#cf crown

His face scrunched up as he padded over to the bed. There were two problems with that request. First-

"We've been over this, Zel, no studying at bedtime," he said as he climbed onto her bed, settling cross-legged on the duvet.

"It's not studying! It's a normal fiction book," Zelda replied from where she rested against her headboard, a pile of pillows cushioning her back. 

The second problem still stood in the way.

"I'm bad at reading. You've said it yourself!"

He didn't really like to think of himself as bad at reading - he was, after all, one of the best readers back home - but compared to Zelda… and tons of other people at the castle and in Castle Town, he wasn't all that great at it. He had gotten a little better, with more opportunities to practice being available to him, but still, surely she'd prefer reading it herself.

"I like to hear your voice," Zelda said, shifting onto her side a little to face him better as his cheeks warmed. "I don't mind if you take it slow."

Lips bunching in embarrassment and hesitation, there were a few beats of silence before he sighed and held out his hand. "Fine."

Brightening, she turned and grabbed the book from her nightstand, handing it over. Taking the book, Link shifted closer, settling against the pillows as well as he found an angle that gave him more light to read by.

"Starting here," Zelda said, pointing to a paragraph.

Putting a finger under the first word to help him work his way along each line, he began, words slow and occasionally halting as he sounded out words he hadn't read before. So focused on reading correctly, Link didn't absorb the actual content until…

"'All at… once, he took her… face in his hands, press…ing… his-'" Abruptly, Link cut off, staring at the next word.

"What?" Zelda asked in a tone a little too innocent for his liking. "What happens?"

His head lifted, cheeks aflame. "What do you mean, what?! You absolutely know what happens! You did this on purpose, didn't you?!"

"Did what? I've never read this book before. How am I supposed to know what happens?"

"You read ahead, didn't you? That's why you picked this part!"

"What part? I won't know unless you read it to me," she said, the corners of her mouth twitching. 

Link tossed the book back onto her lap. "Absolutely not! You're not getting me to read a- a-"

"A what?"

"A kissing book!" he squawked, glaring at the book with the urge to pick it up again just so he could chuck it down one more time.

Zelda burst out laughing. "Aw, don't tell me you're allergic to a little romance. What's wrong with a kiss? I think it's very sweet."

"You tricked me!"

She continued laughing, sinking down into her pillows as she held her stomach. "Sorry!" she said, not sounding sorry at all. "But I knew you'd make the best expressions over it!" 

"I'm never reading for you again!"

Drawing in a calming breath and letting it out in a sigh, Zelda sat up. "Oh, don't be like that. I really do like hearing you read. And watching you read. You get this really focused look on your face. It's cute."

"Stop teasing me!" Link squawked, shoving at her arm as she burst into laughter again. 

"I'm telling the truth!" she insisted between giggles, letting him push her over. The book started to slide off the covers and she snatched it before it fell off the bed, opening it and flipping through the pages to find the spot from before so she could read it aloud.

"'-pressing his lips to-'"

"Stop!" he screeched, lunging for the book.

Zelda slid further off the side of the mattress, hanging off as much as she could without falling. Her arms hung low enough that the book almost touched the floor, keeping it out of reach as she continued to read, voice becoming squished as Link scrambled atop her, weight pressing over her back as he reached desperately for the book. "'-hers. Within her rose a flame-'"

Unable to reach from his current position without risking falling off entirely, Link resorted to making noise, trying to drown her out. She tilted her head away, wincing as he cried, "Nope! Nope! Shut up! Nope!" right beside her ear, but simply began to read louder.

"'-a flame that coursed through her veins and across her skin until-'"

"What in Din's sake are you two doing?!"

Both froze at the hissing voice, Link turning to peer over his shoulder at Mila, who had popped her head through the door with a glare that likely would have made anyone else shrivel up.

Link, however, said, "She's reading bad things! I'm-"

Zelda bucked under him, trying to make him fall off. "I am not!"

"-trying to stop her-"

"You're just mmf-!"

"Hush!" Mila interrupted their layered argument as she stepped inside the door, hand on her hip. "You two are so loud! What have I told you?!"

Link scowled as he continued to press Zelda's face into the fluffy blankets hanging off the edge while she swatted blindly at him with one hand. She found his hair and yanked until he released her head.

Zelda huffed, then grumbled, "That if we're going to do this, we need to be quiet."

"And I could hear you two all the way down the hall. Now, can you two keep it down, or do you need to be separated?"

