed him mischievously. ‘no. I mean, thanks. This was the best first --- I have been on.’

“first what?” Revali asked, head still spinning from the longest string of words he had to translate yet. It he always had to concentrate a lot given his slim experience with the language.

‘D-A-T-E’ Link signed, deliberately slow.

It took a moment of Revali staring at Link dumbly before he responded with a “Are you daft?” His mind was reeling. A what now? “What about any of this had you thinking this was a date?” He rambled, “Seriously. Give me one example of anything we’ve done that was even remotely date-like or would give you such a ludicrous idea?”

He paused in place as the entire trip played before his eyes.

Good Goddess.

It had totally been a date.

Link looked like he was about to take up Revali’s challenge, but the pilot stopped him, not having the willpower to listen through all the absurd things that they had done.

“Well,” He said flippantly, “use whatever terminology for this little… outing that you see fit, I don’t care either way.”

Link looked at him in shock.

“Personally, I will be referring to this excursion as a camping trip. Nothing less, nothing more, but I can’t control how you might have perceived-“

Link seemed elated and was laughing silently into his fist.

“Goddesses above,” Revali chid feeling just a little flustered. “Weren’t you on the dating apps for a spell? You of all people should know that a first date hardly means anything anymore.”

‘but did you like?’ Link asked with a coy expression.

“If it had been a date,” Revali said slowly, “I suppose one could say it wouldn’t have been the worst one I had ever been on.”

Link’s eyes were alight. It was irritating.

“But that’s hardly saying anything,” Revali backpedalled. “First dates are meant to be awkward and horrible and you regret them after from the sheer waste of time alone.”

Link lifted his hands but dropped them again. If Revali knew anything from their text exchanges Link was always fast with a rebuttal or quick quip but it must not have been something he would understand in sign, or something that Link had determined wasn’t worth fingerspelling every word.

He suddenly felt an itching urge to study more sign when he got back home again.

Even though whatever Link had to say would probably have been irritating and would have driven him half-up a wall. He still wanted to hear it. To know every crazy thing the blond was thinking. As it was, this was… unsatisfying.

He waited to see if Link would try to say something again, find a way to phrase whatever he wanted to say into simpler words, but he didn’t.

“Well, how long a time do you think you need here?” Revali asked.

Link hummed unsurely. ‘Not long I think.’

“Well, just text me from the abbey when you’re ready I suppose.” His phone should be fine as long as he didn’t have it on too often, they had recharged it with Medoh after all. “I’ll be here in… five days otherwise? Just in case something happens to your phone and you can’t contact me, does that sound acceptable?” He asked.

Link nodded and shrugged off the pilot jacket, handing it back.

“Don’t you… need this?” Revali asked.

 ‘I have f-u-r from dinner t-a-n-n-i-n-g’ he signed.

“Goddess, you’re going to look like such a barbarian by the time I get back,” Revali commented and gave the coat a good look over. He had been holding it an arm’s length away from himself with the slightest hint of disgust since he had been handed it back. “Checking for ticks and bugs,” he explained. “Can never be too careful.”

When he was done his assessment, he eyed Link critically as well. “Might as well give me a twirl as well if you want.”

Link laughed a little and gave him a front and back pose before looking at Revali and asking ‘Clean?’

“Hardly,” Revali scoffed. “I wouldn’t use that term to describe you ever… but you are tick-free if that was what you were wondering. That back is revolting though, the-” he shivered. “Peeling stage has begun. I left you the Aloe but you are on your own with application. Apply it on the grass and roll in it if you have to, it’s not like you have any dignity left to lose anyway.”

Link gave him a thumbs up.

This departure was always awkward. ‘Well you best be off, you have things to do here right? I need some space to take off as well too,” he gave a small shooing motion.

Link nodded and quirked a lopsided smile, ‘bye.’

He had taken two steps away when Revali quietly responded with “Be safe.”

As he flew down to the hangar, he could see Tulin out back, practicing his archery. It could be assumed Teba was probably there too, under the roofed patio.

He parked in the barn and started to head out but was surprised to find Saki grinning at him from the doors. He didn’t like how smug she looked as she leaned against the entrance.

“What?” He asked, already just a hint defensive.

“Oh Revali, so sorry to have caught you on the old walk of shame- I know that’s always awkward.”

He jolted in indignation.

“Well,” She said thoughtfully. “I truly do think that is an outdated term, what I meant to say was, good for you!”

“Whatever you think happened, it didn’t,” He said.

She hummed, “I don’t know about that, you went out to meet Link and never came back, what else would we think?”

“There are plenty of other things to think.”

“So you weren’t with Link then?” Saki asked, eyeing him down with a strange smirk.

“I’m just saying I don’t understand why that was the first conclusion that you leapt to. Perhaps I stopped in the city after, maybe I had other errands, you don’t know my life,” He said, waving a hand dismissively.

Saki finally burst out laughing.

“What?” He asked.

“Oh Revali you would have almost been believable. I mean, if it weren’t for the ping we got when you flew into town and got signal!” She managed out between giggles.

Revali stared at her as if she had grown a second head. “What’s that supposed to mean? I sent you something?” He pulled out his phone and Saki jumped on the spot with an almost sadistic excitement.

In the chat group with Amali and Saki, right under their inquisition they had spammed of whether he was with Link or not, there was a simple ‘He was 😊’

Revali’s grip tightened and then he realized he wasn’t all the way scrolled down. So he did just that and froze entirely.

Link had taken a grinning selfie but the whole thing looked so… suggestive.

He was still wearing Revali’s coat although it was zipped down all the way to reveal his bare chest underneath. His hair was mussed and Revali could be seen in the background quietly redoing his own braid, shirt dishevelled from how he had slept in it.

What followed was a series of Revali’s most impressive vocabulary of swears yet.

He angrily began texting the curses to Link, knowing they’d reach him eventually through the spotty signal of the Great Plateau.

When he had vented out enough of his outrage he turned to Saki with fire in his eyes, “Don’t let THAT paint any pictures for you! I just stayed the night because it was late! Nothing happened!”

“Sure Revali,” Saki said.

“NOTHING HAPPENED,” he insisted.

Saki smiled awkwardly, “You know, if you’re going to always deny things like this, I’m going to start feeling a little bad for poor Link. It’s not nice to hurt your partner like this.”

“DON’T,” Revali screeched. “He doesn’t deserve it and he’s CERTAINLY not my partner!”

“Sure, sure,” Saki said again entirely too condescendingly and then changed the subject before he could deny the near-damning evidence any further. “Well I was just on my way over to my boys,” she said, lifting the small cooler in her hands. “I thought they might like some snacks and refreshments. Want to come with me?”

Revali shook his head. “All I want right now is a long shower, I smell like burnt wood.”

“Oh nonsense,” Saki chid and grabbed his arm, “just a quick hello, Amali and I have taken up far too much of your time recently, I’m sure Teba is feeling neglected- he’d never admit it but he and Harth are quite fond of you, it’s been a long time since they’ve made a new friend.”

Whether he was willing or not, he was dragged along to the Flight Range.

Teba was sitting cross-legged on his favourite mat under the shelter, as Revali had expected. “Well look who it is,” Teba said stoically, quirking a single eyebrow as they approached.

“Yes, yes, it is me,” Revali said, mortified at how many people he was running into his ‘walk-of-shame’ as Saki had so aptly put.

“Had a fun night?” Teba asked and even though his voice was flat, the implication was there.

“Oh not you too!” Revali exclaimed. “Listen, nothing happ-“

Saki showed Teba her phone and he let out a quiet, “Oh.” (The Teba-equivalent to an expression of surprise or other similar emotion)

“No,” Revali said firmly. “No ‘oh’, it’s not what it looks like!”

Teba shook his head. “I’m going to start feeling sorry for Link if you keep that up.”

The couple really was somewhat in sync after all. It was his first time witnessing it, and a darn shame it had to be at his own expense.

Teba looked out to the field to watch Tulin as he notched another arrow. “You know,” Teba said, “I thought a lot of your personality was from being pent up but you’re still kind of high strung today.”

“That’s because nothing happened,” Revali reasserted, then quickly added, “AND I AM NOT PENT UP!”

“Sure,” Teba said.  

“Not anymore,” Saki smirked. “I’m sure Link took good care of you.”

“You two,” Revali said, pinching his nose, “Are the exact same kind of frustrating.”

“Well, we’ve been together a long time,” Saki said, tucking a strand of hair behind Teba’s ear. He almost imperceptibly tilted his head into the touch.  

She gave Revali a more critical once-over. “Although I must say you don’t have that day-after glow at all. You look more like you spent the night in a barn with the animals.”

“Haggard,” Teba agreed.

“Might as well have,” Revali said. “Link very much is an animal.”

Teba and Saki were looking at him funny.

“I didn’t mean it like that! Clean your dirty minds out with soap!” He shook his head. “I just meant- and I told him this this morning too, He’s like having a 5 foot sloth on top of you- it’s stuffy, gross and no-doubt transferring all of it’s fleas and diseases by the second, though I bet you sloths still somehow bath more. How are you ever supposed to get a good night’s rest with that?”

Saki and Teba only stared at him more.

Well admittedly, maybe that hadn’t been the right thing to say either. Yes, actually, that sounded quite bad for a lot of reasons.

Maybe he’d just go out in front of the target over there and let Tulin shoot him.

It sounded like a plan.

“Don’t take that the wrong way either,” he muttered.

Saki and Teba squinted at him in confusion. She even looked like she was about to say something for a moment but was interrupted by a loud snapping sound out in the field. Tulin cried out in surprise.

She whirled around “What was that?!”

“Looks like his bowstring snapped,” Teba commented.

“Of course it did with that atrocious form,” Revali said.

Saki was already running towards her baby to see if he had been hurt.

Teba turned to Revali. “You and Saki seem to be getting along well these days.”

“Afraid you’ve got some competition?” Revali joked.

Teba almost laughed. “Not in the slightest. Besides…”

“Besides?” Revali prompted.

“Well… you know…” Teba said, scratching the back of his head uncomfortably.

“I surely don’t,” Revali said.

“I mean… let’s say even if nothing had happened this time like you said, we all see how you look at Link, aren’t you batting for the other team?”

“I am not exactly a ‘team’ player,” Revali said, now equally uncomfortable. “I’m not so… hung up on such things.”

Teba was looking at him in surprise and Revali honestly felt a little offended. “What? Are you about to babble some small town/small-minded nonsense about how that isn’t a thing-“

“No,” Teba said without missing a beat. “Just… you usually deny the Link thing.”

Dammit. He didn’t, did he?

‘Well, you just mentioned his looks this time,” Revali shrugged spinning excuses in his head at double-time. “I’m not blind, I can admit he is at least objectively decent to look at.”

“Huh,” Teba said.

“What? Are you going to pretend he isn’t?” Revali asked.

“So you get along well enough and you find him attractive… so what’s holding you back?”

“Believe me, he has at least ten cons to every pro- there’s a reason I usually stick with female partners- they’re far cleaner and less atrociously mannered,” Revali said with an off-handed wave. “Plus anyway… ignoring all else, you seem to be forgetting he lives in Central Hyrule, that’s certainly not a scoffable distance.”

Teba just shrugged, “It could work if you wanted it to. Amali seems happy.”

“Well we can’t all be Amali now can we?” Revali said dryly.

“I guess not,” Teba agreed. “I couldn’t do it.”

“Certainly not,” Revali said. “I hear before Saki you used to use two-in-one shampoo and conditioner and never wash your face. Like I said, other men are atrocious, so much maintenance is required to keep them barely functional human beings. I can’t even imagine loving someone enough to be willing to put in that much work.”

Teba didn’t disagree. He opened the cooler and pulled out a beer, cracking it open and taking a sip. “Did you have a good date though?”

“Camping trip,” Revali corrected. “It was a camping trip.”

“That somehow sounds worse,” Teba said. “You know what that’s usually code for in tv right?”

“Oh?” Revali said. “Like when you and Harth always leave on your two-person hunting trips?”

Saki was returning with Tulin in tow, his practice was clearly over until Harth could fix his bow. “Well here’s Saki now! Saki darling, according to your husband there’s some sort of code for when two men go out in the woods together! You must be at your wits’ end with all the trips he takes with his good buddy. Oh! Actually, I wonder if you’ve even felt threatened by how much time I myself spend with him given I apparently give off such a man-hungry energy.”

Saki placed a hand of his shoulder. “Not in the slightest,” she said. “Honey, stick with Link you’re overestimating how many people are willing to put up as much as he is in a partner.”

Teba nodded sagely.

“Mommy what’s he talking about?” Tulin asked.

“Revali went on a camping date with Link but he’s very shy about it so don’t pester him too much.”

“Oh! Link’s really cool though!” Tulin said. “Although I heard a rumour that he doesn’t wear underwear.”

“You shouldn’t listen to the rumours Genli-“ Saki started to say but Revali accidentally cut her off.

“No, he does,” Revali said.

Teba and Saki were looking at him again. “WHICH I ONLY KNOW BECAUSE HE’S FERAL ENOUGH TO RUN AROUND IN THEM. Goddesses! It’s like you want to take everything I say wrong!”

“I heard he wrestled a bear once, and won,” Tulin added.

“That I believe,” Revali said dryly. “I’ve seen him ride a bear once.”

He suddenly had Tulin’s undivided attention. “No way!”

Finally.

Validation on how insane the things Link has done were.

“He hunted a wolf once with a soup laddle too,” Revali said.

Tulin was leaning forward, he was listening so hard.

“He also-“

“Anyway,” Saki said, interrupting the convo. “What I was trying to tell Tulin before you started gloating about your boyfriend was that it’s not good to spread rumours.”

Revali’s phone had been pinging for a while now, he looked down as Saki reprimanded her son.

Texts from the Misa, Bedoli, Laissa and even Nekk all asking if it’s true that he had gotten together with Link and that they had heard it from either Saki, Amali or the both of them.

He stared at the hypocrite wearily.

“Well anyway, it’s a lovely day, we might as well have a picnic before we go home, would you like to join us Revali?” Saki asked.

“No,” Revali said, “Thanks but I will be busy the rest of the day scrubbing all traces of that feral thing off of me.”

That look Teba and Saki sent him was wearing thin. He pointed at both of them. “No. Shut up.”

His phone pinged again and he looked down. It was Link replying to that spam of curses he had send him.

‘<3’

Wait.

This meant he had signal.

He called Link immediately. “DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOU’VE DONE?”

He proceeded to lay it all out for him as he turned to march back to the house. Forgetting his company entirely.

“Wait, Revali!” Saki called.

Revali turned around just in time to catch the wine cooler she had tossed. “Thanks,” he said surprisingly calm in the middle of his rant.

Link texted a ‘?’

“Oh, I was just handed some alcohol. Which I need to drink away my many many regrets. OKAY I HEARD THAT, NOT THE KIND OF REGRETS YOU ARE THINKING OF,” he yelled that second bit over his shoulder to the couple and then remembered what he was doing before. He proceeded to yell at Link some more.

He was out of breath when he was only halfway back to the house. There was yet another ping. He checked:

‘<3’

He cussed again, realizing Link wasn’t going to learn his lesson.

‘I’m glad we got date 1 out of the way given you hate them so much, can’t wait for number 2,’ Link added.

“You are delusional,” Revali said. “You’ll be lucky if I even decide to pick you up. I might just make you climb your way down on your own.”

He hung up.

There was laughter out behind him and he glanced back. Tulin was telling the couple a story, Saki slowly placed her head on her husband’s shoulder.

Disgustingly domestic.

But… certainly not a life without charm. It’s not something he had never wanted for himself.

Link texted him again.

‘<3’

He smirked, but then caught himself and scowled.

Chapter Text

Revali leaned on the counter lethargically as Misa started to ring him up. It was continuing to get warmer out, today was the most pleasant yet of the year and it seemed the whole village was taking advantage of the good weather.

He instinctively moved his face towards the sun streaming in from the front and was, as always, affronted with the General Store’s name, decaled onto the shop window.

His mood was ruined.

The Slippery Falcon. What the hell kind of name was that?

Out of all the things here in the village, the fact that he now shopped almost exclusively at a store called the ‘Slippery Falcon’ was the hardest pill to swallow. During his first few months here, it bothered him incessantly. Nothing could possibly scream ‘this is your life’s rock bottom’ as much as those two words spamming his credit card history.

Well, he had come to terms with it now.

He glared at the shop front.

Ok. He had MOSTLY come to terms with it now.

“That’ll be seventy eight rupees.”

Misa’s voice brought him back to the present and he nodded gruffly before tapping his card on the machine.

He could cross ‘groceries’ off of his to-do list now. The only thing remaining on the paper tacked to his fridge door was ‘murder Link and bury body’

“Say hi to Link for me next time you see him, won’t you?” Misa asked.

Revali’s scowl darkened, and there was the reason he was so unfortunately driven into that metaphorical corner where he was left with no other options than to end Link’s life prematurely. It was that Goddess-damned knowing look in her eye. In EVERYONES eyes.

Literally every single person he ran into these days immediately felt it appropriate to ask him about Link and he wasn’t sure how much longer he could take it before snapping.

It had only been three days since the ‘camping trip’ and gossip was rare to come by in this town where nobody did anything ever. So it clearly wasn’t going to die down anytime soon.

If nothing else, he supposed he could commend this tiny rural town for how accepting they were being about his imaginary relationship with another man. That was something at least.

His phone buzzed and he glanced down.

Link.

‘Hey, so it turns out I’m already done here. Can you come pick me up?’

He didn’t respond right away, instead choosing to drop the phone back into his pocket and pick up his bags.

He was going to make Link wait a bit.

Because he was ticked.

And when he gets ticked, he gets petty.

Actually, because he was petty, he dropped his bags as soon as he was out the door and texted back. ‘I believe I told you last time we spoke that you could climb down and come back yourself.’

Satisfied with his retort, he picked back up his groceries and walked home- In no real rush. He would pick him up eventually, but he’d let him simmer with that uncertainty for a bit.

His phone immediately pinged but he didn’t check it, instead taking the time to leisurely chat with Amali who was tending to her lawn out front of her house. It made a few more sounds while they loitered which he pointedly ignored as well.

He sauntered back to his acreage soon enough (if only because he had things that needed to go into the freezer) and only THEN did he check his phone to read Link’s replies.

’hahaha.’ 

‘Wait so are you coming or no?’

‘Revali?’

‘Uh, please answer.’

‘Something has actually come up and I really need you here.’

‘ASAP’

Revali blinked in confusion. This was… nonstandard for Link and he was suddenly quite concerned. They had known each other for long enough now that he was getting quite good at interpreting ‘tone’ from Link’s texts.

‘I’m coming now,” he typed, any notion of continuing to taunt the stranded researcher immediately flew out the window. ‘Are you hurt?’ He added apprehensively while sprinting out the door.

He checked his phone when he reached Medoh and read Link’s reply; ‘No… just come.’

That somehow didn’t make him feel much better.

The message didn’t necessarily hint that the ‘thing’ that came up was bad per se, and ordinarily, there could be any number of reasons why Link needed transport beyond emergency scenarios. Perhaps he had found samples that were too heavy to carry for instance. 

And yet…

He had half-expected Link to call his bluff like the little troll he was, kick back and claim that he could wait as long as needed and Revali would surely have given in within the next few hours and have come to get him anyway. That or he would just take Revali’s challenge and travel home by foot as impossible as it sounded. (because, let’s face it, literally nothing was impossible for Link)

Instead of either of those responses, Revali was instead presented something he had never seen from Link before: panic.

If one read all of his messages back, it might even have been there right from the start and he just hadn't noticed.

What could cause Link to grow apprehensive? He was breaking out into a cold sweat just thinking about it.

He made it to the Great Plateau as quickly as he could and landed just a little ways from where he now knew the old cabin to be. Then, he waited.

After a few minutes, he began to pace.

When Link finally did arrive, Revali was utterly bewildered. He really had thought that he’d steeled himself for almost anything.

However, the absolute last thing he could have ever expected was the young girl he saw trailing a few steps behind Link.

She was eyeing him cautiously as they approached and he simply stared back, dumbfounded. “Oh good,” She announced as they neared closer, and he was immediately struck by the strange lilt in her accent, one he had never heard before. “There are more people. I was beginning to grow concerned it was just Chain and I.”

Revali, reeling, latched on only to that last bit, “Chain?”

“Oh! You speak! Excellent!” She gestured to Link slightly in response to his question. “That was how he had introduced himself, Chain,” She repeated the name as she linked her fingers together.

“Link,” Revali said slowly. “His name is Link.” He looked at the man in question and glowered, “you seriously didn’t think to correct her?”

Link shrugged and quickly signed, ‘sounded cool.’

Revali sighed tiredly.

The girl hummed thoughtfully and crossed her arms, glancing at Link with an aloof expression. There was something about her… that irked him immensely. She had a bizarrely self-important air for a child. It was that detached look in her eye every time she addressed either one of them that screamed ‘I’m above you.’

“I must say this has been an… interesting day so far,” she said. “Link, had filled me in on... some things but has been frustratingly hard to gather information from otherwise.”

“Yeah,” Revali said, “that does sound like him.”

"Well, I'm definitely thankful for his help regardless. Although I was hesitant to take it given his... current state of dress," she commented.

Come to think of it...

Revali squinted at Link, finally taking in his appearance and removing that special 'that's-just-Link-being-Link' filter his brain had slowly evolved over time for the sake of his sanity. Horrifying. “I really don’t blame you," he said. "Although I’m surprised you didn’t just run, if you ever see anyone else like this out in the wild again, I would highly suggest you turn tail immediately. This is certainly not how sane and civilized present themselves.”

