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Ghirahim reclined upon a lopsided boulder carpeted with moss. He had grown accustomed to this clearing--this small piece of land not yet discovered by the new denizens of his former stomping grounds.
It had taken him months to recover from his injuries during the Great Demon Battle and years later, he is still sporting diamond shaped scars splashed across his torso.
Damn Demise for manhandling him so.
Sunbeams shred through the canopy of trees that camouflage his patch of forest. He shimmies down the broad expanse of rock and ducks away from the piercing rays. Sunlight may not harm him but he doesn’t particularly like it.
A threshing sound startles Ghirahim and his white hair flares as he spins toward the noise. His obsidian sword appears in his hand with a shimmer of diamond light.
Thresh. Thresh. Thresh.
What the devils is that? Are animals finally--
A figure bursts through the veil of hanging leafage that protects the entrance to his sanctuary and Ghirahim hisses.
The figure is clad in green.
Anger flares in Ghirahim’s chest. No. Not him. Anyone but--
Another noise croons not far behind the Hylian and they both look wide-eyed from each other to the curtain of vines now concealing the entrance.
Kwee-koo!
…Kikwi?? Oh devils. Ghirahim was wrong. That is definitely the worse of the two intruders encroaching on his beloved space.
Link’s eyes dart back to Ghirahim. He is standing stock still, arms fanning out near his hips.
Ghirahim lifts a long gray finger to his white lips. The hero nods.
Rustling continues. Small mewls confirm the Kikwi are indeed searching for something. Likely the dashing intruder before Ghirahim. Yet, if they remain quiet…
“Hhh…”
Ghirahim’s muscles stiffen at the sight of Link’s clenched chest. His face is scrunching, nose pink with need.
Ah, devils alive. He’s about to ruin everything.
Cover your damn nose!
Of all the powers the hero has, mind reading is not one of them. Link remains still as a statue, save for his flaring nostrils, his quivering lip.
In an instant, Ghirahim is behind Link, a shower of multicolored diamonds sparkling the air around him. He wraps arms around Link, fingers clamping over his nose and mouth until he feels the dewy hitches of breath.
“Hmn!” the muffled groan jerks at their flushed bodies and Link snaps forward, only Ghirahim’s hold keeping him from stumbling forward. “Szch!”
It’s a wet, kittenish sound and it spritzes Ghirahim’s palm, making him curl a lip in derision. Ghirahim tightens his hold on Link’s nose and mouth until he fears the hero might have stopped breathing. Perhaps that would solve his problems altogether.
In moments, the rustling fades and the Kikwis meander far enough away for Ghirahim to comfortably release Link.
When his fingers relax, Link drinks in a sniffle and doubles over fast into his own tented hands. “Szch! Z’SK-ieh! K’tSZ!”
Ghirahim rolls his eyes and wipes his damp fingers on a mossy trunk as Link tends his colorful nose.
“Salutations, hero,” Ghirahim snorts, sarcasm dripping like venom. “Isn’t that what they call you now?” He props a fist on his creamy hip and swats the air. “Hero of Hyrule, they say. Nice of you foreigners to give a name to a place that already had one.”
Link snuffles and glares at Ghirahim. Ghirahim laughs like popping bubbles in his throat.
“Oh, have I offended you? Or are you wondering why I am here? Alive?”
Link’s lips twitch as he just stares.
Ghirahim flutters fingers through his chopped hair, “I am a demon Lord. Did you think Demise’s…demise…would kill me? Disintegrate my body to ash at his corpse?”
Link opens his mouth and Ghirahim thinks the silent hero might actually speak. But instead…
“Hc’SH! Eh-Ksh! KSZ!”
An amused smirk spreads Ghirahim’s lips wide. His teeth flash serpentlike, “Oh, seems the hero is not accustomed to the flora quite yet. Miss your clean sky air, bird rider?”
Link shoots a poison look at him above the arm he’s using to scrub the itch from his face. Ghirahim pops his wrist, index finger leveled toward the long suffering hero.
“Your sneeze does not become you, hero. So soft and delicate. Like butterfly wings.”
Link grumbles and straightens his shirt, cheeks flushing a pink that might be embarrassment.
“What, pray tell, are you doing here?” Ghirahim finally asks.
Link’s eyes slide back to the vines where the Kikwis almost penetrated, clearly as put off by them as Ghirahim himself.
‘I see. More chores for the chosen one,” Ghirahim sways his head left and right. His sulfurous eyes fall on the wooden handle protruding from Link’s back and his nose scrunches in a sneer. “Oh my.” He slithers toward Link, his body folding and bending closer to get a better look.
Link backpedals, grunting incomprehensibly. Ghirahim’s eyes shimmer. “Where, hero of the sky, is that lovely goddess sword of yours?”
