Drospirenone

~~~~~

For what was the first time ever, moving through a portal not only caused Four to drop into the middle of a dungeon, but he had shrunk to the size of a minish. It was by the grace of Hylia herself that Four recognized the dungeon as one of his own and knew the way through it.

He went through room after room after room filled with monsters that he could've sworn he killed long ago as a child, and went through the arduous process of re-solving every puzzle of the deepwood shrine. Once he was about halfway done and moved to start on the other half of the pathways connected to the main room, Four noticed that those puzzles were completed. With newfound belief that someone else was in here with him, he trekked back to where he remembered the boss room being.

To top off this already horrific day, the 'giant' chuchu boss was indeed revived, and it was black-blooded. Four wasn't the one to learn about this though, he only heard about it from you during your shaky recollection. Because that was how he found you, covered in black blood and chuchu goo with wide, terrified eyes that were filling with relief at finally not being all alone.

Four raced to your side and did his best to help clean you off, assuring you that you did an amazing job, especially for your first solo galivant through a dungeon. Your hands shook from both adrenaline and exertion, and you remained on high alert as he guided you towards the exit. He confidently lead the way as you curled in on yourself, eyeing the cobwebs on the walls and jumping at the rustling of the fallen leaves on the old stone.

With adrenaline already running high, it should've been no surprise that the dungeon was not the only trial that awaited them. As soon as you both emerged into the light of day, your attention was drawn by a large spider slowly descending from the branches of a nearby bush. Web delicately spun out of the thorax as it lowered itself to the ground and began sizing you both up.

The spider noticed you first, likely surmising you as the easier target thanks to your injuries and clear exhaustion. It stalked towards you with purpose, gaining speed as you froze up. Four raised an eyebrow at your inaction. He knew you were tired, and he wouldn't judge you being sluggish because of it, but it was unlike you to freeze. In an attempt to get the attention off of you, Four put a finger in his mouth and whistled a single, crisp note as loud as he could.

The spider eyed Four curiously, it's legs shuffling rhythmically to spin around and look at Four face-to-face. Before the spider could move any closer though, its' path towards Four was blocked by your figure jumping in between them.

Your bottom lip began to wobble as your wide, petrified eyes began to fill with tears. Eyebrows knit together, you stood there, exhausted and trembling in every limb, short sword held bravely in front of you in a white knuckle grip, as you tried with every fiber of your being to be strong. Your breathing got heavier, and you were looking more pale by the second.

Four felt his heart crack with ever new detail he noticed. And when the first of your tears fell with a sniffle, his mind clicked and his heart shattered.

You had a fear of spiders.

You. Beautiful you. Unwavering, smart, kind, determined, incredible you. You, so unbelievably, amazingly brave, were throwing yourself in front of a threat that terrified you to your very core, just to try and protect him.