Zelda's lips pulled into a pout, cheeks pink. "We'll be quiet."

"Sir Link?" Mila said expectantly.

"We'll be quiet," he parroted with a similar pout.

"Good. And get off of Her Highness. It's highly inappropriate." With that, Mila left, and Link remained exactly where he was.

There were afew seconds of silence, and then Zelda started reading again, this time in a loud whisper. 

"'-until she was sure he'd consume her whol-'"

With a much quieter screech, more air than sound, Link pressed his hand into the back of her head as he tried to inch further over her shoulders to reach the book. Chin getting shoved more firmly against the side of the mattress, Zelda's voice became a little more muffled-

"'-being, st'rting wif her mouf-'"

-but audible enough that Link continued grabbing her wrist, trying to yank her arm up closer so the book was within reach. She merely let go of the book with that hand, tilting her head to follow the page as the one side dropped that final half inch to the ground. When Link shifted to the other side of her head, iliciting a grunt from her as he clambered without any care for where his limbs and joints jabbed, she scooted forward to try and grab the book again with her free hand, hoping to swap which side she held it on. 

"'Wh'n his ha-AH-!"

Before she could grab the book with her other hand, Link shifted forward a little more, and suddenly he was slipping off, his tumbling weight dragging her with as the two toppled off the edge of the bed, landing in a painful heap on the floor.

Link spat hair out of his mouth, brushing her locks off his face as she groaned. He rolled onto his stomach, shoulder aching from the fall, pushing onto his elbows as he checked on Zelda. One of her legs rested up against the mattress, and he pulled his eyes away before they had the chance to linger on the newly exposed skin of her thigh.

"You okay?"

He heard her shift, heard fabric ruffling, and peeked from his peripheral to find her sitting up, clothes smoothed back into place.

"Enough," she replied, rolling her shoulders before sitting back against the bed with a heavy sigh. "You?"

"Yeah," he said, eyes catching upon the corner of the book on the ground just behind her, peeking out from under the bed.

Somehow, her own gaze seemed to catch his intent just as he dove across her lap for it, and she twisted to grab the book with one hand while planting her other hand against his front to push him away.

So, rather than attempt to take it for himself, he shoved at it, pushing the novel further under the bed before her hand could land on it, letting out a breathless, victorious laugh as his forehead plunked against her shoulder in relief. Zelda let out a huff, fingers unwinding from the front of his shirt and dropping to her lap.

"You're such a scaredy cat," she declared.

His head lifted, nearly nose to nose as he glared at her. "Am not."

"Are too."

"Am not."

"Then explain why you can't handle a kiss scene, hm?"

"I'm not afraid of it!" Link insisted. "It's just…!"

He wasn't sure what. Embarrassing? Weird? 

"It's just?" Zelda prompted, eyes glinting with an amused challenge, as she leaned forward. It was just a fraction - but that was all it took for her nose to brush his, and he jolted back, eliciting another laugh from her.

"Scaredy cat," she repeated.

"I'm not," he grumbled. His heart hadn't stopped thundering since the tumble had made it pick up the pace in a startle, and the nerves were starting to curl into his stomach. "I'm not scared."

"Then what are you?" Her smile was still there, challenging, entertained, and he wanted so terribly to wipe it off her face. "Aside from cutting off the circulation in my leg."

"Oh-!" Link hurried to shift his weight off of her, shuffling to settle next to her legs instead. Her head turned to track his movements before she pulled her legs towards herself and to the side, resting a hand on the floor as she tilted back into his view. 

"Well?"

"Well what?"

"What are you? If not a scaredy cat."

His mind spun, searching for some sort of clever response, something that would shut her down and earn him a win.

He couldn't think of anything.

"…Maintaining proper decorum?" he tried lamely, and Zelda was bursting into laughter before he'd even finished his sentence. 

"Main- Maintaining- pro-hah!"

"Shut up!"

Her words were barely there, breathless between laughs. "Since when have you ever-?"

He scowled at her until she calmed down.

Wiping tears from her eyes, she said, "Link, I hate to break it to you, but we hardly interact in any way that follows proper decorum in private. Honestly, we do a rather sorry job even in public."

Unfortunately, he couldn't argue that. Mila had just scolded him not even a half an hour ago for that.

"Well. Well maybe it's. Maybe it's, um." His words were halting, searching for a comeback he didn't have. "Maybe I just don't care for…" He grabbed for the word Mila had used. "Inappropriate books."