Link now of course proudly wore that boar’s pelt from dinner a few nights ago around his shoulders like a shawl. His pants were somehow even further burnt, one of the legs was just gone, reduced to being singed shorts.

Hylia, How were these fires even starting? He was so well-behaved when Revali was around too, did he just go absolutely feral on his own?

He was about to scold Link thoroughly for the heart attack he probably almost caused this stranger but was interrupted by the girl in question who was now staring at him incredulously, one hand on her hip. “Oh? I find it amusing you brought up civility and presentation on your own when you have still failed to introduce yourself.”

A vein throbbed in his temple.

Oh yes, he didn’t like her.

Revali gave her one of his most piercing glares and she simply held the eye contact, lips curving up as in that infuriatingly impertinent way that suggested she figured herself ‘winning’.

“I’m Revali. A pilot, and your only ticket off of this plateau… brat,” He muttered that last bit under his breath.

She didn’t look impressed. “Charmed. You may call me Riju,” she held out her hand, palm facing down but he didn’t bother taking it. Well why would he? What era did she think this was?

“We’re wasting time here, let’s pack the plane and go,” Revali said ignoring the kid entirely. Link nodded and headed to Medoh to throw his pack in. Revali quickly caught up and gripped his arm before snapping in a hushed tone, “Who is that?”

Link just shrugged nervously.

“Is she some half-sibling your father raised after you left or something?” Revali asked, “A stranded tourist?” He would believe it if her family decided to leave her behind from her attitude alone. He glanced back at her trying to make heads or tails of her. She was dressed… oddly, cloaked in elaborately embroidered silks and thick gold jewelry he was having a hard time believing could be real. She was also showing far too much skin for a child her age but that was nothing new with her generation.

Perhaps she was a cosplayer? The Great Plateau would be a decent place to take photos for whatever social media site kids her age were on these days.

Although it didn’t quite explain why she was all alone. As old as she dressed, she really couldn’t be much more than twelve. Which made sense. There was nothing in this word more fearsome and terrifying than a pre-teen girl.

He made a solid effort to never be around any of Amali’s offspring for that very reason.

Link just shrugged nervously. He knew something… and he wasn’t telling.

Revali was actually starting to grow rather annoyed at him again. “So you’re going to drag me out here, force me to get involved with whatever mess this is and then have the audacity to not even tell me what’s going on here?”

Link looked away and bit his lip in a way that could be interpreted as literally any answer.

“I’m remembering why you are the absolute worst,” he said. “Just as I thought I was started to understand you.”

He could find some semblance of solace in the fact that Link looked properly chastised by this.

“Well did you at least actually find what you were looking for out here or did you just cut your trip short for this kid’s sake?” Revali asked. “That would be quite a waste given all the effort put into this detour.”

Link had already begun half-heartedly nodding at the first part of his question, glancing at Riju awkwardly.

“What? Surely she wasn’t what you were expecting,” Revali said dryly.

Link just shrugged again and quickly signed something. Something Revali was sure he misunderstood.

He almost thought Link had said…

No, never mind, it was too strange a response to even humour, that couldn’t be it, he clearly still had a long way to go with his sign practice.

Revali just sighed. “Well, you’ve done it again. I hope you’re proud. I am sufficiently stunned by your nonsense.” He took the sleeping bag and put it back in its place under the back seats with the emergency supplies.

“Just get in the plane,” he said, not even bothering to look back at Link. “We’ll sort this mess out on the other end.”

Chapter Text

Revali emerged from the hangar, his now two-person circus of costumed clowns following close behind. The thought struck him for a moment that this seemed just ridiculous and random enough that it might actually just be a really, really weird dream.

He subtly pinched himself and when the slight pain registered, he remembered that, no, this was just what his life was since Link had entered it. Not exactly a nightmare, but there was certainly a lot of senseless confusion- which in some ways was just as stressful.

He glanced back to send the blond an accusing look. Link however, just perked up and smiled, happy for any bit of attention. Ug. If he really wanted to punish him, he really ought to start ignoring him more instead.

Or maybe that was a terrible idea. For as absurd as he acted when Revali was watching, he seemed to act out even more when he wasn’t. It was in Hyrule’s best interest that he should keep him entertained less he release the next cataclysm onto the world. Also… it was overlooking the fact that Link was altogether quite impossible to ignore anyway. Even when he wasn’t almost completely naked and wrapped furs like some male lead on a dramatized romance novel cover, he just had this strange quality that caught and held the eye. More and more Revali found himself unwillingly being drawn to Link any time he was in the immediate area, like he was some walking lightning rod for his gaze. (usually because he was doing something so distractingly moronic, mind you)

They passed Harth on the trek across Revali’s grassy acreage, archery bag hitched over his shoulder. The bartender stared at the assembly with just the vaguest expression of bafflement. He opened his mouth but Revali quickly cut him off. “Don’t. Just…don’t ask. Please.”

Harth just nodded slowly but continued to stare as they stalked away towards the house.

Revali did not want to explain himself right now. He didn’t feel like he had a good explanation. The reality was starting to bear down on him and it wasn’t looking good.

They had basically just abducted a child yet there he was just thinking about Link of all things! Admittedly she was also the strangest child he had ever met under the strangest of events ever considered but that didn’t change how blatantly felonious this felt.

Perhaps this was less about him seeing reality so much as a certain paranoia he had always had around minors kicking up.

Revali was from the city where any interaction with a stranger’s kid felt decidedly illegal. He was raised in the days of the stranger danger social epidemic and that sort of panic went both ways. He refused to be mistaken as some sort of deviant or criminal. He gave most children a wide and skeptical berth, treating even the babies that liked to wave to people on the bus as if he expected every one of them to be an undercover cop just waiting to accuse him of looking at them weird.

Yes, while he found pre-teen girls chilling for both their almost sociopathic penchant for cruelty that paired terrifyingly with their accelerated social intelligence over most of their male peers who really only caught up in their- Revali considered Link- late twenties, he actually found all children somewhat frightening.

It took months of knowing both Saki and Teba before he stopped trying to block Tulin’s unsolicited hugs and even now he would awkwardly turn his body to subvert them into restrained side embraces.

Goddesses above. Could they just turn around and take her back where they found her or would her mother now reject her since she carried their scent? He had not signed up for this at all. Come to think of it, WHY hadn’t they just dropped her off at a town with a police station and been done with it? Taking her home was NOT the rational thing to do no matter how you thought about it.

He sent Link another accusing look for how he had so obviously frayed at the pilot’s sense of sanity and rationality. Once again, the blond brightened, this time waving back happily.

Revali’s growl was almost audible.

Riju walked up next to him, surveying the acreage, and turning a contemplative eye back towards Harth, now left a ways down the little dirt trodden trail. “Is this your land?” She asked.

“Yep,” Revali said, still decidedly on edge.

“It’s bigger than I expected. You must do well for yourself. Do you hold a title? Was that one of your servants?”

The reaction was instantaneous, Link rocketed forward and quickly covered her mouth giving her a quick shake of the head. She (rightfully) gave him an unimpressed glare and he backed off quickly. Still, she cleared her throat and amended, “ah, never mind. I… misspoke apparently.”

The hell was that?

They were not being subtle. Link was still nervously chuckling and Revali just turned to her and answered. “No…” There was something in his tone though that hinted at his unmistakable ‘suspicion’. Who the heck called anyone a servant anymore? He was sure it wasn’t a label that flew with the modern-day strides towards public correctness. While he always thought that getting all in a huff over terms like ‘secretary’ was a bit much, even he agreed ‘servant’ was blatantly dehumanizing.

She just hummed an unvoiced thought.

What a weird kid. It was becoming more and more obvious every time she opened her mouth. Actually, even when she didn’t there was something unnerving and altogether off. She was always watching. Every single thing that they did she just stared at them in this intense and unreadable way. It was downright unsettling.  Even when they went inside and took off their shoes, she just stood there and Revali felt remarkably like an ant under a microscope. Only when they had completed the action of placing them on the shoe rack did she parrot it. Everything she did had that same sort of hesitant delay straight down to when they had fastened their seat belts on Medoh. It was like she needed to be reminded on how to act like a functional human being… or like she had never done any of these things before but that would be absurd…

Regardless, they needed to get this sorted right away.

He sighed and guided his guests to the living room and gestured to her and then the sitting area. “Take a seat.”

She looked at him for a moment before striding forward and perching regally on the detached armchair with the strange confidence of if it were her personal throne. She quickly got comfortable crossing one leg over the other and resting her chin in her palm aloofly.

She wasn’t doing anything, and he still found her excruciatingly annoying.

Revali sighed. Where to even begin here?

Link looked at him, his poorly fashioned-together boar pelt cloak sliding just a little lopsidedly down his dirt-caked shoulder.

With him. He was starting with him, no doubt.

“Okay first I think the ‘adults’ need to have a little private chat.”  Revali announced to the group.

Link tilted his head as if he had no idea what this talk could possibly be about.

“And at least one of said adults needs a shower before he is allowed to touch anything in this house, so it might take a while,” he said this second part to the girl. “I’ve got cable, the remote is on the coffee table. Bathroom’s down the hall. Do whatever you want as long as you don’t make a mess.”

She stared at him almost perplexed and Revali quickly dragged Link into his bedroom before shutting the door behind him.

He quickly wheeled on the blond.

Link immediately had a weird kind of smirk that pissed Revali off. ‘Wow, how bold,’ he signed.

Revali just stared at him, not understanding the joke. Link quickly pulled out his phone. Second nature at this point, Revali did the same and waited.

‘Inviting me into your room like this after one date. Didn’t know you were that kind of guy.’

That was not worth the electricity or the brainpower it took to read it.

“Do I look like I’m in the mood right now?” Revali snapped.

Link just looked surprised and damn how good Revali had gotten at reading every single one of his expressions with almost telekinetic accuracy. “I meant that I’m not in the mood for your jokes!” He clarified. “I am not saying that under other less bizarre circumstances I would bed you, you absolute pervert!”

Link clicked his tongue in partially faked disappointment. How was he still acting so juvenile when they were in a crisis?!

“Who is she?” Revali interrogated.

‘Riju.’

He wanted him to react to that. He would not.

He spun around and started rummaging through his drawers instead, finding that same pair of track pants Link had worn during his last stay and an old worn t-shirt from an army fun-run. “Fine. We’ll talk after your shower. Maybe once you’re back to looking presentable to human society you’ll start acting like it too. You can use my ensuite.”

Link casually walked over to the attached bathroom and peered inside. He turned to Revali and gestured to it vaguely.

“What?” Revali asked and then, incorrectly guessing the question, he replied before Link could even respond. “There’s a little cupboard to the side with towels. It’s fine if you want to use my soap and shampoo. In fact, I encourage it. Oh do you want to know how the nozzle works?”

Link just signed. ‘Wanna join?’

He was immediately pelted in the face by projectile clothing. “Back to joking I see,” Revali growled.

Link erupted into a cheeky grin, unable to hold his poker face a second longer.

“Clean out your dirty mind while you’re at it,” Revali commanded then left him there before he could say a single other absurd thing.

He ended up rejoining Riju in the living area.

She had… just been sitting there. She hadn’t even made a single move to turn on the tv or peruse his shelves for a book.

Like he’d originally thought,

She was just… weird.

He sat down on the couch, unconsciously choosing the spot the furthest away from her.

They ended up locked in a staring contest that both were too proud to break first.

“Not a fan of TV I take it?” He asked.

She just shrugged but didn’t reply.

When Link finally emerged a few minutes later, he found them still like that. If he noticed the sour energy in the room, he didn’t make any special note of it.

“Oh good, you’re back,” Revali said. “So, where do we go from here?” He looked back at Riju, eyes narrowing. “Where do you live? For the simple reward of getting you out of my house as soon as possible, I will fly you absolutely anywhere in Hyrule that I have to.”

He half expected her to just hold the cryptic smirk but his words actually managed to rattle her. She looked down for the first time. “I… suppose I don’t live anywhere anymore.”

Her shoulders slumped for only a fraction of a second before she seemed to have caught herself and sat back up straight and proud as if nothing had just happened.

Link’s smile slipped from something natural to something wider and more forced as he placed a hand on Revali’s shoulder before quickly withdrawing to type.

‘I have a massive favour to ask.’

“It often feels like our whole relationship is just me doing you massive favours,” Revali pointed out.

‘Yeah but this might be the biggest one yet.’

He was getting a VERY bad feeling. Link continued to type. ‘It would just be for a short while so I can go back to the city and get some things figured out.’

“What’s he saying?” Riju asked, “I can’t see from here.”

‘Could you just let her stay here for a little while?’

“LET HER STAY HERE?” Revali repeated in outrage.

For the first time ever, Riju seemed to be on his same page. “With him?!” She asked incredulously.

Link looked between the two in a panic, not able to find a form of communication that would adequately reply to them both so he turned back to Revali. ‘JUST FOR A BIT.’

“Define ‘a bit’!” Revali snapped.

Link started backing up and he put his phone in his pocket. ‘I don’t know.’ he signed.

Revali got up and started following after him. “I swear to the Goddesses Link! Where do you think you’re going?”

Link was very clearly edging towards the door. ‘Just a bit,’ he repeated.

‘Do I look like a babysitter?” He asked.

‘Please,’ Link begged. He actually did stop moving though and the look he sent Revali was so desperate that the pilot was stopped in his tracks too. ‘This is very important.’

“When is taking care of a child not important?” Revali asked.

Link ran his hand through his damp hair in agitation. ‘Can you trust me?’ He signed.

“Link…” Revali sighed. “You have to realize this doesn’t look good, and even now you refuse to tell me the full story.”

‘Can you trust me?’ He repeated. His eyes were pleading and so very, very blue.

Revali let out a disgruntled sigh. “Yes. Against all reason, I can and DO trust you but-“

Link smiled. ‘Great!’

“Wait” Revali said.

‘I’ll contact you soon.’

“No.”

‘thank you so much!’  Link was back to fleeing to the front door.

“Link, no.”

Link kicked his boots on and then he was outside, racing to his car.

“LINK! THAT WAS NOT A ‘YES’! GET BACK HERE THIS INSTANT," Revali yelled from the entrance.

Aaaand he was gone.

Revali just stood there for a good long while in disbelief.

He returned to the living room, sat back down at his spot on the couch, and resumed his staring contest with Riju.

This time however, they both just looked bewildered.

Chapter Text

The question was asked before Revali had even fully sat down on the old wobblily bar stool:

“So, how’s it going with the little empress?”

Of course.

He threw back his head and sighed upwards towards the heavens, (or, well, the faux-tin ceiling tiles above but to be fair, heaven was a far, far place from this crusty dive-bar).

He fiddled with the tip of his braid for a moment before returning to Earth and sending Teba an icy look. Was he not being clear when he had sat two seats away and very purposely didn’t greet him on the way in that he did not want to talk?

Because he didn’t.

He really didn’t. He just came here to escape the house for a bit and maybe drink some of the stress away. It had been a long couple of days and he was slowly but surely turning into a frazzled mess.

“Well, she’s still here and that’s my greatest gripe,” Revali said. “Speaking of which, it’s been an hour since I’ve last tried a certain something, give me one moment…”

He pulled out his phone and called Link, who had finally reached speed-dial status in the recent days wherein Revali must have attempted at least eighty calls. This time the number went straight to an automatic voicemail and Revali screeched with outrage. “NOW HE’S TURNED OFF HIS PHONE?!” at the sound of the beep, he quickly began to yell profanities into the speaker. Then, remembering why he had called in the first place, he calmly added, “and come pick up this little nuisance immediately. Okay, hate you, bye.”

He hung up and simmered. Harth placed a drink down in front of him and he sipped at the straw aggressively. Cherry flavoured. It was good but he had too much on his mind to pay his compliments to the drink’s maker. “Unbelievable,” he muttered.

Link was ignoring him. This was new. It filled him with a blinding rage and turned his stomach in the weirdest of ways. Link wasn’t supposed to ignore him. Link had always been annoyingly accessible- to a point of Revali wondering if he wasn’t just constantly waiting on the other end of the phone like a golden retriever for him.

“Why are you calling him instead of texting?” Harth asked. “The guy can’t talk, why would he answer a phone?”

“Because,” Revali said, “the full enormity of my rage cannot be captured in its entirety with the mere written word. He has to HEAR my displeasure straight from my euphonious vocal cords in order to get it through his thick non-hallowed skull.”

 He took another sip of his drink before he remembered what Teba had called the tiny diva-in-training. “So the ‘little empress’ thing has caught on I see,” Revali commented dryly. It seemed to be a village-wide nickname for Riju now. Amali and Saki had been calling her that the other day too.

“Well, it fits,” Teba said with the same tone of the ladies in which it was clear the nickname had no real animosity.  In fact, Saki and Amali seemed quite enamoured by her. All the women and girls in town were.

It was frankly terrifying how quickly she could wrap anyone of the female sex around her finger. She was a Queen Bee but to a point where it was almost supernatural. Both Harth’s daughter and Amali’s girls followed her around when they played outside like little lemurs to their matriarch.

She was received so annoyingly well that one would think she had lived here all of her life.

This SHOULD have been the best-case scenario for Revali. At first, his greatest concern was the town turning on him for this OVERTLY shady situation. He should just be happy he wasn’t behind bars right now.

However,

He didn’t like his best-case scenario being her best-case scenario too. To hell with the phrase ‘a rising tide lifts all boats’. He was too petty to be happy with that sort of communistic thought. Her boat could stay sunken with a hole in it at the bottom of the ocean- No one likes seeing their greatest nemesis flourish.

And that’s what she was.

His nemesis.

The absolute bane of his existence.

Needless to say, they were still not getting along.

Plus also, it still drove him half-mad that he was the only person in this entire village who seemed to think and act logically. Why was NO ONE else concerned by this?

Even Saki, his dear darling high-strung Saki, had been woefully unbothered when he called her and Amali in that first night to get Riju situated with any ‘girl/kid stuff’ she might need. (Toiletries, clothing and the like)

All they really had to say about the whole thing was to tease him about ‘being more of a country girl than they had thought.’  

“One date and now you’re suddenly out on your own with a kid… congratulations you are now like exactly half of the girls from my highschool,” Amali had grinned.

Risa at the store had simply dropped a candy in his grocery bag and said, “For the child, it’s not easy raising a girl that age.”

The sisters down the road just commented that it was “nice to see that [he was] not in that house all alone anymore.”

Now Teba and Harth were talking to him about her with all the casualness of if they were discussing the weather and it was the last straw for the tensed pilot.

“DOES NONE OF THIS SEEM WEIRD TO YOU?” He finally snapped.

Teba just looked at him in that calm unbothered way he always did. “Does what?”

“I just… showed up with a child one day! You’re not concerned at all about where she came from? How do you know I didn’t kidnap her? This is absolutely absurd!”

Teba and Harth just looked at each other and then to Revali.

“Revali…” Teba said. “Come on.”

“What exactly does ‘come on’ mean?” Revali asked, not really loving the admonishing tone.

“It’s time to be a man…” Teba said.

Revali just scrunched his face in incredulous confusion.

“Yeah Revali… admit it… it’s kind of obvious,” Harth added.

“Oh is it now?” Revali asked sarcastically. “What exactly is so obvious that you both can see it bright as day while it still continues to fly over my head?”

“She’s yours, isn’t she?” Teba asked. Well ‘asked’ was a bit misleading. It was a question but it wasn’t said in the tone of a question. It was more of an OVERTLY incorrect statement on Teba’s part.

Reval stared at him for what might as well have been a full minute, absolutely unable to compute the absurdity of what he had just heard.

He uttered out a few nonsense syllables before finally managing an “Are you daft?”

Both men just sent him that same skeptical look, like they caught him in a lie and he was reeling. “Mine? Excuse me how old do I look to you?” Honestly, he was almost MORE offended that they thought he was of an age where he might have a pre-teen daughter more so than the implication that he had been an absent-father her whole life up until this point.

“It’s the prevailing rumour around town,” Harth said.

He HAD to be kidding. “Well, if there’s one thing Rito Village is never in short supply of, it’s rumors,” Revali said dryly. “You should know better by now than to believe them. Such ludicrous notions like ‘I’m in love with Link’ or ‘Riju is my daughter’. Honestly. Just stop and think for yourselves now and again about where you source your information.”

Teba rose an eyebrow. “You’re not doing yourself the favour you think you are by saying this has the same validity as the Link stuff.”

“But seriously,” Harth digressed. “Isn’t she just a mini you?”

“A MINI ME?” Revali actually stood up in his outrage at this thought, slamming his hands on the bar in emphasis. Harth eyed the assault to his most prized possession as if Revali had just slapped him across the face with a glove of challenge.

“She’s got your complexion,” Harth said while immediately and almost tenderly wiping at the wood Revali had slapped with a wash towel (as if the water damage, dents and chips were not there before)  “your green eyes… the long braided hair… The pointy down-turned nose,” Harth listed off.

“She’s even got your attitude,” Teba added.

Being the last point of an absurd list, Revali turned his outrage onto Teba. “MY attitude? You think that impertinent little brat of whom you’ve all entitled ‘the little empress’ has MY attitude?! In what world?!”

She was NOTHING like him… and they certainly didn’t need to know that Revali’s whole extended family, to this day, still called him the ‘little prince’.

“And either way, I don’t know if you small town hicks realize this, but the science is out there: personalities AREN’T genetic. If they were, Goddess knows how Tulin and Molly got theirs.”

As for the other points… hmm well it was strange. She wasn’t Lurelinian. To a Lurelinian, that much was obvious. The only thing they shared was a darker skin tone but her face shape and structure… it didn’t fit with anything he’d seen before. He couldn’t really blame them for messing that up though, he might very well have been the first person of Lurelinian heritage to ever set up shop here.