Four took two quick, resolute steps towards you and put his hands on your wrists, lowering your sword. He moved an arm protectively around your shoulders and quickly guided you away from the scene until you were both tucked away safely in the hollowed remnants of a tree root, the walls of the root acting as a cave for you both to hide in.

As soon as Four could no longer hear the scuttling of the spider as it disappeared into the distance, you collapsed to your knees in a puddle of tears. Four knelt down with you and immediately pulled you into his arms. He held you through every sob, and let you cry it all out into his shoulder. One of his hands stroked the back of your head, smoothing your hair down, while the other pulled you into a secure, comforting hug. He murmured words of comfort as you gripped his tunic tightly in your hands.

Four had never felt more helpless in his life.

What good was being a hero of courage if he wasn't able to face your fears for you? He just stood there while you handled that alone! Four wouldn't wish this life of constant terrors on anyone, especially not you. Never you. There was no reason you should have to suffer like this, not when he was standing right there! He should've done more to help. He should've noticed by now how skittish you were around spiders. You weren't subtle with the way you clammed up and sucked a sharp breath in at the mere mention of skulltulas, it makes perfect sense that the real point of fear was arachnids. He was supposed to be one of the smart ones in the group. He should've noticed. He should've been better, he should've-

Four was pulled out of his spiral by you pulling out of the hug enough to sit up properly. You went to wipe your eyes, but Four beat you to it, cupping your cheeks with his warm, calloused hands and wiping away your tears as gently as possible with his thumbs. When no evidence of your sorrow remained, Four dropped his hands to where yours sat in your lap, and gently held them with his own. You both sat there for a moment, holding hands, looking into each others eyes as your breathing evened out with the subsiding panic.

You both tried talking at the same time.

"Are you ok?-"

"I'm so sorry, I-"

You both paused. You huffed a single laugh and squeezed Four's hands, wordlessly telling him to go first. Four brought one of his hands back up to cup your cheek.

"Are you ok?"

You leaned into his touch with a small smile, bringing your free hand up to layer over top of his.

"Yeah. I am. I'm sorry I put you through this. I should've had a better handle on my emotions instead of dragging you down with me and-"

Four leaned closer to look at you sternly.

"Don't you dare try to apologize for getting scared. The world is terrifying when we're this small. You have nothing to apologize for."

"but my brain knows that spiders are just animals. There's no reason I should be scared of a bug when I've faced down full blown monsters without even flinching and-"

"I'm scared of cats. Do you think any less of me because of it?"

"You are? Well anyway, no, I would never think less of you for that but-"

Four squeezed your hands and smiled at you. "Then it stands to reason I wouldn't think any less of you for being scared of an animal since you don't think any less of me, right?"

You slumped with a defeated sigh. After a moment, you pulled your red-rimmed, puffy eyes up to meet Four's clear, patient ones.

"Thank you. For.... everything. If it wasn't for you, I'd probably still be in front of that spider just crying and hyperventilating"

Four leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on your forehead.

"Anytime, Angel"