Zelda started laughing again, and he had to fight the urge to shake her about. 

"You talk like a ten-year-old." Her grin shifted into a thoughtful, yet humored smile, like she was pondering something funny. "But you don't always act like it."

As she spoke, her fingers slid forward, over his. 

"A ten-year-old boy wouldn't be able to handle this," she added. "You know, the stable boy acted like he'd perish when our hands touched."

A frown yanked Link's mouth down, voice sour. "Why were you touching his hand in the first place?"

"His hat fell off. I was handing it back."

"A hat is big," Link said. "Hands don't need to touch just to give a hat over to someone."

"I wish you could really hear yourself right now," Zelda said. "You sound wonderfully ridiculous."

"That doesn't even make sense."

"It would if you were me."

He stared at her hands as she flipped his over, tracing the edges of his fingers, trying to puzzle out what nonsense she was going on about.

Finally, she spoke again, drawing his attention back to her face, though her own eyes were on his fingers. "So is it just the written version that's the issue? Though, no, you freak out even when I say the word, so it can't be that." She hummed thoughtfully. "It's the words themselves, then."

Her gaze flicked up to his, and something about her eyes made the room around him promptly dissolve into nothingness.

"You've always preferred actions over words. So the real question, then, is: would the action embarrass you more, less, or the same?"

Something in her words seemed to flutter just above his head, just out of reach. Likely because his brain seemed to suddenly be running at the speed of molasses.

When she let go of his hand, reaching up to cup his face on either side, he stiffened.

"What are you doing?"

"Acting out the book."

If his cheeks hadn't already been warm, it now felt as though his entire face had been shoved in the fireplace as he sputtered out a, "Huh- Wha- The uh-"

His frustration ruffled back up as she started laughing again. 

"Stop teasing me," he said, voice low in a way that made her laugh peter out, smile fading.

"Sorry," she said, sounding a little more like she meant it this time. "I just like getting reactions out of you. But I guess I took it too-"

He grabbed her wrists as she moved to lift her hands from his face, refusing to let her pull back.

"I'm not a scaredy cat."

She blinked, then lifted the corners of her lips in a wobbly, unsure motion. "Um. I didn't really mean that. It's fine if that sort of thing embarrasses you-"

Heart in his throat, his ears, his lungs, stomach, toes, everywhere, Link leaned a little closer and repeated, "I'm not a scaredy cat."

Her gaze darted around his face, then away with a huff of a laugh, voice small and high. "Uhh, okay! I believe you."

When he let go of her wrists just so he could take her face instead, her eyes shot back to his face, sucking in a tiny breath and then stilling.

He, too, came to a halt, feeling his nerves starting to swallow up any of his frustration-fueled courage. Her skin was so warm under his hands.

"Wha…" Zelda said, and when he looked briefly at her lips, she swallowed hard and tried again. "What are you doing?"

He wasn't even sure what the answer to that was. Proving a point to her? Proving a point to himself? Teasing her back? 

It was more than any of those things, he knew that much, but he wasn't sure how to explain it. Did he need to? 

Like Zelda had said, he'd always preferred actions over words.

He drifted a little closer, not entirely sure when he'd started looking at her mouth again, but realizing it when she breathed out his name, a trace of uncertainty within the whisper. So he moved slowly, agonizingly slowly for his balled up nerves, giving her time to become certain.

Push him away, or let him keep going.

Her hands lifted, hesitated.

"Are you doing this just to prove you're not scared?" Zelda whispered.

His nose brushed hers, just like before, but he didn't pull away this time.

"No," he whispered back, and her hands settled on his shoulders, eyes fluttering shut.

About a half-second before their lips touched, he realized he had no real idea what he was doing. It was too late to pull away now, and he was certainly not going to pause and talk that out, so he pressed his lips to hers for just a moment, then pulled away, staring down with burning cheeks as his heart and mind raced a million miles a minute.

He'd seen people kiss. It was just a touch of the lips. Surely he couldn't have messed up something so simple. But what if he had?

Zelda giggled, and his head snapped up, simultaneously horrified and affronted as he slowly pulled away from her cheeks. Her face was charmingly flushed, but she pressed her hands over her mouth, giggling again.

An embarrassed sense of devastation sank deeper into him. She was laughing. He'd kissed her, and she was laughing!

With a hurt scowl, he pulled back farther, but she caught his upper arms, shaking her head with a big grin, eyes squeezed shut and head ducked.