Her nose was downturned but it was nothing like what his grandfather had dubbed the ‘family beak’. Where his lineage’s nose tended to arch like an eagle’s bill, her’s was completely flat down the front… lacking any sort of curve at all. She didn’t even have a bridge to her nose which was a somewhat unusual sight- it was just a straight line down from her forehead to a narrow-pointed tip.

It was clearly some sort of feature of her ethnicity though… there was something too weirdly beautiful and symmetric for it to be some random genetic mutation unique to her. It was the kind of thing that had to have been selected for through several generations for it to appear so natural and suited to her face shape.

Then what was she?

Well, the answer was it didn’t matter. A rose by any other name was still as prickly and pretentious.

He was fully sober when he left the bar having departed after only the one drink. They had ruined the mood, he figured he’d just go home and turn in early.

He almost made it into his room un-interrupted, but she had left the door open down the hall and he caught sight of something that caused him pause. She was trying the wash her hair… in the sink? Emphasis on ‘trying’ as it didn’t seem to be going well for her.

“What are you doing?” He asked.

She stumbled up and the bottom half of her hair, the only part she had managed to get into the sink, began dripping waterfalls onto the tile below.

He continued to stare in absolute bafflement. “Why would you…?”

“I-!” She started to say in alarm and then glanced around uselessly. “I was just… Washing up.” This was honestly the first time he had ever seen her smug persona crack into something truly bothered.

“In the sink though?” He asked. “That’s… kind of unsanitary. You spit in there…”

She almost stomped a foot in childish outrage. “I would never!”

“Listen princess, you do know that’s not an insult, you’re suppose-“

“Princess?” She echoed. “How insolent!” Then she paused and seemed to sigh with a strange amount of resignation. “Well, I suppose if anything, it’s a title above my station these days.” She shook her head tiredly. “If you need me, I’ll be in my chambers.” She promptly walked past him and entered the guestroom, closing the door behind her.

Confused, he entered the bathroom and looked around. His suspicions were quickly confirmed when he found the tube of toothpaste Saki brought her still in the packaging from the store.

She really was a kid. She wasn’t even brushing her teeth properly without supervision. Unacceptable of course. If she was going to be living under his roof, he was going to hold her to a certain level of sanitation. He dropped a towel on the ground where she had spilled that water and grabbed another to bring to her so she wouldn’t drip all over the house. (another unacceptable thing in Revali’s opinion)

He marched over to her room and knocked loudly, not really waiting for an answer before he opened the door angrily. “Listen you little terror, have you not been brushing your-“

She was just sitting on her bed with the light off.

Again, Revali was flummoxed. “What are you even doing?” He asked as he flipped on the switch. "Who just sits in the dar-“

In the light, it was apparent that she was crying.

Revali let out a very intelligent and eloquent “oh.”

“I didn’t tell you to enter,” She grumbled.

“uh huh…” Another articulate vocalization on Revali’s part.

“Just leave,” she said. “Please.”

And he did. For a second. Then he walked right back in and ruefully sat next to her on the bed, hating every second of his life that brought him here to this awkwardly forced cordial moment with this terrible little creature. When Link got back, he was running him over with Medoh.

He made a face that was basically just a pained sneer and reached out to pat her back. A difficult gesture given he chose to sit almost one full arm’s length away. “Uh… there there,” he said with clearly very little emotion.

When she didn’t immediately cheer up, he nodded and pursed his lips inwards. “Or just… keep doing that I guess," he said gesturing to her distraught... everything.

Honestly, there was no saying that this wasn’t some sort of ploy. He expected nothing less of his arch-enemy. Were these crocodile tears meant to make him sympathetic to her? It wasn’t going to work.

Or maybe… she really was just a small child and he was being ridiculous for building up this rivalry in his head in the first place.

No, surely not. Listen, while it wasn't like she’d done anything physically to him (this week hadn’t been like some 90s slapstick comedy movie where the demon child springs a set of elaborate traps and tricks onto an unsuspecting adult), that didn't mean that she wasn't the absolute worst.

She was condescending.

The way she looked at him in amusement every time he tried to exert his adult authority had him foaming at the mouth. There was no way she didn’t know exactly what she was doing. She was clearly some secret machiavellian mind-manipulator to get him as worked up as she did. (You know, since he was so level headed most of the time)

She continued to quietly blubber into her knees.

Fine.

Okay.

Maybe not.

For the first time in his life, he MAY have misread some things.

She MIGHT just be a twelve-year-old girl.

He moved a little closer (while still being as far as possible) and started to blot at her wet hair with the towel. He hadn't seen it out of its braid yet, it was shockingly long and simply poured over her sheets in red streams. Her bed was unfortunately damp as a result.

It wasn't as apparent when it was tied up but now that it was loose he could see her scalp was getting greasy. When he really thought about it, she might not have showered in these last few days- he really did kind of leave her to her own devices so he couldn't say for sure, but he didn't remember the sound of the shower ever going. Just the sink.

Clearly though, she was quite bothered by her current state given how he found her tonight.

"Why were you washing your hair in the sink?" He asked again.

She just shook her head as if it were a question she didn’t know the answer to.

“Why haven’t you been brushing your teeth?” He tried asking instead.

“I have,” she mumbled, “I’ve been using that little brush Saki gave me.”

“Without toothpaste?” Revali asked.

She actually stopped crying for a second to look at him in confusion and things started to click into place for Revali. Sort of. It was like one of those puzzles where he was never going to know what image he was making or why certain pieces fit together up until the very end which he hadn’t quite reached yet- but things were fitting together... somehow.

“You don’t know what toothpaste is,” he said.

She looked like she wanted to refute the statement but just sighed instead, maybe tired of keeping up a front for so long now. “No.”

“Or a tv,” he said.

“No.”

“And you sit in the dark because you have no idea how to turn on a ceiling light.”

Tears quickly started spewing from her eyes double time to make up for that brief reprieve. She launched forward and began sobbing into Revali’s shirt.

“And now this is happening,” he said blandly, looking completely done with this situation already. “Alright, alright,” he said, peeling the kid off of him. “Let’s give you the proper orientation then. Goddess knows we can't have a second feral Great Plains child unleashed onto Hyrule."

The things he continued to do for this country. He deserved more medals for his wall.

Chapter Text

Revali’s hands were occupied when he reached the door, his arms stuffed full with paper grocery bags. His grip on them all was precarious at best; an ineffective bear-hug where he found himself having to periodically knee a slipping parcel back into place as it would try to slip out of his grasp.

Still, despite how encumbered he was, he somehow made it down the long gravel road home without dropping anything and even managed to retrieve his key through a display of unearthly dexterity, positioning it between his pointer and middle finger.

However, that dexterity promptly failed him as he tried to jab the key into the lock and just barely missed. It was knocked out from his perilous hold and clambered to the ground.

He stared at it for a good long few seconds before thunking his head against the door’s window in defeat.

Well maybe this was the defining moment where Riju could FINALLY make herself useful. It was about time for the freeloader to start earning her keep. Surely there was SOME benefit to living with another person, though it had been yet to be seen.

He thunked his head on the door again a few times in the universal language of ‘Come. Now.’

Nothing.

There was no sign of movement from inside through the gauzy curtain.

Of course.

What was he expecting?

After a moment, he sighed and crouched down, dropping all of his bags to the floor and retrieving the key.

When he DID make it in, he made sure to give his MOST unimpressed look to Riju as he passed her in the living room area.

She was laying on the plush rug across from Amali’s oldest daughter, both girls casually flipping through pre-teen fashion webpages on Revali’s tablet. (He KNEW there had to be a reason his targeted ads were getting so weird)

“Oh so you were home,” Revali said dryly as he dropped the many bags of produce on the kitchen island. “You could have helped you know.”

Riju glanced up and looked at him almost apathetically. “Oh Revali, I would never do that to you,” she said. “I simply respect you too much, I would never wish to step on your pride like that.”

Utter bull. “Well thank you for that then,” Revali said sarcastically. “And you,” he said gesturing at Notts. “What are YOU doing here again? I don’t know why my house has become your new favourite hideaway but I’m pretty sure last I checked that I was only responsible for ONE unwanted interloper.”

Notts just shrugged, “This is the only place to go to get away from everyone for a bit. I mean, my sisters are great but sometimes I don’t want to babysit little kids! Even Kotts is like, a whole year and a half younger than me! Plus, they’re all so clingy around Riju, it’s SO embarrassing!”

Look who was talking. As far as Revali was concerned, she was the greatest sycophant of them all.

He thought of pointing out said hypocrisy but there was a greater injustice here at play: “How do you think I feel? I never asked to play babysitter either.” Revali said dryly. “This used to be MY private haven away from you all.”                                                                                                       

Both girls just looked at him in the most unempathetic of ways that seemed to say: ‘how is that our problem?’

Tweens. Little sociopaths. The lot of them. There was almost no point in even trying to talk to them. Everyone younger than them was a baby, everyone older than them was not allowed the respect of being viewed as a human being with their own complex feelings. Good on Amali for sacrificing what would have been her greatest years raising these brats in the spirit of propagating hylian kind. He sure as hell would never do the same, even if he were one of the last men in Hyrule.

Realizing that this conversation would bring nothing but frustration, he elected to ignore them in favour of putting away the groceries. They seemed equally contented by this decision, returning to talking between themselves as if he were never there.

“Mmm,” Notts said in a way that sounded like she was TRYING to be as grown up and aloof as Riju somehow managed to fake… but failing. “Did you see Traysi’s latest gossip vlog? Can you believe that new stuff about Russ from the Shield Breakers?”

“Of course I believe it,” Riju said indifferently. “Voe are trash, I truly wonder why you continue to be surprised.” Every so often words from another language slipped into her speech and it only led to more questions rather than answers. Revali had tried to search them on the internet at first but they never turned up anything. It was downright spooky to see a ‘zero results’ page on google. With the infinite amount of content out there, he hadn’t thought it was possible anymore. Eventually, he gave up even trying. At the very least, from context, it wasn’t hard to know what most words meant.

He would have been offended by Riju’s statement if he didn’t full-heartedly agree and say about as much himself every single day. All men, with one select exceptional exclusion, were trash.  Especially the short blond ones who go from blowing up your phone every single day to absolutely ghosting you as if you meant absolutely nothing to them.

-to being frustratingly silent when you, against all odds, actually need something from them- is what he meant to say. He’d hate for that previous statement to be misconstrued. Obviously, the only reason Revali was upset by this radiosilence from the feral student was the way Link had dumped Riju on him. It’s not like he actually missed him or anything like that.

He knew there wasn’t going to be anything new but he took advantage of his freed hands to check his phone. Just in case he missed something in the last thirty minutes since he last looked.

Yeah, nothing. Zero messages. Knowing the outcome didn’t stop the slight grimace that crossed his face every single time. What was that insufferable twink even thinking? He never really learned to understand him afterall he guessed… It left a hollow feeling in his chest.

Of dread… about the Riju situation… and his choice to trust Link on this…. Again, not for any other reason.

“Yeah,” Notts said a little too quickly, in the way that suggested she would have agreed to literally anything Riju said, “Totally. All men. They’re the worst!”

There was a pinging sound which had Revali’s eyes to whip to his phone but it was Notts who popped up in alarm. “Oh my Goddess! Mom made cookies without telling me and she said she’s giving them all to my sisters just because I’m not there! That’s so unfair!”

Her feigned maturity sure slipped away fast.

“I’ll see you later alright?” Notts asked and then didn’t even wait for an answer before she went running to the door to slip her shoes on.

“A-alright…” Riju said but by then Notts was already gone. Speaking of feigned personalities, Riju’s own mask quickly slipped away as well, as it seemed to often do now when it was just the two of them. He supposed after that little meltdown a few nights back, even she realized any act she tried to put up around him now would fail and just be embarrassing for the both of them.

She picked up the tablet and walked over to the kitchen area, pulling out a barstool from under the island and taking a seat.

“Oh?” Revali said, barely pausing his task of putting away the groceries to acknowledge her. “Got ditched for sweets and now you’re so lonely you’re desperate enough to talk to a trash voe such as myself?”

She ignored his jibes. “Hey Revali, what’s a shield breaker?” 

So she didn’t even know. She was a frighteningly convincing faker.

“Some idiot group of snowboarders, they post inane videos on the internet and people watch them for some asinine reason.” Revali said. “They’re Z-list celebrities at best, you wouldn’t have had to have pretended to know them. They’re just more famous around here as they sometimes come in the late spring/early fall to try attacking the mountain paths. They’re the worst, the absolute bane of my existence.” To be fair though, eighty percent of the people Revali met earned the title of ‘bane of his existence'. He swore the only regular client he had that he actually liked was this girl Selmie. While she was also a seasonal snowboarder, she at least seemed to have some sort of idea of what she was doing. Link had also almost made that short VIP list. He'd kind of screwed up his chances of that now though. 

“Anyway, based off what Notts said, No doubt there’s some new silly little controversy one of them has drummed up for themselves. I’m not surprised,” Revali concluded.

“And whose Traysi?” Riju asked.

Revali looked at her in careful consideration as he pondered how much information he should really give up to her for free. Since she was so intent on putting on that display of poise and wisdom to everyone else, she had come to rely on him for the things she dug herself into a hole for pretending to know about. He wasn’t so nice as to not use this leverage to his advantage.

No, he was the kind of person to lord information above her head and use it to get what he wanted. He needed to take every opportunity he still could. Afterall, he knew he wouldn’t be able to do this for much longer. She was getting pretty good at using the internet. For someone who didn’t know what a shower was a few days ago, this girl was adapting to society frighteningly fast. She was like a sponge. He wasn’t sure if it was a statement on her intelligence or just a sign of her age.

“Perhaps I’d be more willing to tell you if you were actually making yourself useful rather than just sitting there like a lazy lout,” he said, deciding not to keep this as blackmail, but at least get something out of the exchange.

She hopped up immediately and began helping with the groceries.

“She’s a journalist for the Hyrule Star,” Revali explained. “But these days journalists really need to be all over a number of platforms to actually make their money. I listen to her podcast sometimes on my runs but I think the kids like to watch her videos instead. She does gossip and expositions about other famous internet personalities in her videos- things I don’t care about as much. Her podcast is a little more adult, focusing on politicians and the like.”

“I see…” Riju said, placing the last item, a box of cereal, on the shelf.

“You can use my tablet this afternoon to watch her clips, I’ll be out and won’t be needing it.” Revali said before adding under his breath “Not that you ever ask permission anymore.”

“Out?” Riju asked, focusing on the one thing he was hoping she wouldn’t. “Where are you going?”

“The town over,” he admitted. “I have some work I need to do around the acreage and there’s a man selling some lumber for cheap, it will be frightfully boring.”

She was not successfully warded off by that. “Well, I would hate for you to be too bored. I suppose I could endeavour to come along and provide you with my company. As you’ve seen, my schedule has opened up.”

Yeah, that was why he hadn’t wanted to tell her where he was going. She had an insatiable curiosity. He KNEW her ears would perk at the mention of another town. They were going to be stuck exploring for hours and he was going to have to answer a million weird questions.

“Presumptuous of you to think I'd want your company,” Revali said.

She leaned on the counter and pouted. (Oh if only Notts could see her now. Maybe she wouldn't feel the need to act so adult)  “Aw, come on. I’ll even help out. You’ll need to carry the lumber to the car right?”

Revali eyed her little stick arms doubtfully.

“Fine,” he finally conceded. “But just try not to make a nuisance of yourself.”

Chapter Text

For once, Revali was miserable to have been proven right. This day had gotten so thoroughly and terribly off track.

He leaned tiredly on the hood of Teba’s borrowed truck, watching as Riju sauntered out of the local boutique at an agonizingly casual pace. Her new seal plushie was tightly clutched within her arms and she glowed with a childish delight that he figured she really ought to be embarrassed about at her age.

‘It’s just like a sand seal but for the sea!’ She had said upon laying sparkling eyes on it and Goddess if there wasn’t a lot to unpack there in that particular statement. However, that box was just going to have to stay taped shut because Revali had finally decided the best thing he could do for his sanity is just not question things anymore. He didn’t care. He had already had that policy with Link and since this whole Riju situation stemmed off of Link, she should have fallen under that umbrella all along.

What he did care about was getting out of this disgustingly ‘cute’ little tourist town. It was just too gimmicky, he hated it. He hated places that built their entire identify off of one thing- in this case the ‘Gisa Crater Impact Site’ it was built next to.

The historic downtown street with its pretty cobbled roads and picturesque bleach-white second-floor balconies was horrifically marred and ruined by garish signs of cartoony meteorites and tacky bobbles, t-shirts and slogans in every store windowfront.

He glanced at his phone, (no messages), it was almost dinner. At this rate, they’d be driving home in the glaring sunset.

How had they gotten so completely derailed?

His head hurt, he wanted to go home and they hadn’t even achieved their main goal yet. “Let’s get a move on princess!” He called and ignored the amused smiles of passing strangers. Goddess. There was going to be another headstone in that impossibly tiny little graveyard across the street the next time someone approached them to say what a ‘cute little father/daughter pair’ they made.

As she continued to not pick up the pace he got into the old vehicle and revved the engine: An open threat that he’d soon begin honking.

She eventually hopped into the passenger side and slunk down into the cracked leather seat. “Relax Revali, if you keep making that face, you’re going to get premature wrinkles,” she said, tapping the seal’s plastic nose to her own. She paused in thought. “Well, maybe not so much ‘premature’ at your advanced age… All the more reason to be careful.”

It took all of his willpower not to kick her out for that comment and drive away without her.

If she liked this town so much she could stay here forever. Surely one of these sickeningly tv-stereotyped hyper-heterosexual townsfolk couples would take her in if he left her in a cardboard box by the road.

“I’m still technically in my twenties,” he said.

“Yeah, I know,” she agreed. “And watching your daily little midlife crises has frankly been embarrassing for all of us on your behalf.”

HRRMMMMMMMMMMMMM. The urge for abandonment was only increasing. “Don’t feel too superior about age now. You’re a year away from acne and growth-spurt stretch marks you puerile little caterpillar,” he commented snidely.

She’d live a perfectly decent life here. She become an ingratiated member of the Church of Hylia and get hitched at 18 to her cherub-faced alterboy highschool boyfriend. They’d open a café with menu items like ‘meteor chocolate explosion’ and ‘crater shakes’ and have their standard 2.5 children. A perfectly acceptable albeit mundane life- he wouldn’t even have to feel guilty.

That or she’d become a cult leader. She really had it in her and these simple townsfolk seemed susceptible enough.

Either way, it wouldn’t be his problem.

Riju just laughed off his warning. He almost wished now she’d still be around in the next few years afterall just so he could be the one laughing at her and rub it in as puberty utterly wrecked her confidence and ripped her smug superiority to shreds.

Of course, chances were she’d be that one girl who goes through the whole transformation gracefully because bad things only ever happen to those who don’t karmically deserve it.

Done with antagonising him, she looked out the window with a smirk. It faltered. She glanced at him in the faint reflection almost awkwardly. “Oh but… thanks… for the seal,” she said, fidgeting with its flippers.

The genuineness struck him off balance and he merely grunted in rare display of inelegance before shifting the truck out of park. “Yeah, it’s just some cheap toy. Don’t think too much of it.”

She could take it with her when she left. No matter how terrible someone is, everyone deserves to own a few material objects.

When they pulled up to the farm and into the long gravel driveway, the ranch owner peaked up, previously hidden from how his head had been buried under the hood of his own truck.

He tossed a wrench to the side and dropped his disgustingly dirty rag a second later on top of it as they approached. “You must be Revali!” The man said before wiping a blackened hand on his jeans and holding it out to shake.

Revali just looked at it. “Yes… Sorry for the delay. This little one here was just a little too excited to take in the town's many… sites.”

The sarcasm did not trickle through, as was apparent by the way the man nodded. “Yup, there ain’t no place better to lose a day to than our wonderful little hamlet! Hyrule’s hidden gem we all call it! Did y’all go to the crater then?”

“Yes, we certainly did,” Revali said ruefully. An underwhelming thing it was. A grey rock in a small hole. Astounding. Some ‘hidden gems’ stay hidden for the sole reason that no one in industry considers them worth the cost of digging up in the first place. Crater Falls was that kind of ‘hidden gem’.

Not only was the detour a waste of time in Revali’s books, he fully blamed it for the long frusterationg conversation it spurred with Riju where first he had to explain meteors…. Then the concept of space… then the concept of a planet…… then the solar system, then the sun, then the stars. It was an endless rabbit hole of increasingly concerning questions.

“Did you have fun today?” The man asked, bending down to smile at Riju in that condescending adult-to-child way that usually only lead to verbal evisceration from the infamous 'Little Empress'.

Revali could see the way her eyes narrowed. “Yes… I did,” she said evenly. He supposed she found this hick not worth her efforts.

“I’m sure daddy’s glad to have a little helper,” he said, giving Revali a wink and ruffling her hair. Oh, what a terrible twist of fate. So this was the victim he had earlier sworn he'd next murder… if she didn’t get to him first.

They could leave the corpse for the pigs and just take the lumber.

The man stood back up and placed a jovial hand on Revali’s shoulder. “If I can give you a word of advice, it’s to treasure these moments, in a couple of years she’ll want nothin’ to do with you-”

-That didn’t sound like the problem he seemed to think it was.

“My own kids are ‘too old’ to come do errands with their old man anymore.”

“Advice taken,” Revali said through nearly gritted teeth… advice taken and immediately thrown in the trash like the last three religious brochures each shop owner tried to give him. He would be cordial though. This was the best deal on wood he had ever seen, no point sabotaging himself here.