~~~~~

"Are you actually scared of cats, or were you just saying that to make me feel better?"

"... ... ... ... ... Don't tell Twilight"

You tried to cut your snort short with a cough.

"HEY!"

You reached out to hold his hand while you two started walking towards the minish village in the hopes of finding the others.

"I'll make you a deal," you squeezed his hand with a smile, "You handle all the spiders we run into, I'll handle all the cats"

Four squeezed your hand back, annoyance begrudgingly fading into a soft smile.

~~~~~

Four let out a shaky breath as you tilted his chin up to look at you. Your lips met his, and you slowly began to move your mouth against his. By the time you separated, his eyes, normally a mesmerizing array of colors, were nearly completely black.

Blown-out pupils looked back at you, a warm flush across his cheeks and the bridge of his nose, chest swelling up and collapsing with every breath he managed to heave out. Soft blonde hair fell from where it was tucked from behind his ear, the sight filling you with pride as you watched this gorgeous man fall apart before your very eyes.

you licked your lips in anticipation and sent a smile at Four. "Can I go further?"

"Please", he breathed back, and you dove in to kiss him again. Bringing your non-dominant hand up to cup his cheek, you slid your hand backwards into his hair and began to run your fingers through it. Four hummed at the pleasant sensation, and gasped with a flinch once he felt your dominant hand grip his hip. You continued a pattern of similar motions for a while, using your non dominant hand to distract him with gentle touches: gliding through his hair, stroking the back of his neck, gently trailing down his throat, running your fingertips across his collar bone in a way that made him shiver. Your dominant hand, however, capitalized on every distraction: gripping his hip bone, slipping under his tunic to run your nails across his lower back, sliding upwards to feel the strong muscle wrapped around his ribcage that tensed with every breath.

Four gently pushed you back, only to pull his tunic up and over his head. Feeling your own face heat up, you bit your lip and let your eyes wander over every delicious inch of skin that the Smithy felt fit to bless you with.

"I'm not sure how I'm lucky enough to be blessed with this view considering our kinstones didn't fit"

Four huffed a laugh at the memory from earlier in the day and cupped the side of your face with both hands, muttering "Mouths fit. Close enough. It counts." before pulling you in to taste your mouth one more time.

You took a step towards Four, gently pushing on his shoulders to coax him into taking a step back into the wall behind him, all while maintaining your lip lock. Keeping Four pressed against the wall, you let your hands roam down his strong shoulders, squeezing his biceps and gently running your nails along his forearms until you reached where his hands were settled on your hips. You broke the kiss, guiding his hands to your shoulders as you sank to your knees in front of him.

Hooking both hands into his waistband, you dragged your eyes away from his bulge to look up at Four through your eyelashes and smile, "May I?"

Four threw one of his hands over his mouth to stifle a groan, and nodded his head, moving his other hand on top of your head to stroke your hair out of your face. You slid his pants down his legs just enough to let your prize spring free. Flushed red and leaking at the tip, you maintained eye contact with Four as you tilted your head to run the flat of your tongue along the length of his cock. You heard Four let out another groan behind his hand, eyebrows knitting together as the pleasure raced up his spine. Keeping your eyes on Four, you wrapped your lips around the head of him, giving a swirl with your tongue for good measure, and slowly lowered yourself down, taking him into your throat inch by inch.

The sight and feeling combined got Four to break the eye contact first, squeezing his eyes shut and throwing his head back against the wall with a moan. He felt you smile around him, proud of your win in the impromptu staring contest, and gasped when he felt you start bobbing your head up and down.

Any hope of him staying quiet was dashed as he felt himself be worked over by your mouth. The feel of your mouth dragging up and down his length, the little flick of your tongue on his tip whenever you pulled far enough off of him, the glide of your hand down the rest of his length, lubricated by your own saliva, every move you made pulled another gasp, another moan, another noise out of him.

You had intended to remain in control the entire time, but the symphony of Four's pleasure in your ears proved to be too intoxicating, and you felt your thighs clench with every sound you pulled from his throat. Your brain was already going fuzzy at the sight of him above you, shirtless and wrecked, but hearing him gasp your name like it was the only thing he could remember how to say was quickly driving you insane in the best possible way.

Four nearly bucked his hips into your mouth after feeling you moan around him. His eyes pricked with small tears as you used your arm to pin his hips to the wall, working up to taking all of him in your mouth now that your hand was occupied and unable to assist your endeavors.

"You feel so good, I'm so close, please... Ah!"

You rewarded his begging by taking all of him into your mouth, humming and swallowing around him as your nose hit the neatly kept hair around his base. It proved to be just what the Smithy needed, and he came with a long groan that was barely muffled by his hand. He shuddered as he spilled down your throat, the warm, salty liquid satisfying the part of you that had been craving him all day.

