"no need to work on your metaphor game, brother. i'm just being too hard on you. even if you insist that i am not. i should calibrate my tone," adam suggested, meaning every word. "talking to yourself can be helpful. if you can't trust your own voice, how can you trust others', do you know what i'm saying?" seeing the other's expression soften was something that adam did not miss. most of the time, he might, but it seemed that he and link had a bond that was stronger than most. "i used to talk to myself, too." did he still? perhaps from time to time. adam was reminded of being locked away in that bathroom with nothing but fear and darkness. he'd talked to himself until the very end, because he was wholly, unequivocally, alone. not that he needed to burden link with all of that traumatic baggage. "keeping your head above water doesn't mean good," adam mentioned with a curious and compassionate lift of his brow. "this place is hard to adjust to for a lot of us," adam said, studying his companion's expressions carefully. "i have," adam admitted after an appropriate pause. "i am not supposed to be here either," adam stated, trying not to swallow too hard. "but then again, i don't feel that i am supposed to be anywhere." even back home, he'd been tortured. disposed of.
Link listened. Adam’s words settled heavier than the ones that had come before. There was a familiar kind of ache in them. One he knew too well. He nodded slowly, the motion deliberate, like he was agreeing with something deeper than the words themselves. “Maybe it’s not about where you’re supposed to be,” he said after a moment, his voice low but steady. “Maybe it’s about who you end up standing beside.” He shrugged a little, as if he wasn’t sure if that made any sense. He had firmly believed he was in the right place next to the champions, but waking up a century later to a Hyrule in ruins - and then, in London… it was messing with his head. “I’m glad you are here, though,” he said. Simple and honest, without metaphors. “Even if it feels like we’re both just… treading water.” There was a tiny smile then. Almost self-deprecating. But there was a spark of something steadier underneath, too. Something that said he meant it. “Would you like to get a drink with me?”