“Well, then,” The rancher said, finally sensing Revali’s impatience. “I suppose you wanna get right onto loading up the wood am I right?”

“It’s been a long day,” Revali agreed.

When the man retracted his hand, Revali noted the black oil stain on his shirt collar with distaste. Riju understandably took one horrified look at it and her hand went flying to examine her own hair.

Well, at least she'd be eager to get home now too.

Chapter Text

The man had hopped into one of the back seats of the truck and guided them across the property to an old worn barn.

Revali was glad in that moment once again that it was Teba’s truck because, had it had been his own car, everything would have had to be wrapped in cellophane before those oil-stained jeans would have been permitted anywhere NEAR his fabric seats.

Why were people all such Goddess-damned animals?

On the ride, they learned that the rancher’s name was Ponthos. They actually learned an awful lot about him beyond that too. He was, after all, the chattiest man Revali had ever met. He swore he had not shut up once in the whole four minutes that they rode together, intent on regaling the pair with his entire life’s mundane story in record speed.

He was still talking even as Riju and Revali hastily exited the vehicle and slammed the doors shut with the man still inside.

“By the heroines’ blades,” Riju sighed in exasperation. “He talks more than even you.”

“Bear through it,” Revali warned her, “I am saving a literal fortune on the price of this guy’s wood. Let’s try to NOT offend the nice man, shall we?”

“So the real cost here is our sanity then?” Riju asked and, honestly, Revali had to agree. He quirked a slightly approving smile and knocked her shoulder. She grinned back.

He had to admit, some of the things she had to say were actually somewhat witty and agreeable (when they weren’t directed at him that is, then they were just flat out incorrect)

Ponthos stepped out of the back door and laughed causing both their faces to fall back into passive irritation, “Eager ones aren’t ya? Ahaha! Where was I? Oh yeah! So anyway, my son is studying some fancy engineering degree up in Central Hyrule and man they run those kids hard. Now he’s even saying he can’t come home for spring break-“

Revali took a deep breath and let his attention wander… he had to find his happy place for the next thirty or however many minutes this took.

Yes… he just had to tune out and focus on other things. The sun on his (thankfully sun screened) face… the grass underfoot. In the near distance, a crop of wildflowers grew entangling and reclaiming an old fence. Beyond that, there were a pair of horses on a hill.

He never got their appeal if he was being honest. In his most humble opinion, they were quite possibly some of the ugliest creatures in the animal kingdom. He just couldn’t find anything special to like in their long faces, sinewy bodies, freaky mouths and dead soulless eyes- but seeing them did give him an idea.

“Hey,” Revali said, interrupting Ponthos. “What are their names?” He asked, gesturing to the mares.

“Oh? You a horse man, my guy?” He asked.

“No,” Revali said, taking out his phone and snapping a picture. “Not at all.”

The guy blinked. “Uh… Butterscotch and Twilight.”

“Great,” Revali said in disinterest and began texting.

“Someone else then? The missus into horses maybe?” He asked.

Chatty and Nosey.

“Yeah, sure, something like that,” Revali said dismissively. He’d already given up trying to yell from the rooftops that Riju wasn’t his daughter, at this point people could just assume whatever the heck they wanted. He was done.

“Ah yeah I get you, I married a horse girl too. We can’t do a single road trip without taking a couple dozen stops for her to take pictures of every ranch field we pass.”

“Hmm yes, mine can’t ignore a single one of these feces-covered lawn ornaments either… That’s what I’m banking on,” Revali said in the most apathetic of tones. It was only after he finished his text to Link with the trap ‘this is Butterscotch and Twilight’ did he notice the man’s confusion. Revali shrugged. “She’s not talking to me right now.”

“Oof, ice cold man, we’ve all been there,” Ponthos tried to pat his back but he expertly dodged the attempt. No, they were not commiserating right now. All he wanted to do was get the wood and then get out.

Eventually they were led to the side of the barn where the stacks were waiting. Ponthos even helped Revali load up the truck (for the extreme payment of Revali having to endure through fourty more stories of course. Did you know his wife’s mother liked to quilt? Riveting stuff)

Revali had mostly tuned him out but he was brought back when Ponthos abruptly asked him “So you said you’re from Rito?”

“Yes,” Revali said, honestly feeling a little strange about the whole thing. It might actually be his first time saying that. When he was in Rito he was ‘from the city’, a part of his identity he wore with pride. It left a weird feeling to have lived long enough in the village that it was the more fitting place to name-drop in a self introduction.

“Ever been up on ‘em mountains?” He asked.

“Yes, many times,” Revali said.

“MY GUY,” Ponthos cheered, slapping his back. “And you didn’t die or nothin’?!”

Revali grit his teeth. “No. I’d be a pretty abysmal rescue pilot if I let them give me any trouble, now wouldn’t I?”

While he was technically a private pilot first and foremost, the stability of his salary came from the Tabatha Government as an on-call search and rescue. He did not care about the irony that he was, more often than not, also the one who took the missing people up there in the first place. That was their choice. If anything, it just put him in a better position over anyone else to find them again. He had no moral qualms charging the hell out of that gig either, like for Link’s stupid winter expedition from that first year.

He supposed he had Link to thank for the upgraded Flight Range. Goddess knows how the kid’s pockets were so deep, he hadn’t even flinched when Revali slapped him with the bill. (a bill he knew the school wouldn’t cover what with how they hadn’t even been informed that he was going out there)

“So you’re the new search and rescue then,” the rancher said in interest. “Well in that case there might be something else in the barn besides just the wood you might be interested in.”

“I strongly doubt that,” Revali said. “We’re really going to have to ‘hit the road’ soon… can’t keep the ‘missus’ waiting you know,” he added as a weak tacked-on excuse.

“Trust me,” Ponthos said, “I think you both are going to want to check this out.”

He started to head to the barn and Riju and Revali exchanged a quick look.

Yeah no, things just got sketchy as hell. They were definitely not following this strange man into his potential murder barn. No thank you.

“Maybe he’s got candy in there?” Riju joked with an amused smirk.

Revali just huffed an almost laugh. It seemed they were on the same page. His phone pinged and he quickly jumped for it not noticing immediately the way Riju’s mood soured. (as it seemed to do often lately- something Amali promised was just a tween girl thing)

It was only Teba checking in on them. He had begun to draft a response but was distracted as Riju, none too gently, bumped past him and began to follow Ponthos into the barn after all.

He stared at her blankly for a moment before erasing whatever message he had started to draft and instead wrote, ‘Everythings good, Riju’s probably dead though but I’ve got the wood. Acceptable losses.’

However, despite what he wrote when he heard an unholy shriek that could only be Riju’s emanating from the barn he sprinted inside. (Again, damn him for being such a good person)

Rather than being met with the sight of a grisly murder scene, instead he found her being absolutely mobbed by what looked like an entire swarm of little bear cubs. She was on the ground laughing and they took the opportunity to crawl all over her.

When he got closer their attention shifted and they stampeded towards him instead. He stared down incredulously. On a second inspection they weren’t bears at all but the bulkiest little black puppies he’d ever seen with fur so thick they looked more like formless blobs.

He watched in frozen dismay as the puppies brutalized his pant leg until eventually they gave up on him and returned to playing with each other instead, running off further into the barn.

Riju rejoined him. “This was a much better surprise than an axe to the head,” she admitted, quiet enough for only him to hear.

“If you actually thought he might kill you, WHY did you go in?” Revali hissed back. “I thought we had that talk about stranger danger after you approached LINK of all people in the Great Plateau.”

Riju just smiled innocently. “Oh he could have tried,” she said before proceeding to hand back Revali’s pocket knife that he hadn’t even realized she had swiped.

“It’s no scimitar substitute but I’m pretty confident I could have handled myself,” she said and for some reason Revali outright believed her.

He broke into a cold sweat.

Ponthos, having no idea how close a brush with death he just had approached them and laughed boisterously. “Cute, aren’t they?”

“I suppose,” Revali said, “Though I fail to see why you thought this would be so relevant to me in particular.”

“Well every rescue pilot needs a trusty companion right?” Ponthos asked. “Newfies make great search and rescue dogs!”

“I see…thank you for your consideration but I’ll pass,” Revali said. He’d seen this guy’s type before, doing a million little things to make a quick buck including raising expensive dog breeds that end up with ringworm and every known genetic defect known to that specific breed through lack of expertise.

“Aww come on guy! This had to be fate! I’ll have you know, this isn’t some puppy mill, I see the way you’re looking at me!  I’m the number one breeder in all of Tabantha! You can trust me for quality!” He gestured to the barn wall where a number of pictures of large black dogs in red vests were posing for pictures. “This litter comes from a long line of famous rescue dogs! Their great grandmother was the pooch who saved ten skiers from the avalanche of ‘91.”

Revali inspected a number of newspaper headlines cut out and pinned lovingly to the barn wall. So this was legit then.

It… wasn’t the most ludicrous idea. Even HIS legendary eyesight had been tested a few times up in the mountains. Especially with Link. Plus, the day someone got caught under snow was the day he would probably not be able to successfully retrieve them on his own with sight alone…

But raising a dog was a bit beyond what he was willing to do for his job. He’d sooner try buying a metal detector. At least that could be stored away under a seat in Medoh and out of the way until the need to use it arose.

“Aww, come on Revali,” Riju agreed. “They’re so cute.”

Cute?

Again, a little bit maybe but he was failing to really see it.

A single black blob of fur separated from the swarm and stumbled back over to them in reignited interest.

Riju knelt to beckon it over and Revali bent down to watch as well, still hardly impressed.

Its paws were much too big for its body, it stumbled as it walked, tripping over them several times. A few feet before reaching them. It fell forward and plopped onto its stomach, its back legs fanning out into a sploot.

The puppy looked up at them and barked, shiny black eyes peeking out from under its fringe of fluff.

Oh.

Yes.

Okay…

This one might actually be kind of cute.

They returned home long after dark, the puppy secure in Revali’s arms.

It turned out despite all of his bluster, he might actually be weaker than he thought after all. He really never could resist puppy dog eyes, on people OR literal puppies it seemed.

Riju raced to the guest room to put away her new things from their impromptu shopping trip and get back as soon as possible to watch the puppy explore its new home.

Goddess, he still couldn’t believe he impulsively bought a dog.

She’d be useful for work someday but there’d be a lot to do in the meantime training her up.

Then again, he really had nothing but time these days.

At the very least, Ponthos provided several books on the topic because Revali barely even knew where to start with a house pet let alone a working service animal.

It was a flurry of activity puppy-proofing the house. They set up the dog bed by the tv and by nine pm, she was completely tuckered out, dead to the world and collapsed on top; A small tuff of black fur in the middle of an XXL dog bed she’d apparently some day grow into.

“Aww,” Riju said. “Good night Patricia.”

“Did you just name my dog?” Revali asked.

“Do you have something better?” Riju replied.

He half wanted to come up with another name just out of spite, but nothing was really coming to him. “Fine,” he said. “Patricia. I don’t care.”

They watched an ocean-based nature documentary that night, Riju now entirely captivated by the seals.

So captivated in fact that she made him literally pause the movie while she went to make popcorn on the stove, despite how she could have easily still half-watched from the kitchen.

At least she wasn’t a horse girl he supposed while stealing a handful from her bowl as she returned.

He checked his phone absentmindedly at that thought and was surprised when Riju blurted. “You know that’s incredibly rude right?”

He glanced up. “Who do you think paid for that popcorn?”

“That’s not what I meant,” she said, fully turning to glare at him as she sat.

“Then how about instead of doing this whole difficult ‘coming- of-age’ song and dance you just tell me what exactly keeps getting you in a tizzy, princess?” Revali shot back in annoyance.

“You keep checking your phone right in front of me a billion times a day,” Riju said. “It’s been bordering on obsessive you know. I understand you don’t want me here, you’ve certainly made that abundantly clear but you could stand to hide it a little bit more.”

He looked at her dumbfounded. “That’s not… I mean… I-“

Sure he wanted this situation sorted out but that wasn’t why he kept checking his phone… Although why even was he so bothered then? Indignation maybe? Afterall, how dare Link ignore him like that right?

“Whatever,” Riju said and then crossed her arms and leaned further into the far end of the couch as if to say ‘I’m done talking.’

Well, that suited him just fine then. He resisted rolling his eyes.

When his phone pinged, he looked down expecting it to just be another message from Saki and Amali fawning over his new dog (who he supposed was now named Patricia).

But it wasn’t.

He stood up abruptly. “It’s Link,” he said.

“Ok,” she mumbled still staring at the footage of seals playing in the water.

He walked over to the kitchen and leaned on the island, taking a breath before opening the message.

‘Omg they’re so sweet. Where did you see them?’

He had to be kidding him.

Revali phoned immediately and this time, Link picked up.

“Link,” Revali said darkly.

‘…Hey Revali.’ Link typed.

“I hope you realize you have a LOT of explaining to do,” He snarled into the phone.

‘I know, I know, I am so sorry.’

“Well, how about you elucidate to me exactly why you decided to go AWOL for the last week and four days? Hmmm?” Revali asked dryly.

‘I needed to figure things out.’ Link typed. ‘Look into different foster care situations and orphanages… I don’t want her to end up somewhere she won’t thrive.’

“THAT IS A BULL EXCUSE LINK AND YOU KNOW IT. You should have kept me updated and in the loop since you were the one who roped me into this messed up situation and left her with-“ Revali cut himself off when he turned towards Riju and noticed her watching with indecipherable eyes. “You shouldn’t have ghosted me is all I’m saying,” he said evenly. “Riju and I BOTH deserve to know what’s going on.”

‘You’re right… I’m really sorry. I just didn’t feel like I could talk to you until I had a few options in place.’

“It’ll take more than that for me to accept an apology idiot,” Revali grumbled.

‘Yeah… I know. I can come as soon as tomorrow to take her back to the city… there’s some places that seem okay.’

A strange wave of anxiety crossed over the pilot. “And she’d… do alright there?” He asked. She had a tough road ahead of her. It just seemed so unfair. She was SMART, that much was definitely apparent, but she was also obviously several grade levels below where she was supposed to be in the Hyrule education system for no fault of her own. She’d be labelled an idiot and a lost cause immediately in any group home and she’d probably never catch up to the other kids. On top of all that she had a few other obvious issues… a superiority complex, poor responses to authority, whatever THAT was with the knife today.

Not to mention she still knew almost nothing about the world outside of Rito Village.

Link seemed to understand what Revali meant immediately given what he typed next. ‘I don’t know. It was really hard… but I ended up alright, right?’

Revali almost choked and he wanted to immediately shoot back ‘no you most certainly did not’ but he restrained himself.

Link continued to type, ‘I’m just glad she had this time with you to start things off. I’m sure she’s learned a lot of things. I think it will make a big difference. Thanks Revali. You really are the best person I know.’

“You’re just trying to butter me up to get me to forgive you,” Revali said trying his best to ignore the little dizzying flutters at the base of his stomach.

‘Did it work?’

“You’ll have to do much better.”

‘Okay, we can talk properly next time I’m in town alright? Also, you didn’t answer, should I come get her tomorrow?’

Revali was distracted from whatever he was about to say by the smell of something burning. “What is that-“ he had just started to say but then the fire alarm went off just as a tea towel Riju left of the burner behind him combusted into flames. “HOLY HYLIA!” He exclaimed and dropped the phone while he set himself on extinguishing the situation, throwing the towel in the sink, turning off the element and opening every window in the area.

He picked the phone back up in annoyance. “Yeah okay, she has a lot more to learn before we can release her onto Hyrule. You’re right, we can’t afford to have another YOU running around. She’s staying right here for now until she figures out how to be a functional person.” He said that last bit very purposely glaring at Riju. 

Dispite his glare she almost looked happy, albeit a little surprised.

“Why does it look like you're trying not to smile?!: He snapped at her. "Listen you little uncivilized gremlin, You don’t leave the stove on when you’re done with it and you CERTAINLY never put rags on the burners!”

Riju just nodded with wide eyes and Revali glanced at Link’s texts. Mostly just exclamations of confusion during the event.

There was another ping. ‘Alright. I’ll still be there in a few days anyway. You’ll probably get the call from the school tomorrow, I’ve got another desert expedition lined up.’

Another terrible feeling crunched in Revali’s gut as the thought occurred to him that it was possible Link was only now trying to reach out and apologize because he needed him again.

“I’ll work out the details with the admin lady,” Revali said coldly.

‘and Revali?’

“What?”

‘I WAS trying to suck up to you but I also did mean it. You really are the best person I know.’

Revali just stared at the messages for a few extra seconds before he muttered a cross “Whatever,” and hung up.

He had of course forgotten that hanging up on Link did essentially nothing to Link given he only communicated through text.

‘Truly. You are.'

Shut up Link. If he kept saying things like that Revali was going to forgive him and he didn’t want to do that yet, at least not so easily. ‘Link,’ he finally texted back. ‘I swear to the Goddess, you are NEVER allowed to ignore my calls again. I don’t care even if you are at the MOVIES. You are keeping that thing on vibrate and walking straight out of the theatre to answer me, do I make myself clear?’

‘Crystal,’ Link replied.

Satisfied, Revali returned to the couch. Riju eyed him warily before slowly shuffling over until she was leaning on his arm. “And now what’s this?” He asked in exasperation. “Get off of me!”

She didn’t listen and merely continued to eat popcorn and lean all of her weight on him and he just sighed in annoyance. He swore everyone was always so clingy and intent on using him as a pillow these days. “You’re heavy,” he grumbled but made no further effort to push her off.

Link continued to text him throughout the night and despite his insistence that he was still angry, Revali responded to each and every message. So glued to the little screen was he, he did not manage to see a single bit of the documentary from the call onwards. He even kept his exasperation to a minimum when Link sent him the built-up stockpile of the over thirty horse pictures he had accumulated since they had stopped texting.

He wondered if he’d ever get around to telling Link he didn't even like horses?

Chapter Text

Revali, at present, was cleaning a glass.

The same glass he had been cleaning for the last ten minutes.

It was now, certifiably, the cleanest piece of dishware in all of Rito Village but he hadn’t looked down in quite a while to have noticed.

Afterall, the once dirty dish was really nothing but a thinly veiled excuse to perch himself by the sink and glare out the window atop it towards Riju and Link.

He will admit he had been surprised to see Link at his doorstep an entire day before he was supposed to fly him back out to the desert. Surprised but pleased. After all, this surely meant that Link had come, figurative hat in hand, to grovel and plead for Revali’s sweet mercy and forgiveness.

It was the proper move to make of course but Revali had long stopped expecting Link to ever do anything the correct way.

That slightly pleased surprise had transformed to confusion as Link had immediately proceeded to whisk Riju off for a private discussion with nothing more than a quick hello towards Revali himself.

It of course did not take very long for that confusion to change again into indignation and soon after that, full-blown anger.

He had never been so livid in his entire life. Hadn’t Link promised he’d apologize properly once he was back in town? In fact, he INSISTED he’d make it up to him but thus far this has been the most lacklustre apology he had ever received in his entire life.

This rocks-for-a-brain blond little twink….

He once had every intention of forgiving Link (after making him work for it a bit as always) but now he was remembering why he had been mad in the first place and was feeling less and less inclined.

Link and Riju had been out there for almost an hour now- which meant that was AN HOUR that Link had kept Revali waiting.

The pilot had spent the first fifteen minutes in the house pacing. Then he had resorted to pulling each item from the dishwasher out one by one in order to personally wash it by hand and keep a steadfast eye on them.

The pair had taken up residence at a picnic table a couple dozen metres from the house under a shady maple tree. (A small construction by the house’s previous owners for certain as Revali would never see the appeal of eating food where leaves and bugs would continuously rain down on you) They sat across from one and other and Link wrote in his field notebook, passing it over for her to read and respond to.

Or at least… that’s how it looked at first. Revali however had been watching for an awfully long time. Enough to notice Link was just as often recording the things Riju told him with careful attention as he was drafting up responses.

As the time expanded, Riju became more animated, excitedly miming out actions and pointing at spots on the picnic table as if creating an imaginary map and Link simply nodded and wrote, no longer even showing her what he was writing.

Finally, FINALLY, she got up and walked towards the house while Link remained behind, still scribbling furiously.

Revali looked down and noticed the cup for the first time, sparkling over the now lukewarm dishwater, devoid of even the most stubborn of limescale stains.

Riju came in and gestured behind her casually.

“Link says he wants to talk to you now.”

The glass shattered in Revali’s hand.

Riju’s expression for one short second could be described as nothing other than completely inscrutable. “Oh,” she said. “Okay, no. Whatever this is, keep me out of it. I’ll be in my room.”

He barely heard her, already stomping out to where Link waited.

The blond had rearranged himself sometime before Revali had gotten outside, notebook now put away. He sat on the table part of the unit with his legs stretched comfortably onto the bench.

His hair rustled in the wind and his eyes were closed as he lulled his head back to face upwards to the leaf canopy above which dappled him in a mosaic speckled sunlight.

It was a serine image that, of course, only made Revali angrier.

“You have a LOT OF NERVE calling me out here like you own the place when you’re not but a visitor on my own personal property!” Revali began to rant as soon as he got close enough, unable to contain his fury a moment longer.

Link turned to him with the slightest bit of surprise.

“Oh what is that expression supposed to be?” Revali asked incredulously, cocking a hip as he gestured to the blond in annoyance. “What did you think was going to happen here? That I was going to come running out here like Patricia when her name is called, pull you into my arms and slobber all over your face?”

(He had of course forgotten in the moment that Link had no idea who Patricia was. Link merely rose an eyebrow)

“Even YOUR brain can’t be that completely barren Link, HONESTLY. Has it slipped your mind that I am still PISSED at you?” He shook his head, “I can’t believe what Riju came in and said after you left me waiting for over an hour: Link will see you now.”