Keeping Four's hips pinned, you started to pull your head back to release him from your mouth, only to bob your head a few more times up and down his length and send him into overstimulation. It pulled a few more delicious moans from him, and you could feel the way his hips and abs flexed trying to fight off the restraint of your arm. You were eventually stopped by Four grabbing your hair by the roots and lightly pulling you off of his cock.

You looked up at him from your spot on the floor and smiled wide as his dick finally fell out of your mouth. You tucked it back into his pants with great care.

You made a move to stand up, finally feeling your knees protest their treatment against the hard floor, only to be caught off guard when Four sank to his own knees instead of pulling you up to stand with him.

You felt Four's warm, calloused hands settle on your hips and pull you towards him until you were knocked flat on your back. He used the opportunity to crawl over your body until he was eye to eye with you, arms pinned to either side of your head. Cheeks and ears flushed pink, a bead of sweat running down the side of his face, eyes swirling with color but staring intently into your own as he regained his bearings, he was a sight to behold. The light from the window above you both reflected off of Four's shoulders, highlighting the way they flexed as he held himself above you. His chest was begging to be licked and caressed as it rose and fell with panted breath, his golden hair reflecting light to shine like a halo around him head despite the debauchery you had just guided him through.

Four, having gotten a hold of himself, bestowed a bright, crooked smile upon you.

It's been a long week. From getting yanked around by some baboons in Twilight's era, to getting swarmed by tektites in Time's era, to squaring up against a Lynel in Wild's era, it was no surprise that when the chain jumped through a portal for the fourth time this week and ended up right in front of Four's home, everyone collectively decided that they were done adventuring for the day and would take a moment to rest.

Most of the chain had paired up and scattered. Time and Wars headed into town to restock, Hyrule took Wind to go explore, Legend and Sky got comfy in Four's living room to work on their personal sewing and carving projects respectively, and Twilight was keeping Wild company in the kitchen out of pity for Wild's broken arm keeping him homebound until more potions were secured.

Four could be found helping his grandfather with the backlog of orders that had built up while he was away, and he was putting the finishing touches on the last batch of weapons that had been commissioned by the crown when you poked your head around the corner of the doorway leading into the forge.

Four's grandfather was the first to acknowledge you with a grin.

"Link! Your pretty friend is here looking for you!"

Four's eyes snapped up to look at you from the anvil he was working at, flashing red and blue as he threw a side-eye glare towards his grandfather as his words sank in. He set down the sword he was working on and took a step back before addressing you with a smile.

"Oh hey! Everything ok?"

You stepped out fully into the doorway and made your way closer to Four, returning his smile.

"Everything's ok! I just have a question for you, Smithy."

Four raised an eyebrow at you and tilted his head slightly, encouraging you to go on.

You stopped in front of him and reached a hand out to gently touch the feather earring that sat below Four's left ear. The delicately soft, very flexible feather stood out vividly against your hand with its bright white plume and bold red accent. Four's eyes looked more red than before, and he could feel his face get a little hot as he felt your fingers ghost over the fastener on the feather and the small gold ring that attached the accessory to his ear.

"I wanted to ask about your earring. I think its really gorgeous, and the feather has a really unique pattern and texture compared to what I find back home. Do you remember where you found it? I was hoping to make myself a pair of earrings like yours"

You took your hand back and turned your head to look away at the far wall, feeling shy. "Well, if you don't mind matching with me, that is."

Four cleared his throat before addressing you with red cheeks that he was hoping you didn't notice.

"I do remember where I got this feather, and I'd be happy to take you, but it's a bit of a trek to get there. Are you sure you still want to go?"

Your eyes lit up at his words, and you bounced out of excitement.

"Yes! I'm ready to go whenever you are. Oh!" You turned to look at Four's grandfather, "Unless your grandfather still needs you? Helping family takes priority over hikes."

Four's grandfather made a shoo-ing motion with his hand and turned towards a desk in the corner of the room, rummaging through a drawer.

"Nah! I've already gotten a full day's labor out of Link, it's time I cut him loose. Take these with you! I never found a good use for them and they're just taking up space in my workshop"

Four's grandfather walked over and handed you a pair of sterling silver fasteners and earring hoops. You held them gently in your hand before looking up at him with wide eyes.

"Are you sure I can just have these? This doesn't seem fair. I come in here, steal away your help, and you give me a gift in response?"

Four's grandfather laughed and put a firm hand on your shoulder. "Oh, please, you're doing me a favor by getting this troublemaker out of here! Now go on, you're burning daylight!"

Four grabbed your hand and gently pulled you towards the door, sticking his tongue out at his grandfather before smiling and waving goodbye, promising to have you both back by nightfall.