"No. No, it's not-" She giggled again, hands returning to her face like magnets, covering more than just her mouth this time. "Sorry! I just…"

Sucking in a breath, she lowered her fingers just enough to peek at him. "I'm not laughing at you, I promise. I don't even know why-" She let out another string of wobbly giggles. "I'm happy, I swear."

He stared at her, bewildered, as she started to sink deeper into her hands again with more of the same, funny little giggles. Offense turning into fascination, he tugged her hands from her face, ducking his head to look at her. She let out an undignified and admittedly very cute squeak, turning her head away.

"No, wait, don't look at me," she said, words bubbling with the same laughter as he shifted to follow, refusing to let her hide as a grin of his own started to grow.

She was embarrassed.

Hah!

"You're embarrassed!" Link said in delight.

Her hands pulled from his just so she could press them over his face, skin turning redder. "Shut up! I don't want to hear that from the boy who can't read a kiss scene!"

With a curious sense of enthrallment, he did his best to kiss the hand shoved over his mouth, resulting in a squawk as she pulled it to her chest, clutching her hand as though he'd bitten it.

"I can do a kiss scene though," he said, any embarrassment having fled by a pure sense of triumphant glee as he leaned closer again.

"Oh- You- Wipe that look off your face!"

"Nope," he replied, popping the 'p' with a smug smile.

Her fists curled into his shirt, yanking him into a second kiss hard enough for their noses to bump awkwardly on the way as his eyes went wide. Pulling back, she glared at him challengingly, while he stared back stupidly.

"I can do a kiss scene too. And obviously, I can also read them and talk about them just fine."

He blinked out of his stupor as she let go of him, leaning back with a haughty toss of her hair.

"That means I win," she added, crossing her arms. "Unless you think you can do me better?"

Several moments passed as she waited for his reaction.

"Give me the book."

Zelda blinked, arms unfolding slowly. "Huh?"

He climbed back over her, reaching under the bed. "I'm getting the book back out."

"Are you serious?"

"Yes! I'm going to read it aloud," he said stubbornly as he strained to grab the corner of it, slowly pulling it closer. 

"That's not what I-" she sputtered. "I meant for- Oh, for the love of… Forget it!"

"I'm going to read more of them than you ever have," he muttered as he twisted to settle next to her. "You'll never be able to get to me again like that."

He'd be un-flusterable, never again to be embarrassed by something as silly as a kiss scene.

"We'll see about that," Zelda scoffed. "I hope you'll be ready to test that statement."

"I'll be more than ready," he declared, before beginning to read again.

He got through about two more paragraphs before he had his burning face pressed into the pages. Zelda, similarly, had buried her face against her knees.

"Where did you even get this?" he asked into the fold of the book.

"Um, the library?" Zelda said sheepishly.

"And someone let you walk out of there with this thing?"

Her response was something akin to a verbal, embarrassed shrug.

"From now on… you… you ask about the contents," Link said, face sliding down the pages bit by bit until it slid off entirely, landing on his knees as the book rested upon his head like a hat where he held it. "And this…" He lifted the book slightly, despite the fact that Zelda wasn't looking, before letting it drop to rest on his head again. "We're returning this as soon as possible."

There was some sort of threat in his voice, she was sure of it, but she still couldn't help but glance around and say, "Sir Link, you really must address Her Highness properly."

Heaving an exaggerated sigh and rolling his eyes so hard it almost looked painful, he said, "Tell me what's wrong with Princess Zelda."

She folded her hands, fidgeted, and finally ducked her head. "I'm sorry, but it's inappropriate for me to share, and I- eek!"

Her attempt to go around him was promptly cut off as he jumped back in her path, holding his arms out.

"Tell me! She's in terrible pain and refuses to let me in the room, so it must be contagious, right? Is she dying?"

The maid's posture softened a little at the frantic worry that ran beneath the sharpness of his tone.

"She's not dying, I promise. It is merely…" She nibbled her lip, not sure how to approach the delicate subject. "Part of being a lady."

His face scrunched inward, looking at her as though she had grown a second head. "I know other ladies. I've never seen this happen."

"The severity depends on the woman. Now please let me pass." She had already said more than she felt comfortable sharing, but if it would get him to leave her alone…

"I want answers," he insisted, though he did let her go around him this time.

Except he turned on his heel and followed her.

"I gave you an answer!" she said, quickening her pace.

"That hardly told me anything!"

He sped up as well, and that was how she found herself practically running from a child, until she nearly collided with the housekeeper.