Link just looked at him so Revali repeated himself, throwing his arms up in the air. “LINK. WILL. SEE. YOU. NOW.”

He strut forward and glared down at the audacious-in-all-the-wrong-ways little blond. “LINK should have been GROVELLING at my feet and BEGGING for forgiveness the second he made the moronic decision to come show his face again.”

Link tried to begin to sign but Revali gripped both his hands and smiled a very unsettling and sardonic smile. “Oh no my brutish little gremlin, this is no longer your turn to talk. You missed that window.”

He backed up and glowered. “I don’t know why I expected anything more from an arsonist like yourself though, I know how much you enjoy creating both literal and figurative DUMPSTER FIRES that the rest of us have to deal with in our day to day.”

He paused now to take stock of how Link was registering his admonishments. While he had expected some semblance of remorse, Link just squinted at him in the most unreadable of ways. Actually… there was a weird curl to the corners of his lips that Revali had originally mistaken as a grimace. However, the way they quivered made it almost look like he was… holding back a laugh.

Oh that BETTER have not been the case.

‘it’s...’ Link started to sign but paused as if knowing what he was going to say next would be a mistake. ‘it’s hard to take you seriously in those gloves’

Those… gloves?

Revali looked down and realized for the first time that he had rushed out of the house in such a hurry that he had forgotten he was still wearing his dishwashing gloves. “Ah,” he said. “Oh,” he said in understanding. This particular pair had a rather unfortunate design: neon pink cuffs with embroidered cursive text on both reading ‘DIVA’.

Revali slowly redistributed the weight in his stance to one that was a little less on the nose. “I was washing the dishes,” he finally said.

‘and you wear gloves for that?’ Now Link just looked bewildered.

“Of course I wear gloves! I’m not some heathen who lets his hands get all pruney and-“ Revali took begrudging note of the way his hands had gone back up onto his hips in the most diva-ish of fashions and took a deep breath before removing the gloves.

“Shut up,” Revali said, despite Link not saying (obviously) or doing anything. “It was the only pair they had at the general store because apparently dishes are a woman’s job in this backwater regressive town.”

Link was still holding back a smirk and Revali grit his teeth, “I’ll remind you that rubber gloves have a secondary purpose. I could put these back on and murder you right here and now without leaving a single trace of evidence. Consider that before your next sign.”

‘I think the store knew exactly who would be buying washing gloves,’ Link replied, clearly not taking Revali’s threat to heart. While no murder ensued, Link did have to duck as said gloves were hurled at him with mach speed.

When Link had stopped cowering, he found himself trapped in place. Revali had surged forward in annoyance and slammed his hands down onto the table on either side of him. “You are absolutely infuriating. I hate you,” he snarled.

Link just blinked and his expression changed to something a little darker and quite a bit more mischievous (because apparently that was possible).

He gripped at the neck of Revali’s sweater.

“What are you doing?” Revali asked, caught off guard. “Stop it,” he added. “You’re going to stretch it out.”

Link began to pull him in and Revali grew alarmed, shaking his head ‘no’ in mute horror. This was not what was happening here. No sir. This was not some dramatic tv-scene where the characters went from fighting to jamming their tongues down each other’s throats.

Still, not wanting his shirt to get ruined (and for no other reason), he only fought him a little bit and slowly relented inwards to the pull.

Link merely nodded his head ‘yes’ in response to Revali’s unspoken no. His eyes were positively glimmering. Goddess damnit, Revali forgot about those eyes. He forgot about them every. single. time. They softened as Link smiled at him with some amusement and they crinkled in the corners in a way Revali had never noticed before. Then again, this was his first time seeing them so up close. Their faces were only mere breathes away.

The only thing he could manage to say (read: fumble out awkwardly) was “I told you to wear sunscreen.”

Link actually stopped tugging on him to look at him in perplexment.

“You are literally younger than me, certainly much too young to have crow’s feet,” Revali said, throat still dry. Yes, they were certainly a result of all that time he spent out in the sun combined with all those years of not moisturizing. He would never ever admit out loud though that he found his smile lines vaguely attractive. If anything, they only made those already hypnotizing puppy dog eyes even more persuasive. Probably because they feigned a maturity Link didn’t actually possess.

Link let go of Revali’s collar to huff out a few almost breathless laughs.

Good. He ruined the mood- whatever mood that might have been. He had honestly gotten nervous there for a sec-

Done laughing at his expense, Link flung his arms around Revali and pulled him back in, expression now smouldering. Revali’s heart just about jumped out of his chest.

Traitorously, all his eyes could do was scrunch shut in anticipation while Link drew him the rest of the way in.

While he did end up feeling the ghost of Link’s lips, it wasn’t where he had been expecting (dreading). No this wasn’t a kiss. Link had slid past Revali’s face and instead his mouth skimmed along the shell of Revali’s ear. Their cheeks were brushing and a nice smell invaded Revali’s senses; A cedarwood musk along with something else? Sage?

Link’s breath was hot. Everything was hot. Revali couldn’t tell which one of them it was radiating from but there was a fire between their skin.

Then something Revali hadn’t expected:

“Revali,”

The whisper was quiet, and he almost stopped breathing in order to hear what came next.

‘I’m sorry,’

He hadn’t thought of it before but of course Link could whisper, it was only his vocal cords that were damaged after all.

The final bit of fight was beaten right out of the pilot and it wasn’t fair. He wasn’t supposed to go down with a single “I’m sorry”.

Link repeated himself. “I’m sorry.” He pulled Revali in even tighter, which was a little logistically awkward with the picnic table in the way. Revali’s shins dug uncomfortably into the wood of the bench and Link had to lean back at a weird angle to pull him in closer. While both of Link’s arms had originally been wrapped around his neck, one slid down to press into that spot between his shoulder blades. The result was Revali being lurched forward such that he was almost on his elbows hovering over Link and their chests were pressed firmly together. Their heartbeats were squared off and boxing against each other, landing thunderous blow after thunderous blow.

Wide-eyed and confused, Revali only re-captured his bearings when Link then whispered, “I should have thought about how I was hurting you.”

The pilot flew up and took several steps away, crossing his arms in outrage. Link blinked at him in, still draped backwards on the tabletop.

“Excuse me?” Revali asked. “Hurt me? Don’t get ahead of yourself! ‘Annoyed me?’ Yes. ‘Inconvenienced me?’ Absolutely, but I assure you that you certainly didn’t manage to hurt me.”

Link didn’t look like he believed a word Revali said and he wondered with annoyance just how much Riju told him while they had been sitting out here unsupervised in the hour before.

‘good,’ Link signed. ‘you know I’d never want to do that.’

Revali scratched at his head erratically in lieu of a response, trying to settle how overwhelmed he was still feeling. (and get over the fact that he had been about to let Link kiss him earlier. He was going to be thinking about that for a while)

Link had finally sat back up but he was still looking at Revali with those GODDESS DAMNED EYES and it was painful.

He focused on looking anywhere but at Link directly and that was how he was the first to notice Riju approaching.

“Hey,” Riju said, “I got invited to a sleepover at Notts’ place.”

“I see,” Revali said, still out of sorts.

“Okay, so this is still weird,” Riju acknowledged. “Good luck with that then.”

She headed off and Revali’s phone pinged. It was Amali ‘you’re welcome 😉’

He had never wanted to smash it to pieces so badly. Instead, he pocketed the device and looked to Link, who very much had the suspiciously pleased look of someone who had orchestrated this whole thing. ‘Dinner?’ He signed.

Revali took a long hard breath. “Yeah, I’d say you owe me that much at least.”

‘The bar?’ Link asked.

“What so the whole town can see us sitting together and fabricate more wild stories?” Revali asked. (as if the things that always ended up going down when they were alone weren’t somehow even MORE outrageous)

‘Then I’ll cook for you?’

“Alright… I suppose that sounds somewhat agreeable.”

Chapter Text

“What are you even doing?” Revali asked with weary fatigue. “Link?” He tried again when he got no response. He rubbed his temples, the barking was going to give him a terrible headache if it continued… and it would. It always did.

For whatever reason, the first thing Link thought to do when Patricia came bounding out to greet them at the door was freeze in place and glare. They’d remained in that stand-off now for more than a minute: Link staring her down and the puppy growing positively rabid with excitement.

They really needed to work on socializing her… and him.

“PATRICIA,” Revali finally snapped. “Stop. Sit. Behave.”

She didn’t listen. Of course she didn’t. In dog years she was well into her terrible twos stage. She didn’t listen to a word anyone said. Not even Riju of whom she seemed to like considerably more between the pair.

This same song and dance had played out already with every other visitor Revali had in the last few days and it was starting to wear a little on his sanity. It took Patrica forever to calm down when someone new came by. Peace had become quite the fragile thing in his household. They should have just gone to the bar after all. she had finally been so settled on Riju’s bed before this disruption.

“You’re not helping anything here Link,” he scolded. “You either need to ignore her fully or pet her. This staring thing you’re doing is just winding her up even more.”

Link held up a hand in the universal sign of ‘wait’ towards Revali but didn’t let his eyes waver from Patricia for even a second while doing so.

A thought struck Revali with such ferocity that it caused him actual pause. Maybe Link was scared of dogs?

The idea seemed downright ludicrous at first. This was, after all, the same man who once tried to smuggle a live venomous snake in his backpack and who, another time, took on a wolf with a soup ladle.

The idea that he might fear a harmless puppy… that couldn’t be possible right?

However, the more he thought about it, the more it started to make just a little bit of sense. If Link grew up in the wild, he never would have had any exposure to domestic animals until later in his life. Maybe dogs just threw him for an utter loop. He was a survivalist first and foremost after all, and surely an animal you didn’t understand was the most dangerous kind of all.

Revali examined the tight set of Link’s jaw and his ridged posture with keen interest. He hated to say it, but it really couldn’t be anything else. He was scared.

Oh who was he kidding? He didn’t hate to say it at all. This was a downright delightful turn of events.

Well, well, well. How unexpectedly cute. Endearing even. It wasn’t every day that Link actually acted like a real human with fears and vulnerabilities and whatnot. A good half of the time he was more like some supernatural cryptid who was beyond that sort of-

Revali had been so engrossed in reading Link that he hadn’t noticed how Patricia’s barking had begun to slow, but he certainly noticed when it stopped. It jarred him from his thoughts.

He glanced down.

Patricia was now entirely silent and laying down before Link, her face rested on top of her front paws in what looked like a gesture of contented submission.

Link turned to Revali with a victorious smile.

Revali’s expression was indescribable.

Alright. Nevermind. He had been dead wrong. Link wasn’t scared of her at all. He was just doing another one of his weird impossible Link things.

“What did you just do?” Revali asked accusingly. Honestly though, he didn’t know why he even bothered asking. He wouldn’t be happy with any answer Link gave anyway.

‘Asserted myself as A-L-P-H-A’ Link signed.

Yeah. No. That was absolute bull and as expected, Revali regretted the question.

What Link just did wasn’t a thing. You can’t just stare down a dog. He had read an extensive amount of puppy training books in the last few days, and while he was still a novice at owning a dog, he at least knew that much.

He also wasn’t surprised in the slightest though.

Because this was Link.

Revali walked over to the kitchen and grabbed himself a bottle of chardonnay and an empty glass, knowing right off the bat this was something he was going to need if he planned on surviving the night. He spared no time whatsoever in treating himself to a generous pour (a right-to-the-brim sort of generous) before perching himself on one of the island stools. “At least it’s quiet,” he admitted tiredly. “I think I’d almost forgotten what that even sounds like after these last few days. I don’t know whether I want to kiss you for that or punch you for making it look that easy.”

Link walked into the kitchen area as well. Patricia happily padded along behind him, like a perfect little angel. No loyalty whatsoever in that one.

He supposed something deep down in her most basic primal instincts recognized and connected to the wild in Link. Or something stupid like that. With a lack of any better explanation, he was best off to just go with that.

‘I think I have a preference,’ Link signed, leaning coyly forward on the other side of the island.

“I’m sure you do,” Revali muttered. He had JUST begun to forget what had transpired (and more importantly, what had almost transpired) out in the yard.

Link backed up and surveyed his temporary workspace. He opened each drawer and cupboard, inspecting what he had at his disposal with a critical eye.

With nothing else to do in the meantime, Revali took a swig of his wine and glared. He was still honestly caught up in that Patricia nonsense. Of course he was salty. He’d been trying to control her for the last three days to no avail and he HATED failing. Even more than that, he hated LOSING. “You know, this whole sexy, rugged common-sense-doesn’t-apply-to-me wildman schtick you’ve got going on wears a little thin after a while. It’s exhausting trying to understand you sometimes, much less predict what you’ll do next.”

He hadn’t noticed the way Link had paused at that. Revali was someone who got a little too immersed in his own words after all to actually bother watching to see how the other party was ever responding.

“It just hurts my brain. I don’t know why I still try to get you. I’d live so much happier if I just learned to accept everything and not ask questions. You know, in that mindless way everyone else always does. They look so happy living in their simple-minded ignorance.”

Link slid back to his spot on the other side of the island and leaned his chin onto his hand, elbow propping him up on the polished granite.

“What’s with that grin?” Revali asked dryly.

‘You think I’m sexy?’ he signed in an almost languid manner.

What? Why would he? Did he say that?

Oh Goddess, he did.

“You heard that wrong,” Revali said quickly. “I meant you play into that stereotype. You know… Of that typical action hero type. That wild survival man character... and he’s usually at least conventionally attractive. I was referring to the guy in the films who always plays the archetype not…” Revali trailed off, finding that maybe his panicked word jumble might actually be even more damning than just not saying anything at all.

Link looked conflicted on whether he was going to let it go or tease Revali more. Ultimately, he wisely let it go. He of all people knew when it was best to stop poking a bear after all. Getting Revali all worked up was fun but there was a definite breaking point where his embarrassment would bubble over and the night would end prematurely. After all, over eighty percent of any of Revali’s more complex emotions usually transformed into anger as a default when he didn’t know what to do with them.

‘I like it,’ Link signed.

“What?” Revali asked.

The small pad of sticky notes that Revali used for his fridge memos sat on the counter space beside Link so he quickly grabbed it and the ballpoint pen and began to scrawl. When he was finished, He stuck the note to Revali’s forehead playfully.

Unamused, Revali tore it off and read.

‘That you still ask questions. That you’re always still trying to understand me. I like it a lot. It’s very conventionally attractive of you ;)’

Revali ripped the note in half, completely unamused.

“Just make the food,” he said. “You’re still a long way off an adequate apology you know.”

Really. While his flirting was usually annoying and unwelcome on its own, it was even more so the case right now when he still hadn’t made up for that whole Riju situation. It kind of seemed like Link was trying to glaze over the whole thing which was infuriating to say the least.

Link turned to the fridge with a frustratingly charming lopsided smile and pointed at it in silent question.

“Yeah. You can use whatever,” Revali said apathetically. “I’m not saving any ingredients for anything in particular.”

When Link opened it, he clearly wasn’t expecting to be greeted by a massive chillfin trout.

To be honest, in all of his fluster and with Link’s sudden arrival, Revali had forgotten he’d moved it there from the freezer last night as well.

It was kind of satisfying to catch Link off guard for once and not the other way around. Link just gestured at it again in perplexment.

“I’ve been fishing a lot lately,” Revali said. “Teba and Harth keep dragging me out. They’re worried that I’ve been particularly stressed lately.”

A slight grimace crossed Link’s face. It wasn’t hard to put two and two together and figure out what stress Revali was alluding to. He pulled out the fish and checked the spice cabinet. His face twisted in dissatisfaction as he surveyed his options.

Wordlessly, he walked out the door leaving Revali utterly confused.

“Link?” Revali called out after him.

Nothing.

That man was just impossible. Revali sipped on his glass and gave Patricia a tired ‘can you believe that guy?’ look.

After a moment’s pause, he glanced around to check if the coast really was clear.

It was.

He slid off the stool and bent down to stare at Patricia intensely.

To his distraught horror, the only result was a brutal mauling of excited puppy kisses.

He should have figured that wouldn’t work. That was, in fact, as he’d expected, a Link-only thing.

Link walked back into the house and Patricia quickly hopped off the assaulted pilot to return to trailing after him, once again on her absolute best behaviour. Revali glared at him bitterly from his place on the floor. That’s when he noticed what was in Link’s hands and gained a whole other reason to blow up.

“ARE THOSE MY ARMOURANTHS?” He yelled and quickly sprang up to race to the nearest window.

Sure enough, there was an ugly little bald patch in his flower garden. “You absolutely feral idiot,” Revali groaned mournfully. “THAT WASN’T A HERB GARDEN THEY WERE DECORATIVE.”

Link just blinked at him in confusion. ‘you like to garden?’

“Saki and Amali got me into it. They thought it would be good for me,” Revali said. He very purposely narrowed his eyes when he pointedly said through gritted teeth: “They say I’ve been stressed lately.”

This time Link actually cringed and Revali aggravatedly reached for his wine glass for the hundredth time that evening but stopped himself. Instead, he turned around, walked over to the couch, and collapsed with a hand over his eyes to ward off the oncoming migraine. “Whatever. If I spend any more time around you, I’m just going to end up drunk. It’s not like you can unpluck them so just…” he sighed a disgruntled sigh, “…do your thing.”

There was silence for a moment and then the sound of Link slowly getting back to work. This sure was one mess of an apology.

He found himself getting drowsy as he half-listened to the ambient noises of food preparation. Perhaps he had a bit too much wine on an empty stomach as well. He was drifting off when there was an abrupt clattering sound and a distinct “Ah!” that he vaguely recognized as Link’s voice from his rare vocalizations.

He shot up to see the blond cradling his hand and immediately raced over.

A single drop of blood fell onto the tiled floor despite Link’s best effort to manually hold it in and Revali surveyed the scene, quickly figuring out what went wrong. Link must have tried to empty the sink that Revali had been washing dishes in earlier. The same sink Revali had broken that glass in.

He swore a few choice expletives under his breath and sprinted to the bathroom to retrieve the first aid kit.

When he got back, he tossed the thing on the counter and sat Link onto one of the stools, lifting him by the hips to help him hop up without the use of his hands.

It was lucky that blood wasn’t one of the many things Revali was squeamish about. He coaxed Link into letting go of the wound and quickly set to blotting at it with a warm wet towel. Even he cringed when he applied the disinfectant. It was a nastily and painful-looking thing. While the inch-long gash was fortunately quite shallow, it was across the folds of a few awkwardly mobile places in the hand, running from some spot on Link’s palm to an area between his thumb and pointer finger.

“On the bright side, somehow, you’ve avoided needing stitches but you shouldn’t use that hand much- if at all- for a while. You’ll only disrupt the healing,” Revali said. It was a small miracle really. There wasn’t exactly a doctor in the village so getting medical help would have meant driving a town over.

Link lifted his hands to sign and Revali quickly put them back down. “No. What did I just say?”

The gravity of the situation suddenly sunk in for the blond. He couldn’t sign anything too dexterous. Typing and writing would be a little more difficult as well.

Revali actually felt awful. It didn’t escape his realization that this was kind of if not entirely his own fault. How did he forget about the broken glass in the sink?

He was already fully aware of the resistance he was going to get for this next part. “I think it’s safe to say your desert expedition is out for tomorrow too. It’s already one of the most dangerous places in Hyrule, you can’t go out there with one hand all but inoperable.” Not to mention the mental image of all that sand and an open wound sent innumerable shivers up Revali’s spine.

Link vigorously shook his head in defiance.

He bloody knew it.

“We’ll talk about it later,” Revali said, and by ‘talk about it later’ he of course meant that he would tell him no again tomorrow and Link would no doubt fight him on it again… and probably win because Link always got his way in the end.

The guilt churned thickly in his stomach at the thought of Link struggling out there with the added handicap. Hell, he felt guilty leaving Link out there last time when he was in prime condition.

He was silent while he dressed the wound, wrapping the bandage as tight as he could without cutting off circulation. He might have gone a little overboard with the gauze, determined to somewhat prevent Link from being able to fold his hand or move his thumb. He was pretty certain without an actual physical barrier, Link would keep using it and prevent the cut from ever closing in his own pigheadedness. The end result was something quite padded and clunky. (but it was necessary, he’d like to see Link try to scale a cliff with that)

 “Listen,” he finally said, still holding Link’s hand in both of his. “Don’t worry about dinner. It’s fine. We’re even. I forgive you. Sorry about the broken glass I’ve…” he separated the thought with another sigh. “…been under a lot of stress lately.”

A deep frown crossed Link's face. Without the ability to express himself easily in words at that moment, he chose instead to slowly lift his uninjured hand to the side of Revali’s face. His thumb brushed along the bristly short hairs of his undercut. Revali never had quite kicked the military habit of shaving below the beret line, even after he had left and could start growing his hair out.

Link slipped his other hand out of Revali’s grasp and placed it over his own heart. He couldn’t quite ball it into a fist the way the sign warranted but the slow deliberate circle he traced around his chest was an obvious attempt to sign the word ‘sorry.’

“It’s not your fault,” Revali said. “Well actually, it is but it doesn’t matter. It’s fine.” After all, it hardly felt like Link owed him anything anymore.

He stood up and returned to the couch to plop down, utterly drained. Link came over and sat next to him.

Patricia had long since sauntered over to her dog bed and curled up in the center, conked out and obvious to the world around her.

Link lifted his hands as if to sign a few times but continually stopped himself in frustration.

Finally, he just scooted over until his leg was pressed up tight against the pilot’s and craned his neck upwards to whisper “It doesn’t hurt that much.”

