Chapter Text
The first time it happened, it really didn’t seem like either of them were intending it to go that way.
They had all thought the quest had been rapidly reaching its conclusion. After all, it felt like a natural conclusion of everything. All spirits freed (or restored in Ciela’s case), they were on their way to the Ghost Ship (with a minor delay of Linebeck’s ex-girlfriend coming to murder him), and soon Link’s friend would be saved and all would be said and done.
And then suddenly Tetra was a stone statue, and they all were realizing they were only halfway through this, and Linebeck was having the absolute nerve to act like he was making some big sacrifice where he needed a wish to feel like it was worth going on, even though Ciela really thought that maybe the idea of the whole realm being annihilated should have been enough.
Disappointment was abound and the whole ship was becoming tense the longer they were out on the ocean with no outlet for it all.
In retrospect, it was really this or Ciela was gonna do Jolene a favor by killing Linebeck herself.
Ciela had been stalking down to the lowest level of the ship, where Linebeck was checking out part of the ship down there. She wasn’t exactly sure what he was doing, didn’t really care. She was itching for a fight and she felt like the whole “demanding a payment to keep saving the world” issue hadn’t really been hashed out to its full potential. And Linebeck rose to the challenge just like Ciela hoped he would.
Usually, their fights were always verbal. The closest they would get would be face to face before one couldn’t come up with a valid comeback to whatever they were fighting about that time, and ultimately stalk away in a huff.
But something was different. Maybe it was the tension from the recent development. Maybe it was Linebeck dealing with some past issues in himself with the reappearance of Jolene. Maybe it was Ciela feeling like she suddenly didn’t have control over anything anymore. With all of her plans and ideas of what she could accomplish when she would get her memories back were suddenly dashed against the cliffs of Molinda upon being thrust back into Spirithood without any kind of heads up over it.
But for the first time in all of their fighting, as Linebeck turned to leave in a huff, Ciela found herself snapping out her hand to grab a fistful of his hair and yanking him back to her.
She wasn’t sure what led her to doing it, she wasn’t even sure what she had been planning to do after not letting Linebeck escape her wrath for once.
Regardless, any plan Ciela might have had went out the window as Linebeck practically folded like a table against her while letting out the most pathetic sounding whimper she ever heard the man make.
Her brain shorted out, and then suddenly Ciela had Linebeck pressed up against the wall, mouth on mouth while they stripped each other of just enough clothes to basically try and hate fuck the other out of existence, letting the sound of the engine drown them out.
When the whole- * ahem * -encounter was finished, and the pair was left heaving on the lower deck floor covered in sweat and other fluids, Ciela was the first to leave, hissing as she hurriedly wrapped her dress around her to be decent once again, that the only way this was gonna happen again was gonna be in Linebeck’s dreams.
And yet. As Ciela flitted up the steps, she couldn’t help but begrudgingly accept that it did seem to burst the bubble of tension in her.
So of course, when that bubble would swell up again and again, Ciela would find herself running off to go instigate another ‘fight’ with Linebeck, full of desperation and stress and built up sexual tension, neither lingering when all was said and done.
But as their journey continued, and their trysts continued, and the more they learned about the other when both clothed and unclothed, it was only enviable that something more was gonna develop because of it all.
If they had stayed strictly to sex, it probably wouldn’t have happened. But of course, they talked and emotions started getting involved, and the more Linebeck revealed and the more Ciela shared about their lives… both of them realized that they weren’t lingering after it to avoid the awkwardness and weirdness, but now because they were trying to avoid the feelings that were coming with it all.
But both of them realized whatever this thing that they were doing, it wasn’t going to last, and something broke as when Ciela got up to go after what would end up being their second to last time, and Linebeck almost absentmindedly grabbed her lower arm to get her to stay. However, he quickly let her go, hands lingering together as their eyes stared before quickly breaking their gaze.
Linebeck rolled back over in his bed and Ciela quietly slipped back out to the hallway.
The final night, which they both knew was the Final Night because Link was fighting Bellum the next day, and then regardless of the outcome, their paths were never gonna converge again, Linebeck had a mortal life to return to, and Ciela an immortal one.
That night, it was all different. For starters, it didn’t start with a fight. Ciela had been walking past Linebeck’s cabin door, before stopping and gently opening it. Linebeck had been standing by his bed, clad only in a pair of loose cloth pants.