The woman looked at her, and then past her to the boy who crossed his arms defiantly.

"So he's come around to bother you as well, hm?" The housekeeper raised a brow. "I've had complaints from the other maids that you've been going around questioning them all rigorously."

Link scowled. "They weren't giving me answers."

There was a long, considering pause from the housekeeper. 

"Well," she finally said with a sigh of defeat, "we can't have you disrupting work every month."

"Every month?!" Link cried, looking aghast.

"Oh dear." The housekeeper sighed again. "Alright, follow me. I'll tell you what I can."

The maid watched them head down the hall, and when they disappeared into a room, she couldn't help but follow after a moment, pressing her ear to the door.

"She's bleeding?!" came a shout of alarm so loud she really hadn't needed to hold an ear to the door at all. It was followed by scolding hushes, and she hung around a few moments longer before she felt embarrassed enough by the conversation to scurry away. 

The next day, she was once again accosted by Link. 

"What helps you?" he demanded. There was the tiniest hint of pink to his cheeks, but his gaze was determined.

"Pardon?"

"When you're, uh…" He scratched the back of his neck, frowning. "You know. Each month."

She blinked, and when the dots connected, she flushed. "Sir Link! Didn't Mrs. Keap tell you not to go around talking about these things?"

The boy lifted his chin. "So?"

"You- But-" she floundered, and he continued to stare at her doggedly.

After a moment, she deflated, unwilling to have him go following her around demanding answers while she tried to do her job. 

"Heat helps," she said.

Link looked away, expression turning annoyed as he grumbled, "That's what the others said."

Just how many people had he interrogated?

His gaze swung back to hers. "Is there really nothing else?"

Wringing her hands, her eyes wandered, thinking. 

"I don't know if it helps, but I do tend to crave sweets," she finally said.

Link nodded thoughtfully, and when a door opened and closed, his head whipped around, gaze locking onto the maid that had just finished cleaning the parlor and was moving on to the next room.

"Hey!" he called, turning to hurry in her direction. She glanced back, eyes widening in alarm before darting into the next room and closing the door. "Wait, I have a question!"

The next month, there was a marked difference in the opinion of the female staff towards Link. 

As the laundresses beat and brushed at fabrics, the conversation had turned towards the knight.

"If only my brothers treated me half as well as he treats the princess."

"Half? I'd take a head of grain's worth!"

"I've seen him scurrying about with several bricks - he knows how long those stay warm, doesn't he?"

"Maybe he plans to have one prepared the moment the other cools."

"Lucky girl!"

"I don't think my father ever doted on my mother like that."

"I doubt my father even knows what goes on each month!"

"Sir Link! I've told you to keep out of the kitchen!" came a shout, and all heads turned to watch the knight climb out of a window and sprint across the yard.

"I'd bet you five rupees that bag is full of sweets."

"Gosh, I hope I find a man as dedicated as that one day."

"Hah! Good luck with that."

Five minutes later, Link crept back around, giving the group a wave as he climbed back through the window and hurried down the hall.

After a few moments of silence:

"I think I'm going to adopt him as my new brother."

A clamour arose immediately as all the girls decided they wanted him as their brother instead.

And at that moment, Link, none the wiser, was presenting to Zelda an array of every sweet thing he could find in the kitchens.

When her insistence on trying to fix his unhealthy hair slowly brought a shine and softness it had lacked before, she almost missed the wiry, coarse sensation she'd come to know every day during their adventure, when he'd take his ponytail out at night and put it up in the morning. Missed the feeling between her fingers when he let her play with his hair after it was all over. 

The soft locks were nice in their own way, though, even as Link griped about how it was harder than before to gather up his hair for a ponytail. 

Though Zelda did get plenty of opportunities for these things - much more than a princess normally would or probably should - even with him sneaking into her room every night, lying together shoulder to shoulder, fingers hooked together until they fell asleep, or clinging to each other when the nightmares struck, be it at night or the middle of the day, she was greedy for more.

But she was running out of excuses for her behavior. There were only so many times she could say there was an eyelash or fleck of something else on his cheek, or that she wanted to compare hands again to see if he'd grown any before it got weird.

Honestly, it had probably been weird to him from the start if his response of, "So? It's not hurting me," to her eyelash excuse said anything (though in her defense, that had actually been a real, very stubborn eyelash that first time).

But then she began to notice a change. Like a cat that had finally warmed up to someone, he started to cross the gap she wanted to erase on his own.