Revali shivered at the feeling of warm breath ghosting along his more sensitive skin. “Well, that’s good,” he said, using a stunning amount of self-control to keep his tone measured. “Just rest here, I can go finish dinner. Feel free to watch tv or-“ He had moved to get up but Link’s good hand pressed onto his thigh to keep him seated.

Well.

That was a place he was certainly touching right now. Why did he always seem to reach for there?

He eyed Link expectantly, erroneously thinking if he made a show of giving him his attention, he’d let go of what was entirely too stimulating a part of the body to be gripping those grubby little climber’s fingers into right now.

Link, however, never did what Revali was expecting him to. Instead, he used Revali’s leg for the stability to boost himself up, triggering what could only be described as the beginning of Revali’s latest mental breakdown.

“Link,” he choked through gritted teeth.

“I’m sorry about the Riju thing,” Link whispered. “I know it’s bad that I left her here without your permission.”

Despite Revali’s assurances, Link seemed dead set on apologizing. It was a shame Revali was having FAR too hard a time right now to focus on anything he was saying. “I shouldn’t have ignored your texts and calls either.”

“Alright, alright,” Revali said, eyes clenched shut. “Yes I get it, you’re very terribly and adequately sorry.” He ushered Link back. “Now please remove that hand immediately and never place it there again.”

The expression Link was wearing when he had calmed down enough to look at him again was one of dissatisfaction. He clearly had more to say…

…And he was apparently going to say it. Even if it meant holding Revali down to do so. Which he promptly did.

Link pounced in a flash. In one fluid movement, he flung a leg over the pilot and was on his lap in torso-hugging straddle. (quite telling of the time he spent with horses)

Revali stared at him in wide-eyed surprise.

Link was also surprised but not by his own actions. Somehow, on complete mechanical instinct, Revali had managed to grab a couch cushion and jam it between them in that split second before Link had, for lack of a better term, mounted him.

Link looked back up at Revali.

“…safety buffer,” Revali explained lamely.

He could see the gears in Link’s head turning as he mouthed the words ‘safety buffer’ in awe. He wiggled his hips experimentally, testing it.

The slight friction caused Revali to nearly short circuit. “JUST BECAUSE IT’S THERE DOESN’T GIVE YOU A FREE PASS TO HUMP IT LIKE AN UNNEUTERED DOG.”

Link stopped moving immediately.

“Do that again and I’m kicking you off,” Revali warned. Though the question of why he hadn’t just said ‘I’m kicking you off,’ was going to haunt him for weeks.

Link nodded and tried to keep still after that, moving only his upper body to grip Revali’s shoulders and return his face to his ear. That cedar scent Revali had picked up on back at the picnic table returned.

What was that?

It couldn’t be cologne. The man didn’t even know what facewash was. That would be a level of personal care he could never even dream of reaching. Aftershave then? He was pretty certain in all Link’s twinky glory that he was incapable of growing facial hair in the first place. Revali would have at least seen some sort of stubble otherwise when he picked him up from his longer expeditions.

“It’s hard,” Link whispered and Revali’s eyes snapped back open in alarm.

“With the position we’re in, I hope to the GODDESS nothing is hard right now Link… I swear.”

Link’s head shook. ‘I mean the position Riju is in right now. It’s hard. I was there too once. It’s different but also the same.’

“And are you ever even going to tell me what exactly that position even is?” Revali asked dryly.

Link remained silent. He didn’t think so. Revali rolled his eyes, not that Link would see it. “Fine. Keep your secrets. I’m going to find out eventually.”

‘You will. I promise,’ Link agreed. He sighed and again Revali’s heart picked up from that strange feeling of breath racing against his bare skin. ‘Even before Riju showed up, I had been thinking a lot about how much better it would have been if I had a Revali when I was taken to the city… or when I first started school.’

“And what exactly is ‘a Revali’ to you?” Revali asked.

There was a quiet exhale that somehow sounded like a smile. “Someone who will talk at you for months before he even realizes you can’t talk back,” Link said, “and then will keep talking at you anyway.”

Link might have full-heartedly meant it as a compliment but Revali was still immensely embarrassed by that first summer.

“You would have made everything so much better. Like you do now,” Link said. Gauze and gentle fingertips grazed over the hand Revali had planted on Link’s hip. (When did he put that there?) “I wanted Riju to have that start with you. Sorry, it was selfish. You’re the kindest person I know and I took advantage of it.”

What does one even say to that? It’s the nicest thing anyone’s ever said about him. Revali slumped in defeat and leaned his face a little against Link’s. “Why do you smell so good?” It wasn’t what he meant to ask but, then again, the rest of his thoughts were racing around rather quickly and so it was just a little bit too hard to get a good selective grasp on any one coherent thing in particular.

Link leaned back just enough that Revali could see his cheeky grin before he leaned back in. “The lady at the store picked it out when I said I had a second date coming up.”

.

.

.

.

Revali’s brain had screeched to sudden smoking a halt. A what now? “Please,” He said, grabbing Link by the shoulders and forcing him back to look at him. “What about this exactly made you think it was another-“ he took stock of their positions. Even with the protective pillow, this was pretty darn intimate. “I can’t believe you tricked me into another damn date,” he uttered.

Link’s smile was blinding.

It was getting harder and harder to pretend to not notice Link’s advances when he was getting so bold. He never should have given him this much leeway. Revali sighed and gently pushed him off his lap. “For the record, I didn’t consent to this,” Revali said. “As far as I’m concerned this was your apology dinner and nothing else. Do you hear me?”

He didn’t like the impish patronizing grin he got in response.

Sometimes he really wondered what Link’s intentions were here. He really figured at first it was just a game to the researcher to flirt with his similar-aged (and obviously intensely attractive) pilot. A way to make difficult field seasons more bearable for himself. Deciding it was annoying but harmless, Revali had, for the most part, willfully ignored it all.

Now though, it was hard to guess exactly what Link wanted given how far this was escalating. It was concerning.

Link didn’t seem like someone who looked at things in the long term but Revali was and there was one truth he was always keenly aware of when it came to their relationship:

It was temporary.

Link was a student in a transitionary part of his life.

He’d graduate someday. Get a job somewhere that certainly wasn’t Rito Village (somewhere he could actually use his fancy UofH degree), and all of this would come to an end.

This no longer felt that harmless.

But Revali didn’t have it in him to make it stop either.

Chapter Text

Revali didn’t even bother with the door. Not when Amali’s kitchen window was wide open and giving a full view of her happily humming a tune to herself inside, living the charming old-school cartoon princess/perfect little wife fantasy.

The absolute nerve of her going about her day in such content domesticity after everything she put him through last night!

He leaned on the sill dramatically and glowered. “I’m sure you’re feeling quite proud of yourself right now.”

She was hardly caught off guard. She didn’t even pause her work, continuing to roll out the dough of her pie crust. “Oh hi there neighbour,” she said jovially, “fancy seeing you here.” She grabbed a little tray of biscuits and held them out to the window as an offering.

Like hell he was going to take one. That was exactly how you lose the upper hand in an interrogation.

His eyes narrowed until she slowly removed them from out of his face.

“So tell me-” he said, “-and then you can go back to whatever delightful little Suzie-Homemaker nonsense you’ve got going on here: Did he put you up to it? Or did you see him drive in yesterday and come up with that scheme all on your own?”

“Scheme?” Amali asked, batting her innocent little doe eyes. “Goodness Revali, I haven’t the foggiest idea what you’re talking about.”

Bull.

“Taking in Riju last night,” he said, “Tell me Amali, who was the mastermind?” His grip on the windowsill tightened as his patience wore thin.

Amali laughed and, oh goddess, she sounded so fake. “You’re so paranoid sometimes. Everyone’s always up to some grand diabolical plot in your mind. You poor dear, so much distrust. The girls were just begging for a sleepover and I finally gave in, that’s all.”

“I don’t know if you think you’re doing me some ‘favour’ or something-” where favour was in VERY exaggerated air quotes, “-but when you pull stunts like this, you’re absolutely not. I actually could have used Riju last night. I try my hardest not to be alone with Link. Things get WEIRD when you people leave me alone with him.”

Now Amali actually DID stop what she was doing.

“Oh?” She asked in delight, “Something happened? No wait, come inside I want to hear everything.”

He rolled his eyes but walked back to the front door and over to the kitchen.

Such a long trip to finally just say: “Nothing happened.”

“Sure,” Amali said.

Saki’s grainy voice echoed through Amali’s phone. “Come on Revali, I know you’re itching to tell us.”

Revali looked at Amali incredulously.

“What?” Amali asked. “I was just updating Saki while you were taking your sweet time and she wants to hear what happened too. I put her on speaker.”

“NOTHING HAPPENED!” He screeched. “Goddesses! You people are all so exhausting! I don’t know why I even came in. I’m leaving.”

He had begun to storm back out but paused this time as he passed the living room couch.

There was a guy.

A BIG guy, with 70% of his weight being in his chest and shoulders alone. Seriously. The man was a hulking giant with a tortilla chip for a torso. It was baffling that Revali had ever managed to miss him on the first pass in, but he could be rather single-focused at times.

Revali just stood there with a quizzical expression, mouth slightly ajar.

The man smiled and warmly crinkled his friendly Father-Christmas eyes. “Hello,” he said with a deep baritone voice. Well, he only really got as far as “hel-“ before Revali turned away from him and walked back to the kitchen.

“Amali,” he said.

“Revali,” she acknowledged.

“There is a man in your house.”

“I’m quite aware. I may have mentioned it a few times, but I AM married you know.”

He peaked back into the living room. That was Kass?

That was Amali’s ‘super-sugary-sweet-honey-bun-mega-stud?’ Aka: ‘the most handsome man she had ever seen and fell in love with a first sight’?

Surely not.

This couldn’t be her gentlemanly so-called ‘Prince Charming’ who strolled into town fifteen years ago and had her fantasizing about their wedding in less than a day. Rumours were that at the end of the musician’s three-day tour stop in Rito Village she had pretty much thrown herself at him and BEGGED him to take her as his wife.

Poor girl.

He already knew from that story alone that there was something broken in her head but now seeing the man that all the fuss was about… Pitiable.

Then again, maybe that’s just what growing up in a town of twenty-five people does to you when there are no romantic candidates. Your standards really do plummet the longer you’re here. He could attest to that. Anyone can be a 10 when you have village-googles on. Before you know it, even less than a year into living in this monotony, you start thinking the first little blond ‘city-6’ who walks into town is actually kind of-

“You must be Revali,” Kass said.

“Charmed, I’m sure,” the pilot said dryly, still giving him a doubtful up and down.

“You are exactly like how Amali described.”

“You’re not.”

He didn’t say anything further on that. To delve into detail on that statement would have been considerably rude. Chalk it up to personal growth. Instead, he removed himself from the room and turned back to Amali. “You honestly mean to tell me he was real this whole time? I was becoming rather CERTAIN you were just making him up to cover for whatever illegal cloning experiments you’ve been doing on yourself in this remote secluded town.”

Amali gathered up Saki (her phone) and that same plate of biscuits she had offered him earlier and took them back into the living room. Revali followed, still ranting. “Or, honestly, I thought perhaps you were embarrassed for some reason to come out as the world’s first hylian woman capable of parthenogenesis- that is asexual reproduction.”

He was only half joking. Enough weird things have happened since he moved here that it really didn’t sound that odd anymore… or out of the realm of what he’d believe if someone told him that with a straight enough face.

Her daughters really did look exactly like her and nothing like him. Which of course, now seeing the father, was quite fortunate for them. Another comment Revali didn’t make. He really was such a saint sometimes. A man of immense self-control, empathy and restraint.  

Kass wasn’t by any means an unattractive man but some of his stronger features would not translate well onto a woman while Amali was… probably once a knock-out. Maybe. He could kind of see it if he squinted his eyes and tried to imagine what she’d have looked like a decade ago before she started using those Beedle face masks.

He was still squinting at Amali when she sat him down on the chair and took her own spot, sparkling happily next to her 6’6 ft husband. “So Revali, what exactly was so terrible about last night that you’re all up in a huff now?”

“Well,” he said, hugging himself uncomfortably, “if you must know, as unbelievable as it sounds, which it does- I mean honestly, where did he get the gall to try such a thing-“

“Revali,” Saki’s voice cut him off.

“Fine,” Revali said, “Listen. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think maybe he tried to make a move on me last night.”

There was a high pitch sound coming from the phone of utter delight, but he ignored that.

“No,” Amali said in a very clearly mocking tone. “Why ever would he do that? You wouldn't suppose he likes you or something insane like that? He's been so subtle though!"

“Of course he doesn't," Revali snapped. "He's just a flirt by nature. He's been like that since the first summer we started working together."

Amali shook her head at her husband with a grin.

"And anyhow, I’m certain it was just my imagination. Even if it wasn't, if he actually did try anything, I wouldn’t have let it happen.” That was a bit of a lie but he’d been assuring himself that for the entire morning and was starting to believe it.

“I don’t know, Riju informed me that you two were getting rather intimate right before she left,” Amali said.

Dammnit, she saw that after all.

“Riju is a chronic liar,” Revali shot back. It was true. Not in this one specific circumstance but a valid point to make nonetheless. It was important that Amali be informed on who she should and shouldn't source her information from in the future. “Anyway,” Revali said, “nothing ‘exciting’ happened that would get you harpies up and shrieking. Link tried to make an apology dinner, cut open his hand and now he’s out handy capped in the middle of the desert for three weeks like an IDIOT. I tried to convince him not to go this morning but of COURSE he’s too pig-headed to listen.”

“Oh no…” Saki said. “Aww Revali you must be so worried about him.”

"I'm worried about how annoying it's going to be when I have to go retrieve him if he's DEAD," Revali countered. "It'll be like finding a needle in a haystack. Even if I do recover his body, I won't get paid for it since my search and rescue contract is only for the Hebra Mountains. Really, he has no consideration for me at all when he makes his stupid decisions."

Amali frowned. “How hurt is he?”

“He can’t sign, he can barely write or type what with where the phone sits on his hand when he holds it. I don’t know what he’s expecting to get accomplished out there in the first place.”

“So you two didn’t even get to talk much last night,” Amali said, as if that was the more pressing issue than LINK PROBABLY DYING OUT IN THE DESERT.

He waved a hand dismissively, “No we had our talk and then some. He at least apologized for the Riju thing. Even when he can’t use his hands he can still whisper.”

Everyone just looked at him. Even Saki who wasn’t in the room to physically look at him, it sort of felt like she was staring through her picture on the display screen.

“What?” he asked.

“Sounds kind of intimate,” Amali said. “He would have had to have saddled on right up close for that.”

“You people,” Revali sighed. “Romanticise everything. It can be quite problematic you know. Have you ever paused to think that maybe you’re just treating me as a spectacle and maybe even, dare I say it, fetishizing the interactions of two coincidentally queer men who happen to work together?”

Amali gripped Kass’ shoulder in excitement. “Okay so this is a thing he does,” she said excitedly. “When you get too close to a truth he doesn’t want you to know or is embarrassed about. Instead of saying ‘no’ immediately, he tries to change the topic. If he’s REALLY flustered he’ll even attack your character.”

“Ah yes,” Saki weighed in, “Classic Revali.”

“I see,” Kass said. “Like a swordsman, he deflects and parries.”

Amali hugged his arm and stared up at him in adoration. “It’s so sexy the way you word stuff with your poet-talk. I want to have your baby.”

So THAT’S how that always happens.

Not to get too distracted from an important point of clarification though: “We did not get that close!” Revali protested. They had a safety pillow for Goddesses’ sakes!

“And only then, when you catch him, does he outright lie,” Amali said, still playing with the hem of Kass’s shirt with a sappy love-struck smile. (Side note, where the heck does that man buy shirts?)

“Yes, also textbook Revali,” Saki weighed in like a call-in expert.

“He’s a complicated person but eventually if you crack the code he’s the easiest read in the village. Can’t keep any of his own secrets to save his life.” Amali said and Kass nodded along to his wife’s explanation with slight perplexment.

Revali just seethed. They were all blabbering nonsense.

He doesn’t do that.

“So what happened Revali?” Amali asked. “Did he cuddle up right beside you on the couch?”

He scowled and she laughed, jokingly adding: “What? Did he maybe sit on your lap, nuzzle up close and whisper into your ear?”

Revali was, as always, so incredibly lucky that his skin tone for the most part hid his burning face. Though it felt possible the room went up a few degrees with how much he was radiating heat.

“Wha? I never- How? What would make you even-?” He struggled to compose himself. “You all need better things to do with your past time than sit around SPECULATING-“ They were staring again. “WHAT?” He snapped.

Saki’s voice rang out through the phone. “That… was another deflection.”

“IT WAS NOT!” Revali objected and stood up in a fluster. “I’m gone. Have a day. Know that if there was ANYONE else to talk to in this village, I would never speak to either of you again!”

“So see you Thursday for wine night?” Amali asked calmly, just as he’d reached the door.

“See you Thursday,” He said begrudgingly.

Chapter Text

Revali glared at the cooler in front of him with the hatred of a woman slighted.

Its lid was about an inch popped out and no matter how much he rearranged the contents or shoved, stomped and sat on it, it seemed it was just overfilled enough that the lid would quickly pop back up.

He was going to freaking lose it.

Giving up on his efforts for a minute, he glanced back at Riju. “Well?” He asked, unimpressed. “To what do I owe the immense pleasure of you coming to see me off?”

She had taken up residence on the little hangar workbench and was absentmindedly fiddling with her braid, entirely apathetic to his continuing mental breakdown. “Hmm?” She asked, glancing up. “Whatever could you mean? Obviously, I just thought it would be lonely if there was no one here to wish you a safe journey when you left.”

Absolute bunk.

“Well, I’m sure you’ll tell me soon enough what you actually want.” He said in disinterest and whipped around to quickly push back down on the cooler, as if he thought a surprise attack would somehow be more effective and he could catch it unawares. It was not and he did not. As it so turned out, one cannot surprise an inanimate object.

Riju was quiet for a moment. “Alright,” she finally admitted. “You changed the wifi password. Can’t you at least tell me what it is before you go?”

“No,” he said, kicking the icebox a little in pure spite. “Not until you work on your studies more. You’re an addict. I’m cutting you off.”

Riju rolled her eyes and tossed several workbooks down at his feet with a proud grin. “Would it change anything if I said that I finished grade 3 this morning? It's completely done. Feel free to check.”

Revali picked the math book at the top of the pile up and flipped through. It did look like she finished every problem. “Congratulations,” he said. “You’re now certifiably as smart as an eight-year-old. You’re still wildly behind though, I’ll have you know.”

Riju’s expression soured.

“Listen,” he sighed. “I’m putting my neck out for you. It’s causing me a TON of grief. Amali is the unofficial schoolteacher for the village since she’s already homeschooling eighty percent of the children and she keeps saying you could just go study with Notts. Do you even realize what I’m protecting you from? Goddesses! The second-hand embarrassment I get from picturing all your little friends realizing in an instant how behind you are from them makes me want to curl up and die and it's not even me!”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” she muttered “but can’t I just have a little break? Until you get back? It’s all so easy it’s MIND NUMBING. I learn way more useful stuff from the internet anyway.”

“You can have the weekend off like any other kid,” Revali said.

Riju groaned. “What are you? My mother? You sound just like Amali.”

That actually DID cause him to pause. He marched right up to her. “You close your filthy mouth. I most certainly do not!” Him?? Like Amali?? No way in hell. “Fine,” he snapped. “You’re right, I don’t care. If you’re content being behind all your peers forever, it's no skin off my nose. It’s not like I have any personal investment in your education. The password’s ‘firegremlin’ no spaces or capitals.” He winced even as he said it. It certainly made it apparent that a certain someone had been permeated into his mind lately.

She hopped up “Yay! Thanks Revali!”

“Oh?” Revali asked, raising an eyebrow. “Going so soon? I thought you were here to see me off.”

She was already halfway out the hangar door and froze before looking back and giving him an impatient grimace. “It’s not my fault you’re taking forever. Why do you even need all this?” She gestured loosely to the cooler. “You’re only going to be there for what? Thirty minutes? Do you really need an entire twelve pack of water bottles? And what even is this?!” She pulled out his squirt bottle of ice water and he quickly snatched it back.

“I’m like an exotic lurelinian palm- My skin needs constant humidity to maintain its gorgeous glowing complexion.” He raised his nose to the rafters and lightly misted himself as if it were the most expensive and luxurious of perfumes. Of course, he had also preemptively SMOTHERED himself with moisturizer.

“Your people always amused me,” Riju scoffed. “I loved watching you wade through the desert like newborn foals- somehow always both over and underprepared at the same time.”

Revali just looked at her and sighed. “I still can’t tell if the weird things you say are just standard creepy kid stuff or if I should be concerned.” Kids do love being obnoxious. They get sadistic joy out of saying things they know others won’t understand and it’s usually highly dramatized.

She put the squirt bottle back in and closed the icebox with ease.

Revali just looked at it in surprise.

“So then what should I do about lunch while you’re gone?”

“I already told you, I’m not your mother. Figure something out. Go begging at your friend’s house, eat candy, share the dog food with Patrica. I don’t care.”

He picked up the cooler and tossed it in the back seat. After a few more items, he was fully packed. He closed the plane door and paused.

“… I bought some of those microwave pizza pouch things you seem so enamoured with. They’re in the freezer,” he admitted begrudgingly.

“Yessss!” Riju pumped her fist.

“I’ve never seen anything more grossly high in sodium and calories and so devoid of any nutritional value,” Revali grumbled. Absolutely disgusting. “I hope you bloat and stay a shortie forever.”

“Unlikely,” Riju said, waving a dismissive hand, “I’ll be toned and towering over you in a matter of years. It’s in my genes.”