Ciela let her eyes roam over him as she softly closed the door behind her. It was the first time she had let herself do this, all the previous times keeping herself focused on getting her own pleasure from him, and not lingering on who she was getting it from.
But she didn’t shy away from it, taking in Linebeck’s body. The tanned skin, the slightly chubby chest and stomach, the occasional random freckle spotting his body, the trail of dark hair leading down until it disappeared under his waistline.
Ciela’s eyes slowly moved back up until they finally caught Linebeck’s green ones staring back at her, eyes so full of want but also hesitant, unsure of what was exactly going to happen.
Swallowing, unsure herself, Ciela approached Linebeck. Raising one hand, she threaded her hand through his loose hair, tenderly drawing him in for a kiss.
It started out surprisingly chaste, given that usually their kisses immediately became a battle for dominance. But this one, this one was an almost dance between them. One pressing forward, the other drawing back, like the tides of the ocean.
One of Linebeck’s hands almost hesitantly slid up along Ciela’s body, playing with the ties of her dress. So often he untied them without question, but this time, he paused, drawing back from their kiss to wordlessly stare at Ciela with an almost bashful look of wondering if he should keep going.
Ciela only nodded her consent, using her hand to lead Linebeck’s other hand to the tie of her dress, soon after letting her hands drift to the waistband of his pants.
Almost in unison, they undressed the other quickly, but not hastily. It wasn’t a race, or a battle, or a quick tryst before one of their other traveling companions started wondering where the pair of them had gone off to.
It was them finally just… letting them be in the moment of it all.
Ciela caught Linebeck gazing over her this time, and despite her having been naked in front of Linebeck plenty of times before this, Ciela suddenly felt a wave of shyness break over her, wondering what Linebeck really thought of her body.
Linebeck began kissing her again, more passionate than before, but not as aggressive as they were. Coming up for air, he let out in a breathy whisper, “I’ve been dying to tell you how beautiful you look.”
Ciela gasped as emotion overcame her, letting herself start kissing Linebeck back with equal enthusiasm, hands wandering.
Eventually, they ended up on Linebeck’s bed, hearts racing despite having done very little physically so far.
Linebeck, for once, was overtop Ciela, and he decided to take full advantage of this, kissing along down her neck, her breasts, her stomach, hips, along every inch of her like he was trying to memorize the form of her body with just his lips. His hands soon joined as well, trading spots with his mouth as he returned his lips to Ciela’s breasts.
Ciela felt her body arch under his ministrations, sounds she never made before escaping from her in breathless gasps.
The night was silent. The engine was off, and beyond the periodic groan of the ship as the waves pushed at the side of the boat, there was no other noise to swallow them up.
It added something new to it all, something both Linebeck and Ciela didn't think possible after months of sneaking around. It felt more sensual, more erotic, more-
As Linebeck kissed Ciela's mouth to muffle her moan as he pressed into her, Ciela felt her body shudder as she finished her thoughts.
It was more loving.
How bittersweet. Their last night, and only now did they let themselves truly be. Beyond the desperate scrabble to dominate before the other gained the upper hand, and hide or deny anything beyond just using each other for stress relief.
Ciela buried her head into the side of Linebeck's neck, partly to smother another moan as the man angled himself at just the right spot .
And partly so she hoped Linebeck wouldn't notice the few tears that escaped into his hair.
They continued their love making well into the night. For once, neither of them wanted the encounter to be over. A strange feeling, as they’d look at one another when one finished, a questioning look of if now was when Ciela would leave or Linebeck would roll over.
But instead, they would just dive right back in.
By the time both of them were finally spent, Linebeck was flat on his back, Ciela laying down on her side, a thin sheen of sweat present on both. A few inches of bed separated them.
Ciela closed her eyes for a moment, feeling that satisfied ache deep in her, something finally satiated after that first loveless tryst between them.
When she opened them again, she saw Linebeck once again looking hesitantly at her. His eyes flicked up, looking past at her, at where Ciela knew his cabin door was, then back to her.
This was usually when she left. They got what they wanted, things were finished.
There was no reason for her to stay.
And as Ciela pushed herself up from the bed, she saw a flicker of heartbreak in Linebeck’s eyes.
That quickly went to confusion as Ciela simply grabbed a sheet from the mess of covers at the foot of his bed, covering the both of them as she laid firmly against Linebeck’s side, closing the gap between them.
There was a moment of stillness from Linebeck, and then he wrapped his arms around Ciela tightly, holding their forms close together as they slipped into sleep side by side.