Link’s face falls, his shoulders visibly slumping as his gaze drops to the grass at his feet.
Ghirahim folds his arms and sticks out his lower lip, pouting theatrically. “Such sadness. I suppose it is just you and I here then? No wonder I have not heard that shrill voice of hers.”
Anger feathers Link’s cheek and his hand darts up to grasp the sword handle, a cute little snarl on his face.
Ghirahim just laughs. “Going to fight me? Like that?” he drizzles his fingers around Link’s shivering form. “You look as if a harsh wind might knock you down.”
Link’s snarl creeps higher, flaring his left nostril. His teeth chatter and he uses his free hand to catch a gusty, “HEx’TSzH!” It’s harsher than the ones before it. Forcibly so. Obviously so.
Ghirahim barks a laugh that dislodges his arms so they swing at his sides. “Was that for my benefit? Did I hit a nerve and now you must prove that you can sneeze like a brave soldier?”
Link’s fingers peel from his sword to join his other hand, cupping them together as if to catch water from a spout. “I-AX’SZH! Ieh-SZHhh-Hieh!”
“Are you quite done?” A limber finger taps Ghirahim’s teeth, the nail clacking against enamel. He watches the hero as Link begins to hitch and shiver. His pink nose climbs higher and higher with each hum of breath, his entire body wracked with tremors as his nerves light up.
“Ieh-hih-ih-HIH--!” his eyes flood and he is barely able to see his foe through the saline lens of his allergic tears. His teeth clench and he hisses air as his hands push against his nose.
Ghirahim lets out a vexed huff, “Are you going to sneeze, or are you just going to stand there gasping like an idiot?”
Link pinches his hands together, lids squeezing shut as he curls his spine forward, “Hyh..Ehhn…”
In another shower of diamond sparks, Ghirahim is there, once again laced against Link’s body, shoving the hero backward into the rocky edge of the clearing. His teeth flash as he grins wickedly.
“Allow me to help~”
Ghirahim dances his clawed fingers toward Link’s vulnerable nostrils, mouth stretched in what could be malice. Link pulls back but his head scrapes the rock behind him, dislodging his iconic green hat and revealing ruffles of sun-kissed hair.
His breaths are still ragged and demanding.
“H-Ngh!” his eyes flit open, a flash of blue, then close, lashes severing tears from their glassy perch. His head bobs, *snff* another ”Hi-ih!”
His throat closes over a cough when Ghirahim languidly strokes the side of his scrunched nose. “You’re so close,” Ghirahim coos giddily, pushing down his giggle of mischief for later, but the gust from the escaped air sends hot breath caressing Link’s cheek.
Ghirahim’s features narrow, as if there is nothing more important than teasing his enemy. “You merely…need…a nudge…” with each prod of Ghirahim’s black nail against the wall of his rounded nostril, Link heaves a breath. “Hgk-hh-” the loose hitches grow more defiant. “Hgk-hgk - HhhIEH--” Link scoops in air and he hisses as the black nails trail the bridge of his wrinkling nose.
His chest inflates beneath Ghirahim’s splayed palm and, with a flick like a feather, Ghirahim traces the rim of Link’s upturned nostrils. As if they’re inviting him in! And enter he does. He cannot help his curiosity at this point. Finally! Something exciting!
As soon as Ghirahim hits the sweet spot, Link whines, harsh and pitched.
“Haii!!” Ghirahim pins Link’s arms to his sides. “H-Ih-” each hitch climbs higher and higher, until Link’s rosy nose is in the air, like a beacon for pollen to flock to.
A new sound snarls in his throat and Ghirahim takes his cue. He whips away in a shower of diamond sparks, suddenly releasing Link to crumple into himself with the roughest, “EIXGST!! AIKxs!!” The sneezes rip from his throat, graceless and unrestrained. “ETSH! Ih’TZSHH!! EIHSHieuu!!”
Link rockets forward into the curtain of diamond sparkles, stumbling so hard he barely catches himself.He smashes a fist to his nose with a congested groan, followed by a loud, liquid sniff.
Ghirahim leans against his mossy boulder, elbow propped on the rock, sporting an amused smirk.
If the hero deigned to speak, he’d likely curse the demon Lord.
Ghirahim throws back his head like a jackknife, maniacal laughter bursting from him.
“Oh, aren’t you fun to pick on~” He flutters his hand in a shooing motion. “Go. Before you drive back those damn Kikwis with your,” his dark eyes glitter, “boisterous expulsions.”
Link looks like he’d love nothing more than to test his new sword on Ghirahim, but that would mean having to deal with the prick for even longer.
Decision made, the hero slowly backs out of the refuge, letting the vines trail over his shoulders until he is completely out of view.
Ghirahim sighs and reclines back on his moss.
Crisis averted.