“Of course it is. You know what? Just go and scamper away, you’re just going to be in the way when I try to take off.”

“Okay great, don’t die, have fun!” Her well wishes were half-hearted at best and called over her shoulder as she raced out.

It was only a moment after she left that he realized he might have been played.

Ideally, for both of them, she would catch up in schoolwork as soon as possible so he could hand her off to Amali. As it was, and with no explanation for why he was refraining, she was beginning to accuse Revali of thinking he’d be better at her job than her. (Which was true, because he probably would be, as he was with most things, but he wasn’t going to say it. He had more tact than that)

Well, he could change the password again when he got back. Actually, he’d have to. He was not giving that one to Link for rather obvious reasons.

For now, he’d focus on the matter at hand though.

He checked his phone and groaned.

In just the time he was talking to Riju, the desert had gone up another degree. It had already entered a dire heatwave at the beginning of the week, he hadn’t thought it could continue to get worse.

It did somewhat motivate him to get going though. To be honest, he was concerned. He had been for a while now. Over the previous few days, there had been many moments where he'd almost hopped into his plane and went to pick up Link early.

But he refrained.

You see,

He was getting sick of the cycle where he always got all worked up over perfectly reasonable and professional concerns only to get made fun of and mocked by all of his friends and then suffer the extra indignity of finding out that the humiliation was always for nothing.

This time he was breaking out of that pattern.

He had to keep reminding himself to just think like everyone else. These were unreasonable and maybe even dangerous working conditions, but Link would be FINE.

If Revali showed up early he’d no doubt find Link comfortably basking in the sun and munching on hydromelon as if this were some sort of relaxing vacation and not a survival trip in the middle of one of the most dangerous places in the world. He’d either refuse to come along, making it a waste of time and money or, alternatively. He’d give him THAT LOOK. That smug infuriating grin he sometimes got when he signed some absolutely asinine accusation like ‘I knew you cared’.

So yeah. To prevent all of that nonsense, he held back and even made a point of not venting these concerns to anyone… which manifested apparently in his more subconscious decisions instead, like his wifi password.

Make no mistake, that was the ONLY reason Link was spinning around in his head. He certainly spent no time at all haunted by the feeling of his weight in his lap or his body heat leaking through their points of contact. Never once did the spring/summer breeze remind him of breath on his neck and ear.

He just didn’t want his client to die, and he’d sleep a lot sounder tonight after Link was back.

From the moment he hopped out of Medoh and stepped onto the sand, he regretted every single life choice that ever brought him here.

The sand was so hot he could feel it burning through his boots.

He scanned the barren landscape. Of course. There was no Link in sight. He was such a selfish little thing. This was EXACTLY why Revali had packed all that water, he KNEW he’d be kept waiting. He already cracked the first one open and took a few desperate gulps.

Ten minutes in, he was already on his second bottle.

The air trembled as it cooked and Revali began to hallucinate the smell of the fried meat he was certain he was becoming. It was smokey and almost burnt.

Listlessly, he made another lap around Medoh to try and spot Link on any one of the many distant horizons.

It was then that he noticed something… a long twisting pillar of grey tendrils. Actual smoke. Not hallucinated at all!

I had almost been entirely masked by the shaking atmosphere. Dread filled his gut. Like he had once told Link, there was only one flammable thing in this desert sandscape. Him.

Was it some sort of signal?

He ran back to Medoh, threw on his sandboots and snatched both the cooler and the first aid kit. He had no idea what was awaiting him after all.

The trek over was gruelling. Even with his level of fitness, he might have passed out without the help of the boots.

He eventually made it to the small little campfire though, which sat about ten metres from an out-jutting rock alcove. He ignored the fire to rush inside and found Link slumped and gasping in the shade.

“LINK?!” He called.

The researcher lethargically opened an eye and nodded a slight acknowledgment. He was COATED in more sweat than Revali had ever seen, his hair soaked.

“Is anything hurt?” Revali asked.

Link shook his head weakly.

“But the heat got to you,” Revali said.

Link nodded. His eyes were glazed, he looked sick.

Revali pulled out a thermometer from his first aid kit. It was maybe somewhat ironic that he had gotten this always assuming it would have been used for hypothermia-related reasons. He forced it into Link’s mouth and waited for the reading.

When it pinged, his blood spiked and he swore up a storm. “Link! You are literally a degree off of heatstroke and total organ failure! How did this happen?!”

He wasted no time in pulling out a water bottle and opening it, bringing it to Link’s mouth and forcing him to drink. The way he only sipped at it was a clear indicator of his nausea. “None of that now,” Revali scolded. “DRINK IT,” and he tilted it up, looking more like an impatient vet dealing with a finicky animal than someone treating a person.

When Link had at least gulped down half the bottle’s contents, Revali pulled out the already half-melted ice packs and jammed them under Link’s arms and around his neck.

“You’re going to be fine, okay? We’re going to cool you down.”

Link barely responded and so Revali poked at his cheek a few times using a tone of irritation to hide his panic. “Link?”

Link slowly nodded.

“Just… stay with me, okay?”

Link probably would have nodded again but he was suddenly crawling away, the ice packs fell off and he only got about two lumbering feet before he threw up in the sand.

“Hylia,” Revali muttered, rubbing his temples.

He gently guided Link away from his expulsion and kicked a mini-dune over it to bury any disgusting trace.

The ice packs were quickly reapplied, and they sat side-by-side in the shade. “We’ll wait until you get a little cooler and then we’ll make a break for Medoh alright?” Revali asked. “The temperature will drop once we’re up in the air but as it is, it's much too dangerous to go out in the sun. Just keep drinking water.”

The minutes ticked by and honestly, Revali felt terrible. He KNEW there was reason to worry about Link and he let what everyone else thought get in the way. It was unprofessional of him. Worse, Link almost died again.

He was already over-heated enough so Revali was trying not to touch him, but he still wished to deliver some comfort. (and honestly maybe receive some himself, this was a terrifying experience) He scooted over and placed his hand near Link’s. Fingertips just barely ghosting fingertips. His index stroked the nearest of Link’s sand-crusted fingernails and Link grunted an indecipherable vocalization, but it didn’t sound like a request to pull away, so Revali continued.

“You didn’t try to do work out in this heat, did you?” He asked.

Link bit his lips.

“You should have stuck to the night,” Revali scolded, angling his body to better look at the idiot. His knee knocked Link’s hydroflask and it fell over, making a sloshing sound from inside.

Revali looked at it and then back to Link, withdrawing his hand to point at it. “You were severely dehydrated. Why do you still have so much water?”

Link used his minimal strength to look away.

Revali opened the bottle and glanced inside.

It was full of cuttings of plants. Swift violets, warm saffina and the like. His brow crinkled in confusion.

At the speed of a sloth, Link pulled out his notebook and flipped to a fresh page. His clumsy scrawl was messier than usual, so it took Revali a moment to decipher the squiggles. ‘To make up for the armouranths I took from your garden.’

Revali blinked.

Revali blinked again and jumped up so fast he almost hit his head on the rocky ceiling. “YOU DID NOT. YOU IDIOT. NO! NONONO!” he picked up the squirt bottle and turned it to the concentrated spray setting that always felt like burning needles before squirting the moron repeatedly. “Bad! Bad Link! Badbadbadbadbad!”

When his burst of anger was used up, he tossed it to the side and towered over the pitiful little runt. “What were you thinking?!” He threw his arms up in exasperation. “There were even swift violets in there! You did not scale a cliff in this weather for me! Did you?!”

Link glanced away guiltily and Revali slammed his face into his hands before slowly dragging them down to look at him once again. “You’re terrible. You’re the worst.” He squatted down. “How do you think I would have felt?”

Link tilted his head in silent question.

“Do you think I would have been happy if you died for me? For such a stupid reason?”

Link’s posture wilted.

Revali sighed and looked back at the samples in the bottle. They were just as beautiful as they were impossibly rare. Something in his chest stirred and he suddenly felt the need to make himself busy.

He settled with handing Link another bottle of water and picking back up the mister. He turned it into a more gentle spray and slowly misted Link.

“Well, I guess you knew I wouldn’t let that happen and I’m still not going to. Just focus on feeling better. I’ll chew you out later.”

Link lethargically lifted his hands and signed out a ‘sounds fun.’

Without the energy behind it, the tone was missing too. Revali wasn’t sure if it was sarcasm or a lame attempt at a double entendre, but he aimed a squirt right in Link’s eyes all the same in annoyed retaliation.

Chapter Text

Riju, who was balled up in the corner of the couch, blinked for maybe the first time in minutes as Revali bust into the house, kneeing the door open violently. She did not however, unglue her attention from the tablet screen. “Have a good day?” She asked in obvious disinterest.

Revali just stared at her and gestured in dramatic irritation to the half-dead blond slumped into his side.

She did not look up to see this.

“Yes,” he finally said with the driest sarcasm he could muster. He blew a loose lock of hair out of his tired face. It landed right back over his eye. “Couldn’t have been better.” His back was killing him from the unusual bend and twist he had to maintain to keep Link’s arm over his shoulder despite their difference in height.

To exacerbate an already maddening level of discomfort, Patricia had bounded over and began to try and climb up his crooked leg like a stair step. He did not have the mobility in his position to fend her off successfully.

“Oh, that’s good.” She wasn’t even listening…

“Harth’s bar burned down” Revali lied with a flat face.

“Hmmm,” she hummed noncommittally.

“Tulin’s gone off to college and Amali has shaved her head.”

“I see.”

“Link and I got married.”

“Cool, about time.”

“RIJU,” he finally snapped.

“What-“ she started to bark back but paused when she noticed Link. “Oh. Link does not look well.”

The greatest understatement of the year. He had looked so rough when they had finally made that dash across the desert that literal buzzards circled them. He clearly wasn’t feeling too much better now either. His breaths came out as controlled huffs and his eyes were glazed.

Hands still full, Revali angled his cheek against Link’s forehead. He was still alarmingly hot and feverish. He had checked him more officially with the thermometer when they had landed back at the hanger. His temperature had gone down out of the immediate life-threatening range, but it still had been a long way off of good. He couldn’t imagine that their laborious trek across the property to the house had then helped the situation any. It was an unseasonably hot day in Rito and Link was in no condition for any type of exercise, strenuous or not. Especially not out in the sun.

“The heat got to him,” Revali said. “I need you to run to the general store and pick up a sports drink. Anything with electrolytes.”

Riju hurried over to pry Patricia off on him, “Yes, okay, got it.”

“Hold her back until we’re out of the room.”

Riju nodded clenching the wriggling, overeager black blur of fuzzy limbs and drool tightly in her arms.

Revali dragged Link to the bathroom and shut the door behind them. Riju must have let the dog loose a second later as the door began to loudly shudder and whine. Patricia had always been of the firm belief that ‘bathroom time’ was a prime opportunity for bonding. That the washroom was a perfect social venue. Revali staunchly disagreed. He was never going to become that man who used the facilities in front of his dog. If his bachelor lifestyle ever got to that level of depressing, he hoped any one of these villagers who claimed to be his friend would put him out of his misery.

“Go to your bed!” Revali ordered, which of course did nothing, Patricia continued to paw and scratch.

“I swear,” he grumbled, “No one in this house listens to me. It’s only gotten worse now that the kid is addicted to the internet. Anything you say to her when she’s on that accursed tablet goes in one ear and out the other.”

He paid no attention to Link dry heaving over the toilet as he continued to complain.

“Really, she’s certainly made herself at home! So entitled for an interloper! Do you know she picks everything we watch at night now?!” (Nevermind the fact that he was now more engrossed in half those edgy teen dramas than she was)

“She also insists on keeping that ridiculous volume of hair even though she has no idea how to handle it herself. I have to braid it every morning like her own personal servant!” (While he did love styling hair, it’s the principle of entitlement here that mattered) Annoyed just thinking about it all, Revali aggressively yanked at the bath handle and the tub began to fill with cold water. He perched himself on the porcelain edge as he waited for it to fill.

The door began to bang louder. Patricia loved baths. “THIS ISN’T FOR YOU PATRICIA!” He called out.

A whimper.

“Every day I wonder how someone could possibly be so self-absorbed,” he commented, returning back onto the Riju train of thought. Then he noticed his reflection in the bathroom mirror and casually began fixing his hair. He released his ruined braid and tied it all back up into a messy bun.

He turned his head right and left to inspect his quick work as Link finally gave up the ghost and slumped against the toilet seat with a groan so guttural, it could only be his soul leaving his body.

“Don’t put your face there. It’s dirty.” Revali said, eyeing him through the mirror. “You’re face I mean, not the seat, I cleaned that yesterday.”

Link slid off and ragdoll’ed onto the floor, getting as much skin against the cold tile as he could.

Revai rolled his eyes. Dramatic.

When the water level was adequate, he turned off the valve and listlessly beckoned Link up. “Alright, get in the tub you dirty mongrel. It should help cool you off.”

Link nodded and began to strip while Revali glanced down respectfully. He watched the growing pile of shed clothing. First a shirt… then his pants, the belt buckle clacking loudly as they thumped to the floor… socks… underwear.

Underwear?

Revali broke into a cold sweat. For whatever reason, he had thought those would be staying on. Like they did in the wild. At this point, he kind of just assumed that the shorts were permanently fused to Link’s body.

So basically. Link was buck naked right now…

Ahhh… he had never wanted to leave a place so badly before but he had to keep an eye on him in his condition to make sure he wouldn’t pass out and drown.

Link settled into the bath and Revali looked up, doing his absolute best to just focus on his face, but it was hard to ignore the terribly eye-catching expanse of peach skin under the water in his peripheral vision.

There was an obvious solution here, but it was a near crime. He’d hate to have to waste a bath bomb on Link when he knew he wasn’t nearly cultured enough to enjoy it. Revali had a limited stock from his last trip into the city and had been trying to make them last.

Still, it was a better solution than having certain images accidentally burned into his retinas for all time. So Revali sorted through the basket under the sink, picked out something moisturizing, and tossed it in.

It was a little slower with the cold water but eventually many hues of pastel purple froth diffused across the water’s surface, mixing into elaborate patterns and turning the water opaque. A wonderous blend of floral scents permeated the air.

Now that it was done, this was almost relaxing. Revali pulled up a stool and took a tentative seat by the tub’s edge. Silence had filled the room beyond the faint sloshing of water and the rustle of curtains as a gentle breeze came in from the open window. Even Patrica had quieted down. (Though the dark silhouette under the door made it rather apparent she was lying in wait)

He stared at the door tiredly before turning his attention back to Link who was sitting forward, hunched and entirely too tense. Revali sighed. “Relax,” he said.

Link let his shoulders drop but that was about it.

“Come on now,” Revali said. “This might come as a surprise to you since I keep it all so expertly in check, but I’m a rather wound-up person by nature. That being said, even I loosen up during baths. They are supposed to be calming, you’re stressing me out just watching you sit there all stiff as a board.”

Link made a pathetic effort to appear like he was enjoying the soak.

“You always look like some terrified wild animal when I first bring you indoors,” Revali commented. He usually calmed down rather fast but it was especially apparent after a trip to the field. One day he was no doubt going to go out there and forget his humanity entirely. “Has no one ever taught you how to enjoy modern luxuries?”

The way Link looked at him made him think he might just have hit the nail on the head. Lethargically Link lifted his hands to sign. ‘It’s a new thing. Only you.’

“Is that so?” Revali asked, inexplicably charmed. He folded an arm on the tub’s edge and rested his chin on top to get more comfortable. Coincidentally, it brought them closer. “That’s just depressing.”

‘I never liked being stuck inside,’ Link signed thoughtfully. ‘Suffocating…”  Revali didn’t really know that sign, but some were self-explanatory and the troubled look on Link’s face as he mimed a constricting chest said everything he couldn’t say anyway.

Link mustered a weak smile. ‘But I like it here.’

“You’re always either hurt or getting hurt when you’re here,” Revali pointed out dryly.

Link chuckled despite his nausea. ‘Worth the cost.’

Revali frowned. He opened his mouth a few times to speak but finally gave up. He gently pressed on Link’s shoulder until he was eased back onto the bath pillow. (Yes he’s the type to have a bath pillow) “Just try to rest, you’ll feel better faster. Take a few breaths”

Link nodded and complied, the last of the tension on his face easing with each exhale.

“Good. Is any of this helping you feel a little better?”

Link nodded again, sighing with contentment.

Revali’s hand was still on Link’s shoulder. He observed where the water lapped at Link’s chest. His skin was a few shades lighter there and he realized in an instant that he was COATED in a thick layer of sand where he wasn’t submerged… He did not want to see what the tub was going to look like after it was emptied. He should have hosed him off in the yard first.

He ran a single finger in a slow meandering line along Link’s freakishly rock-hard muscle groups, starting from his deltoid to tracing the ridge between his bicep and tricep. Link was already the lean and trim sort of body-type and the added dehydration that made his skin more taut accentuated how muscular he really was.

Revali pulled back and rubbed his fingers together critically. Gritty. His expression soured to one of a disapproving mother-in-law from the 1800s checking her son’s estate for dust before shading her daughter-in-law’s management of the house staff.

It hadn’t skipped his attention how Link had shuddered under his touch though, so he forwent that critique for a moment. “Is the water too cold? I tried to keep it only just a little below room temperature but it’s hard to regulate.”

Link shook his head, splashing his own face with water a few times in agitation. As some of the sand washed away a flushed tone in his cheeks became more apparent underneath.

Must be an after-effect from the heat.

His piercing gaze raked over Link’s collar bone, up his neck and along his shoulders. Everything was patchworked with damp clumping sand now.

Well, this was a bath, it would be such a waste to not fix him up a little. He retrieved a clean facecloth and dunked it in the water by Link’s knees. “I’m just going to clean you off a bit.”

Link nodded.

 “By the way,” He felt inclined to add as he lifted him forward just enough to wipe down his back, “don’t come around expecting this from me in the future. Spa treatments are not on my list of services.”

Link nodded and bit his lip as Revali ran a flat hand down the length of his spine. His skin felt clean to the touch now, and quite smooth. The shea butter in the bath bomb definitely was doing its job. With that part done, he eased Link into laying back down again.

Link sighed and closed his eyes.

“Don’t go falling asleep now, you hear?”

Link just hummed tiredly in a way that wasn’t the slightest bit reassuring. The waves of sun fatigue must have finally been hitting him full force now. It was bound to happen as he cooled down and his body realized it wasn’t in imminent danger anymore. Exhaustion always stepped in after an extreme shock to the system. It was why he had chosen to stay and supervise Link’s bath in the first place.

“If you fall asleep and go under, I’m waiting a second before I pull you up,” Revali warned gruffly, his tone not matching the gentle way he blotted at Link’s arms with the towel. It was somewhat satisfying watching all the dried sweat, dirt and grime wipe away.

His skin really was quite nice underneath, smooth like butter and even in complexion. The sand must have acted like a natural sun-protector. Maybe Link had even applied it on purpose being the bushman survivalist that he was…

Not a good one mind you, this was the second time Revali had seen him almost die.

He wished he’d be more careful.

Speaking of which…

“What you said earlier…” Revali said, trailing off as he tried to find the words he couldn’t before. “About how getting hurt is worth these little.. erm, stayovers. It gives me a terrible sense of foreboding that you’re going to keep acting recklessly. Listen… you better not start pulling these ridiculous stunts just to get a little pampering, I’d rather you just come visit without all the theatrics. I can’t handle much more of this.”

“Hmmm,” Link vocalized. His heavy eyes had fallen shut a while ago but now he opened them just enough that liquid blue like a tropical coastline stared back at Revali with smouldering affection.

Revali gulped. “Keep your eyes closed,” he said briskly. “I’m about to apply shampoo and it’ll hurt if they aren’t.”

His dusty hair was harder to clean, it was almost a workout with how deeply he had to massage his fingers in to really dislodge the grit cemented to Link’s scalp but eventually, all the junk caked on was removed and washed away with a few rinses from the detachable showerhead. He was fully clean by the time Revali applied the conditioner to the locks of Link’s desert-frizzled hair.

A knock at the door interrupted them.

He got up and opened it a sliver of the way, gently kicking off Patrica with his shin.

“Got the drink,” Riju said, holding up the bottle.

“Great thanks,” Revali said, taking it.

He had started to close the door again, but she was obviously lingering.

“What?”

“Is… Link going to stick around?” She asked. “After this?”

“I’m not letting him drive in this condition,” he said. “He’s going to be out of commission for a while. Why?”

She fidgeted. “I don’t know. I want to talk to him I guess.”

“About what?” Revali asked skeptically. He honestly couldn’t imagine what sort of conversation the two could possibly have. She had thought his name was Chain for over half the time they had spent together so far so obviously there was something broken in the way they communicated. They were polar opposites in terms of interests as well.

“He’s cool I guess. I like hearing about his work.”

“Oh? NOW you’re suddenly interested in academia? The same stubborn brat I can’t even convince to finish elementary school?” Revali rose an eyebrow and crossed his arms. Patricia tried to take the opportunity to lunge past, but he stepped down on her. Not hard, just enough to have her pinned. She squirmed determinedly to no avail. Link might be irritating but he was a guest. Revali’s highest form of hospitality was guarding him from the little ball-trampler.

“Listen,” he continued, not having once broken his attention from Riju in the struggle. “If you want to be like him someday, you’re going to have to work a little harder. Then you’re probably going to have to fix that rotten personality of yours too so someone with money gets tricked into adopting you because I’ll be honest, college isn’t cheap.”

“I’m quite nice to everyone else when they’re nice to me.”

“Well if you hate me so much I can’t imagine why you’re so fond of him. Might I remind you this is the man who left you here?”

Riju glanced away. “I never said I hated you,” she mumbled.