It had started when she had settled down in the library to read a book on resource management that he'd plopped down beside her as usual, before turning and dropping his head in her lap - not as usual. 

As his cheek rested against her skirt, she had frozen long enough to watch his ear slowly turn red, and when he sputtered, "You want to play with my hair, right? This will be more comfortable on my neck," she quickly settled her fingers in his bangs, not wanting to lose this golden opportunity. He scared rather easily, after all, and she certainly did enjoy mindlessly running her fingers through his hair while she read. 

When Zelda told him that this position was more comfortable for her arm, too, that position became the new normal and she relished it. 

And then it was him grabbing her hand instead of the other way around. 

Sometimes, when no one else was around, she'd grab his hand to tug him along somewhere, joking that his legs were just too short to keep up so she simply had to help him lest she lose him as they went.

But on a walk through the garden when Link had insisted she take a break from papers and planning, a walk like any of the other dozens of walks they had taken, she jolted to a stop when she suddenly found his hand in hers. He marched ahead as though he hadn't just sent her heart into her throat, grumbling that she was going too fast for this to properly be a "break".

The excuse sounded so ridiculous to her ears - especially now that he was walking faster than before, tugging her along - that, when paired with the flush creeping down the back of his neck, Zelda began to wonder if maybe she wasn't the only one who couldn't get enough.

It wasn't long before she was utterly and completely proven right. She had often thought he reminded her of a cat that had hung around the castle when she was a kid, wary and hissing at anyone that came near for weeks on end, yet stubbornly refusing to be permanently chased off, but the skittish, defensive side he had was not where the resemblance ended.

Link had not been prepared for how soft a princess could be.

It wasn't as though he was new to girls. Malon was a girl, and she'd hugged him plenty of times, warm and enveloping, but her hands were rough and she often smelled like old fabric and the outdoors and, if she'd been working over the cooking pot, hints of smoke. 

Zelda was unbelievably soft. Soft in a way he'd thought only reserved for little kids that hadn't had time to sand their bodies into something that wouldn't fall apart while working.

Except neither Koko nor Cottla gave off such an array of pleasant scents. Apparently, being a princess involved a lot of flowers and herbs and other scented things. She washed her hands and face with water that had been boiled with rose petals and orange peels, sprinkled her bath water with sprigs of rosemary, dried cloves, and more rose petals, and even had her comb dipped in rose water that had powdered clove and nutmeg mixed into it before use - that is, before someone else used it on her.

It was no wonder her hands were so soft - she didn't even brush her own hair! It was also no wonder she had considered him to be smelly all the time; the girl wasn't used to the natural smell of a body that hadn't been repeatedly dipped and washed in some sort of fragranced water.

Still, he certainly didn't mind the results of her careful routine. It filled his nose with a lovely smell every time they were near each other; even walking behind her through the halls allowed him follow a faint path of flowers and spices. 

He couldn't complain about her odd obsession with his hands, either. Link would have had to have been completely stupid not to notice how often she found reason to take his hands in hers, but any time he thought of asking why, it died on his tongue at the thought that she might stop if he did. She was probably just as mesmerized by the rough hands of the working class as he was mesmerized by the way her fingertips trailed over his. He could only hope the novelty would never wear off for her.

She also had a fascination with his hair; another thing he'd certainly never complain about. He'd always enjoyed it when his grandmother would stroke his hair and yearned for the rare occasions when Malon would, which really only happened when he was sick, so it was nice to be so often treated to the comfort and peace it always brought. 

Zelda had initially used the excuse of checking the progress of his hair - and good grief did she take hair care seriously - but long before she was satisfied with the results, she had dropped the pretense entirely and Link had happily accepted the fact that she just liked to play with his hair.

For the most part, though, Link kept these thoughts to himself. The time he had commented on the way she smelled, she had immediately tried to rope him into fancying up his baths, and while he liked the way it lingered on her, he did not care for how strongly it filled the steamy room when he was actually in it.

Besides, he didn't want to smell like Zelda. That would take away the solace that came from being completely wrapped up in it when they inevitably wound up curled together at night, drawn together in their sleep like magnets. 

To his surprise, she hadn't pushed when he told her he didn't want scents in his bath. He'd expected her to offer other combinations, or at least whine a little bit about how it would make him smell better, but she'd merely smiled cheerily and told him that was perfectly fine. He'd swallowed his already planned rebuttal - that she should be grateful he even bathed more than once a week like she firmly insisted upon - and tried not to look a gift horse in the mouth despite his bewilderment at her reaction.