~~~~~

Four led you by the hand deep into the woods, only letting go briefly to handle the occasional chuchu or octorock that blocked your path. After slaying a chuchu once again and offering you his hand to help you over a tall tree root like a gentleman, you started up a quiet conversation.

"So, what animal did you get that feather from? The core of the feather is too sturdy to be from an ordinary bird, and you don't seem like the type to accessorize with monster parts."

Four hummed in acknowledgement, eyes taking on a brilliant green as he guided you through the woods.

"You're correct in what you've ruled out. This feather is actually a tail feather from some creatures I've become very good friends with. Tell me, does your era have stories about the Picori?"

"I've heard the name before. They're small little creatures known for their altruism, right? Whenever someone in my era encounters a random act of kindness, the usual response from others is 'thank your Picori for looking out for you!' I can't say I've ever actually seen one though."

Four smiled at your answer as he walked.

"Your era is more aware of the Picori than most. Usually I have to teach people where all their little blessings come from. I'm glad your era recognizes their hard work."

Four jumped on top of an unassuming tree stump with a crack in the center and held out his hand for you.

"Shall we meet the Picori?"

You took Four's hand with excitement and pulled yourself up on top of the stump, placing your other hand on his shoulder for stability, while Four's arm fell to your waist to help balance you.

Four suddenly began reciting a spell in a language you didn't recognize. Magic began to flow around you both, glowing blue runes rising up and circling you. Four's voice began to warp, his usual cadence seemingly echoing all around you as the world changed. Your vision blurred as warm magic flowed through every part of your body, shrinking you, and soon it felt like there was nothing standing beneath you. You began to panic as you recognized the sensation of falling, but the panicking was cut short once you felt yourself bounce off a mushroom cap like a trampoline. You bounced twice more, and flailed your limbs in an attempt to reorient yourself, before being caught securely in Four's strong arms. You latched your own arms securely around Four's neck for a moment, before slowly relaxing as your mind clears away the last bits of the disoriented feeling. You reluctantly climb out of Four's hold and shoot him a half-hearted glare once you're standing normally on the ground.

"A little warning next time you cast a spell on me, Smithy"

Four grinned at you like a devious bastard, eyes taking on a clear blue color.

"Now where's the fun in that?"

~~~~~

A short walk later, and you had finally reached the village of the Picori. It was truly one of the most adorable things you had ever seen, with clovers braided into archways that lined the village paths, and nuts the size of you being rolled around towards various homes, presumably to act as a large food storage.

The homes themselves were discarded objects like shoes and pots that had been hollowed out and refurbished into homes for these creatures that stood barely 3 inches tall. A few Picori walking by with arms full of plant sprouts being cultivated in bottle caps let out happy trills of excitement upon seeing Four. Soon enough, more Picori had realized what the commotion was all about, and a large crowd formed of happily chattering creatures swarming Four.

As payback for casting the transformation spell on you without any warning, you crossed your arms and leaned back against a flower stem, offering absolutely no support to free Four from the crowd that he was currently being smothered in. You took in the sight of Four's comeuppance and the adorable scenery with a soft smile, and waited for the crowd's excitement to run its course.

You felt a small tug on your sleeve and turned to look to your right. A Picori looked back at you at eye level and attempted to tell you something in it's native language. You offered it a sheepish smile.

"I'm sorry, friend. I don't understand you."

The Picori bounced in place once while releasing your sleeve, and rushed over to the bottle caps of plants that had been forgotten. You glanced at Four, who was no longer visible, completely swallowed by the excited mass of fur making up the crowd. One of his hands shot up above the crowd, begging to be rescued, before it was quickly swallowed again by the happy creatures. The Picori returned with a large, strange looking nut and offered it to you. You were feeling hungry anyway, so you accepted the snack and took a bite. Your mouth tingled with magic, and you felt sparks on your tongue as you swallowed the bite.

"You are able to understand me a bit better now, yes?"

You quickly looked at the Picori in surprise. "Yes I can! Thank you, friend"

The Picori bounced happily in excitement.

"Oh how wonderful! The hero's friend considers me a friend! What brings you and our hero to the village my new friend? Can we assist you in any way?"

Four finally broke free from the crowd and tripped into your arms, exhausted, blue eyes fading into a pale violet. You caught him and rubbed his back while he caught his breath.

You turned your head to the Picori. "I wanted to see where our hero got this beautiful feather from, and he brought me here". Gently carding your fingers through Four's hair, you lifted the hair above his ear to expose the earring.

Your Picori friend took a closer look at the earring. "Ah! That is the elder's feather! He bestowed it upon the hero after he successfully retrieved the earth element so that all other Minish would recognize the hero as a friend! A Minish can only give their feathers to those they recognize as truly trustworthy companions, so the hero is an exceptional friend of the elder!"

Once you saw Four standing upright and gathering his bearings, you looked back at your Picori friend.

"I didn't know your feathers held such significance! Thank you for sharing that with me. What's your name, by the way?"

The Picori placed a hand on it's chest and bowed towards you "I am Ricolai!"

You copied the gesture and gave your name in return before turning to Four.

"Are you ok?

Four blinked a few times, violet eyes refocusing on you.

"I think so, or as ok as I can be after getting trampled by a crowd. Thanks for the help, by the way, would've been nice to have someone taller than me help me claw my way out of there"

You slowly grinned at Four

"Now where's the fun in that?"