“What’s that?” He asked.

“There are worse places to be.”

He stared at her in surprise, and she quickly scampered off. With the moment he had let his guard down, Patrica wriggled out from under him and a second later there was a loud splash.

He groaned. Her entire body was thick fur. She took FOREVER to dry off.

He turned around to watch water getting all over the floor as she hopped and wallowed about in the tub and it poured over the brim.

Link was taken aback at first but slowly began to laugh.

Seems he was getting better.

“So you probably overheard our conversion just now but I figured I’d reiterate to you since you tend to be dense about this sort of stuff…” Revali said as Patricia mauled Link with kisses. “You can’t drive in your condition and you might be out of sorts for the next fourty-eight hours. Consider yourself under house watch. You’re stuck here until I give the doctor’s okay.”

Link finally, for the first time, pet the soggy puppy with awkward wonder and then grinned at Revali. ‘There are worse places to be.’

A second later when Patricia obviously jumped on the wrong place and Link keeled over in the worst pain imaginable, Revali wondered if he wasn’t rethinking that statement.

Chapter Text

Usually when you tell people “Come visit anytime,” it’s nothing more than a common pleasantry that you don’t actually mean. Exactly like when adults say “We really must get together sometime, I’ll text you when I get home!” when they run into each other in public. Neither party will ever actually send the first text and they will not meet again until the next time they bump into each other by random chance.

So when Revali had thrown out the offer to Link that he may come and visit as he liked. He really, truly did not think Link would take that to heart and run with it.

How foolish of him.

On Link’s next field expedition, he dropped in two days early without any warning and Revali had lost it on him. From that point on, he at least had the courtesy and foresight to text ahead, but he certainly didn’t stop coming as early as he suddenly felt so entitled to. Then, after his fieldwork, he tended to stick around as well, wearing Revali’s welcome as thin as it could possibly go. (While masterfully never quite snapping it apart)

To be honest, Revali couldn’t really find it in himself to put his foot down and kick Link out.

After all, Link wasn’t a complete loafer. He had his uses.

For one, he tended to cook for them while he was there and he did make some pretty good dishes. He even footed the cost of most of the groceries.

He had a pretty sturdy body as well, so he could be a good source of manual labour. Unfortunately, after one particular lawn mowing incident, Revali had to stop asking him to do yard work. No, Link hadn’t gotten hurt, but Revali had received notable psychic damage when Link had decided to forgo his shirt on that hot July day and ride the mower around the property in only his low-riding cargo shorts.

The villagers had all gotten an eyeful and Revali had not known peace since. Link being his little boy-toy was now a favourite running joke amongst his friends.

He had almost banned Link from coming back after that but honestly, one could not discount the utility of the alpha-wolf hold he had over Patrica either. She was calm and obedient around him for the most part and it greatly helped them with her training as well as gave Revali a little break from the HELL that was raising up a puppy.

So, for those reasons and those reasons only, Revali chose to tolerate Link’s extended stays.  It wasn’t like he went to the desert that often anyway.

As he had found from that very first snow-in, Link wasn’t the worst house guest, which was another reason he let this imposition continue. He was quite good at disappearing into the background for periods of the day when he chose to work on his school stuff. Other times he just took it easy and would lounge around the property. Revali could, for the most part, go about his day as he would have anyway.

In the end, Revali just got used to it as he did to most things and before he knew it, almost a year had passed with this new state of life.

Change finally once again came, as it so often did, in the early spring.

He had been at the flight range taking a break under the shaded gazebo when his phone began to buzz. The now hulking hundred-pound Patricia gazed up lethargically from her nap and he absentmindedly ran a hand through her thick fur as he checked the number.

It was the university. Before even answering he was already thinking of the list of things he’d have Link pick up in the city when he enviably texted him later. He’d be a fool to not take advantage of this free delivery service. The ‘Slippery Falcon’ and ‘Brazen Beak’ (again with these Rito names) didn’t exactly have the same selection of merchandise as the malls and superstores in Castle City.

He’d be needing more Eldin spices for sure. He might even chance asking for face cream again even though Link had messed up the last time and brought him body butter instead.

Well, in the meantime, he answered the phone.

“Hello! This is Bev from the University of Central Hyrule's administrative office!”

“Hey Bev,” he said.

“I’m just calling to book a flight for two researchers to Kara Kara in the Gerudo Desert next week.”

Revali paused. “Two?”

“Yes! Two people, I’m hoping you can transport multiple passengers?”

“Yes of course,” Revali said.

“Excellent!” The administrative assistant proceeded to go over pricing details as was their usual routine and Revali quietly mulled over this new development.

As soon as they had hung up, he wasted no time texting Link. ‘I just got the call, I’m flying two people out this time?’

The reply was nearly instantaneous. ‘Yeah.’

Revali scowled. He had kind of been wanting a little more explanation than that, but he gave Link the benefit of the doubt and assumed he was typing a part two.

After a minute, it was obvious no such thing was coming.

‘You’ll be having a field partner then?’

‘I guess.’

This was like pulling teeth. He’d hazard to guess that Link wasn’t too enthusiastic about all this.

After a long pause Link added, ‘I wouldn’t call it a partnership, It’s more like babysitting duty than anything else.’ Yeah, Revali had been spot on: Link was miffed.

Babysitting duty. Oh the irony. That’s exactly what Revali thought of his working relationship with Link.

God help the poor soul who was putting their faith in him to properly mentor them in the field. They likely had no idea what they were getting themselves into. Though maybe Link would tone down a bit of his ‘wild man’ character if he had someone else with him. It was already a promising start that it sounded like they might actually be staying in Kara Kara rather than roughing out in the desert, but Revali wasn’t all that hopeful.

‘I take it you won’t be coming early then?’ He asked.

This incited the longest pause yet. He almost gave up waiting but, finally, his phone pinged and he read the reply. ‘No.’

He was definitely sulking.

If they were travelling from the university together it meant Link probably wouldn’t be able to stay after either.

Revali wasn’t disappointed. He wasn’t.

He was, however, quite interested to see this all play out. It honestly sounded like a perfect recipe for disaster. This mysterious second person was definitely in for the worst time of their life.

The day they were to fly out, Link’s distinctive red truck arrived on the property just past noon.

Revali watched from the window as he came out from the driver’s side, looking about as reserved and unenthused as he did that first time they had met, back when he was studying the Hebra Mountains.

A moment later a girl with long blonde hair came out from the passenger door.

She was pretty. Revali didn’t exactly know why he didn’t like that, but he clicked his tongue in annoyance nonetheless.

Not wanting to seem too eager, (he wasn’t Patrica clawing at the door for them) he went over, sat on his couch, and simply waited for the doorbell.

Only after it came did he go over and answer.

It was the girl who was standing front and center, Link stoically off a few feet behind her. He did perk up a little when they made eye contact though, but only for a moment as she immediately called Revali’s attention back.

Hello! We’re here for a flight to the Gerudo Desert! Our school should have booked ahead last week. We’re with the University of-”

“Yeah, I know why you’re here,” Revali interrupted. He eyed her up and down, scowling once again as he registered certain new details up close. Namely her perfect skin, perfect shining blue eyes, perfect silky hair and perfect smile- which was quickly waning the longer Revali stared.

“Oh,” she said. “Um, yes. I know you were probably expecting us… and you would already know Dr. Wild from his previous trips. Sorry, I’m a new master’s student with the department. My name’s Zelda by the way, it’s very good to meet you!”

She held out her hand but now Revali was just looking at her dumbly. Then over to Link. Then back to her again.

There were two very striking things about that name that bore comment, but one took precedence.

“Doctor?!”

Chapter Text

“Doctor?” Revali repeated. “You’re trying to tell me that that idiot over there-“ he pointed at Link who cracked an awkward smile and waved “-has a doctorate degree?”

Zelda just blinked in confusion. “I-idiot?” As if that were the most absurd thing she had ever heard. “You… didn’t know? I thought you’d been working together for a while now. I’m pretty sure I’ve even seen your name in the acknowledgments of some of his papers… Do you not know who this man is?”

“Oh, I’m pretty sure I do,” Revali said dryly but he still crossed his arms and lifted an eyebrow up at Link in challenge. Daring him to suggest otherwise.

“Dr. Link Wild?” Zelda prompted again, as if rehearing the name would stir something new in his recollections. Instead, RevaIi just stared at her blankly and entirely unimpressed. “Link Wild?” She tried again, growing almost incredulous.

He didn’t understand her bafflement. Most ordinary people didn’t know the names of random people in specific niche areas of academia. She’d been locked in UCH’s ivory towers for just a little too long obviously. Poor little princess was getting entirely disconnected from the real world. When Revali didn’t so much as blink, she shook her head in near disbelief and tried to move on. “Well alright then… I guess not. Um, we should probably think about heading out. Is the plane over there in that barn?”

If only things were that simple when it came to ‘Link’ trips. Revali shook his head. “Oh no, we’re not flying yet. Get in the house.” He stepped back in forceful invitation and Link, quite used to this familiar song and dance, walked right in and over to the dining table.

Slowly, Zelda went in as well, kicking off her shoes and tentatively putting them on the rack before moving to join Link.

Revali followed and as soon as they were all gathered around, made his demands. “Alright, bags on the table, it’s inspection time.”

Link’s pack was, of course, already ready in anticipation of this. Zelda frowned. “Are there things you’re not allowed to bring on the plane? Like in airports? I’m so sorry, I didn’t know.”

“It’s not about what you’re not allowed to bring and more about making sure you’ve brought the right things.” Revali said. “As for what’s prohibited on my plane, it boils down to uncaged live critters and zonai napalm.” Under his breath, he ruefully added, “I didn’t ever need a contraband list until I met this ‘genius’ here though.”

Zelda placed her bag on the table while Revali talked. It was notably bulkier than Link’s sad, deflated and partially scorched canvas sack.

“-Also, he specifically is not allowed to touch anything that can cause a spark or fire when we’re in the air,” Revali added. “Honestly I’d appreciate if you could just keep an eye on him in general while we’re up there. It would be a load of my mind to just be able to focus on flying while not ALSO having to make sure he behaves.”

“Ah,” Zelda said. “I take it you know about the school fires.”

Revali turned on Link “I’m sorry, fires plural?” He accused.

Link shrugged, ‘That one’s not my fault. You said you didn’t want to hear about them anymore.’

Fair enough.

Come to think of it, that was the first time Link had ‘spoken’ yet. As nervous as Zelda seemed, she was apparently perfectly comfortable talking on behalf of the both of them. Maybe that’s just what one unconsciously does when their partner is mute. In some ways it was understandable, but Revali was still a little peeved. As she had pointed out, he’d been working with Link for a long time, she had a lot of audacity as some random new person to be taking the lead here.

“He’s a bit of a campus celebrity, so he gets away with a lot,” Zelda explained.

“A celebrity?” Revali asked. “I suppose the first neanderthal to ever study at an internationally rated college is a bit of a spectacle.”

Link choked back a laugh and Zelda did her best to rebut the comment. “He really is though! It’s a little extreme sometimes honestly. I remember a year or so ago when he started going to the drop-in yoga classes at the rec center. The class went from being half capacity most of the time to suddenly being completely full. It was quite a hassle get in every week.”

There was at the very least, some satisfaction knowing that Link had actually listened to him that one time he off-handedly suggested he take up yoga. But instead of feeling too proud, he just looked at Zelda for a good long second critically. She didn’t specify herself why she was so set on enrolling for those classes… simply for the fitness? Or was she one of the ‘fans’ who were just trying to get into a room with Link?

“You sound popular,” Revali finally said to Link dryly.

‘Don’t worry,’ Link signed. ‘I only have eyes for you.’

“Hilarious.”

They were getting far off track. It didn’t agree with Revali’s stringent sense of professionalism. “Anyway,” he said, turning to Zelda, “How did you prep for the desert? I hope it wasn’t Link who gave you a packing list.”

Zelda shook her head. “No, the school has information packets for field work including what to take to various types of field expeditions in different environments. I just followed that.”

Revali rose an eyebrow at Link, “Oh do they now? You hear that Link? There’s LIST readily available for you.” His tone was dripping with sarcasm. “And yet here I am having to pack for you for every little outing you take. I’m not your mother.”

Link just tilted his head cutely, playing dumb. Which was honestly now much less effective with the revealed existence of a degree to his name.  

“Do you mind if I go through your things?” Revali asked her.

“Actually,” Zelda said, “I’ve made a checklist that I can show you instead if that's okay?"

It was all the same to Revali so he let Zelda hand him a neatly folded paper from the front pocket of her rucksack.

Oh boy. She was quite the type-A personality. Her handwriting looked like it could have been a computer font and the spacing had nearly inhuman precision. Colour-coded gel pen named a long inventory of items and even what part of the bag she had delegated them to.

An organized type. Working with Link was probably going to kill her. On the bright side, even if she had a bit of a crush now, she probably wouldn’t once this trip was over. Not that it mattered to Revali.

Anyway, it was a perfectly thought out and through list of items. He handed the paper back. “This looks good. I’ll have you know I still have low hopes for you though Link,” he added. Link couldn’t have looked more guilty if he were a cat with the family bird's feathers still in his mouth. Revali sighed. “You know what? This is good. Zelda here needs to see this. Watch closely,” he told her. “I want him to be properly shamed. I don’t know exactly what about him commands your respect but I think there’s some minor hero-worship going on here that we’ll need to diffuse before you both go out.”

He got behind Link and grabbed either of his shouders, turning him to face Zelda. “Do not think of this man as a superior you can trust to make proper judgement calls out there,” he warned her. “Do not go along with his flow or try to keep up with him. Make him match you, not vise versa.”

“Oh,” Zelda said. “I’m quite determined to not hold Dr. Wild back-“

“HOLD ‘DR. WILD’ BACK! Please!” Revali reaffirmed. “This isn’t even one of those ‘trying-to-prove-that-a-woman-can-do-what-a-man-can-do’ feminism things. I am an avid supporter, believe me, but this is no man.” He shook Link a little for emphasis. “This little mud creature can hardly be classified as a human.”

He let Link go (to which Link looked remarkably disappointed by) and moved to Link’s collapsed-looking bag. It was actively sinking to gravity, depressed with its pitiful emptiness. In a few practiced and fluid motions, he unbuckled the flap and dumped the bag's meagre contents unceremoniously on the table.

Zelda just stared at the collection in vapid disbelief.

“Yeah. I know. This is why this man literally can’t survive without me,” Revali said dryly. “Why did you think you had to travel all the way out to Rito only to then fly to the desert? While admittedly, I am the best pilot you could possibly commission, it’s mostly that I’m the only thing keeping this moron alive.”

He took a moment to inspect Link’s belongings. “How is this worsely-packed than usual?!” He snapped.

Not taking the scolding to heart, Link just shrugged again. ‘We’ll be in Kara Kara, I can get things there.’

“You can, but you won’t. Just like you didn’t get what you needed when you were in Central Hyrule either.” Revali grabbed his arm and pulled him along. “Alright, we’re going to the store.”

He dragged him off without another word and, again, Zelda simply followed in forlorn confusion.

At the Slippery Falcon, Misa already had the essentials pulled aside. “I saw the truck pull into town and figured you boys would be in soon. So I went ahead and put together the usual,” she said, barely glancing up from her magazine.

“Bless you,” Revali said and glared at Link. “Look at that, look at how many people you inconvenience. Don’t you ever feel embarrassed?”

“Not an inconvenience,” Misa interrupted blandly. “He is singlehandedly slowly but surely funding the next flight to visit my son.”

Link nodded. ‘I am stimulating the town’s economy.’

Revali rolled his eyes and Link quickly checked out at cash. On their way back to the acreage, a previous thought hit Revali. “Wild, huh?” It’s not like he hadn’t seen Link’s driver’s license before, but he had somehow missed that. “Don’t you think that seems just a bit too on the nose?”

He didn’t notice Link nervously look down.

“It can’t be a family name, can it? Was it gifted to you when you stumbled out of the woods for the first time in the old-timey way that smiths were given ‘Smith’ and bakers were given ‘Baker’? Or did you just choose it yourself? In which case, I must say, you have terrible taste.”

Link did not tear his eyes from his boots for even a second. ‘It was my dad’s last name. I got it the normal way.’

“Is that so…” Revali mused. Come to think of it, wasn’t there that one guy about twenty years ago? ‘Something-something Wild’? No matter how Revali wracked his brain he couldn’t remember the name. He was on several different survival-type shows but he hadn’t watched much tv back then and was especially disinterested in that type of programming.

It was such a boy thing.

Granted… he had been a boy, but a boy with taste.

Mature beyond his years, obviously.

“I can’t believe you have the same name as that machete-wielding lunatic. You know, that giant guy with the ratty clothes and the big bushy white beard?” He didn’t really give anyone a chance to reply as he continued to prod at hazy memories. “He had a few shows, like the one where he would go out into extreme places and survive with almost no equipment… He was a low-list tv star who always looked like he hated every second of being filmed. Didn’t pander much to the camera either. He was more like a specimen on a nature channel being observed by a camera crew than the show's actual host really..”

Silence followed and it suited Revali just fine as it meant he could continue on. “It apparently wasn’t even an act or gimmick. He was absolutely insane in real life too and just got weirder and weirder. I guess it was just one of those cases of reality tv exploiting mental illness rather than getting him the help he needed.”

Yeah the poor guy was just some weirdo hermit who looked like he'd have rather been left alone. It was hard to believe he cared about tv fame when he didn't even watch television himself. He lived off-grid and no one, not even the production crew knew where. They just let him disappear like a ghost when he wasn’t filming. As disinterested as he was, not even Revali could escape the constant speculation back then. People were thinking he was probably in the Great Hyrule Forest or the Lanaryu Marshlands… somewhere remote.

Revali paused, realization dawning on him.

…Or somewhere like the Great Plateau.

“Oh,” he said.

He looked at Link whose face was contorted in a tight grimace.

“You really didn’t know,” Zelda said in awe. “That’s so strange that you've worked with Dr. Wild this whole time and don’t know a thing about him. This must be so surreal for you. But, how did you not know? It was all over the news for an entire summer after Dr. Wild’s accident that he was his undocumented son.”

Little tiny pinpricks poked indiscriminately in Revali’s chest and he glanced away, missing the disagreeing frown crossing Link’s face.

“When I was a kid, I’d always spend the first half of summer in cadet camp and the second half in Lurelin without cable,” Revali muttered. He sped up his pace, walking a little ahead of the pair.

So everyone knew about the Great Plateau incident… and Link’s upbringing… and Link. He thought this had been something special Link had confided in him. A secret they held just between the two of them.

“I suppose I don’t.” He muttered over his shoulder. “Know him, that is. I am just a pilot he contracts every now and again after all.” The words tasted bitter and hard to chew on even though he liked to make that claim all of the time. He found himself unable to look at Link after that, not even when he tossed a large amount of his own camping gear at him to subsidize the rest of what he was missing.

Obviously, his avoidance hadn’t missed Link’s notice. He could FEEL his eyes burning a hole right through him. Even when they were finally flying, he felt a little like an ant under a magnifying glass on a sunny day.

Different than usual, they didn’t land in the middle of nowhere, but rather in a small-designated airstrip just outside of Kara Kara.

Zelda checked her watch as Link unloaded the last of some rather cumbersome-looking equipment in black bags.

“A shuttle into town was supposed to meet us here, I suppose it must be late- oh careful that’s the RM-85!” She called to Link who had just unceremoniously dropped the large bag in the sand with a loud ‘poof’.

He was looking rather petulant, obviously back to moping. This field trip clearly would not be like his usual trips.

Zelda fussed over the equipment and Link caught Revali’s eye. Again, Revali looked away.

There was the shuffling of sand as Link approached and Revali still kept his gaze locked on another plane parked in the airfield.

Link tapped Revali’s wrist a few times.

“What?” Revali, turned his head just a fraction of the way and so Link grabbed either one of his cheeks to force him to look at him.

His face was intense.

“Really Link, what is it? You know you can’t talk when you’re holding me like this.”

Link pulled him down briskly and pushed his lips just a little bit too close to Revali’s ear to not tickle when he whispered out ‘You know me better than anyone.’

Revali craned his neck back as much as he could given that Link still hadn’t let go of him. “Goddesses. Alright. You know you don’t have to put your mouth right up against my ear for me to hear you?” It still unpleasantly tingled. “You were that kid in school who deep throated the nozzle of the water fountain, weren’t you? Disgusting. Germ spreader. Heathen.”

He paused his flustered rant as he noticed Zelda staring at them. He knew that expression anywhere. Like she thought she was beginning to figure something out. “I see that look,” he accused. “There is nothing see here. He’s just a touchy-feely little leech. Don't read too much into it.”

To be contrarian, Link planted a firm kiss on Revali’s cheek before he let him go and that was the moment Revali could SEE the light bulb over Zelda's head and the unfurling rainbow banner in her mind’s eye.

He sighed tiredly and wiped his burning face. “You’re a real scoundrel, you know that?” He scolded Link, not realizing that by glaring at him, he was giving him the eye contact and attention he had wanted in the first place.

Link grinned and Revali just sighed again. “Well, I think everything’s off the plane so I’ll be going then.” He specifically looked to Zelda when he gave a rather meaningful “GOOD LUCK.”

She just smiled at him politely and he knew without a doubt that she obviously still hadn’t gotten a full scope on what fresh hell was in store for her.

“I’ll come pick up whichever one of you is still alive in two months,” he promised and turned to Medoh in obvious dismissal towards the other two because he had a bit of a flair for the dramatic and that seemed like some rather fitting last words.

For a moment, he considered the feeling of Link’s lips against his skin. He made a mental note to buy him chapstick the next time he was out shopping.