Still, since mentioning her scent had immediately led to her attempting to do the same for him, and she'd already gone through the effort of "fixing" his hair, he didn't dare mention how soft her skin was. Zelda would probably dive into some sort of fancy routine for every inch of him until his sword slipped right out of his grasp. He'd earned his callouses and he planned to keep them.

So he let her grab his hands, play with his hair, and scrutinize every particle of dust that supposedly fell on his cheeks, all while wishing her fascination with him somehow extended further. If it were up to Link, he would happily spend half the day with his face buried in her silky hair. 

And after a while, a thought struck him.

If she was allowed to hold and touch and play as she pleased, why couldn't he? So what if she was the princess? Fair was fair.

Except it was a lot more embarrassing, once he found himself actually attempting to do anything. He could hardly fathom being the one to grab her hand unless it was to stop her from something or to shake her out of a state of panic - and hand holding out of necessity was completely different than hand holding for the sake of hand holding.

So he decided to start with something more simple. She liked to play with his hair while she read, so why not settle into a position that made it easier?

Link regretted it instantly. He'd felt the way she'd stiffened and found himself freezing in turn, trying to explain himself and praying he hadn't just completely toppled whatever casual contact had already formed between them.

And then, to his utter relief, she had accepted it and even approved of it. Resting his head in her lap joined the rotation of how they interacted, and he wondered what else he could add if he only tried.

The next thing on his list was holding her hand. With a carefully rehearsed reason should she ask (one he wound up spouting even when she hadn't said anything yet), he gave it a try, and when she'd finally quickened her pace to catch up with him and gave his hand a squeeze so light he still wasn't convinced he wasn't just imagining it, he'd simultaneously wanted to pop out of existence and never ever let go.

Every second he could spend next to her, instead of alone with nothing but her voice - or worse, completely and entirely alone - felt like a miracle, and while he knew he probably shouldn't be greedy for more than he had, he just couldn't help it. 

The more he thought about it, the more he thought, Why not?

Zelda had never been afraid to tell him off when he did something she didn't like, but it had never caused a permanent rift between them before, so why should he expect things to be different this time? If he did something she didn't like, she could scold him, and then everything could go back to normal by the end of the day.

So when he slipped into her room as he always did at night, neither willing to sleep alone anymore, he didn't wait for sleep to draw them closer together, but decided to cut straight to the chase. When they settled in side by side, he rolled over and curled against her, letting his head fall into the cloud of her hair that spread across the pillow.

For a moment, she turned into a wooden board, but she didn't shove him away or scold him, so he stayed still, heart thudding with hope, and felt victory wash over him when she turned his way and buried herself against him in turn.

Without a word of acknowledgment from either, this, too, became part of their routine.

With a series of successes now under his belt, Link felt even more confident in continuing to test the waters one action at a time. 

While she puzzled her way through stacks of requests as he attempted to give suggestions the best he could, he rested his chin over her shoulder, and she let her head fall against his as she rambled about whether or not approving this or that was feasible. 

When a particularly aggravating meeting led to Zelda knocking a pen off the table to give her an excuse to duck underneath to grab it, knowing Link would do the same so they could pause for just a moment to make faces at each other, he'd take an extra few seconds to catch her fingertips and toy with them before grabbing the pen and offering it to her when the two straightened up.

There was something awfully fascinating about the way that one had turned her cheeks the faintest hue of pink.

Eventually, he no longer waited until she was reading to drop his head in her lap. Any time they were sitting somewhere just the two of them, he'd drape himself over her one way or another, be it resting his head over her skirt, leaning against her shoulder with an arm curled around her middle, stretching his entire torso across her lap, or something else. 

Zelda had called him soft, once, and he'd argued against it. But maybe she had managed to turn a tiny part of him soft after all.

"You love to be right, don't you?" Link said as her fingers wove through his bangs, drifting absentmindedly down his nose briefly.

"Of course I do." She lifted her book to peer at him. "Why? What was I right about this time?"

He snorted and turned his face a little further into her hand, blinking up through the gaps of her fingers. "Nothing important."

She eyed him with a suspicious hum. "Was it about not eating that second slice of pie?"

Well. She had been right about that too.

Watching the way his lips bunched, she laughed softly, reaching down to pat his stomach. "My poor knight."

Scoffing, he grabbed her hand, moving it back to his head as he said, "Don't baby me."