~~~~~

Ricolai offered to host you both in his home during your visit to the village. He led you through the door of a small basket that had clovers and flowers woven though the ceiling, reinforcing the weave to protect his home from any rain that may come. Behind the spool of thread and thimbles making up a table and chairs was bed inside of a teacup, large amounts of what looked to be fluffy fur packed underneath a piece of cloth acting as a mattress.

Ricolai fed you both delectable pastries with crushed nut fragments in them and droplets of tea that were just the right portion to sate your thirst with. He eagerly listened to stories about your era and your adventures with the chain, and sat on the edge of his seat with starry eyed excitement as he listened to Four recount parts of his adventure to reforge the white blade into the Picori sword. After about an hour of chatting over afternoon tea, Ricolai offered to tour the village with you both once you both were rested and felt ready.

As you set off to explore the village, you had Four holding your left hand and Ricolai holding your right hand. You chose to not release either person's hand at any point, and let them both pull you towards whatever they wanted to show you. Ricolai would tug you to the right to point out large nuts or fruit after you mentioned that you found them to be novel, and Four would tug you to the left to point out important buildings in town and specific architectural features that you mentioned were adorable. At one point, both boys had something they wanted to show you, and it turned into a game of tug of war where you were the rope. Ricolai started off with the upper hand thanks to the fact that he was slightly larger than Four, but Four planted his feet and gave one large tug that sent both you and Ricolai flying towards him, the three of you crashing into a pile of chaotic laughter.

~~~~~

As all good things must eventually end, the sky changed colors as the sun eventually set, and Four reminded you that you both needed to be home by nightfall. You gave Ricolai a tight embrace and thanked him profusely for his hospitality, swearing that you would visit again. As you headed towards the village entrance with Four and waved goodbye to the rest of the Picori, you started to get a little misty-eyed.

Four nudged you with his foot, looking at you with eyes swirling as purple started to fade into green. "Everything ok? Why the tears?"

You flashed Four a blinding smile and sniffle before responding.

"They're happy tears, don't worry. Traveling with everyone has been incredible, but I'm not used to the strain of constant travel yet. This past week was so abysmal and today was just so fun and I had such a wonderful time making friends with Ricolai and the other Picori and exploring such a beautiful town and-"

You cut yourself off with another sniffle and wiped at your eyes. You smiled wide at Four before pulling him into a tight hug.

"Thank you for today. I know we initially only came here to see if we could find a feather for me, but this was better than I could've hoped for."

Four hugged you back with a happy hum, his eyes a rainbow of colors.

"I'll bring you back here every chance I get. I'm glad you enjoy the Picori's company as much as I do. C'mon, let's head home and get some rest"

Four released you from the hug and led you towards the stump, softly warning you that he was about to cast the spell to change your bodies back to their normal size.

Behind you, leaning against the gate into the village was Ricolai, fidgeting with his tail feather, as he watched you both disappear into the forest.

~~~~~

It was fricken cold by your standards. You hailed from the desert and your home was known for its hot climate. So, when you realized the latest village the chain stopped by was receiving its first snowfall of the year, you mentally groaned at the thought of all the shivering and chattering teeth that awaited you.