For Jester

What is their favorite PG swear word replacement?

He's got some more casual go-tos (shoot, rats, darn, etc), some slightly sillier sounding ones for when he's around certain company (fiddlesticks, biscuits, zooks, fish tail, etc), and if he's around a lot/certain people or sometimes just when he's in A Mood (tbh these are actually more likely the madder he is), he just spouts stuff. Whatever comes to mind comes out his mouth. "Jumping frogs in a shook up jar!" "Rattin' smackin' pies in the sky!" "For the sake of Din's underpants and the overclothes too!" Just. Whatever. Sometimes this means a series of unintelligible noises. You know those old cartoons where that tough guy would start muttering sounds that kinda rhymed but also were not really words while storming around? That sort of vibe.

Do they make faces at babies they see in public? Are the babies enchanted or horrified?

You betcha he does! His go to is just sticking out his tongue while shaking his head back and forth because, if he's got his hat on, they LOVE the jingles. Most babies enjoy him quite a bit!

Your character confidently turns to the audience and says, “Hey, check this out.” What are they about to fumble, and how badly?

First of all, tricks for audiences are thoroughly practiced! He'd never try something new/something he's not confident in unless it was an emergency or he knew he could play the fail off as a joke bcuz any fail incurred wouldn't result in an injury so bad he can't play it off.

With that being said, with some people, small groups in a more casual setting depending on who is there, desperate to distract Zelda from something, etc, he may be more inclined to just Go For It.

If that is the case, it could be any sort of complicated trick that probably involves a lot of flips and jumps, a lot of stuff tossed about that may or may not be dangerous if not caught properly, and/or being on high objects that may or may not be stable. Picture him flinging a dagger in the air and attempting to backflip over a desk to catch it on the other side, completely unpracticed, miscalculating the timing/distance, getting a cut on his hand and jerking backwards into the desk, knocking his head on it. He might be bleeding but hey at least the topic or focus has changed from whatever made him think he needed to do something drastic in the first place!

Why are they like this? Wrong answers only.

Before giving him up to the orphanage (he was a bit older when the happened), his parents gave him a rattle with bells on it when he was but a babe, and it altered his brain chemistry forever.

For Queen

On a scale of “tiny kitten” to “middle-aged dad” how loud are their sneezes

Her sneezes sound very polite. They're not super quiet but they're not very loud either. They're a bit quieter than average and somehow sound and look dignified. (Now I'm picturing Jester sneezing and it's just a cacophony and JINGLE JANGLE JINGLE)

Which holiday would they abolish?

Whatever seems to waste the most resources with the least amount of payoff. How much is being spent to decorate Castle Town, or make certain foods, or set up special events, and how much does it actually seem to affect morale, or generate business in return? Idk what that would be exactly (idek what holidays Hyrule would have tbh 🤔) but it would definitely have to do with those qualifications.

What’s their preferred excuse for not attending an event?

Terrible headache 😔

Do they steal fries?

Of course not. She simply requests her own.

Unless it's Jester. She'd steal his fries just because the offended, betrayed, wet dog look he gives her is funny.

Aaaaand.....

Two of your WIPs are having a crossover. Which characters are getting along the best? Worst?

I have so many of these!! So I put them into a random generator and let it pick who gets a crossover with Jester >:)

Stray won!

I think Jester would drive Stray crazy. He's just too much. He doesn't take things seriously. He's stupid and annoying. (And Jester is like geeze this kid has forgotten how to have fun. Yikes!)

Crown would turn her nose up at first. He just seems too silly and ridiculous. But the moment he figured out her sense of humor she'd be changing her tune. Actually, he's a very funny and fantastic person, and you should give him a chance, Link! (Stray: YOU CALLED HIM IMMATURE AND ABSURD JUST A FEW HOURS AGO!!) Jester asks her if she knows what sorts of things amuse her Link. They're whispering and scheming and it drives Stray up a wall that he doesn't know what's going on between them and what they're talking about and that just amuses Crown all the more.

Queen would probably view Crown as a little bit childish, but she'd certainly respect her for her hard work and efforts if this was post adventure. She's young, but doing phenomenal for her age despite the heavy load, and she'd do her best to give Crown pointers where she can. Crown would mega appreciate it. I think Queen would intimidate her a bit though. She's so regal and icy and proper and she'd feel like if she makes a single mistake she'll somehow instantly obliterate her with her gaze. Unfortunately, that is just how Queen looks. Resting icy face.