After Legend called you a wimp and Hyrule questioned how you could possibly be defeated by half an inch of snow, your initial plan was to hole up in the library and hope that the cozy ambiance would be enough to keep you warm. However, the sympathetic librarian was kind enough to offer a better suggestion. The local forge was larger on the inside than it seemed on the outside and was built with a full sitting/waiting area near the shop's front desk, making for a delightfully warm place to sit and read. After checking out a book that caught your eye, you took her suggestion and headed straight over to the forge, ready for some peace and warmth.

~~~~~

Inside the forge was exactly as promised with delightfully warm air caressing your face as soon as you walked through the door. After giving a friendly wave and explaining to the owner of the shop why you were here through shivers, you made you way over to the beautifully carved benches on your right, and gave a large sigh of relief as you finally felt some warmth return to your hands.

Your face quickly gained some warmth as well as you took in the view in front of you.

The way the bench was angled had you facing the workstation behind the front desk, which displayed none other than Four, completely shirtless, focused intensely on Wild's broken sword before him. The muscles on his back and arms flexed as he hammered the hot metal back in place, sweat dripping down his spine. Your eyes followed a droplet all the way down from the top of his broad back down to the gentle slope of his waist, right until it disappeared by getting absorbed into the waistband of his pants. After a few moments he stepped away from the bench and rolled his strong shoulders back to relieve the strain caused by the hard work, and turned to dunk the sword in a barrel of water nearby. Through the steam, Four spotted you and raised an eyebrow with a smile.

"Oh hey! When did you get here? I could've sworn I overheard you say you were heading to the library."

You held up your book with a smile, "Not long ago! The librarian saw me shivering and suggested I do my reading at the warmest spot in town."

Four shook his head and huffed a laugh. "You're the only person I know who would willingly seek out this much heat. Be careful not to get too close, the steam could ruin the pages of your book"

You thanked Four for the advice and got comfortable, opening up your book when he turned back around to keep working on Wild's sword. A comfortable silence hung between the two of you, as Four refocused on his work and you attempted to focus on your book instead of Four's figure. It was a hard battle to keep your attention on the pages, and you couldn't help but sneak a glance at the Smithy every so often. There were less and less paragraphs being read in between each glance at the feast before your eyes, and your face was turning a little redder with each thought about how much you'd like to feel those strong arms around your waist, or feel his warm hands on your hips, or feel him press you against-

"HEY! Are you ok?"

You snapped out of your thoughts to a concerned looking Four waving his hand in front of your face.

"Are you overheating? I called your name a few times. Your face has been getting really red and you seem dazed"

You're not sure when he came over to check on you, but goddesses help you because the bench puts your eye level with Four's chest, and his sweat slick pecs were staring right back at you.

You had to remind yourself that his eyes were a little higher up before responding.

"I'm doing just fine Smithy, but it's sweet of you to worry about me."

He raised an eyebrow at you. "You look flushed. Are you sure you don't have a fever or anything?"

Four raised a warm, calloused hand to check your temperature, and you couldn't help but lean into it a little bit. "Pinky promise, Smithy. I'm alright, just distracted by a good view"

Four took a step back to analyze what you said, eyebrows scrunched together as he looked you over. He saw you lean back, cheeks pink, book raised to obscure the bottom half of your face. He subconsciously wiped a bead of sweat off the bottom of his jaw with the back of his hand, and after watching your eyes follow the movement and dilate, it clicked in his head what was going on.

A light blush coated the Smithy's cheeks. "You really came in here to get your fix of eye candy?"

It struck you as odd that Four seemed more baffled than anything. You were ready to apologize for ogling him and leave if he was uncomfortable. While you were grateful he didn't seem distressed by your admittedly blatant staring, it bothered you that he seemed confused by your attention.

"It wasn't my original intention to come in here for a free show, I apologize if I've made you uncomfortable. I gotta say though, I'm not sure where else you think I'd be able to see such a stunning display."

"Literally anyone else in the group" Four's eyes glanced at the floor and he crossed his arms.

You closed your book, set it gently on the bench, stood up, and walked over to stand in front of him. Four felt you gently grab his chin and tilt his head to look you in the eye.

"You think I can find a gorgeous man like you anywhere else? Smithy. You're hot. You're incredibly hot. I have been drooling over you all day for good reason. I want to be held in your beefy arms and smothered in your delicious chest and-"

Four covered his very red face with a hand while shooing you away, "alright, now you're just exaggerating"

"Oh I'm sorry, so when there's a strong, handsome man in front of me working hard on something he's passionate about I'm supposed to just sit here and NOT be wildly attracted to him?"

Four now used both hands to fully cover his face in embarrassment, but couldn't help peeking at you through his fingers.

Upon seeing you look him up and down once more with unwavering appreciation, he took a deep breath, allowing some of your genuine compliments to sink into his heart and build up a bit of his confidence. Dropping his hands off his red face and planting them on his hips with a crooked smile, Four sauntered back to his work station letting his face shape into a big goofy grin.

"I'll have to start working shirtless more often now that I know how much you enjoy it."